Boast in the reality!

I’ve talked before about our culture’s problem in hearing about judgement. We’re supposed to love and accept others. We’re supposed to promote those happy things about having a relationship with God that makes everyone feel warm inside. In some Christian circles, we avoid the scary aspects of God in order to make the family of God or God himself seem welcoming. But the truth is, each of us will only hear one statement on judgement day. It’s your choice, of course, as to which one will float through your ears. Will you hear-

“Well done my good and faithful servant”

or

“Depart from me. I never knew you” ?

If that doesn’t terrify you, it certainly should. It frightens me.

Having fear of the Lord is not a bad thing. We’re called to fear him. It has been said that our fears control us. By fearing Jesus, we give him control…and what better person could we choose to have control over us? If you think about it, many of our actions are determined by our fears. We do or don’t do so many things out of fear of the situation or repercussions. When we fear God, it opens up a whole world in which our own image of God dictates our lives. That is so powerful to me. Think about it: If I see Him as small, that will be evident in my life. When my view of God is huge, there will be no limit to what I can accomplish through Him.

If I’m to hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant”, I am to love what God loves. I am to become an ambassador for Him (2 Corinthians 5:20). My old life is dead and God breathes through me. He lives in every believer, pleading through each of us to go out and share the word.

Once, I heard a pastor say to “Boast in the reality of what God has done in your life”! The reality is that I am absolutely despicable without Him. There are many things that I don’t like about myself that are forgiven thanks to the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God has given me a husband who loves me and soon-to-be TWO little boys who are entrusted in my care. I already have so much more than I deserve yet still, every single time I have a nasty thought about someone or I get frustrated in day to day tasks, God forgives me. I don’t understand his love for me, but I’m so grateful for it.

I encourage you to think of your own reality today, too. Is your image of God big or small?

And They Went Out

I haven’t posted here in quite awhile. During my bible studies recently, I came across Mark 16:20 that says, ” And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.” The verse stopped me in my tracks. When was the last time I shared God’s word with anyone? When was the last time I made a difference in anyone’s life, pointing them toward the Lord? I honestly don’t remember and as a Christian, this is completely awful, unacceptable. We’re called to share what we’ve found in Christ with others. I realized I’m not only expected to share what God has done for me with like-minded individuals, but I’m supposed to go out as Jesus did and share with fellow sinners, people who I may or may not have anything in common with. With that being said, I’m back! The Internet is a good outlet for me to share God’s goodness and grace in my life and it’s a tiny glimpse of what I should be doing in this world. I won’t be posting every day, just as I find scriptures or words I’d like to share with all of you.

And just because I love sharing Christian music with y’all, too…

Here’s my favorite song right now:

Biblical Tolerance and Love

God is so amazing, isn’t he? My husband and I talk a lot about how we’re loved just as much as the murderer across the street (Ok, hopefully there’s not one across my street!) and it blows my mind. I know I’ve made mistakes, but honestly? It’s a hard pill to swallow- mostly because that’s not how the world operates. It’s difficult to wrap my mind around a love so fierce and so strong that cannot only pardon a sin like that, but also unconditionally love despite it.

For the past three days, I’ve been reading about biblical tolerance in my devotions. It’s almost as if God put this study in my lap to tell me something these last few days. I needed them, y’all! The first day, the author wrote, “What you believe about God matters.” It was a reminder to me that this post modern belief of- you have your truths and I have mine– is a bunch of bologna. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He tells us there’s only ONE way to Him, one path (See Matthew 7:13-14).

After day one, I was like- “Yeah! These people have got it wrong. I need to surround myself with true believers, people who earnestly seek truth instead of spouting off some bible verse that aligns with their political agendas. I need fellowship with like-minded individuals who love Jesus and want to know Him instead of pretending to on their facebook walls.” But my prayer that day was simply-

“Lord, help me to seek truth. I will look for wisdom from your Holy Word and not the world. Amen.”

As I said, God is so amazing. He showed me that I was missing the point today. While I can tolerate the spiritually blind, I’m not encouraged to think negatively of them. Today my prayer was-

“Lord, help me to be more like you. Help me to show compassion to the spiritually blind. Amen.”

And I realized that God wasn’t prompting me to call people out on their ignorant, false, or insulting beliefs about our Heavenly Father. Instead he was pointing me to the study I wrote in my spiritual journal back in December. Instead of giving me a lesson in tolerance, God gently reminded me, “You cannot love Me without loving the ones for whom my son died.” (John 13:35)

How can we as Christians love others?

• acts of kindness/service
• prayer
• acceptance
• loving God
• practice
• giving time

 

Your Kingdom Come

Well, hello! I haven’t written here in awhile so I wanted to let you all know that I’m alive and well. Hi, to all my facebook people, too. I know this blog automatically updates to facebook and my other one does not and as I’ve given up facebook for Lent, I feel very disconnected from all of you. You never know how critical social networking can be when it’s no longer an option! Every single thing is linked to facebook! There’ve been times I have clicked on links to read more about certain topics and have been directed to facebook. Or times when I wanted to get on Pinterest, but first I had to provide my facebook password. Etc, etc. etc. All in all, though- the break has been fine- nothing life altering but I think God just wanted to see if I would give it up, ya know? I love hearing from Him and I definitely felt his presence leading me the day that I decided to do it.

Since arriving at Ft. Polk shortly before Baby K was born, I have been attending PWOC at chapel on post every Tuesday. It has been so awesome to hang out with other women of faith and build friendships with people who value a lot of the same stuff I do! Last week, our speaker, an Army Chaplain, talked a lot about prayer. It kind of changed my whole approach! He broke down the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) for us and I wanted to share a little of what he said and add my two cents in, too.

When I looked at the words or heard them spoken, it was a ritual. I really had to concentrate to stay focused on what they meant. If I was having a particularly rough day, I’d focus on one single line of the prayer- repeating it over and over. But my prayers were for MY benefit- not HIS.

How many times do we start off our prayers with, “Help me” “Bless Me (or whoever)” Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. Give me. There’s a time for asking for these things from God, sure. But how much would you be changed if you started out as the Lord’s Prayer starts out? These words are taught to us for a reason- to show us how to pray. The words “Hallowed be thy name” and “Your kingdom come” are not just words to remember at church on Sunday mornings. God is teaching us to first acknowledge his blessings in our lives. It’s because of Him we exist and are pardoned from sin. It’s His will in our lives we should be seeking as Christians. Glory to Him. Honor to Him.

Then, THEN there’s a place for us to pour out our hearts, desires, needs, and such to God.

What other King would listen to the wants of his servant population? But God does. That’s pretty awesome to me. It’s difficult to wrap my mind around sometimes especially when I’m feeling worthless.

Every night before putting Baby K down to sleep, we pray with him. Again, I felt like I was begging right from the get-go- protect this child, Lord. But now I’m starting to realize the error in my approach and am trying to change the way I talk to God. It feels good!

Blessings,

Mrs. K

All Of Me

The past couple of days have been hard on me. I can’t tell you how frustrating and heartbreaking it can be knowing that I’m not always capable of consoling my child. I knew being a mom would be the most difficult thing I have done to date, but I didn’t know how scary it would feel. I worry about everything. And most of all, I worry that I’m not good enough for him. He is the most pefect, beautiful gift from God and I want the very best for him. I hate to see him hurt. I hate to see him cry. What is likely a medical issue (reflux? colic?) often translates in my mind as a failure in me. I hope he knows that he has all my love, though. I hope he knows that I try.

As always, your prayers are appreciated!

Hearing from God

Hey y’all! Long time, no chat. I had the baby! He’s precious. You can read all about that over at my other blog, though…

I wanted to write down (type out) some of my thoughts that have been floating through my head about this verse that I came across during a group bible study:

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Often times, Christians wonder why they can’t hear God or see Him in their day to day routines. I know I do. It’s upsetting when we desperately want to see some sort of sign that “all is going to be okay” or that our “steps are ordered” by Him for us. When that sign is nowhere to be found, we sometimes question it. What we should be focusing on is our relationship with God the Father.

God can’t speak to us if we don’t know Him. It’s not a flaw in Him, but in us.

It’s just like life here on Earth. We can’t will ourselves to talk to someone we’ve never met, seen, or come into contact with in any way. It’s not possible. Likewise, God rarely talks to those who aren’t available to listen to Him. Perhaps it’s not a conscious decision to be distant from God. Maybe you’re desire is to seek him, but you aren’t open to experiencing him completely.

That’s how I’ve felt lately. I have so many things going on. I’ve got school, chores, and a new baby to attend to…my writing career (no laughter please) is completely on hold as I have absolutely no time to put coherent sentences together. I joined a bible study group because I felt as if I wanted to know my Father more deeply, to experience Him in a way I haven’t in a long time.

Just to solidify my thoughts on knowing God and focusing on Him more, I read:

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you.” – Isaiah 26:3

This got me thinking about all the distractions I have in my life that often send my daily bible study to the back burner-

*facebook, blogs, email

*bottles, diapers, laundry, kitchen

*homework

These are things that I needn’t stress over. God is my Provider in every way. Somehow…each week…these things get done. What doesn’t always get done is my close, personal time with God. What a shame! This is something I want to work on. I want to be steadfast in my thoughts of Him. I want to love his commands and obey them wholeheartedly. I want to open myself to hearing from God again.

Join me?

Love,

Mrs. K

In Christ Alone

“And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:13

Almost daily, I find myself asking God to refocus my heart and mind to Him. This morning was no different. As I sat on my couch, with the sun shining through the blinds, I just closed my eyes and tried to think only of Him. Why is that so hard sometimes? To Do lists start floating through my head and pretty soon I have to start over again.

My life is much more fulfilling when I forget about the things of this world. All the books surrounding me didn’t matter. The candles, picture frames, and decor that decorate my mantle and that I deliberated on buying months before mean nothing to me. Our furniture, our beautiful house, my future plans- none of these are any good without Christ in my life. It’s refreshing to remember from time to time. In Christ alone- He gives me life.

My Help Comes From the Lord

Psalm 124:

What if the Lord had not been on our side? Answer, O Israel! “If the Lord had not been on our side when our enemies attacked us, then they would have swallowed us alive in their furious anger against us; then the flood would have carried us away, the water would have covered us, the raging torrent would have drowned us.”  Let us thank the Lord, who has not let our enemies destroy us. We have escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap; the trap is broken, and we are free! Our help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  (Good News Bible)

When I think about the trials and misfortunes in my life, the people that I felt as if left the world too soon, the struggles I’ve faced alone, and all the other happenings I would deem negative, I only feel blessed. Why? Because, like the above chapter suggests, I would be in so much worse shape if my Father in Heaven weren’t with me during these hard times. I don’t know where I’d be, but I know it’s some place I never want to be. I believe that God never leaves us. Our hardships aren’t punishments, they are tests in faith and character. God once told Moses, “I am who I am.” This, to me, means that our Heavenly Father is unchanging. He is there for each of us just as He was there for the Israelites, too. Not one miniscule problem in our lives escapes Him.

Reading this today brought me comfort. As many of you know, I’m pregnant! My husband and I are thrilled. I’m heading to the hospital today to see baby’s progress and hopefully get to find out the sex! Needless to say, I’m a basket full of nerves. I want to see my little man or baby girl and hear that all is well.

But if for some reason I don’t hear that news, I’ll just have to cling to God’s promise:

“For I know the plans I have for you”, declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

Will you join me in prayer for my growing family? I would really appreciate it!

Couldn’t have said it better myself…

I follow this woman’s blog and she recently wrote a beautiful post that I wanted to pass along. It’s called Down October Road. Go read it; you won’t be disappointed that you did. Inspiring!

Give Me Your Eyes

Hey y’all! I’ve had so much going on lately–getting ready for the big move and all. You can read all about that on my other blog if you’d like, but I wanted to pass along an email that I recieved to my Christian friends here. I got this email from a member of the church I’m a member of back home. I do not know the validity of it, but I figure…can’t hurt!

Dear Friends,

 

It has been said that if Christians and Jews really understood the full extent of the power available through prayer, we might be speechless.

Did you know that during WWII there was an adviser to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every day at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray for the safety of England , for its people and for peace?

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America.

If you would like to participate: Every evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central) (7:00 PM Mountain) (6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a return to a Godly nation. If you know others who would like to participate, please pass this along. Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.

Please forward this to your praying friends.
You don’t have to sign on, or sign up – just pray, and ask your friends to join you in prayer.

After all, the bible says in Matthew 18:20- “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”Also, in 1 Timothy 2:8- “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.”And Mark 11:24- “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

Our nation does need our prayers despite whatever political beliefs you may hold and praying for our troops, specifically, has and will always be near and dear to my heart. If you’re in Alaska with me that’s 5 PM sharp! I hope you can make it. Set an alarm on your phone so you’ll remember. It’s too easy! I’m not sure if I’ve ever posted this song before but it was on my heart today so I wanted to pass it along.