What is your address and WHO lives with you?

Many times we are asked to give out our address. When you are explaining to someone where you live you describe it with numbers and a street name right? Our home is an important part of our life. It is where we find comfort. It is where many memories are created. It is a place where, for a time, you can relax and be yourself outside of the hustle and bustle of the world. 

But when you are talking on the phone trying to explain the directions to your home, whether it be someone dropping off a child to play or the pizza man, it would be an invasion of your privacy if that person would ask you "Who lives with you?" WHOA BUDDY! Now that is NOT a question you should ask nor a question that I feel obligated to answer! As a matter of fact, now I'm questioning YOUR integrity as a person and may not want to converse with you any longer! You have no right to ask me "Who lives with me!" 

...OR DO THEY?

Recently our neighbors home burned down. This had been their home for 2 years. This was my husbands home for the previous 18 years. But in the midst of tragedy there was peace. EVERYWHERE! Through the tears of watching what was created go up in smoke; there was peace. Firemen everywhere, black smoke, no less than a million hugs, and the hope that,at any moment in time, the fire would immediately come to a screeching halt and memories would  be saved...but it didn't.

In The 14th chapter of John, verses 23 and 24, Jesus answers the question... "Who lives with you?" 

"Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our HOME with them.  Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me."

In the midst of tragedy there is a beautiful family who chooses not to be devastated. There are 3 people who undoubtedly understand, that even though they don't have a bedroom to sleep in, a couch to relax on, or a kitchen table to share a meal at...their "Home" is the place where Jesus resides, and Jesus resides in their heart. 

So if someone is bold and asks you "Who lives WITH you?", no tragic fire or devastating act should ever keep you from responding with "Jesus! Jesus lives with me and I was saved by Grace." 

 

Finding Peace in the Number

This morning I spent a lot of time in Gods Word. Focusing, praying, and remaining open to His Wisdom.

It was a beautiful day just 2 weeks ago when my son turned 18 years old! It seems like just yesterday I was holding him as a 5 lb beautiful blue eyed present, and today my mind wants to reject the thought that he is an adult.  He is now 18 years old!

But is it really about the number?

My son is struggling with the responsibilities of life and what being an adult really means.  At 18 years old, his precious mind does not allow him to embrace responsibility. In his mind, the glue that held him to the family was only the number 17. The number 18 allows him his freedom…..and I ask myself “Is it really about the number?”  

As a mother of an 18 year old now, I have given in to what is happening in my sons mind. I mean, God created him right? He is a beautiful, wonderful, masterpiece in Gods eyes…so I trust God will protect his mind and his thoughts and give him the gift of discernment so that he can make his own decisions.

What I struggle with is in finding complete peace in my heart.

My spiritual friends prayed for me this morning and gave me this passage; Philippians 4:7 “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Paul preceded this verse with showing us that God doesn’t want us to be anxious for anything in our lives, but to pray about everything.

As a woman in Christ, I do not have anxiety anymore. God has healed that area in my life and I praise him for that…but what I do struggle with, is finding peace in every situation.

I’ve got it all together…or I may think I do! My worldly body craves peace. I know when I have it and I know when I don’t. I know what to do in my life to find it, and I know what needs to be cut out of my life to attain it….attain it….ATTAIN IT? 

NO! Peace doesn’t need to be attained!

In John chapter 14, Jesus showed himself to the disciples after he died.  Jesus was reminding them of his conversations when he was on the earth about the Holy Spirit. He then spoke these beautiful words… “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”

It was then in the Word that I realized that the peace I crave and search for in the times of struggles, I already have inside me. That peace was a GIFT from Jesus when he left this earth, through the Holy Spirit, therefore, I am not walking in the spirit if I strive to try and attain this peace. I already have it!

 I was age 17 once, and I was age 18 once. I praise God for all of the trials and struggles I went through to be the person I am today, and I am choosing to praise God for all the trials and struggles my beautiful baby boy is going through.  I have found PEACE IN THE NUMBER and it was right in front of me in Gods Word.

God Bless You!

Choosing to do without?

1 Timothy 6: 6-7 “But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it.”

We live in a society of instant gratification. Anything we want can be acquired. Our desire to have more, receive more, and gain more is driven by our bank account. As Christians, we are so proud of the fact that we make wise decisions with our money. After discussion and prayer, if we have the money in our account, then we will buy it right? We are wise.

When you think of the words instant gratification, your thoughts steer towards unwise individuals who make quick decisions. Someone who may have a newer car, but in an instant, decides to trade it in on the latest model which may be prettier or faster. Instant gratification may be a friend who goes shopping every week for a new clothes.  In our society this form of instant gratification is completely acceptable as long as you are not spending money that should otherwise be spent on bills.  We are proud to be great managers of our money.

We have wisdom to make good choices. Many of us, living in the promises of God, choose not to make split decisions like trading in our cars. We are blessed with the gift of wisdom….but please allow me to show you what God has shown me; another area inside the world of instant gratification.

When we are too warm, we choose to turn on a fan.

When we are cold, we put on a sweater. 

When we are thirsty, we find something to drink.

When it is sunny, we put on our sunglasses. 

When we are hungry, we open the refrigerator. 

When our car is out of gas, the decision is to fill it up.

When we feel like being social, we call someone or text.

When our mood is down, we find things to lift it up. 

In an instant we can satisfy almost every need!

In Mark chapter 15, Mark describes when Jesus was being led away carrying His cross. They came to the town of Golgotha where they offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh. Jesus chose NOT to accept the wine.  His frail body was extremely thirsty, but when Jesus was given a choice to satisfy his thirst, he took the road less traveled. This road is not traveled by most people in our society. We choose to satisfy our needs in an instant, without even realizing it. What we feel is our basic needs is a form of instant gratification.  

The fear of doing without keeps us in a place of contentment. But can you be content by choosing to work through that fear and take the road less traveled like Jesus did? Can you and will you be content without satisfying your needs in an instant? I urge you today to try it!

When the sun gets too hot today, choose not to turn on the air conditioner right away. When you are uncomfortable with only one pillow tonight instead of the usual two, wait 15 extra minutes before grabbing the other pillow. When you receive a text message and you think you HAVE to answer right now, use your gifts of patience and obedience by waiting to respond.  And the most difficult one I have trouble with is hunger pangs. When your stomach is telling you that it is time to eat, show God you choose to work through the fear and choose not to satisfy your need in an instant by going to the refrigerator.

Money is worthless in Heaven and may be worthless on this earth. Spend your time accumulating treasures that will be worthwhile in God’s eternal kingdom. Ask God for the wisdom to learn how to choose to do without like Jesus did; even if you don’t have to!

May God Bless You!

Theresa

We are so in love that You finish my sentences!

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Marriage is a beautiful thing! It was created by God from the beginning of time. The enjoyment of being married to someone you love is hard to explain really. It is not simply to raise a family or to get rid of loneliness, but something much deeper than that.

When I was young, I would remember my mom watching TV in the afternoons. She would refer to these shows as “Soap Operas”.  For years I had thought to myself....where in the world did they get THAT name? To this day I've never realized the true definition of what a “Soap Opera” is, but what I do remember are scenes from these shows; a juicy scene of course, when the attractive woman stared into the eyes of a handsome gentleman and spoke the words “Honey, we are so in love that you even finish my sentences.”  How funny!

20 plus years later I find myself in love. It is not the blissful love I watched on TV with mom though.  I am married to a wonderful man now and we have a family together…..but I will admit that my husband does NOT finish my sentences.  As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even understand what I’m saying most of the time. He agrees with me and nods his head, like many husbands do, and I have learned to be okay with that because it is then when I notice he has a beautiful smile.

To me, being a Christian woman means I love. I love my husband, I love my family. I love Gods Word and I love that he sent His son for me! I Love hot tea and I love my friends. I love gifts. I love to read. I love who I am in Jesus Christ….but most of all…I love God!

When I find myself in hopeless situations, my thoughts take over. My internal dialog throws negative words at me! My thoughts tell me that it is NOT going to be okay, so why even try?

Sometimes I argue with myself and try to figure it all out on my own…. but it is then, as quickly as a flash of lightening out of the corner of my eye, when something inside of me turns away from the despair and turns towards hope and peace. 

I have learned to fall in love with that moment, but not as much as I have fallen head over heels with God. God is the one who replaces my thoughts and words with His thoughts and His words. I am Thanking God today for sending the Holy Spirit to drown out those negative thoughts.

Ask God today to finish your sentences. He will give you perfectly crafted words that will infiltrate your thoughts and speak into your heart. Those beautiful words will bring depression to a halt and speak life into you. Those words will make you a better person; the person that God intended for you to be. Allow God to take over your thoughts and finish your sentences.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, Thank You for speaking inside of my thoughts today. You know how much I need for you to turn my desperation into revelation.  I am so in Love with you Lord that I desire only YOU to finish my sentences.

It's Time to Quit FEARING THE FEAR!

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Use prayer and the Holy Spirit as your weapons to “demolish strongholds”. The time to begin is now. There is no better time than today to put fear in its place!

I had decided to take a walk yesterday morning instead of getting on the treadmill. I will admit it is the first time I walked outside this year. The anticipation of the walk was exciting to me as the Holy Spirit almost always speaks into my life on my way back from the creek. There is one specific area while treading up the broken county road, that beautiful signs and wonders fill my mind. However, yesterday was different.

Beautiful signs and wonders filled my eyesight instead.

There has been something in my life I have been struggling with lately, but I will speak of that later. It is a stronghold of sorts which is holding me back from being the best person I can be as a child of the God. So on my walk, I asked God to SHOW ME how I can combat the addiction.  My outloud prayer went something like this “Heavenly Father, Thank You for being my God! Thank you for your unconditional love….please show me how I can be the best person I can be! I fear only you Lord as you are my Lord and Savior and I give You reverence. I do not desire to give reverence to anything else but you Lord as nothing comes before you. Thank you for your unfailing love “and I proceeded to put it all in Jesus name.

Well, just a few steps further towards home, I came across an empty cigarette package that someone had thrown from their car. But what I walked by next was placed there for me to see! It too was another cigarette package. It was a different brand and had looked like it had been run over a couple times. But what was different about the second package is that it still had numerous cigarettes inside.

I stopped immediately! You would have thought I was a crazy woman on a county road because I leaned over to get a closer look. And how silly it was for me to look around to find the vehicle; rather the person who threw these out of their car window.  What a beautiful person, I thought to myself! Then my internal dialog spoke: Theresa, they are trying to break the stronghold. They threw the cigarettes out of the car for a reason. They had no fear of the withdrawal. They had no fear of the next time they craved nicotine. All they knew at that moment was that it was not important to have cigarettes in their life anymore! They are an angel to you today. 

Wow. I must have stood there for what seemed like an eternity. And after snapping a quick photo of the cigarette package as a reminder, I proceeded to walk home.

So for the past 24 hours I have been meditating on that walk. Of course I now realize that it was the Holy Spirit speaking through that beautiful FEARLESS angel in the car who is giving up the addiction.  For a moment, that angel has taken fear and placed it on a shelf.  I prayed for my angel yesterday. I prayed that the stronghold of my angel’s nicotine addiction is gone forever! 

The angel who made a decision to roll down their window that day doesn’t even know that their action has touched the life of someone else who has a stronghold. Although my stronghold is not nicotine, rather an addiction to the taste of food, it is still a stronghold that is holding me back from being the best person I can be for Christ.

As with any addiction, there must be a fear behind it. For alcoholics it may be the fear of sobriety or no party life. For workaholics, it may be a fear of no money or idle living. A nicotine addiction may have the fear of withdrawal on not knowing where the next cigarette is coming from, but what is the fear for people addicted to food? I asked God to reveal that to me in my life specifically…and He did. I am fearful of hunger pangs and not being able to enjoy the taste of food. I am done FEARING THE FEAR!

Ask God today to SHOW YOU your fear inside of your stronghold. It is only then when you can quit fearing the fear.

You get what you PRAY for?

My stepson Zack is 16 and recently landed a great job at the local grocery store in the quaint town we live in. He bags groceries and cleans windows and such, but last week when he was out gathering the carts from the parking lot, a strange older man walked up to him and struck up a conversation. My stepson was not surprised by this but seemed interested in what he had to say. The gentleman mentioned that he too worked for the same grocery store many years ago. He mentioned that the management of the store may not be what it is supposed to be and that they are in need of “good strong managers” to run the store to its fullest potential. He proceeded to compliment my stepson for his hard work as an employee and then told him “You know, I’m going to pray for you!”  I’m sure my stepson was taken aback by this, but because he is also a believer, he took it as a compliment. But what the humble black gentleman said next was to his surprise… “I’m going to pray that one day, you become manager of this store.”  Whoa….wait a minute…..

When Zack came home that day, he told me what had happened. I didn’t have to ask and nothing was vocalized, but could tell on his face that his life’s dream was NOT to become a manager of the local grocery store. And I as his mom have bigger dreams for him, as I’m sure God does too, but leave his future in Gods hands.

But this leads me to meditate on this question: How does God want us to react to someone who wants to pray for something that we may not want to come to pass? 

In Philippians 2: 3-4, Paul reminds us to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”   Paul desired to be more like Jesus Christ. Even from prison, he reminded us how to practice humility. Do we practice humility in our lives, or are we looking out for our own interests both in the present and in the future?

My thoughts immediately go to that gentleman in the parking lot, who for years desired in his heart to see that grocery store bigger than what it is! He was waiting for the opportunity to breathe life and prayer into the mind of someone who could possibly fulfill that dream.  That beautiful angel in the parking lot is a man of God who was considering Zack better than himself. Did he want to be the manager at one time? Did that gentleman ask for a promotion and was not given it? I’m sure we will never know the answer to those questions. But what we do know is this; God positions people in our lives everyday to teach us.  These small divine appointments are to be treated with the utmost importance.

In Romans 8:26-27 the bible states “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Holy Spirit himself intercedes for us….and he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, in accordance to God’s will.”

So won’t you please join me today in praying for those who are humbled by the spirit to pray for us? These divine appointments are blessed and are not to be taken for granted. Today, I pray and Thank God for that beautiful parking lot angel. I pray for everyone in my life who pray for me and the people I love. Lord, I thank you for their heart. Keep them humble and led by the Holy Spirit. I ask this is Jesus Name, Amen.

Thanking God for the Broken Relationship?

No one is exempt from a relationship that has gone by the wayside....or a friendship that you thought would never end. Like a snap of your fingers they are suddenly dissolved with bitterness and disagreement. Maybe harmful words were spoken and you and your loved one or friend is left feeling unrightfully blamed for something!

The relationship disappears. What were once hugs and laughter is now emptiness and loneliness. You find yourself questioning what went wrong?  I have even at one time picked up the phone to call them out of habit, and after dialing the phone, I realized that I am setting myself up for an earful of mental abuse. Did fear hold me back? I've apologized and forgiven them...but why an I still being blamed for something so minor?

This morning I went into the bible to see what God would do in this situation. It led me to Ephesians 6, beginning in verse 10. I was so excited about this, because this is one of my favorite parts in the bible; Putting On the Armor of God. I'm wearing the belt of truth, and the shield of faith. The helmet of salvation is ready to go! Then stopping in my tracks in my reading is verse 18 "and pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests."  WOW!

This leads me to remember a beautiful song by Casting Crowns called "Praise You in The Storm". If I can recall the words, they go something like this... "As your mercy falls, I raise my hand and praise the God who gives and takes away.  I will praise you in this storm, I will lift my hands, You know who You are, no matter where I am. Every tear I cry, You hold in Your hand, You never left my side, and though my heart is torn, I will praise You in this storm."

So today, please join me in praising God for the broken relationship. Thank God for the current trials you are going through. Everything is sewn together for good. There doesn't need to be a reason to Thank God for anything, but when you take the initiative to Thank God inside the most difficult times, He will give you hope to see the future.  

Does this mean that we do not have some blame in the broken relationship? Absolutely not! That is where repentance comes in...but what it does mean is that you are faithful inside your walk with Christ, even if it means you carry scarred emotions  because something....rather someone.... was removed from your life.

Heavenly Father, I Thank You today for the beautiful relationships you give me and take away from me. I know that all things work together for good and that You will open my eyes to see what only You have for me. Lord, bless my friend today, and bless all relationships in this world Lord. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen