Beloved by Him

Jesus--Our Prince of Peace

2010-08-30T23:57:00.001-04:00

(previously posted on WeUsed2bu)

The waves splashed over the side of the boat, spraying their faces and stinging their eyes. The sea lurched the boat up and down, back and forth, until they were green with sickness. The wind roared around them as they tried to row, never reaching the shore, dreading the moment when a wave would flip them into the water and finish them off. Then, even as they cried out in fear, they saw a man, not a dream, but a real man, and he was walking on the water towards them. When He reached the boat He said, “It is I, do not be afraid.” And the moment He got into the boat, they found themselves safe at their destination, out of the storm. They witnessed the miracle of Jesus’ salvation, and they had peace again.

How many times do we lose sight of the peace available to us through Jesus, our Prince of Peace? When the storms of life rise up, do we allow ourselves to be tossed around by our fears, letting our anxieties get the best of us and our circumstances bring out the worst in us? No matter what the situation is that has stolen our peace, whether we created it with our own rebellion or are afflicted by something beyond our control, we can have peace in the midst of the trial, because we know the One Who is the source of all peace. Having a relationship with Jesus Christ is the key to unshakable peace—like the bumper sticker says, “No Jesus, no peace; Know Jesus, know peace.”

Jesus truly is our Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6). Most importantly, through Him we have right standing with God. If we’ve accepted His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins and declared Him our personal Savior, we’ve been accounted righteous in God’s eyes for eternity. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That word “peace” refers to a permanent assurance of salvation without fear of condemnation or destruction. Because Jesus took the punishment for our sins upon Himself, we know that we are saved from hell, and that God sees us as He sees His Son, blameless and worthy. We can expect God’s goodness and mercy to always be present in our lives, and believe His promise to never remove His covenant of peace from us (Ps. 23:6, Is. 54:10) To live in Christ is to live at peace with God Himself (Eph. 2:14-18).

By faith in Him, not only do we understand the eternal peace we have with God, but we can also experience the effective peace that comes from a mind focused and dependent on Christ in our day-to-day lives. Jesus knew we would have troubles here on earth, but He didn’t want us to let them dictate our state of mind; rather, He wanted us to be of good cheer, to come to Him when we were overwhelmed, roll our cares and burdens onto Him by faith, and let Him give us rest (John 16:33, Matt. 11:28). When we choose to trust Him, we are promised a peace that is proactive and that “guards” our hearts and minds when we’re pushed past our own emotional and intellectual limits (Is. 26:3, Phil. 4:6-7).

Our enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil—will try to get us to accept cheap substitutes for Jesus’ peace in our lives. These imposters will often lead us further away from faith in the perfect peace of God, and into greater bondages of fear, worry, and other sins (John 14:23). We can be tempted to try to find peace in placating our flesh: making it feel good for a moment so we don’t feel the pressure of the trial. The world tells us to drink, shop, medicate, eat, party, work—whatever will distract us temporarily or make us think we can overcome our problems ourselves. As Christians, though, our first and best resource should always Christ. We need to acknowledge His abiding presence in our lives (Matt. 8:26, 14:31). We need to still our hearts before Him and stop trying to do what only He can (Ps. 46:10). And we need to let His peace rule in our hearts, remembering that nothing will ever separate us from His love or His presence (Col. 3:15, Rom. 8:38-39, Heb. 13:5).

Peace isn’t just the absence of struggles, agitation, or affliction. Like all fruits of the Spirit, it’s an active, positive response to conflict that can only come from Christ living in us, imparting His righteousness to us and giving us the power to overcome this world by faith. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Don’t take your eyes off of our Prince of Peace and allow yourself to sink in the midst of the storm. He’s right here, waiting to give you rest and safe harbor.

“For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Ps. 107:25-31)

The Oyster and the Pearl

2009-11-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

During a recent trip to an Orlando theme park, I found my head turned by a display case full of beautiful pearl jewelry. I had seen this display before on previous trips, but today was different—I was there with my husband, celebrating our anniversary. The astute clerk saw me gazing at the different pearls, and struck up a conversation in which she described how those pearls were created: The oysters from this company’s farm were actually “forced” to make pearls, by being implanted with a small, seed-like irritant that would cause the oyster to begin the pearl-making process. As the oyster tries to rid itself of the implant, it secretes a substance called nacre, which covers the implant layer by layer. It takes a few years, but eventually, a pearl is formed. No one knows, until the oyster is opened, what color or size the pearl will be. She said the most common colored pearls are white and off-white, and the rarest are blue and black. So my husband, in honor of our anniversary, purchased an oyster from a bucket on the counter, and I anxiously watched as the clerk opened the shell…

I have to stop the story there for right now. Because this story is not about a piece of jewelry—it’s about you and me. All of us. You see, we are the oyster. We are the ones in whom God is creating something beautiful out of trial, pain, and discomfort. We may have been quietly existing, living according to life’s tide, when all of a sudden we find ourselves in a situation that we didn’t anticipate, don’t understand, and definitely don’t appreciate. We can’t find a way out of our problem, and God doesn’t seem to be inclined to remove it any time soon. So we have a choice—sit and suffer in our mess, allowing it to get the best of us with the worst results, or…we can allow God to help us make a pearl.

When we are faced with difficulty, there is a process which is guaranteed to bring about godly results in our spiritual lives. Much like the oyster puts layers of nacre on the irritant, God’s word shows us how to make something beautiful out of our trial. It’s not easy, but if we will trust in His wisdom, He will give us a way to sustain the pain, and create in us a living testimony that will bring Him honor and glory.

Our first responsibility is to GIVE THANKS. God’s word is very clear—we are to give thanks at all times, for all things (I Thess. 5:18). When we thank God for our problem, we are acknowledging His greatness and providence. This means that we recognize that no matter what, God is in control. He allowed the problem for a reason, and He will use it for our good (I Peter 1:6-7, Rom. 8:28). Giving God thanks actually takes the burden off of our shoulders and puts it back in His hands, knowing that He is fully able to give us what we need, no matter what we are facing (Ps. 37:5, Phil. 4:4,6-7,19).

The next step is to BE CONTENT. This is more than just being thankful. Contentment is accepting where God has you, and choosing to make the best of it by the power of His Spirit, through patience and longsuffering (Phil. 4:11-13, Col. 1:11). When we choose contentment, we stop striving for God to change our circumstances, and instead allow God to begin to change us (Rom. 5:3-5, James 1:2-4). Contentment acknowledges that the very presence of Jesus Christ in our lives is enough to satisfy us (Heb. 13:5). We stop looking around for what we think we need, whether it be comfort, relief, or satisfaction, and instead we find the peace and power that comes from abiding in Him, allowing Him to work through us and in us, and producing fruit we never could have on our own (John 15:4-5).

While thanksgiving and contentment can happen internally, the next two steps are done externally. Step three is to OFFER THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE. When we praise God, we put our focus on Him, not our trial. We must choose to praise Him because He is worthy—not because of what He does or doesn’t do for us, but simply for who He is (Ps. 92:1, 105:1-2, 149:1-5, 150:1-6). Praise affirms our thankfulness and contentment, yet acknowledges that God is able to deliver us if He wills it (Ps. 50:23). If you’ve ever determined to have a heart and mouth full of praise, instead of complaints about your circumstances, then you know why it’s called a sacrifice (Heb. 13:15). It’s not easy, but it’s so worth it when we remember that God inhabits (dwells in) the praises of His people (Ps. 22:3). We are encouraged, and we encourage others, when we praise God continually and despite our troubles (Ps. 34:1, Eph. 5:19).

Step four is more of a marathon than a single step; it’s LIVE OBEDIENTLY. Trials show us what we’re made of. If we fall apart under pressure, then we show how little spiritual strength we really have (Pr. 24:10). If we’re constantly frustrated, then our patience hasn’t been perfected (James 1:4). If we find ourselves swayed towards worldly comfort, then our flesh is in control (Matt. 26:41). But if we will trust in God with all our hearts, and not depend on our own understanding of our situation, then He will show us the way we need to go (Prov. 3:5-6). If we will run the race before us with endurance, we will see Jesus (Heb. 12:1-2). If we will seek His righteousness and His will above our own, we know that He will provide all our needs according to His riches in glory (Matt. 6:33). And if we will rejoice in the trial, knowing that it was ordained by God to refine our faith into something precious, then we will have the privilege of giving praise, honor, and glory as Christ Jesus Himself is revealed in, to, and through us, and we will be saved (I Peter 1:6-9). We will, by God’s grace, make a pearl.

So back to my story...The clerk opened the shell, describing each piece of the oyster. She explained that my husband was right to pick the ugliest one (which he did), because the more difficult the oyster’s life, the more beautiful the pearl. She showed us the parts of the oyster, how it spends its life literally with its tiny foot in its mouth (just like we do). And finally, she lifted the muscle to reveal a large, rare blue pearl, which only six per cent of all oysters produce. My husband had it set in a heart pendant for me to wear, and it represents the work, trials, and faith it takes to have a successful, godly marriage. My pearl is precious to me, just as my marriage is precious to me. Just as we are precious to Jesus.

We are His pearl.

Fraught with Danger: Friendships between Single and Married People

2009-10-04T19:04:00.002-04:00

(crosspost from WeUsed2bu)

If you want to see a great example of why a married person should not be close friends with a single person of the opposite sex, then go rent “Not Easily Broken,” a movie based on the novel by the Bishop T.D. Jakes. It’s the story of a couple who, though seemingly content to be married, are actually pursuing very different goals in their individual lives. When trouble comes, the wife chooses the advice of her overbearing mother, while the husband is drawn to the admiration of the mother of one of the boys on his little league team. Their friendship becomes one of mutual support and, eventually, attraction. That attraction, created by the emotional dependency on each other, brings them to the edge of temptation, a place that neither expected they would end up.

Friendships between married and single individuals of the opposite sex are fraught with danger. While it’s often easy to spot a person who is just looking for something on the side, it can be much harder to discern the invisible line between “friends,” the point where brotherly kindness stops and emotional intimacy starts. All of us, whether married or single, have the responsibility to guard our hearts and make sure that we stay on a course of integrity (Prov. 4:23). God’s word is faithful, as always, to give instructions about how we can keep our friendships above reproach and out of the danger zone. His wisdom should govern all of our friendships (Prov. 7:4-5, 16:22, 27:12).

For married women, our spouses should be our first and best friends. Think back for a moment to your wedding vows. All the promises were made with the intention of “forsaking all others.” Every earthly relationship in a married woman’s life should be secondary to the one she has with her husband. Does that seem impractical (or impossible)? Proverbs 18:24 says, “There are ‘friends’ who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” That word “sticks” in the original Hebrew is the same word for “cleaves,” the term that is used in Genesis 2:24 to describe how two married people are joined in the spirit by the Holy Spirit. Our cleaved one, our spouse, should be our closest friend, since we are of one spirit with them. No one else, especially of the opposite sex, should be allowed into that level of intimacy.

When it comes to friendships with singles, a married woman must be wise in speech and conduct. Our words must never give the impression of flattery or seduction to a single person, nor should our behavior ever entice them to sin (Pr. 7:21, Rom. 14:13). Conversations with others should be wholesome, clear and plain, wise and helpful, and free from perversity or corruption (Pr. 8:8-9, 4:24, 10:31-32). When the talk gets personal—if it leads to sharing negative thoughts or feelings about our spouses, or revealing the desires of our hearts, we open ourselves up to an emotional dependency on someone besides our husbands. We can’t allow our feelings to drive us down any road that puts any distance between us and them. How many times have the excuses been made:

“It’s just lunch. We’re coworkers. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
“I’ve been friends with that person forever. Why do I have to give that up? It’s harmless.”
“He’s a Christian guy, totally respectable. Neither of us would ever act like that.”

God knows we’re human. That’s why He warns us in Proverbs 27:12, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions; the simpleton goes on blindly and suffers the consequences,” and again in I Corinthians 10:12, “If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different than what others experience.” It’s easy to find excuses to compromise or justify our behavior; it’s hard to win back the esteem of others when we’ve failed to avoid the appearance of sin or, worse, actually fallen into it by allowing a friendship to cross the line (I Thess. 5:22, Prov. 18:19).

A wife’s actions should always be a blessing to her husband, doing him good and enriching his life, and never causing him shame by something she said or did (Pr. 6:34, 12:4, 31:10-12). To put a “friendship” with another man between a husband and wife is to provoke him to jealousy and cause rottenness in his bones. This is not to say that Christians can’t be friends with other believers of the opposite sex. It’s great to have fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ when it is governed and controlled by the Holy Spirit, and full of accountability (Gal. 3:28, Heb. 10:24-25). So there’s no one-on-one lunches, no inappropriate conversations—it’s all out in the open. And it never takes the place of our “friend that sticks closer than a brother,” even a brother (or sister) in Christ.

No one else can be the friend that we can be to our husbands, since we were created to give them help and comfort, as their treasure and favor from God (Gen. 2:18, 24:67, Pr. 18:22, Eccl. 9:9). If we understand the unique position we have in our husbands’ lives, then we see how important “forsaking all others” really is. It may not always be easy, especially if our desire to shop and scrapbook conflicts with their desire for sports and, well, more sports. But, as Jesus said in John 15:13, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Certainly, of all people on earth, our husbands should be that first friend we lay down our lives for. May the Lord give us the wisdom, patience, and love we need to be that kind of friend, and the grace to do it.

Live in the Light

2009-08-14T17:33:00.001-04:00

(crosspost from WeUsed2bu)

Did you know that all Christians have a halo?

Of course I’m not seriously implying that we have some golden ring hovering over our heads. It could more accurately be described as a halo “effect.” It’s the light of Christ’s life in us, changing us to be more like Him, and causing the world to notice something is different about us…something they don’t understand.

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:4-5

The world around us is filled with darkness. Not the dark of nighttime, but of sin. Those who live apart from God, separated from His life and salvation, are still living in the dark. They can’t perceive God or His ways, and they don’t want to. The bible says that since the beginning of time, people have loved darkness rather than light. They don’t want their sins to be seen for what they are, and they refuse to acknowledge Jesus as Lord, so they stay away from a relationship with God, so that they won’t be exposed as sinners in need of grace.

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” John 3:19-21

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we’re called out of that darkness and into the marvelous light of God’s abiding presence (I Peter 2:9). It’s like we had been living in a pitch black room, where we stumbled around trying to make some sense of this world, and all of a sudden, the entire room—ceiling, floor, walls, the air itself—is completely illuminated with light. We can now see ourselves for who we really are. We can see those things that were causing us to stumble when we lived in the dark. We may not understand everything, but at least we don’t have to live in helpless frustration. We can ask God for the wisdom of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to keep us from purposely tripping on our old sins. Our life is no longer defined by darkness, but by the brilliant glory of God Himself, the source and giver of the light in our hearts and lives.

“For it is God Who commanded light to shine out of darkness, Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” II Corinthians 4:6

Our new life in Christ should be lived in the light, out in the open, and far removed from the things we used to do in the darkness of our old hearts (Ephesians 5:8-9). We can’t have a true relationship with God and keep one foot in the shadows, trying to hold onto our secret sins. There is no darkness or desire for sin in God at all, and we’re called to walk in the light with Him, where there is fellowship and forgiveness.

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” I John 1:5-7

Living in the light also means knowing and applying God’s word to our lives. God promises us that His word will be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105). The Bible gives us wisdom and understanding, shedding light on God’s plans and purposes, teaching us His unchangeable truth, and revealing His character to us. As we live our lives according to His word, we will also be a light to others, as they are drawn to the transforming power of God’s light in us.

“You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14a-16

Every day is now a choice. We can choose to walk with God in the light, where we will learn and experience more of Him and His love and grace. We can practice righteousness, doing those things that are pleasing to God, and living a life that is full of peace and the blessings of obedience. Others will see the change in us, and it may even lead some of them out of the darkness and towards Jesus. Or, we can try to hide from the light, closing our eyes as we sin, and pretending that we are in a place where God won’t see, even though all darkness is as light to Him (Psalm 139:11-12). Was there really anything in the old darkness that would be worth going back to, now that we have seen the light, and know that it’s Jesus?
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

Sisters, choose Christ, the Life. Choose the light.

So you're saved...now what?

2009-07-20T00:44:00.002-04:00

(crosspost from WeUsed2bu.com)
So you’ve received Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord! Hallelujah! Today the angels sing, the heavens rejoice, your sins are washed away forever, and you begin a permanent citizenship in His heavenly kingdom! A miracle has taken place: the miracle of God’s redemption and regeneration in your heart of hearts. He’s taken what was dead, broken, and lost, and made it clean and new and perfect in His sight. Today is a day of wonders…
…but what about tomorrow?
It’s probably not just tomorrow you’re wondering about. It’s five minutes—five days—five years from now. You’ve started off on a road that you know will lead you to Him in heaven, but you have no idea about how to prepare for the journey. All your old resources, your ways of thinking, acting, and feeling, are going to be different, permanently affected by the presence of the Holy Spirit inside of you. You know you’re supposed to live for God, but you have no idea where to start. Awesome! That’s exactly how you need to feel, so that the Lord can begin to make you into who He created you to be, the person you could never have been without Him. You’re in His mighty hand, and He’s got this covered. His plan is in place, and you have access to the blueprints, even if you don’t understand everything you’re reading. The Bible is your one-to-One source for everything you need to live a righteous and redeemed life. By the wisdom of the Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, you are going to be an amazing testimony of God’s glory. So are you ready? Let’s start you off with some basics. Lace up your walking shoes, grab your Bible—the living water and daily bread from God—and take your first steps into a life more real than anything you’ve ever imagined.
Step one: Know God
You’re on a new and narrow road, one that will take you to God and His eternal glory, and the best part about it is that He hasn’t just left you to make the trip by yourself. He’s going to be with you every step, giving you His protection, provision, and peace, and His presence in your life will be the best part of the journey. He wants you to know Him more every day, and the only way to do this is to spend time reading the Bible regularly. If taking on the Bible seems overwhelming, then get yourself a good devotional or study bible that breaks things down into more manageable and understandable parts. The more time you spend in the Word, the more that the Lord can reveal Himself to you and the stronger you will become in your faith.
But the Lord doesn’t just want to talk to you, He wants to hear from you, too. That’s where prayer comes in. No healthy relationship is one-sided, and just as we share the thoughts of our hearts with those we love, we have to do the same with God. The only difference is that He already knows what you’re going to say! He wants you to learn to trust Him, to turn to Him when you have needs and wants, and to thank Him for all that He does. Our prayers should acknowledge His lordship and affirm our commitment to love and follow Him, because He is worthy. As we draw closer to Him through His word and learn to abide in Him (dwell and remain in the awareness of His presence) through prayer, we will begin to see the greatness of our amazing God.
Step two: Know yourself
Learning about Who God really is will also help you understand who you really are now that your life is in Him. As a “new creature” in Christ Jesus, your old life, which was controlled by the power of sin, is gone, and you have become the righteousness of Christ. God applied Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to your account, and He will never hold your sins against you again. But His grace means that you’re not just a poor servant who owes a massive debt—you’re a child and friend of the King of Kings. So now that you’re “born-again,” you should be baptized. Baptism is symbolic of our spiritual death (sin) and resurrection (salvation in Christ). It’s an act of obedience; it shows that you understand what Jesus has done for you, and you are willing to make a public statement of your faith.
While baptism is an outward expression of obedience, a good part of walking and growing in the Lord takes place inwardly. God’s chosen people are called to purify themselves and be holy, just as He is holy. This doesn’t mean becoming religious robots, but rather striving to live a life that is pleasing to Him. This starts with the thoughts that come into our minds. Because the way we think affects both our self-perceptions and our actions, it’s vitally important that our thoughts line up with the will and character of God. When a thought comes to mind that brings any temptation, whether to behave wrongly or to believe negatively about ourselves or others, we have to consciously correct our thinking with the word of God. This is what the Bible calls taking thoughts captive and renewing our minds. As a Christian’s mind is renewed by the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, it causes our behavior to be more reflective of God’s character. This cycle of renewing our minds and conforming our actions to His will is part of the sanctification process, how God changes us to make us more like Him.
God’s salvation and sanctification aren’t the only evidence of His grace in our lives. He’s also given His people spiritual gifts—special talents, abilities, and anointings—that are particularly suited to each individual. Christians are called to discover and use their gifts in order to benefit others, both believers and non-believers. As you grow in the knowledge and grace (the desire and ability to do His will) of God, you need to ask the Lord to show you what your specific spiritual gifts are, so that you can fulfill your unique role in God’s kingdom and plan.
Step three: Love others
The miracle that is the Christian life is not just for us—something we keep for ourselves, hidden and quiet, unchallenged and untested. We were given the gifts of salvation and Christ’s life in us so that others can see the love of God working in us and have hope for themselves as well. We must be living testimonies of our Lord, sharing what we have and what we know, so that people will be drawn toward God and away from this world’s promise of death. Loving others takes many forms, but all require service and sacrifice. Christians are called to lay down our lives for others, as Christ did for us. Are we actually going to have to die for someone? Probably not. But we surely will be called to die to ourselves. Forgiving someone who hurt us means dying to our self-justification. Volunteering our time instead of pursuing our own plans means dying to our self-centeredness. Giving our resources to those in need means dying to our self-sufficiency.
True followers of Christ are willing to give all they have because of all they have already received. If God never did another thing for us besides save us from our sins, we couldn’t rightly ask for more. But because of the promises of His love, goodness, and faithfulness to us, there should be nothing that we are not willing to do to show God, and other people, how much we love Him, and through Him, how much we love them.
So are you ready to begin? Don’t worry. God is the One Who will make it happen. All you need is a heart that is willing to believe and to love. And you’ve got it, because He gave it to you when you received Him as your Savior. You’re already equipped by God to make this journey of faith. So put on some praise music, set your eyes straight ahead, and start living your real life, your life in Christ.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:21
“And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.” I John 3:23

Child-like Faith in Jesus

2009-06-18T10:45:00.003-04:00

(cross-post from WeUsed2bu)

One of the first memories I have of exercising my faith in God was many years ago when I was in grade school. Our refrigerator completely died, and my mom was upset, because we didn’t have the money to buy a new one. I remember having total confidence that God was going to provide a refrigerator for us. I just knew that the Lord was not going to leave us, a family of five, without one. So to cheer my mom up, I made up this song, “I’m Dreaming of a White Icebox” (that’s a fridge for those of you who never heard that term, lol). She and I just sang and danced in the kitchen, and I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t more than 24 hours or so before we had another refrigerator in place of the old one. I don’t recall where it came from, but I do know that it was God Who made it happen.

That’s what having child-like faith is all about. We need to know in our heart of hearts that our heavenly Father loves us and will provide all of our needs, according to His riches in glory. Sometimes as we get older, we start to assume that we have more ability to make things happen for ourselves. We begin to rely more on our own resources, rather than trusting in the Lord’s plans and provision. Instead of submitting our needs and desires to God, and allowing Him to work, we jump ahead and often miss the blessing that He would have given us, had we just been a little more faithful and patient.

In the gospels, we see a number of times when Jesus instructed His disciples in the importance of child-like faith. These lessons hold several important keys to having the faith that is pleasing to God.

First, we have to BELIEVE. We need to believe in our hearts that Jesus is Who He says He is, even if we can’t see Him. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29) When we were small, it was so easy to believe that things were real, even if we couldn’t see them. Now that we’re older, we often want to see it to believe it. But we don’t have to see God to know that He’s real, because we see the effects of how He’s working in our lives and changing us. It’s like the air around us—you never actually see it, but you see how wind bends the trees in a storm, and you trust that you will be alive five minutes from now because there’s enough oxygen around you to sustain life. You don’t need to see it to put your faith in it. We don’t need to see God to believe that He is.

Next, we have to RECEIVE. Once we believe in Him, then we can receive Him, and all that He offers to us as His children. Our heavenly Father has given us so much—love, salvation, an inheritance in His kingdom—and we need to receive it with the open arms of a child (Mark 10:15, John 1:12-13, I John 3:1). If we truly know Who our heavenly Father is, then every day should be like Christmas morning, with the expectation of only the greatest things to come. True, sometimes we don’t always get what we want, and sometimes it looks like God gives us a lump of coal. But that’s only because He knows exactly what we need to become who He wants us to be. That’s why we need to receive everything He gives us, both the good and the bad, with thanksgiving and praise (I Thess. 5:18).

Finally, we have to stay MEEK. It’s a funny little word that carries a lot of meaning. To be meek is to be humble and submitted to God. Just as a child has no authority over a parent, we have no authority over God. When we are meek, instead of insisting on what we want, we believe and receive from God what He wants for us. Maybe we weren’t expecting that spiritual maturity would look like that, and we might have thought that we would get to be in control of our lives once we “grew up” in the Lord. Jesus taught some of the disciples what meekness should look like when they asked Him who would be greatest in heaven. He again used a child as His example, telling them, “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:4) Our meekness is an acknowledgement of our complete dependence on Him for everything. Just as a child trusts a parent to protect and provide for her, we must have total faith in God to do all that He has promised, and be willing to work with Him as He works in us.

In God’s kingdom, it’s good to be small. We’re more when we’re less. We only become great when we decrease, and Christ increases (John 3:30). Nurturing the child-like faith in us will keep God in His proper place in our lives. We need to remember how blessed we are to be children of the King of Kings, Who is faithful in all His promises and loving towards all He has made (Ps. 145:13). If you have been struggling lately and thinking that you’re walking your road alone, you’re not. Your Abba Father is right there with you, waiting to take your hand and lead you home. Believe it.

God Makes All Things New--Even You

2009-05-31T10:10:00.001-04:00

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

When you see the word “new,” what does it mean to you? Maybe clean, unused, or just different than what we had. We might think of new clothes, a new car, or a new job--we call them new because they didn’t relate or belong to us before now. “New” is usually a term relative to our experiences with life. The problem is, what do we, as finite beings, really know about “new?” Very little, because the Bible says that “there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9c) It may be a difficult concept, but our understanding of new cannot be based on what is seen, but what is unseen, “For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Cor. 4:18b) Only the eternal God is able to call something new, because only He can know that it has never before existed except in His thoughts and plans.

Understanding God’s definition of “new” is especially important when we compare who we were before we accepted Christ to who we are now in Him. When God makes something new, it is “kainos”, which means “unprecedented”, “novel”, “unheard of”, and “of a new kind” (KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon.) Nothing in our human experience or ability would be able to create what only God can do by His power. So when we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new,” we can be sure that Jesus’ Spirit living in us has completely changed our eternal spirits. Where we were unrighteous slaves to sin, without excuse and dead in our trespasses, we are now God’s adopted children, set free to live righteously by the power of Christ’s resurrection (Ephesians 2:1-5 Romans 1:18-32, 6:6-20, 8: 2-17; Galatians 4:3-7). The Holy Spirit prophesied of this when He spoke through Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, in Luke 1: 74-75, saying:

“To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”

This is a beautiful revelation for us, for instead of being bound to the fear and power of sin, we are now able to live a life that by the Holy Spirit is being transformed to mirror God’s glorious image (2 Cor. 3:17-18).

We are constantly being made new–not on the outside, where our looks and our efforts and our work will perish, but on the inside, apart from the world and even from our own good intentions (2 Cor. 4:16). Our human will is not sufficient to give us enough motive or ability to change. God assures us that He will do the work (“for it is God Who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” Phil. 2:13) and that He will finish it in His time (“being confident of this very thing, that He Who had begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Phil. 1:6) It is one of the blessings of God’s manifold grace that even though we don’t always live holy lives, He is faithful to continue working in us to make us more like Him. The apostle Paul encouraged the church in Thessalonica about this when he wrote,

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He Who calls you is faithful, Who also will do it.” (I Thess. 5:23-24)

It is truly amazing that we serve a God Who loves us and delights to “show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:7) This does not mean, however, that we have no role or responsibility in our sanctification process. As Christians, we are admonished to “work out (our) own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil.2:12b) Not fear of punishment; fear of the Lord. Awe and reverence of Him for His great power, holiness, and mercy. A spiritually healthy fear of the Lord results in a number of things:

1. Increased wisdom as we grow in our understanding of Him and His will; (Psalm 25:12,14, 111:10; Prov. 15:33, 9:10)

2. Blessings of provision, protection, and prosperity; (Deut. 5:29, II Kings 17:39, Ps. 25:13, 31:19, 34:7,9, 115:11,13, Eccl.. 8:12, Luke 1:50)

3. Attentiveness and honor from God; (Psalm 60:4, Ps. 145:19, 147:11, Pr. 22:4, Mal. 3:16-17, Heb. 5:7)

4. Willingness to be obedient to Him. (Ex. 20:20, Deut. 6:2)

When we have an appropriate fear of the Lord, we submit to His plan for our lives, because we understand that His ways are truly above our ways, and that His way is perfect (Psalm 18:30 Isaiah 55: 8-9). The submission of our wills, along with the surrender of our lives, our plans, even our hopes and dreams, requires something of us that makes us most like Christ: humility.

When Jesus came to earth, the Bible says “He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross” (Phillipians 2:8). We know that Jesus gave up all that heaven held for Him so He could become man, dwell among us, and die a brutal death in our place. However, what’s also important for us to understand is that Jesus didn’t just surrender His position; He surrendered His will. Even though He had perfect knowledge as to why He was here and what He had to do, He still had to learn to be obedient to the will of the Father. As a man, He fought with His flesh just like we do, in battles that brought Him to the point of emotional agony and physical pain. We see this described in Hebrews 5:7-9:

“Who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him Who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His Godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”

Jesus did the work God called Him to do, and so became the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Now He is working in and through us as we press on to finish our own race (Phil. 3:12-14, Hebrews 12:1). Our faith in Him brings us the victory, as we trust in His sufficiency to lead us through this life into the next. (II Cor. 3:5, I John 5:4)

Still, it’s not easy for any Christian to walk the narrow road. Sometimes we can just barely put one foot in front of the other and believe that God will make a way where there is no way. Surrender of our lives requires humility before God, faith in His promises, and a steadfast resolve to stand firm against the enemy in whatever form he comes. Even as a new creature in Christ, we may not win every battle, but we’ve already won the war. Jesus reminds us of this when He says, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) He can see what we can’t: the eternal. That’s where our real home and our real identity are found, where He waits to finally give us all that He’s prepared for us. We’ll have a new name and a glorified body, we’ll live in a house He’s made ready for us, and we’ll be citizens of a new heaven and a new earth that will never again be cursed with sin (Rev. 2:17, Phillipians 3:21, John 14:2-3, Phillipians 3:20, Rev. 21:1-4). The only One that will be the same is the God Who does not change, Jesus Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Holy Spirit Who sealed us with His promise and guarantee (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8, II Cor. 1:22, 5:5, Eph. 1:13-14). We’ll hear it from Him in person when He makes an end to the old and the beginning of what forever more will be:

“Then He Who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.” (Rev. 21:5-7)

If you know Him, if you are in Christ, then remember, when God said “new,” He meant “you.”

God Forgives You

2009-05-31T09:42:00.000-04:00

If you’re a Biblical “legalist,” Jesus’ parables might not work for you. Maybe you’re the type of person who wants to know exactly how much faith equals a mustard seed that will grow into a great tree or move a mountain. Or possibly you’ve wondered whether the older brother of the prodigal son had a legitimate gripe with their father, who welcomed the wayward sibling home with a feast on the fatted calf. Even the disciples found their perceptions of fairness and logic challenged as Jesus’ simple stories exposed the intentions of the human heart. For me, I know that one particular parable is a spiritual speed bump in my life, a pride-breaker that God often uses to keep my heart from hardening. It’s the parable of the unforgiving servant, where Jesus introduces us to His grace in the form of a seemingly simple equation: “seventy times seven.”

In this story, we hear of a poor servant who is so in debt to his king that he, his wife, his children, and all his worldly possessions are to be sold to pay what he owes. Seemingly desperate, on his hands and knees, he begs for the king to have patience and let him pay back the money in time. The king, moved with mercy, forgives the servant his entire debt and lets him go free.

The servant, at this point, should have gone out from the king’s presence with his burden lifted and his heart rejoicing. We could picture him to be like Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, waking up on Christmas morning after the previous night’s horrible dreams of retribution and condemnation. The repentant Scrooge becomes a changed man, filled with newfound love and appreciation for others. Not the servant, however. He immediately finds a fellow worker who owes him a pittance compared to what he had owed the king. He physically attacks the man, refuses the man’s plea for patience, and has him thrown in prison until the debt is satisfied.

His behavior, however, does not go unnoticed or unpunished. When the king is informed about the servant’s actions, he angrily rebukes the man for his lack of compassion. The king recalls his pardon, sending the servant to the torturers until the original debt is paid in full. Jesus closes this story with the admonition that we must forgive others just as God has forgiven us. He uses the phrase “seventy times seven” to represent not a calculable number of offenses, but a Spirit-filled willingness to give others unlimited grace, even as we have received it from God.

Every time I read this story, I am humbled. I know how much I’ve done in my life to warrant God’s righteous judgement. I also know that as long as I live on earth, I will sorrowfully continue to sin because my redeemed spirit and renewed mind are still trapped in a sinful body (Rom. 7:15-25). The sin debt that we all acquire in our lifetime is so hopelessly huge, it is only by God’s grace and mercy through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross that we are forgiven and justified in His sight. Through His forgiveness, God promises to blot out like a thick cloud our transgressions (Is. 44:22), remove them as far as east is from west (Ps. 103:12), cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9), and remember our sins no more (Is. 43:25). We are assured that He will not deal with us or punish us according to our sins (Ps. 103:10), that His forgiveness is a blessing to us (Ps. 32:1), and that His mercy is new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23). This complete and total forgiveness is nothing we can ever earn or feel entitled to; it is only a grace gift born out of God’s love for us. Paul puts it this way in His letter to the Ephesians:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence...” (Eph. 1:3-8)

I especially like the last part of verse 8 because it asserts the fact that God’s forgiveness is extended to us in His wisdom and prudence. This means that God foresaw everything we would ever do wrong, and forgave us anyway. From the beginning of creation, God chose us, knew us, and made us His own through Christ’s sacrifice. His knowledge of our sins never deterred Him in His plan to love us and be with us for all eternity. He made His forgiveness available before we ever knew we needed it or asked for it, and He never denies it to us. He would rather we be obedient (I Sam. 15:22) but when we fall into the dark pit of sin, we can repent knowing that He will raise us up and bring us back to the light of His righteousness (Micah 7:8-9).

So why is it sometimes so hard to give that grace to others, not to mention to ourselves?

The forgiveness that we have received from God through Christ should flow from Him to our own hearts, and on to those around us. So often, however, our bottles are corked, preventing us from feeling or sharing His forgiveness and causing a backlash of bitterness, resentment, and suffering that He never intended for us to experience. For me, uncorking my spirit usually requires that I face the two great enemies of grace: Pride and fear. Pride says, “I won’t forgive” or “I won’t ask for forgiveness”; fear says “I won’t be forgiven.” If we’re consumed by pride or fear, there is only one way out: Faith.

Faith is the key to our understanding of how forgiveness really works. God’s word tells us in Ephesians 2 that “by grace we are saved through faith.” We first must believe God and accept Christ’s death as the sacrifice for our sins. From that moment on, our standing in God’s eyes has nothing to do with us; He now only sees us according to Christ’s righteousness (Phil 3:9), a position we can’t earn but can accept by faith. The life God desires for us is one where we don’t equate ourselves with our sins and shortcomings, but, as it says in both Habakkuk and Hebrews, “the just shall live by faith.” (Heb. 10:38a, Hab. 2:4) This is one reason why the Bible says that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” (Heb. 11:6) If we can’t accept Jesus for Who He is, what He’s done, and who we are in Him, we are refusing God’s love, grace, and forgiveness, and in the end those who do so will be judged as His enemies.

Faith also plays a critical role in forgiving others. No matter how badly we have been hurt by someone’s sin, if we’ve accepted Christ’s death on the cross, then we’ve also accepted the fact that it was what we all did that put Him there. And just as God reconciled us to Himself despite our wrongdoings, (II Cor. 5:19) we are to freely forgive as well. (I John 5:4) We may not feel merciful, but we can choose to please God and trust that what He asks of us is the best thing for us–and for others. This can definitely be a time where we “walk by faith, not by sight,” (II Cor. 5:7) moving beyond our feelings into resolved obedience of the will. We must believe that when we act in faith, we will have spiritual victory (I John 5:4), and that God promises to reward those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). By abiding in Him and doing His will, we receive the Father’s grace to forgive, the Holy Spirit’s healing of our hurts, and the Son’s fullness of joy that remains.

We also need to remember that the act of forgiveness is first conceived out of love. Just as faith without love equals nothing (I Cor. 13: 1-3), forgiveness without love is an empty shell devoid of the Lord’s intention. If we forgive with a hard heart, God cannot be glorified because we do not allow Him to redeem the wounded relationship between us and the offender. This prevents the other person from seeing the true nature of Christ, Who was willing to lay down His life in order to restore us to Him. This action was a choice born out of His great love for us, and because of this He can ask us to do the same for others. I John 4:10-11 states,

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Forgiveness is not an option for believers. If we love God, if we have received His mercy, we are compelled to act as He did and give mercy and love with no strings attached. To be unforgiving means we remain burdened with the sins of others (John 20:23) and put ourselves in an idolatrous position, serving ourselves instead of the One Who forgave us. Can we afford to do that? Not when we’re honest with ourselves, just as the writer of Psalm 130 was when he wrote,

“If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness
with You, that You may be feared.” (Ps. 130:3-4)

We need to embrace grace, not legalism, to experience the fullness of His forgiveness. Jesus’ words to His disciples were, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:8) If we’re also His disciples, those words are meant for us as well.

God Removes Our Shame

2009-05-31T09:38:00.001-04:00

How do you feel about your scars?

Most of us have them. Whether they’re small and unobtrusive, or large and pronounced, scars are not generally something that we want people to see. These indelible marks, often the result of a painful experience we did not choose or anticipate, are proof of our mortality. They bear witness to the fact that we cannot make every problem just “go away.” Much like a Sharpy marker, a scar is a permanent “pain marker” that reminds us of how rough life can be.

Now, imagine your emotional scars. Sometimes, the pain that we feel in our hearts is much more difficult to deal with than physical pain. Often, physical pain can be healed over time. Wounds in the heart run deep, and don’t always have a place where they can surface safely and be treated. Consequently, whether it was the sin of someone else, or our own sin that caused our affliction, most of us are walking around with emotional wounds that would look like battle scars if they were visible. Sure, we can pretend that everything is fine by putting on a smile and a show. But what if every time we were hurting, we were physically marked on the outside? Or worse: what if we were made to bear our sins and the sins of others tattooed like a tell-all for everyone to see? We would all be mortified–shamed to death–by other people’s awareness of whom we really are, what we’ve done, and what others have done to us.

Shame is one of the most powerful poisons in the enemy’s arsenal. Shame immobilizes us with fear: the fear of being unworthy of love. And if there’s anything that the enemy doesn’t want us to experience, it is the all-knowing, all-merciful, all-redeeming love of Christ. Once we’ve experienced His love in our lives, it “casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”(I John 4:18) The shame that torments us is utterly wiped away as the blood of Christ covers our sins, and remembers them no more. And while we will still have a remembrance of whatever has caused us to feel shame, we can bring those memories and feelings to God, trusting Him to heal us and raise us up again.

“I sought the LORD, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked
to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and
the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD
encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”(Psalm 34:4-7)

Shame really can feel like a double-edged sword: It’s either our own mistakes that drive us to despair, or the sins of others force the pain so deep into our hearts that it seems to become a part of who we are, affecting our self-image and our behavior. Shame can cause us to actually inflict hatred on ourselves if we don’t know how to deal with it. Even Jesus Himself knew the feeling of shame, as he hung on the cross, bearing the entire sin burden of humanity in all its filth and unholiness (Heb. 12:2). But Jesus endured because He knew the truth: By His atoning for our sins with His own death, His people were forever delivered from the curse of the law that judged us unworthy. His joy was to give us joy, the permanent joy of our acceptance by the Father into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Col. 1:13).

When we confess in faith that Jesus is our Savior, we also are given His righteousness, which is not affected by what we do, what we don’t do, or what others do to us. As the apostle Paul puts it, “...not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Phil. 3:19bc) Christ’s righteousness makes us holy, blameless, and above reproach (Col. 2:2). We need to embrace this truth to understand who we really are–not worthless, but as worthy in God’s eyes as His own Son.

Feeling loved yet?

Maybe we should talk about the fact that even before God made us worthy by sending Jesus to die for us, before He gave us the riches of His grace and mercy and the promise of eternity with Him, before we were made right and while we were still very wrong, He loved us. The Bible states clearly, “but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Rom. 5:8) He loved us before He created us (John 1:13, I John 4:7), and His perfect love is the source of our love for Him (I John 4:19). And once we are in Christ, rooted and grounded in His love, we can begin “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that (we) may be filled with all the fullness of God.”(Eph. 3:17-19) That’s the fullness and completeness and perfection of love that will cast out fear and shame.

As long as we are here on this earth, our enemy will use shame to try and keep us bound in fear. Instead of allowing shame to control us, we can surrender it to Christ and remember the truth of His word:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death..And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.”(Rom. 8:1-2,10)

Ask Christ Jesus to show you His scars. We know how He got them. We also need to remember that we were the reason why. And since He does not condemn us, no one else can. (John 8:11, Rom. 8:33-34)

Bitterness

2009-05-31T09:09:00.003-04:00

Crosspost from WeUsed2bu (Weusedtobeyou.com)

Did you ever have one of those days, or weeks, or even years, where it so often felt like a never-ending season of difficulty? Every time you turned around, it seemed like you ran into the next “something else” or “what now?!”, a new manifestation of pain or heartache that wrought turmoil and brought your nerves to the brink. That was the way the last few days have felt for me. I fought with someone I love dearly, was mocked by someone I despise, lost my cool, lost my strength, and lost sight of the bigger picture. I failed and flailed, cursed and cried, and for all of that, I was able to change nothing. But in acknowledging my powerlessness, I found hope, because God is changing me.
In my life, I have seen that I have a tendency to be angry and bitter. Some people can deal with conflict or sorrow differently than I can. They can be rational, whereas I’ve raged at others or retreated into myself, both of which are terribly unhealthy emotional responses. I take criticism too personally, I hold onto hurts, and I can’t stand injustice in the world. All of these things, when bottled up in my soul, create a wall that keeps me from reaching out to others for fear of being judged, offended, or rejected. The result is isolation, fear, false pride, and a joyless life. When I shut others out, disregarding their worth and my need for fellowship, I find myself alone, separated from love by an unwillingness to invest myself and potentially lose whatever pitiful ground I think I’ve gained in my life by forcing others out of my space. It’s a pretty lonely way to live, and it’s not what God has in mind for any of His children. He wants His family all together, joined in fellowship and rejoicing in His grace and salvation. As my brother once wisely reminded me, no follower of Christ should be their own island.
I have to say, now that I’ve been walking with the Lord for some time, He has been faithful to draw me out of my self-pity and set me on my feet, even if He has to light a little fire to get me started. After one particularly bad afternoon this week, I came home and went straight to bed, barely noticing my family and feeling really low and lost. I must have lain there for almost three hours, trying to work through my mental mess, when I started hearing a noise on the window behind me. Then I noticed a few bugs flying around. I was just starting to wonder what that crawling feeling was when I felt something bite me on my neck. I sat up to see little crawling bugs on my blanket, pillow, curtains, windowsill—they were landing on the bed and shedding their wings all over the place. Needless to say, it got me out of bed in a hurry! Turns out the bugs were termites crawling out of the attic through a tiny hole in the ceiling. So now, not only was my mood rotten, apparently so is the wood somewhere in my roof.
The irony of the situation is that those bugs have probably been there for years. The exterminator who came to my house explained that termites make colonies and it’s not until they need more room do they actually start pushing out and looking for a new home. It was just like my bitterness. It stayed hidden, unchecked, eating away at my fortitude and weakening my foundation. Then when I was confronted with a trial, I came apart at the seams. Instead of being diligent in searching out the negative emotions I felt, and entrusting them moment by moment to God, I fostered them with justification and even protection, because I convinced myself I was entitled to be angry. Sadly, that bitterness has spread to others who are close to me, because they want to empathize with me in the hopes of making me feel better. They take my side and in turn, they too become bitter and resentful. What a terrible cycle I have created!
So now my house probably needs to be tented, which will show the whole neighborhood that we have bugs. It’s costly and inconvenient, but it will kill the termites before they do any more damage. But what about me? What treatment is prescribed to get rid of my anger and bitterness? The answer is in God’s word. Ephesians 4:31 is very clear, “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” I am not entitled to be angry, much less bitter, towards those who have offended me. Rather, I have to choose forgiveness, kindness, and even allow my heart to be softened towards them. Hebrews 12:14-15 explains what will happen if I will do this, and also what happens if I don’t. It says, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” I can either choose to give others grace, and keep my peace, both literally and spiritually, or I can be bitter, which will keep me from abiding in Christ, and will cause others to fall into sin.
So it comes down to a choice—do I want to imitate Christ, or do I want to ignore His example? Personally, I’m way too thankful for His grace and mercy to turn my back on His will for my life. Like it says in Luke 7:47, I’ve been forgiven much, so I had better love much as well. I can love others by extending God’s mercy to them, and I can love myself by letting the Lord heal my wounded soul. It really is a win-win situation, because when we choose not to be bitter, we leave the door open to the possibility of restored relationships, which brings glory to God. So as I confess my bitterness and allow the Lord to work, I trust Him to bring back to me those with whom I should be in fellowship. I just ask of the Lord one thing—I really hope it’s not the bugs.

Fear

2009-05-31T09:05:00.001-04:00

Crosspost from WeUsed2bu (Weusedtobeyou.com)

If you had to pick your greatest fear, what would it be?
Maybe, like many people, you’d say snakes or spiders. Or possibly, it’s a fear of flying, or just heights in general. One of the most common fears that afflicts people is a fear of public speaking. There’s phobias for open spaces, closed spaces, small spaces, crowded spaces; fears about water, fears about thunderstorms, fears that keep people from the doctor (needles and throw-up), and fears that send them running to the doctor for meds to take their fears away (anxiety and panic). At its worst, fear keeps people hiding at home, but it also motivates people to do some crazy things as they exploit its inherent adrenaline rush (think skydiving and bungee jumping). Fear is a powerful emotion that can grab hold of both the mind and the body, making us captives in our own flesh. So many people are needlessly bound in that prison, not realizing that if they know Jesus Christ, the cell door is open and they’re already sprung! They can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, get up, leave the prison of fear, and walk out into the light of faith.
I was looking back over some of the more recent WeUsed2bu posts, trying to see what common “fear factors” have been plaguing our readers. What I saw were fears about the future, about not being loved, and about dealing with sin. Often, those fears revolve around things we can’t control, as well as the things we are desperate to keep control of. The bottom line is—we need to let those fears go, and refuse to be tormented by them any longer. It’s not that we won’t experience fear in our lives, we just don’t have to be controlled by it. God wants to replace our fear with faith, giving us hope from His love, peace from His presence, and joy from His strength.
First and foremost, fear can be banished from our lives when we understand that God truly is in control. There is no escaping God’s complete and total control of all circumstances, which is His “providence” or “sovereignty” (Is. 46:9-11, Rom. 11:36). Nothing can happen that is outside of His will (Job 42:2, Ps. 33:11). And because God is good, then we know that His will and plans for us are good as well (Ps. 118:1, Jer. 29:11). As believers in the Lord Jesus, we can rest in the fact that our lives here on earth, and our futures in eternity, are secure in His loving hands, and nothing on earth can change that or take it (or Him) away from us (John 10:28-29, Eph. 1:13-14). So if we’re worried about what’s happening in our lives, or what’s to come in the future, we can cast those burdens and fears onto Him, because He cares for us, and He knows what He’s doing even when we don’t (Is. 55:8, I Peter 5:7).
The knowledge that God is in control and is working on our behalf is an important weapon in the battle against fear, but we are blessed with more than that in our arsenal. As God’s children, we also have an unlimited source of love in our lives that is always available to us. Why is that important? Because God’s perfect love casts out fear (I John 4:18). We are loved and accepted by the God of the universe, our Savior Who was just as involved in our lives before we were created as He is now (Col. 1:17, I John 3:1). He loved us while we were still sinners, and He died to free us from that sin and to show us the depth of His love for us (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8). Now, He is in heaven, making the place ready where we will spend eternity with Him (John 14:3). In the mean time, we will never be alone (Rom. 8:38-39). He loves us so much that He is always thinking about us, has our name tattooed on His hand, and keeps our tears in a bottle (Ps. 56:8, 139:17-18, Is. 49:16). His love for us never fails or falls short (I Cor. 13:7-8). We never have to be afraid of not being loved, because God can’t love us any more than He already does!
There’s another kind of fear burden we need to cast onto God, and that is the fear of sin in our lives. I for one have been afraid of my old self rising up, pulling me back to the sins to which I used to be in bondage. But we find freedom from that fear when we claim the truth of who we are in Christ Jesus: we are new creations (II Cor. 5:17). The old flesh is dead, crucified with Christ, and now our lives are actually His life in us (Gal. 2:20) Our old creature will still try to drag us down, but we’re no longer slaves to it, nor are we condemned by our sins, because Jesus has given us His righteousness (Rom. 7:17, 8:1). We’re forgiven of all the sins in our past, and we can trust God to keep us from falling again (Ps.32:1-2, 5, Jude 24). So when we are afraid of sin, and our temptation by it, we have great comfort in the fact that God wants us to cast that burden on Him, too. He will hold us up, not allow us to be moved, and make a way of escape for us (Ps. 55:22, I Cor. 10:13).
God does not want us to waste another minute being worried, anxious, or afraid. The only fear we should have is a fear of the Lord Himself, and that’s not a cowardly, cringing fear. It’s a healthy fear based on respect and awe for Him and His word (Ps. 11:10, Is. 8:12-13, Luke 12:4-5); it teaches us wisdom and humility, and helps us draw closer to Him (Ps. 25:12-14, Prov. 14:26-27). If we have fears in our lives that are keeping us from God, then we need to get back to the basics of His love for us, because His love will literally and totally drive that fear away! Hallelujah!

2009-05-08T20:10:00.000-04:00

For You - I Love You (for L}--remember,@)
When love is found
It seems to fill
Each second’s thoughts
It won’t be still
When love is new
You carefully tread
Guard fast your dreams
Lest too much is said
When love has grown
To more temperate state
And seeds are sown
You hope and wait
As love draws near
Its fate to face
Two hearts join in
One holy place
And love becomes
A cord of gold
Too precious by far
To be bought or sold
And as love holds,
And bravely binds,
Protects, and cares,
And neverminds,
Love comes of age
Its place affirmed
By confidence gained
From lessons learned
And how is love
As it grows old?
Ask of me when
Our story’s told.

Purity in media pt.2- crosspost from WeUsed2bu

2009-04-13T07:58:00.000-04:00

When I was a teen, I was into horror novels. One scared me so badly, I had to put it out on my front porch because I couldn’t keep it in my house. I allowed books to fill my mind with page after page of polluted stories that contained ungodly characters, obscene language, demonic influences—stories written by a famous author whose books were turned into movies that I would then go see. (Movies that wouldn’t have made the first cut a few paragraphs ago.) For today’s teens, it’s no different, as books such as the Twilight series portray vampirism as a desirable alternative lifestyle, coupled with the lie that eternal life can be achieved by any means other than through Jesus Christ (check out this link to learn more: http://weused2bu.blogspot.com/2009/03/twilights-blood-soaked-romance.html). Books like these try to tug on our emotional strings and convince us that it’s possible to find love by embracing darkness, and that it’s okay to set our own standards of good, as long as there’s evil in the world that’s worse than us. This is a complete departure from the Bible, which contains page after page of incredible stories of God’s redemption of His people, as well as the greatest love story ever told: How Jesus Christ loved the world so much that He came to earth and died a horrific death to save us from our sins, then miraculously rose from the dead and was taken up into heaven, where He is waiting for His bride (His people) to spend an eternity in perfect bliss with us. Is there really any book (or magazine—remember how I started this article) that could compare to the written truth of God’s inspired Word? His words are living and active and bring us life when we read them (Heb. 4:12); can the other books in our personal libraries and backpacks do that? If they can’t, then they’re worth less than the paper they’re printed on.

Maybe, though, you don’t watch movies, or have time for TV, and you hate to read a long book. There’s something else that can bombard your brain, and when it does, it’s often literally a few inches from it—coming through your headphones. Music plays a huge part in the spectrum of our lives, from how we relax and have fun, to how we perceive ourselves and our circumstances. The kind of music we listen to tells a lot about where our “head” is, or what ideas we allow to shape our thoughts, and ultimately our behavior (Pr.23:7). A lot of hip hop contains lyrics that degrade women, encourage drinking, and promote violence and a gangster lifestyle. Rock and metal, whether from today or the last several decades, often contains references to sex, drugs, depression, or the occult. Even some country music, which often embraces the values of a good work ethic and a belief in God, can include the suggestion of drinking as a normal part of life to be practiced with regularity and enthusiasm. So am I suggesting that you erase the entire contents of your mp3 player? That depends on what’s on it. Probably not, but if we don’t want the world to tell us how we should be living, then we have to stop letting its music bang our mental drum and start walking to a different beat.

There’s one more place to visit on this virtual tour of your entertainment choices, and you’re already there. The computer is the gateway that gives us access to anything and everything this world can offer, and it needs to be guarded accordingly. One wrong turn, one bad decision, and we open the door to any variety of sins and their bondage. It’s not just the x-rated stuff, either; it’s also the overload of images and information that can be warped and driven into our minds, teaching us to accept, imitate, and assimilate into a society that doesn’t know God. It’s our responsibility to make sure that this doesn’t happen, by using godly wisdom to discern whether or not our entertainment choices are pleasing to Him. Proverbs 8:32-36 shows us the role wisdom should play in making these kinds of decisions:

“Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my (wisdom’s) ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gate, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all those who hate me love death.”

We need to listen to and watch those things that will bring us wisdom and life, and wait on the Lord to give us positive choices, instead of rushing headlong into the world’s web of lies and destructive influences. I know I want peaceful seeds of righteousness planted in my mind, not scary books lying in wait on my doorstep.

Purity in media Pt. 1- crosspost from WeUsed2bu

2009-04-12T09:48:00.002-04:00

Do you ever find yourself tempted in the grocery store? Not by the food, but by the checkout stand--or more specifically, the magazine racks? All the gossip…the rows of airbrushed models and actresses with designer clothes and perfect teeth…throw in a few whacked out headlines from the tabloids, like “Man gives birth to bat baby” or “Loch Ness monster visits Hudson River”, and you’ve got a buffet full of what the world wants us to eat--garbage. Junk food for the mind that will rot our self-esteem and give us fat, covetous hearts that can’t be satisfied with what God gave us. Two minutes in front of the magazine rack can do more damage than what’s in our carts; at least food takes time to digest and our stomachs let us know when we’re full. When it comes to the way we consume media, however, we have to be careful to know when we’ve had enough--or when we need to change our diet altogether. The Bible tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think about whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. With that in mind, let’s take stock of what we’ve already allowed into our lives and minds, and pray about what needs to go!

First, head to the place in your home where you keep your DVD and VHS movies. Start separating them by rating. Be honest--how many R-rated movies do you have access to? These are the easiest to cut out of our entertainment diet, because their R-rating is almost always an indication of objectionable content. It’s not about being “old enough” to watch them; it’s about not allowing graphic depictions of sex, violence, drug use, or other ungodly behaviors to be a part of what we consider entertainment at any age. Continue going through your other movies. It’s highly probable that many with the PG-13 rating are not much different than their R-rated cousins. But what about the ones that aren’t “so bad”? There’s several in this category, plus a number of PG-rated movies, that may not seem to be a problem at first glance. But just because something’s not in-your-face offensive doesn’t mean it’s good for you. How do the themes of the movie line up with the standards of God’s Word? Is there a lot of crude humor and language? Do the main characters treat themselves (their bodies, their attitudes about life) and others (parents, peers, authority figures) with respect? Does the plot contain references to magic and sorcery, portray risky behavior (clubbing, drinking, inappropriate relationships), or does it glorify greed and materialism? These things might be accepted by the world, but they’re not going to teach us how to walk closer with God. And a steady diet of questionable movies is going to weigh us down and ensnare us with a dangerous attitude of complacency towards sin and its consequences (Hebrews 12:1-2).

While you’re at your movie cabinet, you’re probably in close proximity to your TV. This is one place you can easily find cheap material that looks good enough, but in reality, is so bad for you! In that way, TV is like a fast food restaurant: It’s a lot more difficult to find and choose the healthy things on the menu when they’re surrounded by all the tasty junk! Grab your remote and do a drive-thru of your program choices. Television shows with potentially objectionable material are no longer limited to cable or prime time programming. Instead, we have 24-hour access to talk shows that both mock and glorify people’s personal conflicts, soap operas (day and evening, and yes, Gossip Girl counts--check the title) that romanticize emotional and sexual infidelity, style and home improvement programs that teach us to want the bigger and the better, and reality shows that take all of the above and put it out there for the world to see in unedited and unapologetic brashness. (Don‘t even get me started on MTV). Once we remove all of the shows that have a negative influence, we’re left with very few choices to enjoy that won’t compromise our integrity. More than likely, if we find that we have been allowing TV to mindlessly amuse us, then we probably need to unplug and find a better way to fill our free time.

Speaking of free time, a lot of us enjoy reading a good book; after all, parents love to see their kids reading, right? But would your parents approve if they really knew what was in that book? Tomorrow, we’re going to take a heavy look at some of our not-so-light reading, as well as what else we might have in our media mix.

God protects you

2009-04-11T22:30:00.001-04:00

Once when we were living in an apartment, I was trying to hang a mirror on the dining room wall. I had taken our cordless drill and drilled holes through what I thought were the metal studs in the wall, and I had two large screw hooks that I was hand-turning into the holes. As I was screwing in the second one, I heard a loud snap, and assumed that I had pushed the hook through the other side of the stud. The mirror was hung and I’m sure I thought that I had done a great job.
The next morning, I went on the patio to use the dryer to finish a load of laundry. Try as I did, I could not get the dryer to run. After checking to make sure the plug was not loose, I went to the circuit breaker box in the kitchen to see if I had tripped the circuit. As I opened the box, I saw that the switch was indeed tripped. When I flipped it back, smoke and sparks shot out of the breaker box, almost starting a fire. I immediately called the maintenance man, who, after fixing the problem, told me that I was lucky to be alive. You see, in my ignorance and bravado, I had screwed the hook straight into the back of the circuit box and into wiring. Although I had screwed in the hook by hand, I was not electrocuted; still, a deep piece of that metal hook was blown out by the electric current. Today the hook hangs in the garage, a reminder of God’s protection, grace, and love.
What’s your "hook"? Can you remember a time when God supernaturally protected you from something–or someone? That time may be more than just an incident; it could be an entire period of life when we were living and doing things in such a way that we really should have expected some serious consequences. For many people, that time is "B.C."–Before Christ. But I also know that I can look back at my life since accepting Jesus as my Savior, and be just as amazed at how His providence has protected and redeemed me, even to this very day.
A little more than three thousand years ago, a teenaged shepherd named David entered boldly into battle against the Philistine champion, a nine-foot giant named Goliath. As the entire Israelite army, including King Saul and David’s older brothers, stood trembling at the sight of Goliath and listening to his threats and blasphemous taunts, David slung a river rock into Goliath’s forehead, and then proceeded to cut Goliath’s head off with the giant’s own sword. Because of his brave deeds, David became known and loved throughout the land–except by King Saul.
Even though Saul was God’s anointed, he had turned away from the following the Lord. Saul’s alienation from God also spawned a murderous hatred for David. Not once, not twice, but for months, Saul pursued David, throwing spears at him in the palace court, sending men to kill David in his own bed, and eventually driving him into the wilderness mountains, chasing him with an entire army. Saul never overtook David, and yet David found himself on two occasions in the position of being able to take Saul’s life if he wanted to. Though David spared Saul, Saul would not spare himself. He took his own life in a tragic response to his hopelessness and helplessness.
The book of Psalms is much like a journal of David’s thoughts and prayers throughout his lifetime. In addition to psalms that praise and worship God, we also read over and over how David cried out to the Lord for protection and deliverance from his enemies. David knew that his strength and help came only from the Lord, as he proclaimed in Psalm 18:1-3:
"I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies."
Yet as we look at David’s life, we can also see that one of David’s worst enemies was his own human nature. There were times when David struggled with sin, condemnation, depression, and despondency–so much so that he often referred to himself as in a "pit," afflicted and in anguish to the point where he felt close to death. He knew that his only hope and help was the Lord, the One Who made him and loved him.
"Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me!" (Psalm 40:11-13)
God was faithful to deliver, forgive and restore David, but David still had one problem: He did not have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That’s why he pleads for God not to take the anointing of the Holy Spirit from Him after he falls into sin with Bathsheba (Psalm 51:11). David’s relationship with God was under the covenant of the law, and he knew that his own sinfulness could keep him out of God’s presence and protection.
This is where the sacrifice of Christ is brought into brilliant perspective! Where David had doubt, we have assurance that there is nothing in heaven or on earth that can permanently defeat us and keep us from God because He dwells in us. I John 4:4 states, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Once we are a part of God’s kingdom, we are by His grace given a position of permanent victory because of Jesus’s death on the cross. Not only are we saved from sin, but from the powers of the enemy who would defeat us here on earth. Yes, we will still physically die, but our times are in His hand (Ps. 31:14-15). It’s the fear of death that is banished forever in the Light of life–in Christ. Read Romans 8:31-39, as Paul explains why we have hope:
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Jesus not only loves us, but he knows every problem that we’ll ever have to face. That’s why He told us in John 16:33, "In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." When we’re faced with trials and torments bigger than we, we need to remember where to go to find help: to the only One who can.
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills–from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He Who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He Who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore." (Psalm 121)

God works on your behalf

2009-04-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it’s funny to think of Jesus as a child on this earth. Meaning, since Jesus was perfect, did He ever miss a ball that was thrown to Him? Did He ever not draw beautifully proportioned pictures and write with perfect handwriting? His first carpentry projects were probably met with nearly as much wonder as the teachings he delivered as an adolescent in the temple. With His holy gifts and heavenly manners, He could have been every team’s All-Star, every teacher’s pet, every parent’s dream. So why do we not read of what must have been His many accomplishments throughout His young life?
Because Jesus’s work here was never about Him. His purpose was twofold: To glorify His Father, and to lay down His life for His sheep. This was the work that was set before Him, and He embraced it willingly. His life was the perfect manifestation of a scripture we find in Proverbs 21:21, "He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness and honor." Jesus lived His life righteously according to His Father’s will, and when the time came, in His great mercy He sacrificed Himself to save all sinners. His reward was resurrection to eternal life at His Father’s side, perfect righteousness that defeated hell and bought back the world from sin, and the honor, love, and worship of all who love and serve Him.
So now that His earthly job is complete, does that mean that Jesus has merely retired Himself to sitting at the right hand of His Father, receiving His rightful glory and waiting for us to come and join Him? After all, we as humans often find ourselves with a mission mind set that confers a "well-deserved rest" once our task/career/ministry is completed. And we could probably all agree that if anyone was entitled to enjoy the fruits of their labor, it is Jesus. If He never chose to do anything else for His people besides saving them from hell and damnation, He had certainly done enough already.
Mercifully, He doesn’t see it that way. Right now He is working just as hard on our behalf as He ever did in the past, and He will continue to do so until we are glorified with Him in heaven. He’s not the only one, either. According to the Bible, we have the amazing assurance that along with Christ, both the Father and the Holy Spirit are intimately intertwined in every aspect of our lives, making sure that the work God began in us will be completed. (Phillipians 1:6).
Take a moment and consider how HE:
–loves us, creates us, and knows us; gives us life, chooses, and appoints us; takes pleasure in us and is faithful to us,
–has mercy on us and made the sacrifice for us; forgives, saves, and redeems us; justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies us; gives us resurrection and eternal life, and prepares a place for us,
–defeats the enemy, overcomes the world, and delivers us from sin; gives us victory, overcomes sin in our own flesh, and gives us freedom and liberty.
He also:
–seals us, baptizes us, binds us to Himself, and declares us His children by adoption; gives us access to His presence and into communion with Him; dwells in us, abides in us, testifies to us of Himself, and is our friend,
–gives us His mind, a new heart, fear of the LORD, His glory, His testimony, His holiness, His righteousness, and His transforming work in us,
–gives us light, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, guidance, counsel, instruction, teaching, leading, direction, initiative, help, and inspiration.
But there’s more! (A lot more!)
He:
–blesses us, rewards us, and is good to us; comforts us, and gives us rest, peace, and hope; knows and provides our needs, hears and answers our prayers, serves us, and preserves us through generations,
–lifts up a standard and a banner over us; sympathizes with us, prays and intercedes for us, and helps us overcome temptation; hides us from trouble, bears us up, and sustains us in hardship; removes our fears and shame, heals us, and gives us gladness,
–tests us, corrects us, and disciplines us; convicts us of sin and gives us perfect truth; works His will in us, and causes us to be obedient,
Even more, He:
–gives us power, strength, and boldness; fills us with His word and gives us spiritual gifts; makes us ministers of Him, sends us out as disciples, and gives us what we need for ministry; gives us words to speak, speaks through us, and gives us His judgement,
–causes us to bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and temperance, and
–is our Father, Husband, Creator, Savior, High Priest, Head of the church, and Good Shepherd Who will someday bring us to live with Him for all eternity.
Now, if this seems like a lot to fully absorb, don’t worry–you can’t! The Bible says that the greatness of God is unsearchable(Psalm 145:3), and that now we only see in part (I Cor. 13:9,12); but someday, His glory will be revealed to us and in us. Until then, we’re only broken vessels and jars of clay, continually held and constantly reshaped in His hands. He does His best work when we embrace His grace and let Him do all that He does best.
"...Therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..." (From Deuteronomy 29: 19-20)

You are accepted by God

2009-04-11T22:17:00.000-04:00

One of the worst mistakes I have made as a parent is disciplining with a hard heart instead of a heavy heart. My fears of being exposed as an inadequate person pushed me to in turn push my kids toward that ever-elusive "perfect" behavior: perfect room, perfect appearance, perfect manners, perfect performance. When the inevitable happened, and one of us came up short, all of us suffered for it. As a matter of fact, my husband recently shared with me that when I lose my temper and start yelling, he wants to shrink up and hide. (This is a man who works in a Level II trauma center and sees chaos and tragedy all day long.) I often find that I have no tolerance for failure, whether it is my own or someone else’s, because I can’t accept coming up short in someone’s eyes. Therein lies the problem.
It’s GOD’s eyes in which we need to evaluate ourselves. The loving gaze of our heavenly Father no longer sees us for our sins, but for whom we are in Christ Jesus. Let’s look at a passage from Colossians 2 to better understand God’s grace and our position in it.
" And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-14)
Maybe, however, you’re like me, and have felt the need to keep earning His love or acceptance as we go. Yes, we know we’re saved, and that God did love us enough to die for us, but don’t we wonder how He feels about us when we fall–sometimes over and over–into sin? This is where shame comes in: a feeling of utter inadequacy and humiliation, the fear of rejection and loss of hope. We can’t believe that God’s favor for us has nothing to do with our failures–past, present, or future. Even Paul, one of the greatest apostles and the author of half of the New Testament, grappled with his sinful struggles. In Romans 7, he acknowledges that though he wants to do good, he can’t seem to find how.
"I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 7:21-24)
Paul knew that although he would still sin, his position in God’s eyes did not change, as he went on to state in the beginning of Romans 8:
"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2)

Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 that He came to fulfill the law. This meant that He would have to continually satisfy each and every one of the 613 Mosaic laws found in the Old Testament. Since Jesus lived approximately 33 years on this earth, this equaled about 12,061 days of perfect holiness. Perfect love, perfect obedience, perfect sacrifice. He rose to every task God gave Him, keeping a pure mind and motive and overcoming every temptation. When He uttered His last words on the cross, "It is finished," this wasn’t just a summation of His time here on earth. This was a proclamation to all creation that the righteous requirement had forever been met, and our lack of obedience no longer needed to separate us from God. We must only believe in Him, accepting His death on the cross as payment for our sins, and we are saved for all eternity.
In the meantime, we don’t have to be perfect; we don’t even have to be good enough. And we should all stop trying. Not that we want to continue to sin, because, as it says in I John 3:5, if the hope of our salvation is in Him, we want to purify ourselves just as He is pure. But we can never attach the standard of our goodness, or lack of it, to our salvation or our standing in God’s kingdom. Galatians 2:21 says, "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." Trying to earn my way aside from God’s grace would be like trying to take filthy rags, which is how the Bible says God views our best efforts in comparison to Christ’s, and make a rope that would stretch from here to heaven. It’s impossible! (And a complete waste of time!) Instead, let’s all just live in joy and thanks for the Son Who has made us free, free indeed. Hallelujah!

God is not angry with you

2009-04-11T22:12:00.000-04:00

What makes you mad?
When someone you love mistreats you? Lies to you? Talks behind your back? When you’re misunderstood by someone who you thought knew you better? Or what about that job or the promotion that you thought was in the bag, but passes you right by? When we have needs that are not being filled by our spouse, our friends, our children, or our checkbook, our response
can naturally turn into anger as we let our pain become a weapon–defensive or offensive.
We think we deserve better.
What about the sin that goes on around us? We get angry when we hear of children suffering abuse at the hands of those entrusted with their care. We watch as violent terrorism and religious persecution cause innocent people to lose their lives and their liberties. We don’t understand why natural catastrophes devastate the ones who are the most disadvantaged and the least deserving. The world is so full of injustice that it is easy to be frustrated and difficult to believe that life can be so unfair.
So many people who suffer deserve better.
What about God? What makes Him angry? We read in the Bible how many times the sins of His people roused His anger against them. We see Him bring (massive) retribution against those who stood opposed to Him, denying His sovereignty in their hearts and lives. Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple for turning God’s holy house into a den of thieves. Ever since Adam and Eve first sinned, the beautiful world that God created for His pleasure and for His people to dwell in has been corrupted by person after person who chose their own way instead of God’s perfect way. God never did anything but love us, and still we perpetrated our sins upon Him until He finally had to put His own Son to death to satisfy the punishment we required.
He deserved better.
He still does.
It’s not as if the moment we accepted Jesus in our hearts we stopped sinning. On the contrary, those of us filled with the Spirit, empowered by His strength and assured of His presence, still find ourselves entrenched in the battle against sin. Or worse, we choose to sin, knowing that His mercy will carry us to heaven and get us in the front gate, even if we may have to unroll a sleeping bag on the Great Lawn because we lived such carnal lives. The perfect liberty that Christ bought us came at such a great price–His very blood–that surely He must be pretty angry that we keep falling into the sin that so easily ensnares us. Right?
Wrong. All glory to God and hallelujah, wrong.
Even though God loved us, because of our sin, we were His enemies. But when He put Christ to death on the cross, and the debt of our sin was satisfied, His anger was satisfied as well. Romans 5:8-11 puts it this way:
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."
If you flip back a page and read Isaiah 53, we are told that it pleased God to punish Christ for our sins. Not because Christ had done any wrong, but because God is a righteous, holy God. According to Psalm 99:4, "The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob." The punishment for our sins had to be given, but once it was, it was done for good. As it says in Hebrews 10:10, Christ died once for all. When we accept Christ as our Savior, we are immediately adopted by *His grace into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, where His *mercy triumphs over judgement. That mercy, which in Hebrew means "steadfast love," now gives us freedom from condemnation, freedom from shame, and freedom from worry about His anger. Once we understand the true meaning of Christ’s sacrifice in Isaiah 53, we can embrace the promise of His peace in Isaiah 54.
"‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ says the Lord, Who has mercy on you." (Isaiah 54:9-10)
This does not mean, however, that there are not consequences to our sins. God still disciplines us, as it says in Hebrews 12:10, "...for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness." We are grafted onto His vine, and He wants us to bear fruits of righteousness. We can expect to be pruned and cared for so that our fruit will remain. This is the loving act of the Father, not the harsh cutting of one who would destroy us. David recognized this, and in confession of his sin, cried out,
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit."(Psalms 51:7-12.)
The next time you’re tempted to think that God is angry with you, take a moment to boldly come before His Presence and look upon His face. There you will find fullness of joy–His and yours.

God is with us

2009-04-11T19:36:00.000-04:00

In Wilson Rawls’ book Where the Red Fern Grows, a coming-of-age story set in post-depression Oklahoma, a poor country boy becomes obsessed with "dog wanting." He spends two years saving pennies, nickels, and dimes to purchase two hounds from a mail-order catalog he has found. He collects crawfish and minnows, picks berries, and traps small animals for their fur, and from the sale of these items to local sportsmen and in his grandfather’s country store, the coins in his tin can slowly add up to the $50 he needs. After the pups are ordered, he walks barefoot twenty miles through the hills to claim them. The dogs quickly become his best friends, and he loves nothing more than being with them as he teaches them to hunt racoons in the willow creeks and canebrakes. The three are connected by a powerful bond of love, a love so deep that each feels the other’s physical distress as if it were their own. In the end, when one of the dogs dies from an injury he receives during a brutal fight to protect the boy from a mountain ion, the other dog actually loses her will to live. Such tragedy might have been too much for the boy, until he finds out that his family was planning to move to the city for a better life. His parents were going to allow him to stay on the farm, though they and his sisters would have been heart-broken, because they understood his relationship with the dogs. Though the boy lost his dogs, he was spared a far greater loss–the loss of the family that loved him.
From the beginning of creation, God could look forward in time at His people and see that He would lose us. Each individual, exquisitely fashioned by His hands and given life by His breath, would be lost to sin and ultimate separation from the Creator. How could His holiness dwell with our sinfulness–not just on earth, but for eternity? The Old Testament sacrificial system, while it cleansed temporarily, was not a permanent fix. We still could no approach God, because the truth of the matter is, as soon as we made the sacrifice, we turned around and sinned again. The only way we permanently stop sinning is to die, which is why, as Paul puts it, we are "dead in our sins." And if we die in our sins, we can’t dwell with God, Who is too holy to behold sin. Our only option at that point would be eternal separation from God in hell. So how could God remove the stain of our sins from us, yet still apply the punishment we deserved? We needed help–greater help than any human could provide. We need a Savior. We need Emmanuel–"God with us."
There are 613 prophetic Scriptures found in the Old Testament that foretell of the coming of the Messiah. God, in His infinite love and grace, promised His people that there would be One Who would come and make all things right, One Who would dwell among them, deliver them, and redeem them from their destructions. But as they waited, Israel persisted in its sins. Many times, Israel suffered utter defeat when god did not go out with His people in battle because their sin had separated Him from them. As time went on, the minds of many turned from seeking a Messiah Who would bring an eternal kingdom, to the false notion of an earthly ruler who would establish Israel as a prolific national power. Who they should have been looking for was the One Who the prophet Isaiah described, a Suffering Servant:
"Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we his, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, everyone, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked–but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was nay deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53)
Jesus knew the price of His love for us. He also knew that once it was paid, and we accepted His free gift of salvation, He would abide with us forever, living through us by the Holy Spirit. It wasn’t enough that HE would see us when we got to heaven. He wanted permanent communion with us, to give us His life everyday so that we could live–not the fallen, hopeless, empty life the world offers, but a life of love, power, and truth that would constantly reveal more and more of Who He is. Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief does not come except to , steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." We’re not promised a life full of earthly comforts and pleasures. We’re promised His presence–sufficient, strengthening, and upholding. Not only will He never leave us or forsake us(Heb. 13:5) but He can do in and through us "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us."(Eph. 3:20) As God promises in Isaiah 41:10:
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
If we are in Him, then His presence alone will banish all our fears.

God loves you

2009-04-11T19:35:00.000-04:00

Ask many Christians how they know that God loves them, and chances are you will often get the same answer, a reference to John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." These are the words that brought many of us to Christ, and indeed are the cornerstone to the Christian faith. The exciting thing is that once we open the door to God’s love, we only begin to see how great His love really is. Understanding His love is a lifelong process that we can experience both as we live in Him and as we learn of Him.
This doesn’t mean, however, that we are going to feel loved every day. There is no question that circumstances in our lives, from the minute and temporal to the most painful and devastating, will continually challenge our belief in His love for us. Once we allow ourselves to doubt His love, the natural consequence is that we doubt our love for Him, as well as our love for others and their love for us. Our belief in God’s love must not be based on feeling. The representation of love as a series of emotions is one of the greatest lies the enemy ever created, and is responsible for the destruction of countless relationships, between both God and people and between people themselves. We as Christians must wholeheartedly embrace God’s word as His love letter to us, for just as His word is true, His declaration of love for us is true as well.
The book of I John in the Bible is one of the most beautiful dissertations of God’s love for us. Right off the bat in chapter one, John testifies to the reality of the fellowship of God through His Son Jesus. It’s more than just an intangible series of feelings and emotions; it’s the abiding presence of God that we receive in our spirit when we confess Jesus as Savior. And because God abides in us, and God is love, then God’s love abides in us. In other words, we can’t know God and not know His love. Look at I John 4: 15-16:
"Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him."
Although the enemy, the world, or even our flesh will try to convince us that we are unloved, as God’s children, we can and must always know and believe that we are. We may also feel that we have to earn His love, or perform to His standards of holiness for Him to continue to love us. The truth is, we can never be worthy of His love. Before we were Christ’s, God says that our righteousness was like filthy rags (Is. 64:6). But we know He loved us, as it says in Romans 5:8, while we were still sinners, miserable mired in the stink of our sins. Our relationship with Him was never predicated on anything we would ever do, nor was it of our initiative. As I John 4:19 states, "We love Him because He first loved us." When was the beginning of that "first"? When we first came to Christ? When we first started to live right? Absolutely not. We read in Jeremiah 31:3,
"The Lord appeared of old to me, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."
We are also assured in Romans 8:38-39:
"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able so separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God has always loved us, and always will love us, through eternity past, present, and future.

God is real and true

2009-04-11T19:33:00.000-04:00

I read once in a Christian magazine a bold letter written by the daughter of missionary parents. She was honest enough with herself to admit that she was really doubting her faith. Her heart-felt conflict speaks volumes about the fact that while anyone can be brought up in a Christian household, there comes a time when individuals must decide for themselves what the truth really is. So can we take God at His Word?
Yes, according to the Bible, because He is His word. John 1:1 says that, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me."(John 14:6). Jesus is God, and He is Truth. If we are born again, His Spirit lives in us, bearing witness to the truth and teaching us all things (I John 2:27, 5:6-8). But our old nature, which knows it’s not going to heaven along with us, still goes to war against our new Spirit by confusing us, listening to the enemy’s lies, and entertaining itself with doubt and fear. God knew that this would happen, of course, and in His great love He has made provision to help us at every turn.
Our family had our first experience with MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat, the summer of 2004, after the last of four hurricanes swept South Florida. My mother, who lives in a town twice devastated by the eyes of the hurricanes, received these emergency rations from the National Guard, who had been mobilized by the government to give aid and protection to those affected y the hurricanes. The MRE is a remarkable study of provision. The sealed plastic sack, about one foot tall, eight inches wide, and a few inches thick, contained not just basic food staples, but a complete three-course dinner with a host of other items. It was obvious that the MRE was designed to not only sustain life, but to give comfort by providing small details one would appreciate, such as coffee, gum, matches, and, most impressively, a simple bag that heated your dinner when you poured a small amount of water into it. What it must have been like for all those people who had been without electricity, having had eaten their umpteenth peanut butter sandwich, to have a hot meal!
If our government, in its limited capacity, can make provision for its people, how much more so can our Heavenly Commander-In-Chief? God made sure that we could spend eternity with Him by sacrificing His Son on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. If that was all He had ever done, that would have been grace enough for us. But God is too loving a father and provider to not go even further. He continues to bear with us, in our imperfect state, as we struggle to see Him more clearly through the veil of this world (I Cor. 13:12). When we don’t understand, He tells us to come boldly to Him and ask for wisdom, and He won’t laugh us out of the throne room or remind us that we’re not on track (James 1:5). When we don’t believe, He continues to believe in us, because He cannot be unfaithful to us (II Tim. 2:13). The truth is, He has always been, He always will be, and–each and every day–He is.
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:
I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. And who can proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, let them show these to them. Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? Your are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one." Isaiah 44:6-9

God Is

2009-04-11T19:23:00.000-04:00

When God gives us a child in this world, His intention is clear: They are a gracious reward to us, an integral part of our heritage and our happiness ( Ps. 127:3-5) .There is, however, another force working against us as we seek to raise up Christ-like offspring. The author of deception and lies is constantly trying to thwart our efforts, because he wants our children, too. And it’s not enough that he wants to mess up their lives; he wants to throw a wedge in between us and our children that, if pushed deep enough over time, can create a seemingly impassable chasm. Many times, we don’t help the situation. We have our own battles, as people and as parents, that can take our focus away from the real issues. If we are Christians, though, we know we have hope. We know that much of our battles are fought in the mind. We are taught to take thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. We remind ourselves that all things work together for good, and that joy comes in the morning. Wait–do we really do this? And just as importantly, do our children?
For many years I was under the mistaken assumption that my Christianity was defined by my knowledge of events and stories, my works, and my decision to pass those things on to my children. It must suffice to simply say how wrong I was, how self-focused I became, how painful my fall was, and how much rebuilding has taken place since I discovered the truth: HE IS ALL IN ALL. In Him is all truth, all righteousness, all mercy, all compassion, all grace, all holiness, all love. In Him is all I need, all you need, all your children need for all of our lives. Yet, while His faithfulness does not depend on us, our effectiveness and our peace in our day-to-day lives require our loving obedience to Him, both in the deeds of our person and in the truth of our thoughts.
Now we as adults know full well that we can say one thing, do another, and be thinking something still entirely different. But as Christians, we strive to line up all three of those things under the standard of God’s holiness and make them one. Just as a threefold cord is not quickly broken, a spirit that is in tune with God’s purpose in the mind will bring that purpose out of the treasury of the heart and speak and act on it. As we grow in spiritual maturity, reading and studying the Bible, God reveals more and more of Himself to us, renewing our minds and expanding our hearts.
But what about our children? If you’re like I was, you may be under one or more of the following presumptions regarding your children and their spiritual growth:
A. Children only need a precursory knowledge of God, i.e. a simple understanding of the fundamentals of Christian tenets, because they have simple minds,
B Children will "pick it up" as they go along, because they will just "naturally" grow in Christ,
C. Children will be taught by their Sunday School teachers all they really need to know about Who God is.
The truth is, because the knowledge of God is unsearchable, we will never know everything about Him, and we can’t start learning about Him early enough. And while Bible stories and characters do reveal how He loves us and works (in and through us) on our behalf, that’s only part of the story–and not the most important part. The most important thing our children can ever know is Who God is. That is the only way we can ever put into context His holiness, His greatness, and His love for us.
It wouldn’t make a difference to you if I told you that Mr. John Smith in Juneau, Alaska loves his wife and kids, because you don’t know anything about Mr. Smith (and probably not much about Alaska.) You might have some preconceived notions about how Mr. Smith is feeling based on your experiences with love. You might think about how Mr. Smith ought to love his family, based on your opinion of what true love should be. You might even think that the way you love is the way he loves. But would you really know? And what if Mrs. Smith called you up and filled your ear with all the reasons she thinks that Mr. Smith doesn’t love them? What would you think then? And is it really your business to connect with these people who live so far away anyway? What bearing do they have on your life in the first place?
Now this may be an over-played analogy, but it speaks to many of the issues about our pursuit of the knowledge of God. Just as we have had earthly, flawed experiences with love, we may assume that God’s love is not credible because we’re applying our knowledge to His ways. With the proliferation of the world’s view of "true love," we may become disenchanted when our love lives do not meet the mythical standard. Certainly we know that the way we love others, while nurtured and molded by the best intentions, often falls short as we are hindered by our fallen nature. Even further, some may still be wondering why any of this matters at all, because they are not sure if it is relevant to their lives.
If we, as adults, are challenged to know the truth about God, how much more so are our children? My concern is, particularly in this age of relative truth, mass consumption, and compromising tolerance, that children and young adults, particularly teenagers, will be fed on a diet of "spiritual" untruths–so much so that they either do not recognize a need for God or do not have the Spiritual fortitude to acknowledge it. Consequently, when the time comes for decisions to be made and actions to be taken, there may not be any foundation they may rely upon and build from except their own thoughts and feelings. God tells us that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways (Is. 55:8-9). It takes love-bourne and Spirit-inspired discipline to hide the Word of God in our hearts so that we might now sin against Him. It’s a tall order for all Christians, young and old, but it’s our calling, and we are commanded to undertake it.
In the following blogs you will find a type of quick-reference guide to truths that are crucial for every Christian to know in order to be able to stand in their faith against opposition from any side. My hope is that parents will share scripture with their kids and teens, sowing in them God’s words of truth and hope that will yield a life-long harvest of peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."(John 14:27). Let us embrace His peace together, for us and for our children.