The "S" Word

In my home, when one of my grandkids runs to tell, “Ooh, he or she said the “S” word!” they are talking about “shut up”! When someone is angry or upset you might hear them say, “I’m not taking that “S”! And we all kind of know what they are referring too. I have a friend who lives in Toronto, Canada and when she posts on Facebook, “Oh no! I just heard the “S” word!” she is referring to a forecast for “snow”. Either way you slice it, when we hear someone use the letter “S” in context of the “S-word”, it is usually in the negative such as a cuss word, or something not good.

Today’s “S” word is…STUDY! As in “study” your Bible!

Now you might wonder why I put studying the Bible in a context as if it were something bad. Well, I did this because so many of us don’t “study” and when someone tries to encourage us to do so, we look at them as if they have just told us to “shut up” or cussed at us.

Want to test my theory? Just ask a couple of folks (who profess to be Believers) who God is to them? (But first, you have to make sure you know who the God of the Bible is yourself.) I guarantee you will walk away shaking your head. Why? Because there are way too many in the household of faith who only know God from what someone else has told them (be it right or wrong) or who they have made Him up to be in their own mind. (And that is usually not anything like who He really is.)

This is very common place among the Saints. In fact, you might be one who fits this description yourself.

Let’s take wisdom for instance. James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” But we can’t just read the New Testament if we truly want to know the God of the Bible. God’s wisdom is all through the Old Testament too, including the book of Proverbs.

I did a quick search on Bible Gateway just to see how many times the word “wisdom” is used in the NIV translation. OT…169, NT…50, grand total…219 times. And this is not counting the word, “wise”.

Sisters, many of us are living a mess of a life because we really do lack wisdom. Now before Christ in your life that is understandable, but after we come to the King, it doesn’t make much sense at all, yet it is a way of life for so many. Not exercising godly wisdom is deadly. And I just don’t mean in the physically sense either. Poor choices and bad decisions are robbers of our peace, joy and our testimony to others.

What about fear and anxiety? Paul admonishes us to not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God.

King David wrote…”When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.”

God sent the prophet Isaiah to tell the nations, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” For those of you who are scared stiff about all that is going on in the world or maybe even your own neighborhood or town, we have Psalm 91 (click).

Some of us live in such a state of fear that we cannot face the things that lie before us or the mess we call our lives. We hide from the bill collectors; we stick our head in the sand when it comes to addressing situations that need to be handled. We sit back and wait on God to magically make it all better or just go away. This type of response is evidence that we don’t really know the God of the Bible or what Kingdom living is truly all about.

I recently had a conversation with a family member about my youngest daughter leaving this summer to teach 4^th grade in Honduras for 2 years. She was very excited for her, but then expressed how she would be worrying about her. My question was, “Why?” “She’s going to be so far away from home.” “Yes, but God will still be there to keep her as He has kept her here.” She started to laugh, “You’re right!” When the thought to worry immediately comes up like that, it’s a sign that’s an area we need to take a look at..

Fear stops us from facing our messy relationships, walking in love and reconciliation. We are afraid how others will respond if we try to make amends. We are afraid of what might happen if we let people back into our lives again. But since God says, “Fear not!” then that is what we are supposed to do. We need to be able to take things head on—even the part we played in creating the mess.

Last but not least, let’s look at our finances. Some of us are so bogged down in debt; we find it hard to breath each day. Student loan debt is the highest it has ever been before, and we have a generation of young people who are not free to serve God because of a lack of wisdom in accruing debt. We have a group of folks who are trying to hold on to lifestyles they should have let go of a long time ago. We are calming checks in the mail and supernatural erasure of debt. Where is the wisdom in this?

A few years ago I read the testimony of a woman who found herself consumed by debt from a bad marriage and poor financial decisions. She heard a minister talk about God’s wisdom and praying for His help in all matters in our lives. She had an "aha" moment and laid her debt before Him and asked how to get out of it. God’s answer was a part-time job (which she was able to do from home) along with her full time job (she needed more money). She stopped the vicious cycle of using credit cards to meet her needs, moved to a less expensive home. It took almost 2 years of not buying clothes or even going to the movies unless someone treated her, but she was finally out of debt and free!

Sisters, if you are bogged down in debt, have poor relationships with family, live in a perpetual state of anxiety and fear. It’s time to do something about it!

Any problem you have, you can study it out (for yourself) in the Bible. Any and everything we need to know is right there for us and our particular brand of troubles. Now don’t misunderstand me in anyway…the God of the Bible is many things, but we can’t just pick the good things and stand on all the blessings. We must also accept there are consequences for our sins, poor choices and disobedience. So, stop listening to people who present God as the doting grandfather or rich uncle.

Get around people who love to talk about God and the Bible and are able to back up what they say…in the Bible. Talk to people who have a great testimony of God’s love, chastisement and how He works it all together for our good—even when it is not pleasant—but in the end is all so very purposeful. Let yourself be encouraged by someone who made a mess of their lives, but can share how faithful God is without leaving out the hard times and things they had to work through.

Studying the Word of God should no longer be viewed as an “S” word! It should be something we can’t wait to do. After all, our lives and wellbeing depend on it!  

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

We Were Created to Complement One Another, Not to Compete

Lies, lies….don’t believe a word he says!

Jesus warns us that, “Satan is the Father of all lies.” And yet we continue to fall for them.

Lies, kill reputations, destroy families and can steal our freedom, peace and joy? 

Let’s take a look at how lies affect our relationships with our sisters-in-Christ—our forever family.

Paul admonishes us to esteem others (those in the household of faith) more highly then ourselves. (click) Philippians 2:3-5 Amp But our enemy comes along with a bag of tricks and lies (and has been very successful) to make sure we do not esteem each other higher than ourselves, and also compete with each other.

Now the Bible is very clear that the Holy Spirit is the one who decides who gets which gift(s), and why? We have nothing to do with that. Yet, because we believe the lies, versus the truths of God, we somehow believe that our gifts are better than others or we were jipped by not receiving a certain gift.

Too many of us think our education means something more to God than someone who may not have as much formal education. Lie of the enemy, “See, you are more highly educated than she is, which puts you on a much higher playing ground. And you’re smarter!”

Maybe you have a gift that is more visible than others. Lie of the enemy, “God loves you more. Look at how well you function in your gift. See how so many benefit from it.”

But there is a flipside to this also—“She thinks she’s better than you.” “Why is it that she gets that particular gift and not you?” “It seems that God loves her more than He loves you.”

The acceptance of lies, opens the door for us to become envious, jealous and very insecure in who we really are in Christ.

God created us to complement one another—not to be in competition. That is strife and division.

When you take a moment to really think about it—it’s stupid to try to use the gifts and talents that God has bestowed upon us to “one up” each other—yet, it happens every day.

Competition: the act of competing; rivalry for supremacy, a prize, etc. I really like this simple definition of competition, because as children of the King, the end prize is all the same for us. And we can only be superior in our own minds and hearts, because we are commanded to love one another and love is not jealous or envious.

As we give into the thoughts or emotions of competition, we lose the freedom of being able to cheer each other on. Yes, there is great freedom in love.  

I had to really spend a minute thinking about the different ways we compete as sisters-in-Christ. And I realized our “words” are a huge source of competition.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone constantly talks about themselves or brags on their husband or kids? I have and it can become very tiring and is a huge setup to shoot them down by telling them about you, your husband or kids.

When my youngest daughter was in 1^st grade, one afternoon while chatting with a parent who had a child in her class we got on the subject of reading and she started bragging about her daughter’s reading abilities. Truth was, my daughter was very advanced in her reading and so I let her know she was not alone. But this mom was going to make sure I understood that her daughter was superior and went on to tell me how she could read the newspaper. At that point the Holy Spirit was nudging me to be quiet and so I shut up. But what I learned from this experience was don't fall in the trap of bragging on my kids. My daughter could also read the words in the newspaper, but did she comprehend half of what she was reading—no. And neither did hers…LOL!!

I’ve had the experience of being in a car for close to 2 hours with a sister who bragged about her daughter almost the entire ride. I tried several times to redirect the conversation to something else, but she kept bringing it back to her daughter. At first it was okay, but after about 45 minutes of it, I was tired of listening and the temptation to talk about my daughter arose. (Praise God I did not give into the temptation.) And after an hour of it, I began to pray for us both. There is something very wrong when we can talk about achievements in life for any length of time and God does not come up in the conversation or failure or a misstep. (There is no such thing as a perfect child because there is no such thing as a perfect parent.) No matter how hard we have worked, our husbands or children, apart from Christ it just could not have been done. But insecurity and competition will help us to forget this great truth.

Sisters, be very careful how much you talk about yourself and your family. Be more interested in the lives of others. Yes, there are times when we need to talk to a listening ear. But it is never to be in the realm of braggadocios pride. That is not of God.

Whenever we monopolize a conversation then we risk the chance of a missed opportunity to be of service. Maybe the person you are with has a heavy heart and they could use an encouraging word, or you will be led to pray for them in a new way from their conversation.

Mostly competition reigns in our hearts and minds. We may not say anything out loud, but our actions speak volumes. If you are jealous of what God is doing in someones life, or what they have, the problem is not them—it’s you. If you judge God by what He does for someone else—you have a huge problem.

Jesus tells us that the world will know that we belong to Him, buy the way they see us love on each other. Jealousy and competition have no room for love.

The gifts and talents in the Body is to make us whole and able to function and achieve God’s will. We should be happy to see a sister move forward in life and  able to cheer her on.

When we purpose to compliment others in their achievements and even something as simple as telling them how nice they look or how good they smell, then it forces us to not be so consumed with ourselves, or envious. We were made to fit together and complement each other in all that we do. Amen!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

Prayer…Our Privilege and Our Responsibility

I recently had a phone conversation with a loved one that left me shaken. It seems they no longer think of God in the same manner in which they used too! Their view of Him is as the world’s.

It’s hard to say exactly when this turnabout happened, but I know prayer is needed. This entire situation made me take a strong look at how as citizens of the Kingdom we should be praying. I must say I’ve come to the conclusion that overall we need to do better, especially those of us in the Western World.

Looking back over my life in Christ, I see there was a time when prayer was all about Me! And as a babe in Christ that is understandable, because even in the natural it is all about the newborn, baby and toddler. It takes time for them to realize it is not all about them. It took time for me to learn to pray for others, and even then I would often pick and choose who I wanted to pray for.

We can be all over the place when it comes to the—how—when—and where of it all.

I feel the reason we don’t know how to pray is a general lack of understanding of whom God is and what it means to be a new person in Christ when we first get saved. We really don’t have a clue and what happens is we often fall into the wrong hands. And when I say, “Wrong hands” I am referring to the many books on the market giving formulas on how to pray, church congregations making it a musical event with a bunch of screaming and hollering, misleading TV preachers and well meaning friends and family who don’t really understand themselves.

Think about if every woman who has ever had a miscarriage, still born baby or a baby die in the womb before birth prayed daily for others who are experiencing this great loss—what would that look like in the heavens?

If every mother who has had to bury a child were to pray daily for those who will live through that experience today—what a difference that would make!

Suppose every woman who is in a loveless marriage, not only prayed for her marriage, but prayed for all her sisters who are in the same place she is—what would that be like?

As you battle breast cancer, what if you pray daily for all your sisters who are battling cancer and their families too? If you have ever been hungry, homeless, unemployed, physically abused, imprisoned, or on drugs—what if you prayed daily for those who are experiencing these things in their lives now—how would that affect the Kingdom of God here on earth?

The Bible tells us that we are to comfort each other with the same comfort in which, God comforted us in our time of need. And why is that? Because though I can encourage anyone in God’s faithfulness, I don’t know the ache of losing a child, but some of us do and we can speak to the place of pain that only experience can reach. I don’t know what it is to be in a marriage with an abusive husband and fear for my life, but some of us do, and therefore we know how to pray for others in that position in a way that only experience allows.

My heart is heavy because there seems to be great confusion when it comes to prayer.

We live in a culture that is all about—me—bigger and better. We are worrying God about education, the house on the hill, a new car and having a husband.  We’ve been duped into thinking that there is a special and elite group of prayer warriors and intercessors and therefore they have been called to pray for the more serious situations. Wrong! There are no such people, these titles are made up. We (as God’s children) are called to pray for the serious stuff and world situations. It is our responsibility to pray for peace in Jerusalem, and our brothers and sisters who are being massacred each week, raped and sold into slavery.

It is our responsibility to pray for our government and country. It is our responsibility to pray for those who are experiencing hard times and great difficulties in life and pray they don’t give up on God. It is our responsibility to pray for the Body and for those who are lost.

We are instructed to pray without ceasing and that is why I chose the picture for today. We can talk to God while washing dishes, doing laundry, riding the bus, waiting at a light, dusting the furniture, brushing our teeth. It is not about the time you might have to spend on your knees in the morning or before you go to bed, it is to be a constant. The Holy Spirit lives in us, we should be tapping into His lead every single day. And the more we do it, the more our conversation with Him will change.

As I look at what is going on in the world and what is to come, I’ve started praying daily that I will be able to stand no matter what. Truth is we like to think we would, but until we are put in that position we won’t know for sure. I pray that if I were in a public place that was sieged by Muslim extremist and they asked who was a Christian, I would be one of the first to stand, even if they threatened to kill one of my daughters or grandchildren.

There is so much evil going on in this world that we must step up and take our responsibility of prayer seriously—not assuming others have it covered.

Any place in life that you have struggled and been set free, pray for those who are where you used to be. You see sisters, if we pray daily for those who are living in hells we were delivered from, then things would be covered. All we have to do is believe that God hears us.

As with all privilege there comes responsibility. All who go by the name, “Christian” have been given the responsibility to pray for others and the world. If you need a title, then we are ALL prayer warriors and we are ALL intercessors. Amen!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

Why Do We Just Follow Along?

Most people follow along as they have been taught, assuming that what they believe and do is right. They take their beliefs for granted. Most do not take time to prove why they do the things that they do. ~David C. Pack~

Top left is a picture of me (60 years ago) and two of my cousins. It was Easter of 1955 and there was a good chance we were the best dressed kids on the block and at church that Sunday. You see, that’s what Easter was all about for me and my family—new outfits for church—dyed eggs—baskets full of chocolate, jelly beans and marshmallow peeps. And a big family dinner, with all the trimmings!

Where was Christ in all of this?

Hum, I guess He was somewhere in the church sermon.

Easter Sunday was a day (and still is) many were dragged to church by well meaning mothers, grandmothers and wives! There was a level of noise that usually wasn’t present (we were taught to sit and be quiet) from all the children and babies not used to being in church. My biggest memory for years was wishing the preacher would hurry up so I could get home to my Easter basket full of goodies, have a hardboiled egg and some of my aunt’s wonderful potato salad!

There really wasn’t anything special or out of the ordinary concerning Jesus on this day.

Eventually the passing of the torch came and I became part of the preparation for the dinner feast. I started baking strawberry short cakes with homemade whipped cream and cheery cheese cakes to compliment my mother’s roasted leg of lamb. By then, I had to purchase my own “Easter outfits” if I wanted to be dressed for the occasion. It was then I stopped going to church on Easter and just showed up for the dinner—I just didn’t see the point!

No one complained that I hadn’t attended the morning service. There would have only been a problem if I didn’t show up with my homemade desserts.

When my oldest daughter was born, I embraced the tradition of dressing her up for Easter. Why? Well, for one, I knew I wouldn’t hear the last of it if I showed up for the dinner with her in an everyday outfit. And there were a couple of times my mother took her to church with her. I must note it was often the only time my mother went herself.

As time has passed, people no longer dress up as much to go to church; they buy new casual outfits to go to Easter brunch, the zoo, movies and down to the shore.   

Truth is, people are not getting saved because of the celebration of Easter. Why should they? It is difficult to see Christ and the Cross in the midst of the Easter parade, Easter bunnies, Easter candy, colored eggs, Easter outfits and Easter shoe sales. And worst of all—the Easter egg hunts that a lot of church congregations have. None of it has anything to do with the death and resurrection of the Messiah on the Cross.

Once I became serious about my life in Christ, I began to grow (still am) in the Word of God. And what happens to any of us when we do this, the Holy Spirit begins to enlighten us in the Holy Scriptures and truth.

For the past few years, I’ve been studying my Jewish roots as a Believer. Our Savior was born a Jew and was raised by Jewish parents. Yes, He was God, but He thought it not robbery to give that up to come into the world as a man to save the world.

My studying has led me to the Jewish feasts and what they stand for. For instance, what many Christians refer to as “The last Supper” was really a Passover feast or “Seder”. Do we really understand what it means that Christ became our Passover lamb?  The more I began to study what this Passover means for us, the more I began to question the Easter celebration and its origin. I could not find it in the Bible.

With some understanding of how the Jewish calendar is calculated, and remembering that God started a new day at sunset, it made me question even more Good Friday. How is it, there’s a Good Friday every year? That is impossible? If something happened on a Friday one year, even though it might be the same date the following year it would not be the same day? The Jewish Passover never is. In 2014, it started Monday, April 13^th and ended Tuesday, April 21^st. This year it is Friday, April 3^rd (at sunset) and ends April 11^th (at sunset).

I began to have a sneaky suspicion we were making stuff up? And as I researched, I found out we have taken on traditions whose roots are steeped in pagan celebrations.

Probably at this point, some of you are annoyed and ready to stop reading. I ask that you don’t…please!

Here is a link to the booklet, “The True Origin of Easter” by David C. Pack. It is a lengthy read, but well worth the time. I’m not asking anyone to take his word at face value, but I am asking you to get into the Bible and see for yourself. Question God—ask the Holy Spirit for truth and revelation concerning the matter.

Over the years I’ve encountered the argument that the Sunday Easter celebration is good because it is the one time in the year that people come to church. I know that to be true from my own upbringing and family, but what does that mean?! If we as Believers do our job and disciple folks (not drag them to church) there would be no truth to this. And I’ve heard the defense for the Easter egg hunts on church grounds is a way to involve families and is an outreach to children in the community.

As a Believer, do you really think it brings joy and honor to God to have kids on their hands and knees looking for eggs in the name of the Son? Do you have any idea where this tradition came from?

If we pick up the Cross every day, love our neighbors as we love ourselves, give to those in need, take care of the widows and fatherless, forgive and live each day to please God and deny Him nothing—folks would be flocking to get to know Jesus from the overflow of His love through us.

Sisters, it is time to hanker down in the unadulterated Word of God and let traditions go.

Easter does not look anything like Christ to the world. This past week, Wal-Mart commercials were singing here comes peter cottontail (to the point my 10 year old granddaughter was singing it), Burlington Coat Factory has affordable Easter outfits for the entire family, Payless is having a huge Easter shoe sale, Dairy Queen has frozen cakes you can have “Happy Easter” written on. This is just a small sampling of what is being projected for Easter. But yet, we hardly hear much about how our Christian brothers and sisters are being killed daily for Christ.

Yesterday morning it was reported that 147 were massacred at a Kenya college. Somali Islamist militants killed all who were not Muslims. When asked, “Who is a Christian?” many stood up and were shot, but there were those who were afraid and were killed only after they could not recite from the Quran. We want our children to be able to stand for Christ, even if it means death, but planting seeds of tradition in their hearts versus truth, puts us in murky waters.  

You like dying eggs with the kids? Don’t stop. Do it for fun after Easter, and buy all the peeps, jelly beans and chocolate bunnies (which will be 70% off) you want the day after Easter.

Christ has forewarned us that there will be a great falling away, the world will be in such a position that if possible even the elect would be fooled. And last but not least, on Judgment Day, many who cry out “Lord, Lord!” shall be told by our Savior, “I never knew you.” and will be placed with the goats.

This is something to really meditate on. Are you sure you will be counted as the “elect” or will you be one who is fooled and led astray? If gunmen were to storm the mall you were Easter shopping in and asked, “Who is a Christian?” would you stand tall knowing they are going to kill you or would cower?

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie