All Things New…: My Husband used to be a pastor- Part 2

All Things New…: My Husband used to be a pastor- Part 2: All of this is for your benefit.  And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will rec…

All Things New…: My husband used to be a pastor – Part 1

All Things New…: My husband used to be a pastor – Part 1: I am married to an amazing man.  He is a man with a heart for people and love for the Lord.  My husband used to be a pastor.  Before we …

Grounded in Truth

Love this devotional! It is full of truth and well needed life application.  Living a life grounded in God’s truth is a powerful life!

Grounded in Truth
Charles Stanley

Psalm 25:4-10

If we’ll let the truths of Scripture fill our minds, guard our emotions, and influence our conduct, God will richly reward us. I’m talking about spiritual blessings here (though He at times chooses to bless materially as well). By reading and meditating on His Word, you’ll learn to understand His ways. This isn’t something we can figure out on our own, because His ways are unlike ours—they are higher, bigger, and eternal.

Also, your relationship with the Lord will grow increasingly more intimate because He chooses to reveal Himself to those who seek Him and obey His instructions. When you see that God always keeps His promises, your confidence in His faithfulness will soar. No matter what the situation, you’ll know you can trust Him. Then He’ll transform your worries into joyful anticipation about what He’s going to do next in your life. Even if hard times await, you’ll be convinced that the Lord will work them out for good.

A life grounded in truth is powerful. Those who live by the Word develop spiritual discernment, which guides their choices and guards against deception. Because they demonstrate wisdom and godliness, the Lord enables them to impact others greatly. Since He knows they can be trusted, He also gives them greater responsibilities and opportunities for service in His kingdom.

With all this available to us, wouldn’t it be wise to invest our time and energy in building the truth of God’s Word into our lives? The other activities which clamor for our attention seem so important or pleasurable, but none of them can offer us the spiritual riches of a life grounded in truth.

Verdict revealed

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

Romans 8:1-2

I’m sitting in a courtroom at a table near the judge’s bench.

Someone says ‘All rise’ and everyone stands. Suddenly there is lightning and thunder, smoke and fire as the Judge enters the room. The Judge is the most terrifying, frightening, glorious being you have ever seen. Winged beings fly around him, covering their faces while crying, “Holy! Holy! Holy!” Everyone in the court room falls to the floor in abject fear. Then the Judge sits down, slams his gavel on his desk, and says, “Let the proceedings begin.”

Now the prosecutor stands. My blood runs cold as I see that the prosecutor is none other than the ancient Serpent himself. He is trembling and I see the fear in the yellow slits of his eyes as he nervously inches forward toward the Judge’s bench and summons up the courage to speak.

“Your Honor, you are the righteoussss Judge,” he hisses. ”All justice is in your hands. And I – I demand justice this morning. You see, the defendant” – and he turns slowly and looks right at…ME, with his terrible eyes. And he slowly points a long, gnarled finger at me – “The defendant is guilty of breaking your holy law and has violated divine justice. He has rebelled against you, ignored you and spit in your face. He has failed to thank you for all your blessings, and he has worshipped false gods. These crimes must be punished! Give the defendant to me – let me take him where he deserves to go.”

There is silence in courtroom. Every eye is on the Judge. And my heart is sinking because every accusation of the prosecutor is true.

Suddenly the silence is broken and I hear someone say loudly, “I OBJECT Your Honor!” Every eye turns to see the defense attorney standing beside me. How had I not seen him before?

“I have paid for the defendant’s crimes – every one. Remember, I took his place and his punishment and satisfied your justice on the cross.”

“Objection sustained!” says the Judge.

“But Your Honor,” snarls the prosecutor, “Even last week the defendant had over a hundred ssssselfish thoughts in his mind. The defendant doubted your goodness and hated someone in his heart. You said that’s the same as murder. He must be punished!”

“Objection Your Honor! Again, I paid for those sins as well.”

“Objection sustained!”

“But Your Honor…” I think I detect a note of desperation in the prosecutor’s voice. ”Not only has the defendant committed willful crimes, but he has failed to love you with all his heart, soul, mind and strength from the day he was born. That’s the great commandment. And he fails to love his neighbor as himself, the second greatest commandment, every day.”

“Objection! Your Honor I not only paid for all the sins he actively committed, but I paid for all he failed to do as well. I paid for all his failures with his children. All the times he’s failed to love his wife. I paid for every failure. And you have decreed that once sin is paid for it does not need to be paid for a second time.”

“Objection sustained!” Shouts the judge slamming his gavel down on his desk.

“But Your Honor…”

“Sit down Mr. Prosecutor. I’ve heard quite enough from you. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I declare this man to be not guilty in my sight. And I declare him to be righteous in Christ. Court dismissed!”

“But Your Honor…”

“Michael! Please escort the prosecutor out of the court room.”

What Matters Most?

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7

We know that we are to take our thoughts captive and think on truth but we also have to be careful about what we focus on because wherever we focus our attention or energy, those things can and will develop in our words or actions.  Basically, whatever we focus on, we become.

When I get a craving for cheesecake, it does not take long for me to pursue that desire where I end up at Target picking up a yummy cheesecake.  Our thoughts stir our desires and emotions and lead us to make choices, good or bad, where we must decide whether we will follow through with them.  If we find ourselves only focusing on the negative in our situations, lives or relationships then we become negative and develop a critical spirit.  Our conversations and actions become negative and it begins to consume us to the point that we lose the joy that God has placed in our lives.  To think that we can lose our joy based on one negative thought is not appealing to me.

 When trouble arise in life it is important to evaluate where it came from because most of the time, we create our own drama based on our focus and thought life. When we feel depressed or discouraged and cannot quite put a finger on where it is coming from, we should examine our thoughts and find what it is that is fueling our emotions.  It is important that we keep a reign on our minds and feelings.  We can choose whether to think the worst or best in our life and in our relationships.  Scripture says that we are always to think on what is true, right, good, lovely, noble and pure which means we are to think the best in our lives and of people.  We should focus on God’s grace, mercy and love and not on the things we do not have.   I saw a quote once that said, “As you wander through life, brother, whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole.”  It is somewhat corny but there is a lot of truth to it.  Too many of us focus on what is not there, what we do not have or what is not right or fair. 

How often do we talk negative about the things God has given us? How often do we focus on the negative and allow Satan to devalue what God has so graciously given to each of us.  These are the very things that shape our character and speak to the condition of our heart. 

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.  

Proverbs 4:23 

What is it that really matters in our lives?  Is it Him?  I cannot help but hear the words to this hymn while writing this post.

O soul are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Helen H. Lemmel-1922

Our happiness and direction in life are decided by our thought life and this is a powerful thing because our thoughts are not just things that pass through our minds and are then gone. We have to remember that our mind is like a battlefield.  Satan is always looking for the opportunity to find his way in and take our focus off Christ.  It does not matter how well we live our life if our thoughts are not true or right and especially if they are not pure.  We must focus on the things that have eternal value and stay clear of those things that will lead us down a path of discouragement and unhappiness because are we truly happy when we’re complaining?

A Heart that Listens

“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Mark 4:23

Those words are repeated throughout the gospels and Revelations.  A reminder that it is not enough to have ears but that we use them as well.  So many times, we hear the Word spoken but we do not truly hear and allow it to take root in our hearts.  However our hearts cannot be ready if there are those things, hearts that have become hardened, shallow lives or fretful minds, that are keeping us from missing the ultimate message He wants us to hear.  

How long has it been or have you ever let God actually have you? Have you ever given Him the opportunity to have uninterrupted time with you to speak where you were actually listening? Even Jesus knew that it was important to spend time with God.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed”.

Mark 1:35

So the obvious question is simply this, if Jesus, the Son of God, the sinless One thought it important to put everything else aside and spend time in prayer with His Father, why is it that we do not find it imperative to do the same?  Jesus not only spent time praying but He also spent time in His Father’s Word.  He found it important to not only spend time talking with God but studying the Word as well. Why do we not also find those things important?

Here is where this gets a bit personal.  Many tune out when the suggestion of a quiet time is mentioned.  Most of us spend time trying to find time to squeeze God into our busy schedules instead of making Him the priority.  We check Him off of our to-do list. Some avoid spending time alone with God because they become  frustrated from a lack of understanding with what they are reading and others avoid time alone all together because they believe that they will gain what they need from a Sunday morning sermon or the reading of some Christian book. The problem with all of this is that it is coming second hand.  When you rely on those things, you are experiencing someone else’s personal time with God.  You have missed your own special encounter with Him.  God wants each of us to have our own first-hand experience with Him not a substitute because He longs to be with each of us every day.  Our desire should be that He be the highlight of our life every day.  God give us ears that want to hear and hearts that long for time spent with You!

Grace killers

We all know them. They are family members, church family and even friends. They can be found  anywhere.

Grace killers squash the work done on the cross. They stomp on the gospel. They turn people away from Christ.

I love the way in which Charles Swindoll speaks to this topic. What or whom does our self righteous attitude truly reflect?

Swindoll states that grace killers…

“leave no room for any gray areas. Everything is either black or white, right or wrong. And as a result, the leader maintains strict control over the followers. Fellowship is based on whether there is full agreement. Herein lies the tragedy. This self-righteous, rigid standard becomes more important than relationships with individuals. We first check out where people stand on the issues, and then we determine whether we will spend much time with them. The bottom line is this: We want to be right (as we see it, of course) more than we want to love our neighbors as ourselves. At that point our personal preferences eclipse any evidence of love. I am of the firm conviction that where grace exists, so must various areas of gray.

I can cultivate a judgmental attitude toward those who may not agree or cooperate with my plan. Grace killers are notorious for a judgmental attitude. It is perhaps the single most un-Christlike characteristic in evangelical circles today.”

Charles Swindoll
The Grace Awakening Devotional

Heartsick

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick” 

Prov. 13:12

To live a life without hope sounds incredibly scary to me.  I cannot imagine facing the hard times of life without knowing that my God is in control and is working all things out for a greater plan.  I have really been working through this lately as a friend of mine recently had a miscarriage.  Now this is not something I have ever had to endure but as a mom of five, I can begin to imagine the pain and hurt that comes with losing your precious baby.  What has been so hard to watch her deal with is the lack of hope.  She does not believe in heaven.  She believes in God but she does not profess to follow Christ.  I have watched her struggle with the hurt and anger and it has been incredibly painful because I cannot comfort her with truth.

As Christians hope plays an important role in our lives. Hope brings us comfort.  It puts our heart and minds at rest during troubling times.  On the other hand, when our lives lack hope, we become overwhelmed with the uncertainty of what will happen next.  During the course of the past few years of my own life there were days when I felt hopeless.  I wanted to give up.  I doubted God’s goodness and presence.  It was as if I were standing at the end of a very dark tunnel with no glimpse of light in sight.  I felt trapped and my entire situation felt overwhelmingly bleak but thankfully deep inside my heart there was a small light attempting to penetrate the darkness that wanted to swallow me whole.  That small light was shining drawing me close. That small light was Christ.  He was there offering me hope and wanting me to trust Him through that dark tunnel.  He was asking me to place all of my cares down and trust Him with it all.  He became my strength when I was too tired to move ahead any further.  He became my peace when the enemy worked so hard to create turmoil within my life.  He became my comfort when the pain was too much to endure.  He WAS my light in that incredibly dark tunnel, He gave me a hope to keep on moving no matter how dark and ugly the battle became.

How does one move through hard times without hope? Without Christ?  I am so incredibly thankful that I do not have to live life without knowing. I wish I could give my friend the hope that I have but all I can do is offer her the Truth of His word and pray that God use my words to penetrate her heart so that she can see the light in her darkness. I will strive to live a life that is a reflection of His love, grace and hope. God is sovereign and He knew that I would one day be able to share my story and help someone else know Him.  He knew I would have this friend and He placed me in her path for this very season. My prayer is that I successfully live out a life that draws her to Him so that she will not have to live a life without hope. 

“So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.”

Hebrews 6:18-19b

Faith vs Belief

What is the difference between belief and faith? For many it is a question that causes struggles within their belief system.  When exploring this question, one may be led to rethink their faith and realizing that belief and faith are not the same thing.

When breaking down the differences between belief and faith, there is a distinct difference. What is belief?  It is a principle, an idea that is accepted as true; an opinion or conviction; a religious faith; trust or confidence.  What is faith?  It is the confident assurance in the character and nature of God; a strong or unshakable belief in something, without proof or evidence.

By turning to the book of Daniel in the Old Testament you can begin finding some answers when reading an amazing story about three men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who were thrown into a blazing furnace because they would not worship a false god.  There are two clear verses that shed light on the difference between belief and faith.

If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Daniel 3:17-18

This passage allows us to break down the difference between belief and faith. In verse 17, the men declare that even if they are thrown into the furnace, that God IS ABLE to deliver them from it as well as deliver them from the King.  Those are strong and powerful words.  They state that God is able.  They do not say that God will but instead if He so chooses, then He will.  They believe in God.  They believe in the power of God.  They believe He can deliver them from King Nebuchadnezzar. This was their belief.

Now comes the moment when faith steps in as they proclaim that even if God does not deliver them, they still would not worship or serve the King’s god.  Their faith said that even if they were to perish, it still did not change that God is good because biblical faith is not placed in the outcome of a situation but instead in God.  This is so profound.  It is realizing that every battle belongs to the Lord and He controls the outcome.  Faith says that God is good no matter the outcome of the situation.  It means believing that God can save the day and that He can work miracles. Faith says that following Him is not dependent on whether things work out to our benefit.  Faith says that we will follow Him no matter what.

There is also a great passage in Hebrews that speaks to faith.

“who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. ³⁶ Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were put to death by stoning;^[a] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
 ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promise.”
Hebrews 11:33-39

Reading through this passage there are great moments of faith in God when things are both good and bad.  Through faith there were those that conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, escaped the sword and much more but then there were those that were put into prison, stoned to death, tortured, were sawed in two and killed by the sword.  What a mix.  No matter how good or how bad, whether or not they received what had been promised to them, their faith was not shaken.  They chose to follow and obey God even when they could not see the outcome.  It was choosing to follow even when the outcome may not have been one that they would have chosen.  They each had a faith in the character and nature of God.

Faith is what pleases God. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6.  Faith is not about all of our beliefs and convictions and those things are not what pleases God.  What pleases God is putting every ounce of trust and faith in Him even when the outcome is unknown, when we do not understand and may not get my way. 

In order to have that kind of faith, I must draw near to Him.  I have to pursue Him.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8

So where do you find your faith?  Is it found in a belief system or it is found in Christ?

All Things New

Thank you to all those who have faithfully followed this blog over the past four years.  God has been so incredibly faithful and taken it all around the world.  I constantly find myself in awe of how He has used my stories to share His love and faithfulness with those who need to hear.

This blog was started at a time in my life when I was dealing with a lot of heartache and I was searching for answers to things that I did not know how to answer.  God used this blog in my own life to draw me closer to Him.  As I have gone back and read through my journey over the past four years, I find comfort in knowing that He never left my side and was always there leading me through the pain and confusion.

I hope to continue adding to this blog but for now, I have begun a new chapter in my life and to mark that new chapter, I have created a new blog.  God has blessed me with an amazing husband and as we begin our life together, I feel it is time to start something new.  It will be a blog that follows our life (and that of our family) together and the work that God will continue to do in our lives.  I hope you will continue to check in here but please visit my new blog All Things New.

Again thanks to all those who have faithfully followed and encouraged me throughout the past four years.  It has been a remarkable journey.