Oh Mercy

"So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." Ephesians 5:33 

Since G stepped out of football, we have spent more time together in the last 8 months than we have in the last 9 years.

This has been great, yet hard at the same time. We are learning a lot of new things about one another. 

And the Lord is teaching me a thing or two as well. The biggest is treating G with respect and building him up with words of affirmation, which just happens to be his love language. 

I am horrible at this! I will admit it! 

So seeking God’s help in this, I want to hit on a few verses that God has brought up from the store well of my heart. 

“In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands, even those who refuse to accept the Good News. Your godly lives will speak to them better than any words. They will be won over by watching your pure, godly behavior.” 1 Peter 3:1-2 

          -  G is a believer and lover of Christ and I am so thankful. So in that I must listen to him and respect his decisions for our family in all Spiritual matters. In doing so I can than also share my heart with him and know it will be received. 

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger.” Proverbs 15:1

            -Seek peace, no matter how heated the conversation might become.  I need to learn to hold my tongue, take a few minutes, let the Lord calm my heart, and then reply.  

“A wise woman builds her house; a foolish woman tears hers down with her own hands.” Proverbs 14:1

                I want a home built on Christ, not bitterness, frustration, stress, etc. This is up to me; I need to be active, obedient, and mindful of my home.

“A worthy wife is her husband’s joy and crown; a shameful wife saps his strength.” Proverbs 12:4

                -I can tell very quickly when I am zapping G’s strength. His entire body expresses it.

“Beginning a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.” Proverbs 17:14

                -Is this worth making a big deal about? Don’t speak of something that will cause a fight. Take it the Lord first Kristi.

“It is better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a contentious wife in a lovely home.” Proverbs 21:9

                -This speaks for itself. Bless his heart!

“It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby, complaining wife.” Proverbs 21:19

                -Oh mercy help us Jesus. Baby thanks for not packing your bags.

I am beginning to see that how I treat G is how I treat the Lord; if I am ugly and hurtful, complaining and negative, disrespectful and lack love and mercy towards G, I also am treating Jesus the same way. And that just plain hurts!

Oh, mercy Father help me have more respect for You first, which will lead to more respect and love for G. I need Your help; I can’t overcome this on my own. Thank You for Your mercy and love for me at all times. Even when I don’t deserve it You give it anyway. Help me to be mindful of this, and show G the same love and mercy I am shown. This has been years of doing, years of hurtfulness that I can’t take back. Forgive Father I want to be a loving and respectful wife. Keep me accountable to this Father. Amen

 

Altar Sunday

Today I come to the altar for the lost. For the family member who is lost and confused, whose time is becoming shorter by the day.

Today I come to the altar for the women enslaved by sex trafficking, abuse, abandonment, addiction, and brokenness.

Today I come to the altar for those battling cancer.

Today I come to the one who can take care of it all.

Where?

When life gets hectic, stressful, overwhelming, frustrating, scary, sad, etc.where do you go to find peace?

Was Jesus your first answer?

It's What He Wants

"No, O people, the LORD has already told you what is good, and this is what he requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8

Jesus as we focus on Your Word let it penetrate to the depths of our hearts cleansing as it passes by every dirty and sinful area. 

May it renew us and bring us to action. Action that expresses our time spent with You and the love that overflows from within.

The truth is Jesus, we need You. We need Your help on a daily basis. We often try to make our own requirements all to come up short and frustrated. Only You know what is best and pleasing to You. 

Show us Your ways and soften the stubbornness of our hearts so we can fulfill Your requirement and live lives that do good, love mercy, and walk humbly with You. Amen

May today be the day...

"In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you. I tell you, know is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."  2 Corinthians 6:2

I could tell by her voice on the other end of the phone that she was worried. Worried about him, his health, his soul.

She asked, "Kristi do you think he knows? I just don't know if he knows. Do you?"

Her concern has been my concern for sometime. So what do you do when he chooses to not listen, when he changes the subject?

You trust Jesus more, you pray more, and you continue to talk, even if he doesn't want to. Because at this point minutes even hours are valuable for him.

But Jesus, He knows, and He is waiting.

Brethren our family time is valuable and we need to be doing what God has called us to do to ensure that all of our family knows Jesus.

I believe that the Lord will soften his heart and that he will be open and receptive. I believe this, because Jesus loves us and wants us to come to know Him. He wants to give us everlasting life, full of joy and peace that goes way beyond the world's definition.

Our lives are like a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Salvation is not something we should put off. Today is the day. It's life or death and there is no way around it.

Heaven or Hell, those are the options.

For me, I refuse to stay silent. I choose to speak about Jesus whether the timing is right or not, because hell is just not a place I want any of my family to be. "Preach the word of God. Be persistent, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching." 2 Timothy 4:2  I do believe and know God will prompt us at the exact times, so we need to be ready.

Jesus you know our families need. You know the situation at hand, the health and the time remaining. Open his heart to hear from You, to receive You, to know You and to soon be with You. Ultimately it is his choice, and You already know the outcome. I trust You and know that You are always at work. Be with her Father as she continues to share Your love with him. May today be the day, his heart becomes Yours. Amen

Hard Work is a Requirement

"Turn away from evil and do good. Work hard at living in peace with others." Psalm 34:14

When I read this passage I am reminded that to have peace and live in peace I must work hard at creating peace.

Peace does not come effortlessly. It requires work, humility, and selflessness.

Jesus teach me how to be a peacemaker. You set the perfect example for us and I want to follow in Your footsteps. Amen

The Two Places It Should be Found

"And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness." James 3:18

I believe there are two places peace should be found most, is in our homes with our spouses and children and in our Churches.

In order for this to happen we must each take responsibility and do our parts to create peace.

Jesus I want to be a peacemaker. Teach me and show me how I can do better for You. Amen

Do You Have It?

"I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give you isn't like the peace the world gives." John 14:27

Are you a peacemaker or do you stir things up? God is teaching me a lot about peace. When we have true peace within, we will also express peace. We will have to work hard at it, because we are constantly at war.

It is so easy to give into our feelings and frustrations, but we can't. We have to follow Christ's example.

I am working on this one brethren.

Altar Sunday

"When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods-high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree. Break down their altars and smash their sacred pillars. Burn their Asherah poles and cut down their carved idols. Erase the names of their gods from those places!" Deuteronomy 12:2-3

Jesus as we come to Your altar reveal to us any other altars we have created that pull our hearts away from You. Amen

Always the Same

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8

No matter how much our lives change. Jesus is always the same! 

The Search Is Over

"From there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him." Deuteronomy 4:29

We don't have to keep searching. We can stop. We can stop searching for true love. We can stop searching for the next best and newest thing.

We can stop searching for the best job, the best relationship, the best life-changing experience.

We can stop searching for the religion that fits us, the church that fits "our" standards.

We can stop searching for happiness and any and everything that will feed into our feelings.

Jesus is here. Jesus is alive. Jesus is real. Jesus is the Great I Am. Jesus is true love. Jesus is the next and newest thing. Serving Jesus is the best job. Jesus is the best relationship to have and be in. Jesus is life changing. Jesus is the One and Only. Jesus is the Church. With Jesus, there is no greater feeling.

Jesus re-direct us. Bring us back to You. Open our eyes to see that all these things we are searching for, are useless and meaningless. That the only searching we should be doing is searching for more of You. Amen

The Truth Revealed

"I can't see your faith if you don't have good deeds, but I will show you my faith through my good deeds." James 2:18

I have faith. I love. I believe. These are easily put into words, but our actions and speech reveal the truth.

Today is the day we begin walking the walk and express our faith, love and what we believe for all to see.

People know if Jesus is alive within you.

Jesus thank You for knowing the truth about each and every one of us. May we walk with confidence and complete faith so that Your love is expressed through our everyday lives. Amen

Powerful Words that Can Make a Huge Impact if Acted Upon

"Rejoice. Change your ways. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11

Rejoice, change, encourage, harmony and peace, are powerful words that can impact our lives and the lives of others. Yet often times they seem to be the hardest ones to do, to express, to think upon.

But we make the choice whether or not to apply them and express them. For me I often allow how “I feel” to control my thoughts, words and actions. This I am not proud of, but willingly admit it is my biggest struggle.

My heart desires to walk in action and obedience, yet my flesh desires to walk in self. Miss “ME” is a very dominate woman, who I am still battling and though she often wins, I know Jesus in me is greater than she is and because of Him the victory has already been won.

But until He takes me home, I have to keep fighting. I have to keep focusing on His love and mercy. I have to keep filling my life with His Word. And I have to daily ask for His help to apply and live out His Word. I have to become conscious and aware of my thoughts, actions, words, and behavior and refuse to give into the ugly parts of them.

Jesus overcame all things. He endured all that I endure today. He resisted Satan. He walked a perfect and holy life. He knows the core of my heart, your heart, and He loves us anyway.

His power works best in my weaknesses. “My power works best in your weaknesses.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

He completes every part of me and I need to walk in that beautiful thought and promise.

Jesus I have tried to control too many aspects of this life You have given me. I no longer want that responsibility. It was Yours to begin with. I can’t fight without You. I can’t walk in obedience and faith without the Holy Spirit in me. Amen

 

Becoming Content with Our Weaknesses

"My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may work through me. Since I know it is all for Christ's good, I am quite content with my weaknesses and with insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Jesus layer me with every word of this passage. I want that same contentment.

His Will

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

Sometimes the plans we have for ourselves or others is not the same plans Christ has for us.

So how can we make sure we are not pushing His plans and will aside in order to fulfill our own?

Altar Sunday

These are a few of the reasons I go to the altar.

For them and many more.

Written by James Mejias

What would we give up for Jesus?

Could we or would we follow Him if and when He asked us to do something that went against the grain of our reality?

If He asked you to become blind, deaf, maimed, or paralyzed, could you? What if He asked you to die for Him?

Do we really have enough faith (trust/confidence) in Him? Would we deny ourselves these luxuries if they turned us away from His light?

Do we truly believe He is good and who He claimed to be? If we did then why do we hesitate to follow through in what He says?

Perhaps it is because we are always waiting for the words He speaks to manifest before we will feel confident enough to believe. Like the disciples we still need to experience His goodness through the logic of our flesh, rather than that of our spirit.

Judaism will never be the way to God. Justification through the law will never be enough to convince our flesh. It will always keep us in the place between belief and unbelief. To where we are either always waiting for the Christ to appear or repeatedly crucifying the Savior, who already came.

He Will Make it Clear

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

Just in case we don't get it, Jesus helps make it clear.

I know this sign has a negative intention, but I am thankful we have Jesus who opens our eyes and gives us clarity when temptation is right in front of us.

Jesus help us to grab hold of this verse and cling to its promises. Remove the film from our eyes so we can avoid temptation. Amen

The Temptation of Laziness

"Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied." Proverbs 13:4

Laziness comes in all differnt areas of our lives. It is not just in our jobs.

Laziness can be found in our homes, in our marriages, in friendships, in our relationship with Christ and in our Churches.

Laziness can be found in our lack of self-control, our appearance, our attitude, our thoughts and our speech. You can even find laziness in being retired.

Laziness is a great tool Satan uses to keep us from being productive for the Lord.

Laziness can be contagious if we are not careful.

"Stay away from any Christian who lives in idleness and doesn't follow the tradition of hard work we gave you. For you know that you ought to follow our example. We are never lazy when we were with you.  We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so that we would not be a burden to any of you. It wasn't that we didn't have the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. Even while we were with you, we gave yo this rule: "Whoever does not work should not eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10

Jesus I want to set a better example for my boys. Help me to overcome any and all laziness in every area of my life, especially the areas that matter the most. Forgive me for giving in to the temptaion. Amen