Are you kidding yourself?

I'm continually "thrown for a loop" by so many who call themselves Christians but according to the Bible, they are not. Their manner of life and heart prove that they are in fact hypocrits. It saddens me to see that although they consider themselves "saved", they are not. I'm not talking about immaturity or ignorance. I'm talking about those who claim that they are what in fact they are not. They are fakes. They are kidding themselves. What is real Christianity supposed to be like? I am going to reveal out of 1 Peter 3 & 4 the Christian's challenge and call. This passage contains most of the characteristics of authentic Christianity that Jesus brought out in the four gospels. We are exhorted to measure ourselves with these attributes and make the necessary changes to prove that we truly desire to be a child of God and want to live a life that is pleasing to Him. The following characteristics are taken directly from 1 Pet. 3 & 4 (Amplified Bible). We must be: 1) humble 2)harmonious 3)tenderhearted 4)courteous 5)never return evil for evil 6) never return insult for insult but on the contrary blessing 7)keep our tongue from evil and from speaking deceit 8)seek for and pursue (*do not merely desire peaceful relations, but make it a priority) peace (*undisturbedness from agitating passions, fears and moral conflicts) 9)shun and turn away from wickedness 10)don't practice evil things 11)follow that which is considered good 12)be willing to suffer for the sake of righteousness 13)acknowledge Jesus as Lord in our heart 14)be ready to share with others as to why we are a Christian, courteously and respectfully) 15)keep a clear conscience 16) suffer patiently in persecution rather than fail to please God 16)don't live by our human appetites and lusts, but live for God 17) don't get drunk or live wildly 18)above all of these things, have intense and unfailing love for one another 19)practice hospitality 20)love and serve other Christians that we do not know and don't complain 21)don't ever suffer as a criminal or meddle in other's affairs 22)don't ever be ashamed of God, but give Him glory. In doing all these things, commit yourself and give your all to the One Who created you and He will never fail you!

The Peaceful Path

I've been a professing born-again Christian for 30 plus years. When I decided to surrender my life to Christ and to live for Him, I knew that I was trading a life filled with anxiety and troubles for a life of peace and joy. I found in Christ what I had truly been longing for, a real heart felt peace, joy, and hope! THEN, LIFE HAPPENED. I began to find out that the peace and joy which initally consumed me became more and more evasive. Don't get me wrong. My new life as a Christian was and is amazing! But the fact of the matter is, to keep this internal peace I must daily surrender to His will and passion, not mine. I have to daily recalculate like a GPS. I get myself back on that PATH OF PEACE by acquiescing to morning prayer, Bible reading and studying. I also live in a conscious state of prayer by continually talking to the Lord and asking the Holy Spirit to lead me throughout my day. Rather than His peace evading me, His presence becomes more real and important to me. This is the life of faith. Faith is trusting God with all of your heart, every day, day in and day out. Christian author A.W. Tozer once said, "There are no dilemmas out of which you shall not be delivered if you live near to God. He goes not amiss who goes in the company of God." James 4:5-10 ( Amplified version) tells us how to draw near to God and says that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. King David said in Psalms 40:1-4 (my story and prayer), "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit...set my feet on a rock...He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and put their trust and reliance in the Lord. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who makes the Lord his refuge..." I know this to be true! My ambition in life is to continually make the Lord my refuge. He is our peaceful path!

King and Family

I visited with some missionary friends yesterday and my faith has been strongly challenged. These friends are from Ghana, West Africa. The minister's name is King, his wife is Priscilla, and they have two amazing teenagers (boy>16; girl>13). I sat at the table with the teens and was floored at their maturity, annointing, and "matter of fact" faith. They mentioned that they recently went to Mexico. I asked if they felt safe there and the daughter said, "No, but we were all right." King mentioned that there are many radical muslims in Ghana and in the surrounding areas. He pointed out that they have no police or anything to protect them. They have only ONE THING that they rely on for protection. That ONE THING or ONE PERSON is JESUS! They constantly see miracles and this must be why! Now, I'm not going to be stupid and test God by putting myself in harms way hoping for a miracle. But, I want to remind myself to daily walk by faith in every situation that I am in, believing for miracles continuously! Trusting and hoping for God to be in on everything I say and do. I'm challenged more than ever to rely upon the Holy Spirit to lead me and have a "say so" about everything I'm involved with. I've been finding that the Holy Spirit is more real to me and interacting with me more than ever before! I'm loving it! He's truly my best friend and I would rather have Him with me, every minute of every day, more than anything else in the world! My prayer: "Lord, help us to draw ever closer to You. Help us to completely depend upon You." This is how we come to know Him. This is how we come to know that He is Jehovah Shammah (A Hebrew name for God that means "God is present"). This is how we find that we love Him and that He truly loves us! This is faith! 1 John 5:4 "Whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith."

When God says, "No go!"

I'm going to share with you today about a scenario with my dogs that opened my eyes as to why we should continue to trust God, be obedient, and wait on Him when He says, "No go!" It's especially hard to accept when everything looks like "GO!" Actually this story is about my daughter's poodle named Baby. Everyday he goes to the back door, stands there, and stares at me when he wants to go out into the yard (8 acres). I let him out and he faithfully comes back when he is done. I trust him! On the other hand, I don't trust my poodle named Billie. I started letting him out with Baby and one day the guy working in the yard brought Billie to the door. He had found Billie in the driveway by the road! Now, it's "No go Billie!" Ha! As I was pulling into our driveway the other day, I noticed a huge hawk of some sort in an oak tree. I kid you not, this bird was big enough to grab up Baby while out in the large yard and whisk him away. Therefore, I decided that I wouldn't let him out into the back again until the hawk moved on. Baby could only go into the small fenced front yard until then. For a few days after that Baby would go to the back door and stare at me with a puzzled look on his face when I said "No Baby, let's go to the front yard." He then would hesitantly follow me to the front door. Two or three times a day, for three days, he would repeat this same scenario. There was no way that I could explain to him the danger lurking out in the large yard that had been so safe in the past. He was probably thinking, "But I've gone out into this yard for years and have proved that I will come back faithfully and safely." He may have thought that he was being deprived. The Lord showed me that we should trust Him when we don't understand. We should obey him when He doesn't allow us to do something that seems fine. It's not that I didn't trust Baby. I didn't trust that hawk! God sees all and knows all. He loves us and I know that He is protecting us from our enemy! Jesus says in John 10:10 that the devil wants to steal from us, destroy us, and kill us, but He came to give us life and life more abundantly. In some cases, we will not be able to understand specifically "why" until we get to heaven. I am so thankful that our heavenly Father cares so much for us! I'm so grateful for His guidance and protection. We can't always know what's best. We all need the Lord! I'm so glad He's here for us! Hope and faith in God are important. In Psalms 27:11-14 King David expressed his desire that God would teach him His way. He asked for God to lead him because of his enemies. He stated that he would have fainted unless he believed that he would see God's goodness again. He exhorts us all to wait on the Lord, to be of good courage and God will strengthen our heart. He again stresses, "Wait, I say, on the Lord!" Well, the hawk is gone and Baby is once again free to go into the back yard. I'm glad that Baby is alive and well! I'm glad that he again is enjoying himself on the acreage.

JUST DO IT!

Starting into the new year, I found myself watching the Oprah channel. No, I don't worship her or anything like that, but she had a great show featuring Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and Suze Orman. I really like all three of these people. I'm not sure of their stance regarding the Lord, but they have alot of wisdom that I think many Christians (me included!) can learn from in the areas of finance, relationships, and health. Jesus said in Luke 16:8 that the sons of this age are shrewder and more prudent and wiser (in relation) to their own generation than are the sons of light. He was speaking of being wise with regards to money management, but I'm finding that this is a truth that spans many areas of life including health and taking care of our bodies. 1 Cor. 6:19-20 strongly exhorts Christians to understand that our bodies are the temple in which the Holy Spirit lives. He says that our bodies are not our own, but we are owned by God and that we should then bring honor and glory to Him with our bodies. I have not been very faithful with my diet and exercise in the past few years. I confess that I have been given to my appetite and slothfulness. It was great fun for that season, but I am now reaping the results with which I regret. The results are excess weight and stress with regards to it. I can't wear any of my regular clothes! I refuse to continue buying the stretchy clothes that keep me in denial that I have been gluttonous! No, maybe I don't weigh as much as others I know. And yes, I do exercise a little. But, am I really as healthy as I could be? No! The excessive amounts of sugar have made me feel arthritic and I know that it is a downward spiral if I continue on this path. I know within my heart that I am stepping into an area of disobedience with an unbridled appetite and with excuses like, "I'm too tired to walk today". I know that these poor choices can bring negative consequences. A few years ago I was trying to encourage a friend of mine that God is our healer and that He wants to heal us. She was arguing with me about this because her mother-in-law had just died of a sickness and she was one of the most devout women of God she had ever known. She was praying for healing and obviously did not get healed. I later found out that her mother-in-law weighed over 300 POUNDS and the sickness was related to obesity! Come on now. What more can I say! Everyone of us stand before God and are accountable only to Him. Only God knows where you are in the process and what you must do to care for your temple. God's grace is sufficient for us to get the victory in every area of our life. The SIN of gluttony is one that is winked at by many Christians. Phillippians 3:19 speaks of those whose god is their stomach. They will be damned and shamed. Wow! This is sobering! The Lord has mercifully graced me to watch my caloric intake and I've started walking. I already feel the benefits. I know what I need to do to take good care of my body for His glory and service. I need to JUST DO IT! You do too! I pray for you and please pray for me. May this year be our most healthy, wealthy, and wisest year yet! All for His glory!!

A vanilla caramel latte, please!

Aol has an ad with a housewife sitting in her living room. Her kids and dog are going wild in the room behind her and her house is in utter chaos. She sits there smiling, unaffected by her problems. It's because she's sipping on a vanilla caramel latte! Reality is that a latte might help her feel better for a few minutes, but what kind of real help does a latte give? She has a perpetual mess on her hands! Our newspaper featured an article today on the "12 Steps to De-stressing". Some of these steps might be helpful, but Jesus, Who is the Prince of Peace (Is. 9:6) exhorts us to learn from Him (Matt 11:28-30). He calls all who are weary and over burdened to come to Him. He promises to give rest (He will ease, relieve, and refresh your soul-Greek trans.). He said to take His burden (or yoke) upon ourselves. His yoke is light and easy, wholesome, useful, good, not harsh, sharp or pressing. It is also balanced, comfortable, gracious, and pleasant (Hebrew trans). These are characteristics of what I call the "Sabbath Rest Principle". It's the entrance into the abundant life Jesus came to give us (Jn 10:10). Tell me, how can I get this yoke? I have to make every effort, every day to enter into and live in a supernatural place of tranquility called the "Sabbath Rest" (Please read Heb. 3&4 Amp). Actually, this is how the true people of God are to live (Heb. 4:9). In the sabbath rest, we acquire confidence (or faith) and subsequently an inner peace that God is working everything out and He will take care of us. It's NOT sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich or denying reality. It is not just surviving either. It's listening to and obeying God's voice, and actually enjoying our life's journey. In Heb. 3:15-18 we see that God reveals why some of the Israelites did not enter into His rest. These were rebellious and self-reliant individuals. They were ungrateful, complainers, and murmurers. (God forgive me for my petty murmuring!) They subsequently died in the wilderness (Heb.4:11). It also says in Heb. 3:17 that those who were resistant in the wilderness actually irritated (or grieved and saddened) Him! I definitely don't want to irritate the Lord! Only those who enter that rest get to their "Promised Land"( a truly God-blessed life). How many of us Christians live in His peace and experience the blessed life Christ has promised? We may need to get with God to re-evealuate and prioritize our life. Moses was considered the meekest man ever to live (Exodus 33:14-15). Meekness is defined as humble compliance and flexibility. The key indication that Moses was humble and compliant is in Ex. 33:15. Moses told the Lord that if His presence didn't go with him, he didn't want to go on from there in search of the promised land. How many of us go on our own analysis of a situation in search of the "promises", whether we are confident that God is with us or not? Numbers 33:13-18 reveals Moses' heart. His desire was to know God deeply and to know God's ways. He desired to see God's glory above all else! I want this to be my passion: to know God deeply and to know His ways above all else. I long to see His glory. God told Moses in vs. 17 that he had found favor with Him, loving-kindness, and mercy. God also told him that He knew him personally and by name. What an honor! What joy and delight! Nothing in this world compares to knowing Him! Knowing Christ is salvation. One might call Him Lord, but if that one does not KNOW HIM, he will not be saved (Matt. 7:21-23). The A.Paul states in Phil 3:10-14 that it was his determined purpose to know Christ, to be continually transformed to His likeness by death to self, pressing on and forgetting what lies behind, and by making every effort to fulfill God's will. I pray that everyday we all will take up the cross of laying down our own will for the will of God in our lives. The crucified life is the blessed life!

I want to look over the bridge!

Just this past week the Lord mercifully dealt with me to be sure and begin my day spending quality time in His presence. It doesn't take a very long time to meet Him. I start with some words of worship, maybe a song, prayer, and a little study of His word. As Beth Moore says in her study "Stepping Up", "God's first priority is relationship, not just emergency response." Our first priority should be the same! In Psalm 91 (Amp) we see closeness to God is not only for intimacy, but for protection from ourselves and our enemy. It starts with: he who remains in the presence of Him Whose power no foe can withstand will: 1.) be delivered from traps; 2.) delivered from plagues, fear , destruction, and evil; 3.) and no will evil come near your home. Instead, we will be preserved, never forsaken by God, He will answer when we call, and we will live a long life. Sounds like sticking close to Him is the KEY to life! I remember a true story my mother-in-law used to tell my girls when they were small and rambunctious. While on a tour in Italy, they were crossing a bridge with a group of people and a lady was having a hard time with her little boy. He was struggling to free himself from her grasp to look over the edge of the bridge. He was finally successful, ran to the edge, lost his balance and fell over to his death. I pray that we will always hold tightly to the Lord's hand, knowing that His wisdom and correction express His love for His children. Here is an overview of Ps 94:12-18 (please read the whole thing): Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline O Lord...That You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity...He will not abandon His people...Unless the Lord had been my help, I would have dwelt in the land where there is silence...When I said my foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord held me up."