SOAP for October 18th. 2016

Scripture:
Joel 2:12-13-  "Now therefore," says the Lord, "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting , with weeping, and with mourning>'  So, rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm.

Observation:
God is telling the people that the day of the Lord is coming to earth.  He wants the people to be in right standing with Him by repenting of their sins.  Joel 2 ends with the promise that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.

Application:
Being truly sorry for my sins, seeking forgiveness from God Almighty, and repentance is very important to my loving Father.

Prayer:
Father, just as Joel says, You are gracious, merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness.  You don't want to harm us, Lord.  You want to bless us.  Father, thank You that we can return and turn to You in repentance and for forgiveness.  Jesus, please help Your Church and my country to do just that.  Holy Spirit, please light Your Holy Fire in us, and change our lives.  Father God, nothing is impossible with You.  Bless You, Lord.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Reach Out to Our Neighbors

     I’m a bit shy and awkward.  Well, the bit part is exaggerated.  I’m a lot shy and awkward.  However, I know that I want to please God.  Pleasing God involves love.  Love involves others.  Others, well, they are all around me.  I have my family, who are fantastic.  I have a Church family I’m trying to know better.  There are a couple women I have as friends I can meet with on occasion.  But those others, well, they are my neighbors.  I have this sneaky feeling that the Lord wants me to love them.  So, being really black and white and a tad bit list crazy, I found a bunch of articles to make a list of things to reach out to my neighbors.  I thought I would share it with you.  Here it is.  Oh, just remember that you can do all things through Christ Who strengthens you. (Philippians 4:13)

Ideas to Reach Out to Our Neighbors

1.  Make a list of the names of the neighbors you already know and reach out to them once a month.  Try to increase the list.

2.  Daily prayer walks.  You might want to put a flier out asking your neighbors if there is something that they would like you to pray for them.  In any case, daily prayer walks around the neighborhood.

3.  Start a neighborhood small group.

4.  Invite your neighbors to Church.

5.  Be outside, visible to your neighbors!!!  If you see them talking out on the street, join them.  If, young people, they are playing, join them.

6.  When hard or tragic things happen to your neighbors, remember Jesus “Golden Rule”, and do for your neighbor what you would want others to do for you.  No one wants to feel unloved or uncared for when bad things happen.  Yep, it’s uncomfortable, but it is nothing compared to what your neighbor is going through.

7. Host a block party.

8.  Host needs based Bible studies like for teenagers, married people, women, men, mini VBS, etc.

9.  Make homemade gifts for Christmas to give to your neighbors.

10.  Invite those who have no family nearby over for the big Holiday meals.

11.  Host a baby shower for a neighbor who is expecting.  Yes, she probably has one with her own group.  But, a new or old mom could always use more stuff and more affirmation of what a wonderful thing she gets to do- bring a new life into our world.

12.  Host a children’s Bible Club.  Have another adult or more present.  Try to do it outdoors.

13.  Have a Grill Night.  You provide the grill and paper products.  Everyone brings their own meat.  Everyone can bring side dishes and dessert.

14.  Throw the Super Bowl party.  Or any other sport event you enjoy.

15.  Tutor for free.  Seriously!

16.  Ask your neighbors over for dinner.  Go to the parties your neighbors invite you to attend.

17.  Take part and attend your Home Owners Association meetings.  Even if you rent your home.

18.  Start a book club.

19.  Host a monthly game night.

20.  Help your neighbors with yard work.

21.  Throw a Christmas party.  It can be as big or as little as you want. 

22.  Go caroling with your neighbors to a neighborhood nearby, an elderly home, a hospital, the fire department, the mall, or any place.

23.  Adopt a Family for Christmas.  Get your neighbors together to adopt a needy family for Christmas.

24. Create a neighborhood director.

25.  Who are your elderly neighbors?  Reach out to them, often.  Especially the grumpy ones!

26.  Be a good and considerate neighbor.  Nothings says, “JERK!” louder than noise before 9:00 a.m. and after 10:00 p.m., a pet you let loose on other people’s yards, a broken car parked in everyone’s way, your families heated fellowship becoming everyone else’s business, unruly and rude children, and your trash spilled out in your yard and the road.  Seriously, live to honor Christ, and love your neighbor, maybe, better than yourself.

27.  If your neighbor is right next door, go ahead and mow their lawn while you do yours.  Rake their leaves too.  It won’t be too big of a water bill if, while you are watering your yard, your water “accidently” waters theirs too.  I mean, your next door neighbor is right next door.  Be generous.

28.  Give your neighbors flowers or extra produce from your garden.

29.  Throw a progressive dinner.

30.  Throw a Harvest party.

31.  Arrange to bring meals to a housebound neighbor.  Get the rest of your neighbors involved.  This includes new parents, mourning families, and ill families.

32.  Have neighborhood children help decorate sugar cookies for service people.

33.  Throw an Operation Christmas Child party.

34.  Hold a neighborhood garage sale.

35.  Organize an exercise group.  Whatever the exercise is- walking, running, bikes, whatever, do it and do it regularly.

36. Talk with your neighbor.  Ask them about themselves, and really listen.

37.  If you have a useful skill, volunteer it to your neighbors.  Are you good at sewing, mechanics, cooking, cars, dancing, manners, dog training, cat training, whatever?  Give God’s gifts freely to your neighbors.  Yeah, each of us could always use more money.  Even the riches people in the world could always use more money.  But, since time is short, neighbors are precious, and none of us will ever have enough money, why not show your neighbor how to do something you love to do for free?  You’ll be blessed.  Jesus promises.  And yes, knowing how to blow good bubbles is a gift!

38.  Always smile and always wave.  ALWAYS!!!

39.  If you are throwing a get together that doesn’t involve your neighbors but does involve their space, give them advance notice.  Also, if someone is staying with you for a while, let your neighbor know.

40.  Did I mention prayer? 

     These are just some ideas I found on the Web to reach out to the neighbors.  Allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you to reach out to your neighbors.

God bless you and your neighbors!

It's Blog Time

You know, this is a fantastic day!!!  I woke up a little earlier than I usually do, feeling pretty terrific.  Praise God always and forever.  My husband made us breakfast.  We sat around and shared for a bit while we ate.  We drove him to work.  Okay, there I blew it because I was a little (lot) opinionated about something that I .... oh, never mind.  It turned out well.  Before we said, "See Ya!" to my wonderful, hardworking husband, my sweet, beautiful daughter gave him a nice, warm hug to let him know how much she loves him.  We drove all the way to Church listening and singing to tunes.  (Always fun!!!)  Church was delightful.  Pastor talked about the Word, NOT OUR FEELINGS, being the Truth to what is real in life.  One thing that he said that stuck out to me was our feelings are true (we do feel them), but they are not the Truth!!!.  Good Word.  Our youth pastor made my daughter laugh.  I had a nice conversation with a nice lady.  We went shopping for ingredients for cookies my kind and amazing daughter is making for her youth leader meeting tonight and our neighbors as a thank you for mowing our entire lawn yesterday.  I had a tasty leftover lunch of spaghetti, and a video call with my wonderful, intelligent son, who is successfully pulling off college on the dean's list, honor society, two jobs, and teacher assistant.  As you can tell, I know my family is terrific, and I like sharing that with you all. My family is terrific because our God is amazing!!!  Seriously fantastic and awesome.  He is constantly good to us, always!!! I pray that as you go about your day and life, you can know God, our Father, more than you ever have before.  Welp, that is it for now.  Have a great week.

Why We Do What We Do!

Isaiah 6:7-9- And he touched my mouth with it, and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”  Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”  And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’"

Isaiah just saw the Lord God, high and lifted up.  He saw how awesome God was and is, how holy God was and is, and Isaiah realized something horrible!  Isaiah was a rotten sinner surrounded by other rotten sinners.  God, the Lord God, made a way for Isaiah to have his iniquity taken away and his sin purged.  Isaiah, in gratitude to God's forgiveness, volunteered when the Lord asked.  Isaiah wanted to do anything for the Lord because the Lord had done so much for him.

That is how it is with Christians.  God made the Way for us to get our sins purged and forgiven, and our iniquity taken away.  He gave us His Holy and Perfect Son, Jesus, to be our Savior.  Jesus died on the cross to take away our sins.  When we believe and accept Jesus gracious and holy gift, we are grateful and want to do things for Him out of gratitude.  I use to think that the verse in James was being harsh when it said that faith without works is dead. (James 2:20)  It is more of a call to action to a people that should work for the Lord Jesus with gratitude for all that He did and does and is doing for us.  How great is the love of our God.  I want to do things for Jesus for the rest of my life.  That is pretty much it in a nutshell.   Have a great week.

Your Enemies

Well, that is a provocative title, isn't it?  Who are your enemies?  I really hope that they aren't anyone who actually has flesh and blood because that isn't who the Bible says is your enemies.  Here is what the Bible says:

 Ephesians 6:12- For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

That's right.  God is telling us that our neighbor, spouse, child, government, friend, people we don't like or respect, in-laws, other races or religions, extended family, school teachers, or any other person we may "fight" with is not our enemy.  Our enemies are spiritual.  And this is the Good News.  Our enemies are defeated and under the feet of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:


1 Corinthians 15:24-28-Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.  The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.  For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted.  Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

This morning, I read a pretty violent passage from the Bible.  It is in Joshua Chapter 10.  It spoke of a war between Israel and her allies, Gibeon, and five kings of Canaanite.  The Lord God fought for Israel, His people.  God is always fighting for His people.  That why we can call Him our Refuge in times of trouble, our Deliverer, and our Mighty Warrior.  Israel, of course, won.  The thing is that the five kings tried to hide in a cave.  They were found out and brought forth.  Joshua told the captains to put their feet on the kings necks.  Then, he said this out of verse 25:

Then Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.”

The Lord has put all things under Jesus feet.  All things!!!  That in includes fear.  Doubt, unbelief, depression, illness, poverty, pain, anger, sorrow, grief, and death.  All things!!!  Accusations, addictions, divorce, despair, racism, and sin.  All things!!!  What do we do?  I mean, the army of Israel did something in this war.  They weren't sitting idly by, just waiting to see what God would do.  They fought along side their God.  That's what we do, too.  First, we put on the amour of God.  This is what Ephesians 6:10-18 says:
  
 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,  and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;  praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

There are a lot of good Bible studies on the amour of God.  I just finished one by Priscilla Shirer.  Second we need to renew our minds.  Jesus tells us that our spirit is so willing to follow God, but our flesh is pretty weak and wars against it.  In other words, our flesh doesn't know what is good for it.  Maybe that is why exercising, eating well, and getting good rest is a lot harder than it really should be.  Here is an excellent fighting Scripture for victory over our thinking:

2 Corinthians 10:4-5- For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Since God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and God is love, when our thoughts aren't in line with the Word of God, we are wrong.  We must turn that around by casting that thought down and renewing our mind with the truth of the Lord.  Oh, yes, it is very, very hard work.  But, you know, with God, nothing is impossible.  We really can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us.  God's grace and strength helps us in our weaknesses.  Which brings me to the third thing we must do to fight our enemies.  Trust the Lord.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.  

That Scripture is from Proverbs 3:5-6.  Quit trying to figure it all out.  Trust the Lord.  Pray.  Know that God will be with you, every step, every time, always victorious!!!  God bless you as you grow in the Lord.  You are growing, you know?  Have a great day.


 

The Perfect Mother

I got to tell you.  I'm angry.  I'm angry!  I thought an exclamation point would drive the point home better.  I'm angry at the unattainable goal of perfect motherhood.  Oh, you know, being there for your family 24/7, pushing all your needs aside.  Here is a real good guilt inducer for you:  IF MAMA AIN'T HAPPY, NO ONE IS HAPPY!  Being a melancholy person, that really kicks me in my guilt gut.  How about this doosie:  You are Jesus to your children.  Say what?????  No, I'm not.  Yes, I want to be like Jesus really, really, bad.  But it is for totally selfish reasons.  It is for ME.  I want God to be pleased with ME, like He was (is) with His Son.  Jesus did everything right.  He could have been a perfect mother.  Well, except for the male part about Him.  Jesus would never lose His patience.  He would have never screamed at His kids.  Jesus would never have been afraid that His children would make poor choices.  Jesus would not be up at nights struggling with feelings of wanting to take out the 16 year old that broke His daughter's heart.  Jesus would have handled the bullies in His son's life a whole lot better.  Jesus would not have taken His experiences with life and messed up His children's perspective on the world.  Jesus would have been a gracious, whole, and healthy mom, no brokenness, no fears, no rotten attitudes.  The perfect mother.  He probably would have been a fantastic cook and an adoring, submissive wife too.  PERFECT!!!  Can I even compete?  Uh, no!  I really understand the magazines, the blogs, the articles, and the books that try to encourage us as mothers with their lofty goals.  I really get it.  Seriously, if you don't shoot for something in life, you'll hit nothing.  As a mom, I want to be the best mom I can.  Maybe that is where I'm missing it.  I want to be?  How about this?  What about this attainable goal?  I am the best mom I can be when I follow Jesus, listen to the Holy Spirit, and trust the Lord with not only my wonderful and precious family, but with ME.  Just trust the Lord with me.  Every second, every heartache, every fear, every joy, every smile, every success.  Just trust the Lord.  That, I believe in Jesus name, I can do...

Philippians 1:6- Being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

 Philippians 4:13- I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. 

Have a great day.

It is All About Context

1 Corinthians 3:9 says this:  We are God's; you are God's; you are God's.  Do you believe me?  You can read this two different ways.  Is this Scripture saying that we belong to God, or that we are a god?  Well, the second part of the above sentence is just plain stupid because we aren't gods.  There is only One God.  (Thank God!!!)  But... the first part of the above sentences is only slightly correct in the light of what 1 Corinthians 3:9 really says.  Yes, we who have believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and have placed our faith in His saving power do belong to God.  Here, let me just copy and paste 1 Corinthians 3:9 so you can see what really is being said:  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
 That is the true context.  It is pretty important to have all the information before one draws a conclusion because the conclusion could be stupid, wrong, and well, harmful.  God wants us to read and study His Bible.  God wants us to know what His Bible says in situations that we come across.  God wants us to hear and read and know the Truth of His Bible and keep it in the context of His original idea. 

 2 Timothy 2:15- Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Be diligent to know your Bible and the context.  Have a great week.

What is Spoken is Really Important

I struggle with the love of God, and I'm seriously ashamed of this.  Rejection is a thorn in my flesh that breaks me and keeps me from really knowing the God of the Bible.  My heart and my mind want to be free of this so badly.  It scares me and makes me feel so alone.  I want to be very close to Jesus, truly trusting Him with everything and living the free, joyful, and peaceful life that He got me by dying on the cross.  Most days, I just want to go home so that I quit messing up again.  This morning, while doing a wonderful Bible study on the armor of God (Priscilla Shirer- seriously, it is great, and you should do it), a question was asked, and my answer hit me like a ton of bricks.  The question was to list how what other people have said to me in my life time have contradicted the truth of God's Word.  These were my answers.
1.  I'm not special or different.
2.  Anyone can do what I do.
3.  If I want someone to love me, I have to do something to earn their love.

That last one smacked me in my spirit.  I can't shake this feeling that I need to earn Christ's love.  I know I''m wrong.  I can't earn Christ's love.  He gave it to me while I was a sinner, not even a believer.  I can't earn His salvation.  I can't earn His grace.  I can't earn anything.  I can rest.  Well, by faith, I can rest.  Right now, I can't rest because I.... can't.  You know, that last answer to the question is so wrong.  Actually, all of those answers that I have had spoken over me by hurting people are wrong.  Have you ever read Psalm 139: 1-6?  Well, here, let me copy and paste it for you:

¹ You have searched me, Lord, and You know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue You, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,and You lay Your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,too lofty for me to attain.

If you keep reading this Psalm, you will read that each and evryone of us is fearfully and wonderfully made.  Here, I'll just copy and paste that too:

 

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.
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.
¹⁷ How precious to me are Your thoughts, God!  How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with You.

Yeah, that is the truth of God's Word.  God, our Creator, said all this truth over us. I want to believe in the Lord's love.  I want to have POOF moment when all my insecurity is gone; when I no longer question God or His Word.  It looks like that isn't going to happen, even with something as big (or in my eyes, as big) as this pain.  What does the Lord God want me to do?  Here is to more copy and pasting:

Proverbs 3: 5-6-Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.

2 Corinthians 10: 4-5-For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ^.

 

^{Well, those are a few things that God wants me to do.  Trust, lean not on what I understand, submit, cast down lies, mine or others, and bring my thoughts into captive obedience to Christ.  God has told me since my heart attack that His grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in my weakness.  Even the weakness of my mind, which, by the way, I have the mind of Christ.  I'm just building my spirit up here while I blog away.  Another thing, however, is being careful what I say to my children.  I have had to ask forgiveness quite a bit.  Well, I'm off and running and looking forward to the power of God flowing through me.  Jesus is my Lord.  I hope He is your too.  Have a great week.}