Choosing Gratitude in Humility

 Reading this week in Philippians 1:27-2:18

Be Kind. Everywhere I turned this week, I kept seeing that statement. Be Kind. No ifs, ands or buts... simply, whatever you do, be kind.

I don't think of myself as an unkind person. With the wear-and-tear of life, I do feel I have become more blunt. On busy days I often forget the need for niceties and even act a bit abrupt. But kindless... nope, never considered myself in that light.

Yet, there I sat, multiple times this week, bluntness and abruptness painting on a veneer of unkindness. I felt so bad.

To my family, I gave way to fear and left them hanging when unexpected compliments were paid.

To my Call, I forgot the Greatest example of a servant heart... without complaining, without remorse, counting others more significant than self.

To my Jesus, I neglected His life coursing through me, giving me all I needed to leave blunt and abrupt behind and instead reach for grace, peace and KINDNESS.

I didn't do the best job of working out my faith.

As I walked through the Philippians study day-by-day this week, the tests for each lesson were almost instantaneous and they were not without context.

You see, in the ancient Roman world, when Paul was writing his letters, society was a very ME-centric place. Promoting self, serving self, monopolizing on ME time, were corner-stones of the secular culture. When Paul is calling the believers to live "worthy of the gospel" he also knows how POWERFUL this counter-culture lifestyle will be.

He starts by calling them to unity, as the body of Christ (2:1-5). He then gives them an example, by the life of Christ (2:6-11). It is certainly a surreal point to hear the Call and think, "I'm trying!" only to see the Example and realize, "I can try harder."

The fact is, as much as we don't want to talk about this in today's society (or even in Paul's society), what we do, good or bad, directly impacts someone else's path through this life and into the next.

Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,

but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

~ Proverbs 10:17 ~

God desires a closeness with his followers and, just as much as this personal relationship with us, he also desires that others should join in as well. Our walk with Him becomes that steadily burning candlelight in the darkness of a lost world, drawing those with eyes to see closer to light and truth.

Enter Kindness.

An attribute I believe to be best exemplified by humility. Kindness isn't always easy. Daily we are faced with situations and people who test our ability to be kind, to show love and to act humbly. When Paul states, "Do ALL things without grumbling or disputing..." in 2:12, it seems reasonable to state; do every.single.little.and.big.thing with kindness and humility. He suggests, by following this command, we will be "blameless and innocent, children of God...." Children because we bare His image in those humble acts: Christ did not grumble nor did he dispute all that was done to him. He fed thousands with love and grace. He healed many with peace and kindness. He even countered the nay-sayers with truth and self-control.

At the end of the day, kindness and humility not only unify us in the body of Christ and grow us as image-bearers, but, as we hold to the word of life (2:16) we shine as lights in the world.... in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Not separate from them, but right smack-dab in the middle.

This world is full of a lot of crazy right now. Don't loose heart. Find moments of gratitude, even if in the simplest things, and allow that gratitude to feed kindness and produce humility... to serve those around you with love and grace.... and to shine in this world in spite of whatever it tries to throw your way.

Do you struggle with doing "ALL things without grumbling or disputing"? Take heart, let gratitude be your guide❤

  Blessings,

**This is part 2 in a month long series on "Choosing Gratitude" from a guided Bible Study I have written of the same name. Click below to get your FREE pdf and join me! I had planned on Mid-Week Messages for this series but have opted for end-of-week sum-ups for reflecting. I am also sharing scripture daily on Instagram from this study and hope you will join me there as well!**

Click on image to go to PDF

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

 

 

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• Encouraging articles
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

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Choosing Gratitude in the Challenges

What a week. It seems as though a bated hush has captured many of us. We knew it was coming. We saw the warnings. But now it is here. *undecided* as I write this post. Countries re-shutting down. Jobs still in limbo. Livelihoods still in the balances while Washington waits. We wait. A Nation waits. What will come?

At times it feels hard to breathe. God is still Good.... He is in control.... yes. He is and He is. But with hubby's job in the oil industry still on lay-off and my younger son still off work from an injury and return prospects gradually diminishing and my wonderful job as housewife hanging on those very balances... and so many other burdens.... it gets very hard to breathe.

But God.  

My solace this week has been found in His Word. Deep Breaths of timeless truths and promises. Remembering how little the World holds in light of all Heaven holds. Hope. Even if it gets ugly along the way.

Paul understood this. Many of the 1st century believers lived this. Persecution, ostracizing, struggling to meet needs, exasperated by false teachers.... and the list could go on. Paul himself was often in prison and, on the occasion that he wrote his letter to the Philippians he appears to have been on house arrest.

But hope.   

Many came to visit him, among them local church leaders. Not always did they leave enlightened. As a matter of fact, it seemed, often, they left agitated and not quite ready to accept the whole Jesus thing. They wanted it their way.

Yet Paul perseveres and he writes to the Philippians to thank them for their union with him in gifts and prayers. He shares with them, also, of the challenges he faces. Interestingly, he doesn't seem discouraged, rather, he appears to celebrate the challenges for the wonderful hope and work they are producing....

... Christian service rooted in love (1:16)

... Growing confidence in the Truth (1:14)

... Unparalleled bold fearlessness in sharing the Gospel (1:14)

 It can be hard to appreciate the challenges when we are facing them. Knee-deep in the trials they present, the discouragement, the appearance of "lost". But are we ever truly "lost" as believers and followers of Christ?

Paul takes all which could potentially bring him down and turns it around. He sees it through God's eyes... through the potential not the probable or actual. But there again, he sees what is REALLY happening, not focusing on the discouraging points of so many negative experiences inundating him... He sees hope.... he sees the loving service, he sees the growing confidence, he sees the bold fearlessness and he recognizes how none of it would have been possible without the challenges he is facing.

Suddenly night is like day.

Suddenly loosing has its profit.

Suddenly impossible becomes possibility.

And he rejoices.

He sees profit here and beyond (1:21) and he focuses not on what could hold him and the gospel message back but rather on all which can and IS propelling it forward. (1:18)

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, 

Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice.

~ Philippians 1:18 ~

Don't despair, dear Christian. Don't let your eyes be so fixed on what may be lost, on the troubles at hand, that you miss what is found and the Peace and answers which surround us so completely we can't help but rejoice.... we can choose gratitude IN the challenges.

Are you struggling in the midst of these current worries? Are you pulled down or are you rising up? What is encouraging you today? Which particular challenge can you find a way to choose gratitude in?

 Blessings,

**This is part 1 in a month long series on "Choosing Gratitude" from a guided Bible Study I have written of the same name. Click below to get your FREE pdf and join me! I had planned on Mid-Week Messages for this series but have opted for end-of-week sum-ups for reflecting. I am also sharing scripture daily on Instagram from this study and hope you will join me there as well!**

Click on image to go to PDF

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

 

 

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*Are you subscribed to my newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each month with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me. 

Proverbs 31 and Where Focus Should Be

Life, as a stay-at-home, is a juggling act.  It is comical to me when people snub their noses at the profound job of caring for home and family... as if "wife" and "mom" just don't carry enough weight to justify the air we breathe.  I think this is why Proverbs 31 is so important to women, not as a check-list of all the hard-to-reach places, rather, as inspiration for all the possibility and impact of our 'position'.

Lately I have cycled back to a place of struggling.  My home isn't as nice as hers... my kids aren't learning the awesome things those kids are... my voice doesn't matter in the din of so many others... my work as a wife and mother caring for her home doesn't make a difference... you know the mantra, don't you?

I want to say I have broken the Comparison Trap but, truth is, I don't think that trap is ever broken.  We may tip-toe around it or ignore it for a season, however, the cycle always comes back around to that place where we find ourselves caged in comparison again. This past week, though, God was merciful in helping me see truth...

First, I stumbled upon a woman whose house had been featured in a favorite magazine of mine.  She was giving a virtual tour of her vintage abode... with some side remodel projects going on, missing thresholds, messy piles and all!  I barely recognized her videoed home compared to the one the magazine had colorfully featured.  Suddenly my eyes were wide open: we aren't that different!  Her house may be bigger but the walls were filled the same as mine: with carefully curated heart-felt belongings, life, and the people we love.  Matching furniture and perfectly placed trinkets on every surface were NOT her main-stay, but her house looked like a HOME I would love visiting. I felt tremendously encouraged watching her comfortably take viewers through her less-than-perfect yet still beautiful rooms and halls and realizing how my home had it's own flow and beauty, in it's own right!!

Then, while linking up last week's Homeschool Mother's Journal article I 'met' a homeschool high school mom doing things much the same as we do.  Not the big, fancy, curriculum I see so many devouring with enjoyment... but rather the simple little things which go a bit off the beaten path while still accomplishing the same goals.  I had NEVER seen another homeschool high school family take this particular approach before and the inspiration lifted my heart beyond measure!  I quit lamenting over what wouldn't work for us and, instead, kept plugging forward with all that did!

At this point I had to sit back on my heals and really take it all in... SEE the comparison I was slipping into and then remembering the Proverbs 31 Wife and a very particular passage which began to speak deeply to me:

She looks well to the ways of her household 

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 31:27

Who's household does she look to the ways of?  HERS... not her neighbor's or the woman at market, nor was she concerned about the household of the leader's wife.  Nope... just hers... and not that she wasn't benevolent towards others, Proverbs 31 also teaches about her compassion towards those around her.  What I am pointing out is how she isn't wrapped up in comparison, rather,  she is focused on her own sphere of influence and ability... not other's.

From this sphere, Proverbs 31 chronicles a great many things she dabbles in and, as mentioned, while it is not about a laundry list of to-dos, it is about her dedication to get things done well.  How do we know they are done well?

Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

Proverbs 31:28

While it isn't about the accolades of mankind when we set to doing the work God has for us, I do believe the response of our family is a small treasure God gives us here on earth for a job well done.  Our husbands aren't going to praise us for keeping house like our dearest friend... nor are our children going to call us "blessed" because we hit the mark like Jimmy's mom.  No, our families feel our love and hard work when we are focused on our own household and the God who rules over it all... they know it is not a competition, rather, it is the joyful surrounding of the bubble we call HOME.  Our family blesses and praises because our eyes are on them and our household, not others.

I pray, wherever you are today, whether standing in the comparison trap or happily walking away from it, that you are able to confidently and joyfully keep your eyes on your household as you care for the hearts of the ones you love.

Blessings,

All this month I will be doing a series, in honor of Mother's Day and all the hard-working women out there, covering verses from Proverbs 31.  If you are interested in studying this well-known section of scripture with me, sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter and I will send you May's edition with the P31 study attached!  Info below....

*Are you subscribed to my FREE monthly newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

I look forward to sharing Faith and Home Times with you!!

Come Out of Your Hiding Place

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

- John 20:19-22

It has been a rough year so far for our family.  Relationship struggles, constant problems with our house, job struggles, financial strains and so on, it is easy to try and pull the covers over my head rather than get out of bed each morning.  I'm afraid of what could go wrong next and add to it all how I'm troubled by personal attacks, I seize up.  If that is not bad enough, I turn on the news and see bleak narratives filling my screen... even if I did go out, what am I going out to?  Persecution?  Attacks? A deaf and wayward world?

I guess that is why, while reading in the after-math of Resurrection day this week, tried and true passages began to POP out at me.  Here are the disciples, locked up in a room, essentially hiding out from the Jews who were presumably the religious leaders responsible for Jesus' Crucifixion a few days earlier.  Doors locked and Scripture tells us they were "in fear".  In this state: Jesus appears.

He comes and stands among them and what is the first thing He says?

Peace be with you.

We could assume this is a greeting, the customary "Shalom" which Jews often exchanged upon encounters, however, a mere greeting, to my thinking, would only be needed once..."Hello, Shalom, I am here, look at me, how are you?"  But he doesn't say it just once.  After showing them his scars, John tells us the disciples were "glad" to see Jesus and then Scripture goes on to record how He said to them again, “Peace be with you."

Locked in, hidden, and afraid... the disciples are suddenly encountered by Jesus, who just pops right on in and then says PEACE be with you.  No small talk is recorded, just peace and presence which seems to imply a call for them to stop being afraid.  As a matter of fact, he doesn't just dispel their fear, no, the second time he adds that He has a mission for them.  As if to say, 'stop being afraid and hiding out, BECAUSE there is work to do.'  What is this mission?

As the Father has sent me.... I am sending you.

Well that is not a very detailed mission... or is it? "As the Father sent me...", what is this "as"?  We don't have to go far to find out...

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

- John 18:37

God sent Jesus to bear witness to the truth.  Then, in this locked room, He tells them peace be with you and As the Father sent me, I am sending you.... I was bearing witness to the truth... now you bear witness to the truth.  I did it to the point of persecution and death... you do it to the point of persecution and death if you must.  These are marching orders, intended to be carried out despite their fear.

But how?

It is a scary world out there.  Sure, peace.  Sure, mission.  But HOW can they find strength and focus to carry it all out?  How about with a breath of fresh air?  No, literally!  He breathed on them... why?  to impart the Holy Spirit... the POWER to do what he had asked them to do.  Much like God did in Genesis, breathing life into the lungs of man... now He breathes new life into those who see Him, who are truly glad in Him.

I never paused long enough to really SEE this before... to soak up the 3-point truth here:

• TWICE, Jesus says "Peace be with you", earlier in John He would explain how His peace is not a worldly peace but rather, it is something more tangible and sustainable.
• AS God sends Jesus, through good and bad to bear witness to Truth, so He sends us with that model
• He doesn't just command us but He also equips us with the greatest Power-source, the Holy Spirit

Life is scary.  Plain and simple.  Sometimes more than others.  We may long to hide under the covers instead of getting up and facing the day.... we may even avoid going out or certain activities to dodge challenges or persecution... But God calls us to GO, to claim His peace, bear witness to His Truth and to remember we are Equipped with a Powerful force and purpose.

I pray you would join me in not letting insecurities or fears hold you back from peace and the call of Christ.  We can muster strength from the Spirit within and experience Victory in the end for he hasn't only given purpose but He has also breathed LIFE!

Blessings,

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

A new Bible study for the month of May is coming out in the next newsletter which is set to hit email in-boxes first thing tomorrow (Thursday, 4.25.19).  Be sure to sign up for your FREE copy, info below....

*Are you subscribed to my FREE monthly newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

I look forward to sharing Faith and Home Times with you!!

The Priestly Prayer and a Common Call to STAND OUT

I re-dedicated my life to Christ when I was 26 after a long hard fall away.  As excited as I was to feel ALIVE, and even though I had my beautiful children to look after, I longed to be done with this hard place called 'life on Earth'. I couldn't understand why God wouldn't spare me from the brokenness.  Surely, now that I had Jesus in my heart, I was ready to go... right?  It didn't take long for God to deal with me on humble service and shining His light!

In the final hours before Jesus' arrest He takes time to leave His followers with words of hope and encouragement... and a powerful prayer, one I look to often when my strength in this broken world fails me.  One part in particular speaks loudest in my heart:

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

John 17:13-18

 Jesus doesn't wait till heaven to encourage them, no, he speaks to them in the world and why?  That they may have His joy fulfilled in them... right at that moment, not to be delayed.  But Jesus' Joy isn't the only thing planted in the hearts of His followers, God's Word has been seeded as well.  This implanted Word has set them apart, profoundly...

...and the world hated them because they are not of the world...

It is so easy to strive for the acceptance of those around us, but that isn't God's plan for the implanted word and Joy from Jesus... no... it is that we should STAND OUT, and they aren't alone: Jesus set the example as he walked and lived counter-cultural His entire life!  Not once in Scripture do we see our Savior attempting to fit in, say the right thing, or be accepted.  His eyes were on the Father, walking the path He laid, regardless of what the World wanted of Him.

Having walked in all the hard places, endured all the ridicule, spoken boldly for the truth and persecuted as a result... all the broken places.... He prays not that they should have early leave, but rather, that God would keep them from evil for as long as their time should continue here. He calls on God to sanctify them in Truth and then.... he sends them.

Easter is on approach, resurrection season is coming to a triumphant close... I should be celebrating.  But week after week this year has brought trials and strife.  Going Home looks so good in this moment but this is where I am to stay... not to sit and absorb like Zacchaeus the Tax Collector pre-dinner with Jesus... no, to shine and issue and give back like Zacchaeus the Redeemed post-dinner with Jesus. 

Jesus didn't let the world get Him down: He didn't quiet His living, He lived OUT LOUD.  Jesus didn't blend in, He STOOD OUT.  And a few short days later, he didn't stay in the grave, He ROSE AGAIN.... for us.  For redemption, yes, but also to blaze a trail we may follow so that the world may see and join our ranks.

To read more of Jesus' prayer for His followers in John, visit chapter 17.  It is beautiful and powerful and I pray you may be encouraged as you walk through a troubled world.  Yes, look to the cross this week, but also remember the empty grave and be strengthened: you can overcome the World because Jesus went before you. He doesn't want you to blend in... He calls you to STAND OUT.

Blessings,

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

*Are you subscribed to my FREE monthly newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

I look forward to sharing Faith and Home Times with you!!

 

Choose Peace

As this article posts we are entering day number SEVEN of no gas which equates NO hot water and, more importantly in the chilly Montana spring, no heat.  Overall, I have found peace and focus in glorifying God through how I handle it all, however, truth be told, my nerves are running thin at times.  I'm grateful we discovered the gas leak before worse side-effects came of them (yes, "them",more than one leak was discovered in our almost 80 year old, out-coded pipes before the gas company shut them off for safety)... while I'm also daunted by the process since old lines need to be dug up and new ones laid.  Engineers, insurance, hurry-and-wait....

*sigh*

It all seems a fitting exercise in light of the passage I have been studying this week to prepare for the next installment of Jesus' final teachings in our series here.  It comes from John 14, is among my favorite encouraging verses, and will be quite familiar to you as well...

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 14:27

It isn't just this verse though, it is the great big context of the chapter itself...

John 14 begins with the same message v.27 preaches:

Let not your hearts be troubled.  [You] Believe in God; believe also in me.

John 14:1

We know, when God repeats Himself, well, we really should sit up and take notice!  My ESV has "[You]" in the footnotes while other translations carry it expressly in the text.  Simply, one could translate it to say; since you believe in God, then believe also in Jesus!  That belief is the core of the power which helps our hearts to not be troubled!  Any doubt?  He goes on to say:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

John 14:15-17

"If" statements... wow.  Always notice those!  Have you ever said that to someone in your life?  "IF you love me you will..."  Well, Jesus does, which makes it a pretty big deal.  "Yes, Jesus, I love you, how can I show you?"  Simple: keep His commandments.

This isn't a "works-based" gospel here, it is a simple fact of life.  When you love someone, you don't consistently and deliberately break their expectations and best hopes and plans for you.  If you did, they would begin to doubt your love and loyalty!  We don't keep commandments to earn Jesus' love, we had His love to begin with.  We keep them to show our love for Him... I would expand that to say: we keep the commands to show our love for Him TO the world at large!  While Jesus may know your heart, He desires that others should see your heart for Him by how you walk: in a way that honors Him.  How do I know this?

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

John 14:13

We could go into an entirely separate discussion here on prayer, however, what I want to focus on today is why God answers prayers.... that He may be glorified.  

This 'Him glorified' thing is kind of a big deal.  Such a big deal that God doesn't want us to be alone in figuring it out. So, we keep His commandments and He sends a helper.

The string-along is something like this:

• Let not hearts be troubled (v1)
• Lift all in prayer (v13)
• Show you love Jesus by keeping his commandments (v15)
• If you do keep His commandments out of love for Him, a "Helper" is sent (v.16)

What does this "Helper" assist us in?

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

John 14:26-27 (emphasis added)

Following those first points through v.16 cultivates prime real estate in our hearts for the Holy Spirit in-dwelling and, as He moves in, He will teach us things and help us remember what Jesus has done and said.  As a result.... PEACE!

I do believe peace can come unexplained BUT, most often, I see it occur more quickly, more completely, when we have taken steps to draw the Spirit into our heart preemptively.  

One thing which stood out about that last verse as well:

Let not your hearts be troubled NEITHER let them be afraid  

No trouble
No fear 
we can CHOOSE NOT to (or to) walk with a troubled and/or fear-filled heart!  But we shouldn't.

In all honesty, this last passage is technically, I believe, referring to v.28 when Jesus (in part) was saying, "You heard me say... I am going..if you loved me, rejoice... because I'm going to the Father..."  It would seem his words in the end of v27 were intended to encourage them as He prepares for something HUGE and, quite frankly, scary and earth-shattering!  However, we can still apply this concept to our own "huge" and shaky struggles.  We CAN still draw strength and peace which the world can not understand yet God so richly provides.

If that is not enough, notice how this chapter closes:

I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. 

John 14:30-31a   

The ruler of this world has no claim on Jesus... which is great news for us as it means he has no hold on us either!!!  So why, then, does Jesus take the path he does?  So the world may know that I love the Father.

It is easy to spout, "Peace in Jesus", yet it can be hard to walk it out.  As I was tossed around from phone associate to phone associate and contractor to contractor this past week I knew they were doing all they could, I knew this fix would be a process, but even when I was tempted to loose my cool and get upset, I remembered my greater call: So the world may know that I love the Father.

Suddenly, peace in Jesus was possible.
Suddenly, He was teaching me what I needed to know for that very moment.
Suddenly, these problems seemed trivial because Jesus' greatest commandment wasn't "loose my cool with utility representatives" but instead it was "LOVE".  Love God, love others, love all completely and without cause.

Peace in Jesus.

It looks nothing like the counterfeit peace the world sells, and Jesus' peace brings rewards both deeply and eternally gratifying.

I CHOOSE peace.

Not trouble or dismay.

Just. peace... powerful, beautiful, spirit teaching peace.

I pray you choose peace in those hard to fathom places this week.  Jesus gives it freely, we only need to accept.


Blessings,






Post Note: I have come to know some of the most helpful people this past week and even had an opportunity to share my Hope with a representative as a result of the Peace in Jesus I claimed ♥️

To see last week's post in the series, visit this link in text.

Looking for a guide to help you better study the season's scriptures?  Perhaps you are in search of some scriptures to study this season as well!!  This month's Faith and Home Times newsletter comes with a FREE Bible Study packet which can be used in conjunction with current studies you have going on OR as a spring-board into a new study.  When you sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter, the latest issue will make its way to you!  Info on how to subscribe is below.

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

*Are you subscribed to my FREE monthly newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

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Can They Hear You?

As April opens up and Easter is only a few short weeks away, I felt it appropriate to look at the 'final opening' of those last days of Jesus (His last days and some of his teachings/prayers are what I plan to draw out here each Wednesday this month).  The book of John is probably my favorite Gospel, something in "the disciple Jesus loved"'s wording strikes a beautiful chord with me.  Using keen Bible deduction, seeing the repetitions and order of statements, really seem to nail at the heart of Christ and, knowing that this powerful book was written to show WHO He really was and his Godship, seems to support that idea further.(ref)

Armed with this understanding, I dug into John 12 today, The Triumphal Entry of Jesus on what we now celebrate as "Palm Sunday"

Crowds were there.

The Pharisees were there.

The crowds were excited to see this man who was rumored to have called people out of the grave... one person in particular, which the Pharisees sought to have killed along with Jesus.  Why?  Because he, Lazarus, the once-dead-man now walking, was a living testimony of the power and might of God through Jesus.

Jesus himself represented a threat to the power and might of the Pharisees.  They didn't like that.  They wanted to retain their good standing and they knew Jesus' very existence jeopardized years of posturing.  Too bad some of these hadn't taken in the Sermon on the Mount:

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted t the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money [or possessions]."

Matthew 6:24

Too bad, also, it didn't sink in with them that you can't kill God!  However, it was good for us... it was planned for us.  Without the death of an innocent lamb, none of us would know hope for the future.  So we will give the Pharisees a break... they were just fulfilling God's grand plan and for that, we can praise Him!

However, I digress... there is sooooo much to draw out of this amazing chapter but the ONE thing I wanted to point our attention to today is this repeated theme:

So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.  

John 12:10-11

The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.  The reason why the crowd [presumably a different one in Jerusalem/Bethany area] went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.  So the Pharisees said to one another, "you see that you are gaining nothing.   

Look, the world has gone after him."

John 12:16-19

(Emphasis added in each)

Why were alllllll these people following?  What was making the Pharisees sooooooo mad about them?  The perpetuation of Truth.  Here is the formula:

See Jesus speak/work + tell of Jesus' words/work = MORE people drawn to Jesus

But this truly is NOT an addition problem... it is a multiplication one because people weren't drawn by onesies and twosies... nope, CROWDS flocked. 

The power of witnessing.

As Christians we do not need to bully or cajole, we just need to talk and live.  It's how it was done and now, 2000 years later, this same approach is still what God uses to draw new believers.  And, still, to this day, when you go to oppressed or secluded cultures where the Light has never been shared before, they come in droves just at the Word.

Perhaps, in our own culture, many have grown numb to this powerfully trans-formative Truth in the din of so many other ideas... particularly the lie of self-actualization, a concept completely contradictory to the selfLESS living Christ embodied.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Whoever loves his life looses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am there will be my servant also.

John 12:24-26a

The believers who witnessed and flocked and witnessed and flocked... followed Jesus.  Not self, not ambitions, not the world... no, they followed Jesus.  Two groups of people are drawn out at this point:  Those who followed outwardly... and those who followed inwardly...

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

John 12:42-43

If you stand by the precepts of Christ are you afraid to loose friends?  Family members? Position? Job? Glory? Recognition? Credibility? Acceptance?  When these fears strike, we must remember, they aren't new, but rather, they were held by some very high ranking officials even in Jesus' time.  Is He OK with that?

NO.

The whole "light under a bushel" comes to mind.  So does every preceding verse to the ones just mentioned... how were crowds drawn?  By witness.  But some loved their life more.  Whoever loves his life looses it... you can't love your own life more than that which Christ wants to give you.

So what if you loose friends, family, position, job, glory, recognition, credibility or acceptance.  YES, these people and things mean something... they can mean everything, BUT, how many countries have seen faith BOOM because of the dedicated witness of those who were persecuted for the faith?  Maybe we aren't in China or the Muslim controlled Middle-Eastern and African countries... but we are still in a battle for souls and how do hostages know where safety is if we aren't willing to stand in the battlefield and point the way, even if it means we get hit with flying arrows? 

Digressing doesn't draw. 
Bending when pushed, lake grass laying aside as it is trampled, quiets Truth.
STANDING, speaking, believing with our WHOLE heart in the face of all that seeks to kill and destroy... THAT is where people flock and are drawn.  The message? "Wow, that must be something amazing if she is willing to stand that firm!"

And Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.  And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.  I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.  If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.  For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment -- what to say and what to speak.  And I know that his commandment is eternal life.  What I say, therefore I say as the Father has told me."

John 12:44-50

If we are called to be like Christ, and Christ did as the Father told Him, shouldn't we follow suit?

This Resurrection season, I pray we may meditate on the gravity of what has been done for us... and that we might let it permeate every crevice of our being to produce transformation which is ready, willing, and actively pursuing opportunity to SHARE, that the roll-call of the faithful might multiply because we stood!

Blessings,

Looking for a guide to help you better study the season's scriptures?  Perhaps you are in search of some scriptures to study this season as well!!  This month's Faith and Home Times newsletter comes with a FREE Bible Study packet which can be used in conjunction with current studies you have going on OR as a spring-board into a new study.  When you sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter, the latest issue will make its way to you!  Info on how to subscribe is below.

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

*Are you subscribed to my FREE monthly newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

I look forward to sharing Faith and Home Times with you!!

Gratitude Reflections: Week 4

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:5-6

My gratitude... I grew up in a family where Athiesm was praised.  Agnostic, you are their buddy too.  Christians?  Well, you better have guts of iron because they will put you through the wringer.  They will take the Lord's name in vain more than usual in your presence... just to watch you squirm.  They will ridicule every.last.move because if you aren't the perfect picture of Jesus then, in their mind, you are a poser and they are ready to throw the punches.

Some days it would be subtle.  Others, it was down-right war.  They (and I at the time) don't/didn't understand the concept Paul often references as spiritual babies.  1 John even seems to be written to this group of new believers... trying to learn how best to glorify God and screweing up pretty consistently along the way until one day, those mature steps start being taken.  But I can't give my family a hard time for that... even many Christians don't realize this about the walk we are called to when we accept Christ as our LORD and savior. 

Lord: He is in charge.  He is what it is all about.

Coming into this understanding after rededicating my life in my early 20s, I had a richer belief after falling away.  I had a deeper understanding because of my broken family and my unbelieving relatives.  I have written many times how my biological dad is an atheist... of how we didn't talk for years because of the persecution.  Yet, when I started praying and asking God WHY, why did he give me such a challenge for a dad, a quickly received my answer:  his unbelief has helped grow my belief.  His steadfastness in the un-realness of God has created a deeper and more seasoned trust in the realness of my Faith.

No, it hasn't been easy.  But through it all, God has taught me so much.  He has taught me, most of all, how to pray in Thanksgiving through all things and to trust Him, seeking Him for the words I need, when I need them... especially with my family but also with all those I encounter on any given day.  I am grateful for this.  For how God has grown me and for how He never stops giving the words I need to be seasoned with salt.

What are you thankful for as the result of your reflections on Colossians 4 this week?

Blessings,

Post your own Gratitude Reflections this week, share the button and share your post in comments below and/or on my Facebook page!  Let us encourage each other this week.

It's not to late... you can gather around the thanksgiving table and share gratitude.  You can even still print the page below for adults and children alike to do something fun during your dinner gathering. (click on image to go to the pdf.)

*Mid-Week Message: Week 4

How is your study going?  How has God's Word been speaking to you this week?  Today I will share what I saw as I walked through this passage.  For time's sake, there will be no video this week...

Scripture this week is from Colossians 4:2-6

We have learned such deep truths to living a life which radiates gratitude, no matter our circumstances.  Where do we go from here?  How do we bow out of this study in a way which resonates? More directly:

How can we pray steadfastly in thanksgiving and, as the result of our prayers, seek open doors where we might be salt and light?

As is typical with most Epistles, and especially Paul's, he closes his letter with greetings and/or a call to pray and some prayer requests.  Here, in keeping with the thankful message, Paul adds a measure of gratitude to the mix:

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Colossians 4:2

In case you are wondering, be watchful is a common exhortation in Paul's closings, reminding believers that someday Jesus will return and we ought to be ready at every moment.  Steadfastly is also a regular theme which reminded believers to not give up, not cease.  It is also seems to be a reflection of Paul's do everything statement in Colosisans 3:17.  But most importantly in this little verse is HOW the believers were to pray.  Not just steadfastly, not just being watchful but with Thanksgiving.  

Imagine the life of these first century believers, which we have discussed extensively for the past 3 weeks.  If you remember, it is quite reflective of our own: a licentious society given over to idol worship and condemnation of those who aren't.  How do you walk thankfully in an oppressive society where different is... well... different and not well accepted.  Our Salvation, our growth and being rooted in Christ, our New being as a result, create the groundwork of our gratitude.  Paul seems to point out here that all these things are wrapped up and tied together through our steadfast prayers being made in thanksgiving.

What do we thank God for?  Well, all the afore mentioned blessings in our weeks of study... and anything else we just might have left out.  Whether it is the air in your lungs or the weather on your way to work or errands.  Thankful things aren't worse (because they always could be) or that things are better.  Thankful that Jesus will someday be coming back and that all of this life is temporary and passing.  Thankful to realize that even the best day here pales in comparison to what heaven holds when we eventually meet up with Jesus.

Some days, before my husband accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, I couldn't imagine life being any worse.  Thankfully, my husband never hit me... but some days I wished he had and just got it over with... that is how bad it was.  I have lived in physically abusive relationships, I endured many years of verbal abuse as well from hubby B.C. (before he accepted Christ) but still... I was able to be thankful.  Thankful for hope and knowing life wouldn't always be that way.  Thankful it would pass and thankful for the little things I did have in the mean time.... like my children, my home, food and adventure.  

There is always something to be thankful for if you stop and pay attention to HOW God is using your situation.

As a result of praying in thankfulness, Paul shows the believers what comes next:

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-- that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

 Colossians 4:3-4

Pray for others and, as a precursor to his next statement, he shows how he is looking for opportunities to share about Christ, even from prison, that God would give him Words and he trusts the concerted prayers of believers will help.  Then... he calls them to do the same:

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. 

Colossians 4:5-6

If he can sit in prison, praying with gratitude, encouraging and teaching believers and looking for even more opportunities to do so.... then surely so can the rest of the believers.... so can we.

• Be wise toward outsiders - unbelievers
• Make good use of the time - literally buy up the time like people buying up a product at a good price.  Christians are to buy yup ever opportunity God gives to share the good news and serve others.
• Practice gracious speech - re-consider Colossians 3:12-14.
• Seasoned with Salt - a sub-heading to gracious speech (see Monday's historical note) Rabbis of the time would also use the term salt to refer to wisdom

WHY does Paul tell them to do these things?  So that the believers would know how they ought to answer each person.  Without consistent prayer, in thanksgiving, focusing their hearts on the goodness of God and eternity vs. the deprivation of man and the broken lostness of the temporal, an ability to respond wisely was difficult at best.

Is it not the same for us now?



Measuring gratitude, practice thanksgiving each and every day of our lives is not only critical to our personal walk with Jesus Christ, but it is also imperative to reflecting Him and hearing His guidance as we seek to speak truth to others in a way which is uplifting and draws the lost to being found in Christ.

I pray you will find these truths planted deep in your heart as the Thanksgiving season passes and all other days follow behind.  To make a habit of counting blessings and expressing gratitude... especially when it is hardest to do so!



........................................

Also, take time today and for the remainder of this week to reflect on how you you can be thankful through prayer and in what ways you can be prayerful in sharing your faith and your hope with others.  

If you want, you can print the leaf document below and fill them out with gratitude reflections.

I pray you will carry this spirit of gratitude beyond this Thanksgiving season.

 

Blessings,