What’s next—Spring, 2012?

In order to have an idea of why we are going where we are going in our daily studies in God’s Word, we need to turn around and see where we have been! 

Four years ago, I resigned my pastoral position in a local church, after what I believed was a strong nudge by the Holy Spirit—‘turns out, it was.  A week later, I was contacted by a friend who had some deeply spiritual questions that had to do with wanting to run his international company in such a way as to honor God—in every way.  I listened intently, praying as he spoke, and determined that the first thing he needed was a strong biblical foundation … but how to get that, practically speaking?  **In order to properly navigate this life, all of us need to know what the Creator of life has to say to us—we all need to read, understand and apply the book he authored.  As the beloved psalmist penned, ‘Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ Ps. 119.105

Enter ‘Morning Briefings’.  I began writing daily instruction and application from the pages of Scripture for just he and his business partner, and e-mailing them at night, five days a week, so that they would be fed steadily, a little at a time.  We started in the book of James, and then followed the life of Jesus through Luke’s eyes, and Luke’s account of the early church in the book of Acts, and followed the apostle Paul into Galatians, 1 & 11 Thessalonians, 1 & 11 Corinthians, Romans, and Philippians.  Along the way, I have written on timely topics, such as Christmas and Easter, world events, and many other things.  Oh, several years ago, I added podcasting, so readers may choose to listen or read, and there are now several thousand readers in more than 116 countries.   (Many find out about the briefings through Google ads that send them to the first page of the pw website, where they can subscribe.)  You see, it seems that people are hungry for truth, purpose, and they want to know how to have God in their lives.  That is encouraging, is it not?

There is a Morning Briefings group on Facebook and on AllaboutGod.com, and all of the studies are archived at www.pastorwoman.com, and can be accessed, free of charge, at any time.   Please use them.  There is some great writing on the power of prayer, how to hear the voice of God, how to know your life’s purpose, and about the essentials of the Christian faith, in addition to the book studies aforementioned.  (That said, the ‘Morning Briefings’ page needs to be tightened up and time permitting with my one-woman show, it will be!)

Having just completed James and the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, where are we going next?  Well, not long ago, I was in prayer in the early morning, seeking God about the ‘what next’ and came to see that we disciples ought be three-legged—having one leg in the Gospels, closely watching and following the teaching of that perfect Carpenter from Galilee who walked the dusty roads of Palestine, yet lives today to pray for you and me, another leg in Paul’s writings (in which we have been immersed for the better part of three years), as they authored Christian doctrine, and answer the question, ‘how then shall we live?’, and the third leg in the Old Testament so that we know from whence we sprung—that is to say, what Paul was talking about when he says we were set free from the Law … really, what Law, you say?  You see then, you must know the Old to understand the New Testament.  (‘Don’t know where to begin?  Read one proverb each day of the month…so much wisdom)

Everything we need to know about how to live our lives though, we can learn from how Jesus lived and loved.  The Son of God humbled himself to become like us, to live among us, to die for us, so that we could live with him forever.  Having just celebrated this risen Lord, who then ascended into Heaven, let us go back and study his life from the disciple whom he loved, John. 

But even while we live, let’s really live, shall we?  Let’s give ourselves over to this Christian life with gusto.  Let’s take some responsibility for our part of spiritual growth and make it happen—namely in personal discipline, worship, service, and study.  “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷ God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3.16-17  Let’s dig into the life of our Lord.

Christine