One of the greatest books every written, our holy Scripture, The Bible.  We have a guest writer today who illuminates Scripture and how God uses His true stories to enrich us all. She also shares a special resource. I hope you enjoy this special post for the #LMMLinkup.

Inviting Story in Scripture

by Ronne Rock

I’ve often explained my writing to audiences as “word painting.” As a woman who describes moods by their color and fragrances by moments, I find such joy in allowing words to mold and shape and take on new meaning on the page.  Whether I’m writing about the holy hush that happens at the moment day meets night in a sunset or the holy ground redemption discovered in hands digging through trash in a dump in Guatemala, eternity is written in the words.

But it wasn’t always that way.

My husband and his friends are a deep-diving sort of souls when it comes to the Bible. I remember being fascinated with his knowledge of scripture and the library of concordances and dictionaries and theological writings. For years, studying scripture was something I did with the help of someone else – a devotional by Kay Arthur or a book by Beth Moore. I knew the Bible was rich in wisdom and full of stories.  But the idea of simply opening the pages of the Bible and savoring the words inside – save for perhaps the Psalms or select verses from John or one of the Epistles – seemed incomplete and a little dangerous in a world filled with rules about appropriate translations and doctrinal statements and how to memorize verses properly.

Scripture being more than a book of instruction was what I longed for. And the use of a simple, free online tool called examen.me provided me with a list of five things to invite God to breathe His creative story into scripture.

• Pray as you approach.
• Listen. Meditate. And then write.
• Share what’s being emphasized to your heart.
• Turn what’s being spoken to you into a prayer.
• Share how what you’ve learned will impact your actions.

The first days were clumsy as I fought through the fear of truly believing that invitation would be accepted.

It was. In fact, I do believe God smiled.

What does it look like, my journey of “inviting story into scripture?” Read this, inspired by Psalm 18:

I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a] the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. (verses 1-8 ESV)

I’m singing this song to You, my Lord and my God, because You have saved me. I love You – You are the very strength in my bones. You are Safe Haven and High Tower and Valiant Prince who rescues. You save and keep saving and keep saving. The dragons are dead. Their shadows are fading.

They had me trapped, held down with claws against my throat. They breathed their sulfur and scorched the land around me. They laid waste all that I was and they scoffed all that I would be. They put my head under stagnant water. Dead. They named me Dead.

And with little breath, I gathered voice to say, ” {please}.” And You knew it was You I was calling. You knew it was You I longed for.

And You came.

Allowing the God of Creation to word paint divinity by bringing verses to life through story is what has emerged. My faith has deepened as I’ve invited Him to dwell and speak. And His creativity in revealing Himself through scripture has informed the way I write as well by reframing the way my soul sees the world around me. Common grace is the landscape. Eternity is the lens.  Hope is the filter. And the imagery has been given breath.

I encourage you to embrace the story in scripture by asking God to speak creatively in and through it in your life. Open the Bible and savor the words. Scribble in the margins or mark up a journal or collect the stories like I have (there are 1500 of them in my examen.me online tool now). And share the stories you discover with me. I’d love to read them.

 

Ronne finds joy in telling stories that change stories.  A former marketing executive and church communications director, she now shares her 30 years of creative leadership with faith-based organizations around the world, where she’s honored to gather words and images that inspire others to action. She’s also a speaker – sharing battle-tested wisdom about leadership, advocacy marketing, and finding God in the most beautiful and painful of circumstances. Ronne lives in Texas with her husband, Brad. They have one son, a daughter-in-love and two grandchildren – and a rescued pup with a perpetual attitude. She is currently writing Building Eden, a book about women around the globe who believe in the reality of restoration, on earth as it is in heaven, and collaborating on LoveNotes, a series of creative devotionals inspired by the Epistles. You can find personal musings and stories of the journey to discarded places at http://ronnerock.com, and follow her travels on Instagram at http://instagram.com/ronnerock

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Now on to the #LMMLinkup. First, let’s

Ashley @Circling the StoryBlog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/InstagramLeslie@Forever Joyful  Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Google+Mary @Maryandering Creatively  Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/ Instagram/Google+Tami @ThisMomsDelight    Blog/Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/Google Plus 

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Last Week’s Top Clicked Post!

10 Diverse Artists’ Picture Book Biographies

By Katie at The Logonauts 

 

This post is perfect for Black History Month; although Katie features a wide array of mulit-cultural biographies. I enjoyed the variety of resources feature. I think my favorite book featured Phillis Wheatley, first published African-American female poet.

My Favorite Post of the Week:

25 Books About Spring for Preschoolers

by Tara Mitchell at HomeSchool Preschool

 

 Tara is a regular participant on our linkup. Her posts are vivid and exciting, featuring the best books on an array of themes. Her post about these great Spring-themed pictures books is a not miss.

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Top Commentor

We did not have a top commentor report this week. So I am going to choose one. I have visited several of the posts, and I discovered one person on many of the posts sharing her encouragement. Michele Morin blogs at Living Our Days. You can find her on Twitter.

Remember we honor the person who comments the most on other blog posts on the weekly linkup. If you want to participate, just send me a quick note by each Friday on the number and name of the posts that you commented upon during the week.  I hope we can make this a regular feature. If you are a blogger, we will share links to your blog and your social media platforms.

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Now, it is time to link up to the Literacy Musing Mondays hop! You will have until Saturdays at 12 p.m. now to link up! So come back often.

Linkup Rules:

1. Include a link back or the blog hop button linked to this hop on your posts.
2. Link up the urls to your posts not to your blog.
3. Please remember this is a family-friendly linkup.  Although we believe in the right for adults to read whatever they want to read, we prefer to read wholesome posts that feature literature that edify and uplift families. We reserve the right to delete any posts that are not family friendly. We love all kinds of literature and genres including family-friendly inspirational romances, fantasy, or science fiction. We do not welcome posts featuring books or written with excessive violence, sexual content, or cursing. These posts will be deleted.
4. We also want to be loving community by supporting one another. Please make a point to do this this week! Visit the two posts before yours and at least one other blogger’s post of your choice! I want to see lots of clicks on everyone’s posts. I know as a blogger, you know how it feels not receive comments, right. 🙂 Plus, you could be honored as our Top Commentor if you submit your report to Mary! Remember it is also nice to follow them on their social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
5. Follow your hosts and co-hosts on their social media.
6. Tweet about the link up too.

[tweetthis]Come join the fun! Link up your family-friendly, book- or literacy-related posts at #LMMLinkup ![/tweetthis]

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Sharing this post with the great linkups listed on my Link-up Parties page.