Hello friends. It's been a few days, and I apologize. My life's been amazingly busy but oh so fulfilling this past week or so. We had a few EOD deaths (and deaths of military members across many careers) over the holiday weekend/week. It has been a bit tough, but I made it through, thanks in large part to God. I've also had to put my youngest on an airplane all by herself. That wasn't much fun. I know, I know...she's 17, she'll be fine. But, it was hard for me. She had a connecting flight in Chicago, and I was a bit of a nervous wreck about that. Again, I made it though as God protected her on her trip. I am still muddling through my summer classes, which are shortened versions of regular semester classes, and still keeping my head above water there...although doing this instead of homework isn't the brightest decision I made today. :) I did get to FB chat with my husband today, and that was a huge blessing. He brightens my day no matter what kind of day it started out as. I also was able to finally get a hold of my mother-in-law (had been trying since Mother's Day!). She broke her toe. I've decided to get her the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man costume and put her in it! This poor lady is always doing something to herself. :D
Last weekend, we had a teaching in church on "How to Live so that Your Life 'Memorializes' God." It was a great teaching! The Bible verses it was based on are 1 John 3:1-10. I won't put the whole passage here, but you are certainly encouraged to look it up for yourself. The teaching had implications in my life that I'd actually been struggling with lately, and God just knows each and every time, what I need to hear. It's so amazing to see Him at work in my life. The first point of this teaching was "Be Willing to Take the 'Heat' for 'Dad'." That to me is huge. You protect your kids so people don't hurt them. You protect your family, your friends. But, are you willing to protect Truth? Are you willing to stand in the gap and say, "no, you are not going to attack God in my presence" or "no, that is a sin and it's going to send you to hell." When you are born into a family, you don't have any choice over who that family is. But, the awesome thing about God...he chooses His family (Romans 8:15-17). He chooses all of us, but only a fraction of the world will find Him and get right and live right for Him. A fraction (Matthew 7:14). The next point about taking the heat for 'Dad' is John 15:18-20, which says:
"If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."
If you think about it, that passage right there should tell us what kind of reaction we should get from people who have no interest in God, Jesus, or the Bible. I am here to tell you, it is quite true. I've seen it first hand, and it hurts! But, if you can, find solace that Jesus knows exactly what you're going through, has been there, and will stay right by your side through it all. He's cool like that. :D The next point of the teaching was "Live to Make 'Dad' Proud." This is a good discussion point. How do you do that, and in the end hear Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant...enter into the joy of your master?" I tell you, this is crucial! It's also the hardest part. Which brings us to the third point of the teaching: "Don't Live in the Gutter When You Have a Place in the Mansion." Let's face it, sin is sin, and there isn't any way we can clean it up and make it look better. Just one sin, no matter how small, separates us from God. We will sin...it's inevitable, and that sin will separate us from the Holy God. If you're right with Him, seek Him and ask for forgiveness. It will be done. Baptism wipes your slate clean, but it doesn't prevent you from sinning again. It is a conscious effort every second of every day that you must make to follow God with your life. But, remember a couple of verses: 1 John 4:4, "...greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." 1 Corinthians 10:13, "And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide you a way out so that you can stand up under it." God does NOT tempt you (James 1:13), but you will be tempted by Satan. When you are, God will be there and will not let it get so bad that you can't handle it. Oh darn, there goes your "the devil made me do it" excuse...whoosh...right out the window! :) Yes, you CAN overcome any temptation that comes your way. God doesn't lie...He told you right there in 1 Cor 10:13 that you will not be tempted beyond what you can bear. He also tells us in that same verse that He will provide a way out for you! The 1 John 4:4 passage about greater is He, well God is greater than Satan. Greater is He (God)...than he (Satan) who is in the world. Satan has lost the war, but Satan deceives you into thinking that he has a chance. Satan is just trying to take down as many people as he can. He's trying to take you with him...every single second of every single day! I digressed a bit, so the last point of the teaching is "Don't Ever Believe that the Way We Live is Insignificant to God." We must reject sin and destroy the works of the devil. We must also ensure we are not deceived by others (1 John 3:7-10). That passage tells us that we can tell the difference between God's people and Satan's people. One snippet of that passage, "No one who is born of God practices sin...." So, if you have unrepentant sin in your life, please understand that God doesn't lie. You will be judged for the way you live your life. I urge you to get right and live right for God if you aren't doing this already. Getting right with God is a matter of believing in God, Jesus and the Bible, confessing Jesus as your Lord and Savior, repenting of your sins (turning away from sin completely), and being baptized as an adult. If you are interested, please let me know. I'll try to help you with that process.
I hope you have a great day.
Hugs!