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Reading the Bible

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Often around this time of year people think about the need to read their Bibles more. I highly recommend it! (See Thirteen Reasons to Read the Bible.)

I wrote in an earlier post about devotional tips:

When I first became a Christian as a teen-ager, the church I was in then had a strong emphasis on reading the Bible through in a year. I am so glad, because I think that, more than anything else, got me grounded spiritually. There are many advantages to reading the Bible through in a year: it kept me focused; I knew where to read next instead of wandering around aimlessly; I discovered choice nuggets in places like II Chronicles and Zephaniah that I probably would never have discovered otherwise; it kept me balanced; it helped me understand passages in their context; and each time through I would understand the passage more.

There are a number of plans online for reading the Bible through. One here is based, I believe, on the One Year Bible plan. BibleGateway.com has a few different ones: a comprehensive one for reading the Bible through in a year, a 121-day biographical one covering some of the major people in the Bible, a 61-day survey schedule, and a 61-day chronological reading plan.

I mentioned in that post on devotional tips that I no longer read the Bible through in a year, but I do still read it through, for all the reasons mentioned above. But by going at my own pace I can take more time with particular passages if needed.

One resource I would highly, highly recommend is the book What Do I Know About My God by Mardi Collier. Whether you do her particular plan or not, the testimonies of how God has used His word in her life are inspiring. Another good resource is Alone With God by Jason Janz.

Anything is better than nothing, so I encourage you, if you’ve never made reading the Bible every day a part of your life, or you have but you’ve let it slip, it’s a worthy investment of your time. Whether you’re just starting or you’ve been reading it for years, I pray you’ll have a blessed year of getting to know God better and drawing ever closer to Him.

(Graphic courtesy of Creative Ladies Ministry.)

Happy New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Barbara Harper

Several years ago, a teacher in my Christian college shared a passage at the beginning of the year that continually comes back to my thoughts with each new year:

But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a
land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain
of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for:
the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from
the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

Deuteronomy 11:11-12

How wonderful that the eyes of the Lord our God
will be upon His children
throughout the hills and valleys of this coming year,
and no matter what happens,
He is with us and cares for us.

(Graphic courtesy of Anne’s Place)

Quotes for the new year

Posted on January 1, 2007 by Barbara Harper

There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed. Joshua 13:1

Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12

From Joy and Strength compiled by Mary Wilder Tileston:

Be strong and of good courage … fear not, nor be dismayed; for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 1 Chronicles 28:20:

That we should serve in newness of spirit.. Romans 7:6:

Help us, O Lord! behold we enter
Upon another year today;
In Thee our hopes and thoughts now centre,
Renew our courage for the way;
New life, new strength, new happiness,
We ask of Thee; oh, hear, and bless!

— Johann Rist

The year begins; and all its pages are as blank… Let us begin it with high resolution; then let us take all its limitations, all its hindrances, its disappointments, its narrow and common-place conditions, and meet them as the Master did in Nazareth, with patience, with obedience, putting ourselves in cheerful subjection, serving our apprenticeship. Who knows what opportunity may come to us this year? Let us live in a great spirit, then we shall be ready for a great occasion.

— George Hodges

From Our Daily Walk by F. B. Meyer:

We can all start afresh! However far we have ascended, there is something higher; and however far we have fallen, it is always possible to make a fresh start. We need to take our place in the School of Christ and be taught by Him (Eph. 4:20-21). If the Holy Spirit be ungrieved, He will witness to our sonship. He will enthrone Christ as King of our life; He will keep the self-life in the place of death; He will give us a hunger for the things of God; He will give power in witness-bearing. In order to have a strong and blessed Christian experience, the one thing is to see that we do not grieve the Spirit. I do not think that we can grieve Him away, but we may greatly limit and restrain His gracious work by insincerity of speech, the nursing of an unforgiving spirit, any kind of over-reaching or fraudulent dealing, impurity of speech, or failure in love. We may be bound, so as not to move our arms, by a number of cotton threads, quite as tightly as by a strong rope…Let us take care not to grieve Him by such inconsistencies.

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman:

Today, dear friends, we stand upon the verge of the unknown. There lies before us the new year and we are going forth to possess it. Who can tell what we shall find? What new experiences, what changes will come, what new needs shall arise?
All our supply is to come from the Lord. Here are springs that shall never dry; here are fountains and streams that shall never be cut off. Here, anxious one, is the gracious pledge of the Heavenly Father. If He be the Source of our mercies they can never fail us. No heat, no draught can parch that river, “the streams whereof make glad the city of God.”
We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall be a good, a blessed new year!

From My Daily Meditation by John Henry Jowett:

He went out not knowing whither he went (Heb. 11:6-10). Abraham took “one step” and he did not “ask to see the distant scene.” And that is faith. Faith is not concerned with the entire chain; its devoted attention is fixed upon the immediate link. Faith is not knowledge of a moral process; it is fidelity in a moral act. Faith leaves something to the Lord; it obeys His immediate commandment and leaves to Him direction and destiny.
And so faith is accompanied by serenity. “He that believeth shall not make haste ‘ — or, more literally, “shall not get into a fuss.” He shall not get into a panic, neither fetching fears from his yesterdays nor from his tomorrows. Concerning his yesterdays faith says, “Thou hast beset me behind.” Concerning his tomorrows faith says, “Thou hast laid Thine hand upon me.” That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand.

Face the New Year with the Old Book.
Face the new needs with the old promises.
Face the new problems with the old Gospel.

–Author Unknown

(Graphic courtesy of Antique Clipart)

Daily Light for the last day of the year

Posted on December 31, 2006 by Barbara Harper

Love how today’s verses from Daily Light combine looking back on God’s provision in the past and looking ahead to His provision in the next year:

The LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.

BARE you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.–In his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.–As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: so the LORD alone did lead him.

Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.–This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee.–Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.–For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

Hitherto hath the LORD helped us.

DEUT. 1. 31. Ex. 19. 4.–Is. 63. 9.–
De. 32. 11, 12. Is. 46. 4.–Ps. 48. 14.
Ps. 55. 22.–Mat. 6. 25, 32. 1 Sa. 7. 12.

Another year is dawning

Posted on December 30, 2006 by Barbara Harper

By Frances Ridley Havergal

Another year is dawning,
Dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting,
Another year with Thee.

Another year of progress,
Another year of praise,
Another year of proving
Thy presence all the days.

Another year of mercies,
Of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness
In the shining of Thy face;

Another year of leaning
Upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting,
Of quiet, happy rest.

Another year of service,
Of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training
For holier work above.

Another year is dawning,
Dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in Heaven,
Another year for Thee.

Buttons

Posted on December 30, 2006 by Barbara Harper

Some weeks ago I saw the cutest little soft trees at The Sparrow’s Nest (wonderful blog with many homemaking posts). I haven’t made them yet (still want to!) From her link I found the pattern for the trees at little bird’s handmade. While there I looked around (lovely site! I highly recommend it if you want to get inspired about crafting!) and discovered these adorable button wreaths here and here. I have always loved buttons — I don’t know what it is about them — and this looked so cute and easy. But I had so much so do for Christmas, then some other responsibilities this past week, and last night was the first chance I got to attempt them.

I couldn’t really get an idea of the scale for them from the pictures. I googled “button wreath” and found some other people had made them about 3 1/2 inches high. I began to look through my button collection and saw all the heart-shaped ones (one of my other loves is heart-shaped things), and thought — Hey! Maybe I could make a heart-shaped one! I Googled “heart shape” to find a pattern (my free-hand stuff, even simple shapes, is way wobbly) and found one the size and shape I wanted — I wanted this one to be a little bigger — and printed it off on card stock. The tricky part was making the heart-shaped hole in the middle for a wreath, but between measuring, my husband scanning and printing a smaller size of the heart shape, and eye-balling it, I finally got an acceptable shape. I cut the heart-shaped pattern out of cardboard. Then I decided I wanted to do a small ornament with a heart shape, but not with the whole in the middle. I didn’t think that would need to be as heavy as the cardboard, so I got one of those thin pieces of cardboard from the back of a package of computer stationery (I knew I had been saving those for a good reason! 🙂 ) for it.

Basically you just glue buttons on to the shape. I started with flat, plain buttons and added the shaped and decorative ones on top as I filled in spaces. I used a small hot glue gun. I imagine craft glue or tacky glue would work, but would take longer to dry and work with. I glued a ribbon for hanging it on the back, then backed them both with white felt (I read that some other used decorative paper for backing).

I was so pleased with the results!! Here is the ornament:

I realized afterward that the little Christmas tree is a charm rather than a button, but that’s ok. 🙂

Here is the wreath:

I just love the vintage look, even though none of the buttons are vintage. Some of them I’ve collected over the years; many were from little bags of them that Michael’s used to sell (I don’t know if they still do — I am going to check!!)

The ornament is about 3 1/2 inches; the wreath is 6 inches. The larger wreath does take up a lot more buttons, so I’d go with a small one unless you just have a lot of buttons you need to use up. 🙂

I haven’t done much of anything crafty for a long time, and I was delighted to get back into it with these projects. I want to make some more next year for other people. I’ve been enjoying looking at various crafting blogs over the last several weeks and excited about doing some new projects this year! 🙂

By the way, I’ve found all kinds of variations on the little soft trees I mentioned at first. My favorites are the ones at The Sparrow’s Nest, little birds handmade, turkey feathers, and Mississippi Girl, but there are many variations — there are some creative people out there! There is even a Flickr category for them!

Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt: New

Posted on December 30, 2006 by Barbara Harper

This is the newest addition to my Boyd’s Bear figurine collection. I love it because 1) it’s Boyd’s; 2) it’s so cute; and 3) my husband gave it to me for Christmas. But I especially love this one because it shows the couple sitting on a log, and we got engaged while sitting on a log in a park, and he thought of that when he got this for me. Isn’t he sweet? ♥

To find out more about the Saturday Photo Scavenger Hunt, go here.

Looking back meme

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Barbara Harper

I saw this fun-looking meme over at 4:53 am (a wonderful craft blog! I get inspired just looking) in which we post the first line of the first post for each month from our blogs. I have only been blogging since July, so I only have six:

July:

“I am a Christian 40-something stay-at-home mom. “

August:

“Last week was a busy week!”

September:

“I saw a new meme over at Rocks In My Dryer originated by Catez:”

October:

“Lauren at Created for His Glory is hosting a ‘Bloggy Tour of Testimonies.'”

November:

“That which we elect to surround ourselves with becomes the museum of our soul and the archive of our experiences.”
—Thomas Jefferson

December:

“A pretty easy feast today!”

Let me know if you play along and I’ll come “look back” with you.

Friday’s Feast #124

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Barbara Harper

Appetizer
How do you usually celebrate on New Year’s Eve?

We usually stay home and flip back and forth through the various New Year’s programs on TV. With New Year’s Eve being on Sunday night this year, I am sure we will have a church service, but Pastor doesn’t like to keep us out late then — he doesn’t want to send us out on the streets right when the drunk drivers are heading home, too.

Soup
Name one thing unexpected that happened to you in 2006.

No major big surprises, but one unexpected thing was starting a blog. I don’t know how long I had been thinking about it before I finally took the plunge, but I have enjoyed it immensely!

Salad
Where was your favorite place that you visited in 2006?

We didn’t really go anywhere this year — which is fine by me! I’m don’t travel well and prefer to be like Beth in Little Women, the cricket by the hearth. Everyone else can travel and come tell me about it and show me their pictures. But I did enjoy visiting a little with my good friend Valorie. When we moved to a town 40 minutes or so away, I thought we’d see each other all the time. But we don’t, sadly. Whenever I do go to that town and call her on my cell phone on the way to see if she has time to get together, she’s always very gracious. 🙂

Main Course
What resolution is your top priority for 2007?

I don’t really do resolutions per se, but I do like to sit down and take stock and make goals. The first goal would be to maintain one goal I have had for years: to read the Bible every day and grow more into what He wants me to be. One new goal I really, really need to make is to incorporate some kind of regular exercise into my life

Dessert
Using just three words, describe 2006.

Peaceful, normal, uneventful. That may sound boring, but we experienced an upheaval right at the end of 2005 with my mom’s death, and other years have had other calamities, so yes, I’ll gladly take peaceful, normal, and uneventful this year! 🙂

You can read more Friday’s Feast entries (or participate youself! It’s fun!) here.

(Photo above courtesy of the stock.xchng)