It's Too Serious For This

Today many Christians will attend some type of midday service in remembrance of the Crucifixion and death of our Messiah, and then on Sunday we will let our children partake in an Easter Egg Hunt on the church grounds.

On December 25^th, we supposedly celebrate the birth of the Messiah. And we do that by shopping for gifts and toys, and are often the first to take our kids to see Santa Clause so we have pictures to post on Facebook. And let’s not forget that instead of staying with family on Thanksgiving Day, we must rush to the evening sales and or go to bed early only to awake at 3am for the Black Friday Special. And the worst part of all of this is…if the 25^th doesn’t fall on a Sunday, you have to search to find a church that is open and holding services. Yet, we are celebrating our Savior.

And though many have gotten to the point and will not celebrate Halloween, we have made up the Hallelujah Festival so that the kids can dress up as Bible characters and attend a party at church.

Proverbs 22: 6 tells us to, “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (AMP)

But that can be very difficult when we throw Easter Egg Hunts, Santa Clause and counterfeit Halloween parties in the mix. It muddies up the gospel. And the saddest part of all—we don’t even know why we do this. How many of you have researched to find out where this egg thing originated? Well, you should. Because you will find its roots are pagan. And if we put just a little thought into Santa Clause, you will see he is made to be omnipresent and all knowing. Really! And though most know the origin and root of Halloween and it is considered the high holy day for satan worshipers…we still can’t seem to take a stand and have nothing to do with it.

Have you noticed lately the horrible things that are happening to our young people? I have.

Jesus himself tells us, “The thief (satan) does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” 

And he has upped his game lately and he is killing, destroying and stealing everything he can from our youth. And why is he able to do this? For one, we haven’t taught our kids how to stand and what to stand for. We haven’t taught them the "b" part of the verse, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 (NKJ)

Now some might say, “But it is so hard if everyone else is doing it?” It might be challenging, but it is what we are supposed to do for our kids—teach them to not go along with the crowd—even if the crowd is in a church building.

Lately I have seen a rise in our youth converting to Islam. And why is that? How can this be when you have been raised in a home of Christians? It’s easy when you were never taught the truth about the Cross and didn't see a life serving Christ lived daily in your home. Or, you were just dictated to as to what you do and don’t do. 

When I was in full time missions, our main church had a heart for supporting missionaries. They were kind, generous and loving to me and my youngest daughter. But! Every Easter Sunday without fail—they held an Easter Egg Hunt. Did I attend and take my daughter? No. Was I questioned why I did not attend and help out? Yes. And since I knew the Bible I could answer in a way that could not be disputed.

See sisters, we never have to be part of anything that goes against God’s Word, or water downs the deity of Christ. Never!

We can learn many things from our Jewish roots if we would only take a minute. For one, ask yourself why is Good Friday on a Friday every year? Is Christmas on the same day as it was the year before? Is your birthday on the same day it was the year before? No. And Passover is never on the same day it was the year before. We make it a Friday because down the line (research it out) someone thought Christ was crucified on a Friday; well He was crucified on a Thursday, because it had to be done before the Sabbath, which starts Friday sunset. Read your Bibles. God made the day from sunset to sunset. And it was during Passover, because He became the Passover lamb for us. So, whenever Passover is celebrated that is when we should be celebrating the Finished work of the Cross.

Truth is, we are so steeped in tradition (which Jesus warned us about), that too many of us don’t really know as much as we should. And if you don’t know something, it is impossible to teach it to someone else. That's the bad news, but the good news is...you can change that around today!

It is time to rise up and teach our children to stand on the Rock! 

If your congregation is having an Easter Egg Hunt this Sunday—go to a sunrise service somewhere else.

Your congregation has some type of festival or party to offset Halloween. Don’t let your children attend and be able to tell them why. They want candy, take them to the store the day after and buy as much as you want 50 to 75% off. Don’t try to appease your children for feeling left out of the world’s foolishness. In fact—teach them to be able to stand against it. Their school has dress up day on Halloween, keep them home.

And for the Christmas holidays, if you are going to celebrate the 25^th as the birth of Christ (which I hope you all know is not so and nowhere near it), then make it about Him. 

“³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25: 35-40 (NKJ)

Our Messiah paid a hefty price for the “Finished” work at the Cross. And God’s great love for us required Him to do so. Therefore, as you meditate today on the crucifixion and all that our Savior experienced so we may have eternal life and life more abundantly on this earth, also think about getting that message into the hearts of your children. Because their lives do depend on it.

Jesus' death on the Cross is so serious, how dare we water it down with Easter baskets full of junk and Easter Egg Hunts.

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

It Is Time to Get Our Act Together!

These are perilous times we are in. And especially in America! I don’t remember ever writing the type of blog I am today, but I feel compelled to talk about the flux we seem to be experiencing, because time is of the essences!

As followers of Christ and Bible believing Christians, we are to look for the evidence of “fruit” concerning anyone who claims to be a Christian and follower of Christ. Our Messiah himself said, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” (click to read Matthew 7:15-20)

What is the fruit He is referring to? Well for starters let’s look at the fruit of the Holy Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.” Galatians 5:22-24 (Amp)

Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. ⁵ It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. ⁶ It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. ⁷ Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening]. ⁸ Love never fails [it never fades nor ends]. I Corinthians 13:4-8a (Amp)

It’s time to stop listening to people and really dig our heals into the Word of God and remember who we follow. And it is not a particular group or party of people—it is, Jesus the Christ!

Many who profess to be followers of Christ are rallying around a man running for the Republican nomination to run for President of the United States, yet he shows no good fruit. And Jesus warns us and instructs us to know who is real and who is not according to the fruit they produce.

Love is kind; this man is far from kind. Love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant—he is all three of these things. Love is not rude, I have found none ruder. Love is not overly sensitive or easily angered; say anything against him and he spits venom. Love is not easily provoked, he is not only easily provoked but his speech is one of hate and he is a bully.

Paul instructs that in Christ, we are to put away filthy and perverse communications, yet it seem this candidate doesn’t know this, because he uses profane and perverse language on a daily bases. He demeans women and people of other cultures and races who are not Caucasian. He also incites his followers to use violence.

But I’m not finished yet, because it now seems that some Christian leaders and pastors are backing him. And I say seems, because I’ve seen a video and read an article concerning this. And I can’t say for sure these things were not doctored and the article laced with untruths, but I haven’t seen anyone come forth to deny or set the record straight. Therefore, this is alarming to me, because the article implied that these leaders of mega churches and ministries are concerned about their money. Again, not sure this is true—but we need to be seeking God.

Here’s the deal, do not repost or talk poorly against these leaders and pastors…go to God about this and pray for them. There is the side the press is giving us, their side and then the truth. Who knows the truth? God does, so we take it to Him.

It is time for us to come together and really pray for our country, but even more so for the Church. 

The Church (in America) seems to be lukewarm at best. We have so much that is wrong within ourselves. There are too many of us following and sitting under people we have no business being near. Why? Because we have been too lazy to study and read the bible for ourselves, and it is coming to the point; many of us are going to reap a harvest for being so lackadaisical.

It breaks my heart that television shows such as “Preachers of LA and Atlanta” are so popular among the saints as entertainment and that many after seeing this foolishness are still part of their congregations. It is a sad testimony to Christ.

Paul warns there will be a great falling away from the Church, and on Judgment Day, many who think they will get into Heaven will hear our Lord say, “I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.”

Sisters, some of you are not right with God. In fact you only know of Christ, but not truly who He is or his finished work on the Cross. It is not too late, but you must act now!

Stop making up rules as you go and following the god you have made up in your own mind. Repent, and follow Christ! Stop following what people have told you. Read and study the Bible for yourself. Get to know the true and living God.

And for those of you, who know Him, dig in even closer. Pray for the Church, your brothers and sisters, the lost, our government and the world. Stop wasting time praying for stuff. America is in big trouble!

When you look back at times God had, had enough with Israel you will see one of those times was when they started offering up their babies as sacrifices to other gods.

These were children born of adultery and fornication. America’s modern day version of this is abortion. A woman’s right to sin as much as she chooses and not pay the consequences. God says, “sodomy” is a sin against Him.” America made it legal. God is against those who do not take care of the poor, widows and orphans. America is such a big failure in all of those areas, because the rich keep getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. And last but not least—we have not been good to Israel lately and that puts God against us.

Even if you do not agree with everything I have said, I pray you agree that we need to spend more time praying about these life situations.  

I am witnessing people falling away from the Church, and becoming Muslims. I am watching the Word of God being watered down, so people can sin with a clear conscience. I am seeing more and more Christians afraid to stand and do what is right. In Roman’s Paul explains that in the last days and times, God is going to turn people over to a reprobate mind. I don’t know about you, but I am seeing it happen.

Sisters, pray daily for peace in Jerusalem. Try starting a prayer group in your home once a week, were all you do is pray for the lost and those who have turned lukewarm toward Christ. Or find a sister to pray weekly with on the phone and not about your problems, but the problems of this world, and the Chruch.

It’s time for us to get our act together! It's time to stop messing around and get serious about what we see going on in the Church, our government, schools, families, neighborhoods, and especially the lost. We don’t need to been seen in groups, or hash it out over Facebook. No, we just need to—read and study our bibles—watch and pray! Amen!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

Only One!

Physically, it is impossible to live in any other time except the present. But that still hasn’t stop of us from living emotionally and mentally in the past or the future, even though Jesus has given us explicit instructions not to worry about tomorrow. And Paul also talks a lot about letting go, and leaving the past behind.

Why is that?

Because God wants us to trust Him completely!

Is this easy to do or something we must work at?

It’s most defiantly something we must train ourselves to do—without a doubt!

I am currently in the process of moving, and two weeks ago I wasn’t even sure how I was going to get my things moved. Now mind you, I have pared down my stuff the past five years greatly. I went from a 3 bedroom house to a 2 room third floor living space in my oldest daughter’s home. That translated into getting rid of a lot of furniture and dishware. And then I just made another move 8 months ago and got rid of even more things! But I still had to move my youngest daughter’s belongings around with me while she was attending college and even now as she teaches in Honduras.

Phew! I’m getting to old for this. And that was my cry to God.

Please don’t misunderstand, I am happy to be moving and elated that I can, but the process of moving deeply grieved my heart and I just didn’t want to have to think about it or much less do it! I had a real dilemma. And what should we do when we find ourselves in a situation? Pray! And I did just that, because I really needed help.

Well, God used this particular time as a great reminder of who He is and that His ways are not our ways. And He did it “one day at a time.”

I started pulling stuff out of the attic about 10 days ago, and then I started purging and repacking. At first it was so overwhelming, but I just kept praying and asking the Holy Spirit to encourage and strengthen me. Truthfully, I was on the brink of being depressed a bit.

The first part of my prayer God answered, by giving me a place to store (free of charge) my youngest daughter’s belongings. I no longer have to worry about moving them with me. And when she returns next year she will be able to collect them.

Each day, I spent time on packing, sorting and purging. My living space was messing and out of place which always makes me feel blue. But after awhile, things began to fall into place and each day, something was moved out and replaced with the next batch that needed to go. At the end of the day I felt tired and exhausted, but woke up the next morning with a renewed strength.

Now that I am into day 6 of moving from one place to another, I am able to look back and see how I was strengthened to accomplish and achieve what I needed to do—one day at a time.

There are 2 more days of moving and cleaning ahead of me, but I’m amazed at all I’ve accomplished with the help of just one or two people at a time and how smoothly everything has gone. It has all boiled down to trusting God. I didn’t have a set plan of this, this, this or that. No, it just all fell into place as people stepped up to help. My girlfriend’s son even came down from New York, to help me move.

My hope was to hire someone to just move the stuff and be done, but I couldn’t seem to work that out and once I relinquished control (or lack of control), over to God—it all fell into place. And there was never a clear plan, just bits and pieces of “one day at a time”.

This was a situation where I really had to depend on God to work it out for me and he has all the way. But, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we lived like that every day without having to be put in a position where it seems we have no choice?

When the Israelites were in the desert, God made provision for them daily by making bread (manna) fall from heaven. It was to see if they would follow His instructions in obedience and also teach them to depend on Him. He still desires the same of us today.

Living in the moment is so much easier when we have a steady paycheck to cover our expenses and other needs. It’s a breeze when we aren’t really dealing with any particular health issues, our kids are doing pretty well and our husbands are acting right.

And if we are honest with ourselves, we will admit it's easy to find comfort in our checking and savings accounts. And yes at times, it can become hazy that God is our daily provider. That is until something happens and those accounts are empty, overdrawn and topped off with eviction or foreclosure notices. When life unscripted shows up and our comfort zones become disassembled, we quickly find—it’s not so easy.

In the past when I’ve moved, I had a truck rented for me and 6 people show up to help. But this time God chose to do it differently—one day at a time.

I’m grateful my move is almost completed, but I don’t want to lose this new energy of waking up eager to see how things are going to unfold for me. I don’t want to have to be put in a tough spot for me to wake up with a great anticipation of God's plan for my day.

Maybe you’re facing something that seems overwhelming and has you stressed and worrying about tomorrow. Stop yourself! (Yes, we have the power.) Focus on living in today. Not only is God’s mercies anew each day, but so are His love and help. They are all a constant.

We cannot change what happened yesterday or 30 years ago. And there is nothing we can do about tomorrow (we may not even get to see it), today is all that matters. You can find all the peace and strength you need in the mighty work of the Cross. And you are only required to do it, “One day at a time!”

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

Sisters, read your bibles! Study the Word! And pray!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

30 Days

Often we go through life with issues we’ve gotten so accustomed to dragging around, they’ve become part of us. Others might see them, but we don’t. We learn to cope, adapt or assimilate versus learning to be free and delivered from whatever it is. I have a 30 challenge which can shed some light on those little devils. Are you game?

Last week I shared I was doing a 30 day challenge with a small group of women started by my bible study teacher, and the day you read this post, I would have just completed my 30 days of journaling.

Each evening you are to assess your day—looking at the things you had no control over. Judging the things you couldn’t change, any problems you encountered and how it affected your day? And with one very important question being answered, “Did I please God today?”

Simple enough…right!

Well, yes and no.

My writing brain is pretty tired by the end of the night, so I am not good at journaling before I go to bed. I either want to put on the television, or listen to music. Reading or writing past a certain hour is something I find great difficulty in wrapping my mind around.

I’m a morning person! I wake up full of vim and vigor at least 350 days out of the year. No, seriously, I am not exaggerating. Whatever I need to do, I do best first thing, and so, I didn’t even attempt to do my journal entries at night (I just know better). But that didn’t stop me from doing the assessment. It's very important to think about the day and especially if something happened to upset you or prompted you to act out. If you’re going to get all you can out of this experience then it’s imperative to take note if your actions, attitude or mindset were not pleasing to God and why? You must acknowledge that you had a hard day and think about why and if you could have changed or done anything different. In fact if you can….write in your journal at the end of your day, but if you’re like me, it’s a must you have the time to do it first thing.

The biggest thing you must guard against, are all the things that will crop up to keep you from making the full 30 days. Oh yeah, it’s going happen. So makeup your mind when you take on the challenge that you are going to take on the fight too! Anytime we take a step forward to do better, our enemy is not going to lie down and say, “Oh, okay. Go ahead; get free from (fill in the blank).” No, that is not his MO. If you’re stuck in a place which is to his advantage, he is not going to let go without a fight. Is this to scare you off? Of course not, “Greater is He that is in me, than is in the world.” I just want you to have your guard up and be ready. 

At the end of the 30 days, you will take time to re-read your journal entries. This is where you will see patterns and strongholds. Issues you thought you had dealt with that are still lurking about and popping up here and there. You might even see things you have been dealing with for years, but have gotten so used to them; they’ve become a normal part of your everyday life. You will also see how many times in 30 days, you did or did not bring glory to God and if your focus was to please Him, yourself or others.

And there will be a big bright spotlight shown on how you handle or respond to that which is out of your control, and things you cannot change. That’s going to be a real biggie for sure.

About halfway through, the Holy Spirit told me to also start looking at things I did have control over. At first I wasn’t sure why I received this instruction. The truth is, we may not have control over a lot of things, but we do have control over how we view them, respond and handle them. This is what He wanted me to see. And my count on pleasing God at the end of the day—improved.

Three days into the challenge, the community I live in lost electricity for about half an hour on a Friday and the Wi-Fi didn’t come back on. After a couple of hours I texted my roommate (and owner of the home) to advise what happened. I need Wi-Fi during the week for writing, but more so on the weekends to skype and stay in touch with my daughter in Honduras. She told me she would take care of it when she came home.

Well, long story short, I had to push her to call about it and when they tried to reset it from the office her modem was shot. She had the choice to pick one up (free of charge), the next day, but she wanted to put it off until Sunday when she was off. Now all of this was out of my control, but nonetheless—I was pissed! I was so angry I could have gone in the woods and screamed! But instead, I was able to remove myself from the situation and go over my girlfriend’s house for awhile.

Now you might question, “Why such a harsh reaction?” Well, because what you will begin to see in your journaling, is how we keep a record of wrongs or injustices when we think we are not. My reaction was such, because it was just one more thing she wasn’t doing in consideration of me—according to my record keeping.

Of course I had to come to grips with everything before I went to bed. I tried to put a period at the end of it, but it was a real struggle, especially when I woke up around 4am and it was still on my mind. I fought to pray for her versus be angry and upset and rehashing old stuff. It took close to 2 hours before I fell back to sleep. But when I did get up Saturday morning, I quickly made the connection—it really wasn’t as big a deal as I was making it to be.

Wi-Fi was up and running by Saturday evening.

At the time if I had been more focused on what I do have control over, I would have realized I needed to control my emotions and temper. I didn’t do anything outwardly to displease God, but inwardly, I failed that day. My thought life and heart issues were far from good. The truth is, we can’t change what we don’t know needs changing, but that’s the beauty and blessing of this challenge—it will let you know.

Before I even get to do my re-read, I see an area I’m stuck in which I’ve been working through for years. And I can’t wait to sit down with the Lord and really talk to Him about what is going on and what needs to happen for me to be free? I’m also seeing many situations are not always a big deal, they are only as big as we make them. (Again, the anthill turned into a mountain.)

In I Corinthians 11, Paul talks about the state of mind and heart one should be in to take communion, and in verse 13 (Amp), he instructs “ But if we evaluated and judged ourselves honestly [recognizing our shortcomings and correcting our behavior], we would not be judged.” And I’ve found that this applies to us daily—the judging, recognizing and correcting. 

There will be a (Part 2) somewhere down the road, because I do want to share all that my re-read reveals and what I’m doing about it.

Sisters, we are talking about 30 days and a few minutes each evening—come on—take the challenge. It could change your life forever. Amen!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie