Christianity

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Getting rid of locusts

It’s easy to get sucked into time wasting activities. 

For example, I have to be careful to not let YouTube videos suck me into spending hours doing nothing productive.The struggle is real…

Paul told the Christians at Ephesus to “[Be]careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do” (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Matthew Henry’s commentary on verse 17 says:

Good Christians must be good husbands of their time, and take care to improve it to the best of purposes, by watching against temptations, by doing good while it is in the power of their hands, and by filling it up with proper employment.

Joel 2:25 is a verse Christians love to quote:

The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
    to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.”

I’ve seen grown people cry over this verse…

And it’s truly an awesome verse because God is merciful when we completely miss it.

Most of us, like the children of Israel, waste our time on things that eat up our fields and take away opportunities.

My encouragement to us all is to not wait until the locusts, i.e the time wasters, strip our fields before we start getting serious about managing our time. 

If you see a locust, squash it!

Ask the Lord to help you stay on track. 

This is not about legalism, either.

Don’t get busy doing a bunch of stuff out of obligation, thinking that religious activity is like a can of locust repellent.

When I talk about asking the Lord for help, I mean to ask Him to open your eyes to the people who could benefit from you making the most of every opportunity.

 

 

 

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Couch potato faith

Can faith really be faith if it has no expression? 

James 2:14-16 is the most quoted passage on the subject:

14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone?15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing,16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about putting actions to your faith:

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

Years ago, I went to a church that adopted “Faith is a verb–live it!” as a reminder to the people that faith requires action. 

IMG_1563Putting feet to your faith means that your feet might get muddy. You might actually have to sacrifice something to walk it out.

The more I read about the early church–the church fathers and martyrs–I am convicted of my own selfishness. 

Am I really ready to give up everything?

What am I still holding back?

Do I talk about what I believe more than I demonstrate what I believe?

I’m just gonna stop here because there’s not much more I can say except that a read through the New Testament doesn’t leave any room for argument. 

Couch potato faith is not allowed.

 

 

 

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Time to Get Honest

 Let me be the first to say that I’m the queen of Fine-and-Okay Land. When something’s not fine and okay, the LAST thing I want to do is talk about it. 

So I won’t–if I’m not pushed.

Sharing our stories, our struggles, is not always fun or easy. 

But I honestly believe that the reason most of us never move past the past, especially Christians, is because we never allow ourselves to be fully known, we never share our struggles.

Of course, I’m not advocating running around sharing the most intimate details of our lives with complete strangers. I’m assuming (this might be a big leap) that we all are aware that healthy boundaries are vital. 

And here’s the moment I get really honest…

Most Christians destroy any opportunity to keep a conversation going. 

Let me demonstrate:

Me: How are you doing today?

Hat Lady: I’m blessed and highly favored, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath…

Me: Oh…my day stunk.

The conversation just died right there.

Yes, Christians are all of the things Hat Lady just said. I firmly and fully believe it.

Though, how are we going to encourage an atmosphere of openness in our churches when the conversation dies in less than 5 seconds? 

If the desire of our heart is to have a church overflowing with hurting and broken people, we need to be more honest and become better listeners.

Isn’t this the cry of every church? To be filled with broken hearted people who need Jesus to rock their worlds?

Here’s what I’m not saying: Stay stuck in your past. Always talk about it and never change. 

Jesus Christ can and will redeem and restore you no matter how broken you are.

This doesn’t change the fact that broken hearts take time to heal.

What better place to heal than in a loving family of fellow believers who are committed to listening and helping each other move toward the best God has for us?

 

 

 

 

 

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Escaping ISIS

I watched a documentary today that cemented my feelings and beliefs about Christianity’s role in helping refugees. 

PBS Frontline did a special last July on women prisoners of ISIS. 

Escaping ISIS documented the fate of the women and children of a particular sect of Islam, the Yazidi, who ISIS views worthy of being decimated because the Yazidi make the Islamic faith impure. 

When ISIS went into their villages, they killed the men and captured the women and children. 

There is a small group of Yazidi men who are working diligently to free their relatives from ISIS, creating an underground network of spies within and without ISIS territories. 

The saddest part of the documentary was watching the story of the woman caught in adultery (see John 8:2-11) with a horrible ending. 

ISIS leaders filmed a woman accused of adultery and sentenced to be stoned to death. The woman’s father was present and she asked him, “Father, can you please forgive me?” 

His response broke my heart: “God will not allow me to forgive you.”

The woman continued to ask for forgiveness, sobbing, as the leaders began to stone her. Her father joined in as well. 

For anyone who believes that God and Allah are one and the same, you’re dead wrong. 

The One True God is a loving and forgiving Father. His heart beats with love for us. 

This woman was killed and there was no forgiveness given to her like Jesus extended in John 8.

I understand that there’s no way the countries of the world can take in all the refugees. 

I understand it is dangerous to allow the refugees into our countries because ISIS infiltrates the refugee camps. 

But we as Christians can NEVER hate Muslim people. We can NEVER give up being involved in creative solutions to reach out to the refugees. 

I saw the tears of the women who recounted their brutal treatment under the ISIS regime. They lived in fear every day of their captivity. 

In fact, many women kill themselves because they feel utterly hopeless to escape the torture of the ISIS regime. 

There was an 18 year old girl who said, “I don’t know if I will ever be free from my fear, the nightmares that haunt me.”

I screamed at the TV, “Yes, you can be free! Jesus can heal your broken heart!”

This documentary has wrecked me…

The Muslim world is crying out for help, for hope. Don’t let ISIS win by poisoning your heart toward these people. 

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Minor Delays

Putting things off doesn’t  make them easier…

For instance, take this post:

I had wonderful intentions to get it up sooner, but then decided to wait. 

Bad idea. 

My evening took an unplanned turn and here I am at a quarter to midnight writing about procrastination. 

I’ve read that it’s good to have 5-10 posts ready in your queue. This is sounds like heaven to me because, much like heaven, I have yet to arrive. 

My favorite Christian song right now is “One post at a time, sweet Jesus, that’s all I’m asking from you!”

Daily blogging is fun. 

Is it challenging?

Absolutely. 

Are there days you talk about a lack of planning?

Yes. 
  

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Know the enemy

I don’t think about Satan much…

He gets too much air time already. Why should I talk about him or think about him more than necessary?

In my Angels & Demons class today, though, we went through a list of all the names of Satan in the Bible. 

Names, as Mr. Kirk pointed out, show us the character of an individual. People back in Bible times were much more intentional in naming their children.

They would probably be shocked if they saw this list of celebrity baby names: 

  • Rainbow Aurora
  • North West
  • Elsie Otter
  • Apple
  • Rocket Ayer
  • Bluebell Madonna

And there were more on the list I found, but I’ll let you Google it.

We talked yesterday about how names are important, so I kept thinking about this fact as our class ran through the list of Satan’s names.

I know some are reading this post and thinking, “Why ever read about Satan? Who wants to study about him?” 

If names give us clues about character, then it’s good to read through the Bible and see what it says about Satan character.

He’s a liar, deceiver, destroyer, accuser, bully, defeated, jealous, prideful…

All of this information is supported by scripture to let us in on who we’re dealing with as an enemy. We have authority, of course, but we need to know what and who we have authority over.

I’m not one that thinks there’s a demon in every doorknob or that Satan is the only reason people act stupid (sometimes people just make stupid decisions and have to live with the consequences). 

But Satan is working hard to keep unbelievers in bondage. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Just be aware that there’s a lot of things happening all around you, things that you don’t even see.

Spiritual warfare is real.

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Angels and Demons

 

I’ve never dabbled in witchcraft or anything involving the occult. 

However, the things I’ve read and watched, the testimonies I’ve heard from men and women who have escaped that lifestyle, are enough for me to know that it’s not good.

This term I am taking Angels and Demons. In the class we will be learning about the spiritual realm. Mr. Kirk Dubois is my teacher and I am excited to dive into the topic. 

Here are some basic truths to consider:

  1. If there is good, there must be evil
  2. If there is right, there must be wrong
  3. If there is light, there must be darkness

Skeptics embrace these facts when it comes to other religions, but not when it comes to Christianity (even though the Bible clearly addresses every one of these areas).

 

Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism–and every other religion in between–have an after life, good and evil, as part of their beliefs.

Whenever someone is ignorant about the spiritual realm, Satan has a  field day because that means there’s lots of room for him to deceive. 

Every person I’ve ever heard speak about escaping the occult or coming out of witchcraft starts off their story the same way:

I didn’t know what I was getting in to.

Normally, all he or she wanted was something to connect with, something to give their lives meaning and purpose. What they found was darkness beyond compare.

Guess what?

As Christians we can share with those individuals–and those who are stuck in dead religions–the source of all strength and power:

Jesus Christ! 

In Him is the hope of a bright future!

In Him is power over all darkness!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Getting past minor snafus 

I had a messy moment at work today. 

My attitude needed adjusting and perfectionism tried to pick a fight with me–and at the same time, too!

I am a Christian, which means I don’t have to be controlled by feelings, but I’m also human. 

Choosing to not react to my feelings and frustrations is tough. 

The situation I faced was not a big deal at all. Some poorly written instructions collided with my first time using a computer program. 

Despite the challenges, Step 1 of my project was completed. 

The minor snafus of life are true tests of our ability to respond instead of react. 

I didn’t fail the test, but I didn’t make an “A” either. 

It’s easy for me to become cynical about whatever I perceive to be the problem. 

Not everything, though, has to be a tragedy. 

Life happens. 

Most of the things that irritate me are small in scale. I just have to get over myself. 

It’s not the end of the world to make mistakes, to mess up, to drop the ball. 

What’s important is to learn from your mistakes and move forward. 

Did you hear me?

Move forward!

Quit your pouting.  

And if you can’t tell already, this post is more of a note to myself. 

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Trust is key 

I entered a busy season today. There’s a lot going on at school and work. 

It’s all good stuff, but it could easily become overwhelming if I let it. 

And we all know that stress and worry has never helped anyone. 

I’m doing my best to combat any anxious thoughts immediately by praying about them instead of fretting over them. 

It really works! 

In fact, I am more at peace now than I ever was in the past when facing similar situations. 

My trust in God has increased exponentially and I’m learning to bring it all to Him first–not as a last resort. 

One of the biggest lessons I’m learning at Rhema is that knowing something and doing something are very different. 

Yes, I have known for a long time that trusting God is key to a peaceful and fruitful life.

 I have many stories about how trusting God has pulled me out of many seemingly impossible situations. 

But living in Tulsa has only increased my opportunities to trust God more fully. 

Like Dean Tad says, “If you can move to Tulsa by faith, you can follow God anywhere by faith.”

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This Ordinary Adventure

Aren’t we all afraid of being normal? 

If someone calls you normal, they might as well say, “You are the most boring person I know.”

At least, that’s how it feels because who doesn’t want to be known as a wandering, wondering, unpredictable world changer?   I just finished This Ordinary Adventure by Christine and Adam Jeske, which answers that question. 

Adam and Christine served as missionaries to Nicarauga, China, and South Africa before moving back to Wisconsin with their 2 children. 

They wondered if moving back to America was “settling” for a mediocre life. 

I enjoyed how the book switched back and forth between their two perspectives. 

If you find yourself struggling in this area, I think this book will be helpful.