Category: reflection

A Generous God

“He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matt. 5:45)

I have four Doodles and they must have been reading the same book as this dog in the picture. I absolutely love my little fur-family, heck I bred Mama and helped her deliver 15 babies. I now have Mom, Dad, one of the daughters and one of the sons and let me tell you, Mom and her daughter Miss Pearl Jean can be mischievous. When I take one of the boys out for the day and the girls get left at home or if I am gone a little longer on a day trip then what they think I should have been, it is surprize time for me when I return. They have eaten my socks, a shoe, found goodies that I left for us up on the bar, heck they have even been known to eat a whole pecan pie and make it look like the dish was never touched. They are good at being bad. Nevertheless they know when it gets treat time, they will be getting one to.

God is universally generous. He does provide earthly, physical blessings like success or good weather, but true blessings come only through repentance. God will ultimately separate those who are doing evil from those seeking righteousness. Psalm 37:1-2: “Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.”

Though God does love sinners and does bless them, His ultimate blessing is restored relationship with Him. Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Being blessed isn’t always about money or material wealth, it’s about spiritual well-being, inner peace, and eternal reward. If you want a true blessing get right in your relationship with God, not worldly success. Proverbs 13:21: “Trouble pursues the sinner, but the righteous are rewarded with good things.”

Summary: People doing bad things may receive material blessings an enjoy them for a while in this life, but that doesn’t mean God approves of their behavior. Just because I give the girls treats when the boys get one, doesn’t mean I approved of them eating my sock or pie, I’m just being generous and reaffirming my love for them. For us, the ultimate fate of the wicked/wrongdoings is separation from God. He created us and He loves us, that is why He made a way for us to leave our old ways, our sinful ways and be reunited with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, God is full of blessings of all kinds, and we can be His family FOREVER all it takes is repentance and confession. Here is a prayer you can pray that you may be reunited with the Father.

God, I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that you raised Him from the dead. Through my confession I am saved. I ask that you to forgive me of my sins and wash me clean, make me new. Thank you Lord for loving me, receiving me and giving me life everlasting, I now belong to you, Amen.

It’s Okay to Say NO

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:15-17)

Believers we have got to be careful how we live, making the most out of every opportunity, which sometimes is going to require us saying, “NO” so that we may be able to focus on what matters most. In the Bible “No” is considered as a vital part of stewardship, self-discipline, and healthy relationships. It is far from being a selfish act, it is often presented as a necessary boundary to protect our character, avoid burn-out, and make room to pursue God’s specific calling in our life. We need to use simple, direct, straightforward and honest communication with people. No need to over explain or try to make empty promises. Jesus said in (Matt. 5:37) “let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” We should have such integrity that our words are enough.

So here goes the transparency, I have failed once again in an area, this time in not saying NO when I should have. I saw a situation that was not good and along with my husband being in agreement with me, we made a decision to do something about it. Well naturally it must have been the right thing to do since we both agreed, right? BIG “NO” it was NOT. Now because of our “word,” that integrity thing, it has turned into a very unwise decision on our part. We were careless in our decision making and we were interfering in something we had no business in, well at least that’s what the Word of God says in Proverbs 26:17, we didn’t go looking for that scripture either. God is good at pointing things out to you when you are somewhere you shouldn’t be. Through heartfelt repentance for not seeking God first on the matter, I know He is going to provide a way for this to end well. He takes bad and turns it to good, for those who love Him. I love Him alright, I just make mistakes sometimes, good-hearted one in this case, but still the wrong one. A little more transparency into my life of not saying NO when I should. I was sick Saturday night and Sunday, I couldn’t go to church so I stayed home and watched online, double portion just because I could and God knew I needed a double that day. I was sick because I had been overdoing it. I wasn’t allowing my body to rest like it needed, I wasn’t eating properly, being on the go non stop. I wasn’t saying NO to things I was being asked to do or assumed by some that I would just be there to do it. I never want to disappoint anyone if they are counting on me and there were people counting on me. Well when you get to many people at one time counting on you, there is no rest for the weary. I became really weary and sick. Now I am having to recoup and the older you get it seems it takes longer to get back up once you get down. There is a solution to all of this; it’s saying, NO. Again no lengthy excuses why, just simply, No, sorry not this time. Sometimes I need a break, I need to focus on me or something that really matters in my life that I am continually putting off because I am to busy being a YES girl.

If you are anything like me, first let me pray for you, it’s hard being me. Seriously though, you can approach people in honesty and decline without making any elaborate excuses. Like me, I worry to much what others think, and not enough about my own well being and what the cost will be if I say yes every time. Saying NO is healthy. It takes the pressure off us, allows us to retreat to pray and refocus. I have gone as far as stepping away from my calling before simply due to the fact I couldn’t or wouldn’t say no. Say “NO’ to protect your values to. Stay away from negative influences, ungodliness, temptations, those things erode our character. Proverbs 4:23 teaches to “guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Being a “YES” girl has turned in to a poor habit that I am working to break. Yes is good when it is right, but No is good when it is the wrong thing to be doing. Phil. 4:6-7 is such good advice. Before we say or do anything we should PRAY and thank God and in turn we can have God’s peace. Y’all feel free to pray for me in this area of being able to say NO when necessary. Thanks in advance.

All Have Sinned

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

Understand, there are NO perfect people, EVERYONE has sin or has sinned and we are all in need of a Savior!

God looks at sin differently than we do. We have a tendency to see sin as; big sin, small sin, Not that bad, really bad. I just told a little white lie at least I’m not like So & So, God will forgive me. God sees sin as a serious transgression that separates us from Him, disobedience and not holding up to the standard He set before us, sin is sin and that’s that. Sin separates us from God, because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin because it destroys the lives of His creation/us, this is a spiritual death. He loves us so much even in our worst of worst kind of sin He still gives us a way to be redeemed from the destruction of our sins. He says, “If we will confess our sins, turn away from them, and accept Christ, He promises that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

It’s time we quit letting sin dominate our lives, it is possible to live a holy life. Will we ever be perfect? No, but why not do what you can to be the best you can? If God is willing to provide us a way out through faith in Jesus, why not take it? It’s a free gift, who doesn’t like gifts? Underserved gifts at that. I know I don’t deserve what Jesus did for me on that cross, but He did it and that is my gift from Him. Have you ever tried to give a gift to someone and they refused it? Maybe they were hesitant about receiving it because they didn’t feel they deserved it. Do you remember how that made you feel, the giver of the gift? Maybe you didn’t have the extra cash to get the gift so you sacrificed something else so you could afford it. Maybe you made this person something, it came straight from your heart. When I think about all that Jesus went through, so that I could receive His gift, it literally tore me up inside when I realized one day that I wasn’t receiving it because I didn’t think I was worthy of it and how that had to make him feel. Like He didn’t do enough, maybe He should have suffered a little more, then I would have felt worthy of the gift. Seriously y’all? Get rid of the pride. Again, I didn’t deserve it, you don’t deserve it, but guess what? He wants you and I to have it, and though it doesn’t cost us a thing, it cost Him everything He had. I get that we have a sin nature, but we also have saving grace. I feel like I know that better than anyone. My sins have been more than I could bear so I am grateful for the gift and you should be to. I honestly don’t know what this new thing is God is doing in me, there seems to be new boldness rising up in me that I never had before. Maybe it’s because we are getting closer to Jesus returning or maybe it’s just me getting closer to going to be with Him. Whatever the reason, there seems to be an urgency within me to get the message across to everyone I can, that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). Y’all whatever your sin is, it’s not worth it, let it go, let Jesus redeem you from it, take the gift.

Transparency

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13)

I’m still thinking about yesterday’s writing and how I shared a little more about my past sins and how being transparent is so important. I have been struggling lately with peoples hidden agendas, dishonesty, insincerity, trust in general. A real eye-opener for me has been, if someone will lie to you, they will lie about you. As I stated several times now, I am doing my best in being transparent in sharing my life do’s and don’ts with y’all, so in saying all of this I admit I have been guilty of what I am sharing about today. I decided it would be good to look up the topic of transparency in my Bible and see just what it has to say about it. I never want to fall into that trap again and prayerfully this will help you from falling into it as well.

We find that NOTHING is hidden from God as in the scripture above. Honesty is necessary for a restored relationship and cleansing with Him. We are encouraged to invite God to search our hearts, as in Ps. 139:23-24. So my first bit of advice is if you have been dishonest with anyone, now is the time to come clean, cleanse yourself from all unrighteousness. I know that might be scary, because some things we would like to pretend never happened or were never said and we feel shame. If you can’t do that right now then take it to God first, remember He already knows. Repent, ask Him to help you reveal the truth, He will I promise, remember I’m being transparent which also means I have been in this place before. In Ephesians 4:2: put away falsehood and speak truthfully to each other. James 5:16: encourages confessing sins to one another and praying for each other to bring about healing. So it’s more than just confession, through prayer and support from the one you bring it to, you can be healed of the hurt or the wrong doing. On a side note; can I just say, “making excuses for what you did or said or trying to justify the why, is NOT true confession”.

Transparency means walking in the light and not having secret, sinful lives (Eph. 5:8-13). Godly sincerity or walking in truth (2 cor. 1:12). This life can be hard enough at times without having the sin of lies to carry around to. For me personally, I know I am not perfect and I am transparent in letting that be known, but at the same time I carry baggage of sorts around with me that are extremely heavy and I have to drop to my feet time and time again at let Jesus have it, He is the One equipped to carry my sins, not me. Once left at the feet of Jesus I am FREE, free from whatever was hidden, oppression, guilt and shame. Don’t let the weight of these things keep you from living a life of freedom.

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us ….”

What are you waiting for? There is Freedom and Power in being transparent.

Faith Born Out of Fear

“Lord if it is you ….tell me to come to you on the water” (Matt. 14:28)

Peter feared what he saw on the water he thought it was a ghost, but when Jesus called out to Peter to come to Him, Peter answered Him, “Lord if it is really you, command me to come to you on the water.” So he got out of the boat, walked on the water and came to Jesus. Immediately after that he saw the wind and out of fear, (no longer in faith) he began to sink, calling out, “Jesus save me.” When Peter heard the voice of Jesus calling him, then in faith he got out of the boat; through faith he believed he could walk on water, it wasn’t until fear came back that he lost his faith. How many times in life do we fear things? I know for myself I have feared failure, loneliness, making mistakes. What if this person ends up not liking me? How will I ever recover from a bad decision I have made? What if; this, that or the other thing? But you know what? There were some pretty bold disciples in the Bible that had some honest terror in their lives, feared death and persecution, but when Jesus calls us, He also equips us to be able to do whatever it is we are called to. I have heard God’s voice speaking directly to me, not audibly, but in my spirit and out of fear I have not responded to Him. I have also heard His voice and took that leap of faith and said, YES here I am, I’m on my way, Okay, whatever you say, I trust You. Staying in faith seems to be my biggest problem, just like Peter, once he took his eyes of Jesus his faith became weak and he began to sink. God doesn’t ever reveal things to me that He hasn’t already equipped me to be successful at. The problem is I put my faith in me instead of Him, seeing what I can do, not what He can do through me. Noah had never even seen rain before, referencing (Gen.2:5-6), yet he did what God told him to do, that is some kind of faith y’all. How can we receive Jesus as our Savior who we have never seen only heard about, yet not believe God when He calls us to something that He says He has prepared for us, or already done for us, etc. What kind of faith are we standing on? There are so many promises in the Bible yet we have a tendency to only believe some of the truth. When I think about my salvation, I think that has got to be the MOST faith a person could have. Especially living in my day and age, reading a Book that is 2000 years old and more. I never lived any of the stories in the Bible, yet I believe them. As a child I received salvation partially out of fear, fear of the unknown, what “if”? Today, I know my salvation is real, I’ve come to know my Creator and I have witnessed Him personally, His promises in my life have become reality. Faith that was once born out of fear, is now Faith unshakable.

Is Your Mouth Saved?

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

How many times in life have you said things then you pray, “if only I could take that back?”

It’s not really a mouth problem, it’s a heart problem. I have to ask God daily to search me, know my heart ….see if there is any offensive way in me. That’s scriptural y’all. If we are going to start speaking right we are going to need to examine our heart, what’s in there? Is it deep-seated roots of bitterness? I’ve had to do some up-rooting in that area. Maybe hidden sin, sin your not even aware of that is why we ask God to reveal things to us. I have battled with the unknown cause of things time and time again, then suddenly, God reveals something I had forgotten all about and in a moment of repentance everything changes. God wants to purify our hearts so when we speak, out of the mouth flows issues of life. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Our words are either building up or destroying, either bringing encouragement or inflicting harm and shaping destinies. I have caused so much damage in my own life due to words I have spoken, all because of the issues of my heart. That’s where the scripture verse says, “they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof,” that’s the consequences of what you say, it will eventually return to you. You know our speech reflects our internal character to. I’ve been guilty of having the character of speaking death into my own life as well as other people by, gossiping, encouraging fear by speaking possibilities of something happening “what IF?,” I have even created conflicts in relationship due to words I have spoken. These are not things I am proud of, but seriously I write in transparency. As I always say, “I am a sinner in need of a Savior.” Thank you Jesus for saving me, and yes my mouth needs saving to. I do speak life as well. I try to encourage people just like in writing the breadandwater blog or Encouraging Each Other Facebook Group my friend and I have had for the past 5 plus years. I have gotten better about speaking truth, the Word over people’s lives, building in them a hope for their future or whatever they may be going through at the moment. My husband likes doing little construction projects occasionally and I have watched him use his tools to tear things down then turn around and build something beautiful with those same tools. Words are like tools; either to build people up or a weapon that breaks spirits. So the question here, is our mouth saved? Well I’d say is your heart healthy? Do you have the love of Jesus living in you? Do you even have Jesus in you, first and foremost? If the answer is yes to those questions, then I believe you can have a saved mouth. Like all things in life, it’s a choice. How we speak is a choice. We need to start doing more self-examining, I’m speaking to myself here, just saying. Start discerning the thoughts and intentions of your heart, why you say what you say. Something else I have learned over the past year, it that it is always better to respond versus react. Response can sometimes be silent. Reaction can lead to words that may cause regret. I have experienced enough regret to last a lifetime and again. Final word for today …

Shalom

Open Wounds

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the contrite in spirit.” (Ps.34:18)

Up close and personal today. There are some ares in my life that I am still not able to share about because the wounds have not healed and they are susceptible to infection. I believe there are many that can relate to this. Issues of the heart are no joking matter, they are real like the breath in my lungs. Some days it feels as if healing is impossible, when every little thing that touches it causes the wound to begin bleeding again. Yet I know I am not broken I am simply in a place of deep transition, transitioning into the person God wants me to be. I know that if I turn to Him with this unbearable pain He will be there to heal my wounds but sometimes it is still a hard thing to do. I cannot rush the process though because there is work being done, I have to trust the process. Believe it or not, crying and feeling the pain is not a sign of crumbling but rather releasing and letting the healing begin. Sometimes while the wound is in this state you have to stay away from the thing that caused the injury in the first place, creating space for emotional detachment. I write because this is an outlet for me to release and process my emotions. I find that listening to worship music is a great help, because the lyrics are those that bring truth and good thoughts to my mind. I begin focusing on the things that are lovely, pure and of good report versus the thing that has me broken at the time. Nature is my go to place, it has a way of putting me in a completely different mood, relieves the stress of it all. Sometimes I fall into isolation, never a good thing, being with others is crucial to healing. God will use the right people to speak the right things to you that you cannot hear at that very moment. Whatever we are going through that is keeping this wound from healing completely does not define who we are, our future or our worth. Instead we need to see this is a chance to grow stronger and wiser. Don’t worry about the situation, just focus on your own recovery. Let God do what you cannot do. Obviously I am talking to myself here as well as you. Again I am processing, what I need to do in order to receive my healing. The scripture in Psalms tells us that God is not distant, but active in comforting those in pain. He offers us comfort, He is present and He will heal those with shattered emotions or crushed spirits. Psalms 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”. He is our refuge when overwhelmed, our strength when hope seems lost and He promises that heartbreak will not have the final word.

Okay, I feel better … how about you?

Life is a Gamble …Unless

Whatever one sows, that he will also reap (Gal.6:7)

Yesterday I was at church and my Pastor was speaking about the power of a purposeful life. Blessings and curses. Seeds being sown. Sowing seed in a famine. This past week I felt as though my life was heading into a season of famine. There just seemed to be death all around me, not physical death, though there have been those as well and several illnesses that looked to be leading in that direction. But emotional, spiritual, relational death. I realize the word famine means the most severe form of hunger crisis, an extreme shortage of food, that brings about death, but I was feeling starved in these other areas of my life. Deprivation; lacking the nourishment my soul needed. I am not a boaster, but I am going to say that my heart is BIG and when depleted it is like poverty in its most extreme way. I reach a place where I don’t see where I have any seeds left to sow. Anything left I must feed to my myself, because I am about to parish, but then I heard my Pastor say, “sow the seed even when your tears are the only watering the seed gets.” I realized at that moment I had to make a choice, I was about to gamble with life or death. I could shrivel up and die inside or I could pray. I had the choice to use the seed of prayer, watered with my tears to see life spring back. It really wasn’t that hard of a decision to make because of my relationship with the Lord. I know how many times in the past He has had to breathe life back into me due to circumstances when I was literally dying inside. Still we see it as a gamble many times trusting, if He will do it this time. When I left the church I knew what I needed to do, what choice I would make, I know what I believe and Who I believe in. Because of what I was feeling, that starvation inside of me, I knew what it would take to replenish and nourish me back to health. I knew the WORD; I will reap a harvest, “IF” I don’t give up (Gal. 6:9). I needed reminded of that Word. I believe there are many people that are gambling with their lives. Some of you are gambling with your eternal life, where you are going to spend it. You haven’t made the choice, your still rolling the dice. Can I just be honest for a minute? Gambling is not the answer EVER. You may have some good days, win Big, but it won’t last. There is only one right choice. Surrender your gambling addiction, trust the One who gave you life. There is no gamble there, it is life or death, so choose life.

God said in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I set before you life and death, blessing and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.”

Stop Gambling

Time Out

And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mark 6:31)

Jesus knows first hand the need for getting away to a quiet place to pray and re-energize. It is Saturday night right now and I have had an eventful week to say the least. I actually just changed into my night clothes and decided to unwind here and this is the scripture I was drawn to. The picture is my little kitty from days gone by, after she helped herself to some treats. I thought it was rather fitting for how I am feeling tonight. Just spent the afternoon with some really awesome people, fellowshipping with LOT’s of much needed laughter, bbq’n, playing cornhole, etc. this is how I ended this more than overwhelming/eventful week. Thank God tomorrow is Sunday; a day of rest. I have a tendency to do more things than most people would, I’m just not real good with the word “NO” especially if it’s something I am passionate about and I am passionate about a LOT of things. I am not complaining about the things I do, I just think I should probably be a little better at discerning what and how much I am doing. More than that I need to take a timeout sometimes, more than just Sundays because even Sundays can be hectic and not very quiet. In Exodus 20:8-10 the commandment to observe the Sabbath says, setting aside one day a week for rest and refocusing on God. I was taught that Sundays was that day, but that doesn’t always work out for me, sometimes it may be a Tuesday or another day of the week. It’s not against the law to make another day of the week your Sabbath. The real importance here is making the effort to set a day aside and rest, God did. Jesus tells us to come to him, all who labor and are heavy laden, and he will give us rest. That is contentment, that is where we find rest for our souls. He takes the load off of us and carries it Himself, if we will give it to him. Summer is here and things are already really going strong. Yard work that is never ending, just more than usual and more often, like daily, you might be going through that one yourself. More outdoor ministries are going on. Festivities that we enjoy and want to partake in, 4-wheeling and hiking is something I like year-round, but I seem to do more of that in the warmer months these days and then along with trying to help people with different things, yet still find time to just chill, rest, take a time-out. The gathering I was at this afternoon was at a friends home in the country and they have cows, I live in the country but I don’t have cows, just dogs these days and a few cats. I was watching the cows just laying in the pasture resting as we were all doing our thing nothing bothering them just resting. Nature has a way of revealing things to us. The cows had no worries, the birds they’re not worried about what their going to eat, the trees they don’t seem to be concerned with the hard winter they just went through, they still bloom fresh new leaves every spring. I believe it’s because they all rest, they take a time-out. I don’t know that for certain but it sure seems possible in my thinking. It’s as if nature just knows God is their creator and He’s got them, so just rest. Now that I have settled that in my spirit, I can stop for the night and slip off to bed and get a head start on tomorrows time-out. My prayer for everyone reading this; if you are on the verge of burnout or feeling like giving up, I hope you would take a little timeout to find peace and rest for your soul. Jesus is closer than you realize, rest in Him.

The Circle of Life

And I am sure of this, that he that began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6)

God is the one who starts the circle of life within us and who promises to complete that work, ensuring the circle is not without purpose. I am looking deeper into the things God has already done in my life, the things He is doing right now and looking forward to the things He will do as I am approaching the end of my circle. I love the fact that He says, He will complete that work. I can know that I will not leave this world unfinished, without purpose of why I was here. Unlike the ferris wheel, just a repetitive loop going round and round, God takes everything in my life, the good and bad and weaves it together to fulfil His ultimate purpose. Again, my circle ends with purpose. The Bible describes the “circle of life”-birth, labor, and death-as a natural, repeating pattern ordained by God. In the circle of life we find hope, through Jesus Christ for an eternal life. The true fulment of God’s purpose, this is the actual completed work, His purpose in all believers. The complete circle of Life is; a life of being born; birth to eternal life on a new earth, that is completion of the circle of life. Wherever you are in your circle, whether beginning, end or somewhere in the middle and you want to finish the complete circle of life, there is a step you must take. In the Gospel of John in the Bible speaks on that. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That’s full circle y’all. Don’t spend your life like the ferris wheel in that repetitive loop, go the full circle, ask Jesus into your heart and make sure your circle is completed.

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Now your circle is complete