How to Become an Addict

At church Sunday, we continued with our "5 Easy Steps to Wreck Your Life" series, and addressed the issue of addiction.

Nobody wakes up one day and decides to become an addict. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says that "everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial." Everything is permissible, but we should not be mastered (controlled, enslaved). We know what is right/wrong, but under that power of addiction, we choose wrong. We become enslaved by the desire of having the next fix; controlled by an outside force.

What has mastered you?
Alcohol? Drugs? Caffeine? Smoking? Work? Exercise?

Addiction is not the problem; it's the symptom of an issue, which basically is idolatry. It's filling your life with a functional savior. We say to our addiction, "save me and provide for me" and it controls us to where we can't do life without it. You can't even see straight in the grips of addiction. We seek to find what only God can provide in something besides God Himself. God wants to provide peace, but we look for it elsewhere. We want to be accepted by others, but God wants to meet that need.

5 Easy Steps to Become an Addict:

1. Don't admit you have a problem.
Tell yourself it's under control and you can quit anytime.
Jer. 3:13

2. Gratify all of your fleshly desires.
You are born again to live by the Spirit, but there is a war between the Spirit and the flesh.
Gal. 5:16-18

3. Rationalize your behavior and make excuses.
Do whatever makes you happy.
Luke 14:18-20

4. Keep your addiction a secret.
Sin grows best in the dark. Make sure to isolate yourself.
Prov. 28:13

5. Depend on your own power, never God's.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says we are to take captive every thought. It is a choice of who's power
to live by. We have the power to demolish strongholds, not just to overcome, but to
obliterate every idol. But, most choose to live by their own power because that comes
natural to us.

The root of the problem of addiction is that we seek to find our identity, but our only identity is in Him. We aren't our clothes, cars, jobs, clubs we belong to. We see our problems like Goliaths and we think we can't break free. We forget how big our God is. We serve a great God more powerful than anything we could ever face. What else could provide more than God? We have to stop settling for cheap imitations and the status quo. Our identity is in Him. Christ set us free, but often we walk right out of that cell and into another one. Many of us don't live in complete freedom. We must choose to live by His power and take back control of our life by letting go of it to Him!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

How to Drift from God

Today was another great Sunday at church. But, before I get to what I learned, I thought I'd post these pics of Lily before her very first dance class! She was SO excited and had a blast at class. :)

She's been waiting a long time for her turn to dance and I think she's going to love it!

Today at church, we started out remembering what happened on this day, 10 years ago. I remember being at work and hearing about it and my Mom calling. Madison was only a year old and I do remember wondering what kind of world she would have to grow up in. The main thing our Pastor said that stuck with me is when he said that none of those people who lost their lives that day expected that when they went to work, it would be their last. We have to remember how short this life is and make sure that our loved ones are prepared for eternity.

We are continuing in our series, 5 Easy Steps to Wreck Your Life, and today's lesson was on How to Drift from God. If there was ever a time you felt closer to God before in your life, He hasn't moved, but you may have. Satan wants to destroy your faith. He is the father of lies and it is his mission to steal, kill, and destroy. He plants seeds of doubt, like he did with Eve in the garden, and he continues to do it today.

Jesus tells a story in Matthew 13:19-23 about a farmer who throws his seeds out onto the land. Some grew and some died. It is that way with us. Some of us hear the truth and go away unchanged. Some of us hear and receive the truth, but it has no root. We get excited, but then slide away again. Some hear, but the worries of this life get the best of us and that makes us unfruitful. This is the one we hope for though: that we will hear, understand, and produce 100 fold what we have learned. God can make more happen than we ever dream or imagine. When we change in this way, everyone around us and generations to come will be changed as well. We have to fix our eyes on where we want to go or we will begin to drift. Hebrews 2:2 says to pay attention to what you've heard so you do not drift.

So, what 5 steps would we take to drift from God?

1. Neglect your time with God. (Psalm 63:1)
2. If you don't like your circumstances, blame God. (Prov 3:5)
3. Hang around bad influences.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says "bad company corrupts good character."
4. Give into temptation. (James 1:14-15)
Abuse grace, saying "God will forgive me."
5. Love the world more than you love God. (1 John 2:15)
Worry about your house, car, go into debt to impress others you don't like and that don't like
you. Consume every resource you can.

If all else fails, FAKE IT! Put on a fascade. "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Isaiah 29:13) Build a reputation of being a follower of Christ, but just go through the motions, fooling others. "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead." (Rev 3:1)

Some of us have drifted so far away that we don't even care anymore. These things will wreck your life as you drift from God. Revelation 2:4-5, says that we must repent and return to our first love and do the things we did when we were close to God at first. Insanity is doing the same thing, but expecting a different result. We have to go back and do what we did before we drifted away. God will produce more than we could ever imagine, if we repent and give into the holy spirit. It's not about our past or what sins we've committed. If we are open and make ourselves available, God will produce. The only way that we can prevent wrecking our lives is to completely surrender and allow Him to radically transform us; to give up and quit trying to do it on our own!

How to Commit Adultery

We began a series on Sunday called "Five Easy Steps to Wreck Your Life" and the first topic was "How to Commit Adultery".

"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14

65% of men and 55% of women will commit adultery by age 40. NO ONE PLANS ON DOING IT.....so please don't dismiss this post just because you are certain that you would never do that. We have a very real enemy who lures us because he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy our lives. So, if we are all certain that we don't want to and would never commit adultery, then how does it happen? It's so subtle. It might start with a TV show that glorifies an affair. Then we realize we aren't really satisfied in our marriage. We meet someone.....cross a line we swore we'd never cross. Step by step.......that's how it happens and it leads to where we never thought we would end up.

5 Easy Steps to Commit Adultery:

1. Neglect your marriage. Don't share things anymore. Be roommates, basically.
2. Enjoy common interests and form an emotional bond with someone else.
3. Anticipate time together with that person.
4. Flirt with that person whenever possible.
5. Make excuses and rationalize your actions.

And an extra one: Say this will never happen to me!!

Proverbs 5:8-10 basically says to do whatever it takes to avoid the sin of adultery and to reduce your risk. Matthew 5:28 even says that anyone who even looks lustfully at another has already committed the sin of adultery in his heart.

In order to avoid adultery, you must do whatever it takes to:

1. Radically reduce the risks. Keep growing in your relationship with Christ, that way you will be able to recognize the sin coming and run from it. Never be alone with the wrong people. Never talk badly about your marriage with the wrong people. Surround yourself with people who have strong marriages. Avoid inappropriate places and situations. Facebook is a good example of this.......it can be way too easy to reconnect with an old flame, then start messaging them, then make plans to get together, etc.

2. Invest passionately in your marriage. Instead of convincing yourself that the grass is greener on the other side, water your own yard! (See Proverbs 5:18-20)

3. Visualize the destruction. Visualize someone else raising your kids. Visualize how that one decision can totally destroy your life. (See Proverbs 5:3-5)

Do you know the percentage of how many affairs end up getting married? 3% Of those 3%, 75% end in divorce. .075% actually stay married. Those are shocking statistics, especially when most people in an affair will tell you that he/she is their soul mate, they're so in love, blah, blah, blah.

Why is this? Because it is not real! It's a relationship based on lies and deceit. If you are contemplating an affair, go home to what is real! Love is a choice. It is an action, a verb, a covenant. Love is not something you fall in and out of. Whether your spouse meets your needs or not, choose to love them anyways.

God's good news is that even when we are unfaithful, He is faithful! (2 Timothy 2:13) Jesus would not condemn the woman who was an adulteress. He loved her unconditionally and told her to leave her life of sin. We can all relate to this message because we often turn our backs on God to seek the things of this world. We put money, time, and possessions all above God at times. We all need redemption and forgiveness. Guard your heart and your mind. Do whatever it takes to finish well with Christ and minimize your risks. Our only hope is built around Christ and the fact that He laid down His life to save ours. That is how we are called to love our spouses.

When People Let You Down

This was a sermon from a few weeks ago at church that I thought I'd share :)

Even Christians are just as likely to let others down. Jesus continued to experience letdown from others even though He was sinless and perfect. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not." Isaiah 53:3 Even Jesus' friends bolted and His closest follower betrayed Him.

Several things can result from relational letdowns:
1. Hard Heart - we don't want to be hurt again
2. Prideful spirit
3. Justifiable Sin - there's no such thing, but we think it's okay because of what we've suffered
4. Revengeful Attitude - we enjoy when something bad happens to those who wrong us

So, how do we respond? What do we do? We ask God to help us:

1. To live with thicker skin. "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." Proverbs 19:11 What if Jesus had been ultra sensitive? He couldn't have lived God's will. We can't either when we live for the approval of others. We have to shake it off and step up. People will let you down, so stop hoping they won't. People cannot meet your needs, so stop hoping they will. Only God can meet your needs. Your identity is in Him, not in what others think or do. "When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly." 1 Corinthians 4:12-13

2. To love with a softer heart. Jesus said love God and love others. We are sometimes the most guarded people and though Jesus had every reason to be that way, He wasn't. When man was at his worst, Jesus was at His best. At the greatest letdown in history, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34

We need to allow God to do what only He can do. Let Him replace your hard heart. The essence of the gospel is to let God do what only He can......to transform by His grace and mercy. It's not about what we have done, but what He has done for us. Trust Him - people will let you down, but He never will!

Remaining in Christ

There are never any Sundays that I go to church and don't get something out of it, but I just can't stop thinking about yesterday's sermon. Not only was it a great message, but we also had a band there yesterday for the music and they were so AWESOME!! Morgan was fishing, so it was just the girls and I who went, and then we went out to eat afterwards at a yummy mexican restaurant. It was a great Sunday! Oh, and another neat thing that happened......one of the ladies at my church who just had a little boy not too long ago gave me a huge box full of little baby boy clothes!!

Here is what I learned at church:

Are you sometimes or often:
Unloving? Depressed? Worried? Impatient? Rude? Sinful? Harsh? Unfaithful? Self-Indulgent?

We all struggle with these sometimes. Each of these things are the exact opposite of the fruit of the spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Galatians 5:22-23

So how do we remain these things? How do we remain connected to Christ? Jesus told us how. He said, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5

Just like branches, we need to remain to our life source, Jesus. Spiritual fruit comes from remaining in Him. To remain, means to stay, abide, dwell. There are promises for those who remain in Christ:

1. You WILL bear spiritual fruit. If you want to be a better parent, spouse, friend, stay connected to Christ. We often pray for things that we would have already if we were in Him. They are automatic and already ours if we remain in Him. My pastor used a great analogy to explain this. He said it's like praying and praying that you will get a tan here in Texas. You don't need to pray for a tan.....you just need to go outside! It's the same as a believer who is disconnected from Christ who is praying for love, joy, etc. It's already yours if you remain in Him! We see this all the time with families who start out having it all......they are in Christ, serving in the church, and then over time their priorities change, they get too busy and they become disconnected, and their family begins to fall apart.

2. You will possess spiritual POWER. Jesus said, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." John 15:7 We must not confuse this with the prosperity preaching that is out there, that says "speak it and it's yours". That's not what Jesus said. We aren't to pray for selfish things. When we remain in Him, we will now have God's mind. The things He desires are now what you desire. When you ask what He wants, it will be given and you'll never ask why He won't answer your prayer.

So, how do we apply this? How do we remain in Christ? It's not about being moral. That might be a by-product, but that's religion. We aren't saved by earning it. If that was possible, then Jesus wouldn't have had to come. Here are some different ways that we remain in Christ:

1. Remain in God's word - You know as much of God's word as you want to. It's so easily accessible. Some of us spend time religiously on facebook every day. Which do we spend more time on? Is it more important to update your status than to check on God's? Take inventory. How does the way you spend your time reflect what is more important to you?

2. Remain in Christian fellowship - It is so important to be involved with other Christians. That is where real life change happens.

3. Remain consistent in prayer - Prayer should be a part of our daily attitude/routine. We should stay connected to God in prayer. It's not about the length of the prayer or the way you do it. It's about knowing that God is always there and sharing with Him.

4. Remain amazed by God's creation - Open your eyes and acknowledge the beauty He's created.

5. Remain faithful in service - Find a place and serve. Amazing things happen when you commit to serving others.

We aren't naturally inclined to do these things, so we have to remain in Christ. Jesus issued a warning to those who didn't:

"If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." John 15:6

He's not talking about salvation......it's about your life. Like a pruned branch that dies, it takes time, but it begins to weaken and die, turns brown and brittle, until there is no sign of life. We may feel dried out spiritually because we have become disconnected from Christ. Go back and do the things you did at first......remember what God has done, repent, turn to God, and remain there. When we stop producing fruit, we need to stop and take inventory and see where we've gotten off track!

I just loved this message! And I LOVE this new Leeland song! It goes along with this message too. I cannot wait until their new CD comes out! Leeland is a brilliant songwriter......I have yet to find another artist who can say better what I feel!

Our Sunday!

We had a great Sunday yesterday. I was determined to go to church and I'll admit, when my alarm went off, I was debating on whether to get up or not. I remember when I first started going to church, there was no way I was going to miss it. And now, since we've allowed ourselves to stay home so much lately, it's so much easier to do. A few days before though, Lily said, "Momma, can we pleeeease go to church on Sunday?" Isn't that the sweetest thing?

So, we got up and got ready and thank the Lord I was feeling good that morning. I am finding that the more I don't go to church, the more anxious it makes me the next time I go. And then, when we got there, I remembered we were going to do the Lord's Supper. Lately, they've been doing it where they have a table with bread and "wine" up front and you just go up there with your family. I don't know why, but that is enough to make me have a panic attack in the middle of church service. I'm not sure why. I just feel like everyone's staring at me and it makes me uncomfortable. As I was just looking over my church notes from yesterday, I saw this:

Our identity is in Him and we have to remember who He is. Our series is on remembering. We have to remember God's faithfulness in the past and that will allow us to trust Him in the present. When we remember who God is, that will direct our actions in the future. God is bigger than any problems we may face.

I was just thinking of a quote I read once that said something like, you wouldn't worry so much about what people thought of you if you knew how little they actually did. Isn't that so true? I spend so much time fearing that I'm going to somehow make a fool of myself and seriously, I doubt anyone is even paying attention to what I'm doing half the time! I need to remember that my identity is in Him, not in what other people think of me. Am I the only one who struggles with this?

Anyways, I'm just rambling!
Here is what Morgan did when we got home:

He borrowed the neighbor's kayak and went fishing. He caught 5 huge fish and was so excited! While he was doing that, the girls and I went to Kohl's to take advantage of a coupon I had and the fact that they were having that thing where you get $10 for every $50 you spend. I figured it's free money and they still need more school clothes. I ended up saving $20 with my coupon and getting $20 in free bucks and everything we bought was on sale too, so it was a great deal!

Later that day, we went to a birthday party at our new local park for one of our church friend's daughters who was turning 2. They have a splash pad, so the girls had a blast playing in that. I was getting ready to go play too because it was so hot!! But, there was a good breeze at least and it was fun visiting with friends. I got her a ladybug Happy Napper. Have y'all seen those on TV? Lily asked for one for her birthday and I didn't know they sold them in stores yet, so I ordered her one online. Then, when I was at Toys R Us the other day, they had them there! They have this catchy tune on the commercial and they used to have one that said, "We are happy, happy nappers. We'll make all your dreams come true!" And so I told the girls, "so that's what's wrong......if only we had a happy napper, maybe our house would have sold by now!" Ha!

Anyhow, we had a great weekend. Hope you all did too!

HE is Really That Good!

I just love it when I run across something that gets me excited. Sometimes, it's certain books that are released. This time, it's a sermon series that Elevation Church is doing. I always read Pastor Steven Furtick's blog and he had a great post today and mentioned that he was doing a sermon series on "Treatment," in which he looks at anxiety, depression, grief, etc. I watched part one today, on anxiety, and it was such a great sermon. You can go here to watch the videos. If you want to start from part one, just scroll down and you'll see a link to click on to watch it.

Pretty much all of us struggle with these things at one time or another. The "thorn in my side" has always been anxiety, ever since my Mom passed away. Before her death, I lived a pretty carefree life. I didn't worry about things. It's like her death made me realize that bad things happen, really bad things, and from that point on, I started to anticipate what those horrible things might be. It was as if, in my mind, if I could just learn to expect them beforehand, they wouldn't hurt so much when they did happen. But, as we all know, worrying about something is not going to make it any easier to deal with when and if it does happen.

I love what Pastor Furtick said in the closing of his sermon. I'm paraphrasing a bit, but basically he said that, Jesus doesn't say you shouldn't worry because your situation isn't really that bad. Jesus says don't worry, because your Father is really that good and you're really that valuable to Him! And if you're that valuable to Him, He's got every need in your life covered.

Amen?!!

Anyhow, I just thought I would share in case some of you might want to watch this series too. :)

Lifepoint Church, Mont Belvieu, Texas

I knew when I saw that Kelly was having "Show Us Your Life" be about our churches today, that I just had to participate! What I really want to show though, is that it isn't so much about what church you go to, but that you begin to follow the Lord. Because once you truly begin to do that, your life will change in ways that you never imagined possible! Then, you can get in a good bible based church (no other will do) and begin to have that fellowship that is so important! Being in church is all about being a part of God's family. Jesus never spoke of church as a building that you go to, but rather the act of belonging in God's family. As believers and followers of Christ, we are the church! But, the church as a building exists because so much more can be accomplished for Him when we all bring our talents and gifts together to make things happen.

My family goes to Lifepoint church in Mont Belvieu, Texas. Our church was a church plant that began in 2008. They began meeting in a local high school. Our Pastor and a few other families felt God leading them to start this church and they left everything and risked everything to do so. I will be forever grateful for them being obedient to God, because it has changed my family's life forever and eternally.

Shortly after they started this church, Hurricane Ike hit our area and totally devastated everything. My pastor and his family were displaced from their home for months. It is so true that when the devil knows something awesome is about to happen, he will make sure to try and stop it. But, I don't think he knew who he was up against! It was shortly after all that, that I began to blog. Suddenly, I saw this whole world of wonderful Christian women and I wanted to be like them! I had been saved since I was a young girl, raised Southern baptist, but had not been in church for many years. I had 3 young girls and I wanted them to be raised in church. Not only that, but I had lost my Mom a few years before and was struggling with anxiety and grief over that. I knew my only hope was to get in church. I rededicated my life to Jesus and then I watched this love story between He and I unfold, and it has been the most beautiful experience of my entire life!

With my anxiety issues, it was one of the hardest things to do, to visit new churches. I decided I would start by going by myself and taking only my two oldest. My husband was not raised in church and I didn't really think he had any interest in going anyways. So, I went to a few churches and then the night before I was supposed to go back to one I had visited, the idea popped into my head that I should try out Lifepoint. I know now that that was God speaking to me. He knew exactly where we needed to be.

The second time I was to go back to Lifepoint was going to be Easter Sunday of 2009. I was so sad because I had hoped to really find a church and get to know some people before Easter, but I had only been to this one once. Still, I got us girls ready to go and to my surprise, my husband said he would like to go with me! And not only that, but the church was taking family portraits that day too, free of charge, to all the families that came. They were still such a young church and by then, we were meeting at a local recreation center.

That was such a beautiful blessing, to have that photo. It was a precious moment captured in time, of my family all going to church together for the first time. I just love the way God works!
Beginning to go to church was creating changes in our family that I never could have dreamed possible. It was redeeming my marriage and changing my heart as well as my husband's. I never in a million years would have thought we would all be in church.

I thought that I was going to go to church and serve in church and be this model Christian. That was what I thought you did when you go to church. But, I learned that it's not always about me or what I do. You see, God was working on my husband and he gave him, as a new Christian, an opportunity to serve that was tailor made for him. Our church was working on getting its own building and construction/engineering is what my husband's family owned company does. It was in that season that I realized it wasn't just about what the church was doing for us, but it was about what God knew we could contribute to the church. I saw my husband spend almost every single night after work and every free minute on his weekends for months, working on our new church building so that our church could reach more families just like mine. So, there wasn't really much I could help with, but because I listened and followed God to where He was leading us, not only can I be confident that my husband will be with me forever in eternity, but also we now have a beautiful church building where even more families lives can be forever changed! God has a way of using what we think are simple little decisions, when we are obedient to Him, and using them in mighty ways!

We moved into our new building on Easter Sunday of 2010. That was such a special day for all of us!
We also got to witness the church's very first baptism service, done in one of our member's swimming pools!
And we had our first Children's Christmas program in 2010.
It is so true that God will do exceedingly more than you could ever dream or imagine possible! I can't even begin to list or tell you all the ways that God has used our church to help us grow in our faith. The main thing I have learned is that no church is perfect and Christians are not perfect either. The important thing is not how your church can serve you, but rather how you can serve your church. Where is God leading you and how can He use your talents and spiritual gifts to contribute to your body of Christ? Our church has a motto that it's not about SERVE US, but it's about SERVICE.

Also, remember that once you make the decision to get in church, you will be hit from every angle and every obstacle from the enemy to keep you from going. You just have to keep pressing on and listening to God and trusting that He will lead you where you need to be. I have at times been a total pain to the people I've gotten to know at my church, and still they forgave me and reminded me that we are family and that we all make mistakes. When my Mom died, I was so alone and so afraid of what would happen to my girls or my husband if something happened to me. I no longer worry about that, because I know that we have a church family who will always be there for us, in whatever way we need, no matter what. I can't tell you how much that means to me.

I am so glad that the Lord led us to Lifepoint. It has been life-changing for us, for sure! I love to write about what I learned at church every Sunday, because I remember when I used to blog and was so scared to go to church, but blogging was where I began to learn more about the Lord and it made me start to yearn for a closer relationship with Him. My hope in sharing what I learn at church, as well as my struggles and triumphs as I grow in my faith, is that someone out there might be like I was, and want to know Him too. I do believe that one of my spiritual gifts is to take some pretty good word-for-word notes of our sermons at church every week. LOL! I really do take it very seriously. I am a super shy and quiet girl, and writing and sharing my story and what I learn is the way that I can best serve the Lord!

This past weekend was the two year anniversary of that first time that I visited Lifepoint. As I look back on these two years, there have been ups and downs, beautiful moments and moments I wish I could forget (mostly because God is working on me learning that my way is not always the only way.....Ha!). But, I wouldn't change it for anything. It has been a beautiful story that He is still writing; a story of hope unfolding! I pray that if you don't have a church home, to just keep looking and keep listening.......my story is proof that He will always lead you right to where He wants you to be!

Spiritual Gifts

Today at church, we were talking about spiritual gifts. Our Pastor gave us a website to go to so we could figure out what our gifts are and then he said he'll compile them so that we can see what gifts God brought together in our church. I think that will be amazing to look at!

I was taking the test earlier and then I realized when the results came up that it was the same test I had taken before and blogged about here. Turns out, when I read my old blog post, that I got the same answers this time. It said my top gifts are mercy, giving, and exhortation. And then prophesy and teaching came in right below them. I scored the lowest in administration and serving. You can take the test here to see what your spiritual gifts are.

I think these are so interesting. It said mercy people make good counselors and are good listeners. I think that's interesting since my original goal when I got my degree in sociology was to be a social worker. I have always wanted to help people, always. Even as a little girl, I remember dreaming of one day running a food pantry. That sounds pretty bad that I want to help people, but am not gifted in serving?! I'm not really gifted in hospitality, and I'm so quiet that I don't feel like I'm a people person much, but maybe those are just lies I've believed because I struggle with anxiety and fear when it comes to social interactions. Ooooh......perhaps that is the reason for my anxiety and fear, because the enemy knows it will keep me from using my God-given gifts? Fascinating!

Our pastor was saying how it's amazing to see how God will take your spiritual gifts, your past, and your natural talents and weave them all together for His glory. So, back to what I learned at church:

Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities given to all Christians to do God's work on earth. These are given to ALL Christians. (1 Cor 12:1, 4-6, 7) Statistics say that 87% of believers know nothing about their given spiritual gifts. That's like being given a gift card that you stick in a drawer and it never gets used......it's of no value to anyone. All of Hell desires your gift to stay hidden and unused.

Spiritual gifts are NOT natural talents, given only to an elite few, a sign of spiritual maturity, fruits of the spirit, or something to fear. They are given at the time of salvation to every believer. What are some of the spiritual gifts? (see Romans 12:6-8) They can be prophesy, serving people, teaching in a way others can understand, encouraging others (words can be so powerful), giving, leadership, kindness, discernment, healing, faith, miracles, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues. The spirit decides which gifts He wants you to have for your unique purpose in this world.

How do you discover your gifts? You should study what the bible says about gifts (Eph 4, 1 Peter 4). Ask God to show you your gifts and how to use them. God wants to do that! We miss opportunities if we aren't looking. Examine what you enjoy and do well. Take your natural talents, your past, and accompany that with your spiritual gifts. You face burn out when you try to force doing stuff you aren't meant to do. Take a spiritual gift test. Let the spirit lead you.

When you are faithful in using your given gifts, you bring God glory and that's what you were created to do. You fulfill your purpose in living. Leaving your gifts hidden brings God nothing. What does it do to a gift giver if you reject their gift, the gift they poured over to give you? It breaks God's heart. Use your spiritual gifts to bring Him glory!

I am a Masterpiece!

This my 3rd post tonight! I'm catching up on my "what I learned at church" posts. There are 2 others if you want to scroll down. :D This sermon, I watched after church this Sunday on Lifechurch.tv. Again, they have the best live sermons! If you ever have to miss church, or even if you don't, check them out! I'm not sure what the Lord is up to, but it just seems like He is on a mission to make sure I know exactly what this sermon was all about, that I am a masterpiece. I feel like the Lord is showing me where my thinking is wrong and He's making sure to replace those thoughts with the truth, through all of these sermons that I've been addicted to lately! Ha! I also just started Steven Furtick's book, "Sun Stand Still", and let me tell you.....it is amazing so far and I think I've only read the first chapter. LOL! It's about having audacious faith.

I could do a whole other post on this subject of faith. I know in my heart, those who know me in real life would probably say that my excitement about the Lord that I write about on this blog does not come through when I step out into the world. That crushes my heart, but I know it's true. I have a history of being painfully quiet and shy. I hate that word "shy", but what it means to me is that I keep quiet because I either just don't know what to say or I'm too afraid to say it. I am just not a good communicator in real life. But, when I sit down to write this blog, this is my heart. I'm not trying to pretend or be someone I'm not. It's just that this is the place where I am not afraid to be myself and to say what I really feel. Now, when you think about that, it is a huge shame that I cannot translate that into the real world and I have just begun to realize the past few weeks that this shyness is a sin. It is a sin to hide my excitement and the joy I have in my heart for the Lord, because I am afraid. And I am not sure how to come out of that. But, what I do know is that the beginning of change is being able to SEE what needs to be changed. My last post was talking about the holy spirit and how He will help you to see, and I believe that is what He is doing. I believe there is going to come a time where I will be able to look back on this and say, "I remember when I knew it was going to take some audacious faith to truly be who I was made to be." I believe it.

So anyways, Craig Groeschel preached this sermon and he started out by talking about how he got those huge red splotches everywhere when he first started preaching because he was so insecure. How nice to know I'm not the only one who gets those! How many feel there's something wrong with you? Without Christ, there is something wrong with you. But, God can change everything!

Who do you think you are? With Christ, you are God's MASTERPIECE!! Salvation is not from good works; it is a gift from God. (Eph 2:8-10) We are God's masterpiece, created to do good things. As God's masterpiece, or tapestry, you are created for the Master's purpose. Psalm 139:13-16 says that all of your days were written before one of them came to be. God chose this moment in history to create you because it was at this time that you would best bring glory to His name!

You have everything you need to do everything God wants you to do! (2 Peter 1:3) Life without purpose is time without meaning. You don't ask an object what its purpose is; you ask the one who created that object what it was meant to do. Ask He who created you what your purpose is! Don't try to figure it out yourself.....ask God why He created you. If you don't know the purpose of your life, you reduce your life to an experiment.

You aren't lacking one single thing you need to do what God created you to do. Most of us don't believe this though. Moses didn't believe it. We look to others and want to be like them. But, we weren't created to do what they were. We forget what we are good at. If we are not good at something, most likely we were not created to do that. Stop looking at what you can't do and see what you can do. You are a masterpiece.....feel the power of that!!

God uses everything in your life to bring about His purposes. God will use all things for good of those who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Craig told about how when he preaches against sin, it's because he knows how destructive it can be because he lived it and because of that, he doesn't regret what he went through. He knows that God can change lives.

If you don't like your life, let God remake you. God is the potter and we are the clay. Sometimes a potter will have a lump of clay and making it and all of a sudden something will go wrong and it collapses onto the wheel. Our lives are like that clay. Sometimes things can go wrong, but God takes that same lump of clay and He will remake it into what He wanted it to be, what He created it to be. So, let God remake your life. He doesn't discard us.......He will use our lives, that same lump of clay, and remake it into what it was always meant to be!

The Presence of the Holy!

I'm catching up on "what I learned at church" posts today. I just finished posting one earlier too, if you want to scroll down and read it. This sermon was given by my Pastor this past Sunday. It is the first in a series about the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 1:2, the very beginning of the bible, talks about the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. Churches tend to only talk about the spirit or to not talk about it at all. In John 14:16-17, Jesus says that He will ask the Father to give us another counselor to be with us forever, the spirit of truth. "The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." This counselor, or parakletos, is an intercessor, consoler, advocate, comforter, and helper. He is one who comes along side you to act on your behalf as all of these things.

Given the choice between having Jesus stay or having the holy spirit, we would probably want to choose Jesus. But Jesus Himself said that the holy spirit was better. "It is actually best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Counselor won't come. If I do go away, he will come because I will send him to you." (John 16:7) Jesus had to go away in order for the spirit to come to us.

The holy spirit is the dwelling of God in man. He is the giver of your spiritual gifts and fruit. So many believer's lives look no different from those in the world. There are those gripped with fear and anxiety. They believe, but there's no power. Why? Why are many living a spirit-less life?

Some aren't aware of the spirit. But, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead exists for us. Some resist the spirit. There may be times we've felt led to do something, but we dismiss it or we do something we know we aren't supposed to do. Sometimes our heart becomes so callous and hard that we can no longer hear or sense the holy spirit; we've quenched Him. In the silence, we may hear that still small voice, so we may begin to resist the silence. The holy spirit is a gentleman. He will not force Himself on you. He is a still small voice, but we tell Him to leave us alone and eventually he will do just that.

What will the holy spirit do? He will comfort you (John 14:16). He will counsel you (John 16:13). Isaiah 30:21 says, "whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'" The spirit exists to help you make the right decisions. He will also convict you (John 16:8). When you don't feel convicted, that's when something's wrong. The spirit will open your eyes to your sin and give you clarity as to what God did through Jesus. The spirit prepares the heart and makes it receptive to know that there is no hope apart from Christ.

Be the One!

I'm catching up on some "what I learned at church" posts today! This sermon was given at my church, not by my pastor, but my one of our church member's named Matt. Matt moved his entire family to TX from Missouri, because he believe God had called him to plant a church in Texas. They didn't know anyone here and made a huge step of faith to do that. Around the same time, Lifepoint (our church) was getting off the ground and Matt felt it was best to come join our church. So, he has filled in several times preaching when our pastor, Jeff, has been unable to.

We started off by talking about the bumblebee and how it's wings seem way too small to fly, but he doesn't know that. What if someone had told him he wasn't made to be able to fly and so he just never tried. He would have missed out on being able to fly. Jesus said that He came so that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). What lies have you believed? We are supposed to have a great life, not suffer through it. We may have circumstances or addictions and we think we're stuck. But we are God's creations, created to live a great life. HIS word says yes, even when people say no. We should listen to God's promises.

We looked at the story of the 10 guys with leprosy in Luke 17. Their lives were turned upside down with this disease. It was contagious, with no cure, and it's effects were devastating. What is your leprosy? What is sucking the life out of you? What obstacles are keeping you from living a great life right now? Fill in the blank _______________

There are 3 lessons we need to learn.

1. Call on God FIRST. In Luke 17, these guys knew Jesus was their only hope. Sometimes, we will ask everyone else what to do before we ask God. Psalm 55:22 says to cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. It doesn't say He'll take the problems away. It says He will give us the perfect measure of grace and strength to sustain us. There may be a lesson you need to learn from your problems. Call on God first.

2. Take a step of FAITH. Jesus didn't heal these guys right on the spot. In Luke 17:14, he tells them to GO, show yourselves to the priests. He didn't give them an option. They had to be obedient, even though healing wasn't guaranteed. They didn't question Him; they obeyed. Maybe Jesus is telling you what to do, but you don't want to obey. As they went, they were cleansed. Only in obedience were they healed. You demonstrate your faith by walking in obedience. What is God asking you to do?

3. Be the ONE! Out of all 10 men who were healed, only one of them came back and threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. Be the one who is so thankful that you are all in. "The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully consecrated to Him." (Henry Varley) Jesus was the ONE. He had a choice, but He gave His life for us. Are you going to be the one who gives everything?

Comparing

I am loving the online sermons at Lifechurch.tv! This week, the lesson was on "I Quit Comparing".

Comparison takes us down the wrong path and keeps our focus on the wrong thing. There are 4 main things that we tend to compare:

1. Possessions - car, house, clothes, etc.
2. Appearance - for women it might be hair, for men it might be their physique
3. Performance - job, moms comparing themselves to other moms
4. Circumstances - why don't I have children, why am I not married, maybe wondering why you aren't in life where you thought you would be

Why does God hate it when we compare?

1. Comparison is the death of contentment. 2 Corinthians 10:12 says, "We do not DARE classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves, they are not wise." Why such strong language in that verse, saying we don't dare? Because comparing robs us of our meaning and it kills our joy. Being successful is about being who GOD wants you to be and not who you wish you were. We build mirages of who we think we should be and that's not who we are supposed to be.

2. Comparison makes us prideful. Luke 18:11-12 says, "The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." We think just like that. We compare and judge others. For example, we judge the mom whose kid is throwing a tantrum, thinking we can do so much better, but we don't even have kids. Or what about someone who judges someone who smokes, but then they down a greasy hamburger and soda?! We elevate ourselves when we do this. C.S. Lewis said, "We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking, there would be nothing to be proud about."

3. Comparison makes us resentful. We looked at the story in 1 Samuel 18:6-9, where even though David was very loyal to Saul, David had killed more in battle than him and Saul became jealous. We resent God's goodness in others' lives and we ignore God's blessings in our own life! We can't be happy with our own blessings when we compare them with others.

So what do we do? How do we overcome comparing?

1. Know what you have. Philippians 4:11-13 says, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." We have to learn to be content.

2. Know who you are. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship, created to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. In knowing who we are, we know who we don't have to be. We are God's children. "I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking." -George MacDonald-

We can be separated from God by comparing. We think we're good because we're better than that person over there. Or we think we aren't good enough to follow Him, like we're too far gone in sin. Jesus came to die for us and made a way to be redeemed. This is who we are. We are loved and we are forgiven.

Fear

We woke up this morning for church, and Morgan said he didn't feel like going. He has a cold, Kaylee came home with a cold on Friday, and Madison woke up with a sore throat. I got on facebook when I woke up and saw that LifeChurch TV's live sermon was on fear today. Perfect, I thought! I've never watched their live sermon before.....they are scheduled throughout the day and it's a video that starts and you can't pause it or anything. But, on the side they have notes you can follow along with, just like you get at church and you can even live chat with people as you watch. I highly recommend watching them on the days you can't make it to church. I love Craig Groeschel and today's lesson was truly an answer to prayer.

I have come so far when it comes to dealing with irrational fears, but it is something that is still sometimes a daily battle. I have began to realize that I do not trust God fully and I began to pray that He would help me to trust and know that He is going to be there with me, no matter what. This sermon today was an answer to that prayer. I have heard many people say that you just have to have stronger faith. Well, I believe with all of my heart that God can heal me, but He hasn't, so then I began to think that maybe He didn't want to heal me. Like maybe He's trying to teach me a lesson or something. Well, today's sermon put an end to that nonsense for me and maybe it's something you need to hear too, so that's why I'm posting what I learned today!

Life's most common fears are:
fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of rejection, and fear of the unknown.

2 Timothy 1:7 says that "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." A lot of us are paralyzed by fear. Fear is not from God!! Fear is from our spiritual enemy. God gives us power, love, and a sound mind. Fear is not the opposite of faith. Fear is just faith in the wrong things! Fear is placing faith in the "what-ifs". Wow, I really needed to hear that! It totally changes my perspective on fear.

Moses had this kind of fear when God spoke to him through the burning bush. In Exodus 4:1, he said, "What if they don't believe me and say the Lord did not appear to you?" We do this all the time. We place our faith in the bad what-ifs.

Why do your what-ifs matter?

1. What you fear reveals what you value the most. For example, if you fear the loss of a child, you value your children the most. That's not a bad thing, it just reveals what you really value. So, you can plug in your fear to see what you truly value most.

I fear losing my children. I fear dying and leaving my children without a Mom. I fear the unknown, so I'm assuming that means I value being in control. I fear public humiliation (because when I have anxiety, I have horrible stomach issues.....not fun!), so I guess that means I value what people think of me.......ouch!! I'm not happy about that one.

2. What you fear reveals where you trust God the least. So what does that mean for me? I guess I lost trust in God when He let my Mom die. In my mind, He let her die, despite my pleas for Him to save her, so maybe one day He will let my children die. Maybe one day, I will die and my girls will have to suffer like I have. When my Mom died, I suddenly realized I had absolutely no control over my life, and that is why I fear the unknown. If I'm honest, I guess I don't always trust God will be there for me. I guess I'm having a hard time truly surrendering my life to Him and knowing that He is sovereign and knows better than I do. He sees the big picture and I do not. Logically, I know this, but my heart fears it. And I guess I don't trust that God cares if I break down and lose all control in the middle of a huge crowd during one of my panic attacks.

We contribute our worrying as if that will make a difference. Answer this:
I'm not trusting God with _______. Own it. Think about it and write it down.

How do we face the what-ifs of fear?

1. Acknowledge the fear and choose to trust God. Don't just brush off your fear. You are going to choose with faith to trust God to be faithful. In Psalm 56:2-4, David made a choice to trust God, even though Saul was going to kill him. "When I am afraid, I will trust in you...In God I trust, I will not be afraid." When you're afraid, you have to choose to trust God. David says, "What can mortal man do to me?" Well, let's think of the worst case scenario. Saul could kill him! David was thinking eternally though, not just about the temporary. If you trust God, there in nothing man can do to you. Your worst what-if pales to the goodness of God. You have to say, I trust God no matter what. The closer you are to God, the less you fear.

2. Seek God until he takes away your fears. Seek Him through His word, in prayer, day and night, and with others praying for you. Psalm 34:4 says, "I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears." Do we believe this is possible? Craig tells the story of how his wife had serious health issues after having her children and how she would have numbness on one side of her body and no one knew what was causing it. She really thought she was dying and every day she would wake up, she would be surprised that she had made it to another day. She began to pray though. She was always praying and reading His word. God delivered her from her fear and her health issues. She faced her greatest fear, which was not being here for her family. She trusted God the least with this, but when she sought God, she was delivered. God can do the same for you , if you will seek after Him with all of your heart.

"I have never known more than 15 minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever I feel fearful emotions overtaking me, I just close my eyes and thank God that He is still on the throne reigning over everything, and I take comfort in His control over all the affairs of my life." --John Wesley

God has given you everything you need for today. Craig told how Beth Moore talks about how she used to fear losing her husband. She talked it over with God and she felt Him ask her, well what would you do if it did happen? At some point, God would help you go on with your life. You have to look at your fear and go down the list of what would happen if that fear became a reality. Talk to God about it. God has not given you this spirit of fear. You would seek Him and He would sustain you. Satan wants you to be in bondage of fear, not God!

What fears have you lived with? Which ones have been a constant over the years in one form or another? In which areas of your life do you not trust God? What will you do to seek to be closer to God this week? How will you put God in between you and your fears?

What if you were set free from fear? What if God brought you here, to hear this message, so that He could do a miracle so big that it would change you forever? When you give your whole life to Christ, He will set you free. Acknowledge the sin of fear and lack of faith and call on Christ. You can live free of fear. Give your whole life to Him and surrender and be free of fear!

(See why this was such a great message that I needed to hear today?!! God is up to something and He is answering my prayers. It is not a coincidence that I just happened to run across this message today.)

What things do you fear? I would love to pray for you about them!

Toxic Relationships

Happy Friday! It's been forever since I've done a post about what I learned at church! Mostly because we missed 3 Sundays in a row! But, we went back last Sunday and came in the middle of a series called "Toxic". Sunday's topic was toxic relationships.

First of all, the music Sunday was absolutely AWESOME! They had a local band play, called Sun Standing Still, and I just loved them!

Anything containing poisonous material capable of causing serious sickness or even death is toxic. The people in your life can have a destructive influence on your life. Paul warned, in 1 Corinthians 15:33, that "bad company corrupts good character." Another word for toxic is sin. It has the potential to cause great harm. You may pull a toxic person up, but most of the time they just bring you down. Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:16-17, to avoid Godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. He said their teaching will spread like gangrene. Then our pastor showed us some nasty pictures of what gangrene looks like. Ewww!! But, his point was that left untreated like gangrene, even the healthiest people can die spiritually.

There are 3 types of toxic company:

1. The chronically negative (someone who never has anything positive to say).
2. The controller (someone who is always trying to control you).
3. The tempter (someone who is materialistic, for example, and makes you feel you need more too).

In order to manage toxic relationships, you have to secure yourself first. If you aren't conscious and make sure your spiritual house is in order, you can't help anyone.

The first thing you have to do is set healthy boundaries. Jesus loved everyone unconditionally, but he didn't treat everyone equally. He would heal some and not others. He would pray to get strength and then go back to help others. He kept the pharisees at arms length. He established boundaries. In Matthew 16:23, he told Peter to "get behind me, Satan!" Peter was a stumbling block and was allowing the enemy to try and get Jesus off course. Sometimes you have to tell people, I won't let you talk to me or treat me that way. You might have to say, I'm not going there with you......I'm not going to participate. You can't be passive. You have to be active/proactive in setting boundaries. God will handle these boundaries when you establish them. Our pastor was using the example of high school students and who they hang out with. If you establish yourself as someone who does not party, most of the time people just will not invite you to the parties. You know the old saying, show me your friends and I will show you your future. It's important to establish boundaries and hang out with the right people.

Sometimes people will not respect the boundaries you set and you just have to cut off the toxic relationship. This does not apply to marriage though. God never advocates divorce, unless you face extreme abuse and it's for safety's sake. That is why Deuteronomy 7 says not to marry those who don't follow God, because that relationship is unequally yoked. We have to tread carefully though, because we are called to minister to others and we can avoid the relationships, but not people. We are called to influence others and as we become more spiritually fit, toxic relationships will decrease. Jesus said, if something causes you to sin, cut it off. Sometimes you have to know when to just run away and get out, instead of trying to stick around and talk or pray with them. We looked at the example in Genesis 39:12 of Joseph, when Potiphar's wife made advances toward him. He didn't stick around and try to talk it over......he ran out of that house!

We cannot hide, but we just need to get our spiritual lives in order. We are called to make a difference. We want to be so full of God that we are of good here on earth. We want to be spiritually strong so that we can have a greater impact. It's all about removing toxic elements so that we can be all that God called us to be!

True-ish: As Long as You're Sincere!

This is the 3rd post of our true-ish series. Click here to read part one and two.

We started out this week by looking at Acts 16:29-30. Paul and Silas had been arrested and had been worshiping, when an earthquake came, their chains fell off and the cells opened. The jailer knew he would be killed because this had happened and so he was going to kill himself. Even though the prisoners could have left, they didn't. The jailer fell before Paul and Silas and asked them, "what must I do to be saved?"

The answer to that question depends on who you ask. We have this relative idea of truth and it changes. We have people who believe it's judgmental to believe that Jesus in the only way. Even Oprah believes that you are your own God and that all roads lead to Heaven.

53% of people believe that if you're good, you'll go to Heaven. That's religion - the idea that you are your own self-sufficient savior and you can save yourself by good works.
43% of born again Christians believe that it doesn't matter what faith you are, because all of them teach similar things.
57% of evangelical church members think that many religions lead to eternal life/Heaven.

Are all world religions basically the same and mostly true?

No! Just because you are sincere, does not make what you believe true! Look at American Idol as an example. Many of those people auditioning sincerely believe that they are the next big thing, but sincerity does not replace truth!

There is truth in many world religions, but all world religions can't be true. This is because they aren't all structured the same foundationally. They can't all be the same when you compare them. There are only nuggets of truth.

Discovering and living truth matters more than anything else in life. Objective truths must be followed or it can cost you your life. We are going to die. There is no question about that. We don't want to be wrong about things that deal with our eternity. So how do we know what is truth?

Take a close look at Jesus. Was He who we say He was?

- Look at what Jesus taught. Look at Luke 6:27-29. "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic." If we actually followed Jesus' teachings, this world would be totally different.

- Look at the miracles Jesus performed. (Mark 6:2) Those who opposed Jesus NEVER discounted what He did. They never claimed that he didn't perform miracles. They just wanted him to stop and wanted him out.

- Look at the resurrection. Acts 3:15 says that "God raised Jesus from the dead. We are witnesses of this." It specifically said they witnessed this. They made sure that no one could get to Jesus in the grave. His followers had basically disowned him before the crucifixion and days later, seeing him alive again rocked their world and they were amazed! Judas took his own life because he was so distraught. The others died martyrs deaths because they saw this dead man walk again.

- Look at what Jesus claimed. "I am the way and the TRUTH and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) Jesus said he was THE way, not one way. No others ever claimed that......not Mohammed, not Buddha. Jesus said no one comes but through me.

So, when you look at all of these things about Jesus, there are only 3 possible options to choose to believe:

1. Jesus is a liar.
You cannot claim that Jesus was a good moral teacher and say that he was a liar too. It's not logical. If he were lying, don't you think he would've broken eventually? Maybe once his flesh was exposed during the flogging? No? How about when the nails were driven into his hands? He endured all of that for a lie? Really?! No possible way. No one would.

2. So perhaps if he's not a liar, Jesus is a lunatic.
Maybe he was just another David Koresh and he really believed his lie.

3. Or, maybe he was who he said he was. Jesus is Lord.

There are no other options. One has to be right. Either you believe he was a liar, he was a lunatic who really believed his own lies, or he really was Lord like He said He was. In Matthew 16:15-16, Jesus asks Simon Peter, "Who do you say I am?"

Who do you say Jesus is? Do our lives reflect He is Lord like we confess He is? What does your life communicate? Have you been transformed? If you are serious about the truth, it all boils down to how you answer that question. There will be a day when everyone will confess that Jesus is Lord. All that will matter at that point is who you said he was. It will not matter how sincere you were. All that will matter is the truth.

True-ish: As Long as You're Happy!

This is the 2nd post of our true-ish series. Scroll down to read week 1, What is Truth?

Psalm 97:12 says to rejoice in the Lord. We have this idea that if God wants me happy and I'm not happy, then God failed. The pursuit of happiness seems right. It is true-ish. The true-ish path parallels truth for awhile, but then it ends up a million miles away from truth. "There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death." (Prov 14:12) God's plan is not to make you happy. We use God to serve us and like a vending machine, we tell him what we want and we expect him to spit it out. That's a true-ish mindset.

We think, if God wants me happy and I'm not happy, then God failed or He doesn't exist. We seek what God can do for us instead of seeking God. We feel entitled to be happy. This pursuit of happiness seems right, but we're about to see how that can lead down the wrong path. Watch how that leads down a path of thinking that becomes so far from the truth......

1. Without a belief in absolute truth (relativism - the assumption that there is no such thing as absolute truth), truth is defined by whatever makes me happy. This leads to subjectivism - the idea that I have the right to determine what is right and wrong, without submitting my judgment to any authority outside myself.

2. When the bottom line is my happiness, happiness becomes the standard by which I judge my actions. For example, if I'm not happy in my marriage, then I'll just leave and find happiness elsewhere.

3. Whatever makes me happy must be right.

4. Since God wants me happy, anything that doesn't make me happy must be bad.

5. Discomfort, delay, risk, suffering, inconveniences, and obstacles can't be God's will. Difficulty is not God's will.

We logically come to these false conclusions when we go down this path of thinking, which leads us to #6:

6. Without knowing it, I begin to worship the false gods of comfort, money, pleasure, and things.

Here's the truth: God doesn't want you happy.

When it causes you to do something wrong or unwise, God doesn't want you happy. Just like we don't have a goal of our children always being happy, neither does God for us. Just because eating chocolate for dinner makes our kids happy, that doesn't mean we want that for them. 1 Peter 1:15 says to be holy in all you do. It doesn't say to be happy in all you do. Our happiness doesn't trump holiness.

7. Since I'm not happy, I'm allowed to do something that otherwise would be wrong. An example of this would be that an unwanted pregnancy occurs, you're not happy, so you should be allowed to get an abortion, which is wrong.

When it is only based on things in this world, God doesn't want you happy. Our world view is that better possessions + peaceful circumstances + thrilling experiences + the right relationships + the perfect appearance = happiness. That's the American dream, right? Our actions speak to this a lot of times. Our decisions are often based on these things. God is not anti-money. He just doesn't want money to have you. We settle for a counterfeit happiness.

God doesn't want you happy, He wants you BLESSED. There's a difference between happy and blessed. The word for blessed is makarios, which means supremely blessed or more than happy. Happiness is based on environment. Happiness changes depending on what's going on around you. But joy/blessing is like a thermostat. It doesn't matter what happens around you, real joy stays no matter what happens. "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands." (Ps 112:1)

Here's an example that our Pastor told us that he heard Max Lucado give once:
Would a fish be happy on a beach? Would a fish be happy if he was lying on the sand on a beach? It's a nice beach. What if you stack money all around him and lots of pretty things? Then will he be happy? NO! He's still going to die out there on that beach. Why? Because he is not made for the beach.

In the same way the fish isn't made for the beach, we aren't made for this world. That's why we can't find happiness in it. It's not supposed to be like Heaven. We were created for eternity, for more! All of the things of this world are temporary. We are a fish on the beach. We need to lower our expectations of this world. What do we expect these things (possessions, experiences, relationships, perfect appearance) to deliver? We have to stop justifying unwise things for our happiness. We need to get over ourselves. It's not about us! God's goal is not about your happiness. It's about Him, not you.

The closer you get to God, the less desire and pull these worldly things will have. The opposite is true too. The more you desire those things, the farther away you will get from God. You won't find happiness in this world, but you will find it in a man. Jesus rescued us and saved us, not to make us happy. He is the only lasting thing you'll find in this world. He will never disappoint you. People will, but He won't. He became unhappy momentarily, so we could experience real joy forever. Stop looking for the beach!

True-ish: What is Truth?

I'm catching up on the past 3 weeks of what I learned at church. I changed my labels too, and added a label for "what I learned at church", so if you ever want to read through my church sermon posts, that's an easy way to do it.

In John 18:37, Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king. And Jesus answers by telling him that he is right, that He was born for that reason, "to testify to the truth." Pilate then asks Him, "What is truth?"

What you believe determines how you behave. It has a huge impact on shaping your worldview and outlook on living. Truth will affect the way you live your life and the way you think.

Jesus came to testify the truth. There is an enemy, the father of lies, and he seeks to destroy and get you to believe his lies. (John 8:44) Liars are good at lying and they believe their lies. They usually don't tell outlandish stuff. They will tell you things that appear to be true, that could be true. Liars are sly and manipulative. They tell things that are true-ish.

One example is Mormonism. It looks true, but there are twists that aren't true, but are wrapped in truth. It's hard to see the difference.

If you step away from truth slightly, years from now you'll look back and see you are miles away from the truth. The farther down the road you get, the farther off the path you get. Romans 1:18 says, "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools........they exchanged the truth of God for a lie." Our culture has exchanged the truth of God for a lie. We buy into lies that are true-ish.

Two of Satan's greatest weapons are relativism and subjectivism.

Relativism is the assumption that there is no such thing as absolute truth. There's this thing called the Hegelian Dialectic that says thesis + antithesis = synthesis. What that means is truth + true-ish = new truth. Take marriage for example. Marriage in the 1950's was completely different than what people accepted in marriage in the 60's. And now we're at a point where we don't even know how to define marriage. The truth of what marriage was in the 50's + what became acceptable later on = things being accepted in marriage that people in the 50's would have never thought we would get to. We get to a point where we don't know what the truth is.

Subjectivism says that each person (I) determines what is true. I have the right to determine what is right and wrong without submitting my judgment to any authority outside myself. It's like having a God complex. We determine what is true to us. It feels good/makes me happy, so it must be right. It's okay as long as nobody gets hurt. It's true-ish. Satan is cunning to get you to believe true-ish to get you off the right path.

What is truth? Truth is not just a what, but a Who. We have an obligation to tell that truth, to share it with people. It's just like a hot stove. We have an obligation to tell our children not to touch that stove because it's hot. We are stewards of truth, not out of arrogance, but we experience great things from truth and we are to share that.

In John 14:6, Jesus said very specifically that no one comes to the Father, except through Him. John 1:1 says that Jesus came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Historically, Jesus was legit. He walked the walked and practiced what He preached. You cannot deny that based on historical facts. The lives we live in representation of Him fall so short. People reject Him based on us, a lot of times. God is truth, but we can't leave out grace though.

Many churches are all truth and no grace. Some churches are all grace and no truth.......tolerance is the God in that case. One without the other doesn't work. Jesus had both truth and grace. Jesus said the truth can set you free (John 8:32) and the truth is Jesus (John 8:36).

Knowledge can set you free. When you seek truth, you see you're a sinner separate from God. Grace is that He sent His son and paid the price you could never pay to set you free, to save you for Himself. The Gospel is the truth. When you see this, it changes things. If you're on a quest to find your own truth, look at truth as Who (Jesus), not just what.

Normal is Not Working!

Thanks everyone for the anniversary wishes! We had a great time, although it was so weird not having the girls here. They had lots of fun swimming and spending the night at Grandma's house though and we had fun enjoying a dinner out by ourselves! =)

It was strange too, to go to church today by ourselves. But, today was another great message and one that probably all of us can relate to!

Today's message was about scheduling margin. Remember, margin is the amount available beyond what is necessary. Most of us feel like 24 hours is just not enough time in a day to get done what we need to. But, if God gave us 26 hours, would we find time then? We probably would just fill those extra hours with the same stuff that we already do, not do the things we wish we had more time for. Our urgency overwhelms the things we value most important. When we invest our time, we create margin.

Our pastor used the example of having your car out of alignment. When your car is in alignment, you can steer it down the road without much effort. But, when it is out of alignment, it takes both hands on the wheel to be able to keep it from veering off the road. When we are out of alignment with God, that's just another word for sin. We veer off the path He has for us. We steer right into the ditch and our culture assists in that and pulls us into marginless living. Margin is that thing that most of us don't have.

Ephesians 5:15-17 basically says to be careful how you live. If you aren't careful, you'll steer off the path. Our culture will drag you away to a meaningless life. Our natural default setting is not wise. Our pastor mentioned the book written by Andy Stanley, "The Best Question Ever", which I've read before. In that book, the best question ever is: What is the wise thing to do? Andy says if you will ask yourself that question before every decision you make, it will keep you from making some really bad choices. What do we do though, given that our natural default setting is usually not wise? We find the line and we go as far as we possibly can to it. But, the closer we are to the line, the easier it is to fall off. We live on the edge.

1 Corinthian 10:23 says that "everything is permissable". Not everything we can do is wise. We think if it's not wrong, it must be wise, but that's not true. You have to ask yourself this question: In light of whatever stage you're in, whatever is going on in your life, etc......is it wise? James says, life is but a vapor. Given that fact, how do we schedule our time wisely?

We must say NO to many good things to say YES to the best things. Just like the story of Martha that we looked at last week, sometimes the things that distract us aren't bad things, but they are the enemy of the BEST things. If the things you spend your time on overrule margin and your relationships suffer, then are those things wise for you/your family? If dance, sports, UIL (all good things) are overruling margin and causing your relationships to suffer, are they wise?

Romans 12:2 says to be transformed so that you can tell what's wise/good. It's weird today to live opposite of our culture, to not fall into that pattern of running around like crazy with not enough time in the day. Weird is okay though! The weirder you look in light of the world, the closer you are to God.

The "normal" is not working!!!!

Normal is:
marriage ending in divorce
kids being rebellious
schedules that cause you to be frazzled and overwhelmed

Normal is not working!! Live differently so you can live differently! When you ask someone how they are, what do they usually say? Busy! Busyness can rob your life. The church can even be a culprit in adding to the schedule of those who are committed and can rob them of margin. Sometimes even churches just add things to the schedule just to be busy.

Learn how to say NO!! We have a hard time saying it. There is one person who has control over your calendar and that person is YOU! Regardless of what you say is important to you, you will make time for what's most important. How you spend your time is a reflection of what is really important to you; it's a reflection of your heart. The average person spends 28 hours/week watching TV. That's more than a decade over a normal life span! Watching TV of course is not a bad thing, but is it wise?

What matters most to you that is missing from your schedule? Ask yourself this question:
I say ___________ is important, but is that missing from my schedule?

There are 2 things that we must have:

1. Intimate time with God. We need time with God for that realignment. We don't have time not to do that. It has to be a daily thing. Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

2. Intentional times of rest. We need to rest to be revitalized. Matthew 11:28 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Your best requires adequate rest.

Is it wise to neglect that daily time with God? No. Is it wise to be obedient to Him? Yes. Apart from the gospel, this series is nothing more than self-help. We must live our life in line with the truth of the gospel. When you do that, you will have margin. The gospel is the realignment process for you. It's going from existing, to really living. If you have no margin, it may be that you've lost sight of the gospel. Step out in faith and claim what Jesus has already done for you! It changes you to live by the gospel. Financially, it makes you generous. Schedule-wise, you'll spend time with God. It's not about us being good or achieving.......we live as a response to the gratitude we have for what He did for us. The time we have is fleeting. But, when you live by the gospel, you will live the life that you were meant to live!!!!

Margin!

Okay, finally found some margin to write my post on Margin!

Margin is the amount available beyond what's needed. It's the extra; the reserves. What is considered normal just gets busier and busier. Technology gives us more time and we crowd that extra time with more stuff! Most of us have little margin. No margin living is dangerous. Most of us have zero margin and we still try to fit more in. We are drawn to margin. We like personal space. We like to have a margin in our books that makes them easier to read. We like margin when we are driving.

Margin is a schedule where you spend time with your family. Margin is money left at the end of the month. The best things in this life happen in the margin.

We looked at Luke 10:38-42. This is the story of Mary and Martha and how they were faced with the same exact situation, but they each handled it so differently. They were preparing for Jesus' visit. Martha got all worked up and distracted. Mary embraced the moment. Here were two women with the same opportunity. Mary embraced the moment and Martha worried.

It's normal to want to clean up before Jesus comes over, right? It's not evil that Martha ran around trying to do that. We aren't doing evil things when we're distracted. If Satan can't make you do bad things, he'll just make you busy!

So, in verse 40, Jesus is there and Martha plays the drama queen card. She says to Him, "Don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" She is convinced she's right, just like we think we're right when we think that those things that take away our margin are a necessity. It's the new normal, a fact of life, we think. But, in Romans 12:2, Paul tells us not to conform to the patterns of this world. It's not okay to run around like crazy just because your friends do it. We accept it because everyone else is doing the same thing. We are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

In verse 41, we see Jesus' reply to Martha. He tells her that she is worried and distracted about many things, but that Mary chose what is best. If we choose to live a life of margin, it will not be taken from us.

When your margin decreases:

1. Your stress level increases! That leads to the next thing:

2. Your relationships suffer! Relationships happen in the margin. Busyness is the enemy of intimacy.

We have a habit of giving God what's left over of our time, money, etc. We have the someday syndrome, that some day we'll have margin and be able to put Him first. Living without margin is an addiction, an empty pursuit, and some day never comes. Why do we allow ourselves to do this? We are drawn to more and more. Why don't we downgrade and create more margin? We are afraid of missing something. We pass this on to our kids too. Our kids are experientially rich and relationally poor, meaning we give them all these great experiences (extracurricular activities, vacations, etc.) but we don't form relationships with them. One day our kids will be gone and we won't even really know them.

We try to squeeze everything we can out of this life and that kind of life is empty and not worth living. Most of us have more money in our lives right now than we have ever had, and we are more stressed than we've ever been! It's the same thing with time. There are limits to what we can do. The choice is will we live in them with margin or not.

Our Pastor reminded us of what we all did when Hurricane Ike was coming and we were facing a direct hit on our area. At that time, the only thing that mattered to us was our family and getting them out safely. Our stuff did not matter!

God will wait for us to find margin. Will you find it now or will you wait until you've had that heart attack, or your marriage is facing divorce, etc? Why don't we make the choice to do it now? Surrender it to Him.

Just to prove that we can find margin in a day, our pastor challenged us to take 5 minutes a day and do nothing this week. Just five minutes and do absolutely nothing! "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) Well, I totally forgot about this challenge until I was just reading my notes. LOL! But, I fell asleep on the couch on Monday and I fell asleep in the car at dance while waiting for Kaylee yesterday. Does that count? Ha!

Matthew 11:28 says, "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." We should be living in the rhythm of God's grace, instead of the demands of this world. Choose what is best. Seek Him/margin and here is what He'll do:
Isaiah 58:11 - The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

We miss the very best things He has to offer when we miss margin. God loves you and is crazy about you! We don't have to earn anything. He will fill us with a love like we've never experienced. His plans are way better. We'll find rest, purpose, and a life worth living if we follow His plan!