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May 17, 2010

A Life-Changing Sermon

Filed under: Christian living,Confidence,Encouragement,Hard Times,Life as God's Girl,Others' expectations,Trusting God,Waiting on God,Walking with God,Writing/authors,confident living,discouragement,parenting,persistence — Brenda @ 5:05 pm

For the past few months, really the past year, I have been seeking, striving, and desperate for God to answer for me one thing. Why, after much work, prayer, and opportunities, do I not have more to show for it all? What in the world am I doing wrong? If I do all I am supposed to do, won’t the result be as I expect when I expect it?
For those of you who faithfully read my blog you have heard me pose this question in various forms over the months. Sunday I received my answer directly from God.
Our pastor at Imago Dei Church was off this week and Pastor Eric Potter filled in for him. Eric’s words from God spoke directly to this question for which I am always seeking an answer. Eric taught on the parable of Jesus in Matthew 20—the workers in the vineyard. His whole sermon was powerful and I urge you to listen to it at www.imagodeichurch.org. But the part that spoke to me was near the end.
Eric made the point that the workers in this parable were day workers. They were the lowest class because they were not employed or even slaves with a master to care for and protect them. These men were grateful for any work they could get. These men thought it a privilege to work in the vineyard. They were grateful for the invitation to work in the vineyard. Interpreting the vineyard to be the kingdom of God and the owner of the vineyard to be God, I am the day worker. Wow. It hit me that I am not always especially thankful for the work God has given me to do for the kingdom. Ugh. A straight hit to my heart.
Then Eric gave us several questions to answer. One question—“What is my attitude about working in the vineyard?” further convicted me that my attitude has not always be one of gratitude. Oh, God, please forgive me. You have blessed me with work for the kingdom that I love. How can I be anything other than grateful?
His next question—“Am I working for reward or in response to the invitation?”–was the answer I had been searching for. I had been working for the reward. But the invitation was a privilege and that should have been my only motivation. This morning in my time with God, He took me to John 15 to further clarify His point. In John 15 Jesus is teaching on abiding in Him and when we do we bear fruit. But never does Jesus tell us to bear fruit or to concern ourselves with bearing fruit. He tells us to abide in Him. That’s our job. His job is to work through us to produce fruit. (John 15:4-5) As I abide in Christ—know Him better, trust Him, obey Him—I will bear fruit. It’s the result of my live lived in Christ.
Wow. I am so relieved! I’ve done all I know to do. Now I rest in God for Him to use my work as He sees fit. I started today with fresh perspective and renewed energy and excitement to do what God put in me to do and no worries over the results!
Thank you, Pastor Eric. Thank You, God, for patiently teaching this difficult child of yours and using her along the way.
I would love to hear where you have struggled to see results in your life—parenting, on the job, in your ministry. How does this truth change the way you will view your efforts for God?

May 12, 2010

A P.S. to Mothers’ Day

Filed under: Christian living,Confidence,Encouragement,Failure,Fear in parenting,Kids,Trusting God,confident living,moms,parenting,persistence,strong-willed kids — Brenda @ 1:43 pm

What keeps you from being the confident Queen Mom? What keeps you from being confident enough to teach and train your kids to respect you? I believe there are many answers—laziness, lack of know-how on your part (see Queen Mom!), or peer pressure (you don’t see any other moms doing this). But I think the most common reason is fear. We are fearful of so many things in our parenting. We fear:
• We will make an irreversible mistake with our kids.
• Because we don’t have a clue how to handle the current phase our kid is going through, and we didn’t have a good role model.
• Our child will say, “Make me!” and we won’t know what to do next.
• Because no other parent seems to parent the way we do, so we doubt our parenting philosophy.
Let’s consider a few truths to drive out our parenting fears.
1. Fear stops us from walking in faith. Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” The NASB says, “that He is.” In order to have a relationship with God we must first believe all He says about Himself is true. Fear convinces us that some of what God says about Himself is not true.
The enemy introduced this doubt into the very first mom, Eve. Genesis 3:1, “Did God really say. . .?”
• He will give you wisdom and discernment to parent this kid?
• He will give you strength and perseverance when you want to run away?
• Did God really say He cares more about your kids than you do?

2. Fight Fear with the Word of God. Eve had a good start against the serpent. When tempted, she quoted God’s Words to the serpent. He was shot down! (even for a moment) God’s Word in our minds is our best weapon against Satan’s attacks of fear.
One way to get it in our minds is to write the verses that speak right to us on index cards and review them throughout the day. Our minds are filled with so much garbage in a day. What a positive difference truth will make.
3. Don’t consider the lies and fears from the enemy. Consider only the Word of God. Don’t give the enemy a chance to get you down or fearful. He does not deserve your attention. You are God’s girl and the Queen Mom! Read Genesis 3:4-5. Notice that after Eve speaks God’s Word the enemy must try even harder to deceive. He causes Eve to pause and consider his lies. She then becomes fearful God is holding out on her and she sins. When we consider the lies of the enemy we become fearful and we back away from our role of Queen Mom.
4. You are the Queen Mom and God has a good plan for your family.
James MacDonald said, “Emotions make a great caboose, but not a great engine.” We must parent by God’s truth and not our emotions. Where our child is today emotionally and spiritually is not where she will stay. Today is not the last chapter. Through Eli’s story (1 Samuel 2:11-36) we saw the tragic results of a lifetime of weak parenting. God is on our side. His desire is for us to be strong, loving parents. Today is Day One to be the confident Queen Mom.*

I would love for you to share your fears in parenting. When we share them we see how powerless they are and when others read about your experience we are united in sisterhood in Christ and we are energized.

Answers to questions in #1:
• Proverbs 2:3-6; James 1:5-8.
• Isaiah 40:10-11; Joshua 1:5; Deuteronomy 31:8; “Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power.” Oswald Chambers
• The Cross and Blood of Christ.

*Go to the Resource Page and download the “Disrespect is Not an Option” resource to get you on your way to being the confident Queen Mom.

April 27, 2010

Bible Study Tuesday–Princess Unaware–A Few One More Things

Filed under: Bible Study,Christian living,Confidence,Encouragement,Hard Times,Life as God's Girl,Others' expectations,Princess Unaware,Relationship with God,Risks,The Unknown,Trusting God,Waiting on God,Walking with God,adventure,celebrate life,confident living,moms,next step in life,parenting — Brenda @ 7:06 pm

This is the last of the notes for Princess Unaware. Next week I will have questions and answers from the Bible study group.

I am famous for my “one more things.” After a conversation I have been known to call back with “one more thing.” With the gals I have mentored I have been known to email “one more thing.” My mind isn’t as quick as I would like and often after I’ve had a chance to think things through I come up with “one more thing” I would like to add.
So today as we finish this study I want to give you “a few one more things” that I want you to take and never forget and live out—things that we discussed that are important and things that we didn’t get a chance to talk enough about.

Here we go:
~God is crazy about you. Never ever forget and constantly remind yourself that God loves you. He wants a relationship with you—stuff and all. Visual aid with wagon full of stuff.
~Live a life worthy of the Lord. Colossians 1:10. Sure we all have stuff, but let’s give it to God and not wallow in it. No more making excuses for the way we are. What not to be—2 Timothy 3:6-7. Take what we have learned and live like God’s princesses.
~Throw off the fear. We’ve talked about this often this study. Fear makes us ineffective and it’s not God’s plan for us. 2 Timothy 1:7. A fearful attitude is not from God. This leads to the next one. . .
~Live with confidence—in your relationships; your marriage, your parenting, your ministry. We can because the last half of 2 Timothy 1:7 says, but a spirit “of power and love and discipline.”
• Power–We have the Holy Spirit in us and thru us. Our obedience with the Holy Spirit’s power accomplishes great things in our lives. Keep your accounts short with God and others. Then yield to what God wants, what He shows us next to do no matter how small. His Spirit then works through us to accomplish His plan and what we couldn’t do otherwise.
• Love –what is best for the other person. Let this definition guide you in your relationships.
• Discipline—woman up. Our lives are too important to waste on things that don’t matter. Take care of yourselves, your homes, your families, grow your relationship with the Lord, step out in faith to the next exciting thing He has for you.
~Get a mentor. I cannot tell you the depth my life has been changed by my mentor. Also, I cannot tell you how I have been blessed by the women I have mentored. Prayerfully consider who God would have you to ask. Your life will never be the same. When choosing my mentor I looked to a woman who was where I wanted to be when I was her age. Also consider being a mentor.
~When you don’t know what to do next, find out. Ask God or your mentor or someone who knows. James 1:5.
~Keep your mouths shut. Don’t say anything about anyone that you don’t want them to know you said. It will get back to them. James 3:3-12. I have sinned in this area and been caught and called on in it. People were hurt. It’s easy to avoid. Just don’t say anything about anybody. You will be surprised at the new depths your conversations go and at the freedom of not worrying if anything will be repeated.
~Quit caring about others’ opinions of you and your family. Matthew 15:1-14. Read v. 12-13. If you live the fabulous life God has for you, you will become a target for others to offer their opinions of how you are doing life all wrong. Go back through each of these points and live them. That is where your fabulous life is—not trying to keep others happy.
~Life is hard. God is faithful. Judges 6:1-16. Read 1-10. The Israelites were suffering because of their own disobedience.
Read v. 11-13. You may now be living the consequences of others’ sins and wondering why God abandoned you.
Read v. 14. “Go in the strength you have.” Do what you can do and then a little more (we all have a little more when pressed). Go back to the above instructions—get godly counsel. Don’t hide out in the winepress. Get in the game.
~”Am I not sending you?” Have you heard these words from God. Staying in the winepress, hiding from life is not an option. Yes, life is hard, but I have never done passed what I thought I could ever do and known God more than when I was facing an impossible-beyond-me situation and He said to me, “Am I not sending you?”
Read v. 15. I, too, responded as Gideon in v. 15, “But Lord, how can I? You know my background, my insecurities. I am not the best one for the job.”
Read v. 16. God has always been faithful to equip me, help me, put words in my mouth and strength in my legs as I stand and say what He wanted me to say.
Why do we look at others and think they have it all together so God is using them powerfully? Instead why don’t we look at others doing what God called them to and praise God for working mightily in them and through them? He will do the same for us.
You, precious warrior Princesses of the Lord’s, have so much of your fabulous life ahead of you. Wear your crown well.

I would love your comments or questions from this study. I will answer them next week.

April 20, 2010

Bible Study Tuesday–The Gift God Wants to Give and We Seldom Take

Filed under: Christian living,Confidence,Disappointment,Encouragement,Fighting Fear,Hard Times,Joy,Life as God's Girl,Relationship with God,The Unknown,Trusting God,Waiting on God,Walking with God,celebrate life,confident living,discouragement,facebook,life changes — Brenda @ 6:02 pm

Today’s Bible study started with a skit that Libby Snyder wrote. For the sake of space I did not include it. If you would like to read it, email me (contact page) and I will email it to you. What follows is the teaching portion of today’s study.

So what do you think the sucker represents?
That’s right. Joy. The sucker represents joy. In the midst of our messy lives God wants to give us joy.
The thought occurred to me the other day—in the midst of my messy life God put a tiny piece of joy—I think to see if I would nibble and then He would give me more. But I hesitated. Just like Libby I thought I can’t take this. Not now. I’m not ready for it. I have more to do before I can experience joy.

Have you ever been there? God puts a spark of joy in your heart and encourages you to let it burst into your whole heart, but you tell God, “Not now. Too much going on. I’ll get back to you when it’s the right time for joy.”

God has much to say about joy and as I learned studying for this lesson. The best place to camp for our study of joy is 2 Corinthians 6:1-10. This is a chunk of heavy-duty Scripture to chew on. Read verses 1-10. Go back to v. 1—Receive the grace of God—make it count. Grace here is from the same root as joy in v. 10 which we will get to in a minute. Here it means “divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in life, including gratitude.” So when Paul says, “not to receive the grace of God in vain” he means to let God work in you and change you and live it out, being grateful for everything God has done for you.
V. 2—Paul emphasizes this truth. He says, “Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation.’ “ He is telling the reader—this is it. On earth it won’t get any better. We’re not going to get a better offer from God. Now He is offering us His grace—His involvement in our lives. We just need to get in a posture to hear and cooperate.
V.3—Paul tells us how to live out our faith—“giving no cause for offense in anything.” Keep out of trouble and stay away from anything that might discredit the ministry.
V. 4—Then he begins a lengthy list of situations/issues/conditions we may find ourselves in and tells us to present ourselves as servants of God in each one. Read thru them one by one.
V. 10—“as sorrowful yet always rejoicing.” This is the joy God was trying to get Libby to take hold of. The definition for joy in this verse means cheerfulness, calm delight, great gladness. As I said, it is from the same root as grace in verse 1 which means calmly happy or well-off. Paul is telling us as we present ourselves as servants of God we are going to go through some hard stuff, but in it all we are to have calm delight and be calmly happy.

Other definitions for joy throughout the Bible mean to be glad, clamor in acclamation of joy, shout for joy. These are used to describe times of celebration. When we are sorrowful, going through a hard thing, it is not appropriate to shout for joy. But it is appropriate to have calm delight.
But how?
• By knowing God has you covered. Deuteronomy 31:8. God got where we’re going ahead of us. He will be with us when we get there. He will not fail us. He will not forsake us—slow down the car tell us to get out while He picks up another sister, leaving us alongside the road till He comes back our way. That’s not the way God rolls. Because of all this He tells us to not fear or WHAT? What does it say—be dismayed—which is what we learned last week is the same as discouragement and we know what that leads to—disobedience! And we don’t want to go there so let’s back it up and we won’t fear what is causing our sorrowfulness because God has us covered—Deut. 31:8!
• Then we can start to flail closer to God. Get ourselves in a posture that says, “God, this stinks. I hate it. I don’t know what You’re doing here, but I want to be on track with You.”

As a family we end every day in Gene and my bedroom for prayer time (it is short and to the point). It gives us a few last moments to be together for the day. (I know for moms of little ones you have had enough moments in your day! When your kids get bigger you will grasp for each one.) We sit in our room and talk and be silly and Gene and Riley play. This is Riley’s favorite part of the day. When we head back to the bedroom she runs ahead of everyone and sits by the chair that Gene sits in, waiting for him to sit down and play with her. (Show picture of Riley at Gene’s feet.) See her smiling face? See her look of calm delight? Of calm happiness? You bet you do because no matter what happened that day she is now at the feet of her master and all is well.

Can we do that? Can we be as simple as my dog and sit with calm delight at the feet of our Lord?
There we will hear from Him and He may be saying we’re in for a wait, so we will need to get comfortable and in fellowship with Him through this time.
There we will hear from Him what to do next. But we can’t hear if we are at our own pity party. We can only hear Him if we are in a posture to hear.
So flail your sad little self to the feet of God. Sit. Reach out and take the sucker. Take the joy. Enjoy. It may be a long while till the time for shouts of joy come, but “Behold, now is the acceptable time” for joy!

Today in small groups we shared times of accepting God’s joy in the midst of a hard time and the challenge of doing so. Please feel free to share with me and the other readers your experience of taking God’s joy in the midst of a hard time or your struggle to do so.

As my youngest daughter would say–Sadness! Next week is our last week in Princess Unaware. I will continue to blog, but next week is the last lesson from Princess. See you next week.

One more thing–recently I took up residence on facebook. If that’s your thing check out my Brenda Garrison fan page and leave a note. I would love to see your pic on my page.

April 14, 2010

Bible Study Tuesday: Discouragement–Not So Innocent

Filed under: Bible Study,Confidence,Encouragement,Failure,Fighting Fear,Overwhelmed women,Princess Unaware,Trusting God,Writing/authors,confident living,discouragement,parenting — Brenda @ 1:55 am

If I had to identify the most effective weapon the enemy uses to get me off track from my fabulous life—in any area—my marriage, parenting, relationships, ministry, taking care of my health—it is discouragement. I like to see the results of my efforts, so discouragement is a sure-fire way to get me out of the game.
• In my relationships with my girls I give and give. I make the best decisions I can and do the best for them that I can. Then when they behave thoughtlessly or only seem to want more, I become a discouraged mom. Why am I a mom anyway?
• Or I exercise and eat right, resisting high-fat, high-salt foods, in hopes of losing a few pounds in my tummy then I get on the scale to see no weight loss. Why do I try?
• I work hard at the ministry God has given me—many hours spent at the computer writing and preparing for an event. I do the best with the time I have, but I don’t see the results I would like. Why does God have me in this ministry?
• But more often discouragement comes to me in whispers from the enemy:
~You won’t get done on time.
~This won’t be good. (in relation to my messages)
~You won’t be good enough. (in relation to my presentation)
~They already know this. You’re the loser who just figured this out.
But mostly the enemy haunts me with You won’t be good enough.
When I start believing only what I can see I get discouraged and feel hopeless. I want to just sit somewhere with my head down and feel sorry for myself. I am so deserving of a little pity, aren’t I?

Do you ever get discouraged? Can you relate to any areas I shared? For you young moms, you are really ripe for discouragement attacks. Most of what you do every day, all day, needs to be redone immediately or goes unnoticed (unless of course you don’t do it!). And society talks a big talk, but it does not reward or hold in high esteem what we do. When I get discouraged in my mothering and homemaking (which is what we do!) and my husband is clueless to how I feel even though he tries to understand, I always tell him he can’t understand. He may not be as appreciated at work as he should be, but every week he gets a paycheck that puts value on what he does. Moms don’t get paychecks or much appreciation. So when we’ve had “one of those days” we can be easily discouraged.

Discouragement leads to disobedience.
God has much to say about discouragement. The Bible is full of references to and stories about folks who were discouraged in doing God’s work and will. This morning I want to look at a hero of mine—Joshua. Joshua is taking on a huge job with a nation of more than a million people from a hugely successful leader. This guy has got to be shaking in his sandals at the handoff.
Let’s take a look at Joshua 1:1-9. What a pep talk! Don’t you wish God would show up in your kitchen every morning as you are getting your first cup of coffee with a pep talk like this?
“Now therefore arise, cross this Jordan. . .to the land which I am giving you. . .”
Actually He does. If you only need to open your Bible to this section and read it while you sip your coffee quietly so no little one hears you and gets up too.
Another reason Joshua needed to be reassured of his calling and God’s power in it, is that he had seen first-hand how difficult Israel could be. Back in Numbers 13 Moses sends Joshua, Caleb and ten other men to check out the Promised Land and see how to best take it. Let’s take a look at their report. Numbers 13:27-33. This report leads to huge discouragement. They were discouraged because they saw only the challenges and factored God out. Num. 14:1-4. And look at what their discouragement leads to. Read v.5-10. Their discouragement leads to disobedience.
When we fall for what seems pathetic but innocent discouragement, we are being deceived by the enemy. Because what comes next is always disobedience. One disobedience that is common to all our discouragements is pride—my thoughts and focus turn to me—it’s all about me!
Look back at my list of discouragements and see other ways discouragement leads to disobedience.
• My discouragement as a mom leads to disobedience because I get angry at the girls and/or I sulk/withdraw.
• My discouragement with taking care of my body leads to the disobedience of a binge of chocolate cake (with fudgy icing) and giving into excuses why I don’t have time to exercise.
• My discouragement in ministry leads to the disobedience of disbelief—me doubting God, me believing that God dumped me off on the side of the road so He could pick up someone else, someone who will be a great speaker and writer, someone He can really use.
• My discouragement from listening to Satan’s lies leads to disobedience in that my work is slowed down. I don’t have the confidence and conviction that God will and is speaking to me and preparing me for His use.
Discouragement leads to disobedience.
You: Application
What disobedience does your discouragement lead to? What is the enemy’s main method of discouraging you? What disobedience does that lead to? You can interact with God over this in our 3 minutes of prayer.
But how will you and I overcome this discouragement so we can move on to obedience?
Let’s take one more look at our hero, Joshua—14:7-9. In Joshua’s words we see how he overcame discouragement to move on to obedience (in Joshua 1).
• He identified the good God had for them. What blessings does God have for you now and as you persevere in obedience? Fulfilling relationships; a home that is fun, welcoming, and says, “Stay awhile”; Good health, no matter what the scale says. V. 7
• He acknowledged God in the midst of their efforts. Discouragement takes God out of our situation. V. 8
• He knew Who was to be feared and not to fear the job God gave them. Discouragement causes us to fear what God has called us to. “I am not a good enough mom”; I will never get this house in order; I can’t keep up with work and home. V. 9
• He knew God had their back, front, sides—God had them covered. He has every situation and person in your life covered, too. V. 9
• Because of that we are not to fear, but trust God. V. 9
Which of these truths do you need to apply to your life?
Don’t let discouragement keep you from the fabulous life God has for you.

We can do this, girls. When you start to feel discouragement creeping in immediately identify it and know it is not from God. It is never God talking to you. Then grab it, swing it up and over your head, and give it a fling. Take whatever is troubling you to the Lord and soak in your relationship with Him and then get back to work!

March 30, 2010

Bible Study Tuesday–Looking Over Our Shoulder

Filed under: Bible Study,Christian living,Comparison,Confidence,Encouragement,Life as God's Girl,Overwhelmed women,Princess Unaware,Relationship with God,Trusting God,Walking with God,confident living,discouragement,priorities,saying no — Brenda @ 7:16 pm

Princess Unaware–Chapter 8
Principle of Blinders
God is so fun, isn’t He? Last week after I spoke on setting and living our priorities, I had to opportunity to put it into practice. My schedule had taken on a life of its own, dragging me along for fun. It needed to be tamed, but that meant that certain people who did not make the top of my list were not going to be happy when they discovered that fact.
Also, I talked with my doctor’s nurse last week and my high blood pressure is here to stay, so exercise and eating right will take permanent residence at the top of my priority list.
It was not a fun week of living out my priorities. I was misunderstood. I don’t have much discretionary time as my friends so I must say no often. Ick. I hate that. I want to be part of the party instead of at home working. Don’t get me wrong. I love the life God has given me, but I want it all—all my life and some of what others have as well. They seem to have lots of time to have lunch and hang out. They don’t seem to have deadlines nipping at their heels, or young adult kids randomly popping in and out, calling, texting, or needing rides. I love it, but like I said I’m tempted to want it all—the full, satisfying role of mom/author and the free time to do with what I like.
We: Identification
What about you? Do you find yourself looking into a friend’s life and wishing you had part of it? Do you ever look at a friend and wish you had her waistline, curly hair, or porcelain complexion? Do you ever wish your husband was as spiritual as hers?
I think most women struggle with the temptation to compare any or all parts of our lives to someone else’s. It is a most effective tool of Satan’s, because we compare the area we feel we are lacking to the area we feel is their strength and we come up short. Then we sit in our self-pity and are useless.
God: Solution
That is one reason God instructs us to not compare ourselves to others. In John 21 Jesus gave Peter strong words regarding this temptation.
At the beginning of John 21we find the disciples feeling and acting like lost boys. Jesus has appeared to them off and on, but He hasn’t given them a final word of mission. They don’t know what’s next (a whole other lesson), so they are hanging around. They go back to what they know—fishing. They don’t catch anything. Then Jesus showed up and told them to try on the right side of the boat. They caught more fish than they can handle. Finally they discover it’s Jesus. Peter was so excited that he jumped out of the boat and swam to shore. Jesus had prepared a fire with fish cooking and fresh bread. They ate their first meal together since the Last Supper. What a great time!
After breakfast Jesus talked directly to Peter. (verses 15-18) He gave Peter the chance to express his love for Jesus after his denial of Jesus before His crucifixion. Jesus also gave Peter his life mission—feeding and shepherding the church.
Think about all Peter enjoyed in this short morning—seeing Jesus, eating a perfect breakfast with his resurrected Lord, the sweetest of fellowship, hope restored, a personal commissioning by Jesus. Does it get any better?
What did Peter do next? Something silly like we would do—(verse 20-21) Peter turned around—away from the intimate conversation he was having with Christ—and saw John following them. In this context “see” means to know, behold, consider, have knowledge of. This was more than a glance to see who’s behind him. Peter turned his attention from Jesus to behold and consider what Jesus had for John—as if it’s any of his business.
So Peter asked Jesus, “What about him?” I don’t know if Peter was feeling especially “in” with Jesus or thought he had been elevated to “vice-Savior” in this conversation. For whatever reason Peter stepped outside what’s his and into what’s not his.
Jesus responded in His classic non fuzzy style—“If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
There are two messages we need to get here.
First, in essence Jesus is saying—No matter if I give your friend
• A husband who is a spiritual leader
• Four perfectly behaved children
• Legs that never stop
• Barbie’s waist and bustline
• Enough money for all her needs and wants
• An incredible career
• A successful, exciting ministry
• In-laws that are helpful and supportive
No matter if I give her all these things (which you will assume she has from your vantage point of comparison), “what’s that to you?” In other words it’s not our business. It’s getting our noses into “what’s not ours.” Here Jesus is telling us without a doubt or loophole to mind our own business. [Farmer visual here.]
The next thing Jesus is telling us is, “You follow Me!” This is the second time in a short conversation that Jesus told Peter to follow Him (verse 19). Now the second time, Jesus is more explicit. He lets Peter know exactly what He wants him to do—Follow Me!
Follow here means to “be in the same way,” “to accompany.” Peter was to follow where Jesus led him. As Jesus previously told Peter, that would be to feed and shepherd the church—as if that weren’t enough!
Jesus’ words are for us too. “You follow Me!” We are to put on our blinders and see only what is ours from Christ. We are not to lift them as Peter did and look at what is our friends’ from Christ. Jesus tells us to follow Him. To go where He leads us.
You: Application
This week notice how many times you are either tempted to or actually do compare any part of your life or yourself to others. Acknowledge the thought (don’t deny it) then address it–Is this mine or is this not mine?
If it’s not yours, then don’t concern yourself with it. Elizabeth Elliott said, “I am to mind my own business and I have discovered that very few things are my business.” (my paraphrase)
Praise God for all He is blessing your friends with and then get your focus back on Jesus’ plan for you.
• Make a list of your husband’s best qualities.
• Make a list of the things each of your children do that makes you smile.
• Make a list of the five things you love about your home.
Then change the next diaper. Switch the next load of laundry. Do whatever the next thing is God has given you to do. It probably won’t be glamorous or exciting, but it’s yours!
Conclusion:
If it’s on your to-do list from the Lord, it has eternal value!
We: Inspiration
Oh, what freedom and joy we would experience if we would never again compare or behold our sister’s life. If we would feel her pain, celebrate in her victories, and love her as we love ourselves. Oh, what freedom and joy we would experience if we would stay in step with our Lord.

Who do you most often turn around from your relationship with Christ to “behold” the good things in their lives? How will you stop and keep your focus on following Christ? I would love to hear.

March 9, 2010

Bible Study Tuesday–Life as a Believer 101

Filed under: Christian living,Encouragement,Life as God's Girl,Relationship with God,Trusting God,adventure,life changes,next step in life,persistence,priorities — Brenda @ 7:00 pm

Story from book of being in Target with girls. I know the impression I give doesn’t always say follower of Christ.

What about you when you’re out and about?
• Do you drive crazy even with the fish symbol on your car?
• Are you kind and thoughtful in public? (story of Jill’s experience at bookstore)
• Do you smile at others?
• Do you merge politely or drive bumper-to-bumper so no one can get in front of you?
• Do you include others or let them stay on the sidelines lonely and uncomfortable?

How we live our lives both in public and private are part of our testimony—what we are saying about Jesus to others.

God feels pretty strongly about our testimonies—about how we live our daily lives.
“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Philippians 1:27.
Wow. Think about it. “Worthy of the gospel of Christ.” There is no way we will ever live in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. But it is our goal, our call, our job description.
Let’s see if we can begin to get our minds around this call.
First what is the gospel of Christ?
• We are all sinners. Romans 3:23. No one is perfect. Even the slightest imperfection/sin disqualifies us.
• The penalty for sin is death. Romans 6:23. The consequences of our sin is death—spiritual death—not ceasing to exist, but eternity separated from God in hell.
• Jesus, God’s perfect, holy Son—equally God, equally man—came to earth, lived the perfect life and then gave Himself totally (all God and all man) to pay the penalty for our sins. We are made right and perfect to God and we enjoy relationship with Him as a precious child of His. Romans 5:6-11, 21.

That’s it. That’s the Gospel of Christ—totally awesome Son of God gives His life for totally unworthy slugs (and sinners) so we can have a totally awesome life here and forever with God and Jesus.

So how do we live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ? What does God want from us? Let’s take a look at a verse I like to call “Life as a Believer 101.” I like things boiled down. Let’s get to the heart of the issue. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Don’t assume I can or will understand your innuendoes. I will most likely miss it altogether.
The text for our “Life as a Believer 101” class is Micah 6:8.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Require—to seek or ask, specifically to worship. The three “requirements” of God are part of our worship of Him. Our purpose on earth is to glorify God and have relationship with Him–worship. So living out this verse is an extension of our worship and to be woven into every area of our lives. “Living as a Believer 101.” Things we are to do every day, all day.

~Act justly—a verdict; formal decree.
The first “requirement” in our life of worship is to be fair and just to everyone. No preference. This totally throws out treating some people with more respect than others. Everyone deserves our smile and kindness.

~To Love Mercy—
• Love—affection
• Mercy—kindness, favor, good deed.
The next way we worship God is to have an affection for others and to be kind, showing favor to others (not over others, but ourselves). Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Do you let the other person go ahead of you, even if you were there a split second first? Treat your kids as patiently as you treat your husband, your best friend, the pastor.
~Thoughtfulness.
~Words of encouragement/compliments.
~Be the first to speak to others.

~Walk Humbly with your God.
• Walk means walk. Literally walk with God. Keep in step with Him. Go where He goes at the speed He goes. No lagging behind or rabbit trails.
• Humbly—lowly. It’s an attitude that says “I know You are God and I am not, therefore, I will trust you with my life and not think I know better than You.”

The third requirement is to keep in step with God in humility. Example of Riley on leash pulling me her direction, her speed, stopping to sniff all road kill, barking at other loser dogs who are in an electric fence. She does not walk with me and she definitely is not humble in any way. She is out of the house and she is going to do her best to have her fun her way.

But when I put the harness on her, her attitude changes. She is unable to pull me or zigzag or jump. She must walk humbly with me. We have a great walk then. We stay on the road. We stay in step and both of us benefit from a good workout—no waste of time chasing rabbit trails (literally). She doesn’t get her nose filthy with roadkill germs.

When we walk humbly with God we are going where He says when He says. We benefit by accomplishing God’s plan for us. We have great fellowship with Him. We avoid the feelings of defeat or uselessness that comes with doing our own thing.

There are so many distractions in life and we have only so much time. We cannot stretch the hours in our day. We must make the most of what God has given us and the way we do that is by staying in step with God.

Again, I will pick on Facebook. Facebook is for this generation what the soap opera was to my mom’s generation—a huge waste of time wrapped in the packaging that read “harmless diversion.” It’s not all bad, but we must be careful.

What is keeping you from walking humbly with your God? Where have you thought you knew better than God? Over-extended budget? Going against your husband’s word? Time on Facebook with an old male friend?
As we have said before—walking humbly with God is one seemingly small yes at a time.

Now What?

How do we live this out? Pay attention to the little (there are no little things) in your life.

~First, are you a believer, a follower of Christ? If not think about the gospel of Christ. Do you believe you are a sinner—you have done/thought anything not pleasing to God—gone against God? Hey, we are all sinners. Don’t let your pride keep you from God. Like I’ve said before—we’re all in this boat together—no one better, no one worse.
If you’re not a follower, you can pray along with me silently in our three minutes of quiet time. (if you’re reading this you don’t need me. talk to you right where you are.)

~If you are a follower of Christ, do you get the gospel? I mean do you really get what God has done for you and does that drive you to sit at His feet, to know Him better, to let go of everything you think you must have in order to pursue everything He wants for you?

~If you are crazy in love with Christ and you are pursuing what He has for you, are you doing it in a way that makes the world notice? Not because you are advertising, but because you are so radical that your light shines in their darkness? Do you—
• Share a smile and kindness with everyone?
• Send a card of encouragement or bake a chocolate cake for someone struggling?
• Ask God what is important to Him today and then walk with Him? It may be cleaning the house or building a fort. It may be taking the whole gang on a walk and cleaning the house tomorrow (wrap the kids is old towel, spray them with Pledge and let them go nuts!). Lay down your agenda.

Inspiration
I dream of the day when I walk into the grocery store and every Christian woman is smiling back at me, when I hear the clerks whisper to each other “What are they on? I want some!” I dream of the day when a car with a fish on it does not speed around me to get to the church parking lot first and almost run over an elderly person trying to get the last parking spot. I dream of the day when we all will
• Act justly
• Love mercy
• Walk humbly with our God.

It’s Life as a Believer 101.

January 22, 2010

Time for a Haircut, Color, and New Clothes!

Filed under: Confidence,Fighting Fear,New opportunites,Risks,The Unknown,Trusting God,adventure,confident living,life changes,moms,next step in life,recession — Brenda @ 4:10 pm

Yesterday a dear friend called, “You’ll never guess what just happened!” (We never will guess so why not just tell us!)

“I took the kids to school, did a quick errand in the school and then asked the school secretary if they needed substitute teachers. Before I knew it I was in the principal’s office talking about a job! I didn’t look great either–very little makeup and my hair in a pony tail.”

The crazy thing here is that my friend is not a teacher (unnecessary in our state) and this impromtu interview was not on her list of things-to-do today. She has been fervently looking for work that will bring in extra income, but not interfere with her family life. But so far–nothing. So yesterday on a whim she stopped in to see if there might be an opening.

My friend is scared silly. She left the corporate world ten years ago. She has been a stay-at-home mom to their twins and the administrative assistant, bookkeeper, etc. for her husband’s construction business. She has been working hard but not in the marketplace.

As we talked she started to imagine herself there. “If I do this I’m going to need a major (hair) cut and color–and new clothes.”

I chide in, ”You go, girl! And I’ll take you shopping!”

We talked through updating her resume and the areas of the job she felt secure in and where she felt not ready. Of course, in my true shoot-from-the-hip fashion I infused her insecurities with truth and encouragement. I didn’t let her linger too long in the dark shadows of the unknown.

When God shows us what is next for us there will always been the unknown. The unknown is God’s business. Our part is to ready ourselves and give our best. God called Abraham out of his homeland, Ur (Acts 7:2; Genesis 15:7). In Genesis 12: 1 God tells Abraham, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Hebrews 11:8 gives us further insight into Abraham’s situation, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going” (NIV).

Most of us would be saying, “God, I”m ready to obey, I just need to know where I’m heading. I can’t just follow You if I don’t know where all this is headed.” God gave Abraham enough direction to proceed. God told him, “the land where I will show you” (emphasis mine). He also told Abraham to proceed and He would direct him along the way. And God will give us what we need to follow Him, too.

That’s what my friend is trusting God to do for her. She is proceeding. She is updating her resume, making a hair appointment, and going shopping–all in preparation for her official interview. (Imagine interviewing for a job in the outfit you take the kids to school in, minimal makeup, and hair in a pony tail!) Yes, she is a bit shaky concerning this new adventure and most unexpected way God may have for her to supplement their income. But she is stepping out, leaving Ur, and heading for the “land she does not know.”

Is God calling you to a “land you do not know”? Is He asking you to leave the familiar so He can do amazing things in you and through you? I’d love to hear how you are letting God give you confidence to live your calling.