Timeless Truths

A timeless truth is a wise saying is followed and applied to life, brings positive results to your efforts - orderliness, success, contentment, happiness, security.... The Proverbs in the Bible are more than just wise sayings; they are divine wisdom itself, for they come from the mind of God, who is the author and creator of life. Read & apply the timeless truths found in Proverbs, and you will not only experience positive results from your efforts, but these results will have eternal significance. God himself will shower you with divine blessings, give you guidance for your next move, offer discernment in difficult situations and help you see the difference between right and wrong, important and trivial, wise and foolish, temporary and eternal.

But it is not enough to just read and know these wise words we must live them out day by day. We must obey.

Proverbs 1:2 " The purpose of the provers is to teach people wisdom and discipline, and to help them understand wise sayings."

Prov. 1:23 "Come here and listen to me! I'll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you wise."

Prov. 2:1 "My child, listen to me and treasure my instruction."

Understanding

Most of us want spiritual understanding, but we aren't willing to pursue it any further than listening to a few sermons or rushing through ten minutes of Bible reading. Often our failure to understand God's Word is due to our unwillingness to invest time & energy in persistent, serious Bible study. If you really want to understand scripture, consider following a focused & systematic plan of study. Make a commitment to apply to your daily life whatever truth you learn. When God sees that we are serious about pursuing truth & wisdom He opens our minds to understand some of the magnificent mysteries of the Spiritual life.

Proverbs 2:2b-7 ..."concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and understanding. Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure. Then you will understand what it is to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom. He grants a treasure of good sense to the godly, He is their shield, protecting those who walk with integrity."

Contemplating....

Contemplating.... I've been doing that a lot lately. Seems the more some things come into focus other things seem to blur. Life decision flash through my mind and either bring more clarity or painful remorse. I suppose this is partly normal or at least I hope it is, otherwise I may be a tad nuttier than I suspect I am. Seems there are a lot of painful remorse decisions plaguing my mind's eye lately. As I sit here writing this I know in my head there is no condemnation in Christ there certainly is in the human heart. There are so many things that I don't want to miss out on. I don't want to miss any more opportunities to spend time with any of my boys. I don't want to miss Bryce's graduation, I don't want to miss Tyler's last 2 years of high school. I don't want to miss my kids playing with their grandparents, or miss my niece's ballets or Max's 2nd birthday. I don't want my kids to miss the chance to know their incredible Aunt. To know their super cool Gramps and to watch movies and have popcorn with their Gran.

How is it that we get so wrapped up in our business that we miss everything. We are glued to our phones, computers, and tv that we miss life. We think we have time. Time to spend with our kids, with our husbands, with our families. Suddenly the kids are grown, we are on separate pages with our husbands and what's left of our families lies in ruins. This is not even the worst part of it. The worst part is our separation from God. If we are too busy for our husbands, kids and families, we are mostly certainly to busy for God. He will of course understand our business, won't he? I mean after all we can't expect to really make quality time everyday for Him, we just have SO much going on.

What would happen if we actually gave God the time He deserves? What would happen if we were to pour over the Scriptures the way we pour over Google or spend as much time in prayer as we do watching tv? Would we suddenly watch less tv? Spend less time online? Would we worry as much as we do now? Would our children notice the difference? Would our children pull our their Bibles instead of their ds's? Would they flip on the Bible cd instead of the tv? Would our marriages start to show some love instead of selfishness? Would there be more listening and less finger pointing? How would it impact our work, our witness? Would we then begin to tell others about the love of Jesus? Would we be less afraid of what others think and more bold in Christ?

If Christ came back tomorrow would you be with Him or would you be left behind? I think we will be surprised at who is gone and who is here when that day comes. I'm a nobody really, just a small town girl who has made an enormous amount of mistakes. In the world's eyes my voice has no real value, I'm not rich or famous, no one reads my blogs or really cares what I have to say. But I will say this I refuse to live like God doesn't matter, that He doesn't matter to me because He does. I refuse to miss out on anymore time with Him. I refuse to miss anymore time with my family.

I am a follower of the ONE TRUE GOD. JESUS CHRIST IS MY LORD AND SAVIOR. I believe there is coming a time soon when we will not be able to write those words in public without fear of imprisonment or even death. When that time comes I pray I'll as bold then as now. I long for Christ to be more in the center of my heart and life and not on the outskirts. Lord help me to give You the time you deserve in my life. Help me to not turn our time together into something cheap and disposable. Help me to put You first, and my husband and family where they deserve also. Help me not to lose sight of what You have put me on this earth to do. Help me to use the talents you have given me to accomplish what You will to be done. I love you Lord with all my heart. Help me to show it more to those around me. Help me to bold about Your love for them. Help me to not wimp out on telling those that need you all about you. Thank you for loving me the unlovable and giving me this life that I so don't deserve.  

From Mid-Life Crisis to Clarity

Mid-life crisis is so cliche, I think, but lately that's almost how it felt. I've been seeking God's will more and more, spending more time in His word, searching for the wisdom that I so desperately lack in decision making. Two Sundays ago Pastor Dumas preached and I was completely and totally convicted. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was preaching to me, I also knew I couldn't do anything about it. I was standing in my own way, I knew it, I had known it for a long time. I've felt for a while God saying I want to take you to new heights, to places we've never been before together; but I can't until you do this one thing. Isn't it always that one thing that gets you so torn up inside that you just can't go there. My husband sat next to me watching me knowing that I was struggling. He looked at me and I flat out told him I can't, I'm standing in my own way and I know it and I'm not going to do anything about it because I can't. (talk about stubborn disobedience) Doug in the Holy Spirit's wisdom told me I was telling God that I don't trust him among other things (that are a tad personal for a blog.) We went home and I was miserable. I knew I had to do what God was telling me to do. I knew I couldn't go any farther in my walk with God until I obeyed Him and trusted Him that in the end His way would mean life not death. (we are so short sighted, aren't we.) By that evening I was a mess and I knew it was all coming to head.

You see it's like the old saying you can run but you can't hide. Although God will never force His will on us, never force His love and grace on us if we are TRULY seeking what God wants in our lives then we must make the hard decision. Do we continue to live in misery or do we choose freedom. And let me tell you that freedom is ever so sweet, once we walk into it. During our Beth Moore study she said God can deliver you one of three ways.
1. Deliverance from the fire - this is a faith builder
2. Deliverance through the fire - our faith is refined
3. Deliverance by the fire - our faith is perfected
We all pray to be delivered from the fire. This is our very first prayer please Lord deliver me from this and trust me I prayed that.. Don't make me go through this fire because Lord I will no make it out. This was me not trusting him, I honestly believed I would not make it out. But it was not to be, I was going to have to walk into that fire and I knew it. Let me just say that this was not an easy walk and I had literally been running the other way for years, but the time had come. I was in bondage and I couldn't hobble my way along any longer. I needed to be free, deep down I wanted to be free. So head down I walked into the fire, I felt like I was walking before a firing squad and that this would be the end of life as I knew it. (In a way I was right) But just like with Sadrach, Meschach and Abednego I was not alone in the fire, there was one more. When I walked out the other side I didn't even smell like smoke!! The only thing burned here were the chains that had been holding me captive! (and I was deathly afraid of that fire.) I would walk out of that fire with more freedom than I had ever know. Jesus had stood with me in my fire and set me free! I am here to tell you there is NO other way. I got a lot of perspective that day and a whole lot of clarity. I just didn't know yet how much clarity. Remember I said I knew I couldn't go deeper until I faced that fire. Well today I'm deep sea diving!

This Sunday was incredible also but in totally different ways. The verse read before worship was the same verse Andy has been studying all last week. (these things are never a coincidence) So last night at work I opened up my journal and begin to write and then read. The following is an excerpt of my journal from last night.

9/25/2011

I have been totally ungrateful about the things in my life. I want to have a grateful heart about everything that you give us. I want to have a good attitude about all things. I know my attitude is terrible and I really want to be better.
Psalm 51:10 "Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a right spirit within me."
Forgive me Father for my lack of commitment to you.
vs. 11-12 & 15 "Do not banish me from your presence and don't take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that I may praise you."
This is it! This is how I feel right now. Like maybe I've gone from a mid-life crisis to clarity. I just want to have a crazy close relationship with you! I've always felt like there was something missing, something deeper. That's what I want, the deeper uber personal relationship with you. The one where I can't get enough of you, I can't spend enough time in your presence, in your Word. I feel like a new woman, like these bondage chains have finally come off and I am finally free of this person I USED to be! Mold me into that new person you want (and already know) me to be!
 (And if that were not enough he gives me more love and conformation as I continue to read)

Col. 1:9b "we ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom."
Yes Lord Yes!
vs. 10 "Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord and you will continually do good, kind things for othera. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better."
Yes! This is exactly it! A thousand times yes!!! (can I get an amen!)
vs. 14b "And he has forgiven ALL your sins." (emphasis mine)
Not just some but ALL
Col 2:3 "In Him lie hidden all the the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
(bring on the treasure hunt!)
Col 2:7 "Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him.... let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all his has done!
Col 2:11 "When you came to Christ, you were circumcised, but not in a physical procedure - the cutting away of your sinful nature."
(any of this sounding familiar? Verse 20-23 totally blows me away and this is my final thought of the day)

Vs 20-23 "You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as don't handle, don't eat, don't touch. Such rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility and severe bodily discipline. But they have no affect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thought and desires."

There is a whole other "book" I could write just from vs 20-23 but as I promised this is my last thought of the day. Why are we opening up the world's playbook everyday and trying to finish the race according to the world and it's views? Let me assure you the real playbook is far better and the freedom that comes from it passes all of our own understanding. Someday I will get to stand before the King of Heaven and thank Him in person for delivering me, this time, through the fire. Until then I'll thank Him everyday by going deeper and enjoying my uber personal relationship with Him. My sincerest hope is that you find the clarity you're looking for in your life. Don't be afraid to walk into your fire for the freedom on the other side is beyond what you can see or understand right now. He is here, He is with you and you are NOT ALONE!