A Clean Mirror

"Lukewarm living and claiming Christ's name simultaneously is utterly disgusting to God." by Francis Chan

Over the past month this statement has been prevalent in my life. Scripture tells us to live a life that is holy, I Peter 1:16-16, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, 'BE HOLY, BECAUSE I AM HOLY'." In the times we are living, it is so important for us to live this scripture out. I will be the first to ask, how in the world can I live this day in and day out? But God in His "all knowing" character has already answered that! 2 Peter 1: 3-4 states, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." Are you kidding me? You mean He has given me EVERYTHING I need? Then why is it so hard?

Why is it that we struggle with envy, pride, not being self-controlled, lovers of ourselves, ungrateful, unforgiving....the list goes on and on? We live in a society that has made us believe that it is all about me and my happiness. As a wife, parent, daughter, sister, aunt and friend,  there are so many things I would change. That is if I could go back. John Maxwell said, "I can teach what I know, but I reproduce what I am"! Ouch! Have I lived a life that is lukewarm? Is that what my life has reproduced? Others being lukewarm because of my example? Revelation 3:15-16 reads, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! so, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit (vomit) you out of my mouth."

Do I live a life that screams, I can do what I want because I know I have a God that will forgive me? It was said to me this past week, "why can't I make a mistake? Others that I have looked up to are choosing to be stupid!" I have replayed this statement in my head over and over and the problem lies in the fact that we have fixed our eyes on others and not on Christ. With that being said, we as Christians have to make sure that our lives reflect Christ! Don't get me wrong, we are going to make mistakes and we do have a God that will forgive, but that is not how I should venture to live my life.

Years ago, I went to children's camp as a chaperone. It is so funny, as an adult you go to help with the children, to counsel them, to be a blessing to them! Oh, let's be honest, I went to make sure my kids were taken care of! On arrival, I quickly found this was not your typical camp. The chaperones did not have to entertain or even prepare Bible study. What? This particular camp was put on by a man of God who had a passion to disciple college students and teach them to love others. The college students were the ones that prepared devotionals, recreation and down time for the kids. So what were we as adults to do? We were being fed spiritually by the leader of this camp.

I will never forget the illustration he gave one night! He had a full length mirror that he held and a light was shown into the mirror, producing a reflector of bright light. This is what he said..."Our lives are like a mirror and they give off a reflection of who we are. If I know Christ as my personal Lord and Savior then my life should be a reflection of Him!" He proceeded to ask if our mirror was clean, so that others would see a reflection of Jesus in our life, or was it dirty? Was the reflection of me and not Jesus? This goes back to John Maxwell's quote, "I can teach what I know, but I reproduce what I am!"

2 Timothy 1:7, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." Living a life that is lukewarm is not pleasing to God, nor is it what I (we) should be reproducing. Father, help me to keep the mirror you have given me clean, so that others can see a reflection of you and not me. Give me strength to live with the spirit of your power and your love....to be self disciplined.

What Does Geography Have To Do With Prayer?

This past week, I was beyond blessed to have spent the week in New York City with a sweet friend. Our purpose was to encourage and help one of our missionaries with spreadsheet designs and other clerical things he needed. You know it is a "God thing" when you have not signed up for a mission trip of this nature, but have been asked and then the leader splits your cost of the trip with you!

Our week began on Tuesday, with spreadsheets of information that I did not understand, but God in His infinite wisdom began to work on me throughout the week. Being a homeschool mom, I am big on my children knowing their geography. One of the spreadsheets contained information about the Alliance of Small Island States. WOW, there are so many islands that I did not know existed!

The Small Island States is just where God began to work on me. We all know and have been told that there are millions of people who have never heard of Jesus, but the reality of this statement became real this past week. For instance, there is a small island in the Pacific, call Niue. This particular island has about 1,400 hundred in population. Have they heard of Jesus and what He did for us? Has anyone ever prayed for them?

Well, a new homeschool class is being developed in our household (Jenny Beth will be sooooo excited)! We will study a different country every two weeks and pray for the people of that region. We are commissioned to go and tell, but we are also commanded to pray. James 5:16, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."

Sometimes my prayer life revolves around "my four and no more"! But, there is nothing like God using a missionary and his need for a spreadsheet to help shed light on my weakness. I stand in awe how God has used the past 7 months to mold and convict me in the area of prayer, although, I did not realize it until this past week. I am a little slow, so he had to show me in a more profound way (through black and white excel spreadsheets).

Everyone of us have people in our life that are prayer warriors. This became evident to me when our two oldest went away to college. So much encouragement came from these warriors. There has not been one week that has gone by that we have not had someone send us a message or call us just to let us know they were praying for our family. What a testimony! Every time we would get a call, I would think, "I want to be just like them when I grow up"! Little did I know that God was using them to prepare me for what He had in store for me throughout my week in New York.

Prayer is such a vital part of our relationship with God. He tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5: 17 to pray without ceasing. My favorite is found in Matthew 6:6, (MSG) "Here is what I want you to do, find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be temped to role play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God and you will begin to sense His grace." A lot of molding and scraping took place on this clay of mine this week, but I am so thankful that God loves me enough to keep molding me to be just like Him!

Father, Abba, help me to focus on you and your grace. Give me your eyes and heart for others of the world that do not know you! Mold me into a prayer warrior, give me a boldness to share you with others.

Are you wondering where you can go, to find out more information about countries that you can pray for? Here are a few you can start with:

http://joshuaproject.net
http://www.operationworld.org/a-countries
https://www.persecution.com

 A city that NEVER sleeps!

Learning To Let Go and Let God

When our children were young, I can remember thinking, "Goodnight, will they ever be self sufficient". Especially when the twins were babies; I thought they would never be old enough to feed themselves. Just when they were old enough to feed themselves, go to the potty by themselves and even make some decisions on their own, another baby was on the way! The process started yet again. As I sit back and think about how tired I was with two 5 year olds and an infant, those were the days to cherish. Now they are young adults and the baby is now 13 years old.

Lately, the baby, Jenny Beth has wanted to watch home videos, in which has stirred up many different emotions for me. I have laughed, I have cried and even thought, "what was I thinking", that is in reference to hairstyle and clothes! A children's book that we read to them was, Love you Forever by Robert Munsch. At the time it was just another book to read, but recently I have discovered how accurate the words really are. "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be" rings in my mind to this very day. No matter how old your children get, they will always be your baby and you will always love them.

As our children grow older and develop who they are as adults, we may not always agree with their thoughts, or their actions, but I cling to Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it". There are many times, we want to help them make the "right" choices; one, because we have been there; two, we have witnessed others experience or three, because we can see the "whole" picture.

If I could give young parents some advice;  teach your children, Matthew 22:37-39, "Jesus replied; 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind', this is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it; 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" I truly believe if we as parents would make a point to teach and LIVE OUT this truth to our children from day one, the promise of Proverbs 22:6 will be evident.

I cannot say that Gary and I were always great examples of loving the Lord with all of our hearts or for that matter loving our neighbors, but I am confident that God is always faithful, even when we were not. Through the process of watching our children grow up, we are trying to trust God with them by learning to let go and let God direct their path. They may not always do things right, but I remain hopeful that my God is faithful and He will continue to provide them with direction, even if it hurts them along the way.

Father, give me the strength and discernment to know when to step in on choices that our children are making and when to keep my mouth shut. Help me to let go and let you direct their path.

http://robertmunsch.com/book/love-you-forever

Trusting God While Walking Through the Fire

I am constantly amazed at how God reveals himself to bring comfort, peace, and even discipline through scriptures. Have you ever prayed, "God will you please open their eyes and soften their hearts?" Well, I have! To be honest that is not a bad prayer, but most times when I pray these words I am not thinking, "God what can I learn from these circumstances or situation?" My prayer is for God to fix this individual or situation to my liking or comfort.

Just recently, God has revealed to me a "trust issue" via scripture. If you know me, then you know I am a control freak I like things done correctly, in an orderly fashion and in a timely manner (this is probably why I chose accounting as my major years ago). So when I pray, that is exactly what I am expecting from God. Answer my prayer my way! Here is the deal, we serve such an amazing God. He knows just how I am, He knows what I need and the time frame in which I need it, but when I try to tell God what He needs to do, my trust issue is revealed. Do I really trust God for who He is and what He says He will do? Apparently I do not, because lately that is just what He keeps revealing to me. My heart tells me to trust God, but my head tells me to move forward in my own will. It is so frustrating!

For Christmas, our son gave my husband and I devotionals. Today's devotional is titled, "No Matter What" and it was taken from Daniel 3:16-18. "Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and he will rescue us from your hand, O king." Although these three boys were taken from their home and security, they trusted God no matter what! They were not willing to compromise their faith in God to anyone, not even King Nebuchadnezzar. Their faith and actions revealed their TRUST in God, even while walking through the fire.

If that is not enough, I was in a church service yesterday and the scripture was, Psalms 46:1-7, "God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, thought its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." The two points that the pastor shared are:

1. "God is always in control in every out-of-control situation."
2. "God is always in control of every out-of-control person."

God is always in control! All I have to do is trust Him the way that He wants me to. Just like Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego!

Father, my heart tells me to trust you with my whole being, no matter the circumstance, help me to be faithful and trust you in everything. Protect my thoughts and actions, help me to focus on WHO YOU ARE! Keep my heart and my thoughts equally connected to you.

Need Some Shake?

I love the fact that God saw fit to give us a small, beautiful blessing 13 years ago.....in the form of our youngest daughter, Jenny Beth. How would I describe her? She is beautiful, brown eyed, joyous, tells you what she thinks, lovable, and last but not least a head strong young lady. Jenny Beth has been pure joy from God. She is always smiling, even her eyes smile and dance! My Dad always says that he loves the way her eyes smile.

Jenny Beth has a glow about her that is hard to describe, but awesome to look at and enjoy, it is infectious. Mercy Me came out with a song "Shake" a few months back and I will never forget the first time we heard the song in the car! Jenny Beth turned the radio up and basically knew the chorus before the song was finished. WOW, God had given me in that very moment an opportunity to share with her what our salvation should mean to us. Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks! Do I relish in my salvation every day or am I so complacent that it is life as usual?  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" We all like new things. We get excited to wear them, drive them or just make sure everyone knows we have a  "new item", but we don't always portray the newness we have in Christ. By goodness, we are a NEW CREATION! If we know Christ as a our personal Lord and Savior, we have something GRAND to be excited about....enough to "Shake"!

My walk as a Christian should be joyous. I should be so excited about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit that my life should reflect it. I should have the "glow" that Jenny Beth has when she sings "Shake"! My life should be so full of joy that when others look at me, they will want what I have. My prayer for you and I is Psalms 51: 10-12 , "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."

If you need some "pick me up" music, you should most definitely listen to "Shake". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJFA5Bitv7w   JUST "SHAKE LIKE YOU'VE BEEN CHANGED." Thank you Jesus for using my children to remind me of your goodness.

A New Walk of Life

Esther 4:14, has come to be one of my favorite verses. It states, " For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. AND WHO KNOWS BUT THAT YOU HAVE COME TO ROYAL POSITION FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS." In this particular passage Mordecai, Esther's uncle is trying to persuade her to go before the king and plead for the very life of Israel.

As two of my children have entered into a new phase of their life with college, I am reminded by this passage that I have been set in this position for "such a time as this". My goal and I believe God's purpose with this blog is to encourage and lift other mothers up. I do not have all of the answers and actually as I am writing, I am struggling as a "MOM" to trust God with all of my heart. I know, I know, my secret is out. What must you be thinking? 

I always thought I would be prepared to enter this phase of my life with joy, excitement and relief, but I never anticipated the anxiety I would have. My husband and I have raised our children to love God, but now they are having to claim their own faith and not Mommy and Daddy's. This is where the "rubber hits the road". Their faith as we know it, is being defined. As parents, we want them to get it, to trust God that he will move mountains, but yet when your child is entering into the world....I have to question, do we (I) trust the God that says he will move mountains if I have faith?

I am defining today, that I will trust God. Proverbs 3:5-6 clearly states God's command to me and His promise. In this passage it says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." My prayer is that you and I will enter into this journey of blogging trusting God and embracing the position we are currently in, for "who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this."

Tyler Ard - Liberty University
Biblical Studies w/ Psychology

Sara Lynn Ard - University of Central Florida
Political Science w/ Pre-Law