Week two of our Bible journaling in the month of August.  I appreciate all who have commented publicly and contacted me privately.  I pray this has been as fruitful for you all as it has been for me.  How has the reading been?  Too little?  Too much?  A Goldilocks, “Just right?”  What about the POWERful Bible journaling method, helpful or cumbersome?  I’m ready to pray through Matthew 10 so let’s go.

POWERful Bible Journaling: Matthew 10

P –The things on my heart right now Lord, my confessor of almost three years is leaving, I’m making plans to start back to school in two weeks, I want to mother teens well, I want to mother a toddler well, I want to mother elementary age and middle school age children well, I want to be a great wife, I want to be a good friend, I need community but am worn out from the community living under my roof some days.

O –Jesus chose His disciples and then told them what and how to do.  It was pretty clear and to the point and contained some warnings that are necessary now as well.  Although He gave them the power to heal, He did not give them the power to know immediately what type of people they were dealing with or what type of home they were entering.  They had to discern those things.  So do I.

W —vs 12…And when you come into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house.

E –How often do I come into the door after running errands with children and we are all a big, cranky mess?!  How many times do I walk in the door after running errands by myself and start complaining about the messes I see?  Too many times to both questions!  I want my home to be a peaceful refuge from this messy world.

R–Lord, I’m going to work on keeping a neater house, but not at the expense of being a grumpy momma.  When I come in the house, I will greet my children in peace, not condemnation.

I thought this was interesting…

“The reason why Christ chose exactly twelve Apostles, neither more nor less, was that they should correspond to the twelve Patriarchs, sons of Jacob. For as these were of the Jews, so were the Apostles the parents of all Christians. So SS. Jerome, Austin, and all the Fathers. Rabanus speaks of other mysteries in this number, and following him, S. Thomas (in Catena) says: This number twelve is made by multiplying three into four, and signifies that they should preach belief in the Trinity in the four quarters of the world. They were typified by the twelve sons of Jacob, by the twelve princes of the children of Israel, by the twelve wells of Elim, by the twelve stones of the breast-plate, the twelve loaves of the shew-bread, the twelve spies, the twelve stones taken out of Jordan, the twelve oxen that supported the brazen sea, the twelve stars in the crown of the bridegroom in the Apocalypse, the twelve foundations of the city, the twelve gates.”
—The Great Commentary of Cornelius A’ Lapide

Please leave your POWERful reflections in the comments.

P –Lord, forgive my sloth. I want to be a saint, I want to raise saints. But it’s hard and tiring work. I pray for fortitude and courage to carry on.

O –The Christian life is not passive. The paralytic’s friends carried him to Jesus. After healing the paralytic, Jesus tells him to get up and carry his bed and go home. Jesus called Matthew while he was working. Jesus is recored as going about preaching and healing.

W —vs 24…he said, “Depart; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.

E –…”and they laughed at him.” Jesus ignored those who laughed at Him.  He went about His business. Anyone trying to follow You will be laughed at. I need to ignore it and go about my business. I need to look to You and stop listening to the voices of the world laughing at my vocation: Christian, Catholic, wife, mother, homeschooler, friend.

R –I want to live for you without hearing the world. I want to raise children who are strong enough to be salt and light in a darkened world. I want to laugh because “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

For more information on the POWER Bible study method, please see this post, Bible Journaling: A POWERful New Method

Please leave your POWERful reflections in the comments.

As I started reading Matthew 8 this morning I remembered this is one of my favorite chapters because it stumps me.  It also encourages me and in doing some additional reading today, it also reminded me how I ought to pray, but really don’t want to.  I had spent a little bit of time Bible journaling in Matthew 8 a while ago and a different verse had stood out to me.  It’s amazing how God illuminates the right word for us at the right time.

POWERful Bible Journaling: Matthew 8

P –Lord, just show me what You need me to see.

O –In this chapter Jesus goes from being astonished at the faith of the Centurion to chastizing the men in the boat for not having enough faith.

W —vs 2…And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

E –I want to be able to say to Jesus as the leper, “If thou wilt.”  That’s a scary thought.

R –Lord I believe, help my unbelief.

I love the reading The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide. Of course, there are some parts that are way over my head but they give me something very meaty to chew on. And there are parts that are so simple when I read them the light bulbs start going off. Today something so simple stood out to me after reading his commentary that I wondered why I never realized it before.

When the leper came to Jesus he began his petition for healing by saying “…if you will…”

“…the words, if Thou wilt, denote the desire of being healed, mingled with resignation. For he resigns himself to the will of Christ, that if He wishes it, he may be cured; if He be unwilling, he may remain unhealed.”
The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

For he resigns himself to the will of Christ.

You know what I thought after reading that?  I’m kind of a prayer bully with Christ.  Very rarely do I include anything about it being His will…except when I saw the Lord’s Prayer and get to the part, “…Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done…”  And then I just gloss over not really asking God if this is His will.

No, when I pray I have a laundry list of please and thank you’s, not if you will.  That’s too hard of a prayer and frankly I just don’t want to leave things up to chance–I mean Jesus.  If my friend is sick, I want my friend healed.  Period.  And do you think God laughs at my presumptive and limited prayers?  He may, but He also enlightens as any good Father, like he did with me today.

Because the image just came to me, offering up those types of bully prayers is like looking through an old keyhole.  Remember those.  At my grandparents house, the bedroom doors are old and have honest to goodness key holes.  When I was little I would try to look through them to see what I could see–of course opening the door would have been more effective, but not as much fun.

Thinking about my grandparents house now as an adult, if I were to look through the keyhole I’m thinking of, I would see maybe part of a window and an old canned food box with some quilting material piled in it.  A pretty limited view huh?

If I were to open the door, I would see two windows that overlook a couple of acres.  I would see beautiful quilting material in any and all colors imaginable.  I would see an expensive sewing machine and pieces of, if not full quilts handmade by my grandparents.

In my prayers, when I leave out the part of asking God for His will, I’m looking through a small keyhole.  I have a very limited view that I’m basing my prayers on.  If God were to answer those prayers as is, my limited view prayers would result in limited view answers to prayer.

Wow. This was a fruitful morning of POWERful reflection for me. That’s why I write here because sometimes, lots of time, I need to see my words to flesh out the ideas. I’m reading this fantastic book right now, Pray, Write, Grow: Cultivating Prayer and Writing Together. Here is a beaautiful quote from the book, “…the practice of writing requires observation and processing that enables writers to see the truth with greater clarity.” So true! While writing out my Bible journaling reflection the whole “keyhole” image came to my mind. I was able to clarify in my thoughts and words why this verse containing the words, “…if Thou wilt…” jumped off the page at me this morning.

Has using the POWERful Bible journaling method been helpful to you so far? Have you had any “keyhole” moments during your Bible study time?

Please share your POWERful reflections in the comments.

We’re one week into our POWERful Bible journaling. How’s it going for you? Besides the reflections shared, I have benefited from the accountability. So thank you! I’ve also enjoyed reading the Book of Matthew with fresh eyes. Praying first has set my mind and heart in the right place. Awaiting that one verse that is going to pop off the page just for me has made the reading a little suspenseful. And of course, the reflection part is interesting. So let’s get started today with Matthew 7.

POWERful Bible Journaling: Matthew 7

P –I want to be effective for Your Kingdom. I want others to see You in me. I especially want this in my home. I want my children to know You and love You because they received You in their own home.

O –God is loving and merciful, but He is also just. There’s no getting by God. He will call us to give an account of how we made judgements in this life. And I am the only one who is so tired of people misquoting the Bible saying we aren’t supposed to judge? If we aren’t to judge, then how are we expected to go through life avoiding evil and seeking good? We have to make judgements daily–“Is this a good person, place or thing or a bad one?

God will examine our motives and the fruit we bore–back to being a fruit tree!

W —vs 20…Thus, you will know them by their fruit.

E –So there is some good news here. On those days when I feel a wreck, feel like I didn’t get anything done and feel tired, cranky and overwhelmed, I can still produce good fruit.  s there a peace in my home? Are my children happy and my husband content even if the laundry is waiting to folded and the dishes done?

R –Lord, please help me to look for the fruit and not base how good or bad my day went on how I feel.

I think also, we sometimes confuse the fruit. We think the fruit is the outcome, the result. We measure ourselves as fruit bearers by what we have to show for our day. I was listening to my friend Sarah MacKenzie the other day in a podcast about Teaching from Rest. What she said totally changed my perspective.

“Accepting that we have to wake up everyday and get our marching orders from God and do the work He’s set before us and our faithfulness to that act of getting up and doing the work He’s put before us, that is where our success tied to.”
–Sarah MacKenzie, Teaching From Rest

Instead of looking back at the end of the day to see what I’ve accomplished, I need to ask myself at the beginning of the day and periodically throughout my day,

That’s where I’ll find the fruit, in the process of doing His work, not my results.

Now I’m considering this thinking of my children.  This is going to be hard…Do I get frustrated with them because I don’t see the results of what I’ve asked them to do…even though they have faithfully tried to obey and do what they were told?  Ouch.  I’m missing the fruit of their actions looking for the fruit of their results.

Please share your POWERful reflections in the comments.

For more about Sarah, visit her site and download her Free Quickstart Guide to Great Conversations with Your Kids About Books.

Today we are spending time Bible journaling in Matthew 6.  (For those just joining, Hi There! Here’s a link to the explanation of POWER.) This chapter was a small beginning for me years and years ago; a teeny tiny step in the right direction towards God.  It would take a couple more years for a complete reversion back to my faith but Matthew:25-34 was the beginning.  I’d love to tell you it was because I came across it while reading my Bible, but I’m not even sure I owned a Bible yet, ahem?  No, my introduction to the Book of Matthew came through a song, Lilies of the Field.

Lilies Of The Field

POWERful Bible Journaling: Matthew 6

P –Lord, I am worried for my sweet friend. You alone know what the road ahead looks like for her. Please take my worry and make me useful to her. Please grant her Your peace that passes all understanding. I don’t want her to be scared; that makes my heart heavy for her.

O –This chapter reminds me how much God pays attention to me. I don’t have to be concerned whether or not others consider me a good enough Christian, a good enough Catholic…that’s between God and me. He sees what goes on where others cannot. They can’t see my heart and mind. He can see what goes into the decisions I make regarding my dress, my parenting, my homeschooling, my marriage…everything…He sees and knows the intentions and the very real struggles other do not see.

W —vs 27…And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?

E –This verse has been with me a long time. And yet it took me a while–like a couple of years while–of being scared of dying to realize, being scared of dying was not helping me live longer. And if I wasn’t adding time to my life by worrying…was I taking time away from my life? I envision the trust of a little child…I want that trust Lord.

R –When I am afraid, I will trust in You. (Psalm 56:3) I will turn my heart and mind to You and think of a blessing instead of a fear.

Please share your POWER reflections in the comments.

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