Tag Archive - spirituality

Two Life-Changing Tools for Spiritual Growth

October 21, 2011 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Leadership, Ministry to Women with 0 Comments

While I was MC-ing Yahweh Street Ministries Ladies Retreat, I gave a brief devotion emphasizing our need to spend time with God. I shared answers to feeling spiritually adrift and longing for something more, a life change or spiritual growth. Two things make the difference: listening to, and responding to, God.

Come Awake Cover 3D

Learning to listen and respond to God with Come Awake

Out of my desire to help others find the missing spiritual piece in their lives, I wrote Come Awake. The book is a devotional/journal training manual. It’s what I use to mentor people who want to grow closer to God and work out their lives to gain inner peace. In it teach reading the Bible for life-change and how to respond in prayer. If you’re looking for someone to help you strengthen your spiritual life, use God’s word and pray effectively, then I suggest trying Come Awake. And if you are mentoring others you can order copies to aid your work with them.

NT in 75 Days

Reading NT in 75 Days

Reading the Bible in such a way as to hear God speak into your life situation is a powerful life changer. Another tool I’m using to help me read the Bible is the New Testament in 75 Days app for Apple products. I’ve had several ask for the link to the app. Check it out. If you don’t have Apple capability you can download the NT in 75 Days Reading Schedule and read along using your own Bible or an online one.

As you will find in Come Awake, you can change your life by reading and praying in only 20 minutes a day. I stretch it to 30 minutes when I have time. Anybody can find 20 minutes to invest in a life-changing relationship with God. I challenge mentorees to put effort into spending time with God this way, setting aside 20 minutes five or six days a week for at least 21 days in a row. Twenty-one days is usually the amount of time for creating habits. And how cool is it to have created a habit of spending meaningful time with God!

How do you mentor and lead people in spiritual growth? What have you found to help you read God’s Word and respond in prayer?

This post is part of the Insights into Ministry & Leadership Series. If you enjoyed it you may also like the Living and Working on Mission Blog Series, the Spiritual Journey’s Gentle Nudges Series or the other Blog Series.

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Blog Series

July 13, 2011 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Leadership, Ministry to Women, series with 0 Comments

Blog Series

These blog post and blog post series are considered the “Best Of” here on Confessions of a Preacher’s Wife Blog. These are the ones that moved me the most and naturally they are the best I have to offer.

I hope you enjoy the time journeying through them at your own leisure. Also, I trust you find them helpful, become inspired by them, and then maybe change or do something because of them. That your life will be different by taking my hard-learned lessons to heart and applying them as well as sharing them with others!

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Creative Commons License photo credit: Xelcise
Best of Blog Series

Here are the series that I’ve put together for you:

A Spiritual Journey’s Gentle Nudges

This is a series of confessions on how God gently nudged me along on my spiritual journey. Sometimes it felt more like a kick in the pants, nevertheless, I got the message and back on track. Laced throughout are key truths I’ve learned along the way that changed me and I’m sure will help you, if only to laugh at this preacher’s wife and her zaniness.

Living and Working on Mission

This series is more of a log of various ministry efforts and opportunities as well as sharing insights I’ve gained. Any special effort like the Ugandan Orphan Mission or the Capture Me! Conference for women will share about another culture or a mission opportunity. These posts will deliver inspiration to get involved with God and share his love even in your own hometown. Click over to begin your journey of sharing God’s love and be ready to laugh and learn along with me.

  • Engage us here as we live on mission, changing the world one heart at a time.
  • Remember, it isn’t about guilt, it’s about finding something to live for, something that gives your life purpose!

Insights into Ministry & Leadership

This series includes insights and encouragement to improve leadership, ministry and personal/team development. Often we get into ruts doing things as usual. I want to broaden our thinking with some “what if” questions as well as some helpful tips. As a pastor’s wife and leader, I made a fair share of mistakes which caused me to study leadership and effectiveness. In these posts you will learn from my mistakes and gain insights on many aspects of leadership development, teaching and ministry, including ministering to women.

Minister Wives Fellowship and Support

This series both challenges and honors the leadership of ministry wives. If you’re a minister’s wife, you’ve felt the essential need to connect with someone who understands the ministry and gets you. I’m a preacher’s wife and I have a desire to help minister’s wives find a safe place to to be heard and receive ministry. In this blog series, you’ll find helps, a few opinions and lots of confessions in the struggle to be a pastor’s wife. The plan is to build a support system for these special servants that often feel isolated and overlooked. Click on over to take a look at some of the topics.

Other series may be developed as need is expressed. If you have any ideas, please share in the comments below. Please comment and share your insight and solutions. What issues do you deal with that you would like discussed?

As always, if you have a topic or suggestion you would like to discuss please contact me here or make a comment on this post!

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Stay Thirsty, Share Hope: A Simple Way to Do Good

June 25, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Please, can I have a drop to quench my thirst?

People Are Thirsty

Every time I come in from this Africa-hot Texas weather I beg for water, sometimes in a not-so-pleasant manner. This heat makes me sticky and irritable. I’ll be “glistening” all summer while searching for refreshment.
waterglass
Others also look for cold water. Some head to rivers and lakes (my prayers for those involved in Arkansas’ flash flood). Others turn to vendors and waiters. I heard of a rich guy that was burning up in the heat. He could not buy a drop of water and was desperate for a cold drink. No one helped. “Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue” (from Luke 16:24), he begged, while knowing he was shut off from the life-giving water.

Drinks All Around

His desperation created in me a desire to help. I wanted to dig a well, pipe in some relief, do something. It was too late for him, but I could share my life-sustaining drink with others before they reach the same horrifying end.

I decided to tell as many as I could about the water that flows deep, puts out the heat and satisfies our thirst. Such water is found in Jesus. He offers living water and to the one who drinks it, no more thirst (John 4:10-14). I want to be the pipe bringing life, the well that overflows, the spout that pours sweet words of hope, life and redemption. I want no one to go thirsty like the rich guy. I promise to share my drink.

The Choice to Drink Deep, or Not

I may not be able to make others taste, but I can be a pleasant, enticing glass that holds cool and refreshing water. My acceptance and love can leave people with a desire to know more about me and my God. In these irritable, hot, hazy days of summer, fill my cup Lord, and make me a pleasant presentation of your living water.

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’ ” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.) (John 7:37-9)

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Pointless Prayer on the National Day of Prayer

May 6, 2010 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

Today, on the National Day of Prayer, many pointless prayers will go nowhere. There is a time where prayer for our nation, our leaders and our families are noticed by God. But that season is after a reflective prayer where we humbly approach God in repentance acknowledging our wrong doings and dependence upon his forgiveness. Without that personal relationship and preface to prayer, we are participating in meaningless utterances.

t-shirtAs a “praying” nation, we fashion a god and clothe him to fit our belief. We are a spiritual, religious people like those in Jeremiah 10:1-10. In our minds we adorn god with garments of gold, making him some sort of controllable idol, boxing him in a manageable package that fit whatever limitation our faith holds.

God is beyond measure, beyond comprehension, beyond our ability to grasp entirely. We cannot explain him. We cannot contain him. We cannot pray to him on our terms. We must read his letter to us, the Bible, to catch a glimpse of the holy God we want to petition in prayer.

When we do . . .

When we seek him, we will find him, especially when we seek him with all our hearts (Deuteronomy 4:29, 1 Chronicles 28:9). God wants to relate with us. He wants us to pray, to have conversations with him—both listening and talking. But we must pray on his terms: humbly, repentant and personal followed by corporate repentance (2 Chronicles 7:14, Romans 10:9-10).

Instead of a national day of religious whims, how awesome would be a national day of repentance, prayer on God’s terms.

Picture: To buy a t-shirt at www.recoveryrocksmesa.com

Life Interrupted

December 8, 2009 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 3 Comments

I get aggravated when things don’t go as I plan. Like preparing a meal only to find out that my husband ate the same thing for a business lunch. Or when I’m doing my normal work and difficulties keep making the easy task impossible. Even when I’m expecting and waiting for some great experience, I get irritated when it doesn’t happen on my timetable. Like when I prayed for and got pregnant. I really wanted this child, but it was Labor Day and we had planned a steak dinner. Going into labor was not on the calendar. And Christmas. The extra rush of the season—decorating, cooking, gifting, and partying, just doesn’t fit into my already busy schedule. Surely I’m not alone in my frustration when life is interrupted.

Snow Interrupts Flowering

That’s when I read about three people whose lives were interrupted in a major way.

  • In Luke 1 Zechariah went about his duties as a priest when the angel Gabriel showed up and changed his life forever. He was struck speechless when he questioned God about the promise of a child and because of his doubt he would remain silent until the birth. If I was Zechariah desiring a son, I would be somewhat irritated at the situation surrounding this child and being struck dumb. How could I tell anybody?
  • Elisabeth, his wife, had her life changed as well. Imagine desiring for so long to have a child, and then in old age with a wordless husband, she finds herself pregnant. I’d go into seclusion too.
  • I read further where a young girl’s life took an extreme twist. She was engaged and preparing to be wed, when Gabriel shows up and tells her she would get pregnant and give birth to a special boy—God’s son. Talk about wedding changes. Life interruption!

All throughout the Bible and even today, God interrupts normal lives. I’m glad these ordinary people allowed God’s disruption. Their life intrusion gave me salvation. I will put away my irritations and embrace my life interruptions. Off to celebrate Christmas—the best interruption of all.

What interruptions and irritations can you celebrate this Christmas? Leave a thought or comment.

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Do you ever . . .

July 5, 2008 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 3 Comments

Do you ever suffer with the weight of God’s calling? The heavy responsibility? The great opportunity to be misunderstood, to stain the glory of God? It makes me want to crawl under a rock and hide whatever non-talent I have. I really can’t do this. I’ll screw up, because I am a screw-up. God will have to dig me out, dust me off and present this big chicken-hearted screwball as something of value, someone to listen to. What in the world must he be thinking!!!!

Trying to hide,
Robin

 

Cut to the Core: Pierced

July 1, 2008 in Acts Forum with 0 Comments

 

Pierced: I didn’t mean to

Pierced (vs. 37) “Really, I didn’t mean to do that.” Doing or saying something that comes across differently than we meant it pierces us. It could have been an accident or maybe, like me, you didn’t think things through before doing it and the results were not what you expected. Ouch. I really didn’t mean it. We are pierced, cut to the core.

When those gathered in Jerusalem heard the wonders of God explained and their wrongs pointed out to them from Peter’s previous sermon. They were pierced to the heart—a cutting pain to the center of their being. They had screwed up. They begged, “What must we do?” They wanted to correct it, to somehow make it right.

Penance (vs. 38) How do you desire people to respond when they hurt you? A wordy apology isn’t enough without a sincere seeking to change a behavior. An “I’m sorry I got caught” doesn’t cut it. But a true turning around, repentant sorrow is desirable. Peter calls for this kind of repentance, a change of behavior, a seeking forgiveness of sins.

Purify (vs. 38) Miriam Webster defines baptize as “to purify or cleanse spiritually esp. by a purging experience or ordeal.” Relationally, we are to seek spiritual cleansing in Jesus’ name, becoming a Christ Follower, a believer. The water baptism is only a picture of what has taken place on the inside relationally with Jesus.

Promise (vs. 38-39) God gives us a promise when we respond to our piercing with penance and purification—believing him for salvation. The promise is the Holy Spirit (Ep. 1:13) We are marked by God with the Holy Spirit, and it is a down payment of the future eternal life in the presence of God. The promise is for any who will believe.

Picked (vs. 39) This promise is for “as many as the Lord our God will call.”

If one has a personal relationship with Jesus, it is because God chose them. He first showed his love toward them, drew them unto himself using any number of means—his word lived out, spoken out by his people. Believers are picked.

Picking (vs. 40) This promise is for those that chose to believe. If one has a relationship with Jesus it is because they chose to believe. Like a coin with two sides, on one side we are picked and on the other we pick. Peter understood this duality. In the same breath that he said “God will call” he begged “strongly urged them, saying, ‘Be saved from this corrupt generation!’”

A two-fold question applies. Have we been pierced, picked the promise through penance and purification? If so, are we sharing God’s wonders with the same fervency as Peter, being used by God to pierce and bring promise to others? It’s as simple as telling about the last God moment you had.

Blessings,

Leadership Choice & Passion

May 27, 2008 in Acts Forum with 0 Comments

 

Leadership Choice & Passion (Acts 14-21)
 
Our daily decisions change the outcome of future choices. In the movie Prince Caspian, Lucy asks Aslan something like, “Would they still be alive if I had come sooner?” She felt remorse over her previous choices and the loss during the battle to take the castle.
 
Aslan responds, “To know what would have happened, child? No, nobody is ever told that.
 
The believers faced ridicule and a choice following the amazing events in verses 1-13 with the Holy Spirit coming and the speaking native languages of all the nations. “Oh, they’re just drunk!” (Acts 2:13).
 
A common ordinary fisherman made a choice. He stood up to lead, defend, and teach. The other eleven stood with him and didn’t bicker over his leadership. Jesus had established Peter as a leader. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), ? and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell?? will not conquer it. (Mt. 16:18, NLT)
 
Peter stood up for the eleven, with the eleven, and supported by the eleven. He spoke out with a raised voice to all who would listen. He denied the sneers concerning drunkenness based upon the early hour of the day. Then he cited the prophesy of Joel 2:28-32 as evidence of what had taken place.
 
The first part of the reference in Joel, Peter believes to have taken place. God poured out his Spirit upon them, made the sons and daughters prophesy, the young men see visions, and the old dream dreams. Peter believed the Spirit was poured out on the male and female slaves too. He witnessed these things and felt them to be the fulfillment of God’s promises in Joel.
 
About the last part of the quote from Joel, The Bible Knowledge Commentary says “the implication is that the remainder would be fulfilled if Israel would repent.”[1] Peter appears convinced that if the Jews would turn toward Jesus, these wonders in heaven would take place right then. The blood, fire, and cloud of smoke, the sun darkened, and the moon turning to blood all would happen before God’s great day. To Peter, the happenings of the morning meant this must be God’s great day. Surely the Jews would repent now, and God would do these other great things too.
 
I’ve been just as convinced by God’s movement that, “today must be the day,” and my day held nothing compared to this day of Peter’s. Experiencing God move creates an urgency in me to tell others before it’s too late. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (vs. 21).
 
Today, I have a choice to expect God’s movement and be pumped about it telling others. I am not told what would’ve been if I had made better choices in the past, but today can be new as I stand with my fellow believers proclaiming the wonders of God to any who will listen. It’s not too late.
 



 

[1]John F. Walvoord, Roy B. Zuck and Dallas Theological Seminary, The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985), 2:358.

The Un-expected Expectation

May 20, 2008 in Acts Forum with 0 Comments

 

The Un-expected Expectation (Acts 2:1-13)
 
What expectations do we have of God? I expect God to make sense of suffering, to give purpose to my struggles, and a reason for living. But isn’t that selfish expectations? Do I really expect God to do something wonderful, some unmistakable, divine work?
 
My expectations reflect my beliefs. Do I believe?  Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” (John 1:50) 
 
God has given many promises, but often I lack the faith to see them. It isn’t that I don’t believe God can. It is more, I don’t think he will. I’m not sure there’s a big difference in my way of thinking, but it makes me feel better. “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)
 
The disciples were gathered together on the celebration day of Pentecost, 50 days, the final party of the 7 weeks of First Fruits Festival after the Passover (vs. 1). They had been given the promise to expect the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11, Acts 1:5).
 
When God does something new, how can we know what to expect? We have no context from which to relate the expectation. It is un-expected. When I was expecting my first born, I tried to understand what to expect from family, friends, and medical professionals. But without experience, I had no real understanding of what to expect. Yes, I was expecting. No turning back from where I was going (giving birth), but the pain, the process, the emotion was all very unexpected. Seeing and experiencing the expectation was more that I could have expected.
 
The believers were together when some extreme, weird stuff happened (vs. 2-4). A powerful noise from heaven filled the place, and then a flame appeared then rested on each one present. Imagine the deafening noise and the eye-popping sights. This was a new thing. Then they were able to speak the native languages of all the festival goers from the many different nations (vs. 4, 6, 8, 11).
 
Jerusalem was swollen with crowds of celebrants and when they heard the noise they ran to see what was up (vs. 6), sort of like rubbernecking accidents on the highway. When God works, he desires to have it shared with others, and provides an audience for the telling of his mighty works. It wasn’t for the disciples benefit alone.
 
Don’t miss the fact that these guys were not learned people. They were common fisherman and the likes, but God did a work through them for the purpose of telling the crowds “the wonderful things God has done!” (vs. 11) God’s promised work was to use the common to display his glory.
 
We can expect various reactions to God’s work (vs. 12-13). Some will be amazed and ask further questions to understand more, while others will discount God and his doings with rationalization or unbelief. Mine is to live my common life in God’s uncommon way of telling others about the wonderful things God has done, leaving the response to God.
 
Trying to expect God’s promises, believing them as truth,
Not for my glory, but his!
What a great life God has given!
Robin
 

Invite To Reflect on God

April 3, 2008 in Acts Forum with 1 Comment

Hello,

You are invited to join us on a journey seeking God through the book of Acts. It is God’s story about initiating the church age, forming the first church and his dealings with the religious and non-religious. We will examine Acts verse-by-verse with intentions to seek God and discover a relevant relationship with Him. Through uncovered truths and encouraged application of those truths, my prayer is that we spiritually experience God, and not only gain head knowledge about God.

The repeated request for my notes and wish for interaction prompted the establishment of this community discussion on a blog where you may read and make comments on the insights of others on a weekly stop. Join us to be both encouraged and to encourage others. You can subscribe to the RSS feed and it will prompt you of the new posted discussion. The link is www.RobinBryce.com/blog. The blog discussion will open after each Sunday. Check it out and invite your friends whether religious or non-religious.

I look forward to journeying with you into a deeper relationship with God, watching God work, and changing our lives.

Blessings,

Robin

PS – I may need to work out some glitches in the blog world in the beginning of this effort; therefore, I ask for your patience, please. If you have ideas or thoughts related to this, please leave a comment on the post.