Believe it or not!

Recently, I have heard a lot of talk about people picking and choosing what they want to believe in the Bible. My Dad, once said that if you don't believe everything you read in the Bible, you should just sit down with a Sharpie and cross out the stuff you want to ignore. Can you imagine doing that? I can't, but essentially, that is what we are doing when we read Scripture and don't accept it as truth.

What is the basis of my belief system?

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed. That means that every word came from Him.

Who am I to pick and chose? 

He is the Creator of the Universe. He holds everything in the palm of His hand. It is because of Him that the sun and the moon rise everyday. It is because of Him that our earth continues to orbit, without crashing to destruction. I can't compete with that. If God has said it, I need to believe it. 

Sometimes it is hard for our human brain to accept everything we read in the Bible as real and truth. We (and I) need to overcome that spirit of unbelief. Our enemy would like nothing better than to distract us and take us down a different path. 

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!  As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! - Galatians 1:6-9

Paul is specifically referring to Christ being the only way to salvation, but I think that we could apply that to the rest of Scripture. The word grace used in verse 6 is the greek word Charis which means the grace of God that "strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues". Scripture is supposed to teach us, warn us and enable us to be more like Christ.

That scares me a little and it should! If anyone believes anything other than what Christ taught, they will not go to heaven. That is the "curse" from verse 9.

So what can we do about this?

Read and learn what God says about living a life that brings us closer to Him. That means reading the Bible at times other than Sunday during church.

We need to prepare our minds to accept His truth.

I love the Joel Olsteen quote that he uses before teaching. Everyone listening to his messages stands, holds up their bible and says, "This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. Today I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive; I'll never be the same. In Jesus name, God bless you."

Pray for all of our unbelief to be overcome.

There is a story in Mark about a man who brings his son to Jesus to be healed. The disciples try and cannot heal the boy. Jesus says to them, that their lack of faith (and unbelief) is what kept them from living in the power of God. The man says to Jesus, "help me overcome my unbelief". The MacArthur Bible Commentary says it perfectly. "Admitting the imperfection of his faith, mixed as it was with doubt, the desperate father pleaded with Jesus to help him to have the greater faith the Lord demanded of him."

We can go confidently to the only one who can help us!

Lord, I believe that the Bible is a gift from you. Help me to read it, learn it and accept it as Your truth. I confess that I have not believed everything You said. Please help me to overcome my unbelief. In Jesus, precious name, Amen.

Are You Sensitive and Obedient?

The other day, my son came to me to confess that he had hit his sister while swinging a hockey stick around the living room.

"Do you think that was a good choice?" I asked. 

"No", he said simply. 

"Why did you have a hockey stick in the living room?" This is clearly against our rules. 

The typical child response came back at me. "I don't know," he said. Then he surprised me. "Mom, I wish I had a Jiminy Cricket. I need a conscience to tell me not to do bad stuff." 

I silently laughed at his logic, but I asked, "did you hear a voice in your head that said don't do that"? "Yes" he said. 

"Well", I replied, "that voice you heard is better than a conscience. That is the Holy Spirit. God inside of you, talking to you and warning you not to do something. You need to pay attention to that voice and follow what it is telling you."Satisfied, I finished my teaching moment for the day. 

"But Mom, swinging the stick was a lot of fun" he said, so innocently.

The story is humorous now, but I think it is a real issue. I know the rules. I know I am not supposed to do something. But when it comes to obedience, there are times that I fall short.

Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. -Deuteronomy 6:3

Notice it says hear and obey. It is not enough to know the right thing, we actually have to DO the right thing. 

Recognizing the sin is the first step to becoming right with God. From there, we need to confess that sin to our perfect High Priest, Jesus. We need to ask for forgiveness and repent (which means we are going to work at avoiding that sin in the future). We are not left with our sin hanging over us. God is so good to forgive us every time we come to Him with a heart that is full of truth and honesty. The only way that we can be in relationship with our Holy God is if we are washed clean by the blood of Jesus. God's light and our darkness cannot dwell in the same place. (1 John 1:5-10) 

That is all well and good, you may be saying, but what about the obeying part?

Well, we have help there too. God gave us the Holy Spirit, our own Jiminy Cricket. (John 14:16-18) If we are in true relationship with Christ, the Spirit will guide us, teach us and warn us before we do things that are against the will of God.

We need to listen and be open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. But, it doesn't end there, we also need to follow in the direction that he is leading.


Lord, I am a sinner and I am not good enough on my own to be in Your presence. Thank you for sending your Son to cover my iniquities. Please make me more sensitive to sin in my life so that I can avoid it and remain in relationship with you. Thank you for loving me and providing me with everything I need to be better than I am. In Jesus name, Amen.

Did you enjoy fellowship today?

Photo by Evgeni Dinev

I have a great friend! I want to tell you all about her. She calls me at the perfect times just to say hi and see how I am doing. She really has a knack for knowing just when I need to talk. She sends me texts and emails frequently to check in. I don't usually have time to respond, even though I intend to. She gave me the best, most thoughtful gift for my birthday this year. It was exactly what I wanted. Huh. I just realized I don't even know what month she was born! She likes to meet for coffee or lunch and invites me, but I am just so busy with other things, I dont really feel like moving my schedule around. My friend is so thoughtful and she puts so much into our relationship. It really makes me feel special.

A little one-sided don't you think? Hopefully you realized that was a made-up story. I hope I am a better friend than that!

Unfortunately, this is exactly the way some of us treat Jesus. He calls out to us and we ignore his voice. He invites us to spend time with him and we are just too busy to fit it into our day. We often turn to Him when we need something and never bother to ask if there is something we can do for him.

One definition that I found for fellowship is: intimate communication, sharing of thoughts or emotions. 

That is what Jesus wants from us. He doesn't want us to check in just because we feel obligated and replay our day for him (P.S. He already knows).  He wants us to come to him with our true feelings, questions, praises and concerns. He wants to have a genuine two-way relationship with us.

God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:9) The word for fellowship used in this verse is koinonia it is a Greek word and it means partnership, participation and communion.

Can you imagine having a partnership with someone where there is no communication, no interaction and no reciprocation? I don't think the partnership could survive for very long.

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:6-7

God knows, and people will eventually know, if we are in fellowship with Christ. When we are spending time with him, we cannot help but be changed. We begin walking in light. We begin to talk and act like Him. We become little Christ's in the world which is what being Christian is really all about.

Walk with the wise and become wise, 

for a companion of fools suffers harm.

Proverbs 13:20 

I can't think of a better person to walk with!

11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation

They were talking about this on the radio last week and I had to share it!


11 Biblical Tests of Genuine Salvation

By John MacArthur



1. Do you enjoy Fellowship with God and Christ?

2. Are you Sensitive to Sin in your Life?

3. Do you Obey the Scriptures?

4. Do you Reject this Evil World?

5. Do you Love Christ and eagerly await His Return?

6. Do you see a Decreasing Pattern of Sin in your Life?

7. Do you Love other Christians?

8. Do you Receive Answers to your Prayers?

9. Do you Experience the Ministry of the Holy Spirit?

10. Can you Discern between Spiritual Truth and Error?

11. Have you Suffered on Account of your Faith in Christ?

Want to know more? I did!

Here is a link for you: Is it real?

I will warn you, it is wordy! Lots of information. Apparently I have had too much coffee this morning and my mind is racing! I will be looking at these questions in depth over the next few blog posts, so check back in and we will work through it together.

Keep your karma. I'll stick to farming!

The word karma has been in my mind lately. I don’t know why God brought it to my attention, but He has. I decided to look it up. One definition that I found stated: Karma is the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation. Karma is part of Hinduism and Buddhism. This is not Biblical!

The basic idea of karma is: what you do will eventually come back to you. Hmmm... sounds familiar!

A man reaps what he sows. Galatians 6:7

Reaping and sowing is a farming concept. Farming 101: if you plant wheat, wheat will grow. You wouldn’t sow wheat expecting to reap corn. That would be ridiculous and miraculous!

God uses this concept throughout His word. Job 4:8 says, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it. 

I can’t think of a better real life example from the Bible, than Jacob.  Rebekah and Jacob decide they want Jacob to get the blessings of the firstborn. Even though the blessing had already been promised to Jacob, by God (Gen 25:23), Rebekah and Jacob resorted to deception in order to secure the desired position and the benefits that accompany it. Jacob deserves a little credit as he initially questions his mom’s idea. But, it doesn’t take much for him to be persuaded to go along with the trickery.

The plan succeeds in deceiving Isaac and securing the firstborn blessing for the wrong child. This is where things start going downhill for Jacob. There are several repercussions to this act of trickery. To begin with, the firstborn learns about the trick and begins plotting to kill his brother. Out of fear, Rebekah sends Jacob to live with his uncle. This is the last time mother and son will see each other. Jacob is then deceived, in a similar way, by his father-in-law.

As Jacob painfully learns, sowing deception will reap more deception. 

As a mom, I will be honest, I wonder what Rebekah was thinking. It is so far from the concept that I try to teach our children: treat others the way you want to be treated. It goes right along with reaping and sowing. If you are kind you will reap kindness. If you are giving you will reap blessings. If you love others, you will reap love.

It isn’t always easy to do the right thing. Sometimes our feelings get hurt and we want to retaliate. Sometimes things aren’t going our way and there is a chance to step in and steal the blessings that belong to someone else. Sometimes we follow the crowd rather than doing the right thing and standing apart. Sowing goodness and righteousness isn’t always the easiest route. 

Thank God that we have Jesus! Even when we mess up and sow the wrong seeds, Jesus is there. When we confess that we made a mistake, God is faithful to forgive us and help us through the harvest. He can’t change the seeds we have sown, but He will not let us go through the reaping alone.

Thank you God for teaching me the right way to live. I confess that I am stubborn and don’t always think about the seeds that I am planting. Thank you for being faithful and patient with me as I learn Your ways. Help me to slow down and think before I plant. I want to be more like Jesus. I want to sow encouragement, hope, goodness and love into the lives of others. Please help me to nurture the good seeds that you have already planted. Please give me discernment to see the bad seeds and get rid of them before they take root. All of this I ask in Jesus name. Amen.

Hugs,

Lynnette

In Sickness and In Health

Photographer: Arvind Balaraman

This last week has been draining. My little one has been sick. As every mom knows, when one of yours is sick, Mom's life is put on hold. My days were spent, cuddling (which I love), taking temperatures, dispensing medicine, calling doctors, going to doctors appointments, changing sheets and dirty clothing (which I don't love) and praying. My nights were similar. I didn't sleep well as I listened for little voices, coughs and sneezes. I spent time on the floor next to the bed holding a cool cloth on his forehead, soothing him and praying for healing.

As I was doing my Bible study this weekend, I identified with an unusual character: Abraham's servant (Genesis 24). We don't know much about this man, as a matter of fact, we don't even know his name. We do learn, however, that he was very dedicated to Abraham. When Abraham had an important errand, he called on his oldest [longest employed] servant. The servant put everything else aside so that he could go and find a wife for his master. I recognize that it is easier to do the right thing when his master was there, but in verse 33, we learn that the servant, again, put his master's needs ahead of his own. This servant was a man of character.

It is difficult to continually give of ourselves. It goes against our nature to put others needs ahead of our own. As my second child started showing signs of the same illness, I started to feel resentful. I had already spent a week waiting on one child. All of my work had suffered as my schedule (and sleep) revolved around getting my child healthy. Now another one?

How did Abraham's servant continue to give?

In verse 12, I learned the secret to his success. He prayed. Although his words seem to suggest that he did not believe in God, his prayer language actually reinforces the respect that he has for Abraham. When God answers his request, the servant stopped and worshiped God (verse 26). The servant recognized that God was the reason for his success. Someone who is living through the faith of someone else would not take the time to recognize or worship the giver of the gift.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. We love because he first loved us. - 1 John 4:7-8,19


Author Erin Smalley said it best. "You and I cannot generate a single drop of love. It all comes from God. By receiving God, we receive His love. We can then open our hearts and share love with others. Loving feels good to us, but we are just passing on what we've received from God."

Being a servant to someone else is the best way of loving them and expressing the love that God gave us.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. - Galatians 5:13

I will continue today to love a second child back to health. I cannot do it alone, however. I will pray and worship the one who has enabled me to love.

Thank you Lord, for teaching me through the most unlikely person. You are so faithful in meeting my needs even before I realize what is needed. Thank you for loving me and teaching me to love. Thank you for sending your Son to serve us even when we were not worthy of His service. Amen.

He Always Has a Plan

Photographer: anankkml

God’s Word is full of His promises and plans for His people. We don’t have to search very long to find a promise for all of us or a specific plan for a specific person and the details of how the plan worked out. In today’s reading, we learn about the objective that God had for Abram’s life.

Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make you into a great nation,
   and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
   and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
   and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
   will be blessed through you.”

God had a specific plan for Abram. God shared the plan with Abram and promised to watch out for him. As Abram went forward, we learn that he was worshipping God and staying in relationship with Him. However, when Abram and Sarai went to Egypt, fear took over, and Abram quickly forgot that God was with him. Rather than trusting God, Abram took the situation into his own hands and decided to lie to the Pharaoh. The result was that the Pharaoh discovered the lie and kicked Abram and his entire entourage out of Egypt. The MacArthur Bible Commentary suggests that this must have looked bad to his servants and probably resulted in a loss of integrity for Abram.

After reading this passage, I began thinking about my life and my own walk with God. How many times has God made plans for me, but instead of waiting on Him, I walked ahead with my own “better ideas” of how things should go. How many times have I questioned whether God was going to come through for me and I decided I needed to take things into my own hands. What was the end result? Instead of following His perfect plan, I got in the way and ended up looking foolish and unfaithful.

In the second part of the reading today, we learn about another of God’s plans. In Matthew 4: 1-11, we learn about Jesus being in the desert. Jesus was fasting and seeking God before he began his ministry. The devil showed up and began to tempt Jesus. Where Abram failed, Jesus succeeded. During that 40 days, Jesus trusted God with His provision and protection. When the devil came and tempted him, Jesus knew God’s word he was able to resist the devil’s schemes. By remaining strong in who God created him to be, Jesus was able to fulfill God’s ultimate plan. If Jesus had fallen to temptation there in the desert, he would not have been able to go to the cross in order  to save us. 

How can I apply this to my life? I am not always successful at resisting temptation. There are times that I don’t rely on Him, I try to do things through my own strength and end up falling to temptation. During these times of sin, I am not following God’s perfect plan for my life. What am I ultimately missing out on?

I can’t help but think of: 

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
      And He shall direct your paths. 

How much further would I go by remembering this during everyday life? His ways are so much higher than my own. He only wants the best for me. His plan is perfect. If I trust in Him, my path will be made straight.

Heather has been talking with us about God’s plan for us for 2011. His plan is good and I don’t want to miss out on any part of it.

Heavenly Father, thank you for creating a plan specifically for me. You are so faithful to keep walking with me even when I am not at my best. I confess that I am prideful and stubborn sometimes when I should be trusting and following you. I don’t want to live in your permissive will for my life, I want to live out your perfect will for my life. I don’t want to get in your way anymore. Please open my ears to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and teach me to submit to your ways. I want to live like your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Hugs,

Lynnette