You Believe It But What Are You Doing About It?

This one is short and sweet. Okay, depending on your mindset maybe not so sweet.

Jesus is coming back soon.

Ya ya ya..I already know that.

No, Jesus is coming back really soon!

Right I got it. What about it?

Are you ready?

Sure I...

STOP!  

Before you answer that question can you just take a moment to quiet yourself, breathe, and think.

Are you ready?

I mean think about it.  Are there areas in your life that just aren't lining up and you've been coasting on the fact that you said a prayer Lord only knows how long ago?

BUT...

...you have yet to stop telling lies (there only little white lies), you serve in the church but your motive has everything to do with yourself and very little to do with God, you rush through prayer like you're doing the dishes, you have a dirty magazine hidden somewhere you think God can't see, when you're angry you cuss like a sailor (only in my mind so that doesn't count), making money is more important than time with God, you're ashamed to share your faith in Jesus,  you're checking out the opposite sex and still have yet to admit it's called lust,...

...need I go on?

Jesus is coming back family and we need to wake up and deal with our hearts.  We need to stop lying to ourselves.  We need to stop lying to God.

How many times have you heard someone ask this question?

If You knew Jesus was coming back what would you do or stop doing?

I believe most of us shrugged off that question and never really took the time to answer it because we don't want to face the fact that the Holy Spirit is dealing with us and we really don't like what He is saying.

I'm at a stage in my walk where I am seriously irritated with Christian challenges.  Such as I challenge you to read your Bible more....I challenge you to tell someone about Jesus today...I challenge...

I'm not going to issue a challenge.

I'm telling you.  Stop and deal with your heart.  One day you and I will be facing Judgement.  If we judge ourselves on this earth we will not be judged for sin in the next life.

Get a pen and paper, set aside some time from your busy schedule, turn off your phone, get quiet, and ask God this question....

Lord, is there anything in my life that will keep me from going to heaven?

Write down whatever He puts on your heart and deal with it quickly.

Make yourself ready.  He's coming soon.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17

Are You Not Entertained?

To T.V. or not to T.V. that is the question!

Or is it?

Entertainment in all it's forms is central to the American modern culture.  While theater, concerts, shopping expeditions used to be only for the rich and idle these things are now for everyone. Even those considered poor are able to find ready cash to entertain themselves.

This country loves those things once considered frivolous.

The church, or at least most of us in the American church, loves them too.

It is time the church takes a good look at itself and puts down the remote, walks past the Red Box, and breaks it's Facebook addiction.  However we need to know why.

Turning off the T.V. without dealing with the why will only create a people puffed up with it's works.

If we unplug the one eyed monster without dealing with the why we will simply turn to some other religious means of distraction which will be as equally displeasing to God and we will be all the worse for our new laws.  Our way of getting to God.

The problem lies in our lovelessness.  Our lack of passion towards God.

If we loved Him, were captivated, entranced, and hungry for Him our time would be spent searching Him out instead of watching the latest movie.

When will we turn and be entertained by God?

Yes...

... ENTERTAINED BY GOD.

The word entertain means to provide amusement but it also means to give attention or consideration to.

WHY do we give so much attention to sports, games, videos and so little to the one who died for us?

If we can answer this question and repent of our lovelessness then we would desire to discipline ourselves to turn away from amusement and give all of our attention, our thoughts, and our desires to God.

It's time we search our hearts,

He's coming soon.

Always Ask Yourself Why

So you want to disciple others for Christ...

...WHY?

Why?  Isn't it obvious?  Jesus commands us to go and make disciples.  It says it right in Matthew 28:19!

He also told us to count the cost.  (Luke 14:28-33)  Have you done that?  Have you counted the cost of discipling another?

People have babies all the time and never once consider the late night feedings, hours of constant screaming, tons of poopy diapers, the financial cost, and the utter lack of FREEDOM.  This my friend is just the beginning of the cost of discipleship.

Just as babies grow up into teenagers and rebel so do disciples.  Children love you one moment and want nothing to do with you the next.  so do disciples.  Children listen to their friends and trample all over your words of wisdom.  Children arrive at a time in life when they think they know it all.  Children are self-centered, hate work, love junk food, and test your patience.  So do disciples.

But just as children eventually arrive at a place in life where they have endured the trials of life, have their own children, and become wise enough to see how much their parents have truly invested emotionally, again financially, and spiritually, so do disciples.

So, my friend, if you have considered all this and you're ready to lay down your life go for it.

In the end it will all be
worth it and you will receive your reward!!

*The pic above is of my 6 lovelies!!!  And yes they are worth it!

Wood, Hay, And Stubble

How much time do you spend building treasure in heaven?



How much time do you spend thinking that one day Jesus Himself will hand to you your eternal reward?



Most people who call themselves Christians give very little thought to their future reward.  They are too busy building earthly treasure to ponder heaven.



Consider this scripture...



Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw.  But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value.  If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.  But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. 1 Cor 3: 13-15



Here on earth there are people who are called investors.  These men and women spend alot of time researching commodities to find out where to best invest their money.  They have financial portfolios, stock market reports, and properties.  We call them wise.



I say we can learn from them.



The Kingdom of God is sound.  Unlike the stock market there is no danger of heaven "crashing".  Yet God's people hesitate to invest.  We hold on to our time, treasure, and talents (even or spouses and children) with greedy or fearful hands and begrudge to give even a little to God.



The Holy Spirit is speaking to anyone who has an ear to hear.  He says in a still, small voice...



INVEST!  Your reward is in my hands.



To those who are listening there is an urgency in that voice, though it be quiet.  Daily He says it, over and over...



PREPARE!



The wise are listening for that voice because He will guide them.  Even as worldly investors hire stock brokers to help them invest well God has provided through His Spirit a broker.  He is speaking to the heavenly investor...



give this, give that, serve, love, help, minister, forgive, preach, share, pray, read, study, draw near, worship, disciple, let go and GO! 



Every step of obedience to His voice is an investment of...



 gold, silver, jewels



A window has opened in time and for the wise this is an opportunity that will culminate in rewards beyond our imagination.  Blessing we can't contain.



But for those who are ignoring that voice all they have to offer God is the...



wood, hay, or straw



of their fearful, self centered, and opinionated lives.



But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. 1Cor 3:12-15

I love God....?

                   

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind...."  Luke 10:27

Can you say effort?

To love God means we must exert some force.  That we push, sweat, tire ourselves out, and be spent in our quest to know Him.

Loving God is anything but  passive.

To love God there must be some sort of fight within you.

You must have a ruthless determination that every word, thought, and deed will honor God.

Loving God is not some casual pursuit but a drive to make everything and everyone second to Him.  If there is anything fighting to be first in your heart....

IDOL

...let that thing be as sin to you.

Loving God needs no qualifiers.  Either you love God or you don't.

If there is anything in my heart that I prefer more than God then I do not love Him.

God wants ALL of us and will settle for nothing less.

It is better to be honest with God and admit we love other things more than Him than to go on pretending.  It is better that when Jesus comes He finds us repenting and fighting to love Him with everything that is in us than to go on offering Him this listless, lackluster thing we call love.

 He will not accept it.

Ask of God and you will receive the grace to love Him as He deserves.   Place Him on the throne of your heart and let their be no more rivals for your affection towards Him.

My Apologies....Again.

So sorry to everyone who makes the time to read these blogs.  Having difficulty posting my blogs yet again.  I appreciate your patience as I work out these technical difficulties.

10,000 Hours....42 Days With Jesus-Listening To His Voice

When I first proposed shutting down the television (or at least minimizing it, social media, and surfing the web) the idea was to free up more time with the Lord.  My husband and I have personally had that.

The first day we cut off the television was very strange.  However breaking the habit of turning it on as soon as we walked in the house or our bedroom did not take as long as I imagined.  After just a few days it was actually nice to have a house that was...

...QUIET.

To hear my own thoughts, my children speaking to me, the sounds of life without the blaring of the TV was  a very welcome change.

What I did not anticipate was being more receptive to God's conviction.

As I have spent more time in the Bible and my thoughts more focused on my God I also find my spiritual ears more open to His voice.  

That still small voice...

I am hearing things that God had been speaking all along but without the distractions it is somehow clearer or maybe I'm just paying attention.

My family loves movies.  We are a creative bunch and movies add fuel to our imagination as we create dramas.  But even as I write that seems like such an insult to God.  Do we need Hollywood to inspire our creativity when the God of all creation is living in us?  Why must I be entertained by the same things that entertain the world?

The word entertain basically means (among other things) to captivate or hold ones attention.  Can I not be entertained by God Himself?  Can He and He alone captivate my attention...my heart?

There is nothing more wonderful than hearing the voice of God.  Than thinking on Him and meditating on His Word.

42 Days out of the year to focus on God.

Is that enough?