Only In Christ is Self Conquered

The more I hear on the "news", the more I read articles of the happenings in our country, I am just shocked...totally shocked. What has happened?

The president said he will move forward "with or without Congress." Where is the balance of powers that our constitution states will protect us from tyranny?

The Common Core curriculum that is now being used in many of our states uses books that glorify  pedophilia, rape, and incest. Textbooks are rewriting history. (Yes, I am stating facts...please reasearch for your own understanding.)

Our e-mails are being read, our cell phone conversations logged, and drones are flying overhead.

Abortion is legal, but you are not allowed to keep a bald eagle's feather that floats to the ground.

Our healthcare is now being taken over by the government.

We are losing our right to voice our opinion, our right to the truth, our right to privacy, and our right over our own bodies.

And it began when Christ was pushed out the door.

Every religion has its rules, Christianity included. We are not to steal, lie, cheat, commit adultery, etc. But only one faith requires absolutely nothing to be included. The Christian Faith comes with no strings attached.

You see, we were born sinful, we are not good. In fact there is not a shred of goodness in us. Man's natural inclination is to climb the ladder of goodness to be noticed. By following the rules of any faith, we can then feel we have accomplished something, we are "good." Wrong...it all points to self. You may say you know alot of "good," maybe even "outstanding" people. What motivates their goodness? Self. We identify with goodness, we "do" things right and upstanding. But sooner or later, self shows itself....evil will rare its head.

Jesus knew this. He loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself for all the evil in the world. You see, sin is simply that which separates us from God. Jesus died for all that sin, so that we might have a relationship with the most High God.

GRACE. That is grace. For now we can know God, know He is in control and only wants the best for us. Only God can have absolute power for our absolute benefit.  Our actions now transfer from self to God. "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (I Cor. 10:31) We do good for His glory, not ours. We don't follow the rules to gain love , we are loved first then delight in living as He would have us.

Without God, society cannot function in the best interest of the people. Self reigns. Man's "self-goodness" can only be held in check for so long. Without God, power is a hunger. Satan promotes this readily for he is the father of all lies. Power will get you somewhere, it will elevate you. Satan tried this and was thrown from heaven. He now is on a conquest to take as many as he can with him.

Our forefathers crafted an amazing constitution. They also knew that it would not succeed without God. Upon reaching a perilous deadlock, Ben Franklin spoke, "And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that "except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it."

Yes, I am shocked. But my shock has understanding. Without Jesus, all evil is possible.Without Jesus, it is not possible for the powers that be to "have the best interests of the people." Even the great benefits of capitalism cannot flourish without Christ. "Money is the root of all kinds of evil." (I Timothy 6:10) You can follow the money trail in the many endeavors of our country.

In Christ we can rest. We may not understand, we may feel disillusioned, frustrated, angry. But may we have a heart for our neighbor and pray that God's love and grace be felt by them. Only then, does self begin to melt away....to His glory.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 ....take a moment and read through vs. 39 ♥

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. Proverbs 3:5-7

I have learned that only in Christ will my selfish actions be put to rest.

The Good Ole' Days

Progress....this word, for the most part, is seen in a positive light.

Progress: the forward movement toward a goal. There must be progress in one's life to grow and learn. It is progress to mature from a child to an adult. It is progress to better the world for the common good, i.e. technology has enabled us to warn the masses in danger of a tornado, modes of transportation have become more quicker and more efficient, the refrigerator provides an environment to prevent food spoilage, and the list goes on.

But is all progress good? For the sake of a simple blog entry, I cannot do justice to this topic, but may it cause you to think about what is going on around you, and spurn you to make choices that are not good for only you, but those around you.

Due to the busyness of life (and there is a difference between being busy and having a full day) we crave instant gratification....we want to know "now," we don't have time to wait. Enter all the media devices. We now can watch anything at any time, communicate with anyone, anytime, and have the world's knowledge at our fingertips. Our physical beings are never at rest. Obesity rates have soared and depression meds fly off the shelves. Social media is now a relationship. Much progress has been made with the computer chip...but it hasn't stopped....the speed of change is becoming incomprehensible. We are hurtling with it....

In seeking to provide bumper crops, herbicides and pesticides are abundantly used. Genetically Modified Organisms are now in plenty. (The general principle of producing a GMO is to alter the genetic material of an organism's genome in order to make life easier for humans, i.e. increasing the nutritional value of a food, or alter it so a pest can't destroy the crop.) As a consumer, many of us don't even realize what is going in our mouths when we sit down at the dinner table. Herbicides and pesticides are poisons...designed to kill. GMO's alter the DNA of said organism. Does this make sense? A person is what they eat. I am ingesting a poison (designed to kill) and a substance with an altered DNA....what does this do to my body? Simple common sense causes me to halt.

Vaccines are purported to have made giant strides in eradicating disease in our world. I recently began researching the flu vaccine (simply because it is starting to make headlines, and I have never thought I needed one) and I have been shocked. I think most of us blindly accept "the shot" as a good thing. Take some time and read the insert found in the vaccine (this can be found on the internet). Again, poisons and toxins (along with the vaccine) are being injected into our bodies without our knowledge. Our children are being inundated with vaccines. In 1983, ten vaccines were required before age 6; today 30 are. Autism rates were 1 in 10,000 in 1983, they are now 1 in 50. When my youngest was born, (1993) vaccines at birth were just being introduced. I simply told the nurse I did not want that. It did not make sense to inject my newborn with a vaccine. We may have curbed disease, but at what cost? Our immune systems are paying the price. (A vaccine causes the immune system to react differently than if a person were to be sick.) Auto-immune diseases have soared.

Scientists applaud the progress made in food and medicine. I don't mean to diminish their efforts. But we must take a step back and evaluate what really is progress: we are moving forward to.....what?

My mom grew up going to country school (where education was lighting a fire, not filling a bucket), lived on a farm, had the mumps, measles, and chickenpox, food was grown in the garden and the chicken coop, and entertainment consisted of outdoor play.

Today, schools are "progressing" toward the cookie-cutter kid (simply filling the bucket), the farm is "redneck", being sick is bad for you, many foods are chemicals we pick off a shelf, and the big screen TV and smart phone are the "in" things.

I am not one to have wishful thinking of the "good ole' days" for they had their problems too. Life was not a bed of roses. But is it possible to embrace some of the wholesome living from those days? We are not God, and we don't live in a fairy-tale world, thus we simply need to take a step back and not take progress at face value, but educate ourselves. Progress should not simply make life easier or create more of something....but create a better life holistically for all.....what seems good today, may not be  tomorrow.

Don't get me wrong. Progress is necessary and good in life. But it is not all as it seems. When we blindly accept the changes as they come, and not evaluate the end goal, we fail to be responsible to one's self thus giving that control to another.

I did  not comment on these "progressive" topics; but just had to share this cartoon. Blind acceptance?

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. Prov. 27:12

Progress....I am learning its successes and dangers.

A New Year

We all desire the chance to start over, begin anew. For many, the new year is a time to do that. I post this on January 1st, but any day is a good day to embark on the journey of change.

A few thoughts:

*Begin with yourself. And only yourself.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me." ~author unknown (a thought-provoking adaptation to the Serenity Prayer)

*Change is intentional; cultivate proper thinking and proper action (and results) will take place.

A recipe calls for certain ingredients (and a specific method) to produce an end result. Life works much the same.....

 * Keep your eyes fixed on the Author and Finisher of your faith, Jesus.

"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:6

In the end, no one  knows you better than Jesus. He knows your desires and what needs to be changed. He is always working, molding you into His image. You will know no greater Advocate, or greater Love.



God supplies the ingredients....and the method; look to Him. It is really quite simple. All we need is Him...nothing else.....to change for the better.

I have learned change starts with Jesus.

The Value of Tradition

I love Christmas....I love the message of the season; I love the unity it brings; I love the love that is shared amongst family and friends.

I love the traditions.

Tradition....it is the glue that holds one generation to the next.

 A young mother is preparing a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.

Her daughter watches with interest as the mother slices off the ends of the turkey before placing it in the roasting pan. 

The young girl asks her mother why she did this.

The mother pauses for a moment and then says, "You know, I'm not sure. This is the way I always saw my mother prepare a turkey. Let's call Grandma and ask her."

So, she phones her mother and asks why they always slice the ends off the turkey before roasting.

The Grandmother thinks for a moment and then says, "You know, I'm not sure why either. This is just the way I always saw MY mother prepare a turkey." 

Now the two women are very curious, so they pay a visit to the great-grandmother in the nursing home.

"You know when we prepare a turkey," they explain, "we always slice off the ends before roasting. Why is that?" 


The old woman replies, "I don't know why YOU do it, but I never had a roasting pan that was long enough."

These women all had something in common...the way they prepared the turkey. Even though the reason (for cutting the ends off) became non-existent after one generation; the next simply followed because it brought an identity and a comfort that "I come from something of value." 

As a child, my family always opened Christmas presents on Christmas eve after my father read the Christmas story. Thus, with my own children we have followed in the same manner. My children all think it is silly to wait until Christmas morning, but that is simply because they value "tradition."

Christmas is celebrating the birth of Christ and by sharing gifts and love with one another, we take note of the great love that was shared with us some 2,000 years ago. Traditions pass this message; an enduring one for all generations.

I have a red "you are special" plate that is used to celebrate birthdays in our house (another tradition). On Christmas Eve after we open gifts, we simply have cake and sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. An open spot sits at our table with the red plate sitting for Jesus.

Some traditions may not pass from one generation to the next simply because they were not of lasting value, the message is not passed, or one does not value tradition and wants to create his own way. May we be careful in tossing aside that which gives life its rich meaning.

Our girls received an ornament each year as they grew. Upon marriage, I have handed that box of their ornaments to them to hang on their Christmas tree.

The tradition of love and family being passed down. Most years the ornament depicted a life event; now they have a visual diary of their childhood.

I sigh with utmost gratefulness for the traditions handed down to me and new ones created with my girls....they create a sense of belonging....belonging to the One that created family and love.

Traditions celebrate who we are and where we have come from.

May your Christmas envelope you with the love of that tiny babe; celebrate His goodness, maybe revive that which you loved as a child? Ah, yes....mom made caramel rolls on Christmas morning....it really isn't the rolls, but the connection to mom that lives on. :)

I have learned the value of tradition.

Growing in Grace

As we travel this road of life, God grows and stretches us, conforming us to the image of His Son.

For many years, that entailed my becoming a "better" person. Shedding bad habits, thoughts, and actions. I don't think I am any further along in accomplishing this. Yes, I may have changed that thought or action, but another faulty one just replaces it.

Life is about growing in His Grace, not becoming a "better" person. In Christ, we possess all the goodness of Him.

The goodness of Grace.

We stumble, Grace picks us up. We hide, Grace finds us. We cower, Grace makes a shield. When we lose our self-control, Grace puts the pieces back in place. Think we know it all? Grace humbles us. And when we seem to lose all hope, Grace comforts us.

When all was lost in the Garden, Grace made the way back. In the form of a tiny babe.

Grace, that undeserved favor, drives love into our hearts.

Love propels us.

Love changes the heart and changes the actions.

When our children were baptized we gave them each a Precious Moments Figurine titled, "Growing In Grace." I loved the notion of "growing in Grace," but did not comprehend the depth of that until just the past few years. I am thankful His Grace was present in raising my children, even if I didn't realize the significance of some things at the time.

Grace finds us....right where we are.....and wraps His arms around us.
 
Your Grace Finds Me (Matt Redman) (click on link)

And all we need to do.....is say thank you.

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" 2 Cor. 9:15

I only learn because of His grace.

Focus...On His Goodness

I never thought I would be using my skills I learned as a childbirth educator to aid my daughter in getting through the pain of a kidney stone.

The pain was excruciating. The pain meds would not stay down. As her husband drove the ten miles back to town to get another prescription, we began breathing exercises.

"Focus! You must focus! Look at me....breathe in.....breathe out.....  Yes, the pain is out of this world, but you can ride it. Breathe in....breathe out..... Focus on my face. Breathe in comfort, exhale tension. Picture something soft, cuddly. Breathe in.... breathe out..... Focus." And it continued for an hour.....

Yes, I may have sounded strange, but research has shown that we can reduce the sensation of pain by focusing our thoughts away from it. This was at the heart of the childbirth classes I used to teach.

We must choose our focus.

As I lay in bed after the fact, I thought about how we handle the trials of life. So many times, we tense with frustration, anxiety, worry, and even anger. This will only intensify our pain, much like thrashing on the floor when in physical pain.

Can we apply this same principle to life that I taught women in navigating the pain of labor? To focus? Focus our thoughts on something other than our pain?

Yes...

Rather than dwelling on the trials and tribulations of life, we can choose to focus on God's goodness. His faithfulness to us in all moments of life.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations. ~Psalm 100

Focus...on His goodness....His love. 

Breathe in....the knowledge that you are His. 

Breathe out....praise to Him.

We enter His gates with our thanksgiving and praise. Our days will be brighter, the pain a little duller....when focusing on Him.

My daughter told me later she focused on our textured ceiling...she counted the bumps. Counted....count (focus on) the ways Jesus is good to you. Trust me....you will see joy springing forth.  

Breathe in....the knowledge that you are His. Breathe out.....praise to Him.

I am learning to focus....on His goodness.

Thanksgiving: A National Holiday

I love Thanksgiving...not only the turkey and the fixin's, but the family and friends that gather together and...

.....give thanks.

Most of us when we think of Thanksgiving, think of the first Thanksgiving the Pilgrims and Indians held; but did you know that President Lincoln, during the Civil War, instituted the fourth Thursday of November as a national holiday? A day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father?" I was so moved when I read his decree that I deemed it worthy to post in hopes that we look at this holiday in the light for which it was instituted.

 

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Psalm 118:29

May we give thanks not only on the fourth Thursday of each November, but every day of the year.

....and his decree was on my birthday! :) How neat is that?! I now have another item to be thankful for on my birthday!