Let's Do Life Together

A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than a steak with someone you hate. Proverbs 15:17

Michael is my middle son and he has a best friend, John. They enjoy playing together, shooting grackel birds with BB guns and just messing around. But when it gets close to dinner time, everything changes, they get serious. They want to eat together, and they won't take no for an answer. They don't really care what's on the dinner table, they just want to break bread together.

I've been in many Bible study groups where one common premise is "doing life together".  We often share a meal before opening our Bibles. There's just something about the conversation over food; it has a way of bringing us closer than just about anything else.

Paul told the church of Thessolonica that he cared so much for them that he not only shared the gospel with them, but he took the time to share his very own life with them (1Thess. 2:8). I can just see him now. Spreading the gospel like only Paul can, and then taking the time to sit and share a meal with those new believers. In first and second Thessalonians we see how he encouraged them, instructed them and shared his sufferings with them.

There's someone else in the Bible who took the time to share a meal with his new friends. He sought them out, expecting nothing in return, blessing them far beyond their wildest dreams. He brought them on journeys as He spread the gospel with His very presence. He not only broke bread with them, he broke bread for them, by the shedding of His blood. His name is Jesus, and He did that for you and me.

Feeling Useless?

I replied, "But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose." Isaiah 49:4

As a stay at home mom, I have said these very words, and more at times. Laundry never ends, dishes continue to pile, and I spend hours on meals that no one seems to like. Unless I get sick, what I do around the house goes virtually unnoticed.

But I know that God has a purpose for my life, and that purpose just may be the little ones to whom he has entrusted to my care. I have three sons, 4, 6,  and 10. Being a stay at home mom was not my life long dream, but I am one nonetheless.

Hudson is our oldest, and I'm convinced he is going to do something big in the field of science, something very important, of course.

The middle one, Michael, asks daily as his prayer request to be kind and compassionate, then adds, "Mom, what is compassionate again?" He knows it pleases God and makes others feel good, he's just not sure of what it really means. But that is a perfect picture of his heart, most of the time.

The little one, Luke, is funny and wants everyone to laugh. He is fought over amongst his classmates, and without even trying, seems to know how to make people feel comfortable.

Together, they will touch countless lives if I continue to do what seems meaningless. Only God knows how He will use them, but it's up to me to point them in His direction.

So you see, my work is not in vain, when looked at from this perspective. It's when we step back and look at things through God's eyes that we see the bigger picture. We will never see the picture the way He does, but that's ok. He's God and we are not.

"To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world."
Josephine Billings

Flock of Birds

I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.

I Corinthians 1:10

I was fortunate enough to get a treadmill at the gym positioned in front of a wall of windows. As I watched the snow fall to the ground, I noticed a flock of black birds moving back and forth in the sea of white. They split into two groups for a moment and came back together again. Then, all of a sudden, one by one, they landed on a power line I hadn't noticed before. It was as though they were standing side by side in midair.

The body of Christ can be just like that. We start off together, moving to and from doing His will in our church and community. Then, for some reason, the body splits. Maybe someone doesn't like the style of music, or perhaps some feel like the pastor's sermons don't go deep enough. Whatever the problem, people begin to grumble. Grumbling causes divisions, making it possible for people to choose sides. These divisions cause the whole body to suffer. You see, each group of believers contains individuals who have certain gifts that keep that particular body going in the direction God has planned. But because they are so preoccupied with grumbling, they forget about God's plan.

Our God, however, is gracious and merciful. As long as we open our hearts to His correction and discipline, He will mend us and lead us back together again. As we come back together, just like those black birds, we land on the power line of the Holy Spirit, becoming one in the unity of Christ. Others may not have noticed His presence before, but as this body of believers begins to exhibit His love, His power becomes evident. Then they are back on the track God intended. If you are a part of a body of believers struggling with division, or you feel discord in your home, ask God to show you what part you play in the conflict, and be open to His correction. You will be amazed at His results.

Tired of Trying?

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How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Galatians 3:3

Is there something in your life that you just can't seem to overcome? Something that trips you up before you are even aware it's there? Maybe it's an addiction of some sort, or issues with weight loss. Or, you might be like me and have a quick temper, especially with those little ones that live in the same house with you. I try and try to be patient and teach them what they need to draw closer to God, but oh, how often I fail. 

But, I think I may have figured this one out. I'm tired, tired of trying. Have you ever noticed that if you rearrange the letters in the word "tried" you get the word "tired"? That's what happens when we attempt to make changes in our lives without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Then, once we've become so tired of trying, we begin to accept the lie that we just can't beat this one, that there are just some things in life that we can't overcome. That's a lie from the pit of hell, the armpit of hell, and it really stinks! As long as we are trying to overcome some sort of stronghold, God wants us to be victorious, and there is a way to overcome any stronghold that may have you in chains.

The answer is simple. "Who will free us from this life dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 7:24-25, NLT). He died on the cross to free us from the bondage of sin, so when we make mistakes, we just have to get back up again and not let Satan keep us down. There is no condemnation for those of us who belong to Christ (Rom 8:1). "And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin" (Rom. 8:2, NLT). Draw upon that power by praying these and other verses that address the issue of freedom from the power of sin. It will have a profound effect on your attitude, which in turn changes your behavior, something I need help with everyday.

What Language Are You speaking?

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net &
David Castillo Dominici

I Corinthians 14:19 But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.

Don't worry, I am not going to tackle speaking in tongues. You can take that one up with God. My thought here is that when it is in our control, we need to make things simple and understandable. Let's apply the KISS principle, Keep it Simple Stupid.

When my kids need discipline, and it seems like that's pretty often, why do I suddenly develop diarrhea of the mouth? I mean really, I go off ranting and raving until their little eyes are glazed over and nothing is getting in. Basically, I'm training them to tune me out. If I could just keep it simple and understandable, it's much more effective.

Then there's relationships. We women tend to complicate things, especially with our husbands. Sometimes it's just as simple as "it is what it is" and we need to ask God to remove the memory of the hurt or offense from our minds. The Bible tells us what to do when we've been offended. We are to make allowances for each other's faults (Col. 3:13). I know that's not easy, but it's the only way relationships will work.

You have your own examples in particular relationships. For my husband and me, it's not listening to me with his face. God created me to feel loved when I get face time, and my husband is not very good at this. But when I get offended, or hurt by it, I just need to know his heart. His intention is not to hurt my feelings, so what I need to do is give him grace.

I'm not saying that we are never to work things out with those who have offended us, sometimes there's no escaping it. But when a particular issue has us down for too long, we may just need a different focus. And there's nothing better to change our focus than spending time in God's His word and offering up praises to the One who holds every tear we cry in His hands. Spend some time with Him today, you'll be glad you did.

Life is More Than a Box of Chocolates

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Gualberto 107.

Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! Matthew 13:8

The neighbor behind us has a large field with about 5 horses. When it rains, as it is today, water drains from her yard into ours. We have attempted to build up the back of our yard to keep this from happening, but it can only hold back so much.

Then I realized something I hadn't thought of before. That water is good for our yard, it's rich with horse poop! Now, I don't know the science of it, but I have seen this in action. Each spring my husband plants a garden, and it always produces way more food than we can eat. And his tomatoes, well, they are something to be envied. The first year he had a garden, his tomatoe plants got about 7 feet tall! Nobody could believe it. But there is a secret: it's the dirt he uses. It's composed of one third horse manure!

That's just what life is like. We know the hazards of this life, so we put up our own protective devices. Sometimes they work, and sometimes, when the rain is either too long or too hard, those protective devices are just no use. But what if we looked at the hazards as horse poop? What if those hazards are the very things that God is using to make our lives fertile ground for the truths He wants to teach us?

I know I have some horse poop in my life that I put up damns to block out. There's difficult relationships, problems with my kids, issues in marriage...  the list could go on. Sure, life would be simpler and merrier without those things, but my soil becomes infertile, and infertile soil can't produce much fruit. When we protect ourselves from the things God is using to make us more like Him, it's a stark contrast to what He wants in our lives. His purpose and joy is to make us fruitful. So, you see life is more than a box of chocolates. It's rich with horse poop!

The More I Seek You

Deuteronumy 4:29 But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

God's word is so rich, all we have to do is come before Him with an open heart, and He is faithful to fill us up! I sit here listening to the beautiful voice of Kari Jobe singing The More I Seek You, and I am so encouraged. Her song says it so perfectly, the more I seek you, the more I find you; the more I find you, the more I love you. His love is so overwhelming, yet so addictive, that once you have experienced it, you can't help but come back for more!



My husband has started something new this year. He is reading a Bible story a week to our three boys and me, and it has sparked a new desire for God's word in my oldest son. It is so exciting to see this. We always have book time before going to sleep at night, and he has two Bibles by his bed now, one for him and one for me. It is so special to sit in his room and read the Bible together. When it was time for lights out last night, he asked me if I liked to have the Bible near me as he looked at his on the nightstand right beside him. He is experiencing this addictive love of Jesus, and at such an early age. I am so happy for him, and so thankful for a husband who brings the word of God into our home and our hearts.