God's Fingerprints

So often, I ask God for the ability to clearly see Him at work in my life. I want to clearly see Him personally communicating with me. I want to feel like He is a personal God – not just KNOW that He is a personal God.

I’ve seen how easy it is to “forget” His goodness in the land of blessings. I’ve felt how easy it is to feel distant from Him, when I am not intentionally seeking Him out.

I hate that void. That sense of quiet – with no word or indication from Him.

So I choose to rehearse in my mind and heart, how He has shown me He exists.

When I start to have doubts, I remind myself of how He has appeared to me in the form of leaving His fingerprints (and love for me) all over a situation. I tell Him ‘thank you’, for things He’s done for me, years ago! Because I don’t want to forget. I don’t want to forget His faithfulness, and I don’t want to forget how it feels to catch just a glimpse of who He is. I don’t want to forget how it feels to know He is near.

And trust me, HE IS NEAR.

I do forget, however, and I do doubt, unfortunately.

So, I begin again. I remind myself. I seek Him out. I get intentional. And there He is – where He’s been all along. WITH ME.

When I choose to look – I see Him.

When I choose to listen – I hear Him.

His touch, His fingerprints are all over my life. And I feel His love. I see His power. I know His glory.  In these moments, I wish I could always stay. For nothing has ever moved or touched me deeper.

Something To Ponder

“But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart….” Luke 2:19

When I read my Bible or when I sit in church service and hear God speaking personally to my heart…. I’ve noticed something. I’ve noticed how easy it is to leave that moment in time and continue on with my day – my life. It’s like, “Wow, that was good – now it’s time to get on with my agenda!”

But when I take the time to truly let something God is saying to me, soak into my heart and soul – those are the times where I truly grow. 

The key is in taking the time to ponder over what has been revealed to us. Whether it’s a Bible verse that is relevant, a Bible Study lesson that strikes a chord, or a sermon that is conveniently aimed at what we are feeling or experiencing; we need to take the time to ponder those lessons and think about why it is that God wants to share them with us.

If I listen, but don’t absorb – I don’t gain much. 

If I ponder, absorb, and let God’s messages to me permeate my life – I gain a lot.

It doesn’t matter how many Bible Studies we go to or how often we attend church. It doesn’t matter how many verses we know if they don’t go from our head to our heart and we have the spirit to apply them.  Going through actions isn’t enough. We need to ponder and invest our hearts and minds into truly hearing what God wants to tell us.

I have been guilty of going through the motions so many times. Putting in the time, getting the job done and then moving on to what I really want to do without truly absorbing. The times I have pondered on something, are the times that I’ve really seen God work in my heart and life. He’s moved me. 

I want God to work in my life. I want Him to use me. Move me. Thrill me. Speak to me. In order for that to happen, I need to take a little extra time for Him. To ponder what He’s telling me so that I won’t miss something really big. His Words really are treasures. Just waiting to shine.

When You Think Your Prayer Request Is Silly

I don’t know about you - but there have been times in life where home and family details really weigh on my mind. Whether it’s the fact that my dishwasher isn’t working and I’ve had to wash dishes by hand for several weeks, or the fact that birds are attacking my house and trying to build nests – it doesn’t matter. They are concerning.

I can go to Bible Study, Small Group, or even in a church setting and feel weary. I can be in the frame of mind where I just am asking God to release me from that inconvenience, burden, or financial hardship. 

Then I hear someone else’s prayer request.

Cancer. The news isn’t good.

Car accident.

The loss of a house. Or a child.

Suddenly, you can feel so small. So silly. You (like me) can think, “How could I let something like a dishwasher weigh so heavily on my day?”

It’s good to have things put in priority. It’s good for us to realign our focus and see that sometimes we let ‘small’ become ‘too big’ in our lives. It reminds us to be thankful for so much that we would otherwise take for granted.

On the other hand, I believe that God still cares about that dishwasher, those birds, and those long hours at work. I believe He hears our hearts and He WANTS us to come to Him with these concerns. Yes, even these seemingly small daily details.

Just because we may not be dealing with a cancer diagnosis doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care about what may be worrying us. He loves us. He cares about us and He cares about helping us. With ALL things. All burdens. All inconveniences.

I have seen God come through and lavish His love on me as well as others, by handling those seemingly minor details. I’ve seen Him bless – with weather, with a fridge, or with time needed simply to sleep and get rest.

God wants us to come to Him with all of our cares and concerns. We must never think we are silly to ask Him to provide! We must never be afraid that He will laugh at us.

For He loves us. Greatly.

So ask away. Ask God to help your bug bites to heal quickly. Ask Him to help you get that heater fixed. Ask Him.

He longs to provide for us. To delight us. To love us.

It's Not a Fair Fight

We know there is good and evil in this world. It is so evident. We can see it clearly all around us.

We know there is BAD. And there is GOOD.

Yet sometimes I think we get a little lost and confused in our spiritual battles. I think we think it’s a fair fight. An equal fight.

But it’s not.

God is ruler over ALL. He rules over Satan. He rules over the demons. He rules over earth.

Satan is not equal to God. Not in power. Not in glory. Not in might.

Yes, he has a lot of influence. He’s cunning. He watches us and knows just where to hit us and when. But anything he does – is under God’s authority. God allows it.

Why?

I wish that bad things didn’t happen to me. I wish they didn’t happen to those I love. But they happen not because God caused them to happen. He didn’t. He might have allowed them to happen for reasons unknown to us, but He didn’t cause them.

Sometimes it’s my own prideful and sinful choices that end up causing bad circumstances. So it’s a natural effect of choices I, myself, made.

Other times, maybe God is allowing me to be sifted and molded. He sees what satan is doing in my life and chooses not to intervene, because I need some heart work done.

And other times, maybe my pain is for the greater good. To bring more to follow Him.

I just don’t always know.

But I do know that I often give satan more power than he deserves. And he loves that – for it allows him more freedom in my life.

So I am reminding myself today… and I am reminding you. It is not a fair fight. Satan is not equal to God.

Not even close.

Love Is The Greatest Of Them All

“Love keeps no record of wrongs.”  God drew my attention to that verse the other day in 1 Corinthians 13.  This part of the “LOVE” chapter had never quite struck me as it did this time.

A very familiar verse to most of us.

“Love keeps no record of wrongs.”

I think it’s one of those things that we are so familiar with, that we gloss over it in our minds. But the words are very important. They are very true.

I think of all of the things that my children have done wrong and how easily I have forgiven them. It comes naturally to me, because of my great love for them. I know they will mess up. I know they will get it wrong. They are growing up and learning. It’s easy for me to forget about those moments. It’s tougher, however, to forget about being wronged by someone else. To forget – and to – forgive. Even if that person is a friend or relative. It’s tougher because we probably have to work harder at making the choice to love.

I think about all of the grievances that I’ve kept a mental note of in my head. How it’s easy to put mental “debits”  in my head next to a person’s name because of mistakes or things they’ve done that have hurt or annoyed me. And yet love keeps no record of wrongs.

So who are we to love? Well…God says we are to even love our enemy.

I’ve been convicted about all the mental “recordings” I’ve kept of the wrongs done to me. Wrongs that maybe weren’t even intentional by another person. They were simply being human. And being human means you will let someone else down. You will anger them at times. You will disappoint them, hurt them, say something you regret. We all do it. We are human.

I would want someone to erase the mental checks they have next to my name. I would want someone else to make the choice to love me and to forget about the wrongs I’ve done them. Oh, how I’d want that! So I need to find it in my heart to do the same for them. I need to erase the record I have of the wrongs they’ve done to me, too.

It’s a tall order. It’s a tough job. No one said it would be easy or fun.

I guess that’s why love is the greatest of them all.

*Published at DevotionalChristian.com - March 2011

I'm Looking The Other Way

My spiritual life gets “blah” sometimes. Let’s be honest – it doesn’t always feel “on fire” or full of miracles. Sometimes it’s ordinary.

It can be very easy to ignore a speaker when He tells a Bible story that you’ve heard already a hundred times. It can be too easy to think you know it all already and that there are no new truths to uncover from God’s Word.

It can be common to go about life and think of God as an afterthought. We are so quick to grab onto Him when we think we’re ill, hurting, or in a desperate state.  But when we go about our days on a normal scale, we fail to glance His way.

Life can be good. And when it is, we can too easily find ourselves looking away. Away from God, away from His Word, and away from His heart.

I don’t often “feel” God, because I forget to SEEK God. I don’t experience the supernatural, amazing, and miraculous, because I don’t spend time reading what He wants me to hear in the Bible, praying, and seeking out His heart.

I’m looking the other way.

I can look at anything. I can look at my amazing life, the people who surround me, an ambition I’m striving towards, beauty and image, or on the other end of the spectrum; I can spend time in woeful self-pity. Either way, my head is turned directly away from Him.

It’s no wonder I can’t feel Him.

I don’t want to look the other way. I don’t want to get distracted or too busy. I don’t want God to be an afterthought in my heart only when I’m in urgent need of His help and His hand on my life.

I want to be aware of Him, always. I want to see Him and feel Him.

I want to look His way and see Him looking back…..at mine.

We're Not Living It

I get so frustrated. I believe strongly in the Lord, Jesus Christ. I believe in salvation. I believe a lot of things.

I love hearing about how people accept Jesus into their hearts. I’ll hear numbers after church camps, mission trips, or special events. “So” many people accepted Christ into their hearts.

But then I get concerned about the follow-up. Are they being discipled? Mentored? Is someone walking with them as they adjust to a new faith and belief system? Or are they left to fend for themselves? Are they floundering?

Belief is one thing. A faith-walk is all together another.

It seems to me that God did quite a bit of talking in the Bible about how we should live. And I get soooo frustrated when I see us turn our heads away from that. We ignore what God has laid out for us to do.

Christians swear. God specifically spoke to us about how we should use our mouths.

Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Christians drink, smoke, and do things to their bodies. God specifically talked about “causing a brother to stumble” and about how our bodies are “temples of the holy spirit.”

1 John 2:10
Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

Romans 14:20
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.


Matthew 18:7
Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!

1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

Christians are sexually impure before marriage. God specifically spoke on purity for marriage. He actually, also spoke about purity with our eyes, hearts, and minds!

Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Christians gossip. Again – the whole “how we use our mouth” thing.

Christians dress immodestly. God spoke on modesty; which is a form of purity in my opinion and also a part of using our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Christians are lukewarm. Not choosing one side over the other but walking the line. Going to church on Sundays but living life with the rest of the world Monday through Saturday. God specifically said that if we are lukewarm he would spit us out of his mouth.

Revelation 3:16
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Christians have idols. We do. We worship our career, our image, our “things”  - our dreams and wishes. God specifically told us to lay everything down and worship none other but Him.

Luke 4:8
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’ ”

Christians have a hard time forgiving. God told us to forgive.

Matthew 18:21-23

New International Version (NIV)

 21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

I don’t know how it can get any clearer than that. And I get so frustrated when I see us as believers having this beautiful gift and we are not using it to its fullest potential.  It is no wonder that the world calls us hypocrites and God does not answer our prayers!

We have issues.

We are failing to make a choice. We say we believe. We say we love. But we aren’t choosing the One that we love. Not really. We give half to Him and half to the world. Never fully engaging one or the other.

What kind of a life is that? Always feeling kind of guilty but never wanting to fully depart from our faith because of our fear of God’s wrath and discipline. (Which are good things to fear!)

I say, “Choose you this day whom you will believe.” CHOOSE! Choose wisely.

No more compromise.

It's the LIVING for Christ That is The Tough Part

It’s easy to get saved. It’s easy to go to church, sing praise and worship songs and raise our hands to the Lord. It’s easy to pray. It’s even easy to learn what the Bible says.

Living it out is another story.

Living for Christ means obeying your parents. And a lot of teens are hiding things from their parents. It’s tough to be obedient and honest when you’d much rather be doing what everybody else is doing. And yet, that is truly LIVING FOR CHRIST.

Living for Christ means honoring Him with your body. And yet so many women (and men too, now) aren’t dressing to honor Him. Cleavage is showing even during church services, pictures are taken and shown to flaunt a six pack ab, and short shorts are worn. None is sinful in and of itself – but is it honoring to God? Do we stand out from the rest of the world as He asked us to, or are we simply blending in? Yes, honoring God with our bodies is truly LIVING for Him.

It’s easy to pick up that ten dollar bill you saw the man in front of you drop. Or to fudge on your taxes a little bit. Charge things on your credit card all of the time when you can’t really afford them. Money and material items are indeed a weakness. We see what others have and we want it too.  Importance seems to be tied to “things” and brands these days. But truly LIVING FOR CHRIST means being honest when we aren’t charged for an item on our receipt and it means trusting God to take care of us financially.

Lying. “Forgetting” to pay someone back or return something, taking advantage of a kindness, being rude or sassy, conceit, selfishness, sneakiness….these are all things we struggle with as humans. And yet to see one of them live in us and grow is to see it trample and invade the very space that God would instead like to live in and grow. For He can’t share room with dishonesty, deceit, or sin.

Yes, loving God can be easy. But living FOR Him can be another story altogether. True love and dedication for our Lord should be followed by our acts. We should want to demonstrate in how we speak, act, and look that we belong to Him. That we serve Him and not ourselves.

God isn’t a show. He’s not something or someone we can turn off and on when we feel like it. He is Holy …..and we should also strive to be Holy out of our love for Him.

Are you living it out? Can people tell you are different? Do they see something in you that is but a glimpse of HIM?

It takes effort. It takes being intentional. And it takes love. Do you have it?

Do you want it?

What are you waiting for?

Feeling Wrapped Up In His Arms

It’s so easy to feel alone.  Frustrations, stresses, and hurts in life can leave you wounded and feeling like no one understands what it’s like to be YOU.

That’s what it can feel like anyways. Satan loves to wrap us up in these feelings of loneliness.

I found a verse in the Bible that wraps me up a different way. Every time I read it, I feel warmth all over me, and a smile crosses my face. I feel God give me a spiritual hug. Every time I read it, the truth of what IS and who God is saturates my heart.

Want to hear it?

It’s Song of Solomon 2:6  It says, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.”

What a verse of love!  Such tenderness and comfort. What special attention is paid to us that we overlook! God places both His hands on us in such love.

We are not alone. We have not been left or abandoned. He cares for us with such strength! Do you feel it? Do you know it? Do you want it?

It’s there for us to grasp. We need only look for it.

Close your eyes.

Tune out all the noise surrounding you. All the chaos. Focus on the Lord. He is right there with you. Putting His left hand underneath your head so that you have someone to lean on and get strength from. Putting his right hand around you to embrace you so that you may be filled up with His love. 

He’s there. For you.

And for me.

Don’t feel alone. Don’t let Satan mess with your heart and head like that. You are not. I am not. God is with us. He’s our Father. Where else would He be but consoling and wrapping us up with His love?

When You Disagree With God

Prov. 16:9 In his (her) heart, a man (woman) plans his course; but the Lord determines his steps.

I love this verse. My sister wrote it in a notebook of mine once, years ago and it fast became a favorite of mine. In fact, in the last 10 years, I’ve adopted it as one of my “life” verses.

I have plans for my life. I have dreams, wishes, and intentions of where I want my life to go. I’ve always been a dreamer and I think that’s a good thing because so many people grow cynical in life and forget what dreams are truly about.  The only problem comes when God has different intentions than the intentions I have!

I often ask God to show me where He wants me. I want to be open and willing enough to drop things when He tells me it’s time to move on. I want to be able to change my plans if He asks me to.  Sometimes that’s really hard to do. It’s tough to say “good-bye” to some of our dreams, isn’t it?”  But God reminds me of Eve and Jonah.  Eve did her own thing instead of what God asked her to do and she sinned.  God disciplined her for it. As He did with Jonah. Jonah refused to think (or trust) that God just might know what He was doing and he fled. Look what happened to him! He got thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish until he agreed to obey the Lord.

I believe with all of my heart that God wants to bless me. And I know that when my own pride gets in the way and I disobey the Lord that there will be consequences.  I think it’s okay that I disagree with God or question what His motives are – as long as I obey Him through that doubting. But if I obey, I will see the blessing that He longs to show me.

So I may have plans for my life. I may spend a lot of time on them. Dreaming. Wishing. Orchestrating details and getting them just “so.”  But no matter how much I “plan” for my life to go a certain way – God has the ultimate say. It is He, who will determine the path and steps I take.  I can fight it – but it will do no good. 

We might as well trust the One who created the universe with the minute details of our lives. Big or small – His hands are big enough to take care of them and He won’t lead us down the wrong road. He wants to bless us. All He asks is for us to obey… even if we feel we’re being led in the complete opposite direction of the one we intended to go on.  Trust Him. He won’t let you down.

He Delights In Us

Psalm 35:27  “God delights in the well-being of His servant.” 

If you ever doubt that God cares about your well-being; simply read this verse. He does. He cares about the details of our lives and how we are doing.

I was thinking this morning about how I was struggling in a certain area of my life. How it was nearly bringing me to tears. Then, this was the verse I happened to flip to in my little notebook. What a timely reminder that God cared how I was feeling and what I was going through!

Not only did it remind me that God cared about my emotional and physical struggles but it showed me that what He does for me is never dutiful. It is a joy. A DELIGHT.

Just as I delight to give gifts to my children or to surprise them with things in their life that I know will bring great joy and blessing to them….so does my Heavenly Father like to delight in me. He delights in answering my prayers. He delights in bringing victory over a long-prayed-out spiritual battle. He delights in handling the little details of my life – and the big. That’s how much He loves me.

Whether you are struggling with illness, job frustrations, financial strains, relationship stresses, location issues or anything else – please know that God can’t wait to delight you with solving, handling, and blessing you in each one of those areas of your life. For He cares about your well-being. He knows when things are getting to be too much to bear, when you need encouragement, help, support, and love. He knows just when you need to be carried or when you need a push.

So don’t despair. Keep the faith. Keep praying. Feel His love and His knowledge of your life.  Know that in His perfect timing, He will bring resolution. And He’ll do it with delight.

Gasp! They Sinned??

Sin. It’s an ugly word. It’s often uttered in hushed tones and gossiped from ear to ear.

“Did you hear about so-and so?”

In christian circles, we often like to use “veiled” words also. We don’t spell out what happened. We politely coin words and suggest something improper happened but we like to leave dignity to the offender.

And that’s okay. Accept that even christians gossip and spread rumors. And most of us have a very strong need to know the truth. The REAL story. So what is offered up as a way to quench any uproars from people, often spurs private conversations galore.

Everyone talks about “it.”

Let me just throw this out there. We ALL sin. Just because we love the Lord and may serve in a position of leadership doesn’t mean we don’t have weaknesses or areas of temptation. In fact, if we find ourselves in these roles, Satan may go out for us with even more fervor. He likes to ruin reputations, you see. Steal joy. Damage trust. Topple thriving, growing families and ministries. It’s his specialty.

I hate sin. Just because I know we all sin at times, doesn’t mean I don’t hate it. I hate it with a passion. I’ve seen how it tears apart, breaks, and cripples people. I’ve felt the hurt and shed the tears – as have many of us.

The thing is – how do we handle sin when it is revealed to us? If we find out one among us is pregnant, struggles with pornography, had an affair, stole, killed someone – how do we deal with our brother and sister in the Lord? Do we continue to whisper about them behind their back? Do we withdraw our love from them?

Most times, from what I’ve seen, is that we act as if suddenly someone that we admired is now flawed. When in reality, they always were flawed.

We don’t see everything in someone’s life. We don’t see them on the computer. We don’t always see how they treat their wife and kids. We aren’t always with kids when they go out for the weekend.

Whether or not we love the Lord isn’t the question. It’s whether or not we can call on God to give us the strength to do the right thing in a tempting situation.

I don’t want to turn my back on someone who is willing to try and “right” their wrongs. I don’t want to stop loving someone who I KNOW, is trying to get their heart and life right. And I don’t want to condemn or criticize – but I know that’s so easy to do.

I am imperfect. We are all imperfect. And we are not immune to satan’s attacks however he chooses to aim them at us. Alcohol, drugs, sex, abuse --- they exist and they are powerful.

Grace given. That’s what God did for me. And that’s what I need to do for someone else. It may not be easy. It may take a lot of prayer to get to….but we all make mistakes.

May we hold one another up when we do….instead of tearing each other down.

What May Be Missing Is a Bit of Gentleness

I love gentleness. I am drawn to gentle people. I try to have a gentle heart.  But in a world that seems so cold and entitled….at times I long to find more gentleness.

I see and hear instruction, advice, and wisdom being passed on. But there seems to be a missing ingredient in the actual applying of so much of it. Gentleness.

When we confront someone about a sin – do we forget to do it in gentleness and love?

When we discipline our children or set boundaries, are they done in gentleness?

When someone asks us for wisdom and advice – do we come across as condemning them, or do we exhibit humility and gentleness?

Where is gentleness when we have to be patient and wait in a long line?

Where is gentleness when someone tells us their feelings are hurt?

Biblical knowledge is nothing without gentleness. For I feel gentleness was an integral part of the very nature and being of God.

How right we are in doing good, and being good, means nothing if we don’t do it with a heart of gentleness.

You see; gentleness shows the true condition of our heart. It shows whether or not we are willing to understand, forgive, and respect.

No one should be a pet owner unless they can be gentle with that pet.

No one should be a parent if they can’t be gentle as they correct, mold, and teach their child.

If people have a difference of opinion – it should be expressed with gentleness – not contempt.

Gentleness is a part of humanity. At least the humanity I was raised to know. And it’s one that I don’t want to lose.

There is no weakness in gentleness. No indifference. It’s strength, love, and humility at its finest.

Where is gentleness in your life? In your home? In your heart?

Is it a missing ingredient?

When Your Child Is Disappointed

It is SO hard for me as a mom, to sit by and watch my children get their hearts crushed. I can barely stand it.  It often seems so unfair and I don’t understand or see the purpose in their pain. Of course as their mom, I try to offer them wise advice. I try to use a Bible character or someone in a movie to use as an example for them of how they can overcome or deal with it in grace, class, and integrity.

But it still hurts.

It hurts them. And it hurts me. For when they hurt – I hurt.

I was recently battling with just such an issue. Something really unfair was happening to one of my children. And it wasn’t new. It was as if this same battle had been waged before. Just in a different dose or on a different level. I knew that I was trying to see things in fair eyes and not be close-minded just because it was happening to MY child. No. I truly felt like I was seeing things through an accurate lense.

And I didn’t understand.

It’s hard to help our children understand when we as the parent don’t understand.

Then God reminded me how Satan is out to “Steal, Kill, and Destroy.” And that that includes my children. In fact, because of how special my children are to me – that might ESPECIALLY include my children! And when I see something beautiful blossoming from a child’s heart that I know God can use? Extra target on their back.

It began to occur to me that this battle continued to be waged not because of something I might be overlooking, but because Satan was doing his darndest to discourage, frustrate, steal, kill, and destroy something that was important to my child. Not only that, he wanted to destroy the character my child had developed and turn it into bitterness.

That made it a whole new ballgame for me.

Sometimes I can simply be mad at people.  And sometimes I can realize it’s not people at all. They are simply instruments. And it’s Satan whom I should direct my energy at. I should arm up for battle on behalf of the child whom God entrusted to me.

That’s where I stand right now. Battle ready.

Tears are still in my heart and throat. I still hurt for what my child  has gone through – unfairly. But life is unfair. And even though my child may end up bearing some scars, I’m going to see to it that my prayers and my faith shield her from becoming a victim that cannot recover or that is overcome all together.

Satan will not have my children. God will protect, shield, and fight for them…because I’ve asked him to.

“They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord. “  Jeremiah 1:19

We Have a Duty To Speak Up

I am a Christian. A believer. I have a great faith in God Almighty.

I was raised in the church and I did a lot of observing over the years as I grew up. I witnessed many situations, controversies, and heartaches occur in God’s people. And I watched how they handled it.

For the most part, I have been blessed to have been around some very authentic and genuine believers. People with a strong faith in God. They have been grounded and focused on what God’s Word says.

Time and time again, I’ve watched people handle challenges and hurdles with grace, integrity, honesty, and mercy.

I’ve seen people forgive. 

I’ve watched hearts heal.

And I’ve also seen many, many people bite their tongues. Swallow their hurt. Ignore an offense (publicly) but privately weep. I’ve seen believers try to take the “high road,” when in reality, they should have spoken up.

I believe we are God’s warriors. We are His representatives. And I believe that He wants us to speak up on His behalf. He wants us to lovingly confront a brother or sister in the Lord when they are walking in sin. He wants us to speak up for an unborn child who can’t speak for themselves. He wants us to forgive – yes. But He wants people’s lives to be changed. To grow. And that can’t happen if we don’t disciple one another and walk with each other.

Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.  Col. 4:6

I hate confrontation just as much as the next person. But if I love someone, I should be willing to do the hard thing  - the tough thing. I can’t always be a compliant friend. I can’t always resolve to not get involved. Injustice is injustice. And we should stand against it.

We have a right and a responsibility to fight for the very morals and values we say we believe in. Not in an abrasive way. Not in a rude way. Not in a legalistic or snobby way. But with a heart of love, grace, and gentleness. 

As our God would.

Yes, sometimes we have a duty to speak up. To not sit by idly. To not turn our heads. But to speak up. To fight for what is right. To stand for what is good.

If I Claim To Love The Lord....

What does it mean to live as Jesus did? What does it mean to love as He’d have us love?

If I claim to love the Lord, He is the sole example of the kind of person I am to be.

I can look back on the legacy He left for me and I can observe how He was. Who He was. Knowing, that is what I should also strive for.

And just what is that? Well, this is what I’ve observed from the life of Jesus while He walked on earth.

*He never spoke in anger.

*He loved all people. Of all types. Ugly. Beautiful. Rich. Poor. The outward appearance or social status didn’t matter at all to him. He was seen in the company of a corrupt tax collector, as well as a faithful follower.

*He had integrity. Honesty. God never lied.

*He was warm, compassionate, kind, GENTLE.

*He gave respect and earned respect.

*He didn’t stay at home. He went out into his neighborhood. His town. He travelled. All to tell people about the Lord.

*He never got drunk. He didn’t smoke. Or swear. In fact, He never partook in anything that was slightly controversial.

*He was loyal.

*He prayed. A Lot.

*He went to church. But He also studied God’s Word daily. He KNEW what God’s Word said so that when others tried to trip Him up or when Satan tried to use the Bible against Him, He knew when it was taken out of context.

*He didn’t pretend to be better than others. He was humble.

*He didn’t “water down” God’s Word. He spoke it like it was. And if others chose not to believe Him, He didn’t continue to try to please them. He just “was.” What He offered, He never forced anyone to accept or water it down for them. He let them make the choice.

*He took a day off. He rested. He knew when it was time to recharge His batteries.

*He was generous. Never selfish.

*He forgave easily. Quickly.

*He was never in a hurry. Never rushed anything.

*People never felt criticized by Him or condemned because of their sinful choices. No – merely loved.

*He was gracious and merciful.

There are so many more examples I could give of the kind of person Jesus was.

1 John 2:6 tells us, “Whoever claims to live in him, must live as Jesus did.”

That’s a tall order. But if we claim to live in Christ, it’s an order we need to try and fill.

Are you living as He did? Are you even trying?

I know you could argue that Jesus was perfect. And He was. But that perfection is still something that we can aspire to. We still aspire to have a perfectly beautiful, clean, and organized house and the fact that it will get messed up again doesn’t stop us. So why should striving to be perfect like Jesus, stop us? It’s not that hard to be generous. Not that hard to be honest. We can all study God’s Word daily. We can rest. Keep ourselves from being drunk.

It’s a choice.

I don’t know about you, but I claim to live in Christ. And I want to aspire to be like Him. I may need to work on some areas more than others – but I’m trying.

For I want to please Him. I want to please myself so that I have less to regret in life and more to be joyful about.

I want to – because He gave me the desire. And because I love Him so dearly. That’s what you do when you love someone. You aim to please them.

How about you?