July 31, 2015
Born Again
John 1:13
They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

Here’s the verse where Believers’ call themselves “Born Again.” Lots of people have dramatic experiences or serious events that completely shape who they are into a new person. A tragedy, a windfall, a relationship, or a death can change a person forever to be different than who they once were.

Such is a genuine encounter with the One True Living God. When we realize we are not free, when we realize we have guilt and shame piling up, when we realize we need a complete do-over in life is when we readily accept God’s gracious gift of salvation. Even at a young age, before a person actually needs a do-over of any kind, we can experience God’s love too, and we do want it forever and to be reborn as a person who doesn’t have to live a life apart from God.

That’s why being a Believer can not only change who you are; it changes whom you will become!

Dear God,
Thank you for the gift of salvation through your Son, Jesus, so that my life would have options for the BEST! Thank you for giving me faithful parents who taught me about your love when I was a little girl so I wouldn’t ever have to experience life without you. And now that I am older, I look back and see how you’ve loved me and blessed me and I still want that. Thank you for giving me two births and for shaping my heart for eternity with you. I love you so much, and I just can’t thank you enough, and I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

July 29, 2015
The Way to Choose Life
Psalm 119:93
I will never forget your commandments, for by them you give me life.

That scripture makes me think of this passage from Romans 8...

Romans 8:1-7
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.  The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

The reason Psalm 119 and Romans 8 go together is because the New Testament Believer can’t ignore God’s commandments now since it is God’s grace that saves us. Romans 8 explains beautifully how we are saved, and it is definitely NOT by how well we keep commandments (see Ephesians 2:8). But then Romans 8 goes on to explain that since Believers have the Holy Spirit, then we are able to think about things that please God. AND letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

So thinking on God’s commandments (Psalm 119:11) is a good thing. God’s commandments reveal how God thinks about things like real truth, real justice, real love and real peace. I don’t ignore them because God gave me grace. I let HIS thoughts dominate my heart and mind which leads to life and not destruction -- because a Believer can certainly also choose to go back to their old way of thinking. And that old way of thinking leads to death.

Dear God,
I love how scripture compliments scripture and how New Testament passages expand on Old Testament passage. I love how you also are able to weave your Word all throughout my heart each day giving me things to think about so I don’t have to let my sinful nature dominate my thoughts. I love that you give me a choice. And I choose YOU! I love you so much. You are great and greatly to be praised and I just can thank you enough. And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen. 

July 24, 2015
An Element of Faith
Psalm 112:5
Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly.

This passage from Psalms supports the truth that the Bible has everything we need for life and godliness (see 2 Peter 1:3). It seems like common sense to some people to be generous and deal fairly, but what human nature notices right away is that “good” comes to those who don’t give generously because one will have more money if they keep their money. Lending generously involves an element of faith, so does conducting business fairly; you just don’t know the outcome ahead of time. It’s easy to share and be fair if you’re absolutely sure of the future as people basically don’t have a problem with working from their leftovers.

But there are no stipulations on Psalm 112:5. It doesn’t say to do these things only if you have excess to spare. Lending generously is an act of faith since we don’t know if what we shared will be replaced. Conducting business fairly is risky since the other party might not be doing the same. Obeying God’s Word involves faith, that is, trusting that he will provide and have our backs!

And it is impossible to please God without faith. (Hebrews 11:6)

Dear God,
Thank you for all the nuggets of truth found in your Word guiding how we should live. Help me to be generous and  fair because I desire to obey you more than to look out for myself. I put all of my hope and trust in you and I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

July 23, 2015
Most Certainly Blessed
Matthew 19:14
But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.”

It’s Vacation Bible School at our church this week. Every year it makes me think of this verse. I especially like how Mark records more of what Jesus said and did, “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”  Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. (Mark 10:15)

It’s not only a reflection on the importance of children following Jesus like adults should, but adults can take a page from the kids to receive the Kingdom of God like a child, the non-skeptical view of a child. Kids love to be loved. Kids believe what you say unless you show them otherwise. Adults want to be shown before they believe what is said. So Jesus proceeds to scoop up the children that were around him while he was teaching and loved on them with his own two hands. That blessed them. That was good for their hearts.

I want to be like that. I want to freely accept the love Jesus is offering and get held and loved on and most certainly, blessed. That is good for my heart!

Dear Lord Jesus,
I’m thankful for all the times you not only taught something but then showed us immediately you are not just talk. You are amazing. You have no hidden agenda; you just want to make sure people don’t die in their sins, and you want people to know God loves them. That’s it. Adults are skeptical and trying to find your angle, but you honestly just love us all and I am so thankful. I thank you that your love comes with your actions as well and the result certainly is a blessing. I love you so much and I praise you and thank you that you are who you are. And I pray in your name, amen.

July 21, 2015
It’s a Full Circle
Psalm 119:30
I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations.

If one needs help in the faithfulness department, simply obey the rules.

When I think of faithfulness, I think of marriage. The way to remain faithful in marriage is to obey the rules of marriage. Don’t cheat on your spouse. Keeping the rule keeps one faithful. Simple. If one is not determined to obey the rule, why did they bother getting married in the first place?

God chooses for everyone to have a relationship with him (see 2 Peter 3:9), but only some choose to have a relationship with him in return. The ones who do are also determined to obey him too, or why would they bother?

Last Sunday, we studied Romans 7 at church. Verse 6 describes how Believers in Jesus aren’t under the power of The Law anymore... But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. 

Before Jesus came, the way people could be “good” was by obeying God’s Laws, don’t covet, don’t lie, don’t commit adultery and such. But all The Law does is allow people to try really hard to not break rules. Then, when Jesus expands on The Ten Commandments in his teaching saying thinking of breaking the rules is breaking them in your heart (Matthew 5:21-22,27-28), we find that we are just trying really hard to obey a list of rules all by ourselves that most likely we will not be successful in achieving and simultaneously trying and have a relationship with God.

But, by believing in Jesus we are given God’s Holy Spirit. We are given a new heart, a place where he can be with us. The Holy Spirit is perfect and has no problem keeping all of God’s Laws, and since he lives in my heart, I can just let him seep out of me. So I get a relationship with God that isn’t based on me trying really hard to keep rules but based simply on letting him live in me.

I have chosen to be faithful; I have determined to live by your regulations... That means, like in my marriage, I choose to be faithful by choosing to keep the rules of the agreement. Coincidentally, that means obeying God’s Word. It’s a full circle; the difference is having the Holy Spirit inside me giving me the ability and the desire to do what pleases him (Philippians 2:13) instead of trying to accomplish obedience all on my own and failing.

Dear God,
Thank you for helping me be obedient by determining to be faithful to you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit living in me giving me the actual power and ability to pull that off. I love you so much and I’m so thankful that you are not hoping I can be really good, but helping me! Thank you for your will and your ways and for your Son, in whose name I pray, amen.

July 15, 2015
Cleaning Out the Garage
James 1:21
So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

They way to get rid of all the filth and evil is to obey God’s Word. The two go hand in hand. It’s not like cleaning out garage from old stuff first and then putting in new stuff; it’s putting in new stuff now – so much so that there’s no room for the old stuff anymore. The old stuff will just naturally get the boot.

On Sunday, Pastor Dean was teaching from Romans 6.  Verse 11 says that we should consider ourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Dean went on to define the word “consider” to mean “calculate” and “deliberate.”

That got me thinking... When I’m at work, I consider myself a teacher. Swearing, wearing a bikini, or making fun of students are inappropriate ways for a teacher to behave in the classroom; teachers don’t do these things. Everyone, who wants to keep their job, is “deliberate” at work. There’s no room for anything else.

A Believer is also deliberate. We don’t see obeying God’s Word as diminishing our freedom or not in control of our own lives; we’ve chosen to follow Jesus, and we are deliberate about how we keep our “garage” clean.

Dear God,
Thank you for your Word in my heart that keeps my heart clean, for helping me not do things that would be unbecoming of your daughter, and for making a new person who is not without choices. And I choose you. I choose your perfect will and your ways. You are great and greatly to be praised and I love you very much and I thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

July 9, 2015
And Then Some!
Ephesians 3:20
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or imagine. 

The relatively simple and painless process of trusting God and asking for wisdom has shown me every time without fail that God thinks outside “the box.”

One of my favorite ideas from God’s Box is from Spring of 2000. My husband and I had begun praying for us to be able to live on one salary so that I could stay home and be with our growing family full time. Our “box” envisioned God showing us specific advice on where to scale down more, extra monthly income for Rob, income I could bring in from home, or a refinance or something. But instead the phone rang a week after we earnestly started praying together about this. A production company called to invite Rob on a trivia tv game show they were piloting. Coincidentally, but actually prearranged by The One True and Living God, my husband had taken his mom to a game show audition a month or so prior to the phone call. He had gone with her so she could be on a show, but they had him audition too while he was there. The phone call was to inform him that the show they auditioned for had been cancelled but these producers had seen Rob’s audition tape and wanted him to be on the pilot of their new show called Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime. Well, he didn’t win a million bucks and the show got cancelled. But the pilot episode he was one aired on tv so he actually got the money he won! And he won more than enough to pay off my student loans and allow us to become a one salary family. And I am still home with my kids every day (my dream job) here these past 14 years.

I love this miracle. I love sharing this memory. And I don’t share it to brag about what happened to us because that’s not how I feel when I reflect on this. I am still literally in awe of what God did for us. Nowhere was winning money on a tv game show on my radar. It just proves that God’s “box” is bigger and better than ours. I learned there is no reason NOT to trust him. All the time he is watching, planning and acting on behalf of all who trust in him. And the specific things he does for me proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is completely trustworthy and waaaay smarter and more creative than I am. And he truly accomplishes infinitely more than I could ever ask or imagine. 

So when I pray, I don’t even panic about the right wording because apparently God already knows the situation better than I do and is able to come up with solutions, really great solutions, that I didn’t even know existed!

Jesus said it succinctly in Matthew 6:31-33. So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need... AND THEN SOME!

Dear God,
I can fill a whole journal with all the things I’m thankful for, all your blessings, and all your lavish goodness. You are great and greatly to be praised. Thank you for your great and immense creativity in problem solving for me, for knowing my needs, and being so faithful to never ever let me down. I love you so much and your wonderful imagination. Thank you, thank you so much! And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

July 6, 2015
Less Christianity & Less Freedom
John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

Freedom is absolutely free for the taking. Freedom is God’s idea. It comes only from him, and he freely makes anyone free; all one has to do is accept God’s grace that makes us free (see Romans 5:16). The problem with freedom isn’t where to get it or how to obtain it. The problem is that people don’t want it. Anyone who doesn’t want God, who INVENTED freedom, doesn’t desire freedom.

My personal attitude towards shrinking liberties seems to be reactionary. If the government tells me I can’t have a gun, I want to go buy ten of them. If I’m required to get vaccinated, then I don’t want to at all. If I shouldn’t draw a picture of Mohammed then guess what I want to do? None of these things are illegal or immoral, so there’s no reason to surrender my freedom. Once a group takes a person’s legal freedoms away, they do not give them back. So why is there a great movement in the free-est country that ever existed causing citizens so eager to give up their right to bear arms, right to decide what to put in their own bodies, and right to doodle? The answer is simple: They don’t want anything to do with God, and God has EVERYTHING to do with freedom.

Our country used to completely agree that our freedom is not something that is legislated. Freedom just is according to section 2.1 of the preamble to the Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

There were even atheists back then, but they understood and agreed that freedom isn’t given to people by other people, but it certainly could be in danger of being taken away. The cost involved with freedom is in preserving it once it’s been established.

The Son set me free, and I am free indeed, but I do have an Enemy I must guard against according to Ephesians 6:12-13. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 

Adolf Hitler is remembered for his insanity and probable demonic possession, and his idea of leadership was to strip his own countrymen of their freedoms for theoretical protection. Coincidentally, he is also not remembered for godly or moral character. Fact: Getting rid of God gets rid of freedom.

I believe this is why our country is slowly but surely devising ways to suppress liberties and attempt to make legal what is immoral and make illegal what is legal... there are slowly and surely fewer and fewer people who want anything to do with God, and freedom comes from HIM.

Dear God,
I pray for our nation that has forgotten what freedom is and from where it comes. I love being free. I love going where I please, protecting what I have, and thinking and saying what I like. You created self-governing beings who have YOU as our Leader. And I thank you that I will always be protected and provided for by YOU regardless of the turn my country takes. Thank you for making me free and keeping me free through your Son, Jesus in whose name I pray, amen.

July 2, 2015
AKA: A Heart Without Jesus
Jeremiah 17:9-10
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.

This is where Christianity and Society don’t see eye to eye. The Bible declares the heart to be deceitful; it needs to be retrained and renewed. It needs a new LandLord, who is The Lord. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. (Ephesians 3:16-17) 

But the world thinks that people should be in charge of their own hearts and that a heart without Jesus is good, but it’s not. No one is good apart from Jesus. Not one. All people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say...No one does good, not a single one (Romans 3:9-12).

But Jesus is willing to make his home in our hearts (see John 14:23); Jesus is good, so he makes our hearts good. That is the only way to have a good, clean and righteous heart. A heart full of a regular person’s ideas & desires is not a good heart no matter how clean cut that person appears. Bad can’t make good. Only Good can make good.

That’s why no matter how one feels about certain popular social issues, “Love” only “wins” when it looks like Romans 12:9-10. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.  Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. This is what God wants us to do with our hearts. No where does God ever say, “Do what feels good...”

Truly loving everyone means we don’t want anyone to die and go to Hell because of their heart’s desires that are actually wicked and not good. Why is it so hard to grasp that really loving others includes hating what is wrong? And what is wrong is desires that come from a wicked heart, aka: a heart without Jesus. 

Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for making my heart good. I pray for all the people being deceived right now about what real love is and mistakenly thinking their heart and all its desires are naturally good. Only YOU make us good. I love you so much and I am perfectly willing to hate what you hate and still love at the same time just like you do. And truly loving people means that we DON’T want anyone to die in their sins. Thank you for giving real truth and real love so readily available to everybody who wants it. I love you and thank you and pray in your name, amen.

July 1, 2015
An Honest Evaluation
Romans 12:3
Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Do you know people who want the “glory” without the work? My husband encountered a delusional youth when he was subbing for one of his dad’s classes at the Bible College a few years back. This 19ish guy said he didn’t need to finish the class because he already knew everything and could “preach circles around Chuck Smith.” Wow! At 19? With none of the study, none of the time, none of the sacrifices, and none of the service he felt he was ready to fill up a stadium. I think of this incident not only because this passage from Romans tells me to have an “honest evaluation of myself” (and he clearly did not), but I also remember this guy because he didn’t understand the “measure yourself by the faith God has given us” part.

Measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us... God gives us experience. Whether crafted by him or “worked together for good” (see Romans 8:28), God uses everything as an opportunity for us. And by doing so, He gives us lots of chances to allow our faith to grow. 

James 1:2-5
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Bible College Guy believed he was perfect, complete, and needing nothing without any of the endurance required to get like that. Measuring ourselves by the faith God has given us is also consistent with an element of time. God is pleased with any amount of faith (see Hebrews 11:6), but it’s foolish for Believers to compare themselves with each other (2 Corinthians 10:12) because we don’t have the same experiences over time that shape our faith. But we are all called to continue on right where we’re at according to Philippians 3:12-14...

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[d] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

The good thing about the arrogance of that kid is that if he repented of his pride at any point from then till now that would give him opportunity to experience more of God’s grace and allow his measure of faith to grow.

Romans 5:3-5
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment.

Dear God,
Thank you for increasing me faith and for reminding me today that you’re not comparing me to other Believers, you’re comparing me to your Son and give me lots of opportunities to be like him. And out of your grace and love give me your Holy Spirit too to make it possible to imitate Jesus and press on. I love you so much and enjoy the relief that you don’t expect instant perfection from me, but you take the time to shape my character without making me feel like I should spiritually be where someone else is. Thank you. And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.