Healing is an action word!

“Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,  Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies” Psalm 103:1-4

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  James 5:14-16

The word healing is a verb.  I am not sure how many people are taught grammar and english anymore but it doesnt seem like very many.  A verb is defined as -

a. The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence in most languages.

For some reason we seem to think that God should just heal us and we dont have to do anything for it.  Do you realize that Jesus took 39 stripes upon His back for your healing?  He had to endure some suffering, a lot of suffering for us to be healed!  And yet so often we think that we should just get it for nothing.  Not that God wont heal like that but I think more often He wants us to step out in faith and receive it!  He wants us to come to Him!  He wants us to take action!

Last week in our Study of the Word, David taught on the whole man.  It was a very fascinating teaching and one that I had never thought about before.  There is the body, the soul and the spirit!

So many of us want our body healed but dont want God to heal our soul or our spirit!  We beg God to heal our physical body, our heart, our arthritis, our cancers, our everything but we dont want or dont ask God to heal our mind, our emotions, our will!  We still want it our way but expect God to take care of our physical body and then we go around and proclaim that healing is not for today because we didnt get healed and we havent seen anybody get healed and therefore it must not be Gods will!  Let me tell you, it is Gods will!  But it is more His will that your spirit and soul be healed than your physical body!!

To receive healing we need to have the inner man healed first!  We need to take some steps to lay down our will, to STOP being ruled by our emotions, to NOT let our minds rationalize our sins!  When we start to actively clean up our soul and our spirit than you will be amazed at what God will do to start healing your physical body!   God loves us and He wants to heal us but He is more interested in healing the cause of our issue and not just the issue!

There is a man in the church who was having chest pain.  He went to the hospital and they told him that his EKG was horrible and worse than it had been and he was very scared.  Who wouldnt be?  Who wants to go through having a heart attack and all the diagnostics and such.  A few minutes later they came back and told him that they had been looking at the wrong EKG and that his was great.  As David was telling Zac and Emma the story Zac said, I know what is wrong with him.  He just threw it out there.  David looked at him and asked him what was wrong, Zac looked at him and said, I saw him out back behind the truck smoking.

I know that many people have addictions to smoking and alcohol and other things and it is a struggle.  I recognize that but how many people are seeking God earnestly, fasting and crying out for healing of this soulish addiction that is causing demise to the physical body versus praying and asking God to heal them of the result that this addiction is causing to their body?!  You see, it is bigger than just our physical body!  God wants to heal the root cause of the problem and not just fix the problem so that it can happen again!

How many people essentially worry themselves sick?  Worry and stress and cause themselves ulcers and lack of sleep and run their bodies down with increased levels of cortisol and over time they are destroying their body from the inside out!  They pray that God heals the ulcer, they pray that God will give them strength and energy, they pray for endurance, they want to just make it through the day but how many of them are praying and asking God to help them increase their faith so that they will stop worrying?   We worry about our health, our families health, pain and suffering that a loved one is going through, our job, our money, how to pay our bills, etc etc and yet the bible tells us clearly to not worry!  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  Matthew 6:25-27.  When we worry, we are essentially telling God that we dont trust Him to take care of us or our loved ones or our circumstances!  If we dont trust Him with that why should we expect Him to heal us because obviously we dont think that He does a very good job of taking care of us!

Worry is a mind problem!  Worry is what the enemy throws at us to keep us down and from receiving all that God has for us!   Yet how many people just accept it?  How many people lay claim to it like it is some sort of prize?  I am just a worrier, that is just what I am, I cant change it, it is just me!  Really?!  Sounds like a sickness to me!  Sounds like something that one should want healing from!  Sounds like a tool the enemy would use against us like unforgiveness and bitterness and hate and other soulish behaviors that we lay claim to and wont let God heal of us!

You want healing of these conditions?  It is going to take some hard work!  It is going to take action on your part!  It is going to take you living second by second in order to receive your healing!  When God healed me of unforgiveness it was the most amazing thing ever!  But no sooner had He healed me of it than the enemy started throwing it all back at me!  Every time I wasnt thinking of something specific the enemy would throw at me the things that the people I had forgiven had done to me and he would try to get me sick again!  BUT I defeated him!  How?  Every time he had me thinking of what they had done wrong to me, I started singing a praise song to the Lord!  I took action!

If you want healing from worry, or smoking or unforgiveness, or bitterness, or any other kind of soulish behavior seek Gods face!  Pray and ask Him to help you!  Ask Him for forgiveness!  Spend some time reading the word, praying and fasting!  Then when He heals you be prepared for the enemy to attack you!  And when the enemy attacks you and you crave that cigarette or that drink or you start to worry or you start to think of all that was done wrong to you, turn it around and start praising God!  Claim the victory that is yours because Jesus Christ conquered death and rose from the grave!  YOU HAVE VICTORY IN CHIRST!!  You do not have to be a slave to soulish sin!

Jesus took 39 stripes upon His back for your physical healing but even more important than that He rose from the dead and has the keys to death and hades in His hand so that you can be victorious over the devil and his schemes and attacks against your spirit, soul and body!  We have the healing!  Do you uderstand that?  It is ours!  By His stripes we WERE healed!  But we have to take action to get it!  We have to do some things to repair the inside of the house so that God can make the whole house beautiful and not just the external!  Who wants a house that looks great outside but is falling apart on the inside?

All that being said, some people will not be healed of their physical disease even though their spirit and soul are in line with God.  That is sin that is in the world.  Sin and death entered the world when Adam and Eve ate of the apple.  Some people wont be healed because maybe God knows that their strength and character that they have through the illness will be an example to those around them and others will come to Christ because of their suffering.  I am not God, I dont know why some great and godly people get sick and are never healed.  I do know that it is Gods will that we all be healed but we live in a fallen world!  It is also Gods will that all will be saved and receive salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ and yet there are millions of people going to hell every day!  The world belongs to satan and he is set on destroying it and us!

Are you hurting and in need of healing in your spirit, soul, or physical body?  What are you doing to claim it?  What sins might you be rationalizing in your soul, your mind, that might be the root cause of your physical illness?  Are you seeking to heal that more so than the actual illness?   Just because you might not call it sin doesnt mean that it isnt sin.  Just like not knowing what the law is doesnt make it ok for you to break it, we are responsible for our actions!   Jesus laid His life down for us and for our victory over the enemy and our healing!  He prayed for Gods will, not His!  He DIED for us!  Rise up and claim it!  Cry out for healing of the spirit and the soul!  Set your mind on things above!  Let God heal your inner man and see if the outer man doesnt get healed as a result!

Is the church Christ like? Are you?

 

“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”  1 John 2:8

“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:13-17

“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

 

I have written on this topic before but I find that I have to constantly remind myself that I need to be like Christ!  I am to be an imitator of Christ!  I am to walk as He walked!   I am to follow His example of love and humility and service to others with a willing and kind spirit!  WE the church, we who call ourselves CHRISTIANS, we are to be IMITATORS of Christ!  Not perfectly but increasingly!

We are so conditioned to respond as the world responds.  We think we have the RIGHT to react and respond like those living around us but if you are truly saved, you do not have that right!!  You were purchased by the BLOOD of Christ and you are to be imitating Him!!  You should want to be doing this!

It is no wonder that we are called hypocrites all the time because most of us are no different than the world around us!  Most of us claim to be christians and yet we act like the world and talk like the world and we rationalize our sins so we can fit in with the world!  We are so far from being Christ like that most people would probably never know we were supposed to be a christian!  It is like the old saying, if you were on trial for being a christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

I was having a discussion with a friend of mine awhile ago and they were telling me about how they had been hurt and it was hard for them to get over it and to want to have anything to do with the person who had hurt them.   As we were talking about it the Lord really impressed upon my heart about how we are to be like Christ to EVERYONE!  Regardless of how they have treated us or hurt us or regretted us!  We were to be like Christ!  As christians we were to be different, we were to CHOOSE to respond different than the world!

You see that is what we so often fail to do, we fail to choose to respond differently than the world when we are attacked or persecuted or hurt!  We are so caught up in the world that we think we are right in acting and reacting like it does, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!  You hurt me and I am going to hurt you back!  You did this to me and so therefore it is my right to hate you and treat you poorly! But Jesus tells us in Luke 6:29 “If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.”

When Jesus was beaten and spit on and called names and whipped and hung on a cross to die did He curse those who persecuted Him?  Did He call them names back?  Did He lash out and strike out at them?  NO!!  He was silent and He hung on the cross and said “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do!”   That is how Jesus treated those who killed Him!!

We need to get off the politically correct, got do things the world way, its my right to be angry, they deserve it attitude and get on the example that Jesus set for us!  We are to be imitators of Christ!  There isnt any clauses to that scripture!  It doesnt say be imitators of Christ only if someone doesnt hurt you, or come against you, or treats you like you want to be treated.   We are to walk as He walked!  We are to be imitators of Him!

How do you respond when someone comes against you?  Do you do as the world does?  Or do you love them like Christ?  Do you place yourself above those around you?  Or do you humble yourself and serve others?  Are you imitating the world?  Or Christ?   Do those around you even know that you are a christian?

 

 

Thanksgiving?!

 “O Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, And a great King above all gods, In whose hand are the depths of the earth; The peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” Psalm 95:1-6

It is the month of November, the month of thanksgiving.   What are you thankful for?  A month or so ago I was talking to my mom and we were discussing how far out the stores start putting up halloween decorations and christmas decorations and yet there is rarely anything given or done for thanksgiving.   We discussed how ungrateful todays world seems to be.  Everything being mostly about what can you do for me and how does everything effect me with out much effort or thought put into how lucky we are and how blessed we are with what we have and can do in this country!

Here it is now the first day of November and all over facebook there are posts about dedicating the month to posting up what one is thankful for.  That is a great thing but why are we only doing it for one month?  Why is it that every other month goes by and we dont put the same emphasis on being thankful?  Do we not have anything to be thankful for the rest of the year?   How different would our lives be if we thought about what we were thankful for everyday and not what we were worried about?

A few months ago there was a client and a member of our church that was looking for a puppy for their son.  We had had to put to sleep their other dog because of cancer and their son had started having some difficulties afterward.  I asked the kennel help to go to the pound and see if there were any puppies there that matched what they wanted.  Sure enough there was a six month old black lab type pup and so we adopted it from the pound and brought it to the clinic and bathed it and dipped it and the kennel help spent hours pulling ticks off of it.  It was a very happy little dog and the husband came and visited with it and said that they would take it.

It was the sons birthday when they took it home and when I would see them at church they seemed pleased with the dog.    The other night I got a text from her and she said that because of the dog that I gave them they had to get their yard sprayed for ticks and now their family members dogs that were staying there had ticks because of the dog that I gave them and what was I going to do about it because I gave them the dog.  I have to be honest and tell you that I have really struggled with this.

There is an old saying that goes, “No good deed goes unpunished.” And it is indeed very true.  We had dipped the dog which kills all the ticks on it and sent them with spot on treatment as well.  We vaccinated the dog and gave them everything at no charge.  Ticks are very common here and their old dog had ticks on it when I went to look at it so they obviously had ticks in the yard to begin with but now the ticks were all my fault and it had cost them money and they wanted me to do something about it even though it has been over 2 months since we gave them the dog.

As I lay there in bed struggling with not being angry and wondering why people are so ungrateful, God brought to my heart how ungrateful I was!  How many times have I been mad or frustrated over issues in life and expected God to take care of it when I had not even been being actively thankful for not only all that He had done for me but just the fact that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for me and my sins!!  Who was I to be upset at some person when I was the same way with Him!

God gave us His Son, He sent Him to the earth to live as an example for us and to die for our sins so that we could live in eternity with Him and yet we sit around and complain and get mad at God because bad things happen to us or our loved ones because of our sin or just sin in general which is causing the world to fall apart!  We get upset because we think God should be doing something different, we blame Him, we shake our fists at Him and completely forget about what all He gave us in His Son!!

Who are we that we have any right to be anything but thankful!??   Regardless of what we go through on this earth we get to spend eternity in heaven!  Regardless of how often or how bad we sin, we are FORGIVEN because of Jesus and His shed blood on the cross!  All we have to do is ask and repent and yet we somehow think that we should be entitled to more!  I am ashamed of myself!  I am ashamed for getting mad at a person for what I do to God!  Who am I to think that I deserve thanks when I often fail to thank God for who He is and what He has already done for me!?

I think that we need to change our hearts!  I think we need to change our mindsets!  I think we need to thank God each and every day!  365 days of the year regardless of what is going on because we are SAVED by the BLOOD of Jesus!!!  Forgive me Father for my selfishness and self righteousness!  Forgive me for being angry when I have done the same thing to you and yet you continue to love me and bless me!  Help me to love as you love!  Help me to forgive as you forgive!  Change my heart that it will not take offense but rather that it will be humble and compassionate and full of love regardless of the circumstances!

1 Thessalonians 5:18  in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 

Waiting!

 

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”

Isaiah 40:28-31

 

Sometimes things happen to us in life that just can not be rationalized and one takes a stand and then you have to wonder if you did the right thing!  When does the headache of it outweigh the stand?  Do you keep fighting or do you give up?  Do you wait upon the Lord or fold your hand?

Several months ago we had a client bring in a boxer puppy that had parvo.  Parvo is something that we deal with all year round here in sunny arizona and there are times when it happens in mass number!  Last year during one out break we had over 16 hospitalized dogs at one time!  That is a lot of bloody diarrhea and vomit and we only lost a few of them.   My staff is very well versed in discussing the treatment options with owners and things were no different in this case.  The one unfortunate thing that did not happen in this case, because my main receptionist was out of town and the girls at the front desk dropped the ball, was we did not get a signed consent form.  But the woman did give us verbal consent to treat the dog and left the dog in our care.

We treated the dog for 5 days for parvo with IV fluids and antibiotics and antiemetics and antiinflammatories.  In most places parvo treatment is very expensive and usually one ends up with a several thousand dollar bill because of the amount of nursing care that is required.  We see so much parvo here that I can not stand the thought of that many dogs dying because they arent treated so we pretty much just charge for the medications given to the dog.  We require a $200 deposit with the remaining balance due when the client picks up the dog with an average of $50 a day treatment costs.  This woman paid the deposit and when she came to pick up the dog and was told that the remaining balance was $284  she refused to pay and stated that she didnt owe any more.  Hence the battle began, unfortunately!

We told the woman that we could not give her her dog until she paid her bill because we have a sign posted that states “Payment due at time services are rendered.” Also we had turned this client over to collections for a $55 bill that they had never paid on.   She stomped out and it has been a nightmare since!  Her husband came in the next day and asked if he could make payments and was told no because of the previous collections and he at this time stated that his wife must had heard wrong or misunderstood.  He also said that money was tight because they were trying to buy a house.

The woman came in the next week and told Tammy that we could not hold her dog hostage and we had to give it to her and if we didnt she was going to call the police!  She also demanded a copy of her consent form which we told her we didnt have.  We ended up calling the police to have her removed because she would not leave.  She was informed that it was a civil matter and she would have to take it up in court.

The next week she filed claims with the Better Business Bureau stating that we wouldnt give her her dog.  We have replied several times to allegations there.  She then sent a faxed letter demanding her dog back or she was going to turn us into the State Veterinary Board.  We replied back and answered each of her allegations and told her we wanted her to have her dog, just pay the $284 and we would take off the accumulated hospital charges that were over $1000 by this time as the dog has had chronic diarrhea and we have had to treat him continuously.

She then proceeded to turn us into the State Veterinary Board with random accusations about statues that she thought we were in violation of.  Jenn has spent countless hours responding to this womans allegations and making sure that everything that we do is written in the records and dealt with properly.

This morning we received a phone call from an attorney out of Scottsdale informing us that they are going to be filing a lawsuit against us and turning us over to the State Veterinary Board.  Really?!  You cant pay a $284 bill for your dogs health but you will spend thousands on an attorney?!  I dont get it!  It is mentally exhausting and very frustrating for me!

I HATE conflict and everything in me is screaming just let the have her dog but I keep hearing WAIT and TRUST ME from the Lord.   They are claiming that we have no legal right to hold her dog in lieu of payment and that we must release it to her.  But how in the world can that be legal?!  They are saying that regardless of someones ability to pay that I have to give them their animal and I have no legal right to be paid!  If I give the dog back than anyone can come in and have their dog treated and get it back without paying their bill!  What type of legal anything is that?!

I am frustrated, I am worried, I am dreading the headache of what is to come but I AM TRUSTING IN THE LORD MY GOD!  Regardless of what happens or the outcome there will be a lesson learned!  My faith will be built through it as I wait on Him and lean not on my own understanding!  I will praise Him for everything regardless of how difficult it may be because I know that anything He allows to happen in my life is for a reason and a purpose!

Thank you my Jesus for your peace in the storm!  Thank you that I can trust you in EVERYTHING!  Thank you that even though I may fail every day, you NEVER fail!  Let your love fill me for those who persecute me!  Let your compassion flow from me regardless of the circumstances!  You are all that I need!  I love you Jesus!

 

The answers!

 

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.” Galatians 6:1-5

 

When I was a freshman in college I somehow thought that sorority life was a good thing for me but that is a story for another time.  The thing about belonging to the sorority is that there was a study room and in there were filing cabinets that were filled with tests and papers from almost every class available on campus.  One could go into the room and look under a certain class like Biology 101 and the teachers name and find tests from previous semesters taken by members of the sorority.  It was a fantastic tool to help one study for certain classes.

The biology professor that I had for 100 and 101 used the exact same questions for every test for the past bazillion years.  All one had to do was go and pull the file and you had the answers for the any test and it never changed year after year after year.  It was not difficult to ace his tests and going into them one could be very confident that they knew the answers!  It was a great advantage over those who did not live in a sorority and did not have inside knowledge.   Most of my friends were not fellow members of the sorority and I would copy the tests and give them copies so that they had the answers too.

As members of the body of Christ we also have the inside scoop on going through trials and tribulation in life!  We have the word of God to help us and to teach us and lead us!  We have fellow believers who have been through certain trials and have clues and advice on getting through them.  BUT it is up to us to utilize those resources and to allow ourselves to be humble enough to accept help and often times rebuke when we are not following Gods word or when we are struggling!  We might not have all the answers but there are many who have gone down the same path as we are headed and they have experience that we dont have!

How silly would it have been for me to have access to the answers and not use them?  One may argue that I could have learned more if I had studied the material and tried to figure it all out without looking at the old tests but I would say that I actually learned more and remembered more by studying the old tests and the answers that others had put.  It gave me insight as to how to best answer the questions and get through the test.  Unfortunately I had a huge problem accepting help from people with my spiritual walk and testing!

I was raised in church but left it for the world when I left for college.  As I grew and made some very bad choices I had family members and friends who would try to come along side of me and speak wisdom into my life about the road that I was headed down but I would not hear them!  I shut my ears to their advice and thoughts because it opposed what I wanted to do!  I refused to listen to people who had the answers that were going to be needed if I continued down the road I was going and because I was prideful and my heart was hardened and I was in rebellion, I would not listen!  And I suffered much based on my poor choice!  I went down the road with my hands over my ears crying “la la la la la la, I cant hear you!  la la la la!”  I refused the counsel of someone who had some experience and I had to experience it for myself!

Now you might say, how bad is that?  Isnt it a good thing to learn from our own experiences?  Well, to a certain extent it is when it is a good experience and it builds our faith in God and furthers our relationship with Him!  But I was choosing sin over Gods word!  I was choosing to ignore the voice of those who were closest to me and loved me because I thought that this sin that I was rationalizing was going to bring me more happiness!  The person who was trying to help me knew that it was going to bring more pain and yet I refused to listen!  I rebelled against them and God!

Here I am on the other side of that road and thankfully much smarter and much more humble!  Unfortunately I had to go through 20+ years of suffering and much pain to get to where I am but we serve a merciful and gracious God who gives us unlimited second chances!  Now I am in the position where I have a few answers to tough situations and experiences.  I want to help those around me!  I want to share my knowledge with them so that they dont have to suffer as I suffered!  I want to help them but I have found that most of the time, they dont want my help just as I didnt want the help of those who offered it when I was going down wrong road!  UGHHHH  I cant tell you how frustrating it is!  I am sure that my mother is nodding her head vigorously at that statement

But we cant force or fellow brothers and sisters to take our answers!  As much as we might want to, often times we need to say what we know in love and then step back and let them make their own choice!  If they choose to continue down that road then we need to be there to help them if or when they come to us for answers!  Our job is to do as God tells us, to tell them what God lays on our heart!  We should be obedient to Gods urgings but after that, it is between them and God!  If they refuse to listen to you, if they refuse to hear the answers then they are the ones who have to take the test that they have brought upon themselves!  We must let go and let them figure it out!

That being said, if you are the one who is the start of a road and you are rationalizing some sins and some wrongful desires, listen to what those who are giving you godly counsel have to say!  Have a humble heart!  Seek God and get into His word!  Stop making excuses and rationalizations!  Dont harden your heart and be in rebellion to God and the person that He has sent to help you!  They arent trying to judge you, they are trying to help you and love you!  One day, you might thank them!

 

Yoked together

 

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

 Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you,

and I will be a father to you,

and you shall be sons and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty.”  2  Corinthians 6:14-18

 

I blogged yesterday on how God allows us to be torn down when we are sin.  The whole choose to sin, choose to suffer idea.  We often fail to realize that our sin is going to bring suffering!  We are in the process of being torn down and we are crying out to God, WHY ME?!  But if we stopped long enough to do some self introspection we would realize that our pain is our own fault and not Gods faults!  Our pain is a consequence of our choice to sin by rationalization, blatant rebellion or even in ignorance.   Just because one is ignorant of the law does not make them unaccountable to it.

I think one of the ways the enemy gets us into sin the easiest is through relationships, sexual desires, and the need to feel like we are special to at least one person.    We get impatient and dont want to wait for God or we are just so needy that we cant imagine life without someone in it so we go off and find our own person which generally is someone that the devil places in front of us!  The enemy is not stupid, he knows that we are weak and needy and he knows just the person to put in front of us to get us off the path that God has for us.  He knows just the characteristics that that person will need to get you hooked and out of the will of God and into your will and your rationalization.

We are told very clearly NOT to be unequally yoked because what does righteousness have in common with lawlessness!   Here is where the enemy gets us, he brings someone to us that says that they believe in God, they might actually go to church sometimes but if you look at their life and their life choices, there is no God present!   Just a few chapters before the above section in 2 corinthians 2:11 we are told not to be ignorant of satans schemes.   The burden is on us!  It is our responsibility to look into every relationship and weigh it against what the bible tells us!

I went through two marriages to people who were not true believers.  They both believed in God but they didnt make God first in their life!  God was not their first love!  God was someone who they prayed to when they needed something and that was pretty much it!   My God and my beliefs did not match theirs but I swept that knowledge under the rug and rationalized my relationship and let myself fall in love and well, after I was in love how could I not just continue because I was in love and surely God wanted me to be in love!

God doesnt care if you are in love or not, God wants you to love Him!  He wants you to put Him first and not yourself and your wants, needs and desires!  God has no desire for you to be in love with someone who does not love Him first and foremost!  If you have to rationalize any part of your relationship with someone than that right there should tell you that you should NOT be in it!

After my second marriage failed and then I went through several failed relationships with more unbelievers, I finally got on Gods plan!  It wasnt easy and it didnt just happen, it took a lot of effort and a lot of prayer and a lot of denial and a lot of walking away from temptation and a lot of intervention from God!  You see, when we purpose in our hearts to do as God commands us and we make choices in that direction when the enemy comes and tempts us and it is more than we will be able to handle, God steps in and helps us out!

One day I took a stand against the enemy!  I told my unequal partner that I couldnt be in the relationship any longer because it wasnt what God wanted!  It was so hard!  I had doubt, I had pain, I had denial, I had all the emotions but I had made up my mind and as hard as it was, I said NO!  The enemy didnt stop there though, he continued to bring people into my life through different channels to try and get me off track.  The more right choices I made, the more God stepped in and helped me when I made bad choices.  I can think of several times when I was getting involved with someone I shouldnt and God broke it up for me!  Let me tell you, it still hurts but it makes one all the more determined to be wiser in who they choose to be with!

I spent several years by myself.  It was hard and lonely at first but the more I sought God the less lonely I was and the easier it became!  The deeper I dug into the word and learned and denied the flesh the less I wanted to do with anyone who didnt believe the same and didnt love God more than I did!  I wanted to be with someone who was going to be with me in prayer without me asking, who was going to stand next to me and support me without me needing to say anything, someone who put God first and foremost in his life and was a spiritual covering for me and my children!

I wasnt perfect but I was increasingly getting better discernment.  I was increasingly searching deeper and deeper into the things of God and what He wanted and less about what I thought I wanted!  When God saw my faithfulness He gave me what I needed according to His will!  He brought a godly man into my life who put God first!  A man who I could respect and who I never have to doubt or worry or wonder about because I know that he will do first what God commands!   He is a man who gets up each morning and spends an hour in the word and then an hour in prayer.  He prays for me and my children.  He is not perfect but he has perfect priorities when it comes to where God is in his life!  God has given me the perfect husband because I chose to wait and to do as His word instructs.   I have been blessed beyond measure because I chose God man over the enemys counterfeits!

Do not be ignorant of the devils devises!  Do not let him get you in a relationship where you fall in love with someone who is not in love with God above all else!  Take a stand!  Put aside your wants and your desires and pick up the bible and get what God wants for you!  If you choose to rationalize your relationship, if you choose to rebel against God and what His word says than you will suffer!  You will be the cause of the devastation to come in your life and potentially the lives of your children!  Is that really what you want?  Isnt a little pain now by ending an unequal relationship better than devastation later?  The choice is yours!

 

 

 

A life in pieces!

 

“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”  Hosea 6:1

 

One of my most favorite quotes these days is “choose to sin, choose to suffer.”  It puts it out there very plainly with no wiggle room for rationalization or I thinks or I feel blah blah blah.  We like to sin and figure if we can rationalize it somehow then it will all be ok.  We figure that we are going to get away with it because we can say we felt like it was the right thing to do or we think that the bible doesnt apply to today so it is ok if we have a little wiggle room to sin.  Fact of the matter is that we dont get away with any sin.  It might take years before it makes us miserable but mark my words, it will happen.  God will tear us down to nothing so that He can rebuild us!  Like the potter mashes the clay when it becomes flawed so it can be rebuilt.

I grew up in a christian home and went to church every sunday and was taught abstinence until marriage.  I was not the most attractive of girl and I struggle with being about 20# overweight and I had bad hair and bad skin and quite frankly I was not very confident in anything except for the fact that I knew how to work.  I never dated in school and when I went to college I was all excited to go live in the world and find me a mate.  Years went by and college never produced any boyfriend but did add another 15# of weight and more insecurities.   I was a sophomore in vet school when a guy I met at the bar asked me on a date.  One became two and two became three and I settled into thinking that this was going to be the one.

Now he wasnt a christian although he said he believed in God.  So I rationalized that I wasnt being unequally yoked because he believed that there was a God but just didnt go to church or read the bible but he believed so that counted right?!  He was a nice guy and he took me on more one date and he listened to me and loved me and he believed in God so I figured I should marry him because there wasnt any other prospects around.

Long story short the marriage lasted 3 years.  There are many reasons for this but the primary one was that I didnt love him nor had I probably every really loved him but because I was so desperate for love and affection and someone to be mine, I rationalized that it had to be love.   We lived in different states and if that wasnt hard enough we had way different ideas on how to make money.  I was raised that you worked and you worked hard, he was raised that you try every get rich quick scheme and when you are struggling for money go spend more of it so that you are more motivated to find it somehow!  Even though he believed in God, he did not follow the biblical model for money and we had no common ground to discuss it.   I got tired of the constant lack of money and decided that I needed out because God would never want me to be this unhappy!  (wrong answer but it sounded good to my weak mind and rationalization of my sin)

So I did the most smartest thing and went straight from that marriage into a relationship with someone else!  Nothing like being torn down and slapping a few pieces together and thinking that that is going to weather the storms!  But I was young and I thought I knew everything!  This one was a catholic, that is closer to be a christian right?  Not that he went to church but I used the fact that he had a “religion” to justify the whole do not be unequally yoked!  This relationship lasted nine years and produce two amazing children.  But it was doomed from the start!  Regardless of my rationalizations and my reasonings and my desires to have it be the perfect thing, it couldnt be because our foundations were both flawed.  His was built upon sinking sand and mine although on the rock of Christ had been torn down and was only shakily put up with a few boards and nails!

Here is the thing that we need to understand!  God never haphazardly puts us together after tearing us down!  He is perfect in His restoration and He will NEVER bring someone into your life for you when you are torn down to nothing!  God does not work that way!  The enemy brings us someone immediately because he knows that we are vulnerable and needy and wanting love!  He is going to have someone on your doorstep quickly before God gets started on building you back up and you are strong enough to resist temptation!

After my second marriage ended I fell into that trap again!  I got into a relationship with someone who was not a christian although he said he believed in God and I couldnt figure out why I was still miserable even though I had this person who was supposed to care for me.  Yes, things were good when we were together but when he was gone I was lonely and sad and there was no peace.  Why? because I was broken still!

God is never in a hurry!  He is never going to be in a rush for you to get back into a relationship after you have been so badly injured from a previous one be it a marriage or a friendship.   God is the perfect builder!  When He starts His restoration project on your life He is going to tear out all the old and broken and damaged and hurt things and then He is going to lovingly and perfectly and in perfect timing restore you to a house that can stand in the storm!

If you have ever watched a TV show on HGTV were they restore or flip a house the ones that are done correctly are completely stripped and rebuilt with all the old and bad taken out and they are worth something at the end.  The bad ones just do things half assed and they dont take out all the mold and the broken and then the inspector comes and it fails and it has to be retorn down!  That is what happens to us when we decide that we are going to let someone other than God put us back together!  When we allow the enemy to bring his person into our lives and they say all the right things and make us feel like we are getting all better!  No one can build up what God has allowed to be torn down except God!  Anything else is a counterfeit!  It is someone from the enemy who has come in to keep you down and to keep you from being restored completely by God!

It took me a few years of allowing the enemy to bring people into my life that were not from God before I finally got on Gods plan and let Him heal me and rebuild me!  I suffered a lot because of my desire to have someone in my life!  I rationalized it all but in the end I suffered for it all as well!  Not Gods fault, not the other persons fault but my fault for rationalizing relationships that I knew deep down were not according to the word of God!

What God tears down He will restore perfectly if we dont get in a hurry and try and do it ourselves!  What God strikes to pieces will be put back together perfectly if we let Him do it and dont let someone else step in and try and do it instead of God!  The enemy wants to keep you from all that God has for you!  He is going to bring that seemingly “perfect, understanding, wonderful” person into your life to rebuild you mans way and not Gods way!  Choose to sin, choose to suffer!!

The Desires of Ones Heart

 

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

“He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.” Psalm 145:19

 

What are the desires of your heart?  Have you ever sat down and written them out?  Have you ever thought about what YOU need to do to get them?  I mean, really thought about the requirements that it takes?  Do you pray and pray all the time for them and then wonder why you arent getting those desires even though you are a christian?  Have you inspected your life to see where you might be rationalizing sin and therefore not qualifying yourself for the desires of your heart?

I stopped by the church today as I do most days after my workout for time spent in prayer.   The church is open from 6:30-7:30 for people to come and join in prayer and few people do it.  I stop in for maybe 5-10 mins because I feel like God wants me to dedicate more of myself and my time to Him.  Today I was a bit late and it was only David there praying, which to be honest is the usual, and he sat down next to me and prayed for the church and then prayed for me and he prayed that God would give me the desires of my heart.  As I was driving home, I thought, what are the desires of my heart?  I can tell you that God has drastically changed them in just the past few weeks.

When I got to the office I went to the girls and handed them a notebook and told them to write down the desires of their heart.  They all looked at me a bit oddly but given I am the boss they could not not do it.   (I love being boss)  It was interesting to read them and I imagine that they would be pretty much the same for most people if they were asked.  There was the desire for joy and happiness and health and family and becoming who God wanted them to be.  Devris was the most amazing to me as she has just really started embracing God and seeking His face.  She wrote on how she wanted to be a better mother, wife and friend and she wanted to help people who were hurting and struggled or were struggling as she had.  I am telling you, that is an awesome hearts desire!

I am sure you are wondering what my hearts desire is?   A few weeks ago I am not sure I would have had much of an answer.  I am truly blessed to do what I love each day and to have a wonderful family.  I am sure it would have consisted of being a better leader in the church and a godly example to my children, staff and clients but in the past couple of week God has laid on my heart to prepare myself for missions work.  And not missions work for animals but for children!!

Now those who know me know that I dont particularly care for children.  Yes, I know, I am a terrible horrible person but I have never had this need to hold and coddle babies or play with other peoples children.  But it isnt about me or what I want.  I think that is where we get so off on our hearts desires, our hearts desires should be about what God wants!  When we are putting God first in our life, 100% first than we want to do what He wants because we know the blessings that it will produce and the joy it will bring!  When God is first in our life the joy and the happiness and the health and family and all of that are already in Gods hands and we dont need to worry about them!  When God is first our hearts desires are about others!  When God is first our hearts desire is about loving like Jesus loved!  The rest of the stuff doesnt matter because we KNOW that God has it all under control!

My hearts desire is to go into the nations that have nothing and love the children!!  I know those of you who know me are shaking your heads like it is crazy!  But it isnt about me!  You see it is about God!  Everyday I treat animals and I try to fix animals that are helpless to fix themselves.  Children are helpless to fix themselves!  Not saying that they are equivalent to animals but they have the same capabilities!  An adult can make choices and do things to try and make things better for themselves, children and animals rely on someone else to do that for them!  My hearts desire is to go and make a difference in the care of those who are helpless!

I dont know when or how or what it is going to be but I know that God is building it in my heart!  I dont need anything else that is of worldly importance!  The more I give of myself, the more God is going to fill me with His love and there is nothing that can beat that!  I know that if I go unto all the world and love the helpless then God is going to keep my children and He is going to take care of everything else that needs taken care of!   What more could my heart desire?!

Jesus gave up His life for ours!  We are called to live and love as Jesus did!  When we are putting God first then we shouldnt be worried about the stuff that the world is worrying about!  We will know that we know that we know that God has it all under control and that anything that happens to us is allowed by Him and if it is allowed by Him than its all going to be ok regardless of the outcome!  When we do not place God first in our lives than we are worried about our life and our things and about our happiness.  That selfishness will separate us from God because it leads us to trying to get that way by what the world says will fulfill those things!  It leads us to rationalization of our sins and our feelings and our choices instead of walking by the word!  God gives the desires to those who fear Him and He hears their prayers!   But when we try life on our own feelings and thoughts that lead us into opposition with the word then we arent fearing God and we arent getting our prayers heard and we arent going to be getting the desires of our hearts!

What are the desires of your heart?

The heart of leadership

 

“shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;  not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.  And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.  Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””  1 Peter 5:2-5

 

I think many in the church see themselves like the dogs in the picture above, they are stuck in the yard behind the fence while the leaders are on the outside trying to control the flocks actions!   They think that the leaders what to control them and make them be something that they arent sure they want to be.   We are brought up in the world these days to rebel against authority in our lives.  People no longer respect law enforcement or their teachers or their bosses or anyone and unfortunately they bring that same attitude into the church with them.

It really is nothing new I suppose, people have always bucked at authority but I think it is because we are too prideful to be told what we need to be doing and we dont like to be wrong and therefore we instantly rationalize our issue when it is brought to our attention.  If we are honest with ourselves we will admit that it is a pride issue, we dont want to be told what we should be doing when we arent doing it.

God put me in a leadership position as a pastors wife!  I didnt want it, still dont want it to be honest with you.  Not that I dont want to be his wife but I dont want the leadership position because quite frankly, I have a more than full time career that takes most of everything I have.  Not that I do it intentionally or want it to be that way, it is just that I live in smallville and have yet to find someone who wants to live here and practice veterinary medicine with me.  I know some people relish being at the top regardless of what it is, I used to be that way but God has changed much in me and I dont want that responsibility.

I used to be all about being in charge because I was prideful and being in charge meant I was at the top and I got to tell everybody else what to do.  When we allow God to change us to be more like Him, pride has to be one of the first things to go in order for us to do what He asks us!  It isnt easy but God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble!    Being humble isnt an action, it is just a way of being!  It is others before you, it is a constant state of love and compassion and self examination!

As a leader in the church now, my heart is heavily burdened for each and every person who attends!  It isnt because I want it, it is from God!  I can not adequately put into words what it feels like when God places someone on your heart to pray for and give a word to and when you deliver it they are not responsive or take offense to it.  I think it is because most of them feel like they are being judged but it is NOT at all that way!  It is like you can feel Gods heart for them and feel His love for that person and you know how much He wants to do for them but can not because they are in rebellion to Him!  It is how a parent feels for their child who is making wrong choices but they cant do anything about it!  God places that parental love in you for those in your flock and you cant help but want more for them!

Most of us in leadership of the church are not there for greedy ambition reasons or because we want to be in control, we are there because God has placed us there and given us a love for you.  I do not like getting up in front of the church each sunday, I dont like telling people things that are difficult for them to hear but as a leader I am instructed to do as God tells me and not as I feel!  The same is true for most leaders in the church!

Now I know there are those who abuse that position and those who fall into great sin but our eyes should not be set on man that we are so discouraged when then fall and fail us!  Our eyes should be on God and when they are on God one will be hunger from His word and His correction in their life!  I have found in my life that when somebody brings a word of correction to me and I take offense to it that that is a sign that what they are saying is true and my pride has welled up in me and defended my position!  That is not how God wants us to be!  When an elder or leader in your church gives you a word from God, take heart to what is being said.  Get in the word of God and confirm it!  If your defenses rise and you are irritated or angered by it generally it is because it has hit right on target!

We serve a most loving God!   Believe me, He loves you, I feel it heavily but if you are not willing to do as He asks, He can not bless you, He can not answer your prayers, He can not fix what is broken because He will not be mocked!  He has given us His word to tell us what He expects and as the perfect parent He is not going to be swayed by your tears.  Gods love is a perfecting love!  If you choose your way over Gods way than you have chosen to be on your own without Gods hand over you and without His blessing!  Is that really where you want to be?

I plead with you in love, listen to those in leadership in your church and take to heart what they tell you!  They arent doing it to be judgmental.  They arent doing it to make you feel bad!  They are doing it out of love for you and because they feel Gods love and Gods disappointment and Gods desire to do so much in your life but His inability because you refuse to put Him first!  The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul!  That means Him before EVERYTHING else!  Are you doing that?  Dont let pride come in between you and God and all that He wants for you!

 

Where is grace in the church today?

 

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”  Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’  And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.  But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’  So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’  He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.  When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.  Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”  Matthew 18:21-35  

 

It seems to me that the church today and maybe forever, has no ability to extend grace to those around us.  I think maybe this is true for the entire human race but as the church, we should be different!  We should be like Jesus!  We should be striving every day to be extending grace and forgiveness to each other!  Why arent we?

Anyone who is involved at all in fitness probably knows who Jamie Eason is.  She is a very beautiful woman who struggled against and won the battle against breast cancer and it started her down the fitness trail.  I dont know that much about her to be honest because quite frankly, I never really cared for her.  Yes, I know, it is terrible and I am ashamed to admit it but I am human.   As a woman, Jaime is everything that any woman secretly or openly wants to be!  She is petite and beautiful and has perfect looking hair and the perfect body that appears to always look exactly the way it should!

Jaime is a fitness model and writer and is employed by bodybuilding.com.  On the forum side of things the men would always put up pictures of Jamie in tiny underwear or swimsuits and there are probably millions of post made about her and how beautiful and perfect she is.  For this reason, even though I admired what she was able to achieve, I didnt like her because she looked amazing and I was far from anything amazing!

Yesterday afternoon I was waiting for an emergency to come in at the end of the day and I was stalking people on facebook (that sounds terrible doesnt it?) and someone had posted a shared video from Jamies facebook page.  The video was her sitting on the floor by her bed and crying and talking about how her husband had lost a job because of her past.   I had not realized that she was a christain let alone that she had gotten married.

As I watched the seventeen minutes of her pouring out her heart in regards to her past and her faith and her present I was struck at what a truly amazing person she was!  Here I had judged her because of a time in her life when she was caught up in the world and the ways of the world and I had not extended her any grace that she may be suffering just as I was or had or so many of us do!

We women are very easy prey for the enemy to get us caught up in sensuality because deep down everyone longs to be someone!  We want to feel as though our lives count for something!  We want to feel like we are somebody special and the enemy use sensuality and sexuality to pull us into misery!  I have been there!  I have posted pictures that were overtly sensual because I was searching for attention and I thought that that kind of attention was what I needed or wanted!

It is still a struggle sometimes even now.   As women we work hard to overcome the aging process and the fat butt and the fat thighs and get into shape and it is nice for it to be noticed.   The female body, heck any body is an amazing work of art when taken proper care of.  After all, God made it in His own image!  But the world is full of lust and it is easy to fall into that trap!

Jamie talks in her video about how miserable she was when she was doing the photo shoots with minimal clothing on.   She wasnt making any money but the attention was nice to have and she got caught up in it.  Honestly, who wouldnt?  Look how many great men of God get caught up in the fame and fortune of being on TV and before you know it they fall flat because they get caught up in the gold or the glory or the girls!  The enemy knows how to bring us down!

She tells of how she was saved at the age of 15 but never really understood God or the bible.  She did what she wanted and rationalized her sin like so many of us do.  As glorious as everything looked from the outside she was miserable inside and she started asking questions and went to the bible to get the answers she sought.  God used Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” to draw her to Him and to give her a new heart for Him!  What an incredible story.

She was married the first of September or so and her husband is a musician from what I can gather.  He was asked to do a christian concert in Texas and someone must have said something that caused the organizers to look up Jamie and they told him that they did not want him because of her past.

My hearts a bit broken today. My husband was asked to play a huge event for some churches around Texas. Everything was all set but then they called him and said that they looked him up and found ME so they recanted. Doesn’t feel too awesome. I wanted to share this because I’m still trying to overcome decisions I made early in my career. Taking sexy photos may have made me popular but trust me, it attracted all sorts of misery into my life. My audience is predominantly female these days and it’s such validation for how far I’ve come and how hard I’ve worked, so thank to those who follow and support me. I want to encourage anyone who has a conviction to persevere. It’s in times of faith that we grow the most and although people will often disappoint us (even church people), God won’t. Work on that relationship! Trust me, with all that life throws at you, He’s our greatest refuge.

To Michael: Thank you for loving me, flaws and all!

The above is her facebook post regarding the incident.  I was so saddened that we as the christian community have ZERO grace or tolerance for another members sins and failings!   Certainly is someone is living in and rationalizing their sin then there should not be the same tolerance but if someone has repented of that sin and moved past than we should also!  We all have done things in our past that we have regretted.  Certainly it might not of been having sensual photos taken but be honest with yourself, if your every sin, every bad thought, every action taken when no one was watching was posted out there for the world to see and know, what would they say?  How would they treat you?  Wouldnt you want them to extend you the same grace that God did when He forgave you for those very sins?!

Instead of criticizing and judging our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, why are we not loving them and trying to learn more about them?!   What if that organization would have contacted Jamie and her husband and said, “we are concerned about this, what do you have to tell us about it.” They could have heard Jamies testimony and it could have been used and if nothing else understood!  But instead they chose to harden their hearts and not extend any grace! It greatly saddens my heart that we as a group are so unforgiving and so judgmental!  We are nothing like Christ as a community!

I think we should all reflect upon the above parable of the unforgiving servant!  We who have been forgiven so much and yet we are unwilling to let go or forgive someone elses mistakes and sin!  Why?!  Nothing good happened to the unforgiving servant!  Is that what you want in your life?  Cast away from God and made to pay for your own sin?!

The body of Christ needs to get over its higher than thou attitude and humble ourselves and make our lives about doing as Jesus would and not what we think we should do!   We are all sinners!  We are all fallen!  We are all in need of grace!  He who has been forgiven much, loves much!  Are you forgiven much?!  Where is your love?