Self, from Mom

Self.  What does that word conjure up in you mind?  It should be a neutral word.  Just a word meaning myself.  A person.  Me.  But it can bring up much deeper thoughts and convictions when coupled with things like self absorbed, self seeking, selfish.   It can also bring joy to our hearts when remembering to be selfless, self sacrificing and putting others before ourselves.  

From Mom

Thoughts that bring attention, action, making us the center of attention.  Stop anticipating a situation in my head as to what I think I need to say if such and such occurs or is going to happen.  Holy Spirit help my to learn this lesson, "self."  Focus, think it through, listen for God's voice, wait on Him, then obey.  

James 3:14-15  14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

Verse 14  If I have bitter envy and selfish ambition in my heart do not boast and lie against the truth. 

Verse 15  This wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. 

Philippians 1:16-17 15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 

Romans 13:13, 13 Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. 14 Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.

Philippians 3:19  They are headed for destruction.  Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they thing only about this life here on earth.  

Sensual:  Belonging to the natural or physical, unspiritual.  It is living in the domain of the five senses, concerned with this life only.  Being sensual is in common with lusts, illicit desires and unclean practices that open a person to the demons.  

Galatians 5:16   So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Admonishes us to, "walk in the Spirit and I shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."

James 3:13-18  13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.     17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

From me

James gives us the perfect lesson on living lives led by the Holy Spirit, lives that are not clothed with selfishness and seeking only for ourselves and earthly pleasures.  Our lives are meant to be characterized by kindness, caring and loving others.  Philippians 2:3-4 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  Remember how Jesus went to the Cross....He laid down His deity, submitted His will and laid down His life for others, for us.  What do we want others to see in us, in our lives?  How do we want to portray our Christianity?  I love Philippians chapter 2:1-18.  It gives a clear framing for what our lives should look like to others.  

 2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.  3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.  5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God,  he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.  7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;  he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form,  8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.  9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,  10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.  14 Do everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. 17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. 18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.

There is nothing wrong with caring for and respecting ourselves.  God treasures and loves us.  Of course there is a balance, we cannot take care of others if we don't take care of ourselves.  Jesus does tell us we are supposed to love God, ourselves and others.   But our lives are not to be a picture of selfishness and self-centeredness, but of God honoring, people blessing love.  I was convicted a couple of months ago of being self-absorbed.  It was a very uncomfortable and humbling message from the Holy Spirit.  It's something I am working on.  The Bible tells us to examine ourselves.  Let the Holy Spirit guide us in this.  And then follow His lead on how we are to change and act.  

Lord, forgive us for any selfishness, and self-centered living.  Lord, we know we are to care for ourselves, but it has to be in a healthy way.  Lord, give us eyes and hearts to see the needs of others and look to meet them as we are enabled by You.  Take away any selfishness in our lives and replace it with a deep desire to honor You and bless others.  Glorify Yourself in our lives.  In Jesus loving Name, amen. 

Examine yourself in light of the Scriptures, then allow the Holy Spirit to work in you to produce His fruit and His purpose.  

Yesterday I had surgery on my foot.  Please pray for quick and complete healing.  Thank you!!  

                                                                                                                                

Seedtime

This morning I was going to offer an entry from my Mom's journal.  The next entry she wrote was entitled "Seedtime."  But she really had very little written.  Just a few words jotted down about her life being a seedtime.  Interesting thought though.....every thing we do is a seed sown for a future harvest, whether here on earth or in the ever after.  

This morning I am tired.  I do not feel like even moving much less tending to the chores and tasks of the day. Taking out my computer here to type out this entry felt empty.  I felt like there was nothing in me to share.   But the Word tells me "16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves."  Galatians 5:16  My flesh tells me "just be lazy."  But the Spirit says, "write your blog entry."  Every time we follow the Spirit's leading we are sowing to the spirit.  Every time we ignore His leading we are sowing to the flesh.  The rest of Paul's instruction goes on to tell us the differences between follow the Spirit or chasing after our flesh.  Galatians 5: 17-25  17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.  19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!  24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 

Galatians 6:7-9 7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Today's God visit for me was an object lesson in sowing to the spirit.  I could choose to be spiritually lazy and not be faithful to my spiritual commitment, or I could do what the Lord has charged me to do and sow a seed that will reap blessings.  Almost every morning I pray to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.  One of the fruits is faithfulness.   Even though I felt like I had nothing to offer today, the Lord did.  And this blog, everything I do, all I give....everything is supposed to be from God, to God, for God and of God.  In Jesus' Name, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  God is so good.  And always working!   

And just an aside, today I saw the fruit of my morning praying of Galatians 5:22-23  I saw the fruit of faithfulness displayed in my life!  

Lord, thank You for today.  Thank You for the fruit I see in my life.  Thank You for giving me a heart to be faithful and follow You.  So often I go my own way and forget or get lazy.  Thank You this was not one of those times.  Lord, I pray for those reading this, that they too will sow after the spirit and  not the flesh.  That You will help us all with the desire, the strength and the power to do just that. Let each of us display the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control.  In Jesus most beautiful Name.  Amen. 

Take notice of what you are sowing.  

Allow No Divide

Bad things happen.  Small, annoying, everyday things. Paul had his "thorn in the flesh" that buffeted him daily.   Big, life shattering, ground beneath your feet crumbling things.  Habakkuk spoke of complete spoke of utter desperation and emptiness.  Yet both had something in common.  Neither let their troubles come between them and God.  

So often, when things happen we tend to blame God.  My sore spot is the little annoyances of life.  I get mad at God for allowing so many little problems throughout the day.  How often I've heard myself cry out, "Why can't anything be easy!?!?"  And I get mad at the Lord.   Does this sound familiar to you?  

As I was doing my study in the "Pilgrim's Progress" a question was asked about the intentions of the Devil.  And one of the answer was he seeks to divide us and our Lord.  He seeks to get us questioning God's love and care causing us to turn away from our heavenly Father in anger. 

James 4:7  So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I'm looking at it this way:  When trouble comes I have two choices.  Submit to God, or submit to the devil.  If I get frustrated and angry when problems come, then I am submitting to Satan, bowing before him in defeat and acceptance.  My heart is turned from Jesus, and filled with bitterness, mistrust and resentment.  But if I resist the temptation to become mad at the Lord, if I submit to Him, remembering His perfect love and perfect wisdom, then I am living in victorious submission to my loving Father.  I am in union with Him and that just works.  My heart is filled with peace and I live in His rest.  

Seems the choice is pretty simple!  It's putting it into practice that takes practice!  

Lord, help us to submit to You in all things.  Keep us from allowing Satan to separate our hearts from Yours.  We know that it's not Your choice for us to have walls between us.  You tell us in Romans 8:38-39 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Yet we so often allow ourselves to feel separated, turned away in anger like a child who doesn't get their own way, or a traveler who takes his own path because the one You choose seems too hard.  Father let us never forget Your perfect love.  Never forget it is everlasting.  Enable us to stick to You like glue whenever problems of any size come our way.  Lord, let us not fall for Satan's plans and deceits.  Forgive us the times we let him come between us.  Keep this truth, that nothing that comes our way is out of Your perfect love or plan and is always working for our good,  fresh in our minds.   In Jesus Name, amen.

Practice submitting to God.  Make up a little saying for times when things go wrong to keep you from allowing the annoyances and problems of life to build a wall between you and the Lord.  It can be as simple as "I trust You Lord" or "You know best Father."  

2 Corinthians 12:5-7  5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength!  He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.

Everlasting Love

On Sunday I was not feeling great.  I think I was just exhausted.  My  neck hurt, my head hurt, my body felt depleted...emotions were raw, depression lurking in the corners of my heart and mind.  It wasn't a good day.  On top of that everything I tried to do went awry in some way.  I finally had had enough and cried out to the Lord.  I accused Him of hating me.  

Okay, so the pity party didn't last long.  Thankfully they don't anymore.  LOL  I decided to get my coffee and sit with the Lord for a little while, just resting with Him.  I'm doing a study in the Pilgrim's Progress and the part I'm up to is when Christian is getting ready to leave the Palace Beautiful and continue on his journey to the Celestial City.  The Palace Beautiful represents the church, the Celestial City represents Heaven.  Christian's journey is a series of ups and downs and various encounters that represent our own walk through life to our ultimate destination, the arms of our Lord.  

Before Christian leaves the Palace Beautiful he suits up for battle.  I am reminded I need to keep my armor on...not lay it down and become vulnerable to the devil's schemes to separate me from the Lord.  Visit number one.  Self pity steals our armor.

Ephesians 6: 10-17  10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Second visit.  Fast forward to Monday.  I do a sweet devotional on Mondays before I rush off to start a busy day of kitten/cat shelter and then a full work day.  This comes from "Jesus Always" by Sarah Young.  "Nonetheless, I see you with perfect clarity.  I know everything about you, including your most secret thoughts and feelings.  I understand how broken and weak you are; I remember that you are dust.  Yet I choose to love you with everlasting love.  

Jesus reminded me that His love is everlasting, not dependent on me....but driven and based on His heart, His choice, His character.  

Jeremiah 31:3 Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.

What a wonderful God we serve.  This is real.  He gets real with us.  Meets us right where we are, both with correction and encouragement, direction and assurance.  Can anyone be more blessed than His children!?!?

Lord, thank You.  I had forgotten Your love, forgotten to stand firm, and was spiraling down into the dark pit of self pity when You lifted me up.  Please let each person reading this be reminded how we stand in Your armor, not in our own power and how much you love us, eternally, continually, and completely.  In Jesus most loving Name.  Amen.  

Put on your armor, and stand knowing you are eternally loved.