by Barb Roose | Sep 9, 2024 | Stronger Than Stress
Last week was Labor Day in the US, and with thoughts shifting to fall, the raging debate between pumpkin spice and caramel apple has taken center stage. What's your vote? I'm a caramel apple girl!
However, speaking of labor, can we talk about something that sometimes feels like hard labor...Reading our Bibles.
Can I say something that many of you rather not say aloud? Here it is: You wished that you enjoyed reading your Bible more. But finding time to sit down with your Bible feels like another task to cram into your jam-packed life. Then, Guilt shows up with a big smile to shame you on two fronts: You feel guilty because you don't enjoy reading your Bible, AND you suffer terrible guilt when you miss reading your Bible.
I pray that God uses post to help you experience an a-ha moment that enables you to delight in God's Word instead of dreading Bible study.
For years, I believed my Bible study only counted if I sat down with my Bible, pen, and highlighters for at least 20-30 minutes each day. This was the only scenario that I believed God approved. So, when I was raising kids and barely making it through the day or seasons when I was grieving, crushing guilt piled on top of my exhaustion and sadness because I was positive that God was disappointed with me.
Before you hit reply and blast me with, "Barb, are you saying that we don't need to have sit-down quiet times?" Yes, those sit-down study times are important, but here is where I’m going to add a BIG BUT ——> But, God wants MORE for you than to limit your time with the Bible to a structure of sitting in a chair for 30 minutes with your Bible, pens, and highlighters.
Here are four principles of scripture engagement that I believe can liberate and delight you as you grow in understanding and incorporate God's Word into your life.
First, Don't Give Up! If you're discouraged by Bible study because you can't do it for 30 minutes daily, please keep reading today's devotional. You need God's Word to show you the truth, teach you what is wrong, and correct you (2 Timothy 3:16).
These days, there are so many false teachers telling everyone to do whatever feels right, and I don't want you to be confused by their lies, which are fooling Christians everywhere. Don't set yourself up to be fooled (2 Timothy 4:3). If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. Ask God for help and try again the next day.
THIS ONE IS BIG ——-> Second, stop counting daily Bible study minutes and focus on embracing scripture-engagement moments. The great a-ha moment that transformed my relationship with the Bible was to shift from counting quiet times to this question: "How often can I bring God's Word into my thoughts, activities, and decisions throughout the day?"
Instead of focusing on how many days of the week you sit down with your, shift your effort and energy to how often you can incorporate God's Word into your day.
Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. - Joshua 1:8 NLT
Third, each time that you engage with sculpture throughout the day reminds that God loves and cares for you during your day. The Bible contains reminders of God's love, grace, direction, and help. There, you begin to see the Bible as a dependable source of hope. You'll start to feel like the psalmist here:
I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word. -Psalm 119:15-16 NLT
MORE PRACTICAL ADVICE: You will automatically do what delights you. If you want to delight in God's Word instead of seeing it as a duty, here are six practical tips from my Stronger Than Stress: 10 Spiritual Practices to Win the Battle of Overwhelm book for bringing God's Word into your daily life.
- Each of these ideas is an intentional way for you to bring God's Word into your life. Try out one or two this week:
- Write out Scripture verses on post-its and tape them to your bathroom mirror, car dashboard or other places where you'll read them.
- Listen to an audio Bible in the car, at the gym, or before bed.
- Read a favorite Bible verse with family or friends at mealtimes, over coffee, or before bed, and discuss the Scriptures together.
- Sing! Lots of classic hymns and modern worship songs incorporate Scripture. Find those songs. As you sing, you're engaging with God's Word and worshiping Him, too. Here a playlist!
- Pick one Bible verse from your church's weekly sermon and journal about what the verse taught you about God and how you can apply it to your life.
- Choose a Bible study that interests you, and don't worry about what others think. If you fall behind, don't stop or beat yourself up. The big picture is that God doesn't need you to stay up-to-date in the study for Him to work powerfully in your life. He'll meet you where you're at.
ACTION PLAN TIME: Here are some prompts for you to incorporate God's Word into your life TODAY:
- In the car on the way to school or work, you can _____________.
- As you're waiting for an appointment or meeting to begin, you can _________________.
- As you're doing the laundry, washing dishes, or doing your hair, you can ______________________.
- Before a difficult phone call or before responding to a tough text message, you can ________________________.
I'd love to hear from you. Please tell me which Bible engagement tips are most helpful for you. If you struggle with Bible reading, how did this week's devotional encourage you?
Less Stress. More Peace. Everyday!
by Barb Roose | Jan 1, 2022 | Christian Living/Discipleship, Joshua & Winning the Worry Battle, Reflections, Surrendered: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus, Women's Topics
Happy New Years!
It’s a new year and I’m wearing my fairly new favorite hat. So far, so good here in 2022.
This isn’t a post about goals or resolutions. I just can’t with personal goals right now. (I’ve got business goals - that’s all good.)
But I do want to be intentional.
What’s a girl to do? I need to keep it simple if I want to be successful at being intentional.
Last year, my Word Of The Year (WOTY) was KISS or”Keep It Simple, Sweetheart” and I’m keeping it again for 2022.
(I figured that if the pandemic can stick around another year, so can my WOTY because it’s still working for me. ALSO, I kissed absolutely no one at midnight last night because #omicron 😑. Kinda bummed about that.)
Here’s my thing: Rather than goals, I focus on mindset habits that will position me for what I want to experience in life, which is to live beautifully strong and courageous in Christ.
It’s KISS that gets me there. So here is my KISS mindset for 2022:
- On my worst days, I will treat myself the best.
- I will faithful in the small things and trust that God will take care of all things.
- I will keep showing up and taking risks, even when I fail.
- I am not in control of others or outcomes, so Surrender is my path to God’s peace. *
- I will err on the side of choosing love, kindness and generosity.
- I will live from the truth that I am God’s beautiful, lovable, capable daughter. I am confident in Christ and worthy of God’s best.**
SHARE YOUR COMMENT BELOW: What’s your New Year’s habits, prayer, resolution, goal or intention for the upcoming year?
*from my Surrendered Bible study
**from my Breakthrough Bible study
by Barb Roose | Jan 1, 2018 | Women's Topics
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! -Isaiah 30:18
Every new year, we say out with the old in with the new. But, what do you do when the old problems or struggles follow you into New Year?
I’m spending New Year’s in El Paso Texas with my oldest daughter. If you’ve been following me on social media, my daughter and I made two 1600 #roadtrips with her two puppies in the backseat before and after Christmas. We survived.
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Yesterday, my daughter had a 24-hour shift at work, so I’ve been on puppy duty. As I walked the dogs toward a neighborhood park, I talked to God about the last 365 days of my life. I gave thanks for so many things: a loving family, supportive friends, good health, financial provision and many wonderful ministry opportunities. And I also plead with God about getting rid of an old unresolved heartache that I didn’t want to follow me into the new year. God, I’ve dealt with this for so long. Do I have to deal with this next year? Any chance you can make this go away by midnight?
What old situation has followed you into a new year?
While this isn’t the place for me to go into details, perhaps you can relate to how I describe the pain. It feels like a 1000-pound weight sits on your heart and cracks it all little each day. On bad days, I feel my heartbeat thumping in my chest and it hurts. This is the pain of being human and living in a fallen world. At this stage in my life, I can only bear to share this pain with the most trustworthy of friends and gratefully, an understanding Christian counselor.
God, my heart hurts…
This morning, God showed me that He heard my prayer on yesterday’s walk. One of the verses in my Bible study today was Isaiah 30:18: “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
God used this verse today to remind me of His heart toward me. The first day of this new year is a part of God’s gracefulness to me and you. Every time we say goodbye to a loved one, we are reminded of the preciousness of life. You’ve made it into the new year! No matter how much you don’t like what’s carried over from the old year, you’ve made it into the new one – and not everyone can say that!
Every day from God is a gift that we don’t deserve. Additionally, God longs to pour His graciousness into every deep crack in our heart and fill in those broken fissures with Himself. That’s actually the visual that I use when I’m praying through difficult days: God, my heart is broken right now. Please come and fill in those broken places with Yourself.” Just like the Kintsugi artists use liquid gold to fuse together broken pottery, God’s grace is that He infuses Himself into our heartache.
The last part of that verse say “Blessed are all who wait for him.” What does it mean to wait for God? Before my daughter takes her puppies outside, she makes them sit before snapping on their leashes. Then she says the word, “wait.” Both puppies must to sit until she gives them the command to move forward. While they are waiting, the dogs’ eyes are fixed on her face. Now, when I told them that it was time to sit, the results were pretty spotty. Those puppies love my daughter. I’m just the random lady who took them on a few walks.
The word wait in Isaiah 30:18 means to long for. When the puppies hear the word “wait,” they fix their focus on my daughter and sit until she tells them to move. For us, waiting is focus on an unknown period of time, but spiritually, our waiting should be a fixating on a Person.
Why is this important? When we’re waiting on something that isn’t happening, our hearts get weighed down and discouraged (Proverbs 13:12). But, when we’re fixated on God, we actually get stronger and can accomplish more (Isaiah 40:31)
Are you currently weighted down by the old situation that has followed you into the new year OR are you waiting on God and enjoying the blessing of His grace and compassion?
Might I offer two next steps if you’re dealing with an old situation in this new year?
First, start with talking to God and surrender the heavy weight of your old situation over to Him. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to give all of our worries and cares to God because He cares about us. One of my favorite movie lines is “Get off the cross, honey. Somebody needs the wood.”
“God, it’s a new year, but I don’t want to carry the pain around of this situation anymore. If it isn’t your timing to remove this hardship from my life, then God, I’m asking you to renew my heart and filling in the broken places with yourself.”
Second, increase your longing for God to keeping your eyes focused on him. Corrie ten Boom once said, “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at God you’ll be at rest.”
One suggestion is to sign-up for resources like ReFocus App, My First 5, YouVersion or livingitout.tv that will deliver a devotional or verse of the day directly to you. But, don’t just sign up and think something will change. Set aside 15 minutes per day to read and reflect. The more you fix your heart and mind on God, the more you’ll focus on Him – and the more blessed you will be.
That’s what happened to me today. As I spent time in my Bible study and writing this post, God has truly blessed me today. Even as my old situation follows me into a new year, I’m going to be like my daughter’s puppies and keep my eyes focused on God as I wait on Him.
SHARE WITH US: Is there an old situation that you are dealing with in the new year? How has reading this post and Isaiah 30:18 encouraged you? Leave your comments below.
by Barb Roose | Sep 12, 2016 | Reflections, Women's Topics
How often do you look in the mirror and struggle with what you see?
Remember when we used to love hanging out with each other? Hmm, how old were we back then – two or three years old? How cute were we! Ahh, in those early years we couldn’t get enough of each other. We snuggle up close and do kissy-lips with at each other. We’d play endless games of hide-n-seek. By the way, you’re horrible at that game! Whenever it was my turn to count, I’d peek while counting and you never moved. What’s up with that?
Remember when I was ten years old? That’s when stupid Marcus told me that I was ugly and I had a big nose? I barely made it home from school without melting down. I ran right to the bathroom looking for you. Tears were streaming down my face as Marcus’ awful words screamed in my head.
Don’t you remember how I put my face right up against yours? I searched your eyes hoping that you’d show me that Marcus was wrong. I wanted you to smile at me and make me feel that I was okay as I was. But, you didn’t.
For me, that was the day that we stopped being friends. Correction: That was the day that YOU stopped being my friend.
Yet, we still see each other every day.
Let me apologize for what I look like in the mornings. I’ll admit that it’s a bad scene for both of us. My hot-mess hair and puffy eyes – okay, that’s all on me. (What happens overnight anyways? I always feel like I’m in some overnight street fight and lose every single time…)
Throughout the day, we catch glimpses of each other. A quick look here. A snatch of a glance there. You see me and just that quick, you always look away. No smiles. No kindness. No comfort. Whatever.
You’ve seen me I strap on my courage and strip down in the department store dressing room. Why weren’t you kinder when I tried on that pink skirt and got stuck in it? That size SHOULD HAVE FIT. I was so crushed when it didn’t. Again tears. Again I look at you. Again, all you gave me was a cold stare.
Sometimes I hate you.
Whenever I walk away from you, I want to turn back and scream, “Why aren’t you there for me? Why aren’t you on my side?”
You’ve betrayed me by not loving me. You’ve seen me at my best and worst. Yet, you never show me the support that I need. We share the same heart, the same mind and the same body and yet, you make me feel so bad about myself. I can’t win with you!
You can’t make me 20 pounds thinner, but is it so hard to give me a freakin’ smile every now and then?
Is it so hard for you to give me a thumbs up when I stop in the restaurant bathroom while I’m out with my skinner, more stylish friends?
It’s been a long time, but today, I’m getting all up in your face. We’ve got settle whatever is between us. This stops now. Today. We’re going stop blaming our issues on school bullies, skinny supermodels, unrealistic expectations or the cookies that we can’t stop eating.
This is between you and me.
Tell me, how do we patch things up between us?
I want to know that you are with me. When we look at each other, I want to look in your eyes and see that you’re on my side. I need you to stop giving me reason to criticize my face, hair, hips, breasts or arms and cheer for me instead. I want to look in your eyes and see that I am beautiful. I want to see that I am enough.
What will it take for you to do that?
Wait – are you saying something? Hold on…please whisper a little louder.
My friend, if you want me to love you, start with loving yourself. I’m just reflecting what’s going on inside of you.
The key to being friends with me is the show me what you want to see.
Do you want to see me smile? Then, you smile first.
Do you want to see me cheer for you? Then, you cheer first.
My beautiful friend, I’ll gladly follow your path, but you’ve got to learn how to lead the way.
TALK BACK TIME! What part of your body do you struggle with the most? Leave a comment below and share this post with your friends!
P.S. If you’re tired of hating the woman in the mirror, check out my Beautiful Already Bible study. Give God space to transform how you see yourself – inside AND out!
Available at major Christian retailers across the country.
by Barb Roose | Feb 10, 2016 | Christian Living/Discipleship, Scripture Devotional
Here’s a question that I’ve been asked many times over the years, but I’ve never had an answer for it:
“What are you giving up for Lent?”
To tell you the truth, I’ve never celebrated Lent. I grew up in the Baptist (meaning black Baptist – the clapping, shouting and gospel wing of the Baptist folks). My family also spent a few years in a Pentacostal church, too. In short, I grew up “Bapti-cost.”
In fact, I didn’t know anything about Lent until I attended junior high school. Classmates would disappear mid-morning on some random Wednesday in February. Now, during my growing years, the pastors talked A LOT about the rapture. Anytime I couldn’t find someone, I tended to get a little nervous…
Anywho, those classmates returned around lunchtime with a dark smudge on their forehead and with a solemn look on their face. It took me FOREVER to work up the nerve to point and ask, “So, what’s going on that?”
Back in the day, this is all my friends told me:
- We can’t eat meat on Fridays.
- We have to give up something that we really like.*
For my classmates, Lent drilled down to a long, miserable season of “I can’t…”
What are you planning to give up this year for Lent? Are you excited or are you dreading it?
photo credit: http://wellness.nifs.org
Is that how you feel about Lent? Are you now trapped in 40 days of “I can’t…”?
While I may not share your Lenten experiences, I regularly observe the spiritual discipline of fasting. When you think about it, Lent is just an organized, formalized expression of fasting. And as one who fasts, I share your “I can’t” Lenten struggles.
We HATE voluntarily saying “no” to something that we always say “yes” to. There’s a loud voice inside of our heads that objects to voluntary self-restraint. As soon as we make our Lenten or fasting commitment, we think that we’ll die without the thing we’re giving up. Maybe not die, but we’re going to be so miserable! If we’re being honest, we’re a little miffed at God for making us into give up stuff. Like it’s His fault that we have to do it. And, when people ask what we’re giving up, how often do we share our hostage-like sacrifice with a little sigh:
“I can’t have chocolate.”
“I can’t go shopping.”
“I can’t be on Facebook.”
“I can’t go out on Friday nights.”
Whatever comes after “I can’t” is often an indicator of what we love and value a little more than God. I’m not saying that you love chocolate more than God, but do you love indulging yourself over showing self-restraint? You may not love television more than God, but how often does television or the Internet hijack your prayer or Bible study?
What we sacrifice often reveals our spiritual struggle.
Recently, my church finished a 28-day fast in January. I decided that I would give up desserts. I LOVE DESSERT. Love, love, love, love, love dessert.
Guess what? As soon as I said that I would give up dessert, I got mad that I wouldn’t be able to have dessert. Pitiful, I know. Dessert really isn’t any big deal, but my first-world heart has become accustomed to having whatever it wants. I don’t like to eat one cookie. I like to eat lots of cookies. If you ever offer me a cookie, I hope you have a few more just in case…
Lent and fasting are all about teaching our hearts and minds to submit to God’s way of life in us. When we choose to give up something that we love for a season, we give ourselves space to strategically practice submitting to God. The more we practice submission, the less we feel terrorized by the pressure of our internal wants and desires.
Here’s a great question to ask yourself: What becomes possible when we give up something for Lent?**
Instead of focusing on the “I can’t…” of Lent or fasting, we have the incredible opportunity to transform our thinking into “I can connect…”
Think about what you’ve chosen to give up. What if during the next 40 days, you gave God that space and let Him fill it? What if the absence of that thing actually filled you with more time to connect more with God or others? Imagine the possibilities!
When I gave up desserts, each time I felt a desire for dessert, I made the choice to connect with God. I changed careers in January, so I needed to pray more. I faced some tremendous personal challenges as of late, so I needed more of God’s wisdom and peace.
Instead of looking for comfort from a sugary, creamy treat, I chose to find comfort in God. So, I prayed A LOT in January…and I lost quite a few pounds, too!
In giving up something that I loved, I gained something that I needed most: God.
What are you giving up for Lent this year? Instead of focusing on “I can’t” during this Lenten’s season, what opportunities do you have to connect with God or your family and friends more during this season? Share your Lenten memories and your suggestions that might help others in the comments.
Thanks for stopping by! If you’ve like to read more stuff like this, make sure to subscribe to barbroose.com at the top of the page. I’d love encourage you and stay in touch! Feel free to share this post with your friends – just use the share buttons at the top!
References:
- http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/news/2004/lent.html
- This question was inspired by a similar question that leadership guru, Michael Hyatt often asks when individuals are struggling or suffering through hardship.
