“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want [having no need of want; lacking nothing]” Psalm 23:1. Oh Lord, you are so, so good! Help thou our unbelief.
In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.}
In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.}
Living complete in Christ.
[excerpts from Causes of a Dozing Church | A.W. Tozer]
What is the present condition of the evangelical church? The bulk of Christians are asleep. I do not mean that the bulk of Christians who come to evangelical churches are not converted, because if I meant that I would say they were dead and never had been born again. But I say they are asleep. It is possible to be morally asleep yet mentally, intellectually, physically and theologically alert.
The present condition is that we are asleep. These sleeping Christians do two things that God must grieve over. One is that they control church affairs. We are democratic, and if we do not like a pastor we give him the bounce or pray that he will get another call. Then when the time comes we vote in whom we want and vote out whom we do not want. Church people control church affairs because they are intellectually, mentally and physically awake, but they may be morally and spiritually asleep. That is, they are so far down in the rut that they do not see up.
Many people who are asleep control church affairs. It gets into whole conferences. Representatives will meet at the expense of the local church people. They will read minutes and pass resolutions, but they are asleep. You know they are asleep by the way they talk as soon as the benediction is pronounced and they have adjourned. You know they are asleep by their conduct, the things they are interested in or lack interest in, yet they control church affairs.
The second thing sleeping Christians do is set the standards for new Christians. When you bring in a newly converted Christian, he or she automatically takes on the coloration, general mood and temperature of the solemn seats around him or her. Pretty soon he or she is where they are, and once again there are no good examples of the Christian life.
Have you ever ordered something on-line expecting it to be one size, only to be disheartened when it arrived? Have you believed the marketers’ promises of special amazing features, only to get half of them functional? Has there been a time when you purchased something that looked really good from the outside, only to be disappointed with the results?
Left unto ourselves, that’s what can happen to us spiritually. You and I may produce plenty of leaves. We might look like flourishing plants! But there may not be much fruit on our branches.
What might be keeping us from our blooming potential? Jesus addresses another key component for developing a fruit-bearing life in John 15. Maybe you and I are in need of a good cleanse.
Extra leaves and stems consume the nutrients and resources needed for fruit-bearing. One way the Vinedresser cleanses the branches is to strip the life-sucking extras in the spring that drain nutrients from producing fruit. Note, this is His regular activity. You and I repeatedly find ourselves in need of a good spring cleaning. Although we have nothing to do with it, I find it helpful to acknowledge this reality by inviting God to do His work in me.
I’m not discerning enough on my own to become more like Jesus, recognizing what is hindering fruit-production versus what is necessary for growth. But I can pray for a willingness to cooperate with anything and everything that lines up with Scripture. I might ask myself:
• What seems to spike up onto the calendar appearing urgent and overcoming the important?
• To what establishments is my money spent? Are they God-honoring – or do I spend money just like everyone else?
• Do my possessions look like the pile at my neighbor’s, who is NOT aiming to bloom for Christ; or is there a distinct contrast between us?
• Are my actions God-honoring to those around me? Or am I stuck in the same emotional rut I found myself one, two or five years ago?
The key here is this: it’s not enough just to look good. Looking like a fruitful branch is not the same as being one. We need the supernatural touch of the Vinedresser.
May we be receptive and open to receive whatever cleaning the Father sees fit to do in our lives so that we will become more and more fruitful from the inside out.
I am truly humbled by the nomination of www.jesusandgreentea.wordpress.com . She has been both an encouragement and iron-sharpening-iron challenge to my soul. I am refreshed by her love for Christlikeness and God-focused of soul. Thank you for blessing my life jesusandgreentea. I feel like I have gain a sister. {Matthew 6:33}
The instructions for accepting the award and passing it on are as follows:
Questions For My Nominees:
My Nominees are: (and thank you for your ministry and labors of love!!!!)
Questions from my nominee (to me):
I would take my leather bond Bible, the biggest journal I could find (because if we were stranded there would be no possibilities to buy another journal—and I would have to write VERY small), and my family.
Really, just getting started. So often (myself included) we think “it” has to be “perfect” before we can do or start our “it.” My husband is my biggest fan and has been my biggest fan to start a blog, along with another girlfriend. They kept letting me, “just do it!” So, the journey began not quite a year ago, not out of selfish ambition, but out of deep longing soul desire to share Christ, His Word, and womanhood with others. My prayer along this journey is to give Christ encouragement, share Him, be a blessing to others, and challenge us in our walk with Christ.
Write—I love to journal, play piano & sing, spend time with my family, blog and help others, create crafty things—though I must say I haven’t done much of that lately, but I love being creative.
Oh wow—to God’s glory and with His help, I would love to see In Christ I am SHE turned into (along with blogging) Sunday School material for women or young teen girls/young adults and/or in the form of a Bible Study format. I would also love to grow personally in the blogging world—I am pretty new to this whole thing, but desire to grow in my understanding of how it all works. My time is limited, so structure and scheduling is something that I really do need to work on!
Ummm……I think it would be Europe or Italy. I don’t count the Turkish airport…lol; though I would truly love to go to Israel once again—that was such a life-changing trip!
Matthew 6:33; Psalm 19:14; Jeremiah 33:3; Psalm 27:13-14.
Summer, Spring, Fall…I love snow for Christmas 😉
I lived in the Philippines for a year.
Congratulations to ALL nominated for a free blog award (see above list)!!!! Please accept this as a compliment and encouragement to YOU and your blog. There are no requirements required on your end, but please know that I appreciate your blog. If you choose to follow the suggested rules (given above) please feel free to nominate others to encourage them!
Thank you once again www.jesusandgreentea.wordpress.com . Truly my heart is overwhelmed and humbled by your thoughtfulness and nomination of In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.} To God be the GLORY—great things HE has done!
In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.}
Thy will be done. Though I may never understand why my broken heart is apart of your plan; though my mind and heart may not agree; though my circumstances around me may scream otherwise; though my flesh may fail me and my spirit challenged beyond words, may my heart, soul, mind, thoughts, actions pray…THY WILL be done for YOU are GOD and I am NOT!
written by: Hillary Scott; The Scott Family
(1) I’m so confused
I know I heard you loud and clear
So, I followed through
Somehow I ended up here
I don’t wanna think
I may never understand
That my broken heart is a part of your plan
When I try to pray
All I’ve got is hurt and these four words
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
(2) I know you’re good
But this don’t feel good right now
And I know you think Of things,
I could never think about, It’s hard to count it all joy, Distracted by the noise, Just trying to make sense, Of all your promises
Sometimes I gotta stop
Remember that you’re God
And I am not
So…
Thy will be done, Thy will be done, Thy will be done
(Refrain) Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will…
I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Goodness you have in store
I know you hear me
I know you see me, Lord
Your plans are for me
Good news you have in store
So, thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Like a child on my knees all that comes to me is
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
Thy will be done
I know you see me
I know you hear me, Lord
“You have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin” –there is a fear in writing or saying such words. A fear not in physically writing them or saying them for they are true; rather a fear that a hearer will only listen to their own evoking fears and guilt thus not seeing God’s love for them; therefore, not instilling a fire of love to begin within the them because they love God.
Actions that are driven by fear and guilt are not an antidote to lukewarm, selfish, comfortable living–it is LOVE!
Our relationship with Christ should never be out of duty, obligation, or slavery, but rather craved from a genuine desired love for God. We need only look no further than the cross– where God demonstrated His love for us that while we were YET sinners; Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)! God’s love hasn’t changed.
When we love we are free!
Lukewarm living and claiming Christ’s name simultaneously is utterly disgusting to God–when we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that it isn’t very fulfilling or joyful to us, either, but the solution isn’t to TRY harder, fail, and then make bigger promises, only to fail again.
It does no good to “muster up” more love for God, or to will yourself to love Him more. When loving God becomes obligation, one of many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves.
So what do you do? The answer lies in letting God change you! He wants to change you, He died so that we could change!
In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.}
Identity – Who or What Defines Us
We are not defined by who others think or say we are. We are not even defined by who we have worked so hard to be or believe we are. Honors, corporate ladders, and titles are all man-made distinctions – and distractions. God is not more pleased with gold tassels than with those who care for the poor or feed the hungry.
In Matthew 20, Jesus told the parable of the workers in the vineyard. He described the kingdom of heaven as being like a landowner who went out to hire workers for his vineyard. Although the workers were hired at different times throughout the day, they were all paid the same. Why? Because they each had agreed to work for that amount. The landowner was completely fair to each person, challenging the grumbling workers by asking them if they were envious that he was being generous.
Jesus stated in verse 16, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” We American Christians have trouble accepting this as the standard for us too. Surely this cannot be right. We cannot possibly all receive the same grace from God, can we? Doesn’t it matter who we are in this world? Don’t we have to be somebody?
The truth is that we are who God says we are, and God says a lot about us. Look at a few verses from the book of Ephesians:
Let’s not stop here.
Oh friends, the Bible tells us a lot about who we are as believers in Christ. We cannot allow the world or even well-meaning friends and family to wrongly define and label us. When you start to hear that lying voice in your head saying, “you are not good enough, pretty enough, rich enough, or that you are not smart enough, that you deserve that horrible thing that happened to you” STOP RIGHT THERE and tell yourself (yell it out loud if you have to):
Sometimes the lying voice you hear is your own, and
Christ wants to be heard above it.
Instead of talking about how “proud” you are of someone (or someone telling you how “proud” they are of you) for whatever accomplishment(s) it my be at the time; tell them how proud you are of them for accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and for seeking to follow Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
You see, accomplishments (while they should be celebrated) are not what makes us good enough. What makes us enough is that we are transformed by the mercies of Christ Jesus.
Who or what are you allowing to identify you?
In Christ I Am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered}
Crazy Love written by Francis Chan (excerpt from chapter five pages 83-88)
“…now we are going to look at scriptural examples of poor responses to God’s gift of love. Before you discount or ignore what I am about to say, read these passages objectively, without preconceived opinions staunchly in place. My examination of lukewarm Christians in chapter 4 was by no means exhaustive. However, it did serve as a call to examine your heart in light of the points I listed. As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there’s no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are “lukewarm” are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.
In Revelation 3:15-18, Jesus says,
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
This passage is where our modern understanding of lukewarm comes from. Jesus is saying to the church that because they are lukewarm, He is going to spit them out of His mouth. There is no gentle rendering of the word spit in Greek. This is the only time it is used in the New Testament, and it connotes gagging, hurling, retching. Many people read this passage and assume Jesus is speaking to saved people. Why?
When you read this passage, do you naturally conclude that to be “spit” out of Jesus’ mouth means you’re part of His kingdom? When you read the words “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked,” do you think that He’s describing saints? When He counsels them to “buy white clothes to wear” in order to cover their “shameful nakedness,” does it sound like advice for those already saved? I thought people who were saved were already made white and clothed by Christ’s blood.
…so I’ve spent the past few days reading the Gospels. Rather than examining a verse and dissecting it, I chose to peruse one gospel in each sitting. Furthermore, I attempted to do so from the perspective of a twelve-year-old who knew nothing about Jesus. I wanted to rediscover what reasonable conclusions a person would come to while objectively reading the Gospels for the first time. In other words, I read the Bible as if I’d never read it before.
My conclusion? Jesus’ call to commitment is clear: He wants all or nothing. The thought of a person calling himself a “Christian” without being a devoted follower of Christ is absurd. But please don’t take my word for it. Read it yourself.
For years I struggled with the parable of the soils. I wanted to know if the person representing the rocky soil is saved, even though he has no root. I then wondered about the thorny soil: Is this person saved since he does have root?
I doubt if people even considered these questions back in Jesus’ day! Is this idea of the non-fruit-bearing Christian something that we have concocted in order to make Christianity “easier”? So we can follow our own course while still calling ourselves followers of Christ? So we can join the Marines, so to speak, without having to do all the work?
Jesus’ intention in this parable was to compare the only good soil to the ones that were not legitimate alternatives. To Him, there was one option for a true believer.
Let’s face it. We’re willing to make changes in our lives only if we think it affects our salvation. This is why I have so many people ask me questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I’m having sex with my girlfriend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I’m ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?
To me, these questions are tragic because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). And our question quickly becomes even more unthinkable: Can I go to heaven without truly and faithfully loving Jesus?
I don’t see anywhere in Scripture how the answer to that question could be yes.
James 2:19 says, “You believe there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” God doesn’t just want us to have good theology; He wants us to know and love Him. First John 2:3-4 tells us, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” Call me crazy, but I think those verses mean that the person who claims to know God but doesn’t obey His commands is a liar and that the truth really isn’t in him. In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save is life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” And in Luke 14:33, He says, “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”
Some people claim that we can be Christians without necessarily becoming disciples. I wonder, then, why the last thing Jesus told us was to go into the world, making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that He commanded?
You’ll notice that He didn’t add, “But hey, if that’s too much to ask, tell them to just become Christians—you know, the people who get to go to heaven without having to commit to anything.”
Pray. Then read the Gospels for yourself. Put this book down and pick up your Bible. My prayer for you is that you’ll understand the Scriptures not as I see them, but as God intends them.
I do not want true believers to doubt their salvation as they read this book. In the midst of our failed attempts at loving Jesus, His grace covers us. Each of us has lukewarm elements and practices in our life; therein lies the senseless, extravagant grace of it all. …His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3). His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9). I’m not saying that when you mess up, it means you were never really a genuine Christian in the first place. If that were true, no one could follow Christ.
The distinction is perfection (which none will attain on this earth) and a posture of obedience and surrender, where a person perpetually moves toward Christ. To call someone a Christian simply because he does some Christian-y things is giving false comfort to the unsaved. But to declare anyone who sins “unsaved” is to deny the reality and truth of God’s grace.
From other references in Scripture (Colossians 2:1; 4:13, 15-16), the church at Laodicea appears to have been a healthy and legitimate church. But something happened. By the time Revelation was written, about twenty-five years after the letter to the Colossians, the Laodiceans’ hearts apparently didn’t belong to God—despite the fact that they were still active as a church. Their church was prospering, and they didn’t seem to be experiencing any persecution. They were comfortable and proud.
end of quoting from book…
Dear friend,
My heart has been ever so challenged and extremely rebuked by these few pages. To be lukewarm brings no glory, no honor, no pleasure to God, but clearly demonstrates where the love of my heart truly lives.
We know that one cannot lose their salvation – once a child of God always a child of God, but just because one claims Christ doesn’t mean they are His. Scripture clearly states that “you will know them by their fruit” (Matthew 7:16-20). This doesn’t give you nor I the authority to cast judgement upon one another, but rather to cast the judgement upon ourselves—to take our own blinding, humongous, pride-centered-filled beam out of our own eye, first and foremost, before we even attempt trying to take out the speck that is in our brother’s eye (Matthew 7:3-5).
When you ask yourself these same questions, you know the answers, as do I. The question is what are you and I going to do about it?
We only have but one life to live; it is either all mine or all His.
Blessings to you dear friends. May we be a sweet smelling savor into the nostrils of God and hear, ‘well done’!
In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.}
No doubt you have seen and heard the horrible acts of wickedness that happened in Nevada this past week. Pure evil. I know most of us realize there is “evil” present in this world, but when that evil has a face and you see its affects, evil becomes a reality.
I read a post two days ago written by a father about his son, who was there that day in Nevada with his wife. This 29 year old man used his body to shield and protect his wife from the showering bullets. She said that she felt the impact his body took when those bullets entered him from the back. She felt him fall to the ground. Even though the concrete wall was only a few feet away she stopped running, turned around, and stayed with her husband preforming CPR. Somehow she was never struck, but while people were running away from the wall of bullets, two men (who still remain nameless) ran towards this husband and wife. “They come from no where,” the father said…calling them angels. They picked his son up, carried him to their truck and took them both, along with another person to the hospital.
By this time, when I was reading this post, my eyes were filled with tears and my heart just sorrowing for this father, his mother, and this wife. The 29 year old man (a son, a husband) never made it. He died because someone said yes to evil.
We know there are many more stories like this from that day, but this one wasn’t left my soul. I think of how he was a hero to his wife and she to him; I think of those two men, that truck, and how they were heroes to total strangers. The list doesn’t stop there: the police, hospital crews, and men and women who died and lived that saw someone else’s life more precious than their own.
I also think of someone else who saw the same in me…Jesus Christ!
I don’t like death, grief, sorrow…my family and I know it all to well. My Daddy being the latest. It hurts. But grief, sorrow, death has another side to it as well…the comfort of God that is truly unique, deep, precious, strengthening, and we’ll…comforting. I try to describe the comfort that God gives, but really I do it no justice. It is something that is only experienced.
There is also a choice when one is living in the land of grief and sorrow. The choice of better or bitter. This father is choicing better. Is his grief deep…you better believe it is, but even in the midst of evil, his own sorrow of losing his son, he is still choicing better, not bitter. For to be bitter is to give that killer another victim. For to be bitter is to destroy your own soul from within.
There is yet another choice when coming through the valley of the shadows of death, when the pain lessens a bit, when the Lord comforts your heart and you see a fellow human being starting their own journey of grief, sorrow, and/or death…when better is chosen, something happens to you.
I leave you today with these verses:
In Christ I am SHE {Saved. Hopeful. Empowered.}