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MAKE TIME FOR JESUS

MAKE TIME FOR JESUS

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You will never regret time spent with the Lord. How do you make it happen? Start with your current schedule. What is your best time of day? For me, it is in the morning when I have coffee. In years past I have attempted other times. For example, at night after my children were in bed, I tend to zone out and drift off. 

Put guilt aside. Take the negative away and just make it happen. If it happens, it is a success. Five minutes is better than not at all. There are days I only have five minutes, other days I can sit for an hour.

What does time with Jesus look like? Time focused on your relationship with Christ. Bible reading for one will grow your relationship with Christ. A scripture a day can change your life. Do what you will stick with. Open the Bible and read. A daily devotion is a good tool. Phone apps allow you to read wherever you are. My husband has a devotion in his car and reads before he walks into work.

Prayer is essential to your relationship with Jesus. He wants to hear from you as much and as often as you can. I prefer a more natural approach instead of regimented. I pray many times a day. They are short, sometimes just a few words. If someone asks for prayer, I pray with them on the spot or as I walk away. I pray a lot in the shower or the car. At night when I am drifting off, I am usually praying. The point being just make it happen when it works.

Quiet time. It might surprise you that being quiet can accomplish so much. The world is noisy. Taking time to shut out the noise and concentrate on Jesus. “Be still and know I am God,” Psalms 46:10. Cutting out the noise you can hear from the Lord. 

Meditation is a good tool. I caution you to focus on scripture on music connected to Christian work. Meditation is used by other religious practices. Each person may have a different idea of what meditation is. Find a scripture that you want to focus on. Recite it and repeat as you concentrate on the words and their meaning.

MYTHS ON PRAYERS

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MYTHS ON PRAYER

Prayer is a privilege we have and a promise that God is listening. We pray because we have a relationship with God or desire one. It would be impossible to have a relationship with anyone without some sort of communication. Prayer is our direct line to One who loves us most. Below is a list of myths that prohibit our feelings towards prayer. 

  • If you do not say in “Jesus Name” it will not count. Psalms 145:19

God does not play games with us. If you call out, He is faithful to listen. 

  • Only devout Christians have a direct line to God.

Even the person who is saying His name for the first time will be heard and loved. Luke 15:4

  • It is wrong to ask for prayer for myself. Mark 14:32

You are withholding the greatest gift you have. Pray for yourself often. Express all your needs. God wants to hear from you. Jesus prayed for himself.It is disrespectful to fall asleep while praying. You may fall asleep because you feel safe.

THE COMPLICATED FAMILY

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THE COMPLICATED FAMILY

Do you wonder how your family got so dysfunctional? Being in the midst you see all the things wrong with your family. We expect more from people who love us than those from the outside world. Our loved ones are the ones who can leave lasting scars. What if you had it all wrong? Is your family unique or is this just the way families are?

I understand the heartache of familiar fire. The words carry a sharper sting when it’s one we expect to protect us. I would love to open your eyes to the families of some of our saints in Scripture. If nothing else but to say, “you’re not alone.”

Let us start at the beginning. Genesis 4:1-18 tells the story of brotherly love, or I mean brotherly jealousy that led to death. Cain murdered his own brother jealous that God paid more attention to his sacrificial offering, holding the title of the first murder.

Abraham and Sarah were in their golden years and still without children. Sarah was beyond childbearing years. Genesis 16:1-16, 21:8-21 shares the account of Sarah’s plan to fulfill God’s promise of a child to the couple. Just a heads up, God never needs our help. Abraham agreed to Sarah’s scheme of having a child with their maid servant, Hagar. Guess what, it was messy and caused a lot of undue pain on everyone involved.

The story of Sodom and Gomorrah can be found in Genesis 19:30-38, Lot’s two virgin daughters who feared they would never have a chance to have children,  got their father drunk and had relations with him. 

These stories are just tipping the iceberg of crazy family stuff in the Bible. The conclusion is we all have crazy somewhere in the family. The family is not the issue. Families are made of humans prone to sin. That is the problem and there is no way around that. What is a Bible-loving girl to do?  Love like Jesus. Accept the family you have and love them. Create good boundaries for yourself. Do not let others hurt you. You need to make the best choices for you. Because someone is family, it means you’re connected forever by DNA, it does not give them a right to control or damage our world.

THE GOOD MOM

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All mothers are striving to be a “good mom.” What is the true definition? I would say if you asked a hundred women you would get a hundred answers. What if being a good mom is being the best version of yourself. The recipe of being a good mom is 50% putting your kids first and 50% making sure you are on the top of your list. How does that make sense? We have been taught it’s 100% of putting kids first. Hear me out.

Putting your children first may be important when they are little, but as they grow we become their example. Our children will take in far more of what we show them than what we tell them. Do you respect yourself? If you want your children to follow their dreams and respect their own boundaries, then show them what that looks like. 

Do not be afraid to show them your weakness or your sin. Some of the best conversations with my children have been sharing my mess ups. They feel close to you as you reveal your weakness. What they will see is you are human. You get life is hard and perfection is not the goal.

Bring them in on your growth. As you develop and mature, share what you have learned and what is important to you. As our children grow into adults, they can be great teachers themselves. You do not have to have all the answers.

Inspire your grown children by living your best life.

TIPS FOR READING THE BIBLE

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A typical book you pick up might be read from front to back. Simple. No instructions needed. The Bible is different for obvious reasons of importance. If you have never read the Bible or struggle to read the Bible you might benefit from these tips.

  • Find a translation you can comprehend. King James is traditional, however can be overwhelming for a first-time reader. New International Version or New Living Translation version can be an easier transition. Study Bibles contain author notes and helpful information. 
  • Find a time to read that works for you.
  • Grab a notebook and dictionary. The goal is to understand what you read and apply what you read. Jot down what touches your heart or what you want to know more about. Dictionary is handy to look up any words you might not fully understand. Dictionary is accessible on your phone or computer.
  • Pray before you start. Ask God to open your understanding.
  • I recommend starting in the book of John which can be found in the New Testament or second half of the Bible. John is written for a new reader to find the most important information first. The story of Jesus. It is written as an expression of love. The reason you do not start in the beginning is that the Old Testament can be harder to understand. The Bible an be intimidating and complicated. Dig in the middle, get to know Jesus then you can read through what happened next. 
  • Ask questions. If you have someone in your life who has a good understanding of the word, ask them. If you do not ask you don’t learn.

WHEN YOUR SPOUSE IS NOT A BELIEVER

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When your spouse is not a believer….first off, do not give up!!! It is not hopeless or mission impossible. “With God all things are possible,” Matthew 19:26. Being unequally yoked can bring some real challenges to your marriage. Marriage is challenging enough on its own. 

The good news is the spouse you fell in love with, Jesus loves. Jesus is pursuing them, too. The Lord wants it more than you do. No one is hopeless. The best thing you can do is pray for your spouse and get out of the Lord’s way.

I feel certain you have tried everything in your power to influence them. That might contribute to the problem. I hear your sigh. Take a deep breath and hear me out. 

You are not responsible for their salvation. The job was never yours. The more you try, you may in fact be creating a wedge. No one likes to be set up. No one likes to be manipulated. Their experience with Christ needs to be just that “theirs.” 

The Holy Spirit brings conviction. When we get in the way it seems we are nagging and trying to get our way. Finger pointing will bring tension, not conviction. In truth, true conviction is powerful because it is gentle, loving and comes with hope of what to do to change. 

The most powerful tool you have is prayer. If you need to focus on something – let it be you! Um, what?! No, that’s not a typo. The influence you have is to be an example of Christ. You do that by spending your time in your relationship with Christ. When a person has that deep connection, it shows. People see it, feel it, and will want it.

Instead of you forcing your hand, your spouse will be coming to you asking questions. That is your opportunity to share your hope in Jesus. Give your testimony of faith and that is what will draw others to Christ. 

THINK ON THIS…

1 Peter 3:4-7, “Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. For this is the way of the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. Husbands in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. “

RETURN TO ME AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU

RETURN TO ME AND I WILL RETURN TO YOU

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When things go wrong, people cry, “Where is God?” God would say, “I am right
here where I have always been.”
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” Jeremiah 1:5
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord
your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
He has never moved. Have you?
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of
Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinance.
And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you.” Malachi 3:6
It is your move. It has always been your move.

KEEP THE CHANGE

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If anything is certain, it is change. Do you like change? Most do not unless they are planning for it. This uncertain change that we are experiencing is unnerving. The year 2020 has been a year of change. We collectively sigh! With so much change it might leave you spinning.

Do you remember being a child when you would spin in circles in the yard until you were so dizzy you’d fall? It was an odd sort of fun, but as an adult, not so much. We like predictable. We like certainty. Then something causes us to spin out of control.

We need to get our grounding, but how do you do that? STOP. Stop in your tracks and consider what you do know, without a shadow of a doubt? Are you stumped? One awesome benefit of being a Christian is God has provided us a source to ground us.

We have the truth. We do not know every detail. But we know enough to match our faith. Faith is what grounds us. “For I am the Lord, I do not change.” Malachi 3:17 God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, as stated in Hebrews 13:8. He is our firm foundation. Regardless of what the world does, as much change as it can throw our way, God is the same. So hold on!!!!

A DIFFERENT SORT OF CHRISTMAS

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Our lives changed so much this year. I am sure you are as surprised as I am to still
be amid perpetual change. Unwanted change. Do not mess with our Christmas!!!
Are you with me?
The truth is we have a profound opportunity this year to press into the very essence
of this sacred holiday. Holy Days, that command our notice, not of just our
traditions. Traditions are warm and wonderful. Joining with our family and
expressing our love over a table of joy. I am not knocking on traditions.
What I am saying is there is so much more to behold.
“BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SON OF THE WORLD.” John
1:29
Compare if you will the scriptures of the birth of Christ to your holiday traditions.
It hits me right in the pit of my stomach. The raw emotion of what was THE first
day of Christ’s life. His birthday, that we honor and celebrate what we call
Christmas. I fall so short.
Focused on gifts, wrapping essentials, and food. And the questions of self-doubt
and ridicule….Can everyone come? Did I do enough? The thoughts go on and on.
The prep and observance of Christmas starts sometimes Thanksgiving Day with
shopping and lasts until the New Year. A fact that could be impressive IF it were
focused on sacred truths.
Can you imagine if we spent that same amount of time reading the Gospel
story of the coming birth of Jesus? What if we spent our money on charity or
donations? Giving to those who have nothing. What if we spent our planning time
preparing our hearts for His arrival? At the end of the Holy season can you
even comprehend the change that would be apparent in us?
Guess what? Here is your chance. The state of our world under quarantine or not,
a declared president or not, and a host of other issues has no barring on whether
you can spend your time and focus on what matters more than all else. Our
relationship with Christ compares to nothing or no one else. Do this year what can never be taken from you-BEHOLD THE LAMB.

JOY TO THE WORLD

JOY TO THE WORLD

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A grateful person is one of pure joy. Joy finds a way to rise to the surface even in
the darkest of hours. In every moment of every challenge, there has always been
something to spark gratitude. Until you have lived a tragedy, you might have
never known joy.
It is the hardships in life that we can now hold up to smaller inconveniences and
realize they are just that. “The Joy of the Lord is our strength.” Psalms 28:7. This
verse has perplexed me for how can joy, a feeling of happiness provide strength?
A tour through the scriptures will help us realize it is much more.
Joy according to scmonitor.com is a “fuller, spiritual meaning of expressing God’s
goodness.… Deep-rooted, inspired happiness.” Happiness is fleeting, here-today
and-gone-tomorrow feeling. Joy is stability in the goodness of God
James 1:2, “My brethren, count it all joy, when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”
How can one find joy in difficulty?
Consider this, you have just learned that you must go through a physically painful
transformation of almost a year. You will not be yourself. You will have trouble
sleeping, eating, and being unable to enjoy other comforts in life. You will certainly
gain weight during this time and your body will never be the same because this
challenge has lasting effects. It might be the hardest and most painful experience
you will ever feel. Would you feel happy? NO. What if you realized it is a
pregnancy? That is an entirely different situation. The joy of a child considering
what you will go through will be worth it.
That is the essence of joy. You will earn the joy for it is deep-rooted in hardship.
The pain will have a purpose. Seek joy always!