Life's Lesson Plans

I hate to admit it, but…I didn’t pay attention to our Bible Lesson Sunday morning as well as I should have. 

The reason? 

The passage jumped out at me in a new light, and a LightThoughts thought began to take shape.  I spent the remainder of the hour reading and rereading the passage and recognizing very quickly the educational layout of the passage. Was Paul responding to a lesson plan? Was he writing an anecdotal observation/reflection about himself?

Somehow I had never noticed the educational terminology in Philippians 4:10-13. 

Every good lesson plan begins with two basic parts. When the lesson is completed, what do I, as the teacher, want the students to KNOW, and what do I want them to be able to DO? From there the lesson plan develops between those two points…Now I include such things as: What do I want them to UNDERSTAND? What CONCLUSIONS do I want them to draw? By ANALYZING the information, what skills do I want them to perform? In other words, when it is all said and done, what do I want them to Do as a result of this lesson? 

How do students get from Point KNOW to Point DO?  It all depends on what they LEARN in the process.

It is here that Philippians 4:11-13 jumped out at me because all three of those words appear in those three verses!

Paul writes that he KNOWS (verse 12) how be abased and how to abound. He could make a list of what would be considered poverty and what would be considered riches. This is the KNOW part of the lesson plan~ basic facts about the topic the teacher wants his/her students to be able to reproduce. Being able to make a list is one of the categories included under the main objective of KNOWING. Now, that doesn’t always mean the student understands the deep rooted meaning of the lesson, nor that he/she can actually make comparisons between the two lists, or be able to analyze the two~~ but he/she can make a list.   

The lesson can’t stop there…

one must be able to DO something with that list!

In verse 13 Paul states that he can DO all things through Christ Who strengthens him. Paul now states what he can DO with that list.

What led him from KNOWING to DOING? Notice what he states in the second half of verse 12 (and also in verse 11). Paul states, “I have LEARNED...”. God had included learning steps into His lesson plan for Paul’s life. Paul didn’t just make a list, he lived it! He learned enough to be able to fully understand the concept, and he was able to draw some significant conclusions and analyze his options. He LEARNED that he could be content and satisfied with his circumstances. He LEARNED that God was right there with him through the trials (See 2 Corinthians 11:24ff for Paul's life-lessons!). 

My friend, you may have heard the head KNOWledge that teaches that God is faithful and that God provides. Now, once you have actually LEARNED it (experienced it), you can then DO something with it!

You can confidently proclaim that through any circumstance you can be content and satisfied with God’s plan for your life. You can now ENDURE, GO THROUGH, and MOVE FORWARD through any circumstance because now you KNOW (because you have LEARNED) that you will be guided by God’s All-mighty, loving hand!

Listen to your "Teacher"~~

Debbie

Be Still and Know~or Get up and Go?

Well, here’s a thought to make your head spin!

Bible study speaker Beth Moore used the following passage from Exodus to introduce her study on Miriam last weekend in Tulsa. When she read it, I immediately thought of some of my recent LightThoughts posts! Is there a contradiction here?

How many times have I quoted Psalm 46:10~"Be still and know that I AM God…." in posts reminding us to take a deep breath and wait on the Lord when circumstances begin to overwhelm us? Pretty good advice, huh?….

Then my last post was about King Asa taking courage and taking charge (see previous post)….reminding us to take our God-given talents, take some initiative, get up, and do something for the Lord.

Now, consider Exodus 14:13-15.

Do we be still and know~or, do we get up and go?

In the verses preceding verse 13 the Children of Israel are complaining and scared. God has miraculously delivered them from Pharaoh’s rule. Now they are the brink of the Red Sea when they notice Pharaoh’s army approaching in a hurry!

 “Now what, Moses?” 

           “We are doomed!”

                          “Maybe we should have just left things as they were and stayed in Egypt?”

Moses gives some positive advice in verses 13-14. These verses have probably been used numerous times when advising friends and loved ones facing a difficult situation.  “Stand firm and see the deliverance of the LORD” and “the Lord will fight for you, only be still (or silent)” In other words, “Be still and know that I AM God.”

BUT…. (and anyone that has been following me knows how much I love that word!)

BUT…as great as that all sounds….we can’t stop there because God speaks next!

Verse 15: God interrupts Moses and says NO~ “…tell the people to move forward…”!  Don’t stand firm, don’t be still, don’t be silent….MOVE FORWARD~GO!

Be like King Asa, take courage and take charge….Move forward….

I wonder why we have never considered the concept of combining Psalm 46:10 and Exodus 14 and encourage one another to “Move forward and see the deliverance of the Lord”?

Now, the question remains. When do we ‘Be Still and know…’ and when do we ‘move forward and know’?

Well, here’s my thought…knowing how we are!

When we are scared, anxious, and nervous about moving forward, we tend to use Psalm 46:10 as our ‘excuse’.  I think I will just be still and let God take care of it!

When we are riled up and raring to go, we like to consider King Asa taking courage and taking charge~without stopping to seek the Lord.

So let’s look at it this way:

When you WANT to ‘be still and know’~~~get up and go!

When you are raring to get up and go~~take time to ‘be still and know’!

Debbie

(Verse quotes are from both the KJV and the NIV)

Take Courage~Take Charge~Take Initiative

Someone has paid you a compliment…They have patted you on the back and expressed their deep appreciation for what you are doing…They have thanked you immensely for the impact you are having on others…Someone is ‘singing your praises’.

You have humbly replied with a gracious ‘thank you.’

Now what? You can’t get those dear words out of your mind. Maybe in your humility you are doubting the sincerity of their encouragement? Maybe you are left thinking, “If all that is true, what should I do about it?”

Take heart, because King Asa experienced the same thoughts in 2 Chronicles 15.

Things were going great for the Land of Judah under King Asa. He was doing ‘right in the sight of the Lord’ and the Lord was blessing and protecting Judah. King Asa was doing a good job, and God sent a message to him through the Prophet Azariah~a message to encourage Asa to ‘keep up the good work!’

Don’t you like getting those messages every once in a while when you get tired or burnt out?

As Azariah concluded his message, he stated, “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded” (verse 7).  What motivating and encouraging words those must have been to King Asa!

So much so that the very next verse says that, “When Asa heard these words…he took courage.” 

However, when I was reading this passage, somehow my eyes read, “When Asa heard these words…he took charge.”  I responded with “WOW! You go King Asa…”  Then I realized my misread. But, when you think about it, is there really a difference?  Maybe when we take courage, we should take charge~~take some initiative and do something?????

I looked up the word initiative, combined a couple of definitions,  added my own little tweaks, and came up with this definition:

The energy and ability to take the first step to get the ball rolling in an effort to improve a situation or to bring about a fresh approach.

As you continue reading through chapter 15, you see that King Asa did just that. He continued to rid the land of idols, and he continued to honor God. God continued to use King Asa in a great and mighty way.

He acted on the encouraging words from the Lord through Azariah…and did something with the energy and abilities God had given him!

What about you? Has the Lord used someone to give you a word of encouragement? Then take courage! Or, should I say, ‘take charge’?”

My word of encouragement to you:

 “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”

You go girl! (or guy!)

Debbie

Don't Breach the Dam

What do pictures of a dam breach and an example from my grandkids have in common?  Proverbs 17:14~that’s what!   

I have heard and seen pictures of dam breaches in news stories of floods and hurricanes. I recall the devastation that was left behind. But something about last night’s news coverage from the breached dam in Boulder, Co. left me thinking, “THAT’S what a breached dam is!”  It was that perfect picture that showed it all…what happened and what it left behind…all in one shot!

Then this morning I read from Proverbs 17 (since this is September 17^th). Verse 14 states,

 “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam: so drop the matter before a quarrel breaks out.”  

Of course, the first thing I pictured was the shot from last night’s news story.  All the sudden the familiar verse took on a whole new meaning!  I thought, “Ah Hu…LightThoughts topic!~Now I need an illustration.”

Then that came to me as well.

Now, I would like to be the first to tell you that I have the world’s most perfect grandchildren…but…

I started thinking about their arguments~~(you know the three-side kind that don’t seem to end),

Then he…

     But you…

         Did not…

              Did too…

and all the times I have said, “Just drop it…it’s over”.  Is it just my grandkids, or is it kids in general?…they don’t drop it! One of them always seems to make one more comment…and it gets the whole ball rolling again!  Sound familiar?

Proverbs 17:14 reminds us that these kinds of never-ending arguments just continue to bring heartache (and headaches!) and ultimate disaster.

A dam breach can either take place when the river has reached its limit and overflows the dam. You see the water rising and know what is about to happen in the next few hours. There is enough time to evacuate and protect your property. There is enough time to save some of the damage.  Or, the river comes on with such force that it bursts through the dam with very little warning. 

http://thebluereview.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Teton-Dam-breached-waterachives.jpg

 

An argument works in the same way. It can either go on way too long, and everyone knows that hurt feelings, heartache, and long-lasting grudges are going to take place. ‘Evacuations’ are encouraged, yet often ignored. Or, an argument can so quickly and unexpectedly get out of hand that serious damage is done before either party ‘knows what hit them’. Either way, breaching the dam is dangerous, painful, and often life-changing.

Solution? The second half of this synthetic proverb…"So drop the matter before a dispute breaks out."

 My grandchildren’s arguments do finally end, usually with no harm done. By the time we get home they are laughing and are friends again. 

Not so with adult arguments...

They are usually much more sophisticated in nature (although often just as immature) and create deeper and more long-lasting effects.

Who are you mad at? Are you currently involved in an argument/disagreement with someone that just doesn’t seem to end?  Drop it (find a way to bring it to an end)…before the dam breaches. The damage could be heart-breaking…and devastating.

Grandma said, “Drop it!”

Debbie