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Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 NLT

For a long time, friends who know me well have been telling me, “you need to write.” And you know, my heart is really in writing Bible studies. But I have no theological training other than what I have gleaned from God’s word on my own or sitting in church on Sunday for over 50 years. Feelings of inadequacy taunt me. You know why? Because I’m looking at my own personal skills when what I should be looking at is my skill plus God’s guidance if he’s called me to write, and I believe he has.

When we work with God we are capable of unimaginable things. But I forget this I guess because I’m often found judging what I can accomplish based on my skills, abilities, and resources. Sound familiar to anyone? Why do I struggle to control those things that seem problematic in my life when I could just turn loose and God would either take care of it or remove me from the situation? I’m great at asking this question in hindsight!

After a career that focused on problem-solving my natural inclination is to see a problem, come up with a potential solution and put that solution into action. Not only do I feel out of control when I’m not doing this type of problem-solving, I feel like I’m not pulling my weight. But you know what, I’m not meant to pull such a heavy load, and neither are you. Don’t get me wrong, we aren’t meant to sit around on our backsides sipping coffee and eating chocolate, we have work to do work that is assigned to us. When we stay in our lane, the God who raised Christ from the dead, will act from his lane, right beside us, which is where the heavy lifting occurs. We are only kidding ourselves if we think we can accomplish what God has planned for us alone.

Let’s Think This Through

So…God says we are created to do good works, things he assigned us to do.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:10

God will apply his mighty power to accomplish more than we can even wrap our brains around. (Ephesians 3:20)

But when the load get’s too heavy, we are probably taking on things that weren’t assigned to us. Here’s what Jesus said:

“For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28

Putting it into Action

• What problem is burdening you right now?
• Are you trying to solve the problem alone, or have you leaned into God for his direction and power?
• If you have not spent time discussing the problem resolution with God, what’s stopping you? I’m not talking about presenting God with your own solution and asking him to “make it happen”, I’m talking about asking him for his solution and then leaning into that.
• Is there anything you feel you should do, and you believe God is asking it of you, but fear is holding you back?

Father, we are so tired of trying to solve our own problems. We are also tired of feeling inadequate to do what we need to be doing. Please help us to remember that if we will give you control you will not only lighten our load but amaze us with the things we are able to accomplish with your power working in and through us. Thank you for using us to do your work. And thank you for your patience as we learn to let go of our need to control and lean into you.

There’s An App For That

I have a new memory tip for you. This week I read about a couple of apps that help with Scripture Memory. I loaded two on my phone and am trying them out. They have slightly different features and I’d like to share what I’m learning.

The first I loaded is called Scripture Typer. It helps you memorize by reminding you to review a verse and then asking you to type only the first letter of each word in the verse. You can set it to give you a signal when you miss a word. There is a pro version but I’m not sure it’s something I need. This app works on Apple products, Android products, and even Kindle.

The second I loaded is called Remember Me. You also have the option to type the first letter of each word, as you do, it reads the word out loud. Some of you may like this. For me, it’s distracting. But this app also has some features to work word puzzles with the verse. I had read that it was a free app but I use an iPhone and it cost me $2.99. That’s certainly a price I was willing to pay for the basic features. Additionally, it will read the verse to you one word at a time, but I don’t like the voice inflection which isn’t always consistent with the meaning of a word in context. This app is available for Android and Apple products. Here’s a video on how this app can be used.

For now, I’m keeping both apps. I will use Scripture Typer to test myself and reinforce my memory. It will be useful to keep me reviewing verses so that they go into long-term memory and not just short term. I will probably use an occasional game on the Remember Me app just because it’s fun.

Both apps also let you create groups and then you have accountablity for your efforts to memorize scripture.

Have you used any apps to help you memorize scripture? If so, I’d love to hear what you have used and what you think about them. Who is interested in joining a group on Scripture Typer for accountability? If you are, please let me know, I’ll start one.

If you are interested in accountability you can post below or send me an email.