It's Not What You Say, It's What You Do

Things are pretty hectic around here, but I wanted to give you a little thought for the day. This morning I read this verse from I John 3:18:

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Think about how much truth is in that little verse. Sure it's nice to say, "I love you" to someone. But we prove that love by our actions.
We prove our love for God by our actions as well. Jesus said it this way in John 14:15:

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

So the question is, are you showing the truth of your words. Are you living a life that shows your love for Christ? Or does your love stop with the words that come out of your mouth?

Keep Your Eyes Open - Wisdom in the Walk

You Have to See the Prize

Philippians 3:13-15
"13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."

Today's post will conclude this series about wisdom in the walk, and I honestly think it's probably the most important point in the series. You must see the prize that is before you.
And what is that prize? Philippians 3:14 says the prize is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And what is this high calling?
Is it to be great at your job? I doubt it, otherwise, why would Jesus have called Peter and other disciples away from their fishing boats. Is it to be wealthy? No, otherwise, why would Jesus have told the rich young ruler to sell all that he owned to follow him? Is it to be the picture of health? No, otherwise why would Paul have suffered with a thorn in the flesh.
Now that's not to say that we should all quit our jobs, sell everything we own and let ourselves become unhealthy slobs. I think Jesus was just trying to show these people and us, that the things in THIS world aren't the MOST important things.
Think about it, several times when things got hard, Peter ran back to the fishing boat. Jesus wanted Peter to realize that even when Peter didn't understand what was going on around him, that God was still in control. Eventually Peter learned this lesson. Eventually he learned that working for Christ was much more important. And because he learned that lesson, God used him greatly on the day of Pentecost.
We all know that the rich young ruler chose his wealth over Christ. His money was more important to him than his eternal soul. He had such a tight grip on the things in this world that he couldn't see the treasures he could gain in the next.
Paul prayed three times that God would remove his thorn in the flesh, but he had to learn that God's grace was sufficient. Even if Paul didn't understand why he had to suffer, he had to learn that God was with him. Paul used his sufferings to show others that God was faithful to those who trusted in Him.
So if the things of this world aren't the prize, what is this high calling? The high calling is to become perfect, or mature in Christ. To be a true Christian. To be Jesus to the world.
Paul said in Philippians 3:13 that he had not yet reached that goal, but he did say that he was constantly pressing toward it. It was constantly in his sights like the finish line at the end of the race. He vowed to never stop working toward that prize.
We should make that same vow. We should remember that the high calling for each of us is to be Christ-like, to be holy. Then we should strive to be more spiritually mature every single day. If we keep our eyes on that prize, we will not miss it. And when we come to the final end of the race, we will hear the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Keep Your Eyes Open - Wisdom in the Walk

You Must See The Purpose

I started this series the other day by talking about how we must see the path. We must also see the purpose that Christ has for each of our lives. The main purpose that each Christian has is found in Matthew 28:19-20:

"19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

Our purpose is to go into all the world and tell them about the good news we have been given. It is our job to make sure that those around us see the light of God's love.
Now we may all do that in different ways. Some sing, some teach, some preach, some send cards, some write, some share a smile with a stranger. We all have different talents. But we are all working toward the same goal.
Oil and eggs don't work the same way, but when they are put together with a cake mix, they serve the same purpose, they both work to make the cake. So, just because you may not have the same gifts as the person you sit beside at church, that doesn't mean that God doesn't want you to work for His purpose. He wants you to use the gifts He gave YOU! Paul talks about this in Ephesians 4:11-12:

"11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"

The point is, that no matter what your gift is, you can be used. You are important to the body of Christ and key to helping that body grow! So don't sit back and think that someone else can do your work for you. See the purpose God has given you, and get busy fulfilling that purpose!

Keep Your Eyes Open - Wisdom in the Walk

You Have to See the Path

This past Sunday, I taught the ladies at my church about wisdom in the walk. This is something that God put on my mind last Sunday night. I was reading this verse in Ephesians 5:15:

"See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,"

Walk circumspectly? I pondered what that meant for a while. It means to always be on the lookout. Never let your guard down. Don't walk around in la-la land, totally oblivious to the things going on around you!
And why shouldn't we do that? Because we have an enemy out there who wants to destroy us! I Peter 5:8 puts it this way:

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

The devil wants to devour us. He doesn't want us to be successful Christians. He wants to see each and everyone of us fall. So he puts potholes all along the path of life in order to trip us up.
A few years back my sister and brother-in-law bought a bassett hound named Copper. He's a pretty sweet dog, but when he was just a pup, he liked to dig holes. Not deep holes, holes just deep enought to trip you up.
The problem is that when he was in his hole digging stage he lived at my house. There is one hole that I've almost broken my ankle in about 900 times. The problem is that the hole is just out of the reach of the porchlight. If I could see the hole, I wouldn't trip in it at night.
The thing is that I keep tripping in the SAME hole. I know it's there, but in the darkness, I can never judge exactly where it is. Satan works in our lives the same way. He KNOWS our weaknesses, and he tries to use them to bring us down. The only way we can avoid those potholes he puts in our paths is to shine the light on them.
That light is God's Word. Psalm 119:105 says this:

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

God's Word is a light for our way. When we use God's Word to light our path, we see the potholes Satan has put in our way BEFORE we trip in them. If we are staying in God's Word, we will know temptation when we see it, and we will avoid it with the wisdom we have gained from God's Word.
So use wisdom in your walk and keep the light on the path!

Break Those Chains - Freedom in the Walk

Freedom in Praise

22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. 29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

This has always been one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Just thinking about Paul and Silas praying and singing at midnight amazes me. I'm sure the other prisoners thought they were crazy. I'm sure that some probably cursed at them and told them to shut-up.
But I'm sure those other prisoners were silenced when their own chains fell to the floor because of Paul and Silas' praise.
See, praise is freeing. And it not only frees us, it opens up the hearts of those around us to embrace that same freedom. Had Paul and Silas sat silently, the Philippian jailor may never have accepted Christ's freedom.
But the jailor saw the power that Paul and Silas had. He saw the peace they had. He saw the freedom they had despite the chains that bound them. And he wanted that freedom.
We are going to face prisons of suffering in our life. We are going to have circumstances that we have no power to escape. The question is, how are we going to face those circumstances.
Are we going to face them in anger and bitterness, or are we going to face them with praise? Paul and Silas showed us that facing problems with praise brings awesome results. Freeing results.
So the next time you are locked in the chains of sorrow, praise God anyway. You might be amazed at how your life is rearranged!

Break Those Chains - Freedom in the Walk

Freedom in Truth

When my brother and I were little, we hated chewable Tylenol (aka edible chalk for children.) I mean HATED. To the point that we began to hide the Tylenol under our tongues and then find a convenient spot to get rid of them because there was no way we were chewing those nasty things.
Me, I was smart enough to spit mine into a trashcan or something. Not Ben. He hid his behind his dresser, which I guess would have been okay had mom intended to leave our furniture in the same place for all of eternity. That however, has never been my mom's style. She can't stand to keep furniture in the same place for long.
So the day came that she got bored with the way our room was set up. And she moved the dresser, and there behind it was a small pile of chewable Tylenol. She was like no wonder you weren't getting any better.
Now, we got into trouble of course for wasting the Tylenol and lying to mom about taking them. But once the truth was out, we were set free. She started giving us half of a regular Tylenol from that point on. All you had to do was take a tiny swig of water and swallow it. No more chalk-like pills for us.
As I've grown, I realize that at times, part of that little pill-hiding child is still in me. I still want to cover the bad things I do at times. I still want to act like everything is fine. But finally I realize that things are so much easier when I'm honest.
The truth sets me free. If I'm honest with God about the wrong things I've done, He says He will forgive me (I John 1:9). And that is a promise I can rest in as truth.
You see, Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the truth. And in John 8:32 He says:

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Knowing Christ leads me to a different life. A life set apart from the world. A life that uses God's Word as a standard. A life of freedom.
A life of freedom found in God's truth. A life that is free indeed. (John 8:36)
You too can rest in that freedom. Break those chains by trusting in God's truth today.

Break Those Chains - Freedom in the Walk

Freedom in Obedience
As promised, I'm going to give an update today on my Sunday School lesson from yesterday. Things went really well. God calmed my nerves, and I was able to get across the message He gave me with His help. And the ladies actually asked me to teach again next Sunday, they are real gluttons for punishment!
So anyway, onto the lesson for today. I'm actually going to break this down into several posts called Freedom in the Walk. Today I'm going to talke about freedom in obedience.
Now we all know that when we ask Jesus into our hearts, we are set free. Free from the life of sin that once had us bound. Free from our old master Satan who controlled our lives.
Once Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed. (John 8:36) We no longer have to live a life that is bound.
However, many times we bind ourselves to the consequences of our disobedience. When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden he informed them that if they disobeyed him, they would face the consequence of death. Spiritual death. Seperation from God.
We all still pay the consequences of Adam and Eve's disobedience today. We are all born spiritually dead. Our only hope for salvation is through Christ.
Now you would think that Adam and Eve's ancestors would have learned from Adam and Eve's mistakes, but they continued to go against God's standards. And they continued to pay the consequences.
And sometimes those consequences were very hard to face. Take Moses for instance. In the book of Deuteronomy, God informed Moses that he would not be allowed to enter into the promised land. Moses had to face this punishment because he hadn't obeyed God when God told him to speak to the rock for water. Moses' anger at the children of Israel caused him to strike the rock instead. The children of Israel still received water that day, but God made Moses pay for his disobedience. He was never allowed to enter the land that he had told the children of Israel about.
Then there was David. He committed adultery and as a result, he had to face the consequence of seeing his son die. The son that had been conceived in that adulterous relationship.
God forgave both of these men. But they were still bound to the consequences of their own actions.
The point is that we are free, but that freedom isn't a liscense to do what we will when we want. If we use our freedom in that way, we are chaining ourselves to the consequences of our disobedience.
God loves us, and He will always forgive us (I John 1:9). But God's forgiveness can't erase the consequences of what we have done.
Some relationships might end in divorce because of adultery, though God has forgiven the adulterer. Some children may be born to young teens, though God has forgiven the young girl for having pre-marital sex. Our sins have consequences. And those consequences can bind us.
So freedom is found in obedience. An obedient life is never bound to the consequences of sin.

A Praise!

I don't have a lot of time to post today, but I had to share a praise with you guys this morning! Last night about midnight God gave me the lesson that He wants me to share with the ladies Sunday School class at my church this Sunday. I've been praying about this for the past week and a half, and I've been going back and forth with several things. But last night God gave me something totally awesome! I'm so excited about it! I'd share it here, but several ladies in the class stop by here, so I'll wait until Monday so that they can hear the lesson there first!! Just know that if you search God's Word, He will give you what you need!!

CWO - In Other Words

I long to worship Jesus with the heart of a child, in a state of pure and true adoration. Yet so many things of the world cloud my thoughts and pull on my heart until it’s no longer just a girl in the arms of the Father”

~ Darlene Schacht ~

“The Mom Complex”

When I saw the quote this week, I just had to participate. I've been studying about worship this week. Since I don't have children of my own, I'm probably going to hit this topic from a totally different angle.

I started to think about my own actions as a child. Worship flowed freely and easily. And not just for Jesus. I adored my mom and dad. I idolized my grandparents. I wanted to be just like my kindergarden teacher.

And like Darlene said, my motives were pure and true. However, my childlike adoration didn't mean as much as my grown up respect. Let me explain.

When I was a little girl I loved my parents because they were my parents and in my eyes they could do NO WRONG. I've since learned that my parents are human, but I've also learned that they DESERVE my admiration. They really are great parents.

I think it's the same way with God. Sure I would throw my hands up with glee and sing my little heart out when I was a child. And I miss the innocence of those days.

But life has happened. I've grown older. I've grown more mature. I've gained responsibilities. And as the Bible says, I've put away childish things.

Now that isn't to say that I've put away worship. Please don't think that I'd ever say that! It's just to say that when I worship now, I worship with a heart of true praise. I worship from the depths of a soul full of adoration for a God who I KNOW. A God who has seen me through the storms of life.

God says when we come to Him, we must come as a child. A child who asks no questions but just trusts. But the Word goes on to say that we must grow in the faith. And the occurences of life are things that help us grow.

We just need to make sure that the things of life don't pull us away from the MAKER of life. There are still times that I throw my arms in the air and sing to the top of my lungs in praise to the Lord. It's just that now I have so much more to praise Him for!

Build Your Altars - The Altar of Prayer

Have you ever had one of those mornings where everything seemed to be going fine. You got up at the first chime of the alarm clock. You prayed and fellowshipped with God. You showered in record time. Your hair just cooperated. The mascara wand didn't goop up. You were going to be EARLY to work. ON A MONDAY.
Yeah, that's the morning I had this morning. Well, until I was getting ready to walk out the door that is. When I went to find my keys, I couldn't find them anywhere. I always lay them right beside my purse. ALWAYS.
It just so happens that last night I had put my purse down on my nightstand beside the tissue box. And my keys were on top of the tissue box. WERE is the operative word here. Because this morning when I went to pick up my keys, they were NOT on top of the tissue box. An insane search began. I looked under my bed. I looked in my trashcan. I looked under my couch. I looked in my car. I LOOKED EVERYWHERE. Everywhere that is except for INSIDE the tissue box, UNDER all the tissues. Where my dear cat has so lovingly placed my keys for safekeeping. Wasn't that nice of him?
Now, I'm sure that you're wondering what all of that has to do with an altar of prayer. Well, I prayed when I first woke up this morning. But I prayed again when I realized that I had not A CLUE where my keys were. I prayed that God would help me to calm down and think clearly about where my keys were.
We have to have constant lines of communication open with God. During the calm moments and the hectic moments. Now, finding my keys may not be a huge deal to you. I probably wouldn't start a prayer chain about it or anything. But this morning it was very important to ME, and because it was important to me, it was important to God.
The point is that He wants us to cast ALL our cares upon Him. (I Peter 5:7) I've faced harder storms than missing keys in my life, but no matter what I have faced, God has been there with me. He loves me. And He wants me to share the troubles of my life with Him.
He also wants me to share the joys of life with Him. I'm very thankful that everything else went smoothly this morning. And God cares about that too.
There is no problem too small in my life for God to care about. And there is no problem too big in my life for God to handle.
I just have to have to keep that altar of prayer. I have to remember that there is always a place that I can go. ANYTIME. ANYWHERE. James 5:16b says it this way:

"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Our prayers DO matter to God. He does listen to our pleas. Our prayers avail much if we are living in God's right will.
So when you feel that you are all alone, go to that altar of prayer. You will find answers there that you never imagined. And hey, you never know when YOU might lose your keys!

God's Still in the Calling Buisness!

I don't know about you, but I totally think it's awesome when I hear about a young person doing something for God. Whether that thing be large or small! Today I heard about a guy named Michael who is doing something huge for God. He is moving to Latvia! That's right! He's going to pack up all his stuff and move over there to share God's love with these people as a missionary! Is that awesome or what?
I'm putting a link to his blog on my sidebar under the "Things to Pray For" section. Be sure to click over there regularly to see how things are coming along for this young missionary!
(By the way, he is Laurel's cousin!)

Share the Love Voting

Hey everybody! It's time to go place your final votes for the Share the Love Nominations. Shockingly enough Roller Coaster Ride was nominated for "Most Thought Provoking." Whoever nominated me, thanks so much. I truly didn't expect it!!

Anyway, I've voted, so GO VOTE! There are so many deserving women on this list! Let's Share the Love with them!