Devotional Journaling #2

I am reading two devotional books this year. One is Living Hope for the End of Days by John Samuel Barnett. One is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

Living Hope for the End of Days

I thought week one was great. I was a bit disappointed with week two. The theme was knowing Christ's presence today. Which sounds like a great theme. But the big climax was all leading toward getting readers to pray the Sinner's Prayer. I guess this one had a few elementary basics that might be brand new for some readers--though I'm not sure non-Christians are going to be seeking out a devotional oriented around the book of Revelation. But for me, it just felt odd. 

My Utmost for His Highest 

I really enjoyed all the readings this week.

January 6 -- This one is about spiritual service tied into worship. "God will never allow you to keep a spiritual blessing completely for yourself. It must be given back to Him so that He can make it a blessing to others." He defines worship as "giving God the best that He has given you." I'm not sure I've fully absorbed what he's getting at. 

January 7 -- This one is about intimacy with Jesus Christ. "Once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely and we never lack for understanding and compassion." He hasn't yet explained the how, I believe another entry this week touches on this topic as well. 

January 8 -- This one is about how God wants us to be LIVING sacrifices. He writes, "God never tells us to give up things just for the sake of giving them up, but He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, namely, life with Himself." I think this is why Lent makes little sense to me--at least the way most people "do" Lent. 

January 9 -- This one is about the importance of meditation and the cleansing presence or filling of the Holy Spirit. "The same Spirit that fed the life of Jesus Christ will feed the life of our spirit."

January 10 -- Chambers argues that there is a distinction between conversion and regeneration. A distinction I'm not sure that I agree with actually. This one has another deeply troubling statement: "Our job as workers for God is to open people's eyes so that they may turn themselves from darkness to light." The other statement was, "Conversion is not regeneration. This is a neglected fact in our preaching today."  

I strongly disagree with the first statement. It is not our job to open people's eyes. It is our job to faithfully, steadfastly proclaim the TRUTH as revealed in the Word of God. Our job is to sow the word, to be faithful to the message and proclaim it in and out of season. No matter what people want to hear--it is our job to give them what they actually need to hear. God the Spirit opens eyes, ears, hearts, minds. We are not the spirit; we can be used by the Spirit. But there is a big distinction. Clever words, persuasive logic don't win souls. 

Not only is it impossible for God's workers to open people's eyes....by their preaching...but it is impossible for the listeners, the people, to turn themselves from darkness to light... That's just NONSENSE. 

Conversion or regeneration is a matter of RESURRECTION. Only God can bring the dead to life. Only God can put flesh on dry bones. Only God can breathe life where once there was death, decay, rot. Only God. God alone. 

January 11 -- This entry quite honestly confused me. It's about how our obedience to God costs us nothing because of the joy it brings to us but it costs the ones we love dearly at times.

January 12 -- This entry was much better than the past two days. In fact, it might be my favorite of the week. "It is astounding how ignorant we are about ourselves! We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves. That is always the last bit of pride to go. The only One who understands us is God. The greatest curse in our spiritual life is pride." It is only when we see ourselves as God sees us that we can be taught by God. Chambers calls this being alone with God. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Devotional Journaling #1

I am reading two devotional books this year. One is Living Hope for the End of Days by John Samuel Barnett. One is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.

Living Hope for the End of Days: 365 Days of Devotions from the Book of the Revelation. I chose this one because I am going to be reading Revelation fifty-two times, or, once a week throughout all of 2019. I love, love, LOVE this book of the Bible. I've owned Living Hope for the End of Days for a few years now but never read it--at least not all the way through. There are presumably fifty-two themed weeks covering the book and pulling in other scriptures.

Week One: Worship the Christ of Revelation.

“To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” ~ William Temple

One clear way God invites our worship is by revealing Himself through His divine names. The greatest insight into adoring the Lord comes by way of His names and titles in His Word. 

Barnett then goes through all twenty-two chapters of Revelation. I won't share all of what he writes. But I will give you an example or two. 

Chapter 1: He is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the Dead, Ruler over the Kings of the Earth, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Almighty, the First and the Last, the Son of Man, the Living One!

Chapter 4: He is the One who sits on the throne in heaven!

Chapter 5: He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and the Lamb who was slain—who lives forever and ever!

Barnett points out that worship is something we can/should cultivate. He makes a good point. We often want to worship without the work--the work of confessing sin and 'mortifying' the flesh.

Cultivating worship also involves dealing with all the weeds that grow and choke the growth of your crop, as well as the pests that try to steal the harvest.

He has this to say about church.

When we are gathered for genuine worship, we are like a heap of burning coals encouraging one another to warmth of love and devotion. Go to church—even if you do not feel like it. Go to church—even if worship has been discouraging and dry before. Go to church—praying. Go to church—expecting. Go to church—looking for God to do a new and living work among you as His family. 

This statement gave me food for thought: Worship is the most vital and life-changing topic of the whole Bible. It makes sense if you think about it carefully. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. But if you don't give it too much thought, you'd almost be tempted to say that something is wrong with the statement. That it should be salvation or redemption or resurrection. But we were created to worship. We were saved to worship. We will spend eternity worshiping God.

I have one more quote to share from this first week of devotion.

We can still serve God regardless of where we are, what is taken away from us, or how hard the times might be.

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. I've been meaning to read this one for a few years now. There are no themed weeks so far as I know. Each entry is dated.

January 1. Chambers summarizes Paul as saying, "My determined purpose is to be my utmost for His highest--my best for His glory." Chambers argues that this requires surrendering all to God.

I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.

January 2. This entry is all about trust. Chambers writes, "Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do--He reveals to you who He is."

January 3. Chambers points out that it is only through the Spirit that Jesus and his teachings can be understood. He writes, "The people who are flippant and disrespectful in their approach to God are those who have never been introduced to Jesus Christ."

January 4. This entry is all about waiting. Our natural impulses may mislead us. We hate to wait. HATE. But God has things to teach us in the waiting. And God's timing is best.

January 5. This entry seems to carry over from the day before--again we're looking at Peter and the idea of discipleship. The idea of spiritual man and natural man. What I loved about this one was his concluding insight, "All our promises and resolutions end in denial because we have no power to accomplish them....There is now only ONE who directs the course of your life, the Lord Jesus Christ."


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Quotes from the Cloud #32

This year, I hope share weekly posts of quotes. These quotes are from authors I'm reading and enjoying from the Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge. 

The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. ~ Matthew Henry

Every Christian should be a walking miracle and never be the kind of person who can be explained. ~ A.W. Tozer

“Who are the people who have influenced us most?” asks Oswald Chambers. “Not the ones who thought they did, but those who did not have even the slightest idea that they were influencing us.”

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither. ~ C.S. Lewis

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Quotes from the Cloud #11

This year, I hope share weekly posts of quotes. These quotes are from authors I'm reading and enjoying from the Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge. 

For fellow participants, what I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here.

Unless we get hurt right out of every deception about ourselves, the word of God is not having its way with us. The word of God hurts us as no sin can ever hurt, because sin blunts feeling. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, March 1

The bedrock of our Christian faith is the unmerited, fathomless marvel of the love of God exhibited on the Cross of Calvary, a love we never can and never shall merit. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, March 7

Salvation is not merely deliverance from sin, nor the experience of personal holiness; the salvation of God is deliverance out of self entirely into union with Himself. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, March 13

Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, March 19

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. ~ C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory 

There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.
The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind. ~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility. Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, ‘By jove! I’m being humble’, and almost immediately pride—pride at his own humility—will appear. If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt—and so on, through as many stages as you please. But don’t try this too long, for fear you awake his sense of humour and proportion, in which case he will merely laugh at you and go to bed.But there are other profitable ways of fixing his attention on the virtue of Humility. By this virtue, as by all the others, our Enemy wants to turn the man’s attention away from self to Him, and to the man’s neighbours. All the abjection and self-hatred are designed, in the long run, solely for this end; unless they attain this end they do us little harm; and they may even do us good if they keep the man concerned with himself, and, above all, if self-contempt can be made the starting point for contempt of other selves, and thus for gloom, cynicism, and cruelty. ~ C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Quotes from the Clouds #6

This year, I hope share weekly posts of quotes. These quotes are from authors I'm reading and enjoying from the Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge. 

For fellow participants, what I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here.

This week I'm quoting Martin Luther, Francis Schaeffer, and Oswald Chambers.

The Scripture emphasizes that much can come from little if the little is truly consecrated to God. There are no little people and no big people in the true spiritual sense, but only consecrated and unconsecrated people. ~ Francis Schaeffer, "No Little People, No Little Places"

Each Christian is to be a rod of God in the place of God for him. We must remember throughout our lives that in God’s sight there are no little people and no little places. Only one thing is important: to be consecrated persons in God’s place for us, at each moment. Those who think of themselves as little people in little places, if committed to Christ and living under His Lordship in the whole of life, may, by God’s grace, change the flow of our generation. ~ Francis Schaeffer, "No Little People, No Little Places"

Everyone who is saved is called to testify to the fact of his salvation. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 2

Very few of us really know what it means to be held in the grip of the love of God. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 4

The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 7

Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, February 8

Dear brothers and sisters, it’s impossible for you to become so righteous in this life that you won’t feel sin anymore. It’s impossible for your body to become as bright and spotless as the sun. Though you still have wrinkles and spots, in spite of this, you are holy. But you may wonder, “How can I be holy since I sin and feel sinful?” Recognizing and feeling your sin is good. Thank God, and don’t despair. It’s a step toward health whenever a sick person recognizes his disease. “But how can I be freed from sin?” you wonder. Run to Christ, the Physician who heals the brokenhearted (Psalm 147:3). He makes sinners holy. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, January 25

If you grasp hold of God’s Word in your heart and cling to it with faith, the devil cannot win. He has to flee. If you can say, “My God has said this, and I stand upon it,” you will find that the devil will quickly leave. Then apathy, evil desire, anger, greed, despair, and doubt will soon go away. But the devil is crafty and doesn’t want to let you get to that point. He tries to snatch the sword out of your hand. If he makes you lazy so that your body becomes unfit and out of control, he can tear your sword out of your hand. This is what he did to Eve. She had God’s word. If she had clung to it, she would not have fallen. But when the devil saw that she held the word loosely, he tore it from her heart. She let it go, and the devil won (Genesis 3:4, 13; 2 Corinthians 11:3). Peter has instructed us on how we should fight against the devil. It doesn’t require a lot of running around or doing special kinds of works. Rather, it calls for nothing more than clinging to the Word through faith. If the devil wants to drive you to despair because of your sin, just grab the Word of God. It promises forgiveness of sins. Rely on God’s Word, and the devil will quickly leave you alone. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, January 27

What could be more clear and concise than the truth stated in this verse [Matthew 7:12]? But the world won’t let us reflect on these words. Our sinful nature won’t let us measure our lives against this standard. We let this verse go in one ear and out the other. If we would continually compare our lives and actions against this standard, we wouldn’t live so carelessly. We would have more than enough to do and wouldn’t need to pursue other works we consider holy. We would become our own teachers and begin teaching ourselves how we should live. We wouldn’t need so many lawyers and law books, for this standard is concise and easy to learn. If only we were diligent and serious enough to live according to it! ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, February 1

When I feel anxious about sin and hell, I remind myself that when I have Christ, I have all that is necessary. Neither death, sin, nor the devil can hurt me. If I believe in Christ, I have fulfilled the law; it cannot accuse me. I have conquered hell; it cannot hold me. Everything that Christ has is mine. Through him, we obtain all his possessions and eternal life. Even if I am weak in faith, I still have the same treasure and the same Christ that others have. There’s no difference: we are all made perfect through faith in him, not by what we do. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, February 4

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Quotes from the Clouds #4

This year, I hope share weekly posts of quotes. These quotes are from authors I'm reading and enjoying from the Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge.

For fellow participants, what I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here.

This week I'm sharing quotes from Oswald Chambers, Martin Luther, and Andrew Murray.

A person who has forgotten what God treasures will not be filled with joy. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, January 21

God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, January 31

Our prayers must not be vague appeals to His mercy or indefinite cries for blessing, but the distinct expression of a specific need. It is not that Jesus’ loving heart does not understand our cry or is not ready to hear, but He desires that we be specific for our own good. Prayer that is specific teaches us to better know our own needs. To find out what our greatest need is demands time, thought, and self-scrutiny. To find out whether our desires are honest and real, and whether we are ready to persevere in them, we are put to the test. It leads us also to discern whether our desires conform to God’s Word and whether we really believe that we will receive the things we ask. It helps us to wait for a definite answer and to be aware of it when it comes. And yet how much of our prayer is vague and pointless. Some cry for mercy without saying why they need mercy. Others ask to be delivered from sin but do not begin by naming any sin from which deliverance may be claimed. Still others pray for God’s blessing on those around them, for the outpouring of God’s Spirit on their land or the world, and yet do not pinpoint a particular spot where they will wait and expect to see God answer. To all of us, the Lord asks, “What is it you really want and expect me to do?” ~ Andrew Murray, Teach Me To Pray

I understand what Jesus is saying here [John 14:6] in the simplest manner, so that it all applies to this one person, Christ. Jesus is called “the way” because he is the beginning, “the truth” because he is the one who helps us continue, and also “the life” because he is the end. For he must be everything—the beginning, the middle, and the end of our salvation. That is why we place him as the foundation stone on which the other stones are set and on which the entire roof is built. He is the first, middle, and last rung on the ladder to heaven (Genesis 28:12). For through him we must begin, continue, and finally reach the life beyond. So there is only one Christ, but he assumes different roles in our salvation experience. In the beginning it’s hard to find the way. Then life becomes more difficult as we continue to walk along the way. It becomes extremely tough when we have traveled on the way for a long time and are about to reach our final shelter—heaven. So if you hold on to Christ in faith, then you have started in the right place. If you remain with him, then you will be walking on the right path. If you persevere until the end, then you will be saved. Christ wants to pry our hearts away from trusting anything else. There is no other way, highway, bridge, or path for us than Christ alone. ~ Martin Luther, January 19

You must pray when you are in the heat of temptation—when your mind is preoccupied with thoughts of lust or revenge. If someone urges you to pray under these circumstances, your mind often insists that it’s too impure—as if your dirty thoughts leave no room for prayer. But you must not wait for temptation to end or the thoughts of lust and other sins to totally disappear from your mind before you pray. At precisely the moment when you feel the strongest temptation and are least prepared to pray, go to a place where you can be alone. Pray the Lord’s Prayer or any other prayer you can think of to defend against the devil and his temptations. Then you will feel the temptation decrease, and Satan will run away. Those who think you should wait until your mind is free from impure thoughts to pray only help Satan, who is already far too strong. Waiting to pray is an unchristian approach to prayer. It’s a teaching that comes from the devil. In order to keep yourself from believing these kinds of wrong ideas, you must follow David’s example in this psalm. Even after David admitted his terrible sin with Bathsheba, he didn’t run away from God. He didn’t say what Peter foolishly said while in the boat: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8).Instead, David trusted in God’s mercy and began to pray, “Lord, even though I am a sinner, have pity on me.” The time when you feel your sins the most is exactly the time when you most need to pray to God. ~ Martin Luther, January 20

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Quotes from the Clouds #3

This year, I hope share weekly posts of quotes. These quotes are from authors I'm reading and enjoying from the Clouds of Witnesses Reading Challenge.

For fellow participants, what I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see is for people to share quotes from what they're reading. I'd love for you to share quotes occasionally with your readers and let me know about it. If you don't have a blog, you could always leave quotes in the comments here.

This week I'm sharing quotes from Oswald Chambers, Andrew Murray, Martin Luther, and A.B. Simpson.

Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is. ~ Oswald Chambers, January 2, Utmost for His Highest

There are not three stages in spiritual life – worship, waiting and work. Some of us go in jumps like spiritual frogs, we jump from worship to waiting, and from waiting to work. God’s idea is that the three should go together. They were always together in the life of Our Lord. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, January 6

We have to get rid of the idea that we understand ourselves, it is the last conceit to go. The only One Who understands us is God. The greatest curse in spiritual life is conceit. ~ Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, January 12

Always take grace as something you don't deserve, something that is freely bestowed. The long, deep, boundless river is free; it is as free at the mouth as it is at the little stream, and free all the way along, and anybody can come and drink, and anybody can come and bathe in its boundless waters. ~ A. B. Simpson, Days of Heaven Upon Earth, July

Let this be a day of prayer. Let us see that our highest ministry and power is to deal with God for men. Let us be obedient to all the Holy Spirit's voices of prayer in us. Let us count every pressure a call to prayer. Let us cherish the spirit of unceasing prayer and abiding communion. Let us learn the meaning of the ministry of prayer. Let us reach persons this day we cannot reach in person; let us expect results that we have never dared to claim before; let us count every difficulty only a greater occasion for prayer, and let us call on God, who will show us many great and mighty things which we know not. And let it be a day of joy and praise. Let us live in the promises of God and the outlook of His deliverance and blessing. Let us never dwell on the trial but always on the victory just before. Let us not dwell in the tomb, but in the garden of Joseph and the light of the resurrection. Let us keep our faces toward the sun rising. Arise, shine. Rejoice evermore. In everything give thanks. Praise ye the Lord. Lord, give us Thy joy in our hearts which shall lift us to lift others, and fill us so we may overflow to others. ~ A.B. Simpson, Days of Heaven Upon Earth, July

WE MUST THINK not only of our waiting on God but also of God’s waiting on us. Look up and see our great God on His throne. He is Love—He longs and delights to bless. He has inconceivably glorious plans concerning each of His children to reveal in them His love and power by the power of His Holy Spirit. He waits with all the anticipation of a father’s heart. You may ask, “How is it, if He waits to be gracious, that when I come and wait on Him, He does not always give the help I seek?” There is a twofold answer. The first is that God is a farmer. He waits for the precious fruit of the earth and has patience. He cannot gather the crop until it is ripe. He knows when we are spiritually ready to receive the blessing to our profit and His glory. Waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen the soul for His blessing. Waiting under the cloud of trial that breaks in showers of blessing is essential. Be assured that if God waits longer to answer than you anticipated, it is only to make the blessing all the more precious. The second answer points to what has been said before. The Giver is more than the gift; God is more than the blessing; and our time spent waiting on Him is the only way to learn to find our life and joy in Him. It is a blessing when a waiting soul and a waiting God meet each other. ~ Andrew Murray, Waiting on God

The gospel can show its power only where there is a cross and where there is suffering. Because it’s a word of life, it must exercise all its power in death. If dying and death are absent, then it can do nothing. No one would discover that it’s stronger than sin and death. That’s why God imposes the cross on all believers. He wants us to experience and demonstrate God’s power. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, January 16

So if you want to be comforted when your conscience plagues you or when you are in dire distress, then you must do nothing but grasp Christ in faith and say, “I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, who suffered, was crucified, and died for me. In his wounds and death, I see my sin. In his resurrection, I see the victory over sin, death, and the devil. I see righteousness and eternal life as well. I want to see and hear nothing except him.” This is true faith in Christ and the right way to believe. ~ Martin Luther, Faith Alone, January 18

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible