August 17, 2014

1 Peter 3:15

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,.....

Are we prepared to tell others about Christ in our lives? Are we mirroring Him in our life so they ask? Has anyone asked us where our joy and hope comes from recently? Ever? Do they see joy and hope in our life?

It is easy to fall into the pit of of self-pity, there are always things within our lives that won't add up to what we wish them to be....whether they be day to day happenings or life changing events, we will find ourselves disappointed, unhappy and filled with unrest....the question, though, is how do we as Christians respond? Do we respond as the world who will commiserate with us or do we live in such a manner that those who see us will ask, "How?" Or even "Why?".....We live in such a way that He is glorified.

Most of these times of living that makes the world take notice is during times of trials..... when you've been cheated, when you've lost, when you've lost a dearest love one...when you are down and out and you've "earned" your badge of despair..... But when hope is placed in Him, we know who is in control and can find comfort and solace in His hands.....and here, we can find joy that surpasses all understanding....and here we can testify that He is good...all the time.

But what about the smaller details in life? Small God-ordained moments that give us opportunity to share Him....a close parking spot in the rain, running into a long lost friend that is struggling, a break in the storm, the advance of a storm, grocery money that extends way past it's earthly value.....He's in all of the details... Do we give Him the glory? Do we share Him in the small things? We must speak boldly of His goodness even in the small details. Do we? Or do we hold back and only share of His goodness with other believers? Are we fearful of others' responses when we share His day to day goodness in our lives? There are those that are dying for their faithful, verbal acknowledgement of Him knowing that death will follow...and we hesitate because......why? We might be laughed at, mocked.... We are told to be prepared to give a response. Are we ready to say....."It was God"

August 17, 2014

A day of church and the beach. First time here since Tae went on to heaven..... We had a girl's day out here the week before she died. I remember looking into the ocean that day with the song "Oceans" running through my head.. .." Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander...." and today the lyrics that were running through my head as I looked upon the same spot was " Who told the ocean you can only go this far? I know my Redeemer Lives..... I know my Redeemer lives. Let all creation testify....." My feet are deeper than they could have ever wandered on their own......but through it all I know with all that I am that He truly lives and He is faithful.

August 18, 2014

1 Peter 3:16

Keeping a clear conscious, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

I love that the word 'maliciously' is used here....not bad, not wrongly, not harsh but maliciously about our be behavior. Spoken with the intent and full-well knowledge of bringing evil and harm. And we are instructed to be gentle, have respect and a clear conscious......wow.

So what about the times when we are wronged that aren't malicious? Gentleness and respect. Again, we are to expect this to happen.....we shouldn't be surprised but rather be prepared so that we can respond through Christ's love and not our own bare emotions.

I can think of twice when I have been what I would "rate" as maliciously attacked by words in my life. I hate to say that both times I was ill-prepared, shocked and, frankly, quite upset that someone would talk to me like that.... My response was neither gentle or respectful but probably more on the side of indignant. And then I come to Peter's writings.....and I should have known....it will happen....it will.

We fight not against flesh and blood....it goes deeper than that. The Light that shines in you will make those who are not believers feel uncomfortable at times.....it will. Be ready for it. Be gentle, kind and respectful so that when the malicious words "make a full circle" they will come up empty and your accusers will be left with their false words and your witness as a believer will still be strong.

One of my situations has come full circle.....the other, I have got to keep Peter's words hidden in my heart, mind and soul..... I think of Christ as He was ridiculed time and time again....He looked neither right or left but stayed focused on the Father......so that they might know Him also.....even those who cause us the most pain....even them.

August 19, 2014

1 Peter 3:17

It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

From the time we are little kids we are told, that if we treat others nicely.....they will treat us nice in return. If we extend favor, we will receive favor in return.....and all is good, until it is not.

I think we all understand (may not like) but do understand when we dabble in the world of "evilness" that there are consequences....and we do suffer. If we lie, no matter the reasons, and get caught, if we steal, if we have an affair, if we gossip, if we cheat, if we. .............. our trustworthiness suffers....our character. Our witness. We may loose friends, family members or our livelihoods.....but we loose due to a choice that we personally make. We loose due to consequences of our actions.

But what if we suffer while we are doing good? What if we consciously choose to do good.....and still we suffer. And what if....it is God's will? From a worldy perspective, it doesn't make sense at all. From every realm, screams of unfairness resonate within us..... But I didn't deserve this. But I was trying to help. But I was doing good.....and you probably were.... Suffering because of doing good doesn't negate the goodness within the action.....not at all. Our behavior in response to the suffering may....but the suffering itself will not.

So again, we are back to ourselves and how we choose to respond. If we have truly done the act of goodness for simply as service to our Father.....a job well done from Him should be plenty......and suffering from that job well done for the kingdom should encourage us not hinder us. Satan masquerades trying to prevent goodness....he does. How better to throw us off base than to cause "badness" to be heaped upon our goodness? How better to stop us than to insult our very motives? Unless, we stand at all times ready, armed and clothed in Righteousness...... Then and only then, will sticks and stones not matter and God will reveal them as the lies they simply are.....

Do goodness today.....and expect suffering in return.

August 20, 2014

1 Peter 3:18

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.

We were asked recently from a dear friend what we would want to come out of Tae's death.....

I can tell you what has come out of it....For us, a more intimate understanding of who God is.....a better understanding of death....God gives life and ends life here on this earth....no accidents, no mistakes.....a reminder that we are a part of something much bigger than ourselves....and in that part we can either bring honor to God or we can advance satan's desires......that the peace that passes all understanding is surreal....and unexplainable....that our decision years ago to try to live more purposeful and with no regrets focused on Him was part of our preparation for this time....and the list goes on and on. I seriously think I could write "10,000 Reasons" and more on God's faithfulness during this time. So I know that there are many that just don't quite understand how we have continued on......But with God being so evident all around us.....How could we not?

A small look into one of the many things we have experienced: Sunday at the beach...which was hard at first....I remember praying God just let me find one of her favorite shells. She loved the long, spindle pointy ones..not only did we quickly see one but they just kept appearing! Tae would be excited to find one....rarely did we find two....

We see God everywhere....we did before she died and certainly still do. There are those that would say, "It is all in how you look at the situation. You choose to say it is Him that is doing all of this." Ok, no arguements there... We absolutely do choose to see His incredible hand at work....and He is constantly at work. Just like in the days of old....Abraham, Noah, Joseph....He still is. We can still have daily without ceasing communion with Him....the question is do we choose to? Do we choose to look beyond the trappings of this world and choose to see Him instead?

What we would like others to take-away from Tae's death really has nothing to do about her....although as her parents, we think she's pretty incredible and cannot wait to see that incredibleness beyond the confines of a world in sin.....but rather remember the quickness, the swiftness, the decisivness of her passing.... Remember that death will become of us all....unless we are alive when Chist returns.....each one of us, while we might feel incredibly alive and well, have a time of death already "stamped" on our lives....Are you okay with yours ending right now?

Immediately, our minds go to the physical "security" trappings of this world....but this, but that...Who will take care of my family when I am gone? Who will love on the unloved children and hold them? God will fill in those spaces.....but what about your next step? Is it secure?

I wake up differently than I did before Tae died.... I wake up pondering if today will be my day. It is not from a place of desiring to go on....but rather a desire to live worthy...a desire to live that on that last day, in that last hour....I will have lived worthy. I know my salvation is secure....but my race in this world is still running.....and each moment is one moment closer to the prize.

August 21, 2014

1 Peter 3:20-22

....In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-not removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. it saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.

Baptism- demonstrating public obedience to our Father....outwardly demonstrating our belief and faith to Him for all to see

I remember when Tae was a child and first realized that she understood and wanted to be a Christian... It seems that sometimes in our world when children decided to accept Christ...we hesitate. Do they really believe? Do they really understand? Are they only doing it because they saw someone else do it? I remember questioning her and questioning her.....and finally, my precious, strong-willed little girl looked at me and said, "Mom, why can't I believe too?' Wow. Yes, why can't you believe, too. Let the little children come.....overcoming the "worldliness" that tries to make it more complicated than it is. She knew....in her heart, she knew. It was many years later at Camp Barnabus that she turned her life over to God, but on that day...she became a believer and was baptized.

The day that we are baptized there is no question or hesitation in thought on whether or not we are believers. We demonstrate in a fairly outward action our obedience to Our Father. Yes, I am a Christian. What if we were to continue that outward demonstration of our faith in our daily lives? Do we mirror Christ in our every day actions? In the days of Noah, would we be one of the eight that were saved?

We talk about how the world today is so evil and times are difficult...but in the days of Noah...only eight were found found favor...Eight. Can you imagine a world of evilness and craziness in which only eight are found worthy? In Genesis 6, we are told that every inclination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil all the time. Only evil...all the time.

As Christians, as believers, as followers of Christ, we are called to outwardly demonstrate our faith in God...so that others might know...so that we encourage others to believe instead of causing them to stumble in their quest of faith... (Really, he's a Christian?....wow, I didn't realize...She goes to church? That's a surprise?)... Every day actions, every day thoughts, every day obedience.

Where do we fail in this? Do we fail in this? We live in a country....my family even serves in a country...where we can outwardly declare Christ as King as loud and as strong as our heart's desire. We can openly own and read the Bible. We can be baptized in public and not anticipate the burning of our homes....or the killing of our families. We have the freedom to study His word and hide it in our hearts.... Why don't we cease the moment? Why don't we?

I worry that we are not being strengthened as believers..... Our discipline in our faith is at our own peril.....and many times takes a backseat to life. But what happens when the day of persecution comes? What happens when the days when the ability to openly read and own Bibles is no more? Will we be ready? Will our strength be found in God? If we had to recreate the Bible on scraps of tissue paper...could we? I pray that God's protection will fall upon us.....but what if this incredible time of religious freedom that we have been gifted with is actually a time of preparation? Generation upon generation. Let's not let the trappings of this world keep us from why we are truly here on this earth.... It isn't to buy the biggest house, to always have the newest model of car, to gain the next promotion.... These things are nice and wonderful blessings....but don't let our blessings become trappings.

Start memorizing scripture again....hide God's word in our hearts....have it constantly on the forefront of our minds...so when the day comes, Truth is our foundation no matter what the earthly "foundation" may appear to be like.

August 23, 2014

1 Peter 4: 1-2

Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body for, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because He who suffered in His body is done with sin. As a result, He does not live the rest of His earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

....but rather for the will of God.

How incredibly different would our lives look if we lived them entirely for the will of God. Entirely. Not just on Sunday morning, not just on Religious Holidays, not just when we have someone watching...but entirely for the will of God. Nothing else, nothing else matters. Nothing.

There may come a time...a day .....a moment when the "cost" of following God is more than having to get up early on Sunday or spending half an hour a day reading our Bible. There may come a point in our lives when the cost will be greater...it may be that we will loose our career, our friendships, our way of life....our very lives..if we choose to continue our journey in our faith. I believe when those days come that God will direct our path, our words and our actions....but I also believe that during those times we will see with clarity what we truly believe.....whose we truly are.

We are told to arm ourselves with the same attitude. If we are done with sin, truly done, satan will take notice of our lives and how we live....and we will suffer. We will. We were not created to live in harmony in this world. However, we are a people who will tend to avoid pain at any cost. It is easier to avoid than confront, it is easier to stay silent than take a stand, it is easier to walk away than truly bear our souls and love....because we might get hurt.

But if our sights are on Christ...if we live only focused on Him, evil looses its power over us...looses its sting and ability to hurt our world. When we can live in obedience of Him, we find our comfort in doing His work...even when it hurts. A common question that we are asked down here is "How do you do it? How do you see this every day and not just loose it?"... Well, there are days that we do just loose it. There are days when what I have seen or experienced just truly breaks my heart, there are days when I have to walk away before the tears spill from my eyes...but God is faithful and holds us in the palm of His hand...lets me walk away, cry for a bit...and then come back standing...ready to love, not in my power but in His.

Is life good today? Is it because we find happiness in being obedient to our Father or is it because we are finding solace in the world? If today was your day, if your life ended today, and clarity was revealed...are you good?