SS16: God is Not Mad at You (God's Great Grace Series)

Hello again!!! I'm so glad to be back with another video in our God's Great Grace series. We've talked so far about approaching God's throne of grace and being received with grace, not needing to hide who we are, but being able and invited to pour out our hearts before our Father.

In this week's video, I address one of the reasons we sometimes don't approach God. Sometimes we think He's mad at us. Or disappointed with us. Again. (We're so often disappointed with ourselves, aren't we? And don't we often feel like the people around us are, too?)

In this study I share why I believe God ISN'T mad at us or disappointed with us. I really hope you'll take the time to watch or listen. If you can't, however, (it is May, after all, which if you have kids in or work at a school means it's crazy time!) I'll tell you this much. In Exodus 34, God reintroduces Himself to Moses, proclaiming His goodness and showing off His GLORY. This is what it sounds like in Exodus 34:6-7:

"The Lord passed in front of [Moses] and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation*."

Compassionate. Gracious. SLOW TO ANGER. Abounding in faithful love and truth. Forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

This is our God. This is grace. This is why we should never believe the lie that we need to hide from God because He is angry with us. God resists pride, yes. But if we are humbly acknowleging we need Him, willing to ask for His help, desiring His strength because we know we are weak, He will never be surprised or disappointed or upset when we come to Him. Ever.

To watch the video in a new window, click here. (And click it again if the video doesn't start.)

To listen to the audio, click here.

Have a blessed week, sisters! (And brothers?)  May you rejoice in God's grace and compassion and faithful love today. I'll leave you with this verse.

Psalm 103:8 (CSB)

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.

(Right click and download/save this photo to use it as a wallpaper for your phone!)

If you are looking for the Bible reading plan, check the sidebar on the blog or this post.

Does this hit home with you? As always, feel free to reply in the comments or by email or on the Butler Women's facebook post.

Melissa ♥️

(*In case you think it's unkind of God to let children and grandchildren feel any effect of a father or grandfather's sin, think about this. If we never saw the consequences of someone's bad choices, wouldn't we be more likely to make them as well? I believe it's actually because of God's kindness that He lets us learn from others' mistakes.)

SS15: Continuing our New Testament Journey & Some Extra Thoughts

After a longer than expected spring break, I'm back with the next part of our New Testament reading plan. (We'll continue in our Grace series next week!) I'm going to start posting the reading plan updates separate from the other posts, and probably several weeks worth at a time, so nobody is left wondering what to read next!

Even though I've read all of the Bible at least a couple of times and much of the New Testament even more often, I find something new every time. Reading God's word feeds our souls and spirits, even when we don't feel like we have discovered something amazing or like we've connected with God through what we've read. Filling our minds with truth and light will always bless us. And we never know when the Holy Spirit will remind us of something we read just when we need it later.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart."

We will never know what God would speak to us or show us about our own hearts through His Word if we are not reading His Word! Even if we aren't doing an in depth study, we can read. If we have time to scroll on our phones, we have time to read.

Dear Sister, can I say one more thing? 

I strongly suggest you do your Bible reading - whether with our plan or another plan - in a paper Bible. I have a couple reasons.

1. Studies are showing that more and more of us are ADMITTING to struggling with the amount of time we spend on our phones. I'm one of these people. (I'm positive that there are even more who aren't admitting it!) For me this means that every time I pick up my phone, I feel a bit of tension about not wanting to be on my phone for too long. I can be reading the Bible on a phone app and still feel the same tension because my brain associates my phone screen with the struggle to not use my phone too much. If I'm reading in my paper Bible, I can relax, focus, and enjoy it much more without the added internal tension of trying to avoid my phone.

2. When we are reading the Bible (or doing anything) on a phone, it is SO easy to click over to another app without even thinking about it. One moment we're reading Proverbs, and the next we're somehow on facebook without even knowing how or when it happened. The subconscious pathways in our brains are powerful and it's effortless to tap over to another game or app we use all of the time because our brains associate our phones with those other activities. When you are reading a paper Bible, your brain isn't quite as easily tempted to start doing something else. The temptation will likely still come - especially if your phone dings or rings - but at least you have a few more seconds to stop yourself and think about what you're doing before you pick up your phone and move your eyes away from the pages of your Bible. (You'll buy yourself even more time if you don't have your phone right next to you!)

I'm speaking from experience here. Just while I was writing this post I was distracted several times - sometimes by important things. We have a fight on our hands and in our hearts and minds if we want to really sit with God's life-changing Word on a regular basis. Let's do everything we can to give ourselves all the advantages we can.

(If none of this happens to apply to you, be blessed and carry on! I won't try to stop you from doing something that's working for you.)

So, let's do it!

My goal for the rest of the New Testament is to read it semi-chronologically. While there isn't a right or wrong way to read the Bible, reading the books/letters in the order they were written in will give us a different perspective. I have never read the New Testament in any kind of chronological way and I think it will be really interesting! We won't be reading all of the books exactly in the order they were written, though. Acts wasn't completed until after AD 62, but we'll be using it as a framework or timeline while interspersing the rest of the letters (i.e. Epistles) in the approximate order they were written, based on what was happening in Acts (or after).

Hopefully that makes some kind of sense! I don't know how much I'll be commenting on what we're reading as we go along, but if you'd like to, please feel free to add your thoughts or comments here on this post. Or send them to me by email. Or chat with me about it at church!

As some of us have already started reading the book of Acts, we'll tackle 5 chapters this next week and 4 chapters each week for the rest of May. (We've already read Luke and Matthew together. We'll come back to the gospel of Mark and the gospel of John at some point, but I haven't decided yet exactly when. You'll have to wait and see!)

May 6-10	Acts 1-5
May 13-17	Acts 6-9
May 20-24	Acts 10-13
May 27-31	Acts 14-16

In June we'll start with the book of James and Galatians, thought of as the earliest books written in the New Testament to the early church.

Ready, set, go!