James: Crucibles That Keep Coming

As you probably know, a crucible is a vessel designed to withstand high temperatures. It's used for refining precious metals like silver and gold. The metal is placed in the crucible, then heated to the point of liquefaction. All the dross rises to the top and is burned off, or removed.

That's what the crucible times of our lives are designed to do. Difficulties combine to produce positive change in us. 

I've had a few crucible times. I always emerged a better person than I was, but I've never emerged flawless and perfect in all my ways. 

The point of the crucible, however, is to get all the dross out. If you want pure gold, you continue the crucible-treatment until purity is achieved. 

This morning, I pondered the fact that I've had quite a few crucible times over the years, and I realized a hard truth. I've needed more than one dose of "crucible" because there's so much dross to remove. 

24K purity has not been achieved yet, so I can look forward to more time in the crucible.

That brings me to another hard truth. If I allowed God to remove my sin and purify my heart at the beginning, I wouldn't need so many trips through the crucible. If I abandoned my sin, He wouldn't have to burn it out of me.

I'm beginning to understand King David's plea, "Create in me a clean heart, O God..." 

Today, let's ask God to help us let go of the sin that mars our purify. The attitudes that don't reflect Him. The desires for the world instead of the things above. Let's ask Him to help us put them down, rather than burn them out. 

Let's ask for clean hearts.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me," Psalm 51:10 esv
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If you'd like to participate in the James study, here's how: More than Enough: Living a Life Worth Living
If you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Trials, Endurance, and the James Bible Study
If you'd like to help support this ministry, here's the link to give: Global Outreach Acct 4841 If you'd rather use a check or money order, make it out to Global Outreach. Remember to put "Account 4841" on the "for" line. Mail it to: Global Outreach, PO Box 1, Tupelo MS 38802
#studyJames #Biblestudy #crucible 

Trials, Endurance, and the James Bible Study

I'm not sure when I started writing the Bible study on James, but I began preparing to write it months ago. I read through James so many times that I started to memorize the words from the repetition. 

Finally, I actively memorized it because it was easier to have the words in my head. I didn't memorize it all, because there was writing to do, but I have a good start and I'm not quitting yet.

A pastor friend told me you're not ready to preach a sermon on a passage of Scripture until you've been through it forty times. It turns out you're not ready to write until you've been through it that many times, either.

I was up again this morning well before 4 am. I've been up that early for so long, trying to squeeze more writing time out of the day, that it's become a habit.

Writing this was hard. I worked eighty-plus hours a week, because the work of being a missionary doesn't stop while you're writing. I wept from conviction every day, despaired of getting through, cried over how hard the writing was, begged people to pray because I didn't think I could finish. 

God helped me. I made it to the end. Yesterday, when I wrote the last section, Praying Like a Prophet, I wept as I typed. I stood in my kitchen and cried like a baby. And typed.

When I typed the period at the end of the last sentence, I put my face in my hands and wept from pure joy. As I did, the words of James drifted through my head. "let endurance have its perfect result..."

I don't know that endurance has produced a perfect result in the Bible study, but it has done some serious refining in me. This was a kind of trial for me, and I counted it as joy while I did it, but I know it's a joy now.

This isn't the kind of trial most of us will have, but it was still hard, because trials are always hard. It seemed impossible to get through. Agonizing. Gut-wrenching. Intense soul-searching. Like all trials. 

I persevered and made it through.

And you can, too. No matter what you're facing, you take one step at a time, cry your way through if necessary, and keep going. You depend on God, who is the only One who can help, and you just keep going.

When you persevere, it produces endurance and refinement. It makes you more like Jesus, and that's the goal. You ask for wisdom and, in your desperation, you don't doubt, because what good would that be? You ask and receive, and it strengthens your faith.

Everything James wrote about how to live like his Big Brother is true. He grew up with Jesus. He knew him in a way few did. 

His words are not suggestions. They are rubber-meets-the-road truth about how the life of a disciple is to be lived. 

THIS is how our lives are supposed to look. Strong. Humble. Wise. Patient. Slow to anger. Generous. Respectful of all. In constant communication with our Lord. Demonstrating our faith with our good works. Bold. Brave. Kind.

Being a disciple of Christ is exciting, and hard, and gut-wrenching good. It's worth it.

If you put your whole heart and soul into this study, I believe you'll take a giant step toward being the disciple you were saved to be. I don't think you'll ever want to go back to the status quo.

I hope not.

So here it is. The refining fire that burned out so much sin in my heart. I hope it does the same for you.


Because I've completed the writing ahead of time with James, I'm giving you the entire file at the beginning. (and I'll be going through it with you as a participant.) The link below gives you view-only access to a dropbox file for the PDF. (That means you can download it, but you can't change my PDF.)

Don't forget about the Lessons in Discipleship closed Facebook page. If you're not my friend, friend me and ask to be added to the group. That's the place for discussion and questions.

When you click on the link, it will take you to the file. There's a download button at the upper right corner of the screen. If you click on it, it should download the file to your computer. Just check your downloads and you can open it as often as you want. 

There are links to click on in the James document that will take you directly to the reference mentioned in the text.

Here's the link to the study:

James/More than Enough: Living a Life Worth Living


As before, this book is free. If God leads, here's a link to make a small (tax-deductible) donation to cover some of the cost of producing it. You don't have to make a donation. It's free, no matter what. 

Click here if you feel led to make a donation. 

ps - the photo is of my granddaddy's rose. I have a cutting that's grown and endured for so many years that it's become a symbol of endurance to me.
#studyJames #Biblestudy 

Highlights from Hosea (part one of two)

In case you haven't heard the shouts of joy from my house, let me share my good news. After fifteen weeks of mostly twelve to fourteen hour days and 330 pages of text, I have written THE END on the Hosea study. In a way, those are my two favorite words because they mean I'm moving on to another project. In another way, they're my least favorite words because they mean the long process of edits will soon begin.

For today, I'm celebrating that the hard work has finally culminated in a completed project. As part of that celebration, I'm sharing a few of my favorite truths from the study. 

In case you don't remember, Hosea was a prophet toward the end of the Northern Kingdom. (The Ten Tribes/Israel) Israel was apostate during his ministry, with rampant idolatry and immorality. Their nation looked much like ours does now. 

There was so much sin mingled with the truth of their religion that it rendered it nothing more than a sham. The people twisted the things of God until their relationship with God was nonexistent, and the tenets of their faith were unrecognizable.

God warned the people through multiple prophets to repent or face judgment. At last, He sent Hosea, who lived his prophecy before the nation by marrying a woman who was a harlot. She behaved toward Hosea as the people of Israel behaved toward God. Hosea loved her, redeemed her, and reconciled with her as God had done with Israel. He was a picture of God's love in living color, but yet His people refused to see the truth lived out before their eyes. 

They chose sin and, by that choice, chose judgment and exile. Their sin cost more than they ever believed they'd pay, and ours will, too.

Here's a few key lessons from the first seven chapters of Hosea:
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God has loved us with an everlasting love, and that love cannot be denied.

If we are to forgive as God forgives, we must relinquish our rights to recall the wounds of others and to use their sin against them. We must let it go in the way we want God to let our sin go. Completely.

Forgiveness doesn't give us amnesia. It gives us a kind of spiritual anesthesia. It removes the power of the wound in our lives to continue to hurt us.

Nothing we can devise and nothing this world can devise will ever save us or gives us the righteousness of Christ Jesus. 

God's goal for us is not comfort. It's holiness.

We cannot be a wholehearted follower of Christ if part of our heart remains in love with the world.

Our breath is not our own. it is a divine gift from God and entrusted to us so that we might praise and honor Him.

Like it or not, we, the body of Christ serve as a kind of bridge to God for those who do not know Him. We live out our faith in front of them, and they draw inferences about God by the way we choose to behave. To love. To condemn. A world is watching for us to show them God by our lives.

Even when our leaders (both civil and religious) fail to lead us in a godly direction, we are still accountable for our own choices and our own sin. 

God's goal is not discipline, but correction. Repentance. Restoration.

We serve a God who is long-suffering, kind, and full of grace and mercy. He is not, however, a push-over. He is serious about sin and its price.

We don't sin because we are powerless to resist, but because we choose not to resist temptation.

Our Lord wants a relationship with us that has the fervor of newlyweds and the depth of a decades-long married couple.

We can take comfort from the enduring love of our Lord. His desire is to purify and restore. If we truly repent, He will  forgive. Every single time.

There'll be more from Hosea tomorrow, but for today, let's ask ourselves if our sin (secret or not) has impaired our relationship with the Lord. Do we have the intimacy God intended? If not, are we willing to let go of our sin to embrace the One who loves us most?

Now is the perfect time to be done with our idolatry and our sin and embrace the holiness and righteousness only Christ can give. A dark and perishing world waits for the body of Christ to purify itself and bring the light of Christ and the hope of our Savior to them before it's too late.
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If you're interested in learning more, it's not too late to do the Hosea study. There's a closed Facebook group (you can be added) for asking questions and receiving encouragement and news, but all you need to do is go to lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com and check the archives on the right hand side of the page. 

There's an introduction and fourteen chapters. Most people refer back to the first lesson repeatedly for instructions on accessing online links, but you can do the study without the links. Students tell me they've printed each chapter and used a notebook to write their answers. 

The study is designed for you to work in your place, at your pace. Some people have found the accountability of a weekly group to be helpful, but it's not required. 

I hope you can join us in learning from Hosea.
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In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: Praying Elijah-like Prayer, part 2 and the link to part one: Praying Elijah-like Prayer

Here's the link to the prayer guide: The Prayer List
#Hosea #Biblestudy #indepthBiblestudy #lessonsindiscipleship

Hosea: The Greatest Love Story of All (Video #1)

I made an introductory video for the Hosea study. I hope it will be the first in a series of short Hosea videos. I'd love to hear what you think. Click on the link below: (It may take a bit to load, so wait for it.)

Hosea: The Greatest Love Story of All

#lessonsindiscipleship #Hosea #Biblestudy

My latest adventure

It seems like just yesterday, but it was March 31, 2016 that a sweet friend of mine asked me if I had a Bible study she could do. I've written a variety of studies over the years, so I headed to my filing cabinet to find something for her to study. As my hand touched the drawer, I felt so clearly, "You could write something for her." 

I had way too much to do already. There was no way I could add a project of this enormity, but God was in it and it has come together. Pastor Terry Faulkner brought me a laptop loaded with a suite of commentaries to use. Pastor Scooter Noland gave me his own research notes into Hosea. 

The time in which Hosea lived and ministered is so much like our own that it's a sobering look at the result of poor choices and rampant idolatry. 

People have encouraged and prayed and joined in the journey with me. Today, a mere 31 days later, that study my friend wanted is a reality. 

I'm reminded of what happened when Hezekiah reopened the temple.

"Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly." 2 Chronicles 29:36 nasb

I may be the only one rejoicing, but there's no doubt in my mind that God prepared this study and it "came about suddenly." 

I'm including a link in case you want to check it out and/or join us in this adventure. I'm writing as fast as I can and hope to stay a few weeks ahead of the participants. 

There's a Closed Facebook group for discussion (if you want to join just let me know) and a dedicated blog for the study. (http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com)

If you're interested in a little peek, here's the link to the intro:

http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com/2016_04_17_archive.html

and here's the link to the first lesson:

http://lessonsindiscipleship.blogspot.com/2016/04/hosea-chapter-one-entire-first-week.html

I'd love it if you'd join us for all or part of the study.

God bless,

Leanna

#Biblestudy #Hosea #lessonsindiscipleship