Author: theministrymama

John the Baptist: Discouraged and Doubting Pt. 1

John the Baptist sat in his prison. He was held captive as a result of his rebuke toward Herod for his inappropriate relationship with his brother’s wife. In boldness he pronounced the open sin was wrong before a righteous God, and in boldness Herod had him arrested, exacting vengeance for his rebuke.

Matthew 11:11 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?

The longer he sat there lonely, where he could not see the works of the Saviour, the more he became discouraged. He began to simply ask himself whether Jesus was who He said he was, or not. John’s disciples noticed that his countenance was not as vivid as before. The light in his eyes was faded and the fire of his great voice was extinguished. The man that declared with great vigor and excitement that Jesus was the Son of God that would take away the sins of the entire world, was now questioning His reality. The man whose ears heard the voice of God say, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” no longer remembered the stamp of approval on that day.

John the Baptist was born different than any other person in the Bible because before he was born, he was chosen to be forerunner of Christ (Matt. 11:11). Even Jesus mentions the importance of John the Baptist’s work later on in Matthew 11 saying, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist…” His mother, Elisabeth was cousins with Christ’s mother Mary.

John had a definite God-ordained ministry, so why was he discouraged and doubting?

In my opinion, it was because he was taken out of the ministry he was actively involved in and isolated. Even as important as he was to the work of the Lord at that time in history, he was frail when alone.

Jesus understood that John, just like the rest of us, needed some reaffirmation and reassurance.

Matthew 11:4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

John’s disciples had a simple task:

  • to declare the works of Jesus back to him.

I want to challenge you, if you are in an isolated place like John, to look for the miracles going on outside your situation.

Sometimes when we are struggling we do not like to hear about the successes of other Christians and how God is working in their lives because it makes us think of the loss that we have suffered. According to Jesus’ advice, it is vital that you look out beyond your circumstances and see the Lord’s work elsewhere. He is still performing miracles, meeting needs, and people are still reaching and preaching to the lost souls of the world. He wants you to see and hear about the good news from a far country (or what seems to be) and be lifted up.

As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25

I love the verse that says, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep,” in Romans 12:15. This verse explains to us that it’s okay to be happy for others in their moments of rejoicing and it’s okay for us to have grief and allow others to grieve with us when we are in our low moments. I believe that you can both rejoice and grieve in the at the same time. In a situation of discouragement and doubt where you may be tempted to only look at your problems, the best way to get out of those problems is to look at God and His works.

So what types of God’s works should you be looking for when you are discouraged and doubting God?
  1. “The blind receive their sight.” Look for things that are obvious as you look around your world at God’s creation and His people. Rejoice in God’s handiwork!
  2. “The lame walk.” Think about how God has worked in the lives of a repentant prodigal son or daughter. Is there someone that was once “lame” in their life and now they are walking on the narrow path of God’s ways? Rejoice in God’s unfailing love!
  3. “The lepers are cleansed.” Lepers were given a death sentence because of their disease, sinners are given a death sentence for their sin. Can you think of someone that recently got saved? Rejoice in their belief in Christ’s work on the cross!
  4. “The deaf hear.” Listen for things that God is doing in the life of His church, in the families around you, and in the world. God is speaking, can you hear? Rejoice in the instruments God uses to speak to your heart!
  5. “The dead are raised up.” This should give you certain hope if you’ve been discouraged yourself. Can you think of someone that also struggles with discouragement and doubt? How did God raise their spirit up so that they had life again? If you don’t know… ask them! Rejoice in God’s love for life!
  6. “The poor have the gospel preached to them.” There was something different about Jesus because He reached out to everyone no matter their social status. It must have been something unique for the poor people to be being preached to, that is why Jesus mentioned with a list of miracles. Jesus really did come to seek and save all men. Can you think of a missionary who preaches the gospel to his country’s poor? Can you think of a person in your church or ministry that reaches unlovely people like Bartimaeus? Rejoice in God’s efforts through common man!

Miracles are all about us, I challenge you to write those miracles down in a journal for you to look at when you are like John and you are discouraged and doubting. Part 2 covers the part of Jesus’ words to John that said, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.”

Sensory Bins for Sunday School

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Maybe you have heard of them, maybe you have yet to experience them, the really cool visual and tactile learning tool – The SENSORY BIN!

What is a sensory bin?

It is a hands-on activity placed in a box, bucket, or even a plastic swimming pool for a child to experience hands-on lesson or theme being studied. They have a fillers, like beans, rice,  and then add items that the child can play with. Some sensory bins also include smells from essential oils, scented sprays, cinnamon, etc. Sensory bin activities can be found all over the internet for toddlers, preschoolers, and even older children.

How could you use a sensory bin for Sunday School?

1. For a visual as you teach your Sunday School class.

Simply have your activity box with filler, it’s best to have something with a lid to transport easily. Then as you tell your story add the story items into your sensory bin, setting up the scene of the story.

As you go through a series of lessons then make it a little more interesting, do not put all of your story items into your sensory bin or change some of the items in your bin. Example, if you teach about Daniel, the first week you may teach about Daniel and his friends not eating the king’s meat. You might have a king, 3 friends, and little fruit objects in your bin. In the second week you may remove the king and food and teach about Daniel in the lion’s den adding lions and maybe even some bad guys transforming it into the new story. This will renew the children’s interest in the sensory bin.

2. To reinforce elements of your Sunday School lesson in a day or over a few weeks.

The child gets to play with items associated with the lesson and learn with their hands, eyes, and other senses have your sensory bin(s) before your Sunday School class or following your Sunday School lesson.

If you use this as an activity instead of a visual you might make this a station where children rotate to play with it or make multiple bins of different types of Bible stories to rotate.

I have made these sensory bins for the 2’s and 3’s Sunday School class that I worked in, but my children 3-8 all love playing with them. They act out the Bible stories and ask me questions about why each item is inside the box. It’s a great tool for little growing minds.

More information on the Resurrection Sensory Bin and the Creation Sensory Bin can be found at my sister site, www.ministrymamas.com.

These are very popular and I figured, why not make some Bible-based bins for Sunday School!?

I would love to challenge you to make one of your own for a Bible or  church related activity and send me some of your photos! If I get enough photos then I will make a special sensory bin blog post.

 

Writing for Young Wife’s Guide

Many of you know and some of you don’t know that – I am also a contributor over at the Young Wife’s Guide. The Lord allowed me the opportunity to begin writing for them a few months after I began blogging last year and I contribute an article at least once a month.

The goal of Young Wife’s Guide is to help women learn about all sorts of topics that will help them with their home, in their marriage and in topics of the general nature of Christian interest within the home. Jami Balmet, is the website’s creator and she loves her marriage with her husband Jason and has two darling little twin boys. I admire her for having a sweet spirit and a love for other Christian ladies.

Today I wanted to share some of the different articles that I have written for Young Wife’s Guide through the last year and a half. They are articles that are usually good for general Christian living, rather than the ministry related articles that I like to write about here at The Ministry Mama.

If you see something that interests you then I encourage you to click on the link and read it! One of the greatest benefits of the internet is that you can get great quick help for daily problems and sharpen your thinking within just a few minutes of time.

God-Centered Activity Ideas for Summer – It isn’t too late to involve God in your summer plans. This article gives you ideas to help yourself personally, your marriage, and your family incorporate God in some fun ways this summer.

Exercise is for Serving God for a Lifetime – We have a body and it should be taken care of for God’s glory. Exercise keeps your body in shape so you can serve the Lord.

Exercising Godliness: The Best Type of Exercise – This article will tell you the value of exercising godliness.

Planned Neglect in a Christian Woman’s Life – You just have to neglect some things to get what you need to get done in your life… but you must plan it!

Anniversary Date Ideas – 9 ideas to help you come up with something new for your anniversary celebration!

Potty Training Pointers & More Potty Training Pointers – After training 4 kiddos I given you some of my best potty training pointers in these two articles.

For the Love of Laundry – Need help with organizing how you do your laundry. This article is like a Laundry 101 even if you’ve been doing laundry on your own for years.

Creating Special Memories from New Beginnings – This was my New Year’s article, but you can plan to create special memories for your family all year-long. This article encourages you not only to make plans for special times but to execute them.

New Babies & Bible Studies – Being a new mom or the mom of your 5th newborn, this article encourages you in your regular Bible reading routine to make it basic and simple for you until you get over the long nights and fatigue.

Joyful Motherhood – Motherhood is supposed to be joyful! This article provides an acrostic of things you can do to make your life with your family not only joyful but enjoyable.

I hope you all have a great day! You are what makes my blogging and writing experience special, so thanks again for your time in reading!