My Momma

I realize it's early for a Mother's Day post but I'm working on a lot of mother's day things so I've got it on the brain.

My mother isn't someone I mention a lot on this blog simply because I have a complicated relationship with her. We've never been close but we share a love for Christ and the Bible. She is my mother and I love her. I've learned a lot from her. Whatever history there is between us, there will always be bits and pieces of her in me.

If someone were to ask me the thing I remember most about my mom from childhood I would have to say that it is seeing her on our living room couch with her bible out, listening to one of her favourite preachers.
I don't remember what I thought about it back then. I would wonder why someone would go out of their way to listen to sermons- don't we do that twice on Sunday's and once on Wednesdays? I have to laugh that I do the same thing now as an adult. It's not just me, though, my sister and brother do the same. Granted, I don't sit still and listen to sermons- I put them on while cleaning or knitting or watching my son play outside.
I'm not sure it's 100% my mom's influence but seeing her seek God in this way for years and years obviously did us some good.
I have to clarify though- listening to preaching does not replace personal devotions and study.
I've learned this from experience: you can only take in so much. If you listen to three sermons in a day, each one a completely different topic, you won't grow. If all the sermons you listen to are full of good preaching- you will get bogged down with too many things to work on. You'll learn a lot but you won't be able to do anything about it. I've realized that when God teaches us He focuses on one area we need to grow. Picking sermons to listen to takes as much Holy Spirit discernment as choosing what book of the Bible to study next.
I listen to one sermon a day at most and sometimes not at all. The interesting thing is, the preaching I listen to online usually coincides with my personal devotions and often ties into what my pastor is teaching/preaching about at church. It directly deals with what God is working on in me. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
I will say that teaching is something you can take in a lot of. I used to work at a place where I could listen to my ipod for eight hours if I wanted to. I was listen to sermons but I began to feel really heavy. The Holy Spirit told me to look for teaching so I found hundreds of seminars on creation and evolution, I found debates (which I had to stop listening to- they made me too aggressive), I did studies on bible versions, I did topical studies, and more. I would still listen to sermons but balancing them with teaching helped keep me from getting bogged down.
In everything there must be a balance:

A false balance is abomination to the

Lord: but a just weight is His delight.

Proverbs 11:1

My pastor talks a lot about head knowledge- it's not a bad thing but if we're not walking close to God, maintaining a good relationship with Him, and seeking to save the lost then all the knowledge we have about the bible doesn't matter. 

The other thing about my mom that I recall quite clearly from my childhood is how she would spend sunny Saturdays in the garden.
She just loves flowers and gardens and you know what? I just love them too. Her favourite flowers are roses. Well, mine are roses too- especially the little white ones.
I used to watch her on her knees in the dirt, weeding, clipping, and planting for hours. She would go to plant shows, nurseries, and could talk about plants for hours. I would always wonder at it and think that that would never interest me.
I know the Lord is laughing right now because I'm always outside nowadays, deadheading, clipping, strolling though my garden, checking on growth, wondering what else to grow, propagating and so on.
I think what I love the most about the garden is how much Bible I see in it every day.
I don't think dandelions have ever irritated me as much as they have this year (because I actually have a lawn this year). I'm really not trying to be corny but they always remind me of sin.
They look okay from a distance but up close they're ugly, they stink, they have thick deep roots that make them hard to pull out, then they have these neat seeds that are cool to blow on but then you've got more hideous, hard to get rid of dandelions.  Not only that- they grow fast and they don't seem to need fertilizer, water or anything. BAH! Does that not remind of you sin?
I have this hilarious apricot tree in the back yard and a darling pear tree (if you've ever seen a pear tree you know why it's darling). We just noticed that there is a branch of the pear tree growing out of the apricot tree. It's not the exact same but Paul talks about grafting in Romans 11.
I have some flowers just about to bloom- last week we had a few really sunny, hot days followed by two cloudy days. They were about eight inches tall during the sunny days but after a few days of clouds, spitting rain, and cold winds they had more than doubled in height. It's funny because I was at a ladies conference where the speaker mentioned that we need shadowy, cloudy days to grow. The darkness is when we draw closer to God and when we can exercise our faith. No matter the trial, if we pass or fail, as long as we use it for the better and make the right decisions with what we learned, we will grow.
I really could go on but I won't. Suffice it to say, no matter why I love gardening and flowers, it is a good, edifying, pure thing that I associate with my mother.

I am very grateful for my mom. God gave me a mom and allowed me to grow up with her. Not everyone has that. I am the most grateful for her prayers. I know her prayers have carried her children through and though we have wandered, we always come back to our love of the Saviour.

Relationship 101

I wrote a little bit about it but a few weeks ago my pastor challenged us to make Jesus the centre of everything we do. I thought long and hard about that and how to implement that in my Sunday School class. How do I make Jesus the centre of our class time and how do I encourage the children to have personal relationships with Christ?
As it happened, it was Easter Sunday and God led me to talk about Gethsemane and Jesus' heavy prayer before enduring the cross. I thought about prayer and it occurred to me that one of the biggest difference in my relationship with Jesus came when I made prayer a continual part of my day.

Here is how that happened:
I was born to saved, church going parents and grew up in church. Both my parents love the bible and it's something they instilled in their children. Knowing the bible, however, is not indicative of a relationship with God.
Before I really got to know God I had a very ridged relationship with Him. I literally looked at Him like He was some sort of Santa Claus figure doling out good to believers who obeyed and actively chastising believers who rebelled. I would pray but I had created some rules in my mind so that God would 'hear me'. I confessed my sins by saying 'please forgive me for all my sins', then I'd say what needed to be said, rattled off 'in Jesus name, amen', not knowing what on earth anything was about.
One day a church friend lent me a novel by a christian writer. It was about a saved girl and some things she went through. I think it was part of a series. Clearly I don't remember much about the book but the novel was written in the first person and every so often she would just pray in her mind. She would address God, make a request or give thanks or whatever she wanted to say, and that was all. See, I always thought I had to say 'amen' or the prayer wasn't complete and God wouldn't take it seriously. I was 10 (all this occurred when I was 10).
She basically had a continual conversation with the Lord throughout the day.
I remember being very fascinated by it, wanting that, and starting on that right away. Needless to say, my relationship with God grew after that.
If you have open communication with God all day every day, you are much more aware that He is watching what you do and that He knows what you are thinking. My pastor always says to keep short accounts with God and it's a lot easier to do when you're constantly going to Him and recognizing you need to be right with Him to communicate properly.
I hope this is making sense. It's hard for me to explain. When you talk to God a lot and you keep that line open there's a lot He shows you. It's really neat.

So something I'm trying to impart to the young ones I teach every Sunday is to continually talk to God. Instead of always asking for prayer requests I mix it up and ask if any one has answered prayers. They're all little prayers that have been answered but those little, every day proofs that God cares about the smallest details of their lives are the building blocks they need to grow their relationship with God.
The other thing these discussions have done is given me a little insight into the children's view of God. In other words- do they really believe in Him or is He just something they learn about at church?

One preacher said, 'the closer you get to God the more your faith is as a little child's'. He went on to explain that like little children know they need their parents to provide everything, those that are close to God realize that absolutely everything they need-including strength for every day- comes from Him. That is what your prayer life reveals- it reveals what sort of faith you have in Him. If he really is 'Lord of all' in your life, that is how you will communicate with Him and you will conduct your life accordingly.
It is amazing the difference a little Holy Spirit discernment will do in your life. Not only do you make right, wise, and good decisions but you're able to be a bigger blessing. If you're constantly questioning if something is right to do in God's eyes rather than your own, you'll avoid a lot of messes.

A few months ago we covered prayer in a discipleship series we're going through on Wednesdays. Listed below are a few things my pastor said that I found really thought provoking.

-There is no problem that isn't a prayer problem

-God will either answer the prayer or change the request
-Nothing reveals a person's spiritual life like their passion for prayer
-Prayer reveals who the believer really is
-Prayer is a backstage part of life that makes a huge difference on stage
-Praying and having a prayer life are two different things
-Your prayer life either magnifies problems or magnifies God
-Your prayer life reveals who you think God is

I hope this was an encouragement, a help, or just a blessing to you!

The Most Useful Thing My Pastor Has Taught Me

Dilbert Terry said 'often what prevents us from having an overflowing testimony is not having the right priorities'. He said that referring to this verse:

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them

asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch

with me one hour?

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:

the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:40&41

When we have the right priorities and God is in His proper place in our lives, we will do right and have an overflowing testimony.
That quote of Dilbert Terry is something I remember often- especially when I'm in the perfect position to give someone an invitation to church and I don't have a tract/invitation on me. The closer you walk to with the Lord, your burden for lost souls grows greater, and your priorities shift greatly. When you are right with the Lord and your priorities are His priorities, your dealings with the unsaved become more about winning them to the Lord than anything else.
The salvation of lost souls ought to keep you in line when dealing with the world. 

When it comes to reaching the lost my pastor has taught me more than anyone. It's not just the things he says during preaching but the way he conducts his relationships with the unsaved and how he treats visitors to church. It is clearly a priority of his to tell people about Jesus.

Last summer I was at the park with my son on a very hot Sunday afternoon when I saw two Jehovah's Witnesses set up and stand in the shade. I got into a bit of a friendly debate with them (though I could see one of them getting frustrated) and left unsatisfied with myself and my conduct.
I told my pastor about it and he told me that two Jehovah's Witnesses' approached him one day while he was working and he simply asked them, 'if you died today do you know for sure that you would go to heaven?' They said no. My pastor told me that no matter what they tried to get at during the conversation he kept steering it towards salvation. He said they finally gave up.
It's not about disproving false doctrine, it's about promoting the truth.
So I armed myself with that knowledge.

In the last week God gave me two great opportunities to talk to people.

Last week I was in the community putting invitations to our church's Easter Event in people's doors when a lady who was passing by asked if so and so lived in the house I was just leaving.
I told her I had no idea and I was just passing out invitations and gave her one. I asked her if she went to church and she said she goes to a big baptist church just over the hill from my little baptist church. I then asked her 'when did you get saved?'
She told me she was saved when she was nine- a relative had died and it got her thinking about it so she asked her mom about it and got saved.
It was a really lovely conversation and I think she needed it. She told me her and her husband are moving to Chilliwack so I told her I'd pray for her and she had tears in her eyes when we said bye to each other.
I really have no idea why God led me into that conversation but I'm very grateful for it and this lady, Debbie, is on my prayer list. I kind of wonder if I was put in that position to prepare me for Saturday:

My husband left for work on Saturday morning and just as my son and I were digging into breakfast a knock came at the door. When I opened the door a very friendly man wearing a suit and holding a pamphlet greeted me. I knew as soon as I saw him that he was a Jehovah's Witness and the Lord immediately said 'give him the gospel'. This man, Jason, made small talk, then opened his pamphlet to a page with the word 'anxiety' in big bold letters. He said he wasn't trying to convert me to any religion but he knew that lots of people suffer from anxiety and this pamphlet had some 'biblical' help. I said 'oh, is that by the Watchtower Society?' he said yes and I told him I don't suffer from anxiety because I have peace through Jesus Christ.
I then asked him if he died today did he know for sure he would go to heaven and with the biggest smile on his face, almost joyful, he said 'I have no idea,'
I won't go through our whole conversation but I told him the gospel several times while he just nodded, smiled, and subtly dodged the issue. He realized quickly that I was a Christian and he kept telling me how Christians all believe different things. True true but I told him it does not matter what our opinions are and what we believe- it matters what the bible says.
He said a few things I really wanted to argue with- I mean, a new heaven and a new earth just means a new government? adlkfas;kfj asdkljaskl ;jals;dfkj no.
BUT I didn't argue with him, I stuffed down my fleshly urge to run up and grab my bible. I listened to him peacefully and whenever I got a word in edgewise I would repeat that we can know we're going to heaven because of Christ's sacrifice and all we need to do is believe. I kept telling him about my peace.
We didn't talk for long and before he went on his way I told him that he's welcome to my church. He didn't offer me the pamphlet again.
I feel very sorry for this man. He clearly is fighting something inside and hiding it with a cheerful demeanour. God wanted him to hear the gospel and me to give it to him.

My pastor's simple instructions on just asking people who claim to be saved when they got saved and asking the unsaved if they would go to heaven would not be as effective if he didn't prove it from his conduct. Soul winning is something he talks about a lot and 'making Jesus known' is our church's vision for this year.
It's not us trying to win people through our conversation skills, charms, or knowledge of the bible. It's us showing the love of Christ, sharing his mercy, and telling them about the peace we have with God through Jesus Christ. Submission is always the first step; yielding our will to His and letting him work through us.
It's not natural to want to talk to people, learn about them, and tell them about Christ. It's not natural to be cheerful and discerning when dealing with people you will likely never see again. This is where your priorities show. If you're all about yourself and your own, you won't consider that the people you are dealing with every day are headed to hell.
I have to say, it helps when you are challenged almost every time you go to church to reach others.
So there. Next time you're talking to someone who may be unsaved, ask them if they died today do they know for sure they would go to heaven. You may just have to throw it out there randomly, but it will get the conversation started and if they run away, at least you put a life saving bee in their bonnet.

Lastly, my pastor showed this video at church one Sunday night. It is a huge encouragement and a wonderful story:

I hope this was an encouragement and a help to you.

Keeper at Home

My tulips finally bloomed! Aren't they just lovely? These are actually three of maybe a dozen or more tulips scattered around my garden. Tulips happen to be one of my favourite flowers. I think it's their simple beauty that attracts me.

So I have an exciting announcement- exciting for me that is- I have started a sister blog to this one called Keeper at Home. You can find it here at thekeeperathome.blogspot.com
Of course I don't blog here for a month and I come back with two blogs- ha! The Lord was putting it on my heart for a while so I've finally done it!

Keeper at Home is a place for me to share recipes, needle work projects, things I do to make my life easier, and stuff like that. I had originally intended this blog to be like that but the Lord led me in a different direction.
I'm not the ultimate keeper at home by any means- you should see my home right now... glad no one's scheduled to come over- but like on this blog I share the things the Lord teaches me to stay close to Him, on that blog I'd like to share things I like and maybe others will like too.

I hope you take a look at it and that it helps you in some way, gives you ideas, maybe a new staple at your dinner table. I'm looking forward to sharing!

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,

when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Proverbs 3:27