Embrace the Consequences

My imagination-filled four year old sits in time out.  I hear his hands clap shut as he quietly talks from the stair well. "Dear Jesus, can you help me to be good and to be kind so that I won't get any time outs or spanks.  Thank you.  Amen."  Then there is silence and I sit here contemplating the words to his prayer.  A prayer of repentance?  What was his motivation for that little prayer?

To escape the repercussions.

I know he is only four and hopefully with time he will learn.  At least it's a step in the right direction...  But my heart is saddened a bit.  How often do I go before the Lord and ask his forgiveness, or ask for his help, with the motive being that of a young child's?  I know what the Bible says is sin.  And yet, is this my heart?  I don't want to keep reaping these consequences, Lord.  Please help me to do better.  What happened to hiding His word in my heart that I might not sin against Him?  (Psalm 119:11)

Sin is grievous to the Lord.  Am I grieved because of my sin and the pain it causes my God?  Or do I view it as a mere "oops"?  How often I have heard my child say, "But I didn't mean it," as he tries to talk his way out of time out.  Frustration threatens to brim.  Self-teach, Kelsey.  Then child-teach.  My sin nature is just like his.

Eucharisteo
117.  ...for a time to teach life lessons. 


Do I try and talk my way out of the consequences my sin brings?  It's just another "oops".  Please have some mercy, Lord.  And then realization hits me once again.  His mercy permeates.  His gift has saved me from the worst possible consequence ever!

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death.  But the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."

 I want to be refined.  I want to be like Him; to be brought back to the state in which I was created when sin didn't rule my nature... because I was made in His likeness.

Refine me, Lord.  I know the things I go through will refine me.  I know you will bring good from every situation.  Help me to be thankful for these times.  Keep me from falling into the trap of self-pity.  Show me what you have for me and keep me heavenly minded  Help me to embrace the consequences. 

Both Point to Jesus

I LOVE how the Old Testament points Jesus over and over again.  It gives proof that the two testaments are one.  It gives proof that Jesus is God and that He 'lived' long before he stepped onto this earth.  It is evidence that the Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Son and the Father.  It shows how our awesome God had a plan from the very beginning to bring his people back to him.  And my saving grace of which I am ever grateful for:  It is undeniable the LOVE that our Creator has for us!

Ezekiel 36:26-27  "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

Jeremiah 31:31-34  " 'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the Lord... 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the Lord.  'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.' "

I love the last half of that verse!  Religious teachers who say you have to go through them in order to ask God's forgiveness don't know what they speak of.   Their understanding of what the cross did is greatly lacking!  To truly know someone the way God says that we can know Him (because of what Jesus did for us) is to be extremely personal with that person.

There are many other places in the Old Testament that speak of Jesus.  I want to dig deeper.  A greater understanding of who Jesus is and what he has done - AND realizing all the evidence that shows it is infallible - will only grow me deeper in my relationship with Christ.  This is my desire.

Resentment Should Cease

James 1:19-20  "...be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."  

As I sit and consider James' words, digging deeper with Beth Moore's study, I am convicted.

I pick up my pen to list the areas this last week where anger took hold.  Past moments were drudged up;  Current situations were taken hold of.
I then consider which ones I felt justified in as though I had a right to be angry.

Regret.... 

Righteous anger is only attainable by God.  My heart appears so dark as I look to the inward mirror - a reflector I rarely take out to use in depth.  What will I see?  Who wants to go there?
God does.  His perfect work in us will not be made complete with anger dwelling deep.
In my own life I have found that anger usually comes from lacking something.  It is easily fueled by a lack of forgiveness, a lack of understanding, a lack of humility, a lack of patience... on and on the list goes.

Psalm 37:8  "Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret  - it leads only to evil."

Ephesians 4:31  "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice."

Colossians 3:8  "But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:  anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips."

I look up the definition of malice.  New light is shed for me.  Malice: noun - 1. desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness.  Anger is a form of malice according to Ephesians.  I may not wish bodily harm on someone, but what about the need to make them feel regret or the need for them to have some type of punishment?  They should have to pay for what they did!  Vengeance is the Lord's - not ours.

Romans 12:19  "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord"

How about the need for an apology?  How much better to forgive without that requirement!  If you say you forgive because they say they're sorry, how much benefit is that to you?  If you can not say in your heart that you forgive them until the apology is given, then I would dare to say forgiveness has not happened at all.  Forgive: verb - 1. to cease to feel resentment against.  When I think of a situation and resentment or anger starts to come up, then true forgiveness has not happened.  It is an act of the heart, not the mouth.


Lord, help me to truly forgive just as you forgave me.  Oh, how thankful I am that you chose to first forgive and pay the penalty for my sin and that you did not wait to hear me say I'm sorry.  Do your perfect work in me, Father!  May I have love and mercy always.  Keep me from falling into the ugly pit of unforgiveness.  

God's Decrees

You shall have 

no other gods 

before me.

As I read in 1 Kings chpt 9 I am amazed.  He is ever so stern!  I can see how, if you don't look at the big picture of who God is and why and when he does certain things throughout the Bible, someone might read this and think He is not a God of grace.  (vs. 6-9) "But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name.  Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples... because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them - that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them."  God's commandment of "you shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) is serious.  He meant business when he wrote that on the stone tablets for Moses to bring down to his people!  There's no messing around with that - and for good reason!

If you look at Sodom and Gomorrah and the terrible, godless people they had become, there's no doubt why God has rules for us.  He isn't just wanting us to obey him and bow down like cowards because he's a control freak.  God KNOWS what happens when people walk away from him and his decrees.  Sorrow and despair, anger, corruption, jealousy etc.... take over the hearts of his people - which is exactly what Satan delights in - and destroys them.  Hope is nowhere to be found.... except through HIM!  Our good is His intention.

Over and over again throughout the Bible, God gave 2nd and 3rd chances to people.  I am grateful for the grace that God gives.  His patience is amazing and his love is unwavering.  God is "...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)  I want to be humble before my King.  I never want to forget that what I have and who I am is nothing without Him.  

Moms

Happy Mother's Day 

to the most beautiful and wonderful 

Mommy and Mother-in-law!!!!

I love you both very much!

By Faith

Hebrews 11:1-40

        "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

                  and certain of what we do not see.  

       This is what the ancients were commended for.  

    

    By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

    By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.  By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.  And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

....
    By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.  By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
    By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him with the same promise.
....
    By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice.  He who had received the promises though God had said to him, 'It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.'  Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
    By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.  
    By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
    By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
    By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
....
    I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
....
    These were all commended for their faith...."

Mother's Day

My Mama is someone special.  

She's my best friend. 

     Until recently, we lived not too far apart.  When things were hard with the kids I knew I could call her and she'd drive over to spend the day with us.

     I never worried about not being welcomed at her house.  Games, talks, crafts, and yummy little snacks...  One another's company was the best thing a day could bring.  Target trips for no reason at all - I miss these things that miles now separate.


     When I was little there was always a hug for a sad face, a band aid for the scraped knee, a book to be read as we snuggled in the rocking chair... trips to McDonald's, a Mommy day date, Dairy Queen treats, and Camping at Norway Beach... and those special notes left for me ending in xoxo just to say she loved me.  So many special memories.

     Whether sleepy or just curled up in her lap, a favorite song was usually sung; one she wrote for her babies, and I now sing to mine...

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I do.  You're Mommy's sweet baby, I love you I do.  Oh you're my little sweet heart, you're my little girl.  I love you, I love you, I do."

     My little boys already have such fond memories.  Kisses, hugs, kisses, hugs, and still more kisses - never enough of those!  Picnics outside, silly "I'm thinking of something..." games, playing animals in the lego zoo she built with matching colored pieces...

and those stories!   

Snuggled up in Grandma's room - there unfold the most interesting tales 

of the nature trail, animals, and adventures at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  

My little boy could sit for hours and listen to her stories.  

Back and forth, back and forth they go 

with giggling and whispering floating from the doorway... 

I have the best Mama and

My boys have the best Grandma...

...I am thankful.

A Lineage of Grace

     I look at Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba, and I know that God is a great God full of compassion, mercy, grace, and forgiveness.  He redeems and restores.  He sees the heart that is truly repentant.  God, in his sovereignty, knows whose heart belongs to Him.  We are not born by blood into the family of Christ.  It is a birthright, not by blood, but by spirit.  It does not matter who your parents are or what your lineage has held.  You are an individual with a choice of your own.  Will you accept the free gift that God has offered and start your family's heritage in Christ?

Ephesians 1:3  "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purpose in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."


Romans 8:15  "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.  And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.' "


     God does not always choose to use the people that we think He should.  His ways are beyond us.  Let's not ever assume that because we pray for a certain type of person to fulfill something, that the Lord will send that particular type of person.  His wisdom far surpasses our humble minded reasoning.  Who are we to think we know better?  I am beyond thankful that God can see the heart and chooses according to his good purpose and not mine.  What a disaster it would be if he listened to me.

     Do not think less of yourself because of the past you have held.  There may be consequences still to reap (whether inflicted by yourself or by someone else), but if you are willing, the Lord will use you in ways you never expected.

     "A Lineage of Grace" by Francine Rivers is a wonderful historical fiction novel written about five unexpected women in the Bible whom the Lord chose to use in a mighty way.  Their stories were written from a very Biblical standpoint.  I highly recommend this book!  There is also a Bible study at the end of each short story to help you search the Word to find out for yourself how God did a mighty work through these humble, and often despised, women.

Sunshine

A beautiful day... 86 degrees expected by mid-afternoon.  Sunshine is medicine to lift the spirits.  Chocolate satisfies the sweet tooth and lifts the spirits.  A tender embrace from the husband I love gives encouragement and lifts my spirits.  They are gifts from the Lord, and I am thankful.

But each thing, is only temporary.  What do I truly long for and desire?

More Jesus.

The Word of God rains down wisdom, grace, discernment, encouragement, and satisfies completely.  It leaves me wanting only for more of Him.  But it's a wanting in joy, not from dissatisfaction.

Nourish me, Lord.