All-around!

“Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who placed the earth on the water. His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 136:4-6

God showers us with His love everyday in all different kinds of ways. We just need to open our eyes so He can show us. For me one of the greatest displays of love is in His creation, from the snow, to the changing of the leaves, or the sun reflecting off of the lake as it sets. God’s love is everywhere and it always leaves you in awe and warms your heart.

God also shows His love through the laughter of friends and family, a hug, even just a smile. It is His sweet nothings that He whispers in our ears that are just between you and Him. His love is shown in big and small ways, from the death of His Son to the rainbow after the rain. Even through the luxury of a hot shower and cold water to drink.

God’s love is wrapped in His Son’s blood and given as a gift to all who call on His name. One of my absolute favorite gifts of God’s love is His word. It is inspirational, God breathed, exciting, full of love, adventure, and romance. But most of all it is the story of His life and His love given just for you and me.

Oh, and then there is my favorite of all, His presence and His voice. Whether through a tiny whisper (1 Kings 19:12) or a loud shout (Exodus 19:17-20) to get my attention, He always speaks with love, kindness, gentleness, and authority.

His presence is everywhere and at times are more known than others, for me it is when I am truly broken before Him, or completely absorbed in His word, it is as though He is sitting right in front of me looking at me face to face. I can sense His presence so strongly and I can hear Him speak to me in ways I could never explain. But it is real and wrapped in an abundance of love.

I have to stop and say that I can’t even get close to how big His love, His presence, and His voice are. And I know that it does not even touch the surface or do Him justice. But I do know that He brings it to a level for each of us to see and hear, and for that I am so thankful.

O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and with majesty; you are dressed in a robe of light. You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved. You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor. You cause grass to grow for the cattle. You cause plants to grow for people to use. (Psalm 104) Thank You for giving us a glimpse of how loving and marvelous You are. Amen

Living today

“Always be full of joy in the Lord, I say it again-rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.” Philippians 4:4-5

Your alarm goes off you hit snooze in hopes of getting just a couple more minutes of some shut eye, and it never fails the minute you finally doze off your alarm goes off again. You finally get out of bed and begin your morning routine. For you it is just another day of the same thing, work! You finally get in your car and head to work, and the next thing you know or don’t know is your life has just ended.

Some of you might be thinking how horrible and crazy that I would even be saying any of this, but my friends this is reality for a lot of people. This is something that happens daily, whether it is instant or gradual, death is inevitable. Death comes in many different ways, cancer, a blood clot, heart attack, car wreck, etc. And one day we will all get our turn.

Do you realize that every day for the last however many years you have been alive is because the Lord has allowed your heart to keep beating? It is one more day He is giving you to make right what you did wrong yesterday. He is giving you one more day to come to know Him as your personal Lord and Savior. It is one more day to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of His word.

So as you get up every morning before you even begin your routine what if you hit the floor face first and praised your Heavenly Father for giving you the start of a day. And whether or not you make it through that day, you will have went to the Lord and praised Him for each minute you have to get right in His sight!

I have always been one to think about death and I always wonder if each day will be my day. Not in a morbid, or sick way but in a way that keeps me dependant on the Lord, in a way that makes me want to spend each second thanking God for the opportunity to spend with my three boys and family. It keeps me aware that life is too short to live it any other way than the Lord’s way. It also fills me with peace in knowing that when my day does come I know without a doubt that I will be standing face to face with the one I love and long to be with, Jesus.  

Too many times we just go through the motions of everyday life, when we should be enjoying everyday life. We should be joyful, prayerful, thankful, hopeful, and value each breath we take. Goodness I have wasted so many days either being grumpy, in-patient, frustrated, stressed out, worried about everything under the sun, feeling sorry for myself and even wishing that the day I had been given would end and I could go to bed and sleep it off.  And the sad thing is I cannot get any of those days back. But I can start living the days I do have with joy, love, adventure, forgiveness, and value.

 How can I do that? By living by what I know and I know I am full of Jesus Christ who has made His home within me. I can live in peace because I live by the promises of God. I can live in love and love others because I am loved by the Father and His love lives within me. I can forgive because I am forgiven. I can be joyful because I know that nothing can separate me from the Lord, and I can embrace death because I know it means the beginning of a new life in Christ that will never end!

How do you live your days?

Jesus today is all we have yesterday is gone and tomorrow might not come, so help us and show us how to live today to the fullest, pleasing You from start to finish. Amen

Who’s the boss?

“You should continue on as you were when God called you.” 1 Corinthians 7:20

You started out doing something you thought you loved. The first few years of your new career were good and you actually found joy in getting up and going to work every day. You didn’t even consider it a job; it was more of a passion, a love. It is now several years later and that passion you thought was so great has now become not so great. It has actually become a job! You have even begun sensing God calling you to do something different, but you are paralyzed with fear of failure and making no money. (Satan knows all the tricks.)

Growing up my dad always encouraged me and my sisters to do what we loved. I believe his saying was, “If you do what you love you will never work a day in your life, but if you do something you don’t love it will become a job.”

Unfortunately for me I failed to follow the first part of that advice and began doing something I thought was what everybody wanted me to do.  I thought if I could just have a job when I graduated that made money I would make everyone proud.  So I set out and did just that, I did something I didn’t love and every day I woke up I went to a job. Oh, I tried for seven years to make the best of what I chose. I really did but as each year went by I became more and more miserable and felt trapped. I thought this was the only job I could do and make money. Like that was so important.

I failed to look at it from the Lord’s perspective. I looked at it through my own eyes instead of His. I tried to honor, serve, and speak out for Him but with only a part of my heart. This became more displeasing to Him than pleasing. Because I refused to accept the situation I was in at that time, I missed out on a lot of great opportunities and blessings right where I was. I failed to obey 1 Corinthians 7:17 “You must accept whatever situation the Lord has put you in, and continue on as you were when God first called you.”

God wants us to be happy, successful, and to enjoy doing what we do as long as we do it for Him! Oh my goodness I prayed my guts out day after day, year after year. I believed and knew that the Lord could, and would, do great and mighty things. I never stopped believing that He would provide and take care of my family when I stopped teaching,stepped out in faith and quit my job to pursue Him and become a stay at home mom.

It is now 5 years later and He has been doing exactly what He promised He would. He has been providing and taking care of us in ways that we never imagined possible. Over these last 5 years I have been growing spiritually, I have been being purified, cleansed, and have learned to endure many different trials, all so He can raise me up to be better for Him. The Lord has begun opening up doors for me to start doing what I am insanely, crazy in love doing and that is serving Him, meditating on His word and sharing His name with others. But it was all in His timing and it was so I could learn patience, understanding, and what it really means to let God be in control. I have been learning to do what I can and let God do all I cannot.

Understand I am not recommending that you up and quit your job if you are unhappy, but I do recommend that you cling tightly to 1 Corinthians 7:17 and 7:20 and wait upon the Lord. Use this time to seek His purpose and fulfill His will for you in this season of life. Spend as much time in His Word as you can, put every bit of your faith in Him, pray, and listen to Him. Do all you can and let Him do what you cannot.

It is so hard to see past what you are living right now, but when you look at it through the Father’s eyes, you will be filled with peace, confidence, and reassurance that He will do ALL that He says He will. Today let’s live out what we know by realizing who we work for-Jesus, not man!

Jesus You laid out my entire life before I was even created, in that I hope to live out my purpose for You the absolute best I can. Whether given a special task or not I am to serve, love and obey You and that is a role I humbly and happily take on. Amen

What’s your excuse?

“Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17

If I didn’t know any better than I might not be so convicted by this verse, but since I do, it has hammered me all morning. Why, because just this morning in my prayer time I asked the Lord to search me, know me, test me, and to reveal anything in me that is not pleasing to Him (Psalm 139:23-24) and like always as I began to study His word…BAM, He reveals it and in detail at that, thus James 4:17

It is always tough to hear, but I am thankful I can hear it and that I have not become hardened. Lord may I always find joy in Your discipline and see it as progress and not condemnation.  

Knowing what I ought to do and then not doing it

1. I know I am not to argue or complain but I do it anyway.

2. I know I am to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger, but a lot of the time I am the opposite (sorry honey)

3. I know I am to encourage others.

4. I know I am to show love to the unlovable; not annoyance

5. I know I need to be sensitive to others feelings.

6. I know I need to be more understanding about the hours my husband works all year around 24-7; and use the time we do get to be together as a joyful fun time for all of us; instead of griping and complaining about all my problems. Seriously ya’ll I really don’t have any problems; I just create a lot of them because I focus on myself too much.

-It’s bad and I hate to admit it but as you can see this is the biggest one God has hammered me on. I know this one has been an area of sin that I have failed to lay down. It is like a sin upon a sin which is so bad, again thus God leading me to James 4:17

Maybe there are some things in your life that you know you need to be doing but are not. Maybe it’s getting back into church, maybe it is getting involved in church. Maybe you have been holding onto some bitterness towards someone that you need to confess, maybe you have not been spending time with God. Maybe you are trying to straddle both God and the world, and maybe you know you have been surrounding yourself with things or people that have not been encouraging you spiritually, whatever it is let God reveal it to you today.

Let’s not be the servant who refused to do his duty (Luke 12:47) let’s be the servants that do our duties plus some.

Prayer: Lord thank You for always keeping me on my toes. Thank You for wanting me to always be better and more Christ-like than what I am. Lord today I confess these areas of sin to You and ask that You will continue to keep me accountable as I seek to become more like You. Amen

The Newest Fashion

“Let love be your highest goal.” 1 Corinthians 14:1

How have we lost all perspective on what is the most important goal in life? Is it because we truly do not know how loved we are by the Father? Or is it because we have allowed the world to show and define love instead of God and His word? Is it because we have chosen to make SELF be our highest goal?

How has the focus been taken off of God and placed upon ourselves and the world. Why do we want to have things done our way and not God’s way? Why have we become more concerned with our appearances instead of our hearts, why do we only listen to what we want to hear and not what God has to say? Why do we always have to have all the attention on us? Why do we talk more about ourselves than about God? Why don’t we want to always talk about God? Instead we want to talk to anyone and everyone who will listen to us, thus Facebook, Twitter, and My Space being so popular. Now don’t get me wrong I use to be a facebook user but once I started making it be more about me and not what God intended it to be for He shut it down. I do believe there is a way to share God’s word, but if it becomes more about you and takes the place of where God should be, than I think it does become a sin. That goes along with T.V. and any other thing that takes the place of God or that pleases the flesh and not the Lord.

What if each day we all set out to make love become our highest goal, what if we woke up each morning got into the Word of God and clothed ourselves in 1 Corinthians 13? What if we took off self and let the Holy Spirit put upon us the fruits of the Spirit? (Galatians 5:22) If we are claiming to be Christians than we should be imitating the very one who showed that love was His highest goal?

What would happen if throughout the entire day we never used the words I or me? What would happen if we set out to show our spouse, our co-workers, the lost, and even our enemies’ love, no matter how unnatural it is?  Could you imagine how contagious love would become? Do you know how much more laughter, healing, forgiveness, kindness, and encouragement there would be? Do you know if love was our highest goal and we actually acted love out in our everyday lives how much more Christ would be seen, heard, and even introduced to the lost all over the world? Even our churches would be packed with people wanting to hear more about this amazing love.

Don’t you think that if we all made love our highest goal there would be less self, less hate, less insecurity, less fear, less divorce, less anger, less bitterness, less gossip, less hateful words, less slander, and less control Satan would have on our lives? The crazy thing is we all pray for there to be less of these things, but we are not willing to our part to make them become less.

When we willfully choose to make love become our highest goal we are choosing to make Christ become the center, the most glorified, the most honored, the most adored, the most loved, and the most praised. We are choosing to die to ourselves and follow Him. And we are choosing to walk in the light and love of the SON. If we want to make love our highest goal then we need start pursuing and seeking more of God. Start making love an action and not a thought. Start making it a goal to share and show love to as many people as we can each and every day and make 1 John 4:16 become reality in our life.

“God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.”

The leaves never stop falling!

“And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.” Romans 5:15-16

In my quest to conquer our yard full of leaves and reveal all the new growth and beauty of the green grass. The Lord was on a quest of His own, teaching me how special we are as His children to receive the free gift of forgiveness.

When I first started, I grabbed the rake, put my head down and went to work. I raked, raked, and raked some more, and then I bagged, bagged, and bagged some more. At one point I stopped, looked up to see how much progress I had made, and realized I had not gotten very far and had tons left to do. Every time I would bag the leaves it seemed like a ton of leaves would blow out or fall out. So I did as many big piles as I could and went and got the lawnmower. I figured it would be easier to mow over what I could not rake and bag, and surely the lawnmower would get the rest. So I went and grabbed the lawnmower and for ten minutes (not kidding) I tried to start that thing, I finally got it started and down the yard I went. As I was mowing I noticed that the lawnmower was still leaving a lot of leaves behind, of course not near as many as there were when I started, but I was just sure that thing would pick all of them up, but it didn’t. And there in that moment I heard the Lord speak.

You my child have started out just like all those piles of leaves except your leaves were sin. And just as you became aware of all that sin that needed to be cleaned up you came to me and accepted me as Your Lord and Savior. So what I did is I raked all those big piles of sin up and removed them, not by bagging them and putting them somewhere else, and not by mowing them. I came in and burned them to be nothing. I removed them so much that they don’t even exist to me today or tomorrow or ever again.

Now listen to me, you do the same thing with my word, you bury your head in it study, study, and try to bag all that you can. And notice I said all that YOU CAN! But the problem is this; just like that lawnmower did not pick up all the leaves, either can you! Only I can do that, but you have to let me, you have to let the Holy Spirit within you do its job. I gave Him to you freely to be the ruler and controller of your life. I also gave Him to you so that as you do bury your head in my word and try to bag all that you can He will make it stick. He will keep it fresh on your mind and He will convict you and discipline you when you try to leave leaves you think are okay.

So let Him do the work I sent Him to do. Kristi everyday when you lay all of your sins before me I come in and rake them up. But understand my sweet girl that these leaves they never stop falling, because you are human, but you can control the amount that do fall, by continuing to stay aware of them, by staying buried in My word, in prayer, and by laying them out before me each by name everyday! And you must! As you do I will always be there to rake them up and remove them, so that your true beauty within will show, shine and will become stronger, brighter, and will be nourished to be as beautiful as I made it to be. Walk in the confidence of who you are in Me and let the Holy Spirit do its job. There is so much beauty that lies within! So start living inside out so My name can be honored and you can be a utensil for me to use. I love you and made you for my pleasure even with leaves left behind. Be thankful you are aware of your sin because there are so many who are not, and what awaits those who live in sin and not in me is death. Jesus

Jesus thank You for such undeserved mercy and for never growing weary or turning away from me. Amen

Defined

“So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promises with confidence.” Hebrews 6:18

She leaves her big house filled with the nicest stuff you could afford, she gets in her nice big car, and she heads to a job she has built from scratch. Any and everyone who sees her admires how well she is put together and that has always been her goal. To be seen as someone who is the most successful in her career, most liked, best dressed, and even thought of as a great Christian woman. She takes pride in her appearance, even her children look as though they have the best of everything. She thrives on praise and compliments, so much she even surrounds herself with those who will give it to her.  

But it is not until you open her up that you see the inside of her and see nothing but broken pieces. Each piece has a word on it, from abuse, to premarital sex, to drugs, insecurity, bitterness, being made fun of, belittled, disrespected, etc. The deeper you look the more you see the root of it all and it is two words that have been carved behind all those broken pieces. They are “Praise and Influence.” She sought out to be praised by others for all her worldly accomplishments that she allowed the world and Satan to influence her thoughts, actions, and words. She was so under the influence of Satan that he had her convinced that without the materialistic things she was nothing, thus the big house, big car, smooth talk, and the most money of her friends and family. Because she had lived under the control of these two words for so long she new nothing different and thought it was normal, even though she was still so unhappy. She was bound up in the chains of these words instead of being free, living in the love and under the influence of Jesus Christ. Even though she would claim that she allowed God to be ruler of her life. When confronted she would argue because those two words were written deep within her.

We all have different words written within us and all our broken pieces are a result of something different.  Maybe for some of us it is receiving praise, maybe it is attention, control, affection, acceptance, love, power, appearance, and/or money. Maybe it is that desperate desire to understand why things happened the way they did, or why we have so much hate towards those who hurt us. Maybe it is all of the above. But for many of us we have allowed these words to have control over our lives, we have allowed Satan to influence us in believing we cannot function without them, and that we are nobodies, and that we should hate those who hurt us badly. Some of us like her are so eaten up with them and have lived with them for so long that we don’t know how to live in freedom or know anything different. We even become defensive and hardened when confronted about them.

But there is some great news, we can live in freedom. We can become more open to accountability and help when we allow God’s word to be our influence, when we stop listening to Satan and start listening to God. When we stop caring about what others think and start caring about what God thinks.  We have to allow Jesus to come in and erase those words and put new words within us. We have to let go of our insecurities and start clinging to the securities of Jesus Christ. We have to strip off the false appearances and start letting others see the stitching and patching of Jesus where we were broken and torn. And for the love of the One who created us we have to start accepting His praises, His love, His attention, and affection. We have to let Him be in control, and have all the power. How do we do it? By saying out allowed and to Satan that we are going to live by what we know! And we know that Jesus will meet us where we are and He will always do His part. We know He will bring healing, freedom, and renewal. And we know, we know, we know that we are loved, clothed in His righteousness, beautiful, and covered in His blood! 

Jesus remove the words we have allowed to define us and replace them with Your words of love. Amen

On our knees we shall be.

“The Lord helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads.” Psalm 145:14

 My body is weak and worn from the burdens I thought I could bear. One by one I picked them up and placed them on my back. My heart is heavy and broken from all the stress and things I’ve placed upon me.

My back is bent to where all I can see is my feet. My legs are so weak that each step brings me closer to my knees- and maybe that is where I need to be.

Just today I took that last step and have finally hit my knees. With my head held down just as it should be I finally cried out. “Lord help me, I am bent beneath my load and as You can see by all that is upon me I tried to bear it alone.”

There on my knees the Lord spoke to me, “You are finally where I want you to be, now lift your head and see; it is I that placed the cross upon me.”

Don't wait until you are on your knees to give your burdens, worries and fears to the Lord. The Lord never intended for us to carry them, He already did when He died on the cross. If you are like me and waited until they sent you to your knees, cry out to Him the one who bears it all and just as He says I will help the fallen and lift all those bent beneath their loads. It’s time to unload!

Prayer: Lord I lay my burdens at Your feet leaving them where they should be. Thank You Jesus for carrying it all for me. May I walk in the lightness of You allowing the Spirit to do what is has come to do. Amen 

Living Proof

“The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

I want nothing more in my life than for my two boys to know and be passionately in love with Jesus Christ.

I pray every day that they will be filled with wisdom beyond their years and that they will have a true fear of the Lord that will grow into knowledge and understanding of His word. In knowing without a doubt that the Lord will do His part and that He is already growing in the life of them both, I also know Garrett and I must do our part.

We must give our boys to the Lord-I mean they are His to begin with anyway.

We must intercede in prayer every day for them and with them.

Garrett and I must grow in the word of God ourselves and together as a family.

We must teach them His word.

We must live out God’s word- I believe that our boys need to see Garrett and I not just talk the talk but they must see us walk the walk. They need to see God’s word come to life every day through our actions, words, attitudes, everything! As Brother Collins put it we are God’s advertisement, and every day we are alive we must advertise God’s word, and be living proof that God does do all that His word says.

Not only do I pray that they will be in love with the Lord, but I pray that one day they will desire to have a marriage like Garrett and I, that they will desire to be like their dad and have a wife that posses’ the same qualities of Jesus in me. I will never forget hearing what my dad told Garrett when he asked him for my hand in marriage. My dad said, “Garrett you can marry my daughter as long as you promise to love God more than you love her.” I want my boys to love God more than they love Garrett, me, and their wives.

 If I want that for them, than I have to be clothed in the word of God and advertise the qualities of Christ through my every day walk with Him. I want them to learn what it means to be respected and to respect their spouse through my words, actions and attitude towards Garrett. I want them to see kindness, unconditional love, consistency, and more consistency, patience, willingness to serve, and to yield to Garrett and others. I want them to see a mom whose tongue is controlled, encouraging, and always kind, and most of all they need to see a mom whose first love is Jesus Christ.

I want them to see a marriage that is built on the word of God and that keeps God in the middle not on the outside. I want them to see what love is and how love should be expressed towards one another. I want them to see a marriage that is so tightly knit that nothing can undo it. I want them to see a marriage that turns to God no matter the situation and that worships God as one at home, church, in public, on vacation, etc.

I use to always ask my mom and dad what their goal was in life and it never failed they always said, “That you and your sisters get to heaven.” I am so thankful that my salvation was the most important thing. Are we showing our children what the most important goal in life is?

Jesus You have given us the amazing blessing of being parents. Help us to groom and raise them as You have called us to. Amen

Pleasing Him pleases me

“Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” 1 John 5:21

My heart is full of love for the Lord and today all I can think about is how I can please Him. Pleasing the Lord is a big deal to me, but it is not always on the forefront of my mind as it should be. There are many days, I hate to admit, that my thoughts are consumed with just junk and concerns that are not even concerns but that I have made be concerns, and by the end of the day I have made it all about me and not about Him. Do you know what I am saying?

In my search to find the verse that I could just cling to and offer up to the Lord as a sweet aroma of pleasure became not so findable. The reason for that was because I was looking for it to say certain things and have certain words that I thought it should. It was because in my heart I wanted it to be so perfect that it would leave a continual smile on His face.

So there I am in the word of God searching and searching and for some reason a couple of comments that were made by some people kept popping in my head. “You know Kristi there are other things besides church and the Bible.” And the other comment was “Kristi, not everyone wants to talk or hear about God all the time.”  And of course to both responses I was completely shocked and flabbergasted that I think my response to both was, “Really, what other things are more important than God and why would you not want to talk and think about God all the time?”

And that is when God led me to 1 John 5:21 “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” Here is where God whispered, “Kristi if you want to please me, keep me and make Me the center of your life. Keep your thoughts on Me at all times, store my word deep within you and don’t ever let anyone keep you from mentioning My name. Let love be your main goal and continue to obey my word.”

When I stopped to ponder on the Lord’s comment it hit me, the days I allow there to be other things besides His word or when I allow the things of this world to crowd my thoughts, are the days that are horrible. I am grumpy, stressed-out, annoyed with anyone and anything, and am more concerned about me. Even my speech and my conversations with my family and friends are not in anyway pleasing to Him.

So for me pleasing the Lord and putting that smile upon His face is done not by my words but by what He sees in my heart and I want and desire nothing more than for Him to look at my heart every day and see that it is all about Him.

Jesus pleasing You is what pleases me. Forgive me when I do those vice versa. Amen

Living opposite of the opposite

“So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure.” Psalm 32:11

As a woman who is madly in love with Jesus, I have often found myself expressing that love based on my emotions. Anyone else ever do that? It is so crazy to me that I know full well that Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection has set me free and I can live freely and confidently in victory, forgiveness, and love. But instead of living in what I know I often live opposite. I live as though I am living in death, condemnation, and joylessness.

Why is that? Why are we often, as children of God, so unhappy when we should be the happiest? 

Because we live off of our emotions instead of the truth! I mean if we really get honest with ourselves our unhappiness comes from allowing our emotions to control us, and thus placing us in bondage.

Why is Joel Osteen so famous-he speaks to the emotions of people, why are we more drawn to people and personal stories, because it speaks to our emotions? Why do we do a lot of the things we do, because it pleases our emotions.

The question is this? Do our emotions give us victory over death or did Christ? Did Jesus live off His emotions or off the truth? We all know if He lived off of His emotions He would have never been beat, mocked, made fun of, or crucified. He also would have never ascended to heaven and claimed victory over death for us.

If you and I want to reflect Christ we have to start by living in the truth, if you and I want others to want what we have then we too need to want what we claim to have. And finally we have to stop living as though we are joyless and start living in the joy of Jesus Christ. 

We need to laugh more, trust more, and relish in His promises more.

Jesus You have set us free from bondage, help us live in that freedom with joy. Amen

Living New

“What this means is that those who become Christians become a new person. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am human; I struggle with sin every single day, some days more than others. But there is absolutely no exception or excuse for ungodly behavior.  Because more than just being a human, I am a child of God. I am the daughter of the Great I Am. I am the princess of the King of Kings. I am also a sister to thousands of others in Christ. With that comes lot’s of accountability and even more of a reason that my behavior, my words, and my actions should be that of which my Father in heaven has taught me.

You see my Father is perfect, pure and holy and He represents everything that is good, not bad! Since I am His child, than I too must represent what is good.  I must stop falling into the temptations of comparing, judging, gossiping, speaking harsh words to and about others. I must not act out on anger, jealousy, or hurt. I must not be fearful to speak boldly for the Lord and I must be willing to stop any and all conversations that will cause me or anyone of God’s children to stumble. None of that will ever bring people to the Lord nor will people ever see Christ in me.

When I became a child of God my old sinful nature was stripped away and I was given a new life with a new nature controlled by the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit is in control He does everything that pleases the Father. He who is within me is loving, kind, patient, selfless, and encouraging. He speaks in love with gentleness and self-control, He always seeks to do what is right, He is joyful, and He always aligns Himself with the will and word of God.

If I claim and know that I am a child of God than I am to acquire the character qualities of my Father. I am to possess Godly behavior that is good not bad. I must start becoming the daughter that represents her Father with grace, love, honor, obedience and dignity and I must be the sister who loves, encourages, is kind, gentle and patient with all of her brothers and sisters and with all those who are lost.

Prayer: Lord forgive me for putting myself in situations and conversations that have not been pleasing to You. May I be the daughter and sister You have designed and called me to be. May I not just speak Your word but live it out! Amen

Forgive and you will be forgiven

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15

We can easily say with our mouths that we have forgiven someone who has wronged us, but does our heart agree with our words? Do our thoughts and actions toward that person reflect true forgiveness?

Jesus came into this world, was nailed to a cross where He put every single sin; past, present, and future upon Him. He faced being separated from His Father just so you and I could be forgiven. Have we forgiven others like Christ has forgiven us?

You see when Christ forgives us He remembers our sin no more. When we get to heaven we will not find a file under our name that says Kristi’s past, present and future sins, nor does He keep record of when He has been wronged.  Could you imagine if He did keep a record? We on the other hand keep a file of our own sins and many records of when we have been wronged. We know exactly where they are stored in our brain and we are quick to pull them out and attack!

I have said the Lord’s Prayer so many times growing up but today as the Lord led me to re-read it, I saw it different for the first time. It was this particular part that stood out to me the most. “And forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.” Matthew 6:12.  Just as I finished reading that sentence the Lord immediately stopped me and said, “Do you mean it? Do you want to be forgiven, because if you do, than you have to forgive, you have to get rid of all the files and records and forgive, just as I have forgiven you? You have to do it despite the hurt you felt, despite the hateful words they have spoken, despite their actions, despite it all. Because despite the beatings, despite the mockery, despite the nails, I forgave and forgive you.”

When we ask to be forgiven, we need to also ask the Lord if we have truly forgiven those who have wronged us. We need to remember the mercy, grace, and forgiveness we receive and want to receive and we need to give that mercy, grace and forgiveness to them. We need to ask the Lord to help us remove the files and records, and to give us the strength and the ability to look at them through His eyes and to fill our hearts with the same love He has for us and them.

We have to do our part, and let God do the parts we can’t, even if it is a lot and even if it takes the rest of our lives.  He will do it! Most importantly we need to do just as Ephesians 4:32 says, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”  

Prayer: Lord help me to remember how much mercy, grace and forgiveness You give me. Help me not just say with mere words that I have forgiven but help me to display it through my actions and thoughts towards them. Amen  

Exposed!

“Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” Luke 6:45

When I began studying how to have a heart for God this was one of the first verses I came across. As I allowed the words to penetrate within me it was as though the Lord had opened me up, pulled out my heart and placed it on the outside right before me and the world. I saw my heart in a whole new way, a way that brought more brokenness and sadness than joy.

One by one I began to see all the things I had put into it and the effects each of them had on my life, the life of others, and on Christ. The more the Lord revealed, the more I began to understand why my actions and thoughts were the way they were. I even began to realize that I had been trying to just control my tongue instead of truly letting the Lord clean out my heart. I will be honest it took a long time for me to finally understand that until I changed my heart, my actions, thoughts and speech would not change.

It was so easy to read this verse and think about it but to actually do it, to actually let the Lord look within my heart and change it…hard, painful, devastating, embarrassing, and disgusting. But at the same time very rewarding, freeing, humbling, and exciting because I knew and felt my thoughts, actions and speech all begin to change. I also felt a deeper hunger for Christ than I ever have.

After the process of cleaning out my heart the Lord is now testing and purifying my heart to become stronger spiritually, to love deeper, to endure in all circumstances, to be more self-controlled and to have a deeper trust in Him. I am becoming more aware and making better decisions in what I allow to come into my heart. I am putting more of His word in and less of myself and the world. But most of all I am learning to praise God for every trial because from them I know He is refining and purifying my heart to be like His.

Prayer: Lord thank You for bringing me to the point of truly desiring my heart to be changed. May I walk hand and hand with You through every trial as You shape and mold me to be a utensil You can use for Your glory. Amen

Your time is about to expire

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered and that my life is fleeting away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.” Psalm 39:4-6

You have just taken your last breath and in that moment reality finally sets in and there you are…

Either standing before the Lord or standing in the pit of Hell!

For those of us who have received Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior there is no doubt where we will be standing, before the Holy of Holies, the King of Kings, the Great I Am. But for those who don’t have Jesus, it will be in the pit of Hell.

This reality will be here sooner than later for all of us and the thought of someone standing in hell devastates me. It is that part of reality I don’t want to think about, but I must, because as a part of the body of Christ I am to help show others the love of Christ. Though I cannot decide for them, however I can show them by my actions and the love Jesus has filled me with, that living for Christ is the best and only way to go.

I have always felt such an urgency to share the word of God with others because I know how short our time here on earth is. Jesus did not waste one second of His life on Himself, He used every opportunity to teach and share His love, His word, and the importance of receiving Him. The times He would go off by Himself were times He used to be in prayer. It is just absolutely amazing how selfless He is and how selfish I can be.

We never get to go back and make up for the days we chose to not spend time in God’s word growing closer to Him. We will never get to go back and share the word of God with that person we knew needed it. We will never get to go back to the day we knew one of our dearest friends desperately needed someone to stop and pray with them and for them. We will never get to go back to all those people we should have encouraged instead of tear down, and if we wait to long and don’t receive Christ, it will be too late and Hell will become our home.

But Praise God we do get to start afresh each new day and everyday is the day of Salvation. Praise God that we have the opportunity to use every second as Christ did in going and sharing His word whether it is by our actions alone or by a simple I love you to someone you know needs to hear it. Whatever it is God will lead us. Praise God that we have this moment right now to spend time in His word growing closer to Him.

Let’s not waste anymore time on ourselves, let’s start using that time to invest in the lives of people all over the world who need to hear the Good News, so they don’t experience the reality of Hell.

Maybe you have fallen away from the Lord or have fallen into a sin that has you bound and you need to come back, all you have to do is turn around and start walking in the direction of the Light. The great thing is the minute you turn around God will be right there with His arms open wide. Maybe God has laid someone on your heart that you know needs to hear about Him or you know needs a friend, go now! Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity, do it right now before time runs out and you are sitting at their funeral.

Jesus send us now. You know every empty and desperate soul. Send us to them to become full of salvation and You. Amen

Stop talking, listen and don’t by-pass Me.

“Be silent, and know that I am God!” Psalm 46:10

There are so many times and occasions in our lives when closing our mouths, bowing our heads and being silent before the Lord is exactly what He has been needing and wanting us to do in order for Him to tend to our hearts.

We think when we pray it is all about us, so we do all the talking, but that is not the case. Yes God listens and wants us to come to Him and visit, but God also wants to talk to us as well.

Sometimes I can hear God say, “Kristi how long are you going to keep on asking me? I will tell you if you will hush for a minute and listen.”  He does this to me often. Especially when I come to Him complaining and going on and on. He quickly quiets me and says, “That is enough, just be silent trust Me and let Me pour My word and love into you.”

Not only do we need to get quite and listen, we also need to stop by-passing God and going to people and telling them all of our problems and frustrations or seeking their advice before we seek God’s. I can just hear God saying, “Really, you want there advice over mine, okay well go ahead, and when you finally realize that their advice and what they are saying is not healing that hurt, or filling that void, etc just remember I will be waiting to step in. Oh and remember that all that griping they see you do or bad mouthing, doesn’t look good on either of us, and I say us, because if you recall you were created in my image and you are my child, therefore you do have My name to represent!”

When we fail to go the Father and go straight to people we do several things;

1. We disrespect the Lord
2. We give others the impression that God is not big enough or powerful enough to handle the situation.
3. We put humans before Him.
4. We show that our faith and trust in Him is not secure.
5. And we only make things worse for all of us, especially when we act off of our emotions.

Do you know those days when you are really stressed out and emotional and your thoughts are relentless? Those are the days when a quiet undisturbed place is needed so you can go straight to the Lord, hit your knees, better yet get on your face, close your mouth, get control of your thoughts, and let the Lord do what He does best and what you can’t do.

Fill you with peace, give you the understanding of what is going on, calm your heart, and completely smother you with His love and fill you with His word. I promise you will get up renewed, strengthened, calm and ready to finish the day. It will also keep you out of trouble.

I often find myself on my face in my quiet place, one because I need it daily, and two because I just need to be on my face before the Lord.

Jesus quite our thoughts, our hearts, and our mouths so we can hear from You. Amen

What do you know?

"For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6

Today I want to challenge you to step outside of your box and go deeper. Whether you can do it now or later in the day I hope you will stop and do this at some point today.  If not, I pray that it will stay on the fore-front of your mind all day.

Your challenge: turning your knowledge of God’s word into wisdom. Knowledge is having the facts, and the only true facts about God and Christ come from the Bible. Wisdom is taking those facts and applying them to our lives. So with that, I want you to make two columns on a piece of paper. In column number one title it “What I know (the facts) about the Lord”, in column number two title it “Living it out (applying the facts through wisdom).”

Under column number one- list all that you know about the Lord-and when I say that, I mean what YOU know, not what you have been told or taught, but what the Lord himself has taught you through spending time with Him in His word. When I first did this I was devastated, because I knew very little, but I was also challenged, determined, hungry, and so in love with the Lord that I wanted to make my list longer. Every day I wake up I can’t wait to add to my list.

For example: I know (I have the facts) that Jesus is the Son of the living God, I know that because I have read in His word in Matthew 3:17, Act 8:37, Matthew 27:43, etc. You of course can do it how you want this is just an example. Once you have finished your list either on paper or in your mind, move over to column number two and write down if and how you are living out what you know (the facts). Again this was very disappointing for me because I realized how little I was living out God’s word.

The Lord opened my eyes to see that just keeping what I knew inside was not doing any good for Him or others. I needed to start living inside out. I also realized I lived off of what I have been told, off of my feelings, and have even allowed things of the world to take the place of Him, which is insane being that there is no consistency in any of those, and boy did my actions, show that.

So what I did was I made a confession list, and I listed all the things that took the place of Him and His word. And maybe you need to do this also.

1.   Job

2.   My feelings

3.  Self

4.  The lure of the world

5.  T.V.

6.  Family and/or friends

Once I finished that list I did what Luke 9:23 says and I died to them and myself, and I do it every day. Each day I wake up I choose to live by what I know, not how I feel or what the world says, but by His word!

You have to understand in order to begin living out God’s word (wisdom) we must know (have the facts) God’s word for ourselves; we must actually apply it, then act on it, and then DO IT!

Join me this month as we live out all that we know of God and His word. Each day try to apply what you have studied to your everyday life and then act on it. For me today I want to live out God’s love through encouragement! Let’s grow wiser together!

Good journaling my brethren I hope your experience with this challenge will be life changing and develop a deeper level of wisdom.

Jesus change our knowledge into wisdom as we seek to know and become like You. Amen

Careless or Sensible

“May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

I wish I could say that I am the type of person that always stops and thinks before I speak, but there are more times than I care to count of where I have failed to do that, especially when I am angry, sad, and/or frustrated. It is in those times when my tongue and feelings control me, instead of me controlling my tongue and living by what I know and not by how I feel.

I have to become more aware of my words and my thoughts if I want to be able to show others the love of Christ. I have to always be aware of the impact my words will have on others who hear them. If they always hear me complaining, putting myself down, or always talking about myself, they are not going to see much of Christ’s love in me. If my husband and boys always hear me gripping or putting them down they are not going to feel or see Jesus’ love in me.

So how can I make this verse come to life within me?

First- I can confess to the Lord that controlling my tongue is an area that I struggle with the most.

Second- I can implant this scripture and all other scripture in my heart.

Third- I can make sure that my thoughts are true, honorable and right, pure, lovely and admirable. (Philippians 4:8)

Fourth- I can get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit control the way I think and what I say, instead of Kristi trying to do it herself.

Fifth- I can ask God to “Take control of what I say, O Lord and keep my lips sealed.” Psalm 141:3

Sixth- I can live by God’s word and not by my feelings (which know absolutely nothing)

Seventh- I can let God’s love guide my thoughts and my words.

­Eighth-I need to use every conversation as an opportunity to display God, His love, and to please Him, which will result in growth and maturity spiritually.

Ninth- I need to become more of a listener and less of a speaker. I need to be sensible to others and turn of the flow.

Tenth- I need to not seek the attention of others by saying the things they want to hear or be the one that always has an opinion and speaks it. I need to remove myself from any conversation that could cause me to stumble or be displeasing to the Lord. I need to be sure that God is pleased and that my words put all the attention and focus on Him not me.

I love being shaped and molded.

Jesus this is my biggest struggle, help me to overcome and tame my tongue. Change its behavior to that which glorifies You. Amen 

Accepting Christ’s compliments and walking with confidence

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!” Psalm 139:17-18

 Why is it so hard to accept who we are?  Why have we become so insecure that we can’t even accept a compliment? We feel like we are not good enough because we are not like so and so or because we don’t look a certain way. Satan and society have us believing so much garbage that we have even become so competitive and jealous of others.

What we fail to forget and believe is that we are unique and there is no other person like us. We all come in different shapes, sizes and colors. Just like the Lord made us too. We will never be like anyone else, we will never look like anyone else, and we will never possess the same gifts as someone else. Isn’t that amazing? Out of 7 billion people in the world there is no one like you and me, and if we read God’s word we will see that. Here are a few passages you can look up; Psalm 139:14-16, Genesis 1:26-31, Romans 12:3-8.

I can tell you right now I am not and never have been a mom whose kids are on a schedule. During football season my boys refuse to go to bed until they have seen their daddy. And for those of you who know what hours a football coach works, if my babies can get 2 minutes or 5 minutes with their daddy before they go to bed, by golly I am going to let them. I am also and will never be a good cook and to be honest, I am not even that crazy about cooking. My kids don’t eat all their food groups and sometimes McDonalds is the next best thing. I don’t sew, I have no creativity in me what so ever, I don’t have a garden, and my house is not clean 24-7. I lose my temper at the littlest things and I even get mad at my kids and husband from time to time. I am not athletic; I am not driven to have lots of money, etc. My boys are very active, busy, and do things others probably think they shouldn't.

So does all that mean I am a bad mom or woman in general? No! But do you know for almost 20 years of my life I have believed that I was a worthless person because I was not like all of that or like so and so? I would let all the comments of others and society get in my head and tell me what I should think or be that immediately insecurity, worthlessness, and being a nobody would come in and drowned me. I was so critical of myself. It would get to the point where I felt I had to be a certain way and if I didn’t meet that standard I was a failure. I was letting all those thoughts control me and if they weren’t controlling me I thought something was wrong.

Just recently I have started removing all that craziness and have started learning exactly who I am in Christ. I have started listening to what God says about me and who God has created me to be. I am listening to God when He tells me I am special just the way I am. Through His word, I am learning the areas that I am gifted in, and know realize they are of great significance and importance in the functioning of the body of Christ. I am listening to the Holy Spirit tell me that God loves me unconditionally, He gets all my silly quirks, He understands every detail of my heart and He still loves me and accepts me as His own. His thoughts about me are precious, too numerous to count! I am actually allowing God to change my way of thinking instead of Satan and the world. Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”  

God makes nothing ugly and He makes no mistakes. I am not ugly, I am not a mistake, and I don’t have to be somebody I am not! I can be exactly who I am, love who I am, accept compliments and rejoice in the success of others. I can live in freedom and not guilt or condemnation because Christ Jesus lives in me. So can you!

I do know today, now a year later, that I am a hard core follower of Jesus Christ. I am madly in love with His Word and Him. I am confident in who I am as a woman of God and am okay with standing out for His sake. I love to live according to His laws, and I am in need of His mercy and grace every second of my life. I am okay with being weak, for in my weakness He is mighty. I am a sinner who has been redeemed and rescued and love to share that with others. I am beautifully molded in the image of my Savior and have been designed as a woman who does not believe in a compromised faith. Jesus built two primary colors within me, black and white, and I like that simplicity. It works for me and for those Jesus leads me to witness to. I cannot get enough of Him! I love to fight with Satan and prove His lies to be just that-lies, and I do so because I know I will always win because of Christ in me. (I do not ask for the fight, I just know he is relentless in attacking, and Jesus says fight with the Word, so I fight)

I desire for women to be deeply challenged in their faith and not settle or compromise for anything less than God’s best and His expectations of them. I desire them to have confidence in Christ and wear Him proudly with humility. I believe we can never spend too much time in the Word, nor should we be okay with going a day without studying His Word. I don’t believe in the excuse there is just not enough time, (it’s actually a pet peeve of mine) and I BELIEVE in the power of confession and true repentance.

I am just a Jesus lovin’ girl whose hobby is His Word, whose favorite conversation is Jesus, and who loves to share Jesus with her family and others. I love deep theological discussions, God’s Word being preached in the Church and the amazing body of believers that make up that Church.

Prayer: Lord thank You for teaching me that Your thoughts about me are more important. Thank You for making me feel loved, beautiful, and adored everyday as I open up Your love letter you have written to me.  If there are others struggling with this same captivity today Lord I pray that they will let go and find freedom in You. Amen

My prayer

"In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who believes in him is freed from all guilt and declared right with God.

 Acts 13:38-39

Dear Jesus I pray for each person that will read Your word today.  Lord that we will be filled with true joy that lasts forever. A joy that comes from knowing You, serving You, and obeying You. Lord in You there is forgiveness, freedom from guilt, unconditional love, mercy, grace, eternity, hope, protection, and so much more all rolled up into one.

 Today Lord may all the love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and freedom pour out from within us onto others. That they might experience You in a new and deeper way. Lord we thank You for each special individual that You have created in Your image. Lord let them feel Your presence as You wait and desire to spend time with them.

 Jesus give us a taste of your sweetness, that leaves us hungering for more. Lord may we rise up and share the joy of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. Give us a heavy burden to share You with all we come into contact with.

Today Jesus is the day of Salvation that is open for all, and we praise You singing Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty.

Lord lift the loads of those who are weary, and give strength to those who are weak.  Restore a fire within those whose flames have burned out.  Lord come and be near to those whose hearts are broken, may they look to You the source of healing.  Lord open the souls of those who do not know You, and restore the brokenness of those whose lives have crumbled.

Jesus, In You is so much more than what we could ever hope for, long for, work for, or desire. You are ALIVE, You are ALIVE, and soon You will return and take us into glory with You forever.  Soon every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that You are God.  Hasten the day Lord!

May You be on the lips, minds, and hearts of all people who call You Lord!  We love You, we love You, we love You.

It is in Your Great and mighty name we pray, Amen!