Do we believe that the Bible is the inherent Word of God?

I ask this question because it is one thing to read the Word, agree with the Word, but a whole other issue to transform that information and bring it to life in our lives.

The Scriptures proclaim of the world's wickedness, of it's sheer evil and not to resist being tempted in any way, lest we be tempted ourselves and ensnared into Satan's carefully crafted web of death. We must tread carefully by how we lives our lives in light of obedience to God and the responsibility of being a light to the darkened, lost world that surrounds us. That means we must know the Word of God, that means we must stand for our convictions regardless if no one else we know is doing it. Criticism awaits the one who stands for the Lord but we are reminded that "we are not of this world" and " not to conform to this world" but instead to be like aliens in a foreign land as we see here: "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul." 1 Peter 2:11

Sometimes that means people won't understand why you do certain things that might strike them as odd or too conservative. This criticism will not only come from the unsaved but might also come from our own Christian brothers and sisters...but how will you stand, dear Christian? Will you crumble under pressure of conformity or will you stand for all that our Lord has died for?

Let me share with you an example. You believe that witchcraft is wrong. You read from the Bible that witchcraft is detestable is the Lord's sight.You've also learned from the Bible you should set your eye upon no wicked thing. You go home and watch movies with your spouse and children that practice witchcraft and laugh and enjoy it as a form of entertainment. Witchcraft, is therefore, acceptable in your home.

"Do not bring a detestable things into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction." Deuteronomy 7:25

Here's another. A father and mother learns about purity and modesty in the Bible and how that can be a stumbling block to others. Mother and father change the way they dress to become more modest. Their daughters on the other hand, enjoy wearing trendy miniskirts and shirts cut high that expose their stomachs. They give in to their daughter's desires to look immodest because they don't want to 'rock the boat' and since 'every one else doing it.'
Choose this day wo you will serve...but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15



Our doctrine is not evidenced in what we believe, instead it is what we apply. If I truly believe that His Word is truth then we must begin to live this out in our lives. That means if I believe what God says about respecting my husband, it should reflect in my life. It means if I believe what God says about training my children, I will take that seriously and invest and sacrifice a large portion of time to raising them up in righteousness. If it says that sexual temptation is somethings that I should flee from then I shouldn't flirt with those of the opposite sex. Why do we wonder why the world views Christians as hypocrites when they do not see holiness in our lives and see us no different from themselves?

There is a verse that talks about examining our hearts at the end of the day. This is a great time to evaluate how we lived our our doctrine through the day. Does this mean we are supposed to 'have arrived' immediately in our faith? I understand that we are 'works in progress'---yes, indeed, there is so much the Lord is working on in my life alone! I am the first to admit I need strength, courage and wisdom to live out this holy life the Lord has called us to, thankfully, I don't have to do it in my own strength and I know the victory rests with Him. But, truly dear Christians, let us never make excuses for our laziness or feebleness or cowardliness in following our King. He has done too much for us to turn our backs on His righteous living just so we can live comfortably in our sin. A goal of mine is to always evaluate my doctrine in light of God's direction.

I leave you the challenge: What changes might God want you to make in your life today?

"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord." Lamentations 3:40

Impact for Christ

 1 Tim 4:10-16

I was reading in Timothy and it made me do some thinking about our way of life.  The Christians that make the biggest impact for Christ match the characteristics that Paul was telling Timothy about in 1 Tim 4:12. Paul's words weren't just for the young generation,  all of
In word:  people who make a difference for Christ control what they say, avoid negative talk, and speak words that honor God.
In conduct:  people who practice discretion in their behavior shine for all the world to see.
In love: By taking heed of Jesus' words to love God and their neighbor (Matt.22:37-39) Christians please Jesus and touch people's hearts.
In faith: Those who put their faith into action change lives
In purity: It is tough to be morally pure and doctrinally sound, but those who are can set the bar for the rest of us.
All of us should be an example for our children and the rest of the world, in word, conduct, love faith and purity; that's how we make an impact for Christ.

Selfish Christianity

 Have you ever thought about it before?  What is selfish Christianity?   Could it possibly be using Christ and his promises to singly make your life easier?  How can we become unselfish Christians in a world that demands selfishness?


Dr. Charles Stanley does a great job summing it up:


John 6:22-27
Which interests you more—who Jesus is or what He can do for you? I’m afraid that too many of us are more concerned about what He can give us than we are about getting to know who He is.
But this is nothing new—Jesus had this problem when He walked on earth. The crowds often sought Him out for what He could do for them. Even though their needs were quite often legitimate, Christ knew their motives.

There is a fine line between selfishly trying to use the Lord to get what we want and humbly coming to Him with our needs and struggles. Some of the issues we bring to Him are so pressing and urgent in our minds that our desire for Him to take action in the way we want becomes greater than our willingness to submit to His will. At times, what we call “faith” is really a demanding spirit.

We must remember that our needs will come to an end, but Jesus Christ will remain forever. If our prayers have dealt only with presenting our requests to the Lord, we’ve missed a great opportunity to get to know the One with whom we’ll spend eternity. Let’s invest time in pursuing intimacy with Christ. Then we can enjoy the benefits of that relationship forever.

How much of your communion with God is devoted to your needs—even legitimate ones? Are you spending any time getting to know the Lord? Although God delights in our prayers and tells us to pray about everything, He also wants us to come to Him just because we enjoy being with Him.

Happy Mother's Day

I thought I would take some time to wish you all a Happy Mother's Day.   I wanted to take some time to see where it all began, and here's what I came up with:

The American version of Mother’s Day started almost 150 years ago with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870.  famous for her war poem “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Her Mother’s Day Proclamation was intended to be a type of war poem as well, one calling all mothers to action in opposing all types of war. Her attempt to get formal recognition for a Mother’s Day of Peace failed. All was not lost, though. Julia Ward How suggested the idea of Mother's Day, but it was Miss Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948), of Philadelphia, who began a letter-writing campaign to a variety of influential people that made Mother's Day a national holiday.   Anna Jarvis, who had started organizing women throughout the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides during what she called “Mother’s Work Days.” Her daughter, also named Anna Jarvis, would go on to carry out her mother’s work and hold the first Mother’s Day celebration in West Virginia is 1907 in the same church that her mother had taught Sunday School in. 45 states began celebrating the custom and the holiday was declared official by the states in 1912 and by the President in 1914.

In 1907 Anna persuaded her mother's church in Grafton, West Virginia to celebrate Mother's Day on the second anniversary of her mother's death, the 2nd Sunday of May. By the next year, 1908, Mother's Day was also celebrated in Philadelphia.   But the first "official" service was on May 10, 1908 in the same church, accompanied by a larger ceremony in the Wanamaker Auditorium in the Wanamaker's store on Philadelphia.  She then campaigned to establish Mother's Day first as a U.S. national holiday and then later as an international holiday.

The holiday was declared officially by the state of West Virginia in 1910, and the rest of states followed quickly.

In May, 1913, The House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution requesting the President, his Cabinet, members of Congress, and all officials of the federal government to wear a white carnation on Mother's Day. Congress passed another Joint Resolution May 8, 1914, designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day

 On May 8, 1914, the U.S. Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day and requesting a proclamation. On May 9, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation declaring the first national Mother's Day as a day for American citizens to show the flag in honor of those mothers whose sons had died in war.

In 1934, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved a stamp commemorating the holiday.
In May 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives voted twice on a resolution commemorating Mother's Day^] the first one being unanimous (with 21 members not voting). The Grafton's church, where the first celebration was held, is now the International Mother's Day Shrine and is a National Historic Landmark.

 The carnation became the flower known for this day, Anna Jarvis gave 500 of them at its first celebration in 1908. Many religious services held later copied the custom of giving away carnations. This also started the custom of wearing a carnation on Mother's Day. The founder, Anna Jarvis, chose the carnation because it was the favorite flower of her mother  In part due to the shortage of white carnations Carnations have been used to represent Mother's Day, since Anna Jarvis delivered, and in part due to the efforts to expand the sales of more types of flowers in Mother's Day, the florists promoted wearing a red carnation if your mother was living, or a white one if she was dead; this was tirelessly promoted until it made its way into the popular observations at churches.

 

 

Betrayal

 

Luke 22:1-13

We’ve all experienced or witnessed betrayal at some point.  How do we feel when one close to us betrays us?   What would you do?

The best example of that in the Bible is Judas .  Chosen as one of the twelve, Judas was privileged. John 12:6 says that he was even granted the responsibility of maintaining the disciples’ money box. But that same verse reveals an important truth about Judas—he was a thief.

One of the reasons Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus is because one of the chief priests “promised to give him money” (Mark 14:10-11). Those who were threatened by Jesus wanted him out of the way. We have to be on guard for those close to us that are doing something wrong that can affect us. The Devil's messenger, is often an angel of light who looks like a minister of righteousness. People will do almost anything for money when it is their priority in life.

How did Judas become one of the 12 see the power and all these miracles and then apostatize? When someone's heart is not right and you give them power it only amplifies what is wrong, not what is right (another example is Peter with Simon the sorcerer). We are also told that Judas did not let the word cleanse him (John 13:10;15:3). He did not abide in Jesus’ teachings, instead he was enticed by the authority to do miracles given to those who followed and his love for the money prevented him from being a servant. Amazingly, Judas was among them having the same results without their suspecting he was a devil who would eventually betray their Lord. Judas a perfect example of those claiming to do miracles in Christ’s name and where Jesus turns to them saying he never knew them (Mt.7:21). Meaning he did not have a relationship (a two way correspondence of love) with the Lord. Demons were subject to him like the rest of the apostles but again as in Mt.7:21 it does not mean that if one uses his name and sees the miraculous they are saved. What proves one is saved is repentance, a continual confession of their sin and reliance on the Lords strength and the fruit of the Holy Spirit present in their life.

Jesus knew beforehand He would be betrayed and who the betrayer would be. Long before it happened, even before it entered Judas' heart to do so, Jesus called the traitor a devil, although not naming him explicitly (see Jn. 6:64,70-71). In Matthew 26:20, Jesus revealed to Judas that He knew what he intended to do. Knowing what a person will do, however, is not the same as causing him to do it. Therefore, Judas still had a choice and was not powerless in the matter.

First Peter 5:8 says the Devil is like a “roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” And in Judas, Satan found a willing victim. If we’re honest with ourselves, each of us has a natural tendency toward sin.
Daily communion with God keeps hidden sins from becoming greater problems. Left unchecked, the “roaring lion” will also come after us, no matter what our  weakness may be. Ask the Lord to reveal any sins you need to confess. Deal with them today—don’t let sin lead you down the path of Judas.

God's Leading

Hello again everyone,
          It's been some time since this has been updated.  We moved again, back to our sea side home.  It is amazing sometimes where God leads!

          Now that we have internet again, (it took some time to get hooked up again), so I do hope that I can get back to update more frequently.

Thank you again,

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone,  I pray that everyone is on the road to a happy healthy start in our new year of 2011.

It seems for our family that the Lord has impressed a great desire for homesteading.  We want to be farmers again.  I do pray that this will be a possibilty for us as we move along with His leading.