Joy in the Morning

“For we walk by faith and not by sight.”

If a sentence could sum up the Christian life, it would be that one. Nearly everything about living in Christ is founded on faith and not sight. Believing He created the world. Believing He really came and gave Himself for us. Believing His blood really covers our sins. Believing He loves us and is making us into new creatures every day.

It is very rare that we get to see farther down the path, closer to our destination. Most of our walk seems to be done at night with only the light around our feet for a guide. However, faith keeps us straining our eyes at the darkness, believing we see the pinpricks of stars peeking through. We can see the answer with our eyes of faith before we ever see it with our physical eyes.

I wrote a blog post about peace a couple of months ago. The focus was the miscarriage my husband and I went through after over 2 years of trying to conceive our baby. That blog post changed my life. It was incredible to hear so many people respond with “I went through that too, but was never able to say anything” or “If you can find peace in that, I know God will give me peace too.”

For a moment after I wrote that, I felt like my faith eyes were 20-20. I could see God using my pain to paint a picture of healing. I knew all would be well. About 2 weeks later though, the darkness closed in again and I was left swimming in the most intense depression I have yet faced. April was slipping by and May was coming.... and with it, Mother’s Day loomed. How are you supposed to celebrate Mother’s Day when your womb is empty and God isn’t giving you your miracle?

We attended District Conference and heard a sermon by Pastor Andrus on walking in faith by “preparing the room”. He used my favorite Bible story, the Shunamite woman and her powerful, “It shall be well.”

On the way home, Rick commented that we needed to take that phrase literally and begin to prepare our nursery. We ordered the crib, bought the crib set, and set it all up.

Seeing the room that way made me feel emptier than ever. The depression worsened, leaving me sobbing in the nursery, gripping that crib and spiraling deeper into that darkness. Satan began to whisper, “You liar. You wrote about God giving you peace, but look at you now. You have no peace. There’s only darkness in you.” In moments of grace, God would lift my head and I would cry out again, “Even if the healing never comes, He’s still a good God.”

When Mother’s Day came, I determined to make it through without anyone feeling sorry for me. “No tears,” I promised myself. I did fine until about 9 that night, and then I couldn’t do anymore. The tears fell like rivers down my face. Others had their miracle, where was mine? Why didn’t I deserve to be a mother? Why had God given me my miracle and then snatched it away from me? Why was I still empty?

I am so thankful that when I am weak, He is strong. When my faith is gone, He draws me to find solace under His wings. He bore me up that night and the depression finally broke. On the hardest weekend of my life so far, God’s grace broke through and shone brighter than ever. I slept soundly that night and dreamt of my promised little one again.

Two weeks later, on a whim, I took a pregnancy test. Double pink lines greeted me. We were pregnant. Because of what we had experienced, it wasn’t just joy that filled my heart, but also dread. “God, I can’t make it through that again. Please don’t do that to me again.” God looked past my fears and doubts and allowed faith to bloom.

Weeks slipped by, morning sickness started and worsened. Fatigue took over my body. All of the things that we had missed out on before now became the norm. Hope built up inside of me and we began to share our news with close family and friends.

Week 7 passed. Then 8. Then 9. My ultrasound was set for my first day of week 10. We pulled into the parking lot of the same place we had gone last time. The place they had told me that there was no baby in me, just an empty sac that I would soon lose. The place where everything had fallen apart.

“Don’t park over there; we parked there last time.” Everything inside of me was full of fear. What if this was just like last time? What if there was nothing again? What if this was all fake? What if God made us go through another miscarriage?

We prayed in the lot and went inside. Within moments, we were in the room and the tech was walking us through the procedure.

“How many pregnancies is this for you?”

“Two,” I answered.

“Have you delivered?”

“No, we miscarried at 6 weeks in January.” Just saying the words brought back the fears. She could hear the brokenness in my voice and made her apologies.

She brought the camera down and there was our baby. Heart pumping, hands moving, body stretching, feet kicking. Perfection.

Throughout this journey, my faith eyes have been strong and then been weak. For many of us, we go through seasons of faith, sometimes within hours of each other. The man who came to Jesus said, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” How quickly our human emotions take us from faith to doubt. I’m so thankful that God remembers our frame and that we are only dust. He loves us so fully that He doesn’t withhold His blessings until we prove we are worthy. He showers us in them to prove that He is worthy.

As you rejoice with us over the next few months, I have a request. Please take a moment to reach out to anyone that you know of who is in a dark place. Remind them that the darker the night, the brighter His glory. For it is in the moments when we are in the nursery floor, gripping an empty crib, and begging God to answer, that the promise is already inside of us. Keep turning your eyes back to Him and let Him lift your head again today. There is an answer coming. There is joy in the morning!

God is in control!

The journey began during November of 2015. We were coming up on our 2nd anniversary, the point we had already decided would be when we started trying for a baby. We had enjoyed 2 years of each other, 2 wonderful years of travel, fun, dates, and doing whatever, whenever we wanted. Now we felt ready for the next adventure together… PARENTHOOD.

From November of 2015 until March of 2017, we simply asked God and kept waiting. There were times when all of our attention, focus, and emotion was so caught up in the fact that we were not pregnant that depression would take over our home. If you have never struggled to conceive, I am so thankful that you have not experienced the heartache, the frustration, or the fear that accompanies it.

During that timeframe, I visited a doctor and was told “Good luck! Maybe eventually you will conceive!” I was so disheartened by this seemingly hopeless situation.

In March, a minister friend stayed in our home for a couple of nights. At the end of his stay, we shared with him the struggle we were having, and he spoke the word of faith and healing into us. “God is in control of this. Don’t beg him for it anymore. This is the last time we are going to ask Him, and from here on we are just going to trust Him to give us a child when He is ready.” We felt so much strength and virtue in the prayer that followed that we felt for sure that God would be ready very soon!

Another six months slipped by, and I began to worry that there was something bigger going on. After much prayer and counsel, I went back to the doctor (a different one) and was sent for bloodwork. In November of 2017 I was diagnosed with PCOS. A lifelong disorder for which there is no cure. I had almost none of the “symptoms” that would ordinarily clue you in on the diagnosis. I was shocked, hurting, and a little scared for what my future would hold.

That diagnosis changed my life. I was prescribed and began to take medication 3 times a day. I found through research and a friend that a vegan diet helped this condition, so I went back to being a vegan. Rick stood by my side during all of it. He even ate vegan dinners with no complaint.

January of 2018 came and I found myself completely focused on the lifestyle changes I had implemented. It took a full week for me to realize that I had been nauseous every day and even gotten sick a couple of times. Incredulously, I ordered pregnancy tests. I had had so many negative ones that I really wasn’t expecting anything different.

Early in the morning, I got my first positive test. I felt like time stopped in that moment. I stopped being able to breathe normally. I stumbled to the door and opened it. “It’s positive!” I panted to my half-awake husband. “We’re pregnant!” The joy that filled us both in that moment could never be accurately expressed. You wait so long for something and then it finally happens. We didn’t really know what to do, except hold each other and cry the happiest tears imaginable.

We decided not to wait too long to tell our family, especially since I didn’t know how long I would be able to keep my joy contained. We shared our news on January 14, and our family rejoiced with us.

For one glorious week I woke up every morning and went to bed every night talking to the little unborn child inside of me. Nothing mattered more than the little life inside of me. My world was exactly what I had wanted it to be for so long. Finally experiencing it was the most wonderful experience of my life so far.

I was scheduled to teach the next Sunday (January 21) and as I studied and wrote the lesson, God spoke to me to teach on “Standing on His Promises.” I woke up that Sunday morning, and my worst fears materialized. I was spotting. Immediately, I began to research causes of this new development online. They all said the same thing. “It’s normal. Don’t jump to conclusions. Everything is probably fine.” I tried to ignore my fears as we headed off to church.

I began my lesson and got about half-way through. I was teaching on rejoicing over the fulfillment of God’s promises before it even happens. Talking about our future children, I said, “Rick and I have danced in this altar over a promise that we have yet to see fulfilled.” 

In that exact moment, God spoke to me very clearly and simply said, “I’m going to take this baby from you.” My heart shattered. My throat closed up, my eyes began to fill with tears, and I had to quickly compose myself in order to keep teaching. I finished my lesson and went down to my office, “Surely not, God. Surely I heard you wrong.”

But I hadn’t. The next morning found the bleeding heavier and my fears deeper. I scheduled an appointment for that afternoon and headed back to the doctor.

“It’s too early to tell,” she concluded. “You’re not having the back and shoulder pain typically associated with miscarriage. Just wait a couple days and see what happens. You had a blood clot on your ultrasound, so maybe it’s just releasing and that’s all it is.”

Hope filled me again, and I sent out a faith filled “All is well!” to my parents. I was right. All is well…because God is sovereign.

What happened that night was one of the deepest levels of pain I have ever experienced. I think I could have handled it if it had just been physical pain, but it was more than that. Not only was my sweet baby being ripped away, but the fulfillment of my promise, the answer to over 2 years of praying and trying, and the joy that I had felt over the last week and a half. All of it was being torn in that moment, and the pain was almost unbearable.

If you have ever experienced a miscarriage, you know exactly what I am talking about. What I experienced that night was one of the worst things that any pregnant mother can go through. The night was long, but the miracles were not over.

It was the worst moment, the climax of my baby’s passing, and I began to pray. “God, please just give me peace. Please let me know you are in control. Please give us peace. Please give us peace. Please give us peace.” I repeated the words through constricted throat. Haunting my mind were the pain-filled eyes of my husband in the next room. He didn’t deserve this. He was so faith-filled. He needed God right then as much as I did.

I can’t really explain what happened next, but I am so thankful that it happened. I have seen films and movies where there is an invisible force field that surrounds the base or home of the hero of the story. It keeps artillery and enemies out, and it keeps everyone inside of its invisible walls safe. 

That force field is what surrounded my home right in the worst moment of our miscarriage. Satan’s voice was banished from our home, my own human thoughts of “Why me? What did I do wrong? What is going on?” were sent away, and the incredible peace of God filled our home.

That night, in our weakest moment, we both at the same time experienced peace that passes all understanding. God’s words came back to me then. “I am taking this baby from you.” It was not for many weeks that I realized why He had warned me ahead of time. 

You see, God is sovereign. While He is our Father and kind and loving toward us, He is still God. We are still just His creation. However He chooses to do things is His business, not ours. However, He still loves us. I truly believe that He warned me before it happened so that I would know that the miscarriage didn’t happen because of anything that I had done wrong. He had decided, for whatever reason, to allow this story to be part of my life. God is sovereign, in control, and on the throne, no matter what.

I still trust Him. More than that, I still trust in His timing. I may not have my baby yet, but I choose to believe in my sovereign God. Have I gotten pregnant since the miscarriage? No. Will I have a baby this year? No. Do I know when it will happen? No. But I do know this: The same God that gave me that pregnancy, took it away, and sustained me with His incredible peace through it all, is the same God that will choose the exact moment when my child is conceived. He is in control, and I don’t have to concern myself with the “When” or “Why” of life. I simply trust Him and let Him do His work. I am standing on the promise of “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” I may not always see the path, but I trust that God is leading me down the right one day-by-day.

Whatever you are facing today, let my story encourage you to stand firm on the knowledge that God LOVES you and is doing what is BEST for you. We may not always see and understand, but it isn’t our job to see or understand. That’s His job. Our job is simply this: TRUST. Trust that He has a plan. Trust that that plan is for our good. Trust that He will complete it all. Let that trust be what carries you through the darkest moments and the brightest hours. Let that trust be strengthened by your circumstance.

To close with the words of Paul, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

With loving prayers for all whom this letter reaches, 

Ariqua

The Book of James

Reading the book of James is a little like listening to a sermon with multiple points and no outline. Trying to read it directly after reading Paul's very organized epistles is almost frustrating for me. Nevertheless, each point in the book is powerful and there are key lessons to be learned from this very short New Testament epistle. I have chosen one point from each chapter to focus on for this blog post. Doing this was difficult as there are many verses that beg to be shared. Here are the verses I have chosen:

James 1:2-4: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

There is nothing more humbling than being tempted. Sometimes, I feel so guilty after facing temptation, even if I did not give into it. It is interesting to me that Satan will bring a spirit of condemnation, even if I did not give into his ploy. Temptation is a great struggle for Christians. We face it just as every other human. We are forced to make choices between right and wrong. We are forced to decide if we will tell the truth or lie. We are forced to decided if we will love or hate. Being a Christian doesn't take away your choices; it doesn't mean you make the right choice every time.

When I read this verse, it makes me ask myself, "How does temptation teach me patience?" I think there are probably several ways, but the first thing that comes to my mind is that it teaches me patience for myself. Temptation forces me to stop holding myself to perfection that I haven't achieved. I am not saying that I face temptations that I am unable to fight (1 Cor. 10:13). I am saying that temptations teach me to have patience with my spiritual growth and to not expect everything to be perfect because I prayed today.

Another way temptation teaches us patience is by forcing us to put down our lust. You may want that position you are applying for TODAY, and maybe if you lied on your application, you could get it. That's a temptation. When we refuse to obey that lust, we force ourselves to wait for something we want "right now", which is patience. It gives God time to bring about his "perfect work" and to leave us "wanting nothing."

James 2:14-18: "What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, "Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;" notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doeth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, "Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith BY my works."

In chapter 2 we shift gears very rapidly. We go from discussing temptation to discussing faith and works. I love the way the passage above lays it out for us. Sometimes, it helps to just look at an example. When you read the passage above, you can see the ridiculousness of it. "Go! Be warm and filled!" and never give the pour soul a scrap of clothing or food. Remember that the outward expression of your faith in Jesus Christ is found in loving your neighbor as yourself. Would you let yourself go hungry? Would you let yourself be cold?

James 3:17: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."

Chapter 3 changes gears again and talks about the tongue. It challenges us to refrain from complaining with the same mouth we use to bless God. It points out the hypocrisy of such actions. Then it finishes with the Scripture above. Do you want heavenly wisdom in your situation? Here's how:

Come to the situation with a pure heart. Give both sides the benefit of the doubt.

Next, be peaceable, gentle, and easily intreated as you handle the situation. Remember, you are not God. You are not "large and in charge." Your lack of self-pride shows Heavenly wisdom.

Finally, be full of mercy and good fruits, don't show partiality, and don't counsel others with hypocrisy. 

If we could remember this Scripture when a friend calls us for advice or to share a juicy piece of gossip, we would be much better off.

James 4:12: "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?"

I chose this Scripture because it is one of the most over-used Scriptures of the Bible. Almost all groups who are living in sin misuse this Scripture and scream, "Don't judge me!" While I agree that this Scripture is telling us that we are not the ultimate say and that we do not decide who goes to Hell and who goes to Heaven, it must be used in conjunction with Scriptures that teach about certain lifestyles. You can grab this one Scripture and say, "Ha! Only God can judge me!" However, you neglect to notice the rest of the Bible where God states very clearly how He feels about sin. Remember, Hebrews 10:31: "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

James 5:8: "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

Finally, I end with a Scripture that called to me as soon as I read it. I, like so many others, am looking at the world around me with apprehension and concern. I am concerned by this election. I am concerned by the state of many countries around the world. I am concerned about the frequent displays of violence and blatant division in our human race. I know that this means that the coming of the Lord is at hand, and that knowledge both fills me with excitement and dread.

As I study the signs, I must remember the Scripture above. "Stablish your hearts." Remember Who is in control and don't let fear influence your decisions. He is coming. He draweth nigh.

Are you ready?

What are the Requirements?

Life has requirements. We know a lot of them up front. Job requirements are listed out and gone over before the job is taken. Legal requirements are explained and understood. Financial requirements are evaluated before a home is purchased or credit is given. Activities have fitness requirements. Rides have height requirementents. Parents have age requirements.

A requirement simply asks this, "Do you have what it takes to be involved?" It asks you to take a look at who you are and weigh yourself against what it will cost. Can you pay that? Can you give that?

Sometimes, we are quick to confirm that we meet those requirements in our pride and desires. We hurry through the roller coaster line without stopping to check height at the gate. We borrow money for a new car without checking our budget to see if we can afford it. We apply for jobs we aren't qualified for because the pay is attractive. As kids, we jumped at the chance to do something with an older group to prove that we could handle ourselves.

If we do not consider the requirements, our decisions can cost us a lot.

There are also things that we are not told up front. We are not told at the beginning of the year how much we will owe in taxes at the end of it. A police officer does not hold up a sign as he pulls up behind you with the amount of money the fine for the ticket will be. Many times, a doctor's office cannot tell you up front how much a procedure will cost you, before or after insurance.

Even in my short adulthood, I have learned to fear all three of those examples. I do not like not knowing what is required of me. I want to be told up front what something will cost.

God asks us to walk by faith, and He doesn't list out what will happen in our lives in advance. However, He is not unfair or unreasonable. He does tell us in advance what pleasing Him will cost.

Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you? To act justly. To love mercy. To walk humbly with your God."

I like to call verses like this "Sum-up Scriptures." They take philsophies and ideas that are lengthily explained throughout the rest of the Bible and just say it. "This is what the Lord requires of you."

On the surface, it looks too easy. In fact, when you consider what God has done to have this relationship with us, it is too easy. However, as my pastor is fond of reminding us, "The harder you live for God, the easier it is." While it takes only a few seconds to read that sentence, a close examination of it is in order. After all, it is God's requirements of us.

Act Justly

This speaks to our outward actions and inward thoughts. It asks us to search us. It asks us to put our own hearts and minds under a microscope and evaluate our motives and incentives for doing what we do. Are we just? Are we fair? Are we honest? God sees every decision we make and every thought we think. He is simply asking us to take a hard look at each one. This other Sum-Up Scripture applies here as well:

Titus 2:12: "We should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."

Don't get your cues on how to respond from how others act. You don't decide how to respond to a situation because of what your neighbor did. "I'm going to go burn down her house because she burned down mine!" NO! Your actions procede from your heart. YOU choose how you act! Choose to act justly.

Love Mercy

This is where the "others" come into play. Though we search our hearts and act justly, not everyone around us will do the same. We still must respond with mercy. We must treat others the way we want to be treated. We must be kind. We must be forgiving. We must shove the indignation that rises within us back down, remember we are all family, and treat those around us with respect.

I would like to say that this "Love Mercy" command does not mean that you allow people to walk all over you and you never stand up for yourself. That is not "acting justly" to yourself. People's actions should have consequences. Here's a scenario for example:

Friend A and Friend B are close. Friend A develops a drug problem and goes through all of their money. Friend B knows that Friend A is living on the street and gives Friend A money to buy groceries. Friend A doesn't buy groceries. Instead, Friend A buys drugs. Friend B finds out, but says nothing. Friend A then repeatedly comes to Friend B for more money.

Most of us would immediately say, "Friend B! Stop giving them more money! You're just enabling them!"  We would be correct, however, the black and white we see right now becomes more gray when it is our friend or family member who is using us. We struggle to find that balance between MERCY and ENABLING. May I quietly suggest that if you find yourself unable to find the line, ask your pastor for help.

Moving on.

Walk Humbly With Your God

In my twenty-two years of living for God, I have learned this: it's a daily walk. There's never a day that I wake up and say, "Ah, I have arrived!" Until I reach Heaven, there is no day that I don't have to get up and walk.

So first we must walk: a dogged, committed, daily, whatever-it-takes walk.

We must also walk HUMBLY. Our biggest enemy is pride. One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis is this: "Forget your pride. What have you to be proud of?" Too often, we find ourselves getting puffed up about inconsequential things. Too often, we allow pride to come in the back door in forms we do not immediately recognize. 

Competition: I'M as good as they are! 

Anger: How dare they do that to ME! 

Judgmentalism: I would have done it like this!

Self-consciousness: I can't let them see ME like this.

Fear: What if I can't measure up?

Each of these problems stem from pride. Maybe that is why, of all the adverbs God could have used to describe this walk, HE chose "Humbly." Keep your pride in check.

Finally, we must also walk WITH God. 

Not in front of Him. 

Not behind Him. 

Not away from Him. 

Putting your feet where His feet are leading. 

Being involved in what He is involved in (MINISTRY!).

Caring about what He cares about. 

Holding tightly to His hand through it all. 

We cannot get distracted and foget Who we are walking beside. We cannot forget Who brought us this far and will take us farther still. We must keep the main thing the main thing and not allow distractions to pull us away from what really matters.

So, can you meet His requirements? Only you can search your heart and answer that question. Only you can decide to put your hand to the plough and not look back (Luke 9:62). The beautiful thing about serving God is that you are not required to do this alone. Remember, He is walking with you. He is both our lawyer (advocate) and our judge. He will not only defend you, but He will judge in your favor. You must, however, keep walking with your hand gripping tightly to His.

Free from Sin!

Salvation is such a beautiful gift! The way that God covered all bases and made sure that no question we could think of was left unanswered is incredible to me! Every time I read the Bible I find something else about His plan that I hadn't noticed before. I discover another piece of the huge quilt God has made and called "Salvation." The other day, that piece was this passage from Romans:

Romans 6:6-11: "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in he that liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So many times in my life I have fallen into the trap of believing that I am powerless against sin in my life. I hear Satan whispering to me in moments of temptation, "You are flesh. You were born into sin. You cannot fight this. It is your nature. There is no victory." Satan uses half-truths and forms them into complete lies. In truth, we are born in sin and shapen in iniquity. (Psalm 51:5) It is true that our flesh is naturally attracted to sinful things and that we do not have to learn to lust after evil. (Psalm 103:14) However, God did not just come to this Earth and die to cover our sins whenever we sin. His blood is not just our Bandaid. It is so much more!
When we read the passage above, we can form these equations in our mind:

Dead through repentance = dead to our sinful ways = free to live a new life

Filled with the Holy Ghost = filled with the Power to overcome sin

As Paul states above, if you are dead you are free from sin. When Adam fell, he transferred control of his desires from God to Sin. He allowed Sin to reign as king in his mind and life. The only way to be free from Sin's control is to die. You cannot do enough charity work or memorize enough Scriptures. In order for Sin to lose its grip on you, you must die.

When Jesus Christ became the Living Gospel, he showed us the way to Salvation. His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection are the pattern by which we are saved. Through repentance, we die. Through Baptism, we are buried. Through the Holy Ghost, we are resurrected. If we have followed this pattern, how can sin still reign as king in our minds and lives? It cannot. We are dead, and therefore, we are loosed from Sin's grip.

Buried deep inside each of us is the desire to do and say what is right. If we do not snuff out that conscience, as we call it, it will correct us and chastise us when we do the wrong thing. God uses that voice to help us curb our sinful appetites. We cannot, however, be free from that sinful appetite until we die. While some choose to die physically because they cannot handle their sinful appetite anymore, Christians choose to accept the death of Jesus Christ and die spiritually. As Adam transferred his desires from God to Sin, Christians make the conscious effort and choice to transfer their desires back from Sin to God. It is not an easy task. However, it is completely achievable. As Paul states in the next few verses:

Romans 6:12-13: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

In other words, don't yield that control back to Sin after you have given it to God. Believe that you are dead to those ways, and combat Satan's attacks with the Holy Ghost. Use your new life in Christ to be an instrument in the kingdom of Heaven. Idle hands are the devil's playthings. Keep busy doing things for the kingdom and don't give yourself time to obey the lusts of the sin.

Only through God's provision of Salvation can any Christian hope to make that transfer, and only though His renewed mercies are we able to get back up after we fall. I want to encourage you that you are more than just an average, sinful human formed from dust. You have been remade and reborn, and Jesus Christ lives on the inside of you! Walk in purity in His power today!

Hearing God's Voice

Reading through the Book of Acts this last month, the story of Philip being translated to the desert to meet the Ethiopian eunuch stuck out to me. I don't remember every noticing the wording in Acts 8:29-35. It says: 

"Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. And Phili ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgement was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."

God knew when Isaiah wrote those words hundreds of years before that that man would read them in the desert that day. God knew that Philip would be able to use that Scripture to preach unto him Jesus. (After all, it was Isaiah!!)

My dad and I used to play a game when we rode in the car together. We would try to find patterns in each license plate we saw. For instance, the license plate 84404. One would notice that each numeral is the difference between the two previous. In other words: 8-4=4; 4-4=0; 4-0=4. This was our game, and on occasion, we would each see a different patter, sparking a discussion about the intricacies of the human mind.

Reading through the Bible can sometimes, in a small way, be like plaything that game. When reading the Scriptures, I sometimes have to stop and ask myself, "Ok, what is God trying to say here?" The Holy Ghost inside of me leads me into all truth (John 16:13), but I am still required to use the intellect and understanding that God has given me in order to understand what I am reading.

For instance, I was asked by a fellow student at Texas Bible College why I thought the geneologies were listed and saved in the Bible and why it could possibly be important for the New Testament church to read that. My answer was, "Maybe God was trying to remind us that every single person is inportant to Him and that He knows us each by name."

Being able to hear Jesus' voice while reading the Scriptures is very important. It is also important to be able to hear His voice when going through our day. Sometimes we don't hear from God through Scripture. Sometimes it is something simple. (See this song by 33Miles)

The Bible says in Romans 1:20:

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

While this is talking about nature, it could also be said about living our daily lives. Fine-tuning our ears to hear His voice in the every day events will help us keep Him first in our minds. Some examples of this would be finding a coupon in the grocery store for an item you were about to buy, or cathching every light green on your way to work, or perhaps catching a red light and then coming up on an accident that you may have been part of if you hadn't been delayed. I had a God-moment like this the other day when I was able to hear my hometown's Christian radio station on the way to work (3 hours away from the tower!). I believe God delights in doing little things to remind us of His love so that we can more clearly hear His voice. When we stop to notice these God-Moments, we truly are "without excuse" as the Scripture above puts it.

The final lesson that I took from the story of Philip is that we need to not only be able to hear Jesus, but we also need to be able to preach Jesus. I am speaking of preaching from Scriptures. If someone knows you are a Christian and asks you about a certain Scripture in the Bible, you should do your best to preach Jesus to them from that Scripture or Bible story. You should also be able to preach Jesus from YOUR story. You should testify of Jesus' grace and provision throughout whatever situation in which you find yourself. You should be able to "preach Jesus" from unanswered prayers, hard situations, and times of great need, JUST AS MUCH as you preach Jesus when you land the job of your dreams, have a miracle baby, and have the best day of your life. Jesus allows you to hear His voice so that you can BE His voice to others. Remember, Peter's (and our) calling from the Lord was, "Feed my sheep." We are His sheep and we must learn to hear His voice for ourselves, but others around us who are not familiar with His voice need us to preach to them so that they might hear. As Romans 10:14b asks:

"How shall they hear without a preacher?"

The Ethiopian in the story in Acts was reading the words of God, but he needed someone to preach to him so that he might hear the VOICE of God.

Be Philip today and preach Jesus to someone. The world around you is teeming with opportunities to do it! You just have to choose one and go!

Shield Maidens

Our history is riddled with the idea of women breaking tradition and secretly becoming soldiers. From Mulan to Roza Shanina , stories abound of women who broke protocol and fought for the cause in which they believed. Perhaps the most literary term for these ladies comes from Norse history. Women have been exhumed and found to be buried with swords and shields. This has caused historians to look deeper into the literature of that time period. They have found a word that seems to depict these warrior women: Shield Maidens. The term “Shield Maiden” seems to depict a strong, yet humble, woman who knows her duty to her family and does it with the elegance and grace befitting a maiden.

In the world we live in today, we are facing a different kind of battle front. We are no longer discouraged from joining military ranks. Instead, we are discouraged from taking part in a battle that everyone seems to have forgotten. Our men are not fighting this battle. Our children are not fighting this battle. Our political leaders are not fighting this battle. It has been forgotten and pushed away as a “thing of the past” and “irrelevant.” This battle front needs shield maidens who will stand up and bear arms against the enemy. This battle front is not a physical battle. It is a spiritual one.

How can we fight in this battle? How can we be shield maidens in this realm?

A shield is a unique weapon. It is used primarily for defense, but it is also used, at times, for the offensive. If you have seen any sort of fencing, you will see that when the sword is knocked from a combatant’s hands, he lifts his shield to protect his body. His assailant, thinking he is now defenseless, begins to swing at him wildly, hoping to crush him beneath the fury of his blows. He has forgotten, however, that the shield is large, blunt, and usually quite heavy. When swung with strength and power, the shield becomes a heavy club, able of knocking a man back and away from its carrier. It is time for us, as women of God, to pick up our shields and carry them into this battle. It is time to use them to protect our families from the attack of this world and its prince, Satan. It is time to use them to fight back when our weapons have fallen from our hands.

Do you feel powerless as you watch your family fall to pieces? Do you feel hopeless as you watch your husband sink into frustrated depression?

It is time to pick up your shields, women of God! It is time to be a Shield Maiden.

Our shield is prayer. It is covering our husband, children, community, neighbors, pastor, church, and decisions in a shield called prayer. Spiritual protection has been lost too long in our society. The Shield of Prayer is no longer protecting our homes from the attack of Satan. The Shield of Prayer is missing from our decision making. The Shield of Prayer is our first form of defense when we feel hopeless. The Shield of Prayer will cover us when it looks like all is lost.

Our shield is faith. It is believing when all is dark. My pastor recently preached a message about the shield of faith that shredded my view of the shield. He shared how when Paul wrote about the shield of faith in Ephesians 4:16, he was speaking of the "Scutum Shield" of the Roman army. These shields were about 3.5 feet tall, 16 inches across, and weighed about 22 pounds. It was an advantage over the enemies of the Roman soldier because of its size. The shield was large enough for a full grown man to hunker behind when arrows, javelins, and swords were thrust at him. However, when you are covering yourself with something that large, it can sometimes be hard to see around it. We may find ourselves “quenching all the fiery darts of the wicked,” but we are unable to see it happening because we are hunkered down behind a shield. The Shield of Faith impedes our view, but the Shield of Faith is believing that even though we cannot see what God is doing, He is working all to our good. A Shield Maiden of God will hold high her shield of faith when her family has lost faith. Her faith may be the last thing holding her family together, but her Shield of Faith will not let her give up hope.

Our shield is hope. Tied closely with faith, this hope inside of us is what keeps our faith strong. It is the constant watching with positivity for God to work out our situation. It is believing because of something inside of you that says, “it will happen” and not because something visible says, “It is happening.” The Shield of Hope is what sustains our faith to keep believing, no matter what. Our Shield of Hope is what gives us patience with God, our husbands, and our children. We hope for what we see not and with patience, we wait for it.

We are called to be warriors, Shield Maidens, who will carry our shields into war. We are called to protect and strengthen our families. When the sword is knocked from our hands and the wind is knocked from our sails, we must not quit. We must hold high our shield!