Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Law Breakers

My mind is stuck right now. I have tried every way to get it unstuck, but it will not unstick. I prayed about it. I tried reading my Bible but, it's still stuck.

I told God that I did not really want to get into this today, but I think He has another plan....

It's just a pet peeve of mine. When people bring up Old Testament law as a way to mock Christianity or try to dispute certain beliefs of Christianity. I used to be very confused about all of the old laws too, so I prayed for guidance. One thing God revealed to me is that I am a Gentile and those laws were written for the Old Testament Jews. They don't pertain to me.

That is not to say that the entire Old Testament is irrelevant. There is much more to God's Word in the Old Testament than just the Jewish law. There are some sins addressed in the Old Testament that are simply part of God's moral standards. These sins are still addressed in the New Testament. If you are unsure, educated yourself. Seriously study your Bible. Pray for answers. You will find them!

Thirdly, in Matthew 5:17, Jesus says that He came to fulfill the law. Jesus came in place of the law. Hebrews is a book to read for info on this. It gave me a great peace and understanding of the entire matter!

Last of all, Titus 3:9 says, "Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless." I agree! This is the exact verse I tried to use to get out of writing this blog. I don't want to quarrel or cause controversy. God showed me that stating the truth was not quarreling. It is simply stating the truth!

Now, the Truth can cause controversy with those that don't believe in it, but it is probably also useless to argue with those people. Read your Bible, pray for them, and love them anyway! :)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

A Child

I started this blog last year as kind of a New Year's resolution. A resolution to grow more in faith, and wisdom, and obedience. Well.... like most New Year's resolutions, the blog kind of waned towards the end of the year. The busy-ness of life caught up with me. I do have to say that last year was probably my best year ever though. God truly increased my faith. I gained a bit of wisdom. Unfortunately, I was not always obedient. Too busy = missed time in the Word, which = missed Words from my precious Father. However, it is a new year! And with Christ, every day is a new opportunity to better. His grace is never-ending! Not that I want to mess up, but when I do, He forgives and opens me back with arms wide-open.

Fortunately for me (and my little blog), my Bible study classes are back in full-swing this week! Guess what the general theme has been? Jesus. :) How no matter what we "DO", He is really the only thing that matters! How do we feel about Him? How is our relationship with Him? Are we in a position that He can speak to us?

I'm sad to say that I have not been in that position much lately, but thankfully, He has not given up on me.

Last night, my dear Bible study leader told us that when God does something good, we should tell others. And so came the inspiration for my first post of 2013.....

I had this pain all day in my lower back. It would come and go. Very reminiscent of kidney stone pain I had when I was pregnant with Mason. Kidney stones... when my husband is headed to West Virginia? The heater went out in the house today? Not to mention, the 3 little boys that depend on me for pretty much everything.. and my little buddy, Hunter who keeps me company while the others are at school... Ain't nobody got time for that!

About 12:00, I decided to drink as much water as humanly possible. About 3:00, I decided to take some Ibuprofen and go into denial. The heater repairmen came around 4:00 and by the time they left, I was pain-free and once again had a functioning central heating-unit! God took care of my needs, as always!

The greatest blessing of the day came later, though. My sweet Mason came to me and said, "Mama, I prayed for you. I prayed, 'God, please take it away!" How precious! How awesome that I was able to tell him that God answered his prayer. His mama did not hurt anymore!

That was the other part of my lesson last night. In Matthew 18, Jesus talks about how children will be the greatest in Heaven. Not only for their innocence, but for their faith. They are so trusting. So dependent. That is what our Father desires of us. He wants us to trust Him, completely. He wants us to be completely dependent upon Him, so that when troubles come, we don't have to be afraid. We know that He has us in His hand and nobody can take that away.

I believe that is the best thing that happened in 2012. He increased my faith tremendously. Even though I lagged in my faithfulness at the end of the year, He did not. He continued to increase my faith. He remained faithful to me. He gave me a child-like faith towards Him. He said it is so, so it must be! I don't doubt His faithfulness towards me for one minute. He has proven Himself time and again.

So, I have decided that my resolution for 2013 is to share how He proves Himself. No matter how small or how corny. He has been so good to me. I cannot deny it! By the world's standards, I'm pretty much a nobody. But to my Savior, I know am so much more. He gave His life for me. For all of us! He truly is good!

Happy 2013 folks!