It's All in the Name

        Do you know the meaning of your name?  Mine means “victorious one.”  When my son was born, we chose his middle name, Judah, specifically because it meant, “praise.”  In the Old Testament it was extremely important the meaning of one’s name.  Many places we see God changing the name of an individual to fit who they were to become or what role they were to play in His story. 

            Do you remember Sarah from the Bible, Abraham's wife? Well, Sarah’s name meant Princess.  This is significant because GOD CHOSE this name for her.  Why did he name her Princess?  To let us know that as His daughters, we are Princesses, no matter who we are.  Galatians 4:7 tells us, “So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir,” and 1 John 3:2 says, “now we are children of God.”  If we are children of God, the King of kings, then we too are royalty!

            In His book, Knowing God, J.I. Packer lays out what Sarah’s life demonstrates, “In this world, royal children have to undergo extra training and discipline which other children escape, in order to fit them for their high destiny.  It is the same with the children of the King of kings…It is no part of justifying faith to lose sight of the fact that God, the King, wants his royal children to live lives worthy of their paternity and position.” (222-223). 

            How often do you feel like your life is full of hardships and trials?  Or just the mundane, day after day routine?  Just remember, you are in training!  God is building in you the character that it takes to be a princess!  You need to see the world around you from God’s eyes.  You need to seize every opportunity given you to grow and learn, and to impact the lives of others.  You need to learn to live up to your “paternity and position.” 

            I love what William Wallace says to the princess in BRAVEHEART, “One day you will be a Queen and you must open your eyes.”  My dearest sister in Christ, one day YOU will be a Queen, the heiress of the kingdom of the King of kings, and YOU MUST OPEN YOUR EYES!  There is a world out there that does not want to see you succeed.  There is an enemy waiting to capture you in his evil schemes.  And there are lost children out there needing the touch of their healing Father that only YOU, His daughter, can bring them.  You MUST be aware of these things.  You are a princess, the daughter of a King, now live like one.

You Will Never Be Good Enough

Yep, you read that right. You will never be good enough. Now hold on before you click to some other link that is more upbeat and cheery. This really is a pep-talk!

I have always been that girl that has to do everything right. I actually get very upset if I don't accomplish what I wanted to. It was great when I was younger going through school. It got me good grades. It kept me from making stupid decisions (most of the time). You get the picture. However, as a mom, it has not been a great quality to have. Of course we should always strive to do our best, but my problem was that if I didn't have all the items on my to-do list checked off, if my house wasn't up to "par," if my kids were having "one of those days," even if I were sick and didn't get my ducks in a row...I felt like I had failed. I was a failure as a mom. I was a failure as a wife. I was just a failure.

Well, in a way, the Bible says that is true. Let's explore:

Isaiah 64:6 says, "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;"

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

We can never be good enough! There are never enough good things that we can do to make all of our mistakes "ok." We can never serve enough or give enough to pay the price for our wrong choices. That is why God sent His Son.

This isn't a bad thing! It's grace! It is freeing! What this tells me is that I can stop striving! I can stop trying to be perfect. I can stop trying to be the perfect mom. I will never be. I can stop trying to be the perfect wife. I will never be. But, that doesn't make me a failure. It makes me beautiful. Yes, because Jesus blood has cleansed me and I am now in right relationship with God. With His Spirit in me, guiding me and sanctifying me, I am perfect. The way that I am now seen is not based on what I have accomplished, but on what He has accomplished for me. I can live a life without the burden of checking things off the list and focus on loving others and sharing this message of grace with everyone that I can.

Now, that is a pep-talk!

The Crazies

We all know the story of Noah. Some of us may have even had the picture represented on our nursery walls or bedding as infants. We tend to think of this story as a children's story. We have little rhymes to sing about it. My son even has toy figurines of Noah and all his animals. My questions is this: When did the story of Noah stop being a story of absolute tragedy and despair? As I reread the story of Noah the past couple of mornings, I realized that there are several parallels we can make to that story - and that is terrifying!

The Hearts of Man Broke the Heart of God

Then the Lord^[b] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:5-6

How far are we from being able to say that every intent of the thought of man's heart today is only evil continually? When we read or watch the news, when we look what is happening in the homes of so many families, when we see the trouble in the schools, how can we say that we are not breaking God's heart? And we are the fortunate ones living in the US, how much worse is going on in so many other parts of the world today! I will not get into more, for I feel that you, my friend, can fill in with your own experiences the corrupt actions that take place in the society around us. Let me make one thing clear: It is breaking God's heart. Are we in on this? Are we breaking God's heart by going along with what is happening in the world?

It's Always the Crazy Ones

By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. -Hebrews 11:7

Can you imagine how it felt to be Noah at that time? In a desert saturated with nothing but corrupt values, one man was "walking with God" and builing a giant boat. He was one of those "crazies." He would have been labeled as "extremist." I am sure that there would have been those around him who would have said, "I believe in God, but that is taking it too far." Have you ever heard those words said about you? I certainly hope so! Do you know why? Because it is always the crazy ones that God uses for incredible things. It is always the crazy ones that witness the miracles. It is always the crazy ones that get their reward in the end. The average person is always the one who wishes he had listened. Don't believe me? Read Hebrews 11. It is referred to sometimes as the "Hall of Faith." Every individual listed is someone who did great things through faith. Every individual listed was probably considered crazy. Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua, David. Think about their stories. Were they not crazy? Crazy about following God with everything they had! I love the following passage at the end of this chapter:

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. ³⁵ Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. ³⁶ Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. ³⁷ They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted,^[f] were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— ³⁸ of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

God is Crazy About You

Another amazing thing about this whole story is that God gave mankind another chance. And then another. And then another. Then he loved us so much, that as he looked down and saw all of our wickedness and corruption, instead of finally giving up, he sent his son to this earth, to pay the penalty for all that we had done. Talk about crazy! How can we ever love or serve him enough to show our thanks for such an incredible act of love?!

Dear friend, you have to be crazy to believe that God would love us that much. You have to be crazy to stand against the flow of society and live your life the way God has desired you to live, despite the consequences. It may cost you your job, your family, your wealth, your reputation, and they may call you crazy. Don't blend in with the world. God is calling you to be crazy.

Our Big, Big God

It has been a while since I have posted, mainly because I have been living real life - what God calls each of us to do! This year is a busy one and I will attempt to post when I can, but they may be farther in between. Thank you for reading!

God Made Me
Lately I have been reading a book with my son simply called Nature Reader, by Christian Liberty Press. This book takes all the letters of the alphabet and assigns an animal to each one and teaches about that animal. As I have been reading this Kindergarten level book, I am in awe of God's creation! I am reminded that there is no possibly way that these things could ever have just happened!
We read of the Hippo, the only land mammal whose offspring are born underwater - they even nurse underwater! Did you know that the kangaroo is incapable of walking? Caterpillars have 228 muscles in their head. And what about the elephant? Is there any other creature that has a trunk? And last but not least, look at mankind. Of all the billions of species, from fungi to insects to birds to mammal, we are the only ones with a higher intelligence, with a heart and soul created for God to have a relationship with. I simply don't have enough faith to believe anything other than that my God is awesome and big!

God is Big
Have you ever taken a tiny glimpse into the studies of our universe? Well, it doesn't take long to realize how teeny, tiny and insignificant we are. We are one in our town of _______. We are one in our country of over 300 million. We are one on our continent of over 520 million. And we are one on this planet of almost 7 billion! Feel tiny yet? How about the fact that we are one planet out of 10 that circle our sun forming our solar system. And that our solar system is just one of many in our galaxy, and that there are many, many more galaxies out there in the universe? How about now? Teeny, tiny yet? But our God, he created all of this! He is bigger than all of this!

A Teeny, Tiny Response to such a Big God
What gets me most about all of this is walking into churches on Sunday mornings. I don't know about you, but the worship service that I witness is not anything close to being worthy of such a big God. We are so miniscule and worthless, and yet he sent his only son to die for us, because he loved us and wanted to spend eternity with us. How humbling! I would suggest that our worship services should bring us to our knees, to tears! We should be crying out "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!" as we will forever be in heaven! We should be taking time out throughout the day to just admire him and praise him for his works! You know all of those things I talked about above? He made them just for us to enjoy. Have you been too busy to enjoy the beauty your Father has given to you? Take time out to be filled with the awe of his beautiful creation and to meditate on his greatness! Giving the proper praise and honor to such a God will fill you and inspire you to do all the other things in life that is placed before you.

Hey, Jude!

I feel like it has been so long since I have written on here. Our family has been going through a lot of trials lately, plus a lot of summer travel, and well, after a while I figure people don't want to hear anymore about it! I know I'm tired of it! But last night, I got inspiration.

Ok, don't laugh. So I was watching the Olympic Games Opening Ceremonies last night. It was supberb and we made a family event of it. I love that it is in London this year. If you didn't watch it, well, it closed with legendery Paul McCartney singing "Hey, Jude."

Now you see where I am going with this? I said don't laugh. This prompted me to read the book of Jude this morning. It is an easy, one-sitting read. This is my take on the book.

Don't be fooled. (Jude 1-16) There are many people out there that have rebelled against the word of God and many who try to pursuade those in the church away from the truth. Don't let that happen! It is so easy to allow our own wants and desires to blind us from what is truly happening. Let's take Germany, pre-WWII for example. The citizens were suffering so much from a depression that they were desperate for a better life - one offered by Hitler. Hitler gained his power because the people were too blind to the truth until it was too late.

"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints."

Don't give in. (Jude 17-25) Sometimes we feel like giving up. We know that God's standard is perfection and we know that we are not perfect. No matter how hard we work and strive, we are not perfect. But listen to this quote from C.S. Lewis:

The command 'be ye perfect' is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. -Mere Christianity

That is what Jude is trying to express to us:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - Jude 24

We must love others, even the non-believers. We must build relationships with them and we must show them God's love. However we must not give in to our temptations to sin. We must not be persuaded by false teachings or media bias or whatever other influences are around us. Christ is our perfection, if we remain in him through faith.

Here is a quote from yet another great British man, Winston Chruchill:

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in, except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

Four Percent

At the Homeschool Convention this weekend I was confronted with a very tragic statistic by one of the session speakers, Israel Wayne. He said that 4% of all Millenials hold to a biblical worldview. I was blown away.

4% Random Statistics from Google

Four percent is 1 out of every 100.
You pay approximately 4% (rounded up) interest for your mortagage payment.
An ideal unemployment rate for a country is between 4% and 6.4%.
4% of US children have allergies.
4% of men are victims of domestic violence.
4% of women feel negative about their normal child delivery.
I know, random, right? There just aren't that many facts that apply to only 4% of the population.

Who are the Millenials?
Millenials are those born between 1980 and 2000.
I am a Millenial.
Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Elijah Wood, Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, the Olson twins, Miley Sirus, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Kristin Stewart, and Brian Williams are all Millenials.
Millenials are also known as Generation Y, Generation Next, the Net Generation and the Echo Boomers.
The millenial generation is generally connected to neoliberalism.

What is a Biblical Worldview?
Basically, if you believe the Bible's principals apply to all areas of your life and you seek to use the Bible as your basis for decision-making, you have a biblical worldview.  Israel Wayne and those he works with have created a wonderful site that explains and expands on the concept of a Biblical Worldview. You can find this information at http://christianworldview.net/.

So, again I tell you: Only 4% of Millenials hold to a Biblical Worldview. This is so sad! I never realized I was such a minority! This statistic raises many thoughts and questions in my mind.

What are your thoughts?

REND

I am in the midst of Spring Cleaning, so cleaning - good, thorough scrubbing - is on my mind. That is why the following verse stood out to me as I read the book of Joel this morning (it's a whole three chapters and worth the read!).

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. --Joel 2:13

I often think in terms of cleaning my heart, even spring cleaning it, but the use of the word rend speaks to me more than just a simple cleaning. We know that Jesus Christ, by His blood shed on the cross, washes our hearts clean from sin. But what is this rending? I believe it is speaking of the Holy Spirit's sanctification of our lives. It is a deep scrubbing, to the point of tearing, of the heart. Rending. It is the type of cleaning that sometimes hurts. It's the type of cleaning that is necessary if we are to become holy vessels for God's Work. It's the type of cleaning that may require change - change of attitude, change of habit, change of lifestyle.

Are you going through this type of rending of your heart? Praise Him! He is perfecting you! I encourage you today to stay strong through the things in your life that you may be going through and to use them to rend your heart and return you to the Lord your God. And if you have been through these types of trials and are now on the other side, then Joel has a word for you as well!

Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your ancestors? Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation. --Joel 1:2b-3

Share your story, share your life!

Spring Cleaning Your Spiritual Dwelling Place

Yes, it is that time of year again. Time to open up the windows, clean out the closets, and wash behind every dresser and in every corner! I love it and I hate it! I love the outcome, but hate the process. I know, however, that this is one of those times when I am challenge in my "profession." This is the big week of the year to really put my all into being a work-at-home mom! I am doing it much earlier this year than usual because I want to donate my things to our church's yard sale to support missions...so, it has begun!

As I was scrubbing and rinsing and vacuuming and organizing today, my mind was wandering as usual, and I began to wonder how often we "spring clean" our spiritual homes? Ephesians 2:22 tells us:

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

WE are the dwelling place for God's Spirit! Are we keeping up with our spiritual dwelling place? There are so many ways that we could evaluate and tackle this task. Are we displaying the fruits of the Spirit? (Galatians 5:22-23) Have we rid ourselves of worldly things and clothed ourselves with righteousness? (Colossians 3) Are we being godly woman as lined out in Titus 2?
My challenge to you would be to find a passage of Scripture that lines out what your desire for your spiritual dwelling is, and then focus on ways that you can take those steps to making it that place! Whether it is a change in lifestyle or just an attitude adjustment, it is the time of year for spring cleaning, so let's get the job done! Are you with me?

Just Think

If any of you have (or have had) a little boy living in your house, you probably get a pretty good image when I say, "missing the mark." It doesn't matter how many times I gently coax him to "point at the hole at the bottom," when he is in a hurry to get back outside to play, I get left with yet another toilet seat to clean.
The literally meaning of the word "sin" is "missing the mark," as in an archer missing his target with his arrow. It is not an intentional veering from God's word (transgression), but an accidental mistake - one we make without thinking. That is what I want to talk about today - not thinking. Why aren't we using our brains a little bit more? When we make decisions in our lives, why do we not think about what God would think of that decision?

This image was "borrowed" from Facebook :)

We buy an outfit that is totally in style and accentuates our womanly curves wonderfully...without thinking whether or not it is modest or causing a brother in Christ to stumble.



We strive and wear ourselves out to have great, wonderful homes, cars, furniture, clothes...without thinking where else that money could go or how much time we are missing from our families.

We label things as culturally acceptable without seeking out God's heart in the matter.

I could go on and on. I believe that the majority of sin that Christian women stumble into is completely and utterly accidental, missing the mark. I believe that what happens is we get so caught up in our daily lives and culture that we just don't take the time to really think about it. We don't think about God's word and we don't think about the others out there with less priveledged lives than ours. 

How many of you have a favorite movie, show, or book? I bet you can name every character, remember every scene, and possible even recount specific details of the story or background information on the filming or actors. How much time did it take you to acquire that type of information? Do you spend the same amount of time pouring over Scripture, learning every character, every scene, specific details of the story and background information on the text? If not, why not? If you were to put that effort into learning God's Word inside and out, you would be able to learn the Heart of God. I believe that is one of the reasons the books of the Law are in the Old Testament, so that we can learn God's heart for his people, what he desires of us and how he wants us to live. Now the Old Covenant has passed away and we are saved through the blood of Jesus Christ, but that does not mean that God's heart for us has changed at all.

When making choices in our lives we need to consider Scriptures such as:

"You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own." --Leviticus 20:26

"Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction." --Deuteronomy 7:26

"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." --Jeremiah 1:5

I want to encourage you today to do one simple thing - think. Are your choices holy? Have you allowed any detestable thing into your home? Are you living as one set apart? Dear sister, I ask you to just think.

I'm A China Dish!

I was reading an article yesterday, once again claiming Christianity to be intolerant.  The support for this? We claim that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Well, according to my Bible...

Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

I guess I am intolerant. I also believe in absolute truth. That means that truth is truth, no matter what you believe. If it is relavent to each individual, it is no longer truth. Oh, yeah, and I also believe in a particular standard of living, being set apart and holy.
Do you have any china, or special dishware, that maybe has been haded down to you, that you use only on special occasions (or maybe not at all)? I do. I have a set of plates that was my grandmother's grandmother's. They are golden crystal and are about 150 years old. I keep these plates in my China cabinet, so that the world can see them. When they are used, it is for very special occasions and they are handled delicately. Then, when I wash them, I do it very carefully by hand, dry them and put them back into their place. I would never put these beautiful plates into the dishwasher, or use them for everyday eating, or for a bbq.  These plates are special and are handled that way!
As Christians, we are God's beautiful, china dishware!

In a large house there are articles, not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-21

The text surrounding this verse describes the things that Christians should avoid in order to remain set apart and holy. It is worth reading! God expects, and always has expected, His people to be holy. He wants to, like china dishes, set us up for the world to see. We must be pure and true followers of Him, so that when they see us, they see Him. He wants to use us for special work.  He didn't create us for the normal drudgery of this world (for everyday eating)! In order for that to happen, we must be "handwashed" by the Spirit working in our lives. That means we can't "jump in the dishwasher" with all the rest of the dishes! We have to make choices that reflect who we are in Christ. Those who are Christians should be easy to spot. They should look at us and see peace, love, modesty...godliness! And all hints of worldliness should be far from us.

But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16

The issue should always be holiness, never tolerance.
What are your thoughts?