OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW

 

 

 

 

It's the start of a new day.  Yesterday is done and over with.  We cannot change anything that happened yesterday, we cannot go back and undo what was done or said.  It's over!  It's finished!  Any regrets we have, we have to deal with.  Any mistakes we made, we have to learn from.  Although yesterday may not seem that very far away, it is.  We can never go there again..  All those plans and ideas we had are gone.  The appointments and the schedule that was never completed, has been permanently deleted, never to be seen again. 

 

We can relive yesterday in our mind, but that will never change the events that happened.  We can check yesterday off our to do list.  We can't go back and we can't change the past.  So many of us live in the past.  Dwelling on things that happened and things that didn't happen.  We sit and ponder every little mistake, every little sin, and every misspoken word.  Why?  We can't press the undo button like we can on our computers.  We can't press delete and start yesterday all over again, yet we wish we could, don't we?

 

Oh I know fully well if I could go back in time I would change so many things I did, so many things I said.  "If I knew then, what I know now, things would have been different."  How many of us have said this line over and over and over again?  I know I have.  I would have been a better wife, a better mother, a better daughter.  There are times I dwell in that thought wishing I could change yesterday.  Do you?

 

The past, yesterday, is something I need to just grab a hold of the good and learn from the bad.  I will never forget yesterday, but I don't need to live there in the past.  So many of us do and that saddens me.  The thing about yesterday is that it was filled with so many life lessons.  If we honestly look at the past, admit our mistakes and learn from them, then yesterday was not as bad as it seems.  If only we could wave a magic wand and make our past sins disappear.

 

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

 

We can't make our sins disappear, but Jesus can.  In fact He does that for me everyday.  Every morning a wake up a new creation.  Yesterday's sins have been wiped away by the blood Jesus shed on the cross for me, and for you.  We cannot change what was done or said, but Jesus wipes the slate clean.  We sit and dwell on yesterday's failings, but Jesus doesn't.  He doesn't see our yesterday.  He sees the possibilities that today brings. 

 

As a believer we need to learn from yesterday, not live there.  As a believer we are challenged to let go of the past and let Jesus be our future.  We need to grab a hold of today with the knowledge we have from yesterday and change our destiny through Jesus Christ. 

 

Listen when I stop and think about it, my past, my yesterday taught me so much more than I ever imagined.  So many sins I have learned from.  So many mistakes that chiseled away at my heart of stone.  So many yesterdays changed me because I allowed Jesus Christ to teach me what I needed to learn from my past.  It wasn't always easy or pretty but the rewards from learning from yesterday made me a better person.  Admitting and learning and allowing are the key points to take away from my yesterday.

 

I am a new creation because of Jesus Christ.  The past is gone.  The slate has been wiped clean.  My debt paid in full.

 

Lord, help us to stop living in the past.  Help to learn to remove the guilt and pain of the past and learn from it.  Create us new each day and help us give you our yesterdays in Jesus name I pray, amen.



SHUT UP DEVIL!

 

 

 

Okay some of you know that I went to St. Louis for the Joyce Meyer Women's Conference  Few weeks ago.  Well let me tell you, every time I go, before I leave and after I get back, I get attacked by the devil.  Now before you start squawking, I'm not talking literally.  I mean I get bombarded with things to do, things to plan or sometimes he hits me right between the eyes with my feelings which tends to overwhelm me.

 

Well this time he didn't deal with my feelings, he hit me with thing to do.  Mind you none of these things were that important, but he made them seem important.  He tempted me with a "got to get this done" mentality that took me away from my plans.  I had plans of starting to do this blog 5 days a week again.  I had plans of diving into reading a few books.  I had plans of making up my own little war room.  I had great plans, but I allowed him to interrupt them.

 

I have been in a battle and I have been losing because of my own stupidity.  I allowed it, I didn't fight it.  Of course I should know that this would happen and plan for it, but I didn't.  My plans were pushed to the way side as other things took over.  How could I allow this to happen?  The sort of funny thing is that I knew this was coming and I could have prevented it.  

 

The devil fills our minds with so many lies, I think we just get used to them.  We ignore them and file them away in some remote part of our brain, hoping they never resurface again.  He will use situations and people to push us and tempt us away from the mission God has for us.  He can be sly as a fox or slithery as a snake.  He can also seem charming, hence forth the reason for this blog.  I can identify him when he is being devious and sneaky, but when he is charming and cunning, I don't often recognize him.   

 

1 Peter 5:7-8  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour

 

WHAT'S THE DEVIL LYING TO YOU ABOUT TODAY? 

 

I heard his lies and I allowed him to distract me.  He has lied to me my entire life, while God has always told me the truth, no matter how painful the truth is to hear.  Everyone is going through something.  Everyone is dealing with something that makes us nervous, scared and even depressed.  BUT GOD!  Repeat after me, BUT GOD!  No matter what lies you have heard from the devil, BUT GOD steps in a saves the day.

 

 Listen I learn something very important after one of these battles, how to fight.  Our words can be very important during a battle and if we don't chose wisely, we can be beaten up and devoured.  Our feelings can overwhelm us and lead us down the wrong path if our eyes are not on God. 

 

Listen Jesus has already defeated the devil, so why are we cowering and hiding.  We need to take up our shield of faith, arm ourselves with the sword of the spirit, put on the helmet of salvation, the shoes of peace and the breastplate of righteousness.  When we arm ourselves for battle the way Jesus taught us, we cannot lose because He has already won!  

 

Lord, only because of what you have done for me can I ever say this, Devil, you are not welcome here any more!  Don't even try to mess with me, I am a child of God! That's right, I'm God's kid and He has my back.  So just shut up!  I am the righteousness of God in Christ.  Adopted, appointed and anointed I am a masterpiece in the hands of the God.  Because of Jesus Christ, you have already lost the battle so get out of here, in Jesus name!

 

TAKE A STAND - STOP SITTING ON THE FENCE

I am taking a stand!  Will you join me?  Now before you answer you need to stop and think about it.  It's very risky!  I'm not talking about protesting anything or raising a fuss about something.  I'm talking about taking a stand for Jesus.  I'm talking about no more lukewarm living!  No more compromise!  I'm talking about being red, hot on fire for Jesus.  

Let me ask you this question, do your friends and family know you are a believer?  Do you pray before you eat in public at a restaurant?  Do you change the way you talk and act because someone you know is not a believer?  Do you live your life on the fence always being careful not to offend others?  

For way too many years I have lived my life on the fence.  Always cautious about not offending someone who believes differently than I do.  Always trying to just get along and not disagree.  I keep my opinions to myself because I don't want to ruffle anyone's tail feathers.  I have tried to chose my words and actions carefully, God forbid I actually say something that may trigger a response.  I have lived a lukewarm life.  I have sat on the fence for way too long.  

What will I take a stand for if not for Jesus?  Why am I so afraid of letting people know that Jesus Christ is my everything?   Why am I so comfortable continuing to live my life lukewarm?  Can you answer any of these questions honestly? 

Revelation 3:16 (NKJV) So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

or

Revelation 3:16 (The Message)  You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. 

I don't know about you but for me the thought of God vomiting me out of His mouth gets my attention.  The very idea that being lukewarm is repulsive to God is life changing for me.  I've heard it before, I read it before but when I was at the Joyce Meyer Women's Conference last week and I saw the Joyce sitting on the fence, that really made me finally connect the dots in my mind and my heart.    It made me question myself.  Where am I going to stand?  What does it take for me to get off the fence?  What does God have to do in order to wake me up and stop this stupid lukewarm living?

God is depending on us to help Him reach the world.  If we're just sitting on the fence living our safe and comfortable lukewarm life, how will anyone know Him?  I had to dive deep into my heart for this one.  I had to realize that for years, oh heck who am I kidding?  My entire life has been spent living on the fence.  Oh I have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, but I was saved just enough that I knew I would not go to hell.  

What comes before God in your life?  TV?  Games?  Sports?  Exercise?  Electronics?  Yourself?Family?  Husband?  Wife?  God should come first!   I don't live this way like I should.  I compromise and end up living on the fence.  I've lived on the fence too long.  I'm tired of living this way.  I do not want to be stagnant or stale any more.  I refuse to live life on the fence always compromising and living life lukewarm.  How about you?

Today I am taking a stand!  Today I want everyone to know that I am in love with Jesus Christ!  He is my first love!  He is my everything!  I am on fire for Jesus Christ!  God comes first in my life!  God was here in the very beginning and He will be here in the end no matter how hard people try to get rid of Him.  I'm taking a stand and getting off my fence. I am going to live my life red hot on fire for Jesus Christ.  No compromise!  No excuses!  No turning back!

Lord, send the fire of your Holy Spirit down on me today and burn away everything that is not of you.  Burn away anything and everything that does not give you glory.  Refine me and remove my lukewarm, mediocre self and fill me with more of you, in Jesus name I pray, amen!

     

STINKIN THINKIN

So what are your thoughts telling you?  How dumb you are?  How ugly you are?  How fat you are?  How angry you are?  How unlovable you are?  How selfish you are?  These are just a few of the thoughts that used to ring through my mind.  Thoughts about who I was always seemed to discourage me.  The words of the past kept coming to surface.  People who didn't like me, people who teased me, people who were trying to be funny, people who trying to get to me, their words stung me.  I allowed their words to define who I was.  NO LONGER!!!

Our thoughts can be dangerous or encouraging and uplifting.  I am sick and tired of dangerous, defeating thoughts that prey on my mind and beat me up.  I don't need a bully to bully me, I'm good at bullying myself.  I know for a fact that I am not alone in this arena.  I hear people constantly belittle themselves.  "I'm nothing"  "I'm a nobody"  "I'm stupid"  I could go on and on about the things our mind tells us and we actually verbalize it.  The sad thing is we actually believe the things we tell ourselves and the things others tell us.  

Our thoughts are the foundation for our victory in life or our defeat.  I for one want my life to be victorious, I am tired of feeling defeated and allowing these thoughts to dictate my life and my mood. Where the mind goes the man will follow, so if we keep having stinkin thinkin, our life will basically stink.  For many years mine did and it was all those thoughts I allowed to rattle around in this mind of mine.  Defeated and depressing thoughts overwhelmed me and drug me down into a pit.  It made me a person who wasn't always fun to be around.   I took things personally and I allowed my thoughts and the thoughts and words of others to define me. 

Yes, others people's words hurt us, our thoughts hurt us, but if we truly believe in Jesus Christ then we can renew our mind and have confidence in who we are through Him.  Renewing our mind is a process that can change how we feel about ourselves and God.  When we grasp the truth of God's word, not just read it but fully grab a hold of His truths, our mind will slowly but surely begin to be renewed.  

Romans 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

I do not believe that God's will for us is to walk around depressed and defeated.  So many christians believe that is being humble.  No that is having wrong thoughts.  Those kind of thoughts are the ones Satan loves for us to have.  If we live depressed and defeated, he knows we can't do much to promote the kingdom of God.  If we walk around with a "woe is me" mentality with our head hanging down and our eyes always full of tears, what kind of a testimony is that?

I know a gentleman who within a few years, battled cancer, lost a son, lost a grandson and the son's favorite dog and just discovered he was battling cancer a second time,  He came into our office 2 weeks after his grandson died.  This man had a smile on his face and his eyes displayed the love of God.  How could he be smiling through all of this?  He had his mind renewed.  He knew that with Christ by his side, he could get through anything, even this.  

Renewing our minds is not an easy process, in fact it can be quite painful.  To have to admit that we have allowed these defeating thoughts to overwhelm us is not easy.  To allow the Holy Spirit to burn off those thoughts that do not match up to what God says about us in the Bible is hard.  To look in the mirror and allow God to change the vision we have of ourselves, is risky.  But oh, the rewarding way we will begin to feel is so worth it.

So today, look up what God says about you in His Word.  Write it down and look at it every single time you begin to feel defeated.

May the truth of who God says you are, sink down into your soul and renew your mind.  May you realize how loved you are by God.  May your mind be renewed by His love, in Jesus name I pray, amen.

A ROCK IS A ROCK IS A ROCK!

I think we'll all agree that a rock is a rock.  Whether it is a boulder like this one in the picture, a rock like the one in front of the boulder or a pebble lying on the side of the boulder, their all rocks, just different sizes.  They are all made of basically the same material.  They can all do damage when thrown and they will weigh us down if we carry them for long.  

I remember going on vacation with my parents, my mom had a rock fetish (she still does).  Everywhere we traveled, whether we had been there before or not, she always asked my dad to pull over so she could pick up a rock.  She lined her flower beds with them and also keep them as mementos.  "That was the time we went to Florida" or "That was when we were at the Grand Canyon."  Growing up I was able to travel a lot with my parents and she collected many, many rocks over the years.

Rocks are one of those things that can be very deceiving.  They can look beautiful on the outside, but you bust them open and they are ugly.  Or they look hideous on the outside, yet you crack them open and they are filled with beauty.  Either way you look at it, rocks are deceiving.  

Think of all the beauty rocks can hide.  Diamonds, gold and silver and other precious gems can be hidden underneath and around rocks.  Mines are full of these and men have sacrificed their lives to remove the rocks in order to find that precious gem.  Miners have risked their lives to find coal so we can heat our homes in the winter.  Men and women has chiseled and hammered and pounded and jack hammered their way through rock in order to find the treasure buried beneath the rocks. 

Rocks weigh us down and make our journey so much harder.  We point at other peoples rocks they are carrying and we judge them because their rock is bigger than ours.  We feel better about ourselves because our rock is much smaller and our load is much lighter than that person over there.  Some of us carry our rocks as trophies, yea it may be heavy but we can carry it, look at how strong we are.  Some of us carry our stones around like a burden, always whining and complaining about it, but never doing anything about it.  Some of us attach our stone to a chain and drag it around by our ankles overcome with anguish because of the prison we are in.  Some of us are so busy judging other peoples rocks that we rarely feel the weight of all the pebbles weighing down our pockets.

John 8:7  And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."

If a rock was sin, how big would your rock be?  Would it be a boulder?  Or maybe just a small pebble?  Let me be brutally honest here.  Whether your sin is big or small, it is still a sin.   Size doesn't matter to God.  Big or small, a sin is a sin is a sin.  And be honest here, we ALL sin!  There is not one righteous man on earth today!  We may think we are sinless but we are fooling ourselves.  

My sin has weighed me down for years.  My attitude of  "I'll do it my way."  and "Nobody"s gonna tell me what to do or how to do it" has propelled me down a path a still fight to this day.  That's just for starters.  I could write a book, hey maybe I will, no never mind.  Anyway I may have never committed one of the top 10, okay maybe I did?  Did I always honor my mom and dad?  No!  Did I always honor the sabbath?  No!  Did I ever use God's name in vain?  Yes!  Okay maybe I did commit some of the top 10 "big" sins, but trust me I am not alone, am I?

Listen we all sin and fall short.   It's not right for us to point our fingers at someone whose rock is bigger than ours.  It's not right for us to judge someone else's sins!  That's God's job, not ours.  Instead maybe we should come along side them and love them just where they are.  After all isn't that what Jesus did?  He didn't point His finger at Mary Magdalene, and He could have because He was without sin.  He was the only one in the group who could have righteously thrown a stone at her for her sin, but He didn't.  He just loved her, right where she was, and that my friends, changer her life. 

So next time we feel propelled to finger point and judge, reach in your pocket and deal with all those little pebbles you have hidden away for years.  

Lord, forgive me for ever judging someone else's sin when my own weighs me down.  Today I chose to point the finger at myself and deal with my own sins.  Forgive me Lord even though I don't deserve it.  Help me to love those whose rocks are bigger and more burdensome, in Jesus name I pray, amen.  

WHERE WERE YOU WHEN THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING?

I remember this day 14 years ago.  I am sure many of you do also.  You remember (as I do) where you were, who you were with and what you were doing when you heard the news.  Shock and awe is a gross understatement.  Devastated is probably a closer description of the emotion many of us felt.  Let's be honest, words cannot describe our feelings at that moment we heard and saw the news reports. 

I stopped dead in my tracks as tears ran down my cheeks.  My heart sank as I saw the towers fall.  I knew that thousands of people were dead.  I knew that policemen and firemen wee in those buildings trying to rescue those still inside.  I knew there were children who would never see their mom or dad again.  I knew there were spouses who would never see their spouse again.  The destruction was enormous and the devastation was obvious.  The face of New York and our country was forever changed.  The ideal that we were safe, vanished.  The reality of this day hit us hard.   Our comfort zone was gone.  For possibly the first time, we realized we were targets.  We let our guard down and  we were attacked by an enemy we had underestimated.  

We could sit here and make a list of every country, every ethnic background, every religion, and every radical group that could have targeted our country.   It would probably be a mile long.  We could list every possible enemy our country could have.  We could point fingers, fight them, wage war or have them dragged into court but the truth is that the true enemy we are fighting is not what we think.

The enemy is real and the enemy isn't a certain country or group of people, the enemy is the devil.  We underestimated him then and we underestimate him now.  He will use anyone or any thing to try to destroy us.  He will use those closest to us and those we don't know.  He is real and he is out for our hearts, our souls and our country.   He is our to steal our joy, kill our faith and destroy our families.  This is not a joke and not to be taken lightly.  So many believers don't even believe there is a devil.  Well let me tell you, there is one.  I have felt his wrath and dealt with his tactics.  Stop denying his existence and get ready to battle.

We have gotten so confused with who we are fighting that we actually begin fighting each other.   And this is what he wants to do!  If we turn against each other, then we will ignore the real enemy.  If we point fingers and judge others, we aren't fighting him.  Listen the devil is out to steal, kill and destroy everything and everyone is his path.  

John 10:10  The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). 

  I love the way the Amplified version of the Bible says this verse.  Jesus Christ came to so that we could have and enjoy our life.  Can you imagine your life overflowing with joy?  Can you imagine your life overflowing with peace?  Why not?  

Listen I am not a preacher by any stretch of the imagination but I know that God wants us to enjoy this life He has given us.  He does not want us to be filled with guilt and despair.  He does not want us to live our life full of anger and hatred.  He does not want us to five feeling unloved and unforgiven.  And I don't think He wants us living under the shadow of the attacks on 9/11.  

I can sit and watch the news reports over and over and over again.  I can watch as thousands lost their lives when the towers fell, or I can look at the new towers built, I can focus on the lives that were saved and pray for those who lost theirs.  I can rejoice that I live in a country where I feel safe and free.  I can learn from the past and enjoy my life as it is now.  I can trust that God will work all things out for the good, even this tragedy 14 years ago.  

I will never forget what happened, but I won't dwell there.  I dwell in the shadow of my Almighty God who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into this world so that I can have and enjoy this life He died to give me.  

Lord, please heal all those broken hearts that are remembering what happened 14 years ago today.  Help us to begin to focus on learning to enjoy this life you gave us.  Give us the wisdom, knowledge and strength to fight the true enemy, in Jesus name I pray, amen. 

WHO AM I? WHO ARE YOU?

For many years growing up I wondered, "who am I?"  Am I the only one who wondered that or did many of you out there think the same question?   This question has rolled around in this mind of mine for most of my entire life.  I knew I was Breeze and Dolores' daughter.  I knew I was Tom and Sue's little sister (yes I was the baby of the family.  That explains a lot doesn't it?)  I knew I was Ted and Hazel's granddaughter along with Arthur and Grace's granddaughter.  Biologically I knew who I was.

As I got a little older I knew I was a catholic girl trying to be and do all that I was expected to do.  Trying to be the good girl who sat still and behaved was something that came natural for me (except I wasn't much for sitting still.)     I giggled a lot, I sang songs in church as loud as I could, in fact my cousin Berdine and I had competitions to see who could sing the loudest.  It didn't matter that I couldn't carry a tune.  Anyway as I grew the confusion about who I am became more real.    

Being teased and bullied in school didn't help my confusion.  In fact it clouded my judgement of myself.  Maybe I am who they say I am?  I'd look in the mirror and see a reflection that I didn't like.  I'd listen to my voice and hear a sound I didn't like.  Maybe if I change the way I look?  Maybe if I change my voice?  Maybe I am supposed to be someone else?  Grade school was not a good place to try to discover who I am.  Neither was high school.  Although that is the place where all my friends discovered who they were going to be.  By the time we graduated they had that question answered.  They were college students.  Me?  No way!  I had no direction or desire to find a career path.  

When I got married I thought now I know who I am, Jerry Barron's wife.  I expected him to show me and tell me who I am.  I expected that changing my name would change who I am, wrong!!!  I was still me and more confused than ever.   So I lived my life searching for an answer to this question who am I?    It wasn't until I heard Robert Schuller speak about me being a child of God that I realized that was the answer to the question I had been searching for all these years.  

1 John 3:1  What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it--we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to. 

You see I never heard this before in the catholic church I attended.  If it was ever talked about I don't remember so it couldn't have been that impactful, but when I heard Robert Schuller talk about being a child of God, it became real to me for the first time.   Maybe because he spoke with so much love in his heart, maybe because when he talked about this, tears were coming from his eyes, maybe I was just ready to hear it.  Whatever the case may be I discovered for the first time who I really am.

I am a child of God.  God loves me!  I could tell you who I am not but I would rather focus on who I am.  Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for me, because I verbally accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, because I stood up in front of 17,000 people and gave my life to Christ,  I am a child of God.  I am loved!  I am forgiven by God!  I am blessed!  I am saved!  I am a masterpiece in the hands of creator of the universe!  

Do you know who you are?  I mean do you really know?  Who you believe in makes you who you are, not what religion you are.  Who you believe in makes you who you are, not your occupation.  Who believe in makes you who you are, not your ethnic or racial background.  So let me ask you again, do you know who you are?  If you can't really answer that, then I ask you to consider what I have talked about here.

Who are you?  Join me in discovering who you are.  

Lord, thank you for showing me the truth about who I am.  Thank you for adopting me as one of your own children.  Help me to share the truth about your unfailing love with everyone I meet.  help me to show others who they can be, in Jesus name I pray, amen