Just in case!

I was listening to Tony Evans (if you have never heard him preach, I recommend you google him and get started! Very anointed in my opinion.) on the radio last night and I had such a revelation! He started chatting about some Old Testament times when the Israelites had started to worship other gods. Now, I have done lots of OT reading and I have to say, the times when this particular issue comes up always baffled me. Truly! It is mentioned in several places that the Hebrews would start to worship the gods of other people. Names such as Baal, Astarte, Bel, Dagon are mentioned in scripture. Here and there the Israelites would run to them for one reason or another and start to worship them.

I was so blown away by this time and time again. My initial thought would be...are you kidding me!! Good grief! After the whole Red Sea thing as well as all the other amazing, unexplainable things that only God can do, and seriously....other gods?? You could say I was shaking my head at what I considered their...narrow-mindedness, stupidity, etc. I never really understood what on earth was going through their minds. Until last night.

Scripture does not say that the Israelites completely began to disbelieve in God...it says they just began to worship other gods. Baal was a sort of fertility god. Fertility of people, land, crops, etc. You could say that these other gods were kinda like just in case gods. It may have gone something like this...."Weeelllllll, I still believe in my all powerful God but just in case, let me see what this other god is all about. It seems to be working for those Philistines. After all, I really want another baby and I really want this years crops to flourish. Saying a pray to someone else can't hurt. Right?"

Ouch!! Don't we do that same exact thing today?????? Don't we?? We might think along these lines, "Oh goodness, YES...I believe in the One True God, the Holy Trinity, etc but just in case, I need to make sure that I spend lots and lots of time and energy thinking and rethinking (maybe a bit of worrying) about my finances and making sure I have lots of money because if I don't take care of things, who will!" Or maybe something like this..."I need to make sure I have a very full, important career and spend lots of time on it. After all, it is my career that makes me feel needed, important, special, significant. God couldn't possibly do all that. Right? I know scripture says He can but just in case." Or how about these....1. God can't fill me like food does so when I feel down, I will run to the frig instead of my bible. 2. I need a huge pick-me-up and shopping does it for me! God can't make me feel that awesome. 3. If I just had a nicer home, a bigger home, a new car, a faster computer, blah, blah, blah...then I would be happy, satisfied, content, feel better, etc.

We too worship other gods just like those of the OT. For most of us, our "other gods" do not have names like we think of. Many of us confess our love for God in one breath and then behave in a way the very next moment that says we have other gods in our lives too. Our other gods have names like...Money, Self, Food, Shopping, STUFF, Career, Power, Worry, and the list goes on and on. Yikes.

I ask you my sisters, do you have any just in case gods? It is a big question that takes a mature person to truly look into their own heart and see if there are any "posers" in there. If can't find any, I would ask the Holy Spirit to help reveal them. If you think about it and decide you might have some just in case gods, I would refer you to Exodus 20:3,4. (just click the link)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%2020&version=MSG

Many blessings!

PS...to all my dear sweet Catholic sisters....if you can't find your keys, who do you pray to for help? If you want to sell your house, who do you pray to for help? If you have a sick animal, who do you pray to for help? Just something to think about.

My new day planner is here!

Ok...I am one of those crazy chicks that LOVES her day planner. I try each year to wait til the start of the new year but as soon as August gets here, I know that those 18 month planners are available. Yep. I know. Crazy. I have spent several years finding what I think might be the perfect planner for me. I have tried several and right now I am totally in love with momAgenda. Check out their website if you are a planner nut like me. Anywho....

My beautiful new planner is here, I am getting all organized, marking down important dates, feeling very much in control! Then Sept 27th catches my eye. In my new planner, (month at a glance page for September)it has this written in the upper corner of Sept 27th...."Family Day: Have dinner with your kids." I stopped short. What has our culture come to? This activity needs to be written down? Made note of? That means it is something to remember rather than a regular occurrence. I have to say, sadness kinda came over me. Have our lives become so busy...is every family so busy that mealtime is a thing of the past?

In my life, I MUST monitor my time. Actually I have to protect every minute of my day. If I don't diligently protect it, soon it will be eaten up by things that don't even matter to me. I start to feel like a complete bystander in my own life. Uuuuggg!! Who wants that! I need reminders that I....I....I am the one in control of who I let into my precious time table. Because my kids are young (12,10,7) I can still dictate quite a bit of what eats up their time too. If I don't take great care in making sure their lives are not too busy, what will their idea of living be? Know what I mean? All this busyness HAS consequences. It seems we are addicted to activity. So many of us don't even know what to do if we have nothing to do. I bet you can think of someone right now (maybe even yourself) that freaks out when there is nothing going on, no where to be and nothing to do. I think that lots of us say we hate being so busy but can that really be true? Let's be honest, shall we. Who exactly is responsible for keeping us so busy? If I complain about being busy, I only have myself to blame. I am not a victim of this...I am a participant. It takes a strong person to look at their lives and get rid of things that need to go. Sometimes it is great things. Sometimes it is things that need to be eliminated for the time being. Often, it is tough choices that have to be made in order to free up some time in our lives to just be still!!!! Speaking of being still.....

In Psalm 46:10, God tells us...."be still and know that I am God." Sometimes it is as simple as that. JUST BE STILL already!! How can we put the things in our lives that God wants us to do if our days are already filled with what we have decided is a must. If you bring the word still back to the Hebrew meaning, it translates to "let go" or "release". God needs us to let go of our to do list. Release it all to Him. Be sure to have some time just to hear from our heavenly Father. Why? Well, scripture tells us He will give us peace and rest. Here are some wonderful, comforting verses that indicate the peaceful joy that God has for us. The catch is...He will not force this upon you. You see, He is always a gentleman. We have to ask for what He offers. We have to accept what He gives.

Jer 6:16 Walk in my ways and you will find rest for your souls.

Jer 31:25 I satisfy the weary ones ad refresh everyone who languishes

Matt 11:28 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

I have to be reminded from time to time, to make sure I am leaving room for God to speak to me. I must leave some time to be still. This is not only for my own well-being but I must remember, I have little eyes watching me and learning as they grow.

I saw this T-shirt...

As I was traveling back to my home in NE Ohio we stopped along the thru-way for a caffine and potty break. There were a bus load of teens that arrived just in front of us. (all using the potty too...that was a close one!) I noticed one t-shirt that I could NOT get out of my thoughts. It was black with white decor on it. In the middle, there was a cross with these words staggered within..."Be Holy or Die Trying"

Immediately my heart was sad. Obviously this was a very believing child but for some reason he was under the impression that he could DO something that would make him acceptable to God. Let's just think about this for a moment.

( are you thinking?)

How often in my life have I done something that was soooo completely unHoly? Oh heavens! (Please don't tally those up.) It would not be a stretch for the middle of the road, everyday, run of the mill, average kinda girl (or boy) to think about "being holy" and simply say....that is just too hard...I will fail at that so let me stick to the things I am good at... being holy is just too impossible so why bother!

What does it even mean to BE holy? Does that mean going to church everyday? (yuck!) Every Sunday? Does it mean never using cuss words? How about if you slip and swear when you stub a toe? Does that make you unholy for that day? What if you are PMS-ing and you are rude to a co-worker? Your mom calls and you get snippy with her? Can you be extra-holy on Friday to make up for being unholy on Thursday? I don't know about you but my head is spinning!! Where is the line of holiness? I did not get that memo! AAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

Fortunately, we have a loving God who knew that we would slip into that mind set of trying to accomplish something that was simply impossible. Why impossible? Because we were given the ability to choose and we are all human beings. We are bound to make choices that suit our prideful hearts rather than choices that honor God and are "others" focused. We are flawed creatures that need our creator to help guide us. Because of His love for us, God sent his Son to be our personal guide.

My dear sisters, please don't get caught in that trap of trying to do things to earn a place with God. Your life will be eaten up by your To Do list. Your joy will be replaced with anxiety and guilt. God wants to be your soft place to fall. He wants to be your support system not your dictator. He wants you to dive into His word, swim around a bit. The water is perfect!

How do I know this? I read it in a really great book that I can't put down....The Bible. ;O) Let me share some verses that speak volumes to this.

A verse that speaks to YOUR importance to God...

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matt 6:26

A verse that speaks to God's desire for you to ENJOY your life and not be trapped by guilt, shame, to do lists... (answers specifically why Jesus came in the first place. How cool!)

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

A verse that speaks to HOW we can be okay with God.

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 10:10

A few verses that speak to the idea of TRYING TO BE HOLY and how it is not going to work!

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Rom 3:28

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not by works, lest any man should boast. Eph 2:8,9

"nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified." Gal 2:16

Ok...I could go on and on! I so hope you get my point and that these verses cause you to dive into what else the Bible has to say to us.

In closing, the desire of my heart is to get the point across that it is not about doing things to be okay with God. It is not about being "enough" of something. God wants us as we are! We don't need to fix something about ourselves before we can get to know Him. He wants us to understand that He loves us BEFORE we come to him. He loves us and wants us to just believe it and in turn, get to know Him. I promise....the closer you get to God (even with all the junk you carry around) you will be amazed at the joy and love that will fill your soul. Come on in! The water is great!

Where do you run to?

Still working my way through the bible from cover to cover. Loving it! Truly. I am. I would encourage everyone to do it...at whatever pace you want. I made it to 1 Sam as of today. Once again, HUGE stuff. Let me share what God has been whispering to my heart now.

In 1 Sam 5, the Ark of the Covenant has been captured by the Philistines. The Israelites are freaking out. The Ark is where God was. (yes, that means, God was inside a box. Does that make sense to me? No. But it is scripture so I'm goin' with it. When I get to Heaven I WILL be asking, what was up with the box?)

Ok...so the Phil's have God, rather the box that contains God. They know that it is the "god" of the Israelites. The Phil's have their own god...a dude named Dagon. They decide to put God in the room where they store their god. Basically, a big fancy room with a statue of Dagon in it. They place the Ark next to it. ....

In the morning, they go check on the fancy room. Well, Dagon has fallen over, face first, at the base of the Ark. Heheheheh! How great is that! The Phil's just pick it back up, maybe saying "huh". The next day, the statue is once again face down but this time the head and arms had broken off. This made they MORE fearful. They wanted to get rid of the "god of the Israelites" because the power was too big. They moved it from city to city but no one wanted it with them because it was too powerful. They finally put it on some cows' backs and sent it back to the Jews. The cheers of joy from the Jews were heard by the Phil's which caused them to become even more fearful. They saw the Israelites as unstoppable because it was well known by all other people that the God of the Israelites was very powerful and had saved them time and time again. (something to keep in mind too....in 1 Sam 7 it talks about how the Israelites started to worship other gods while the Ark was held captive by the Phil's)

The first thing that comes to mind with all this is...

"If the Philistines had witnessed the power of God and they clearly believed it was real, why didn't they just acknowledge Him and start living in the light?" They would have been considered an "outsider" among the Jewish community but scripture mentions non-Jews living among the Hebrews several times. Now, it goes without saying that the Jews had lost their minds when they started worshipping other gods.

Then God whispered this to my heart...

"How often do you disregard My power and run to whatever god is the god of your life at the time?" Ouch. How often do we turn to shopping, money, food, my husband, parents, work, alcohol or drugs, even a Godly friend when we should simply stop running ANYWHERE and drop to our knees. It takes deep personal reflection and honesty to acknowledge that we, as believers, turn from the one true God when we have seen and experienced His power, and continue to run elsewhere for comfort.

Just something to think about. Sending blessings and hugs.

I am soooo offended!

Time to get brutally honest. God already knows what your heart feels so lets be honest with ourselves, shall we?

During the course of one day, maybe one week, how often would you say you are offended by someone? Think about what a co-worker or boss might say to you. How about an in-law, spouse, family member, child, neighbor, friend. It doesn't have to be a huge thing either. Think of those things that just make ya think..."well!" or "did she just say that?" or "uh!"

Do you get what I'm after? I used to be a girl that was very easily offended. Many things seemed to be a direct offense to my personal being. Then, as we all do, I would re-act to the offense I felt. Never a good thing. One relationship that was most often negatively effected by this way of thinking was my marriage.

Then God got a hold of me. (praise God!) First, he gently showed me HIS definition of love from His Word... "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. Love is not easily offended......" (1 Corinthians 13)

Some versions say "irritated easily". I think I like easily offended the best because it gets right to the heart of ME! Yuck. Not pleasant to come to a realization about yourself, is it? I was one of those "eggshell" people. You know the kind I am talking about. The kind that people had to behave gingerly around. You either know one or maybe you ARE one. God calls us to not be this way. He specifically names it in scripture. Take heart though. If God names something, it is because He knows it will be a struggle for lots of people. (Hopefully you take comfort in knowing you are not alone!)

I find it helpful to break things down to get a true understanding of what it means. So, let's define offend.

OFFEND: to cause pain; to cause to feel vexation or resentment usually by violation of what is proper or fitting. So, if you are a person (like myself) who was/is easily offended, this means that you take what people say so personally that it causes pain. More to the point, what people said to you violate what is proper or fitting. Think about that! .................... In my little brain, when people said things that did not line up with what I thought was proper, I became offended. Really?? What I thought was of course the only proper way to think about things. (Gross!) At its core, this is straight up PRIDE. This is thinking so highly of ones self that there is no room of others thoughts, opinions, words.

We are a culture of people who hold themselves so high. This pertains to believers and non-believers in my opinion. The bible is filled with men and women who are truly humble. They know where their fortune comes from, they know where their power lies. It is with God alone. Once I realized how I was putting the god of self before the one true God, I could see how often I was being offended by others, prideful, and living in opposition to how God calls us to live. Ouch. For years, I had no idea that I was thinking this way. Sometimes this attitude is immaturity and as we get older, it decreases. For some, it never decreases. Now that I have learned of this prevalent attitude and mind set, how wonderful it is for my parenting skills. I can train my children in the way they should go! I can point out what is at the base of their behavior, thoughts, attitude. Praise God!

I still have times when I slip back into what my flesh wants. I am sooo much better than before though. Every once in awhile, I need to revisit this idea of "being offended". I have to ask myself, "am I thinking too highly of me and starting to be offended too easily?" My hope is that this blog entry is that "revisiting" for some or maybe even God's way of showing them for the first time that they are "offended too easily."

Blessings.

If God is good, why do so many bad things happen?

I was listening to the radio last evening and a caller asked this age old question...If God is good, why do so many bad things happen? I think that if every Christian were being honest they would certainly say that they too had that very question. They might still struggle with it actually.

Pastor, author, speaker Randy Alcorn was the guest on the radio show. He gave such a wonderful response that I think I will tuck it away and rest on it whenever sadness occurs in my life. Here's the summery...

Scripture tells us that God knows all of eternity. He knows ALL of it!! He was there in the beginning and He is there in the end. God is also completely aware of all the suffering that has occurred and will occur. Ouch. Scripture also says that our suffering causes Him such sadness. Ok...so if that is true, if you believe what scripture tell us then the next logical question is...WHY does he allow such yuck in our lives? The answer I have often gone to is "it's a fallen world". After listening to Mr. Alcorn, I now have a much better one...

The master plan, the end result of all our worldly living, as believers in Christ, is sooo amazing that God sees all the suffering on the earth as worth it. Our Creator has something in store for us that makes all the murder, rape, pain, anguish, sadness, loneliness, and terror worth it. The fact that we live in a fallen world is the reason all the suffering is taking place but God tells us to trust Him because what He has in store for His children will dwarf any worldly pain.

The real question is....Do you have the faith to believe THAT?

Well, this girl believes it with her whole heart and without it, I have nothing! Without Christ, the thought of dealing with the whoa's of this life seems unbearable. So, this day, I am once again praising God!

Are you passing the test?

I am doing a bible read through which is taking me quite a while. I started it at the beginning of the year and I am only in the book of Judges. I truly am loving every minute of it. Well, most minutes. The reason it is taking me so long is....life happens and there is so much to "chew" on! I have to stop and jot down something eye opening every few verses. Who knew!

This is something that definitely caught my attention...

Judges 2 & 3

To summarize, once again God's chosen people are failing Him miserably. (ouch!) They are finally living in the lands that God had promised them generations ago. Alas, they do not drive all the people out that God told them to. So, they live among them. The people are not faithful to God right away! This was a great sadness to God. (Judges 2:18) As more lands were conquered, God left some nations among them to see if His people would repent and finally stay true to Him. Big shocker...they didn't. Soon the people began to marry the non-Jews. They started to worship their gods and goddesses. This was one generation after Joshua and Moses. One generation!! They had forgotten all the miracles God had done for them.

Now, what does this have to do with us? Or me? Well tons actually. Several times in these few chapters it speaks of how God left other people among the Israelites that were not worshippers of the One True God. The Word tells us that God did this as a test. He wanted to see how resilient His people were. They had shown themselves as an unfaithful people in the past yet God wanted to try again. ( uuummm...definition of mercy?!) We all live among people that don't believe what we believe. Some don't believe in Jesus, some don't follow His Word, some say they believe and claim to follow the Word but the fruit of their actions says otherwise. Is this a test? Is God wondering how faithful I will be when He puts me in a situation that is not Christlike? Will I stand up for Christ with actions and/or with words when I am surrounded by things of the contrary? I sit here saying YES but in actuality I must ask myself..."Will I?" My real thought is .... I hope so! Now, I am not worried about denying Christ (but Peter said that too) but when the world gets it's grubby hands on me, do I behave like a follower of Christ? Do I love those who curse me? Do I pray for my enemy? Do I give all that I should? Am I patient with those that don't believe the bible is something that can and should be read and taken word for word? ( btw, there are lots that think that way) YIKES!

St. Francis of Assisi said "show them Jesus and use words if you have to." My personal test is to show all people the that God puts into my path, His love. The longer I walk with Jesus the easier this becomes (Praise God!) but there are those days!! It is on those days that I must push against my flesh that says, "rip their heads off!!" The goal is to win more for Christ and love on all those that come into my life. If even for a minute. Am I showing them something different than what the world is showing them? Is it a test? If yes, am I passing it?

Just something to think about.

It takes strength to NOT grumble.

Hello there my dear friends. I know, I know...I am a terrible blogger. My last post was months ago. Well, I have my feet back here on earth and I once again promise to do my best to blog regularly. I feel as if God is moving BIG TIME and I love to share all that He is doing in my life.

Where to start!!

Well, I want to be sure to keep my blogs short cause I have a tendency to drag them on. Ya see, I love to talk. As a matter of fact I think I just love to hear my own voice. Now this voice I hear is usually in my head. Any sister know what I am talking about? By mid morning I am tired of talking and I have not said a word out loud. Good grief! Don't we just get to thinking too much of ourselves? This girl does for sure. God MUST be powerful cause He decided to take on the task of humbling me. He does so every day. (there I go again....dragging on!)

Ok....heard a great little tidbit on the radio today. It was about grumbling. I used to be a grumbler. By the grace of God, I am no longer that person. I am a new creature. My kids and my hubby are especially happy about that. Every once in a while I slip back into my "old skins" and do some grumbling. It feels so nature. So easy. Right? Yep. Well, that is called human nature. It is against our very being to not grumble. ( big shout out to Adam and Eve for THAT!) When the complaining starts, either from your own mouth or from those around you, you can be sure of one thing....God in not running the show. I know, I know...that is harsh but it is true. I don't mean to say that God is not in you. I just mean to say that the enemy has won that moments battle. When our enemy is running the show, our flesh rises up and takes over. The God in us gets pushed aside or under. The easier thing to do is go with the negative. It takes great strength to rise up again and again against our own flesh. I have found that the longer I walk with God, the more I surround myself with like-minded people, the easier it is to walk in that strength. The Godly strength that is required to ward off that grumbling of my flesh.

In conclusion, I have to be sure to take note of my "grumble level". Is my flesh and my enemy getting the upper hand? Is God front and center? Self checks are invaluable to me. No matter how strong my faith is, our fallen world has a tendency to cling to me at times. It brings me down and causes me to grumble. Ask yourself...are you letting the enemy win or is God ruling in your day?

Did you read the book that was assigned?

The following is just my thoughts on a possible scenario. My little brains thoughts only. Think about this for a moment.... you have died and you stand before the Creator. If you have accepted Christ you get to hang out for eternity. Great!! But....the Creator asks you this simple question....

"My dear child, did you read the Book I gave you?"

Oh boy!! Let's say this happens. What are you going to say to the One that made everything? The one that gave you life. The one that allows you to be with him forever because of the suffering and acceptance of his only son. Yikes. Immediately I think of good ol' Cliff! You know, Cliff Notes. The age old cheat books for those of us not with it enough to read the assigned literary masterpieces assigned during our HS years. You know who you are!!

Well, a dear friend posed this very question to me not too long ago and being a very compliant person, I took it to heart. What if! What if I get inside the pearly gates and God asks me if I read His book? What will my answer be!! Will I be standing there saying, "uuummmm. Well, I read some of it." (gulp) Now, I know enough of what scripture has to say to know that this "not reading of the Good Book" will certainly not get me kicked out but it sure would be a smart thing to have done while I had the chance.

So...this post is an encouraging message to all who read it and all those who touch your lives. Why not read the Book from cover to cover. Soak it all in. Take your time and get through every word our Creator has to say to us. Each word is so significant or He would not have wasted his time giving it to us. I believe this with all my heart.

Yes. I have started reading the bible from the beginning to the end. What have I learned so far? Well, I am only in the first chapter of Joshua but so far the things I have come to realize are amazing. Sure, Leviticus put me to sleep several times, Numbers made me want to poke by eyes out at times but I truly am getting a beautiful, more complete picture of God. Here are just a few bullet points of what I have come to realize...
1. Genesis is full of the word US. Several times, the term us is used instead of me or I. Us refers to the trinity. Just amazing to realize how all three were spoken of from the very beginning.
2. There was a man named Enoch that scripture says "did not die". Wow! Really?! He was just "taken away by God".
3. I realized yet another term/word used today that has it's roots in scripture. To babble. You know the word..."she just babbled away." Definition: to speak incoherently. (sadly, I think I might do this often) Read Gen 11:5-10. This term came from here!
4. I learned that even when things are horrible...you are down and out...God will still make you fruitful. He did this for Joseph. Gen 41:52
5. In Exodus, I learned that God will always be compassionate. I knew this but to see it in scripture...in His own words...Huge!
6. I learned that in Exodus, he tells us that when he calls us to do something, he will equip us to fulfill it. Boy, does that help with my parenting!! Amen?
7. Leviticus is painfully specific!! Painful I tell you. BUT...oh boy. Does this ever demonstrate how God cares for and sees every single one of us. It all matters to Him. Even lil' ol' me.
8. God will not accept leftovers! He wants our best
9. Even way back in Leviticus, God tells us how he is walking with us, he is with us and he will never turn away.
10. I always correlate peace as the one thing Jesus left us. This is scripture. But way back in Numbers, God tell us he is giving us his peace.
11. The last one I will mention is...while still in Leviticus, God was STILL soooo merciful with His people. They messed up time and time again. Just like I do....time and time again!! Yet, we serve a merciful God who wants us to love him as he loves us. He asks for our devotion and even when we decide that our agenda is far more important than his, he is forgiving, loving and merciful. Praise God!!

Again, I encourage all my brothers and sisters in Christ to read this ever amazing Book. THE book. It will only bring you revelation, encouragement and comfort.
(Beth...thanks for encouraging me....needed to get back to this...it had been too long! xoxo)