​October 28, 2015
Life is so stinkin’ short.
1 Peter 1:24-25
As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.” And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

I like how God’s Word makes it clear that makes distinctions for us. Some things last; some things do not last.

People are like grass... Life is short. In view of the infinite time line of eternity, our 80 or 90 years on the plant is just a small blip. That’s why Jesus said this: Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:19-21)

What are treasures we can store for heaven? Well, I think of treasure as what is absolutely most important to me. The first thing that comes to mind is my family. My treasure is people. Discipling my kids, talking about Jesus, and praying for one another is time well spent that will not go to waste. We cannot say the same about working long hours to pay for extra fun things or please bosses. Spending lots of time escaping reality with shopping sprees, vacations, and binge watching Netflix wouldn’t be treasures that last either. There’s nothing wrong with those things, but if that’s all we pursue, or, worse yet, if pursing crowds out sharing Jesus, personal worship and study time, and  talking about him with our family, then we’ll be quite stunned when the people that matter most to us now aren’t there with us later. 

Dear God,
I am so glad that your Word lasts literally forever and spending time talking about you with anyone and everyone will not ever be wasted time. I pray for me to be the one to give an unbeliever something to think about. I pray that I would be the one who constantly prays for and encourages my own family in your Word. Help me to make time for my real treasures and not be lazy. I love you so much and thank you for your Son in whose name I pray, amen.

​October 27, 2015
What Was I Thinking?
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

No one knows what is wrong in their lives without the Word of God. His Word exposes our innermost thoughts and desires as we compare these thoughts and desires with what he thinks and how he desires for us to live. A simple example is how we treat people. It is natural and automatic for us to be defensive, prideful, and selfish. But when we look at 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, we see that God wants us to be the opposite of those things in our hearts and actions.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 elaborates on the benefits of God’s Word...
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

God’s Word teaches what is true – real right vs. real wrong – not just societies’ revolving and arbitrary ideas and feelings about what is acceptable and tolerable.

God’s Word makes us realize what is wrong in our lives... I need this! Doesn’t everyone? Don’t we want to know why we run into the same problems, deal with the same struggles, and get upset over similar situations over and over again? God’s Word simply shows us how to live and then life gives us lots of opportunities to practice living the way God prescribes!

It corrects us when we are wrong... This sounds hard, but it’s actually very freeing. It is actually a huge relief to agree with Scripture and simply declare there are certain things I just won’t do and certain thoughts I will refuse to entertain. Skeptics will say this is impossible and some Christian camps will agree. But look at regular society. There’s plenty of recovering alcoholics who refuse to go in bars, the majority of parents do not entertain thoughts of child abuse, and lots of drivers on the road keep the speed limit on back roads even when there’s not another car in sight. How much more, with the power of the Holy Spirit, can Believers determine to never do certain things too? We totally can.

My parents always told us while growing up that they never use the word divorce. They decided when they got married that word wouldn’t be used even in jest. I didn’t understand why it was a  big deal when I was young; we’re Christians, of course no one’s getting a divorce. Little did I know that tons of their Christian friends were splitting up. But my parents were enduring their hardships together. My mom’s family (church goers) growing up was full of divorces, and she told my dad that tradition was going to end with her. And it did. 

It’s not prideful for a Believer to make such a claim because we know God’s Word. We check our thoughts at the door with our Bibles open, and we clean out the thoughts that shouldn’t be in there, and we don’t entertain them. The world, and also lots of Christians, think this is impossible to do, but it’s not; they just don’t want to do it.

Dear God,
I like that knowing Scripture teaches me how to live and how to live boldly. Thank you for the trailblazers in my life who demonstrate the power of your Holy Spirit by letting your Word instruct them. I love you so much and thank you for teaching and helping me. And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

​October 23, 2015
Shouldn’t I do the Same?
Galatians 6:2-3
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

The Law of Christ is humility. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges he took the humble position of a slave (Philippians 2:5-7). Jesus did not insist on being treated like a king, and he, in fact, is the King of Kings.

How often do we insist on certain entitlements, and we aren’t even the king of anything? Down time, “me” time, free time... how do we share the burden’s of others when we don’t feel like we should be bothered with it in the first place? How do we help others when we don’t feel like it’s our job to make time for that either?

The answer is so eloquently stated in Galatians... You are not that important. Jesus, the One who actually is really important, put others above himself; shouldn’t I, not actually important at all in the fact that I’ve never created something from nothing or saved mankind from sin and death, shouldn’t I do the same?

Side note: I don’t need to trek across the world seeking out burdens to share and people to help. Well, I can, but it’s important for Believers to remember that they can obey the Law of Christ in our very own homes!

Dear God,
Thank you for my family. Help me not be so busy and distracted that I overlook a need. Help me not make my schedule more important than a need. I love you so much, and I do want to have the same attitude as your Son, Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

​October 21, 2015
We Like What We Know
Psalm 40:8
I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.

People like what they like and they like what they know.  People are proud of their home towns simply because of a sense of familiarity more than a sense of belonging. We like the food our mom’s make, we like our own holiday traditions, and just “the way we do stuff.” It’s all different from what someone else may do, but we like it because it’s what we know; it’s ours.

I’m so thankful my parents taught us about Jesus as early as I can remember. God’s Word is what I know. It’s familiar to me, and I like it. I don’t consider obedience to Him as a chore or a list of restrictions like unbelievers do because they don’t know Him, He’s not familiar to them, so they don’t like Him. 

But I like it! I love following Jesus! I don’t mind trusting in Him for everything I need, not holding grudges, and loving others exactly they way they are. Experience and time have proven that God is good to me ALL THE TIME and that my joy is not dependent upon other people or favorable circumstances. This is my experience, it’s familiar to me, it’s what I know, and I like it! It doesn’t make me superior to other Believers or more saved in any way because I became a Believer at a very young age, and I don’t point out my upbringing to boast. But it does make me positively certain that raising my kids to be disciples of Jesus and not leaving it for them to discover Him one day for themselves, like some parents are prone to do, is absolutely the best thing to do. Plus, doing so is exactly what God has instructed on my heart.

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.  Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
(Deuteronomy 6:5-8)

Dear God,
Thank you for my parents. Thank you for coming in to my heart at such an early age and staying there, being familiar and faithful and good to me my whole life. I love you so much and I thank you for a house full of young disciples in my own home today. Thank you! And I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

​October 16, 2015
A Good Guy
Psalm 19:14
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

On Sunday at church Rob taught through the last chapter of Romans where the Apostle Paul mentions lots of Believers by name. Paul sends greetings to helpers and fellow workers, a woman who was like a mother to him, fellow prisoners, and also just some “good guys.”

Greet Apelles, a good man whom Christ approves (Romans 16:10)...

Being part of the Family of God, the Body of Christ starts with being a New Creation. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Before someone can work hard, help faithfully, host hospitably or be a fellow prisoner for Christ, they must be a New Person. I like how Paul mentions Apelles for just being a good guy; it IS important!  The church must be a place full of people being their New Self, a good man (or woman) whom Christ approves. 

And this is what the New Person prays: 
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Dear God,
Please let the things I say and do today be pleasing and acceptable to you,  be helpful and good, and be fitting of a follower of your Son, Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.

​October 13, 2015
That’s a Great Plan
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 

This is one of my all time favorite Bible verses. And it’s lots of people’s favorite, but here’s the reasons why I love this verse...

1. Jeremiah 29:11 describes exactly what God is like... God is good and the Source of Hope. This verse is the perfect answer for the skeptic who begins their criticism with the words How could a loving God... By his own words here God says that he doesn’t plan disaster for our lives. Quite the opposite; he makes good plans for us, so the crud that goes on in the world didn’t come from his plan book.

2. The crud that goes on in the world didn’t come from God’s plan book... It is very important for everyone to know we must watch out for our great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (2 Peter 5:8). Our Enemy is the one who plans harm and disaster not our Savior, and we should never blame the latter for the work of the former.

2a. But if God is bigger than the Enemy (1 John 4:4), he should stop him... He did! For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:56-57). Furthermore, God does thwart the work of the Enemy for everyone who loves and trust him according to Romans 8:28. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

3. God’s plans are full of Hope and Life... God himself is the Source of Hope. Romans 15:13 confirms:  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. And Romans 5:5 describes God’s Hope as never disappointing us either. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. But, the Enemy’s plans does lead to disappointment; he seeks to steal our hope, kill our joy, and destroy our lives (see John 10:10).

4. But God’s plan for us, for EVERYONE, is Jesus... And Jesus gives us Life. Not only eternal life in our future, but REAL LIFE right now by inviting us to live his life. His purpose is to give us a rich and satisfying life (the rest of John 10:10). That is why God’s plans are good, not disastrous, full of hope and full of future - because his plan all along was Jesus for everybody. And that’s a great plan!

Dear God,
Thank you so much for Jesus! And for including me in your plans! And for real joy and real life and real victory over the Enemy. I pray for my mistaken friends who attribute evil in the world to you and not to the devil. Help them to stop deceiving themselves and learn your real character. I thank you that you, indeed, have power over works of disaster and evil and invite everyone into your plan of Salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name I pray, amen.

​October 9, 2015
Ingredients for a Miserable Heart
Deuteronomy 13:4
Serve only the Lord your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

Follow Jesus or don’t. I think some Christians are so unhappy because they still want to do what they want to do. And the reality is that they are free to do whatever they want to do. But if they want Eternal Life, if they want Jesus’ life, if they want real joy, if they want to stop having a pit in their stomach, then they must - we must always- obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him.

I had a conversation with a lady the other day. She was legitimately being pestered by other adult family members and instead of leaving the argument that had risen, she returned in kind, and let them verbally have it. Oh, no! was my first response because of 1 Peter 3:9 -Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Still, everyone has been in a situation like hers where we let ourselves explode; I could relate. BUT her rationale behind it caught my attention. “I had to. I knew it wasn’t right. But I just had to do it.”

And there’s the problem. We can’t excuse doing stuff we know isn’t right based on present feelings and  circumstances. When one knows what Jesus wants them to do, doesn’t do it, and then makes excuses for it, they’ve assembled the perfect ingredients for a miserable and bitter heart because mixed in with that hot mess will be the consequences of their actions like the loss of a relationship, career, or opportunity.

The Bible tells us to guard our hearts in Proverbs 4:23. Usually I think of guarding my heart as the process of keeping myself away from certain things, but sometimes I have to guard it from my own stinky ideas and especially from self-justification. If I’ve offended someone, it’s time to apologize no matter what kind of day I’ve had. If I have wronged someone, I need to make it right immediately and not wait until I feel like circumstances are favorable. When we are talking about willful sins there will never be favorable circumstances because we have an inherent distaste for going back to the place where we know we did something wrong. So, mostly people avoid revisiting the subject and just move on pretending like nothing happened. 

But without the humbling experience of repenting, the heart learns nothing.  That very truth about repentance is what makes us Believers in the first place. A person who will continue justifying NOT doing what Jesus says  time and time again will eventually wonder how they got so far away from Him. But when such a person won’t obey his commands (because they just have to give someone a piece of their mind), won’t listen to his voice (because they believe they have a really good reason not to), and won’t cling to him (unless they’re scared or in trouble), they also won’t have much of Jesus because they have put themselves far away from Him.

Dear Lord Jesus,
I don’t want to be far from you because of stubborn self-justification. You are the way for me to have Life and it doesn’t include that. Help me to obey, listen, and cling today. I love you so much and I know that YOU are my Defender as well my Source of Joy so I do not have to follow and obey my feelings and emotions or circumstances. I love you and thank you for what you require of me, and I pray in your name, amen.

October 7, 2015
One Size Fits All Solution
Romans 14:22
You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right.

I love this passage. It confirms that there are things just between God and me. Do you know why that is? It’s because we have a close and personal relationship through Jesus. And a close and private relationship means that we know what’s really going on in my heart even when others misunderstand or disagree.

Jesus came to make us free in every way. Believers have lots of options for living, loving others and serving God because we have lots of diverse personalities and experiences. Based on those things we make choices for our lives based on what is prudent for us. For example, all Believers are free to use money, watch tv, and drink beer. But since all Believers don’t have the same hang ups, God doesn’t give us all the same convictions about our freedoms. There’s nothing wrong with money except for the trap it might be for someone who trusts it more than God; that person might choose to avoid using credit cards. TV is not a sin either, but for someone who has obsessive compulsive tendencies and would just click on show after show - or someone who does not intend to guard what they watch - these Believers might choose to not own a tv; and they’d be right. Drinking a beer isn’t going to send anyone to hell, but  a Believer who used to struggle with alcohol will probably be deeply convicted to avoid it altogether. But that doesn’t make the Believer who has never drank too much a sinner for consuming an alcoholic beverage. God has given us all the same convictions over issues of sin (see the 10 Commandments), but He gives each of us our own convictions regarding matters of personal preference based on our personal experiences. 

Keep it between yourself and God... That means I don’t transfer my personal convictions on to other people. And I certainly don’t want theirs! 

Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right... That means I am happy about the way I live. I get my joy from my close and personal relationship with Jesus who has tailored my convictions to suit my life. That’s how I get my joy. My joy is not dependant upon other people approving of me or not. 

But some Christians don’t think about these things. There joy does seem dependant upon the agreement and endorsement of everyone else. And that’s a shame because they are missing the close, personal catering Jesus supplies to each one of us individually. For example, we have no idea what Euodia and Syntyche were arguing about. Obviously matters of personal preference and not sin issues or Paul would have judged the sin. But instead he tells them, Be of the same mind in the Lord. (See Philippians 4:2) That means that Believers, while diverse in personal experiences and personal convictions, have ONE thing that is in common across the board. We love Jesus. So how do I live under my convictions when it seems to interfere with someone else’s personal preference? Thankfully, Ephesians 4:15 gives us great advice...

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

Speak the truth in love. And the truth might simply be this: I disagree. We do not see eye to eye on this situation, but I love Jesus, and you love Jesus, and I love you. Then hug. If both parties would do this they would experience what my friend, Deborah, calls a joy bubble. 

Because this is what happens:  God is able to decide the matter. When two Believers let the resolution to a personal conflict be just an I love you and a hug, God does the heart changing in BOTH hearts. Sometimes it has been in my heart and whatever was so important to me previously just doesn’t matter anymore Sometimes it’s the other way around, and the other person softens. And sometimes there is no resolution BUT frustration and contention somehow gets replaced with peace and contentment. Only God can do that. My many words in an attempt make someone see my point of view can’t accomplish these same results.

The only thing I am required to have in common with another Believer is  LOVE for Jesus. When we agree on that, it allows for God Himself to work everything else out.

1 John 2:9-10
If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.

Love. Hug. Let God sort it out in the hearts of individuals with whom he has a close and personal relationship. His love is the “one-size-fits-all” solution to our variety of preferences.

Dear God,
First of all, I am so thankful that my joy is not dependant upon people understanding me. Secondly, thank you for your love that is so big that it can squash disputes. I thank you for replacing disappointment and disagreements with joy bubbles. I have learned this from personal experience and you are so faithful to never let me down, and I am so thankful. Thank you that my convictions are mine and mine alone, and THANK YOU for not burdening me with someone else’s convictions. And thank you that when personal preferences do conflict -  our LOVE for Jesus and his LOVE for us is always the solution! I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

​October 6, 2015
Bruce Gender
Genesis 1:27
So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

One of the headlines in the news this morning is the debate going on in Houston, Texas regarding gender and public restrooms. Personally, I cannot understand why this debate is even going on. Seriously, wow! For me, there is nothing to debate; God made girls; God made boys, and for centuries society has provided adequate public facilities for both. The debate isn’t really about bathrooms anyways. There’s tons of family friendly and handicapped bathrooms in malls all over America; public places can simply change the design of public restrooms to accommodate the ever changing whims of society. The heart of this matter is the desire ungodly people have to pursue undoing what God has established because they do not acknowledge or like Him. God established marriage specifically between a man and a woman because this union is the only union that will produce a Family. So that makes marriage an institution not a recreation between two of anything that produce nothing. But anyone who is not a Believer will disregard scripture and this truth entirely. They’ve disregarded it so much so they have advanced their agenda beyond questioning what constitutes marriage into what constitutes a person. And I’d like to see Christians stop getting fooled into thinking this is an issue to debate. Believers know what God has made it clear. So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) There is nothing to debate.

Romans 1:21-22 explains exactly what the ungodly are up to. They don’t want to worship God or even give him thanks... So they think up foolish ideas that oppose God. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 

There is only one of each kind. Males and Females. And even within the “kinds” there is a wide variety of personalities and preferences, but there is still only just 2 kinds. It truly defies all logic and common sense to debate what is male and what is female. We do not debate Natural Law in any other scientific area. God made two distinction very clear when he gave us our body parts, and that distinction remains no matter who cuts off what.

For example, Bruce Jenner is free to do and say what he pleases because he lives in America, Land of the Free. However, why are his personal experiences and the experiences of the small population like him causing public debates over actual Laws of Nature? Gravity is never up for debate, and this topic shouldn’t be up for debate either. No matter how much Bruce thinks he identifies with a female, he is not a female, and his parading around as one should be offensive to all females. He does NOT identify with us because he CAN NOT. He will never have a child, he will never menstruate, he will never have ovarian cancer... He cannot identify with a woman no matter how much he dresses up like one or mutilates his body. And as a woman, I find it is insulting not cause for celebration, and I’m not even a feminist! Where is the outcry of feminists, by the way? Feminists organized themselves in order to get a man’s career & a man’s salary and now a man is co-opting their gender. Ridiculous.

Similarly, Rachel Dolezal infiltrated the NAACP not by saying she, as a white woman, identifies more with black women but by deceitfully posing as one, claiming to be one before she got found out.  Identifying with a race and actually being a member of that race are two different things. She cannot wish herself into actually being a black woman no matter how she styles her hair. Her appearance will not give her the history and experiences that makes up that group. She isn’t part of that community because she isn’t part of that community. The backlash of her situation rose from insulted black families who have themselves or have relatives and ancestors who have actually suffered not just felt like they suffered. Her white ancestors were never taken from their homes in the middle of the night and sold into slavery for centuries. Her parents and grandparents were never denied access into places of business, forced to sit where they don’t want to sit, and given... what... separate bathrooms???

And we’re back to bathrooms. Making special bathroom concessions is what society does to denigrate a group of citizens not boost another. And that group, in the case of transgender restrooms is the group of women that belong in there in the first place!

Dear God,
Everyday I’m getting closer to understanding why you had to destroy the earth with a flood and annihilate a couple of cities. Good grief, I can’t believe I even have to pray for my country to come to their sense over issues that should never ever make its way into actual legislation. But I do pray for our leaders to come to their senses, for you to thwart the efforts of the ungodly, and I thank you for protecting us from horrible ideas and horrible leadership in the meantime. I love you and thank you and appreciate so much the institutions and laws of nature you have established! And I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.