There Are No Bad Dogs... Only Bad Owners...

Since Kristin began driving, it has made my life so much easier.  No more running her back and forth to every practice, meeting, and event under the sun.  Well...  That is until mornings like this morning.  Kristin had to be at her high school at 6:15 to ride the bus with her theater group to regionals at another high school this morning.  I had plans to sleep in so I went to bed really late (early this morning).  Kristin's alarm didn't go off so she came banging on our door at 7 this morning saying, "I'm late.  It's 7:00 and I just woke up!"  Not thinking about her already having missed her bus I told her in the best mom voice I could muster, "hurry up and get ready.  Be careful, I love you."  I'm not sure what I said was even intelligible.  LOL!  After 30 seconds of laying there, it dawned on me that she couldn't drive all the way to Phoenix.  "UGH! I'll take you!  Just get ready quickly" I yelled to her as I dragged myself out of bed, brushed my teeth while changing clothes and pulling my hair back (all in one fluid motion).  Less than 10 minutes later we were walking out the door.  After a quick stop at Starbucks (because this mom needed caffeine) and getting the GPS set up we were on our way.  Normally I would have been grumpy and probably would have lectured her to death, but this morning there was nothing but peace.  I was actually enjoying the extra time I had with her.  I did do my mom duty and suggest to her to use a second alarm clock on important mornings for in the future which she fully agreed about.  The majority of Kristin's concern didn't come from her getting in trouble though which is surprising for a teenager.  It was for her theater group and that she felt she had let them down by being late.  After 30 minutes on the road, I got her to her destination, waited for her to get in and text me that all was OK and I headed back home. I was overcome with joy and thankfulness.  I am always aware of the fact that I have good kids, but today it really hit home.  Kristin could have been pointing fingers at everything and everyone at why she was late, she could have had a bad attitude because of the situation, or she could have tried to hide her mistake by trying to make that drive by herself without telling anyone.  I know most teens would handle the situation with at least one of the three ways above, myself (when I was a teen) included.  Kristin didn't.  She didn't place blame, she had a good attitude and most importantly...  She came to us for help instead of possibly making a bigger mess by trying to fix it herself when she isn't experienced enough for driving in that area of town.  

My son and his friend Nick have AWANA on Tuesdays so normally I have both boys here right after they get out of school.  This last Tuesday I took Nick and Colby to eat pizza before taking them to the church.  We were running a little behind, so we rushed into the house and grabbed their AWANA books and Bibles and we got back in the van.  As soon as the boys were buckled I heard the flipping of pages through a book.  Not the AWANA book, but the Bibles.  I was instantly tuning them in to see what they would say about God.  I was not let down! The conversation went a little like this:

Nick: Colby, what was God's command to Adam and Eve?

Colby: That's easy.  They weren't allowed to eat from the tree of knowledge.

Nick: Ok...  Who's Noah.

Colby: He built an ark.

Nick: Why?

Colby: Because God told him to.

Nick: Who did Noah save?

Colby: His family.

Nick: And?

Colby: All the animals.

Nick: Not all of them.

Colby: Two of each.

Nick: Why two of each?

Colby: Duh! Boy and girl...  So they could make more.

Both boys: Giggle

Then I hear more pages being turned and the following conversation ensued:

Colby: 2nd Timothy...  2nd Timothy...  2nd Timothy...  Mommy?  Where is 2nd Timothy?

Me:  It's after the Gospels.

Colby: Oh!  Toward the back of the Bible...

More pages turning and I glance back and see that he's in Revelation...

Me: That's Revelation Colbs...

Colby: I know.  The last book of the Bible...  

More pages flipping...  

Colby: 2nd Timothy 2:15 (and he goes on to read the whole scripture)...  That's too Long!!!

The boys giggled again. 

These boys were so cute and having the best conversation two 9 year old boys could have.  My two kids and Nick fill me with complete joy when I hear them talk about God and read His word.  They are like sponges and it's so exciting to me that they are interested in what God has to tell them!  Just last night we were having a Family Faith Discussion and Kristin (who HATES to read) joyfully volunteered twice to read long passages in the Bible that went in conjunction with our discussion!  Wow!

For those of you that are still reading this but don't really know my kids, here's a little background.  Although both have had their typical kid moments of getting in trouble at school for talking too much, or forgetting homework, or maybe saying something they shouldn't have to someone else; both of my kids are pretty well behaved. Terry and I make it a point to be very involved in our kids' lives and know everything that's going on. We also make it a point to discipline when needed and have our kids put themselves in other people's shoes (to learn empathy). We all still have a LOT to learn, but God teaches us more every day and we try to be consistent although it doesn't always work out the way we want it to.  That's the fun of parenting.  You have to stay on your toes and ready for anything at all times.  :-)

Now, the real reason why I'm writing this is to ask parents to REALLY study their kids and their kids' behavior. Mind you.  Kids are kids.  They make mistakes and do not so smart things sometimes (that's how we all learn), but I know that my kids are ultimately a reflection of me.  I want that to be a good reflection, not an ugly one.  Parents are one of the biggest influences a child will ever have in their lives. We have the ability to produce successful and stable adults, but on the flipside we also have the ability to really mess our kids up and to produce unsuccessful and unstable adults which will go on for generation to generation.  Now.  Don't take me the wrong way and think I am being cocky about my child rearing abilities.  I'm NOT at all.  LOL!  I have plenty of things to work on, that's for sure!  I do firmly believe that discipline and consequences are soooo important for kids to learn and what most kids are lacking nowadays.  Without it, kids do not learn to care about others, be self motivated, successful, responsible, they run wild with no regard for them or anyone else by making dangerous decisions.  With CONSISTANT discipline and consequences, kids learn to stay within the given boundaries.  God tells us to discipline our kids in many scriptures.  Just to name a few: Proverbs 23:13-14, Proverbs 29:15, Proverbs 13:24 and Hebrews 12:11.  Now...  Discipline does not mean beating your kids.  It means setting boundaries and when the kids overstep those boundaries (which they will to try to push you), you give them consequences.  Don't back down from them and be consistent.  Make them firm and make them stick and take away things that child likes.  Make them really think about what they did. After a while, the kids stop pushing those boundaries.  It's NEVER too late to start, but the key is consistency.  The SINGLE most important thing in our family though is that we try our best to raise our kids in accordance to God's Word.  We don't always succeed, but we sure try and I feel that it's made a HUGE difference in our family and the way our kids act towards others.  Although not perfect, they make Terry and me very proud to call them our kids the vast majority of the time.  ;-)  Gods says in Ephesians 6:4 Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord.  I am a firm believer that when kids are brought up within the church (not just the building, but the lifestyle of a true Christian household and community), they are much less likely to stray from what they have been taught. Proverbs 22:6 says: train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.  In our family, we talk about God daily; however Terry and I both feel as if it still isn't enough.  We are also currently doing a weekly "faith discussion" over dinner which is turning out to be really great bonding time.  We feel this is the absolute most foolproof way to raise our kids and I feel like we are a pretty close, loving family.  Although far from perfect, we have a pretty solid foundation because we choose to keep God in our house and in our lives.  When I look at the two examples above of things my kids have done this week, I see what I hope to be a reflection of Terry and me in our kids' actions.  

I think too many parents are too concerned with being their child's friend nowadays and it's causing a lot of problems in our schools, communities and country.  I think it's crucial for us to be friendly with our kids, but not "friends".  We are the parents and if they feel like we can't guide them, who will they end up following?  I would hate for my kid to start following some other kid that will lead them to trouble because I haven't set a foundation for them.  Disclaimer!!!  I am not comparing kids to dogs as I'm sure it sounds like I am, but when my kids act out, I always remember when Ceasar Milan (the Dog Whisperer) says there are no bad dogs, only bad owners... Bad dogs are produced when owners are too lax with their dogs and don't set boundaries. It's kind of the same way with kids.  There are no bad kids. There are only parents that don't set and stick with those boundaries and prove to the kids they are capable of leading them.   We must all show our kids that we love them as we discipline them and freely explain to our kids why it's important they learn the lesson we are trying to teach them.  

Time For a Revival

In church a few weeks ago, we heard a great message however I am saddened by the statistic that 95% of Christians will NOT share the gospel with even 1 person in their lifetime.  We need to change that.  We are commanded by God to share the Gospel with everyone.  It doesn't matter who we are or what our background is, we are supposed to share the good news.  I feel that America is in such bad shape right now because we have abandoned our obligations as Christians.  We need to bring God back into our country to solve our problems. To put it simply, God will NOT bless America while we are turning away from Him and trying to get Him out of our lives.  This country was born on Christian principles and as long as God was allowed in the law making (moral laws), schools and in most American's lives; this country prospered.  Since separation of church and state, removing God from our schools, government, and our lives, this country has been going downhill.  It will continue to go downhill until we Christians take a stand and do what God has commanded of us.

Some of us are true Christians and some of us straddle the fence.  There are even some people that do not believe at all.  This blog is for everyone.  A great reminder to those of you who know and some good news for those of you who don't.

1.)  We have all sinned.  We are all unworthy of God's grace.  No matter how many good deeds you do, it will NOT buy your way into heaven. Even 1 teeny tiny sin completely separates us from God.  We all sin on a daily basis.  Even some sins that we may not realize is a sin because it's "culturally acceptable" separates us entirely from God.

2.) The result of sin (even 1 teeny tiny sin) is death.  Not just physical death, but spiritual death.  We will be separated from God for eternity.

3.) Good news!!!  Jesus is God in the flesh.  He lived as a human and led a completely perfect life.  He was brutally beaten and nailed to a cross to die for our sins.  Each and every one of them.  Past, present, and future.  He took on Him every sin that everyone had committed and will commit in their lifetime.

4.) Because Jesus did this amazing thing for us, He is our mediator with God, The Father.  He will speak on our behalf to the Father and we will be forgiven for our sins.  God's grace and forgiveness is a gift because He loves us.  Not because we are worthy or because we earn it...  He will give us His grace and forgiveness if we believe in His Son and if we KNOW His Son.  We can NOT earn God's grace.  It's given to us freely, if we believe in and have a personal relationship with Jesus.

If you want to be saved, please keep reading...

I want to personally invite you to ask me any questions you may have.  I am not an expert, however I will help you in any way possible. 

If you are a Christian, I have 3 challenges for you.  1.)  share the gospel with at least 1 person this week.  2.)  Ask your Christian friends and family to share it with 1 person as well.  Let's start a revival!  3.) When you confess of your sins to God, you also need to repent of your sins.  We say a lot of I'm sorry's and please forgive me's, however we typically don't repent and turn from our sins.

If you want to receive Christ as your savior, all you need to do is believe in and pray this simple prayer and you WILL be saved.

Father,  I know I am a sinner, unworthy of your grace and separated from you; I want to turn away from my sins and live according to your will.  I know you sent your Son, Jesus to live a perfect life and to die on the cross for my sins, then you raised Him from the dead 3 days later.  I know Jesus is alive and hears my prayers.  I know I can not earn your grace, it is a gift from you because you love me.  I want Jesus to be my King, my savior for the rest of my life.  Please send me the Holy Spirit to live in my heart and lead me according to your will.  In Jesus' name, I pray.  Amen.

Wondering makes us Wander

There are times that I wonder if God has fully forgiven me for things I have done.  Even though I have fully repented and asked God for forgiveness, it always seems that our sins are far worse than everyone else's, when they really aren't.  Our sins are the same as everyone else's.  A sin is a sin.  That's what I have come to find out.  Every sin is forgivable except completely turning from God and speaking against Him.  I too struggle with the "am I really forgiven" question though.  It was on my mind the other night and I opened the Bible and began reading.  Within a couple of minutes, I found God's Word that completely put my mind at ease and I thought I would share it with you.  I am using the Amplified Bible which I have recently found and love the way it's written.

Psalm 103:2 - 13

²Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits--
³Who forgives [every one of] all your iniquities, Who heals [each one of] all your diseases,
⁴Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy;
⁵Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle's [strong, overcoming, soaring]!^(A)
6The Lord executes righteousness and justice [not for me only, but] for all who are oppressed.
⁷He made known His ways [of righteousness and justice] to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.
⁹He will not always chide or be contending, neither will He keep His anger forever or hold a grudge.
¹⁰He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great are His mercy and loving-kindness toward those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him.
¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father loves and pities his children, so the Lord loves and pities those who fear Him [with reverence, worship, and awe].

Notice 103:3?  He forgives all of our iniquities. The definition of iniquity is as follows:

1. gross injustice or wickedness.

2. a violation of right or duty; wicked act; sin.

It doesn't say that he forgives our minor sins.  He forgives us for our GROSS (meaning flagrant or extreme) injustice or wickedness.  He forgives us for violating our Christian duties and wicked acts.  He redeems us from the pit of corruption.  We have a very loving God that angers slowly and even if He is angered, He will not bear a grudge against us.  He will turn His face back to us when we repent and ask Him for forgiveness.  He will remove our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west.  He tosses them away and never looks back.  He expects us to do the same because He loves us and wants us to have Joy in our lives.  There is no room for joy when we are constantly worrying.

Walking With Integrity

As I sift through the news headlines I am disturbed by what I see.  The news is filled with scandals, hate, gossip, vanity, and the list goes on.  Not that the news has changed much over the years, but for me it makes me wonder how we got here and how bad will things get before Christ's return.  Even as Christians we seem to get caught up in worldly affairs and what we know as blatantly wrong by God's standards seems to be the norm in the world.  This begs the question, as Christian's, are we walking with integrity?

Integrity is defined as 1) adherence to moral and ethical principals 2) the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished 3) a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.  To break this down integrity means to be 1) incorruptible, 2) to be sound, and 3) and to be complete.  In other words, as Christian's, are we living the life we know we should be living, and being the light amongst the darkness, or are we reflecting shades of gray into the world?

If we look at some of the things that have just become the norm it really is scary.  Things like premarital sex, drug addiction, cosmetic surgery, body art, divorce, children out of wedlock, adultery, abortion, gay marriage, and the list goes on.  I know all of these issues have been around since the beginning of time, but it just seems to become more the norm.  Take the divorce rate, today the vows that people take when they get married mean less and less, generally speaking of course.  When we say "for better or worse, sickness and in health, till death do us part" it seems more tongue in cheek these days as we have our future spouse sign a pre-nup...really? 

As Christian's it is important for us to live with integrity by abiding in God's word.  We know what is right and wrong and we should live by God's standards, not societies.  Jesus said "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." Matt 5:13. By being salty is having integrity in God's word.  If we go out and live by societies rules then where is our saltiness?  How can we lead people to Christ when we are living in sin and being hypocrites to God's word?  Not that we, as Christian's are perfect, as we are all are going to fall every now and then, but our lifestyle should mirror God's principles.  When our family and friends look at us they should say he/she lives by God's word and does so with integrity.

One of my favorite quotes is by Brennan Manning who really summarizes how a lack of integrity can impact the world when he said "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable".   Are we living with integrity?

TD

Let's Bear Fruit!

Terry and I started gardening a couple of months ago and we are loving it.  Of course, being so new to the gardening world, we have worried over every plant about one thing or another.  In particular, we have 5 tomato plants and although they were blooming quite a bit, we weren't having any luck getting the flowers set fruit.  We were discussing it one afternoon while sitting on the patio and Terry walked over to one of our cherry tomatoes and said, "I wonder how many times God looks at us and says...  He/She has so many blooms (so much potential to bear fruit) and they just don't do anything with it.  The blooms just never set fruit".  We kind of laughed it off, but it has really stuck with me.  Our church was just going through a message series at the time about that very subject and we realized just how much we were not doing for His glory.  We think about the following scripture and what it means pretty often, as well as what Terry had said about our cherry tomatoes, and it really gives us a different outlook on life.  I think most Christians that believe they are being fruitful, really aren't quite as fruitful as we should be.  I believe that most, if not all, of us are guilty of passing up opportunities to be fruitful because there is something we would rather do.  Check out this scripture:

John 15:4-7 (New King James Version)

⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
⁵ “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

I'll try to break it down the best I can and in the way I believe it to mean.  Abide means to be vitally attached to something.  Not just cling to it, but be vitally attached.  We must truly believe that we can do nothing without Jesus and we must go to Him for everything.  We have to NEED Him for everything.  So, we need to be vitally attached to Jesus and in turn He will live in us and be attached to us.  We will then be able to bear fruit for the glory of God because it will be Him helping us to bear the fruit.  He will be supplying us with His word (nourishment), which we will use to bear fruit.  Without His word (nourishment), the branches (us) will die.  Think of a vine like the scriptures says.  God is not being cryptic here, He is giving us a picture since most humans are very visual people. If the branch cracks from the vine just a little bit, that branch will wither and die.  A dying branch will not bear any fruit.  It may try to, but the fruit will be puny, diseased, or just very weak.  It will not be for the Glory of God.  Eventually, it will die.  After it dies, it will be torn from the vine and cast into the fire to burn.  That doesn't sound fun at all.  I want to abide in Jesus and have Him abide in me so I can be fruitful for His glory.  Jesus then goes on to say that if we are vitally attached to Him, His words will permanently live in us and we will be given what we desire.  Hmmm...  Sounds pretty good!  Now we get to the tricky part.  I don't think it means that we will be given a mansion or a million dollars,.  That first part of the sentence clarifies that His Words will abide in us.  That means, we will only ask for things that are within the will of God which is awesome!  That will then allow us to be even more fruitful for Him!  Check out this scripture:

John 15:1-3 (New King James Version)

¹ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;^[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 

Ok, so God is the vinedresser, Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.  This means that God (acting as the gardener) will cut off the branches from the vine that are not bearing fruit.  Does this mean that we can lose our salvation?  I don't think it means that.  I think it means that although some of us profess Jesus as our King with our mouths, we don't fully believe it in our hearts.  Therefore, we have not been truly saved in the first place.  I think this is where we get cut off of the vine and eventually will be cast into the fire.  We need to take the leap of faith with our hearts and fully abide in Jesus to be saved before it's too late.  If we are a true Christian and abide in Jesus, God will prune us so we become more fruitful.  Picture this: we are a branch and each branch has stems.  Some stems are fruitful and some are not.  A gardener would cut off the unfruitful stems so that the branch may bear more fruitful stems in it's place.  The pruning process for a plant is painful and can stress a plant, the same as with humans.  When God prunes us, it may be painful at first, but it will allow us to bear more fruit for Him.  God will prune away parts of us that prove to be unproductive for His kingdom.  That could be a job that is taking over too much of you and not leaving time for Him, or it could be something smaller like a video game.  It could also be your health because you are not allowing time for God.  At first, the loss will hurt and we will want to question, but God knows all.  He sees the whole picture.  We only see what's right in front of us.  We should trust God's judgement and have faith that He knows best.  We will be better in the end for it.  I do want to clarify also that I don't think God actually does bad things to us to prune us, but I do think He allows bad things to happen to us sometimes so He can  turn it around for His good and our good. 

Terry and I have a teenage daughter and we were talking to her the other night about bearing good fruit for God's glory.  We told her that any time she has the opportunity to smile, be nice, or help someone out; she is being fruitful, however we may never see that fruit grow.  We never know how far that smile or kind words will go.  What if someone was having a terrible day and that smile came at just the right time.  Instead of going home that night, they decided to attend a function of some sort that they were going to skip because they were having such a bad day.  At that function, maybe they meet another Christian that gives them another smile, holds a door for them, or even says the right thing at the right time.  The person having the bad day and the Christian could possibly strike up a conversation which leads to an invite to the Christian's church or to a church function later that week.  When they attend the service or the function, they accept Christ as their savior or even if they were saved a year later.  Through the simple action of giving someone a smile or a kind word, maybe a soul can be saved.  All it takes is a quality seed to be planted.  That seed could turn to a seedling, a plant, then produce flowers and then set fruit.  We can only plant those quality seeds that will bear fruit with Jesus though.  Only Jesus can save, but we sure can plant some good seeds with His help.  While Satan is busy planting seeds of deceit, we could combat him by planting seeds of love. 

LD

The Road Less Traveled

My job requires me to spend a  lot of time building strategy around how my company interacts with our customers. I think it's a really cool job and I love being able to connect the strengths and weaknesses of our customers to the solutions that my company can provide.  I can spend hours studying a customers profile to get a good sense of who they are and how we can help them.  This blog is not about my job, but as I carry out my day planning strategy around my interaction with customers I start to think how strategical Satan is to pull us away from God and, for believers, get us stuck in the wilderness.

One thing Satan has on his side is time.  He spends his days studying our weaknesses and planting seeds in our lives that will cause destruction.  Satan's goal is not that we worship him, but that we disregard and/or even despise God.  For non-believers he wants to keep you from seeing the light and for believers he wants us to keep our light hidden.  Again, it is all around strategy and I believe there are three ways that he tries to accomplish this plan.

• Distractions - The very first commandment that God gave us was that we should have no other God's before him (Ex 20:3).  Jesus goes on to say "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt 7:24).  What this comes down to is God comes first!  We live in a world today that is full of distractions.  Be it T.V., video games, sports, finances, entertainment, school, work, etc...there are plenty of things that can occupy our day and turn our focus from God.  We need to be careful that we are not putting something in front of God in our lives!  Satan uses distractions for this purpose!  He wants for us to get so caught up in the world that we ignore God.  In the parable about the soils, Jesus talks about the seed that fell amongst the thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them out (Matt 13:7).  Jesus goes on to say that those "who receive amongst the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful" (Matt 13:22).  Satan uses distractions to try and choke God out of our lives, we need to make sure he is not successful!

• Discouragement -Another strategy that Satan uses to pull us away is that of discouragement.  He leverages any shortcoming or weakness to try and convince us that we are not good enough.  Whether that be a sin that we have committed and him trying to convince us that God will not forgive, or it may be God has a calling in your life and Satan is telling you that you don't have the skills to do what God is telling you to do.  Either situation is destructive.  Our God is merciful and is willing to forgive, all we need to do is ask and change our ways.  Satan also uses the strategy of discouragement to give us low self-esteem.  By having low self-esteem it really hinders fully living the life and the calling that God has for us.  Satan uses this to convince us that we don't have what it takes to be special.  Don't let Satan convince you of this!  God made you the way you are and it is an insult to his creation to say you are not good enough!  You do want to be careful that a high self-esteem does not turn into pride, but God wants us to believe in him, not in ourselves, and do so with humility.  It is through God that we can do the impossible, not through our own doing.  Don't let Satan convince you otherwise!

• Deception - That leads me to the third strategy that Satan uses to pull us from God and that is through deception.  Satan is the father of lies and will fill our heads full of them to pull us away from the light.  He knows our weaknesses and will test them continuously by building strongholds in our thought processes.  I am sure we have all had thoughts going through our mind that "if so and so loved me then..." and fill in the blank.  Satan wants to make us think there is a different reality than what we are living in and he does this through temptation.  The very first example was with Adam and Eve where Satan deceived Eve to eat the apple and then Adam followed quickly after.  Every time we sin it is because we have allowed Satan to deceive us.  He knows our weaknesses because he studies our every move.  If you have an issue with pride, he will find a way to rub your ego. If you have an issue with lust, he will find a way to put you in sinful situations. If you have an issue with money, he will feed off of that.  The list goes on and on.  What is important for us is to know what our weaknesses are and to be on-guard for when Satan tries to attack.  A lot of this comes down to controlling our thought process or as Joyce Meyer's would say "thinking about what we are thinking about".  By leaning on God,  understanding our weaknesses, and controlling our thoughts we can fend off Satan!

As I sit back and plan my strategy for my upcoming appointment, I know I will have a backup plan if things do not go as planned and I also know that I will need to be patient to make sure we strike at the appropriate time that will give us the best opportunity to close the deal.  Satan will do the same with us!  He will have a backup plan and he will be patient, waiting for the right opportunity to send us down one of the many trails that leads into the wilderness.  We need to be on guard, focus on God, and stay on the straight and narrow road that leads us to salvation!

TD

Sunday Christians...

I think every Christian battles with the problem of living the life of Sunday Christians.  Monday through Saturday, we act as the rest of the world does; but when Sunday rolls around, we act as we should (or at least while we are in church).  God says we should never live as the rest of the world does.  You can check out the scripture here: 

Romans 12:2 ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  

Living as the rest of the world does is literally killing us.  It is causing us to not be able to grow in our faith and we end up spending a life time walking in circles in the wilderness.  Satan LOVES this and I don't know about you, but I want to keep Satan under my foot and not let him own my soul.

I have a few different things I have been doing lately that have helped me become more fruitful for His glory.  Maybe it can help you as well: 

• When I wake up in the morning, I have been praying immediately.  Before my feet even hit the floor, my eyes are on God.  I thank Him for everything and then ask that He help me be fruitful that day.   
• I make it my daily purpose to find at least one thing I can do to help someone.  Even if it is something small like holding a door or picking up something someone dropped.  If I have more opportunities than one, I keep helping any chance I can get.
• When I get frustrated or agitated about something, I immediately tell myself (out loud sometimes) that God loves me and that's all that matters.  I watch a lot of Joyce Meyer and that is one of her tips that I have really found useful.  It calms my nerves almost immediately.  The next step is to look at the other person and know that God loves them too and I wouldn't want to be obnoxious to someone that God loves (which, consequently is everyone). 
• Last, but certainly not least...  I read His word.  I don't read as much as I should, however I do pull out the Bible several times a week and read.  If my Bible is not handy, I use Biblegateway.com.  They have so many different versions of the Bible so you can check out the different texts of certain scriptures which is really helpful.  This scripture describes God's word better than I would be able to in my own words. 

Hebrews 4:12 ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

 

I think most, if not all of us get into ruts and start living the life of a wordly person at one time or another, but the worse thing we can do for ourselves and everyone else is to ignore the Holy Spirit and continue walking in circles.  God is always there for us.  He never leaves us or forsakes us.  If we get off the path God has for us, we need to make sure we repent and get back on His path quickly.  He will renew our souls and guide us.  He is amazing!  Check out this scripture:

Psalm 23:3 ³ he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.

I am a music buff and Casting Crowns has a couple of songs that I listen to when I feel like I am getting into a rut.  I will add them to the music player so you can check them out if you would like to.  The Altar and the Door is one of them.  This song is about Sunday Christians and is a motivator for me.  The other song is Somewhere in the Middle.  It talks about how we are stuck in the middle of good and bad, light and dark, etc.  I don't want to be in the middle.  I want to be fruitful for the Lord. 

Thank you Lord for being so amazing and forgiving us for our sins!  We praise you for being such a loving God! 

LD