Laced With Grace

 Our youngest son Samuel has a few passions. One of those passions is ‘Star Wars’. It is very common to find Samuel pretending to be Luke Skywalker with his sister and friends in tow. Samuel and his friends love to have their light sabers attached to their belt loops as they run all around the yard. Thanks to my six year old son, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have never been in such daunting situations.

Yesterday while the children were playing in our bonus room Samuel decided to try to copy a move he once saw Luke Skywalker make, a forward flip in the air with light saber in hand. What he ended up doing was a forward flop in the air, landing on his light saber with his head. He performed this stunt in front of an audience of six and eight year olds. He bled quite a bit but thankfully he didn’t need stitches. What he did do was learn a valuable lesson…he is no Luke Skywalker.

It reminded me of a Bible study I did with my teenage daughter Meghan and her girlfriend this summer. If you were living your life on a stage, who would be in your audience?

I can tell you who is often in my audience. From time to time it is my husband Paul who is in my audience. Often times it is friends, family, neighbors, and people at church I am playing for. If we are Christians we should only be concerned with playing in front of an audience of one.

 Jesus is sitting in the front row waiting to give each one of us a standing ovation. He is front and center waiting to cheer us on. He loves us so. As adults we can fall into the same traps that our children fall into…trying to impress people.

It took a light saber and my adorable son to remind me that there are no repeat performances in my life. I am going to make sure today that I am living my life for an audience of one. I want that standing ovation.

Come on over to my persnoal blog Blessed…  for a visit! 

 www.onesoblessed.blogspot.com

You are blessed!

Do you ever feel like this? Are you too tired to even lift your head and drink your cup of coffee?

Maybe you’re a mom who feels overwhelmed as you try to do ‘all the right things’ raising your children.

Or maybe you’re a single woman in college and you’re trying to study so you get good grades but at the same time …look pretty and have a social life with lots of friends.

Or maybe you’re a bit older and don’t recognize the person in the mirror anymore.  You used to have energy to volunteer at church but now you wonder if it’s just time to retire and let the younger ones do it all.

I know what it’s like to try to do things well.  Put a smile on my face, fix my makeup and hair, volunteer in the homebound ministry, teach the children in Bible study, be a loving wife, fix a gourmet dinner for my husband, clean the house, be a good neighbor, read the latest books, learn a new language, and on and on.  No wonder I felt weary!

Well, I’ve found a solution for those of us who are weary.  Listen to the invitation Jesus gives us in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV).

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Did Jesus really say easy and light?  Why am I so tired?  After all, I thought I was doing lots of “good things”.

They used to place yokes upon two animals (oxen) to hold their heads in place so they could work together.  It was a wooden bar or frame that joined them so they could share the heavy load.  But if they fought the yoke, pain and difficulty would result.

How many times do you add extra burden upon yourself for the wrong reasons?

• Are  you trying to look like the perfect wife, mother, daughter or student so you will feel good about yourself?
• Are you looking for some acknowledgement for all your good deeds and work?
• Do you become jealous when others receive accolades for who they are and what they’re doing when nobody seems to notice you?
• Or maybe you’ve become too attached to this world and you’re focusing on fitting in where …you really don’t belong?

Jesus has a perfect yoke and it’s different for each one of us.  But we must stop, listen and then obey Him.  He will adjust our yoke perfectly …according to His purpose for our lives.

Now, doesn’t that sound good?  But we need to accept His invitation.  And that involves going at His pace, in His timing and His way.

I struggle with this because my flesh wants to do things my own way.  But in my heart, I know that God loves me and He has a plan and purpose for my life.  He created me with unique gifts and abilities.  So mine will be different from yours.

I don’t know about you but I don’t want to miss out on what God has for me in this season of my life.  I don’t want to be too busy doing my own thing that seems to be good and …miss out on His best.

How about you?

Are you so busy doing good things for God or your family or yourself but find …you’re so weary?

Is it possible that for this season in your life, God’s best might be teaching your children and forget about focusing on that charity event?  Are you involved in so many good church activities but neglecting to spend time with your husband?

I want to challenge you to take this Matthew passage seriously.  Come before the Lord in prayer and accept His yoke.

And then look forward to finding out His best for you in this season of your life.

Blessings,

Debbie

Heart Choices

“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” 11 Corinthians 11:3:4

Paul is speaking to the Corinthian church warning them of false beliefs. Beliefs that look good on the outside but are actually offering up a false Jesus. During this time there were false prophets preaching that if you became a Christian then you will be guaranteed good health and wealthy.

Matthew 24:11 says, “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.”

Sometimes we take for grated how cunning the serpent can be. What would be the best way to bring down the church? I suggest it would be to attack it from within. If you attack the church from the outside we can be a mighty force to reckon with, but if false beliefs and a “false Jesus” begin to make their way into our belief system then Satan can divide and conquer.

There is a dangerous movement that says we can change our realities based on our faith words. If we only speak positive words, then we can change the reality of cancer, obesity, etc.. This movement says we can change our future with our words. People who teach this are shepherds presenting a false Jesus.

Some false religions are easy to spot, but others are very close to God’s word that if you are not daily studying God’s word, you could easily believe what they are saying. In reality, what they are presenting is a false Jesus. Unfortunately many born again believers have fallen prey to the movement that your faith words can bring about reality. Preachers that teach this false movement commonly take scripture out of context.

Many of us search for God in the wrong place, our faith and prayers are designed to draw us closer to God (not to change reality). I am the first person to tell you that reading books are important, but I also know the Truth is only in the bible. Do not allow some of these very popular Christian books that are topping the New York’s Best seller list tell you how to think biblically.

Many Christians are being fed spiritually by these books and many of our biblical beliefs are giving way to modern day pop cultural beliefs. Christian books are important and we learn a lot from the authors past and present, but do not let them set your biblical foundation. Check everything you read with the scriptures in the bible and double check the context of the scripture.

I believe the time is now to fervently pray for discernment and wisdom. Ask the Lord if there is anything in your belief system that does not line up with the God in the bible. Rely on the bible’s words not the words of some of these very popular false teachers.

“Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” Acts 20:30-31

Heavenly Father, I pray that we are not swayed by what looks and sounds good to our ears, that we rely only on your truth. I ask that the Holy Spirit guide us and convict us of any false beliefs we may have. You have warned us that false teachers will arise and lead many well meaning Christians astray. I pray for each person who will read this devotional and for myself, that you will protect us from false beliefs and help us to only build our foundation on The Rock. The rock being Jesus Christ of the bible. Amen.

God’s Girl,

Lori