Tag: bible study

A root or vase Christian?

Recently I was given a long stem red rose. It was beautiful and healthy looking. It had one of those neat little things on the end of the stem that held water so that the rose would have water to stay looking healthy on it. By the time I returned home to be able to place the rose in a vase of water, it had used all of its available water and was starting to hang it’s head from the lack of water. I carefully removed the water valve, and place the rose into the vase full of water. Over the next few hours the rose started to bring its head up and look beautiful and healthy again. About four days later my middle son was sitting eating his breakfast and he commented, mom your rose is dying. I replied yes, it is. Of course he wanted to know why was it dying when it was still had plenty of water to pull from. I explained to him that since the rose did not have roots anymore that were pulling nutrients from the soil that it would eventually die. That’s when God spoke to me. He showed me in that rose that we can keep get those vases of water that help bring our weary heads up when we are spiritually drained but its roots in Him that will keep us alive.

We have all been guilty of going from one event to another looking for that vase of water. Sunday morning service, to Sunday morning service, revival to retreats. You know what I’m talking about and the time in between we don’t really do anything we start to droop. We neglect our bible reading, our prayer time, and we stop being intentional to share Gods love with others. We become vase Christians.

What does it look like to get those roots dug in and not just be a vase Christian? It looks like each day finding time to not only read Gods word, but to meditate on it and ask God how it applies to your life. It looks like praying and then being silent while you wait for God to speak to you. Many times we get in such a hurry to just give our burdens to God that we forget that maybe he has an answer to our burdens but we don’t hush long enough to hear it. Being a Christian with roots also means looking for ways that you can show Gods love to those around us. Something as simple as a smile to the mother of a wild toddler in the store can go a long way. God wants us to become root Christians and not just a vase Christian.

Colossians 2:6-7 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

I was born this way!

“I was born this way”, “its in my genes”, how many times have we heard this from someone? It could be after they were extremely angry, or while they were in the midst of worrying. We all at some point have blamed our behavior on our history. Our blood, or our genealogy. Anger, worry, addiction, laziness, feeling your better than others, or even selfishness are all characteristic that people refuse to take responsibility for in their lives. In Matthew 1:1-17 we read a list of individuals that had many of these same characteristics. Abraham was a worrier. He worried that he would never have the son God had promised him. Abraham felt that God was running behind on that promise. Abraham worried that God had forgotten him. We see in this list of names Jacob. Jacob saw his brother, his twin brother, no less in a frail and venerable state and took advantage of him. Jacob took the opportunity when his brother felt like he was about to die of hunger to make him promise his first-born status to him. Jacob was sneaky and a liar. He covered himself in the fur of goats and went to his father to get his brothers blessings before his father Issacs died. Jacob lied to his own father. Rahab, the prostitute. She was known in the city as someone that had more than her share of visitors. She was well known for being a woman of many men. King David committed idolatry with one of his friend’s wives and then arranged for his friend to be killed so that he could cover it up.

We can look at our own ancestry and find people that fall into these same categories or something similar. We all have something in our family closet we don’t want reviled, but does that determine who we are? Does our last name or our genealogy or family status get to decide who we are as an individual? The list of men and women that we just looked at seems like an overwhelming list of people that made wrong choices and had bad habits, yet, this is the family tree of the Son of God, Jesus. The perfect one had ancestors that were far from perfect. There can be a break in the cures of generations. We have the choice no matter what you may have done in the past or what awful genes your parents handed down to you can break the generational curse. It takes determination and seeking Gods will for our lives to do it, but it can be done. Its not an over night thing for us. We may have to find an accountability partner that can help keep us grounded in Gods word and prayer. It may mean asking forgiveness from our families for the anger, and short temper we have had with them, but it is worth it. Sometimes it even means finding new friends who have went through the same braking of bonds that we are going through and gaining advice from them. There are many different opportunities to break that generational curse, but the biggest one is recognizing that it can be done

Who or What is your Cornerstone?

When building a building the builders will first decided where they are going to start the foundation. Once they have dug out the area for the foundation to be laid, they then will place what is called the cornerstone. This part of the building is important to the overall stability of the home or building that is being built. This cornerstone will not only be the starting point for the rest of the foundation but, it also is a reference for the rest of the foundation that is going to be laid. IF the cornerstone is not square or is off by just a little bit then the rest of the foundation will not be square. One time we were doing a home project and trying to lay some tile in a bathroom, and I can remember how important it was to get the first row of tile square and straight because even if it was off just a little to begin with by the time you got to the end of the room the amount it was off would be dramatic. What started as just a little off would soon become off by a large degree.

We know that the Bible tells us that Christ is to be our cornerstone. By making Him the starting point of our foundation then the rest of our lives will fall into place. We can see examples of this thorough out the Bible and in our own personal lives. Let me be real here really quick, I can personally look back to times where I had placed other things or people into the position of cornerstone and I saw my life take a direction I never thought it would take. I had no peace, I was constantly searching for the next best thing in life and I couldn’t feel the presence of God in my life. I had taken Christ out of my foundation and I saw results I was not happy with. The exciting thing about this foundation is that you can change the cornerstone out. When we decide that we no longer want to try to do things on our own and we want to see what Christ truly has for us then we can ask God to take his position as cornerstone in our lives and oh the changes that will come. I have now seen in my life where I’ve changed who is my cornerstone and I’ve put Christ first that my foundation is stronger and straighter. Will you still have to bear some of the consequences of not having Christ as your cornerstone before, yes probably so, but God can use those situations as a witness for Him. He can take the times when your cornerstone was not Him and use it to bring others to Himself.

If you your reading this and you are looking at your life and you’re wondering how things will ever get better or feel like you are alone, know that you can change out that cornerstone in your life and that God can and wants to work miracles in your life. God has a plan for each and every person, He is just waiting for you to make that choice to turn to him and ask him to be the cornerstone of your life so that he can be the foundation that can give you stability and will also be the example that the rest of your life can align with. Its through the love of God that He gives this to us and all he asks in return is obedience to Him.

Ephesians 2:20-22
Acts 4:10-12

Word of 2019

For the year 2019 God has given me the word “stretch”. What is the first thing we think of when we think about stretching something? Some of the first things that come to my mind are muscles, rubber, and clay. Let’s look at what happens when we stretch a rubber band, so bear with me just a minute while I try to explain how this works. When a rubber band is stretched the molecules that were previously all tangled up, like discarded fishing line, now becomes straight and aligned. As you continue to stretch the rubber band over and over it eventually changes its shape. So when I think of how God will stretch me it makes me excited to see God take my tangled mess and stretch it to align with His plan. I see God stretching me in my personal growth, my prayer life, and in my simple obedience. I also believe over the next year God will stretch my family, our finances and our time. My vison for the year is to see God take our tangled web of not enough time, energy, and money and stretch it to the point that in 2020 we, I, will be different. I long to become more aligned with His plan. “Enlarge the site of your tent and let your tent curtains be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your ropes and drive your pegs deep. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will dispossess nations and inhabit the desolate cities” (Isaiah 54:2-3 CSB).

Stretching can be inconvenient or even painful at times. It can mean stepping outside of your comfort zone, agreeing to sing at your church, speaking words of forgiveness to someone that hurt you. Stretching can mean increasing your giving above your normal ten percent. It’s in the form of serving at a community shelter and sitting aside our desire for perfection in our homes and spending face to face time with our children. But, just like the rubber band, if we continue to stretch ourselves and align our hearts, and desires with Gods will, we will start to see a change in ourselves. The things that used to be difficult will become easier, the bad attitudes we may have had will start to disappear because we have stretched ourselves. With the stretching comes a promise as we saw in Isaiah 54:3. He has promised to give us blessing if we follow His will.

So, my challenge to you today is ask God where you need to stretch? What is it that needs to be brought into alignment with Him? Seek God this week and open your heart to His leading and He will greatly reward you!

Welcome

     

       As I was praying about what God wanted me to focus on in 2019, I was given one word, “stretch” (more on this later what that word means to me). I have personally never experienced a “word of the year” before, but the past few months I have been seeking God to give me clarity on where He wanted me to serve. I had written down my desires of what I knew my heart wanted to do but I was unsure what that would all looked like. I have had a heavy heart to be able to  encouraging fellow Christians and helping them know that they are not alone in the struggles that they may face. So, I prayed, God you have given me a heart to see others excel in Gods word and know more about you, but where did I fit in with His plan.

      A few months ago, we had a worship night at our church. It was one of those rare evenings we were able to leave our three-year-old at home with Grandma and I was able to worship next to my husband without interruption. The worship team sang several songs and I was in my zone of worshiping God and asking Him for direction in what He wanted me to do. I heard Him tell me, “I’ve given you the ability to write, so write”. I had to sit down as the tears flowed. The presence of God was so strong at that moment that I knew without a doubt I was to write. I left that worship service that night knowing what God wanted me to do. I told my husband a few days later what I was supposed to do, and he supported me all the way. Since that time, I have written, and I have received ideas down loaded to me from God on what to write next, but fear started to filter in. What if I wasn’t good enough, what if no one wanted to read what I wrote, how was I going to get what God gives me to the audience he wants to hear it.
      This past Sunday morning we had another great service and at the end of the service we joined hands in prayer. As I was praying I heard God once again this time say to me, you are writing for me, not anyone else. God made it clear that it was the act of obedience that He wanted from me at this point and He would take care of the rest. So here I am writing, obeying God and I’ll put the results into His hands. As clear as the message was from God I still have second guessed myself even now as I sit here writing, but I will continue to write and trust God for the outcome.
     I have several goals of what I would like to see happen with my writings, but I know that no matter where it may lead, or who reads what God gives me to write, His word will not return void. He will make sure to touch lives I could never imagine touching! All I do, I do for the glory of God and in a simple act of obedience I will, write!

    So please join me each Monday evening as I post what God lays on my heart.  I pray that it will bless you and encourage you no matter where you are in your life.