The Tongue

Proverbs 10:19 says Where words are many, sin is not absent; but he who is wise holds his tongue. This is a mistake that many people make. Often we have problem we need to solve and we run and tell everyone we see. We go to friends with "prayer requests" about others- in reality we are gossiping. When we are going through something in our lives that is too much for us to bear alone, we need to have a righteous friend or two to help steer us back on the road to God. That is appropriate and the way that the Church was meant to be.

Life

So the tone of this blog will be changing. I will be using this as a way to share what God has done for me in my past. My goal is to turn the postings into a book eventually. I will be giving verses and expressing my memory of the past year in my life as a way to encourage others. I have had quite a year. God has truly blessed me through trial. I hope that in the months to come people are encouraged. This is something that God has called me to do. So to truly be Living Out Obedience I need to do this to honor God.

It's Been Awhile

I know it has been sometime since I have posted anything. Things were crazy around here. This has been a time of growth and learning in our home. God allowed a hurricane to come to our family. But the God that He is- Praise Him!- brought us through the other side even stronger.

I saw prayer answered more specifically than I have ever seen it. In the midst of this strong storm, where my family was so close to crumbling, I had wonderful help and counsel that was wise to draw me closer to God. The people I kept close were those who kept me faithful, who kept me focused on Christ.

In all of this I was reminded of Peter's experience walking on water with Jesus. Jesus came close and called him out of the boat. Everything was fine, when his eyes were on Jesus. The second he took his eyes off of Jesus, he sank. That was true in this circumstance as well as everyday. When the waters are raging around us, the only thing we can do is keep our eyes on the creator of the storm. He holds us in his hands and keeps us so close. James 4:8 says draw close to the Lord and He will draw near to you. That is so true and it became very real to me.

Another interuption

So I know it has been some time again. We have had so much happening. My uncle passed of prostate cancer and I had to spend time with my family.
God seems to call me often to speak truth to people. To point out ways that they are not following His word. This is such a challenge to me- who is SO not perfect. I feel so judging even though it is not my judgement or words. This, I believe, is God's way of making sure I will follow Him even though it is not comfortable.

The big issue that I see lately is the disconnect between the church in America today and the bible. Our view of Jesus has changed from who he was. We water it down, make him "Buddy Jesus" and allow ourselves to justify our deviations from his word. I am not saying that we won't mess up, but we excuse our sin and justify that we are human in an attempt to make ourselves feel better for living in a worldly way. We, as Christians, need to be living differently. Not just avoiding drunkenness, sexual frivolousness, or drug use and cussing, but all things that are worldly. Our purchases- cars, clothes, homes, we spend money the way the world says we should. God doesn't want you to just tithe. If He has blessed you with income, we need to give until it hurts. Explain your multiple homes to a sister in Asia who cannot even worship without threat of losing their life, their job, etc. Being a follower should not be comfortable. We should give until it hurts.

Divorce in the church is the same rate as out of the church. That is a staggering fact that is sad. We in the church, who know the truth of God, excuse our choices by our comfort and our own dissatisfaction in life. I am not saying that if you have already divorced that you cannot be covered in grace, but you must truly repent to be covered. We cannot sin and live in sin and say, it's OK I will be covered by Grace. That is abuse. Romans 6:1-23 talks against this very thing. Now I myself struggle with choosing God over myself. I have to die everyday to my will. Sometimes I die with a gracious love and sometimes I die struggling the whole time.

Television is another area that we tend to fit in with the world. Think about the tv shows or movies that you watch. Are they pleasing to God? Are they raunchy? Are they bloody or gory? Are they something that you could invite Jesus over to watch with you? If you did- would he stay?? The term garbage in and garbage out fits here.

These are SOME of the areas that many Christians today seem to be missing. We need to take a long hard look. When Jesus invited people to follow him he didn't make it easy. He told them to not say goodbye to their families, not to go to their fathers' funerals, to sell EVERYTHING and give it to the poor. He didn't water things down to get people to follow him. He made following him HARD. He made it hurt, he twisted people's brains in an effort to get only hardcore lovers
of Christ in his "church".

Take a look at the things in your life. Is there an area God is calling you to dump? It may be hard. It may be "too much". That will be the determining factor in whether you choose him or the world. What Jesus are you following? The one who is in the bible? Or the one who looks like you???

Backseat Driver

So I know that I am a control freak. Shocker of the century I know, but it's true. It is the area that I have the biggest issue that I have in my walk with God. I have doubt when I don't see two feet in front of me let alone a mile. I tend to question everything, which is good in somethings, but not when it comes to trusting God.

My whole walk with God, I have sat there and told Him when to turn, when to stop, when to put the blinker on, how to do every move that is being made. The funny thing is I am not that bad when an actual passenger- as long as I am in the front seat!!! But in my spiritual life I cannot seem to sit back and allow God to take control.

There are times when I pray that God will give me an answer, if I don't think it is the answer that I thought it should be, I will be rifled with stress. I know that is not God's intent, but it is my sinful desire to control every part of my life. Jesus said, he who give his life will live- that is the hardest part of the walk with Christ, daily dying. Sometimes that dying is harder than other times. Sometimes it means persecution, other times it means waiting on God's timing. God's timing is much slower than mine. Where I live people call slowness "working on White Mountain time". I am convinced that God is working on White Mountain time!!!

This morning I couldn't see how God was working in my life. I was beginning to doubt that what I thought he had brought us here for was not happening. I doubted my own belief in God's direction. However, I spent the last couple days praying- not even remotely about what the answer was, but I prayed. The answer was surprising- it was an answer to a prayer that I had prayed months ago. I am learning that my time is not God's. I am learning to sit back and enjoy the ride. But boy those bumps can hurt!

Words that Hurt

Psalm 19:14 says "May the words of mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, Oh Lord my Rock, my Redeemer,"(NIV version). We are so careful, most of the times with the words of our mouths. We watch our words most days, and maybe not as much other days! And are careful not to hurt others with our mouths or to make Christ look bad because of our language. This may be less true the closer we are to people, and worst of all to ourselves.

That brings me to my point. We might watch our words, but do we watch the meditations of our heart? Maybe we are careful not to say the words that hurt, but do we allow our minds to sit there and think them? Especially when the negative and hurtful words are about ourselves.

I know, myself as a woman, tend to think so negatively about myself. I compare myself to others and rarely do I stack up. If I make a mistake I am the first to condemn myself. But condemnation is not from God. Condemnation is not a place God wants us to be. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, the scriptures say, so we must give thanks to God for every situation. If we are falling short of the mark, we must be quick to repent and forgive ourselves. If the negative talk is about a physical characteristic, we have to remember that God designed us before we were born and He knew what He wanted us to be, we have to be thankful for every gift we have.

If our meditations take us to think negatively on someone else we have to remember that we are to love our neighbor. That each person who wrongs us, (truly wrongs us or imagined wrongs) is a creation of God and someone who God loves. We don't know what God is doing in their lives.

The key is to replace the negative meditations with positive ones. We have to get rid of the negative track playing in our mind and fix our thoughts on the positive things. If we are angered, pray for peace and the person who wronged you. This is a difficult sin to overcome, but I pray that the meditations of your mind are pleasing to God!

The Only One We Need To Impress....God

So I have really had a rough couple of weeks emotionally. I have struggled so much with what others are thinking about me. It just seems like every time I turn around there is another person weighing in their two cents about my life- my clothes, my house, my manners, my hair, whatever. It started to really weigh me down.

It got to the point at one time I started to forget who I am. I am a child of GOD!!!! I am a uniquely and wonderfully made daughter of the king. There are days that I don't feel that way. There are days that I feel like the chamber maid of the King (for those of you who are not into history the chamber maid was the one who used to get the chamber pot -otherwise known as the pee pee pot- in the morning from the bedrooms pre-plumbing. They were the ones who had to go and dump out the morning's urine. )

I often forget that I am a vessel that was created for noble use and that looks different on me that it does on everyone else. It doesn't make me worse or better- just different. And ask Arby's, "Different is good!". I know that I have things that I need to work on about myself, but so does everyone living on this Earth. The thing that I have to remember, that we all have to remember, is that we won't be perfected until Christ returns or we are caught up into Heaven.

The difficult thing is that others seem to expect perfection from us. I know they seem to expect it from me. They can be cruel when perfection is not met. Sometimes the people who are supposed to love and accept you the most are the ones who are the most critical of you. They, quite frankly, do not matter. Not in the scheme of reality. I mean they are important and we have to love them, but it is not their opinion that is important. It is God's. When we fall short, when we don't do things the way that they would want us to, it doesn't really matter as long as we are doing things the way God wants us to.

Each of us is made uniquely. We are all rough around the edges, it is through our trials that we get refined. As we grow and are challenged, we become more like Christ. That is not an overnight process. That is not an instantaneous thing. We slowly mold into "little Christs" or "Christians" (little Christ is what Christian means). When someone picks at a personality flaw, sometimes it is a character defect that God is working on. We can take that and pray about it and allow God to create in us a more refined person. Sometimes that is just a part of our personality that God has made us to be. Just because someone else is annoyed by your shyness, your outgoing personality, your sense of humor or lack there of, doesn't make it wrong or a bad thing. Their dislike is their issue. Who are they to question the way God has made you?

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, your works are wonderful and I know that full well. Psalm 139:14. We are created just the way God wants us to be. That is what matters. He designed each of us perfectly. And when you are going about your day and someone criticizes you, ask yourself- "Is what I am doing pleasing to God?" If the answer is no- take steps to correct the action. If the answer is yes- then forget what they think and care what God thinks.