Renae Adelsberger

What Are You Practicing?

Apr 03 2017

Happy Spring! Along with the 80 degree weather (which I love) come the weeds in my yard (which I despise). It’s time for me to be driven completely mad by those little guys. I felt like I left my yard in pretty good shape before winter. I had worked weekly to remove the weeds.

But they’re back.

Isn’t that just like the sin in our lives? We wack at them, pull at them, and scream at them. Yet they keep popping their resilient heads up.

This winter, I’ve been studying the Abide Bible study by Jen Wilkin & Flower Mound Women’s Bible study group. She has walked us through 1, 2, & 3 John with weekly homework and a podcast. One of my biggest takeaways is that we are either practicing righteousness or we are practicing lawlessness/unrighteousness/sin. Each time I speak, dwell on a thought, or make an action, I am either practicing my obedience to God or I’m practicing my disobedience.

Do Not Awaken Love

Jan 26 2017

Much of my spare time over the past month has been spent reading and studying about relationships in the 21st century and what the Bible says about them. I’ll be honest – it’s been a weird month. For Sunday School material we’ve been teaching the True Love Project which features some very intense stories about sexual intimacy within the confines of marriage. Each week has two videos so I watch at least 30 minutes of someone else teaching the topic.

And then I was tasked with writing a post on Biblical Manhood for a separate writing project. I braved the rickety wooden stairs into the attic to find my high school journal. In it was the list of character traits that I prayed God would be instilling in my future spouse, should He see fit for me to marry one day. That assignment led me down the path of dating a Godly man even further. Then to comply with DCS (Department of Children’s Services) rules, Kevin and I had to take a 3 hour class on fostering children who have been sexually abused. Meanwhile, I read Aziz Ansari’s book Modern Romance (this is NOT a recommendation) about relationships today and why finding the “right” person can be so difficult.

So where have all these thoughts on relationships and physical intimacy led me over the past month? What one verse would I give to sum up my thoughts? It would be this repeating refrain from Song of Solomon:

Young women of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and the wild does of the field:
do not stir up or awaken love
until the appropriate time.
Song of Solomon 2:7 and 3:5 (and 8:4 paraphrased)

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Following Instructions

Jan 06 2017

I never realized how many rules our house has. When it was just my husband and me, the rules were unspoken. We picked up our shoes from the living room and put them in our closet, flushed the toilet after using it, wore jackets when it was cold outside, and so on. But when a child was added to our household, suddenly it seemed our home overflowed with rules. The unspoken rules were spoken, written, and posted on the wall. Even rules I never thought to create were repeatedly enforced.

The rules keep us safe and keep us sane (okay, maybe they just keep me sane – by my sanity is crucial to the continuance of our safe household!) Rules teach us to obey authority figures, make decisions, and experience both the negative and positive results of our choices.

God Only Gave

Nov 27 2016

Our six year old’s first memory verse for the Awana program at church was the first verse, to our knowledge, that she’s ever read.

For God so loved the world that He only gave His Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have an eternal life. John 3:16

That’s how she recited it to me for a week. It was so close to being accurate. Read it again if you just skimmed through it. What was her big mistake?

God only gave His Son! She had no idea why this placement of the word “only” changed the meaning so drastically. Because God didn’t just only give His Son. He gave His only Son!

The Lord of this universe sacrificed His dearly loved Son so that we would have a way back into a right relationship with Him! Now that’s love!

When I love, I don’t usually love perfectly. I love the way my child memorized the verse. I only give part of myself. I only do enough to be convincing some days. Rarely do I give up everything of myself.

Praise the Lord that His love shines brightly through the verse of John 3:16. It’s one that I am far too often tempted to skim over since I’m confident in my knowledge of it. But God used this moment last week to remind me that His word is still active and living. Even in a verse that I’ve known my entire life He is able to draw me closer to Himself.

So They Might See Your Good Works

Oct 13 2016

In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
– Matthew 5:16

I’m ashamed to admit there are many times that I try to apply this verse to my life and it looks like this:

Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works.

But that’s not where the verse ends! The most important part has been cut out – “so that they may give glory to your Father in heaven!”

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in and around nonprofit organizations. There are plenty of good people who volunteer and donate their time and money but they themselves are not followers of Christ. You don’t have to be a follower of Christ to do good works. So what’s the difference between a Christian and a nonChristian doing a good deed?

We’re all doing the same work – right? We’re all walking dogs at the animal shelter, washing dishes at the soup kitchen, and cleaning up in disaster relief programs. But what’s the end goal?

That’s a question that as a Christian I must constantly insert into my life to examine my heart’s motivations. Why am I doing this? Is it simply to look good? Is it to make other jealous? Or am I letting my actions give glory to God?

Anyone can feed the hungry with the end goal of filling physical stomachs. But there is more to the Christian faith. We feed the hungry to meet a physical need so that we can then build trust to help meet a spiritual need.

As this week comes to a close, ask the Holy Spirit to examine your works and reveal to you whether they are glorifying yourself or God. Repent of those that bring honor solely to yourself and ask for God’s help to glorify Him in all that you do.

Author - Renae Adelsberger

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