by Catherine McDaugale | Feb 10, 2022 | Christian Living, Ministry
It’s become common in our society to wear masks. I’m not talking about the cloth covering that we’re required to wear in some places because of the pandemic. The mask is the disguise we put on when we go places.
How often have you taken part in a short exchange like this one at church?:
“How are you?”
“Good, you?”
“Doing great.”
Sure, it may be true. Everything in your life might be going well at that moment. But sometimes, it’s not. You may be feeling discouraged. Or you may have just had an argument with your husband in the car while you were driving to church. Even so, when you walk through the door, you put on your best smile and act like nothing is wrong.
The Bible tells us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 (NKJV)). What is the law of Christ? When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He responded,
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39 (NKJV))
The law of Christ is to love God first and then to love your neighbor as you love yourself. One way to love your neighbor as yourself – to fulfill the law of Christ – is to bear one another’s burdens. The word “bear” means to take up in order to carry. When you bear someone else’s burdens, you come alongside that person and help her to carry the heaviness of her problems.
In another place in the Bible, God tells us, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15 (NKJV)). We shouldn’t just share our victories with each other. We should also share our discouragements, our trials, and our difficulties.
By listening to someone who has a heavy burden, praying with her, and pointing her to Jesus, you can help her remember that she is not alone. By lending a helping hand, you can help someone who isn’t able to do something by themselves.
Yet, how often do we do that? Many times we’re wrapped up in our own little world, thinking about our own lives. It’s so easy to focus on what’s wrong in your own life.
When we’re focused on ourselves, we don’t pay attention to those around us. If we don’t make ourselves available to fulfill God’s command, we miss out when the Holy Spirit prompts us to check in with someone.
And it goes both ways. You may be the one with the burden – the one who needs that encouragement or help. The person greeting you when you come to church may be more than willing to listen. But many times, we don’t practice this verse because we’re unwilling to let our guard down. We don’t want to feel vulnerable. We’re afraid of what others will think.
Let’s stop being so concerned with appearances that we keep ourselves isolated. That’s exactly what the enemy wants. Instead, if you’re going through a difficult trial, ask a trusted sister in Christ to pray with you. Be willing to receive the help you need to carry your burden.
And make yourself available to help another in need. Ask God to give you spiritual eyes to see when someone needs your help in carrying a burden. In this way, all of us can fulfill the law of Christ. Let’s purpose in our hearts to do so as we walk by faith with God.
* Photo by Sasha Freemind on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Jan 13, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
Many of us begin a new year by making resolutions. A new year feels like a fresh start – an opportunity to improve ourselves in some way.
Maybe it’s losing those pounds that crept on while working from home in your pajama pants during COVID. Or maybe you’ve decided that this will be the year that you finally end a bad habit or develop a good one. Whether you’re determined to run a half marathon or achieve a goal that’s been on the back burner, a new year for many equals another chance.
Since we’re almost two weeks into the new year, some have already given up on their resolutions. Maybe you decided to stop eating sweets. But when your coworker brought her amazing cookies into work to share with everyone, you couldn’t resist. Or maybe you had resolved to work out every day. After missing one day, then two, you feel like a failure.
Our spiritual walk with God can be like that. You decide that you’re going to read your Bible every morning. A few days or a week goes by, and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself. But then you wake up late one morning and don’t have time to do your devotions. The days you did well don’t matter to you anymore. The only thing you can focus on is what you didn’t do.
Let’s make one thing clear – that self-condemnation you feel is not from God.
God doesn’t love you any more or any less because you did or didn’t read His word. God’s love for us is not based on our works. We can’t earn His love. When we were at our worst, God loved us so much that He gave His only Son to die for our sins so we could be forgiven (John 3:16).
Of course, God wants us to be closer to Him and do the things He’s asked us to do. But we can’t do those things in our own strength. We need God’s help. Only God can help us to live holy lives – ones that are set apart for Him.
Instead of coming up with resolutions on your own, a better way is to seek God, asking Him what He wants you to change.
As you read the Bible, God will reveal to you the things in your life that He wants you to do or stop doing. When He shows you something, the best course of action is to agree with God and do the things He wants you to do, in the way He wants you to do them.
Daniel did just that. When Daniel was a young man, he was taken captive by the Babylonians. They wanted to indoctrinate the young Jewish men into their culture so they could serve in the king’s palace. The Babylonians gave Daniel a new name, taught him the “language and literature of the Chaldeans,” and offered him “a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:3-7 (NKJV)).
Daniel was an Israelite – a group of people who had been set apart for God. God had given the Israelites guidelines about what they should and shouldn’t eat (see e.g., Leviticus 11). Daniel knew how God wanted him to live. He had been taught that God didn’t want him to eat certain things.
It must have been tempting to eat the king’s delicacies and to drink the king’s wine. Daniel was far away from home. He was no longer around his family. He could have justified trying the new foods and drink since he now had to survive in a new culture, a new way of life. Daniel could have decided that it wouldn’t really matter if he continued to follow God’s commands.
But instead of giving into temptation,
“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:8 (NKJV)).
Daniel was determined to follow God. He made a choice to please God.
Then Daniel took action. He not only made the decision to follow God’s commands, he acted on that decision. The Bible tells us that “he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” and proposed a plan (Daniel 1:8, 10-13 (NKJV)).
We know that God was pleased with Daniel’s choice to honor Him. The Bible tells us that “God had brought Daniel into the favor and goodwill of the chief of the eunuchs” (Daniel 1:9 (NKJV)). God went before Daniel and prepared the way for Daniel to be successful.
Like He did for Daniel, God will prepare the way before us when we choose to honor Him and do the things He’s asked us to do. God will help us every step of the way. God has given us everything we need to live a Christian life.
- God’s “divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV)).
- The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside the believer (Romans 8:11).
The Holy Spirit will help us do the things that God wants us to do.
So put aside your own resolutions – the ones you came up with on your own. Seek God and His will for one thing that He wants you to change this year. When He reveals it to you, make a decision – purpose in your heart like Daniel did – to do whatever God shows you.
Then act on it. Take a step in the direction of the change, asking God for strength as you step out in faith. God will empower you through His Holy Spirit. Each day, renew your decision and rely on God for help as you walk by faith with Him.
by Catherine McDaugale | Dec 30, 2021 | Christian Living, Spiritual Growth
As we get ready to start the new year, let’s look at an example of someone who walked by faith with God. The Bible tells us twice that “Enoch walked with God” (Genesis 5:22, 24 (NKJV)). What does that mean? In Hebrews, we get more insight into Enoch’s walk with God.
“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5 (NKJV))
Although we are not given the details, we know from this verse that Enoch pleased God. And how did Enoch please Him? Enoch pleased God because he walked by faith.
The next verse in Hebrews teaches us about faith.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV))
So, to walk by faith with God you must
- come to God;
- believe that He is God – that He is who He said He is, the way He has revealed Himself to us in the Bible; and
- believe that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.
Diligent means that you seek God in a steady, earnest, and energetic way. It’s a daily desire to find out more about God and draw closer to Him.
If you come to God, truly believing that He is God and that He will reward you if you diligently seek Him, you’ll share your life with Him and trust Him with everything. When you are trusting God, you live the way He wants you to live. And you do the things He wants you to do. You want to please Him. You do things God’s way because He knows what is best for you.
You can learn about what God wants you to do by reading the Bible. The Bible 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” (2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT)). The Bible tells us what God loves, what God hates, and how God wants us to live.
After you learn about the things God wants you to do, you must actually do them. To walk with God, you must “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 (NKJV)). In other words, you don’t just listen to the Bible, you do what it tells you to do.
As you move forward, you’ll talk to God about what is going on in your life and look to Him for direction. You’ll walk alongside Him at the pace He sets for you. You’ll go where He goes, turn when He turns, slow down when He walks more slowly, and stop when He stops.
We need to examine our walk with God because we don’t always do that. Paul exhorted us to examine ourselves “as to whether you are in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)). We must focus on our walk with God because we can stray if we’re not paying attention. You may not even notice that you are no longer walking with Him.
Let’s look at it in a different way. Think about going for a walk with a friend. Generally, when you’ve planned to walk with a friend, you’re excited about spending time with her. As you walk, you talk about what is going on in your life. You keep in step with each other, walking at the same pace. Her nonverbal cues tell you when she’s going to turn a corner instead of going straight.
But what if you started to ignore her? Instead of paying attention to your friend, you begin thinking about the things you need to do or a problem you have. Before you know it, you start walking in a different direction. Further down the road, you look up, and you’re no longer with her.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Yet, our walk with God can be like that. One moment, we’re excited about spending time with Him. We’re sharing everything with Him. We tell Him the things we are thinking about and the problems we are having. We trust Him with our dreams. We ask Him for help, for wisdom. We seek His guidance as we walk in step with Him.
Then one day, you look up and realize that you’re no longer walking with God. You’ve started walking on your own path, at your own pace. You’re making decisions without consulting Him. You feel alone. You’re tired and weary.
What happened? You took your focus off God. God didn’t leave you; you left Him.
It doesn’t happen all at once. Typically, a person doesn’t wake up one morning and make a decision to stop walking with God. Instead, you start slowly drifting away from Him. Maybe you got up late and didn’t have time to read your Bible. You got busy so you didn’t pray. You didn’t talk to God throughout your day. Then one day becomes two. Before you know it, a whole week or month has passed.
We need to make a decision to walk by faith with God like Enoch did. It’s a choice we make – whether to get our direction from God each step of the way as we abide in Him or whether we do our own thing, in our own way.
Each day, we decide how we will walk. I hope you will join me in being like Enoch. Let’s diligently seek Him and be known as women who walk by faith with God.
by Catherine McDaugale | Dec 16, 2021 | Bible Study, Christian Living, Thoughts
I have been asked, “How do I meditate on God’s word? How does Biblical meditation work?” So I thought it would be valuable to take some time to reflect on the subject.
Before we begin, it’s important to recognize that Biblical meditation is different from the meditation practiced in yoga and other disciplines, in which you seek to empty your mind. The basic tenant of Biblical meditation is to fill your mind with the word of God.
The Greek word for meditate means to reason or think on. We see that word used in Philippians where Paul tells us to “meditate” on certain things.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8 (NKJV))
Instead of using the English word meditate in that verse, the New Living Translation tells us to “[f]ix your thoughts on.” The idea is to ruminate on or contemplate what the Bible is telling you. It’s an intentional act of purposefully thinking about God’s word. Following five basic steps will help you to do so.
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Choose a Bible verse
Decide which Bible verse you want to think about. Is there a situation that’s been troubling you? Do you need direction for something in your life? Are you curious about what the Bible says on a particular subject? Or do you have a favorite verse that you want to reflect on?
Some Bibles have a concordance at the back that can help you find a verse. If you don’t have a concordance, many Bible apps have a search feature. Or you can ask a pastor or leader at your church for Bible verses on the topic you want to meditate on.
Don’t get overwhelmed by choosing a verse. If you have a list of verses that someone has suggested, start with just one. After you have spent time meditating on that verse, you can move on to another one.
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Memorize or write out the Bible verse
After you decide which verse you want to meditate on, memorize the verse or write it down on a 3×5 index card. Memorizing the verse or writing it down makes it convenient to think about or look at. Otherwise, you will need to have your Bible open to the verse. Making the verse more accessible will help you to meditate on it more frequently.
I have found it easiest to meditate on verses when I have memorized them. By committing the verse to memory, you can literally think about it any time of the day or night, regardless of where you are or what you are doing. For example, if you are driving your car, you can go over the verse in your mind. Or if you wake up in the middle of the night, you can direct your mind to the verse and go over it word by word.
If you’re not good at memorization, use a 3×5 index card. The card is a good size to slip into your pocket, your purse, or to put by your bedside so it’s convenient to read. And, the act of writing the verse and looking at it often will help you to memorize it.
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Pray
Before you being meditating on the verse, pray and ask God to help you understand it. Ask God what He wants to reveal to you. The Holy Spirit teaches us all things (John 14:26). He is the One who helps us to understand and internalize God’s word. Without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we are not able to learn what God wants to show us.
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Meditate
Recall the verse in your mind or read the verse slowly. Think about each word. Ask yourself the basic who, what, where, why, and how questions. What is the verse’s context – where is it in the Bible and what are the verses around it? Who is talking in the verse? Who was it written to? What does it say? What does it mean? Think about what the verse tells you about God. Ask yourself how the verse applies to your life.
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Apply the verse
While you are meditating on the verse, God will show you what it means and how it applies to you. When He does, the final step is to apply it to your life. The Bible instructs us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 (NKJV)).
Live out what God has revealed to you. If you have learned that God doesn’t want you to do something that you’ve been doing, stop doing it. Conversely, if you realize that God wants you to do something that you haven’t been doing, start doing it. Once we discover God’s will, we should align ourselves with what He wants us to do.
Choosing to meditate on God’s word will bless your life. As the psalmist taught us, the blessed man is the one whose “delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2). Let’s be like the blessed man and take time to meditate on the Bible each day as we walk by faith with God.
by Catherine McDaugale | Jul 1, 2021 | Ministry, Spiritual Growth
Remember when you were first learning to ride a bicycle? I do. My dad put an extra set of wheels on my bike that extended off the back wheel to give it more stability. With the training wheels on, I could sit on the bike without balancing and get used to pedaling and moving forward without worrying about falling over.
After I got used to riding my bike with the training wheels, the day came when he took them off. Instead of the extra wheels, my dad held onto the back of the bike’s seat, giving me a little more stability as I learned to balance. Before long, I had learned how to balance and could ride my bike without thinking about it. It had become second nature to me.
In a similar way, when God calls us to do His work, He doesn’t push us into it when we’re not ready. God is gracious to us. Like the training wheels on my bike, He helps us to get used to whatever He’s called us to do before we go solo. The methods God uses will vary in each one of our lives. We are all different, and God tailors the help He gives us to our unique personalities and abilities.
We see an example of God’s use of training wheels in the life of Moses. When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, Moses wasn’t quick to agree. Instead, he came up with several excuses about why he should not be the one to lead them. Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 (NKJV)). In response, God told Moses that He would be with Moses and gave him a sign that He had sent him (Exodus 3:12).
Even with God’s assurance, Moses still didn’t agree to go, saying, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’” (Exodus 4:1 (NKJV)). God then gave Moses three miraculous signs to do before the Israelites so they would believe him (Exodus 4:2-9).
Yet, Moses came up with a third excuse. Moses said, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10 (NKJV)). “So the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?’” (Exodus 4:11 (NKJV)). God then told Moses that He would be with his mouth and teach him what to say (Exodus 4:12).
Still, instead of submitting in obedience, Moses told God, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send” (Exodus 4:13 (NKJV)). In other words, “Thank you very much, but please send someone else. I don’t want to do it.”
God, being so gracious to Moses, then tells Moses that his brother Aaron, who could “speak well,” could be his spokesman (Exodus 4:14-16 (NKJV)). God instructed Moses, “Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do” (Exodus 4:15 (NKJV)).
Finally, Moses obeyed God. As we read, we see the progression as Moses gets comfortable doing the work that God called him to do.
- Moses begins by relying on the “training wheels” that God gave him. When Moses met Aaron, he told Aaron “all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him” (Exodus 4:28 (NKJV)). Moses and Aaron gathered together the elders of the children of Israel, and Aaron spoke “all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses” and did the signs in their sight (Exodus 4:29-30 (NKJV)). “So the people believed” (Exodus 4:31 (NKJV)).
- Later, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they told Pharaoh what God had told them to say (Exodus 5:1, 3).
- Soon, we see Moses himself speaking to the Israelites and to Pharaoh (Exodus 6:9; 8:9, 26).
Despite this rocky start, Moses made it into the revered “Hall of Faith” and is remembered for the work that God did through him (Hebrews 11:24-28).
Just as God helped Moses, He will give you the “training wheels” you need to get started when you obediently step out in faith to do what God has called you to do. So when God gives you direction, step out in faith. Often God will not give you the next step or tell you where you are going until you obey and take that first step.
