~2 Peter 1:10 So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, His choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing,~
Not being a parent myself I often watch parents & how they handle their children. My sister and brother -in-law are 2 of my favorite people to watch parent. Their children aren't perfect, and God really makes them work hard, but they have instilled the value of choices in their children from a very young age. Whenever their parents will tell my niece or nephew to do something you can see their little minds churning on whether to obey or not. When this happens my sister or brother will say "Make good choices." Something so simple, yet we often forget that it is our choice on how we handle a situation, and we often choose what the outcome may be.
Now my sweet neice and nephew may choose to not listen and then they get punished. If they choose to listen there is often a reward, whether it be praise for making that good choice or the opportunity to get do something so much more fun than time out. Either way the outcome of the situation is their choice, and it is not their parents fault if they choose not to listen.
As we grow up we have to make a lot of choices, from the insignificant what to eat for dinner or to the big choices like buying a house or getting married. With all this big choices we make, I think we often forget that everyday we get the opportunity to make lots of small choices. It is not everyday that you get married, buy a house, get a puppy, or make some huge decision like that. When we do have things like this in our life most people who believe in Jesus will pray and ask for guidance in making those decisions. They choose to ask God for help in these big choices. So, often we see these choices as the ones that will change our life, the ones that we better make sure are right.
Today I realized that we are fooling ourselves in thinking this way. Yes, we need to bring these "big" choices to God and ask for guidance, but we really really need to bring the "small" ones to him too; because ultimately they change our daily lives. Everyday we should start out with the attitude of "I choose to make today a good day and to live it walking the path God has laid out for me." Imagine the possibilities if we would take that 3 minutes to ask God what he wants from us that day and if we choose to listen and obey.
We all have those days, the ones where we wake up on the wrong side of the bed, where we just know it is going to be a bad day. On those days we choose to make the day awful, it wouldn't matter if we won a million dollars on those days, we would still re-tell that day as being the worst day ever until we won that money. Then there are those days where we wake up feeling great, all our clothes look amazing on us, our hair does just what we want, the person in front of us at Starbucks buys our drink because they think we are cute, our favorite song plays on the way to work, and we hit every green light. Awesome start to a day right? If we look at those days though we would see that we started it out by deciding it was going to be a good day; and even if it went down hill quickly after that we would still have had an okay day.
My mom used to always come in my room after I had a bad day and make me list at least 5 good things that had happened that day. She taught we to choose to focus on the good and to not dwell on the bad. Those days always stuck with me because I had to learn how to make a good choice, so to speak. If we start out each day choosing to make it a good day that glorifies the Lord and ended each day choosing to see the good things and ignoring the bad, we would be pretty darn happy and see that we are amazingly blessed.
We are so blessed that God gave us free will, that he gave Adam & Eve the choice to obey or to eat that forbidden fruit. Now, unfortunately they made a bad choice and there was a consequence for it, one that we all have to pay for. Didn't it seem like that was such a small choice though? To take a bite of that apple or to obey, what could such a "small" choice possibly do? God gave us the choice to accept Christ into our lives, to repent for our sins, to live a life that has God at the center instead of ourselves. Aren't we so blessed that we can make that choice?
"Small" choices can affect our lives just as greatly as "big" ones. So, let's choose to ask God for guidance in every choice we make, in every step we take, and in everyday we are blessed enough to live. We all need to remember to make good choices...
SIDE NOTE:
~Pslams 16:5 "My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice"~
God has made an amazing choice, one none of use deserves and that is that He chose you! You are his beloved and He chose to sacrifice His son for you. How awesome is that!?!? One of the things I have realized in my marriage, a thing that can always make me smile is that my wonderful husband chose me! He picked me! Not me 10 lbs skinnier, or me who will eventually learn how too cook, he chose me me just the way I am. If that choice made by my husband can make my heart fill with joy, imagine the realization that God chose me for me! That God chose you, you just the way you are, not only that but He loves you so much that He gave you the choice to chose Him!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Bring it! 2 Timothy 3:10-17
I went through a lot of verses today, I wanted to write on gifts, or love, or patience; but this is what came out instead....
BRING IT!!!!!
2 Timothy 3:10-13
"You've been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, troubles, sufferings-suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there's no getting around it. Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They're as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse."
This makes me laugh, I can not help but realize how true it is. As followers of Christ we ask for it! The prayer for accepting Christ should be ended with "Bring it on satan! I can take it because I have Christ on my side!" I was talking with some beautiful, skinny, smart, sassy women today about how frustrating it can be when you think you have done exactly what God has asked of you & yet it seems like you just can't win! It was said by a wonderful woman who is much wiser than me that if that was true, if all it took was doing good and trying to do what God wanted than children would never get cancer, children would never suffer. So dang true! What did they do to deserve that suffering? NOTHING! That's the point, we aren't being punished, God doesn't allow us to go through things because we told that lie, because we broke a commandment. No, we go through that suffering because satan hates that we love Jesus so much! And if that's the case I appreciate the suffering I went through because it means satan is threatened by my love for Jesus, by what God has planned for me!
2 Timonthy 13-17
"But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers -why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another-showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."
Yeah! Don't let it faze you! Pick yourself up and brush off that hurt, that shame, that hopelessness. You know why? Because Jesus Christ is our Savior! Because the Bible IS sacred scripture & each word is God-breathed! Because no matter what satan throws at us, what the world throws at us, whatever trials we go through, we go through them because we asked for it! We said "BRING IT!"
I can honestly say I do not know a true Christian out there that would give up God so that they would never be tested. The gift of knowing Jesus is so precious and so amazing that it is worth it. So worth it! I mean honestly look back on that hardest moment you have ever had to go through, go to that low, dark place where satan dragged you into the pits of depression and you honestly did not want to go on, think of that pain... Now, think of a mountain top experience that you have had with God, it doesn't even have to be the best one, just an amazing experience that let you know God was there. Isn't that deep, dark hurt so worth the amazing, fantastic, wonderful love God gives? I know it is for me!
My relationship with God is not perfect by any means. I struggle with a lot of things, I forget that I am not the one in charge and try to take control, sometimes I think I am big man on campus and forget to let God lead me. However, the best part of God is he loves me anyways! He laughs at my hurry to get to the next step in life, he rolls his eyes at my foolishness and he is such a great Daddy that he lets me run ahead sometimes. But, when I trip in that hole that I didn't see because I was in too big of a hurry to follow, he is there to catch me. Sometimes he even lets me fall, and I skin my knee, but he always scoops me up and kisses my boo-boo. He never leaves me! He never gives up on us! He never ever stops loving us, his love does not lessen because we didn't obey, he loves us the same no matter how stupid we are! and THANK GOD for that!
So, in conclusion I am not asking for another trial! I really want to enjoy this living thing again! However, when I look back on this trial, and all the others I have gone through I can appreciate them. I can see that it probably wasn't because I was sinning, there wasn't necessarily something I needed to correct, it may have been because I am a threat! Because my love for Jesus scares satan and I just have to say that is pretty cool! And when I get the chance to lead someone to Jesus Christ again I am definitely adding a "BRING IT! I CAN HANDLE IT! I HAVE JESUS CHRIST ON MY SIDE!"
BRING IT!!!!!
2 Timothy 3:10-13
"You've been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, troubles, sufferings-suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there's no getting around it. Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They're as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse."
This makes me laugh, I can not help but realize how true it is. As followers of Christ we ask for it! The prayer for accepting Christ should be ended with "Bring it on satan! I can take it because I have Christ on my side!" I was talking with some beautiful, skinny, smart, sassy women today about how frustrating it can be when you think you have done exactly what God has asked of you & yet it seems like you just can't win! It was said by a wonderful woman who is much wiser than me that if that was true, if all it took was doing good and trying to do what God wanted than children would never get cancer, children would never suffer. So dang true! What did they do to deserve that suffering? NOTHING! That's the point, we aren't being punished, God doesn't allow us to go through things because we told that lie, because we broke a commandment. No, we go through that suffering because satan hates that we love Jesus so much! And if that's the case I appreciate the suffering I went through because it means satan is threatened by my love for Jesus, by what God has planned for me!
2 Timonthy 13-17
"But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers -why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another-showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us."
Yeah! Don't let it faze you! Pick yourself up and brush off that hurt, that shame, that hopelessness. You know why? Because Jesus Christ is our Savior! Because the Bible IS sacred scripture & each word is God-breathed! Because no matter what satan throws at us, what the world throws at us, whatever trials we go through, we go through them because we asked for it! We said "BRING IT!"
I can honestly say I do not know a true Christian out there that would give up God so that they would never be tested. The gift of knowing Jesus is so precious and so amazing that it is worth it. So worth it! I mean honestly look back on that hardest moment you have ever had to go through, go to that low, dark place where satan dragged you into the pits of depression and you honestly did not want to go on, think of that pain... Now, think of a mountain top experience that you have had with God, it doesn't even have to be the best one, just an amazing experience that let you know God was there. Isn't that deep, dark hurt so worth the amazing, fantastic, wonderful love God gives? I know it is for me!
My relationship with God is not perfect by any means. I struggle with a lot of things, I forget that I am not the one in charge and try to take control, sometimes I think I am big man on campus and forget to let God lead me. However, the best part of God is he loves me anyways! He laughs at my hurry to get to the next step in life, he rolls his eyes at my foolishness and he is such a great Daddy that he lets me run ahead sometimes. But, when I trip in that hole that I didn't see because I was in too big of a hurry to follow, he is there to catch me. Sometimes he even lets me fall, and I skin my knee, but he always scoops me up and kisses my boo-boo. He never leaves me! He never gives up on us! He never ever stops loving us, his love does not lessen because we didn't obey, he loves us the same no matter how stupid we are! and THANK GOD for that!
So, in conclusion I am not asking for another trial! I really want to enjoy this living thing again! However, when I look back on this trial, and all the others I have gone through I can appreciate them. I can see that it probably wasn't because I was sinning, there wasn't necessarily something I needed to correct, it may have been because I am a threat! Because my love for Jesus scares satan and I just have to say that is pretty cool! And when I get the chance to lead someone to Jesus Christ again I am definitely adding a "BRING IT! I CAN HANDLE IT! I HAVE JESUS CHRIST ON MY SIDE!"
Monday, April 18, 2011
Because I Want to be Soil ~ Romans 5:3-5
So, I decided to start blogging. Being stuck in bed for a few weeks gets your brain thinking and I decided that I would blog it out....so here goes nothin'
I have been blessed with some amazing family and friends in my life. Most of my family does not live in Redding, but they still have been able to influence me in so pretty amazing ways. I have one aunt that is actually blood related, men seem to dominate booth sides of my family. I am a combination of both my mom and aunt, physically and I like to think mentally too. So, today I woke up and could have just cried...here is a beautiful sunny day, a Monday, and my husband is off to work and I am stuck in bed....again. That's hard for me, not being able to look at the day and see what I can accomplish. I don't know why things happen, and after they are all done its easy to look back and see all the good things that came from it. However, I am frustrated by the fact that I started to get healthy again and then had it swept out from under me like some comical cartoon character who slips on a banana peel. Back to my point about my aunt, though, she left a message on my facebook today that had this verse: Romans 5:3-5, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."
Yeah yeah, OK she's right. Its funny when you are going through something and someone comes up to you and says they understand or try to help by telling you to think positive; you honestly want to shake them and yell "you don't have a clue!" Well, I cant say that to my beautiful aunt, she does have a clue; and I would be smart to take a page from her book. Not only has her husband been in and out of surgery for the last few years, he has had a lot harder surgeries and she has been there by his side for them all.
The hardest part of being ill for me is the people that I let down because I can't do the things I need to and want to do. My poor husband has been put through the ringer. When we got married we were young and all excited because that meant we could go on adventures and be newlyweds for a few years before we had kids. Well not even 3 years of marriage and he has been with me through 4 surgeries. Poor guy! I mean really, he must be frustrated. We did it all right, waiting until we were married to do all the things marriage gives, we asked God for his guidance and have made every decision by bringing it before God first. So it should all be easy right....?
Apparently not. That's part of the "deep cries to deep" I guess, God is preparing us for something extraordinary! I've said it before, this is how satan attacks me, my health is my weak spot. Unfortunately, health also brings financial troubles, less romance and adventure, stress, the future being put on hold, and lots of other little pains. So, health is a bad weak spot to have, I think my husband would agree...
So now for the Epiphany..."CRAP." That's right, crap... I am not going to say that I have enjoyed being sick for over a year, or all the surgeries because of what I've learned...because it's not true. I have hated with a passion every surgery I have had, every time I have had to step into a doctor's office, every pill that has been put into my body. I mean hate too, the kind that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, the kind that makes you throw a fit, the kind that keeps you up at night. All of it has been crap, I never wanted to know my toilet that well, or know what Diomox does. But crap can grow some pretty amazing things. Think about it, manure is just crap, yet when you mix it in with that once dull, nutrient-less soil it can grow some beautiful flowers, and veggies, and some green green grass. And that manure smells awful, it attracts flies, and even after we have showered we still can smell it on us.
When I think about it the last few years have been tough, but some beautiful things have grown in my life because of it. I no longer only grows weeds, I am no longer this life-less dry dirt, that sucks out nutrients from where ever I can. I am a rich, dark, earthy soil. When God scoops me up in his hands he takes a deep breath to suck in my rich smell. I know over time my soil may become dull and dry again. I may have to have some crap added into my life so that I can grow some gorgeous flowers, I am not going to like it, heck I will probably hate it. I hope that I will remember that God is the gardener and he will take the crap that satan throws at me and till it in to my hardened dirt and make me rich and fruitful. So I will rejoice in sufferings, not because I like what is happening or because having a positive attitude makes it that easier, but because I know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint me, because God has poured out His love into my heart by the Holy Spirit... If I could do it all over again would I choose to go through that suffering, HECK NO! However, I can look back on these 3 years and know it was not wasted, know that I am rich soil and now can be fruitful for the Lord, and that makes it easier understand...
I have been blessed with some amazing family and friends in my life. Most of my family does not live in Redding, but they still have been able to influence me in so pretty amazing ways. I have one aunt that is actually blood related, men seem to dominate booth sides of my family. I am a combination of both my mom and aunt, physically and I like to think mentally too. So, today I woke up and could have just cried...here is a beautiful sunny day, a Monday, and my husband is off to work and I am stuck in bed....again. That's hard for me, not being able to look at the day and see what I can accomplish. I don't know why things happen, and after they are all done its easy to look back and see all the good things that came from it. However, I am frustrated by the fact that I started to get healthy again and then had it swept out from under me like some comical cartoon character who slips on a banana peel. Back to my point about my aunt, though, she left a message on my facebook today that had this verse: Romans 5:3-5, "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."
Yeah yeah, OK she's right. Its funny when you are going through something and someone comes up to you and says they understand or try to help by telling you to think positive; you honestly want to shake them and yell "you don't have a clue!" Well, I cant say that to my beautiful aunt, she does have a clue; and I would be smart to take a page from her book. Not only has her husband been in and out of surgery for the last few years, he has had a lot harder surgeries and she has been there by his side for them all.
The hardest part of being ill for me is the people that I let down because I can't do the things I need to and want to do. My poor husband has been put through the ringer. When we got married we were young and all excited because that meant we could go on adventures and be newlyweds for a few years before we had kids. Well not even 3 years of marriage and he has been with me through 4 surgeries. Poor guy! I mean really, he must be frustrated. We did it all right, waiting until we were married to do all the things marriage gives, we asked God for his guidance and have made every decision by bringing it before God first. So it should all be easy right....?
Apparently not. That's part of the "deep cries to deep" I guess, God is preparing us for something extraordinary! I've said it before, this is how satan attacks me, my health is my weak spot. Unfortunately, health also brings financial troubles, less romance and adventure, stress, the future being put on hold, and lots of other little pains. So, health is a bad weak spot to have, I think my husband would agree...
So now for the Epiphany..."CRAP." That's right, crap... I am not going to say that I have enjoyed being sick for over a year, or all the surgeries because of what I've learned...because it's not true. I have hated with a passion every surgery I have had, every time I have had to step into a doctor's office, every pill that has been put into my body. I mean hate too, the kind that leaves a bad taste in your mouth, the kind that makes you throw a fit, the kind that keeps you up at night. All of it has been crap, I never wanted to know my toilet that well, or know what Diomox does. But crap can grow some pretty amazing things. Think about it, manure is just crap, yet when you mix it in with that once dull, nutrient-less soil it can grow some beautiful flowers, and veggies, and some green green grass. And that manure smells awful, it attracts flies, and even after we have showered we still can smell it on us.
When I think about it the last few years have been tough, but some beautiful things have grown in my life because of it. I no longer only grows weeds, I am no longer this life-less dry dirt, that sucks out nutrients from where ever I can. I am a rich, dark, earthy soil. When God scoops me up in his hands he takes a deep breath to suck in my rich smell. I know over time my soil may become dull and dry again. I may have to have some crap added into my life so that I can grow some gorgeous flowers, I am not going to like it, heck I will probably hate it. I hope that I will remember that God is the gardener and he will take the crap that satan throws at me and till it in to my hardened dirt and make me rich and fruitful. So I will rejoice in sufferings, not because I like what is happening or because having a positive attitude makes it that easier, but because I know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint me, because God has poured out His love into my heart by the Holy Spirit... If I could do it all over again would I choose to go through that suffering, HECK NO! However, I can look back on these 3 years and know it was not wasted, know that I am rich soil and now can be fruitful for the Lord, and that makes it easier understand...
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