The Danger of Our Words

The book of James is written to a group of Jewish Christians who were under great persecution.  They were going through many very difficult trials.  That is why in James 1, we are instructed how to respond to trials.  Building on that foundation, James 2 teaches how we are to see other people.  James drives home the importance of seeing people as God sees them, worth dying for.  The key phrase in this chapter is found in James 2:8, "Love your neighbor as yourself".  It is very interesting to stop here and consider that James is instructing a group of hurting, suffering Christians to love and serve others! This is so counter culture to what we see today! Today we are told that if you are suffering, then you need to take some time and focus on "me".  God has a very different plan for Christians.  Though we are pressed from all sides, we have no excuse to stop loving others.  The greatest blessing comes from living our faith in spite of our pain.

James 3 almost seems like it's out of place.  Why would he teach on the "tongue" to a group of persecuted Christians?  The answer is clear and can be seen in our own lives.  When we face struggles and trials we are pressed, just as if you pressed on a grape, and what comes out reveals the truth about what is inside.  No doubt as these Christians were "pressed", what they said with their tongues was not pleasing to God.  You see many of us when going through a difficult situation, begin to lose control of our tongues.  We say things we shouldn't and we cause more damage then we realize.  James 3:6 compares the tongue to a flame that sets a whole forest on fire, it defiles the whole body, and its words are from Hell itself.  We would never ever go set fire to a neighbor's house, yet we set fire spiritually to others with what we say about them.  And often we think the damage is contained in one small place, but what we do not realize is the damage the "smoke" does.  Often people have small house fires where the fire only damages a small amount and yet the smoke infiltrates and ruins the rest of the house.  We need to be very careful of what we say and how we say it.

There is truly death and life in our tongue.  And all of this goes right back to James 2.  If we truly love our neighbor as ourselves then we will not destroy them with our words.  Ask yourself these questions: How many people have gone to Hell because of my tongue? How many people have been kept out of Hell because of my tongue?  And if I truly see people as God sees them, then how should my words reflect that?    

90 min. a Day Prayer Challenge and the Lessons Learned

If you had asked me to rate my prayer life 6 months or even a year ago, I would have told you that on a scale of 1 to 10, I was about a 6.  Not too shabby, but still could use some improvement.  This passed weekend I attended a conference and heard a message that was about many things, but touched on the topic of prayer.  (I had recently started a prayer schedule/notebook as seen in my previous blog) I picked up the speaker's book and began to read it that very day.  Guess what the first chapter was about?! If you guessed prayer then you were right.  One of the statements in his book touched me very deeply.  He said that of all those he had seen who serve in ministry and had spent at least 90 min. a day in prayer, everyone of them saw growth in their spiritual life as well as in their ministry.  That hit me between the eyes because I want nothing more than to see the Children's Ministry where I serve to be blessed by God and to reach children.  So I made a challenge to myself and my ministry partners: For three days, we will pray for 90 minutes a day.  To help with all of the distractions we decided to eliminate social media for those 3 days. 

So what happened in those 3 days?  Well, to be honest it was hard.  That's right, you just heard a woman who is a Preacher's daughter and Preacher's wife say that 90 min. a day of prayer was hard.  To be still and quiet three times a day for 30 minutes was difficult for a driven, busy mom.  Once I set the stopwatch on my phone and couldn't believe it when I was done praying and yet clock only read 21 minutes. ;)   I stopped several times to take my 3 year old to the potty or to break up an argument between my 2 kids.  One day my phone even rang off the hook! lol  Satan did all he could to put road blocks between my fellowship with God.  Despite all the normal daily distractions, I kept on.  I kept hearing things ring in my heart.  "If I can spend 90 minutes on FB then why can't I spend 90 minutes with my Savior?" "Why do I strive so hard exhausting myself when if I would only pray about it, God would do the work?" "Why am I leaving my children to chance instead of covering their lives with prayer?"  All of these convicting thoughts wouldn't let me quit. 

I will tell you that I feel like I touched God in a new way and I believe it was really only the tip of the ice burg.  I saw God move in my life and in the lives of others like never before.  It almost took me by surprise when He revealed Himself through this.  One afternoon I was beginning my prayer time and Grace was home and playing and the thought struck me that I should invite her to join me.  Many times we as adults pray in the early morning and late at night and our children NEVER see us pray.  In fact, when I showed her my prayer notebook, she said she had no idea that was what that was.  I prayed as she listened.  Later that night she told Jeremy that she teared up hearing me pray because she knew I really loved her! Wow! That made me think, if we as parents are to be spiritual leaders in our home then we need to model the Christian life for them in a VERY practical way!  We are always told that if we want our children to have a love of reading that we should read to them every day.  In that same thought, if we want our children to love prayer then we need to let them hear us pray. 

I'm sorry this blog tonight has no Scripture attached (although there are many to choose from), but I just wanted to encourage you to PRAY PRAY PRAY! I will not promise you it is easy, I will not promise you that Satan will not try to distract you, but we must spend time with the One who died so we could live!  Every moment you spend in prayer is better than a moment NOT spent in prayer.  My 3 days is up, but I plan to continue, will you join me? 

Prayer Notebook

We all know in our head the value of prayer, but we don't often allow that to reach our heart! In this I truly struggle.  It's hard when you barely get a minute alone to find time to spend in prayer.  It's also hard when you stay connected to so many people on Facebook who constantly need prayer, to keep up with all the prayer needs.  I find myself praying for things that come to my mind but somehow forgetting the needs that are most important!  Recently a lady that I respect very much shared with me her prayer schedule and prayer book.  It is so simple that I feel silly to have not implemented it before now.  Several of you have asked me to share it and I thought this would be the best way to get it to everyone. 

Simply purchase a small 3 ring note book, 2 packages of tabbed pages (10 tabs total), and a pack of paper to put in it.  Now choose your 10 categories.  Designate each section for one category you want to pray for.  Put paper into each section. 7 of the 10 categories will get divided over the 7 days of the week.  The other 3 will be things that you pray for every single day.  Make this schedule out and put it in your notebook.  Now write requests for each category.  Each day you will pray for your 3 daily requests plus 1 from your weekly requests.  As you grow, you can add more categories and you may even have 2 daily categories that you pray for. 

Now, ideally it would be wonderful to pray for 1 hour each day.  That is what we should strive for, but for me it is difficult so I am challenging myself to 30 minutes a day.  And because I don't have 30 min. of quiet a day, I am going to do 10 minute segments 3 times a day and then increase as I go. 

Having the extra paper in the notebook allows me to write down details of the request or even journal.  When I am asked on FB for a request I usually pray write at that moment, and now if it is a long term request I can add it to my notebook.  Also, keep in mind that Satan will do everything he can in this prayer time to distract you with other thoughts.  To avoid this, keep a piece of paper and pen handy so that if you find your mind wandering during prayer of thinking on other things, simply jot them down so that you don't have to worry about it till later.  If you don't write it down, you will continue to fret over it the whole prayer time.

I think of prayer as like a covering over our lives and the lives of those we know and love.  Just like our earth is covered with a protective ozone layer.  When we are not praying as we should, that covering gets "holes" in it!  Prayer really does change things! I'm sorry if I bored you with this simplicity, but it has helped me to be organized!

Resolutions and Revelations

It's that time again!  Time for us to decide what our yearly resolution or resolutions will be.  Some will decide to give up something.  Many will join a gym.  Sadly, most resolutions will only last till February or March.  I will be the first to confess to making a resolution on Jan. 1 only to break it on Jan. 2.  Most of the resolutions we make every year are self-focused and self-pleasing.  Many of them have nothing to do with seeking God first.  What if this year we all resolved to pray more, or to spend more time studying God's Word, or to get plugged in and serve in church?  What if our resolutions this year was focused on building God's Kingdom and not our Kingdom?  I challenge myself as well as anyone reading this to resolve this year to making an impact for eternity.  (James 4:14)

That being said, I would like to offer another thought.  Many of you know I am so fascinated with the life of Samuel.  He began serving in the temple at a very very young age (possibly as young as 3).  He spent his whole life in service to his Lord.  His life was in stark contrast to the two boys (Hophni and Phineas) who were supposed to inherit the priesthood but instead they repeatedly and blatantly disobeyed God.  God eventually took the lives of those two boys because of their sin and He put His hand of blessing on Samuel in their place.  Samuel, as a young boy was audibly called by God, Himself.  This young 10 or 12 year old boy heard the awesome voice of God in time when "the Word of the Lord was very rare"! 

Have you ever been standing in front of something so obvious yet you don't see it? Well that is how I have been this week.  I kept looking at this boy Samuel and what God did through him and it struck me, like a puzzle finally fitting together, that many if not most of the great leaders and great people of faith mentioned in Scripture,  were first introduced to us in their childhood or adolescence!!!!! What profoundly simple fact that I stood in front of, like a giant puzzle on a wall, was that people who minister with and to children have HUGE significance and INFLUENCE for God's Kingdom.  What if Hannah, Samuel's mother, had said, "no Lord, I'm to busy to train little Samuel?" Oh the impact Samuel's teacher, trainer, molder, had on Israel and for that matter on HISTORY!

Let me leave you with that this thought? Maybe it's your turn to impact God's Kingdom in a tangible way by serving in a children's ministry or in a nursery?  I know those that know me are thinking "well this is an obvious post from a children's director" :), but I don't think it's just because of my bias! I think it's God's pattern! Consider this? Could your resolution this year be to step in and influence the life of a child by serving in your church's children's ministry?  And if you already serve in that capacity, be encouraged because you are touching eternity! 

The Gift We Want or the Gift We Need?

Each year on this day we celebrate by giving gifts to our children and to our loved ones.  We spend time picking out the right gift and wrapping it carefully so that special person will love our gift.  If we were honest we would admit that not every gift we gave was as loved as we had hoped and some will even be exchanged.  In the same way we are all given "gifts" throughout ALL of the year.  Only these "gifts" are not tangible or material.  Instead these "gifts" are often experiences, trials, tests, or blessings and they come from the Lord.  Sadly, many Christians choose to not even open these "gifts" because at first sight they aren't attractive.  There are no pretty bows or shiny paper.  These gifts are plain or sometimes even ugly to look at.  Because God's gifts don't seem attractive, we choose to open the "gifts" from the World that at first glance look shiny and pretty.  Unfortunately the world's gifts ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS are empty and lead to destruction. 

There are two women in Scripture that were given incredibly difficult and incredibly wonderful gifts from the Lord.  Both offered a song of praise and prayer to God after receiving their gift.  Hannah and Mary both offered God a beautiful song of praise as a result of their gifts.  It is interesting that both of these songs (Hannah in 1 Sam. 2:1-10 and Mary in Luke 1:46-56) are very similar.  Mary must have known the OT Scriptures very well. 

After they each open their song in praise, there are 3 distinct parts that is common in both of their songs.  First, they Experienced God (Luke 1:48 and 1 Sam. 2:1)  Mary truly experienced God because she gave birth to him and Hannah experienced the hand of God through the gift of Samuel.  Secondly they both Recognized God (Luke 1:49-54 and 1 Sam. 2:2-9).  They both saw God for who He was and they recognized that He is the ALMIGHTY.  They recognized that He helps the 1. Humble, the 2. Hungry, and the 3. Helpless.  I think those 3 categories just about cover us all!! Finally they Remembered God's Promises (Luke 1:55 and 1 Sam. 2:10).  They both remembered what God had done for them and Hannah even prophesied of the of the coming Messiah!  These 3 things were the result of the gift they received from God!  What if they had said NO?! What if Mary had told the angel that this gift was too frightening for her and she didn't want it?! What if Hannah had not done the difficult thing with her gift, Samuel, and kept him instead of giving him to the Lord?! 

Had Hannah and Mary not received their "gifts" from the Lord, they would have missed their EXPERIENCE WITH GOD, they would never have RECOGNIZED GOD for who He is, and they would have never been REMINDED OF GOD'S PROMISES!!!!!! 

What gift is God trying to give you? Is it the gift of a trial, or an illness, or a blessing, or even an experience? Don't reject His gift because it may not be the most attractive!!! Accept it with open arms and surrender to His plan even if is difficult.  If you choose the sparkling gift all wrapped up by the world, you will find it's pretty on the outside but it will leave you with nothing but emptiness.  If you choose the gift God is giving you, you will find that you EXPERIENCE GOD, RECOGNIZE GOD , and you are REMINDED OF HIS PROMISES.

Prepared for Battle?

For years I have been fascinated with the life of Samuel.  It always intrigued me how God shows such contrast between the boy Samuel and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phineas.  Hophni and Phineas were set to inherit the priesthood but they lived very wicked lives and they chose to deliberately disobey God.  So God had to "raise up a faithful priest" in a young boy named Samuel. This lays the foundation for the story at hand.  The Israelites continually faced the Philistine army. This army was their "giant".  In fact many of the Philistines were actual giants.  God's people faced them again and again throughout Scriptures and many times we see them scared to death to face them.  In 1 Sam. 4:1-10, Israel goes to war with the Philistines and are defeated and they lose 4,000 men in the battle.  When they return they are upset and discouraged and so, under the leader ship of Hophni and Phineas, they decide to take the Ark of the Covenant out of it's Holy place and into their battle in order to "insure" their win against the Philistines.  However, we see that instead of a great victory, they lose terribly and 30,000 men are killed including Hophi and Phineas.

Why did this happen? Why would God's people lose a battle especially when they had the Ark with them?  First of all, they put their trust in holy objects instead of a Holy God!  The Ark of the Covenant was an amazing, beautiful symbol of God, but it WAS NOT GOD!  They didn't need the help of "objects" or "things", they needed the help of the Living God! Secondly, they moved in haste and in their own strength instead of seeking God and asking Him to fight for them.  I find myself standing in the "Israelite line" so many times.  I see their choices and realize that I often make the same ones.  How many times do we as Christians, put our trust in symbols and things? We lean on everything and everyone else but God, Himself.  The problem is, people and things will ALWAYS fail us but God never fails!  Facing our battles while trusting in symbols and objects is like fighting with a gun with no bullets.  We will never advance.  We will never see victory.  Maybe God has NOT done BIG things in your life because you haven't completely relied on Him for the strength?

The next time the Israelites meet with the Philistines, 1Sam. 7:3-13, we find them in a completely different position.  Samuel had gathered the people together to confess their sins, then fast and pray.  While they were meeting the Philistines mobilized to attack them, but God fought for them and the army was defeated.  This time instead of trusting in symbols, they trusted in the Almighty God.  They stood clean before Him, with their hearts humbled, and sought His strength.  Three simple things that I'm sure we'd never find in a military handbook, but 3 simple things that brought them victory against their giants.  

I don't know what you face.  But I do know it's "giant" to you.  Remember as you battle to carry your 3 most valuable weapons: A clean heart before God, humility that realizes your need, trust in the Almighty God to fight your battle!

Listen to this song:  Remind Me Who I Am