description attempted

Born in the East and clothed in Oriental form and imagery

the Bible walks the ways of the world with familiar feet

and enters land after land to find its own everywhere.

It has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight,

and wise men ponder them as parables of life.

The wicked and the proud tremble at its warnings,

but to the wounded and penitent it has a mother's voice.

It has woven itself into our dearest dreams;

so that Love, Friendship, Sympathy, Devotion, Memory, Hope,

put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech.

No man is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own.

When the landscape darkens,

and the trembling pilgrim comes to the Valley of the Shadow,

he is not afraid to enter;

he takes the rod and staff of Scripture in his hand;

he says to friend and comrade, "Goodbye; We Shall Meet Again"; and, comforted by that support, he goes toward the lonely pass

as one who walks through darkness into light.

~Henry Van Dyke

© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

description attempted

Born in the East and clothed in Oriental form and imagery

the Bible walks the ways of the world with familiar feet

and enters land after land to find its own everywhere.

It has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight,

and wise men ponder them as parables of life.

The wicked and the proud tremble at its warnings,

but to the wounded and penitent it has a mother's voice.

It has woven itself into our dearest dreams;

so that Love, Friendship, Sympathy, Devotion, Memory, Hope,

put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech.

No man is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own.

When the landscape darkens,

and the trembling pilgrim comes to the Valley of the Shadow,

he is not afraid to enter;

he takes the rod and staff of Scripture in his hand;

he says to friend and comrade, "Goodbye; We Shall Meet Again"; and, comforted by that support, he goes toward the lonely pass

as one who walks through darkness into light.

~Henry Van Dyke

© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

admission

Okay, so I'll just come right out and say it.

I am NOT a fan of the one-year Bible. In any translation, with notes from any author.

I started the one-year Bible several years, but never finished it. Never made it to December 31st on time. It seemed that something always happened to de-rail me. I would get caught up in a passage or in a concept or become arrested by the Spirit and not move from Old Testament to New or vice versa. Before you know it, I would be three or four days behind and then it was a box on my to-do list to have to check off and we all know that becomes nothing more than just surface reading.

Who came up with the idea that we were supposed to read the Bible through in a year? And why? To make ourselves feel better? To make God feel better? To make us feel organized or accomplished?

If it works for you, then I would never want to discourage you from it. There is certainly nothing wrong about it.

But before you put it on your list of New Year's Resolutions for this upcoming year, please take a moment and see whether it is the most effective way for you to talk to God and for Him to talk to you. And take another moment to see if you are eating it or if you are just taking a bite and chewing and spitting it back out.

I leave you with this quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. 

I would not dissuade them from the practice, 

but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day 

than rinse my hand in several chapters. 

Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, 

and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, 

til it saturates your heart!

© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

admission

Okay, so I'll just come right out and say it.

I am NOT a fan of the one-year Bible. In any translation, with notes from any author.

I started the one-year Bible several years, but never finished it. Never made it to December 31st on time. It seemed that something always happened to de-rail me. I would get caught up in a passage or in a concept or become arrested by the Spirit and not move from Old Testament to New or vice versa. Before you know it, I would be three or four days behind and then it was a box on my to-do list to have to check off and we all know that becomes nothing more than just surface reading.

Who came up with the idea that we were supposed to read the Bible through in a year? And why? To make ourselves feel better? To make God feel better? To make us feel organized or accomplished?

If it works for you, then I would never want to discourage you from it. There is certainly nothing wrong about it.

But before you put it on your list of New Year's Resolutions for this upcoming year, please take a moment and see whether it is the most effective way for you to talk to God and for Him to talk to you. And take another moment to see if you are eating it or if you are just taking a bite and chewing and spitting it back out.

I leave you with this quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. 

I would not dissuade them from the practice, 

but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day 

than rinse my hand in several chapters. 

Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, 

and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, 

til it saturates your heart!

© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

it all comes down to faith...

All the questions...and confusion...and "well, I think"...and you're taking it too far...and God wants us to be happy...and grace means I don't have to respond in any way at all to God's love except to just say yes...and yada, mumbo-jumbo, blah, blah, blah...

It just all comes down to faith.

Faith that the Word of God is absolute and that Every. Single. Word. was breathed out of the mouth of God. (2 Timothy 3:16 - "All scripture is given by inspiration of God.") Inspiration comes from the Greek word "theopneustos" meaning "to breathe or blow."  It implies sound--words--vocal intonation.

If  Every. Single. Word. in the Bible was breathed by the God of the universe, then I don't have much room to quibble, do I?

The final question--the bottom line--comes down to this:  Do you really believe that every single word in the Bible was breathed by God?


© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

it all comes down to faith...

All the questions...and confusion...and "well, I think"...and you're taking it too far...and God wants us to be happy...and grace means I don't have to respond in any way at all to God's love except to just say yes...and yada, mumbo-jumbo, blah, blah, blah...

It just all comes down to faith.

Faith that the Word of God is absolute and that Every. Single. Word. was breathed out of the mouth of God. (2 Timothy 3:16 - "All scripture is given by inspiration of God.") Inspiration comes from the Greek word "theopneustos" meaning "to breathe or blow."  It implies sound--words--vocal intonation.

If  Every. Single. Word. in the Bible was breathed by the God of the universe, then I don't have much room to quibble, do I?

The final question--the bottom line--comes down to this:  Do you really believe that every single word in the Bible was breathed by God?


© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

the Nona Freeman Prayer for Night People

My daughter recently tweeted about praying the "Nona Freeman prayer" and how God took her up on it and she wasn't sure if she was glad about that or not. (Posted tongue-in-cheek, of course.) We got several questions as to what we were talking about and the explanation takes up more than the 140 characters Twitter allots.

Here is the story behind what we call "The Nona Freeman Prayer for Night People":

Nona Freeman was a veteran missionary for many years to Africa.  She told incredible stories and  probably died with more stories in her head and heart than ever came out. 

She was a woman of faith and of prayer and a believer that God could and would do anything for His people...the problem was/is that we just don't ask Him enough and specifically.

She described herself as a night person.  One who was more alert in the evening, who would rather stay up late and sleep later in the morning.  She was not one who woke up early, chirping with the birds, and ready to conquer the world.  That came later in the day.  She was a night person.

However, she was a firm believer that God needed the first part of our day.  Therefore, she knew that in order to give that to Him, she must not sleep until the last minute, but must wake up earlier than necessary in order to have time with Him.  So, she prayed a prayer that went something like this:  "Lord, I know that I need to talk to you first thing in the morning.  But it is so hard for me to wake up and even though I set my alarm to get up earlier, I end up shutting it off to sleep until the last possible minute.  So Lord, I'm asking you to wake me up 30 minutes early every morning.  YOU wake me up.  Don't let me go back to sleep.  Wake up my mind and my heart so that You and I can have quality time together before our day begins.  I want to, Lord, but my flesh is weak.  So YOU help me.  YOU wake me up!"

I heard her tell this story at our church when I was just a young girl and will never forget when she said, "And the Lord has done just that.  Regardless of what time I go to bed or how little sleep I have received, He always wakes me up 30 minutes before I must begin my day."

I didn't pray that prayer for many years, because I am the ultimate Night Person and, quite honestly, didn't want God to answer it.  (Confession.) But as I matured in Him, I realized that it was absolutely vital that I spend time with him FIRST before anything else had a chance to enter my mind, my heart, and my spirit in the morning.  I realized all the scriptures in the Word that speak of spending time with Him first in the day, and was convicted.  So, I prayed the prayer.  He not only wakes me up 30 minutes early...He usually wakes me up 1 - 1 1/2 hours early!  And I'm fine with it!  I love it...there is no sweeter communion than the communion of first fruits.

I have challenged many of the young women in our church to pray that prayer.  I have tried to convey the necessity, the beauty, the love, the wonder that comes with meeting with Him first in the day.  I let them know they must mean it before they pray it, because He WILL answer it.

So, it takes them a while.  It's serious business.  And when they are finally ready to get serious about it, they pray it.  And He answers them.

It's "The Nona Freeman Prayer for Night People." 

It's a prayer that will change your life if you are willing to allow your life to be changed.


© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock

the Nona Freeman Prayer for Night People

My daughter recently tweeted about praying the "Nona Freeman prayer" and how God took her up on it and she wasn't sure if she was glad about that or not. (Posted tongue-in-cheek, of course.) We got several questions as to what we were talking about and the explanation takes up more than the 140 characters Twitter allots.

Here is the story behind what we call "The Nona Freeman Prayer for Night People":

Nona Freeman was a veteran missionary for many years to Africa.  She told incredible stories and  probably died with more stories in her head and heart than ever came out. 

She was a woman of faith and of prayer and a believer that God could and would do anything for His people...the problem was/is that we just don't ask Him enough and specifically.

She described herself as a night person.  One who was more alert in the evening, who would rather stay up late and sleep later in the morning.  She was not one who woke up early, chirping with the birds, and ready to conquer the world.  That came later in the day.  She was a night person.

However, she was a firm believer that God needed the first part of our day.  Therefore, she knew that in order to give that to Him, she must not sleep until the last minute, but must wake up earlier than necessary in order to have time with Him.  So, she prayed a prayer that went something like this:  "Lord, I know that I need to talk to you first thing in the morning.  But it is so hard for me to wake up and even though I set my alarm to get up earlier, I end up shutting it off to sleep until the last possible minute.  So Lord, I'm asking you to wake me up 30 minutes early every morning.  YOU wake me up.  Don't let me go back to sleep.  Wake up my mind and my heart so that You and I can have quality time together before our day begins.  I want to, Lord, but my flesh is weak.  So YOU help me.  YOU wake me up!"

I heard her tell this story at our church when I was just a young girl and will never forget when she said, "And the Lord has done just that.  Regardless of what time I go to bed or how little sleep I have received, He always wakes me up 30 minutes before I must begin my day."

I didn't pray that prayer for many years, because I am the ultimate Night Person and, quite honestly, didn't want God to answer it.  (Confession.) But as I matured in Him, I realized that it was absolutely vital that I spend time with him FIRST before anything else had a chance to enter my mind, my heart, and my spirit in the morning.  I realized all the scriptures in the Word that speak of spending time with Him first in the day, and was convicted.  So, I prayed the prayer.  He not only wakes me up 30 minutes early...He usually wakes me up 1 - 1 1/2 hours early!  And I'm fine with it!  I love it...there is no sweeter communion than the communion of first fruits.

I have challenged many of the young women in our church to pray that prayer.  I have tried to convey the necessity, the beauty, the love, the wonder that comes with meeting with Him first in the day.  I let them know they must mean it before they pray it, because He WILL answer it.

So, it takes them a while.  It's serious business.  And when they are finally ready to get serious about it, they pray it.  And He answers them.

It's "The Nona Freeman Prayer for Night People." 

It's a prayer that will change your life if you are willing to allow your life to be changed.


© 2011 by Melani Brady Shock