Joyfully Expect to Grow

I'm currently doing a Bible study in the book of James.  Just an FYI, if you ever want to be kicked in the rear, punched in the face, knocked in the ribs, or slapped upside the head - do a study in James!!  Okay, so that doesn't sound like much fun.....but if you are a follower of Christ and desire to truly "shed the old and put on the new" - there's no better thing than to actively seek out where God wants you to change.  We should not approach it with an attitude of fear of what we might find - but rather, with an attitude of JOY at the prospect of what God will reveal to us.  There is nothing more joyful to a believer than to bring glory to God....and how do we do that individually / privately?  By letting the Holy Spirit speak to us and convict us of where we are lacking.....then repenting, followed by expectant and desperate prayers for help from God to grow in Him.  I mean, I seriously crave moments where God convicts me and I see another ugly part of my heart....because it means one more area of me that He is perfecting in Him....and one more area of deeper reliance on Christ in my life.  Does that make anyone else excited?!?!?!?

In my current season of life, I find myself often feeling completely drained at the end of the day ..... a day that often involves children arguing over insignificant toys, not wanting to eat what food is put on their plate, a baby crying in need of a diaper change or needing to nurse, and many opportunities for mommy to lose her patience.  And, in all honestly, I fail during most of those "opportunities".....  Don't get me wrong, my days are also filled with wonderfully sweet moments - my baby boy's smile as he grabs my face, my little red head's laughter as she runs circles in our living room, and my 3 year old's sweet voice as she randomly says "I love you, mommy" - I mean, those moments stop me dead in my tracks and cause my heart and soul and voice to look to God and express thanksgiving over and over for my overflowing blessings.  It's just so easy for us humans to focus on the "negative" or "trying" or "difficult" days or moments in a day - to carry them with us as a heavy burden - sometimes we even use those moments to remind ourselves just how "un-worthy" we are.  But, we are giving the upper hand to the enemy when we do this....I'll elaborate.

This study in James is speaking loudly to me.  I started it EXPECTING God to move in my life, in my character, in my heart, and in my actions / words.  What I didn't expect, was that God is revealing to me that I can view my "trials" or "failures" positively - for they are working in my life to refine me and shape me, to teach me and grow me.  As a true believer in the One Holy God, I have nothing to despair - my God already holds the victory and I know my eternity will be spent with Him!!!  Does that not make you want to shout praises all day long?!?!?!  Hallejuah!!! 

It is the work of Satan and his demons that speak negativity to me or around me.  It is of much importance that we learn to recognize God's voice and differentiate it from Satan's voice.  If you don't know the difference, I'll give you a few examples:

GOD'S VOICE                                                       SATAN'S VOICE
- Stills you                                                              - Rushes you
- Leads you                                                            - Pushes you
- Reassures you                                                    - Frightens you
- Enlightens you                                                     - Confuses you
- Encourages you                                                  - Discourages you
- Comforts you                                                       - Worries you
- Calms you                                                           - Obsesses you
- Convicts you                                                        - Condemns you

When the day, or the week, or the month, or the season, or the year overwhelms you with trials - do not allow yourself to speak negatively - nor allow Satan's voice to be louder than Almighty God's in your life.  More powerful than "not allowing" negativity.....speak truth - God's Word - over and over throughout your day.  Claiming scripture and praying scripture is so very powerful - and comforting.  There are too many verses to list, but here are a few to lean on when trials are refining you and molding you.

"The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior; thou saved me from violence. I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."  ~2 Samuel 22:3-4

"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makes me dwell in safety."  ~Psalm 4:8

"But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You."  ~Psalm 5:11

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him."  ~Psalm 18:30

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me."  ~Psalm 138:7

"The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe."  ~Proverbs 29:25

"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him."  ~Proverbs 30:5

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  ~John 14:27

"But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."  ~2 Thessalonians 3:3

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."  ~2 Timothy 1:7

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  ~Romans 8:35-39

God's Perfect Design

Today is a big day in the US Supreme Court.....they are taking on a topic that was only meant for God to decide.  And He already decided - marriage is between one man and one woman.  This is a biblical fact and you cannot pick and choose which part of the Bible to believe.  If you do this, you are creating a false god - a god of convenience....you have created an idol.  And God makes it clear, we are to have no other gods before Him.  I believe that Satan is distracting the majority of us by having us focus on the fight of what a government would call marriage, rather than spending that energy showing the love of Christ to a lost people and winning souls for Christ.  If my state asks me to vote on a law defining marriage, I will most definitely vote for traditional marriage = one man + one woman.  This is my stand for truth, to be on fire for God.  However, a government can make any law they want, but it will NEVER change God's law.  A homosexual may be granted the ability to get married on paper....but on judgement day, if they have not repented and are not covered by the blood of Jesus, they will kneel before Almighty God and be held accountable for their sins. Our hearts should be soft towards the lost, to desire to see everyone know Christ.  As a follower of Christ, I answer only to God - He is my judge - and I will answer to Him for with what or who I publicly and privately align myself.

For us moms (and dads) that are Followers of Christ, we have the task of teaching our children to love people, hate the sin.  It is so very hard for many people to separate these two actions.  Too many times the homosexual / transexual / bisexual individuals are treated horribly.  God may hate their sin, but each person is still His creation and He still desires to see every soul choose Christ and choose a deep and fulfilling relationship with Him.  We trust in the words inspired by the Holy Spirit in 1 Timothy 2:1-7, 8:

"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, 

be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, 

so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 

who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, 

the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, 

the testimony given at the proper time.....

Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, 

without wrath and dissension."

So, how do we teach our children?  

We teach them by first instilling the Word of God into their precious hearts....so that they have God's perfect words written on their hearts.  It not only protects from attacks from the enemy - but also provides them with a foundation they can stand upon when they are faced with trials AND opportunities to love others.

We teach them by living a life of prayer and letting them see our own relationship with Christ - even the bumpy parts - God uses everything, if we let Him.  And our prayers should include fervent ones for the salvation of our precious children's souls.

We teach them by being transparent and owning up to when we have acted wrongly as parents - showing them how to repent and ask forgiveness.

We teach them by parenting them with the grace that God bestowed upon us.  That means loving them even when they've done wrong....to gracefully discipline, to keep no record of their wrongs.

We teach them by showing them the needs of others and actively participating in helping others  and meeting the needs of others ourselves.

We teach them by involving them on mission trips, so that they can see God at work in many ways.

My prayer is that God would help me see with His eyes - to see His creation - to see the souls that are hurting and searching for answers - to see the outcasts - to see the person, not the sin. We need to be a loud and bold voice for Christ, speaking truth - first, within our own homes and secondly, to the world.  Only....ONLY....Christ on the cross and his resurrection can save us from eternal damnation.  Understand that Satan is deceiving many....let us let God use us so that we are even louder and reaching more with a voice of truth.

Jesus left us with two great commandments, from Mark 12:28-34:

"One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, 'What commandment is the foremost of all?' 

Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 

and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, 

and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 

The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

There is no other commandment greater than these."

Give Fear & Worry a Good 'Ol Kick in the Rear

**Currently, God has pricked my heart to allow myself to be a vessel to speak encouragement from Him into the lives of other moms.  I have a heart for all women and the amazing ministries in which God can use us - but the majority of these blog posts will be directed towards mothers, especially moms of young kiddos.  If you aren't a mom, I hope you can still take away a piece of encouragement - God's promises still mean the same for all of us!

What are my children doing right now?  My almost 7 month old is amazingly napping through the loudness of his two older sisters playing.  Those two little girls are 24 months old and 3.5 years old – both STARK naked right now.  My very own little nudist community!  Ha! I have asked them multiple times today to get dressed, or to just put on underwear, but they claim they are not cold and just don’t want to get dressed!  Guess what??  It’s OKAY!!  We have nowhere to be, this home inside these walls is their “safe place”, and they are having fun just being kids.  My heart could just about literally melt inside my chest in this moment.

I try to actively seek out God in all moments, and seeing my daughters feel comfortable in their skin, without a care in the world….this reminds me of words from my Savior in Matthew 6:25-34 about God’s desire to provide that same level of safety and lack of worry to all us adults who think we’ve got it figured out.

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?  And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?  And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!  Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  ‘So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.’ ”  (NASB)

We mommies try to hold it all together – our families, the cleanliness of our homes, balancing work with family needs, giving our husbands the attention they need, spending time with friends, disciplining our children effectively but with love – it can get pretty exhausting when we do it on our own strength. And, let's face it - it scares us if it all could come crashing down.  But, our God cares….He desperately CARES.  You can wake each morning knowing that your Heavenly Father loves you, wants to protect you, and wants to provide for you.  I absolutely LOVE reminding myself of God’s promises – when I do this, I can feel my soul smiling….and that smile spreads to love acted out to my family and to others in need.  So, spend this week waking to thoughts of God’s promises and His faithfulness….let Him light your way through the day – whatever that day may bring….including the sticky fingers, peed on sheets, no time for a shower, forgotten lunches, muddied pants, spilled cereal kind of days – and the up-multiple-times-I’m-going-to-be-dragging-in-the-morning nights. <3

Today, I challenge you to pick out the verse in this excerpt that speaks loudly to your heart and write it on a post-it note. Then, stick it on the fridge or on the bathroom mirror or on the window over the sink – somewhere you can read it and be encouraged multiple times throughout the day!