Wednesday 25 November 2015

When I'm in a mood...

Lately I've been in a very off mood: I've been annoyed at everyone, I don't want to do anything (especially the things I normally love doing), and I really hate it when someone touches me- even my son.
I haven't been able to pin point what the root cause of it is and I haven't been able to shake it off.
I do know that it's just my flesh rearing its ugly head and trying to cause me to fall.

Something I heard long ago from Dilbert Terry and my own pastor recently said something similar is this- Christians ought to live by principle rather than feeling.

In times like these it's very easy to give your flesh free course. I feel really angry, uncomfortable, I don't want to deal with anyone, I don't want to do anything, I don't want to go anywhere, and because of all that I can feel justified in the flesh for doing things that make my flesh 'feel good'. For instance:
Maybe I don't take my anger out on people but I just sit in front of the TV most of the day, or sleep in and laze around, or even stare at my phone reading articles all day.
I may not take my anger out on anyone but I am still feeding my flesh by making myself 'feel good'.

To help myself live by principle rather than feeling there are a few things I try to do:

Read my bible A LOT. Jesus said this:
Now ye are clean through the word which
I have spoken unto you.
John 15:3
The Holy Spirit wrote this:
Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the church, and gave 
himself for it;
that he might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the word
Ephesians 5:25&26
Reading the bible makes you clean. When our flesh is particularly strong you have to weaken it by strengthening the inner man. The inner man is strengthened the same way your physical body is strengthened: food. 
And Jesus answered him, saying, it is
written, that man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word of God.
Luke 4:4
I've been reading through 2 Samuel and moving on to 1 Kings. I love the accounts written there. There is always something new to learn. For the particular mood I'm in it helps to read something I can easily pay attention to so it helps to read the books that have more action in them. I read more that way too because the accounts are so engaging.
Reading the bible also keeps the lines of communication open. I may not feel like reading the bible and I may not feel like praying but God is still talking to me and teaching me from His Word. 

Pray.
Get everything off your chest and give all problems to God.

Get up early.
This may not have any affect on you but it surely does on me. Forcing myself out of bed early in the morning makes a big difference in my day.
The only reason I get up early is to do my devotions. If I decide to sleep in my flesh has won for the day.
Getting up to do my devotions shows my flesh I will not be controlled by it, I will be controlled by what is right and pleasing to God- spending quiet time alone with Him.

Don't give place to evil thoughts.
Something that happens when I'm in a bad mood is I begin to get angry at everyone for everything. My mind will bring up things I don't like about someone and the temptation is to keep those thought coming to make me feel better about myself.
The thought of foolishness is sin:
Proverbs 24:9b
Idle thoughts about people are foolish and they cause division.
Any time an evil thought about someone comes into my head I cast it out an apologize to the Lord. Allowing myself to think badly about someone will affect how I treat them and I do not want that. If they are wicked, God will deal with them, I don't have to.

My pastor says this a lot- keep short accounts with God.
Act on a matter of conviction right away. When God deals with you about something, confess/apologize/fix it right away no matter where you are.
Once you get it right then stay right. 
Walk close to the Lord.

Well that's all. I hope this helps you in some way. Yes, this odd mood I'm in has prevented me from writing. That and I've been busy- it's almost Christmas!
Have a good Wednesday!

Friday 13 November 2015

Be Diligent

***This is completely separate from the post: Please pray for Davey and Weston Blackburn who just lost a wife and mother. She was shot by a burglar in their home. It's a terrible tragedy and they need your prayers. You can read the story here***

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One of the truest and easiest ways to show that you love someone is to value what they value.
Joseph's brothers did not love their father so they sold his favourite son into slavery. Later on in the story when Jacob's next favourite son Benjamin could have been taken away, his sons proved themselves and their love by sacrificing themselves to protect the one their father loved. 

If I want to show my husband that I love him I must value the things he values whether it be making sure the cats stay off the counter or being hospitable to his family when they stay over.

Our relationship with God is no different. 

The lesson plan I'm following in my bible class briefly covered David and his heart after God's. As a child I had no idea what that meant. I thought maybe David was a stickler for doing right and had lots of faith. 
Now that I'm an adult I've learned through study that David valued what God valued. 
In 1 Samuel 17 David is convincing Saul that he can defeat Goliath. In the course of his speech he tells Saul that he fought a lion and a bear in order to protect his father's flock. His job was to protect those sheep, so he protected them with his life. 
Before this ever convinced Saul of anything, it had a twofold effect in David's relationship with God.
It effected David's faith in God:
David said moreover, The Lord that
delivered me out of the paw of the lion,
and out of the paw of the bear, he will
deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,
and the Lord be with thee.
1 Samuel 17:37
David had no problems going up against a 9ft 9in giant because he had already seen the deliverance of the Lord.
As David's faith in God was strengthened, God's trust in David was strengthened. 
I really think that Jesse, David's father, would have been disappointed but okay with losing a lamb to a lion and a bear. Better a lamb than the life of his son. God, however, used that situation to prove David and see what he would do- would he obey his father's instructions to KEEP the sheep or would he keep himself. David valued what his father valued and when no one else saw that, God did.
This was the difference between Saul and David: Saul was made king to fight Israel's battles whether it be against an army or against a giant. Instead, Saul cowered in his tent and tried to bribe others to do his job for him. Saul kept himself. David, as the servant of the Lord, did what the Lord wanted despite the circumstances and the enemy ahead. David valued the name of the Lord more than he valued himself. 
This explains why Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18 does this:
And Jonathan stripped himself of the
robe that was upon him, and gave it to
David, and his garments, even to his sword,
and to his bow, and to his girdle.
1 Samuel 18:3
Jonathan was the rightful heir to the kingdom. As great as Jonathan was he stood with his father in the tent as Goliath taunted them for 40 days. Jonathan, seeing David's actions, realized that this was the true leader, this was the true heir, this was the true king. As Jonathan gave his princely clothes and weapons to David he gave up his own place as heir and submitted to the Lord's will, that David would be king instead of him.

Back up to 1 Samuel 16 when Samuel is looking to anoint one of Jesse's seven sons. Except there are eight sons and no one bothered to call the youngest. 
This is the absolute first time David appears in scripture yet God's testimony of him is that he has a heart after God's own. 
This tells us one very important thing- David was diligent in his business. On the fields, day after day night after night, David watched and protected his father's sheep and when it was all quiet, David sang songs to the Lord.
David was about two things: obeying his father, and worshipping God.
Then answered one of the servants, and
said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the
Bethlemhemite, that is cunning in playing,
and a mighty valiant man, and a man of
war, and prudent in matters, and a comely
person, and the Lord is with him.
1 Samuel 16:18
David didn't promote himself, the Lord promoted him. David's reputation, even as a shepherd with no reputation in his own family, went before him because God says this:
Seest thou a man diligent in his
business? he shall stand before kings; he
shall not stand before mean men.
Proverbs 22:29
God blesses our obedience, diligence, and worship.

So David was diligent and faithful. 
Here is a young man, who when God came, was right where he was supposed to be. He never promoted himself or exalted himself. After playing his harp for Saul, he went right back to watching the sheep.
The only reason he was in the position to hear Goliath's words was because his father had sent him there to bring food to his brothers. 
Not only was he diligent to be where he was supposed to be but he was diligent to do his job right.
He protected his sheep with his life, he made sure they were taken care of when he was away from them, he made sure Goliath knew it was God that would win the battle, and no matter how high Saul promoted him, he behaved himself wisely (1 Samuel 18:4).

David's diligence to do right produced the faith he needed when the time came.
The faith David had did not just come with a snap of the fingers. He could not just summon it. The great faith showed in the defeat of Goliath was the result of his proving God, time and time again.
The situation with the lion and bear is one example we know about, but who knows, there may have been other similar situations. The fact that he was anointed king must've told David that God was watching him, knew what he was doing, and was with him.

So, as monotonous as life can be, be diligent to do what the Lord has given you to do whether it be staying at home with children or going out to earn a living.
Do it right, behave wisely, and worship God.
When you have a decision to make: read your bible or watch one more episode, read your bible. Choose God. These small things show God that you are trustworthy in the big things and your faith will be increased. 

If you want a heart after God's own heart, do what He set you to do- give value to the things he values. As my pastor says, 'worship shows what something is worth to you'.
David did not go out and seek fame and glory. He just stayed with the sheep, all day every day, in hard times, in easy times, and while he was diligent to do his job, he worshiped the Lord. 

Monday 2 November 2015

In Everything Give Thanks- part 2

A few weeks ago I posted a long list of thank yous to God.
It was Canadian Thanksgiving and I wanted to post something for it. At first I thought I'd post about all the things I love that I am grateful for (that's the fashionable thing to do on Thanksgiving). However, I began to consider this blog and the whole reason it exists: bringing glory to God. Thus, In Everything Give Thanks- Part 1 was written and I just poured out everything I could think of.
That was not the first time I've just thanked God for His blessings. A few years ago I was listening to a preacher talk about being grateful and just pouring out praises, gratitude, and glory to God. Since then many of my prayers are just prayers of thanks and all my prayers start out with thanks. Occasionally when I can't sleep I just start thanking God for things.
It's not a routine, habit, or something on my checklist. I'm actually grateful so I show my gratitude.
If you don't praise God on a regular basis, you should start, it changes your life.

While I understand that positive words make a difference and positive thinking makes a difference I am not a big promoter of either.
I like to be practical and if a situation is bad, I'm not going to lie to myself and others just to be positive.
I am, however, grateful and gratitude is a practical persons positive outlook.
I never really thought about gratitude until one of my favourite online preachers said this: 'nothing shows you are weak more than ingratitude'.
That hit me so hard I have never been the same since.
As it started to work on me I realized for myself that being grateful takes strength.
It is easy to say thank you and show your appreciation on Thanksgiving but to look at situations that seem hopeless and find something to be grateful for is something else. I did talk about that in my blog post Grateful.

God blessed me with a good home, two christian parents, all my five senses, the ability to be independent, I was born in a free country, and I'm not constantly living in fear for my life.
Just as easily I could have been born to a broken home, with God hating parents, lacking the ability to see or hear or speak, and too many issues for me to live independently.
We can't control the situations we are born into. I was born into a good one and I can't take that for granted. There are people out there who would do anything for the stability God has given me, it's wasted on me if I don't appreciate it.
If they are ever taken away I do not want to regret not praising God for them.
I know what I have and I know what I deserve.

In everything give thanks: for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18
If you are wondering what God's will is for you life, start giving thanks
And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to the which also ye are called in
one body; and be ye thankful.
Colossians 3:15
The amount of peace you get from being thankful is immeasurable.
There are things I would like but my gratitude for the things I have outweigh my desires for anything else.

My pastor said this a few weeks ago:
"God is good all the time. He's not good because of what He does, He is good because that's His character".
It's true.
If you think when everything is going well that God is good but when they go down the toilet, through the sewer and into the deepest most disgusting place of the ocean that He's not good- you're wrong.
God is good no matter what happens.
He gave His Son for you. That is good no matter what way you look at it.

We love him, because he first loved us.
1 John 4:19
We wouldn't know God if He didn't show love to us first. Our love for God originates with Him. We have hope because of Him, we have eternal life because of Him, we can enjoy the good things of this life because of Him. If you can't be grateful for that, you won't be grateful for anything.

I hope this was a blessing and a help to you in some way!