We all remember the story of Mary and Martha.. dear Martha is cleaning and cooking and doing everything to make Jesus' visit perfect. She wants him to have a good meal and enjoy sitting in their home without dust and bugs and garbage and anything else that may be dirty around the house. (not directly talking about my own house) All the while Mary is sitting on the ground listening to Jesus talk. Can you imagine what Martha was thinking though? "Oh there's that Mary again.. doing nothing as I do all the cooking and cleaning, again. She doesn't care how the house looks. She doesn't care if there is food on the table! If I don't do it, who will!?" Or she could have been thinking, "Oh I love the way you hold me, by my side you'll always be.." lol Praising and worshipping the Lord in her head. I'm not sure, and I don't want to add to God's word, but as women we can all imagine what was going through her head. Whether she was complaining or praising, she was still serving her Papa, her Lord.
Since I can remember, I have loved to serve. I love to help others and I normally do it joyfully! My heart screams Serve! It's just who God made me to be. When Hunny left for this last deployment, a switch went off inside of me. Call it survival mode, but I felt I needed to stay busy and serve, everywhere and everyone. Doing it all on my own, I might add, without seeking God. My intentions were good... A few months ago, the Lord started showing me that although serving others is a blessing, I need to be serving my family with the same joy as I do with others, and if I am not filled up and running on fumes, I can't give to my family what they need from me. The business of life and the need to serve, to feel needed overcame me this last year. So, over the last few months, I have pulled out of everything except church and Ladies Bible Study. God's been showing me that I have to be filled up with Him in order to give out to my family and that I need to be in His will while doing it. I have to also be filled up daily in Him by reading His Love Letter in order to be able to put on Christ and serve my family. It's not a slave type serving, but serving them out of love and obedience to God. There are days when I just don't want to clean the house, make dinner or get out of bed, but I do because I am serving my Papa. :) There are days when I just don't want to be understanding, loving, patient, kind, selfless, or anything remotely imitating Christ, but I am to put on Christ every day. It's challenging for me not to be out there serving in everything, but I have seen what it's like when I am running on fumes with my family. Yikes! But God is so good and I am also able to see the effects of me serving my family when I am full in Him. Outpouring to my family! I'd be lying if I said I was pleasant all the time and had healthy meals on the table and my house was always clean. That kind of thing is for Mrs. Cleaver. lol. I want to serve my Papa by taking care of the family and the house the Lord has provided to the best of the ability God has given me. I see that unattainable Proverbs 31 woman. I get intimidated by her at times. But God didn't make us all the same. He didn't make me to be this perfect woman who always does everything right. He didn't make me a robot. I am who He made me to be. He blew out the sand to find the jewel, a jewel I am still finding. I know that my Papa is shaping me and molding me into the woman, wife, and mother he wants me to be. So in saying all of that, this Martha is still serving, but taking a Mary approach. Because when you think about it, you can't fully serve until you are sitting at your Papa's feet.
9/14/2011
Father Filtered and Sitting at Jesus' Feet
Recently we started going to a new church. I am so excited about the church we go to. They read straight through the Bible, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. So whether you are a young believer or an old believer, it doesn't matter. There's no topical messages, just God's Word. I have a few favorite sayings from the pastor.. "Everything is Father-Filtered" and "Come and sit at the feet of Jesus".
"Father Filtered". Just think about that a moment. Everything that happens to us has already gone through the Father. So the trials we are going through or the joys we are going through have all gone through the Father before they even touch us. What an amazing Father we have. A Father who will turn the tragedies into the triumphs. He's able to use both bad and good to bring glory to His name. For so long I looked at trials as burdens. I just couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had a "Why Me?" attitude. Then I learned about Father Filtered. I don't see the trials as burdensome. I look at the trials in my life and say, "What can I learn from this? How is God going to use me or grow me so that at the end He can use me to be a blessing to others?" Rejoice in the trials as well as the joys because we know that it's already gone through the Father. Which is why it makes sense then to Come and Sit at the Feet of Jesus. We can come to our Papa and sit at His feet in trials and joys alike because He already knows what's going to happen. He already knows what we are going to learn and how he is going to use it to bring us closer to Him. He knows how he is going to use our trials to reach others for Christ. So why not come to the Father, our Papa. When I think of sitting at Jesus' feet, I picture myself literally at His feet like Mary while she listened to His words. When I sit at His feet, I am relaxed, refreshed, and a huge sigh of relief or comfort washes over me. I can't quite find the words to describe it. It's like falling into the arms of my Papa as he whispers gently, "Papa has you. Everything will be ok". When I come to my Father, everything may be spinning around me, but with Him, it's as though nothing else matters except sitting at His feet, bathing in Him. I can imagine how Mary must have sat with an eagerness, a hunger while she listened and hung onto every word that Jesus said. It seems as though she just can't get enough of what Jesus is saying. That is what it's like for me when I come to my Papa, whether through my own time in the word or through listening to my pastor on Sundays, I just can't get enough! There's a peace and a joy that comes that even though the trials that I am going through or the joys I am going through are hard to understand, I know I can come and sit at my Papa's feet. I know that I can find that peace and joy through whatever comes because it's already been Father Filtered. Thank you Papa for providing a way for us to come and sit at your feet whenever we want to without having to go through another person to get to you. Thank you that I am able to be in your presence any time. Thank you for for the trials and joys that I go through because I know that by the end, I will be stretched and will be deepened in my relationship with you!!
"Father Filtered". Just think about that a moment. Everything that happens to us has already gone through the Father. So the trials we are going through or the joys we are going through have all gone through the Father before they even touch us. What an amazing Father we have. A Father who will turn the tragedies into the triumphs. He's able to use both bad and good to bring glory to His name. For so long I looked at trials as burdens. I just couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I had a "Why Me?" attitude. Then I learned about Father Filtered. I don't see the trials as burdensome. I look at the trials in my life and say, "What can I learn from this? How is God going to use me or grow me so that at the end He can use me to be a blessing to others?" Rejoice in the trials as well as the joys because we know that it's already gone through the Father. Which is why it makes sense then to Come and Sit at the Feet of Jesus. We can come to our Papa and sit at His feet in trials and joys alike because He already knows what's going to happen. He already knows what we are going to learn and how he is going to use it to bring us closer to Him. He knows how he is going to use our trials to reach others for Christ. So why not come to the Father, our Papa. When I think of sitting at Jesus' feet, I picture myself literally at His feet like Mary while she listened to His words. When I sit at His feet, I am relaxed, refreshed, and a huge sigh of relief or comfort washes over me. I can't quite find the words to describe it. It's like falling into the arms of my Papa as he whispers gently, "Papa has you. Everything will be ok". When I come to my Father, everything may be spinning around me, but with Him, it's as though nothing else matters except sitting at His feet, bathing in Him. I can imagine how Mary must have sat with an eagerness, a hunger while she listened and hung onto every word that Jesus said. It seems as though she just can't get enough of what Jesus is saying. That is what it's like for me when I come to my Papa, whether through my own time in the word or through listening to my pastor on Sundays, I just can't get enough! There's a peace and a joy that comes that even though the trials that I am going through or the joys I am going through are hard to understand, I know I can come and sit at my Papa's feet. I know that I can find that peace and joy through whatever comes because it's already been Father Filtered. Thank you Papa for providing a way for us to come and sit at your feet whenever we want to without having to go through another person to get to you. Thank you that I am able to be in your presence any time. Thank you for for the trials and joys that I go through because I know that by the end, I will be stretched and will be deepened in my relationship with you!!
9/13/2011
Did you know that I am a Princess?
"All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold. In many-colored robes, she is led to the king.. with joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king." Psalms 45:13-15.
I have to admit, I stole this verse from a friend's facebook page. I loved this vision though. I am God's princess. I am in beautiful clothing, being led to meet my Papa. I know as women, we don't always see ourselves as princesses. We get up, look in the mirror, look at our imperfect bodies from bearing babies, let out a sigh, and continue on our day wishing we could just lose that extra weight. Or we look in the mirror and see puffy, red eyes that have just got done sobbing because we have let our anger get to us one more time. For some reason, we have this view of who we are supposed to be like or what we are supposed to look like. We have the world's view of this woman who has it all together, can do anything, and still has time to have a fashion sense.
Psalms 139: 13-18 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand. When I awake, I am still with you."
How precious we are to our Papa. Our Savior. Our Redeemer. Our Master. Our Servant. Our Creator. How precious are we that He knit us together. He didn't just say, Poof! He took the time to gently create us, knowing every single day that we are going to live. He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our faults, our strengths. He knows that we are going to fail. He knows we are going to succeed. He knows everything about us because He made us. He Made Us! We are so important to God. He loves us beyond what words could ever describe, so his actions said it to us.
So the next time you look in the mirror, stand there with your head held high. Remind yourself that you are God's Princess. Remind yourself that you are clothed in Christ and that it's not the outside image that matters. It's not your capabilities that matter. What matters is that you are fully, completely God's princess, perfect in His eyes. Perfect just the way God made you.
I have to admit, I stole this verse from a friend's facebook page. I loved this vision though. I am God's princess. I am in beautiful clothing, being led to meet my Papa. I know as women, we don't always see ourselves as princesses. We get up, look in the mirror, look at our imperfect bodies from bearing babies, let out a sigh, and continue on our day wishing we could just lose that extra weight. Or we look in the mirror and see puffy, red eyes that have just got done sobbing because we have let our anger get to us one more time. For some reason, we have this view of who we are supposed to be like or what we are supposed to look like. We have the world's view of this woman who has it all together, can do anything, and still has time to have a fashion sense.
Psalms 139: 13-18 says, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand. When I awake, I am still with you."
How precious we are to our Papa. Our Savior. Our Redeemer. Our Master. Our Servant. Our Creator. How precious are we that He knit us together. He didn't just say, Poof! He took the time to gently create us, knowing every single day that we are going to live. He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our faults, our strengths. He knows that we are going to fail. He knows we are going to succeed. He knows everything about us because He made us. He Made Us! We are so important to God. He loves us beyond what words could ever describe, so his actions said it to us.
So the next time you look in the mirror, stand there with your head held high. Remind yourself that you are God's Princess. Remind yourself that you are clothed in Christ and that it's not the outside image that matters. It's not your capabilities that matter. What matters is that you are fully, completely God's princess, perfect in His eyes. Perfect just the way God made you.
9/08/2011
Mercy
As it was pointed out to me tonight, I have a blog! Oh yeah. lol. Today, while I was at Bible Study, my pastor's wife brought a passage to my attention... just a short blerb in our study on the women of the Bible. Leviticus 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." This is something we have taught our children and I am so thankful that God brought that verse to my attention. I was able to then take that verse and relate it back to God with my children. I was able to teach them and show them in God's Love Letter that he is the one that gives grace and mercy to us everyday. What an amazing God we serve!
Well, in an amazing twist, I was reminded that I have a blog that I write in and I thought, well I should probably write in it. lol. So i sat down and tried to think of something funny and witty. I tried write about our recent church change. I tried to sum up my summer. Nothing seemed to fit. Then God brought this verse back to my attention. I am so thankful that he did because my day was fantastic until I went to my FRG (Family Readiness Group) meeting. I had children running all over. Children not picking out their food fast enough. Getting drinks. Finding a lost daughter of ours. All the while trying to listen to what the Rear D Commander had to say about when my Hunny would be home and how it all would go down when the soldiers come in. Mind you, trying to listen is the key seeing as I was not only dealing my own children, I was dealing with the loud roar of the adults having their own conversations over the Commander. How frustrating! Then after the meeting I had children not listening. Children throwing fits. And whatever else in between. So, after a long night of loud noises and children getting lost and not listening, I gave into my old comforts and yelled at my children. I was overwhelmed and didn't want to work at being a mom. What I really wanted to do was run away and cry myself to sleep. But God is awesome. And in the quiet of my heart, after the kids were sleeping in bed, He brought that verse into my head. When the enemy knows I am frustrated, weak, and just plain done with this deployment, God swoops in and reminds us that his mercies are new every morning. After apologies to the kids, I am encouraged that tomorrow is a new day. All excuses aside, it comes down to the simple fact of laziness for me. This whole doing what is right and good and what God wants us to is hard work. Giving in to my old nature is so much easier. That's the bottom line. For me any way. I am again, so thankful that God is a merciful God. Thank you Lord for the beautiful and encouraging reminder that tomorrow is a new day, full of your mercies and continues grace beyond what I ever deserve on my own.
Well, in an amazing twist, I was reminded that I have a blog that I write in and I thought, well I should probably write in it. lol. So i sat down and tried to think of something funny and witty. I tried write about our recent church change. I tried to sum up my summer. Nothing seemed to fit. Then God brought this verse back to my attention. I am so thankful that he did because my day was fantastic until I went to my FRG (Family Readiness Group) meeting. I had children running all over. Children not picking out their food fast enough. Getting drinks. Finding a lost daughter of ours. All the while trying to listen to what the Rear D Commander had to say about when my Hunny would be home and how it all would go down when the soldiers come in. Mind you, trying to listen is the key seeing as I was not only dealing my own children, I was dealing with the loud roar of the adults having their own conversations over the Commander. How frustrating! Then after the meeting I had children not listening. Children throwing fits. And whatever else in between. So, after a long night of loud noises and children getting lost and not listening, I gave into my old comforts and yelled at my children. I was overwhelmed and didn't want to work at being a mom. What I really wanted to do was run away and cry myself to sleep. But God is awesome. And in the quiet of my heart, after the kids were sleeping in bed, He brought that verse into my head. When the enemy knows I am frustrated, weak, and just plain done with this deployment, God swoops in and reminds us that his mercies are new every morning. After apologies to the kids, I am encouraged that tomorrow is a new day. All excuses aside, it comes down to the simple fact of laziness for me. This whole doing what is right and good and what God wants us to is hard work. Giving in to my old nature is so much easier. That's the bottom line. For me any way. I am again, so thankful that God is a merciful God. Thank you Lord for the beautiful and encouraging reminder that tomorrow is a new day, full of your mercies and continues grace beyond what I ever deserve on my own.
6/30/2011
Passion
Passion defined is:
Ardent love or affection; a strong affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept; any strongly felt emotion, such as love, hate, envy; the object of an intense desire, ardent affection, or enthusiasm; an outburst expressing intense emotion; any state of the mind in which it is affected by something external, such as perception, desire; feelings, desires or emotions, as contrasted with reason; the sufferings and death of a Christian martyr
Synonyms: passion, fervor, fire, zeal, ardor
These nouns denote powerful, intense emotion.
Passion is a deep, overwhelming emotion
Fervor is great warmth and intensity of feeling
Fire is burning passion: "In our youth our hearts were touched with fire" (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)
Zeal is strong, enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance
Ardor is fiery intensity of feeling
Passion. We as a church, as Christians, are lacking passion. Our desire to seek after God seems to have faded in the background, into our comfortable seats at church. We stand and recite songs, er, worship, and lift our voices to the ceiling, I mean God. Then the dreaded "Meet and Great". Oh man! If I could just stay in my seat and not move, maybe no one will notice. Or I could pretend to look for something in my purse so I don't have to say hello to anyone. Ah! Finally that is over! We slouch into our seats hoping no one will make eye contact because the nursery needs workers. We get settled, grab our Bibles and wait for the passage we are reading from. We open our Bibles as we always do and try our hardest to listen to what is being taught. Unfortunately, we are preoccupied with the noises around us and with seeing who is at church that morning. "Well, I wonder where so and so is and why would that person be wearing that?" "Oh what did the pastor say? I must have missed that." As the end of the sermon gets closer, we watch carefully as the pastor finally closes his Bible and prays. We stretch our legs as we, yawning, sing our praises and hearts to the Lord. All the while looking forward to eating our dinner. WHERE IS OUR PASSION!?! WHERE IS OUR DESIRE? When did the yearning to deepen our relationship with Christ fade into the mundane act of religion? I have been that person in the seats at church. I was raised on religion and the boundaries we put on ourselves because we are too afraid to step out of our comfortable seats. I have felt this passion for a few years now. This passion and yearning and desire to seek after my Papa. To seek a relationship with Him that will take me to greater depths in stepping out on faith. At times I want to get up and shout out to everyone "WHERE IS YOUR PASSION CHURCH?!? WAKE UP!" This amazing God that we serve has rescued you! He has saved you! Stand up and shout it out to all that will hear. Show it to your kids. Show it to your neighbors. Show it to someone, anyone. This passion for Christ burns inside of me and has only recently found it's way out.
I look at my children, ages 3, 5, and 6, and see this faith and love and passion to shout it out that they LOVE God. They get so excited to share the news with others and are so excited to learn more about him. They have an eagerness within them that they can hardly wait to learn more. We read Bible stories and night and they love to hear about God. They love to pray for their hurts physical and emotional. They pray for others who are hurting. One of the prayers said in our home from our Munchkin is, "God, Bless those who love you and bless those who don't love you." God has been humbling me through my husband and our children. He has been using our children to show me that eagerness and passion and desire to learn all that I can about God. He's teaching me to step out in faith.
Oh church, oh brothers and sisters. Where is our passion? Where is our faith like a child? Where is our compassion for others? Our desire for God? I am so thankful for God's patience and long-suffering. I am so thankful for his gentleness and grace. I am so thankful that he doesn't get bored with me. I am so thankful that He loves me so much that he is pursuing me constantly! I am so thankful that I am not God because I would have given up on me a long time ago. Thank you Papa for always pursuing me and drawing me close to you! Thank you for giving me a passion and a desire and a love for you!
Ardent love or affection; a strong affection or enthusiasm for an object, concept; any strongly felt emotion, such as love, hate, envy; the object of an intense desire, ardent affection, or enthusiasm; an outburst expressing intense emotion; any state of the mind in which it is affected by something external, such as perception, desire; feelings, desires or emotions, as contrasted with reason; the sufferings and death of a Christian martyr
Synonyms: passion, fervor, fire, zeal, ardor
These nouns denote powerful, intense emotion.
Passion is a deep, overwhelming emotion
Fervor is great warmth and intensity of feeling
Fire is burning passion: "In our youth our hearts were touched with fire" (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)
Zeal is strong, enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal and tireless diligence in its furtherance
Ardor is fiery intensity of feeling
Passion. We as a church, as Christians, are lacking passion. Our desire to seek after God seems to have faded in the background, into our comfortable seats at church. We stand and recite songs, er, worship, and lift our voices to the ceiling, I mean God. Then the dreaded "Meet and Great". Oh man! If I could just stay in my seat and not move, maybe no one will notice. Or I could pretend to look for something in my purse so I don't have to say hello to anyone. Ah! Finally that is over! We slouch into our seats hoping no one will make eye contact because the nursery needs workers. We get settled, grab our Bibles and wait for the passage we are reading from. We open our Bibles as we always do and try our hardest to listen to what is being taught. Unfortunately, we are preoccupied with the noises around us and with seeing who is at church that morning. "Well, I wonder where so and so is and why would that person be wearing that?" "Oh what did the pastor say? I must have missed that." As the end of the sermon gets closer, we watch carefully as the pastor finally closes his Bible and prays. We stretch our legs as we, yawning, sing our praises and hearts to the Lord. All the while looking forward to eating our dinner. WHERE IS OUR PASSION!?! WHERE IS OUR DESIRE? When did the yearning to deepen our relationship with Christ fade into the mundane act of religion? I have been that person in the seats at church. I was raised on religion and the boundaries we put on ourselves because we are too afraid to step out of our comfortable seats. I have felt this passion for a few years now. This passion and yearning and desire to seek after my Papa. To seek a relationship with Him that will take me to greater depths in stepping out on faith. At times I want to get up and shout out to everyone "WHERE IS YOUR PASSION CHURCH?!? WAKE UP!" This amazing God that we serve has rescued you! He has saved you! Stand up and shout it out to all that will hear. Show it to your kids. Show it to your neighbors. Show it to someone, anyone. This passion for Christ burns inside of me and has only recently found it's way out.
I look at my children, ages 3, 5, and 6, and see this faith and love and passion to shout it out that they LOVE God. They get so excited to share the news with others and are so excited to learn more about him. They have an eagerness within them that they can hardly wait to learn more. We read Bible stories and night and they love to hear about God. They love to pray for their hurts physical and emotional. They pray for others who are hurting. One of the prayers said in our home from our Munchkin is, "God, Bless those who love you and bless those who don't love you." God has been humbling me through my husband and our children. He has been using our children to show me that eagerness and passion and desire to learn all that I can about God. He's teaching me to step out in faith.
Oh church, oh brothers and sisters. Where is our passion? Where is our faith like a child? Where is our compassion for others? Our desire for God? I am so thankful for God's patience and long-suffering. I am so thankful for his gentleness and grace. I am so thankful that he doesn't get bored with me. I am so thankful that He loves me so much that he is pursuing me constantly! I am so thankful that I am not God because I would have given up on me a long time ago. Thank you Papa for always pursuing me and drawing me close to you! Thank you for giving me a passion and a desire and a love for you!
4/22/2011
Munchkin's Birthday Cake!!
With help from my sister Puts.. we have finished the cake! I think it looks fantastic! I can't wait to show the birthday girl in the morning!!
4/20/2011
Partiality
"But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors" James 2:9. Wait, what did that say? When you show partiality, you are sinning? Yes. Read James 2:1-13. Go ahead.. I'll wait. I'm still waiting.. Wow!! Wasn't that just a bit convicting!? It was for me. Not only is saying that partiality is a sin, he is talking to his fellow believers! How often do we see a struggling believer that isn't doing what we think they should be doing, and we judge them and throw them to the side for someone else to take care of? I love the last verse in this passage on partiality. "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumps over judgment." So if we show no mercy to our fellow believers, then we will recieve no mercy. How incredible is that? God is the judge, we are not. I think of how many times I have written someone off, believers and non-believers alike. How I see that they don't "fit the mold" of who I think a Christian is. And I've even thought that you had to be doing things to be able to be used by God. Reading your Bible, serving, praying, etc. I've even gone as far as judge my husband. Horrible. I know. No one is above sin. God has used my husband in the last year to humble me. Four years ago, my Hunny was deployed. Now four years ago, I wasn't looking at my husband through God's eyes. I was seeing what I wanted to see. So, I of course saw that God wasn't going to use him and that he wasn't "doing what he was supposed to be doing" to be used. While he was deployed, he became friends with a guy in his unit. He was going through a really tough time with his wife and Hunny was able to encourage him, and God was able to use Hunny to plant a seed. Fast forward to last Augst. We returned back to Fort Drum and picked up our friendship where we left off. Through going to church with his wife and God continually seeking him, He accepted the Lord as his Savior! His wife accepted Christ a year before as well. In talking with him, he goes back to the deployment and how God used Hunny to help him and show him Christ. I stood there with goose bumps and tears as I was reminded of how judgmental I was of my husband. How on earth could God use him if he wasn't "doing" what you are "supposed" to be doing. God used that to humble me a lot. God used Hunny because he was willing to be used. There's no magical, Ok, I've read my Bible, I've prayed, I've 'worked' for God and now I can be used. No, there's none of that with God. Again, He does want a personal relationship with you, which is a different topic. I was just taken back. I looked at my husband in a new way. I softened my heart towards him as the leader of our family.
In saying all of that, I want to point out that there are those who are super judgmental and there are those who are super lovey and touchy feely with how they approach believers who are in sin. It's hard to let go and let God be the Judge. There is a day when we will be judged. What we as believers are to do among believers is to come along side of them, encourage them, and carry each others burdens. We are not to be showing favoritism amongst each other whether it be because of sin, a fight we have, people arne't dressed the part, etc. We are to extend the same mercy to them as Christ has extended to us. As I've heard in my Bible study, "If I were to compare myself to people here on earth, I'm looking pretty good! But we aren't supposed to compare ourselves to other people. Compare yourself to Jesus and that's another story. I'm very sinful next to him." When we take our eyes off of Christ and onto each other, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Satan wants nothing more than to cause disunity among believers. And fellow belivers, Satan is doing a number on our churches and on our families.
I have a loved one who has been away from the Lord for 22 years. This loved one has failed time and time again. But oh believers, how I have seen God drawing this person close to Him since the walked away. Tears running down my face as I think of the long road they've been down. The choices they have made and the suffering they went through due to those choices. I remember the church turning their backs on our family and most of our family giving up on this person as well. The hurt that has gone back and forth and gaping holes that will one day be restored. This story isn't over though. After 22 long years or praying, watching, praying, loving, praying, encouraging.. our God is faithful even we are not faithful. This loved one is back with our Papa. They are seeking him with many questions and they are in love with Him. God is constantly showing me that he doesn't work on our timing. He works in His timing. He shapes and molds and is constantly teaching us, even when we are stubborn. Can't we all agree that we are stubborn often times. No matter what the sin is, whether great or large in our eyes, it is all the same in God's eyes. I am rejoicing with this person as they are continually seeing God in their life. Continually being drawn closer to Him. We all stumble, we all fall, we all struggle, we all sin. God has shown me that he never gives up on His children, na matter how far they want to hide or run away from Him. He will go to great lengths to bring his children back to him. What JOY! Praises! Praises to our Papa who shows us no partiality. Who shows us great mercy. Who loves us enough to let us make our own mistakes only to use those mistakes to bring Glory and honor to His name!! Tears of joy for the loved one who has come back to our Papa!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ65aNv28Jc
I know that I've shared this song before. But I just wanted to use it again. I am constantly failing God in all that I do. But because of God's Grace, patience, love, and sacrifice, He will always be there to pick me up, dust me off, and put me back on the right path. I fail in the area of partiality. I've not seen it until now and am working on changing it, but only with God.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FribXzqHVE
In Christ Alone
How Deep the Father's Love for Us
I know! A lot of links! I hope you are able to take the time to listen to them. I think they are amazing!
In saying all of that, I want to point out that there are those who are super judgmental and there are those who are super lovey and touchy feely with how they approach believers who are in sin. It's hard to let go and let God be the Judge. There is a day when we will be judged. What we as believers are to do among believers is to come along side of them, encourage them, and carry each others burdens. We are not to be showing favoritism amongst each other whether it be because of sin, a fight we have, people arne't dressed the part, etc. We are to extend the same mercy to them as Christ has extended to us. As I've heard in my Bible study, "If I were to compare myself to people here on earth, I'm looking pretty good! But we aren't supposed to compare ourselves to other people. Compare yourself to Jesus and that's another story. I'm very sinful next to him." When we take our eyes off of Christ and onto each other, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Satan wants nothing more than to cause disunity among believers. And fellow belivers, Satan is doing a number on our churches and on our families.
I have a loved one who has been away from the Lord for 22 years. This loved one has failed time and time again. But oh believers, how I have seen God drawing this person close to Him since the walked away. Tears running down my face as I think of the long road they've been down. The choices they have made and the suffering they went through due to those choices. I remember the church turning their backs on our family and most of our family giving up on this person as well. The hurt that has gone back and forth and gaping holes that will one day be restored. This story isn't over though. After 22 long years or praying, watching, praying, loving, praying, encouraging.. our God is faithful even we are not faithful. This loved one is back with our Papa. They are seeking him with many questions and they are in love with Him. God is constantly showing me that he doesn't work on our timing. He works in His timing. He shapes and molds and is constantly teaching us, even when we are stubborn. Can't we all agree that we are stubborn often times. No matter what the sin is, whether great or large in our eyes, it is all the same in God's eyes. I am rejoicing with this person as they are continually seeing God in their life. Continually being drawn closer to Him. We all stumble, we all fall, we all struggle, we all sin. God has shown me that he never gives up on His children, na matter how far they want to hide or run away from Him. He will go to great lengths to bring his children back to him. What JOY! Praises! Praises to our Papa who shows us no partiality. Who shows us great mercy. Who loves us enough to let us make our own mistakes only to use those mistakes to bring Glory and honor to His name!! Tears of joy for the loved one who has come back to our Papa!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ65aNv28Jc
I know that I've shared this song before. But I just wanted to use it again. I am constantly failing God in all that I do. But because of God's Grace, patience, love, and sacrifice, He will always be there to pick me up, dust me off, and put me back on the right path. I fail in the area of partiality. I've not seen it until now and am working on changing it, but only with God.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FribXzqHVE
In Christ Alone
How Deep the Father's Love for Us
I know! A lot of links! I hope you are able to take the time to listen to them. I think they are amazing!
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