Five Minute Friday- Decide- Intentionally Deciding

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "Decide"

 

I have decided this week to be intentional about spending time in God's word right before bed. A lot of things have been going on in my life concerning relationships that I hold onto dearly. But when I hold onto them too tightly I then go on for nights waking up and feeling very anxious and fearful. I do have to confess that I enjoyed it because I felt like God was calling out to me to pray for those love ones. Hence the reason I why I have decided to spend time in God's word before bed.

I am realizing that if I want to see changes in my life, I have to decide to draw near to God in His word. I have come to see through the years how powerful God's word is. But lately I have seen that it is also very important in order to be completely satisfied in Him. I am getting tried of riding the fence. I need to decide what side of the fence I need to be on if I want to make a difference in my love ones lives. It cant be me anymore. It has to be me deciding to be satisfied first in Christ. That is why I am soaking my mind in God's word.

"In Me you may have Peace."

"...These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

 In the light of circumstances around us as Christians, this is a verse in John 16 that we should hold onto tightly. Jesus knew this too because in the next chapter He starts to pray to the Father. At this particular time, Jesus is about to die and He has not revealed what that completely means to His disciples yet. But Jesus knows that one day they will understand. The disciples and also us as believers were going to glorify the Father because of what Jesus was going to do on the cross. Through the message of the cross, we can have hope in this world in order to share it with others and ultimately glorify the Father.     

Starting in verse one of Chapter 17, Jesus prays to the Father for Him to be glorified. How was Jesus going to glorify the Father? 

"... as You have given Him authority over all flesh,

that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him." v2

Jesus glorified the Father because the Father gave Him all authority over all flesh. That is why Jesus healed people, brought out demons, and brought people back from the dead. All that He did was because of the Father and for the Father. But Jesus was also going to glorify the Father by dying on the cross and giving people the ability to receive eternal life.

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,
 and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." v3

Because Jesus came to do the Father's will, we as humans can receive eternal life by believing in the only true God and Jesus Christ whom the Father had sent.

Jesus also knew that He was no longer going to be on the earth after He died. But because of what Jesus did on the cross and because we and the world have been given the choice to choose eternal life, God is still glorified in heaven through Jesus being our mediator. This is the message that we can hold onto in this world that Jesus glorified the Father by dying on the cross and that we can receive eternal life.

How was this message of hope to get out to the world after Jesus went up to heaven? Jesus continues on in verse six praying for the disciples as they would pass on this message. Because of Jesus doing the Father's will, the disciples knew the will of God. They knew that Jesus came from the Father in heaven. This was the beginning of them spreading this message from God.

  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are." v11

Jesus also prayed that the disciples would be one with the Father as He is one with the Father. Jesus made this possible for the disciples when He showed them the Father and finalized it when He died and went up to heaven after He rose again. But it is only through God that they can be one.

 But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. v13-17

Jesus came into this world to do the Father's will and to teach His followers the same. But He never promised that it was going to be easy. The message would make the world hate them but it also changed the disciples lives. This was Jesus' prayer for them.

1) It was suppose to bring joy in their lives despite what the world made them feel.



2) It keeps them from the evil one. It could be so easy for the disciples to give in to the evil one when the world makes your life miserable. But the message transformed their lives to be fully committed to what Christ had done.   


3) It was to sanctified them. They were still human and had things to learn and grow but God's message preserved them and keep pressing on to do His will.



As we all know, Jesus was all knowing and knew because of the disciples, the Father's message was going to spread to the entire world. There was and is many who has believed because of the disciples spreading His message of hope.

"...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me." v21-23

Because of the disciples being one with God, new believers too can be one with God. The message is suppose to bring us together as one as Jesus is one with God. When we allow ourselves to become this way, the world sees hope and love from the Father. Ultimately God is glorified.

 ^"And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it,

 that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” v26

The message got to the disciples and to us as believers because of the ultimate love of the Father to Jesus to do His plan. Jesus accomplishes this plan, to glorify God, and us believers now can do the same because of Him. Moreover the world will see the love the Father had for Jesus and His disciples and for us and they will also can become believers themselves. Jesus made this possible for all of us, to see the love of the Father.

So how can we have hope and bring hope into this crazy and chaotic world? Through the message that Christ gave to us. If we humble ourselves and become one with God as Jesus was one, we will no longer fear what this world might bring. And the world also will see the love of God through us and then they can have hope also in this troubled world.

How about you? What brings you anxiety or fear? What makes you feel like you have no control? What part of Jesus' prayer did you like most. Please comment below and tell me your thoughts.

linking up Jennifer Dukes Lee and Coffee for your heart

Five Minute Friday- Alive- Because He is alive

Here goes another Five Minute Friday. The word is "Alive".

This coming Sunday we will be celebrating Easter, the day that we celebrate as Christians when Christ arose from the dead. It is so easy to get comfortable about this. But it should be a big deal to us that Jesus is now alive today. What should it mean for us?

Because He is alive, Jesus overcomes the sinfulness of this world. We don't have to worry anything anymore. He took care of it all when He died but rose again and now alive in heaven bringing glory to the Father.

Because He is alive, we have a mediator that allows us to have full connection to our Father in heaven.

Because He is alive, I don't have to worry about tomorrow. I don't have to worry how life will turn out because through Him, He has made all things possible.

And stop.
How about you? what are ways that you can meditate on to not allow yourself to become comfortable. Here is a hymn that I have been thinking about a lot lately.

5 Scriptures that Can Help You to be Submissive to Your Husband while Waiting

On my wedding day, my husband and I used Ephesians 5:22-33 as one of the verses we wanted to live by. I strongly believed what those verses have to say and I have by God's grace kept by them.



I believe as a wife it is extremely important to be submissive to your husband. It is something to take very seriously. We are their help meet. What we say, do, and how we respond affects them as a person. They need to be built up not torn down and nagged. But sometimes our husbands don't always agree with us. Submission becomes a little harder and makes it not any easier.



My husband and I got married in 2008. He didn't want to have children right away. Babies scared him. He was the youngest and really wasn't around babies as he grew up. He knew that we were going to have some but not that soon. So I had to wait. A year passed and he still was not sure about having a baby. Year and half? Nope not yet. It was really hard to have to wait. There were times that I would talk to him about it where I would push him away. I had to back off and had to respect his decision even though I didn't understand. Sometimes I even got angry and frustrated at him because I felt like he was being unreasonable.



Then in the late spring early summer of 2010 after a year of struggling with God on where I was at, He got ahold of me. He really made me see a lot of things about life. Through every detail, He was involved and guided me through His word. Having this spiritual breakthrough really helped me become more submissive to my husband.


If you want to see the verses to help you to be a wife that waits and submits to her husband go over to The Happy Wife of a Human Husband's page where I was able to guest post.


Here is some verses and tips that helped me to wait and submit to my husband but also to God.



1. His way is perfect. 2 Samuel 22:31


"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is shield to all who trust in Him."


Every single thing you go through is His perfect plan for you. There is no mistakes. Every situation, every person you come in contact with is apart of His perfect will for you. His word is there to help you understand this and to give you peace. Even when you mess up, He is still apart of it. He is involved in every detail of our lives.

It is also important that you and your husband discuss situations and significant issues. In those discussions you could bring it up on how God is intimately involved in every details of your lives. There might be those times he might not be ready to hear that. It is so easy to get upset too, but it is always imperative for you to talk these things through. That is why it is important for us as wives to constantly focus on God's word and pray for our husbands. But the key is believing God's way is perfect and what He says is true, so that whenever your husband says something that you disagree with, you can trust God and submit to your husband.





2. He knows all my days and has a plan for them. Psalm 139:16-17


"Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"



Every single day that we live He has written them down in His book. He knows when you were born and when you are going to die. He knows what days you and your husband had that argument about that same issue that keeps coming up. Our Lord is sovereign and in control. Even your husband's days are all written down. God knows when your husband will change his mind or even if you will change your mind.  He has great things for the both of you, things to make you grow, things to make you understand your husband or other people. He wants and has the very best for your marriage.



3. He instructs and guides me in the way He wants me to go. Psalm 32:8-9


"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."



You might be thinking, "You don't know my husband. He doesn't understand what I am trying to do." Yes, that might be true but God knows the way you and your husband need to go. Allow Him to instruct you in the way He wants you to go. It might be the entirely different way from what you want. But who are you to know what is truly good for you? He knows and He will guide. Don't fight your husband! You are fighting God because He has called you to be submissive to him. Don't be like a horse with a bit and bridle. When you let go and be submissive, God will tell you and guide you in the way you should go.



4. A gentile and quiet spirit does work. 1 Peter 3:1-6


"Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,  2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. 3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror."



In today's society, wives don't have many examples of what a gentle and quiet spirit looks like. It doesn't mean that a wife has to sit quietly while her husband does all the talking. That's not right. It means allowing your actions to speak louder than your words. It means that if your husband is doing something that is not correct, but it does not go against God's word, your only choice is to fear and trust God and humbly pray that He can help you to be that woman who wins over her husband. In the long run, your husband will respect you because even if you didn't agree with him, you didn't put him down or nagged him.



5. Be thankful in the moment you are in. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18


"Rejoice always,  17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."



The years I had to wait until my husband decided to have kids was the will of God for me. When I finally allowed God and His word to transform my heart, I am so thankful for the things we got to do. I honestly cannot imagine it any other way. God gave me such a thankful heart and enabled me to be content in every moment.



Very close to our fifth anniversary and only two months after getting off of birth control that I was on for five years, God allowed us to get pregnant. The following year we received a beautiful baby girl who, with all the joy in my heart, daddy loves and adores and treasures with his whole heart. God is faithful, so very faithful during those years.

Five Minute Friday- Surprise- My little surprise

Here we go for another Five Minute Friday. The word is "surprise".

I should never be surprised when God is in control. I learned that when I found out I was pregnant with my little one.

For 5 years I had to wait to have a baby. My husband wanted me to be on birth control because he did not want to have kids right away. Babies really scare him. It was really hard at first. I would be submissive but my heart was not right. But God got ahold of me and showed me that His way is perfect and He has a timing and plan for everything. So I learned to trust in God.

Once my husband gave me the go to get off birth control, I was not expecting anything so soon. I was thinking it would take a few months for my body to get back into the rhythm of things. Boy was I wrong! It only took 2 months of not even trying. It was such a surprise for me. But it should not have been because God was the one in control. I believe He blessed me for releasing it to Him. I am so thankful for my little surprise and for God blessing me because I did trust Him.

Five Minute Friday- Share- Sharing = Being a mom

Here is to another Five Minute Friday. The word is "share"

Being a mom means sharing

Sharing your body for 9 months even when it gets squishy and you feel like the lining of your stomach will split

Sharing your sleeping time anywhere anytime

Sharing your free time when you finally put them down and they wake up 5 minutes later

Sharing your time in the bathroom when you want to be alone

Sharing your food when theirs don't look good even if it is the exact same thing

Sharing your space when they want to sit in your lap while you are working on something

Sharing your every moment because they just want to be with you everywhere you go

Sharing your radio in the car singing loud to their favorite songs

Sharing your time during the hard and good times

Sharing your life with a person with the rest of yours and their life

Life is no longer about you. It is about a person who depends on you for everything.

How will you share your life?

For the Struggling Soul

"I just got upset with my kids again. I am such a bad mom."

"I got frustrated at my husband for the dishes not getting done fully knowing I could have done them this afternoon instead of watching tv."

 

 

"What an awful day! It was because I didn't have my quiet time for the third day in a row."

 

 

"I desire to want to show grace to my love ones but I fail so much."


I bet all of us had thoughts like these one time or another. We kick ourselves because we want to do what is right but it seems like everything we try to do only leads to failing. We know that Christ died on the cross for our sins and when we believe we are new creations but it doesn't seem to connect with our hearts. What can we do? Nothing. We are not able to do anything. That is why Christ died.

Roman 8:1-4 "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power^[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you^[b] from the power of sin that leads to death. ³ The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.^[c] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. ⁴ He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit." nlt

Through what Christ did on the cross and because we belong to Him, we, as it says in verse two, have the power from the life-giving Spirit that lives in us.  We are in a constant state of becoming more like Him as we live by the Spirit. The law of Moses weakens us when we try to do good on our own. But because of Jesus coming down as God but in the same weak bodies we are in, died and fulfilled the law of Moses, we no longer need to live by the ways of the flesh. We are free!

You might be thinking,

 

 "Yeah I know that. It's great but I just don't have the connection between my head and my heart."

Romans 8:5-9,15-16  Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. ⁶ So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. ⁷ For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

 

That connection only comes from forsaking the things of this word and walking in the Spirit. What do you think about all day long? Is it checking your Facebook feed? What drives you? What makes you "feel happy"? These questions can help you dictate if you are still feeding your mind the things of the flesh. Fleshy things fight against God. They are constant enemies. It is like holding onto something that is preventing you living a life of peace and grace.

But we have to bring ourselves back to what Christ did on the cross and allow the Spirit to lead. You have no more ties with the ways of the flesh no more. As it says in verse 13 it is through the power of the Spirit that you put to death the things of the your sinful nature. I looked in the King James Version and it states "if ye through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body". I looked up the Greek word mortify and it is a present tense verb. It means right now in this very moment through the Spirit, we can put to death the things of the flesh. Not what you did yesterday or what you might do tomorrow but right now. It is a moment by moment dependency on the Spirit of God.  That is what walking in the Spirit looks like.

Because we now belong to Christ and have no more ties with the things of the flesh through the Spirit only moment by moment, we do not need to be fearful anymore of the thoughts and the things that we do. Through the Spirit, we are joined to God where we can cry out to Him as our Father. And the Spirit can affirm that in us. We just have to walk in the Spirit by feeding our minds and hearts the things of God.

So the next time you fail and start having thoughts of putting yourself down or just tempted to scroll through your Facebook feed,  forsake those things and draw near to the Spirit and ask Him to affirm you in who you are in Christ. Even in the good times, constantly have Him remind you of who you are in Christ.

How about you? What areas do you struggle with where you seek out other things to make yourself happy when you have negative thoughts about yourself? Share below in the comments on how you feel. Or maybe what ways have you use before to help you draw near back to God in times of showing yourself no grace?

link up Jennifer Dukes Lee, Coffee for your heart

Five Minute Friday- News

Here we go for another Five Minute Friday. The word is "news".

Lately I have been consumed in the news. I love (probably too much but God is working in me on that : ) ) what is going on in the primaries right now. As we all know it is not always uplifting and encouraging. Honestly it is disheartening.

But I have been thinking about lately my original purpose on why I started to like politics so much. My purpose was to be able to go back to our Founding Fathers desire: applying the word of God into all aspects of life.

In 2 Timothy 3, Paul tells Timothy that there will be men who are lovers of themselves. They will deceive gullible women. They will lack self control. They will be lovers of pleasure and not of God. It is sad and but very true today.

But Paul continues on telling Timothy to follow his example through his purpose and manner of life and faith. But where does he get that? Through God's word. Timothy's and our good news to all the craziness right now is God's word. It will make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Done.

But I also have to add 2 Timothy 3:16-17

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."

 

 

I also challenge you to go to 2 Timothy 2 and 3 yourself and read it.