Are you maturing as a Christian?

I read a great book a few years ago called " Spiritual Leadership" by J Oswald Sanders. I have read others- but prefer to reference from this particular book when I am working with potential leaders. I am always looking for concise but powerful mentoring resources. Guy Muse published an article recently that got my attention.. these are benchmarks to use in your own walk. We should seek God regularly on these points.. we are called to grow to maturity in Christ. Do you recognize growth in any of these areas, in your own walk?

*Adheres to Jesus' teachings, and knows what those teachings are.

*Primary life's orientation centers on Jesus, and His Kingdom ( Sermon on the Mount)

*Sees all of life as a mission with God-and has increasing awareness of the Holy Spirit's leading in his or her own life

*Sees the value of Christian leadership- submits accordingly and is willing to lead when needed

*Primary allegiance is to the Kingdom of God, over human government ( but submits to human authority in respect)

* Understands that sacrifice is costly. This usually means that financial sacrifice is the norm.

* humble, puts others before self- gives others the advantage

*deeply involved in the Christian community and will not leave unless directed by God

*dependent on God to meet all needs

*sees the value of suffering and sacrifical service in order to glorify God

*Understands that life is lived to the fullest with God is glorified via a disciple

These are just some of the benchmarks I pulled from the article. Reading makes me thankful that God is patient with me!! I have a long way to go...

Blessings-
Cheryl

Unloaded groceries for God... check.

They say confession is good for the soul, so here goes.
I was born with a martyr complex.

YUK!!!! OK, there, I said it! It's out... and now you all know.

So now that I have said it to you, know that I have first confessed this to my Best Friend and Father, and turned that part of my yukky internal stuff over to His tender care... long ago. Lo and behold, because He is amazing- slowly over time that part of me has changed and I am SO THANKFUL!!!!!

I was created as an introvert.. and part of the stuff that comes along with that personality is that I am hesistant to do things I don't want to do.. and have ( or had) a tendency toward a critical and judgemental nature - but because I am timid, I found it hard to speak out about such things. Therefore, they would stay in my heart and flourish as weeds and bitter root- until I surrendered that stuff to Christ ,a while back. The Lord who heals ( Exodus 15:26) does so in His way and timing.. and slowly but surely once I gave Him control of my personality and temperament- He went to work. I praise Him for that! I have a long way to go... but at least He has me on the bus with Him!!!

My outlook has slowly changed toward my family as well... and yesterday this was made apparent as I unloaded groceries ( again) with most of my family inside doing what they do on Sunday afternoons, reading, napping, playing games - ( I had already had a nap and was ready to move on with the day.) This has happened before and sometimes it is enough to send me into orbit... but yesterday something came over me as I lifted the back to the van. Wanna know what it was?

I heard God. Yep, He talked to me really loud and it was scripture that I heard.

"Whatever you are doing, whether word or action, do it for Me, thanking me all the while." ( Col 3:17).

HOLY MOLY. Now here is the thing. I looked at the full load of stuff I needed to carry in... it was hot and humid yesterday, my back was hurting... ( yadda yadda) and I didn't WANT to.

But, God. He was there and I closed my eyes and thought about taking Him a box of cereal and a gallon of milk. What if I was bringing those things into Him as a love offering? Would I be upset ?? Or just filled with thankfulness and joy?

My entire attitude changed, and all at once I thanked Him for the groceries, thanked Him for the heat and humidity and dirty van and my napping babies and husband and even my surly teenager playing a game on his video thing that I don't really like. Thank You Jesus for loving me so much. Here's Your Honey Nut Cheerios and milk. And here is me having a joyful happy thankful grateful surrendered heart that loves my God and would do whatever He wants.

I love bringing in the groceries.

:)

God really just wants our hearts.

This is the bottom line for His people. He just wants our hearts to be soft and tender toward Him, and toward each other. That sounds very simple. But, it's well... hard, sometimes.

I'm reading this book a friend of mine gave me by Warren Wiersbe called Real Worship. Awesome book , by the way. It's one of those books where I read one or two paragraphs and I am so gripped and overwhelmed by the truth and love of God that I have to take a deep breath and put it aside to meditate on what I just read. I LOVE books like that. Every other sentence literally envelopes me in the presence of God, and I am captivated with that thought for the rest of the day.
The theme lately that God is teaching me about is the importance of prayer, and how having a hard heart means that God isn't going to "hear" praise or worship if that is the case. Of course He can HEAR it- but He won't acknowledge prayers lifted like that. Ps 6: 18 says " If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear." Huh? You mean I can be choosing to worship and praise God with my body , making a "choice" to be obedient, serve, and seem joyful.. but if I am haboring sin in my heart, God "won't hear" me? Yep, 'zackly, Byron. Mr. Wiersbe explains it this way, " If the worshiper has not come to God with clean hands and a pure heart, all worship and praise is futile." FUTILE. Won't do any good at all. Wow? I can hardly bear the thought of that!! In fact, it makes me so sad that tears come to my eyes.

My first thought is " ACK!! No thanks, how can I recognize this and get rid of it?!?" , Well, Mr. W has some thoughts on what a "hard heart" ends up looking like. Want to know? I did.
- An unwillingness to admit and confess sin
-A bitter spirit toward another believer
- An unwillingness to FORGIVE
-A resistance to the Word of God
-An inflexible attitude that won't be taught or changed ( or that says " I can't change that, it's how I am)
-Always insisting that our way is the only RIGHT way to do things
- A refusal to let people get "too close"
- self-protection, and a spirit of offense
- Being preoccupied with ourselves, what we want
- being overly sensitive and touchy

The list went on .... but by this point I had to put the book down and tears came to my eyes. How many times have I harbored one or more of these in my heart? And not just one at a time, but more than one??? My heart belongs to GOD.... and He can't be near any of that sin. It has to go, in order for me to be near HIM.

The flip side to this ( for which I am so thankful) that the Lord will hear and bless those who come before Him broken and humble, with a contrite spirit. ( Ps 34: 18, and Isaiah 6: 1, 2).

If I need to be near to God's heart, which I do- I am desperate to be in fellowship with Him every moment of every day!! If this is true..... then my heart must be cleansed and pure with broken humility, asking forgiveness- then, and only then- will my praises and prayers be heard.

'Cause He loves us like that.

Be broken, and be blessed-
Cheryl

Monday, Monday....

I used to despise Mondays. I don't anymore. They are days for reflection and quiet prayer... reviewing yesterday and thanking God for how He does what He does and for who He is.... and thanking Him for the people He allows me to serve with.


Hope your Monday is going well!!

Blogback-

Is that a word? If it isn't, I just coined it. Back in the blogging business...

It is interesting to me that the first blog I posted here in 2007 was on 2 Peter. The devotion is from the next book, 1 John. Crazy coincidence? Nahhh....

SO, here is the first part of the new old blog..

On living deeply-

I have been neck-deep in some awesome things lately. Do you ever go through phases like that? It seems that in my own life , I go through dry, thirsty phases where it’s the same routine…. I know God is working things out but it either vaguely makes me aware of Him, or I have to purposely step myself into something where I see Him moving, in order to get near Him. Other times, God just seems to plop down right in the middle of all my “stuff” ( yeah, none of it is actually MY stuff anyway, right?) and says “Hey, come on go with ME!” It is in these times that I usually find myself “neck-deep” in the things of the Lord, and nothing makes me feel more complete.

I don’t ever propose to understand the way God works, but I do sometimes notice “cyclic” sorts of patterns in my own faith walk. BIG highs with Him, rest times…that sometimes end up headed toward distraction and being sucked up into the “world” and its stress and worries…. and if I let myself stay in that place too long, He gets things stirring again. Dry phase. Shallow prayer time, confusion, shallow preparation and worship time. …. But then… seeking God phase, crying out to Him for help, direction, and once He is pleased with the development of my heart- WHAMMO!!! We are off on some “adventure” that I never could have conjured up myself. I LOVE this about my Father!!!! In fact, each time it happens, I fall even more deeply head over heels in love with Him, and completely amazed at how He loves His children!

OK so, right now in this moment, I have been through a recent dry, painful pruning time, but a God- seeking, soul searching and growing phase is in progress, and now I find myself deeply involved with following His lead and holding His hand..and hearing His heart speak to mine very clearly through His word. Scripture is very “alive” to me right now… it seems every passage I spend any time with all has such clarity for me, and insight and wisdom. ( I can be a little dense at times in my understanding, so this is HUGE for me!) I am so grateful for how He teaches me, and moves my heart to sync it up with His own.

I John 2:28 says “And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we'll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.” As I was reading this passage over and over, it occurred to me ( again, but with new insight) that , as His children, we each have a choice. 1- Do we continually allow the world to be what consumes us? Do we let stress swallow us whole, and get our hearts so focused on everything that will weight us down and eventually turn us away from Christ? OR… do we choose to live “deeply” in Him? Do we quickly get on our knees, confess sin, soak up His word and abide in His peace? Do we settle for living deeply in the world, with all its shallow promises , frustrations and disappointment- or do we want to strive to live deeply in the things of Jesus, and really LIVE? Why does it take me so long each time I re-learn this, to get “there”??

Webster’s dictionary gives this as a definition for “deep”: “extending far downward from a surface area- as to even penetrate.” As I was thinking about this … I realized that the world’s offerings, and its stresses and distractions are not only temporary, but they are also superficial. They are not only consuming if we allow them to be that, but they are also only meant for the surface of our lives. Not the deep, insides of us… and certainly not meant to affect (or penetrate) our hearts. That’s why, when we live for the world, when we become overwhelmed by stress, worries, or desires for worldly things, it gets harder and harder for our hearts to turn back to Jesus- we have let something affect those deep places within us that are only meant for Him.

The last thing I want to do is have to give “lame excuses” to my Father for why I was so distracted from His plans and His heart during my short time on earth. I want to be ready… joyfully ready.

Father, it’s hard to be consistent in our walks. Life does stress us out sometimes. It’s full of craziness, pain, and responsibilities that we are afraid we cannot live up to. There are people who are depending on us for everything from emotional support, to keeping a roof over their heads- and sometimes it is just overwhelming. But, Lord, Your word promises us that if we will put you first, You will meet our needs. If we depend on You, You will supply everything for us. If we turn our hearts toward You, and stay diligent and tender toward You, You will lead, guide and direct us along the path You have chosen for us. Help us to live deeply in You, Lord. Help us to seek You, to learn Your word, and to thank You for how You love and care for us. Protect us from the distractions of the world, and lead us into Your will.

In Christ’s precious and Holy name-
Amen.

2 Peter 1:2 and 3...

This is a devotion I wrote for the worship team this week. For some reason, I think God wants me to put it here, as well.

2 Peter 1:2-3 (New Living Translation):

2 May God give you more and more grace and peace as you grow in your knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord.

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.


I have come to associate the term “growing in my faith” with “ challenge”. I used to think that I would grow in my faith when I really began studying the Bible. This was a great first step.. followed by a bunch more baby first steps.

I learned that in service I grew a great deal more.. and that actually applying God’s word encouraged real development of my heart. I learned to expect the feeling of being stretched and pulled as I learned about serving God instead of man, and learning that God calls us to joyful service, not “ Oh, Ok I guess I’ll do it”. God changed my attitude from one who looks for reasons or excuses not to serve, to one who said “ Whatever it takes, God.. whatever it takes.” For reasons unknown to myself, but known , I imagine, to my Father, I ended up being “in ministry”. My real growth had begun. And so had my challenges. Yay!

This brings me to why this verse is special to me. I learned recently that even" good southern women" who earnestly love Jesus and want to serve with all their hearts, can run out of manners. I am a person who is usually quick in the “giving grace” department. By nature. It is something I didn't have to try all that hard to do, mostly. This also means it was an area I tended to slack in when I prayed. Why bother asking God for one more thing when it was already sort of easy? ( Now, this makes me laugh at how obnoxious I really can be sometimes! Time to get really REAL here..)


Long story short, God will bring us to the end of ourselves just to teach us how much we need Him. He used some huge challenges, back to back, layered one on top of the other, with no break.. like waves- to bring me to a point where I was out of gas.. and out of grace. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that while I have limits ( OH boy do I have limits) , God does not. When I feel all used up, He is just getting started!! The more I learn, the less I know.. and He likes it that way because it keeps me seeking Him. As I know Him more, however, I learn to ask for what I need. He promises us grace. He promises us everything we need to live a godly life. He promises MORE and MORE grace and peace, usually as we end up having NONE of that on our own power.

I am thankful tonight for a divine God who knows just what we need , how to give it to us, and how to teach us through challenges - how to call on Him. That is how much He loves us.

The opposite game, God-style..

I just finished reading " Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. If you have not read this book yet.. please please go get it and read it. He is a "deep thinking kinda guy".. and he refuses the idea of a small powerless "boxed up god" that is only a part of our lives when we are doing church stuff- and the way he looks at the things of God will change your perspective for the better. Just get the book and read it!

For some reason, reading his book has set off a cycle of thoughts in my own mind and heart about my God. People ask all the time " why does this happen, or that happen, if God is all that goodness that you talk about".. you know that line of questioning. I never have a good answer for it. I don't understand it myself. I probably never will understand why some things happen here.. especially when bad things happen to babies or children. That doesn't make any sense to me at all.. and I never know what to say when anyone asks me that stuff. Which brings me to thinking of God in terms of opposites, for some reason. I don't know why, it just did. So, what follows are just some random things that have been brewing in my brain for the past few days. My desire is to think on these things and seek answers from His word, and if it spurs you on to something similar, then , that's great ..

1- When I think of and focus on the cross, Christ, and the work He did - when I keep my mind on things "above", why do I feel more grounded and secure ?

2- The more I learn about God, and His ways and His character, the more questions I have and the less I know.

3- When I am weakest, He is strongest.

4- When I come to the end of myself, that is where I seem to always find Him. Why does it have to be like that??


5- The more of "me" there is in something, the less "Him" there is. I have learned to pray " All of You, and none of me" to remind myself that everything IS about Him.

6-Some of the most sorrowful times in my life I look back on with the most joy, because I see how close the situations brought me to Him.

7- The closer I am with Him, and the more I surrender to His will, the free-er I feel.

8- The more I die to myself, the more alive I am in Christ.


This list goes on and on.. but you get the idea.

One of the things that has come to my mind as I sit here typing, is that this list illustrates how God is "ALL THINGS". He came up with the whole thing, the universe, all that is in it, each of us, our minds, how our logic ( as simple as it is) works, the whole thing is His. He is everything, He is both ends ( and all sides) of every spectrum, which is why these things make sense- even when they don't.


I love thinking of God like this.. so many facets and very colorful and all "lit up" .. I love that we serve a non-boring God!

Blessings,
Cheryl