Social Media is NOT Your Battlefield

We recently had an acquaintance who was let go from her job.  I knew her to be a nice lady and a Christian, but I was shocked when she immediately took to Facebook to air all her grievances about her former employer and how unfairly she felt she had been treated.

This opened up the flood gates of comments from her "friends" about how terrible the facility was, how she should sue, bashing other people who worked at the facility, and the list goes on and on.  To make things worse, she participated in the comments and the bashing.  Now don't get me wrong, this might have hurt the facility's image just a little bit, but it more than anything hurt her Christian image and how I now viewed her Christian walk.

I'm not trying to bash my friend, I understand that she was upset and wanted to vent, but social media cannot be your battlefield and should never be the first place you go when upset.  When you find yourself in a situation where you feel wronged, or hurt, go to the Master.  Tell Him, not social media, about your problems and how you feel and let Him work it all out.

Your "friends" will immediately give you advice, tell you how sorry they are, and take your side - but none of them will actually come to your aid.  Not a single person who was commenting on her post was going to march to that facility and get her job back, BUT God could open a window to a new situation for her, a better situation.  Exodus 14:14 tells us that God will fight for us but that we have to be still and allow Him to work.  If you ask, God will even send his angels to fight for you (Psalm 91:11). 

So the next time you feel wronged or are just having a really terrible day, go to the Father and tell Him all about it.  Pray to Him to help you, not your "friends".  I've learned from experience that usually when a door slams shut in your face, He's waiting to open another one, we just need to ask.

God Bless the USA

As we approach this holiday celebrating the foundation of our Nation, I encourage you to pray for our country. You don't have to agree with everything that goes on and it doesn't have to be political, it only has to be human. Pray to our Lord for guidance for our leaders.  Pray for those who live in our country without homes, without jobs, without health care.  Pray for the plight that drugs have caused in our country and that those who suffer from addiction of any sort will come to know the Father that can make them whole. Pray that we learn as a country to love our fellow man. Pray that those who do not know the love, care, mercy, and grace of our mighty Lord and Savior will come to have a personal relationship with Him. May God bless and protect the United States of America

Master Teacher

I am so thankful today that I have a God who forgives me when I fail. We all want the be the A+ student in the school of life but there are times when we find ourselves failing the assignments the Lord gives us. However, like the master teacher that He is, God allows us to have do-overs, to have retakes, to correct our mistakes. And for that I am most grateful because even though I try to live like I'm suppose to I know that I fail - I make mistakes, I sin - but I have a God who is bigger than all of that.

If you find yourself not doing as well on the test of life, then turn to the Master and ask Him to show you the way. Pray for His help and guidance. Pray for Him to show you areas of your life that you are failing. Then trust that He will help you correct those things and guide you down His path. There is no greater teacher in this crazy life than God, and for that, I'm so thankful.

Take Courage

Tonight if you find yourself wondering what to do or where life is going to take you next, take courage that the Lord is working behind the scenes for you!  He knows you are worried /anxious/uncertain/afraid.  He knows you are questioning if you are enough, if you can do it. He knows you are judging your options and trying to make the right decisions. Take courage - God is for you, who or what can be against you.

He knew your yesterday and He knows your tomorrow. He knows your worry is a burden you were never intended to carry. Take courage that the Lord is walking with you on this journey. He's got you. Take courage, PRAY, and rest in the knowledge that the Lord knows exactly what is right for you and exactly when is the right time to make it happen!

God's Flashlight

Today while playing a game with our oldest daughter, she cheated. We were playing Clue and at some point she looked at the cards while my husband and I were out of the room. I mean there was no other way she could have known that it was Mrs. Peacock in the kitchen with the knife. I know because my husband and I realized we didn't have enough players to really make the game work. When talking to her about why she had done it, it wasn't so much about winning the game (she and I were playing on the same side), for her it was just curiosity of what the future held, what the outcome of the game was going to be.

That got me to thinking...don't we do that with God?  How often have we wanted to take a peak at the hand God has dealt us, just out of curiosity, just out of wondering what the future game of our life will be like. The interesting thing about God is that when he deals, he doesn't give us our whole hand at one time. God, in his infinite wisdom, knows that in the grand scheme of things we probably couldn't handle it all - the good and the bad - so he just gives us little glimpses every now and again.

My Pastor's sweet wife, Sheree, once told me that God gives a flashlight and allows us to shine it around and we see bits and pieces of his plan but never the whole picture at one time. He never illuminates the whole room that is our life in one go. Maybe it's to protect us, maybe it's to give us the time to rely on him, maybe it's because he knows we couldn't handle all of the marvelous things he has in store for us. Whatever it may be, I think Sheree was right - God only gives us a small flashlight so that we have to keep coming back to him to see in the dark. She was a pretty smart woman and God is a great God.

So tonight, if you are wondering what God has in store for you or what is next down the road. Relax and rest in the knowledge that God has it and he has you and when you are ready, he'll give you the flashlight.

Revealing Your Works

As I was scrolling through social media, I saw a post where someone was talking about all the things they had done for others and how through those actions they had shown God's love.  At first, my reaction was "oh that is great", but then the longer the post went on the more it became about them and the less it became about God. 

Proverbs 27:2 encourages us to let others sing our praises and not ourselves.  It is easy to want others to know what we have done and the accomplishments we have made.  We fear if we don't tell people, then they won't know.  The problem with that is that it can very quickly turn from how God has allowed us to do all these wonderful things that will glorify Him, to glorifying ourselves and our actions. 

Now, don't get me wrong, praise isn't discouraged in the Bible, but self-made praise is.  You have to be careful not to brag or boast.  God desires us to have a humble heart and attitude.  He wants us to give Him the glory and to remind others that we cannot do things without Him.  SO the next time you are tempted to let others know about all your good deeds, hold tight - the Lord will reveal your works for His glory, in His time, and will reward you for how you advance the Kingdom.

God Is Bigger

Life is hard, but remember you serve an awesome GOD!  He can make mountains move with the whisper of His voice.  He can calm the storm with a wave.  He will be with you on the best of days and hold you on your worst. 

If you are standing on the mountain tops enjoying the beautiful view, give thanks to the One who created it.  If you are in the valley, remember that you won't be there forever.  Even now, the Lord is working behind the scenes to lead you out and take you back up to the mountain tops.  While you are on the journey back up, thank Him for guiding you. 

Remember, life is hard, but the God we serve is bigger than anything we will ever face!

Little Whispers

Sometimes in life we have to make decisions.  Sometimes they are easy things like "what are we going to eat for dinner?", though if you ask my husband he will tell you that sometimes this is the hardest decision to make.  Sometimes they are major life questions like should I move or should I take this job.  For years I have asked myself both the easy and hard questions and often times when asking the advice of others they say, "just pray."

While I am a firm believer that you should go to pray for all decisions (OK maybe not the what am I having for dinner decision), I also know that sometimes things happen so fast or need to happen so fast that you can't spend days or weeks or months in prayer.  Sometimes you have to make immediate decisions and your prayer has to be quick.

But there is another aspect that I think God gives us in the middle of quick decisions and that is the feeling - the feeling of the Holy Spirit.  God knows.  God knows that at times you can't pray as much or as long as you would like but He knows you want his guidance and you want to do what is in His will.  I think it is times like this that God allows the Holy Spirit to nudge us in the direction that God was going to send us anyway.

This happened today - to me.  I needed to make a decision on something pretty quickly.  It would be something that would in many ways change my whole world.  It would affect me, my family, my friendships.  I needed to make a decision but it had to be quick, so praying for days or weeks on it wasn't an option for me.  Sure, I prayed on my way to work and I prayed while I was preparing for my day, but I still hadn't heard the Lord in his booming voice say, "Heather, this is what you should do"  (I'm not even sure that's what God really sounds like).

But then I started thinking about why I wanted to make this decision - was I doing it for the right reasons; was it really worth it?  Then I had a conversation with someone about the decision I needed to make and while in that room, I felt peace.  I knew before I walked out of there what my decision was going to be.  In fact, if I'm honest with myself, I knew what my decision was going to be before I even walked in the room.  It was there, just a little whisper, just a little nudge.

Sometimes God doesn't answer with a big booming voice from the Heavens, sometimes He sends the Holy Spirit to place His hand on your shoulder and say "I've got you".  So the next time you need to make a decision or need God to answer a prayer, don't just listen for the big boom, listen for the little whispers too.

5 Minutes With God

It is easy in our day to day life to get weighed down with all there is to do.  On any given day I find I am running around putting out fires at work and then fires at home.  My mind is always moving to what needs to get done next, how many piles of laundry I have, the dishes that never seem to end, what we are going to eat for dinner, homework for the girls, and my list goes on and on.  Everyday life bogs us down and as much as we may want to spend hours in God’s word, if we are honest with ourselves, it rarely happens.  And often the time we spend with Him is disrupted with thoughts still yet of what we need to get done and what won’t. 

If I’m being honest, I would love to be able to spend hours studying the Word, reading devotionals, working on the blog - that's where my heart's desire is at the moment.  But that isn’t how my life tends to go.  Things have been so busy in my life that I cannot devote the time to the things I want to - trying to get blog posts up lately because of work and the girls has been a trial in frustration for example - but yet I persist.  

That is the great thing about God though, no matter what, it isn’t the quantity but the quality of time we spend with Him.  He knows we lead busy lives because He is with us during the busiest of times, but He still desires for us to make time for him.  If you only have five minutes to spare, then spend that time with God and make it worthwhile.  During that five minutes you have devote that time completely to God – focus on thanking him for that time, meditate on a particular scripture, or spend that time in praise and worship.  Try not to think about what you need to get done but put your sole focus on God and His goodness to you.  Because it’s not about how much time you have but what you do with it. 

You and Him

Sometimes God asks us to do hard things.  Maybe it is leading a bible study, maybe it is getting up at a certain time of the day and spending it in the Word, maybe it is a job change for the Kingdom, maybe it is singing in the choir - often times God asks us to do things that make us feel uncomfortable.  For me it was head covering (but that's a topic for another post one day). The point is, what is hard for you may not be hard for me, and vice versa.

But no matter what, I guarantee that it gives you pause, it makes you think, and sometimes it probably makes you fear.  What if I'm not good enough?  Surely someone can do this better?  What if I don't have time to commit to that?  What will people say about me?  Will I look weird?  Who's going to judge me?

No matter what the Lord is calling you to do today - no matter what you think people will say or think or believe - just do it!  I have heard it over and over that the Lord does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.  The Lord has called you to do something to uplift the Kingdom, something He is going to get the glory for in the end.  Don't worry about what others think because in the end it isn't about you and them, it's about you and Him.

The Things That Are

I love when I open up my Facebook account and there is a TobyMac #speaklife image in my feed.  They are always so encouraging and usually I end up sharing them.  The one from the other day really struck me.  It said, "letting go doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be."  This struck me and I immediately had to share it but also write it down.

Sometimes in life we have to let things go - a relationship that is toxic to us, anger from being hurt, a dream we having been dreaming for a while - there are so many things in our lives that we hold on to and we usually believe that we cannot live without those things.  There is also the inevitable lingering in the back of our minds that if we let go of them then we have somehow failed, we've given up on the dream or we've given up someone.

Perhaps a better outlook is not that we are failures or not that we have given up but that God is maybe protecting us.  Maybe God knows that your relationship will never work because he has someone better picked out for you.  Maybe God knows you need to let go of your resentment towards the person that hurt you because that bitterness is affecting your relationship with him.  Maybe that dream wasn't right for you, maybe God has another dream he wants to plant inside you so that he will get the glory when it comes to pass.  Maybe you won't get that promotion because God is protecting you from missing out on time with your family. Remember that in Jeremiah 29:11-13, God says he knows the plans he has for us and that they will prosper us, never harm us - they are to give us a future and hope.

We are so quick to think that when things don't happen we have failed or that it is the end of the world.  Maybe we need to remember that God wants us to "accept there are things that cannot be" because in the background he is working on the things that are.

Easter Series: Jesus and the Thief

Most people never think about the two sinners on each side of Jesus as he hung on the cross.  It’s understandable because our focus tends to be on Christ as he is enduring his last hours.  The two sinners represent those of us in the world – one who doesn’t believe and cannot except who Jesus is; the other willing to recognize that Jesus is the Messiah – sinless, perfect, and the only way into the Kingdom of Heaven.

We know nothing of the thief’s background – no name, no record of his crime, no age.  What we do know was that while he was hanging from his own cross, he recognized the divinity of Jesus.  He tells the other criminal, who has been taunting and mocking Jesus, that they deserve their punishment but that Jesus does not because he has committed no sin, Jesus has done nothing that he has been accused of. (Luke 23:41 NLT)

 The thief understood more about Jesus’ teachings than some of the disciples at the moment.  Here was Jesus in the midst of the ultimate suffering.  Jesus had been beaten, nailed to a cross, and was struggling to breath.  His lungs were filling with blood as he slowly suffocated.  It was one of the most gruesome forms of death at the time.  Jesus wasn’t worried about his own suffering, Jesus wasn’t worried about his own death.  He knew his place was with his Father, he knew where he was going.  But he was worried about the repent sinner hanging next to him.  Jesus was dying and yet he was concerned about the heart’s cry of a man he didn’t even know.  When the thief cried out “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42 NLT), there was no doubt for him what Jesus’ answer would be.  Jesus promised that the thief would join him. (Luke 23:43 NLT)  This act of forgiveness and pardoning of sins is often overlooked but here was Jesus dying and yet he is concerned about where this sinner would spend eternity.

One thief was going to die and spend eternity in Hell.  The other was going to die knowing that he would be with Jesus, that Jesus would not forsake him – what blessed assurance.  Today we have that same assurance if we profess our love and belief in Christ.  With his death on the cross and the tearing of the veil, Jesus opened a way for sinners like us to get to God.  We have only to repent and accept Jesus and we too can be like the thief and join Jesus in Heaven someday.

 

She Prayed...God Answered

The hush fell over the crowd as Jesus was raised on the cross.  Standing nearby was the woman who had spent 30 years of Jesus’ life raising him, caring for him, teaching him, loving him – his mother, Mary.  She wasn’t alone, as she stood with her sister Mary and Mary Magdalene.  The disciple whom Jesus loved, who we believe to be John, stood with them as well.   (John 19:25 NLT)  But I imagine even surrounded by people she must have felt utterly alone.  She had to stand by and watch as her son was spit upon and cursed.  Her son who had committed no sin. Her child, her firstborn, her miracle from God was going to die and there was nothing she could do about it.  There can be no greater suffering than for a mother to watch her child in pain and know there is nothing she can do about it.  To make matters worse, Mary must have known that this was part of God’s plan from the beginning. 

Mary and Jesus spent more years of his life together than Jesus did with his disciples.  We know very little about Jesus’ early life, except for a few small scenes in his early childhood.  What we do know was that as a young fourteen year old girl, Mary trusted God enough to carry his son, to birth him and to raise him.  I imagine at some point in the thirty years that Mary and Jesus were together that they might have had a conversation about his death.  I often imagine that Mary knew what was going to come and how her son was going to suffer.  Did she watch her son everyday wondering when this day would come? Did she pray for God to change His mind? She trusted God enough to carry His son, now she had to trust Him to take her son from her.

She could have left.  There was nothing that required her to stay at the cross and watch Jesus die.  She could have said her goodbyes and gone so she didn’t have to watch the tragedy unfold.  But she stayed.  Mary stayed because she loved her son.  She couldn’t walk away from him anymore than I could walk away from my children in their suffering.

I’m sure Jesus knew what difficulty it was for his mother to watch him.  And we know that he was concerned for her because we are told in John 19:26-27 that Jesus told Mary that John was now her son and told John that Mary was now his mother.  Even as he was hanging from the cross, he was honoring the woman who had birthed him and raised him.  A scene of tenderness at a time of great sorrow.

So here Mary was, watching her child take his last breaths and commit himself to God’s plan.  I have to believe that even when that was happening that Mary trusted God.  How could she not?  She had seen his works, she had talked to his angels, and she had carried his son.  Every day for thirty years she had witnessed a miracle.  

She had thirty years’ worth of memories – smiles, hugs, kisses, laughter, prayers – thirty years to carry her through his loss and the rest of her life.  I have to believe that as Mary watched, she prayed for strength, for peace and for Jesus’ suffering to be over quickly. She prayed – and God answered.

Mary trusted God and honored God with her obedience, and for that he heard her prayers and answered them just as he hears the prayers of the righteous man. (Proverbs 15:29 NLT)  That’s why when we pray for strength in difficult situations and trials, He hears us and He answers.

Easter Series: Thirty Pieces of Silver

Judas Iscariot.  His name is often used in association with betrayal or treason. Probably one of, if not the, most hated men in the Bible. Oh he didn’t start out that way.  Judas was one of the Twelve.  One of Jesus’ most devoted followers and the treasurer for the group.  But Judas, like many of us, had a sin problem.  He was easily tempted by Satan and it led not only to his downfall but to that of Jesus as well.  

Throughout His ministry, Jesus had mentioned that someone was going to betray Him.  No one knew who it was going to be or even why Jesus was talking about it.  According to historical scholars, that betrayal probably took place on the Tuesday night before Easter.  

Luke 22 tells us that the priests had been plotting for a while as to how to get rid of Jesus – how to kill him.  Then they are given the opportunity that they had been looking for.  According to Scripture, Satan entered Judas and he goes to the chief priest, Caiaphas, to make the deal.  Oh how they must have been overjoyed that Judas was willing to betray Jesus.  Caiaphas and the other leaders had been plotting to kill Christ and here was Judas offering him up like the sacrificial lamb and all for thirty pieces of silver.  Thirty pieces of silver that in today’s currency would only be about $25.  Jesus will be betrayed and Judas will sell his soul to the devil for less money than the price of a tank of gas today.

In John 13, Jesus and the disciples have shared the Last Supper and Jesus has performed the foot washing, Jesus’ act of divine love.  The Savior puts on a towel and instead of being waited on, He himself attends to the disciples.  He cleans their feet.  Can you imagine?  I don’t know many people who would be willing to wash someone’s dirty feet – but Jesus does it – as a way to show the disciples how to care for the people.  And now Jesus tells them that one of them will betray him this very night.   I can imagine the murmurs that went through the disciples.  Peter must have been dying to know who it would be.  He makes a request of John to ask Jesus but Jesus just replies that it will be the one He gives bread to.  He gives the bread to Judas.  As if that isn’t heartbreaking enough, Jesus then tells him to go and do what he needs to quickly.  

Jesus could have told the disciples that Judas was his betrayer.  He could have called for guards to take Judas away before the transaction and plan could take place.  But He doesn’t.  Jesus lets Judas leave knowing what is coming.  Knowing that in just a few days’ time He will die.  Jesus must have felt such anguish at the betrayal of one that He loved.

And that’s just it.  Jesus loved Judas, just as He loved Peter and the other disciples, just as He loves us.  Jesus loved the man who was going to sell him out for thirty pieces of silver.  I imagine that the anguish Jesus felt at Judas and yet He still loved him is how God must feel every time we sin.  Every time we sell our self out to sin.  The anguish that God must feel knowing we have turned to the ways of the world or broken His commandments and yet just like Jesus with Judas, God loves us anyway.  He forgives us and yet He knows that the chance we may commit another sin is great.  Our own thirty pieces of silver.