Out of the mouthes of babes

When my children were in public school, my daughter was allowed to take her tablet to school for their reading time. She didn't really have many books on hers at the time, but she did have the Bible app. 

One day, I was having kind of a cruddy day after receiving bad news. I checked my email (as usual) only to find she had emailed me this...

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance." Psalm 42:5

How amazing to see my God is using my 7 year old daughter!!! Yes, refocused! Thank YOU Jesus! 

Radiant heart or vexed vanity?

What is "beauty"?

"Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." Proverbs 31:30

By definition beauty is:

• the qualities that give pleasure to the senses 

• a very attractive or seductive looking woman 

• an outstanding example of its kind

It is said, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". While this is true our society sets a "standard" by which is nearly impossible for the average female to meet or withhold. 

However ridiculous these pressed upon images may be, it's important to stress true genuine beauty far exceeds the outward appearance. I've met many beautiful women on the exterior but when they open their mouths, pure filth falls out. Remember, how/what we speak reveals the content of our hearts. 

Others who meet worldly standards of beauty have no regard to life's finer things such as kindness, gentleness, meekness or even life itself! 

A godly woman will shine from the inside out. The exterior may be a bonus but even the most comely and humbled woman will reflect the most inferior qualities of whom she follows because the Love of Christ far exceeds the many material attempts to  please the eye. 

The modest brightness these women carry puts temporary beauty to shame. So, you may not meet the world's expectations of lust infused beauty. Be okay with that! 

Unfeigned beauty will attract a heart, soul and mind; resulting in being treated as we were made instead of trash that's tossed after it's use. 

In essence, temporary beauty fades and leaves one left with a false facade of who they truly are. What's your take on beauty? Vexed vanity or a heart that radiates?

Receive or reject the Lord's prophet

How often have we rejected those whom The Lord has placed in our lives for His purpose & our own good? 

As Jehoshaphat King of Judah & Ahab King of Israel discussed uniting in war, Jehoshaphat desired to hear from a prophet who genuinely heard from The Lord God (vs 4-6); he truly wanted His direction but King Ahab only wanted to hear that which was in agreement with him. 

Ahab knew of only one true prophet yet had surrounded himself with many false because they fed his own desires over truth. For this reason, the King of Israel hated the Lord's prophet. Why? Miciah was not afraid to go against this king's self-serving agenda! He spoke only with the words given Him by God Himself and for this he was HATED! 

"But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so." 2 Chronicles 18:6-7

King Ahab saw the prophet as one who was against him; speaking "evil". He refused to hear the truth in each message and same was true in this case. The prophet exposed the false prophets (vs 20-21) and called out the lying spirits that fed the King as he wished. He warned the King that those he surrounded himself with spoke in error against the Living God (vs 22). Yet, this King chose to heed lies over truth and inevitably cost his life (vs 33-34). 

If God has placed someone in your life who speaks His Truth, LISTEN! Choosing only what we WANT to hear is both dangerous & deadly. If The Lord is giving you direction, will you heed Him? 

Touch not, take not... What's buried in our hearts?

Disobedience begins in the heart, and when left to itself & it's desires reaps death & destruction. Not only physically but spiritual separation from God. 

Going against His Word brings a curse upon ourselves. Yet if rejecting His Son completely, it's then chosen to live accursed! 

Achan saw what he desired, rejected the warning of The Lord and took what wasn't his, then hid these things under his tent buried underground. This is a portrait of what we have buried in our hearts. 

Self examination: Have we hidden in our hearts that which The Lord has said, "touch & take not"? If so, confess it and turn from it. Give it to Him so that we are in right standing with Him. 

The Lord told Joshua, "neither will I be with you anymore, except ye destroy the accursed from you". 

Is that which we desire worth forsaking His presence? 

"Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you... And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.

Joshua 7:11-12, 19-22

THE BEGINNER & THE BALANCE BEAM

As I watched my daughter in her beginning gymnastics days, I was able to watch from the high viewing area the entire gym. It was pretty fascinating, even though as a child I learned gymnastics too. I was also reminded of the importance of keeping our eyes fixed on where we're going, or where we are going to land!

Have you ever watched a beginner on a high balance beam? Uncertain, wobbly and slow, right. Where do they keep their eyes? On the beam! The more they practice, the more stable they become! Eventually even being able to do cartwheels and back-flips and still land on it properly in formation too. 

Wherever you are in your walk with Christ, keep your eyes on Him. The more you trust Him in every new adventure, trial & tribulation; you will see He stabilizes you, strengthens & upholds you! 

In Christ you can, if your eyes are FIXED on Him! 

"Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us." Psalm 123:1-2

I am second

I am second

I've thought much lately about my "positioning" in life. Not that of my own doing, but rather where my God has placed me. 

I'll share a bit of what I mean. 

* In my walk with Christ; He leads, I follow. I am second. 

* In my marriage, my husband is before me. I am second. 

* In the gift of motherhood, I care for my children first. I am second. 

* In our business, my husband is President and I am Vice. 

* In our church, others are esteemed first. I am second. 

* In the realm of missions, the missionary is first, by prayer or gift, I am second. 

* In Child Evangelism Fellowship, the children are first, them and the committee which I serve. I am second. 

* In my friendships, they are first. I am second. 

* My hired help for filing, cleaning & organizing; I value their time & input. I am second. 

I'm sure the list could go on and on, but in essence contrary to how the world operates & mandates: I am second and I'm okay with that! It's an amazing thing to be a child of God. Misery looms in always trying to be first or pridefully ahead of everyone. 

Jesus said, "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." Matthew 23:12

If you want to be a better leader, first become a better servant! Do you know your position? Are you okay with it?