He's in the Whisper

Recently during one of our nightly devotionals we read the story of the prophet Elijah running from Jezebel. Elijah was afraid for his life. He began to doubt that the Lord would help him, even though He had been helping him. He lost faith.  An angel came to him and fed him to where he had strength to go on, but after 40 days God, himself, spoke to Elijah! That was unusual for God to speak directly to someone!

And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 1 Kings 19:11-13 

God told Elijah where to go.  God passed by in a great and strong wind, in an earthquake, and in a fire, but He was not IN those wonders.  He came in a low whisper.  A whisper!

I love, love, love this imagery, do you?

Think of yourself as Elijah. When the wind came, how would you have responded?  When the earthquake came, how would you have responded?  What about the fire?  I imagine I would have been okay in the strong wind. We see strong winds in tornadoes.  But an earthquake? A fire? Those things frighten me!  But a low whisper?  That would be odd, maybe, but not scary I don't think.  Not after God had helped me through other big things.

When I think of my life, I often only really request help from God in the big things, but maybe He is saying to me..."I'm in the low whispers".  "Listen to me in the quiet times."  "Don't neglect those times!"

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 

(read all of chapter 46. It goes well with this thought.)

HIM vs. YOU

Moms....pay attention to what you believe. There are many popular things you can see and read as a Christian woman that may or may not be in accordance with God’s word. The Bible never teaches that this world is about you. God loves you and cares about you. He wants you to love Him, obey Him, and serve Him.

There's a popular trend now, made even more popular by some recent publications, that YOU are in charge of your destiny. That only YOU can change your life.  Be careful! There's nothing scriptural about that belief!  Nothing in scripture says you are in charge, despite what might be shouted out in the world's view.

Your life and how you live your life should be for HIS GLORY, not for YOURS. It’s not for your happiness, contrary to what you may read apart from scripture. God wants you to be HOLY.  In becoming holy, you'll find true happiness....which is joy! Joy is something that can't fade with problems, trials, struggles in life.  Happiness comes and goes. Joe remains....or should.

Check what you read with God’s word. Don’t believe it because it’s popular and it’s trending on social media. Women often allow their feelings to dictate their beliefs, which can lead down untrue paths. Don’t be one of those women.

God loves you! He wants you to love you, but He also wants you to love HIM and rely on HIM, not yourself.  And self help done should be for His glory, not your own.

First Love - A Life Pleasing to God

If you pay attention closely, you can tell what is someone’s first love. 

If, for a Christian, his/her first love is God, Christ, His church....it will be evident by what shows in his/her life. If it is not God, Christ, the church....it will be blaring and screaming something else. 

Priorities are evident if we pay attention.

If I were to ask someone what was most important in my life, if I'm honest, sometimes it might look like things other than God, Christ, and the church were most important.  Social media isn't always an appropriate "judge" of what's most important in someone's life, but on the other hand....that's what we put out for others to see.  Yes, our close family and friends and acquaintances can see other examples, as well, but so much of our true life is hidden.  That's okay.  the Bible tells us to live quiet lives. 

It's appropriate that the passage below is under the heading, "A Life Pleasing to God".  

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.


9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

This is my desire, so I should make it a goal to evaluate and judge my life by this standard in God's Word.  May my first love be what God desires for it to be.  

R-E-S-P-E-C-T GOD

This was a recent post on our parent's page: 
Never make light of spiritual matters. Your children are watching how you respect God, Jesus, the church, as well as your attitude towards sin, worship, grace, mercy, and on and on. Making light of something that’s of spiritual importance isn’t sharing the gospel message with others. Jesus died on the cross for those things and because of those things. That’s nothing to take lightly.

Nothing makes me sadder than to see spiritual times and spiritual matters become a time of entertainment or in fun.  It doesn't really matter what I feel about it or what you might feel about it, though. What matters is what God feels...what Jesus feels....what we might make others feel about it.  The thought of hurting my Lord and my Savior brings tears to my eyes, does it yours?  I think of the song, "Does He Still Feel the Nails". Am I crucifying him all over again if I am not having the reverence I should during worship?  God's grace and mercy is sufficient. He's loving and will forgive me, of course, but what about when I deliberately continue to fail in this area, never realizing it's sin?  That's a scary thought that I don't take lightly.

As a parent, I pray that I've taught and trained my children to revere the name of the Lord....to not trample on Christ's death on the cross...and that they will never deliberately "make Him feel the nails".

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,  for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 11:28-29 (read all of chapter 11 to see what "Therefore" is THERE FOR).

An Attempt to Begin Again

My blog posts are sporadic, I know, but this is an attempt to begin blogging again consistently.  For now, I'm scheduling several, just because I know I won't follow through with daily posts if I don't.  It's not that I don't want to blog....in fact, I miss it in a lot of ways.  I also know that I've missed blogging a LOT of family things that I will regret someday because it's hard to go back and do past things. I may try to, but for now, I'll start with now.

Have a great day! It's cold here, so hopefully it will result in beautiful fall trees. That's always what I wish for :).

It Only Takes a Spark

So many problems in life could be alleviated if they were taken care of when first noticed, rather than waiting until something blew up into something much bigger. As a parent, if we don't take care of disobedience in our children at the first sign of it, it will develop into something much worse down the road - then we will be left wondering how to fix the problem and it will often be too late.  Nip it in the bud from the beginning, instead of ignoring that little spark!

Whether it's a problem in the workplace, in a relationship....anything, it never is helpful to let things go and not take care of the problem.  Peacemaking is not ignoring problems.  Avoiding conflict only makes things worse.  Conflict, tension, irritability comes from not taking care of things that need to be taken care of.  Nothing good comes from procrastinating.  Being a true peacemaker is taking care of things within your control, not leaving them to fester and build up.

 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 

Hebrews 12:7-15

Walk Your Talk!

It's interesting how children grow up to be influenced by the world around them, isn't it? Parents strive to do their best to teach and train them, and hopefully instill God's Word in them to where they make good decisions. They will make mistakes. They will make bad decisions. They will do things to damage their reputation. They will do things that dim their light that is shining for Jesus. They won't always realize it at the time, though. Looking back they will see and understand.

Parents, let's pray that our children remember the truths they've been taught. Let's pray that the example they show to others not only honors you as their parents, but also one that glorifies the Lord. It's really easy to fall into what the world believes is okay. It's even harder to be different when brothers and sisters in Christ may be participating in the very thing that you've realized is not wholesome and holy and God-honoring.

So pray. Pray that they will have the knowledge of God's Word instilled in them where they will stand up to what is not good. And pray that they'll be strong in the faith - strong enough to say no when they need to. 

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity,” 

1 Timothy 4:12.

Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. Proverbs 20:11

Modesty....It Matters!

I am always so impressed with moms, and especially dads who are caring about the subject of modesty and the affect of it on their children's hearts and minds. In following several Christian Facebook groups, there are always a lot of "shoulder to knee" modesty comments. Many Christians follow this rule simply because the Bible refers to covering the "loins to the thigh" as God's instructions for the linen trousers (NKJV) or “breeches" (KJV) which were part of the priests' garments "to cover their nakedness" in Exodus 28:42. The thigh is the entire area from above the knee to the hip.

When you research the tunics worn during these times, they were a garment that covered from the shoulder at least down to the knee. Also in Isaiah 47:2-3, uncovering the thigh is again referred to as revealing nakedness.

As Christians, we are priests!
We are Christ’s ambassadors!
How are we representing ourselves as such?

In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve sinned, they realized their nakedness and covered themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). God then made them "tunics of skin and clothed them" (vs. 21 - NKJV). Apparently the simple coverings Adam and Eve made for themselves were not enough to adequately cover their nakedness. If it wasn’t enough clothing for God’s original people in the garden, why would it be enough clothing for His children today?

These two thoughts from scripture put a whole new perspective on modesty for me, even though I always believed it to be important.

I did try to teach our children to "DIVERT THEIR EYES" and look away when people were dressed immodestly. People in the world think modesty doesn’t matter. Christians should know better because scripture teaches these truths. We mustn’t cave to the world’s standard of what is modest or not. It’s pretty apparent that the world doesn’t have a standard.

Many years ago my high school FHA chapter was going to tour a state penitentiary. I wasn’t able to go due to dental surgery , but I still remember one of the of the rules we were told. No one could wear sleeveless shirts.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the requirements for pension visits now. Guess what? Thirty-plus years later, sleeveless shirts are still not allowed. Interesting, huh? Check out the other dress code requirements below. Crazy how big of a deal it is to have schools or other places enforce a strict dress code, yet a prison is stricter and sees the issue of wearing immodest clothing more than in our free society. That speaks volumes, doesn’t it?!

As followers of Christ, our bodies are temples. We must respect our bodies and not defile them in any way. Through the way we dress and by how we appear, we can show that we know how precious our body is. We can show that we are a disciple of Jesus Christ and that we love Him by how we dress. Our dress and grooming influence the way we and the way others act around us.

We must never lower our standards of dress. We must not use a special occasion as an excuse to be immodest. When we dress immodestly, we send a message that is contrary to our identity as a son or daughter of God. We may also send the message that we are using our body to get attention and approval from others. We mustn’t seek approval from the world, from social media, from those who desire to harm our influence as a child of God. Modesty in thought, word, appearance, and behavior keep us in step with the Spirit. It will also show others that we are different than the world, giving us the opportunity to tell them more about Jesus and His influence on our life.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 

1 Corinthians‬ ‭6:19-20‬ ‭

Integrity

I came across this quote a few days ago:  Integrity is choosing your thoughts and actions based on values rather than personal gain.  It's a great life quote that we can all take to heart.

There are many things I hope my children have. One of those things is integrity.  They'll only have integrity if I have modeled it, trained them in it, and taught it.  My example is huge.  If I do the things I do to benefit ME, then they will do the same.  If I bend rules, make plans, and hide things on the basis of "for others", yet it's actually to benefit myself, they will see through my fakeness and I will have failed to teach them to have integrity.  It's easy to see when others don't have integrity. It's much harder to see it in myself.

Want to check to see if you have integrity?  From Carey Nieuwhof's website, check yourself!

Five signs that show your integrity is in question:

1.  It’s all about you.
2. Your self esteem rises and falls with the opinion of others.
3. You’re hiding things.
4.  You fail to do what you said you were going to do.
5.  You make too many compromises.

How did you do?  Could you make some improvements? Start today! Don't delay!

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. Proverbs 10:9

The Lord judges the peoples;

    judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness

    and according to the integrity that is in me.

9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

    and may you establish the righteous—

you who test the minds and hearts,

    O righteous God!

Psalm 7:7-9