BIG CHANGES COMING

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes;  its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”  Jeremiah 17:7-8

My husband and I are making some BIG CHANGES in our lives in 2021 as a direct act of worship and trust in our Lord.  I will be writing a post about this soon, but need some time to work it out in my head enough to write about it.  The bottom line, though, is that we feel God calling us to a season of trust in Him.  We have been trying to direct and control our lives for years, and all that we have gotten from that is extremely poor health (mine), extremely high anxiety (both of us), and a struggle to focus on what is important.  We are so distracted by the world that Jesus has become secondary (at best).  

So- to step out in faith we are purposefully decreasing so that God can increase.  This is a huge change for us, and one I have been fighting for last past 5 years as we have talked about it off and on for that long. 

But our Father's grace is truly an incredible gift... and through His love and mercy, I am finally ready to take the leap (my husband has been ready for quite a while now).  

On January 29, 2021 I will leave my career and effectively cut my family's income in half so that we can focus on trusting the Lord.  We are walking away from the major distraction in our lives, my career, so we can finally hear what God is saying to us.  Scary?  It should be.... but the truth of this verse is working a miracle in us right now:

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:7

Stay tuned..... more to come!

Christian discernment at election time

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2

On my heart this morning is a strong feeling that I have to say something in witness to God our Creator during this time of unrest and Presidential election. It has been a long time since I have felt compelled to write. There are many times I want to write something about my faith, or about something I am reading in my Bible studies.... but I have learned over the years that my writing on topics of faith and God is only possible when God Himself compels me. This is a good thing, because I still do not feel worthy or capable of writing truthfully or in a way that honors our Lord. I worry often about writing false statements about God, faith, and the Bible and therefore misleading others, which would be worse then almost anything in my mind.

But today, during my morning prayer and devotional reading, I felt such a strong compulsion to share what I was writing in my journal that here I am, putting it out there publicly forever. My prayer is that I am speaking truth and not lies.... that the Spirit is moving my fingers and my words and not Satan. I consider Philippians 4:8 to be one of my major life verses and never want to do something that contradicts these words in my writing here:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things."

There is a great responsibility put upon believers in our Lord Jesus Christ to follow and defend God's commands. While we may not technically be under the law due to Jesus' fulfillment of it, being under Grace does not absolve us of the responsibility to honor and obey the natural order God has put in place in the world.

For the past few years I have been thinking a lot about what that natural order is. There are so many ways we can fall into the weeds and wind up resting on a legalistic view of faith and religion if we are not careful. That said, loving one another, as the Bible commands, does not mean accepting unacceptable, sinful, or blasphemous behavior that derives its value from Satan. The God of Heaven may have provided us with a tremendous demonstration of His love for us by sending Jesus as propitiation for our sins, but He did not change or abolish the natural order for human behavior which was created when He created the world.

While I do not pretend to be a scholar on these things, I do think A LOT about this topic and read a fair amount. As I said earlier, it is so hard for me to put these thoughts out there because I worry about being incorrect. Discussions with my husband on matter's of faith and God definitely serve to keep me humble in this area, and remind me of my frailty when it comes to faithful living and thinking. I worry quite a bit about being a tool for Satan, which I am at great risk of if I am not careful. That said.... here were my thoughts on this topic this morning.

The 3 main values I believe I must focus on FIRST as I consider voting in November are:

• The sanctity of Life
• The sanctity of Marriage
• Freedom of Worship and Religion

There are MANY other considerations, of course.... the government has tremendous impact on all aspects of our lives. BUT, to me as a Christian, these values must be and are primary. There is no nuance to them. They are sacrosanct and not up for debate. Regardless of a candidate's platform on healthcare, taxes, defense spending, or a myriad of other things that are IMPORTANT.... the 3 bullets above are ABSOLUTE to a Christian and must be considered before anything else. While God commands us to render to Caesar what is  Caesar's.... He also commands us to give to God what is God's. To a Christian God comes before ALL ELSE... therefore we must consider what is God's before we consider what is man's. Government and all that goes with it is man's.... therefore I must consider God's areas first, and then move on to man's.

Our country is in such turmoil right now.... the most I have ever seen in my nearly 49 years on earth. I believe we are truly on the brink of destruction not unlike Sodom, Gomorrah, Babylon, the Roman empire. It is more important than ever that we take a strong stand for the foundation of God's creation. The more we stray from God and His foundational principles for us, the worse it will be for Believers and non-believers alike until Jesus returns. 

I did not vote for Trump or Hillary in 2016. Actually, at that time I was only a few years into my journey as a Christian. I was still such a baby in my faith but had A LOT to say about the intersection of my faith and God's word as I knew it then and what I was seeing happening with the Presidential candidates. You can look back at my blog posts from that time, there were many. Some may have been a bit misinformed, but I choose to leave them there because it is reflection of where was I was at that time. As humans we continue to grow and learn, and as the popular Maya Angelou quote goes: "I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better."

Back to why I did not vote for either of them (although I did vote). I did not vote for them because I did not believe they would protect the basic precepts of humanity under God. Hillary pretty much said so and still does today (as do most Democratic candidates, unfortunately). Trump may have said some "Christian" things, but I did not vote for him because I did not believe him due to his former record and behavior as it relates to being a Believer. 

Now, in 2020, I am faced again with an election that requires me to look deeply at the things I believe and that are paramount to Christianity and judge the candidates presented against these things.

We are just under 2 months out from the election, and I don't know yet what I will do. My gut is telling me not to be swayed by the loud voices all around me, but to spend time in deep prayer and ask for the will of God to be revealed. Ultimately, His will WILL be done.... God is sovereign and nothing happens that doesn't work for His ultimate glory. As Christians like to say, we know how it ends. Having said that.... we don't know WHEN it will end, or when our own personal journey will be finished on this earth. In the meantime, we must be faithful and not operate out of fear or pressure from others who may not share our deeply held beliefs (and there are many that claim to but do not, remember that).

What I do know is that in my faithfulness there are some things I cannot vote for.

I cannot:

• vote for someone who is mentally incompetent
• vote for someone who will not recognize and support the sanctity of human life, including unborn babies, the ill or infirm, and vulnerable adults 
• vote for someone who doesn't recognize the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman or that works to undermine it
• vote for someone who sees government as higher or more important than church and will use power to control the church and Christian behavior

I continue to think and pray about this, and, if you are a Christian, I hope you will, too. These are not easy times, and trying to marry the values of this world with the values of the Kingdom is a fruitless endeavor fraught with peril. In order to be wise, we must get VERY CLEAR on what our Kingdom priorities are first. As a Christian this is the only way to roll.

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

I am being cleansed and so are you

"Beloved Savior, let the glorious, ceaseless cleansing of Thy blood through Thy Spirit in me be made known to me and shared by me every moment. Amen."

Do you at times feel so unworthy to call yourself a Christian? Do you stumble sometimes- saying or thinking terrible, unchristian-like things? Or maybe your wants overshadow everything, causing your to hoard, spend money you don't have, or covet the things others post pictures of on social media, consuming you with obsessive jealously? Or maybe you are just sad in your heart because you are unsure of your salvation and don't know if God really loves you because you find yourself unlovable? 

I can truly say yes to ALL of the above and sometimes it is all I can do to lift my head up from my shame and sadness over all my weaknesses. It is true.... I struggle internally more now than I ever did before I was saved. Before I was oblivious, now, my love for Jesus so strong that it puts all my sins and weaknesses in front of me like a magnifying glass. Jesus doesn't do this to me, the evil one does.


I know I am not alone in this... so if you are struggling today... maybe this devotional will help to remind you that you are FREE from these things! Jesus cleansed you of ALL sin; big, small, and everything in between. You are renewed hourly by His sacrifice, what an AMAZING gift! Dry your tears today, and thank Jesus for His love. You may cry some more tomorrow, we are only human after all... and as your Sister in Christ I am here to tell you I understand and I struggle, too.


TODAY, after crying many tears during my prayer time this morning, I picked myself up, dried those tears, said a prayer of thanks, and am here to give you a hug from one broken Believer to another. We will get through this with the love of Christ and the love of our brothers and sisters in the faith. BELIEVE!!


I did not write the below, it was posted by Truth for Life- you can find the original post here

Cleanses
The blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin.   1 John 1:7

"Cleanses," says the text—not "shall cleanse." There are multitudes who think that as a dying hope they may look forward to pardon. Oh, how infinitely better to have cleansing now than to depend on the bare possibility of forgiveness when I come to die.

Some imagine that a sense of pardon is an attainment only obtainable after many years of Christian experience. But forgiveness of sin is a present reality—a privilege for this day, a joy for this very hour. The moment a sinner trusts Jesus he is fully forgiven. The text, being written in the present tense, also indicates continuance; it was "cleanses" yesterday, it is "cleanses" today, it will be "cleanses" tomorrow. This is the way it will always be with you, Christian, until you cross the river; every hour you may come to this fountain, for it cleanses still.

Notice, likewise, the completeness of the cleansing: "The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin"—not only from sin, but "from all sin." Reader, I cannot convey the exceeding sweetness of this word, but I pray that God the Holy Ghost will give you a taste of it. Manifold are our sins against God. Whether the bill be little or great, the same receipt can discharge one as the other. The blood of Jesus Christ is as blessed and divine a payment for the transgressions of blaspheming Peter as for the shortcomings of loving John.

Our iniquity is gone, all gone at once, and all gone forever. Blessed completeness! What a sweet theme to dwell upon as one gives himself to sleep.

Sins against a holy God;
Sins against His righteous laws;
Sins against His love, His blood;
Sins against His name and cause;
Sins immense as is the sea—
From them all He cleanseth me.