Tag: verse of the week


Sep
2012

Scripture and Prayer of the Week: Colossians 3:15-17

categories: family, jesus
Thanks for joining me for the scripture and prayer for the week.  I try to bring a little focus to my life and my home with a specific prayer and verse every week.  You can find past verses of the week here, and other posts about following Jesus here.  

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Colossians 3:15-17 (The Message)

How am I cultivating thankfulness in my home?  Certainly not when I show my frustration over tiny, insignificant things, or when I yell at my husband or child.  I want this verse to be true in my house, but it is sooooo far from it on some days.  Ann Voskamp has it right, thankfulness is the key to understanding grace and finding peace with God.  The problem is my own selfishness.  I don’t want to be thankful and joyful when I want to be mad and I want to be right.  Anybody?  My prayer this week will be that the Word will have the run of my house, not me.  We will be thankful, because God has blessed us beyond all reason.  We will sing with joy and through pride out the window.  Hopefully.  Pray with me.

Prayer of the week:
Father God, Have the run of my house with your Word.  Fill us with joy and thankfulness.  You have given us grace we don’t deserve, and more than anything we want our little one to grasp that.  How can he if we are selfish, yelling, frustrated parents who reflect nothing of you?  Remind me to sing to you this week.  Remind me to be consciously thankful, out loud, in front of my family.  Help me get over the need to be right and to be justified.  We want to give you plenty of room in our lives, but our own selfishness takes over.  Help me to get over myself this week.  Amen.

What are you thankful for this week?


Sep
2012

Scripture and Prayer for the Week: John 15:4-5, 7, 10

categories: jesus


“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” (John 15:4-5,7,10)

One of my summer staff ladies from Trail West, Susannah, posted this verse on our group wall on Facebook.  It was a great reminder of what our mission in this life should be, to abide in Jesus.  He is the one who will cause us to bear fruit.  Without Him, we are dead branches produce nothing.  This weekend the Bear and I watched as Jed pruned the shrubs in front of our house.  The Bear loves watching his daddy do yard work, and Jed explained to him that the shrubs would grow much faster the more he prunes them.  It was such a picture of how our Father prunes us so that we can grow and bear fruit. 

Prayer for the week:
Father God, I long to abide with you and your Son.  Teach me what that means and how to go about it daily.  I hope to obey your commandments.  Help me to be faithful.  I strive to bear fruit for your glory.  Lord, make me fruitful. Prune and shape my life so that it can bear much fruit. Amen.   

How is God pruning and growing you right now?


Sep
2012

Scripture and Prayer for the Week: Psalm 4:8

categories: jesus
“I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O Lord,
make me dwell in safety.” 
Psalm 4:8
I’ve struggled with insomnia off and on throughout my adult life.  So often it comes from a lack of peace and trust in God.  I lie awake fearful about something I want desperately to control, and refuse to let go of it.  This week my prayer is for peaceful rest in the Lord.  I want to hand over my worries to Him every day and every night.  I can’t control anything, and worry only makes me trust less.  If this is a struggle we share, pray with me this week, and lean on this scripture with me this week.
Prayer for the week:
Father God, I love you so much and I want so desperately to trust you completely.  Give me peace as I rest, and help me to be confident that I am resting in your arms.  Help me to trust that your plans are the best for me and for my family, and to know that you alone are my rock and the only one who can make me dwell in safety.  Amen.  


Aug
2012

Scripture and Prayer for the Week: Matthew 6:25-27

categories: jesus
With this new phase in life I am forced to trust.  
Trust the Lord to provide for our family.
Trust that He has us right where He wants us.
Trust that we are doing what He has asked us to do. 
All this trust is just plain SCARY.
I’m a worrier.  
About everything.  
But I don’t want to be.
I want to live a life of dangerous dependence on my Savior.
My plan is to start every week with a scripture and prayer theme for the week.  I’d love for you to join me, if you’re interested.  I need accountability.  Don’t we all?  
This week I’m meditating on this verse, to remind myself that He has me in His hands and is capable, loving, and generous, and sees me as His precious daughter.
Scripture for the Week: 
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important that clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”
~ Matthew 6:25-27
Prayer for the Week: 
Father God, Help me to trust you more every day.  Remind me of your extravagant, generous love for me and my family.  Give me clarity and confirmation that we are on the right path.  Let me lay my worries at your feet and not take them up again.  Thank you for being faithful and worthy of my trust.    
Do you ever struggle with trusting God? With what?


Aug
2011

Verse of the Week – Joshua 1:9

categories: baby, jesus
“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9
The Lord gave Joshua these instructions as he took over the leadership of the Israelites after the death of Moses.  He gave me this verse this week as I prepare to go back to work tomorrow.  I have struggled with fear and anxiety over returning to work all summer long.  If you had asked me 5 years ago if I would ever want to be a stay at home mom, I would have looked at you like you were crazy and said “No possible way.”  The Lord has changed my heart almost entirely, but I am committed to my job for one more year.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job most of the time.  The Lord called me to ministry with teenagers through Young Life 11 years ago and has molded me into a minister of the Gospel.  We are paying for Jed’s masters, so I need to work full time right now.  My job is such that normal day care hours aren’t a huge help because I often work weekends and evenings.  After discussing it with several other YL staff women who have children, we have decided to use a Mother’s Day Out program at a church near our house 2 days a week and I’ve moved my office to my home.  This is a HUGE change for me and I am so scared that I will be inadequate at both my job and mothering because I’ll be stretched too thin.  The Lord gave me this verse on Thursday and it has been an encouragement.  He has me in this place in life, in this job, in this city.  He has blessed me with this child and the opportunity to work while mothering.  He has provided for us miraculously time after time.  He will walk beside me and comfort my fears if I release them.  As I go back to work tomorrow, I will be strong and courageous, for He is with me.  


Aug
2011

Verse of the Week – James 1:5

categories: jesus, love
“If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  James 1:5
Since giving birth to Fisher, I have realized more than ever that I desperately need the Lord to give me wisdom.  Parenting has been the most humbling, dependency-on-the-Lord-driving experience of my life.  I know it will continue to be so and am so thankful that the Lord is in this with us and will not leave us to fend for ourselves.  


Apr
2011

Verse of the Week – Luke 19:35-41

categories: jesus
*image from Pinterest

They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.  As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.  When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
”Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”  As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it.
Luke 19: 35-41

Today is Palm Sunday, when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  I’ve been doing a Lenten study for the past few weeks, and I have learned so much about the last weeks that Jesus walked on this earth.  Before this study, I don’t think I’d ever noticed verse 41.  Jesus rides in to the city on a donkey so that He could fulfill the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9.  The crowd is celebrating Him, acknowledging that He is the Messiah.  They wave palm branches, a national sign of freedom, and lay their cloaks under His feet.  The Pharisees try to shut up the crowd, worried that the Roman soldiers will come and regulate on the crowd.  All the while Jesus is riding on a young donkey, mourning on the inside for a city and a people that He loves.  He alone knows that He is riding to His death.  He alone knows that the cheers will quickly turn from praise to condemnation.  Imagine His thoughts as He rode through the cheering crowd.  The Son of God was so overcome with emotion that He shed tears for the lost.  Thank you, Jesus, for taking my sin so that I could live in freedom.

Join me this week in remembering His love for us.  
   How do you celebrate Easter week? 

Feb
2011

Verse of the Week – John 15:5

categories: jesus
*image from brewright.blogspot.com
I am the vine and you are the branches.  If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.     
John 15:5

This morning one of the pastors at our church shared about the difference between trying to make a name for ourselves, and God making a name for us.  He shared the passages in Genesis 11 and 12 that showed the fate of the builders of the tower of Babel as apposed to that of Abram/Abraham.  The builders tried to reach God through their own work, while Abram believed God and trusted Him.  How different those 2 approaches to life are, but they make all the difference.  I think I struggle between the 2 on a daily basis.  I really want to trust God with my whole life, but sometimes it is so hard to get over the fact that I don’t know best and what I think is good for me is not the BEST that God has for me.  I’ve learned that the good I want for my self  is often the enemy that gets in the way of the best that God has planned.  
Do you struggle with trusting God with anything in your life?   

Nov
2010

Verse of the Week – 1 Chronicles 16:34

categories: jesus


“Give thanks to God—he is good

and his love never quits.”

– 1 Chronicles 16:34 (The Message)

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it serves to remind us of what we should be doing all year round – thanking God for our lives and all that is good in them. Every year I make a list of things I’m thankful for with my Young Life girls, and it is so fun to find those lists years later and be reminded of how the Lord has worked in my life. I’ve made my list for the year and will share it later on this week.
What are you thanking the Lord for this year?