​30 March 2016
Jesus Pail it ALL
Isaiah 53:3-4
He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!

The irony at the end of this passage even merits an explanation point at the end. The man who deserved no punishment got punished and the ones who deserve punishment didn’t realize he was taking theirs for them.

So, if he took the punishment we deserve, then everything else he took on rightfully belonged to us too and not him. He was despised. Sinners deserve being despised. He was rejected. He didn’t deserve that either. He was a man of sorrows. He shouldn’t have been; he never did anything wrong. He was acquainted with deepest grief while everyone else carelessly keeps on sinning.

I am the one who deserves to be despised, rejected, sorrowful, and grief stricken. But, I have yet to experience any of these things as Jesus did. I am never getting what I deserve because Jesus took it on for me. All of it. He was mistreated by the ones who deserve mistreatment. And then he took the punishment those same sinners believed he deserved. AND THEN, he will truly spare sinners (the ones who believe in him) from experiencing what we rightfully deserve even though we still deserve it.

When you hear the song or see the bumper sticker, Jesus Paid it All, remember the ALL part. Not only did he take on the punishment for our sins when he was crucified, but he also took on the misery beforehand. We certainly deserve that too. And he spares anyone who believes in him from misery and punishment to this very day!

Weeping may last for a little while, but joy is coming for all who believe. (Psalm 30:5)

Dear Lord Jesus,
I am so thankful for this time of year when we all ponder The Resurrection. What you did was truly amazing. I’m so glad to be forgiven, but I’m also so relieved to know you have spared me from everything else too. Thank you that forgiveness is where you are – and joy and life and love. I am so glad I have all of these things regardless of my circumstances and that what you did for me gives me eternity with you. I love you and I just can’t thank you enough. Thank you, Jesus! Amen.

​19 March 2016
Together Forever
Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Christian marriages have a great advantage to being full, vibrant , and lasting relationships because both partners have the presence and the power of God’s Holy Spirit enabling our love for one another to include the elements: joy, peace, patience (that’s super helpful!), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (also VERY helpful for marriages!).

Unfortunately, lots of Christian married couples don’t take advantage of the Holy Spirit in their lives and those marriages fail to thrive or end all together. It’s sad because it doesn’t have to be that way.

I’ve always wondered about couples who aren’t Believers but have long marriages. I’ve assumed they must be hiding awful secrets and just pretending to be happily married because marriage is difficult. It seems like human willpower lasts only about seven years (hence the “Seven Year Itch”), and after that it’s time to move on. What’s really going on with married couples who make it beyond those early years?

Author Tim Keller solved this mystery for me in his book, The Meaning of Marriage. He asserts that there are three human institutions that stand apart from all others – the family, the church, and the state... In fact, there are all sorts of great institutions and human enterprises that the Bible doesn’t address or regulate (schools, corporations, museums, hospitals, etc.). And so we are free to invent them and operate them as we see fit. (p.5) But marriage falls into the Family category. It is God’s special design; no person invented the idea of marriage. So when people engage in a marital relationship the way God has designed, He blesses them!

Plenty of people who do not acknowledge God or the Bible, yet who are experiencing happy marriages, are largely abiding by God’s intentions, whether they realize it or not. But it is far better if we are conscious of those intentions. (p.6)

This is a good explanation for me as to how marriages really last. God blesses Biblical marriage – even for couples unintentionally participating in one. Sadly, their relationship still will only be finite because at the end of one’s life, only the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes (1 Corinthians 8:3). Loving your spouse and participating in a Biblical marriage isn’t enough to make relationships last literally for forever.

Believers know for certain that Biblical marriage empowered by the Holy Spirit is even better, and even better than that is knowing that death won’t even separate me from my husband. For, all Believers have the promise of Eternal Life (John 3:16), and we really will be together forever!

Dear God,
Thank you for marriage and for my marriage. I love my husband so much! I love spending time with him and being lavished with love from him. I love our physical attraction, his friendship and encouragement, attention, protection, and care. I love being his favorite person. I love knowing everything about him, and I love knowing that I will get to know him even better in the future (1 Corinthians 13:12). Thank you for making your plan of marriage known to me and to our kids and for incredibly blessing our marriage all these years. I love you and thank you in Jesus’ name, amen.

​15 March 2016
Just Jesus
Acts 4:12
There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

God is not accumulating religions and names. His function isn’t to fit in to every culture but to welcome every person who believes in His Son to Him.

There is salvation in no one else... Jesus is the one being referred to here (see Acts 4:1-11). God decided to offer forgiveness and eternal life only to people who believe in Jesus. Just Jesus. God does not mention any other religious figure in Scripture who will also save us. Just Jesus. Many people believe that all religions lead to God, and that is true. But not all religions lead to salvation, and salvation is what we need. For, Romans 14:11 assures us that every knee will bow before him and every tongue will acknowledge God one day. Everyone will meet up with Him, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be saved. The only ones that will be saved are the ones who already believed in His Son, Jesus.

Romans 3:21-22
But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[i] and the prophets long ago.  We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

I have been saved by Jesus from the moment I asked Him to lead my life when I was four years old, so why do I spend personal study time on salvation when I'm already saved? Reminding myself of the reality that there is only one God with only one purpose gives me joy. Remembering what Jesus has done for me gives me joy. Knowing I am forgiven, loved and granted eternal life gives me joy. And joy over what Jesus has done makes me strong, not only strong in my faith, but strong in every way a person needs to be strong.

Nehemiah 8:10
Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for the JOY that your salvation brings to my heart every time I think about it. Thank you for forgiving me, loving me, showing me how to live, and for spending eternity with me starting now. These things make me so happy, and having them flood my heart today instead of all my worries is such a better way to live. Thank you that I get to pick what I focus on today and for allowing me to be able to choose you! I love you and thank you so much and pray in your name, amen.

10 March 2016
Explain That!
1 Peter 3:15
Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

I saw a news headline today about how Climate Change deniers should be prosecuted. I use capital letters for climate change because it’s a theory. It’s a theory being taught as fact, and that makes it a religion. Same with the THEORY of Evolution. It’s a theory; it’s an idea no one has any proof of whatsoever. And I’m fine with both of them, as long as they are treated as theories. And no one should be prosecuted for not agreeing with a theory that one day, most likely, will be proven to be wrong. Believing in a theory that can’t be proven is religion, and the fact that there are people in leadership who want to force people to accept their religious theories is a true violation of our Constitution.

Christianity has no longer been given any place or voice in our schools or government because people mistakenly think that mentioning God in a government building is a violation of church and state. But the only thing that violates the Constitution is when a belief system is forced on citizens. Just mentioning Jesus doesn’t do that, but taxing and prosecuting citizens over Climate Change certainly does!

Ironically, Christianity isn’t even a theory! It should be included in our classrooms and courthouses. But the world wants it to be a theory, so it is. The world want Evolution to be fact, so it is (but it really isn’t!).

And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it... More than 500 people who knew Jesus saw him alive and teaching them AFTER he was crucified...
Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. (1 Corinthians 15:3-8)

500 people! That’s a lot! And they are EYE WITNESSES! There is no court that would find in favor of the other side vs. the side with 500 eye witnesses. And besides, what other event in history spread like wildfire as Christianity did in less than a century? Something crazy must have happened! Someone telling you they saw a dead man alive again with their own eyes is very compelling. And faithful people wrote everything down so we would know about it same as historians documented the existence of Abraham Lincoln. 

There are absolutely no eye witnesses for Evolution or Climate Change. Explain that!

Dear God,
Thank you so much for Jesus. I believe in you and in your Son. I believe in the Resurrection, and I believe in Heaven. These are not theories, and I thank you so much for proving that Jesus is your Son by raising him from the dead, giving the world irrefutable evidence. I love you so much, and I love this time of year when we celebrate the Resurrection, and I just can’t thank you enough that it really happened! I love you and pray in your risen Son’s name, amen.

​7 March 2016 
My Anxious Thoughts
Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Know my anxious thoughts... Every time I go to the doctor, and he collects his initial information on me it always includes the question, “Are you under any stress?” And for years, decades now, I always so no. I figure that I have running water and plenty of food, my husband is employed, and I stay home and basically read with my kids all day. No stress in that. And then one day it hit me... YES! I am under incredible amounts of stress, all day, all the time. Why on earth have I been answering no to that question?!

I am raising kids. How will they turn out? What are they going to do after high school? Whom are they going to marry? Are they going to be able to get good jobs? Did I mess them up? I can wake myself up out of a sound sleep wondering if I could do more. How about my Women’s Bible Study friends at church? We keep a prayer request list with each other and the needs on there are incredible! I can’t help anyone’s employment, marriage, sick kids, or unsaved family? All I can do is pray with them? How about the unsaved people that I know? That is super stressful to think about. What are they going to do? How can I share more; how can I get them to understand that time is running out? My parents are aging very well, but I can get myself worrying in that area too. And how about this election season in our country? Holy cow!

Yes. I have anxious thoughts. I have stress. And I wasn’t paying any attention to it. I’ve lived thinking nothing is wrong when there is so much to worry about for all these people I love. But as I look closely to my list of anxieties, I see that the stress lies in the word “I.” What did I do? How can I help? What’s going to happen to me? I notice that when God is not a factor in the equation, and I’m only using personal pronouns in my thoughts, then there will certainly be anxiety and stress.

Know my anxious thoughts... I need to let God know what stresses me out. Every single thing, big or small. I need the pronouns to be about HIM and not ME. Lord, what are YOU going to do? Let the WBS ladies trust in YOU. Help my kids always follow YOU. Show my unsaved friends that they need YOU! 

Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Dear God,
I pray for the many overwhelming prayer requests that I see every week, I pray for the many health concerns for people that I know and love, I pray for my kids to do well and to be well, I pray for my family, I pray for our unsaved loved ones, and I pray for our country and for all the things that stress me out. Help me to trust you. Help me not to neglect praying for these dear people. Help me turn all my worries into little prayers today and to be thankful for all you have done. You have done so much, and you love me so much, and I thank you for your faithfulness that is even steadier than my anxiety. I love you so much and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

4 March 2016
Forced Courage
Joshua 1:9
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

A command is not a suggestion. There is only one way to obey the command to be strong and courageous, and that is to stay in the scary situation.

I remember going in to my parents’ room at night because I was scared to go to bed. I had always shared a room with my sister and by the time we got our own rooms I was in 5th grade, but it was quite an adjustment. I had never gone into their room before because I was scared at night. But with my own big, lonely bedroom every little noise now was not my sister on her side of the room but surely an axe murderer in my closet. At first, my dad was soothing and sweet, but it got old for him really fast. After a few times, he did not go back with me to my room anymore but used firm tones and strict words. It made going into their room at night not a viable option anymore. He told me to be brave and that God is always with me, so there is no reason to be afraid. I had to stay in the situation; I was forced to stay in my room and be brave. And guess what happened? It worked. 

No one can do it for me. Like my dad requiring of me for my own good to trust that God is watching over me at night, the only way to have courage is to have to use it. Being taken out of the situation won’t produce strength and courage. But I have experienced that staying in where I am uncomfortable, unsure, and afraid produces amazing results. What would quitting produce?

This is how God speaks to his children at night...
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
    Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
    I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. 
(Isaiah 41:10)

And I’m glad my dad taught me the same thing.

Dear God,
Thank you for all the simple opportunities you have given me to trust you so that when truly overwhelming circumstances arise I have some kind of muscle memory of really trusting you and having courage backed by your incredible love and faithfulness. Thank you for never ever letting a little girl down at night so that she could grow up with the security of trusting you. Thank you for godly parents and help me to teach my kids to trust you every day too. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.