Spiritual Food for Women

How are we Stronger in Weakness?

Part 1

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”         2 Corinthians 12:10

Why do terrible things happen to good people? I’ve heard both Christians and non-Christians ask this question. This is also why so many people leave the faith or in some instances, they choose to stop believing in God altogether. They blame God for the awful thing that happened to them or their loved one. They say things like, “If God loved me, He wouldn’t allow me to suffer like this.” or “what kind of a God would allow the suffering of good people, even little children?”. Another statement that I’ve heard before is, “well if there is a God, why wouldn’t he stop all of this bad stuff from happening?”. And I’ll admit, it is really hard to understand the relationship between God and our suffering. This is why I chose 2 Corinthians 12:10 as a springboard for this post. I believe Paul does the best possible job that anyone could do of explaining why we suffer in 2 Corinthians 12. But I ask you to give this some thought as we go forward, when are we closest to God? When are we the most vulnerable? Are we more likely to turn to God when we are on top of the world or when we are at our lowest point? I heard someone say one time, in regards to Jesus dying on the cross, “What kind of a father would allow his son to go through that? Why did that have to happen for us to be forgiven of our sins? Why can’t God just forgive us if He really loves us?” They just don’t understand why it had to happen. But the main point that these folks are just not acknowledging is this……we don’t have to understand why God chose the plan that He chose for mankind. God doesn’t owe us an explanation as to why He unfolded His plan the way that He has. He’s God. He has every right to decide how He wants things to be. He knows what we need more than we know what we need. And…..what we all have to understand is that God is the creator and we are His creation. His ways and thoughts are far above our ways and thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9) Let’s think of it in simple terms. If I write a script to make a movie, then I am the creator of that script and movie. I have planned out how the movie is sequenced. I have chosen the characters. I have decided how the movie will end. Ok, let’s just say that an editor or producer comes along and changes everything that I worked so hard to create about my movie. That same editor or producer decides that they want to change the ending. Before long, the movie no longer even looks like the script that I wrote. Don’t you think that God feels this way when He looks down from above? He sees people trying to change His script every minute of every day! How dare anyone change God’s script! It was meant to be read and interpreted one way. It is truth. And since it is truth, then it can’t be changed or interpreted to suit everyone’s desires. We are all a part of God’s script as we spend our short time here on earth. Will we follow His script, the Bible, as we go through our lives or will we change the script to suit ourselves? I ask you, what is the alternative other than following the God of the universe? There are really only two choices. There is no middle ground, friends. We either follow God, which means we follow His Word, or we follow the world, and we know who the world belongs to…. Satan. Why would we want to turn away from the one who could end it all at any moment? Let’s dive in and look at this idea of why we are allowed to suffer. Is Satan behind our suffering or is God? Why does Paul say that he takes pleasure in suffering? And how in the world is he stronger in weakness?

So….why was Paul speaking this way about his suffering? What led up to this discussion? Let’s back up to the beginning of 2 Corinthians 12 and see the context of this conversation. In the first six verses of this chapter, Paul is telling the Christians at Corinth about a man being caught up into the third heaven. This third heaven that Paul is speaking of, according to everything I have read, is paradise, which is where God dwells. It turns out that the man who was caught up into the third heaven is Paul himself. Listen to 2 Corinthians 12:5, “Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.” Paul is saying that if it were anyone else besides himself who had this experience, then He would have boasted about that person’s revelation. However, because it was him who had this experience, he would not boast about it. He doesn’t want to exalt himself in any way. He says that if he is going to boast about anything, it would be about his infirmities. I know some may think, “well, he is boasting about the experience now”, but he is absolutely not boasting. 2 Corinthians 12:2 says that this experience of being shown the third heaven happened fourteen years ago. Don’t you think that he would have told someone before now if he had wanted to brag about the experience? And on a side note, let’s think about the self-control that it took for Paul to keep an experience like that to himself for 14 years! He patiently waited until just the right moment in time to disclose that experience to the Christians at Corinth. And even then, he only talked about it to make a point. If I ever had an experience like that. I can 100% tell you that I would have been itching to tell someone about it as quickly as I could! I think we can learn a lot about Paul’s character from how he handled that. Paul never wanted to appear arrogant or portray himself as anyone special just because he was an apostle. He simply wanted the message of Jesus to be spread for God’s glory, not his own. He didn’t want to do anything to take the attention away from Jesus and put it on him. And….he didn’t have to impress people with his experience of going to the third heaven to get their attention! He used the truth of Jesus Christ and salvation to get their attention. Listen to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” I don’t need to explain these words. I can’t paraphrase them any better than the apostle Paul could speak them. The message of Jesus was all that Paul was concerned about, and he didn’t want credit for any of it. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-14, Paul came down hard on the Christians at Corinth for being divided over who to follow, and trying to follow the messenger instead of the message. Then later in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” So let that be a lesson for all of us. It is not the preacher or teacher who gets the glory when a person is baptized. It is God. It is His message of mercy, compassion, hope, love, and salvation that gets the job done. Do we have some talented preachers and teachers? Yes we do! And I am so thankful for men who have the ability to stand before us in pulpits all across the world, and rightly divide the word of God so that we can all understand it more clearly. I am so thankful for my sisters who have the ability to teach ladies bible classes, teach teens and college-age ladies classes, teach babies and young children’s classes, speak at ladies days, do podcasts, write Bible study materials, and list goes on and on and on of things we can do for the Lord. Ladies….we can do so much within our role! But I am certain that any of these men and women will tell you that it is God’s word that is the difference maker in people’s lives, not them. They will tell you that they are only a vessel for the message of Jesus. God wants us to use our talents for His purpose, not for any personal glory. I write this blog because I love to write about God’s word, and I am hopeful that through God’s word my posts will encourage my sisters in Christ in their daily walks, or penetrate someone’s heart who is not a Christian. But that won’t be because of anything that I have done. Because it is God’s word that causes the words to come out of me and onto the paper. It’s His Word that makes me want to write. I have said this before, and I’ll say it again, if it wasn’t for God’s word, I would have nothing to write about. 

Everything in 2 Corinthians 12  leading up to verse 10 is setting the stage for a discussion about suffering. However…..we need to back up to 2 Corinthians 11 to get the big picture of what brought on the discussion of the third heaven, boasting and suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11:5 Paul makes this statement, “For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.” This statement tells us that the Corinthians must have thought that Paul was less of an apostle than the others. He then goes into a pretty lengthy spill about all the suffering and misfortune he had endured since becoming a Christian. (2 Corinthians 11:24-29)  So….was it Paul’s suffering that made the Christians at Corinth think that he was “inferior” to the other apostles? Yes! They were thinking, how could God let this terrible suffering happen to one of His apostles? He must be a weak apostle, right? This leads right into Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul says it’s not so bad to be weak! In weakness, Paul found strength. He was trying to get the Christians at Corinth to understand that it was in their weakest moments when they were actually at their best, because they were leaning fully on God in that moment. What about us? When are we truly at our best? What kind of strength do we desire? 

I am nowhere near finished discussing this verse and the context around it. In part 2, we will dig deeper into the suffering and infirmity of Paul, our suffering today, and God’s part in all of it. We will also attempt to answer the question, does suffering come from God or Satan or both?

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

Our “Walk” 

Part 2- Our Influence

How is our “walk” related to God’s ultimate purpose for our lives? What is our purpose? One of the definitions of walk is to “guide, accompany, or escort someone”. I think about how I used to hold Rhiannon’s or Jordan’s hand when they were first learning to walk. They were babies and they didn’t know how or where to walk. I had to make sure they stayed safe and away from danger as they were learning to walk. As they grew and learned, I had to physically hold their hands less and less, until one day, I didn’t have to physically hold their hands at all. But…..in a way, I still held their hand, not physically, but in spirit. Instead of guiding them physically, I tried my best to help guide them  spiritually through my example and life experience. I certainly have never wanted them to make the same mistakes I have made. I did my best at the time. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t always great. I look back and see things I should have done or not done. But hindsight is always 20/20. I pray that they were guided or “walked” in the right way so that they know which path to take in life. I believe they both know that living the Christian life and staying on the narrow road that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:13-14 is the only path to true satisfaction in this life. It is, after all, the path to eternal life with God. Now they are grown and married with families of their own, however, I am still holding their hands symbolically in my heart. I can still help them and be an example to them in my Christian walk. I am still here for them on their Christian walk at any moment. So….each of us can make an impression on others with our “walk”, whether it be our family, friends, co-workers, or even people we come in contact with by chance, right? My reaction in every situation will show who I am, and who I belong to, right? 

I would like to use Micah 6:8 as my springboard for this lesson. It reads:

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?”

In these verses, God is speaking to His people through the prophet Micah. Through Micah, God is pleading with His people to choose to follow Him and walk in His ways. God is saying, “Haven’t I shown you what I expect of you? Please do it!” God pleaded with His people in the old testament over and over again, but they just kept turning away from Him to follow other gods. He didn’t want them to suffer, but in order to preserve the lineage of His Son, He had to allow them to suffer the consequences when they disobeyed Him. God promised us a Savior and He kept that promise through Jesus. Our Father pleads with us to follow Him today just like He did back then. Micah 6:8 is for us just as much as it was for them. God does not want us to suffer the consequences of what a life on the wide path of destruction will bring us. He wants us to walk down the narrow path that He has “marked out” for us. (Matthew 7:13-14) All He wants is for us to choose Him first and foremost in our lives. If we do this, it will be the best life we could ever live. And why shouldn’t we choose to put God first? Romans 12:1-2 tells us it is our “reasonable service” to walk through our lives as a “living sacrifice” to God. After all, look what He has done for us! We are only here because of Him. We can only have salvation if we walk according to His plan. I believe that Micah 6:8 beautifully explains how we should walk as Christians. I only recently discovered this verse, and I truly love it.

However, to fully understand Micah 6:8, we need to back up to Micah 6:6-7. It reads, 

“With what shall I come before the Lord,

And bow myself before the High God?

Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,

With calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

Ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

Micah is telling the Israelites that God isn’t concerned with how many burnt offerings they sacrifice. God doesn’t want them to sacrifice their firstborn for their transgressions. He isn’t worried about how much oil they bring to the altar. All those religious acts won’t matter one bit if their heart is not right with God. None of it matters if they are not treating others properly. They could bring “thousands of rams” as offerings, but it won’t matter if they are just going through the motions. This should tell us something about our Christian walk. It doesn’t matter how many acts of service we do. It doesn’t matter if we are at church every time the doors are open. It doesn’t matter how much money we give. If our motives within our heart are not right, then none of those things will matter. If all we are doing is trying to gain God’s approval or other people’s approval through acts of merit, then we have missed the mark. I am not saying that we shouldn’t do all the things listed above, because we absolutely should. However…..our motives have to be pure and according to God’s purpose in everything we do. Our God is not a God that has to be appeased. We don’t have to gain His approval. God is not asking us to do things that aren’t possible for us to do. God has simply asked us to obey His Word, and then mirror our lives as much like His Son as is within our power and abilities. Micah 6:8 says that God has shown mankind what is good. He then lists three ways that God required His people to “walk”. He told them “to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly” with their God. He also requires us to “walk” in these same ways today. These things are not impossible. Are they easy all the time? No! They are not easy, but they are certainly not impossible. It takes effort and focus on our part. At that time in history, God had shown the Israelites all these qualities by the way He cared for them. Today, we have Jesus’ example to look at as we walk. Jesus walked in all the ways that Micah 6:8 lists. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16. He calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Let’s look at the salt comparison. Salt brings out the flavor in food. Jesus is the salt in us. He gives us our “flavor” as we walk. Without Him, we are bland, just like our food is bland without salt. If we are in Christ and being faithful to Him, we are salt. Now, let’s look at the light comparison. Jesus is the light of the world. (John 8:12) If we are in Christ, then we are the light of the world. Jesus is that light in us. Without Him, we are darkness. We “flavor” or “light up” the world with all the things listed in Micah 6:8: fairness, love, mercy, compassion, kindness, and humility. In our Christian “walk”, we are to let our light shine before men so that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16) So what does this mean for us as Christians today? It means that it is our responsibility to show others Jesus. Jesus commissioned us to go and make disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. Are we making that our purpose? My toes are seriously hurting right now! Am I purposely and intentionally guiding other people to Jesus? Is my “walk” truly a Christian “walk”? Because it isn’t just about me. It is about my influence on others. 

What does it mean to “do justly” in my daily walk of life? It means I treat people fairly. I should not be a “respecter of persons”. God isn’t, so I shouldn’t be either. (Acts 10:34) I should love all my brothers and sisters in Christ in the same way. I may be closer to some people than others, but I have a love for them all, even those that I don’t know. I don’t treat one person better than another person for any reason. I don’t judge people according to how they look or dress or any other physical appearance. It is a long read, but James 2:1-13 basically explains that we shouldn’t show partiality to certain people for any reason, whether it be how they dress, how much money they make, or their status in life. This is how we “do justly”. I shouldn’t judge people by their past. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 has a long list of sinful practices that those Christians at Corinth had been involved in before they were baptized into Christ to become Christians. (Acts 18:8) But….1 Corinthians 6:11 says, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Someone’s past “walk” doesn’t matter. It only matters how they “walk” in the future. As far as how I am to treat my non-Christian friends, this is critical to my Christian walk. I cannot come across as holier-than-thou. I will turn them off immediately with that attitude. I cannot call someone out or act offended over every little thing they say or do that I don’t agree with. I have to pick my battles. Trust me, if you are living righteously in front of them, they will quickly learn from how you speak, and how you act and react, what kinds of things you are uncomfortable with. The bottom line is that I should treat everyone with respect no matter what walk of life they come from. I don’t degrade someone who doesn’t believe the same way as me. I listen to what they say without interrupting. They may have not been taught the truth yet. I need to be looking for open doors to teach them. If they are willing to tell me what they believe, then that is an open door for me to tell them about Jesus and the gospel. While looking for those open doors, I simply just show them that I belong to Jesus through how I treat them, and when I get the opportunity to talk about the gospel with them, I simply use God’s word to back up everything I believe. “Doing justly” in our Christian walk is understanding that everyone in this world is equally deserving of being taught the gospel of salvation. And everything that I do and say in this regard, is to be done and said with love and kindness. Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 says, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” This brings me to the second thing listed in Micah 6:8. We are “to love mercy”.

What does it mean “to love mercy”? Doesn’t that sound wonderful? It means lovingkindness. It means that I should intentionally show kindness, mercy and compassion to others in my daily walk. Is it hard to show kindness all the time? It’s hard to show kindness when someone has done us wrong, right? But this is what God calls us to do. It will truly show others who are not Christians that we are set apart. Like Jesus said in Luke 6:27-36, we are no different from anyone else if we only show kindness and mercy to people who are our friends. People outside of Christ do that. However…..we are truly set apart when we show kindness and mercy to people that we don’t really like very much, people who are annoying to us, or people who don’t treat us well. We have to remember that there is a precious soul in every person, even the ones we don’t like to be around. God calls us to be kind and merciful. Jesus specifically says in Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.”  Wow. That is a tough one, isn’t it? I have to work on this one. Let me ask this question to end this section. How do we want to be treated? This should sum up how we should treat others. (Matthew 7:12) And finally, the third thing listed in Micah 6:8 is that we are “to walk humbly” with our God. 

What does it look like “to walk humbly” with our God? The dictionary definition of humility is “a modest or low view of one’s own importance”. Biblically, it means we are to put others before ourselves. The world is a “look out for number one” kind of place. Satan wants people to only look out for themselves, and to run over others to get what they want. Satan wants us to have a “win at all costs” attitude. The world wants us to put our desires at the top of our list and do whatever makes us happy. But as Christians, we are called to be set apart in that we put God first, others second, and ourselves last. And actually, this is the only real way to be happy. Doesn’t it make you happy to do something nice for someone else? Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” The phrase “lowliness of mind” in this verse means humility. Verse 3 is also reminding us about our motives for things we do also. We should be purely motivated by love for others in everything we do. We are even called to be concerned about the “interests” of our brothers and sisters in Christ. This means we should be looking out for each other. And we should be interested in each other as brothers and sisters. We should do this for our friends who are not Christians as well. This is how we let our light shine before men. 

Ephesians 2:10 says this, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We were “His workmanship” when we were born as a baby. We were “created in Christ Jesus” when we were born again in baptism for the remission of our sins. At that moment when we came up out of the waters of baptism, we were created “for good works”. God prepared the “good works” for us to “walk in” from the beginning. God knew how He wanted us to walk before He created the world. In John 13:34-35, Jesus spoke these words, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus wants us to show others that we belong to Him. Let’s remember Micah 6:8 in our daily Christian walks, Sisters. Let’s “do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly” with our God, ladies. If we do, we will make an impact far greater than we will ever truly realize. Like the picture at the top of the post says, we will make a difference. Love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

Our “Walk”

Part 1

Have you ever considered the word “walk” and what it truly means? The word walk on the surface is a simple word. It can be one of two parts of speech, a verb or a noun. The verb definition for the word walk is to “move at a regular pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn, never having both feet off the ground at once” or to “guide, accompany, or escort someone on foot”. The noun definition is “an act of traveling or an excursion on foot” or “a route recommended or marked out for recreational walking.” This all sounds pretty cut and dry doesn’t it? But in God’s word, the word “walk” means so much more than just putting one foot in front of the other. It’s much more than a leisurely stroll down an easy path. In our daily lives, we can relate every definition of the word walk that I listed above, to our Christian “walk”. When we put one foot in front of the other and “move at a regular pace” through life, what are we walking towards? Where are we going? Who is walking with us? Also, are we trying “to guide, accompany, or escort” others as they “walk”? Those questions are related to the verb definitions of the word. We are to first “walk” on our own, and then we are to “guide” others along the way as they “walk”. Now, let’s relate the noun definitions of the word “walk” to our Christian walk. Which “walk” or “route” are we taking? Who has “marked out” our walk or “route” for us? And what should our “walk” look like? What types of things should be a part of our “walk” or “excursion” of life? 

So…..sisters in Christ, I ask you as well as myself, what are we walking towards? What will we have when we are finished walking? Are we walking towards earthly treasures or heavenly treasures? Are we walking towards an eternity with God? Jesus says in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  All the earthly things that we enjoy are the treasures on earth that this verse is speaking of. It can be money, things, jobs, activities, hobbies, places, or even people. We have to have God above all of it. He knows where our treasure lies. Okay sisters…let’s try and form a picture in our minds of what our lives should look like. I am a visual learner, therefore I can picture myself walking through life from above. I know what my picture should look like. I should have all the worldly/material things that I enjoy moving around me in an outer circle as I walk through life. But those things should be only a part of my life. They don’t define my life and they don’t guide my life. Is this easy all the time? No, it can be very difficult to keep everything in its proper place. In the center, walking with me is where God, Jesus, His word, and His church should be. God should be slightly in front of me, because I should be letting Him guide me and dictate where I go and what I do through His word. I should be walking in His footsteps. This requires me to walk with trust in my Father in heaven. David wrote in Psalm 143:8, “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to You.”  David is pleading with God to show him the way that he should walk. David knew how dangerous it was to walk away from God and go his own way. Remember the Bathsheba and Uriah incident? Any one of us can get off track if we don’t stay cautious and focused. So….as I walk, the worldly/material things that are a part of my life follow me as I follow God. Those things don’t control me. God controls me through His word. Now, let me remind you, this is just a picture of what my life SHOULD be like all the time. This is the way I want to be. Is this how it really is for me all the time? No, it’s not. I fall daily. I walk in the wrong direction sometimes. I look down and God’s footsteps are not there, because I have left Him. But I can tell you that when I notice myself slipping away, I get myself back where I need to be immediately, which is walking in God’s footsteps. I have spent too much time away from Him and it was miserable. I may stumble and make mistakes, but I won’t be away from Him again. 

What types of things should be circling me as I walk? As I walk, I  must be careful that the things circling me as I walk are not sinful things. If that is the case, then I will automatically be away from God. I have already walked away if I have allowed sin to be a part of my life. I can’t walk with God and have sin in my life. Does this mean that I don’t ever sin? No, I will still sin and fall short, but I don’t stay in it. I don’t walk in it continually. There is a difference between sinning and being in sin. I recognize my mistakes and ask God to forgive me. I let Him speak to me through His word and help me to get back on the right path. Or…I may sin and not realize it, as we all do sometimes. Because I am in Christ, He cleanses me daily of those sins. I can’t, however, willfully continue to walk in sin. 1 John 1:6-7 explains this beautifully, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” We can’t have it both ways. We can’t walk with God and walk in sin. This is a lie from Satan. The world will tell us that we can, but the verses above clearly say that we can’t. Did you know that Satan can fool us into thinking we are following God, but in reality we are following him? Remember, Satan can transform himself into an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)  So let’s be mindful of Satan’s deceitfulness and be on guard with our armor on at all times as we walk. (Ephesians 10-18) Jesus says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to walk in the dark, not knowing the truth. I want to walk with Jesus in truth. In 3 John 1:4, John says through the inspiration of God, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Our Father is joyful when we are walking in truth. Isn’t that our desire? To bring joy to God? Acts 17:30 says that God once “winked at” or overlooked mankind’s ignorance of how to be saved, but now commands everyone to repent. But we can’t just take that one verse out of context and think that repentance is all that is required. We can’t ignore all the other commandments, such as baptism and remaining faithful until death. We know from many other scriptures that baptism is another requirement of salvation. Baptism is how we have our sins forgiven. (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16)  If we don’t know and obey the full truth of the gospel, then we are in darkness and Satan has us fooled. I want to walk with Jesus in the light. Don’t you? And I certainly wouldn’t want to begin walking in truth and then choose to walk back into the darkness of sin! 2 Peter 2:20-21 says, “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them” This is scary, Sisters! 2 Peter 2:22 compares a Christian leaving his/her walk with God and walking back into the darkness of sin, to a dog returning to its vomit or a pig returning to roll in the mud after being washed. Sounds pretty gross, doesn’t it?  I can’t even imagine standing before God on judgment day knowing that I walked away from God and His church. Put yourself in that moment. You had salvation, you walked away from it, and now it is too late to make it right. I can’t stand the thought of that for myself, my loved ones, or anyone else. Stay strong and continue walking with God in the light, Sisters.

Can things in my life that are not sinful in and of themselves cause me to stumble in my walk with God? Yes! Even if something is not sinful, it can become sinful if I put it ahead of God. At this point, it has become an idol. Is it easy to keep everything in its proper place? No, it is difficult at times. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “See then that you walk circumspectly,(cautiously) not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”  The Bible warns us in these verses to be careful as we walk. Satan wants to fool us into thinking that we are all “ok” when in reality we may be far from “ok”. So sisters….be cautious. Satan can subtly lead us into idolatry with worldly activities/things that are not inherently evil. I’m not going to try to name them all, because anything can become an idol. If you just name something, I guarantee you it has the potential to become an idol if we let it. It is perfectly fine for us to enjoy some of the things of this world that God created for us, as long as we keep them in their proper place, which is in that outer circle following us as we follow God. We can let something from our outer circle begin to lead us in place of God. And folks, this can happen gradually over time. You fill in the blank. We may put _______ ahead of church services one time. Then it happens again, and again, until it doesn’t bother us to miss services anymore. By this time, we just show up when it is convenient for us. When that happens, God is then outside my circle and is not leading me any more. And it is not because God left me. It is because I left God. And now, subtly and gradually, I am being led by Satan and the world. Don’t let this happen, Sisters. If something is regularly interfering with worship and Bible study, then it is not worth doing. Just a reminder, some things in life are out of our control and can’t be helped such as personal illness, family members illnesses, or our jobs. In those instances, our Father understands that we didn’t purposefully put something ahead of Him. He knows our hearts and knows where we truly want to be. This may be a stretch to visualize all this, but give it a try. Look at your life. Can you see yourself? Is God truly at the center of your life? Is God a half step in front of you guiding your steps as you walk? Are you in His Word enough for Him to really guide you? Do you consider God before making any decisions about where you walk? I ask you to really think about those questions. Take an honest look at your life. I am certainly taking a good, hard look at myself right now. Now, if we have this picture of ourselves walking through life in our mind, and we have been honest with ourselves, then we should know where we will spend eternity if Jesus were to return right now. Do we all agree that if we have God at the center of our life, leading us in our walk, that we are walking towards an eternity with God in heaven? I want this for all of us. 

So as I end this post, I want to look at the noun definition of walk, “an act of traveling or an excursion on foot” or “a route recommended or marked out for recreational walking.” I recall two “walks” or routes that Jesus spoke of, a narrow one and a wide one. In Matthew 7:13-14, He describes these two “walks”, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Jesus ends His sermon on the mount by giving us a choice. We can choose life or death. We can either walk the easy path, ignore God’s word, and face destruction at the end of it. Or….we can walk the narrow, difficult path to an eternity with God. It’s our choice. And I just want to say to myself and to you, if we are “Christians”, and our walk is easy, we may not truly be on the narrow path. This scares me. Am I on the narrow road? I want the difficult path or “walk”. If I am standing up for Christ and His church the way that I should be, then I will have some difficulties along the way. I will have to resist the temptations that are over on the wide path. You see….that wide path of destruction runs parallel to the narrow path of salvation. I can easily step over into it and get on the wrong path at any time. I may have friends on the wide path who try to pull me over onto it. I may face persecution from people on the wide path, because I won’t come with them. I may even lose friends. If you read the entire sermon on the mount which is Matthew chapters 5 through 7, it all leads up to these verses. I find it interesting that right after He tells us about the two roads, He gives us a warning. Jesus says in Matthew 7:15-17, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” You see….the false prophets/teachers that Jesus is warning us about will be on that wide road of destruction beside us as we walk the narrow road. These false teachers have so many people on the wrong path. Why? Because people listen to them rather than opening their Bibles and listening to God. We are commanded to study. (2 Timothy 2:15) We have to study like the Bereans and make sure what we are being told is the truth. (Acts 17:11) They had the apostle Paul and they were checking up on him!! But they were called “noble-minded” because of this. So as you walk, “beware”, as Jesus said. Check up on your preachers and bible class teachers. Check up on me! Make sure you are being taught the truth.

If we are on that narrow path, then Jesus is our foundation, our rock. We are walking on solid ground with Him. He ends his sermon on the mount with these words in Matthew 24-27, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” There is no solid foundation on the wide path of destruction. The ground can wash out from under us at any moment if we are on that path. I want to be walking on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ. I know you do too. One of the noun definitions of walk is “a route recommended or marked out for recreational walking.” But our route is not for recreational walking. We may have things we enjoy on our walk, but it is intended to be for a purpose, a purpose that requires hard work, not just recreation. A walk or route marked out for recreational walking was marked out by mankind. Our walk or route is marked out by God and it wasn’t meant to be easy. Let’s ask ourselves, is the route or walk we are on marked out by God? I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Love you all. Thank you for reading. 

Next week will be part 2 of “Our Walk” which will deal with our influence on others as we walk.

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”   Psalm 122:1

Are We Glad?

What does it mean to be glad? I’m sure the first word we all think of is happy. Happy and glad are similar as far as the world is concerned. Sometimes we use them interchangeably, such as, “I’m happy that it is sunny today” or “I’m glad it is sunny today.” But gladness in a biblical sense is much deeper than the weather. According to Vine’s Bible Dictionary, gladness is translated as having joy or delight in something. Another translation is exultation or exuberant joy. Gladness is associated with rejoicing. So gladness or joy has a much deeper meaning than just being happy. The words “glad, joy, delight and rejoicing” are all basically the same word or word form. Why do you think David wrote this Psalm? Obviously, the Psalm is meant to uplift God’s people. It is a song of encouragement for God’s people from their earthly king. I can picture the people singing this song as they traveled to worship God in Jerusalem. I feel like David was trying to instill the joy of worship in God’s people. Do we ever have a hard week and not feel like going to worship services or Bible study services? Do you think God’s people felt that way at times back then? I’m sure they did, and they had to travel a long way on foot. They also had to sacrifice animals to atone for their sins, which technically didn’t even take their sins away, only rolled them forward. It was a lot!! It was a much more difficult situation than what we have today. Do you think the people were happy all the time when they were on their way to worship? Was their life perfect? Of course not. Just like our life is not perfect, neither was theirs. We have disappointments, struggles and failures, just as did they. We lose loved ones, just as did they. We deal with sickness, marriage problems, and problems with our children, just as did they. Sudden heartache and tragedy can strike us at any time just as it could back then. But in all these things….. I ask these questions, do we still have something to be glad about? Can we still feel joy even when we are in sorrow? Do we still have something to rejoice in even in the worst of times? Yes! We can rejoice and be glad because of who we belong to! We belong to Christ! Because of this fact, no matter what happens in our life, we will still have that joy ingrained in us. We may not be happy every second of every day, but we can still find joy/gladness in the darkest of times, because we know where we are going when we leave this earth, whether it happens five minutes from now or 50 years from now. Belonging to Christ is our joy. Paul says in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” When does Paul say to rejoice in this verse? He says to rejoice always. I take that to mean in good times and in bad. And believe me, I know that it is hard to imagine rejoicing while suffering. But isn’t that how we get through the suffering? The Bible teaches us that we will have suffering. God has never sugarcoated this life for us. We will not always be happy. If that were the case, then we wouldn’t have Paul’s example shown to us as a person who endured tremendous suffering. I also don’t think Paul would talk about being content in every situation he found himself in, if his life was wonderful all the time. (Philippians 4:11-13)  Paul was even rejoicing by singing praises to God with Silas while they were in prison in Philippi. After the earthquake hit and all the prisoners’ chains were loosed, the jailor was about to commit suicide, because he thought all the prisoners had surely escaped. But Paul stopped the jailor and told him not to harm himself, because they were all still there. All this led to the baptism of the Philippian jailor and his family. Amazing isn’t it? And it all started with a worship service in the prison at midnight!! It also says that all the prisoners were listening to Paul and Silas as they sang. What an example for those prisoners! The seed can certainly be sown anywhere and at any time.  (Acts 16:25-40) So….what is the “house of the Lord” today?

In Psalm 122:1 David says that he was glad to go to the house of the Lord. And what do we mean by “house of the Lord” in today’s sense of the word? Well…..the house of the Lord is the church, and the church is made up of people who have been saved and added by God to the church after following God’s plan for salvation. (Acts 2:37-47) We cannot join a church of our choice. We do not join the Lord’s church. That is not found in the Bible. God adds us to the church after we are baptized. (Acts 2:47)  We may place membership in a certain congregation of the Lord’s church, but that happens after God adds us to the church as a whole. Every congregation of the church of Christ makes up THE church. The church is not the building. The church is  the people who are members. As long as we are worshiping God together according to His will, that is all that matters. We can look directly at the New Testament, and see if the church we are attending is the church found in the New Testament. The pattern of how we are to be saved and how we are to worship God is found in the New Testament. So…..what should my attitude be when I enter the “house of the Lord” or the church?

 Are we glad to go to the house of the Lord each Sunday for worship and Bible study? Each Sunday night? Each Wednesday night? We certainly should be. We should never dread going to church services. But are any of us ever guilty of feeling this way? When we start to feel this way, let’s think of heaven. If we don’t enjoy going to worship now, how will we ever be able to be able to be in heaven someday? We will be worshiping God for eternity in heaven. We will be around His throne worshiping Him continually. (Revelation 15:2-4, Revelation 19:6-7) So if I’m not enjoying worship here on earth, then I definitely need to do some soul-searching to figure out why. At this point, it’s a heart problem and I need to fix it as quickly as I can. And maybe, it is not that we don’t enjoy worship. Maybe, because our lives are so crazy busy that we simply just dread having somewhere else to go. Maybe we don’t dread the service itself, but we just dread having to leave the house to go somewhere, because our lives are go, go, go all the time, every night of the week some weeks! Is this not a little like the seed that fell among thorns in the parable of the sower where the cares of this world choke out the word of God causing the person to become unfruitful? (Matthew 13:22) Only in this case, the busyness of our lives is getting in the way of our commitment to the Lord’s church, and choking out our desire to be at services. If our desire and commitment are choked out by worldly things, can we be fruitful for the Lord the way we are commanded to? Or maybe we are just so tired that we don’t feel up to it. But then I ask myself, do I miss work just because I’m tired? Do I miss my kids’ ball games or other activities just because I’m tired? Folks, I’m not judging. I’ve been guilty many times of missing church services when I could have gone. I am talking to myself right now as much as anyone, and I’m simply giving all of us some food for thought. What about our kids? How does our own faithfulness and attitude about going to “the house of the Lord” for worship and Bible study affect our children? And how does this affect the entire future of the church?

Sisters, I have learned from life experience and observation that if I don’t take being a Christian seriously, then my kids won’t. If I don’t put God and His church as my top priority, then my kids won’t. If worldly activities are more important to me than the services of the Lord’s church, then where do I stand with God and where will my children stand with God someday? Now sisters…… I am not talking about missing services for things that are out of our control, such as personal illness, family illnesses, and at times our secular jobs. I know that sometimes our jobs do keep us from services. But, we can still be there every opportunity that we possibly can, and we can make sure our children are there even when we can’t be there. And…..if we do have to miss services for work, our kids need to see us grieve over having to miss services. They need to know that we didn’t choose to miss, and that we would rather be there with them. Just because our jobs keep us from services sometimes doesn’t mean that we are putting our job ahead of God. Sometimes it can’t be helped. As long as we are not choosing to work shifts that fall during church services, then I believe that God understands our obligations in regards to our jobs. It is about our hearts. He knows where our hearts truly lie. My kids are grown now and I hope that when they were growing up, they saw their dad and I putting God and the Lord’s church as the top priority the majority of the time. I know we made poor decisions sometimes. We were not perfect and still aren’t, as no one is. Looking back, I can pinpoint things that I wish I had done differently with my kids. But I can’t go back. I can only admit my mistakes and try to do better now, and be a good example now and in the future. Do we truly put our church services first? What message are we sending our kids when we are able to go everywhere else, but can’t make it to Wednesday night or Sunday night services? Or Sunday morning worship and Bible class? The future of the Lord’s church and true Christianity depends on whether we make it the top priority in front of our kids right now, starting when they are babies. I ask myself, who will be our preachers of tomorrow? Who will be our elders and deacons of tomorrow? Who will be our Bible class teachers of tomorrow? I ask that you read these words from Deuteronomy 6:4-7 and see how serious God is about our children being taught His word, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” I put my name in place of Israel in those verses. God is talking to each one of us. It is never too early or never too late to start teaching your children about God in your home and taking them to worship and Bible study. Again, food for thought my friends. 

What about our worship? Is it pleasing to God? Are we glad to get to worship our Father? Do we enjoy it? Are we rejoicing because we have the privilege and freedom to worship God? Do we give God our whole heart when we worship Him? It doesn’t do me any good to be at church services every time the doors are open, but have my mind focused on everything except God. Ouch, my toes!! I can’t just have the attitude of “well, I’m here and that’s all that matters”. I’m not punching a clock. I should have a deep desire to be with my spiritual family every time that I can. Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:23-24 these words, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” What does it mean to worship God in spirit? It means that God wants our whole heart/mind when we worship Him. He is actively seeking people who give Him their all in worship. It is literally an “all or nothing” situation. That’s a little scary to me. We can’t have our minds on other things while we are in a worship service or Bible study service. He knows if we are truly focused on Him or not. I shudder at the thought of God seeing my mind wander to things other than Him during worship. It is something we all have to fight against, because our minds are stretched so thin all the time. We are busy people, aren’t we? But when we are too busy to truly worship God in the right spirit, then we need to re-evaluate our priorities. But people worshiping with the right spirit/heart is not all that God is looking for is it? Jesus said he is looking for people who worship in “spirit and truth”. We can’t do one without the other. What does it mean to worship God in truth? Well, first, where do we find truth? We know that truth is only found in God’s word. Psalms 119:160 says, “The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” Let that verse sink in and key in on the words “entirety and forever”. Every word of the Bible is true and it will always be here…..forever. In Jesus’ prayer in John 17:17, he prays to His Father for His disciples and says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” If something that we are doing in our worship to God is not found in God’s word, then we are not worshiping Him in truth. I know that people who are not a part of the church of Christ wonder why we do the things we do and why we don’t do certain things. For example, we don’t use musical instruments, praise teams, or have people singing solos in our worship services. I have gotten asked “why” several times in my life? I try to answer as best I can. We don’t use musical instruments because they were not used in the worship assembly of the first century church. God told us to sing and make melody in their hearts. He also told us to speak to one another as we sing. (Ephesians 5:19) No mention of mechanical instruments, solos or praise teams is found in the New Testament. No one’s talent is to be put on a pedestal above anyone else’s. We don’t want to turn worship into entertainment. This is why the church of Christ does not include any of that in worship. We don’t want to take any chances and assume that God is okay with things that He didn’t specifically tell us to do. I’ve heard the statement, “but God didn’t tell us not to use instruments”. If I tell my students in my class to color with crayons, I shouldn’t have to list all the other things I don’t want them to use. God has told us what to do, so why not just do that? We don’t have to have a list of all the things He doesn’t want us to do. This is food for thought, my friends and spoken with complete love and respect. If you are searching for a church that teaches the truth of God’s word in love, please consider the church of Christ. It is not a name, it is a description. It is the church that belongs to Christ. It is the church that Jesus told Peter he would build in Matthew 16:18. I love knowing that I belong to the original church found in Acts 2. I know that the apostles got their instructions on what to preach during that first gospel sermon in Acts 2 directly from Christ before He ascended back into heaven. Why would I listen to anyone else’s opinion? Acts 1:3 says that Jesus was with the apostles for forty days, “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom (church) of God.” Jesus gave them instructions on how the church was supposed to be organized. He prepared those men for that day of Pentecost for forty days after His resurrection, and then He ascended back to heaven to be with His Father. (Acts 1:9) Nothing about the first century church should have been changed. Why take chances with your eternal soul? Make sure that you are being taught the truth found in the Bible. One of the greatest ways that we can show that we are glad to go to the “house of the Lord”, which is the Lord’s church, is to be content to do things the way that God says for us to do them in His Word. We just need to simply obey God. We don’t need to add anything to our worship to “make it better”. God established His church. He gave us a pattern for worship with examples in the New Testament of the things He wants us to include in worship. Nothing that we add to it or take away from it could ever make it any “better”.  How can man ever improve on what God has established? I know that many who read this may disagree. None of this is said to pass judgment. Judgment is for God and God only. Everything that I write is written with Christian love and the utmost respect for everyone who reads it. I am only giving a simple explanation of why we do what we do in the church of Christ.

So….to end this post, here are some questions for myself to review. Am I truly glad to go to the house of the Lord? Is my attitude right? I can’t dread going to worship. I need to remember that in heaven I will be worshiping continually. If I don’t love to worship here on earth, then how am I going to be in heaven doing it continually? Do I feel joy and rejoice in the fact that I am a member of the Lord’s church in good times and bad? I need to remember how lucky I am to be a member of His church, and find joy in that even in the hardest of times. Am I putting church services as my top priority? I need to remember that a part of putting God as my top priority is putting the services of His church as a top priority. This is so important when we are trying to raise our children to be faithful Christians. The church of tomorrow depends on us as adults in our children’s lives. Do I need to examine my priorities? I know that I need to continually examine my priorities to keep them in the right order or I will drift. And finally, am I a member of the “house of the Lord”, which is the Lord’s church? If you are not a member of the Lord’s church and have questions, please reach out. I’m happy to help in any way that I can. I’ll end this post the same way that I began it with the question, are you glad? Do you have true joy in your life? I hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead!! Thank you for reading!! Love to you all.

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

What is True Freedom?

Galatians 5:1

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.  

When you think of liberty or freedom, what comes to your mind? We celebrate our country’s freedom every year on July 4th and I think it is a wonderful holiday. I am glad to live in a country where we have the freedoms that we have. We enjoy freedom of speech. We have the freedom to vote for our elected officials. It is awesome that we get a say-so in who runs our country and our state, all the way down to who runs our local government. We have the freedom to worship God according to the Bible without fear of persecution or harm. We are very lucky in this country. Juneteenth (June 19th) is another holiday that I believe is important to recognize in this country. I am glad that we are recognizing this holiday as of the last couple of years. It commemorates the ending of the horrible practice of slavery in our country. How we as a country could be a part of something so degrading and dehumanizing is beyond me. We have come a long way in this country as far as basic human rights are concerned. Of course our country is not perfect, however, it is the only country that I would want to live in at this present moment in time. Do I agree with everything our government decides to do? No I don’t. Do I agree with everything the government allows to happen? Absolutely not. But I do not dwell on everything that I don’t agree with. I can only strive to live my life the way that I know God wants me to live, and try to be a positive influence on others along the way. But there is a type of freedom that is above every other type of freedom. I am thankful that I have a type of freedom that goes beyond the worldly freedoms of this life. The freedom that I am most proud of is the freedom that I have in Christ. It is the most important freedom that I have. No matter what happens here on earth, Galatians 5:1 tells me that I am free because I belong to Christ. Let’s dive in and look at the context of this verse. Who was Paul talking to in this verse? What was going on at this time? Why is he writing the letter? How does it apply to us today?

So first….who is Paul talking to in Galatians 5:1 and what is going on at this time? In Galatians 1:2, we read that Paul is writing to the “churches of Galatia”. The churches of Galatia are the ones that Paul established on his first missionary journey: Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Paul and his company endured heated persecution from the Jews in these cities. In Acts 13:49, when Paul was preaching in Antioch of Pisidia, we learn that, “the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.” Acts 13:50  tells us that the Jews did not like the success that Paul was having in their city, so they “stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.” Then, when they moved on to Iconium, they were teaching in the synagogue and “a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.” (Acts 14:1) So, again they were having success!! However, we see in Acts 14:2 that because of their success, “the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.” The city was divided with some standing with the apostles and some standing with the Jews. In Acts 14:5, the Bible says that “a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them.” So Paul and his brethren were chased out of Iconium and went into the cities of Lystra and Derbe where they continued preaching the gospel. (Acts 14:6-7) Let’s not forget that Lystra is where Paul was stoned and left for dead. (Acts 14:19) It is so amazing that Paul and his brethren never backed down in the face of persecution. They just kept preaching the truth without fear of what might happen to them. I ask myself these questions often. If the message of Jesus wasn’t true, why would people risk their life for it? Why would Stephen die for it? (Acts 7)  Does it make sense for people to be so passionate about a message that isn’t 100% true? And how would something that is not 100% true stand the test of time the way that the gospel has? If anyone reading this has doubts, those are just questions to stir your heart. Why take a chance with your eternal soul? The God of the universe is in complete control. The Bible is 100% truth. There is no doubt in my mind. Always keep in mind the verses that, in my opinion, are the hub of the entire Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 

So……why did Paul write a letter to the Galatian churches? In Galatians 1:6-7 we find Paul’s reason for the letter. It reads, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.”  Paul wrote the letter to get the Galatian Christians back on track. They had been influenced by Jewish false teachers who were still trying to keep the law of Moses. The Jews were trying to bind parts of the law of Moses on these new Christians. They were telling them they had to be circumcised in order to be saved. (Acts 15:1) This was the perverting of the gospel that Paul was referring to in Galatians 1:6-7. Paul called it a “different gospel”, however he then clarifies that there is no other gospel when he says, “which is not another”. Paul then went so far as to say in Galatians 1:8, that if anyone preaches another gospel to them, let them be accursed. And…..for good measure he made that statement again in verse 9. These Jews were trying to undermine Paul’s teachings, and they were even trying to discredit Paul’s apostleship. We know this by the way Paul begins the letter in Galatians 1:1. He says, “Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead).” Paul begins the letter by defending his apostleship first and foremost!  Then he defends the gospel a few verses down from this in Galatians 1:11-12 when he says, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I am sure that all this was confusing to the new Galatian Christians. And I’ll bet these false teachers were super convincing just the way that false teachers are in this day and age. But just think about all the persecution that Paul endured when he was preaching and establishing churches in those cities. I can’t even imagine the kind of persecution and pressure that was put on those new Christians in those cities! Were they ready for that pressure? They were babes in Christ! They were vulnerable. They had just come out of pagan religion to become New Testament Christians. And now, they had these people coming to them who were very knowledgeable in the law of Moses, saying that Paul was a fake and everything that he told them was a lie. These new Christians were not grounded in the truth yet, and I am sure these Jews seemed very intelligent and charismatic. I’m sure they appeared to know what they were talking about. Does this sound familiar? Isn’t this going on in our world today? There are some very charismatic men and women spreading false doctrine like wildfire in our country and across the world today. Paul and the apostles preached repentance and baptism in order to be saved. In Romans 6, Paul gives a beautiful explanation of baptism and the essentiality of it. The entire chapter is focused on baptism. He also says in Galatians 3:27 that everyone that is baptized into Christ has put on Christ. He told them in the Galatian letter that if they tried to keep the law of Moses, that they would sever themselves from Christ. So basically they would not be in Christ anymore at that point. He told them that if they kept one part of the law, then they would have to keep all of it. He said that they would  “fall from grace” if they tried to be in Christ and still follow parts of the law of Moses. (Galatians 5:2-6)  In other words, they had to be “all in” for the gospel of Christ. We have to be “all in” for the gospel of Christ as well. Also, the term “fallen from grace” in verse four refutes the idea of the “once saved, always saved” doctrine that many denominations teach today. The parallel between these judaizing false teachers and the false teachers of today is clear. They were distorting the truth of how to be saved back then in somewhat the same way that people distort it today. Isn’t the truth distorted today when false teachers tell people they don’t have to be baptized in order to be saved? That they can just verbally say they want to be saved? In comparison, the Jews during this time in history were trying to bind more on the Galatian Christians by making them adhere to the law of Moses in order to be saved. Whereas false teachers today are telling people just the opposite. They are teaching people that they don’t have to do what the Bible plainly says is required to be saved. In some instances, people are told they don’t have to do anything at all to be saved. Please study for yourself. The scriptures on the steps of salvation, which include baptism, are at the bottom of this post. If you need help understanding, please reach out. I would love to study with you or put you in contact with someone to study with. 

How does Galatians 5:1 apply to us today? So…..when Paul says “do not be entangled again in the yoke of bondage”, what does that mean to me? It means that I don’t need to become a slave to sin again after I become a Christian. Just like the Galatian Christians during the first century, didn’t need to become slaves to the law of Moses again, we can’t become slaves to the world and to sin again, once we have gained our freedom through Christ. We can’t have God and the world. Christ chose us out of the world and out of sin through the gospel. (John 15:19) Why would we want to lose our freedom in Christ and be a slave to sin and worldly desires again? Paul explains the difference in being a slave to sin and a slave to God in Romans 6:20-23. It reads, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” I normally use the New King James Version, but I used the New Living Translation for these verses because I thought it made it easier to understand. When we are a slave to our worldly desires and sin, what are we working toward? What is our end result? Spiritual death and separation from God for eternity is the end result of being a slave to sin. (Isaiah 59:2) When we are baptized into Christ and become a Christian, we are slaves to God. We are slaves to what is good and righteous in God’s eyes. When we are slaves to God, what are we working toward? What is our end result? Eternal life with God and His Son Jesus Christ is our end result when we are slaves to God. And I ask myself, is it really slavery to be a Christian? Do I feel enslaved? NO!! I am free from the sin, the worries, and the cares of this world. It has been a journey for me to feel this freedom and I still struggle some days in certain areas of my life. It certainly does not mean that life is perfect. But…..being a Christian is the closest thing to a perfect life that I can imagine. Have I ever fallen away? Have I had to repent of sin that I let myself fall back into? Have I had to go back before my brothers and sisters in Christ and ask for forgiveness? Have I had to rededicate my life to Christ? Have I had to ask for the prayers of my brothers and sisters in Christ? Have I been on my knees before God begging Him to forgive me and help me? Yes!! To all of the above questions!! It took me quite a while to realize what a special thing I had. I had been raised in the church for my entire life, and I am sorry to say that I took it for granted. I feel like I was just going through the motions of what I had been raised to do. It wasn’t truly my faith. I was still just doing what mom and dad had taught me to do for a while. It was not that I didn’t believe it, but I wasn’t taking responsibility for my own part in it. I am truly thankful for my wonderful parents and my upbringing in the Lord. I would not be where I am today without it. But we all mature at our own pace depending on our own circumstances. I truly believed everything that I was taught, but I didn’t find my own way as a Christian until later in life. I didn’t have my own ministry and mission, which every Christian needs, by the way. Everyone has something to offer the church and the lost. We just have to find our own niche. Anyway, I am fully vested in my own ministry and mission for Christ. I know that I can never do enough, but I’ll never stop trying to do more. I pray that my children have found their own faith in God set apart from us as their parents. I pray they have found their own ministry and mission, their niche. Every Christian, no matter what age, is their own separate branch with their own separate responsibilities on the vine which is Christ’s body, the church. (John 15:1-8) I had to become my own branch separate from my parents’ branches as we all do. This is a big part of the freedom we feel in Christ. We have to come into our own as Christians. We fully give our lives to God, and find our own ministry in the church and mission for the lost. That is when we find true freedom. Your ministry and mission will not be the same as someone else’s. It is yours. And btw, you don’t have to go to another country to be a missionary. I’m so thankful that we have people who can and are willing to do that. That is their niche. But we are all missionaries in our own way by how we live our lives and conduct ourselves in front of the lost. We have a mission field in front of us everywhere we go. People can see Jesus in us if we are letting Him be seen. That is freedom. Showing Jesus through love toward the lost is freedom and it is a mission. Don’t ever diminish your impact as a Christian.

To find true freedom in Christ, I had to fully give my life to Him, to fully trust in Him, and to fully give my struggles and temptations to Him. I had to lay myself at His feet. I can honestly say, I don’t know what took me so long to figure it out. Take my advice, my sisters in Christ, younger and older. Stay strong in Christ. Don’t let yourself fall away. Pick your people that you hang around very carefully. Surround yourself with people who are positive influences on you. Study God’s word every single day. This will help us find our ministry and mission. Being in God’s word gives us confidence. I need to know God’s word if I am going to help someone else to know it. Plus, God cannot heal you if you don’t allow Him to speak to you through His word. Pray to God every single day. Tell Him everything. He is your ultimate best friend. Show Christ’s love to others and you will have a ministry and a mission that will grow as you grow. Being in Christ is the only true and complete freedom. Be your own branch on His vine. (John 15:1-8) You are so important to His kingdom. Now if you are not in Christ at this point, He needs you. He wants you. No matter how you were raised, no matter what your past is, no matter what walk of life you are in. It doesn’t matter to God what you have done in the past. We all have a past. He wants to forgive you and He wants everyone to be saved. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” He wants you to understand the truth and be free in Him. He died for you. You can overcome whatever sin is in your life through Him and be free. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun.” Whatever struggles with sin you have today are the same struggles that people had in the past all the way back to Biblical times. Let Jesus’ blood wash you clean so that you can be free. And please…..don’t let anyone tell you that the truth is whatever you want it to be and that truth is subjective. The truth is not subjective. Subjective means that the information is based on someone’s opinions, feelings or emotions. The truth is objective. Objective means that the information is based on facts and evidence. The Bible is 100% the truth, because every word of it is from God, and God who created all things is the only one who has the authority to determine truth. Men do not have that authority and neither do we through our opinions, feelings, and emotions. We will have to change and we will more than likely have some bad habits to break. It will not be easy and we may fall and get back up several times. I certainly did.  We all do. We may have some things that we have to deny ourselves of. The Bible says that we have to deny ungodliness (sin) and worldly lusts (sin) in order to have hope in Christ. (Titus 2:11-14)  Unless we change we cannot be in Christ. But won’t the change be soooo worth it? To be with God and His Son Jesus Christ in heaven someday? To be free from all the sin, worry and cares of the world? I don’t know about you, but that is my ultimate goal, for myself and everyone else as well. Like I always remind everyone, we won’t be perfect!! It is not about being perfect. It is about our effort to be Christ-like and live according to His purpose. I want everyone to feel the freedom found in Christ. Remember Jesus’ words in John 8:31-32, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Let Christ free you. Love to all of you. Thank you so much for reading. Have a wonderful week ahead!! 

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

More Than Conquerors

Part 2- But how do I overcome discouragement?

In my last post, we focused on discouragement. We said that discouragement is not from God. It is from Satan. It is one of his most subtle tools that he uses to gain control over our lives. We looked at what discouragement can do to us as Christians. If we allow discouragement to grow, it can take us away from God. We talked about some things that cause us to get discouraged in this life. So….how do I overcome discouragement? If I am “more than a conqueror”, then how do I conquer discouragement?

First of all, let’s define discouragement in everyday terms. It is the feeling we allow ourselves to get when life isn’t going our way. Maybe our prayers have not been answered the way we wanted them to be answered. Maybe we keep having setbacks in different areas of our lives. So basically, discouragement is actually about ourselves and our unfulfilled lives. One definition says that it is a loss of enthusiasm for something. But what causes us to lose our enthusiasm? Well….just like I said above, when things don’t go our way in a certain area of our life, we lose our zeal and enthusiasm for that area of our life. But when our spiritual life is the area where we are losing our zeal and enthusiasm, then we have to address it before we spiral. So what are some ways to overcome discouragement in our Christian walks?

To begin with, I want to ask myself this question. Am I being honest and real? I believe we all need to be honest and real about our struggles and weaknesses. We don’t need to continue to pretend like everything is wonderful when we are really torn to pieces inside. That will not help us. It will cause more discouragement. We have a church family who will embrace us if we open up and let them. Ask for the prayers of your congregation if you feel you are simply just hanging on by a thread. Or maybe you need to talk one-on-one with a sister in Christ about how you are feeling. This is where we need to be available for each other, ladies. We are all human and we need encouragement from each other, and sometimes we need to voice our disappointments and our feelings of discouragement to someone else. Who knows? They may be feeling the same way you do. Maybe together you can lift one another up. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” We are all in this Christian race together. Let’s help each other along the way. And let’s not forget that sometimes in our weak moments, we may be able to help someone else just as much as they helped us. So be honest and be real. 

Next question for myself is, who am I focused on? When I am discouraged, where is my focus? It is 100% on myself. I am feeling sorry for myself. The Christian life is not all about me and what I want. It is about serving God and serving others to the best of my ability at any given moment. I have to remember my “why” for being a Christian. In a secular example, sometimes I have gotten discouraged in my career as a teacher. Things were just not going well in my classroom. The kids seemed disinterested no matter what I did. They were not progressing no matter what I did. I felt like a failure. And of course, I would go home discouraged. But….then I would remember my “why”. Why am I a teacher? Is it about me and how I feel? No! I am a teacher, because I love children and I love to see them become successful. I love to see the lightbulb come on when they finally catch on to something. My “why” for being a teacher is about helping children. When I redefined my “why”, I suddenly began to get new ideas just popping into my head of how I could engage them again. It is the same thing in our Christian walk. Why are we Christians? What is my “why”? Well look at Ephesians 2:10 and we see our “why”. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” We are here to do good works for others. And a part of the good work that we are here to do is to tell people about the gospel. It is not all about us. I mean, of course we want to go to heaven. We follow God because we want to be with Him for eternity. But getting discouraged will not get us closer to Him. It will inch us further from Him. Let’s turn our attention to helping others as best we can in whatever situation we are in. Let’s all remember Philippians 2:3-4, “ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” I need to focus on others rather than myself. Then I may not have time to get discouraged. I have my Christian family to encourage and build up, plus I have people in my life all around me who are not Christians who need the gospel. Discouragement? Nope, no time for it.

Another question for myself, can my pain and suffering help others? This sort of goes along with the paragraph above about focusing on others. If I am having problems in some way, maybe I should use those problems for the good of someone else. Maybe my pain and suffering can encourage someone else and help them make it through their struggles. This should keep me from letting my problems distract and discourage me. I need to know that I am not alone in my struggles and I don’t want others to be alone either. Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:8-10, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” He told the Christians at Corinth what a struggle he and his entourage were having, but not in a discouraging way. He said, yes we have it rough, but we are not giving up! He said, we are not in despair, meaning we are not discouraged! He told them all of this to lift them up and to encourage them to keep the faith. Then in verse 15 of this same chapter Paul tells them why they endure what they endure. “For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:15) He says, we are doing all of this for you, Christians at Corinth! And then he says some of the most encouraging words to those Christians in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Wow! Let’s not forget that these words are for us today, just as much as they were for the Christians at Corinth back then. I have told you all before that I love to make Bible verses personal for me. If I were to put my name into those verses to make them personal for me and talk myself through it, I would say, “Don’t be discouraged Greta. Your outward body and appearance is fading, but your inward spirit is being renewed every day. And you know that your problems here on earth are really not that bad, because they will end someday. Greta, don’t look at the things that are temporary here on earth. Don’t focus on all the bad things going on in the world, and all the problems in your life. Those are temporary. Focus on the eternal life that you will have with God someday. Think about all the people whose problems won’t end after this life. Think about all the people who won’t have eternal life. Focus on them and help them. This is what God told you to do, Greta Hoover!” This is how I get myself out of feeling sorry for myself. This is how I combat discouragement. So please, spend time in God’s word and in prayer. Make the scriptures come to life for you. Talk or pray through them. Make them become personal for you. This really helps me. Maybe it could help you as well.

So, let’s review! We need to be real and honest about our feelings, struggles, and problems. We don’t need to hide them and push them down inside. We need to turn to our church family for help. We need to remember our “why” for being a Christian. What should be our focus? Remember, it is not all about us. We are here to help and support others. Focusing on others will help us stop focusing on ourselves and our troubles. And…our struggles may help someone else to not feel alone. If we talk about our feelings and struggles with others in a positive way, it may lift them up and help them to be able to keep moving forward through their pain and suffering. Renew your mind with God’s word and with prayer. Use the Bible to talk yourself through your problems and struggles in whatever way works for you. Pray to God. Talk to Him like you would a friend. And…..always remember the reward that you have coming when this life is over. Stay focused on the fact that you will be with God for eternity. Keep that in the forefront of your mind at all times. 

And last, rest and relax when you need to. Do what you can do for the cause of Christ and then relax. Do I mean relax and do nothing? No! However, we have to rest our minds and God knows this. Give yourself time to rest in Christ. I think of Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” We can rest in the fact that God is in control no matter what we are having to go through on this earth. Believe it or not, I struggle with this one. I am always feeling like I’m not doing enough and I don’t allow myself to relax and rest. I need to relax and know that God is pleased with me. So do you. If you are doing all you can do for Christ, within your limitations, then let yourself rest and relax. It’s all good. We all have individual limitations, and God knows what each of us can do and can’t do. Know your limitations, work for the cause of Christ, and then give yourself time to rest. God is preparing heaven for us. 

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30  “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus would not have told us to rest in these verses if He didn’t mean it. He knows that we need to rest and relax sometimes. But notice, Jesus is addressing those who “labor”, which means those who work hard for His kingdom. He expects us to be busy and active in His church and for His church. However, He also knows our limitations and knows that we have to rest and relax in Him. We have to have balance in our lives.  Doesn’t reading those verses spoken by Jesus relax you?

I hope this helps you if you are struggling with discouragement. Life is tough sometimes but we are so lucky to be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

Have a wonderful week! Thank you for reading! Love you all!

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

We Are More Than Conquerors!!

Part 1- Don’t Get Discouraged

I ask myself all the time, “why do I let myself get discouraged?” Why do I let Satan have that foothold in my life? Because that is exactly what discouragement is…… it is a foothold for Satan. When I let myself get discouraged for some reason, I am giving the evil one a certain amount of control in my life. And…if I don’t get rid of it, it will continue to grow until it has completely taken over my life. Discouragement does not come from God. It comes directly from Satan himself. It is one of his most subtle tools to gradually gain control over our lives. God is constantly reminding us throughout His word that He is here for us, that we don’t have to worry, and that He loves us. He has promised us as Christians that we will have eternity with Him if we are following Him and putting Him first. Revelation 2:10 tells us, “Be faithful unto death and you will receive the crown of life.” Why should I feel discouraged when I belong to Christ? That is the question. But the bottom line is that we all do feel this way sometimes, because we are human. It is in how we deal with those feelings that is the key. When I allow myself to get discouraged for whatever reason, some serious things start to happen at that moment. First, I don’t pray enough and when I do pray, I don’t have the right attitude. Second, I don’t let God speak to me through His word. I am wallowing in self-pity so much that I am using other measures to try to forget my troubles, other than turning to God’s word. Before I know it, I’m watching TV shows or movies to take my mind off my discouraging thoughts instead of opening my Bible. But guess what? The discouragement is still there when the movie is over. I may go get some comfort food that I know I am not supposed to have because of health issues that I have. But guess what? That makes me even more discouraged. This is the point where I come to my senses and get myself on the right track, and say, “Wake up Greta! You are more than a conqueror! (Romans 8:37) Get it together!” But imagine if I didn’t get on track. Imagine if I just let it keep growing. What if I missed a service at church? Or two? Or more? What if I drifted completely away? It can happen friends. Discouragement can snowball and grow into depression, confusion, blaming others, blaming God, searching for answers in places other than God, anger towards God and others, and the list goes on. For a really long time, I did not turn to God the way that I needed to. I turned to anything, but Him, I’m ashamed to say. I went through the motions and pretended that I was ok….when I really wasn’t. I am so thankful that I came out of that turbulent period in my life that I was in for so long, and let Him heal me through His word. Do I still get discouraged? Yes, but I will not let it gain a foothold. I resist those feelings. Sometimes I even verbally tell Satan to get away from me and get out of my head. For me, that helps. The devil is really just a coward. James 4:7 says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” That verse tells me that he is a coward and if I just resist him, he will run from me. If I resist those feelings of discouragement and use God’s word to combat them, then Satan will literally run from me! Wow! The power of God’s word is amazing! I am nothing without God. Because of His love for me through His Son, I am more than a conqueror and so are you, my sisters in Christ!! (Romans 8:37)

What causes discouragement? It can be so many things. Poor health or physical and mental exhaustion can cause discouragement. Being overwhelmed with life and all that you have to do can cause discouragement. Failure in any kind of situation can certainly cause discouragement. All three of these are valid reasons to get down on yourself and down on life. The apostle Paul had all of these situations in his life, but he was able to stay positive because of his faith in God, his love for his fellow man, and his love of the truth. Just imagine how exhausted Paul had to be from everything he went through. And we know that he had some kind of health problem that we are told about in Galatians 4:13. But, he didn’t let any of that stop him from his mission to preach the gospel. Imagine how crazy his life was as he traveled around everywhere preaching the gospel, all the while trying to make enough of a living to survive by being a tentmaker. Did Paul experience failure? Absolutely he did! He experienced failure every time he went into a city and people rejected the message of Christ, every time he was thrown in prison, and every time he was persecuted for the cause of Christ. But there is one cause of discouragement that I feel is tougher to handle than all of the above three and that is fear: fear of not being able to accomplish some big goal we have in front of us, fear of disappointing our families and friends in some way and most of all fear of what other people think of us. Fear comes from a lack of trust in God. If we are fearful of not accomplishing a goal here on earth, then we are not completely giving that goal to God. Put your goals at God’s feet, work your hardest to accomplish them while still putting God first, and then accept His will for the situation. We have to trust that if we have tried our best and it doesn’t work out, then it probably isn’t meant to be. It simply isn’t God’s will for us. He knows best. Just remember that a lack of trust in God leads to fear, and fear leads to discouragement and then discouragement grows into bitterness, anger, and so many more negative emotions that can lead us away from God. At that point, Satan has his grip on us. 

Do we sometimes worry more about what other people think of us than about what God thinks of us? We become people pleasers instead of God pleasers. How does this cause discouragement? It is because it is impossible to please everyone in our lives. We are actually trying to please both people and God. That is impossible. Let’s pause for a moment and remember Peter’s statement in Acts 5 when the Jewish council had told the apostles not to preach about Jesus anymore. Peter simply stated in Acts 5:29, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” And what happened after he made that statement to the council? They were furious and plotted to kill them. (Acts 5:33) We don’t have that kind of threat to our lives today, but we are persecuted in other ways for what we believe. We are called haters and bigots by the world. We are ridiculed by the world. The world tries to convince us that we are the problem. The world is truly brainwashed by Satan. It is so sad. But we cannot let the world discourage us and cause us to be afraid. Discouragement can literally paralyze us as Christians and cause us to be useless in God’s kingdom. I never want to be paralyzed and useless again for as long as I live. So…….if we are speaking the truth in love about Christ and His message, we certainly aren’t going to be able to please everyone, because there are so many who just don’t want to hear it. The pure, real truth is not popular. But Christianity is not a popularity contest. Jesus didn’t go find the popular people to be His followers. I still shudder to think about how much I used to worry about what others thought of me. I’ll admit that I was afraid to speak up for the truth. In the beginning, I was hesitant about putting my writing out there for fear of what friends in denominations or friends who do not go to church would think of me. It was so discouraging to be afraid. It was literally tearing me apart inside. I knew it wasn’t pleasing God for me to be afraid and that was so discouraging to me. I had to decide who I was going to please. I was at a crossroads in my life. So I resisted the fear. And now, that fear is gone and I feel free. Does fear try to come back on me sometimes? Yes, but I resist it again and again. And it gets easier every time I resist it. I promise all of you one thing. The more that you resist Satan’s ploy to use fear to discourage you from standing up for Christ and for the truth, the easier it will get. Don’t you like the idea of Satan running from you? I sure do! 

Let’s go back to Revelation 2:10. I quoted the end of this verse earlier in this post. But let’s look at the whole verse. Our Lord Himself says, “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Now Jesus is talking to people who were being persecuted at that time in history, however He is also speaking to us and telling us not to be afraid as well. Think about how easy it would have been for people at that time to become discouraged with all the persecution they were facing day in and day out. It is easy for us to become discouraged as well, because it seems as though the world is against us. But Jesus made a promise to those Christians back then and to us today. He will keep that promise. Jesus made the same promise in Matthew 5:11-12 in the sermon on the mount when He said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Through these words, Jesus is encouraging us not to let the world’s evil words against us cause us to become discouraged. He says for us to rejoice because we will have a great reward coming if we run the Christian race with endurance. (Hebrews 12:1) Jesus is telling His apostles and followers that they persecuted the prophets, therefore they will persecute you. We can look at it from our perspective today. They persecuted the apostles and Christians of the first century, and they will persecute us today. The persecution of today may not be in the same form as it was in the first century, but it is here and it is all around us. Jesus said the world would hate us, but not to worry because it hated Him first. (John 15:18) Jesus chose us out of the world, and this is why the world hates us. But isn’t that encouraging to us? To know that Jesus chose us out of the world? (John 15:19) Jesus also said in John 15:20, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” I ask myself, am I willing to be persecuted for Jesus sake? I certainly don’t want to persecute my Savior any more by being afraid to stand up for Him. I don’t want to crucify Him all over again by letting the world (Satan) cause discouragement in me. I don’t want discouragement to stifle my influence for Christ. It is a fight, my friends, for all of us. It is a fight to keep our heads up, and put on a smile some days. It is a fight to not let the world discourage us and keep us from our purpose on this earth. It is a fight not to become bitter towards the world. But remember Jesus’ words on the cross, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) He wasn’t bitter toward them. He begged His Father to forgive them. What an amazing God and Savior we have! And He has given us His Word so that we can know how to live, how to be saved, and how to help others be saved! Absolute perfection! We can’t let ourselves get discouraged and become bitter. We just have to remember that the world doesn’t know what we know. Godly sorrow is all we should feel for the world. That godly sorrow towards the lost will help us continue to live according to His Word and work toward fulfilling His purpose for us. 2 Timothy 4:7 assures us that, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Let that verse truly sink in my friends. Let’s never forget, my sisters in Christ, that “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) 

Use these verses to help you overcome discouragement in your life. Pray through them. Write them down and keep them with you. We can do it, Sisters! God would not tell us in His Word that we are “more than conquerors” if He didn’t mean it! He believes in us! Let’s believe in ourselves and each other! I plan to write part two on this subject and focus on what makes us “More Than Conquerors” and ways we can combat and overcome discouragement. Thank you for reading! Love you all!

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references. If you need help in understanding, please reach out.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

Verses Out of Context

Part 3-  Philippians 4:13         Don’t Make This Verse Worldly

One of the most quoted verses in America is Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I’ve noticed that athletes really love to use this verse in hopes of winning the big game or overcoming an injury so that they can play the sport that they love again. I’ll admit that I used to be one of those people who misused this verse. I didn’t understand its true meaning. It is easy to get caught up in the feeling that this verse gives you and take it out of context. And don’t get me wrong, I do love this verse because it just exudes confidence in our Savior. However, it is severely taken out of context most of the time. It is used in a way as if to say that because I’m a “Christian”, Christ will strengthen me so I can be successful in sports, in school, in my career, in my finances or in anything I want to do in this world. But success in worldly things was not the apostle Paul’s focus in this verse, not even close. That way of thinking has a prosperity gospel type of vibe. If that is the case, that would mean that God is a respecter of persons and we know that he is not. (Romans 2:11) Let’s put this verse in context so that we can get a true understanding of it. 

Paul wrote the letter to the church at Philippi while he was in prison. (Philippians 1:7) Philippians 4:22 tells us where he was in prison with this statement, “All the saints salute you, especially those who are of Caesar’s household.” This tells us not only that he is in prison in Rome, but that there were some of Caesar’s household who had obeyed the gospel and become Christians. That makes me wonder…… was Paul responsible for their conversion while he was in prison? It’s a valid possibility that he was. It is amazing to me that Paul was trying to help the very people who had imprisoned him for two years. He wanted his captors to go to heaven someday. And do you remember, in Acts 16, when Paul and Silas were thrown in prison in Philippi and the Philippian jailor was going to kill himself when the earthquake loosened all the prisoners’ chains? But what did Paul do? He stopped the jailor from harming himself and preached the gospel to him and he and his family were baptized. (Acts 16:30ff) What an example of love for the lost! I have to ask myself, do I love the lost the way that Paul did? Or better yet, do I love them the way Jesus did? 

So….. in thinking about Paul and his amazing statement in Philippians 1:21 of “to live is Christ and to die is gain”, why would Philippians 4:13 have anything to do with a ballgame, a big test, a job interview, or any other worldly ambition? The theme of the entire letter of Philippians is about getting to heaven ourselves and then helping others get to heaven. So if our ultimate goal is to get to heaven and help others to get there, then Philippians 4:13 takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it? The worldly things that we try to attach to that verse pale in comparison with heaven. In Philippians 3:14 Paul says, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.” And then he tells the Christians at Philippi to be “mature” and have this same mindset in verse 15. We see where Paul’s focus lies and where he wants his readers’ focus to lie. The focus is to be spiritual, not worldly.

On a side note, you would think by the way the world looks at Philippians 4:13, that it is the only verse that really matters in this chapter, maybe even in the entire Philippian letter, maybe even the entire Bible for some people. The t-shirts, coffee mugs, tattoos, wall hangings, and many other decorations with this verse stamped on them have made a lot of people a lot of money. Am I saying that it is wrong to wear a shirt that has this verse? No, I’m not. Of course not. But we need to know what it means and we need to make sure that we aren’t just wearing a shirt with a Bible verse on it just to be trendy. If I wear a shirt like this and rarely open my Bible to study and never learn the truth of the gospel, what good does the verse on my shirt do me? Is my shirt or my tattoo or my mug with a Bible verse on it going to get me to heaven? This is the problem that I have with verses out of context. Just food for thought, friends. I’m not at all condemning anyone for having t-shirts, tattoos, mugs or anything else with God’s word on them, as long as they are understanding the context and studying the Bible to learn God’s entire message of salvation.

So what are the verses that set up Philippians 4:13? First, in Philippians 4:6-7, Paul encourages the Christians not to worry or be anxious about anything, and to continue in prayer with thanksgiving to God. He says that if they do this, then “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard their hearts and minds through Jesus Christ”. I find those verses to be some of my go-to verses when I am feeling worried, anxious or overwhelmed. In Philippians 4:8-9, Paul tells the Christians at Philippi what they should focus their hearts and minds on, which is everything noble, just, pure, lovely and of a good report. Paul also tells them to continue to do the things that he taught them to do. This is another warning to be on the lookout for false teachers who would try to teach them something different from what Paul had taught them. Let’s not forget what Paul said twice in Galatians 1:8-9. He said that anyone, even an angel from heaven or Paul himself, who tries to teach another gospel other than the one they had preached to them, let him be accursed. Paul warned about false teachers often in his letters to the churches. So… in these two verses he is reminding them first to keep their thoughts pure and second, to keep to what he has told them to do. I remember in 2 Corinthians 10:5-6, Paul tells the Christians at Corinth to “cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and be ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” We have to take our thoughts captive and keep them pure. Our thoughts can take us away from God or lead us closer to God. This is why Paul, by the inspiration of God, tells us to keep our thoughts pure. Anything that we watch, read or listen to that puts impure, destructive or negative thoughts into our minds is not helping us keep our thoughts pure and lovely. Personally, I know that I need to take an inventory of what I see, hear and think about often. Even the nightly news can cause us to worry and be discouraged. Satan will use anything he can to pull us away from God.  He wants us to doubt God and His word. But, if we are in Christ and being faithful to Him, then we will have that peace that passes understanding. Because of this, we can capture any thought that shouldn’t be there and put it out of our minds. So…..does anything in Philippians 4 so far lead you to believe that our worldly desires are the focus? Let’s keep going!! 

In Philippians 4:10, Paul changes gears just a little and begins to show his appreciation for the Christians at Philippi. He thanks them for their care and concern for him. If you skip down to verse 15, you will find out that the church at Philippi was the only church who supported him financially after he left Macedonia. Verse 16 says that they sent him even more assistance when he was in Thessalonica. But Paul wants them to understand that no matter what situation that he is in, he has learned to be content with what he has. In Philippians 4:11 Paul says, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content..” I ask myself, can I say the same thing? Am I content? This is at the heart of what Philippians 4:13 is saying. Paul is not referring to winning a ballgame, passing a test, getting a specific job, making money, or any other worldly or material thing. He is saying that no matter what happens in his life, no matter how hard it gets, no matter what trials and tribulations he goes through, he is content in the moment. Why? Because he is in Christ. He is truly in Christ. Paul goes further with this idea of being content in Philippians 4:12 when he makes the statement, “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.” He has trained himself to be content in the moment no matter if times are good or bad. He wants the Christians at Philippi to know that he appreciates all that they have done for him, but he also wants them to understand what it means to be content. God inspired Paul to write these words in Philippians 4 because He wants us to understand that being a Christian is about being content with where we are in each moment. The time that we spend here on earth is fleeting. Our eternity is where our focus truly needs to be. Remember James 4:14, “whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Does thinking about your life in this way give you a different perspective on your life? It certainly does mine. I’ll be honest. I struggle with being content in each moment. I want so badly to be the type of person that Paul was, a person who could be content in the worst of circumstances. I can’t even be content when things are good sometimes. I am certainly a work in progress. But I am confident that God has begun a good work in me, and He will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6) He has begun that good work in you too. As long as we are in Christ and being faithful, He will continue His good work in each of us if we allow Him to.

Let’s read and think about all that Paul went through.

 “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 24-28 ESV) 

Can you imagine being in Paul’s shoes? What an example God gave us in the apostle Paul! But even more so, what an example He gave us when He sent His Son to earth to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was content not having anywhere to lay His head. (Matthew 8:20) The Son of God was literally homeless during the time of His ministry. The Son of God was content with being born to be a sacrifice for us so that we can be saved. He was content with being beaten, spit on, made fun of, mocked, and finally crucified for me and for you. 

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

So please…..the next time you see Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”, on a shirt, a mug, a sign, etc., don’t connect it to something worldly that you want to accomplish. After all that the apostle Paul went through in order to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, why would he write that verse for us to use in a worldly way? He wouldn’t, because those things are not truly what is important. Dig into God’s word and study the true meaning of the verse, which is to be content in every situation, no matter the circumstance, because we are in Christ. I hope this has encouraged you in your Christian walk. It has helped me to write about this verse, because I know that I need to be content in each moment of my life simply because I belong to Christ. Thank you for reading! Love you all!

Are you in Christ? Below I have added God’s plan of salvation with scripture references.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

Feeling Overwhelmed

“From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”  Psalm 61:2

Wow. I am so glad that my God knows me, and knows that I need Psalm 61:2 to pray through often. I love this verse. It lets me know that God knows my struggles with feeling overwhelmed. He is my rock. Only He can lead me to freedom from those feelings. He will lead me down the right path for me, so that I can deal with whatever comes my way. He will lead you down the right path for you to deal with whatever you are dealing with today. Everyone’s circumstances are different and God knows them all. He will help you find freedom in whatever way is right for you. Sometimes we may need some extra help. I just want to add that God provides help through His word, but He can also work through doctors, therapists, and counselors who can be of so much help to us when we need it. God puts people in our paths to help us. I firmly believe that. Never feel like you have to do this life on your own. Remember, you are never alone with God. And also, you have people here who can help you. God will lead you to people who can help you if you need it. I wanted to say all that at the beginning before I went any further with this post.

Are you a person who gets overwhelmed easily? Does the smallest task seem to push you over the edge sometimes? Do you feel like you just can’t do one more thing? Personally, I feel like the title of this article defines a huge percentage of my adult life. And to some extent it still does. I try really hard to cope with these feelings in a healthy way, and have gotten better over the years, but I still struggle with letting life completely overwhelm me. From responsibilities at home and at my job, all the way down to the weekly laundry and the daily cooking and dishes, I can get overwhelmed at the drop of a hat. I realize now that those feelings are a form of anxiety, and when I would continue to keep going on and on, day after day feeling that way without giving myself some form of self-care, I would eventually go into a full-on anxiety attack. It wasn’t pretty. I would get to the point where I felt simply paralyzed and  barely able to function at all!! Do any of you ever feel this way? I feel like I’m probably not alone in these feelings. As women, we feel like we have to be all things to all people in our lives. We try to do it all with no thought given to what we might need to do for ourselves. I kept thinking, what’s wrong with me? I should be able to handle everything. I’m a wife and a momma, not to mention a teacher. Why am I struggling so much? I wasn’t giving myself any grace. My physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health went backwards for a time until I realized what I needed more than anything else in the world. Grace. I had to show myself grace. Am I the greatest housekeeper in the world? No. But it’s livable. Am I the best cook? No. I do fine, but I’m not a gourmet chef. Am I the perfect wife? No. But I love him with all my heart and soul. He’s my best friend. And I’m just thankful that he has put up with me for thirty years. Am I the perfect mom? No. But I love them with all my heart and soul and would give my life for my kids. I tried my best, but I made mistakes and I own that. Am I the best teacher? No. But I love my kiddos and I give them my all when I am with them each day at school. And here is the tough one. Am I the perfect Christian? Of course not. Not even close. Not by a long shot, but I love God with all my heart and I want to be His servant. I love my sisters and brothers in Christ and I want to be in heaven with them. I love the lost and want to help them find the truth. You see, I had to stop beating myself up for every mistake I made. I had to stop looking around and comparing myself to everyone else. I had to stop thinking about everything that I wasn’t doing well enough, and start looking at everything I was doing. Were there areas where I could improve? Of course, but isn’t it that way with everyone? You see, I have figured out that the majority of my feelings of being overwhelmed were really me feeling like nothing I was doing was ever good enough. I was feeling inadequate. Everything felt like it was piling up and I didn’t know where to begin. And do you know what I was thinking? How could I let things get like this? Why did I let things pile up like this? I am a terrible wife, mom, Christian, etc., etc. Do you see how that snowballs? That had to stop! I couldn’t be effective in any part of my life if I didn’t stop that kind of perfectionist type of thinking.

So….. my sisters in Christ and friends, give yourself a break! You are doing a great job! Take a step back and look at all that you’ve done for your family and friends. You are a rock star!! And I’m talking to all women, whether you are married or unmarried, younger or older, moms or not moms. I am talking to all of you. You are amazing! God sees you! He sees all that you do! He sees your heart! So please……starting today, make time for you. May I suggest that the first thing that you do for yourself is to get into God’s word daily? Find those verses that speak to your soul and help you cope with the day to day struggles that life throws your way. Get on a daily Bible reading plan, but make your own plan. You don’t have to read the Bible through in a year. I mean if that’s the plan that works for you, then that’s fine. It works for some people. I myself cannot have something dictating how many chapters I need to read each day. That makes me feel overwhelmed in itself. I have to set my own pace and order to how I study. Find what works for you. Pray every day. Talk to God about all that is going on in your life. Lay all the struggles at His feet. Talk to Him like you would talk to a friend. That’s what I had to do! Until I began a daily routine of Bible study, journaling and prayer, I didn’t really get any better no matter what I did. I had always heard that exercise was the key to helping with those feelings of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed. And I agree with this. I try to exercise some every day. It is so very good for you physically and mentally. However, at more than one point in my life, I was exercising every day excessively, but not feeding my soul spiritually. Without spiritual food, nothing gets better. I realized that if I wanted to improve my physical, mental and emotional health, I had to first improve my spiritual health. I had to get my life right with God and get my priorities in order. 1 Timothy 4:8 tells us this, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness (spiritual training) is of value in everything and in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and for the life to come.” (I used the amplified Bible version for this verse. I thought it explained it very well. Normally, I use the NKJV.) God’s word trains us in two ways. It trains us to be better Christians as we go out into the world to influence others, and it helps us get to heaven. What more could we want? So after I got my Bible study and prayer routine in place, I began trying to implement some physical exercise into my day. If I am alone while exercising, I may listen to a Christian podcast or I may just simply listen to some of my favorite music. Are there days when I fall short in my daily routines? Yep. I am a work in progress for sure. But I know that I cannot go very long without feeding my soul. If I do, I find myself getting negative and not coping with daily life very well. And ladies, no matter what age you are, I am telling y’all this because I care about all of you, and I want you to have an easier path than I have taken. I wish that I had gotten my act together sooner. Don’t wait. Start now. If you start making Bible study and prayer a part of your daily routine now, then there will come a time when God’s word will stay with you throughout your entire day. God’s word will become a part of You if you allow it to. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:16, you will have “the mind of Christ”. This is why 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to study! I can’t have the mind of Christ if I don’t listen to God through His word.

I would like to share with you some things that I did to help me when I was trying to establish routines with Bible study. I began to journal my prayers. I love to write and writing out my prayers really helps me when I am struggling. I can also go back and read my prayers and that helps me to see where I was emotionally on a particular day. I also have a small notebook that fits in my purse that has some go-to Bible verses that I can read during the day. I like to use different colored ink to write them in my favorite colors. It is therapeutic to me to write the verses down rather than look them up on a phone or computer. I also began praying through Bible verses like the one above, Psalm 61:2. I write them down, but I put the verse in the form of a prayer. I have grown to love doing this. Of course, I don’t do all of these every day. I do different things but almost all of them involve writing because that is what works for me. This blog is a part of my Bible study as well. It is also wonderful therapy for me. I thank you all for putting up with my ramblings. Maybe you can relate to them. 

When I am feeling overwhelmed, here are four verses that soothe my soul in that moment. I have many, many more, but I am sure you have your own favorites that soothe you in your time of need. 

“You will keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on You,

Because he trusts in You.

Trust in the Lord forever,

For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.”   Isaiah 26:3-4

If we focus our minds on God’s word, He will give us perfect peace. He is our everlasting strength.

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”    1 Peter 5:6-7

I love that we are able to cast all our cares on Him. Only someone who cares deeply about us would allow us to do that. And I love that He will lift us up to heaven someday, if we humble ourselves to Him. 

“But those who wait on the Lord

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.”         Isaiah 40:31

This is one of my favorite verses to pray through. When I am feeling out of control and overwhelmed, this verse reminds me that I have to “wait” on God’s timing for things. But with God, I can have the strength and endurance that I need while I wait. I just need to calm down and wait.

“…being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”   Philippians 1:6

I love this verse because I picture God looking down at little ole imperfect, overwhelmed me, and saying that He began a good work in me and He will complete me someday when I go home to Him. I know that I am complete in Christ while I’m here on this earth but only because His blood cleanses me and makes me complete, but when God completes me on the day of judgment, I will be complete for eternity.

Sisters in Christ and friends, I hope this post has been helpful to you. It has been helpful to me to write it. It has been a tough couple of weeks for me and this has helped me cope. Just remember, you are never alone. God loves you. I love you. You are an amazing person made in the image of God. Never forget that. Thank you for reading.

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)

HOW DO WE CALL UPON THE LORD TO SAVE US?THROUGH BAPTISM INTO CHRIST

Verses Taken Out of Context

Part 2- Romans 10:13     How do we call upon the name of the Lord?

Hello sisters in Christ and friends!! I’ve been wanting to write some articles on some verses that have been on my mind lately. They are verses that are easily taken out of context and misunderstood. Many of you will already understand what I’m talking about in this article, but I’m hoping it will reach someone who needs to hear it. I’m hoping that it will encourage someone to look in the Bible and make sure that they are right with God, not right according to what a person says or what a billboard says or anything else……but only according to God’s word. 

In Romans 10:13 Paul says these words,  “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So that is self-explanatory, right? We just have to call to God and ask Him to save us and that’s it, right? Nothing else is required of us, right? Have you ever seen this verse on a billboard or a commercial all by itself with no other explanation? I’ve seen this verse on a few billboards when driving down the interstate and heard it countless times from some television evangelists. I love that someone would put a Bible verse up on a billboard for everyone to see as they drive down the highway. But, sometimes just one verse taken out of context from the entire Bible can mislead and confuse people.This verse is where people get the idea that they can ask Jesus to come into their heart to be saved. That is what a lot of people think calling on the name of the Lord means. And I understand how you might think that by reading that one verse. But reading one verse does not give us the full picture of God’s word. We have to study it all to understand it completely. We can’t go to the middle of any other book and pick out a sentence that tells us the entire contents of the book. One chapter of a math book will not teach us all the math we need. So what is Paul saying in Romans 10:13? Is he telling us how to be saved in that verse?

Let’s build a bridge before we discuss this verse. The bridge that I am talking about is between the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the book Romans from which our key verse comes. It is the book of Acts. The reason that I think of Acts as a bridge is because we can’t fully understand our key verse or any other of the New Testament books without reading Acts. The Lord’s church, singular, was established in Acts 2. This is when Peter preached the first gospel sermon. The people were pricked in their hearts because they realized that they had crucified God’s son and asked, “What shall we do?”. (Acts 2:37) That is when Peter told them exactly what they had to do. He told them to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:38). The church began that day with 3000 souls being baptized and added to the Lord’s church. They didn’t join a church of their choice. God added them to the church after they were baptized. (Acts 2:47)  After this, the entire book of Acts is devoted to the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles, and Paul’s conversion and missionary journeys. It is a book of the history of the early church. Throughout this book, there are ten conversion stories. In every single conversion story, baptism is there. The first one was of course in Acts 2 when the church first began. After that they are as follows: the Samaritans (Acts 8:5-12), Simon the sorcerer (Acts 8:13), the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:35-39), Saul of Tarsus, later known as the apostle Paul (Acts 9:1-18, Acts 22:6-16), Cornelius (Acts 10:47-48), Lydia (Acts 16:13-15), the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:30-33), the Corinthians (Acts 18:8), and the men at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-5). If baptism isn’t necessary for salvation, then why is it in every conversion story in the book of Acts? Why would Peter tell the people on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 to be baptized for the remission of their sins if it wasn’t necessary? 

I wanted to build a bridge through the book of Acts up to the book of Romans before I tried to explain this verse. I want you to have some scriptures to refer to and study to see exactly what the Bible teaches on how to be saved. I don’t want anyone to be misled because they have read one verse out of context. If you go back up to our bridge, which is the book of Acts, you will see that none of the conversion stories from Acts include asking Jesus into your heart. It is just not there, friends. Now should we have Jesus in our heart (mind) if we are Christians? Absolutely! But we can’t ask Him to come into our heart to be saved. That is not in God’s plan. But what about Romans 10:13 you ask? Well, if you read the entire chapter of Romans 10, you will see that it is not a chapter that is telling us how to be saved. It is about who can be saved. The key word in the verse is “everyone”. If we look at the entire chapter of Romans 10 in context, it is addressing the problem of the Jews not wanting to accept the Gentiles as equals with them under God. The Jews are still under the impression that they have to keep the old law of Moses and they are trying to bind that law on the newly converted Gentile Christians. Right before verse 13 it says that all people whether Jew or Gentile have the right to be saved. You see, Paul wrote the book of Romans in a letter form to the Christians in Rome. It was written to people who had already obeyed the gospel which included being baptized for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:38) He was not telling them how to be saved in Romans 10. That was not the context of which he was writing. He was telling them that all people have the opportunity to be saved no matter what ethnic background they come from. You see, the people to whom Paul was writing already knew how to be saved from their sins because they had already done it. They were already Christians. If we go back to the book of Acts, which is our bridge, and read all the conversion stories that are listed, we will understand that calling on the name of the Lord includes more than just asking Jesus into your heart. Paul is the writer of Romans and he knows exactly how to “call on the name of the Lord”, because this exact phrase was said to him by Ananias on the day that he was converted to Christianity. In Acts 22, Paul is telling his conversion story and in verses 14-15, we read the words that Ananias said to Paul on that day, “The God of our fathers has chosen you that you should know his will, and see the Just One, and hear the voice of His mouth. For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.” So Ananias tells Paul that he has been chosen by God, that he will be a witness for Christ, and that he is to tell all people about Christ. But, I ask you, is he saved yet in verse 15? Has Paul accepted his new role as a Christian yet? No, not yet! Paul was sent by Jesus Himself to Ananias to be told what to do next. (Acts 22:10, Acts 9:6)  Paul was not saved when he was on the road to Damascus. But, in Acts 22:16, we have one of the most important verses in the New Testament, because it refutes the idea that we can simply ask Jesus into our hearts. The verse explains to us how we are to call on the name of the Lord. In Acts 22:16, Ananias says to Paul, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” How did Paul call on the name of the Lord in that verse? He did this by being buried with Christ in baptism. Paul called on God with the obedient act of being baptized into Christ. God calls us to be saved through His word and we call out to God through baptism into Christ. The calling goes both ways. How did Paul receive forgiveness from sins? Again, by being baptized to have his sins washed away. So why did Paul write about calling on the name of the Lord in Romans 10:13? Why did he use that phrase? Because that is exactly what he did when he was baptized by Ananias!! And it makes sense that Paul would use that language when he was writing to the Christians in Rome, because that is the language he heard Ananias say to him on the day he was baptized into Christ. 

Friends, I hope this helps you understand the context of Romans 10:13, but more importantly, I hope it encourages you to look deeper into God’s word to make sure you know the truth about how to be saved. Please don’t listen to what people say or what a billboard says without looking in God’s word first to make sure that what you are being told is the truth. If you need help to find answers, please reach out. I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. I would be happy to set up a Bible study with you or for you if you have questions. I hope and pray that everyone who reads this article will know that it is written out of love for God’s word, and love for all of you. Have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!! 

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)