My God

I've been studying myself lately. In fact, I've been studying myself to much. I've noticed that when I am the most discouraged it is usually if not always when I am focusing on myself. I get disheartened because I see my own selfishness, my many failures, my weaknesses, and all my other sins. I'll start to feel defeated because I don't measure up. But you know what? I have a God who is longsuffering. I have a God who delights in mercy. My God is a forgiving God, and not only does he forgive my sins but he forgets them. I serve a God who will never leave me nor forsake me. I can talk to the King of Glory, the King of old. I am able to have fellowship every day with the One who created this world and all that is in it.

I may not be good, but my God is holy and righteous. And that's what really matters.

The God Who Lives Inside Me and Balance

Lately God has been showing me a lot of things. Some through scripture, through a book, my mom, and my pastor. I don't really know how to express these things, but I have a desire to share what God has been teaching me, so I'll just try to summarize everything the best way I can.

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Tonight's scripture that jumped out at me, while my pastor was preaching, was Romans 8:6. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." So many times I dwell on selfish, worldly thoughts because I think that those are the thoughts that make me happy. But this verse clearly says that spiritual thoughts bring life and peace, something that I look for just like most other Christians.

Last night I was reading a book called "The Pursuit of God" by A. W. Tozer. He talked about the temple and more specifically, the place called The Presence of God that was separated by a veil. A. W. Tozer elaborated on how great an experience it was for the priest to go into that place once a year. That very veil that separated us from the Presence of God was rent the day of Christ' crucifixion. Now I  have the privilege to spend time in the presence of God every day. Even more, He lives inside of me! The greatest, most powerful, all knowing, prince of peace, maker of all that ever was and ever will be, the wonderful savior, the beginning and the end, lives inside of me!

He wrote, "Love and mercy and righteousness are His, and holiness so ineffable that no comparison or figures will avail to express it. Only fire can give even a remote conception of it." Think about it. God appeared unto Moses as a burning bush, he lead them through the wilderness as a pillar of fire, "the fire between the wings of the cherubim in the holy place was called the 'shekinah' the Presence," in the New Testament God filled the place at Pentecost as a fiery flame, and in Revelation John says "his eyes were as a flame of fire." I had never heard those illustrations put together in such a way. I thought that was really amazing!

Lastly, I'm trying to learn how to balance my family life and church life with my work life. I know that I've been putting too much emphasis on my job because I truly feel like they need me so I want to be there. But I need to learn to do everything that is required of me to the best of my ability AND NO MORE. God did not call me to be the best medical coder in all of Georgia or the employee of the year. He called me to be a happy sister who is there for her brothers and sisters, a loving daughter who is there to help and spend time with her parents, and a faithful church member who is not too busy to cook for church dinners and sing for the sick and dying. I know easing up on my "career" is the right thing to do, which will not be easy. But with God's guidance I will learn how to balance it all in a way that is pleasing to God and still satisfactory to my employers as well. The main goal is to please God because when this life on earth is over, it will not matter how many awards I receive for being a great medical coder. God wants to see me live a life that will glorify Himself. And that's what I want to strive towards.

Lessons From Ecclesiastes

Lately as I've been walking through life I've felt like there is so much I'm trying to figure out. There are a lot of things about the work field, politics, current events, and life in general that I want to know about. I guess I can accredit that to my young age and youthful curiosity.

However, I'm constantly being reminded to "love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul." So I thought thes would be a great time to read Ecclesiastes, the book full of reasonings about life. What better time then this to learn how to balance my life so that it is pleasing to God? (Pro. 11.1)

When I read Ec 1.18 I was very puzzled. "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knwledge increaseth sorrow." What?! Doesn't the Bible tell us to seek after wisdom as choice silver and to get knowledge  so that we will have understandin? Tese verses seemed to contradict each other, something I know the Bible is not capable of doing.

After I recived no answer I forgot about the verse and went on wit hmy life. On the way to work I listened to the radio, eager to learn more about this new health bill, but I also heard about abortion rights and a man facing murder charges. At work the topic of the week ahs been nothing other than the infamous health bill. Later on in my day I was informed more deeply about electronic medical records. Over and over I saw how communication between co-workers, doctor to doctor, and even patient to doctor is slipping away. Basically, what you can't do for yourself, the computer will do for you. No direct human contact needed, in some cases.

By this point I'm starting to feel a little down. But I still tuned in to the local radio station only to hear about trouble in the schools and a down sliding economy. When I got home I realized that too much news is really bad for me. All of a sudden I couldn't stand the sound of the world news playing in the next room. All negative, no possative. Every minute of it was a reminder of how quickly our nation is deteriating into a weak group of people void of the fear of God.

It was then that God gently brought my mind back to that verse. "For in much wisdom is much greif: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." Could it be that Solomon was writing about worldly wisdom and worldly knowledge?

When we become "world smart" and aware of what is going on in this wicked world, it can cause greif and sorrow. If we put too much emphasis on learning more about this world (even though it may seem inocent) our vision is turned from God to something corruptable. I can see why Paul tells us to think on good things. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Philippians 4:8

I've decided that I'm not going to stay up to date on the news, I'm not going to stress over the health care indistry, and I'm not going to frett over being unknowledgeable about a lot of things. It's not worth it. Those things are going to vanish. I'm going to set my mind on things eternal, things that really matter. I'm going to set my mind on God!

My Favorite Place

Yesterday I had a very interesting conversation with the ladies at work. We were talking about how spoiled we are in America these days and how easy we have it. Nice homes, constant communication, fast food, instant this, instant that, and practically everything you would ever need can be bought at a store already complete. So many people in America pay others to do all the hard work for them. From building houses, cleaning up the yard, to even peeling their potatoes!

However, we haven't had it as easy as some. Part of the reason was out of necessity, and some was by choice.

When we bought our five acres of land 10 years ago it was nothing but woods full of bushes, trees, and lots of briars. We hired a friend for one day to help us clear some of it out, but we did the rest. We picked up sticks and clipped the brush down for years it seems! We built pens for our animals, put up fence for our pastures, built a shed for Daddy to work in, and built a club house for the younger ones to play in.

We didn't build our trailer, but we did add on a carport along with a front and back porch. For the past several months we reddid a lot of ourrooms. Our kitchen has received a complete make-over and our living room, our hobby room, the girls room, my room, and Phillip's room has been painted.   After we finished painting the living room one of the younger ones said, "Why didn't we just buy a house?" The answer I gave to that is one that I hope they will learn to appreciate as much as I do.

If we were to buy a house, pay someone to paint in when we want it remodeled, or hire someone to clear our land, we wouldn't be able to take as much pride in it. We couldn't say, I did that! We couldn't look at it knowing that we put a lot of work into it.

My favorite place in the whole world is our home. Yes, our five little, yet full, acres where we sit our mobile home is a wonderful place to me. I can look all around me and remember where we started and see all the hard work that we did together as a family. Sure, there are lots of mistakes. But who wants a perfect home anyways?

I don't say this to boast; so many people take it that way when we talk about the things we do. But the truth is, years and years ago this is the way everyone lived. To us it is not something we do to get attention; we just like to do things the old way. This is our way of living . . . and I like it!

Pictures:: Top left: Daddy standing in our drive way. Bottom Right: Our driveway 8 years later. (The brick house is not ours.)

To see the renovations we've been making to our house visit these links:
My New Kitchen 
My Red Room 
My Fresh Painted Living Room 
My Room is DONE!!!
My New Bedroom
Phillip's Bedroom

They Had Been With Jesus

In Acts we read of how the church was formed and about the many souls that were added there unto daily. In Chapter 2 we can read about the day of Pentocost and marvel at how their speach was turned into a universal language, so to say. But we aren't the only ones who marvel at this. These things were very new and unusual to the Jews. Some of the things that were taking place in the early church days really disturbed the preists and government of Isreal. They watched Peter and the other apostles very closely. Obviousely, the Jewish rulers, (priests, Sadducees, and the captain of the temple) had had enough when the lame man was healed upon Peter's command of "In the Name of Jesus christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." The Bible tells us that they were, " grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead." Instead of celebrating with the lame man for his new found freedome to walk, run, and move as he pleased, they arested the apostles and put them in prison.

The next morning they were brought before the high preists, rulers, elders, and scribes. They asked the men, "By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?" After Peter gave his answer (Acts 4:8-12) they "perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

When I read that last line I stopped to think about what it really meant. It was so evident that these men were unlearned and ignorant, and very clear that these men were not the ones doing the talking, but Jesus. That is amazing! This is a very good picture of how Christ should shine through us every day. We shouldn't waste our time trying to make ourselves more elequent in speech and graceful in our wittnessing. I have done this very thing. I have tried to find ways that will make my writing sound better and more interesting by using adjatives in creative ways and going about a differant aproach to tell the story. Instead I should be spending time with Jesus, for that is how God will be able to talk through me. If I am sensative to the Holy Spirit then He will give me the words to write and say with no help from me. After all, every time I try to do something on my own I am always going to fail. Only the things done through Christ will make a differance in this life.

My desire, and the desire of every Christian, should be to have a testemony like Peter and the other apostles. When others hear us speak, sing, or read our writings, they should be able to say, "and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

Strangers

Last week God has allowed me to go through an experience that has given me a better appreciation for missionaries. I never thought about what they face every day in this way.

Let me explain . . .

When I turned 16 I got my first job at a Christian owned restaurant. The owners (husband and wife) were members at a good Baptist church I have been to before, the husband being the song leader at the church. The night manager didn't have the same beliefs as me and my family, but he did try to live for God to a degree. One of the assistant managers was a Christian while several of the employees were faithful Christians as well. I was surrounded by good people. My co-workers who weren't believers had a respect for me either because I was a child of God or because they saw me as "still a kid". Several times when someone slipped up and cursed in front of me they apologized and said they didn't know I was there. This may not have been just because of what kind of Christian I was, but because Christians were respected at that restaurant.

Even a lot of my customers were Christians! This restaurant came to be a gathering place for all the members at the Baptist church where my bosses went as well as other churches. I made some very good acquaintances while working there. I loved my job!!!

But . . . it wasn't exactly close to home. So when an opening came at a restaurant nearer to my house, I was inclined to take it. Here, I believe I am the only Christian employee. The two ladies who claim to be Christians don't show any fruit and their actions show that they are not aiming to please Jesus. The women I work with live wicked lives, just like I would if I were not graciously saved by the blood of Christ. I am constantly reminded that I need to be an example to them, but it's not always easy.

I feel like a stranger. Sometimes I feel like no one there likes me. I feel all alone. Unbelievers don't care if they hurt your feelings. It doesn't bother a unbeliever to look past you and act like you are not there. Some unbelievers don't understand that everyone makes mistakes. Unbelievers don't care to make things right between each other. This might not be such a big deal if I only saw them a few hours a week, but I have to spend 40 hours a week with them in one small building. I'm not complaining, infact, things went a lot smoother this past week. It varies from week to week. Some times I feel like I can't take it another day, while other day's I don't find it so hard to hold on for a little while longer. Still, things would be a lot easier if everybody would try to get along.

I never realized how much of an impact God's love has on a person. I grew up around Christians so that was all I ever knew. Lost souls are so different. I know they need to see a Christian that consistently lives for God and cares deeply about others. They need to see that there is joy in living for God. But am I able to do that? It is hard to love them when some don't even want to talk to you. It's hard to show them that the Christian life is one of peace and joy when you don't feel like smiling?

Then I am reminded of countless missionaries who were hated for thier belief. Not just in the past, but in the time that we live in now. Just a few years ago a missionary over seas was threatened to be bombed in his home. He was obviously hated. How could he continue to preach God's love in such an atmosphere? One thing is for sure, he probably wasn't as sensative as me! Even so, it still had to be hard to go on when no one in the country seems to support you. It takes great Christians to be missionaries.
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Now I feel like I know a little bit more about the missionary life. Unless God calls me to be a missionary I will never know exactly what they go through, but I think God reveals little things to us so that we will know how to pray for them. So pray I will! I will pray that God will give them the heart of Jesus who said while he was dying on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

What Are You Living For?

In order to live a meaningful life, one needs to have a goal. Something they can aim their energy and ambition towards. When I don't know what I should do in life it always helps me decide what is important when I remember what I am living for.

We can all say that we are living for Jesus, but do our actions say the same? A lot of times we live to please ourselves. Every day we want to find ways to have fun and make our self happy. Who doesn't want to have a great life filled with joy and pleasure? But if you live to be divinely happy, you will be disappointed over and over.

Most good things in this sinful fallen world don't last very long. A friend reminded me of this when he said, "Marriage is like a hot tub. Once you get in it's not so hot." This man has a good marriage, but I know what he was talking about. When a couple is courting, life seems great in the googly-eyed, excited, bubbly state that they are in. But after being married a while the excitement wares off and life is just life once agian. True and deep love will still remain, but not in the same way that it did when it was new.

If you live for your family, they may not always be there.

If you live for your husband/future husband, he will dissapoint you.

If you live for your friends, they will dissapoint you.

If you live for money, you will never be satisfied.

If you live to please your self, you will be unhappy in the self centered state you are in.

But if you live for Jesus Christ, you will live a life filled with joy, love, peace, and contentment. Yes, there will be hardships, but God will be there with you the whole time. Your husband might not be, your friend may forsake you, your money may run out, you may give up on having fun, but God will NEVER LEAVE YOU. He is always faithful and true. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. He is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. He is a shelter in a time of storm. He is a comfortor that giveth us a song in the night. He is the one that has prepared a place for us with many mantions and will one day wipe away all our tears. He is all we need and worth living for.

So the question remains. What are you living for? I assure you, if it is anything but to please God, you will be dissapointed. Live the ultimate life. Live for God!

Old Fashioned or Biblical Principles?

Recently I had a very thought provoking discussion with one of my coworkers on morals. She was telling another girl that she can’t blame her daughter if she gets pregnant out of wed-lock, because she did it herself, and hasn’t done much to discourage her daughter from follow in her footsteps. The woman that was telling her this said, “I’m old fashioned. I believe women shouldn’t get pregnant out of wed-lock. That’s just the way I am. My mother was real strict like that too.”

As I began to think about it, I realized that is how most people see morals and standards. They think they are old fashioned, not meant for the modern day that we live in. Are they old fashioned? Should we put them aside and consider them as a thing of the past? Or are they Biblical principles that have been forgotten amongst all the wickedness that is in this world?

There once was a day when a girl was ashamed to be pregnant before marriage. In those days, married couples stayed together because they promised to “love and cherish till death do us part.” Women use to stay home to care after their husband and children. Women use to dress like ladies. There was a time when the thought of killing unborn babies was appalling.

Now it is common for young girls to have several children without even thinking about getting married. Divorce is not considered wrong at all so men and women leave their spouse without even trying to resolve the problem. When you tell others that all you want to be when “you grow up” is a stay at home wife and mother, you get a blank stare. When people see you dressed in skirts on a day other than Sunday or Wednesday they think you are Amish or Mennonites. (I have nothing against those two groups, but I simply am not one of them.) Modern society has accepted abortion, and all those who oppose are considered “to old fashioned.”

Yes, I believe morals and standards are old fashioned. But they are still Biblical principles too. They are still right, and still need to be preached all over the world, but let’s face it, it is not popular to live for God. It is not fashionable. It is not respected. Godly living is not widely practiced anymore.

How did this come about? How can a nation accept the murdering of babies and all the other sins that are going rampant? The devil is smart. He knows just how to squeeze those sins in where people will accept them. If he can get sin into a respected person’s home, no one will say anything because of who the person is. Everyone starts to see that if it is okay for that person, it must be okay for themselves as well. Once a family sees that their daughter has committed an awful sin, they make it seem like a small matter because they don’t want to think that their loved one is wrong. Everyone stops speaking against adultery, divorce, and abortion because they don’t want to offend their family member who is guilty of such iniquities. Slowly, everyone becomes accustomed to these ways.

But just because the majority of the world chooses to live opposite of what God wants doesn’t mean that we can follow them. In fact, it should give us a desire to live for him even more because this world needs to see that there are still some Christians out there who want to live for God. We need to stand up for what we believe. Don’t be ashamed to tell everyone that you want to be a stay at home wife and mother. Don’t let those around you get the impression that you think it is okay to be pregnant out of wed-lock. Even if those in high positions at your church have done wrong, you can’t overlook it as a small matter.

Sin is sin and it will always be sin. It is not fun to be opposing, but if a time comes that we have to say something, we have to say what is right . . . in love. We cannot let godly living become obsolete.

“Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Ephesians 5:10-11

As in the Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37-39

This is an interesting verse. Usually when I think of the time before the flood I think of violence, hatred and unholy marriage, but never as “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” What’s so wrong about that? If we don’t eat and drink we will die and if we don’t get married and have children the population would quickly go down! So why does Jesus bring these two things up?

Eating and Drinking. There is nothing wrong with eating. What is wrong is living to eat. Think about it. Have you ever seen a generation so consumed with food? Every time you turn on the TV you see advertisement of restaurants, grocery stores, and cooking shows. Fun and food seem to go hand in hand now. Every social event is bound to have refreshments and if there are none, some would see no purpose in going.

Food is so easily accessible in this day and age! There are countless stores and restaurants in town where you can buy something and be eating a second later. I really doubt people use to eat so much in days of old because it took time to prepare the food. If they wanted to bake a cake they had to grind and sift the wheat. Then they had to heat the wood burning stove which would use up their wood supply pretty quickly if they baked extra food a lot. I’m sure cleaning up wasn’t so easy either. They didn’t have paper plates or dishwashers so all the plates and bowls had to be cleaned by hand. (Don’t forget that most families back then were usually large. They had more than just four plates to clean up.) Do you think they had time for this? There were probably more important jobs that kept them so busy they didn’t have time to bake or cook extra goodies whenever they wanted. This world lives for food.

Marrying and giving in marriage. The desire to get married is natural, placed there by God. It is not wrong to get married, but it is when our life goal is to be a wife or husband. Marriage isn’t taken seriously any more by most people. All they know is that they want it. Couples are getting married (or sinfully “shacking up”) right and left without giving it much thought. It is so awful when young adults get so eager to get married that they leap at the first opportunity they get instead of waiting for God’s timing.

What Jesus was saying in Matt. 24.37-39 is that in the time before the return of the Lord we will be so wrapped up in our lives (particularly eating and marrying)that we will not even be thinking about Christ and his return. We have made these two things more important than serving God. It reminds me of 2 Timothy 2:4. “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” This verse is not telling us to have no life. It is saying that we shouldn’t get so tangled up in the affairs of this world that we choose our friends or materialistic things over serving God.


I wish I could say this verse is only referring to the lost world, but I’m afraid even Christians have become entangled with our own life and have forgot that our focus should be on Christ. Maybe we should evaluate our life and see where our priorities lie.

How the Cross Became Commonplace

The Cross.

How do those words make you feel? Do they make you cringe at the remembrance of what Christ went through for you, or do those words seem commonplace . . . to no affect? If you are a Christian, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ, they should greatly affect you. They should make you feel grateful for the GREAT sacrifice Jesus paid so that you could go to heaven and be saved from the torture of hells’ everlasting fire.

Christ paid the Ultimate Sacrifice. He was beaten until he was unrecognizable, whipped severely, speared in the side, had thorns drove into his head, mocked, and nailed to the cross to die . . . just for us! Because of the cross we are able to talk to Jesus any time we want without going having to go through a priest. Because of the cross we do not have to sacrifice animals as atonement for our sins. The cross has changed our life forever. Never has there ever been such a great sacrifice made for us.

So why is the cross so commonplace? Why does it not bring tears to our eyes every time we hear the words? The cross is no longer treated as something sacred or holy. I’ve seen women dressed in very immodest clothes, showing their bosom, yet they hang a cross around their neck. To them it is just a symbol. I think that is very disrespectful. In no way am I trying to imply that we should worship the cross, but I do believe that we should respect it. The death of Christ is no little matter and we shouldn't treat it as such. If that is so, why are Christians not moved when they hear about Jesus’ crucifixion?

People don’t want to face the gruesome facts. The crucifixion is not a pretty picture. It is not easy to hear the account of his death, even for me. It is bloody, painful, and unpleasant. The picture you see on this post does not show just how bloody he was. When I hear all that he went through I feel deeply ashamed. Ashamed for not thanking him enough and for not doing everything he asks of me. The cross makes people see their selfishness. None of that is fun. Everyone would rather hear the stories of the great miracles he performed or the story of victory in the time of Moses. So we put aside the greatest story in the Bible.

It is not talked about any more. The cross is not preached near as much as it should be. Preachers may mention it in their messages, but how often do they preach solely on Jesus’ crucifixion? Sadly, I can count the times I remember hearing sermons that dealt with the gruesome details of his death on one hand. (I know I have heard more since I was raised in church all my life, but I only remember the ones preached within the last few years.) I can’t begin to count the sermons I’ve heard on prayer and grace. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” It must be important if Paul said that he didn’t care to deal with anything but Christ’s crucifixion!

But we can’t just point our finger at the preachers. We are just as guilty. How often do we talk of what Jesus did for us? I think most of us aren’t even as thankful as we should be. The least we can do is meditate and give thanks for his great sacrifice. By keeping it on our mind we will be more apt to bring it into our conversations.

The message is this. There is nothing commonplace about the cross. When Christians don’t take time to consider this life saving truth, we have lost our focus. It should always be on our mind. If my brother or dad were to die such a horrible death I don’t think I could ever treat the matter as something of little importance.

Jesus gave his all for us! When was the last time we genuinely thanked him?