How could they? How could I?

  I'm in unchartered territory in my life right now.  I got out of the boat in full faith in Jesus and knew (still know) that it was what He wanted me to do.  He lead me out of the safe corporate work world where money flowed freely and into the water of total dependance on Him. It has been a sweet journey.....for the most part.

 Since leaving the corporate world, I've had 2 different opportunities to go back into very similar jobs with smaller companies.  I thought this is what I wanted to do, afterall, I have talent there and have been very successful at it in the past.  I've had a job since I was 17.  I don't know any other way of living.  Going back to work is what I know even though for the last 6 or 7 years, I've prayed often for God to deliver me from bondage of working in a job everyday out of necessity instead of out of passion.  I felt the weight of the chains of slavery on me.  I knew I wanted something different.


 Well, He answered my prayer this past year.  I am now free from calendars, clocks and other people's priorities. Why in the world do I want to go back???


  Yesterday, another door closed that I thought was opening back to working in an industry I'm very familiar and comfortable with even though it's not my passion.  I was bewildered at first because everything just seemed to be going so well.  But as that feeling subsided, the Spirit revealed something to me that took my breath away and then left me worshiping and praising God for His providence.

  In the book of Exodus, the story is told of the Israelites' bondage in Egypt for 400 years. They cried out to God for release from that bondage.  Well, God heard their cries and sent Moses to deliver them and lead them to the promised land.  There were many many supernatural miracles witnessed by the Israelites.  They KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was at work in Moses and trusted Him completely.   However, what should've been a very short trip to the promised land took 40 years because the Israelites were hard-hearted, discontented, untrusting, and disobedient. At one point they even turned on Moses and blamed him for freeing them from bondage!  They would rather go back into slavery where at least they were eating well!  I read that account and wonder "how in the world could they distrust and disobey the God that they just not long ago witnessed great miracles from?"  Well, I'm doing the same!  

  I have seen the miracle of new spiritual birth in my own life and in the life of my husband.  God brought us out of the influences of our old life into a dessert experience of leaning fully on Him and growing us Spiritually. I have testified to those experiences publically and still feel the exuberance of being a part of something so powerful. And yet, here I am, free from the bondage that I was so miserable in, and looking back and thinking, "well, at least when I was working we had steady income."  Egads!!!

  I pray often that God test my heart and mind and show me if there's any unclean thing in me.  Well, this is one of those revelations!  I praise Him for this and am so thankful for it. It gives me great insight into where I am not fully loving Him with all of my heart, soul and mind!  So, now I confess this, ask for forgiveness and praise Him for the cleansing and growth that is now taking place in me!

 I know for those who don't know God, this will sound totally crazy.  I know!  It did to me too before I met and really got to KNOW God.  You can know Him too.  As long as you have breath in you, it's not too late. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and then hold on!!!!


 For my brethren reading this, thank you for holding me up in prayer!  My journey in this phase may not be over (I think of the passage in Duet 8:2).  But I know that I have a cloud of witnesses surrounding me and cheering me on and that gives me great strength and peace.  :-)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:25

It's a Matter of FACT

  There is a debate going on in Indiana right now around the subject of allowing creationism to be taught in the public schools along with evolution.  This is a hotly debated topic as you might imagine with good points on both sides.  In my own personal opinion, I think both views should be taught in our schools to give the children a chance to weigh and decide for themselves what they believe can stand up to critical examination.  To only teach one side is indoctrination.  When teachers do this as public authority figures to our children, this becomes an undisputed fact to them, unless they have Godly influences in their lives (which I pray all children do at some level or another). Maybe the topic of origins should not be taught at all in public school???


  Well, here is a fact that can be researched and validated by all who give themselves license to investigate facts no matter where that might lead them in their thought paradigm.  Educational honesty is a term I use for that :-)


  The Bible has been proven over and over again to be factual in historical account, archeological account, literary criticism and statistical probability.  There are things recorded in Scripture we still have to take on faith, but there is a lot recorded that can be proven.  So many things in fact, that to doubt the rest of what's written because it can't be proven (yet)  would be...well...not educationally honest.


 For example,  after Jesus was crucified, and verified to be dead by the experts of torture and capital punishments (the Roman soldiers) by piercing him in the side where both water and blood flowed (an evidence of death), his body was placed in a tomb and very heavily guarded by those soldiers as if their lives depended on it (it did).   And yet, on the 3rd day after death, his body was missing from that tomb.


  For 40 days after that, Jesus was seen on the earth by hundreds of people. Not just seen, but touched.  Not a ghost, but physical.  He could talk, walk, eat, cook, teach and his body carried the scars of the nails and piercing in his side.  Heck, even one of his own disciples needed to touch them to be convinced it was really Him.  This is recorded in Scripture, but you know where else it's recorded?  Secular history books!


 That's right!  There are extra Biblical accounts of Christ's life on earth before and after the crucifixion. These historians were not Christian and many were skeptics to say the very least, and yet, because truth and recording history was their passion, they recorded what was going on.  (See this link:  http://thedevineevidence.com/jesus_historicity_secular_commentary.html or google the topic yourself to find all the different secular accounts).  


  So, even if you don't read or believe the Bible, the fact that Jesus did live on the earth, was killed and lived again after crucifixion, is a historical fact that can stand up to any critical investigation.   What you do with that information after that, is totally up to you.  As for me and my house, we will SERVE the Lord! :-)

It's a Partnership

   Many Christians I know are nervous about sharing their faith with others.  It can be a scarey proposition to be sure.  Many people might get hostile, mock you, patronize you, and in the case of the workplace, might try to get you fired.  Thankfully, most of us in this country only have to worry about these reactions.  Many of our brethren in other countries face imprisonment, torture or death. 

  But I wanted to encourage you with something that I was just reminded of recently.  When God sends us on the mission field, He doesn't send us alone, He leads the way.    It's a partnership!   Here are just 3 practical examples of how God may already be at work in the lives of those in your mission field:

  (1)  Maybe the person you feel lead to share with believes in the paranormal or reincarnation.  The Bible says that "He has also set eternity in the human heart..." (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  People have a deep sense of eternity.  If they don't know the Truth of God, they are often times lead to believe in other things that support that longing.  Some believe its spirits walking the earth or caught between dimensions.  Others might believe in repeated cycles of physical life on earth.  Whole religious systems are based on these beliefs. But God has planted the seed in all of our hearts regarding eternity.  He asks us to work alongside Him to help guide those in darkness to the true source of eternal life. 

 

  (2)  Maybe the person you're to witness to is riddled with guilt, thinks very negatively of him/herself and the world in general.  They may try to compensate for that by doing good deeds but still feel sad and judged.  The Bible says in Romans 2:15 "They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them."  I personally believe that is why so many try to escape that sub-conscience voice from within by drowning it in alcohol, drugs, doing good deeds, prescriptions, psychiatry, etc.  God is already speaking to their hearts.  If they harden their hearts and conscience long enough, He will give them over to their depraved minds.  But first He wants us (the Church) to reach out to them and show the true good - Jesus.

  (3)  Maybe the person you will share the gospel with is a big time environmentalist and nature lover.  They look at the beauty of nature and know that there is something more, something bigger than what they can see, but instead of seeking what that might be they put all of their energy into saving the planet.  Romans 1:20 says "For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."  He is wooing their hearts to Himself via the beauty of creation.  He knows what will stir us, He created us.  Again, He invites us alongside to be the human missionaries to guide them to worship the creator, not the created.

  These are just 3 examples that come to mind as I blog. I'm sure there are many more.  I don't know about you, but when I think about sharing the truth of the Gospel with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is doing the REAL work and I'm invited to be a partner with God, it sure takes the pressure off!  I'm with an expert.  I don't need to be that brilliant. Which is a good thing. :-)

The Proper Measure of Good---Do You Measure Up?

  A friend of mine recently shared a conversation that she had with a fellow co-worker about faith.  Her co-worker told her that she knew she needed to live right, but that she wasn't ready to give up the fun stuff yet.  She wanted to continue on living as she was, having "fun" as long as she could before following Christ.  Besides, she was a good person.

  I remember feeling that same way.  I wanted to live as I wanted to live.  Besides, I wasn't hurting anybody. I wasn't stealing or murdering.  I just wanted to have my fun.  I was a good person.  God would see that I was a good person and forgive me on judgement day even if I had not repented and put my full faith in Christ---right?

  This is such a big lie of Satan and so many are caught up in it.  Truth be known, if I honestly examined my life in those days of having so much "fun", I wasn't truly happy.  I knew there was something more, something better.  I was fooling myself by grasping for temporary happiness by buying toys (cars, clothes, electronic gadgets, etc),  burying myself in work and busyness or partying hard with my friends.  But in reality, I was empty. 

  The truth is, none of us are good according to God's standard of good. And let's be real; God's standard of good is the only standard that matters.  The rest of us can set our standards based on looking at the faults and failures of others and fool ourselves into thinking we're good because we're "not as bad" as those people.  But that's a false standard.   Scripture tells us in Isaiah 64:6 "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."  We may not believe that, but that doesn't change reality.

  The purpose of the 10 Commandments is not just to give us a checklist of items that we have to "DO" to go to Heaven, it's purpose is to show us what God's standard of good is.  So let's look at just half of them and ask ourselves (honestly) if we measure up to His standard of good:

  1)  You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God in vain.  (Ever used it in cursing, in jest, irrelevantly in any situation?)
  2)  You shall not commit adultery (even looking at another with lust is considered adultery....Matthew 5:28). 
  3)  You should not murder (even being angry with a brother/sister, you've committed murder in your heart..Matthew 5:21-23).
  4)  You shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife/husband, ox/donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.  (Have you ever seen what your neighbor has and want that for yourself....keeping up with the Jones?)
  5) You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  (Ever gossiped about another?)

  I think it's safe to say that no one can measure up to God's holy standard even just using these 5 commandments. 

 And that's the point.  None of us are good. That's why we need a Savior.  That's why Jesus came.  To take the penalty of sin away from us (death), take it upon Himself and overcome it by dying on the cross.  He has paid the penalty of our sin so that on judgement day those who have repented of their sin and put their faith and trust in Christ will stand blameless before God.  It is the goodness of Christ He'll see, not us. We will not be condemned to eternal separation from the love and presence of God. 

  And I have to tell you, NOW, I'm having fun :-)  Knowing that I'm really living and have already entered into eternal life even though I will still face physical death, is a freedom and joy of living that I never found in alcohol, shopping, partying, and living large by the world's definition.  I still make mistakes, still stumble, still fight pride, selfishness and the like, but the battle is easier and it's not me fighting alone.  The Holy Spirit is in me: guiding, directing, convicting, rebuking, correcting, loving and reconciling.  This my friends is living "good"! :-)

Writing on the Wall

  We got an unexpected blessing the week before Christmas this year.  Our eldest grandson Cole was able to come back home with us after our Christmas celebration at his house.  We always love spending time with our grandsons.  They are a source of great joy and fun to us.  They are also often times a source of unexpected wisdom and require us to take a look at things from a different perspective.

  During our 3-hour journey home from his house, we had to make a necessary "bio" stop.  When Cole got back in the car he proceeded to tell me about what he saw written on the bathroom wall.  I cringed with the thought of what was coming. I expected a question about the meaning of a certain word or phrase.


  "Neena", he said.  "I saw that someone had written on the wall, Jesus is coming soon, are you ready?"  


 I asked him how that made him feel.  He said "It made me feel happy.  I want Jesus to come back."


 Of course that made my heart sing with joy that he felt this way and understands what the Bible says about Christ's return. We've talked many times about the new Heaven and the new Earth and what the Bible says about we as believers in Christ can look forward to.


  Then he said, "but, to the left of that someone wrote "f...  Jesus" and then to the right someone wrote "who is Jesus?".  I asked him how that made him feel and he said "very sad".  Then he said something very profound for a 10-year old.  "I'm not sure which makes me sadder, what was written on the left, or what was written on the right.  I can't believe that people don't know who Jesus is and I want to tell them."  


 Wow.  The fact that people don't know who Jesus is makes my 10-year old grandson feel very sad and makes him want to share the gospel!  What a blessing!!  I used this opportunity to talk to Cole again about the great commission that God calls all Christians to.  "Go out and spread the good news!"  I then warned him that this won't be easy and that many suffer for that cause.  He then told me I was scaring him.  I was checked on that a bit.  I don't want to scare him, but I don't want him to be caught off guard either when he talks about Christ to the world and is met with great hostility.  There is a price for serving Christ.  That then lead us to talking again about when Christ does return and the rewards for serving Him.


  Our Church is about to embark on a Church-wide look at God's intent for the body to be "SENT" out to fulfill the great commission.  I expect it will be a great challenge for many--including me.  Although many in our own country may know the name of Jesus, most don't KNOW Him.  I pray this fact breaks our heart and drives us to go OUT and introduce the lost world to Him.  Then, with the power of the Spirit maybe in the future when we see written on the wall the question regarding people's readiness of Christ's return we'll see to the left and to the right: "Yes, Lord Jesus come!"

Hidden Treasure

  I just love Thanksgiving time.  I try to live a life of Thanksgiving to God in my heart with word and deed everyday, but the national time for special Thanksgiving that allows our family and friends to gather with us is what I love about this holiday so much.  We have a house-full of family and friends this long Thanksgiving weekend and for that we are so blessed.  We have plenty of everything, including love for each other.

 Outside of Rusty and I however, our family who is gathered, do not know Christ.  They're not opposed to Him in any way.  As a matter-of-fact, they do believe He exists.  They just don't know Him, trust in Him, worship Him, or seek Him. Although....we do believe there is work being done by the Spirit in this area. We have seen glimpses and have been asked questions :-)  But one thing they do trust in and seek (so far at least) is money.  Joking around they'll say "all I want for Chrismas is a million dollars".  I don't know why a million dollars is the number, but it always is.  This year, we happened to have  million dollar bills with the gospel message printed on them.  When our family starting joking about the million dollar gift, I went to find those bills and gave each member of the family one. I told them that this was really worth a lot more than a million dollars. They laughed, looked at the bills, then left them laying on the table.

  I was saddened by this...as I am anytime Jesus, who gave all for us, is disregarded so easily.  I know His heart is broken by His creation when they don't know Him and don't desire to know Him. It is for this reason He came into the world to begin with, so His creation would know Him. 

 John 1:9-11  The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

  But then, I remember grace. It was through the grace of Christ that I came to Him...that any of us come to Him.  I too was as lukewarm about Christ as our family is at one time.  If someone handed me a track I don't know that I would have considered it worth anything either.  But instead of disdain and contempt, Christ showered love, mercy and grace upon me.  So, I have to take my thoughts captive and remember that as a follower of His, I need to respond in the same way. 

 My prayer for our family, friends and everyone within our personal sphere of influence is that one day, before they take their last breath, Christ will be more valuable to them than anything in this world.  That He would be to them as valuable as to the man in the parable as told in Matthew 13:44 - “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." 

 For that matter, I pray that I value Him in the same way.

True Love

  My "get along with everyone" nature REALLY doesn't want to write this.  I do love people and want to be loved by people.  But more than loving people and trying to be loved by them, I love God.  I long to hear Him say "well done, good and faithful servant".  So, I relinquish my feelings of timidity and write this.  I pray it reaches whomever it is that God wants it to reach because I have a true love for them! 

 Recently I saw this graph on a Church-going friend's Facebook page. 

Find the gay person:
유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유 유
Can't do it? That's because LGBTs are humans too, and they all deserve to be treated equally. Copy and paste this as your status if someone close to you is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

  I understand the sentiment but if you think about it, you could use this same sentiment and say "find the pedophile, find the serial killer, find the adulterer, find the liar, etc, etc".  Yes, they're human too.  I do believe they should be treated equally in this way...speak the truth of the Gospel to them.  

 We have a skewed sense of what true love is in our culture. We think that allowing people to continue to live however they want to, whether or not it leads to death, is love. When in reality, confronting people with gentleness and respect with the truth of Jesus, is real love.  Would you allow people to walk off a cliff to certain death without sounding an alarm and trying to get their attention however you could?   Allowing people to commit spiritual suicide without any intervention is not love, it's of Satan.  

 I'm not picking on the sin of homosexuality alone here.  It doesn't matter if your sin is homosexuality, adultery, murder, swindlers, or drunkenness, God says you will not enter His Kingdom. If you don't enter His Kingdom when you die, there's only one other place you'll go, and that's hell. A place Jesus was very vocal about in Scriptures because He has true love for us!  

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NIV)

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived:   Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

  If you claim to be a Christian and are living contrary to what the Bible teaches, you are subject to tougher judgment.  PLEASE, reconsider, repent and come to a saving relationship with Jesus!

 Hebrews 6:4-6 (NIV)

 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.