Amazing Friday

More important than your birthday, more important than Thanksgiving, more important than Christmas…even more important than Easter….Good Friday is the single most important day of a Christian’s life.  Why do we not celebrate the day that Jesus chose to DIE FOR US? 

It should be called Great Friday or Amazing Friday or something that reflects what happened on that day!!

He was born at Christmas…but He could have changed his mind and chose not to die.  He conquered death at Easter….BUT 3 days before that… He was beaten beyond recognition, mocked, cursed, spit on, kicked, punched, and hung upon a cross…

all for you and me.   

The more I learn about Jesus, the more I appreciate the gift He gave us.  He didn’t just give us the gift of eternal life. He gave us the gift of an intercessor, a confidant, a healer, a protector and a friend.  I can’t even imagine living in the time of the Old Testament without Jesus there to stand in the gap for me.  His love and forgiveness are beyond our comprehension.  

   

So today, on Good Friday, don’t forget to honor the ONE that gave his life to save yours.

He deserves the highest honor and

 praise that can be given. 

Phl 2:8-11 NIV - "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of

 Jesus

 every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

 to the glory of God the Father."

March 21: The Day That Changed My Life (2013 Version)

I was only 19 years old on March 21, 1990, the day that God gave me the most amazing gift…

a beautiful baby boy. 

The entire course of my life was changed in the moment that I first held him in my arms.  My life was no longer just about me…I had this little, tiny person depending on me for everything. 

I had always thought that I would go to college and do big things…but raising our son took the place of everything.  I like to say that I went to the college of life!  I had to work, learn how to cook and clean, pay bills, take care of a baby and 10 million other things…and I wasn’t really even old enough to be considered an adult! Praise the Lord we had parents that were always willing to help us, yet still encourage us stand on our own.

More important to me than any college degree or high paying career is the accomplishment that I feel when I look at my son.  He is a good man and a good husband.  He is loved by everyone that meets him.  He is a hard-working, God-fearing, compassionate man.  And I know that some day, he will be an amazing Dad.

Do I ever have regrets about what could have been?  No, I never do.  I had never planned to have a child so young, but God worked it all out for good. (Romans 8:28) One day, when Cody figured out how young we were when he was born, he asked me if he was a “mistake.”  I told him NO WAY; he was a “surprise”…an unexpected gift that I didn’t even know I wanted until I got it!  

No child is ever a mistake.

The bible says, “Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.” Psalm 127:3 NLT

Happy Birthday, Cody.  I love you more than words can express. Thank you, Lord, for that special gift you gave to us. We have always cherished him, and we always will!  When I look at Cody and our daughter, Maddie, I know that there is nothing in this world that could have made me happier and more fulfilled than being their mother. 

 That is what God put me on this earth to do…

it is my first calling.      

Put Him On

Last week, during our Wednesday night Youth Devotion, my husband read 1 Thessalonians 5:8.

“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

  I know I have seen that scripture many times before, but this time two little words JUMPED OUT at me.

“putting on”

I began to ponder the meaning of that phrase “put on”.  If you have to “put something on” that means you were not born with it or it wasn’t originally a part of you. For example:  We have to put on clothes, because we are born naked.  Look at Mr. Potato Head (silly example, but effective).  When you open the package…he is just a potato.  You have to “put on” everything else. 

So I began the journey of figuring out the “putting on”.

 

Why would we need to “put on” FAITH?  Aren’t we born with it?  Not according to Paul in Romans 10:17 – “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  How can we have faith in something we have never even HEARD about?  We must read the word of God and we must hear it preached in order to have faith.  We have to PUT IT ON. 

What about LOVE?  Surely we are born with that.  But Paul speaks of our true nature in Galatians 5:19-21 – “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” Our sin nature that we are born with does not include love.     We have to PUT IT ON.

 

And SALVATION…We are definitely not born with that.  Act 4:12 tells us – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Of course this is referring to Jesus.  John 3:17-18 – “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” We have to PUT IT ON.

Why do people struggle so much with their faith?  Why is it so hard for them to love others?  Why do people question their salvation…or deny that they even need salvation?  Because these things are not natural within ourselves: We were not born with the capability to understand them.  We were not born with peace, joy, hope, or self-control either. 

We have to PUT THESE THINGS ON.

Galatians 5:16-17  – “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

 They are not in us.  They are only found in Christ.

Galatians 5:22-24  – “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things!  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.”

Are you struggling?  PUT HIM ON  Are you weary?  PUT HIM ON

  Are you worried?  PUT HIM ON  Are you distressed?  PUT HIM ON

 Are you weak?  PUT HIM ON  Are you lost?  PUT HIM ON

“You say… ‘I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!’  And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”  Revelation 3:17

“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”  Romans 13:14

We have to put HIM on.

Our Love Story

Once upon a time, there was a little brown-haired girl from Texas and a little sandy-haired boy from Louisiana. 

When they were teenagers, the young boy moved to Texas, and began attending school at James Bowie in Simms. 

The young girl attended school at New Boston. 

Every morning the boy would go to the Korner Store (a little store right at the crossroads between Simms and New Boston) before school. 

The young girl's mother worked at the Korner Store, and over time, she just fell in love with the sweet young man from Louisiana.

She would go home and tell her daughter how handsome,

 sweet and polite the young man was. 

 And she would tell the young man how beautiful her daughter was.

So, it came to pass, that the young girl was bored one summer day.  Her mother suggested,

 "Why don't you give that young man that comes

 into the store a call?"   

She called him.  He just happened to be bored, too.

That was in August 1988...and by September they were "IN LOVE"

It was their Senior year of High School.  There were no cell phones or text messages....no computers, no Facebook....but there were lots of love notes...

There were two Senior Proms...he couldn't go to hers, she couldn't go to his...but he could stop by to pose for a picture...

They graduated, with big dreams for the future that included

baseball and college...

But quickly decided that one could not live without the other...

so the two became one September 16, 1989.

And 24 years later...the love story continues!

Treading on the Heights

When I was a little girl, I would spend my summers running and playing on the dirt roads around our farm house in the “country”.  Looking back now, it is so funny to me that our “Summer Home” (which was a trailer house in the middle of the woods) was about seven miles from our big house “in town.”   It seemed so far away back then!  We would stay at the “Summer Home” so that my parents would be close to the garden and the hayfields.  Then during the winter, we would go back to the big house where we would be closer to school.  

I remember those first few days of summer, trying to walk on the rocky dirt roads with bare feet. (I hated wearing shoes!!)  The bottoms of my feet would get so very sore, and I would have to walk on the road a while, then over on the shoulder of grass for a while. (But I refused to wear shoes for some reason??)   After a few days of running back and forth from my house to my cousin’s house, my feet would be as tough as nails (and probably very dirty)!

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4 (NIV)

By the end of the summer, I didn’t have to walk on the grassy shoulder of the road anymore…I could happily run and play on the rocky dirt with my toughened feet…no problem! 

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.”  Habakkuk 3:19 (NIV)

It seems like everywhere I turn lately God is showing me something about faith.  Our Sunday school lessons have been about faith, our women’s ministry just started a new study about faith, there was a message at the teen conference we attended last week about faith…

“because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”

perseverance = endurance = patience

Just like walking on those rocky dirt roads toughened up my tender feet and prepared me for my summer journeys…the trials that I face today will toughen up my tender faith…and prepare me for my life journeys.   

“let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything”

Without those rocks, my feet would have stayed soft and weak.  Without trials, our faith will stay weak.  We have to trust that at the end of our “summer” of trials…we WILL be tougher, more mature, more complete. 

“he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the HEIGHTS”

With our faith strengthened…He takes us higher…from the depths below…He lifts us up…He sets us free to happily run the race that is set before us….with bare feet, toughened like the feet of a deer through trials.   

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”

Be joyful…He is preparing you for the HEIGHTS.

 

 Listen to this song: Ever Lifting, Christy Nockels  Have a Faith-Filled Day!!!!  

My Job Moment (the man…not the place of employment)

January 13, 2013, my husband and I filled in to teach the adult Sunday School class…a lesson out of Habakkuk.  Basically, the lesson could have been titled, “Why Do Good Things Happen to Bad People?”    Habakkuk was tired of seeing the wicked prosper.  He cried out to the Lord to step in and put an end to the injustice.  We looked at how the Lord spoke to Habakkuk and told him to wait and see…He had a plan and it was worth waiting for. 

Then our discussion went to the opposite of this, “Why  Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?”  We spoke about how, in the past, things had happened in our lives that God had worked together for our good, even though we couldn’t see it at the time.  We discussed that our lives are a tapestry and sometimes we only see the “ugly” when God sees the beautiful picture on the other side.  I came away from that lesson feeling that, no matter what, my faith could not be shaken.  I felt so STRONG.

The next day, January 14, we found out that my husband, Chris, along with many others, would most likely be losing their jobs in the next few months.  STILL STRONG!  I know God is in control and nothing can shake me. 

The next Monday, January 21, I hurt my back trying to do boot camp exercises.  I was in very bad pain, and could barely walk for several days last week.  STILL STRONG!  Satan would not get me down.  I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who gives me strength. 

And then Thursday night, January 24…my 16 year old daughter, Maddie,  tells me she has a lump in her breast.  I assure her that it is probably nothing…and make a doctor’s appointment just to be on the safe side.  We couldn’t see the doctor until Monday…so I had ALL weekend to try to stay positive.  SORTA STRONG…until my mind began to dwell just a moment too long on the “What ifs” and then progressed to “Why us”.  

I know that this doesn’t compare to what Job felt…but I can truly say that by Sunday afternoon, with the pain in my back, the start of a head cold coming on, Chris’ uncertain job situation and then Maddie’s possible ordeal she could be facing…I had a moment where I just felt so incredibly weak.  NOT STRONG AT ALL! 

Yesterday, I went back and read Habakkuk, and what the Lord said to him, “Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” Hab 1:5  This reminded me that God has a plan, even though we may not see it. 

I also went back and visited old Job…and found this in Job 42 “Then Job replied to the LORD: "I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, 'Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?' It is I--and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, 'Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.'  I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.  I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."  It took everything that Job went through to make him SEE the Lord and KNOW His goodness.   

For now, Chris still has a job and we are trusting God to provide a new one, if need be.  Maddie’s doctor’s appointment went fine…nothing to worry about.  Everything was normal and she is perfectly healthy.  My back even feels much better today…I think it is on the mend!

God is good and He is strong….so I don’t always have to be.  Forgive me Lord for my moment of weakness and ignorance.  Your ways are far too wonderful for me to comprehend.  Thank you for the little Job moments that remind me of these things.          

It's OK to Ask "WHY?"

All of my life I have been under the impression that we "do not question God".  But today I realized that my mindset about this was wrong.  Even Jesus himself asked “why?” when he was suffering on the cross. (Matthew 27:46) 

As I lay in my bed this morning, pouring my heart out in anguish to God and shedding every tear my body could produce, I did the unthinkable:  I asked Him “WHY?”.  “Why did my friend, who loved her family so much and was such a sweet, wonderful person, have to die? Her children need her!  There are mothers out there who abuse their children (that they never wanted in the first place) and they get to live. Please, Lord, help me wrap my brain around this.  I just don’t understand WHY.”

And guess what?  He didn’t get mad at me. He didn’t strike me down.  He answered me…in a way that I could totally understand and relate to through my relationship with my children.  He reminded me that He is my father.  He loves me just like I love my children and He parents me like I would parent my children.   

Then I began to contemplate and understand the comparison…Sometimes my children are going to ask me “why?” when I make a decision that they don’t like or understand.  Most of the time I can give them an answer, but sometimes I just have to say, “Because I said so.”  They may be upset at first, but they eventually get passed it because they trust me.  They know that I love them and they know that I would do anything for them.  They know that I have their best interests at heart, even if they can’t see it.    And when I say, “Because I said so”, they can move on and accept that I know what is best.  In the long run, they may even look back and understand why I made that decision at the time.

There was my answer.  “Because I said so.”  It may not have been the answer I was looking for, but I can accept that answer because I understand how very much He loves me and that He would do anything for me.  I know that He always has my best interests at heart, even if I can’t see it.  I can get up and move forward with the understanding that He knows what is best. 

What a blessed assurance to know that it is OK to ask my Heavenly Father “why?” and believe that He will lovingly answer and give me peace.  And you know what?  He will do the same for all of you.  Jesus said this right before he returned to Heaven, “But the Advocate (the Comforter), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”    John 14:26-27 NIV

This side of Heaven, we may never know the answers to all of the why’s…but we can know the One that holds all of the answers.  

 “Pain, tragedy and death will come. But joy, comfort, love and peace have already won.  So many things in this world, we just can’t comprehend. But our Father always knows what’s best, so we have to trust in Him.”  (from the song, It’s OK to Ask Why)