Are you going to church tomorrow? If so, why? Are you going out of habit? Are you going because that’s just what you do on Sunday? Are you going because you have responsibilities? Are you going because that place would just fall apart without you? Are you going so that you can show God what all you have done for Him this week? Are you going so that you can put a checkmark next to your list of good deeds? Are you going so that you will be considered an upstanding citizen? Are you going because someone has guilted you into it? Are you going so that you can share your beautiful voice with others? Are you going for the meal afterwards? Are you going because you have made the building your legacy? Or are you going to the building to worship God as part of His body…as His church? Are you going because you have..or desire to have a living, loving, relationship with Christ and you want to spend the day worshiping and praising Him? That’s why I go. But what do you do when you get there & you can’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit? I’m going to be brutally honest & say that there have been times that i felt exactly like that. So I asked myself why…and when I couldn’t come up with anything, I prayed & asked God. Yes. I should’ve started with Him to begin with but as is human nature, I wasted a lot of time trying to figure it out myself. And this is what I heard in my heart….’why would the Holy Spirit come to a place that He is not welcome or has not been invited?’ I mean after all, humans are nothing if not self absorbed. We want and expect the whole world to revolve around us so why would we be any different at church? So here’s my prayer…. Oh dear precious Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your protection, care, provision, and council this week. Thank You for taking care of me every minute of every day. Forgive me for the time I wasted this week on anything that wasn’t for Your glory. I pray that if it is Your will for Your children to attend a meeting of Your church tomorrow, that they come for reasons that glorify You and not themselves. I pray that each and everyone will personally invite Your Holy Spirit into their worship services tomorrow and that they will worship and praise You in a manner that is pleasing to You. And I pray that nobody will attempt to quench Your Holy Spirit, but instead, allow You to infuse them and guide them in their words and their actions. I ask these things in the holiest of names, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I held the sweetest little baby the other day. She was a tiny little thing and I couldn’t help but think, “I could just hold her all day!” But then, after about 30 minutes, I noticed my arm starting to get tired. Then I remembered when my girls were little and I would have to hold them for long periods of time. After a while, it didn’t matter how much or how little they weighed. What started out as something very light would eventually feel very heavy. My arm, shoulder, neck, and back would eventually start hurting and I can remember a few times thinking that my precious, tiny little angels seemed to weigh 1000 pounds and I thought my arm would fall off if I didn’t lay them down. It occurred to me that worries, problems, non-forgiveness, and sin can have the same affect. If something is troubling me and I think about it, and worry about it, and continue re-hashing it over and over again, then something that may have started out very small, now seems very large and is weighing on me. And the weight of the burden is not due to the burden itself. It’s due to the fact that I picked it up and never put it down. So just as the weight of a tiny baby can affect your back, shoulders, arms, & neck….the weight of worries, problems, non-forgiveness, and sin and affect all areas in your life. So when you start to feel the all too familiar weight of the world on you shoulders, remember that all you have to do is give it to God and let Him hold it for you.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV

Yesterday I was reading something I wrote about pride & jealousy. The more I ponder it, the more I think that unmerited jealousy is actually fear. If we live in fear that someone we love might hurt us…it’s most likely because someone in our past hurt us. And out of some sort of self preservation, our instinct is to lash out at others before they have a chance to hurt us. But in doing this we are removing God’s protection over our relationship. We’re saying, “God, I don’t trust you to protect my marriage, friendship, relationship, etc.”. Every accusation that we throw is actually us pushing God away. We’re allowing Satan to control our minds and our actions and we tell ourselves that it’s because we love this person so much. Relationships are hard enough. But when we remove God’s protection from them, we leave them open for Satan to slip in. WE open the door. Nobody else. Just us. By not trusting God, and instead trusting ourself & fooling ourself into believing that our actions are warranted, we have left our relationship vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. And he will attack. Every time we level an accusation, he attacks. Every time we allow our tempers to flare in a jealous rage, he attacks. Every time we lash out because of our own insecurities, he attacks. Every time we take our past out on our present, he attacks. We are all broken. If we don’t forgive and forget those in our past, then we allow Satan to control our future. The bible tells us 365 times to have no fear so I’m pretty sure God is serious about it. Let go of the fear, jealousy, and pride and trust God to cover and bless your relationship. And don’t open that door!

A few years ago I began having pains in my big toe. I had been working on our new house, moving stuff in & on my feet a lot…up & down ladders… stairs…climbing on countertops to reach shelves…all the things us short peeps have to do…lol. So I figured it was from all that. I had a couple of days that I wasn’t on my feet much & my toe stopped hurting. But then as soon as I was back on my feet it started up again. I finally realized I had managed to develop a callous on the bottom of my big toe (because I hardly ever wear shoes) and it was causing my toe to hit the floor unevenly when I walked. A callous doesn’t just show up overnight. It takes a long time to form. And we don’t even notice it at first. In fact, it’s not until it causes us pain that we even pay attention to it. It’s kind of like when we let sin creep into our lives. We might say a bad word…I mean we aren’t in church right now. Or find something & rather than exhausting every effort to find the real owner, we decide that we must be meant to have it. Or we might tell our kids a “little white lie” because we’re just too exhausted to deal with them when we tell them the truth. And since we’ve benefited from all these sins, we might as well miss church Sunday because we’d much rather sleep in but let’s tell them we’re sick (aka lie) so that we don’t feel guilty. And then before we know it, we have built a callous of sin between us & God. A callous that has affected your walking to the point that you have strayed from the path. So… to prevent callouses, anoint your feet with lotion & anoint your soul with the Holy Spirit!

Why is it, when someone asks us to pray for them, our knee-jerk reaction is to think, “I wonder what’s wrong? I wonder if it’s their health? Their marriage? Their kids?” I’m as guilty as anyone. I don’t do it hoping for these things to be troubled…I don’t think anyone does. It’s simply an automatic reaction. But the fact is, God knows their need and it’s none of our business. Our first reaction should be to go straight to God and then let Him handle it….no questions asked. Because sometimes, the most powerful prayers are the ones that are not clouded with our opinions of the situation.

I realize that I expect a lot from my kids. I also realize that when I’m frustrated about their behavior or attitude that they are still better behaved than a lot of kids. I realize they’re not perfect and that they’re going to mess up. I realize that most parents allow their kids more lead way than I do when it comes to language, sarcasm, and sassing and that what I consider bad behavior, most parents wouldn’t. And I realize that in the broad scope of things, my kids are awesome and what little trouble I have out of them at home, at least their behavior is really good everywhere else. I realize all of this. But I also realize that God has entrusted me to prepare them for life. It is my responsibility to teach them to be kind, respectful, grateful, and to follow instruction. It is my responsibility to teach them to obey those who are in authority unless those in authority are trying to harm them. It is my responsibility to teach them everything that I can until I can no longer teach. Jesus was teaching His disciples right up until He was arrested and crucified. So why on earth would I ever assume that my kids know how to make right decisions when there are still so many things to teach them?

It could just be me…but I prefer dirty mirrors. I clean them on a regular basis but every time that I do, I realize that I don’t look quite as good as I did before I cleaned them. The things is…no matter what means we use to look at ourselves, we usually see the good. It’s not until God opens our eyes that we are able to humble ourselves and truly see ourselves for the sinners that we are.

The heart wants what the heart wants. But the mind makes the decision of what the body does. The desires of your heart may come from God, but they may also come from Satan. The only way to know the difference is by knowing God’s Word. Because while you may feel that the desire is either right or wrong….it really depends on what you are basing it on. Is your right & wrong based on what the world views as right and wrong? Or is it based on what God says is right and wrong? Only one is correct. God. If you allow Satan in your head, he will tell you that happiness is anywhere but where God wants you. Outside of your marriage, outside of your church, outside of God’s will & protection. He can make feel like you will be happier, wealthier, healthier, more powerful, or that you “deserve” more. But only you can allow your actions to follow. Only you can choose to ask God to allow you to bloom where you are planted. Where He has planted you. Your happiness in life is not based on the desires of your heart. It’s based on making decisions in your life that are pleasing to God. Only then will you have true happiness.