Just a little something to think about……our words have creative power, shaping lives and destinies. My Three year old is the “watch your words cop” in our family. If anyone (including me) says anything questionable…. He says in the cutest way ever: “oooooh, she said a bad wooooorrrd”. I keep being reminded that people are listening… to everything. My words are so important. If my little guy is listening and it is effecting him, just think of what others are learning about our life, our families, our church, our God…..
We need to pay attention to what is coming out of our mouth…. our words are powerful and they have creative power.
GOD spoke the world into existence. See Gen. 1 Just one word can change an atmosphere.
What are we speaking over our lives, our families, our future? What we speak reproduces itself in others.
Our words are life and death, they bless or curse.
“out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” What goes on in your heart matters…. It eventually comes out your mouth and creates life or death in situations and people.
The Word of God is what transforms our mind and our heart…. so its time we begin to speak the word of God over our lives and hearts instead of all that negative stuff – We need to speak the Word of God – not just reading it but speaking it out loud- declaring what the word says.
My challenge to you:
test this - Find 10 faith filled scriptures that you love…. Quote them – speak them out loud over and over again into your situations and just watch what God will do.
Lets change the atmosphere of our homes….open up the word and speak life & faith into your future!
45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.
I was talking with my little guy about his attitude. Attitude is the most important thing I said. He did not get the cereal he wanted, the way he wanted it just moments before… and so he decided to throw a temper tantrum. You know making a HUGE fuss to get my attention, try to change my mind or just plain get what he wanted. He wanted what he wanted and and he wanted it now. He ignored my voice, he did his own thing, He was unteachable in that moment. As a mother, my job is to teach my son that:
1- I am in charge, he is not
2- I have his best in mind
3- I love him
4- this attitude is wrong and will not work
5-he must change his attitude right now! ….I must teach him to choose to have a good attitude even when he doesn’t get his way so that he will be a GREAT adult, making great decisions.
I realized that We can be a LOT like this with God… and others. We have something we want, we see a particular thing that we don’t like and so we move heaven and earth, change everything, make HUGE decisions all while ignoring God on the matter. We cry, we whine, and beg at God all in the name of prayer…. But all we really want is our own way.
Ouch- so remember those things I had to teach my son,
God is imploring us to stop our temper tantrums and be teachable!
1- God in charge, I am not
2- God has my best in mind
3- God loves me
4- This attitude is wrong and will not work
5-I must change my perspective & attitude right now! ….
God is teaching us to choose to have a good attitude even when we don’t get our way so that we “will be mature and complete Christians, not lacking anything” We can be a GREAT leader for God if we first become a great follower making great decisions.
Attitude is the most important thing- it sparks the hugest fire or calms the greatest storm – it’s our choice…. Trust God!
Have you ever had one of those lazy evenings when you lounge on your computer watching the live feed of social networks...? lol. Surfing around to all your favorite sites, flipping through TV channels... Ever have that night when nothing seems to be good enough? It's that night when your soul is restless
Sometimes I wake up and my heart is pounding. I find myself worried about all the things I need to do as a new church planter & mom.
I have so many to do lists. I’ve spent hours trying to figure out how to purposefully and skillfully build a foundation in each area God has given me. Last year was my least active as a woman in ministry. This year I am enjoying my most active year in ministry. I love it, but in the process of going 0 to 100 almost overnight, I have constantly been faced with “I can’t”
The feeling of not knowing how to take my list from an idea to a working structure confronts me. I wake up feeling defeated sometimes. In fact 7 months ago I would say I woke up almost every morning this way.
“I can’t” tried to stop me from finding joy in anything. I remember wondering if i would ever “wake up on the right side of the bed again”. I remember not wanting to get out of bed. I remember wanting to finish tasks, but “i can’t” stood there taunting me.
“I CAN’T” thinking would somedays turn into toxic thinking in my soul if I didn’t fight it. It turned into:
“I wont succeed even if i try”
“Others don’t believe you can either” “You are not even remotely qualified for this”
“You are not good enough”
“You are going to do something or find out something that will ruin everything” “You have failed at everything so far and you never finish anything”
“Just give up, someone else can do it better”.
Wow, I was defeated before getting out of bed. I was truly fighting a battle. This is not the first time I have faced this… Even in my simple year at home last year I found just doing household tasks would overwhelm me. This was not my normal way of thinking, It hasn’t always been this way!
I know now that the enemy of my soul trying to abort my call and get me to sit back. I decided to fight, to go bed listening to worship and claim the verse “joy comes in the morning”. I probably shouldn’t be confessing all this to you because at some level I really want you to think that as a pastors wife, I have it all together.
However, the word of God teaches us to ask people to “follow me as I follow Christ”.
The truth is that, I only have it all together when i adjust my thinking to come in proper alignment to God’s.
So if I didn’t show you how I fight when “I can’t” tries to defeat me, I would be doing us all a disservice. God taught me that many times I needed to fight for my joy in the morning!
Here is how I fight my “I can’t” moments:
1) get a hot cup of coffee and go to my safe zone – that place where I can meet with God
2) have a private cry and empty it all out on God.
3) begin to praise & thank God for anything positive in my life
4)open up the WORD in psalms and begin to read & worship until something confronts me and jumps out As a clear word or encouragement to hold to for the day
5)get brutally honest about my current season& my limitations
6) let go of disappointment & expectations I put on myself- ask forgiveness for toxic thinking.
7) ask God to show my what he has assigned for me to do today. Ask God what I need to lay down and not do today.
8) ask God to remind me of how and why He loves me.
9) begin to declare God’s promises in my life.
10) do the now thing .
God always asks us to do something with right now- if we accomplish whatever is for this moment, things will find that God is working everything out for good according to His own purpose. Today my season is requiring something I won’t have in 2 years- cuddling with my 3yr old because he wants to is my most important task today. Yep, he is on my lap right now… Pushing, moving around and loving each second. This post will prob have several spelling errors because I am typing it with my thumb on my iPhone so I can hold Ethan. I can fix all that later. This is my now. It will change in an hour and I pray that whatever I need to do then I will be able to push past “I can’t” and be present in the moment giving 100% to that task.
What is the “I can’t” you face today?
Are you letting it defeat you?
What has God asked you to do today?
Have you let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you in it?
Joy comes in the morning, but you must remember to fight the “I can’t” that tries to render you useless today. Arm yourself with the Word of God speak life into your situations. If God is for you, who can be against you!?!
Dear (youth) pastor‘s wife: If you were sitting at my table these are some of the things I would tell you about my journey:
I was 20, engaged and about to move to California to marry my best friend, who had just taken on the full-time role of being a youth pastor and Elder at our church. He is and was a brilliant man of God with incredible calling on His life to pastor. I had finished my AA in Theology and as I was preparing to be a woman in ministry; I began to dream of pastoring, preaching, leading worship and ministering to the hurting. So here I was about to embark on the greatest adventure ever with my husband. I was ready to minister along side my husband.. … BUT I was not exactly prepared to be “the wife” of the pastor in ministry… and in my case a youth pastor’s wife. My journey was so fun, and yet at times challenging because I struggled at times to figure out my role. I felt called to minister and pastor but how could I do that while my own personal giftings were not the ones that had been “brought on staff”.
This began the careful balance of finding my personal calling and place in ministry while serving and honoring the man by my side. I spent hours praying trying to figure my role out, Trying to find my own identity apart from my man but yet together as a team with him ….
So here are a few things that I learned on my journey.
Don’t worry if you are reading this and your journey doesn’t look like mine….These basic points will work for anyone in ministry- male, female, married or single… just focus on the highlighted stuff )
Go grab a cup of coffee and learn from my journey )
A few things God taught me as “the youth pastor’s wife”:
1- GO IN YOUR OWN ARMOR…. ANDBe yourself! In the bible David was asked to approach his destiny in Saul’s armor. It didn’t work for David and it won’t work for us.
Starting off as a newlywed I worked at the church in an administrative role so I was able to serve alongside my husband in ministry that way. I LOVED being involved and was present at every event and in the lives of our youth. But after I went to work outside the church I struggled a lot with feeling like an outsider in ministry – I became “just the youth pastor’s wife”. I struggled trying to figure out what I was “supposed to do”. There was no handbook for how to function as the wife of a youth pastor in 1996. Believe me, i looked for it! Some women were happy just being a wife, but i had a strong stirring to be actively involved in ministry too. But what did that look like…. God always brought me back to “just be yourself”. I realized I didn’t know how to serve without a specific role. The former youth pastors wives were amazing; well-loved, very cool and super fun - Feeling like I needed to measure up to them & even measure up to my own husband was a barrier I had to tear down! Somewhere along the way I began to feel I was “doing nothing” significant in ministry – and I began to give up my dreams for ministry and hide behind the fact that I wasn’t actually the pastor…. God told me…. “stop sulking and just go be yourself – be who I have called you to be” As we started to have kids my ability to actively minister had to be recalibrated each time. Again and again I realized that I was just didn’t know how to balance both ministry and parenting… with confidence. I had to fight the feeling of insignificance in ministry & at home….. I remember actually wondering If it would have been easier to be called into ministry while being a single woman so that just my own gifts would be seen instead of or outside of being a wife and mother to the kids of the pastor. (BTW – Being a single woman in ministry is a whole notha blog that I will write later- I highly admire those who are…. their road has a whole set of challenging situations as well)
So I looked for the handbook again- surely there was a book for being a youth pastors wife while having kids…. lol – I didn’t find it. God told me THE ONLY WAY TO BE YOURSELF IS TO TRULY CONTINUE TO PURSUE & KNOW THE ONE WHO CREATED YOU. In other words: LOVE GOD & then a Confidence to serve from the place of “just being yourself” will begin to be formed in your character.
God showed me fulfillment regardless of position or title in “being myself” was found in HIS joy & embracing each season of life. There was no handbook because we are all uniquely fashioned by God to serve him, and we have to stop comparing ourselves and trying to” be just like” someone we admire. Go in your own armor. YOU WERE MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE- HE HAS EQUIPPED YOU TO DO WHATEVER HE IS PUTTING IN FRONT OF YOU.
2-LOVE PEOPLE.
This became my best “ministry tool.” If I could tell you anything: It’s to LOVE people.
I realized that God’s desire for me was simply to step in each service and love- no matter what my season. As I focused on loving others I stopped being so worried about my role, title, how much I was doing in ministry and whether I was good enough. When I focused on loving people It became easy to step out in my own God given giftings. By God’s grace, Through the years i ended being given the honor of not only being my husband’s wife, but being considered a youth pastor myself along side him. I was given the beautiful opportunities of teaching, preaching, pastoring, leading worship, mentoring, administrating, pastoring, designing and dreaming in every department of youth… and eventually I was ordained as a pastor myself. Things I may not have done if I had tried to measure up to someone else. I’m glad I never found that handbook.
3- A strong Home life IS FOUNDATIONAL to all of ministry: Be God strong, not head strong.😍 take time to work on you, take care of yourself. Go to God first and get “God Confident”! Your FIRST ministry is your home , your husband and your children. As for disagreements in marriage: “Pray- Don’t Say” in a lot of (most) situations; Let God filter your mouth and Let HIM work in your hubby, your job is NOT to be the Holy Spirit to Him, let the Holy Spirit do His own job- lol. Be His wife, love him & choose a “1cor.13 kind of love” in each situation, have lots of sex and stop “getting a headache” – that’s a worldly way of dealing with life, yes, I did just say that!
4 Be Vulnerable and accountable to a mentor- My role as pastor’s wife was undefinable for a long time. I stood beside my man and loved our youth the best way I knew how. I wondered many times how to deal with issues… I wish I would have called the ladies who went before me for advice… But I was too insecure and “shy” or maybe proud…. to ask their thoughts. I had to learn it all the hard way.
My advice – Find a real person, a Godly mature woman who has been in ministry and ask questions. It would be great if you found a (youth) pastor’s wife – there is so much joy in knowing you are not alone! Someone safe to be real with, someone you can go to if you have a marriage or life problem. (never go sideways to friends with issues, always go up, it’s the only way to see lasting Godly change) So much wisdom can be found by those who have walked in your shoes. While I didn’t have a former youth pastors wife to mentor me, I did find some older, more mature in God women to speak into my life. God brought me many actually. They were all there for different reasons. Don’t walk alone!Your mentor will hopefully challenge you to GROW, in life, love, speech, & purity. Someone needs to know where you hide when you are insecure or how you try to cover up sin if it arises. Someone needs to have permission to be real with you and call you out. TO PASTOR you!!!!
Online mentors you don’t know will not take the place of a real person. That said, gleaning from online ministry women is a huge resource you should take advantage of : My huge bonus was finding women in ministry online to model my life after -We have Sooo many resources to turn to now from books to blogs & livestream conferences . Some of my favorites are: Jeanne Mayo (best youth pastor’s mentor ever), Gini Smith, Kerri Weems, Christine Caine, Bobbie Houston, and many more … And don’t forget equipping classes. I spent hours listening to Bible college classes like doctrine and Roots of Character.
5- Make Personal “God time” a priority.U can’t give out what you don’t have. You have the privilege of encouraging others, as a pastor “on-call & on duty” all the time…. your husband… and YOU will be asked to minister even when you feel needy yourself. A consistent, personal time with God will give you confidence to give out & grace to allow your husband to spend time ministering… And as you choose to put on a smile, give love & encouragement to others- God will fill your need in the process! Try it!
6- Plan your Time! Communicate with your husband about your life together! Family comes first! It’s ok to say no sometimes to the every night hang outs that youth love. Guard and protect your marriage with pre- agreed upon family time! My husband and i set up weekly ministry & calendar planning meetings that saved our life!!!! Figure out how it works for you and communicate! The number one issue in marriage & ministry is poor communication. We need to develop/create/nurture a culture of open communication in marriage & ministry!! The enemy is itching for ways to destroy your marriage & your ministry… Marriage is a picture of Jesus and the church, satan hates marriage… So be on guard that being in agreement about how time is spent and communicating about it is a key component to keeping the enemy at bay.
HUGE BONUS: Make an active choice to NOT talk about issues in marriage in the car on the way to church- OR JUST BEFORE MINISTRY TIME . See irritation at that time it for what it is: : it’s an attack to divide & conquer you both so that you will not be equipped to minister. Hold your tongue and pray it through.
That said, giving up your time for the ministry is very rewarding and every minute is worth the time invest in young peoples lives. You must find the balance God has called u and your hubby to. Make Pre-decisions. For us it was: after youth service is always youth time… We had fri. Night services and the time we invested in our young peoples’ lives is still bearing fruit to this day! Youth conferences, camps and all nighters were the BEST times of getting into our young ppls lives, befriending them and pastoring. Time management = good fruit in marriage & ministry. you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.
7- People will not always like you or your husband. What? Lol. You will be misunderstood. People will fail to communicate properly and feelings will get hurt. It is part of ministry. You will hurt people. Hopefully never on purpose. So much of life is led by emotions and you can be the hero in one situation and in the same week be the enemy. You must develop thick God skin. Let it go! Even the leaders under you can easily be frustrated and attacks can come. “Eat the meat and chuck the bone.” usually there is a hint of truth attached to a huge emotion which can be a little out of proportion. Find where you can learn from the situation and leave the rest, the hurt, the personal attacks with God! It’s not actually about you! Ask forgiveness quickly if you were wrong, be humble. Choose to not be easily offended. Love covers… So love in return for the hate. God will defend you. I still occasionally hear about past issues that I didn’t have a clue even happened. I have to leave it with God and pray for healing. Love anyway, love through it- and ask God to give you grace for EVERYONE that HE has placed in your path.
8- Lead anyway! You may not always feel qualified, or enabled or desire to lead, but your LIFE IS leading! And it is a privilege! Every word spoken, dream expressed, hurt revealed, victory shown, love freely given is leading those around you. Speak admirably OF your husband & leaders and lovingly TO your young people. They will notice!
You can do this and God has uniquely called you to first be a wife and then a pastor’s wife fulfilling your own calling alongside your husband!
#CircleSF ONE year ago I walked for 12 hours around the entire perimeter of San Francisco! Crazy? yes. Worth it? absolutely. I can hardly believe its been a year already, We woke up before sunrise and met our brave and fearless team to begin the walk around our beautiful 7×7. It was breathtaking. In many ways. Breathtakingly beautiful. Breathtakingly inspiring. Breathtakingly long. Breathtakingly brutal. Breathtakingly painful. None of us were marathon walkers or runners. Only a few even serious athletes. It was one of the most brutiful (beautiful and brutal) experiences of my life.
So armed with walking shoes, water and crazy excitement we met at the Ferry Building to discuss our route. Why would we even want to do this?
We LOVE San Francisco! My Husband and I were in the beginning stages of preparing to plant a church in San Francisco. We were taking weekly trips to pray in each neighborhood. God has called us to LOVE this city and to impact every square inch of it with the Love of Jesus… so we decided to prayer walk the entire city asking God to bless San Francisco and give us favor and wisdom.
At the beginning of 2012 my husband and I read a book by Mark Batterson called The Circle Maker. We found ourselves in almost every chapter of the book as we talked and dreamed of the church we believed God was wanting to build in San Francisco.
Josh. 1:9 was the scripture God had given both my husband and I to stand on during this season. A portion of scripture where God is preparing Joshua to take his promise land, a command when no plan was written yet about how He would make it into this city in front of him. The book built faith in us as we embarked on this huge journey of planting a church. We were confronted and pierced by every instance Pr. Mark talked about physically walking around and praying for a specific place.
We knew in our hearts that God wanted us to pray around this whole city. It was a HUGE idea. It would take an entire day. We took the promise to Joshua when God said “I will give you every place where you set your foot” and took a stand that we didn’t want just portions of this city but the whole thing. So as an act of faith and with strong conviction we circled the entire city of San Francisco and asked God to use us here to extend His kingdom and build a local church that would glorify Him.
It was crazy and wonderful.
We began with prayer for the city and for the church. AND then we marched our way around 24+ miles of our city. Sunburns, lost toenails, blisters, sore body: all of it was worth it. Our prayers are being answered! In one year, City Life Church San Francisco (click here to go to web site) has been launched in the heart of the city. Our first act as Pastors was to pray around this city, and since that day we have experienced miracle after miracle! Our first Christmas, Easter, Baptisms, Baby Dedications, livestream, and tonight our first membership dinner. We are still filled with faith as our growing church begins to impact our great city with the love of Jesus.
Here is a quick photo journey of our trip and a few thoughts I learned along the way:
1 -Start everything with Prayer.
2- The journey can be long but it is well worth every step to finish strong.
3- Don’t give up.
4- Prepare adequately so the journey isn’t as hard.
5- Team is important.
6- Every “war wound” reminds you of the victory.
7- The battle is already won.
8- It is worth it.
9- God is with us – He is building His church.
10- It’s not about us. It’s about the people God loves in every square inch of this city.
Today is the most beautiful day where I live. The sun is shinning, the ocean is sparkling, the colors are vivid. I can even see waves in the ocean which never happens from my vantage point. I am poised at the table all day, just to view the waves. lol. The reason I can see waves from so far away is that we are having record-breaking wind gusts right now. Last night the windows and doors were howling and trees were knocked down. A record of 75 mph wind gusts were recorded by the beach in San Francisco. I am so thankful to be inside my house as I listen to the wind and watch the effects of the wind on the ocean – It’s beautiful. But not for everyone. The fishing community is loosing hundreds of thousands of dollars today because Continue reading →
My three year old was jumping on my bed this morning. Yes, I was a bad mom …. I let him jump on the bed and thought it was cute. He jumped as HIGH as he could and was so proud of himself… then he started to lift his knees as he jumped and a huge smile came across his face as he proclaimed “look mommy, look how much higher I am jumping now”. As cute as my little guy was, I could see that he was not jumping any higher than before, his head was reaching the same spot – he was simply lifting his feet higher. It was a lot more effort for no better result. He was even out of breath. I gave him a suggestion… try a different technique and jump from a squatting position… as he jumped, I saw that he was actually going higher than before. Although this way of jumping took longer, it made for a higher jump, and it was easier. He was soooo proud of his jumps!
And then the thought came… how many times does our Christian walk look like this to the Lord? ok. It’s a silly illustration but here goes: as we are serving the Lord… we may actually think we are “jumping higher” in our walk with God just by adding more activity to our day & ministry. We are so proud of our accomplishments – But many times we are just using more effort and not making a true difference. It’s not until we stop and ask God for His way of doing things that we actually begin to go higher. We need to ask ourselves, Are we going deeper in God and more effective in life & ministry, or are we just busier and have a better looking resume? True Satisfaction lies in the path of pleasing God, burnout comes when we try to please others. What is it that God is asking us to be and do right now….
What is His strategy for our season…?
1- ask God. He will answer through the His word (Bible), the checks in our heart, and Godly counsel
2-be willing to cut out anything God does not want
3-give up our right to be right
4- remember our purpose in Serving God = others…not our “Christian Resume”.
If we ask God his plan, he will show us, He DESIRES to give us wisdom to know how to “jump a little higher”!
The last day of our study of Ephesians. This part is powerful and can change the way you see yourself. It can change the way you act as a Christian and the pace at which you grow. God loves you so much and loves giving you great gifts: He has given you a whole new wardrobe. So I declare:
God likes shopping… lol. I actually don’t like shopping, but I love new clothes. It’s like opening your closet and all the perfect clothes with the perfect fit are there… It’s time to get dressed! It’s the reward at the end -we get a whole new wardrobe. Imagine, looking in your closet and seeing all new clothes. This might be a simple illustration for a deep principle in the Word, but I hope you will see the simplicity of God and how strong and effective doing things HIS way makes us. Continue reading →
I grew up in a family of 6 and my 18 year old self would be surprised that I now have my own family of six, I remember how as a child I was taught to obey & honor my parents. To obey my parents as a child was not an option, I didn’t get to decide if I felt like it or if I was too tired to obey. They had curfews and taught me that being on time was the expectation. They expected me to not only know right from wrong but live my life like it. I had to be polite to total strangers that my parents knew. Going to church was not an option – It was a way of life for my family all the time, Continue reading →
“Maewige, maewige is what bwings us togever today….. ” I remember sneaking in with a friend to the movie theater as a jr. Higher to watch the princess bride. I was mesmerized. And growing up with “princess dreams” my whole childhood, I came into my marriage with a pretty serious list of expectations for my man to fulfill.
While I definitely think I “deserve to be treated like a princess” lol. Sometimes in marriage and relationships we can be so self serving and “deserving” that we are just plain selfish.
This passage of scripture is one of most contested & miss-used. So let’s look at the bottom line. What was the point? God is always looking to bring unity and restoration into our relationships. The bookend scriptures tell a lot about what is important.
The first verse in this portion of scriptures says:
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ…. ” In other words: Be kind, put others first, be considerate, love others.
This word Submit can be scary. It is not instruction to let yourselves be walked on. It is Simply: When you choose to love someone you choose to honor them and put them first- This verse is instruction to us all. Married or not, male or female.
Jesus boiled all the commandments down to Love God and Love others.
This last verse is just genius! It is directed to marriage. “Each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
While counseling over the 16 past years in ministry and even in my own life I have seen a few trends: It seems that:
Women of all personality types have a deep heart felt need to be loved, to have someone care for them, to feel special. Women give love out easily because it is natural to them and needed by them.
Men have a need given to them by God to be respected! They desire to be looked up to, to provide and to have their efforts acknowledged. It’s easy for guys to give out respect for others. It comes natural.
Guys would be ok with just being respected, because to them that IS love… women would feel empty if their husband only respected them but never showed love.
Everyone desires both love and respect to some degree- but our genius God knew what we needed to remember – a way to keep marriage healthy!
Both of these: love&respect are needed in a healthy marriage.
Women- we forget to respect often. We find ourselves “mothering” instead of respecting. The things we used to like about them now become frustrations. We must remember to be our husbands #1 fan! It does take extra effort but we must give attention to respecting our men…. so if we are really loving our husbands, we will respect them also.
Men- are instructed by God to choose to love their wives…. As much as they love themselves and even as Jesus loves the church and gave himself up to death for her. I’d say the guys job is much bigger! Lol.
So bottom line: Choose to love and respect each other out of reverence for Christ.
And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:21, 33 NLT)
Too hot- too cold. In my new house I have a gas stovetop. Any chef will tell you that temperature is the key to cooking. Before moving here, My children had never seen me cook with a “real fire” and every time I cook they are a little concerned when they see the fire coming up under the pot. My tendency is to want to turn the fire down and reassure them that everything is alright, however I need to teach my children to trust the cook, follow the recipe and keep the fire going at the perfect temp for the dish. I am not the perfect chef and sometimes I burn the food but I love knowing We have a God who will never burn us. In our walk with God, sometimes we find ourselves living a lukewarm life for Christ. I think this is because we as children get too concerned with the temperature of our fire, being perfect in our own eyes and when we fail because it’s too hard, we tend to give up and do nothing at all. Living on fire for God does not mean perfection. We go through seasons in our walk with God, we don’t need to worry about the fire… Our job is trusting the creator, following the bible’s instructions letting God set the temperature in our lives.
What is going on in our hearts (aka: the conversation in your mind) is what determines the temperature of our walk with God.
OCCUPY YOUR MIND: It’s your choice what goes on in there. lol – It helps to live a lifestyle of worship! You can change your pattern of thinking just by Choosing to replace wrong thoughts with the word of God by ”singing psalms and spiritual songs – making music to the Lord in your hearts”. And give thanks to God for everything.
Worship + thanks =a heart that pleases God.
Deep thought alert: We come to God who is our loving Father, who will always take care of us because we come in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who took our place and our sin and whose act of love on our behalf made us eligible to be adopted into the family. Family.
Simple instructions on right living – the recipe God has given us: If we do these things- we will keep the fire burning just where He wants it!
Imitate God, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. )
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
Don’t participate inObscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.
So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.
Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about these things.
So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
Did you ever sing that little song in Sunday School… “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine”? My favorite part is still the second verse ” don’t let satan (blowout “light” on finger) it out”. It is a cute song for children, but perhaps we should take a look at it again. The truth in the word is that you are called to be a light in a dark world. Always Remember, God has identified you as his own- so be a light.
The problem is that so many of us have dark places in our hearts that seem to haunt us and make us cower as christians. We need to let God go to those places and bring change and healing…
The word in this portion of scripture is appealing us:
“….So Don’t make God sad by the way you live.”
4 ways to deal with the darkness in our hearts-
Allow God to Go to the deep, hidden and embarrassing spots and let Him show you how to change. His desire is for you to become a light that shines brightly showing the miracle He can do in people’s lives.
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1- dealing with lust and lack of conscience: no sin filter.
THROW AWAY the way you used to live in impurity and lust: and intentionally make an active daily choice to :
let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. – then PUT ON your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
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2- dealing with theft:
If you are a thief, quit stealing.
use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need.
3- dealing with our mouths:
So stop telling lies
Don’t use foul or abusive language,
Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Choose to Tell the truth!
4- Dealing with anger:
“don’t sin by letting anger control you.”
Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil. GIVE UP your rights to God daily and let HIM take care of things. He will do a better job of it anyway. If you hold on to anger… it grows and produces a healthy crop of sin in our lives.
the bottom line:
live so others can follow Jesus because of you: live to be a light of hope to others.
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How:
1)Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior
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2)be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
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Living as Children of Light
17With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity.
20But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
25So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27for anger gives a foothold to the devil.
28If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
30And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
31Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
“I just wish they would grow up already”. Sometimes as Christians we are our own worst enemy! We fight each other and backbite. We blame and are hypocritial. Just being real. It is so sad to see how sometimes we as Christians live just like everyone else. In fact it seems as if Jr. High drama has never ended. One gossip and lie and a whole fire is set in the body of Christ.
If we are a family in God, it is a perspective change we need! We need to look at ourselves first! We need to help each other grow by loving others and working on our own lives. Leave the petty differences behind and Grow.
How to grow in God:
loving others with God’s help.
1- Always be humble & gentle.
2- Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of our love from God.
3-Make every effort to keep ourselves united as believers, binding ourselves together with peace that comes from the Holy Spirit.
5 Signs we are maturing in God:
We find unity with others because of our faith in God.
We are not swayed or influenced by every “new” idea out there… you know the truth found in the bible and can easily stand firm. We are not a spiritual roller-coaster: constantly up and down.
We have to learned the art of Speaking the truth in LOVE> an immature-insecure believer is very harsh
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We will be continually growing and pursuing growth – becoming more and more like Jesus in every way.
We will become secure in the part God has given us to fit in his church. We will do our own special work and it will help the other parts of the church you serve to grow…. Our function will be causing the WHOLE church body to be healthy and growing and full of love.
“I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. He has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ.” = UNITY.
In this passage We see that growth leads to maturity, finding your call, and gift set, and then to leadership development.
Here are a few thoughts on the leaders God has placed in His church-
The bible states that their mission and responsibility to equip the believer to do God’s work and build the church.
It is not the church leaders job to become the superman. lol- not called to take over and run everything.
The leaders job is to oversee the church & help us grow up in God, discover our gifts and how they work together with the church…. learning how to serve others. From the leaders down, God intended his church to be a place to serve, not be served.
Apostles: Overseer of leaders and Planting new works
Prophets: Speaks an accurate word from God to his church – can be directional, encouraging, confirming.
Evangelists: Called to the Lost… to Bring people to Jesus in new and innovative ways – Preaches Good News of Hope and Grace
Pastors: Overseer of the church. loves people. Can preach the word of God. Responsible to God for the Church entrusted to them.
Teachers: Breaks down the word of God and can accurately divide and explain the word of God to others so they can learn.
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. (Ephesians 4:2-16 NLT)
God can and will do exceedingly, abundantly, extravagantly more than we can ask or think in our lives! Do you believe it? HIS ability to work in and through our lives is UNLIMITED!
HE will tear the limits of insecurity and fear off your life!
My challenge for you today is to memorize all these verses: Apply them in your own way to your situations.
They will change the way you think, the way you live and the way you approach life. They are simply powerful without explanation.
1- It’s His unlimited resources that gives us strength
2- As we are rooted in Christ He shows us He is able to do with our lives exceedingly, abundantly more than we can even imagine! Unlimited dreams.
3- We need to understand the depth of HIs love for us. Unending love. It is life changing. It is unlimited love.
It rings in our ears day in and day out. “I don’t have enough.” eventually It measures up to “I am not enough”.
3 things to see in today’s scriptures:
1-God wants you to Know your value- You are a priceless treasure
2-God wants you to see the everyday life value of what you have been given- You have received a priceless treasure
3- God wants to use to to give to others -You have priceless treasure to give.
“I want more”….. As if the more is really going to fix things! It is what our hearts tell us at times. It is definitely what our kids may say because it is a temporary fix to our real life issues. it is a band-aid that makes us forget our heart issues. What if God gave us endless riches and incredible treasures? Like an all expenses paid for shopping spree. Not earthly things…but the things our hearts truly long for. What our souls cry out for as we lay our head down at the end of a long day. Peace that goes beyond the facts, Joy that isn’t circumstantial, hope of a life in heaven after death, purpose and value not based on our earthly accomplishments. What if it was more than enough for us to live a life that is abundant and extravagant.
“It’s not just about me!” This realization changes everything. When we get our eyes off of ourselves for a minute we begin to see that giving to others actually fills up the vacated spots we have in our own hearts. Its the mystery of God’s grace. What if this treasure so extravagant that we didn’t mind sharing…what if our greatest joy was found in seeing that it was all for the benefit of others-
“God gave us the special responsibility of extending His grace to others who don’t deserve it.- not our own grace, but an inherited endless grace that actually belongs to God!”
“share in the RICHES we Inherited because of our faith in Jesus”- a promise of blessing…
This kind of heart treasure is the real thing that will satisfy our souls. Paul realized it… .Will we?
He fills my life with all good things. Seen with spiritual eyes. love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self control, confidence, grace… an endless list of true life giving treasures. Even though I am least deserving He graciously gave me the privilege of spreading this good news, telling others of the endless treasures we have in Christ. God wants to bless us with earthly natural wealth too. But this treasure is so much more important because it satisfies the longing in our souls.
I have the honor of being a part of God’s purpose on earth- to use the church to display HIS wisdom in it’s RICH variety.
Because of Jesus we can come boldly and confidently into God’s presence!
Without Jesus we have no confidence of a relationship with God. We now know that because of what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf – the veil that separated us from God was ripped in two and we now have access to come to God without fear of judgement or condemnation. We come as a child would to his loving father…. Boldly and with confidence in His unconditional love for us.
Here is a tip for growing in God: When you go through trials, present it in a way so that others don’t loose heart but feel honored to be a part of What God is doing in and through your life. Your life is influencing others. It is your choice what they take away. Will it be a treasure that blesses others and is worth sharing?
Ever have a day or two where it FEELS like you just can’t seem to keep the peace? Like nothing really works even when trying to make things work…. today’s scriptures are the ones that we can post somewhere & keep for those kind of days.
Loving these verses today- These are my take-aways, how I put it in my own words:
I can boldly declare that I have hope! My heart is affected and changed daily by my relationship with Jesus AND because of this I have CONFIDENCE that God is always near me- He is with me! Jesus IS my Peace – not my perfect circumstances… everyday! He is breaking down every wall of hostility and uniting me with Himself and others. There is nothing; no situation with people where God cannot step in and heal it! God hates division! He comes to bring unity to my life, with Him and others. Jesus is the cornerstone ie: The foundation piece that aligns my whole world. As I run to God with everything - make Jesus the foundation of my life- Peace will RULE my heart.
Eph. 2:17-18
“He brought this Good News of peace to you… Now ALL of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”
What are your take-aways from this part of Ephesians?:
Let me take you on a journey of how I think as we look at these next few verses. The word of God is endlessly deep and the Holy Spirit is longing to show us new things. Let’s be honest though, the word of God can seem so deep at times that when we read it, we gloss right over what is being said. So my strategy is to ask the Holy Spirit to help me see these scriptures with my circumstances in mind. To break it down & put them into my own words so I can apply them.
1-I still need to Die to self will.“1Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.”
- My spiritual thinking and understanding was completely shut off (dead) and I was doing exactly what I wanted to do without thought of what God wanted for my life. Wow- sometimes this can even still be. I do what I want instead of listening and finding out what God wants- It leaves me feeling dead spiritually- the truth is that I am just being disobedient to God.
2 – I am being challenged to Obey God & LIVE for him – Daily.“2You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.”
Living in sin = JUST like the rest of the world. ouch. LIVING in sin - in my own thoughts and desires. Refusing to obey God. Being used, just not by God. wow.
3- I am a sinner. I still need a savior. “3All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.”
I deserved punishment, just like everyone else! As a christian we need to make sure we have compassion for others who are still in sin. Also: a reality check: I used to live that way, but do I still fall back into old patterns? I need a Savior! everyday. Even if it is just be rescued from wrong thinking patterns.
4- God is RICH in mercy for ME.4But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,
IN every circumstance – BUT GOD> He is my rescuer-no situation is too big or too small for God to help me with. I LOVE this thought: he is RICH in mercy. His mercy bank will never run empty for me. I need this mercy everyday. It is undeserved, but he is ready and waiting to give it to me everyday!
& OH HOW HE LOVES ME!!! HE did and always will. I need to hear this everyday!
5-He gave (gives) me new life. a new start. “5that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.”(It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) It is a free gift. God thought of me even when I was in sin and made away for me to have relationship with him. As I turn away from sin, my selfishness, I become ALIVE!
6- Rise up. 6For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. Some days I just need someone to tell me to RISE UP! I find myself feeling without purpose (dead), frustrated, irritated with life. I can boldly declare, I will rise- as Christ was raised to life. Now I live! United = connected. Because Christ defeated sin and rose – so will I!
7- My life is an Example.7So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
This is such a cool thought: Because I am united with Jesus-God desires to point to ME and my life as an example of the “INCREDIBLE WEALTH” of his grace and kindness. I love thinking about God being incredibly RICH in grace and kindness for me and others.
8- I’m saved by grace- .”8God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
A free GIFT. Everyday I have been saved not by my good behavior or effort…and not how great I was as a christian today- it is nothing I can take credit for. It is only because of Jesus. Today, even if I failed. I can come to God and receive forgiveness of sin – I am saved, by grace everyday!
9- My Salvation is a gift- not a reward. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, but our salvation is free.
10- I was created with purpose.- 10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. What exactly is a masterpiece? It is something that the artist is proud of. One of a kind. That others see the value in. Something that was created on purpose. God specifically and perfectly made me with purpose – I am HIS MASTERPIECE- created to do the good things HE HAS PLANNED for me. God has a plan for my life. Even Broken pieces coming together to become a mosaic -a masterpiece that cannot be duplicated.
SO AS I REMEMBER THAT I HAVE BEEN SAVED BY GRACE FOR A PURPOSE I FEEL ALIVE AND FULL OF WORTH – READY TO DO GOD’S WILL TODAY!
Our challenge today … Listen today to the nudges of the Holy Spirit prompting you to obey, to love on others & to be a light that shines Jesus to all around you! It’s time to Shine!
“I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
Here are a few things we can take away from scripture of what God wants for us:
God’s dream for us is that we would be Strong in faith
Keys to strong faith:
1-Give thanks to God in all circumstances – even the hard ones. Giving Thanks enables our hearts to trust God.
2-Pray always. Keep the conversation with God going.
3-love unconditionally. Ask God to always have a love for God’s people & people everywhere.
4-Keep growing. Ask God to give us wisdom and insight to consistently Grow in Him. We will never outgrow our need to grow in God.
5-Get God’s perspective. Let God flood our hearts with his light – his perspective that drives out sin and darkness
The Result of strong faith:
Godly confidence. I like to call it your “Shine”. ) You will shine and people will see Jesus your confident hope and a peace that is unstoppable.
As we see & believe God’s perspective now we can expect a confident Hope to FLOOD our hearts. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I really need that flood. ). Not our own pride, but a true confidence arises. We can walk confidently in our sphere of life and our call everyday.
Why:
Our influence on others is irreplaceable when we realize People are God’s inheritance. We are his greatest treasure. Those people in your life, God created you to SHINE his love to them so they will want what you have and be saved. It’s all about people.
The key to how to be and do all of this:
Understand the incredible greatness of God’s power... available to all who believe. It’s not by our strength and effort but by His spirit. This same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. Through Christ- nothing in our lives is impossible to walk through. The word impossible itself says I’m Possible! God is bigger, stronger, more powerful, more than able in any situation.
God is the ultimate planner- he always builds with purpose.
The Purpose:
God is building his church- the people, the power, the growth & maturity. Jesus is the head of the church and he is strengthening us so we can be a part of it. We get to be a part of What God is doing in His church. I take great comfort as a pastor knowing that even though we as people are fallible and make mistakes, It is not our church or our call alone, it is Gods!
We can be encouraged to take this prayer and pray it over all the people God has put in our path: Children, family, leaders, Co- workers, neighbors… all the people in our world. When you pray for others- you develop a compassion for them, you start to feel God’s love for them. You are empowered to SHINE God’s love. God’s LOVE is one of the greatest & most effective weapons – it tears down every wall. Let’s do this. Armed and Dangerous.
Ephesians 1: God has chosen you! Adopted you! Saved You by the work Jesus did on the cross, and given you a guarantee of this – the Holy Spirit! Life is good!
Let’s start with verse 1 of chapter 1. I bet you looked right past this one )
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,”
Paul was so secure in the call of God on his life that he boldly wrote, “chosen by the will of God”
I’m pretty sure there are seasons we could really use a dose of this kind of confidence in our call and in the things we are assigned in life right now. . He knew the role God had called him to play in his season and walked in confidence in the authority God had given him. So this is our first challenge….. Seek God for confidence and assurance that you are acting and walking in “by the will of God”. I believe as we dig into this book, we will come out with this assurance. If you are in the will of God, and acting on His promptings… you will have PEACE & GRACE in each situation. Nothing like starting off with a challenge…
Walk confidently in the call of God!!! No matter what!
Grace and Peace…
I love it when Paul begins by “giving” this blessing to the people he is writing to. Ever notice that a lot of the books in the Bible written by Paul start out this way? If you study the life of Paul it is obvious why He starts with this… He knew the value of Grace and Peace from God about His own life and he also wanted others to receive these free gifts. They are two of the most powerful things God gives… They are new and fresh for each day…. and I sure need them!!!!
What is Grace?
One of my favorite definitions is “the divine ability to do God’s will, His way, with joy”.
How do we get it?
Ask (PRAY and seek God in every circumstance) for His way of doing & seeing things… and then just watch how that free gift of Peace will overtake our mindset for each situation, a settled heart, (worry not needed).
Most of the time, we do not have God’s grace and peace simply because we did not ask for God’s help and perspective, we just did it ourselves…. It’s pride – a lack of need for God in each situation.
But Watch this:
When we admit our need for God: And receive His free gifts each day… These two characteristics (Grace+Peace) combined produce a divine JOY in the middle of any situation, regardless of circumstances. I desire to live each day with unmeasured joy – Don’t You?
Joy is not the absence of trial – it is the ability to walk through it with God’s peace and grace overtaking your mindset = it’s CHOOSING to trust God.
Don’t forget Grace & Peace is free everyday! It’s Gods way of helping us to accomplish ALL that is in our path for the day!
As we grab ahold of this, watch how much more “Armed&Dangerous” we will walk through our day!
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing” When we choose to Praise God in-spite of, in the midst of, and through all your daily trials: Our perspective changes and we see ALL that God has blessed us with: Did you catch this nugget ? Look at Verse 3 My friend Catherine says it this way: “God is a LAVISH giver!” Think about it! Let it sink in! God who is RICH in kindness & grace has LAVISHED these things on us: Eph 1:3-8
EVEN BEFORE HE MADE THE WORLD; GOD LOVED YOU AND CHOSE YOU!!!
Imagine- Our incredible Creator… was thinking about our lives before he even created the world. He was planning our purpose and loving us already. We were created for excellence! His best creative resource was put into you! Stand up and be confident today! “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” – Ephesians 1:4
He purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. THE ultimate act of Love, God planed for you to be seen as without fault in His eyes. THIS is how God views you because of JESUS>
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”
Think for a minute about adoption. As the child grows older, It is the adoptive child’s biggest hurdle to believe this love is enough, to feel accepted and loved by the adoptive parents because there was rejection in their history. The love of the Adoptive parent is sometimes apparent to all but the adopted. Think about how this child was actually chosen by their parents, picked out and purposefully added to the family, before they were anything important to the world. In fact, usually they are adopted out of a bad situation – plucked out of the bad environment, and placed into a loving family with a new legacy of family and opportunities to succeed. The love of the parent is not obligatory – it is a free gift and a choice. THIS is what God has done for you and me! Think about it! Do you believe His love for you?
I LOVE these words: ALL, BLESSED, RICH, LAVISHED. THESE are words described in Ephesians when it talks of how much God cares for us.
“God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan”..
Right now- we can participate in this great plan by allowing Jesus to “take the wheel” - to be in control. To be our authority. Our LORD> This is our confidence as we obey – HE MAKES EVERYTHING WORK OUT ACCORDING TO HIS PLAN!!! We can give up our control freak side and just trust!!!!
“12God’s purpose was that who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.”
God’s purpose as you trust Him is for you to bring Him Glory and Praise by the confidence you receive knowing:
No matter how long you have been saved: This is comforting and our foundation of faith.
He chose you – in advance -
You are in the right place at the right time according to His will.
He gives you enough grace and peace for each day
He sees you faultless because of Jesus. Jesus’ work on the cross was just for you – He purchased your freedom (We were slaves to sin- & now we are FREE)
He adopted you into His family – you have the created lineage and heritage now! And He cares about your life – He is the ultimate family planner, who is working everything in your life according to HIS plan.
He gives us a guarantee that he is with us & we are in his family, Proof that he will never leave us or forsake us: The deposit of the Holy Spirit. Our conscience, our daily guide, our comforter, proof that we are now changed. from old life to new life with purpose. born again.
Whatever you were before- no name is higher than the name of Jesus, no power is greater. He has chosen and adopted you and is loving you! You are worth it!
What was your favorite verse in this portion of Scripture? memorize it )
Discover how this verse fits into your circumstances? Now speak the verse out over your circumstances.
Ask God to help you believe you are loved, blessed, chosen, adopted, favored, redeemed and forgiven.
Don’t forget to receive through prayer that Grace and Peace God has for you in each circumstance )
I’m diving into Ephesians and I thought a bit of history might be helpful as we look at the work God does in Ephesus.
I am a bit of a geek for architecture and In bible college one of my favorite things was to look at where things were in bible times as opposed to where they exist today. I love seeing pictures of what places look like today and knowing a little history of the town gives me a real perspective. Otherwise it just seems like a nice story. This was and is a real town in Turkey. Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the coast of Ionia, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. (all this info below is from various online sources.)
Author and Title
Paul.
-letter explicitly claims to be Paul’s
-Careful study has shown that the style is closer to Paul’s than originally thought
-amanuensis- Paul frequently used someone else to record his letters for him. A loose form of dictation.
Date
Mentions imprisonment- should be dated 62 AD when Paul was held in Rome Acts 28.
The Stats:
• Chapters: 6
• Verses: 155
Place Written:
• Rome (while in prison [Eph 3:1][Eph 4:1][Eph 6:20])
• This was the first of what are often referred to as the “Prison Epistles” because they were written during Paul’s 1st imprisonment in Rome which lasted 2 years (Acts 28:30). A prison epistle, along with Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Purpose of Writing:
It is likely that the gospel was first brought to Ephesus by Priscilla and Aquila, an exceptionally gifted couple who were left there by Paul on his second missionary journey. The fledgling church begun by Priscilla and Aquila was later firmly established by Paul on his third missionary journey and was pastored by him for some three years. After Paul left, Timothy pastored the congregation for perhaps a year and a half.Paul intended that all who long for Christ-like maturity would receive this writing. the book talks about the key factors needed to develop into true children of God. A study in Ephesians will help to fortify and to establish the believer so he can fulfill the purpose and calling God has given. The aim of this epistle is to confirm and to equip a maturing church. It presents a balanced view of the body of Christ and its importance in God’s economy. Ephesians deals with topics at the very core of what it means to be a Christian—both in faith and in practice—regardless of any particular problem in the community.
The first three chapters talk about what being a christian looks like, and the last 3 talk about what a christian does.
Key Verses: Ephesians 2:8-10: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 6:10-11: “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.”
Ephesus was wealthy. There were lavish houses and beautiful landscape everywhere.
Not only would you have observed great wealth in Ephesus, but you would have also seen that the people of Ephesus were religiously diverse and devoted. Though many people were dedicated to worshipping Artemis, you would have observed that the people of Ephesus worshipped nearly 50 different gods and goddesses. The people’s religious commitment was also commercialized through the distribution of magical goods and services through multiple vendors. You could have easily bought various potions, services, and statues to meet any need.
The Grecian city of Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia (modern day Turkey). An important port city on the west coast of Asia, The most well known thing about Ephesus was that it boasted the magnificent temple of Artemis also called the Temple of Diana (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World). It is widely thought that the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was known throughout the ancient world for its temple prostitutes and hedonistic celebrations as well as godess Diana statue sales. -
The grandiose theater, where citizens chanted “great is Artemis of the Ephesians (Acts 19:29-40), held an estimated 20,000 or more spectators. Ephesus was one of the largest cities in the world in Paul’s time with about 250,000 to 300,000 people. It’s inhabitants were known for being self-indulgent, extravagant, and worshipers of many gods and goddesses. • Today, among the vast archaeological remains, some key structures date from the actual time of the NT.
Here is a side by side of a map of where things were located in bible times and what it is named today:
448 × 295 - oneyearbibleblog.com
here is what the city of Ephesus likely looked like: click on picture to see larger
Here is a link to more info & pictures of ephesus:
There is a ton more I could add about this book & city, but maybe it will inspire you to do a search of your own ) Do you know any other facts about this city? I would love to hear your thoughts.
God put “armed & dangerous” in my spirit for 2013. I believe that as Christians we are called to be more than just ordinary. We were created to be equipped and empowered to be and do all that God created us for: Word of God filled, Holy Spirit led, World Changers & sphere influencers. So join the movement as we post new blogs, media links, encouraging words & “Bible” Challenges. Jump in and get ready to be “Armed & Dangerous” for God! – Elana
READ it- Read with a pen! Underline what stands out to you. Write out 1-2 observations from this passage.
MEMORIZE it- Write out & PUT UP the verses stood-out to you. Pick your fav verse & memorize it.
SPEAK it- Write out 1-2 applications for these verses in your life. Start speaking them over your life.
FIGHT with it- Use these verses to Pray over your life, remind yourself of these when you feel negative.
3 things that hinder us from being strong in God:
1- Insecurity- a house divided against itself cannot stand- An unwise woman tears down her own house. We are either building or tearing down. As a man thinks in heart so is he: What is the conversation of your heart?
2- Distraction- Life is busy. We forget to make the time to feed ourselves & grow spiritually. We begin to depend on someone else to feed us prepared spiritual “fast food”.
3-Discouraging voices – We must connect to those things that will encourage loyalty of heart. Who&What are the voices that we are listening to? Do they build or tear down the things that are important to you? (ie: church, family)
The Armor of God – Ephesians 6:10-18 New International Version (NIV) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
Have u ever been excited about a situation only to allow a sliver of fear in that seems to grow at an unstoppable pace? We cannot have both faith & fear actively working in situations in our life. They are at war with each other! The Bible says that God gives faith as a gift, but fear is not of God. I was reading out of Genesis 15-22 Often times we “trust” what our natural eyes can see and forget to trust God. As we wait for God to fulfill his word over our lives, sometimes we get impatient and our Control Freak side comes out )
Trusting with worry=fear
Trusting with faith= evident grace from God.
We make a mess of things when fear drives our hearts instead of faith.
Abrahm & Sarah had a dream….after waiting and waiting. It was not happening. They got impatient waiting for God to confirm & fulfill the dreams in their hearts… Then God spoke and promised them a son… in fact many sons. But Abram and Sarah still found themselves waiting again even after the promise! They got tired of waiting for the promise…. maybe Sarah was so tired that her imagination and insecurity birthed a contingency plan instead of waiting and letting God birth the promise. And Abram bought into it without thinking or considering the cost of this on his marriage. The “Ishmael plan” brought more pain than they could even bare…. what did Abram think sleeping with Sarah’s maid would do…. lol.
How many times do we get caught in our own contingency plans and waver with our trust in God’s promises?…
Abram really did believe God in his heart, but because of fear he pushed beyond God. He didn’t understand the plan and he couldn’t handle it.
Sometimes we believe in our hearts, but because of our outward circumstances, & fear that it will never happen, we just can’t help but get in there and try to make it happen!
Adding to God’s plan or trying to make it work before it’s time never works out by the way )
Abram and Sarah had royally messed up. They had taken things into their own hands.
Even after Abraham carried out his own contingency plan, God was still faithful. God credited Abram with a label of Faith… before his failure, and knowing He was failing in faith.
God spoke to Abraham twice, once to confirm the promise of a son, and Now After Ishmael and the mess there, God comes again to speak to Abram of his future- but Abram in his insecurity continues to question “how”. Now he has messed things up and surely God would not use Him now.
Fear was speaking loud.
God was speaking to Abram, It says a terrifying darkness came over him. Sometimes when God puts vision in our heart we can be terrified with the “how”… But Godly vision always requires an element of faith.
Abram awoke, God comforts him with a promise. God sees our hearts and always steps in with comfort…but he asks us to trust him. Abram had a future but didn’t know how or when.
God then does something amazing! God changed Abram’s name to Abraham- father of many. A prophetic act.
Sometimes we need an encounter with God where he changes everything, a perspective change. We don’t often change our names today, but i think as we begin to see through God’s eyes
our inner name is changed from Old man to New man.
From the worlds thinking to God’s thinking.
A shift in our lives where even our mistakes are covered & forgiven by God and his love for us- we can then allow faith to fill our hearts again for the future.
This name change was the moment When his fear, turned to faith.
God then fulfilled the dream… Isaac was born… Such a miracle but as we soon read, God comes and tests him again to see if the name change had become a heart change… to see if he would respond in faith or in fear.
Abraham is asked to sacrifice his only son… Abraham now responded in faith and obeyed God… knowing that God was faithful and would somehow fulfill the promise. God provided a way out of the situation.
Whatever your dream, believe God! Let Him comfort you and label you “faith-filled” as you wait!
Soo I moved to the big city…. well actually to the beach by the big city. I LOVE The ocean, and although it is almost always cold here. I go to the beach often and just sit in my car watching the waves while I do my devotions. In the ups and downs of my emotions through my big move to the city I have found a peace and stillness while watching the waves.
One particularly crazy day I was sitting on the pier with tears in my eyes, trying to enjoy the beauty of the waves, but the emotions were too much. I couldn’t see my way out of a particular perspective. I was asking the Lord why I was feeling the same old way and why couldn’t I just make it past this particular mountain.
Through the tears I noticed huge waves coming in, crazy wind and sunshine- the waves almost crashed over the pier, but then I began to watch how with every crazy huge wave, a harsh wind hit the top the wave and blew the water backwards. As the sun hit the water I saw a rainbow in every wave. The bigger the wave the bigger and more beautiful the rainbow-
The rainbow in the bible represents a promise…. to never flood the earth again. A reminder that God is in control and does not intend to destroy our lives. So I continued to watch the pattern of waves… . a series of large waves came and then a few calm waves. The Thought God dropped into my heart was that even large waves are stilled at the shores edge by the the last wave making its way back to sea. It seems that what makes a wave crash along the shore is where two waves collide and the water swells high. One wave making its way to shore and the previous wave making its way back out to sea. Each wave is individual and crashes a little differently-Even though it looks the same as the last one, it has its own unique pattern. All waves crash and come to a stopping place -Even after a tusami- the waves go back to normal and stop in the right place again, everyday all day long the waves come in and stop at the right place.
As my tears were drying I realized that in our emotions we can often feel like we are drowning and feeling
the never ending pound of the ever crashing waves. Look at this with me….
Rainbow Waves (Photo credit: The Uprooted Photographer)
Whatever wave of emotion you face…God is there and wanting you to see his perspective. The waves don’t stop coming but HE controls the place they stop. As His light hits your wave… a beautiful rainbow appears and He reminds you of the promises of your life- I have often gone to the shore and fog fills the air, no sun and everything looks gray- no beauty. Maybe you feel this way about your situation. Here is the truth-
the sun always comes out again. In the fog it truly feels as though it will never go away, but I promise you as you allow God to shine HIs light on your emotions you will begin to see the beauty again. With each new wave you will see the rainbow.
Its beautiful to look at- but if you find yourself in the water yourself it may not “feel” beautiful unless you learn to swim & then go out to a restful place beyond the waves …. and get over your fear of drowning in the wave. And then to your surprise God will teach to conquer the wave- to surf it – to ride the wave.
Soon you will find your are surfing on the wave with a rainbow of promise surrounding you. Ok this metaphor might be way too cheesy for you, but It helped me. The waves of emotion don’t have to toss you around and make you believe you are drowning…
English: Mavericks Surf Contest 2010. Français : Édition 2010 du concours de surf de Mavericks. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Even the wind and the waves obey God! If it seems Jesus is sleeping while you are being tossed around… remember,
Jesus is sleeping because he is with you and is confident you will make it through the wave and through to the other side.
Just a little something to think about……our words have creative power, shaping lives and destinies. My Three year old is the “watch your words cop” in our family. If anyone (including me) says anything questionable…. He says in the cutest way ever: “oooooh, she said a bad wooooorrrd”. I keep being reminded that people are listening… to everything. My words are so important. If my little guy is listening and it is effecting him, just think of what others are learning about our life, our families, our church, our God…..
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lol. Sometimes in marriage and relationships we can be so self serving and “deserving” that we are just plain selfish.
SO AS I REMEMBER THAT I HAVE BEEN SAVED BY GRACE FOR A PURPOSE I FEEL ALIVE AND FULL OF WORTH – READY TO DO GOD’S WILL TODAY!
