Godliness

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:3-8

When we ADD knowledge to our faith (through the reading of His Word), we learn how to be more self-controlled. Self-control helps us persevere. When we win the fight, finish the race, hold to our convictions, etc., we are showing the world our Godliness. If our faith is built upon these pillars, mutual affection and love are so simple.

If you want to know what it looks like to have faith, to be knowledgeable, self-controlled, striving to persevere, Godly, and full of mutual affection and love, look to Jesus Christ. What better example of the embodiment of these characteristics than our Lord? 

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." Colossians 1:15

Remember also, that godliness stems from humility. Jesus Christ was the most humble man to walk the Earth.

"Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:1-5

Being humble also means to be content. Content with what you have, with what you don't have, with your life as it is. God was content in all he did. He was content to leave his heavenly throne and walk the Earth as a humble servant.

"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death -- even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:6-8

As we go about our daily lives, we need to focus on all of the amazing things that God has given us; has made possible in our lives. We are all blessed in so many and differing ways. We have Him, the Word, a place to worship, families (crazy as they may be), beautiful children (even when they scream "NO!" at the top of their lungs, continuously for 5 minutes, and for no reason at all), friends, brothers and sisters, jobs, cars or someone to drive you where you need to go, places to go home to (even if the basement occasionally floods), the opportunity to attain an education (even if a BA takes 8 years and $80,000), and SO much more.

Ryan's message this past Wednesday night really opened my eyes. I haven't been very content lately. Not for awhile. Maybe not ever... Can you truly say that you are content with everything in your life? I'm sure none of us can say we are content with everything in our past... But Ephesians 1:3-13 tells us something amazing:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit."

How can we NOT be content when we have all of this, on top of the other blessings in our lives? I plan to work very hard on learning to be content with my life; with my crazy family, spontaneously disobedient but beautiful, intelligent and loving son, my leaky basement, and my very expensive education. Because all of these things came from God, and how could I possibly NOT be content with a gift from God?

Kings of the King

When you think of a King, what do you imagine?

This:

Or this:

"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir." Galatians 3:26-4:7

What a concept to wrap our minds around.  We were born cursed... slaves.  When each of us declared that Jesus is Lord, we were adopted by God into his kingdom.  We became brothers and sisters in Christ.  This adoption provided us with an inheritance; the most valuable inheritance EVER.  How does that make you feel?  Can you fathom that you're an heir?  A King? 
 

The worldliness around us can make it easy to confuse what God has truly given us.  In our more recent history (pre-nineteenth century'ish), a King was someone who wore glittering robes and a crown.  Who was immeasurably wealthy and still wanted for more.  Who lived in a castle and had everyone at their beck and command.  Who ate grapes off a platter (thanks Joel!) and summoned concubines at their pleasure.

But... God tells us what a King is to be.  A King does not bask in his wealth and laud it over his kingdom.  A King does not take multiple wives or possess concubines.  A King must read the Word everyday and live by the scriptures.  In biblical times, a King was actually required to write on scroll their own copy of this law and keep it with him always.  

These commands can be applied in so many ways to our present day lives.  Quite obviously, we must be disciples of Jesus Christ and follow the commands of our Great Commission.  We need to talk to God and be in the Word daily.  We need to go and make disciples.  We need to be humble and never once consider ourselves any better than the Lost because we have been adopted into His kingdom.  If we are to be true Kings of the one true King, we must act like it.  I, for one, don't want to give up the throne.

Who is in control? You or God...

My sister Crista gave an amazing and moving message last Wednesday during our breakout midweek session.  There were so many concepts and practicals to take away from the night, but I will try to pinpoint the ones that I felt spoke to me the most.

First of all, we all need to recognize what it means to truly be self controlled.  If we have asked Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, then 2 Timothy 1:7 tells us that we possess the spirit of self control.  It is so amazing to think that God has given us the means (his Word) to learn self control.  Being in control means that we are effective and productive.  Titus 2:11-12 tells us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.  We have to deny ourselves, just as Jesus did, if we expect to ever display the level of self control that God has made possible in us.

I have always thought of myself as being very self controlled, and I never would have considered myself to not be self controlled until I heard Crista lay it all out for me.  The good thing is this: I can get things under control with hard work and dedication.  Sounds simple, right?  Like one of those cheesy weight loss programs you see on the infomercials at 2:00 a.m. when you should be in bed (if you were more self controlled).

Two things that Crista focused on were being self controlled enough to stop our negative thinking and to stop our worry.  While worry is my BIG weakness, I really love some of Crista's analogies on negative thinking and so I'm going to start there.

When you think about a person/place/event/situation/memory, do you fixate on the good and growth, or the bad and failures?  Do you look at the glass half full or half empty?  Being realistic isn't bad, but it isn't always good either.  God calls us to see the good in others, in situations, in life.  Philippians 4:8 tells us to think of whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.  If we are regularly fixating on negative thoughts, regrets from our past, or taking for granted everything that God has given us, we are not thinking the way that God tells us to in Philippians.  

Crista had a great little diagram that showed us how our thoughts turn into our actions.  It went a little like this:  negative thoughts turn into negative beliefs, which turn into negative feelings, and thus into negative actions.  Let's take a look at how God's thoughts compare to Satan's:

God

• True
• Noble
• Right
• Pure
• Lovely
• Admirable
• Excellent
• Praiseworthy

Satan

• False
• Dishonorable
• Wrong
• Impure
• Ugly
• Worthless
• Unsatisfactory
• Worthy of curses

I would much rather have Godly thoughts!

Now how about those worrisome thoughts?  They get me every time!  I especially hate the "What if...?" ones.  I used to regularly worry that our house would burn to the ground while I was at work.  Did I leave the flat iron on?  Or maybe the stove (even though I hadn't used it)?  Or somehow an electrical outlet would spontaneously combust.  Yup.  That was definitely going to happen.  Now that I am a Momma, my worrisome thoughts have morphed into ridiculous and terrible thoughts that no parent should have... but I'm sure we've all been there once or twice.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 gives us a simple way out from under the burden of our crazy worry.  We need to take control and make our thoughts obedient to God.  Trust in God.  Trust in God's plan.  But how do we do that?  Crista's practicals are so simple, but we really have to make these a part of our everyday life in order to show obedience to God.

1.  Confess

• Is sin getting in the way of your negative thoughts or worry?  Confess to a sister.  Confess to God.  And obviously... stop sinning!
• Get real about your negativity.
• Get your friends involved.  Have them hold you accountable with your thoughts.

2.  Pray

• What better way to overcome negative thoughts or worry than to pray.
• Ask others to pray for you.  That's what we are here for!

3.  Read

• Read about self control in the Word.
• Research disciples who exhibited self control (Abigail, Ruth, Paul, etc.)
• Personally, I loved reading about Hannah in 1 Samuel.  Since I'm currently struggling with the length of time it's taking us to get pregnant, Crista actually suggested that I read about Hannah and her patience and trust in God.  I love her self control!
• Memorize scripture.

Good luck and much love!

A walking temple

So... how has your worship been lately?   

What do you think of when someone says "worship"?  Some of you may think of the singing you do at church on Sunday morning or Wednesday evening.  You're not wrong...  but that's not all.  What else?  Do you raise your hands in the air while you are singing at church?  Do you clap along with the rest of your fellow brothers and sisters?  How about when you listen to your favorite Christian radio station or CD when you're in the car?  Do you sing with all your heart and dance in your seat, even if you know other drivers are watching you?

Do you talk to new people at church even if it makes you feel uncomfortable?  Or do you talk to the people you are closest with?  Do you reach out to new people?  At school?  Work?  The grocery store?  Do you share your faith?  Do you pray for others?  Do you ask others for prayers?  Do you fellowship with brothers and sisters outside of church?  Do you reach out and bond to disciples outside of your immediate home groups?  Do you participate in discipling activities?  Do you disciple to others or humbly receive discipleship?

Worship isn't just singing.  It even isn't just adding a "Hallelujah!" or "Amen!" after a good song.  Worship is sacrifice.  Worship is an unbending, unending willingness to love God through joyful acts of sacrifice to always be a temple wherever you go.  You are the church, 24/7, everywhere you go and in every capacity.

Deuteronomy 12:4 & 12:31 both say that we are not to worship the Lord our God in our way.  We have to realize that there is a right and wrong way to worship.  We must not worship other Gods or idols.  Deuteronomy 13:4 says we must only follow God.  We must keep his commands and obey him.  We need to be careful to not bring our problems and any worldly issues with us to worship.  You can't let your sin ruin your worship.  Let me give you an example of how perfect this worship message was for me today:

As we left for church this morning, I noticed Ryan was out in the street poking at something by the curb.  I hollered at him and he pointed out that a pond was forming in the street.  Keep in mind that it had been snowing through the night, it was 9 degrees outside, and everywhere else was covered in a nice thick layer of snow.  But a large portion of the street next to our house was covered in wet, brown mushy slush.  The kind you encounter when the snow melts very quickly after a heavy snow.  

We determined very quickly that a water main must have broken.  As we looked closer, we could see water gushing (no exaggeration here) from the yard and into the street.  It wasn't clear to us yet whether or not the pipes had frozen and burst or if some other oddity had occurred.  It also wasn't clear whether it could be our personal pipes coming from the house, or if it was the city main (and thus, not our financial responsibility).  Considering our luck since having moved into this house, we were frustrated and worried (and a wee bit angry) that it could be the former.  So Ryan decided to stay home to monitor any potential basement flooding result and I called in a "water emergency" to the Lansing Board of Water and Light.

When I arrived at church, I texted Ryan for a progress report.  A truck had shown up, took a quick look at the situation, then drove off.  Service started and I sang, but not with all my heart.  My mind was elsewhere.  Ryan texted and said another truck had shown up and put cones in the road; then drove off.  I sang a bit more, but not with my usual vigor.  I was so out of sorts when it came to raising my hands during the "praise" chorus and I was so off beat.  Another text: now the important people had shown up with big trucks and back hoes and lots of other important looking devices.  I started taking notes during the sermon, all the while wondering if we were getting water in our basement, or if I was going to come home to a big mess in the street, or if somehow we were going to have to replace all of our plumbing (a total irrational though, I know).

Then Joel got to the point in his sermon where he talked about preparing for our times of worship.  I had come to church with a mind full of anxious thoughts.  I wasn't worshipping God sacrificially nor with all my heart, and he (Joel) was calling me out!  He manages to do that with so many of his messages...  As service came to a close, I was definitely more humble.  Just like we need to be wary that the sin in our lives can clog our mind and heart and prevent us from worshipping sacrificially, so can the normal everyday bits and pieces of our lives.

But that's what makes worship a sacrifice.  We must put aside these things and show Him the honor he deserves.  So get out there with that awesome temple you've got and worship your butt off this week!

But the greatest of these is love

My husband and I will be celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary next week.  Traditionally, this means we should buy each other something bronze or some pottery.  However neither of us has ever been the type of husband or wife that puts much emphasis on material possessions when it comes to anniversaries, Valentines Day, Sweetest Day or the like.  We have usually always given each other a sweet, sentimental, and sometimes corny/mushy card, and then we take a night for ourselves to eat dinner or catch a movie.  We are very easily satisfied.  Sounds boring, right?

As we approach our anniversary this year, I have a whole different outlook.  This is our first year as a married couple celebrating our anniversary and as disciples of Jesus Christ.  I recently reflected on one of my favorite scriptures, 1 Corinthians 13:4-13.

"Love is patient (him, not me), love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.  It keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me (almost all of them).  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love."

My goal in the upcoming year(s) is to do what I can to better embody this scripture as a wife and woman of God.  We have been through a lot together over 12.5 years of relationship and 8 years of marriage, and I'm beyond happy to say today that we are exactly where we were meant to be: together, happy, raising a family, and praising and glorifying God in any way that we can.

It's all about balance...

This blog post is based on the lesson that I recently did during our last women's midweek service at church.  Enjoy!

 

Do you feel overwhelmed with everything going on in your life?  Each person has a dizzying array of variables that guide each and every day.

• Ministry - Sunday service, midweek service, quiet time with God, devotional time with others, discipleship time, special meetings, service areas, kids clubs, etc.
• Career - full time job, part time job, multiple jobs, stay at home Mom.
• Family time - immediate and extended
• School - full time, part time, classes while working, night classes, masters programs, lots of travel time to class, etc.
• Kid's extracurricular activities - soccer practice, ballet recitals, play dates, sleep overs, birthday parties... list this is endless
• Housework, grocery shopping, exercise, hobbies, personal time, etc.
• Don't forget to eat and sleep!

 

We all need to be aware of the variables in our lives.  Any one or more of these variables can make us unbalanced, stress us out, push us past our breaking point.  Having too much on our plates can lead to sinful roles developing.

 

Do you have trouble switching gears?

• Do you do things out of selfish ambition, hoping for respect or recognition?
• Are you insecure and do you have trouble saying "No" for fear that you will lose respect?

 

Are you a people pleaser?

• Do you focus too much on what others will think of you?
• Do you overcommit to others in order to keep people happy?

 

Are you a control freak?

• Do you worry about everything?
• Do you feel uncomfortable and unstable when you aren't in control of your variables?

 

We need to yolk ourselves with Jesus, not with these sinful roles.  Jesus was the perfect example for us of someone with a balanced life.  He did nothing out of selfish ambition (see Luke 9:48), he couldn't have cared less about what others thought of him (see Luke 8:22-24), and he never worried about a thing (see Matthew 6:34).  And why should he?  His father was GOD!

 

Here are some practical applications for you:

 

1.  Put God first.

• "Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment."  Matthew 22:37-38 NIV

 

2.  Set righteous boundaries.

• Evaluate the importance of everything
• Don't let your schedule require the approval of others
• Learn to say "No"
• "I have the right to do anything, you say - but not everything is beneficial.  I have the right to do anything, - but not everything is constructive.  No one should seek their own good, but the good of others."  1 Corinthians 10:23-24

 

3.  Be a Proverbs 31 Woman.

• Your husband is 2nd after God
• The comes your children, followed by other family members
• Give freely to others
• Be a perfect example for your children to follow

 

I hope this information is helpful to you.  Enjoy the video below!  Some of our campus ladies put this together for my lesson and I'm so grateful to them for expressing exactly the point I wanted to make.

God's Covenant

Within the span of the first 5 chapters of Genesis, the first of 66 books in the Bible, man had already shamed God into wiping the slate clean.  The serpent was able to so easily convince Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then she corrupted Adam.  God sent both from the Garden of Eden as punishment for their disobedience.  But when God saw what had become of his creation during the age of Noah, he was sickened.

"The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.  So the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air-- for I am grieved that I have made them." [Genesis 6:5-7 NIV]

After the flood had wiped the earth clean of all living creatures, except for Noah, his family, and the animals God commanded him to save, God made a covenant to Noah that he would never again destroy life on earth with a flood.  Genesis 9 outlines this covenant and this sets a basis for the faith in his future promises.

I am amazed at the dedication, steadfast commitment, enduring strength and resolve of God for sticking to this covenant.  God saw what had become of his creation then and destroyed everything.  But look at what we have become now... and he has let us live.  The earth is filled with so much sin.  Murder, greed, envy, pride, lust, sexual immorality, theft, lies, disobedience, idolatry, guilt, jealousy, poverty, inequality, racism, sexism, discrimination, human trafficking, drugs, prostitution, starvation, disease and pollution. 

I can't imagine the pain he feels now seeing how we have corrupted his creation.  I wonder how badly he wants to start over again... wipe the earth clean and try for a third time.  But he won't.  He can't.  He made a covenant to Noah and God keeps his promises.  That is one of the greatest things about God.  We can always trust that he keeps his word.