No More!

This week we have been talking about various emotions that we feel.  Emotions can be good and bad.  God created them for a purpose and everything he creates is good.  Unfortunately, our sinful nature can abuse our emotions and we get out of control with them.  We let the negative side of emotions dominate us and soon we become ineffective in the Lord’s work.  When we are overly sad, stressed, depressed or angry we lose focus and energy.  We dim the light of Christ in our lives.  People that are watching us see no difference between their lives and our life that has Christ in it.  When our emotions seem to be getting the better of us, we need to ask ourselves why.  Are we focusing on problems, people, and situations more than God?  Do we possibly need to get some medical help?  Are we not focusing on God and our hope in Him?  Stop before you emotions go too far out of a normal range and go to God in prayer.  Have Him help you see what focus or attitudes need adjusted.  Ask God to help you with your emotions.  Get in to the Word of God, as well.  Embed His Word in your heart, so the Holy Spirit can use it to teach, inspire and lead you.

If life, situations, people and your emotions seem to be overwhelming, be encouraged!  God has a time in the future when all things will be back in perfect condition.  There will be no more situations or people to make you angry.  There will be no more fear.  There will be no more sadness, depression or stress to deal with.

Revelation 21:4

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away.

Be encouraged by the hope that fills you! Jump for Joy!

Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Stressed to the Max

I have been watching people lately.  I have been noticing the busy-ness of their lives and the stress on their faces and in their voices.  They are all stressed to the max.  I am even more amazed that the adults are causing this situation for their children, as well.  The children are mimicking the adults in every way.  They are involved in too many activities, stressed about schedules, homework, and friends.  The children are over eating, yelling, crying, unhappy and in poor health.  I have been there myself on many an occasion.  I am a terrible one for saying “No” and taking on too many projects while working full-time.  It harmed my health, my emotions and my spiritual life.  It is no way to live.  I don’t think God intended for us to live this way at all, but I think God knows we are humans and has given us the answer in His word.

Matthew 11:28

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word cheers it up.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep the mind that is dependent on You in perfect peace, for it is trusting in You.

There is a lot of good common sense in these scriptures.  First of all, if we are stressed we need to go to God with our problem.  Yet, so many times we put him last or maybe even not at all in our lives, because we have no time.  We have chosen the busy things of life over God.  We need to go to God and ask Him to prioritize our lives and have him tells us what we should be involved in and not involved in.  If we are stressed about a situation, then go to God.  He is full of wisdom and can guide us through anything.  If we stressed to the point of being depressed we need to get around some other Christians and share encouraging words with one another.  Most importantly we need to depend on God and not on ourselves.  We need to not be trying to accomplish everything on our own.  We need to be focused on God and trust Him.  The more we are in His Word or in prayer we will see God’s Will and see His provision and learn to trust Him.  We will gain His peace.  Our stress will disappear.

So if you are stressed, then now is the time to stop and bow your head in prayer and open up your Bible and read.  The other stuff can wait.

Fearless

Rock stars, Actors, Stuntmen, Sports Figures and many others in society will spout that they are fearless.  They will try anything.  They don’t worry what that jump across the canyon or the drug they are about to take will do to them.  They don’t care if they insult someone or get caught stealing.  There is good and bad in being fearless.  I think Christians could use a little more fearlessness in their lives.  After all we have the mighty God who knows everything and created everything living inside us and working through us.  Yet, many Christians live their lives in fear.  They don’t want to cross any lines or hurt anyone’s feelings.  They just want to peaceably live their lives and not make waves.  They are afraid of rejection.  They are afraid to be ridiculed.  They are afraid they will jeopardize their jobs.  The fear of others begins to control their lives.  This emotion is not to play apart in our life with God, except that we should fear Him and what He thinks about us.  Here are a few verses about fear:

II Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.

Isaiah 41:10

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.

Matthew 10:28

Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

God has called us to be a witness for Him in this world.  We are to be compassionate and loving and care for those around us.  We need to care about their lost souls.  We need bring them to Jesus.  If we understand how bad Hell is and don’t want to go there, then we shouldn’t want anyone else to go there either.  God has commanded us to reach them and told us He would be with us as we go.  In other words, we have a job to do and nothing to fear.

Matthew 28:19-20

¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So follow God’s instructions and be more fearless then those of the world and bring them to Jesus.

Blinding Anger

Do you ever get so mad you can’t see straight?  I know I have.  You can’t think things through.  You just see the person, thing or event that upset you.  You focus on the jealousy, the loss or the hurt.  You could have 10 good things happen to you in one day, but all you see is the one bad thing.  Your joy has been stolen.  You have totally lost focus on the good and the right.  All you can think about is what should have been or what you can do about it to make it the way you want it.  You don’t have the time to be patient and wait for things to work out or smooth over.  You don’t have the guts to talk to the person who hurt you.  You would rather talk bad about them to anyone who will listen.  If you do get the courage up to go speak to the person, you just end up yelling at them.  You don’t hear their side of the incident.  You can only hear the voice in your head repeating over and over again what they did to you that hurt you.  In your blinding anger, you usually do something you will regret.  It most likely will hurt you and others.  You say or do something that is a sin against God.  Now you are not only emotionally or physically hurt, but you are spiritually hurt.  The Biblical account of Cain is a perfect example of blinding anger.  Read Genesis 4: 3-8.

³ In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? ⁷ If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” ⁸ Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

I am not sure who said “Anger is an emotion that makes your mouth work faster than your brain”, but I agree.  Cain even had God step in and ask him why he was so angry.  God was trying to get Cain back on track.  Instead Cain ignored God because he let his anger continue to blind him.  He opens his mouth and deceptively asks Abel to go out in the field with him, and then he kills him.  He let his emotions dictate to him what was right.  How many times do we let our emotions do the same?  “If it feels good, it must be right.”  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  God gave us a reasoning mind and a Holy Spirit to guide us.  When we are blinded by anger, we need to stop and listen for God.  We need to realize that blinding anger or uncontrolled anger is not from God.  The devil is stirring the emotion of anger within us to get us to sin.  Ephesians 4:26 says –

 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger,

Our anger must be for a godly reason.  We must not sin when we become angry.  We must take care of our anger in a timely manner and not let it fester.  The temporal physical problems we face on this earth should not anger us.  Good fortune of others should not anger us.  Loss of things, such as jobs, should not anger us.  Rude words and actions of others should not anger us.  The list can go on and on.  What should anger us is the sin in the world and the things that anger God.  Whatever the case, our anger should be in control and in line with God.  If we are tempted to yell, do harm or seek revenge, then we are about to cross the line with our anger.

Wisdom tells us to take the blinders off, when anger comes in to view.  Look for the Holy Spirit.  Listen to what He is saying to you about the situation.  Ask God for help with the anger.  Ask God to help you see things clearly.  Don’t let the anger fester.  Don’t let anger blind you, like it did Cain.

A Mother’s Comfort

How many of us have experienced our mother’s comfort? We fell off our bike and she picked us up. We were rejected by a boy we liked and she comforted us. We didn’t make it in to the college of our choice and she comforted us. Our mothers hug us, kiss us, find us our favorite toy, take us to a movie, and give us words of encouragement. God understands comforting His children like a mother does. In Isaiah 66 He speaks to the nation of Israel about the evil people that surround them. He comforts them with words about how He will take care of their enemies. He reminds them that judgment day will come and that will take care of them and bless them. They will see and rejoice at what God does. God knows everyone understands their mother’s comfort. He speaks through Isaiah and tells the people the following in Isaiah 66:13-

“As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem.

In this simple statement there is comfort, just to know God loves us like our mom’s love us. There is also comfort in the fact that this is an absolute. There is no doubt that God will comfort and take care of His children. He proclaims “you will” be comforted. What a blessing to know that the trials will end and God will comfort. What a comfort to know that God will take care of the enemy and we will rejoice when it is done. There will be an end to pain, suffering and sorrow. What an encouragement that we will be comforted by God like our mothers comforted us as children.

Moms Know What’s Best

Most moms have a lot of common sense.  They know how to distinguish what is really important and what is not.  Most kids don’t have a lot of common sense built in to them when they are born.  They need to learn it as they experience life.  If kids would pay attention to what their moms advise they would learn common sense a whole lot faster.  Moms need to use common sense sometimes to “pick their battles” as the saying goes.  In one very important battle in the Bible, two mom’s make very different choices.  In the end the one with common sense and true love for the infant wins out.  In 1 Kings 3:23-28 we read:

“23 The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.’ ” 24 The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. 25 Solomon said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 26 The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!” But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut [him in two]!” 27 The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.” 28 All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to carry out justice.”

So my advice to kids is, “Listen to your moms.”  They love you, have more common sense than you, and want what is best for you.  Your mom isn’t going to deliberately give you bad advice.  So kids, grow your common sense base by listening to your mom’s common sense.

Handle With Care

Sometimes we see on packages the instructions “Handle with Care” or “Fragile” written on them.  It’s important to pay attention to instructions when we come across them.  If we didn’t follow those particular instructions, we could break something very valuable.  That happened to us one time.  Some relatives from back East shipped us a beautiful, antique engraved crystal vase.  It was a family heirloom that was a wedding gift to a relative 150 years ago.  It came with an antique photo of the woman with the vase.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t handled with care, which ended in its destruction.

God had some important instructions for us to follow too.  In the Old Testament He told the Israelites in Exodus 20:12 –

“Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Then Jesus thought it was important enough to repeat in Luke 18:20 –

“You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”

In other words, nothing has changed, God expects us to still honor our parents.  To honor means 1) To hold in respect; esteem, or 2) To show respect for, or 3) To confer distinction on.  God knows that we sometimes won’t agree with our parents.  God knows that we won’t necessarily have the same lifestyles or likes as our parents.  Yet, God still expects and commands us to honor them.  After all God placed them in our lives.  He made them our authority.  Even when we don’t agree with our parents, this gives us a chance to apply biblical principles as we develop our relationship with our parents.  It is also a means to show God’s love to them, even when we disagree.

If we don’t follow God’s instructions about our parents then we may end up with a relationship that is like that “Handle with Care” packaged vase that arrived in a million pieces.  Take time to show your appreciation to your mom, no matter what your history with her is.  Take time to honor and love her as God expects you to do.  Bless your mom with your love.

Wise Moms Pass the Torch

There are many things that we receive from our moms.  They pass down special bits of wisdom and advice to us.  They teach us how to do things.  They warn us about the dangers in life, from playing with BB guns to cheating on tests to not marrying the right person.  The wisdom of a mom is best seen when she passes down the torch of faith in God.  What better love and guidance could a mom give a child then to lead them to Jesus who will far better provide and take care of the child?

Especially today, we see many moms leaving it up to their kids to decide if they want to go to church.  They will even let them chose which religion.  Worse yet, they let them go out in to the world of myriad of faiths and let them try to determine what is true and false.  Then there are others that let the child chose activities such as little league over church on Sundays.  These moms think that a child will naturally find their way to what is right or that every road leads to Heaven.  They think if they raise their child to be the best person they can be that that is all that is really important.  This is the furthest from the truth.  A child has no earthly or spiritual wisdom.  They are young and uninformed.  Anyone could tell them what they think is right and they would believe them.  It’s up to moms to protect, lead and guide the child until they are old enough to know better.

One great example is found in II Timothy 1:5 -

“…clearly recalling your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois, then in your mother Eunice, and that I am convinced is in you also.”

Both Timothy’s grandmother and mother had passed on the torch.  As a result a child grew in to a fighter for the faith, a preacher, a leader in God’s church.  If they had just accepted Christ, but didn’t share, where would Timothy be?  I can think of two such examples of Christian moms who did not teach their child about their faith.  One felt the child would grow up and figure it out.  That child has grown up and still does not know Jesus as their personal Savior.  Another child was allowed to go to whatever religious school or church they chose.  The child was in a variety of denominations due to relative’s church’s and local area ministries.  Eventually that child stumbled in to faith in Jesus in a Biblically founded denomination and is now a minister.  The minimal guidance the second mom provided help set the child on a right path, but with a little more regular guidance the child wouldn’t have taken years and a variety of churches to come to the faith.

As Christian mom, true wisdom would be to make every effort to pass the torch of your faith in God on to your child.  Protect and guide the child in love to Jesus.  Don’t leave them to the world and its ruler.

Thank you to all the Christian moms who have passed the torch.  Keep up the great work for the Lord!

What it Boils Down To

Have you ever really analyzed why people don’t get along?  Majority of the time it boils down to a person’s personal desires being put ahead of another’s.  We want what we want when we want it and it doesn’t matter what anybody else needs or wants.  Yet God gives us some wonderful encouragement with these next few verses from James 4: 2 and 3-

^“2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask.  ³ You ask and don’t receive because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your desires for pleasure.”

When we think we want something, all we need to do is go to God and ask.  We don’t have to fight it out with others to get what we want.  We don’t have to claw our way to the top.  The key for receiving what we ask for is to ask for it correctly with the right heart.  Selfishness and seeking to fulfill our own pleasure filled desires is not the way to gain God’s approval and blessings.  Yet to know that all we have to do is to ask for what we think we need with a right heart is such an encouragement and beyond that to realize that God says we don’t have because we do not ask is even more of an encouragement to ask.

Tongue of Fire

As many of us have learned as we have grown up “That sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is not true.  Words do matter.  Tone of the words matters.  In actuality words can hurt more than stones.  Bones can heal, but sometimes a person’s heart never heals.  James reminds us of how powerful and important our words are in James 3:5 & 6-

^“5 So too, though the tongue is a small part [of the body], it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites.  ⁶ And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our [bodies]; it pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.”

A little bitty spark leads to a flame.  A flame leads to a fire.  A fire leads to an out of control blaze destroying everything in its path.  Our words do the same.  A word or two can break a heart, damage a self-image, cause someone to lose a job, cause some one to get in fist fight, cause someone to hate another, cause someone to not receive the Lord as their Savior.  Our goal should always be the care and love of others leading to their salvation and growing relationship in the Lord.  We don’t want to be hindrance to someone else’s spiritual well-being.  We dont’ want to bring shame to God.  We want to glorify Him in all ways.  So remember how powerful your tongue is.  With these thoughts in mind it just makes common sense to think before you speak.