December 31, 2014 1 Timothy 1:13. No Matter the Cost

1 Timothy 1:13

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecuted and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

Was once....but am no more.

Oh how I love Paul's story....a story of such redemption.  A story of a man so totally sold out for what he believed to be truth that he dismissed and criticized the actual Truth.  He was so loyal to his cause that he persecuted and killed for it.  He thought he was doing rightful work and he did it with all he had.  He sought and killed Christians.  Until the day that God revealed to him the Truth, and on that day, he was humble enough to accept that he had been dreadfully wrong and changed.

Now , we aren't talking about a simple disagreement , misunderstanding wrong... A few hurt feelings and dirty looks wrong ....  We are talking about an entire career, an entire life-cause wrong.  Paul's life mission at that time was to rid the earth of all Christians by whatever means necessary. He wasn't even Paul yet but rather was known by Saul..a man greatly feared by all Jews.  

Until that fateful day, God literally blinded him.  Saul had an encounter with the One True God that day.  An encounter that immediately changed his life. An encounter that he chose to embrace.

And this is what I love about Paul....

He immediately recognized the error of his ways and changed...radically.  He turned away from his current position of both notoriety and stature and became just as sold out for converting for Christianity as he had just days before killing them.  When he came face to face with Truth, he aligned himself with Truth even if it meant publicly acknowledging his whole life up until that point was a lie. He changed even though it meant alienating himself from those who revered him and joining those who feared him.  He stepped out alone.

However in his heart, that didn't seem to matter.  What mattered was his allegiance to the Truth.  It didn't matter that he might be publicly scorned, what his friends would think...."how he could save face"..."how it could be spun to make it politically acceptable"...  What mattered was simply the Truth, no matter the cost.

May we all be so humble that when encountered with Truth we instantly align ourselves with Him.  We don't look left or right...we don't see how it will "fit" in this world nor the cost but we choose Him.  May we not ever be so proud that we stumble over the wrongness of our ways.

December 29, 2014. 1 Timothy 1:12 Don't Overlook the Privilege

1 Timothy 1:12

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service.

Have we forgotten the privilege?

We toil our days away.  Quickly, one day blends into the next.  Day after day....as if they were endless. 

We serve half-heartedly.  Initially with enthusiasm that quickly wanes to disgruntled obligation.  We put in our time. We serve in our slot counting down the minutes and seconds for the appointed time to end.  Hoping the sermon today isn't a long one.....and satan weaves lies that we have been taken advantage of yet again.

Or, maybe we hide in the sea of blurred faces and lives always waiting for someone to reach out to us, yet, always staying just beyond reach.  Trying not to get involved, yet, wanting to be involved.  And as we watch, we observe others being where we want to be, with friendships that we long to have and satan reminds us that we are not worthy...that we have been given a front row seat to observe only.

Have we forgotten?  Our strength, our favor comes from Him...and Him alone.  He has seen our faithfulness and has appointed us, yes us, to His service.  An appointment from the Most High....what an honor.  

An appointment that comes from He who is all-knowing.  He who sees the purpose of where He has placed us...even when we do not.  In a world that focuses on titles, accomplishments and notoriety, we have been placed in position by the One who sees what is most important....eternal value.

So that sobbing preschooler, that needy neighbor, that annoying person standing beside you (working with you, talking to you , living with you)....perhaps, you have been placed there for a reason....for a purposeful reason.  Instead of looking at each of our encounters with people as opportunities to enrich our lives, we need to look past ourselves and see what we can do to enrich theirs.  

How can we serve Him instead of waiting for ourselves to be served? 

It's not easy.  It is a completely different mindset than most of us have been taught, observed and lived...but it is a privilege not to be taken lightly nor exploited but rather cherished.

December 29, 2014 1 Timothy 1:9-11 Truth

1 Timothy 1:9-11

We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for the lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those that kill their father or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which He entrusted to me.

Sound doctrine.  

No ifs, no maybes, no sometimes but sound.  It either is or it isn't. No middle ground...no room for political correctness nor does everyone win...sound doctrine.

We've moved into a world view that everyone, as long as they have good intentions, could be right.  We live in a society that rejects black and white yet embraces many shades of gray (literally).  Any thing goes...and if it doesn't then shame on the one who stops it.  We base our actions on the measuring stick of the world...instead of from the Word.  

And there is a difference. 

The world says my human desires whatever they might be should be fulfilled....no matter the cost.  The world says that I deserve to be happy, for I have earned it...no matter the cost.  The world says that I am the ruler of my world...no mater the cost.  As long as I follow the rules of the land, I am master of my domain.  I am in control....it doesn't matter who gets hurt in the process or aftermath.  

But, I am not worthy of any of that.  I fall under an authority that is far greater than any authority in this world....an authority that varies greatly from this world.   The authority of the Most High...  From His grace, we find ourselves in a much different position than the world has pitched to us....  We find that "the last is first and the first is last" mentality.  We are told that the meek will inherit the earth...not the last man standing but the meek.  Blessed are the poor in spirit and those who mourn, the merciful, pure in heart and the peacemakers.  And blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness or are even persecuted for it...for they will be fulfilled and will find that theirs is the kingdoms of heaven.  From the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals not how it should be...but how it is.

This is how it is...it doesn't matter if we choose to partake or not, doesn't matter if we affirm or not...this is how it is. And for those that are believers, this is not a game of multiple choice where we can choose to abide by a few and neglect the rest.  This is the total package.

A package that is in direct opposition to what this world dangles in front of us.  Direct opposition from what satan's lies would spin.  Direct opposition to what our fleshy human desires would seek.... Yet, perfectly aligned with our soul.  Perfectly aligned with that part of us that will never die...whether in heaven or hell.  That part.  The part of us that will never find true joy or peace until we are perfectly aligned with Him.

In a world of gray, there is Truth....always, there is Truth.

December 28, 2014 1 Timothy 1:8. Just Come....As You Are

1 Timothy 1:8

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.

The law.  A list of dos and don'ts.  Mandates. Rules and regulations.

In this world, we look upon them as a giant chasm between us and God.  Added with satan's lies which quickly point out that the list is far to long and hefty, we know that we will never get to the other side...each rule separating us from whom our very soul yearns.  We look at our current lives against the backdrop of the law and we are quickly discouraged at the distance we must cover.  

We look at ourselves compared to those that are seemingly able to keep the law.  There they go with their perfect marriages, perfect children, lives and jobs.  They must have something that we don't have.  They had parents that loved and supported them.  They had the perfect schooling and friends...grew up on the right side of town and sit in the right pew at church.  They live blessed and easy lives that encourage them to follow the law.  Yes?

Or maybe we try.  We try to follow the law and do make some progress.  We attend church long enough for the ushers to greet us by name and the pastor to recognize our face.  Maybe we even commit to serve, hoping this will help our chasm to shorten.  We stop watching questionable movies and partaking of things in excess and we feel our chests swell as we look back and see what we have done....only to look ahead and see that the chasm is just as wide and deep as it was before.  We are no closer than we were when we started and no one has even noticed.  Not one single person.  So...we stop.  Discouraged and betrayed, we stop.

The law was never meant to be a chasm between us and God that we scale alone.  It was meant to be a journey that we walk with Him...step by step.  The moment when we look at that chasm and say, "No way can I do this alone but God, I trust You and You alone to walk me through this." ....is the moment when we realize that it is all about Him and not us.  It is all about Him and not the law.  

We at that moment will not seek to obey the law out of necessity but rather out of love and desire to be in His presence.  We find that the laws are no longer a prison of dos and don'ts but rather freedom from the trappings of this world....freedom that we will only find in Christ.

As this year ends and another begins, seek Him above all things.  As the old hymn says... "Come just as you are".  Come.  He awaits. The world will try to ravel this to be the greatest mystery of all....and, yet, this, above all things, is what we have been created for... This is your destiny.

December 22, 2014 1 Timothy 1:7. God's Word is Real

1 Timothy 1:7

They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

This one baffles me.

Paul, again, is referring to false teachers.  Teachers who want to teach God's Word even though they just don't get it.  They profess vehemently with their mouths, pledge their devotion and garner many followers...yet they have not a clue what they are really teaching.

I think that when we hear the words false teacher our mind conjectures images of hapless speakers, well-spoken salesmen and other easily identifiable therefore easily dismissible characteristics.  However much as the evil in this world masquerades as all shiny and smooth so do those who speak falsely regarding God's Word.

They speak easily of His faithfulness.  They speak eloquently of His love and forgiveness, yet, they themselves have not a clue as to the realness of the Words they speak.  With charisma that would lull the depths of complacency into action, they quickly gather devoted followers and supporters. As they impart His Word to those that gather, they are quick to hold all at arms bay...not too get to involved, too deep or too real.  Much like the Wizard of Oz, one great big show, pleasing to the eyes and impactful to the senses but a fraud, none the less.

And this is where I become baffled.... Do they really know so little of God's Word that they don't get that this is real? I mean as in the parting of the seas, turning water into wine, plagues and eternal judgement real!  This isn't some easily forgotten hoax nor quick buck to be made sort of deal....this is real.  They play on a playing ground that goes way beyond their spiritual depth.

And then I realize, that they really do not know.  They have been deceived by the greatest of deceptors.  They've been shown a way to live that involves sharing God's Word without really ever living it...they've been played...and they have bought it hook, line and sinker.  And as with any sin, it starts off small and works to envelope our all life...leading us to the road of destruction...as does this one.

I know look upon teachers of God's Word differently.  I look past the smoothness or the lack of polish on their presented Words and look at their lives... Is there fruit or are they surrounded by legalistic borders?  Do they share stories and real-life encounters that are....really real?  Do they exude the love of Christ and show it in their daily walk?

I've met my fair share of false teachers...and by each of them I was initially blindsided....then I was speechless.  To see the curtain pulled back and to see "the show" instead of Truth hurt.  Yet, we are warned time and time again that they exist....and they do.

For those of us that teach, fair warning. Don't just teach to fill a slot or to gain worldly favor...to teach God's Word comes with great responsibility and with it great persecution from satan.  Don't take the responsibility lightly nor with pride...it is an honor and privilege.

God's Word...whether your wish to partake or not, is real.  You can amass worldly gains from it...but the eternal ramifications will be costly.  

December 20, 2014 1 Timothy 1:5 The Goal is Love.....

1 Timothy 1:5

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscious and a sincere faith.

Love...

And how do we love? We must have a pure heart. We must have a good conscious. We must have a sincere faith.

But what about that person that is making it so difficult for us to truly love them? Where does the responsibility lie with them? For it would be easy for us to genuinely love them if they would only make themselves lovable. If they would stop lying, if they would stop the dirty looks and malice attitude, then we would have no problem loving them.

But that's not how it works no matter how much we, ourselves, try to argue it to be. Nowhere here does it mention the other person. The commandment and the accountability to follow it lies at our feet......and this is where it gets hard.

In today's world, we've got to stand up for ourselves. We've been taught and encouraged to always clear our name or that of our family. We have bought into the idea that 'ourselves' is more than anyone else. So, we can all get along as long as you follow certain rules and basic manners. But many times this doesn't even allow us to love the person but rather just to tolerate them for the sake of appearances, work relations or family dynamics.

The ability to love comes from within ourselves....within our own motives and hearts. It is ours alone to own. A discipline that each of us must develop in order to truly be able to extend love. Our only motivation must be to love....not for our gain but to simply love. It seems, though, that in our world today, we have even lost what love is....Remember, love is patient, kind, doesn't envy or boast, is not proud, rude or self-seeking. Love is not easily angered, keeps no records of wrong, does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. Love always protects, trusts, always hopes and perseveres.

Love never fails.

But that is all impossible for us to do, yes? For if others only could see all of the faults that we see in the other person, then all would understand that our inability to love them is completely justified.

But, yet, the ability to love isn't built through anyone else....but rather through ourselves. So if we find ourselves impatient, unkind, boastful or proud. If we are rude, look out for our own interests above all else or have a temper that is easily provoked. If we can list every wrong that anyone has ever committed against us, while patting ourselves on the back for being able to still speak to them. When we find ourselves delighting in evil and neglecting the Truth, as we become less protective, less trusting, less hopeful and with the inability to persevere. When we look around and we see failure not in ourselves but all around us.....we must search ourselves. Honestly.

Christ, personally, lived and walked among those that by all accounts were unbelievably unkind to Him. Yet when He hung from the cross, He did not read a list of names identifying those that because of their bad actions were exempt from His death. He died for all of us....each and every one. He gave us an example. An example not just in how we should love but an example of how one with a pure heart must live...in, yet set apart from this world. He lived with a good conscious even when wronged....the ultimate peacemaker. He demonstrated pure faith to the Father through prayer and praise....never once pointing to Himself.

It is a choice....that begins and ends with us. We can't do it alone. We have to let Him love through us...but, first, we must be a willing vessel desiring above all else to live a life that is truly worth living.  For the goal of all of this...each and every bit, is love.

1 Timothy 1:3-4 Release the Controversies....

1 Timothy 1:3-4

As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.  These promote controversies rather than God's work-which is by faith.

Controversy.

What better way is there to attract others, to attract attention, to gather a gathering?  It doesn't even really matter the topic...as long as there is some sort of drama attached to it and ears will turn your way and time will tick by.  Useless information, much just speculation, yet, juicy enough to fill our minds and conversations.  "She doesn't seem happy."  "He's always at the office."  "She's away from her family too much."  "Their kids are just...well, different."   As speculation swirls as to why each of these might be, we spend precious, precious time on imaginative words....much as a child in imaginative play.

This is no less of an issue within the church.  While God's Truth is actually quite simple.  Salvation is offered, believe, repent and live having the blessed assurance of eternal life while living in a loving relationship with Him while on this earth.  Of course, the "devil is is in the details", yes?  And I am afraid that this is quite literally a statement when it comes to the seemingly "controversies" of faith.  But how? But why? But who? Women or men? Or both?  Where should we sit?  How should we sit?  Do we sing?  Should we sing facing forward or backwords?  Could we put the choir on the left side? Does it really matter? Yet, we spend time and time and more time debating these controversial topics within our church...digging into theology trying to support our preferences and trying to be right, creating committees, creating division. 

Creating a diversion.

Yet, those are some of the simpler topics of controversy within our church.  Some would say that the real topics of controversy are found within the fine details such as baptisms for example:  How to baptize, who can baptize, where to baptize?  Or....what about the after life?  I have been told more times than I can count, by well meaning Christians, myths and untruths concerning Taellor at this very moment.  Or, better yet, what about the Trinity?  How does that really work?  Hours and hours can be spent debating and discussing....sometimes arguing....trying to fill in the blanks. 

And in this whole process, we are loosing precious time.  Time that could be spent studying the Truth, studying God's word....listening for His voice instead of our own.... is instead spent on eternally irrelevant and worthless speculation.  Time that could be spent reaching out to the lost is spent holed up discussing differences between believers.  While due to our seemingly need to be politically correct, we allow others who aren't believers to even come in and stir up the water....thinking that if we just find the right point, the right verse, the right answer...we can lead them to conversion. 

Maybe sometimes we will.  But what if, just maybe, this is all part of satan's work creating diversions and divisions within our churches....within our faith.  God called us to be the peacemakers, yet, time and time again people have left the church broken-hearted and disillusioned.  False teachers exist within our churches even today and I don't believe they are the ones sitting idle by.  They are active in the quest to encourage as much controversy as possible....and we allow it to happen.  We take the bait and we go off on a tangent.  We loose our focus.

It is not that the study of theology and God's Word is wrong....but rather the mindless debate over speculated ideas may be placed just to occupy our focus away from what we have truthfully be called to do.





Choose today to live different.  Not to fall for satan's ploy whether it be controversy over a current event, friend's life or God's Truth.  Don't feed into the chaos with speculation....don't let our voice be the voice the muddies the water.  Let's be the peacemakers reading our Bibles and spending time in prayer so that when the time comes and we encounter a false teacher we will know the falseness of their words and will not even enter into the debate of Truth.  But rather, we will stand firm in our knowledge of Truth.

December 16, 2014 1 Timothy 1-2 Get Ready to Get Messy!

1 Timothy 1-2

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus, our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Timothy and Paul had a what today we would consider a unique relationship. Though outside of blood borne, Paul considered Timothy to be his true son in the faith. Through this relationship, Paul gives us an example of what it truly means to be sisters and brothers to our fellow believers. He demonstrates what it means to step outside of our worldly family borders and embrace others into our inner circle that we typical would consider reserve for family members only.....even those whom we only see on holidays, we don't speak to or that we may not even recognize them on a photo. Blood is thicker than water, yes?

But, maybe it is not. While God has placed us in a family and while God has given some of us our own family, maybe we were not meant to draw borders around such a personal family tree. Maybe we were created to be apart of a bigger picture....a much bigger family tree. Quite possibly, we were designed to pour love, mercy and grace not only into our families but into our family of believers.

In today's world, we find our families to be corralled, of sorts. This is my family. These are my kids. This is our home. This is our life. And then we dole out hastily written note cards, thrown-together casseroles, quick personal visits and even quicker prayers on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ....because, frankly, there is little left over after we have served our own family. And this is the part of the family that we love and cherish, but what about the other part of the family? The family part that is difficult. The family part that we know we have to love just because...so no matter what, no matter what....they are family. So we muster up what we have left and we try to create something that was never there to begin with...or will never be. And again, our Christian family receives the aftermath...quick embraces at church, handshakes as we walk through the halls and, if we are lucky, one guiltily taken luncheon a year.

God has given us other Christian believers in which to walk this path of life with. He has surrounded each us with "Paul's" and "Timothy's" as we journey through our path in this world. Each of these relationships, when steeped firm in God's Word and love, can offer us the encouragement, accountability, intercessory prayer and true, true love that, quite frankly, will bring us to our knees...to know that Our Father loves us so much that He sent us soldiers in this battle that we fight in this life. But we will never know it, we will never experience it, we will never even find it, if we don't look outside of our worldly-built lives beyond ourselves.

Does this mean we love our families less? Absolutely, not. This means we extend our inner circle. This means that we stop being superficial with those that we share our common faith and that we delve into each others lives....really delve. Not just for nosiness, not just for appearances but we truly start to purposefully walk this journey with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We hear of so many that are lonely, so many that are depressed and lacking encouragement while we all smile at each other and we benignly pass each other. "But it might get messy." "I shouldn't get involved." "I don't have time to get involved." It may mean a phone call at midnight that says "I need you" and you go. It will get messy and it is part of our obedience to our Heavenly Father to be involved....to walk together. Satan will hate it and will try everything in his power to forge up the walls of superficiality within our Christian circles. But we serve a Father that is more powerful than all.

Paul later would spend three years of his life in Ephesus with Timothy to serve the church alongside him. Three years. Who of our Christian faith do you know that would come and intimately walk with you? For whom would you? It is so incredibly easy now to share our Christian journey's together. We have internet, phones, cars and planes! But, yet, we seem even more distant than maybe before. Separated.

Invest purposefully in whom God has sent you. Love them, cry with them, be messy with them.

The Last Scripture Reference from Tae.....

Today is the last day...the last Scripture reference that Tae left us when she gave Annie Fritsch her list of verses to read. This has been such a journey....a journey of death, life after death, real vs superficial belief and then...how we should carry on. Taellor's death has changed me in a way that I would have never imagined...deepened who I really am. It made me reach deeper towards my God in a way that I hadn't...even when I thought that I had. And through it all...we can say, that He is faithful, always.

So after today, we will carry on. We will start tomorrow in 1 Timothy.

Also, by the grace of only God....I am still speechless in how He has orchestrated this one....and by the encouragement of so many of you...working on a book proposal. The last visit that we were in the States, I met with a dear friend of mine who encouraged me once again to put this all in writing. My response was simply that I don't know the publishing world..and if this is God's will then He will have to open the doors and walk me step by step..... The very next day, I found myself being asked if I would consider publishing our journey.... So thank each of your for your encouragement, prayers and unwavering support as we continue on a journey. The book will contain all the writings since Tae's death and up to the completion of one year without her life on this earth.... At this time, we envision it to be similar to a daily devotion. Again, even as I type these....I am amazed. The proceeds from the book would be used to help support our family and ministry in the field....what amazing answer to prayer!

So, tomorrow....we straighten our shoulders....and we carry on.

— with Taellor Stearns.

December 15, 2014 2 Peter 3:18 Grow in Grace....

2 Peter 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever!  Amen.

Grow in grace and knowledge. 

Grace and knowledge.....

In today's world, it seems that so much emphasis is placed on knowledge....the highest academic degrees, the most literary books read, the largest words and trivia of all kinds.  Knowledge, it has been said, is power.  To know is to have the power over someone else or many someone elses.  With knowledge, we can use it to change lives and extend God's Kingdom or we can use for evil.  We withhold knowledge to try to keep others to be less powerful.  We dole out knowledge almost as secrets to be traded....to the highest bidder, of course, whether the price be paid in the currency of money or esteem.  We seek it so that we might be known greater than maybe we truly are. 

Peter tells us to grow in grace and knowledge.  Not just knowledge but also grace.  We are familiar with the phrase, "We are saved by the grace of God."  He has been merciful to our sinful and nature.  Through our faith in Him, He extends to us eternal life.  Yet, Paul tells us to grow in grace.  Ourselves.  He encourages us to learn to extend to others a parallel of the grace that we have found in our Heavenly Father.  We are to extend lovingkindness, sweetness, humbleness, goodwill and favor to those whom we daily interact.  We are to love others beyond measure, as He has ourselves.  We are to extend goodwill and be the peacemakers.  We are to be set apart from this world....and this alone will set us far apart.

And this is a choice.  We must choose to forgive those that have wronged us....just as He forgave us.  Only not "just as" but we must remember that the comparison of our forgiveness to others and His forgiveness to ourselves is like comparing a drop of mist to the magnificent ocean.  We grow in grace when we find that we can extend lovingkindness to those that we truly wish not to....and when that extension has no association to their response.   We grow in grace when we choose to encourage and love those that we are "in worldly competition" for positions and titles...for we hold the greatest Title of all... God's.   We grow in grace with we realize that the purpose of all of this is not about ourselves or what we might earn in this world but rather about what we might extend in humbleness to our felllow man.  It is quite possible that the reason why we are "competing" for the position with another person is so that He might be introduced to the One True God.  It is quite possible that the conflict that exists between ourselves and others is so that our spiritual differences can be brought to light and through ourselves they find the Truth.  Every, every interaction, relationship and moment in time is when we must love with grace...so that they might know Him.

There are so many things in this world that will compete for our actions.  To grow in grace might actually fall in the category of "self-improvement" but how many books do we see dedicated to growing in grace.  Every year millions make New Year's resolutions, how many will resolve to grow in grace.  We will spend our time and energy growing the strength of our physical bodies, growing our contacts, growing our position amongst others and the list goes on and on.  But will we spend our time growing in grace?  For to grow in grace, may not offer any worldly accolades...in fact, quite possibly the opposite.  We will be seen to be weak, to be walked upon, to be cowards and naive.  There are those that will advise us to stand up for ourselves...to honor our name, to demand respect of our position, to be a man or woman.  And our flesh will agree with them.  Our flesh will be preparing for battle..preparing to defend ourselves.  But in our spirit, there will be a calmness.  A gentleness that comes from the One Who simply is.....and as we turn towards Him, we will find that the issues skewed in this world will begin to dim and, if we allow ourselves to linger in His Truth, we gather the strength to offer grace...time after time.

We find that to offer grace doesn't mean that we are weak....but rather we are stronger than we ever imagined...and we find peace from the complexities of this world.   The lyrics to a song...."Oh the wonderful cross, oh the wonderful cross bids me come and die and find that I can truly live."  I have found that so much to be true...as I slowly release the trappings of this world..sometimes literally prying my fingers from their grip...upon release, I find myself no longer hostage to them....I find myself free. And while there may be battles that I have forgone the victories here on this earth let there never be souls that I have dismissed.

December 12, 2014 2 Peter 3:17 Not All That Gitters is Gold......

2 Peter 3:17

Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.


Always, always be on guard.

Satan seeks to discredit, disarm and destroy. He stops at nothing to reach his intended purpose. Wrapping hideous sin in beautiful packaging enticing believers to slightly stray, he slowly eases his way into our lives. Oh, if only sin visibly looked, smelled and tasted as the evil and wickedness it is... We would not even glance it's way, shielding ourselves from the decay it contains. Instead, it glimmers and glitters rushing out emotions in a heady sort of fashion. And we find ourselves lingering....one touch won't matter, one more word, one more conversation, one more look.

And as we linger, quite possibly, we find ourselves in a moment in time when all seems better in our world. Conflicts are resolved. We feel our needs being met. Us and our "secret" have found a way to get through the day....and night. Yet unknowingly, the darkness begins to surround us, whispering lies. Telling us that no one will understand. So we hide deeper and deeper..... Until we find ourselves in such a deep, deep pit of wrongness, that the lies become not so unbelievable...no one will understand how we fell this far. Our salvation is secure...our position and testimony of how God can use us in this world is not. And we just wasted it all...for what will eventually lead us to our own destruction.

As we start to pull away, satan wrenches the lies reminding us that there will be no grace or mercy for us....we have fallen to far. Lies that once glittered and filled our self esteem now reek of emotional abuse heaping words of disgrace and disappointment on our lives. We are ashamed....and seemingly all so alone.

Yet the moment, we cry "Jesus", we realize that He was there all along. Protecting us when we started on the blinded path towards destruction. We find that as we shed Light on the darkness, satan's lies become transparent. We find that while we stumbled, we have not fallen from Our Father's mercy. We find grace in love in other believers who will prayerfully walked with us...
We've been given the gift of salvation...firm and secure. Thankfully, that is a gift that God has sealed and that we as humans can't mess up once we accept His gift. Yet, the accountability of our witness here on earth, our character, our Christian walk is a free will choice. Do we spend enough time in God's word, surround ourselves with His presence... Shying from sin at the slightest enticement.

Stay on guard...always.

December 11, 2014 2 Peter 3:16 But I Can't Understand?????

2 Peter 3:16

He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destructions.

Consistency. Blessed assurance.

Throughout time, the message had remained the same. Relevant and constant. Real and unchanging. Whether reading Scripture and comparing writings of two very different authors (for example, Peter and Paul) or God's character, everything is very complementary and doesn't contradict.

Yet somehow in our world, we have found God's word to be difficult to understand. We have
begun to believe that ordinary people can't possible understand His teachings must less teach others. So, we don't even try. We allow others to interpret for us His words and messages never sitting to contemplate His messages ourselves. We passively listen thinking we just won't get it.
Some of us even worry about the quality of our prayers....becoming icy steel if someone calls us out to pray. What if we don't do it right? What if it is wrong? We worry about the format, the opening, the closing...the in between.

But you know what is most freeing? Focus on Him....and we find that what is inside of us is good enough. We find that we were created to pray to Him, read His word and put it into practice. Each and every one of us....regardless of our reading level (or even ability to read), regardless of our "lot" in life....this is what we were created to do. Simply created to worship the King.

However, satan has always tried to distract us from our Kingdom calling, from our true destiny. He seeks to destroy...and that starts with the lies that because sometimes there might be areas within Scriptures that are hard to understand (as written by Peter)...this doesn't negate their Holiness nor our ability to grasp His meaning of them. Unless, we choose to be "ignorant" or "unstable" and distort His word which will lead to destruction.


Stay close to Him. Take a deep breath and pray....out loud. I remember my first prayer uttered out loud in front of others....scared to death because others prayed so incredible perfect but I was reminded by Him that it was Him I was talking to....Him and with Him..whom shall I fear?
I have found that God reveals true understanding when I am ready....and only when I am ready. God is truly relevant in all things. We just have to relinquish all sense of false control that we think we might have and really mean it when we say. "You will and not my own..."




One of my favorite "Tae faces"..... I can only imagine her thoughts now.... "Mom, it is more than you can imagine..."

December 9, 2014 2 Peter 3:15 Encourage One Another....Really

 

2 Peter 3:15

Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

Peter and Paul.

I love the relationship that exists between Scriptures of the two. They both were used by God to write Scriptures that focused on different portions of His Word. Paul tends to focus more on salvation and grace where as Peter tends to focus more on a Christian's life and how we should live. They compliment each other. They, to me, represent how we as Christians should be in our world today. Each of us has been given gifts from the Father. Things for each us to contribute and impart into this world. And, like Paul and Peter, they are all unique and different. Yet even in their differences, they are all centered on the firm foundation of Christ. They point, without contraindications, fully to Him.

Why then do we see so much conflict amongst believers serving God's people? Why do we experience gifts being used not to reach the lost but rather being used to elevate oneself....as if the gifts were our own making? Why, instead of encouragement steeped in sisterly and brotherly love, do we see wickedness lightly covered with "sweetness and hospitality"...yet, wickedness at its core?

We don't need the world to persecute us. We, as Christians, if we are not careful do a mighty job ourselves. In our haste to elevate our own deeds, we inadvertently discredit our brother's work. In our desire to be known or to receive credit, we bring a shadow of doubt upon our sister's testimony. In our need to satisfy our fleshly desires, we create adversity where there should only be solidarity. We allow satan to stir amongst our circles. We gossip within, we lie within, we withhold compliments and encouragement.....even when prompted by the Holy Spirit. We disobey. We forget that in God's eyes we can all hold a special place....there isn't just one lead position. Everybody serves a lead position in God's plan. The lead position in what He has given each of us to do....and that position is important whether it be to lead the masses on this earth or to hold a newborn baby in the nursery.

Peter and Paul got this. They were so in awe with their Father that they were wholeheartedly sold out to Him. There wasn't room for any petty grappling between them. They understood that they each were serving the same God, the same purpose, the same faith. Instead of using each other as a stepping stone, they used each other to bring solidarity to our faith. They used our faith to encourage each other in times of adversity.

We have been called to be different from this world and yet within our Christian circles there are many that have been hurt....and there are many that have hurt. It is time to choose to be different and not just model Christianity but truly live it....down to the smallest detail in our world. We share a faith that God would ask every soul is important...every soul. We proclaim that any presentation of the gospel is success even if just one responds. We celebrate and cheer when salvations occur....but do we mourn likewise when, because of our actions, someone is driven from their position of faith. Do we mourn when we either verdantly or inadvertently cause another pain so that we might feel better?

Encourage one another. Truly encourage one another. I have been surprised to step into some circles and find selfless encouragement where I thought I would find turfs on faith...true Kingdom building mentality. And likewise, I have been speechless to have stepped into some circles expecting deep Christian fellowship, only to find the greatest insecurities....leading to turf battles within our Christian faith. Battle between believers over "turfs" within our faith! And, we then expect the lost world to listen when we proclaim the Truth....

Be different today. Let's search our hearts and ask God to reveal to us where we have been withholding encouragement and let's encourage. Pray for those that God has brought into your world to serve alongside. Use each other to strength the sweet flavor of His Truth...so that all might believe.


 

December 9, 2014 2 Peter 3:14 It Takes Work....lots of work.

2 Peter 3:14

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him.

I remember when I first believed....Really believed.....And then I remember the realization of what this would mean for my life if I decided to follow Him. While we weren't "bad" in a worldly sense, there were certain aspects of my life that would need to change. Would they have to change? No, they wouldn't have to....Nobody has to do anything but live and die, right? Or at least this was the argument that my flesh literally consumed my mind. "But I don't want to. But it really isn't bad. But everyone is doing it. Maybe He doesn't mean literally. I'm not hurting anyone. It is just for fun." And then, I started studying about His second coming....and I knew that there were certain places and things that I had been doing that I didn't want to be found doing upon His return.

Not out of fear but rather out of shame. Not because of a directive but because of my desire to be at peace with Him....at all times. This doesn't come easy....and I fail miserably at it sometimes. As the Holy Spirit reminds me of Whose I am, I am reminded that it takes effort to be different. It takes effort to be spotless and blameless in this world. And while it is true, very true, that we can't please everyone....we can't. So it is imperative that we align our lives to please Him and only Him so that we stand on a foundation that is firm and secure...that doesn't change to suit our will but rather provides a basis to build our will upon.

Effort. Hard Work. Determination and perseverance.

That is what it takes to be spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. It takes work. We just don't happen into it. We just don't coincidentally fall into His will...we must work hard. The key, though, I believe is in the use of great discernment in where we place the sweat of our brow. We can literally work ourselves to the ground in activities, programs and the busyness of this world. Through this, we accomplish great things and, yet, we still sometimes find ourselves at odds with someone. Whether it be our family for being neglected, the people we serve with or the people we serve, somebody, somewhere will be unhappy with what we have done....no matter how we work. No matter how hard to have tried to create the perfect meal, the perfect holiday, the perfect plan.

However, if we seek to be at peace with Him...to be blameless and spotless in His eyes, we will find a stick upon to measure our lives that doesn't change. That doesn't seek to hurt us. That doesn't desire to secretly see us fail....but rather a measure that rejoices in our very creation. Imagine, to be valued solely for Whose we are....and the most incredible thing of all is that we don't have to imagine it...it is real, here for the taking. We just have to accept it. We just have to allow our hearts to be loved...unconditionally. A love that truly sets out to guide us to be the best us that we can be.

My Tae decorating our food package bags last year......

 

December 8, 2014 2 Peter 3:13 The Fountain of Youth?

2 Peter 3: 13

But in keeping with His promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

You see, death is just the door....the next step, if you will, into eternity. We cling to a life that we know...we cling to the busyness and craziness of a world that, no matter how hard we try, will never, ever make sense. We can try to force it. We can twist it and spin it to where it is "doable" but there comes a point to where, frankly, it can't be spun anymore. A point to which, we bow our heads, slump our shoulders and say, "I can't carry this anymore." There comes a point to which we realize that the more we work, the harder we try, the more desperate we seek....it doesn't add up. In fact, it appears to become even worse than it was before we started.

And then we enter into despair. Despair within a world that will encourage our defeat. Despair into a world that will agree that all is lost and hope is gone. Despair into a world that will stand beside us as long as we believe that there is no hope and that this life is, in fact quite possibly meaningless...because no matter how we spin it...it ends up that we all die, anyway. So....what does it really matter? What does it really matter if we try hard, if we seek improvement, if we work harder, if weshoulder the responsibilities? We all die anyway, yes? And the slippery slope continues...the spiral picks up speed and we loose whatever control we thought we had.

Yet, within each of us, there is the connection to our Creator. A spark within....sometimes deep within...but ever present. The desire to know hope, the desire to live forever. Isn't that what the great quest is all about? How to fight death. How to stay young forever. How to never grow old. How to live forever. However instead of reaching out to the One who offers this freely, we brush aside His promptings, push back down our innate desires and we strive on trying to make it on our own. Just as satan tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden...... "You don't need God. He just says that you do so you will enslaved to Him forever", satan whispers in our ears. He encourages us to find our own way so that we serve no one but ourselves....but, in our absence of choosing to serve the One true God, we have chosen to serve another.

This world will never make sense. It just won't. Hunger and poverty, abuse and neglect, sickness and betrayal will always be apart of this world. We can try and try to change it on our own...and we might find some success....but we will find that this success will be much like the "win" in a casino... It isn't lasting and only feeds our desire to "win" more...on our own. But the moment when we realize that this is not a game that is just about us, this is not a game that ends in death for everyone but rather quite a lively battle in which our lives are an intricate part of them every moment of every day, our eyes will be opened to the realization of who He is....and each of His promises will become relevant to our lives.

A new heaven....a new earth. His promises are true whether we believe or not.

December 4, 2014 But, God, This Is Good

2 Peter 3:12-13

That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

I will never forget the day when I realized that my true love and I would not be together forever....that there would be a day when our lives, as we know it, would part. Throughout our dating and engagement, I had spent all of my time and energy on anticipating the next date, the next time I would see him....that next moment. Then the wedding...then the house...then the birth of our children....also looking at the next milestone. Then one night as I was reading my Bible, I started really reading God's words. I started realizing the implications of the message as being more than just words on a page but rather as Truth. And as tears fell onto the page, I looked around and knew that all of this.....all of it was just the window dressings of a life on this earth.

Even though I had been a believer for several years, I was just beginning to delve into His word and apply it to my life. A life that I loved. A husband that I adored. A husband that I loved waking up to every day....and going to bed with every night. But that night, I realized that what I thought was the final prize in my world was actually just the beginning....the beginning scenes prefacing an eternal life that will be so different than the one that we were creating for ourselves on this earth. "But, God, I have exactly what I want right now. This is good." And I remember in almost a whisper a reply...... "But this is not it."

So, I found myself shying away from the verses and chapters of the Bible that revealed destruction of life as we know it. I focused on Christ's life and His mission to His people...and I kept coming to the rest of the story. No matter where I looked, no matter how far I would delve away from the Truth...I found that I couldn't study part of His Word and reject the rest......for all of It is intertwined as part of our faith. Finally taking a deep breath, I literally plunged into His Word this time drinking it all in....not just parts but all....destruction and all.

And in His Truth, I found Him. All of Him. I was not meant to worship my husband, my children or my career. They have been given to me as blessings but not to be placed above God. Sunday mornings became a day to publicly worship my Savior but these days paled in comparison to the the worship that became part of my every day life....just me and His Throne. My confidence turned from earthly beings to that of the King and through this, I found freedom.

I found that this life, as precious as it can be sometimes and as tragic it can appear, is fleeting in its purpose. This is not it. It isn't. Tomorrow will come as God allows it to come. My job is to prepare for it but He ordains it to be. Not me. By "carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders", I am just humoring myself as to just how much "power" and "control" I have in this world. I really carry nothing on my shoulders.....He carries it all. While I am my husband's wife and true love, I am most importantly His helpmate in this world. Together, we face a spiritual battle every day...I can either be a help or a hindrance. I can either be a solution or a problem. Am I worthy of this calling to be a wife? For my children, I am the first reflection of Christ that they will see on this earth. I am the only reflection of Christ that they will see lived out behind closed doors. Am I worthy of this calling to be a mother? In the beginning, I was far from it. Focused only on things that would have burned quickly in the fire. Today, I am learning to focus on those things eternal......

We've been granted another morning on this earth.....may we use it wisely and purposefully.