Have you ever been easily offended or immediately ready to jump on a band wagon when a perceived offense or wrong has taken place? If you have, do, or are, I can assure you it's not a good practice to follow.  It's important to not jump to conclusions but rather, before becoming quick to be angry or hurt, try and look at something that is said or done from all perspectives to determine what really occurred in any particular circumstance. 

Let's look at offense...what is it?  According to the dictionary, it is "the act of causing anger, resentment, displeasure, or affront." Over the years, I have seen offense after offense committed...been the offended...and have even been the offender. And I have come to recognize that an offense is usually a "perceived" wrong done or said by another that causes pain. Are there people out there who purposely offend or wrong others?...The answer to that is a resounding yes, and the Bible says in Matthew 18:7, "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!"  There are some who will continually strive to create division in the body, purposely hurt because they have been hurt, and enjoy watching the chaos caused...but most people are not like this.  Most do not purposely intend to harm with their actions or words.  Some just do not think before they speak or act.  Does this mean that we cut them off at the knees because we have perceived a hurt caused?  The answer to that is a resounding no.  The scripture is very clear about how we are to handle offense.  If we do not handle it in the manner that scripture lays out before us despite the perceived wrong done by another...then we are in the wrong.

Matthew 18:15 says, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."  Scripture is clear... go to the offender ...and the offender alone... and tell him... If you're going around broadcasting to the whole world your or another's offense, then have you done what scripture says?  Consider this when you do this...You are contributing even more to the offense...and by not only contributing, you're creating division amongst the body yourself.

Everyone needs a reminder now and again...so my advice to all...and even myself in this is... "Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." James 1:19. AND when we have been offended... be quick to go to the offender in love and work it out.  "Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." Proverbs 17:9  I encourage myself and all who read this...Don't be a contributor that causes more pain...more division...more offense but rather, if you are truly His, be quick in love to overlook offense and restore one another!

This morning I'm pondering what my eyes have seen and my ears have heard over the past several days... from beheadings to armed robberies, drug raids to rogue politicians.  This morning, as I open up my facebook, I see it is sadly flooded with quotes and pictures of Robin Williams...an iconic actor and comedian who filled the hearts of millions with laughter for years but now will never again grace the comedic stage. My heart cries out from the loss of hope I see throughout the world...the anarchy...and the sight of impending doom.  Lord come quickly!  The face of evil has darkened this earth... and it will only grow darker in the coming days as it continues its rampage through the hearts of mankind.  

I feel in my spirit that it is time for all those who call themselves believers to take their place.  It is time to put away what is temporary and get serious about eternity. I implore my fellow believers...rise up children of light...rise up and take your place. If you are truly His...you will prepare yourselves to not only share the hope that you have been given but live it OUT LOUD like you have never lived it before. Soldiers of the Lord...hear this...Ephesians 5:8 says, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light." Get your focus where it should be...get on your faces before the living God...repent...and let your life mean something to someone else's eternity. Stomp on the face of evil...Pour out the love and hope that has been graciously bestowed upon you and stop playing footsies with the enemy!  Rise UP!  God's NOT dead...He's surely alive, and He is coming soon...where will YOU stand?  Choose this day whom YOU will serve.

This morning my heart is burdened desperately.  Watching the body of Christ slowly slip from excellence to Him and others into a rebellious complacency that is truly blinding and will ultimately destroy any impact for the Kingdom. I see how the ways of the world are slowly but surely recklessly infiltrating the body of Christ, and if we don't make a stand...if we don't seek and strive for Him, His will, and His ways, we will be no different than the world.  We will be lost. All those we could reach will be lost. Ughhhh my heart cries. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says, "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

1 John 2:15-17 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."  I encourage followers of Jesus Christ to be watchful...be careful... do not love the ways of the world.  Don't play with fire.  You will get burned!  Don't open the door to the roaring lion who is roaming around looking for people to devour but rather seek Him all the more fervently.  Wake up Church...the reality is...this world is going to pass away and then there is eternity.  In that eternity, followers of God will stand before the judgment seat of Christ...and this is what the Word says about that: 2 Corinthians 5:10 - "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."  I implore my fellow brothers and sisters in Him...stand strong, seek Him, serve Him, love others, serve others...There's a roaring lion at the door.  Don't open and invite him in.

I felt led to write this for all the pastoral teams and their congregants today.  As the wife of a pastor, I know that pastoring is an exceedingly hard job.  I was given a "How to Support Your Pastor" sheet by someone a while back...and it had all great stuff on it, but it all just talked about the man of God...leaving out the woman of God.  There may be some pastors' wives who send their husbands off to do the ministry and just sit home and pray for them while they are out there... but this wife of a pastor definitely doesn't.  My husband and I have been called together to pastor.  We both work side by side in the ministry as a team.  Always have and always will.  We both face the same challenges... excitement... heartache... and victories.  As we work together side by side... some days I have to admit are challenging; to not only feel the weight of your own family's burdens, but to feel the weight of many families' burdens on top of trying to administrate a church body and reach out to a hurting community especially with all that is happening in the world today.

Today, I had an HWA family member contact me, and just say that they would cry with me and stand with me in prayer for something.  I can't even begin to say how much that means to this wife of a pastor.  To know that people within your congregation have as much care for you...as you have for them.  

I found this blog article that I thought was good...even though just directed mainly toward the man of God instead of also to the woman of God called by his side. http://www.victorious.org/blesspastor.htm  If you want to see victory, growth, and blessing within your church and your own life, these are the three main things I would say to do: 1.) pray for your pastor and His wife, and stand with them.  Don't just make suggestions about what can be done to sustain and grow those within and without the church... but back it up with helpful action in line with the vision of the pastoral team.  2.) Grab onto the vision that God has placed before your pastors...and help them to run with it.  3.)...and most of all, testify publicly to what God has done and is doing for you at your church.  It glorifies God...and it encourages your pastor.  Be a blessing!

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake...” (1 Thes 5:12-13)

Today my thoughts are on how we live life based on temporary things without realizing that one day all these things will pass away...and it could happen in the blink of an eye.  I've experienced it...I've seen it firsthand.

Our health...our friendships...our loved ones...our material possessions are all just very temporary things.  We don't have power in ourselves to make any of it last...no matter how much we think we do.  This world rains on the just and the unjust...it is not a respecter of persons.  The one who was given dominion over this sinful world when Adam fell takes with abandon...and does not give back.

The only one who can trump the ruler of this world is Jesus...He trumps him for all eternity...and Jesus says in Matthew 6:19-21 says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Know and recognize before it's too late that all here on earth is temporary.  Set your sights on eternity...set your sights on the ultimate prize, and live your life based on that.  As the enemy takes with abandon, all the more we should love and serve others with abandon...helping each other to run and finish the race well.  Store up your treasures in Heaven...because...in the blink of an eye.

I was going to post something entirely different today, but realized I'd just be posting out of my own bitterness... so decided, bitterness aside, I'm just going to post about life...cause life is happening.  The day is fast approaching where I'm getting ready to move my whole family yet again, and we are focusing on painting, packing, and cleaning.  Ughhh again and again...I hate this aspect so much and want it over quickly. There are some days when I would just love to be in the place where I could have a sense of stability.  I'm growing weary of change...but in all this continual change, I know that God is doing a new thing...taking me to a new level to be used in a greater way for His glory.  He's moving us closer to our church body so that we don't have to commute such a long distance...but it's still wearisome...the moving process...still wearisome.

So I have to stand on two scriptures today, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9  and Psalm 91:1-2, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, 'My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!'"…

I encourage you today that when life...that's it...when life...  Keep pressing in and on.  There's a purpose and a plan that will grow you if you don't give in or give up.  Life!

 

This wife of a pastor is going to have a very human moment here, and it may or may not speak to someone...it may continue to get people all up in arms...but I have to share this. So if you would, humor and bear with me on this one.  A couple days ago... a "friend" of my brother Paul posted a pic of himself with a huge bottle of alcohol...and my little brother standing next to him.  Man that picture tore out my heart...knowing that just one year and two days prior... my little brother had been at a 4th of July pool party with that same "friend," had fainted in the pool due to a heart arrythmia, and had drowned because all the people at that party had been drinking so much that not one noticed that he was drowning until it was too late.  The drowning, however, didn't kill my brother because they were able to resuscitate him, but damage was done.  In the end, it ultimately was the gross incompetence and malpractice of the hospital that took his life...but the alcohol consumption by all involved that night was definitely one of the major catalysts that put him in the hospital to begin with.  When I saw the picture, my heart hurt, and I reshared it to make people aware that on the 4th, when they were partying, if they drank, they should do so responsibly because a life could depend on it. Well...people came out of the woodwork with nastiness... even my own family. I'm not a judgmental person by any stretch of the imagination.  ...and I didn't say people shouldn't drink...just that if they do, they should do it responsibly. Why? Because my brother might still be with us had people done that to begin with. I can honestly say that I have never seen drunkenness accomplish or do anything good for anyone.

I know we can't and shouldn't condemn ourselves or others... we can't turn back time...we can't take away an accident or mistake...but we CAN and SHOULD learn from it.  If we don't learn from things that happen in life, then what is the point.  My little brother lost his life a year ago...and it hurts my heart when I see how little of an impact it had on changing the life of any of the people involved that night or obviously on family that keep cheering on and encouraging the partying behavior of those who were involved. This thing...this horrible thing...impacted me...It forever changed my life and my perspective.  Since my post, people have either been making disparaging remarks about my character or posting scriptures to try to condemn me and make me feel guilty for feeling and reacting the way I have about the whole situation. I'm on the receiving end from those in the world and from those who claim to not be of this world.  It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood.  Well let me share this with you...I don't feel guilty for doing this or saying this but rather...I hurt...and I don't want anyone else to hurt like I hurt if I can do anything to help it. I have so many fond memories of my little brother, but they are overshadowed by what occurred and by not seeing change in lives of those involved after the fact.  At some point in life, we have to own up to responsibility. We have to learn, grow, and consider how our decisions affect other people.  Hopefully my decision to share all this will speak to someone out there...hopefully they'll get that what we do in this life truly does have an impact on others...not just ourselves. 

Unlike some, I don't use the scriptures to condemn other people and have a real hard time with people who do... but I do want to leave you with this thought from Philippians 2:3-4...(not to condemn...because, really what good would that do...but rather to make people think about decisions they are getting ready to make), "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."  

I won't sit quietly and watch this happen to someone else if it's in my power to do something about it.  
I'm posting this and will take the flack for this reason...and this reason alone...I'm looking out for the interest of life... I'm speaking out to and for those who will be impacted by the decisions made by others.  I want my little brother's life and death to have meant something...to not have been in vain but rather to have an impact that is far reaching.  My heart and hope is that one day those involved in this tragedy will understand and grow...and for those who are faced with similar decisions, I implore you to make better choices.  This was and is for Paul.  Love you forever little buddy!

This morning I'm thinking about Mary, Martha and seasons... Weird combination, I know... but I have always been a Martha...never a Mary...Always busy, busy, busy...rushing through the seasons of life without a thought about it and wondering why all others weren't doing the same.  As I'm slowing down, I'm finding that seasons really do correlate to the mountaintops and the valleys in our lives.  Summer is definitely the mountaintop for me...and winter...definitely the valley in my opinion lol.  With summer there is warmth and freedom and with winter there is cold and captivity. Spring and Fall are both even keel...flat ground...just traveling along. We all go through these seasons...some mountaintops and some valleys...and some where we are just traveling along at an even pace.  This week as I'm shifting my focus from what it once was, I am no longer Martha...I am Mary and am moving into a new season of my life. Just as God changed Sarai's name to Sarah...He has changed mine.

At one point in time... position was important to me.  At one point in time... establishing a name was important to me.  At one point in time... DOING was important to me.  Looking back, I realize that all those things definitely made me lose my focus of Him and His priorities...and were truly my winter season.  As I am now approaching the first year after the struggle of losing my little brother, my priorities in life have changed drastically.  Paul...my little bro...meant the world to me, and His death was so impacting.  It was the most horrible thing ever...but I realize it was not for nothing.  His death forever changed my focus. What was once so very important to me... is no longer.  

Over this past week...my focus has become Him, His will, and His way, and I cannot get the song, "Here In Your Presence," out of my head.  It is stuck there...and I think for good reason.  The lyrics are: 

Found in Your hands, fullness of joy
Every fear suddenly wiped away here in Your presence
All of my gains now fade away
Every crown no longer on display, here in Your presence
Heaven is trembling in awe of Your wonders
The kings and their kingdom are standing amazed

Chorus:
Here in Your presence, we are undone
Here in Your presence, Heaven and Earth become one
Here in Your presence, all things are new
Here in Your presence, everything bows before You

Bridge:
Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way
Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way

Oh...to live in His presence.  He is slowly transforming me into a Mary...and moving me away from winter as I begin to rest in His presence...and truly LIVE.  The Bible says in Psalm 91:1, "He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."  I realize now, because of Paul, that my desire...my focus... should never have been in the DOING and making a name for myself but rather in living and enjoying that life He has granted me under the shelter of His wings. ...And in my living...just that...just in my living, God is showing me that I will have more of an impact for Him than all of my DOING ever would.  I don't need to make a name for myself any longer... His name is all people need to know about me.  

What do people know about you?  Who do they see? Are you Mary or Martha?  I encourage you to choose the "better thing" as Mary did. Rest in His presence, LIVE today for today, and let Him radiate through your living!

You ever notice that some days are just harder than others to deal with? You ever feel like you just want to delete the whole world?...Pick up the newspapers, turn on the television, open up facebook and twitter...and all you see is death, anger, hatred, murder, nastiness, lovers of self.  You ever wonder where God is in all this?

Today is one of those days for me...but as I yell out all the frustration on my heart and then, just spent, sit quietly before Him, this is what I'm hearing, "Why do you fret? Did I not say these things would come to pass before I would come? I'm here. Get your eyes on me child. Focus your thoughts on me and not what you see happening around you."

Philippians 4:8-9 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

Just as Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus, there are days when I feel I'm doing the same. Even I, this wife of a pastor, needs to be reminded that if I would just learn to maintain my focus on the One who will bring deliverance, I would have peace.  Not the temporary peace that the world can offer but an everlasting peace that can only be found in Him.

When you feel like you're gonna delete the whole world, I encourage you to change your focus, and put your eyes on Him.



 

This is a fallacy!  God made YOU!  And not only did He make you, but He made YOU in His image. Through the years I have talked to so many people who have said that they don't feel like they can make that step for Christ because they just aren't good enough.  I mean really, why would He want someone as bad and imperfect as them, right!?!  I want to address and stomp out that fallacy today.  The only perfect person...and I mean the ONLY perfect person on the face of this planet was and will always be Jesus.  He was perfect because He was not only fully man, but He was fully God at the same time (Philippians 2:6, John 1:1).  

Yes He was and is perfect and He made you. He... formed you in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), knows everything about you including how many hairs are on your head (Luke 12:7), collects your tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8), and the Bible says He died for you while you were yet still in sin (Romans 5:8).  He didn't say we had to become perfect before He would receive us...He died for us to cover our imperfection. He loves us.  He loves YOU!  When we choose to follow Christ (and it IS entirely a choice by the way)...laying down our lives to take on His...we are saying a couple things.  Firstly, we are saying, Lord, I am not perfect like you were, but like a little child desires to grow up and become his parent, I want to learn to follow in your footsteps.  Secondly, we are saying...Lord, I want you to take the bad out of me...all my imperfections...and replace it with the good in You.  That's it...it's as simple as that.  There's no magic formula...there's no mantra that needs to be chanted...it's not an exclusive country club you're trying to get into...and there's no hazing process. 

God is a holy God...make no mistake about that.  He can not even look upon something that is unholy (Habukkuk 1:13), but Christ's sacrifice...His shed blood... covers our unholiness.  When we receive Jesus...and God looks upon us...He sees His Son's perfection and holiness not our imperfection and sin. 

If you think you're just not good enough for God...you are already in a heart state where God can receive you because He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).  I encourage you today...Don't wait...Don't be afraid...don't be ashamed...run to Him...and let Him cover you today!  Jesus is good enough, and His sacrifice makes you good enough!