Place it in God's Hands

Luke 12:22-34

Do Not Worry

22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

I have spent a good portion of my married life worrying about money. I am sure that there are many out there who are the same way, yet somehow, God has always provided for us. From the large things to the smallest things He has always stepped in and amazed us. 

When David and I had been married less than a year, we lived at Ft. Campbell, KY and since we had registered Scottsbluff, NE as our home of record, when our driver's licenses were about to expire we had to drive that 1100 mile drive to Scottsbluff to get our licenses renewed. We had a four day weekend, in which payday was to be Saturday morning, but we HAD to leave Friday morning to be able to make the trip in time, so we decided to go ahead and only buy gas. We would eat when got to his Grandma's house in Nebraska. We were going to drive straight through without eating. I was a few months pregnant with Gabby at the time and we had plenty of baby cereal for Brittany who was not even 1 yet. 

By afternoon I was starting to feel really sick from the pregnancy and not eating. David pulled off to get gas and I got out of the car to go inside, stretch my legs, and change the baby. As I walked into the gas station, which was like a little mini mart, a lady walked right up to me with two loaves of bread. She told me they were expired and she couldn't sell them. Then she asked if I could use them. 

God is amazing! He has provided for us many times like the story I just told. I have learned not to worry it has been a long process and sometimes I still find my mind wandering to how I am going to pay this or that bill, or the kids need new shoes, or the lawn needs mowed and the mower is broken, or the laundry has to be done by hand, but I have consciously decided to place it in God's hands and every time I do, I am amazed!

Do you have something that you have been worried about lately? Sit down and tell the Father that it is in His hands and trust Him and He will give you what He has promised!

Are you a Mary or a Martha?

Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

John 12:1-3
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

Martha and Mary were sisters, yet they were two different people. Martha was a server, a worker. She was busy with all the preparations that needed to be done to entertain Jesus and His disciples. In the second passage, it doesn't say much about her, just "Martha served". Martha doesn't really get much glory for all her service, in fact, if anything, Jesus admonishes her. She worked hard to make sure everyone had their food and drink, she cleaned and scrubbed, she did the dishes, she took care of everyone. Sound familiar? 

Mary, on the other hand was a worshiper. She sat at Jesus feet, gleaning every bit of knowledge that she could get from Him. She took a jar of expensive perfume and poured it on His feet and wiped it up with her hair. She sat and took the time to truly get to know Jesus, to become His friend and to worship Him by doing the most unselfish thing she could think of, washing His feet.

Yet, when Martha complained to Jesus that Mary was just sitting there, what did He say? Did He tell Mary to get up and help her sister? No. He commended Mary for choosing to sit and listen to Him and again in the next passage He praises her for putting Him first stating that we will always have the poor with us, but He is only with us for a short time.

Martha served others first; Mary served Jesus first...and by reading the scripture we can gather that Jesus preferred Mary's way. So how can we be a Mary in a Martha world? 

Jesus wants us to put Him first. When He told the Sadducees what the greatest commandment was...the first thing He said was to love the Lord your God and secondly love your neighbor as yourself. 

Matthew 22:34-39
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 

From this we must assume that Jesus wants us to stop and take the time to truly worship Him, put Him first. Yes, He wants us to serve. There are many verses in the Bible to support that, but He wants to be first in our lives. He wants us to worship Him, to adore Him. He wants to be our best friend. How long has it been since you took the time to sit at Jesus feet and worship Him? If you are a Martha, like me, don't forget to take some time trying to be more like Mary. Service is important, but worship is imperative!

Are you sleeping?

Matthew 26:36-41
36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

It's so easy fall into a sense of complacency with our Christian walk. I like the definition of complacency...a feeling of quiet pleasure or comfort, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect.

When we become comfortable in our walk with Christ we begin to neglect the basics allowing Satan a chance to sneak in uninvited. Without the power of God's presence in our lives, even though we may be willing to walk our Christian walk, our flesh is weak to withstand temptation. In the disciples case they they fell asleep when they should have been watching and praying with Jesus. They didn't realize the danger, soon enough the guards were there to take Jesus away.

1 Peter 5:8 
8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The Message Bible puts it this way 
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping.

We, like the disciples, don't realize the danger of becoming complacent in our walks. Becoming complacent means, thinking we do "enough" or we pray "enough", or we are too tired to worry about reading the Bible. Then we are opening a door to Satan and as the scripture says, "He is just waiting to catch us napping"

We must keep vigilant in our walk, pray, read the Bible, attend church, worship God with all our hearts and soul, put Him first in all we do. Do not allow the devil to get a stronghold in our lives for we are here, but a short time.

1 Peter 1:22-25 (The Message)
22-25Now that you've cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God's living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That's why the prophet said, 
The old life is a grass life, 
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers; 
Grass dries up, flowers droop, 
God's Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you

Don't be caught napping, come to the garden to pray with Jesus today! Keep watch with Him, because we do not know when our time on earth will be through, I for one would love to hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant"

Is it Love or Judgement?

Romans 2 (The Message)
God Is Kind, but Not Soft
1-2 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done.
3-4You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he's such a nice God, he'd let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

I took this from The Message Bible today because it really spoke to me. Something I have been working very hard on in my life is JUDGEMENT. As human beings we see a very small window of a person's life. We can't know what they are thinking, we can't know what they are feeling, and we have no idea what their relationship is with God. If you are looking at someone through your human eyes you will find many faults, but if you ask to see them with Jesus's eyes you will see something totally different.

You see a woman walking the streets at night, dressed in skin tight leather, lots of make-up, stiletto heels, you think HOOKER...God sees a woman, abused sexually and physically as a child, ran away from home to escape the abuse, her heart is hurting, she had to resort to a life of sex for money because she had no other way to survive. 

You see a drunk man sitting in the corner of an alleyway, right next to the dumpster, he smells of booze and sweat, he is dirty and his clothing is torn. You hurry by because you are scared and repulsed. God sees a man who worked hard all his life, lost his job due to the economy. Once he lost his job he started drinking to numb the pain, because of the drinking his wife and his kids left. He lost the house. The dumpster is not only his bed, but also his place to eat. God sits down beside him and holds his hand.

But how do we handle a situation that is more simple? We see our friend mistreating her children...we know of a coworker who has been flirting with a woman at work and they are both married? Do we judge them? 

Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love. "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ."

In other words, check your motives at the door...are you speaking the truth to them because their actions annoy you, or out of genuine concern? Have you prayed about it before you brought it up? Have you found Bible verses to back you up?

As Christians, I believe that sometimes we feel we are better than others. If we looked at our hearts the way God does, we would see that there is sin in every single one of us. Try to be loving instead of judgmental and when you must speak the truth make sure your motivations are out of love!

What is your purpose

Have you ever felt that you aren't sure what your purpose is? Why did God put you on earth? 

God formed each of us, taking special time to make sure that we were made just the way He wanted us. Not one of us is an accident. He purposefully took the time to make us the way we are.
Psalm 139:13
13 For you created my inmost being; 
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 
your works are wonderful, 
I know that full well.

Not only did he take special time forming each of us, but He also took special care to give us each a purpose before He ever began to make us. He made each of us for a reason. He knew what our purpose was before one day of our existence came to be.
Psalm 139:15-16
15 My frame was not hidden from you 
when I was made in the secret place. 
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body. 
All the days ordained for me 
were written in your book 
before one of them came to be.

When God was forming us He breathed His life into us. He carefully formed Adam from clay and then breathed the essence of His being into His body. He took the time to form the first man and He cared enough to give Him a little part of Himself.
Genesis 2:7 
7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

If God cared enough to take the time to form each of us the way He wants us, and to make us each with the talents and abilities that we need to fulfill the purpose that He has planned out for us, and then He took special care to breathe His life into us....shouldn't we figure out what that purpose is? Shouldn't we work to fulfill the purpose that He set out for us?

Consider what you are best at, the talents that God gave you. How can you use them in service to God and to others? How can you use them for His glory? 

Our Children are Watching

The other night as I went in to pray with Dani, she got up and started to walk across her bed. I looked at her and said, "What are you doing?" 
She promptly replied, "Can we pray where I usually pray when nobody is with me?" Then she walked over and knelt at the foot of her bed. 

I realized that at some point she must have seen her Daddy kneeling to pray. 
It got me to thinking about how our children use our lives as examples for their own. I have seen this in many cases, good and bad, in our own lives. I see my impatience in a few of them, I see my motherliness in a few of them, and I hear some of my very own words leaving their mouths in encouragement to their friends, just as I encourage them.

What kind of example are we living for them to follow? 

1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
Titus 2:7 
In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness

As we go through our every day lives, we must remember that people are watching us. Not just our children, but others. Are we living an example of Christ's life or are we just going through the motions? 

Do we sit in church on Sunday, say Amen, and then go out and live our lives the way we want to? 
By our example, our children learn how to develop an every day walk with Jesus. They learn that Christianity is not just a Sunday morning thing. They learn to tell others the Good News! They learn to love the Lord their God with all their hearts, strength and mind.

Do we JUST sit in church on Sunday? By our example our children learn to be "on fire", they learn to volunteer for things and be available to use their talents, they learn to worship God through service. They learn to worship God through praise! 

When things get tough, do we give up? 
By our example our children learn to press on even through hard times, they learn persistence, and they learn how to brush off what other people say about them. They learn that sacrifice for the name of God is a joy!

Do we gossip and say mean things about others? Do we treat others kindly? Do we show God's love to everyone?
By our example our children learn to treat others kindly, to show God's love to everyone, just as Jesus did. They learn that words can hurt others and they learn to harness their tongues! They learn that every person has worth in the eyes of God and they learn to show His love, even to those that WE may not deem worthy, because in God's eyes we are all the same!

Are we faithful to our spouses and if not married are we abstinent? Do we treat our spouses with love and respect? Do we show each other the adoration and love that God showed us? 
By our example our children learn about marriage. They learn how they should be treated and they learn how to treat their spouse. If we love each other the way Christ loved the church our children will learn that they should be loved that way and they will learn to love that way too. Our children learn from watching how we interact with each other in a marriage. If we are single parents, our children will watch how we act when we are dating. If we try to teach them abstinence we should live that example for them, unless we are in a committed marriage!

Do we have low self-esteem? Do we treat our children with respect?
By our example our children learn to love themselves. They will learn that God loves them! They will learn that He made them each for a very special purpose and He knew that purpose even before they were born. 

Do we apologize when we make mistakes? Do we wallow in our guilt or do we brush off and move on?
By our example our children will learn that we are all human, "all have sinned", they will learn how to act when they make mistakes, they will learn to apologize and move on and learn from their mistakes. 


Make no mistake about it, you DO have influence in your children's lives. They watch you, they see how you act. I once had a friend tell me that they didn't believe that they had nearly as much influence in their kid's lives as their kid's friends did. I absolutely do not believe that. The Bible tells us "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (Prov 22:6)

When you are "training" for a job, the first thing they have you do is observe that job being done. I will tell you that by living an example of Christ's life you are beginning the training that your kids needs to follow Christ's example too.Our Ch

Fear Not

Fear can be a very debilitating force in someone's life. That gripping fear that snatches on to your heart and squeezes, making your chest feel heavy and tight. Fear is something that we all go through at one time or another. Whether it be the worry of losing a loved one, fear of not being able to pay the bills, or fear of death, or countless other things we tend to worry about, it is never something that is easy to go through. Fear is a very normal response to a situation that you are not in control of, but we have to remember when we are afraid that someone else IS in control. 

God protects us
Psalm 91:4 
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge; 
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
God has promised to cover us when we are afraid. He will shield us from the scary things in our lives. This verse makes me picture a Mama bird protecting her babies. I have seen it, when someone gets too close to their nest first they will cover the babies with their wing, then if the person gets closer they will come out of the nest and try and lead them away...as a last resort they will actually try to attack the person who is coming toward the nest. Isn't it great to know that our Heavenly Father will protect us this way?

God strengthens and helps us
Isaiah 41:10 
10 Fear not, for I am with you; 
Be not dismayed, for I am your God. 
I will strengthen you, 
Yes, I will help you, 
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ 
The Bible tells us not to be afraid because God is strengthening us and helping us through our time of trouble. Not only does He protect us, but He upholds us through it. We may think that it is more than we can handle, and it probably is if we try and handle it on our own, but if we let God help us we can handle anything. 

God comforts us
Psalm 23:4
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; 
For You are with me; 
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 
God has promised to protect us, to uphold us and give us strength, AND to comfort us. I remember when I was little and I was afraid, I would get up in the middle of the night and go to my grandma or mom and they would always wrap their arms around me and calm me. Just knowing that God is there to comfort us when we are afraid is a huge relief.

God gives us Peace
John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
God is in control of every situation. He knows what is going to happen and He just wants us to let go and let Him do His work. Knowing that He is in control and allowing Him to give you peace in your heart will bring you to the end of your fear.

When you are afraid remember to let go and let God protect you, strengthen and help you, comfort you, and give you peace

What are you giving up for Lent?

Today is a day to reflect upon what we can give to God during this Easter season. We make sacrifices during Lent as a symbol of Christ's suffering, yet nothing we sacrifice can really measure up to what He has done for us. As you are deciding what to give up for Lent this season, take time to remember what Christ did for you. Fix your thoughts upon Him! 

Easter is about the greatest gift that was ever offered to us...the Grace of God...Grace that caused Him to send his only Son to die in a horrific way so that we could have Salvation. He didn't want to see us perish, so He sacrificed His Son. Imagine...someone points a gun at your children and says "pick one". 

If you do not truly understand Salvation let me take a moment to explain it to you...the only thing Salvation requires of you is a belief in Jesus Christ as the one and only true Son of God. All you need, to get to heaven, is Jesus Christ, Son of God.

"For God so love the world, that He gave His ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life!" John 3:16

IF you believe in Jesus Christ as the true Son of God you WILL have everlasting life. It is that easy because of the gift that God gave us by sending His son to die. His Grace covers all our sin. We don't have to work for it, none of us deserves it, but He is offering it anyway. Open your heart and accept it!

As you are reflecting on what to give up for Lent, remember what Christ gave up for us. His suffering, His sacrifice, to make your life easier. What can you sacrifice for Him?

"Own" your sin

The girls and I have been talking more and more about "owning" our own actions. The other day, as I was trying to settle an argument between three of them, I began to realize that they spend a lot of time blaming each other for what they have done. 

"If she hadn't..." or "...but mommy she did it first!" After so much time listening to them placing the blame elsewhere I sat them down and told them to forget about what their sister did, be honest with themselves, and see if there is any possible way they could have done something different. I said "Imagine that Jesus is sitting right there next to you (cause he is), and tell me...were your actions such, that they would be pleasing to Him?" 

We spend so much time in our lives placing blame on others for our actions, but the Bible doesn't give us any room to place blame, in fact it is quite the opposite. This is clearly illustrated in the story of the first sin in Genesis 3. Serpent engages Eve in a conversation, "Hey pretty lady...come on over here and eat this apple..No, no you won't die like God says you will...He just doesn't want your eyes to be opened so you will know what he knows." 

Be assured...Eve was clearly aware of what God said about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, and yet, not only did she engage in conversation with temptation, but she gave in to it. She also turned around and tempted Adam, who was also clearly aware of what he was doing.

In vs. 13 Eve blames the serpent for her sin, but as you can see in vs 16 God gives Eve her own punishment. 

Genesis 3:16
To the woman He said: 
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; 
In pain you shall bring forth children; 
Your desire shall be for your husband, 
And he shall rule over you.” 

Adam also gets his own punishment:

Genesis 3:17 
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: 
“ Cursed is the ground for your sake; 
In toil you shall eat of it 
All the days of your life.

Each party was separately punished for their involvement in this sin. Each party had their own guilt. Our salvation does not depend on other people, it depends on our relationship with Jesus Christ and each person must repent of their own sin, therefore, we must conclude, that there is nobody else to blame but ourselves when we do sin. The devil made me do it is not a good enough excuse as we can see from Eve's story.

We cannot control what other people do, we can only control what we do.

Romans 3:23 tells us that 
"all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". God doesn't expect us to be perfect, he knows that we are going to stumble and fall, however, he does expect us to get back up, repent, accept our forgiveness and keep moving forward to strive for that perfection. 

About Faith

God is faithful even when we are faithless. 

2 Timothy 2:13 (New King James Version)
13 If we are faithless, 
He remains faithful; 
He cannot deny Himself.

There are many instances of this in the Bible. One particular instance that comes to mind is in Genesis 18:10-15 when Sarah overheard that she was to have a child in her old age, she was 89 to be exact, and she laughed at God. Not only did she laugh, but when God confronted her about it, she denied it. Through all this God was faithful and gave Abraham and Sarah a son. This story not only illustrates God's faithfulness, as we all know that Sarah was given a son despite her unbelief, but also the importance of God's timing. The baby came on God's time table.

Some of us may be struggling and praying and waiting for a miracle. We hope God will step up and answer our prayers even though we don't have the faith for it. He will.

In Mark 9 a father comes to Jesus for healing for his child...

17 Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. 18 And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.” 
19 He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” 20 Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 
21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” 
And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 
23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,[a] all things are possible to him who believes.” 
24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 

Jesus saw the man's unbelief. The man admitted it in verse 24 when he says "I believe; help my unbelief"

This same story is told in Matthew 17, in this instance Jesus says in vs. 20
"for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

Just a tiny bit of faith and patient waiting go a long way. God will answer your prayers, if you have even the tiniest amount of faith, admit your unbelief, and wait for His timing.

How to we gain faith? 

The rest of this story in Matthew 17:21 tells us this:

21" However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Also the Bible tells us in Romans 10:17 that
"faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Our faith is srengthened by fasting and praying and reading the Word of God. Set aside a daily devotion time with God. Take time to pray. Remember God is faithful even when we aren't. How much more faithful will he be when we are?