But if not....

Daniel 3:16-18

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so,^(AA) our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.^{[d] 18}But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

I frequently pray that if I were in such circumstance, that I would boldly say to the one person that was holding the key to my life(at least on earth) in his hand; "My God will deliver me, but if not I still will not worship your gods." To have that kind of faith, that says that I know that God has the ability to deliver me out of this trial or problem, but even if He doesn't, I know that He is still there, and He still cares for me. There is a song out right now by Laura Story: Blessings- one of the verses which reads:

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

– Isaiah 40:28-31“Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

God's promises are enough! His grace is enough!! Just remember next time you are feeling discouraged, that maybe the trials of this life are just God's mercies in disguise.

http://www.tsrocks.com/l/laura_story_texts/blessings.html

(see this link for the song  Blessings by Laura Story)

Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

I have loved you with an everlasting love...

Whenever my husband is out on an adventure with Isaac I like to sit and spend too much time watching girly chick flicks and romantic comedies. Last night the movie of choice was: "Where The Heart Is". The very end of the movie Natalie Portman says to her co-star "I lied because I thought you deserved better", to which he replies: "There is no better than you."

Sometimes I think that we do this with God, we are afraid that we are not the best person for what God asks of us. Maybe He has asked you to spend an entire week with abused children showing God's love, or maybe just sharing His love with a stranger, or even harder, a friend. Perhaps it's something more in the spotlight, such as sharing your testimony or a verse or song. Whatever it is, our tendency is to think that God couldn't possibly want to use us for such a thing. But what I think we need to realize is that God is looking at us saying "(insert your name here) there is no better than you." He has designed us to serve a purpose, each and everyone of us! He loves us and sees us not as we see ourselves! So next time God prompts you to do something don't let fear stop you. Remember, Steve, Randy, Julie, Dave, Lee, Leena, Linda, Berndt, Shari and anyone else that might read this, there is no better than you!

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3).

His grace is sufficient!

2 Corinthians 12:9

⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 


 It is always difficult as a human in general to show any weakness. To even allow ourselves to tell others about how we have fallen makes us think that they will either judge us, or look at us differently. We'll lose a little of our 'status' that we have been trying to obtain. As a Christian I think we sometimes use the facade that if we tell others how we have sinned they will judge us, or worse think that we are a bunch of hypocrites. But one verse that has constantly stood out to me is 1 Peter 1:14-16:¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.^"

 
 I suppose we are not trying to be hypocrites, but we are in fact trying to be something we are not. God has asked us to be holy because He is holy! But because this is something that none of us will ever be able to obtain, which brings us to the verse above in Corinthians. You see none of us are good enough to deserve God's favor! Definitely not good enough to be considered holy... but by God's grace through the sacrifice of His Son, we will be allowed to stand before His throne and be counted as worthy. This always amazed and confused me, why God would want my messed up life to be anything to be used for Him and His glory, yet in Proverbs 3:5-6:

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
   and he will make your paths straight

Through trusting in God daily in my life, God willing, I will slowly conform to something that He would want me to be, and will bring Glory to His Name.


Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

My Hope Is Buit on Nothing Less...

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is in him."
Jeremiah 17:7

Recently we attended a web-inar(fancy word for a seminar we had to sit in a tiny sweaty room to watch) about disease pathology and auto-immune disorders. During the discussion I was frequently brought to the verse in  Luke 21:11 ¹¹ There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

The word in the above verse that most intrigued me was pestilences you see during this discussion the doctors were talking first about all the diseases that we had assumed we'd eradicated but have just come back around only stronger, things such as Polio, Pertussis(whooping cough) and Tuberculosis are making a startling come back in the United States. Now our original vaccinations, and treatments for such things have become all but void and doctors are having to come up with new ways to treat and protect from these diseases.


But what was even more interesting to me was all the new things that are attacking our bodies. The main thing during this seminar being bacteria overgrowth in our intestines, kidneys and a multitude of other systems that we need to survive. They have managed to link bacterial overgrowth to Auto-immune disorders such as Lupus, Fibromyalgia, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. They have linked it to Cancer and a near cornucopia of other inflammatory disorders. The big problem is that if you can find and treat these bacteria's they are able to morph themselves and become resistant to what they are being treated with so most people that are being treated are going through round after round of antibiotics with only temporary results.  After the seminar was over one of the doctors said to the rest of us, "Well we might as well go get a drink and wait to die."


That ominous statement made me start thinking about the world perspective on things like this. The hopelessness that they feel when they think about the fragility of our lives. When I read Matthew 21:11 or Revelation 6: 7-8

 Revelation 6: 7-8 ⁷ When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” ⁸ I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. 

Instead of feeling like I may as well just give up, I felt renewed strength. As it says in
Matthew 24: 32-22  ³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that the end is near, right at the door.

I believe that nothing else has to happen for the Lord to come back, nothing! Therefore instead of feeling as though we may as well give up, we should be hurrying out to help people around us because the time is short. 
Luke 10:2  ² He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.


As a final thought, if you found out that Jesus was coming back on Monday, how would that change what you did for the next four days?  

Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

Bible Boot Camp 101

1 Corinthians 9:25-28
New King James Version (NKJV)
And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.But I discipline my body and bring into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.



For the past few months I have been slowly prepping for my 2nd degree black belt test. This time of year is always hard, because first I have NO idea when the test will be, sometime in the fall, which means I need to be ready anytime between September and November, and secondly with all the training comes a multitude of bruises and general muscle soreness from overuse. Not to mention the extra time that is put in during preparation. But knowing that there is in fact a goal at the end, and working hard for something that I will soon be able to obtain makes everything worthwhile.

I believe this is a small picture of the idea that Paul was hoping to convey to us in 1 Corinthians 9:27. First, we need to be prepared at all times.

Matthew 24:44 Therefore you must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect

I have always enjoyed that verse in Corinthians the image of the fighter beating the air reminds me of a story that I heard from one of my Taekwondo instructors. He was out on a date with his wife and a man confronted them for money, he was an excellent martial artist, his kicks were so high and powerful, but he had hardly trained with any real contact, choosing instead to always fight in non-contact sparring, so when this man came towards him for money, instead of being able to fight him off, he placed 5 or 6 kicks right at the assailants face, but not one of them made any real contact. The attacker simply punched him in the face and took his wallet. After that this martial artist started training with renewed vigor, going to full contact sparring and making sure he knew the practical application for everything that he did. He was no longer just ‘beating the air.’ What stumped me on this verse was how do we make sure that we no longer are just spiritually beating the air?

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.


Ephesians 6: 10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.


To be prepared, we must first realize that there is an imperishable goal that we are striving for We are not just walking along with no end in sight, and the finish line is where the judges are. So we are not to become weary in doing good. When we cross the finish line we want to hear Jesus say “Well done good and faithful servant.” Not “Well run, I’m glad you had a good time” but “Well done.” When we keep our mind on the final prize, it helps make the walk easier.

The second thing we must do is pick ourselves back up if we fall. If something happens that hinders us, we cannot just give up and think that we gave it the old college try. We have to push onward, regardless of how many times we have to pick our battered bruised spirit up out of the muck we pushed it into.



Until next time: The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord be gracious to you, make His face shine upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

To speak or not to speak.. that is the question...

Today I heard a study about Christians witnessing to unbelievers. They did a poll of people claiming to be born again believers across different denominations and asked them what the number one reason was that they did not share their faith with others. The person who wrote this poll said that he expected the top 3 answers to be:

1. They felt that they did not know what to say or had never been taught how.

2. That they didn’t come into contact with many unbelievers and therefore didn’t need to witness

3. That it would not be politically correct in the circles where they were in.

After conducting the study though, the number one answer, by an overwhelming margin was: That the lifestyle that they were leading was not in line with what a Christians should be, and therefore they would be embarrassed if their unbelieving friends found out that they considered themselves a Christian.

This was very surprising to me. I remember as a child my grandmother had a framed poster on her wall that read: Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words. At one point I asked my mom what that meant, and she told me that the way that we as Christians choose to live our lives should be so apparent to people around us that we shouldn’t even have to tell them we are Christians they should be able to tell without asking. I believe that we as Christians should be able to ‘Preach the gospel at all times’ With or without opening our mouths. My mom says that there should be an example of this in here, and I suppose the only one that I can think of right now is when I first started working at my current job. At that time there was only one other believer there, and when I first met her, I could tell, not just from the things that she said, but from the things that she didn't say as well. I had put up some bible verses on my computer and after the first day she came up to me and said "Are you a Christian? So am I!" And gave me a great big hug. Even now I'm very grateful on the days she works, it's not that she says or does anything preachy, it's just that you can tell by the things that she does, how she tries to help others, how she avoids certain conversations or just doesn't allow the things that are going on around her to cause her to get stressed. I think that these things alone have made her stand out to the other people that we work with, and they all know that she is a great Christian as well, without her having to bring up God, although she does with out being afraid!

Ephesians 6:14

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

Romans 2:13

¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

Romans 6:12-14 

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Worship

Worship: Obsequious or submissive respect; extravagant admiration; adoration. The act of paying divine honors to The Supreme Being; religious reverence and homage; adoration, or acts of reverence, paid to God.

In order to properly worship God, I think that it requires us to first enter into worship with reverence and with awe! God is not asking us to repeat some montra or song, in fact true worship does not require music or song at all.

But music and worship do go hand in hand. Worship involves the WHOLE person, and music helps lift a person’s thoughts and emotions to God. Through music we can reflect upon our needs and shortcomings as well as celebrate God’s greatness. To truly worship God the way that He asks us to, we have to be willing to forget about ourselves, not worry about the people around us and what they think and focus only on God and His great power. Interestingly though a recent study done at a large church in New York stated that when they did a poll on their congregation about worship, 20% stated that what brought them in to true worship was the music lyrics and message, 15% said that it was the musicians skill and ability, and an overwhelming 65% said that it was the worship leaders, and other members of the congregation entering into worship that in fact was able to draw them into worship as well. So when you get ready to go to church on Sunday, be prepared… perhaps you entering into worship will allow the person next to you to have such a wonderful experience… but also realize that maybe you NOT entering into worship is holding that same person back.

PSALM 81:1-5 

¹ Sing aloud to God our strength;  shout for joy to the God of Jacob! ²Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
   the sweet lyre with the harp.³Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. ⁴For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob. ⁵He made it  a decree in Joseph
   when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known:

John 4:23-24

²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

Romans 12:1

 ¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship

Hebrews 12:28-29

²⁸Therefore 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, ²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.