Stand up, don't get trampled!

So many times I see Christians take the attitude that they have to be doormats for everyone they meet because it's what Christ would do. Or so they think/say. That is NOT what Christ did. Christ stood up for himself and his beliefs. He wasn't rude. He didn't retaliate, but He did stand up for what's right.

And when he sent His disciples out to spread the Gospel He told them that if they met resistance in a town to leave the town, kick off the dust from the town off their sandals, and turn that town and it's people over to Satan and move on!

The other thing that I really love about Christ's earthly example is that He was always completely honest and didn't mince words (as my husband likes to phrase it). He was honest without thought to whether it was "PC", whether it would hurt someone's feelings, etc. The truth was what it was and He spoke the truth every day, everywhere He went to whoever He spoke with.

As a woman it's doubly hard to understand where that line is of when you speak up and when you should remain respectfully silent. I struggle with this a LOT. Although my husband will be the first to tell you that my biggest struggle is submission...submission to not only him but to God and society, etc.

However, the more I draw closer to God the more I feel the freedom and power and urging to stand up for what I believe in. To not remain silent and forgive and forget for the sake of my faith. I think then all you end up being is a doormat for society. I have been faced over the last few days with a barrage of situations where I had simply had enough. There were a few different people who had just crossed a line with me and I just wasn't going to stand silently any longer.

Although that led to an internal struggle within me. How do you react as a Christian woman when you feel like you've just reached your limit? With each person I went to God in prayer. Some of the prayers were more of my screaming in my head at God out of sheer anger at that person and situation. Other times I was just at a loss for how to deal with it. Then there were cycles of anxiety, worry, fear....you name it I felt it. I was on an emotional rollercoaster, but the one constant through it all was my communication line with the Lord. I went to Him when I was angry, scared, bitter, frustrated. I gave it over to Him and waited on Him to give me direction. In each instance it took more than 12-24 hours for me to feel His leading, but He did lead my heart.

In one of the instances I gave into Satan and followed the enemy's plan, but even then God was faithful to know my heart and my desire to follow His lead and He led me back to His straight path. In the second instance I remained silent for a long time and then briefly spoke my mind and His outcome came about. In the third instance I blatantly spoke my mind, made decisions, and there were and will be consequences accordingly, but it was something God led me to do and I have His peace with my response.

There will be situations for all of us more often than we'd like to think about where we will lose our way due to anger, frustration, fear, or any other emotion that we as human beings are created to have. However, if we will stop in the midst of the storm and honestly and continually bring our troubles and trials and thoughts to God He is faithful to stand by us and lead us through the storm. Sometimes He will remove the storm. Sometimes He will calm the storm. And sometimes He will simply walk us through the storm. But no matter what option He in His divine wisdom chooses it is better to go it God's way than our own way.

Living Extraordinary

What if I told you that you had the power to live an extraordinary life? I life filled with peace, prosperity, joy that transends circumstances, with blessings abounding. Would you be interested? It's within your reach and even more empowering than that is the fact that if you are a born again believer and have entered God's family then living an extraordinary life is your birth right! God is standing with arms extended offering it to you and all you have to do is stand up and claim it!

How does one go about claiming an extraordinary life? God asks one thing of you in return for a life above anything you could even think to ask for. He wants your obedience.

He promises that if you make Him first in your life then He will pour out his blessings among not only you, but among all those who are in your sphere of influence - family, friends, co-workers. But you have to be sincere. God could care less about your actions. It's your heart He's concerned with. Actions impress the world. You heart is what will cause God to move mountains to bless you.

Yes, I know. I can hear the responses already. "I try to read the Bible, but it just doesn't make sense to me." "I go to church every Sunday and I'm a good person. That's enough." "I say prayers every time I eat and when someone needs help I pray for them, but I just don't have time to sit down every day and do a Bible study. I'm too busy!"

Shall we tackle these responses one by one? For those that think the Bible is just too hard and can't possibly make any sense to them. Here's what God would like to tell you -

""The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." -1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV

In layman's terms - people without the Holy Spirit indwelling them cannot understand the Bible because they don't have the Holy Spirit to interpret it for them. They read the Bible and it sounds like foolishness to them. They can't understand it. So if you can't read the Bible and make sense of it I would urge you to do a spirit check and humble yourself before the Lord and really analyze whether you really have given your life over to God and allowed Him to come and live within you.

For those who think it's enough to go to church and just be a good person. I will use Christ's example so you don't think I'm just being harsh here. The saduccees and pharacees in Jesus' day were the men who were the priests and teachers of religious law. Essentially you can liken them to priests today. They were by all accounts the most moral and decent men in Jesus' day. They were "good people"....in fact, they were set apart because they were considered elite in how moral and upright they were. Taking their lifestyle into account Jesus informed them where they would be spending eternity.....in hell. And shall we not forget that murderer and thief that was hanging on the cross beside Jesus? For those that think we have to be a good person to earn our way into heaven and that "bad people" don't go to heaven....this man on the cross was by all accounts a horrible person. He was a thief and a murderer and had had a lifestyle of sin. However, he chose to believe in Christ as the Son of God and Christ's response to his "deathbed conversion"?

Luke 23:42-43 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

For those that like to spout of memorized prayers at meal time and send up a quick prayer-o-gram whenever they are in need or are thankful there is a term for that - lukewarm Christian. It's someone who, while they are a believer and do have faith, they couldn't be bothered to exercise that faith and make it the center of their life.

God's response to lukewarm believers can be found in Revelation 3:16 - "But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!"

God has a definite desire for His children. He desires them to be on fire for Him! To give Him their first and their best and He promises to bless them ten fold for everything they lay at His feet. If you are not seeing the fruit of the Spirit in your life, if you are living a life that can only be described as ordinary then you are missing out on the extraordinary life that God has waiting for you! He wants every part of your life to be on fire! He wants your marriage to be a marriage that makes you giddy every morning and sends you peacefully to sleep every night. He wants your children to bless you and uplift you. He longs to bless you financially! The Lord wants nothing but blessings for you, but He will not be second. You cannot and will not claim the blessings you have waiting for you if you put anything or anyone as Lord over your life.

Challenge yourself to live for God. God humbled himself, took on a human body, spent his life in service to others without thought to his own need, suffered, and died simply to have a relationship with you and so that you could have all the bounty He desires to give you. Put this God who loves you enough to die for you as Lord of your life (your actions, your words, your thoughts) and He will pour out treasures to you that He says you can't even imagine. He says that if we asked for the best thing we could think of it would pale in comparison to what He longs to give us! You can't out give God. Make Him Lord of your life today and see how your life can change overnight!

Submission is not for me....or so you think!

In an age of feminism, empowerment for women, and equal rights we have lost God's plan. It is the classic scenario of women trying to get for themselves by their own means what they deam the things they deserve and their "rightful place" in the world. They want to be their husband's equal in the home, the boss in the workplace, et cetera. They set up their marriages in this vain, sacrifice their homes and their families to be seen anad treated how they view as equal and when they reach they stop to look around they see children who have been lost to drugs, alcohol, or a variety of sinful things; a marriage that has either fallen by the wayside or is only a shadow of what it was intended to be; and themselves are tired, unfulfilled, and dissatisfied.

I have seen it time and time again. Women fight Godly submission like it was a thief trying to invade their home and steal their most valuable possessions. They say things like - "Submitting makes me a slave," "He has no right to tell me how I should do things! I'm his wife not his child." "I can do it better than he can so why should I listen to his way?" "I'm his equal. We should decide things together. He shouldn't hand out orders that the rest of us have to follow." Any of those statements or feelings sound familiar?

God never intended for us as women to be slaves to our husbands. However, he never intended us to be their equals either. Now, before I lose most of you please just bear with me. Any woman who strives to be her husband's equal will fail as will her marriage. I have never met a woman yet who tried to be her husband's equal who was successful and had a happy, healthy marriage. It doesn't work. Why? Because it's not how God set marriage up to work. Men and women were not created equal in the context of marriage. Women were created to be the man's "help meet". (Check out Genesis for the whole story!)

Men were created to need women and women were created to fill that need. And in truth, that's how any relationship works. There is always a dominant party. Even with children. If you see two children playing one will always submit to the other or else their play won't last very long before an argument breaks out. Marriage is no different. One party must submit to the other or else all you have is two people constantly rallying for the role of authority.

What God intended from the first marriage consecrated in the Garden of Eden was that the husband would be the authority and the wife would submit to his authority. Notice I did not say submit to him. That was never God's intention. Men are sinful. Sometimes they are even unsaved. That does not release the woman from her duty of submission. Because God's commandment to women was to submit to their husband's authority. Meaning you submit to your husband because of his role. You don't submit because he is the most Christian man you know, because he is a good father, because he is a good provider, even tempered, etc. You aren't let out of your duty to submit because he has a temper, is jealous, over-reacts, doesn't handle the kids well, etc. You submit because you are called to. Period. Your husband is not perfect, but my dear, neither are you. You will fail your husband as much as he will fail you. When you fail him as a wife does he then have the right to stop providing for your needs? No! He provides for you irregardless of your actions because that is what he is commanded by God to do.

Now, what does submission look like? If you are looking for a do this, don't do this list I can't give you one. Submission isn't that simple. It's not a cookie cutter idea. It's a heart thing. Bottom line....you should wake up on a daily basis and strive to glorify and bless your husband with every action and every word spoken. When you get dressed in the morning do you choose your clothing based on what you feel would please him? Do you strive to fix meals that will nourish him? Do the words you say both while he's there and when he's not honor him and his name?

Submission is a heartfelt act of love. It's the simple act of putting your husband's needs and desires before you own. And in return husbands are commanded to love their wives as their own bodies. When both spouses live under the provisions God set for marriage it is a beautiful thing! The husband feels loved, honored, and most of all respected as the authority of his home that God intended him to be. And the wife feels loved, protected, cherished, and uplifted as the help meet for her husand that God intended her to be specifically for that man.

I have seen far too many marriages where both parties are vying for the position of authority and where neither husband nor wife are submitting to God and their intended places. It is my heartfelt prayer that every year there are more and more couples who seek God's guidance for their marriage and are willing to whole heartedly and without excuse submit to God's will for their marriages!

The heart of your child

I actually started writing this blog about another topic, but God has led me in a different direction on this beautiful, November morning.

As the hustle and bustle of 4 small, but significant blessings in my life begin their daily tasks it is these very children and their hearts that weigh heavy on my own heart.

Some of you who read this will have small children or even older children, but no matter their age they have not reached the season in their life where they are what society would call "a wayward child." Up until recently I would have been in this group. I took for granted the simplicity of my life with my children. Training was going well. They were all following the path I had so tirelessly laid out for them. Life was good!

Now some of you can recall a time when life was like that but that's not so much how this current season in your life is going. Now this group is where I can currently relate. Our oldest daughter has begun to have some struggles in her life. Struggles that, of course, as a mother I would not have wished for her to carry these burdens. We all wish for a life of blessing and not a life of strife for our children, however, that is hardly realistic.

And while I stand in the midst of this season of testing in my life and the life of my husband and our daughter, I am so thankful! For it took my daughter's rebellion and the counsel of my husband and a dear sister in Christ for me to see my failings as a mother. I had excelled at training my children to be obedient, Christ-following, mannered young men and women, but what I had neglected to tend were the hearts of my children, or namely my oldest.

For she has always been something other than a mommy's girl. I wanted to snuggle and rock her as a baby; she wanted to get down on the ground and rough-house. I wanted to play dolls with her and was told, "No, that's okay, Mommy. I like playing by myself." So I would be satisfied that I did my duty and made the offer and that was enough. After all, I had offered to play with her. I had offered to read to her. She wasn't interested. But what I failed to see until now is that I as a mother have to meet my children where they are whether that is on the couch under a blanket with a book, in the game room buried in train tracks and Matchbox cars, up in a tree communing with nature, etc. I have to meet my children where they are and form a relationship with them on THEIR terms, not mine. And with each child that takes on a different form.

My 5 yr old can draw a picture and if I simply say, "I love it!" he's satisfied that Mommy likes it and then he happily goes on his way. My 2 yr old, however, cannot be so easily satisfied. Her artwork has to be carefully examined and eye contact has to be made for her to accept the praises she's offered.

Each child's heart requires a new and unique approach, but it is our responsibility and frankly, it is absolutely essential that we reach the hearts of our children. So often parents will discipline their children and leave it at that. They get the desired behavior they want, but they fail to see the fire brewing in their child's heart. And they won't until the teenage years or beyond. That's when the discipline stops and the heart comes out. For when our children reach this age we can no longer take them over our knee or send them to their rooms. Their obedience has to come from respect. Respect for their parents. That respect is born from a relationship. And that relationship has to have been built over time, a long time. It is not something you can begin when your children are teenagers.

So I implore us all to not only train our children in the ways of the Lord, but to also lead their hearts in obedience to Him. If we gave as much attention to our children's hearts as we do their bottoms then we would not lose so many of our young people to the ways of the world when they become of the age of heavy temptation from the world.

Cain's offering of disobedience

Most of us can retell the story of Cain and Abel with little trouble. And even if we can't name the specifics we can certainly recall the Bible story from Sunday school where Adam and Eve had twin sons and one killed the other.

While usually the focus of this story is on Cain's jealousy of his brother Abel, there is much more depth and substance to this situation than simple sibling rivalry.

If we stop to take the time to look into the life of Cain we find a man who by the world's view would be a very hard worker. He was mostly likely up with the sun and out in his fields all day through working. He was a gardener; a farmer. There were no machines or workers to help him or aide his efforts. This was the sweat and toil of his very own hands. If he was not out in the field working his crops would fail.

When asked to bring a sacrifice to offer God the request was specific and it was one he knew by his heart. If nothing else his parents had instilled in him that the sacrifice was to be an unblemished lamb. It was as second nature to him as *** would be to you and I. He decided that he would offer something else. Something he felt like was better. So he offered his work. He took things he had labored to grow and tend and harvest. He offered fruits and vegetables from his fields.

But instead of receiving praise as he had hoped, he received God's disapproval. For God does not desire our sacrifice. He requires our obedience. Cain was full of sacrifice, but he lacked obedience.

However, it's an easy trap to fall into. Men do it with their work. Women do it with their homes and children. This is not to say that it's wrong to be successful or to have well mannered children. The point is more that that is not worshipping God. God does not desire the works of your hands to be offered at His feet. The only offering He desires and more importantly the only offering He will accept is your heart...your obedience.

And there is a simple test for obedience or more aptly your willingness to be obedient. Examine your life. Is there anything you would not give up if God asked you to? Have you made an idol of your job, your home, your sports, your nights out? If you would hesitate to give any of those things up if God led you to then you are making an idol of that in your life.

Cain made an idol out of his work; out of his own abilities and efforts and the earthly rewards that he gained from those efforts. And so it was a logical conclusion that he would bring what he held in the highest regard as his sacrifice to God.

His brother, Abel, however, is the example God desires us all to emulate. He worshipped God. He held God as first in his life and everything else was a byproduct of his worship. What he said, where he went, his work...everything was done in worship to God. So when instructed to bring a sacrifice he was obedient. He literally worshipped God through his sacrifice by bringing an unblemished lamb and sacrificing it. Even his sacrifice was designed to worship and glorify God. No part of his sacrifice was meant to bring praise or glory to himself.

Abel's life's motto could very easily have been - simple obedience. More often than not obedience is the simplest thing in the world to understand, but the most difficult to carry out. But time and time again God shows us that obedience will reap blessings and rewards and disobedience of even the smallest proportion can lead to devastating consequences.
Abel's single act of disobedience to follow the directions for a burnt offering led to his brother's death and Abel spending the rest of his life struggling to provide for even his own needs, running from people who would do him harm, and never again being able to call anyplace home.

Let us remember Abel as we go through our days. When God speaks let us listen and obey. Let us get to the end of our life and be able to look back and see a life of obedience and blessings and not a life of disobedience and consequences for that disobedience. For our Father waits so anxiously to pour out His blessings upon Him children. Blessings He tells us we can't even fathom. And all He asks of us in order to receive His outpouring of love is "simple obedience".

Being a believer 24/7

My husband and I got into a disagreement the other day and he said something to me that made me stop dead in my tracks. As my husband likes to put it - I had let Satan get ahold of my tongue. Not something that is new for me and is something I continue to struggle with every day...to keep my speech Godly.


But I digress. What my husband uttered to me during our time of debate was - If you are a follower of God you should act like your life is on video and being broadcast 24/7! Wow! I don't know if that hits you as hard as it hit me, but I was speechless. All of a sudden I felt like a 2 ton weight had hit me square in the chest and a video player on fastforward started playing in my mind of all the things I had done lately that I would be ashamed to have anyone know about let alone see me doing.


After I was sufficiently humbled by the replay of my life over the last few days I was brought to a new realization. That's just how we should all live! Is that not how the disciples and Christ Himself were expected to live? Yeah, sure...easy enough to live like that when you're Christ. Okay...I'm with ya there. Maybe that is dismissable. He was perfect after all and how could we attempt to live out a life like His or even why would we want to because it would be a lesson in frustration?


But you're forgetting...Christ wasn't alone. He had twelve men who dedicately followed Him and were known for their association with Him. Wait. Don't miss it. Did you? Let's reread it...."They were known by their association with the Christ." Every move they made, every word they uttered, every reaction they had to a situation was viewed in the light of the fact that they represented the One they followed. And for many people I'm sure that's the gauge they used to judge whether to even bother dealing with the crowds and the heat and the days and days of walking in order to simply hear the man these men were following preach.


If you were unconvinced of someone's qualifications, of their impact, of the benefit they might have on your life who will you seek to look at? Those that are already around them. If those that are already intimately familiar with the individual are stressed, angry, downhearted, impatient...then why would you seek out a relationship with that person let alone sacrifice to have it?


Now the disciples weren't perfect. They weren't even good some of the time. They got angry with people. They got impatient with the crowds. They doubted their Savior time and time again. However, they had something that these other people wanted. They had faith.


What if our life was the only advertisement for Christ someone had? Instead of a whole life, if someone took just today...just one day out of your life...would they come away from viewing your day with a thirst for what you have? Would they want to know your God? Would they see someone who was whole-heartedly dedicated to God or to the world? Would they see someone who made prayer a priority or someone who recited a memorized prayer from childhood and lef their relationship with God at that. Would they finish watching your day and your interactions with those you came into contact that day and know who you serve or would they think they are satisfied with the life they have and don't "need" God?


As we interact with those around us and those who are brought across our path today let us keep in the forefront of our mind what kind of legacy we will leave if this day is the only day someone sees of our life. If that one interaction you have with that coworker or neighbor or family member...if that's the only time you speak to them will the interaction you have with them be a witness for God or Satan?

Because that's the simple truth - you can't serve them both and you can't serve no one. You are either furthuring God's Kingdom or Satan's. Don't fool yourself into thinking if you say nothing out of fear or simple laziness that you aren't doing any harm. Silence is a tool Satan uses to paralyze believers. Use your words and use them to bring people to God for the first time, bring people back to God, and lift up those who are already walking His path for them!

God's Overflowing Cup

Many, many songs speak to God's power, his ability to take our loads from us. Have you ever really stopped to put this into perspective in your own life, though?

Every day I am surrounded by people who see the blessings God has surrounded me with (read children) and say, "I don't know how you do it" or something along those lines. To which I smile and tell them that I don't. God does.

I see countless women with one or two children who are barely making it through their days. My heart aches for them. For I know the peace and strength that comes from running to God with your problems. I am NOT the world's greatest wife, daughter, mom, friend, etc. I have no secret that guides my day. I simply readily admit that I can't do it all. I can't do any of it.
God gives me patience to answer 100 questions a day of why this, what happened to that, where are they going. He gives me the physical strength to be able to get 5-6 hours of sleep at night and yet wake up renewed and refreshed and tend my family...both in my home and outside of it.
I would ask this of you - are you stressed? Are you tired? Do you feel worn down by your daily life? These should be red flags to you that you are not walking with your Father.
Now, I'm not saying your life should be a fairytale and if not then you are doing something wrong. Far from it.

As God's children we were not promised less problems. We were promised more. But what we were also promised is someone to carry our load for us and all we have to do is walk beside Him! Let me give you a Biblical picture of this played out. Imagine you are sitting among a group of friends and someone comes up to tell you that your house has burned to the group and all your children have been killed. How would you react? Would you like a picture of how God aches for us to react when we face difficulty? He provided it! He did so by recording the story of His son, Job. When this happened to Job he ran outside and tore all his clothing. In those times it was an outward sign of the grief within. Do you know what he called out as he collapsed on the ground? That he LOVED God and he proceeded to worship Him!

God did not prevent Satan from taking Job's home and children. In fact, He gave Satan permission to do so! Because God knew Job's hope and faith and comfort did not lay in those places, but instead it was firmly planted in God and God alone. And in return for Job's faith and continued and consistent walk with God, he was provided with so much comfort and peace during his time of grief that the first thing he did after hearing such horrific news was to praise God! If God can comfort a man whose entire family has been taken Home in one moment how much more do you think He can comfort you in your daily struggles? A God who can give you your children can surely give you the patience to train them. The same God who provided for you to be exactly where you are right now is more than capable and anxiously awaiting you to seek His help!

So now my question to you would be do you want to weather the storms of your earthly life alone or are you willing to let your Father carry the load of your struggles for you while you walk peacefully beside Him?