Tag Archives: Faith

A Great Marriage Doesn’t Just Happen

01 Saturday Oct 2016

Posted by in Faith, Husband, Marriage

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You want a great marriage – one that is loving, encouraging, consoling, affectionate and compassionate.  One that feels like you’re in it together.

A marriage like this doesn’t just happen.  You must be intentional about it.

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Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.  Philippians 2:3

In this passage, Paul is writing to the Philippians about oneness in the church. The same principles in Philippians 2:3-4 can also bring oneness in your marriage. Here we go!

  • Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.
  • Regard your spouse as more important than yourself.
  • Look out for the interests of your spouse – not just your own.

Once self is off the throne, you are ready to ACT.

A–Attitude of humility 

An attitude of humility is a choice – not a feeling. It does not grasp for equality. It is not self-serving.  Instead, it serves the other.

C-Courage to ask

Courage is required when you humbly ask for what you want.  The ask is about you – what you need or want.  It is not about your spouse and how they are falling short in some way. The ask is spoken with truth, love and kindness. It is not a demand or an expected behavior. The ask is honoring and respectful. The ask is vulnerable.

T-Trust God

Trust God with your ask.  The bigger the ask, the more trust is needed. Pray about your attitude.  Pray about your ask.  Pray about the results.  Trust God to work in you and through you and for you. I promise you He will in His time and in His way.

I love sharing my personal experiences with these marriage-changing principles when I speak to other women.  I tell them about the time I threw every shoe I owned at Dan.  Then I tell them how I learned to do marriage God’s way, instead of my own. God’s way is the best way.  It always is.

 

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A Needless Death

03 Wednesday Aug 2016

Posted by in Faith, Meaning of Life, Need

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Needless_Alley_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1282956August already!  How is your summer going?  Have you been doing life with Jesus?

When you hear that question, what do you think about?

When you hear that question, how do you feel about yourself?

Do you understand what it means to do life with Jesus?  Perhaps it is a new thought for you.  Perhaps you have questions about it.  Perhaps you carry a lot of baggage about it.

One of the very first things we need to realize about doing life with Jesus, is that it is about believing.  It is about faith.  If we get faith right, we get life right.

The Christian life is lived the very way it begins.  It starts with faith and it is lived by faith.

We begin the Christian life when we hear the gospel truth about Christ and believe it.  The moment we believe, we receive the Spirit of Christ.  We have new life by faith.

We live the Christian life the very same way.  We hear God’s truth about some area of our life and we believe it.  The moment we believe the truth, we receive the enabling work of His Spirit.  We are able to live in a new way by faith.

Just as we cannot earn our own way to heaven, neither can we live the Christian life on our own. To think we can is pure arrogance.  It suggests that Christ died needlessly. Galatians 2:21

When we live as though it all depends on us, we are declaring that Christ died needlessly.

We begin the Christian life when we rely on the work of Christ to save us.

We continue the Christian life when we rely on the working of Christ and His Spirit within us to transform us.

Declare your need of Christ – not just for salvation but for all of life.  Depend on Him. Do life with Him.

 

Don’t Miss the Opportunity!

24 Friday Jun 2016

Posted by in Children, Faith, Opportunity

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The volume and energy level in this house is about to increase dramatically.  The grandkids are coming to spend a couple days with Mimi & Poppi.  All the junk that had been thrown in the spare bedrooms has been taken care of.  The snack cupboard has been filled with lots of treats.  More water guns have been added to the pool ammunition.

convertible rideAnd Poppi has the convertible ready to go – one child at a time to a special treat destination of their choice.  And of course, Poppi might get lost along the way causing the ride to be longer.  And for the little ones, Poppi will be sure to point out the flying monkeys that he sees.

Having fun with our grandkids is the best!  I love their laughter. I love hearing their stories and jokes.  I love listening in on their conversations with each other.  I listen for my own enjoyment but I also listen for another reason.  I listen for an opportunity.

I have spent time this week thinking about each grandchild – their likes, their dislikes, their spirit, their personality, their concerns.  I have spent time this week praying for each grandchild.  And now I will listen for an opportunity to share my faith with each grandchild.  I’m not talking about sharing the gospel, or a Bible story or quoting a Bible verse.  I’m talking about a very comfortable, hardly- even noticeable opportunity where I can drop a little idea about doing life with Jesus into their bucket.

Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, had sincere faith that they shared with Timothy.  I want to share my faith with my grandkids.  This can be done a million different ways but one of the best ways is to simply share what God has done for me as I do life with Him.

Moms and grandmoms, the summer has begun.  Diligently look and pray for opportunities to share Jesus with your kids and grandkids.  Shape their thoughts. Make the most of this opportunity!  You’ll blink twice and the summer will be gone.  And if your kids are in school, someone else will be shaping their thoughts.

The Sting of Past Hurts

14 Tuesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Choice, Faith, Grace, Pain

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Doing life with Jesus every day is so down to earth and practical. That’s one reason it is a must for me.

Yesterday, my husband asked me a question about something. For him, it was just an innocent question. For me, it was a question that brought to mind some past hurts and I felt the sting all over again.

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Past hurts can cause present pain. I wish that was not the case. I wish I was completely over it. And the fact that I’m not completely over it, also bothers me.

I opened the Word of God this morning. I wanted some grace. I needed some grace.

1 Peter 5:5-11 was part of my reading today. It was the very grace I needed. It reminded me to clothe myself in humility and to cast my cares on the One who cares about me and for me. It reminded me to stay firm in believing God has my best interest at heart. It reminded me that God is at work in me. He will perfect me, confirm me, strengthen me and establish me because He is the God of all grace.

So I will do life with Jesus today. I won’t try to do life by myself. I will continue to trust Him with my heart. I will ask Him for His help. I know His grace will be sufficient for me.

What are you struggling with today? Don’t try to do life in your own strength. Do life with Jesus today.

I’ve Been Praying for Years!

26 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by in Faith, Loved Ones, Prayer

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I’ve been praying for my loved one for a very long time.  Sometimes I wonder if my prayer will ever be answered.  I get discouraged and lose heart.  And then I don’t pray with the same intensity.

Discouragement comes from faulty thinking that says “God isn’t answering my prayer”.

Faith thinking says:

  • God is love.
  • God is fully aware.
  • God is able.
  • God hears my prayer.
  • God is at work.
  • God’s ways are not my ways.
  • God draws people to Himself.

I take comfort in the fact that God loves my loved one even more than I do.  God understands the innermost thoughts and motives of my loved one.  God knows exactly how to draw my loved one to Himself.

I take comfort in the fact that God loves me even more than I do.  God understands the innermost thoughts and motives of my heart.  God knows exactly how to draw me to Himself.

So I will keep on praying, entrusting my deepest concerns to my faithful Father.

So I will keep on praying, taking the weight off me and giving it to the One who can handle it.

So I will keep on praying!  I will bring delight to my Father’s heart!  Proverbs 15:8

 

When God Takes It Away

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Despair, Faith, Future, Grief

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So God took the thing you most loved and you’re never going to get it back.

Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband died; and she was left with her two sons.  Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, and the woman was bereft of her two children and her husband.  Ruth 1:3-5

Bereft goes beyond grief-stricken. Bereft includes a deep sense of deprivation and irreparable loss.  (Paraphrased from vocabulary.com)

I started playing the piano in third grade and fell in love with it. It was soul-satisfying.  It became part of me.  As opportunities came my way, playing the piano became my God-given ministry. It was a way I loved God and gave of myself to encourage others to love God.  I felt God’s pleasure as I played.

But then God took it away.  I was bereft.

Seven years later, I still don’t understand why God allowed this to happen. It has been a long difficult journey for me as I have grieved this loss and come to accept it as from the hand of God. But God has been with me every step of the journey.  And because of the journey, I am more in love with God today than I ever have been. I enjoy Him more deeply. Perhaps this alone is reason enough.

If you are grieving, seek refuge under the wings of God Almighty. He will love you through your grief.  Ruth 2:12  Do not lose hope. God is with you. God is for you. Nothing can separate you from His love.  Romans 8:31-39

We cannot see the end of our journey but we can see the end of Naomi’s journey. God gave Naomi a son.  Ruth 4:17  He may give me another opportunity to play the piano for His glory and only He knows what He has planned for you!

 

 

 

I want more for my friend!

01 Monday Feb 2016

Posted by in Choice, Faith, God's Will, Plans

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I want more for my friend than she wants for herself. I want her to be happy.  I want her to be all that God designed her to be.  I want her to live an abundant joy-filled life.

But her own choices are preventing her from becoming all that God hopes for her to be.

Why can’t she see that God’s plan is always the best?

Why can’t she see that His plan is not some religious mandate to be obeyed just for the sake of obedience but that His plan is the way for her to have richness of life?

And then I think about my own life…  Why do I sometimes refuse to do life God’s way? Why can’t I see that God’s plan is always the best for me?

The answer is the same for all of us. In these situations, we think we know more than God.  We think we know best.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.  It will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.  Proverbs 3:5-8

If you want your best life, ask yourself these four questions:

  • Am I being deceived by sin and my own fleshly desires?
  • Am I being proud, stubborn and self-willed?
  • Do I believe God really knows what is best for me?
  • Am I willing to do life God’s way?

Trust Him and choose wisely!

Become rooted and grounded in His love and watch Him do abundantly above all you can ask or even think in your own life!  Ephesians 3

 

 

 

Are you kidding me?!?!

29 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by in Anger, Choice, Faith

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Sometimes I am so bewildered by the things other people do.  I just don’t get why they do the things they do!  And I don’t understand why they make such stupid choices!  And to top it all off, these things have a huge impact on MY life! And I wonder if these people ever even thought about how their decisions might impact those around them, especially ME!

When these times come, they are hurtful!

When these times comes, they are scary!

When these times come, they are discouraging!

When these times come, what then?

  1. First, tell it ALL to Jesus (as often as you need to).
  2. Second, choose to forgive and pray for those ‘stupid’ people (even if you don’t feel like it).
  3. Third, keep on trusting God:
    1. Trust that He is ultimately in control of all things (even if it doesn’t seem like it).
    2. Trust that He has your best interest at heart (even if others’ don’t).
    3. Trust that He is at work and He will work this for your good (even if you can’t possibly see how).
  4. Fourth, keep your eyes on Jesus (not on those around you).
  5. Fifth, keep on doing what God has called you to do (and forget about all the other stuff).

But in all these things, we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us!  Romans 8:37

Philippians 2:12-14, Romans 8:18-39

Too Good to be True? Not This Time

28 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Faith, Gift, Gospel, Heaven, Hope

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I was so happy I couldn’t even fall asleep. I had just shared the message of salvation by faith alone in Christ alone with my friend. As I watched her amazement at such a message, I was reminded of the first time I really heard the gospel message. It was shocking!

How can it be that all I have to do is believe in the redeeming work of Christ? How can it be that simple?  Yet, it is. Christ has been God’s plan from the very beginning, even before creation.

The message is simple, yet astounding!

  • God is holy and just, unable to overlook your sin. He is also Love so He provided a way for you.
  • You are sinful, never able to meet God’s standard of holiness, guilty, unable to save yourself.
  • Christ,the sinless Son of God, the only One who could meet God’s standard of holiness, was willing to pay the penalty for your sins by his death on the cross. His sacrifice once and for all removed the sin barrier between you and God.

There is no debt for you to pay.  Christ already paid it.

There is nothing you must do to earn your salvation.  Christ already provided it.

The only requirement for you to be saved is to believe. You must rely on the fact that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross took care of your sin problem in the eyes of God. The moment you believe, Christ’s righteousness will be credited to your account!

Believe in Christ today! It matters not if you are a good person or a bad person.  No one is good enough to save themself and no one is too bad for Christ to save!  Christ alone is the hope of salvation!

John 3:16-17, Ephesians 2;4-9, Galatians 3:13, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

 

 

 

 

Life stinks!

11 Monday Jan 2016

Posted by in Endurance, Faith, Grumbling, Truth

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Life can be so disappointing!  So hard!

As the Israelites left Egypt to go to the Promised Land, did they think their hardships were over?  If so, can you imagine how disheartened they must have felt when  the Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptians were hot on their trail? And how did they feel when their stomachs started rumbling from hunger and their mouths were dry and parched from lack of water?  Life challenged them and most of them failed the challenge.

Why? How is that God was not well-pleased with most of them?

  1. Their expectations were faulty. They expected it to be easy.  They didn’t realize their struggles were common to all men.
  2. Their theology was faulty. They didn’t think God was faithful. They didn’t see His daily protection and provision.
  3. Their commitment was faulty. They grumbled and complained against God. They wanted to go back to Egypt.

If you’re in a hard time right now, let me encourage you to:

  1.  Adjust your expectations.  God never promised you an easy life here in this broken world.  But He has promised to be with you every step of the way.  He will make a way for you to endure this hardship.
  2. Check your theology.  God is always good and always faithful.  Do you believe that? Can you cling to that with all your heart?
  3. Examine your commitment. Do you want to follow God even if it means hardship and heartbreak? Fully give yourself to Him, heartbreak and all.  He can handle it!

Caleb was not like the other Israelites.  He was different.

God says of Caleb, “But My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land…” Numbers 14:24

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