Incorruptible!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

Sometimes in the evening as my family is gathered around the television, flipping through the channels, we will come across the popular reality show that highlights the housewives of a certain city. We do not need to watch the program more than five minutes before we see the spontaneous negative work of human nature in action. The Bible calls it the acts of the flesh. Galatians 5:19 describes it this way, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”

Unfortunately, as human beings, those "acts" act like magnets to many as it is a form of "entertainment".

I love to point out to my daughters that no matter how much time and money we spend on trying to look youthful and beautiful on the outside, everything is lost when we are controlled by our own sinful human nature and allow it to take its ugly course! 

True beauty begins on the inside. Galatians 5:22 calls the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life, the fruit of the Spirit.

“The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ’s control-we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without His help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to His (John 15:4-5). We must know Him, love Him, remember Him, and imitate Him.” Commentary

I love having three daughters. I love celebrating our femininity. We love shopping together and trying new beauty products but there is a beauty that only Christ gives that no cosmetic can compare to.

Which of these qualities do you want the Spirit of the Living God to produce in you?

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23

Not only will God produce in us the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but He will also give us an incorruptible beauty that is of great worth in God's sight and all the beauty products in the world will not be able to duplicate it!

“....let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." 1 Peter 3:4

Rock and Roll

Traction moves things forward. Traction is not something we think about every day or even talk about - but it is a vital part of every productive life. Let me explain it this way: Picture a car stuck in the mud. No matter how much pressure you put on the accelerator, the wheels, without traction, will simply spin and the car will go nowhere. 

Sometimes in life, we can feel like that spinning wheel, stuck in the mud, and the more we press on the accelerator, the more we dig ourselves deeper into the same spot.

Maybe you are in a job that feels like no matter what you do, you are not moving ahead.

Maybe you are a mother of young children and it seems like no matter how many sunrises you experience, the mundane tasks are never completed or appreciated.

Maybe you thought by now you would have been further in life - but find yourself in the same spot.

Be encouraged! Turn to God and be reminded of His promises! 

"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a Rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He has put a new song in my mouth-praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the LORD." Psalm 40:2-3

"David writes this Psalm during a period of terrible stress; he feels as if he is stuck in a pit or swamp. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot get out. But David turns his frustration over to the Lord and trusts in His strength." commentary

The Bible says that David waited patiently for the LORD and turned to God in prayer. As David trusts in the Lord's strength and not his own, the Lord lifts him up and out of the mud and places His feet on a Rock and that is when traction begins! David not only begins to move forward but He moves forward singing and praising His God for all to hear!

Are you frustrated? Do you feel like you are spinning your wheels? Turn your frustrations over to the Lord - the Rock of our salvation - He will give you a firm place to stand - He will put a new song in your mouth and when He does...get ready to rock and roll!

"Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation." Psalm 95:1

The Bond Of Perfection!

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” Colossians 3:12-14

This morning I read the above scripture and I was so blessed that I wanted you to be blessed too!  I love that it tells us to put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness and longsuffering. As I was reading this scripture from the Bible this morning, a devotion that I had read in a book last week came to mind.  A dear and talented friend, who actually was the composer of the book and who also authored many of the devotions in the book, gave the book to me as a gift. The book is entitled, Joy for the Journey and the devotion that came to mind is below:

FIGHT FOR LOVE

     “Throughout history, there have been heroes and warriors of every nation and creed, but no one fought harder for love-and won- than Jesus Christ.

     Even when it became deadly for Him to love rebellious, self-centered, and hateful people, Jesus never quit. He fought, died, and rose again-because of love. But it wasn’t just any love. It was a higher love-an absurd, illogical, crazy love not common to this world.

     It’s that kind of love we’re going for. Bring that love to mind when you are tempted to give up on a difficult person, relationship, job, church, or calling.

     Pursue love. Make love a habit. Fight to see it rise again.”

Wow! No one fought harder for love and won than Jesus Christ! Are you tempted to give up today? Don’t! In His Name pursue love and fight to see it rise again!

God's Maintenance Program

“If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.” Ecclesiastes 10:10

“Trying to do anything without the necessary skills or tools is like chopping wood with a dull ax. If your tool is dull, you should sharpen it to do a better job. Similarly, if you lack skills you should sharpen them through training and practice. In each situation, sharpening the ax means recognizing where a problem exists, acquiring or honing the skills to do the job better, and then going out and doing it. Find the areas of your life where your “ax” is dull, and sharpen your skills so you can be more effective for God’s work.” Commentary

God’s Word provides us guidelines for how we can live wiser.

Just as the commentary said above, sharpening your "ax" can mean recognizing where a problem exists and then going to do it! But sometimes sharpening our “ax” is shutting down.

Companies that manufacture any product, schedule intentional shut down times. They do this as part of their quality control program to make sure that the products they are producing are of the highest quality and to reduce waste.

Every night when the machines are shut down, a new crew comes in and services/maintains the machines that produces hundreds and thousands of products a day. Companies know that if they neglect their machines, not only will they run the risk of recalled products, but they run the risk of forced shut downs that can result in losing thousands of dollars.

God loves us so much that He also scheduled shut down times for us - one of them is at night – it is called sleep/rest :). But rest is more than sleep. Rest is finding the times during the day to rejuvenate our mind and our body so that we can be all that God has designed us to be - body, soul and heart! Having a hopeful outlook is God's will for us!

Are you making sure that your body is serviced and maintained? Or do you attempt to do your work with a discouraged heart, a tired body and a negative outlook?

When Jesus’s disciples gathered around Jesus and reported back to Him all they had done and taught, many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat. Listen to what Jesus said to His disciples, “Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

Jesus recognized that to do His work effectively, they needed periodic rest and renewal – Jesus was not planning for their retirement – the great work for His disciples had just begun!

Sometimes because of all we have to do, we feel we need permission to rest. God has already given it to us! Let’s take it and rest with it for God’s plans for us are to turn this world upside down in His Name and for His glory!

JESUS, thank you for being our Sabbath rest. Thank you for reminding us of the importance of taking care of the bodies that You have given us. May we be gifted with the knowledge of skillful living in every area of our life. We desire to be ready and prepared for every good work You have planned for us!

HIS Beautiful Reminder To Us

As my husband and I were driving through a long stretch of desert highway, on our way to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I decided to open up my Bible and begin reading where I had previously left off. I would like to share with you the scriptures I read that are a beautiful ode to love. I was happy to see that God went before us and "happened" to place these scriptures for me to read at this special time of our marriage.

I could not have planned or picked a better time to read these beautiful words. But God, who is the Author of marriage, planned that at my next scripture reading time - these words would be included in my devotions as a beautiful reminder:

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"Love suffers for a long time. Our modern "throw away" society encourages us to get rid of people in our lives who are difficult to get along with, whether they are friends, family, or acquaintances. Yet this attitude runs in complete contrast to the love described by Paul. True love puts up with people who would be easier to give up on.

Love does not envy. If our love is directed towards others, we will rejoice in the blessings they receive rather than desiring those blessings for ourselves. Fundamentally, selfless love that God calls us to does not involve pride or glory. It does not parade itself and is not puffed up. In fact, true love does not seek its own. If we truly love others, we will set aside our own plans, agendas, and entitlements for the good of the other.

Love is not provoked. That is, love is not easily angered or over-sensitive. When we truly love others we are careful not to be touchy concerning other people's words or actions towards us. Love never gives up, knowing that God can change lives for the better.

Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. The godly love described in this chapter has nothing to do with evil, but everything to do with what is right and true. It believes all things and hopes all things. This does not mean that love is blind and naive. When we love, we may recognize failures and problems in people, but we do not lose faith in the possibilities of what people might become. Love never gives up, knowing God can change lives for the better.

Finally, love endures all things. Love accepts any hardship or rejections, and continues unabated to build up and encourage. The love described by Paul in this "love chapter" means determining what is best for another person and then doing it. This is the kind of love that God shows us." Commentary

FATHER, Thank you for reminding us that this kind of love is a love based on deliberate choice of the one who loves rather than the worthiness of the one who is loved. It is only through the power of your Holy Spirit that we can exhibit this kind of love. Thank you that you are willing to give us all the grace, mercy and power to love like You!

His PASSION Towards Us!

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19

The other day as I was driving to an appointment, I heard a song on the radio. As the artist began singing the song, the beauty of the words and the melody of the song captivated my heart.

As soon as I returned home, I did some research on  the song. I wanted to know more about the heart of the writer. I knew that no one could write a song with so much heartfelt emotion without having had experienced the touch of God.

I discovered that the singer and songwriter was named Terry Clark and here is a little bit of his testimony and his experience of being touched by an all knowing and all loving God.

During his time in the military while serving in Northern Thailand near the border of Cambodia, he went through some real traumatic changes that he described as “a breaking inside”. The traumatic things that he saw and experienced caused him to “check out”. 

He explained that he was totally humiliated and embarrassed that he was a human being. The things that he saw humans do and all that he himself participated in caused him to “check out as a human”. 

Soon after his decision to “check out” he said that the "authorities" came and took him away to a hospital and checked him into the mental ward.  After they tested him the doctor’s diagnoses for him was “no hope”. They concluded that he saw death too close and cared for bodies that were too close to him. The doctor’s further concluded that all that he saw and all that he experienced, caused the traumatic turn he made in his thinking and that we would never recover.

Here is the part that shows the love of his Savior and my Savior and your Savior – Jesus Christ. Terry Clark said that Jesus spoke the following words to his heart after the doctors said that he would never recover. I have quoted them below:

“Terry, I know how you feel. I have seen every thing human beings have ever done. But I want you to understand the difference of our response of that. You’ve decided not to be a human being and I decided to become one.”

After hearing Jesus speak to him  - Terry said this:

“And then he took my emptied out shell and flooded me - drowned me in how he felt towards human beings. It crushed me - it drowned me and I figured it was probably just a glimpse of how He felt toward human beings  - but it was enough to almost kill me - just from His passion towards us as His prize creation  - His family - His children.”

Terry went on to say this, “But needless to say - that day - the doctors issued a new diagnoses and where it said no hope – it said – recovering satisfactory.”

One touch from God, one word from Him can take a hopeless situation and transform our life's – from “no hope” to “all hope”!

Jesus’ love for us is so immense that if He let us experience it in full vent, it would overwhelm us – it would crush us – it would kill us.

This Easter, celebrate His great, great love for you! 

Celebrate the hope He offers all who know Him and follow Him! 

Celebrate that you are His prize possession! 

Celebrate that He, “Disarmed the powers and AUTHORITIES, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Colossians 2:15

In Terry's case, the physical authorities took him away to the mental ward. However, Jesus Christ disarmed ALL powers and "authorities", both physical and spiritual, triumphing over them by the CROSS!

Below, I have attached the Terry Clark song that captivated my heart, "I Am Yours". Enjoy!! 

Crooked Paths!

"The Lord will fulfill HIS purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever." Psalm 138:8

Yesterday evening, my daughter asked us to join her at the “Dream Event” at Mariner’s Church. It was an event to encourage people of all ages and walks of life to pursue God’s purpose for their life. 

The speaker caught my attention when he said, “Nothing happens in straight lines.” Boy did that resonate with me and I am sure that it resonates with some of you as well! It is true that a straight line will get you there quicker, but the road that has the most twists and turns may be the road that we need to journey, in order to prepare us for our destiny.

The speaker talked about the life of Moses. As many of you know, God had a purpose for Moses’ life. He was going to be the one used by God to deliver the people of Israel out of slavery from Egypt.  But before that was to happen, God was going to take his life on a journey that would have some serious twists and turns!

From the moment Moses was born, to the end of his life, his journey to his life purpose was definitely not a straight line!

Moses was born to Amram (the father) who was a Levite and Jochebed (the mother) who was also a Levite. Moses had an older brother, Aaron and an older sister, Miriam. (Numbers 26:59). Moses was born to a family who were enslaved in Egypt.

About the time Moses was born, Pharaoh made a decree that all male Hebrew children were to be killed (Exodus 1), but his mother was able to hide Moses. When she could hide him no longer, his mother made a floating basket, which could hold Moses, and asking God to protect him, she placed him in the Nile River.   

While the daughter of Pharaoh was bathing at the river, she found the basket with Moses in it. Pharaoh’s daughter heard him crying and she felt compassion for him and realized it was one of the Hebrew babies. 

Miriam, Moses sister, approached Pharaoh's daughter and asked her if she would like to have one of the Hebrew women nurse the child for her. Pharaoh’s daughter said, “Yes, go.” Miriam went and got Jochebed! Pharaoh’s daughter asked Jochebed if she could nurse the child until the baby grew older.  When Moses grew older, Jochebed took him to Pharaoh’s daughter who then adopted Moses as her son. God used Jochebed’s courageous act of saving and hiding her baby to begin his plan to rescue his people from Egypt!

The first 40 years of Moses's life were spent in Egypt learning from Pharaoh the skills needed to run Egypt. One day when he saw one of his own people, an Israelite, being beaten, he took things into his own hands and killed an Egyptian. Because of this impulsive act he had to flee in fear for his life from Egypt and from Pharaoh to live in Midian.

Moses’ life took a significant turn from the powerful position in Egypt to a very lowly position as a shepherd. Moses spent the next 40 years working as a shepherd in the desert for Jethro in Midian.

When Moses was 80 years old God spoke to him and told him to return to Egypt as God was going to use Moses to free the Israelites from slavery!

In each of Moses’ life changing events, God had a purpose for developing Moses’ character for what God had ultimately planned for his life.

The first 40 years of his life the Bible says that, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” (Acts 7:22) He would have been schooled and prepared to one day become the ruler of Egypt. This gave him many skills that God would use later in his life to lead His people out of Egypt.

In the desert as a shepherd, God taught Moses patience and trust as well as provided him the tools that he would use to deliver his people. Moses was no longer being schooled by the wisdom of Egypt but instead he was being schooled by the wisdom of God!

“What a contrast between Moses’ life as an Egyptian prince and his life as a Midianite shepherd! As a prince he had everything done for him; he was the famous son of an Egyptian princess. As a shepherd he had to do everything for himself; he was holding the very job he had been taught to despise (Genesis 43:32; 46:32-34), and he lived as an unknown foreigner. What a humbling experience this must have been for Moses! But God was preparing him for leadership. Living the life of a shepherd and nomad, Moses learned about the ways of the people he would be leading and also about life in the desert. Perhaps Moses couldn’t appreciate this lesson, but God was getting him ready to free Israel from Pharaoh’s grasp.” Commentary

When Moses was 80 years old, God’s purpose for his life had come full circle and he was now ready to begin the steps to realize God’s purpose for his life! 

Where are you in your life story? What purpose and dream has God placed in your heart? Don’t be discouraged if you feel your life is at a dead end or in a dry, dry desert with what appears to be no resources or options.  It is at these times, when we feel we are out of options, that God does his best work! 

Many times the men and women who have made the biggest difference in this world, have experienced significant set backs and disappointments only to find out later that it was God’s ordained twists and turns to prepare them for their life purpose!

Be confident of this: The Lord will fulfill His purpose for you!