Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Parenting Issues


I came across some notes in an old notebook I had written down as a reminder for me.  Before throwing it away,  I decided to share the information here.  Also, I wanted to refer back to an earlier blog where I had shared parenting scriptures mentioned from Walk in the Word radio program in 2014. Follow this link : Valuable Proverbs from Walk in the Word

The notes in my notebook were as follows:

Parenting Reminders

Discipline without relationship leads to rebellion.

Discipline with relationship leads to maturity.

All law and no love leads to legalism or rebellion.

No law and all love leads to a lack of discipline and an "Anything Goes" mentality.

Well, now I can throw away the notebook.  For those of you starting out your parenting, I hope it helps.

Have a great day.

Studying the Word of God in the Presence of God

I have been studying the Bible for years now.  It has become a pursuit, a passion, and a desire of mine.  It has been transformational.  I have grown in my love for The Lord as I learn more about Him from the scriptures.  There have been times when I have encountered some hard truths that I wish weren't there, but the full counsel of the Word of God has been true nourishment that has sustained me, matured me and grown my relationship with God through His Holy Spirit by the grace gift of Jesus Christ.

However, I approach the Word of God typically through the use of external tools alongside the scripture known as bible studies.  I am beginning to notice these external tools are often times far too emotions and feelings based for me.  I strongly believe that the Word of God is not subject to our interpretation nor our emotions and feelings. Honestly I am so thankful for that fact.  I cannot imagine being tossed about at the whelms of my emotions and feelings.  While I can interact and enjoy life and even God by those very emotions and feelings, I cannot stand on them as truth.  At the end I plan to elaborate on an example in my own life to expound on this idea.

I find that women's studies are constantly asking me "How I feel about this or that" and all I can say at the top of my lungs is "I don't care how I feel, it doesn't matter how I feel, I want to study the Word of God to see what God says about this or that".  Perhaps this is the way it has been for some time, and perhaps I am just noticing it.  However, I do think being overly concerned about the way we feel may lead us into a very unwise walk if it supersedes truth.

In general, there seems to be two extremes in the body.  There are those deeply immersed into God's Word or those immersed in His Spirit.  It seems rather uncommon to find the Christian with a combination of the two which is what it takes to be well rounded.  Those who are studying the Word without the help and assistance of the Spirit, find their pursuit dry and legalistic; a type of bootstrap obedience. This leaves them empty, lifeless and joyless maybe even judgmental and harsh. Those who seek the Spirit without the Word typically are overzealous, hyper-spiritualized, experiential in feelings and emotions without being grounded in truth. These are the ones who are typically unable to discern between the leading of the Holy Spirit and their own thoughts.  They are easily led astray. they are on fire and full of the spirit and unfortunately without proper grounding and truth may burn out without the substance of the Word.

I believe we are to search the scriptures, study them and allow God to speak to us through them.  However if we only study the scripture as we do with any other book, it will be a dry, lifeless book.  If we are studying it in hopes of discovering all the ways to behave in order to please and appease God, our efforts will not only be futile, but  this approach will leave us feeling defeated.  We will be overwhelmed at the sheer magnitude and the daunting task of obeying all that is in the Bible. Due to the fact that we are linear beings, we typically can intentionally obey the latest rules we have studied because they are on our minds.  Conversely, if we have developed good habits or are easily obedient to the Bible, we see ourselves as succeeding, this may lead us to become prideful and arrogant.  Either way, we will be displeasing to God.

I believe we are to seek the Holy Spirit.  It will be the enabling power for us to live this life.  The Holy Spirit will teach us through the scripture, and remind us of all we have learned.  The Holy Spirit is what Jesus said He was sending to us when He left this earth.  Jesus died to not only rescue us from our sin of which we couldn't do for ourselves, He also sent us heavenly assistance to give us the power to live in a manner that pleases God.   The reason He did this is to restore us into a real vibrant relationship with God.  He created us to know Him, to be loved by Him and so we would be able to love Him back and put Him on display to the world for others to see (bring Him glory).  Why?  So the world then could know Him, be in relationship with Him.  Honestly to know Him and be in relationship with Him is to love Him.  He is love and when the enabling power of the Holy Spirit is experienced in us, we can experience that love.  That discovery of Him and love of Him will be the motivator and the enablement to obey Him.

So my challenge is to get into the Word of God in the presence of the Holy Spirit who will lead you into all truth.  When you are tempted to read scripture and say "I don't FEEL like that is true" or to say "That doesn't line up with what I have been through"; how about turning those statements around.  Read the Word in the awareness that God is with you by His Spirit.  Tell Him openly what it is in your experience that is causing you to struggle to believe the Word.  Ask Him to help you with your unbelief and help you with your understanding.  One thing I see is where we allow our circumstances and feelings to interpret scripture.  For example, when the scripture talks about answered prayers, if you haven't received a positive answer to your prayer; you begin to believe that God doesn't really answer prayers.  As a matter of fact, He does answer prayers.  It is possible He is saying no which is still an answer, not yet or perhaps He is saying yes as an answer but differently than you could have imagined.

We need to avoid interpreting the Word of God without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  Allow your time in the Word to be an extension of your prayer time.  Let it be a conversation between you and God. (that is all prayer really is)  This can be the most profound experience you have ever had with Him, if you will do it.

Here is a second part of the challenge: take time to read the Word of God and journal what you learn and discover.  Read a verse, a chapter or an entire book, but whatever you choose to read, do it prayerfully.  Ask God to open your eyes and enlighten your heart to hear from Him in His word. (see Ephesians 1:17-19).   Allow Him to talk to you and when He begins to open your eyes to see truth, begin to write it down in a journal or notebook.  Resist the temptation of bringing your feelings into your interpretation.  Sometimes our feelings come on board long after our minds have lined up with the Word of God.  Feelings can mislead us, and instinct can be wrong.  If we are created by God, then His instruction manual on how to live and navigate life is what we need to depend on in order to live according to His design.  He provided us a large portion of the Word, the Old Testament, before the rescue was sent in the person of Jesus, so we are able to see that man cannot please God independent of God.  So the last part of God's Word, the New Testament, demonstrates His answer for us. The answer being, His power was made available to us in order that we may be restored into a relationship with Him.  Also that we are enabled to follow and obey His commands because of this wonderful gift of His power made manifest in us.


  • As promised earlier, in reference to the matter of not standing on emotions and feelings as truth; in the midst of menopause I would be so hot at times I would have sworn the thermostat was set much  higher than it actually was.  When  I would take a look to see, I would see the same temperature which would have been giving me a chill in years passed.  During these episodes, I began to truly see how my hormones were playing tricks on me.  They were not a reflection of a change in my environment, rather they were in essence lying to me about it.  So my internal gauge was no longer reliable, and I needed to seek the truth by checking the thermostat.  Did I cool off by checking the external gauge?  No! But I could see the truth and refuse to freeze everyone else because of my internal reality.


Allow God's Word to be the road map for you and allow Him to be your guide by His Holy Spirit.  May your day be blessed today and may you be a blessing to others as you go.

Christian Attacks? Rudolph, Bunnies and Trees


Lately, there seems to be an outpouring of offense regarding Christianity and I am trying to process it...

My mind is flooded now with these thoughts and I am struggling to organize them effectively even as I type.

The secular world is attacking prayer, opinions, stances, traditional families & values, monuments that honor or remember events & people, the Ten Commandments & Christmas traditions and symbols.

As I think about this, I am puzzled not at the world's response, but rather I am puzzled by the Christians' responses.

If we are going to defend our right to pray publicly, ought we not start with private prayer in our own lives.  When is the last time you took advantage of your access to the Father in prayer?  Within the confines of the church, when is the last time you attended a prayer meeting?  How long were you willing to linger there with other believers in prayer?  I am not trying to attack the church or believers, but I am trying to bring awareness to this issue to see that first and foremost, we ought to be a people of prayer first.  No one can stop that.  You cannot remove prayer from the public square as long as there are those who will be talking with God.  It may stop the secular world from praying or participating in a formal performance that gives a nod toward God, but what exactly did this accomplish over the years?  Has it drawn us closer to God in doing so?  Did it point the secular world toward the way the truth and the life?  Did it point them to the light of the world?  Did it set their hearts ablaze to repent of their sins and accept God's solution for them in the gift of Jesus Christ?  Better yet, did it set any believer's heart ablaze?  So what exactly are we defending?  Is it our right to publicly, formally and coldly give tribute to God?  Please don't misunderstand me, I am not advocating these actions on the part of the secular society, but I am not surprised by it at all.  My challenge is one for the body of believers.

It has become more and more popular and acceptable by the secular world to attack traditional family values, opinions and traditional stances.  These attacks come because the secular world sees Christianity as intolerant, biased and bigoted.  The biblical family is one set in place by the Creator of the universe.  It has been an institution that was never really questioned or challenged in the manner it is today.  So let's take a look at the family.  What could possibly be so wrong about it that so many are turning from it for another way?  It was set up to be a small unit of people who are joined together by a commitment to say I will do life with you, I will be a witness to your life and you will be the witness to mine.  We will do life together because it is not good for us to be alone. We will go through life's ups and downs together regardless.  We will have a family together and grow our family (if the Lord blesses us in this way).  We will be part of the bigger families of our origin and our community.  We will raise our children to be a part of this same family and community.  We will teach them to be good citizen who follow order and law within our community so we can all live peacefully together.  Then they will go forth and repeat our process.

So assuming I very clumsily and incompletely recapped this thing that we call traditional family, where in lies the problem?  Could it be that like prayer, we want to protect the institution and the idea, but when it comes to actually entering into its fullness, intent and purpose as Christians, we have taken it for granted and spit on it, mishandled it and even discarded it.  If it is this cherished institution, why are so many abandoning it?  Why are so many children feeling abandoned by parents?  Why are there as many divorces within the church as outside of it?  The attack on this institution is occurring within the walls of the church too.  If we do not honor it and cherish it as precious, why do we expect something more from the secular world?  We need to be living examples.  The marriage of believers ought to be the most joyful and most satisfied regardless of our circumstances.  I am not talking about perfection, I am talking about connection, love, respect, forgiveness and most importantly commitment.

And to address the most recent attacks on Christmas.  There is a sadness and weightiness to the attacks on the traditions of Christmas.  The cartoon Rudolph is being accused of promoting bullying. The song "Baby its Cold Outside" is being attacked by the "MeToo" movement as not taking "no" for an answer.  The wise men perched high in a city building needing to come down.  Multitudes of Christmas trees and manger scenes being banned from the city square.  My thought is so what!   I am going to put all monuments and even the Ten Commandments into this discussion.  So what if you cannot post these monuments.

How many of you actually read and are convicted because you saw a monument of history or commands.  How many of you need a Christmas tree in a public place to enjoy Christmas.  How many need the wise men and manger to think on Christmas and the reason for the season (or even when they are there, did it prompt you to think on the meaning?)  Do I think these should be removed?  No.  I think the attacks are silly and absurd, but they don't concern me.  Some of these do point to a wonderful story that is eternal.  No matter the attack, this eternal story cannot be eliminated. It is a secure event.  It happened. As a matter of fact every monument erected to point to an event in history cannot rewrite the history by its removal.  The risk of removal and attempts to rewrite history is where our concern should lie.  As for the Ten Commandments, these are to be written on our hearts and minds.  Jesus said "I didn't come to do away with the law, I came to fulfill it."  So we are to be living those commands by His indwelling power.  The stone tablets are fine to commemorate events, but whether they are publicly on display or not, those who are followers of Jesus ought to be living them out in the power of His Holy Spirit not necessarily writing them on stones.  Which one is more effective?

And now to address the silliness of attacks on Rudolph.  Ha.  The best part of this movie is that Rudolph overcomes the bullying.  Shouldn't we have more stories that show the underdog winning through perseverance and character.  There are mean people in the world.  Bullies existed long before there was movies to be seen.  This doesn't create bullies.  The song mentioned earlier doesn't promote men taking advantage of women.  If you listen closely, it's a song about a girl and guy who mutually are enjoying one another's company.  She is wanting to stay but has all these concerns if she stays.  Her reputation, the concern of her family and yet she would like to stay longer with him.  He is wanting her to stay and trying to get her to stay longer. Good grief.  Most of us understand this.

But neither of these attacks are attacks on Christian values and beliefs. Many of the attacks on Christmas, Easter and any other holiday traditions are attacks on the secular traditions that have developed over time to Christian holidays.  The spirit of Christmas and Easter are internal to us and eternal.  You can't get rid of these stories.  It is the story of the ages.  The attacks that come cannot touch that which truly burns within our souls.  No one can take that which is stored within my mind and heart and outlaw it.  And if there were a way to do it, I am certain the secular world whose primary leader is led by the enemy of God, they would try to do it.  Hopefully if it became a crime to think on God, meditate on His Word, pray to Him in the power of the Holy Spirit and accept the price Jesus paid for us; I hope the prisons would be filled with Christians on fire for God. I also hope there would be plenty of evidence to convict me.

So during this holiday season, maybe we should be thankful for the country in which we live. Maybe we should embrace all that we are still free to do.  How about speaking up in your sphere of influence about the TRUE meaning of Christmas.  Not getting so offended by the silly attacks on our fun little traditions.  Respond as Christ responded.  Love those around you.  Be kind and compassionate.  Spend time demonstrating the character of Christ.  While out shopping for Christmas presents, remember the reason we celebrate and offer compassion and kindness as you go.  Smile more, let someone cut in front of you in traffic or at the checkout line. Say something encouraging to the cashier.  Think more highly of others than yourself.  Love God, talk to Him and study His Word.  Write it on your heart.  Lay down the offenses and even the defensiveness.

Yes, these attacks are would be attacks on our Christian values and beliefs.  They are even trying to take away our freedom of speech.  However, take inventory of your life.  Of the rights and freedoms you currently have, when is the last time you shared Jesus with an unbeliever.  When is the last time you bowed your head in public to pray over your food, over a hurting friend or just cast your eyes upward toward heaven to ask God for help?  For those in Christ, live the life He dies for you to live.  Stop worrying so much about the attacks of the worldly.  Ask yourself, why are they so offended by Jesus.  The world is offended by an Easter Bunny, an old man in a red suit and a deer with a red nose.  As far as I am concerned, none of those represent my relationship with Jesus.  They are cute and fun, but if they are gone tomorrow, I will still love the Lord with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and love my neighbor as myself.  Of these things, no man can make a law against that, and if they find a way to do it, LET'S be found fully and completely GUILTY!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Monday, July 16, 2018

Wisdom Revealed by Results

In my devotional today, I have been following a reading plan on YouVersion, a free bible app.  This was a verse within the reading and I wanted to share it.


Matthew 11:19 


The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.

The part that really stood out was the last sentence.

"Wisdom is shown to be right by its results."
Look for the reality of the result

Where do we find wisdom?  I say we find it in the counsel of the wise.
Who is wise among us?  Those who seek, study and practice truth.
What is truth and where can it be found?  For those who know me, you know what my answer is.  Truth, according to the dictionary is a fact or belief that is accepted or that which is true in accordance with fact or reality.  However, if you seek the source of truth in the scripture as I do, you can go to John 18:37-38 and see a conversation between Jesus and Pilate, the Roman governor discuss truth.


John 18:37-38 
I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

We should also bear witness to the truth as we live our lives.

John 17:17 

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

John 8:32 

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

John 14:6 

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

1 John 4:6 

We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

So, I repeat my question "What is truth and where can it be found? "
We find truth in the person of Jesus and in his word.  We are set free by it, we walk in it, it becomes our road map and guide to our life.  We are even sanctified and purified by it according to John 17:17 and 1 Peter 1:22.  However, we must study the word of truth.  We must meditate on it often.  We need to obey the truth.  However, we cannot do it alone.  We must be seeking the Holy Spirit's counsel and companionship as well as the companionship of other seeking believers.  

Oh how I long to walk in this with other seeking believers.  Don't you?  Is the cry of your heart for this sort of fellowship?  

So, I return to the verse that spurred my heart today to write this blog; 
        But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.

Shall we know wisdom?  Yes, when we study the word of God and see it demonstrated in the lives of ourselves and others.  Not for any exaltation but in order to know what is wise and what is truth.  So, we become a light of hope to the world that is hungry for it.  It is what brings glory to our Lord.

[The fundamental conflict in human life is human desire or will versus truth.  Believing or desiring something doesn't make it true.  Truth is truth no matter our opinion, desire, will or belief.]  (summary quote from one of my favorite authors, Dallas Williard)

Interesting comment from JP Moreland a professor from Talbot School of Theology defined truth this way:
Truth is when things are the way one takes, believe or thinks them to be.  When I heard this, I almost discounted his comment, until I went on with him as he explained what he meant...

He went on to say:
Truth is a matching relationship between a thought or belief and reality.  It isn't the believing it or the taking it to be true that makes it true, it is the reality that makes it true.  The relationship between what is reality with what we think determines that which is true.  
You can believe that grass is green but it is the right relationship between that belief and the reality of the green grass that is defined as truth.  If you believe the grass to be pink, and the reality is that the grass is green then the belief is not correct and therefore the relationship between your belief and the reality is not true.  
This simple example demonstrates how simple this concept really is.  It is important that we return to the reality of absolute truth.  The source of absolute truth is found in the One whom created all things.  He is our reference point and guide into all truth. Without it we are going to be tossed to and fro with every thought, mood and wave that comes our way.  The truth will ground us solidly and direct our course.  We will become a beacon of light to all who are seeking wisdom and truth.

We look at both our lives and the lives of others and see if the truth is displayed in each of our lives.  Does our lives line up rightly"?

One last look at the verse to which started these thoughts and blog.

 wisdom is shown to be right by its results.


Is our life in Christ demonstrating right results.  Does our life line up with the wisdom of the word of God  and is the Spirit of Truth leading us into all truth?  

No condemnation here, just pondering these questions along side all who read it.  I too need to do the soul-searching these words demand.

Join me, will you!?

Are You Being Cooked by the Culture?

This is a re-release of a blog I wrote in 2013 which still applies today.  Wanted to share it.

Lately I have been feeling the decay of this world all around me.  It makes me sad at times.  I see what is happening to this amazing nation.  I see a high level of sin all around me and see evil being called good and good being labeled evil.  Right is wrong and wrong is right.  We are in strange times.

But it is not for the world to identify this.  Until one is in Christ, it is truly not their fault they think the way they do.  However, those who are in Christ are at true fault.  If you are in Christ and the spirit of the living God has taken up residence within you, you have the capacity to discern that which is sin and that which is good.



So here is my story.  There was a frog that was placed in a boiling pot of water.  The frog immediately jumped out of the pot and that was the end.


But there was another frog that was placed in a pot of water at room temperature and the pot's temperature was slowly increased until it was boiling.  The frog was cooked and never jumped out of the water.  So why does one stay and one leave?  Because the one that stayed was immersed in comfortable water, and as the temperature was increased it was so gradual the frog didn't notice.  The frog was desensitized. Eventually it was his undoing.


So isn't that Christians and sin.  If we are immersed in this culture where we are participating in its sin, evil practices, and pleasures, we loose our sensitivity to its effect on us.  We were called to live in this world but not to look like it.  We were called to draw those in darkness to the light in Christ not to live in the darkness with them.

I believe the moment we start saying yeah, but...  we are at the start of justifying our reason for staying in the pot.

I believe Christians as a group have lost their effectiveness in our society because we are enjoying the same boiling water as the world.  Truth be told, this culture can wear us down.  We are constantly bombarded with sin to the point we are picking and choosing what to be offended by.  Our culture is the pot of boiling water.  The water was turned up so gradually, most Christians don't even notice it.  We sit there being fed the lies that we need this or that to be happy, we must be liked and popular by the world's standards to be of value and to be able to affect the world.  We dishonor ourselves and God by our actions to fit into this culture.  We do it under the assumption we will be able to witness to the world.  Yet if we look like the world, sound like the world, how will the world know that we are not of the world.  Where will we be able to be effective.

We live in a world where young Christian ladies dress provocatively.  Words like gentlemanly and lady-like behavior, virtue, integrity and modesty are now old fashioned  (even common decency).  Dances mimic fully dressed sexual activity, and resemble orgies with clothes on.  These dances have names like humping, jerking, twerking and both male and female isolate and shake their pelvis.  A dance where crotches are frequently grabbed.  (that use to be something someone would do out of necessity and usually discretely)  Most of the couple dancing is done where the male is behind the female.  They don't even have to look at each other face to face  Wow!  Where a female is sandwiched between two males, (of course the gender choices are optional) So basically dances have turned into fully dressed sexual acts set to music.

This is certainly not honoring to God, it is not lovely, it is not pure, it is not of good reproach.    Unfortunately, there are some who remain on the dance floor and take these acts to its full completion right there on the dance floor.  And how this comes about I will not dignify with details or give more light to it. I am amazed at the lack of shame, the lack of outcry, or disgust by the Christian community.

So what does that reveal about our Christian culture?  I believe it is revealing the pot is boiling, and we are fully immersed in it.  If we cannot recognize the prevailing sin that is all around us, perhaps we are involved in it, or just desensitized, but by our silence are we not condoning it.  If fitting in and being popular is more important than character development, virtue and decency, we are in the pot of boiling water and we may not even be aware.

At this point, this culture is winning in infiltrating our hearts.  This culture corrupts.  If we look at these activities directly and cannot see them as offensive, we have been cooked by our culture.

My prayer is that God will open the eyes of our hearts and sensitize us once again to see sin as sin.  That God would open our eyes to see that we are fully saturated by the boiling water, and we need to take action to first off jump out of the pot.

Little by little we are compromising until we look just like the world to whom we were suppose to be offering the good news.  But we are no longer able to affect it because it has fully infected us.  You will either affect the world or it will infect you.

According to scripture, the world may believe in Christ by our unity and  they will know we are his by our love for one another. Jn 17:21 & Jn 13:35  We need to learn how to walk in this culture and not be desensitized by it.  We were placed on the earth at this time in this culture, for such a time as this to not be infected but to to be a light at this dark time in history.  Don't be cooked by the culture but be one that helps rescue others from the pot.

This link will show a demonstration of the boiling water on a frog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svpsLZDgFK4


Please know that I am not endorsing condemnation of sinners nor am I calling Christians to go on a sin warpath. (please love sinners but do not condone or love their sin)   I am calling Christians to simply wake up to see we are all immersed in a sinful culture and that it wears us down.  Let this be a wake up call to Christians to no longer be duped by the enemy and his tactics to desensitize us from the sin that is so prevalent around us.

Sin will either bring death to the individual who is not in Christ or death to a testimony for those who are in Christ.  We are called to go and make disciples.  So if that is the case, we need to look like Christ's disciple first before we can go make disciples of others.


Be blessed today, reflect Christ to the world and for crying out loud, get out of the boiling water, NOW!!!!!


Life can be Difficult

I know that difficult times are not fun at all.  In fact, they can be really awful. I have been wondering lately though. What if I frame my ...

Search This Blog