Excerpt from "A Work in Progress" a novel

       As many of my readers know I am currently working on my first Christian romance novel for teens and adults, I have already published one book of short stories called "A Night at the Old Hotel."  Today I wanted to share with you an excerpt from my new novel, as well as my book description and a link to my current book, if you are interested in it. I promise I'll go back to my usual blog post tomorrow! Thank you for your patience with me today as I deviate from the usual.

"A Work in Progress"
Description:
Victoria's chance to leave her small town for her dream job becomes a trail of faith as her employers dark past catches up to him and jealous rivals try to push her out. Can she weather the storm to stay in God's will or will she cave under the pressure?
Eric is rich man with everything someone could possibly want, except his wife. Now left with two sons, a meddling butler, a well-intentioned, nagging mother, and a gold digging cook Eric must face life without love. But with the arrival of a new young nanny for his sons the unexpected happens leaving Eric with more questions than answers.

Excerpt:

Victoria sighed and dropped back down into the sand and looked up at Eric before putting her head down and covering her face with her hands. Centering herself Victoria silently prayed for God’s help and words to navigate the conversation without more stress and drama. When she finished and looked up Eric was still standing above her, the anger had started to fade but now there was confusion. “Are you okay? What are you doing?” He asked with concern in voice.

              “I was praying before I said anything else stupid.” She responded, to which Eric rolled his eyes. “That kind of behavior right there is exactly why I said I didn’t think you were a Christian Eric. You can’t say you believe in God than scoff at prayer. You can’t claim to be a Christian and still live for yourself. If you are a Christian you live for Christ alone and seek Him in all you do.”

              Eric wanted to be angry, he could feel it in his hurt pride, the truth of what she stated was a far cry from the life he was living and he knew it, the humble gentleness of how she spoke buried that anger and opened his eyes, her words broke his pride as he thought of how often he had dismissed her and Evelynn with their talk of God and prayer. How he was doing the same to Drake now when he spoke about God to him. Eric had spent his life just barely going through the motions of Christianity, enough to make him look good to others from a distance but he never committed himself or his heart to God. He had always held back and been afraid to go the distance afraid to take the chance because he knew he would have to change.

              Suddenly, Eric’s knees started to give out under him as he was hit with an inward force, an epiphany or realization that throughout his whole life he had been afraid of God and the changes He would make in his heart. In that moment, Eric finally understood what that change in his heart would be, it was love, sacrificial love, the love to live for someone else, and if asked to lay down your life for them as well. Eric had never before this moment felt the weight or pure love that is found in an intimate moment with God, but as he let her words sink in and he opened himself up, Eric was completely overcome by the presence of God for the first time.

              “I’m sorry!” he wept as he dropped into the sand catching himself on his hands and knees as he sobbed with the force of this feeling, his tears mixing with cool ocean water that surged around him, but Eric didn’t notice or care, he was lost inside himself, lost in the overwhelming presence of a loving God he never before and nothing else mattered.

              Victoria was startled and confused by his reaction, she had expected more anger, more arguments, not for him to collapse to the ground in tears. She had no idea what she had possibly said that could have caused this kind of reaction. Coming closer she put an arm around his back resting her hand on his ribs and her other hand on his forearm closest to her. “Eric… Eric are you okay? Eric what’s going on?”

              When he looked up to meet her eyes, Victoria could see that he was very shaken; tears streamed down his face, he was pale and literally trembled under her touch. “I get it.” He whispered, unable to say more under the overwhelming force of this very real God.

              “You get what Eric? Please tell me what happened to you, just now.” Victoria asked her grip on him not loosening as she stared at him, concern for her friend written all over her face, covering the guilt she had felt so strongly only moments before.    

Eric just shook his head at her as he slowly regained control over his limbs and with Victoria’s help was able to once again sit upright in the sand. His head was spinning and he still couldn’t put words together to explain what had just happened, how could he feel so chaotic, yet certain at the same time? How could he explain that he suddenly understood why God had never before made sense to him? How could he explain that he suddenly realized he would never be the same Eric again or what had changed in that moment? He didn’t know how to explain it, but he was sure Victoria would understand.

“Have you ever experienced a moment that changed everything you ever knew about yourself? A moment where you saw yourself clearly and you suddenly realized what you had always been missing?” Eric asked, choosing each word carefully and speaking slowly, still trying to calm his breathing while he wiped his eyes and face with his white t-shirt.

“Eric, did you just experience the Holy Spirit?” Victoria questioned in response, excitement filling her as she started to get an inkling as to what had just occurred.

“I don’t know, does the Holy Spirit feel like God is pressing down on you and telling you what you have to do to fix your life and how much He loves you? The love! My God the feeling of love was like nothing I experienced before!  ”

Victoria’s face lit up with these words as she bit her lip in a failed attempt to temper her excitement before answering with an overly enthusiastic, “It can!”

“Then I’m pretty sure that’s what I just experienced.”  

 

 

 

 

 

Link to amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JXNCPIU

 

                

 

 

Give of Yourself

      When is the last time you stopped in your busy life and thought of the 'least of these,' have you recently? When is the last time you stopped and bought food for a homeless person or volunteered at a shelter? When is the last time you gave someone in need your time and a gentle encouraging touch or hug, instead of dropping a dollar into some donation bin? When is the last time you called or checked in on an elderly or sick neighbor?
       It's pretty obvious what I am getting at here, and if you were able to respond that you have done one, some, or all of those things recently, God bless you! But I think most of us read that, and knew in our hearts we should be doing better, I know I did. My husband tells me often that I am the most generous person he knows, but recently I realized that giving what money I can away to help others is not enough. Its a good place to start, and certainly something I will always do, but it's just not enough. If you are feeling that way too, please read on, John the Baptist said to a crowd of people who had come to be baptized by him this when they asked what they should do "Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” in Luke 3:11; and Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:40 that whatever we do for the least of these we do for Him.  
       The Bible also tells us in Isaiah 58:10 'If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.'  What does this mean? Well, to me when I first heard it, it sounded like we had to give of ourselves to those in need, not just our money, we need to give them our time, and prayers, a place in our hearts, that this is what our Lord deems as righteousness. So, I read the verse in context, reading the whole passage, and that's exactly what it is saying.
       Hearing that verse on the radio this morning and the two stories they shared on the program about people not only giving the homeless a meal, but also their time and the effect it had on all parties involved, convicted me. I had already been feeling as though I needed to do more, that I wanted to do more, I have been desiring to really connect and talk to the hurting about God, but not only that, I want do something to show them I care, that someone cares. This morning's stories and that verse came as confirmation to me that this is what God wants.
        I wasn't going to write about this today, I didn't want to. I was going to keep this bottled up and only talk about it with two or three close friends. But each time I sat down to write, I started writing this, and I would a hear an internal voice saying 'Feed my children.' so after a third attempt to write something else and still ending up on this subject I relented and began writing this. I believe it is was important to write this today so we can all realize that we are here to love each other, we are here to support, encourage, and at times be God's provision for each other.

Proverbs 14:31        
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

Proverbs 28:27        
Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.

Matthew 25:34-43

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 

1 John 3:17-18        

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.       

Love is Not Selfish

       Something people don't like to be told but it is true is that love isn't all about you. It's not about getting what you want so you will be happy, it is not about that other person making you happy all the time, it is not always having things your way. Love is not judgmental of each other, or demanding. And it has nothing to do with material items. Love is about sacrificing for the other person, giving all that you have inside of you for them. Love is giving and forgiving. Love is not about you, but it is about those around you. Love is being like Jesus, treating them as Jesus would because He is love.
       I see over and over again relationships failing, and while sometimes its over big issues like infidelity or abuse more often today it's over the individuals in the relationship not understanding what love is actually about and who love is. Oftentimes, one or both of them doesn't understand that love is not just a feeling but a way of life, a way of being. How can I say that? Well, because as Christians we know we are Jesus's representatives on earth, we are to walk in His ways (1 John 2:6) and we also know that Jesus is God in flesh (John 10:30), and we know that God is love, (1 John 4:8). So if God is love, and Jesus is God, and we are to walk in His ways that means we are to walk in love which makes love a lifestyle, not just a feeling.
       Love certainly is an emotion as well though and definitely something we do feel, but it is really so much more too. Often, when we first meet someone we get swept away in the rush of this new experience and the excitement of it, we believe we are in love but as time goes on and the excitement fades, so does the feelings. Sometimes this happens because it wasn't meant to be, but other times it's because without the 'newness' of the relationship one or both individuals in the couple stop walking in love, they stop thinking about and putting the other person first, instead it becomes 'I want them to do this,' or 'I wish they were more of this'. I say this all as someone who for a time did just that.
       There was a time in my marriage where I started to get selfish, I started demanding things from my husband that I knew in my heart he just wasn't ready for yet, but because it's what I wanted, what would make me feel fulfilled I kept pushing him. Not only did I keep pushing him, but the more he asked me to be patient with him, the more bitter I became towards him. I did the bare minimum as a wife after that and cared little for how much I hurt him because he was hurting me. I cried a lot over the distance I felt between us and in selfish pride placed all the blame on him entirely. When I would talk to other women about what was going on they agreed I was right, and he was wrong, and not only that but that I should take matters into my own hands to get what I want. That was a step I wasn't prepared to take though, because it involved deceiving my husband and that's something I am totally against in all circumstances, I can't even keep birthday presents secret from him without feeling guilty, like I am lying to him. So, instead we persisted in the cycle of me pushing, and him pulling away.
       One day, frustrated beyond reason by the growing distance I felt, and just purely fed up with my husband and his unwillingness to give me what I wanted and what I felt like I deserved  I prayed to God. Crying I told Him everything I felt, everything I wanted, and everything He needed to change about my husband for us to be happy. As I prayed to God and told Him why I was upset about my husband, how he was being so cruel, selfish, unloving, not understanding of my feelings, and uncaring with them in general I was suddenly swamped by feelings of shame. A little voice in my mind said to me "Isn't that how you've been treating him too?" I tried to argue, tried to defend myself with 'but he started it because he won't do this one thing for me, won't even try! And we already agreed to it, now he won't, it's his fault God!' This didn't work. I walked around all day hearing the words repeated, "Isn't that how you've been treating him?" And the more I heard them, the more I knew God was right, and I became sorry for the way I was acting. I asked God that night for forgiveness and His help to change me into the wife I should be.
       The next morning I watched a movie many of you may have heard of, 'Fireproof'  in it the leading man is given a book by his father that is a 40 day challenge called the love dare. Basically, it took him through 40 days of learning to love God, love his spouse, and what love was all about.  I sat there watching the movie and seeing so much of my self in the characters. By the end of the movie I was reminded of what I already knew, love isn't about me and getting what I want. Sometimes I have to sacrifice my feelings, and be loving to my spouse anyway. When I finally realized this and started to act on it, things changed. I hadn't realized it before, but my behavior had become my own stumbling block. As I was patient with him things progressed much faster, and we quickly got to where I wanted to be anyway.
       My point? Love is sacrifice, love is putting someone else first even when it hurts. This is the example of Christ. This is what love does, it lays down everything for others, just as Jesus laid down His life for us. Willingly He endured pain for us, willingly He died for us on cross. Love is all about giving and it always has been. Love is a lifestyle of living and treating people as Christ would, because He is love.

Joshua 22:5        
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

John 13:34-35        
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 15:9-17
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.       
             
      
         

Is God Your Treasure?

       This morning as I prayed a verse popped into my head, which really isn't unusual except that I haven't read this passage recently and it had nothing to with what I was praying. I was thanking God for the weekend rest and asking for His help and guidance to get through this week in a way that both honored and reflected Him when I heard these words in my mind "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34) I knew without checking that the verse before this one talked about storing up treasures in heaven(Matthew 6:20; Luke 12:33) and my honest thought to this was, God I don't need treasures, here or there, I would be satisfied to just sit at your feet, to see your face and hear you speak, that is the only treasure I desire. 
       I am not sharing this to brag on myself or make myself look good to any of you, I am sharing this to ask you, what is your treasure? When you read that passage mentioned above, what is motivating your heart? Does you mind go to storehouses of gold and silver? Does it go to glory, to you being exalted before others? Does it go to mansions? Does it go to having all of your heart's desires fulfilled? Or like me, do you find yourself dismissive of those things and desiring only to see the face of your King?
       I ask you this because I want you to check your hearts, who are you really serving with your thoughts and actions? Where is your true motivation for what you are doing? Are you deceived into believing that you are serving God when really your motivation is money and glory? A few verses after the first one mentioned Jesus tells us “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24)  So I ask who is your master? Who is your heart devoted too?
       Brothers and sisters in Jesus, I do not ask you these things to upset you or offend you, I ask because we love you. I ask because the clock is ticking. It is time to get right NOW, check your hearts and honestly examine your motivations. Why are you doing what you are? Is it out of love and admiration for God, or what He can give you? Are you serving Him because of what He has already done for you, or because you don't want to go to hell? God tells us we are to seek Him  with ALL our heart, mind, and soul, (Deuteronomy 6:5; Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:12-13; Matthew 7:7-8) He is too be our greatest desire! To deny that truth is to be a fool. So I ask today that you do what is hard and often painful and really look at your heart motivations. Is God your treasure?

Deuteronomy 10:12
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Psalm 119:2
Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart--

John 4:23        
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.            
Colossians 3:1-2
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things
           

A Doer of the Word

       This morning I can't stop thinking about Proverbs 31:10-31; many of you may be familiar with it and for those who aren't it's a passage called 'the wife of noble character,' it describes pretty much what a good wife should be like, what the Lord wants His daughters to do, how they should conduct themselves when they are married and have their own home. And I can hear some women groaning now, 'oh no, more? More rules?' no not quite my sisters, not rules but something certainly to bare in mind and aspire too. I will post the whole passage below for those who want to read the whole thing.
        The woman described in this passage is someone pretty special, she is well respected by her family and members of her community,(Proverbs 31:10-11&27-31) she is hard working, and always thinking of ways to help provide for her household (Proverbs 31:15-19), as well as being someone who thinks of others in need by extending kindness to the poor (Proverbs 31:20) and a source of wisdom and faithful instruction (Proverbs 31:26). This is something I definitely try to fulfill, and I think most Christian women would say the same because these qualities not only are found here in this passage but are asked of us all, and talked about in other passages as well. It is not only the duty of a wife of noble character to do these things, but also her husband. Yes men, I'm picking on you too, mostly because all of this can really be summed up by saying that the Proverbs 31 wife is a woman who displays the fruit of the Spirit. It is because of her love for God and devotion to her family that she has respect among others and it is that same Spirit that has made her a treasure to her husband, and if any of us male or female is truly walking in the Spirit these characteristics will be evident in us as well.
       What are the fruits of the Spirit? Well, here's how Paul puts it in Galatians 5:22-24 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." I think most of us could agree, that these are characteristics we would expect in the woman who is described in Proverbs 31; the actions she takes certainly speaks of kindness, gentleness, self-control, love, and two other things that Paul did not mention but I have seen in all those who serve the Lord whole heartedly, diligence and Godly wisdom in guiding others.
       So now that I've talked a little about the fruits of the spirit, and the wife of noble character I want to explain why these things were on my mind. Yesterday I posted something called 'Is This the World You Want to be A Part of?' where I wrote about how mixed up and backward our world is. At the end of that post I asked you if you were going to continue to sit around waiting on our Lord's return or if you were willing to fulfill His greatest commandments(Matthew 22:37-40), today I wanted to show you what it looks like when you do. I wanted to point you to Proverbs 31; and Galatians 5:22-24 so you could examine your heart, would people see you as the noble spouse, would they see the fruits of the spirit flowing out of you? If not, perhaps it's time to become not only a hearer of the word but a doer as well(James 1:22-25).
       Truly, I write this not only for you, but for myself as well. I know I have miles to go on this journey, and I am just learning what it means to truly be a doer of the word. I have always been generous with my money to those in need, but I am learning there is more to giving than opening my pocketbook, true giving, truly being a doer means giving not only out of what as been provided for me, but also my time and my heart because it is then that we truly enable others to see Jesus living in us. Be blessed in Jesus precious name.

Proverbs 31:10-31
10 A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

11 Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

12 She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

13 She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

14 She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

15 She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

16 She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

17 She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

18 She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

19 In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

20 She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

22 She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

24 She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

26 She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

27 She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28 Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29 “Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.”

30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Matthew 7:24-27
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

          
Romans 2:13
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.         
             

Is This The World You Want To Be Apart Of?

       Becoming popular has never really been something I was ever interested in. I realize that is pretty strange for a blogger to say because the point of writing blogs is typically to amass a huge following and become popular but when I started doing this I never expected that to happen, I thought if I got one or two people to react to these writings and got my books out there a little bit that would be enough for me. Even when I was in school, I never really envied the popular kids, I never wanted to be like them, mostly I just looked at them in confusion. I never understood why the cruel kids were cool, why the users were popular but those who showed kindness were trampled on. This world has always seemed backwards to me because I much rather praise the straight A student who always has a helping hand than the athlete who may be talented on the field but lacks good character off it, (before I get any responses about how all athletes aren't like that I want you to know I am aware of that this is just an example not a generalization.)
       Why am I bringing up popularity and our world's backward stance on who's cool and who's not? Mostly to point out that it is backwards, and to ask you, do you really want the approval of a world that encourages a 'me first' attitude with little consideration for the man standing next to you? Do you really want the acceptance of a world that teaches morals are objective to the individuals and not an absolute truth? Do you really want the world teaching your children that telling little white lies are okay so long as no one gets hurt, because isn't that really just the same as teaching them to lie? When we look at the bigger picture of this world and what is encouraged and accepted today and the consequences of it, I have to ask, is this the world you want to be apart of? Or is there something in your heart like mine that cries out this is not right! This is not how the world is supposed to live!
       To those who understood where I was coming from above I want to say that I really think and believe that we feel this way because of Jesus in us. I think that crying out in our hearts that says "this is not right!" is the Holy Spirit, I believe that there is a deep knowledge in our hearts of God's laws and what He wants His children to be like and what He wants us to stay away from. I feel this way because of things I have read in the Bible, verses like Hebrews 10:11-18;  Psalm 119:9-11, and John 10:14-16. I also believe that this feeling, this longing in our souls for our world to be different is a reminder that we have work to do here, we are His hands and feet and the only way for things to change is for us to act on that longing, to respond to our heart's cries 'of this is not right!' by showing the world what is right and who Jesus is!
       So, I ask you again, is this the world you want to be a part of? And if not, what are you going to do about it? Are you just going to continue sitting around waiting for the Lord's return or will you fulfill His two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) in obedience by loving Him first and your neighbor as yourself? Will you set yourself a part for your Messiah, and honor Him by walking in His ways? Are you willing to pick up that cross?

Ezra 10:11
Now honor the LORD, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives

Psalm 37:31
The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip.

Psalm 40:6-8

Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—

but my ears you have opened —

burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—

it is written about me in the scroll.

I desire to do your will, my God;

your law is within my heart.”

Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Romans 12:2        
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.      

Pain is Part of the Process

       When we hear about the joy of the Lord, the peace in the storm or purpose, and how God always works out everything for the good of those who love Him, it's easy to get the misconception that the Christian life is absent from pain or suffering. That we are always happy and that life is this picture perfect idea that somehow, magically, always works out for us. But nothing is further from the truth, in fact many times in the Bible we see our 'heroes' suffering, we see them nose to nose with danger, and persecution. We see over and over how God led them into places of vulnerability, danger, or difficulty to set them up for greatness, or allowed them to wander around in the desert until they were ready to take possession of His promises.
       Today we want the fruits without labor, a hallelujah without pain, and perfection without refining but that is never how God has worked. While it is great to focus on all the good parts of being a Christian and having a relationship with God we also need to talk about the fact that if you have a genuine relationship with God He will allow bad things in your life, He will allow you to go into the furnace, but that He will be there with you also. That God will allow you to suffer, but He also gives you strength to overcome it in Him. God allows us to uncomfortable, to be broken, so we can grow and leave what is bad for us behind. God molds us into who we are meant to be by this refining process, by allowing the pain and frustration so we are forced to grow. I heard a song on the radio this morning that said in it 'they say you never give us more than we can handle,' and it continued on to say that the writer of the song was unsure of that but as he was overwhelmed and broken, that  he came to the end of himself and he was met by God who could handle it all. I think this is a pretty good description of what it feels like to surrender to God. It is going through a tough situation, being completely broken and made vulnerable by it, then letting it go and trusting it to God. This is just a glimpse God refining us, and how He teaches us to trust in Him.
      I know that there are some who do not understand this idea, that don't see how a loving God could allow His children to suffer, to allow them to be frustrated and overwhelmed, or how a loving God could allow His children to be broken in order to grow. This is the truth though, loving someone doesn't mean you give them only what they like and want, loving someone is giving them what's best for them or withholding that which would destroy them. A loving parent doesn't allow their child to eat sweets all day long just because the child likes it, instead they put them up or away and only let them have a reasonable amount. Why? Because they love their child and don't want them to be sick, or to end up with bad eating habits that could harm them later in life. It is the same with God. He loves us and knows what is best for us, He may have to make us unhappy by not giving us what we want to achieve it, or He may allow circumstances to appear overwhelming, but it is because He knows that there is something better for us on the other side of the struggle. God uses our pain, our disappointment, our brokenness to rebuild us without the sin that would harm us and lead us into destruction, because He loves us and wants us to be with Him. No one who truly loves you more than themselves will ever allow you to walk down a path of destruction, no one who truly loves you will allow you to persist in destructive behavior without warning you.

Psalm 119:71        
It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.

Hosea 6:1-3       
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Romans 8:35-39        
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

James 5:10        
As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.

1 Peter 5:10        
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Religion Won't Save You

       At 27 I realize I am still young and still have much to learn; I realize compared to a lot of others who are doing the same thing that I am, that I still have a lot left to experience, but there is one thing I want to talk about today that I know with certainty, something that if you have spent time in the Bible you know as well, but only your heart can say whether you really believe it or not. What I want to talk about today is that religion won't save you, being religious and going through all of those practices cannot earn your way into heaven, you can be baptized 10 times in Jesus name but still go to hell, and all because you never knew Him. People aren't going to like what I wrote there, and I'm well aware of that, but I'm also aware that it is truth, see Matthew 7:22-23 for verification.
       See, religion and Jesus are at odds, religion is all about rules, and you have to change yourself to fit into those rules. Religion will not change you or set you free, instead it is more like a burden, it is rules and restrictions that you feel obligated to follow in order to fit into the status quo of what is expected of you by other members of your church. It is more about you and what you are or are not doing. Religion is an emotional prison that will keep you focused on works, guilt and typically selfish pride of 'look what I am doing' or 'look what titled I've earned in the church'. All of this can be verified by reading about the Pharisees in the Bible, looking at the world around us and the hardest one to do looking within at our own selves.
      I have been under the burden of religion, and now I am set free in Christ Jesus, but if what I described about religion reflects more of the relationship you have with Jesus than this next part does, I invite you to let go of what you are still holding onto in your heart and give it to God. Serving God is about His love for us not our obligation to Him. The Bible talks about the transforming effect that God can have on a person in Ezekiel 36:26 we see His promise of that, where God says through a prophet that He will take out the heart of stone and replace it with one of flesh. But this can only happen when we surrender to Him and allow God to work on us from the inside of us, not through religious rituals.
        Jesus has, can and does change us from within. If you have Jesus in your heart, you don't do the right thing or follow the rules because you have to, you do it because you want to. You do it because you have a relationship with the Pure and Holy God of heaven, your Creator, and your love for Him drives you to please Him. With a personal relationship with God you are seeking Him out daily and applying the lessons from the Bible to your life, not because a church told you this is how to get to heaven, but because it's what pleases the God you love, serve and are coming to know through His word. With Jesus in your heart, keeping God's laws is a pleasure and an easy burden to bare. It doesn't mean you won't still mess up, we are after all still human and imperfect, but with Christ we don't have to feel guilty when we do, we just give it to Him and ask for His help to do better.With God in you, changing you through His refining process there is sill pain, and there is still confusion and struggle, but there is also a joy and peace that comes from being in His will and having a relationship with Him.
       When I was still under the burden of religion, I would say I had a relationship with Jesus, and truly in my heart I believed it because I was doing all the things the church told me I should do as a Christian. I did the volunteering and work days, I did the bake sales, taught Sunday school classes, and I served as a deacon, but my heart was rarely ever in any of it, it was all obligation that I did  because that's what good Christian woman should do. But the reality of it is I was serving the church and my pride to appear as what I wanted to be, I wanted to be a good Christian woman and this was how the church told me to do it, so I did. I'm not saying that these things are bad, if God has led you to do these things then by all means have at them, but know that this is not necessarily the only way to serve God and that if Jesus is not the center of your heart while you are doing it, you aren't serving God anyway.
       None of that stuff ever left me feeling closer to God or fulfilled in any way, but reading His word does, implementing the things He said does, learning to understand His parables, and His words and how they are still true and applicable today, that helps bring me closer to God (Joshua 1:8). Praying everyday, multiple times a day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), seeking out and talking to others who are sold out for Jesus, those things all help to make me feel closer to God. Obeying God (Luke 11:28, Acts 5:29), being loving and compassionate towards others, helping those in need, encouraging others (John 13:34-35, 1 Peter 4:9), teaching others what I have learned about God and sharing God's word(Matthew 28:16-20), all this helps me to feel closer to Jesus. Including Him in all my thoughts and actions during the day is another way I feel closer to God (Colossians 3:17, 1 Corithinians10:31) and all of  this approach is based on Biblical truth, not doctrines made up by others, but what's found in His word.
       I pray that today if you read this and are under the trap of religion you take time to really examine what you are doing and why. Take time to examine the scriptures and see if you are building a relationship with Jesus, or just following a religion. Be blessed.

Psalms 119:9-16

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?

By living according to your word.

I seek you with all my heart;

do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, Lord;

teach me your decrees.

With my lips I recount

all the laws that come from your mouth.

I rejoice in following your statutes

as one rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on your precepts

and consider your ways.

I delight in your decrees;

I will not neglect your word.

Ezekiel 36:24-28
“ ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.



                                

Don't Be Discouraged

       Sometimes when we share the Lord with people or a message that He placed on our hearts for them they will respond eagerly, wanting to know more, and other times not so much. This can be very discouraging, it can make you wonder what you are doing wrong that they don't or won't respond to the message that Jesus laid on your heart. But we really shouldn't let this get us down. If they are already a believer and have a relationship with God it may just be that they aren't ready to receive this word yet, their flesh is still getting in the way of them receiving it, and the same can be said for the non-believers, their flesh is opposed to the message so they reject it. This doesn't mean that we give up on them though, it just means we should pray for them and let the Lord work it out. This might mean that you have to share the same word with them several times before they are ready, but I wouldn't push it, just say what is necessary, and then let it go and give it to God.
       We really shouldn't be surprised to be honest when this does happen, even Jesus, John the Baptist, the apostles and the prophets ran into people who didn't, or wouldn't respond to the gospel, and a lot of people wanted them dead for sharing it. They came across people who turned deaf ears to the word of the Lord when He gave instructions and warnings. They ignored the call of repentance in order to cling longer to their sin, we have not really changed much as a society in that aspect and others, in fact the more I read the Bible, especially the Old Testament the more I see this is true, our technology changes, but our hearts still prefer pleasant lies over hard truths.
       Some of us are stubborn in our flesh, we have a hard time accepting the things we don't want to hear even if they are true. We would rather be comforted with a lie than trust that what doesn't make sense to us now could really be the answer we are looking for. Some of us are still immature in the spirit and are lacking in trust, or spiritual knowledge and need patience to be guided to the place where they need to be in order to accept the truth. And then there's the group that can't and won't accept the truth no matter what,  people that have hearts of stone, they have deceived themselves into believing that they don't need God, and they can do it all without Him or His permission, or they simply have convinced themselves that God is nothing more than a fairy tale.
       My point today isn't really about these other people though, what I really want to put out there to you today is this, don't let someone's reaction to the gospel or the message that Lord placed on your heart be a point of discouragement for you. It's not really you they are rejecting, God tells his prophet Samuel this very thing in 1 Samuel 8:7; after they demanded to have a king like other nations, when God's messengers are rejected it is really God or His word that they have rejected. And Jesus tells us in John 15:20 that if they persecuted Him, we will be persecuted by them also, but if they obeyed Him, they will obey us. If you know that what you did or said was what God wanted, don't be hurt or frustrated when it isn't accepted, just shake the dust from your feet and move forward, let God handle their hearts and stay in obedience.

1 Samuel 8:6-8
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.

John 15:18-25

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

 

I Had an Addiction

       I believe I have I have mentioned this before in post, but today, especially with the new 50 shades movie coming out, I would like to talk about my addiction to porn, and the effects it has on the heart and mind. Yes, you read that right, I was addicted to porn, not the video kind though, literary porn like that previously mentioned book. I know many who believe this kind of porn is different from the video kind some how, that this kind of indulgence in lust is somehow okay because it's not visual, you aren't staring at it, but honestly it still seeps into your mind and heart.
       I started reading erotic novels around 12 or 13; I believed then it was innocent. I knew porn was bad but thought because it was a book that it was okay. I tried to rationalize that because I wasn't watching it, that it wasn't really porn, that it wasn't really sin. If you have done this as well, I am about to burst your bubble, because it is not watching porn that is sin, it is not looking at an attractive person that is sin, but the lust it stirs is. Do these books cause you to lust? Yes! That's why they are called erotic! What exactly does erotic mean? This is the dictionary definition: subject to or marked by strong sexual desire; of or pertaining to sexual love, anatomy; arousing or satisfying the sexual desire. So, what happens when we read erotic novels, we stir lust.
        Now, I know some women, including myself back then, who would respond to this point with, well I'm not reading them for the sex, I like the stories and the romance. If that were true, then why aren't you reading Christian romance novels? There's plenty out there, and they not only leave out the sex that you aren't reading these other books for, but they help build you up in the Lord, encouraging your faith, and oftentimes your relationships with others. So, let's be honest with ourselves, unless for some reason you didn't know that there were Christian romance novels, you are reading them for the sex, you are getting sexually aroused by the stories, it is creating lust when you read those books, when you think about or fantasize about the love making in the story and by God's standards that makes it sin.        
         How can I say that so assuredly? Because sin kills, steals, and destroys and that's what those books can do with your romantic relationships if you are not careful, and also because of Matthew 5:28 where Jesus says "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Now I realize that verse says 'look at a woman' and I'm talking about reading it, so how can this verse apply? Because it wasn't the looking that was problem but the 'lustful intent.' If you read these books because of the sex, this is lustful intent, you are feeding your lustful flesh desire.
       Now, I want to back track a little, I mentioned that these books can kill, steal or destroy your romantic relationships, but how is that possibly true? Do you ever compare your spouse to the men in those books? Do you get disappointed that he doesn't measure up to these fabricated men? Do you find yourself wishing he was more like the men you read about? Do you get where I'm going now? It can cause you to become dissatisfied in your marriage and romantic relationship, and spend enough feeling that way and you will react to it. It is no different in that aspect as people who spend hours watching porn, after a while the thing doesn't seem as fulfilling as the fantasy. So let's spin this around folks, how would you feel in your spouses shoes if you knew that you couldn't satisfy them because you didn't compare to the fantasy? How would you feel about your partner spending time filling their minds with lustful thoughts of someone else?
       That last question is the one that broke me, that made me realize I had to give up the books I so loved to read. Starting at such an early age filling my head with smut and romanticized ideas about love, I thought I had a pretty good idea what a romantic relationship should be like. But those books are fiction. Real love isn't sex, real love isn't going to exotic places, real love doesn't exist in the pages of books designed to stir lust, real love is found only in God, and that's what I discovered. After I decided to give up reading erotic novels and my two boxes of them mysteriously disappeared, I started to read a book called 'Love and Respect;' I felt like I needed to learn how to really love my husband the way God intended a wife to love her husband and this book taught me a lot, I highly recommend it. What I learned from it was this, real romance is when two people come together and have God as the foundation of  their commitment to one another as they build their life together out of mutual respect for each other which produces a genuine love connection between them. There is no place in a marriage for anything that distracts you from your spouse or God. 
              
Psalm 119:9-10        
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

Psalm 119:37        
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.

1 Corinthians 6:18        
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

Galatians 5:16        
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5        
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

Hebrews 13:4        
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Real Love is Not About Getting What You Want

       Many pastors and churches today paint God as some omnipotent fairy or genie that grants all of our wishes and hearts desires so long as we profess love for Him. They make you believe that all you have to do is ask a certain way, claim it, and believe then its yours. While this is a partial truth, its certainly not an absolute truth. We can pray, claim, believe and receive but God is not always going to give us what we want, sometimes He will tell us no for our own betterment and His plan and sometimes He just makes us wait.
       For some that realization is a jumping off point, they were happy to serve the magic genie who grants all their wishes and hearts desires and never allows any suffering in their lives, but when they are told no or God ask them to do something difficult they give up. We are a lazy society in that sense and in so many others. We want the rewards without the work, we want glory without pain or suffering, we want without deserving.
       With God though, on this walk we are taking as we journey closer to Him,  He will ask us to do hard things, He will ask us to turn our backs on things we love to change who we are, He will ask us to do things that don't make sense, and He'll tell us to wait when we want to run. This is just one of the lessons that many are missing today, and is often a hard one to swallow, especially after hearing watered down gospel for so long. But this is the truth, God loves us, however He isn't going to give us everything we want, He gives us what won't distract us from Him. God isn't going to make every person who prays to be rich wealthy, He isn't going to miraculous heal every person from illnesses, He can, and He could if He chose to but sometimes we are poor and stay that way so we are dependent on Him, sometimes we are sick and stay that way because if we were healed we wouldn't look to Him anymore. I know someone reading this is thinking 'well that just seems cruel to make people stay poor or sick, a loving God wouldn't do that.' Well then I have to ask you, would someone who really loves you allow you drive home intoxicated knowing you could kill yourself or someone else just because it's what you wanted to do, or would they take your keys and make you dependent on them? Real love is not about getting what you want, sometimes it is being prevented from destructive behavior.  
       I believe this is actually why the world finds the ten commandments so offensive, it's a list of rules of how we should live that conflicts with the desires of our flesh. We want, what we want, when we want it, without being reminded that we are breaking a rule with consequences. God's commandments will, like His withholding of certain things, keep us from destruction, it keeps us from the misery and pain of sin burdens if we could follow it, and it keeps us from death.  Now of course we couldn't keep His laws, but He solved that through Jesus who could, and why did He do that? Because He loves you.
       The world would likes to teach us and wants us to believe that love is always about giving, that withholding is cruel. That 'no' is a bad word, and that consequences aren't important so long as we're happy. But brothers and sisters, this is a lie, and one that leaves pain and destruction in its wake, it may not be right away that you face those consequences, but eventually we will all face the fruits of our decisions.   

Deuteronomy 8:5
Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Hebrews 12:7-13

Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

       

From Surrender To Freedom

       Anxiety and depression used to be huge issues in my life, I would wake up overwhelmed with my mind racing, sometimes sick to my stomach feeling like I couldn't breathe. My first thoughts were worry, my second thoughts were gloomy and this all fed into my depression. My days felt long, and my weeks even longer, I was tired all the time, and spent much of my time trying to keep busy so I didn't have to think or feel at all, it was torture to go through everyday like this, sometimes it got to be too much and I would sit in my car and just cry before going into work or into my house. I was stuck in my own personal cell of misery, and I had no idea what the key to getting out was.
      There have been many things I have implemented in the last two years to help me overcome this and get to the point where I am today, to where I wake up with music in my heart and head, prayers on my tongue, and genuinely happy to go about my day, most of the time anyway. Everything that I have done though can really be boiled down to one thing, one simple thing that was hard to do but changed everything. Surrender. The point of totally surrendering myself to God, to His purpose, to His word, and to living a faith filled life based on His teachings and the leadings of the Holy Spirit.
       I never understood why people said there was freedom in the cross, that they were free in Jesus until I experienced it. I never understood how living by, what seemed to me to be restrictive rules, could bring freedom. But as I sought more of Him, going deeper into the word and learning how to apply it to life, I have learned that it is true and that I can live a life that is happier and more fulfilling than I could of ever imagined.
       So now I would like to talk about that road, from surrender to freedom, because if you related to how I used to feel you need to know how to break out before it overtakes you. I called it road from surrender to freedom because it wasn't immediate, it wasn't right away, I had to learn what it meant to really surrender. I had to learn everyday to pray God's will over the day, and then let go of my worry. How do you let go? By reminding yourself every time the worry comes up that its in God's hand and either you've done what you could, or nothing at all can be done, but God has it, then you direct your attentions elsewhere. This is a process though, I failed a lot in the beginning and would get really frustrated that it didn't stop the worry right away, in fact for a time the worry got worse, but after it peaked and I stayed in the Lord, and kept reminding myself that God had it, that He had me, the worried thoughts started to trickle away. I learned to cast my worries on the Lord, and it relieved my burden as He sustained me with hope.
       The second part of this journey, was that as I learned to surrender daily, to let go of my worries, I started to see the truth of scriptures playing out in my own life. As I trusted Him more and more, and saw that He was faithful in the small, I learned to trust Him in the larger things as well, this built up my courage. As my courage built I started to confidently believe what I have seen so many say and what was said in scripture 'if the Lord is with you, who can stand against you?' (Romans 8:31) I started to feel this way, I started to know in my heart it was true, and as the awareness of His truth grew, my fears fled, and so did the sadness that I carried for so long.
       The third part of freedom I discovered from surrender was actually one I knew, but I don't think I fully understood until I experienced it. It's that in Jesus, because of what He did on the cross, we now have freedom from our sins. For a long time I have known this, since I was child, but I never really understood what it meant or what it felt like to be free from sin. I spent a long while feeling really condemned looking at my Holy God, and my unrighteousness self, feeling and believing that I would never be good enough, never be clean enough, to be found pleasing in His sight. But then one day, and I can't really remember how, but I suddenly realized that I needed to let go of the guilt over my past sins, and that when I messed up now, it was never too soon or too late to ask for forgiveness and change my ways. This elevated my guilt, and not only that, but it has helped to prevent me from staying in guilt now. I was already forgiven, I just had to forgive myself, and remind myself if and when those guilty thoughts popped up that this was the truth, that I am not condemned by my past but forgiven in Christ.     
       As the worry, fear, guilt, and sadness fled, as theses burdens were lifted over time, I suddenly realized one day, that I was happy, no happy is too soft a word, I was joyful, and I am still joyful! I finally found out what it meant to have the joy of the Lord, which is true freedom. Its not freedom to do as you want all the time, but it is freedom from worry, from guilt, from fears, from hopelessness, all of which will lead you into dark places, and create more of themselves, more worry, more guilt, more fear, more hopelessness which can and possibly may eventually just become too much until it destroys you. In Jesus though, there is none of this, in true surrender to God there is relief from it all, and the freedom to greet each day without the mistakes of the one before holding you down, because you know and believe in the truth and are standing firmly on the rock. It doesn't mean though, that bad things will never happen, my last two months are proof of that, what it means is when adversity hits you can rise to the occasion with God's strength holding you up, you won't be overwhelmed and you won't lose your joy.

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

Isaiah 41:10        
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

John 8:31-

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

2 Corinthians 3:15-18
Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.              

The Neglected Call

       A verse that keeps popping into my head a lot lately is James 1:22 which reads like this in the KJV  'But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.' It comes to mind and I start to think about the people I know, the people I go to church with, and I start to examine myself. Are any of us really doers of the word?
       I know plenty of people who devote hours of their time to running or participating in activities at the church, but can't help a friend when they are needed. I am myself guilty of this in the past, and currently I am still guilty of not taking enough responsibility for those who surround me, which brings me to the next verse that has been popping up lately, 1 Timothy 5:8 which states 'But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.' These verses have been breaking my heart lately and causing me to take a good long, hard, look at myself, and seeing the selfishness of my behavior sickens me.
      Most people who know me probably wouldn't call me selfish to be honest, but I see it. I am selfish in not performing the task to which I have been called, I am selfish in not sharing the gospel with those in my own family but doing what I can here, neglecting what should be my first concern, the unsaved in my own family. And why do I do this? Because its easier to talk to other Christians about God than those in my family who already look at me as an oddity. Because it is easier to share with you than it is them. This is my failure in fulfilling the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-18), and I know I am not alone this.
       I am neglecting my own, and not doing what the word tells us to do by not taking the word to them, and in that I see where I need to change. I need to be as bold in my faith with them as I am everyone else, I need to take every opportunity given to reach them if not by words and deeds than by the love expressed, and I need to be praying for them until my knees are too weak to move. I need to show them who Jesus is and be as much like Him as I can for their sakes. This wasn't an easy post to write, to be honest it is very difficult to look at myself this way, I've been avoiding this responsibility a long time because frankly I have been afraid to become anymore of an outsider than already am, but those two verses finally broke me down and humbled me, I will tell you when you look at them in context, where I was taken with them is not what the whole thing was about to be honest, but God used these words anyway to drive home His point to me.
       If I am to be a doer of the law and not just a hear, I must be evangelizing, and I must be doing it in my own family, not only among strangers. I must not neglect their spiritual needs as I seek to encourage others. I ask you now to look at yourself too, are you neglecting those in your own family while working elsewhere? Be blessed brothers and sisters.

Psalm 66:16        
Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

Ezekiel 33:8        
If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Mark 16:14-18
14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Acts 20:24        
But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.      

Genuine or Counterfeit part 2

       Yesterday, I stopped writing after having explained through personal testimony and scripture the difference between a counterfeit/hypocrite Christian and a genuine follower of Christ. I used scripture and the testimony to show you how the hearts of the two are different, now I would like to talk about how we can tell the difference and what we can do to help our brother or sister who is struggling against sin, and really what we need to do to help ourselves in this struggle.
       A good indicator of whether or not they are genuine or counterfeit is do their actions and words line up with Jesus? Now, as I mentioned yesterday we will all sin sometimes, we are weak in the flesh and give into those desires at times, but a genuine follower of Jesus will be grieved by this stumble. They may reach out to you for help in the way of Godly counsel or ask for your prayers for strength against the temptations. A counterfeit/hypocrite Christian may appear to be good or Christ like based on their works, but their hearts betray their appearance. Oftentimes when this person stumbles they make excuses, not repentance, or do not acknowledge it all. If called out on this action instead of humbling themselves, they react in anger, sometimes throwing your own sins back into face. These statements can be backed by Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15; 2 Timothy 3:5;  and Titus 1:16.
       Another indicator of a false Christian is that when things get tough, and they will, instead of running to the throne seeking the Lord through prayer, the Word, and encouragement of other Christians, they give up, Jesus talked about this in the parable of the sower, found in Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8, I am not adding the exact verse on this one because if you are checking the places I cite as references I really want to encourage you to read the whole thing and hope honestly, that you are ding that anyway, it will bless you. Of course, this behavior isn't exclusive to the counterfeit, it also appears in those who are weak in faith, which I guess some people would probably consider that counterfeit or hypocritical as well.
          So, there were some indicators for you, now I want to talk about how to help that struggling Christian, the genuine follower who is battling their flesh because they want to do what pleases the Father, but keeps stumbling. If this person is like me, which they may or not be, they will probably be hanging around after service, most likely near the alter. They might in fact be knelt down in front of the alter praying. They might even have been brave enough to stand before the congregation and ask for prayer to battle their flesh. If you see this, please approach them! Praying from a distance is great and all, but they need your encouragement right now, they might even need to hear your testimony of how God saw you through. Don't assume that there's nothing you can do, sometimes just listening is enough, just having someone show they care can be a huge source of encouragement!
        I guess the simplest way to say what you should do to help other followers who are struggling in their battle against the flesh is the golden rule, "Treat others the same way you want them to treat you." found in Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12, so think about when you are struggling in that battle. Wouldn't you love to have someone sit with you and talk and pray? Someone who understands and maybe already overcome this through Christ to build your hope and stamina during the battle?  Remember we are supposed to bear each others burden, Galatians 6:2. I hope the post the last two days has helped someone, I hope if you are struggling against your flesh you will reach out to the Lord, and other believers, we are all one in Christ and must walk together building one another up, correcting, and loving each other as Christ loves us. Be blessed.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their labor:

10 If either of them falls down,

one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls

and has no one to help them up.

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

John 13:34-35        
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

1 John 1:5-9        

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out 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, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.    

Genuine or Counterfeit?

       Today I wanted to talk a little about the difference between someone who is struggling against sin in their life (flesh) as they grow in relationship with the Lord and the hypocrite who calls himself a Christian. I also want to talk about how to tell the difference, and how to help our struggling brother or sister. I am not sure if I will get through all of this in one post or if I will have to split it up into two days, but I definitely want to address this topic.
       First off let me state, if you are saved God calls you to be holy, to be righteous in His sight and turn away from sin, see Leviticus 11:44; Psalms 33:5; Psalms 37:27-29; Matthew 5:48; James 1:22; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 1 John 2:6; 1 John 3:9; to name a few places where it is stated. Now while all these scriptures talk of our being holy like Him or perfect, we know as humans that it is impossible for us do, none of us are perfect or righteous on our own see Genesis 8:21; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Proverbs 20:9; Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8-10, each one states that we are unrighteous that we do or will sin. In order for us to be righteous as commanded, we need the blood of the sacrificial Lamb of Israel to cover our sin, see Isaiah 53:3; Matthew 26:28; Matthew 20:28; Romans 5:1-11; Romans 6:23.  So now we have established that none of us are perfect and that we all need Jesus to cover our sins.
         Now I would like to talk a little about the fact that we are all struggling against our flesh, against our sin nature, see Galatians 5:16-18; and Romans 7:21-25. These passages address the struggle that we all experience as we learn to be closer to God and to turn away from sin. The hypocrite Christian will know nothing of this daily struggle, some openly flaunt their sins while professing Jesus saved them and that it's okay because they're forgiven, they love their sin and do not want to put it down. I say this as someone who spent many years in this category before coming to a place of being broken and vulnerable before the Lord. Other hypocrite Christians are more clever, they learn to hide their sins from those around them, and tend to be the first to cast stones, they are the ones that spend all their time telling others what they are doing wrong, where they fall short, but never look at themselves or their own shortcomings. They typically have a good knowledge of the word, but their practice of it is lacking.
       The struggling Christian has a hearts desire to know and please the Lord. Their sin is a burden to them, one that hurts their heart because they know it grieves their Father. They typically react to sin within their desire to please God, that means they pray about it, confessing to God their shortcomings and asking for help. At this point, I will share with you one of shortcomings that I struggled to let go of. I was one of those teenagers who thought it was cool to cuss, not that I actually thought it was cool, I more or less believed it was my right since I was finally old enough to do it without getting my mouth washed out, or spanked. So, like most teenagers I abused that believed 'right' that I had, I abused it so much so that I was told I could work at truck stop, I couldn't get through a sentence most of the time without using foul language. Before I had surrendered my heart to God and had only just said the prayer (there's about a 6-7 year gap between when I said the prayer of salvation and when I gave Him my heart) I had no problem cussing. I really believed what I had been taught, that I was safe from hell after that prayer and didn't have to live righteously because I couldn't and that Jesus was okay with that. However, after I finally broke down and realized from having started to actually read my Bible, that this was untrue I repented of that belief, and shortly after that I started to notice that hearing others cuss bothered me, I realized that they sounded uneducated, and that acting that way myself made me sound the same. I wanted to stop cussing after that, but I found it nearly impossible after having allowed it to be part of my life for so long. Everyday I woke up with the intention of not saying any cuss words, and everyday I failed and grieved over it, until I asked God to overcome it for me because I was too weak, but even this took several years for me to get there! I am sure to other Christians I looked like a hypocrite, professing to love Jesus but using a lot of course language, but in truth I was struggling against it, I just couldn't seem to stop myself, kind of like what is described in Romans 7:21-25. 
       In describing the difference between a counterfeit or hypocrite Christian from a genuine Christian it is apparent that their hearts are the difference, one may think and say that they love Jesus, but the way they hold onto their sin says otherwise. Where as, a genuine follower of Christ may have still have sin in their life; but it isn't something they love they hate the sin, it is a burden that grieves their heart. They desire to be rid of the sin and to be closer to God seeking Him out daily and including Him in every part of their life. Looks like this running long so I'll stop here today and pick this back up tomorrow, be blessed.

Ecclesiastes 7:20
Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

Psalms 37:27-31

27 Turn from evil and do good;

then you will dwell in the land forever.

28 For the Lord loves the just

and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed ;

the offspring of the wicked will perish.

29 The righteous will inherit the land

and dwell in it forever.

30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,

and their tongues speak what is just.

31 The law of their God is in their hearts;

their feet do not slip.

 

Matthew 26:28

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

 

Romans 6:20-23

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.