2 Corinthians 4:4
"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
This week I had the pleasure of encountering satan head on. I was decived by a get rich quick skeem. I didn't not fully get into it, I just started looking into it, but with in a week of being strung along and told to wait for the next phone call or email, or step, I would get all my questions answered. The part where I caught on was when I was being asked to pay a big amount of money I did not have. Then once I saw that he steps included pay more money with each step to gradually find out the information needed to make this "work at home business work" I realized I was being tricked. I was very angry at first, I was hurt that someone would be do deceptive and not really lie to me but not give me all the information I needed to make a decision on whether or not this work from home job would be a good fit for me. They kept telling you just enough to get you hooked in and would tell you that you could not have your questions answered until the next phone call. This frustrated me and I kept pray to God to give me a sign on whether or not this was the direction he was wanting me to go to earn some extra cash for our family.
Well the sign was when they kept asking for money, so I ended it right there.
This home buisness was advertised on a christian radio station and I trusted that it would be safe and I would not be decived.
2 Corinthians 11:14-15
"And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as a swervant of rightoueness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
I did not believe at first that I was being devieved because I felt it was safe, christians would not advertise something that was a scam right? Well I believe this buisness was a legitimate business, and you could make money at it really, but the trick was, you needed to spend money to earn money. This was not something that was not given upfront. So I consider this a decpetion. God tells us to be honest with eachother and to always tell the truth, not only half of the truth to convice someone to do something.
I believe that even within the christian world satan uses his powers to devieve and draw us away from God. This is his goal, he does not want us to follow God and he wants to prove to God that he can bring us away. It is up to us to be aware of our surroundings, keep alert, and to daily be with God to keep ourselves guarded from satan's ways.
Ephesians 6:11
"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
1Peter 5:8
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
I owe my ability to see where this instance was going to God, if he had not been with me I don't think I would have been able to see what was going to happen. These people were very convincing and made it all sound very good. But not once did they ever mention God and give him the credit for their success, so it was a not a christian buisness. If I had not been listening to God and been willing to watch for a sign from him. I had been in prayer asking God for that guidance.
So to all of you reading this, be aware, be on guard, arm yourselves with God's word and keep watch for the right and wrong turns in your life.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Laying concerns at God's Feet
Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (NIV)
Making decisions in life is a hard thing. Sometimes we don't always know which direction God wants us to go, and then looking in His Word for the answers is not always going to give us specific direction. What god wants us to do is to lay our concerns about everything in our lives at his feet. That means giving up these concerns and to stop thinking about them, worrying about them, and let go of them. Then and only then will we see specific doors open and direction given to us in God's will for our lives.
This verse above talks about when we give all these things to God we will find his peace, understanding and He will guard our hearts.
As a mother this is sometimes hard for me to do, because when my children are in need, hurting I want to fix it and make it all better. This is the natural mothering instinct in me that I can't help. When they were babies it was easy things to fix or help them with, food, clean clothes, warmth, favorite toy; but as they grow older and turn into the individual person God intended them to be, life gets harder. Lessons and the plans God has for our lives are all part of this. We will not always be able to fix everything for them, all we can do is point them in the direction of God and help them to learn to lean on Him. God is our father in Heaven wants to make it all better for us, but he can't do that until we let go and let him help.
So my lesson for today, or really for this week has been to turn to God and lay my concerns and worries at his feet, and wait on his timing to fix them. :)
Thank you Lord!
Making decisions in life is a hard thing. Sometimes we don't always know which direction God wants us to go, and then looking in His Word for the answers is not always going to give us specific direction. What god wants us to do is to lay our concerns about everything in our lives at his feet. That means giving up these concerns and to stop thinking about them, worrying about them, and let go of them. Then and only then will we see specific doors open and direction given to us in God's will for our lives.
This verse above talks about when we give all these things to God we will find his peace, understanding and He will guard our hearts.
As a mother this is sometimes hard for me to do, because when my children are in need, hurting I want to fix it and make it all better. This is the natural mothering instinct in me that I can't help. When they were babies it was easy things to fix or help them with, food, clean clothes, warmth, favorite toy; but as they grow older and turn into the individual person God intended them to be, life gets harder. Lessons and the plans God has for our lives are all part of this. We will not always be able to fix everything for them, all we can do is point them in the direction of God and help them to learn to lean on Him. God is our father in Heaven wants to make it all better for us, but he can't do that until we let go and let him help.
So my lesson for today, or really for this week has been to turn to God and lay my concerns and worries at his feet, and wait on his timing to fix them. :)
Thank you Lord!
Are you loved?
John 15:12 (New International Version)
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
My daughter is going through some emotional troubles that are pretty normal for 14 year old girls to go through. The toughest part is watching it from the other side, I remember feeling pretty much the same way as she does when I was a teenager; but now seeing her go through it as her mother, its tough.
One of the issues I see her going through is the termoil of having people not treat her in a very loving way. Its not necessarily mean, but its just not loving. She feels as though no one likes or loves her (friends that is), and gets herself all worked up in a fuss that she can't really help getting herself into.
After weeks and months of trying to find ways to help her and solve her problem for her, I have come to the realization that I can't do that. It has to be from God, He has to help her, and He will do it in his timing. One of the hardest lessons for any of us to learn is that not everything we want will happen in our timing or when we want it; but when God intends for it to happen. Patience is not something that is easy when we are in pain and see ourselves as suffering somewhat with the situation we are in.
The verse I chose shows how we should love others as christ has loved us. This is something my daughter is not seeing with some of the people she is having a problem with. I keep telling her I love her, but she is needing it from these so called friends; atleast this is what she thinks in her head.
God has turned me to this verse this evening because I believe we all need to learn that we need to show Gods love, even when we are not seeing it in the areas of our lives we want to see it. We need to choose to show Gods love through all the times in our lives, even when it seems like we absolutely can't. This is how Christ showed his love to those around him, this is what he wants from us.
So through parenting and watching my child go through one of lifes trials that most of us girls have gone through. I am choosing to turn to God for guidance and show his love for me to my daughter and pray that it rubs off on her. I am also doing my best to help her see that she needs God's love most of all and that is who she should be turning too first. To be patient for His timeing in the things she is asking of Him, and to looks at the possitive things she has in her live, instead of the negative.
Thank you Lord for this simple but improtant lesson in life.
"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."
My daughter is going through some emotional troubles that are pretty normal for 14 year old girls to go through. The toughest part is watching it from the other side, I remember feeling pretty much the same way as she does when I was a teenager; but now seeing her go through it as her mother, its tough.
One of the issues I see her going through is the termoil of having people not treat her in a very loving way. Its not necessarily mean, but its just not loving. She feels as though no one likes or loves her (friends that is), and gets herself all worked up in a fuss that she can't really help getting herself into.
After weeks and months of trying to find ways to help her and solve her problem for her, I have come to the realization that I can't do that. It has to be from God, He has to help her, and He will do it in his timing. One of the hardest lessons for any of us to learn is that not everything we want will happen in our timing or when we want it; but when God intends for it to happen. Patience is not something that is easy when we are in pain and see ourselves as suffering somewhat with the situation we are in.
The verse I chose shows how we should love others as christ has loved us. This is something my daughter is not seeing with some of the people she is having a problem with. I keep telling her I love her, but she is needing it from these so called friends; atleast this is what she thinks in her head.
God has turned me to this verse this evening because I believe we all need to learn that we need to show Gods love, even when we are not seeing it in the areas of our lives we want to see it. We need to choose to show Gods love through all the times in our lives, even when it seems like we absolutely can't. This is how Christ showed his love to those around him, this is what he wants from us.
So through parenting and watching my child go through one of lifes trials that most of us girls have gone through. I am choosing to turn to God for guidance and show his love for me to my daughter and pray that it rubs off on her. I am also doing my best to help her see that she needs God's love most of all and that is who she should be turning too first. To be patient for His timeing in the things she is asking of Him, and to looks at the possitive things she has in her live, instead of the negative.
Thank you Lord for this simple but improtant lesson in life.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Giving?!
Matt 6:1-4 (NIV)
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
I witnessed someone tonight act in such a way that just blew me away. They are not saved, so I know they do not have a relationship with Christ, but I did expect that they would behave in such a way that would not go against what these verses talk about. I guess I was proved wrong.
This person was going to out of the goodness of their heart, give some money to an organization to help them out because he felt it would be a good thing to do. I got up to give them an envelope and showed them the box in which to drop it into. On the envelope I wrote donation, and what the donation was for, nothing else. this person said, " NO, I want to give it to so and so to show them I am giving it to them" I tried to point out in a nice way, it would be better to just put in in the envelope marked with what it was for. They said " NO, get away, I am doing it my way........" They got all offended at me and they were angry that I would even interrupt what they were doing and they were threatening to not even give because I was asking them to not bring attention to what they were doing.......
I came home and began to think about this and felt like I needed to reaffirm what God has to say about this issue, I found it! God tells us to not bring attention to what we are doing when we are giving, to just give and let it be a secret, only the Father needs to know what we did, and He does see what we did. He will reward us when we get to heaven. I need to remember when I see this kind of behavior in the world, especially with a person who does not know Christ, that they are not giving to God; they are giving to get the recognition they are giving.
It was also brought to my attention by someone else whom I was talking to about this situation, that the reason this person was so upset was because they felt guilty that they were being called upon something that they knew was wrong and felt bad about it. Unfortunately they decided to take it out on me instead of realize what was right and acknowledge that.
Pray for this person with me that they may be compelled by God to realize their mistakes and come to terms with it with HIM, and maybe even they will come to know our Lord Jesus through this situation.
Thank you Lord for always showing us how to live our lives better for you in your Word.
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."
"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
I witnessed someone tonight act in such a way that just blew me away. They are not saved, so I know they do not have a relationship with Christ, but I did expect that they would behave in such a way that would not go against what these verses talk about. I guess I was proved wrong.
This person was going to out of the goodness of their heart, give some money to an organization to help them out because he felt it would be a good thing to do. I got up to give them an envelope and showed them the box in which to drop it into. On the envelope I wrote donation, and what the donation was for, nothing else. this person said, " NO, I want to give it to so and so to show them I am giving it to them" I tried to point out in a nice way, it would be better to just put in in the envelope marked with what it was for. They said " NO, get away, I am doing it my way........" They got all offended at me and they were angry that I would even interrupt what they were doing and they were threatening to not even give because I was asking them to not bring attention to what they were doing.......
I came home and began to think about this and felt like I needed to reaffirm what God has to say about this issue, I found it! God tells us to not bring attention to what we are doing when we are giving, to just give and let it be a secret, only the Father needs to know what we did, and He does see what we did. He will reward us when we get to heaven. I need to remember when I see this kind of behavior in the world, especially with a person who does not know Christ, that they are not giving to God; they are giving to get the recognition they are giving.
It was also brought to my attention by someone else whom I was talking to about this situation, that the reason this person was so upset was because they felt guilty that they were being called upon something that they knew was wrong and felt bad about it. Unfortunately they decided to take it out on me instead of realize what was right and acknowledge that.
Pray for this person with me that they may be compelled by God to realize their mistakes and come to terms with it with HIM, and maybe even they will come to know our Lord Jesus through this situation.
Thank you Lord for always showing us how to live our lives better for you in your Word.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Bad Attitude!
" Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" Philipians 2:3-5 (NIV).
Today I think I over slept, then I got going on chores, kids and the what not and forgot to eat. By noon, all I had was a small glass of OJ. Then I had a headache....so my attitude was not the best. I got wrapped up in something on the computer and ignored the time. Finally all at once I realized the time was 10min to having to leave to take one child to a class, the other two were fighting and one of them had made the other one cry, loud peircing cries, right next to my beating headache. Then someone was trying to get my attention on the computer about something semi immportant, the cell phone rang, and the child who had a class in 15 min was not dressed. No one had eaten lunch.....So my attitude was really bad and I exploded. I started yelling and screaming at everyone and freaking out. They all started leaving the room and ignoring me because I was acting crazy.
At the end of a day when I have behaved this way I always feel really bad and wish I could take it back. I have never liked yelling at my kids or husband, it is just something that is part of my personality that I have had to spend a lot of time asking God to help me get it under control. Over time with much maturity I have learned to get it under control for the most part, but sometimes things like today happen and I don't realize I am behaving like a lunitic until it is too late.
I could have gotten up earlier and made sure one of the first things I did was eat, so I am not so famished and can care for my family better if I am feeling ok. I could have put off the phone call and text on the computer until I got my boys tantrums under control and delt with them. I could have taken 5 min to myself to get myself calmed down before handling other people's problems....These are all things I know how to do and I do most of the time. Keeping an attitude that is that of Jesus is not as easy as it seems.
I have learned from trial and error that the more time I give to being in his word and taking time to ask God for grace and patience, the better my day goes, and or my ability to handle life's trials are better. I am not as cranky.
So the take home note from today's lesson is to pray, read Gods Word, and take time for yourself or else you will not be able to handle the children's issues properly. This is something most parents do not always do because they want to make sure they are meeting their kids needs. Parents, you can not be the parent God wants to you be without caring for yourself and turning to God for all issues in your life. This will lead to a parent with more patience and love.
Thank you Lord for this gentle reminder today and please help me to remember to turn to you with all of my issues, even the little daily ones.
Today I think I over slept, then I got going on chores, kids and the what not and forgot to eat. By noon, all I had was a small glass of OJ. Then I had a headache....so my attitude was not the best. I got wrapped up in something on the computer and ignored the time. Finally all at once I realized the time was 10min to having to leave to take one child to a class, the other two were fighting and one of them had made the other one cry, loud peircing cries, right next to my beating headache. Then someone was trying to get my attention on the computer about something semi immportant, the cell phone rang, and the child who had a class in 15 min was not dressed. No one had eaten lunch.....So my attitude was really bad and I exploded. I started yelling and screaming at everyone and freaking out. They all started leaving the room and ignoring me because I was acting crazy.
At the end of a day when I have behaved this way I always feel really bad and wish I could take it back. I have never liked yelling at my kids or husband, it is just something that is part of my personality that I have had to spend a lot of time asking God to help me get it under control. Over time with much maturity I have learned to get it under control for the most part, but sometimes things like today happen and I don't realize I am behaving like a lunitic until it is too late.
I could have gotten up earlier and made sure one of the first things I did was eat, so I am not so famished and can care for my family better if I am feeling ok. I could have put off the phone call and text on the computer until I got my boys tantrums under control and delt with them. I could have taken 5 min to myself to get myself calmed down before handling other people's problems....These are all things I know how to do and I do most of the time. Keeping an attitude that is that of Jesus is not as easy as it seems.
I have learned from trial and error that the more time I give to being in his word and taking time to ask God for grace and patience, the better my day goes, and or my ability to handle life's trials are better. I am not as cranky.
So the take home note from today's lesson is to pray, read Gods Word, and take time for yourself or else you will not be able to handle the children's issues properly. This is something most parents do not always do because they want to make sure they are meeting their kids needs. Parents, you can not be the parent God wants to you be without caring for yourself and turning to God for all issues in your life. This will lead to a parent with more patience and love.
Thank you Lord for this gentle reminder today and please help me to remember to turn to you with all of my issues, even the little daily ones.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Learning to Treat others as you want o be treated
Today I had the opportunity to talk with all three of my kids about the saying, "treat others as you want to be treated". This is of course an ongoing battle in this house, but today it was getting to me that it has been continueing for a few days and getting worse. None of the kids were treating eachother kindly, harse words were being used, name calling, and nasty tones.
So I was given the grace and patience to sit them all down, talk with them about how they need to be nice, how much their words were hurting others. Something hit home that one of the kids said, " ..........deserves to be treated that way because they treat me that way". So I took this opportunity to bring up that God tells us in the bible to treat others the way we want to be treated. Love our Neighbors. I had each of my children examine their hearts on whether or not they really felt like their sibling deserved to be treated the way they were treating others.
Leviticus 19:18 (New International Version)" 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
Galatians 5:14 (New International Version) "The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This is a hard concept for us to grasp as humans, we all feel at times the because someone treats us poorly they deserve the same back. What needs to be done is we need to take it to God and ask Him to help us realize the we need to treat everyone with love, no matter the circumstances. We need to ask God to help us to control our feelings when we are feeling really angry or hurt and show the love for those offending us just like God shows us when we offend him.
Thank you Lord for helping me be reminded of this very important lesson in life and giving me the patience to teach this to my children in a calm, Loving manner.
So I was given the grace and patience to sit them all down, talk with them about how they need to be nice, how much their words were hurting others. Something hit home that one of the kids said, " ..........deserves to be treated that way because they treat me that way". So I took this opportunity to bring up that God tells us in the bible to treat others the way we want to be treated. Love our Neighbors. I had each of my children examine their hearts on whether or not they really felt like their sibling deserved to be treated the way they were treating others.
Leviticus 19:18 (New International Version)" 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD."
Galatians 5:14 (New International Version) "The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
This is a hard concept for us to grasp as humans, we all feel at times the because someone treats us poorly they deserve the same back. What needs to be done is we need to take it to God and ask Him to help us realize the we need to treat everyone with love, no matter the circumstances. We need to ask God to help us to control our feelings when we are feeling really angry or hurt and show the love for those offending us just like God shows us when we offend him.
Thank you Lord for helping me be reminded of this very important lesson in life and giving me the patience to teach this to my children in a calm, Loving manner.
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