Posts tagged Religion
July 8, 2011 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Redemption, Religion, Servanthood · Tagged Christian Living, Crucifixion, Devotions, God, Jesus, Religion, Satan, trust
I have been reading a wonderful devotional book for one of my classes. Each day there is a scripture reference and then the author follows it with a 1 to 2 page meditation. I got to one the other night that made me gasp and then….cry. The scripture reference is John 18:12-14, 19-23. It goes like this:
“12 So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. 13 First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time.[a] 14 Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better that one man should die for the people.”
19 Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them. 20 Jesus replied, “Everyone knows what I teach. I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the people[a] gather. I have not spoken in secret. 21 Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me. They know what I said.”
22 Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby slapped Jesus across the face. “Is that the way to answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must prove it. But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”
So, this was bad enough…reading of an innocent Jesus being sent to his death…being beat upon; taking our sin upon his shoulders. At this point he was getting ready to be beaten beyond recognition. He knew what was coming. His soul was in grief; but not enough to make him stop for we were his passion. So…then I got to the meditation part of the devotion. Now, remember I told you that typically they are 1-2 pages. This one however was simply one line. It read:
“The first hand to strike the savior was a religious hand.” (p. 343)
WOW!!!! Are you kidding me?!!??! I have read this story a hundred times before and it never hit me that the very first hand to strike Jesus was someone of religious stature. I began to weep. How many times do we as “religious” people “strike” the savior when we do wrong? How many times have we neglected to tell someone about him because we didn’t know what they would think? How many times have we revisited something in our past that he died to forgive? How many times have we taken his name in vain? How many times has his spirit told us in the still, small voice to not do something and yet we do it anyway? I don’t know if this line hit you the way it hit me. Ponder it for a few minutes. Read the passage again and picture yourself there. Then read the meditation again. Again…all I can say is “forgive me”….
Gire, Ken. Moments with the Savior, Zondervan Publishing, 1998.
December 7, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Family, Life, Parenting, Youth Ministry · Tagged Christian Living, God, Jesus, Premarital Sex, redemption, Religion, Sex, society, youth
Before you read It’s my blog and my opinion. If yours differs, that’s ok too….write your own blog. 
Now that we have that settled, if you wish to keep reading….here we go.
I was watching a popular show the other night. In this scene, there were 2 teen girls. One teen was telling the other how she just wasn’t sure how she was going to know that the guy she is dating loves her and not his ex. The friend proceeds to tell her that she has to have sex with him to “land him”. I was astounded. Not that we don’t see these things on television every day, but to just hear the words so blatantly spoken between 2 teenagers and realize that in our world, this is what is believed. Instead of telling her friend that she is a beautiful person who deserves to be loved for who she is and what she is, this girl was telling her friend to use her body to win “love”.
First, what we do simply with our bodies does not indicate love. Girls (and boys) do not understand the emotional baggage that comes with premarital sex. I do. I had it and bore that baggage. I have tried so hard to explain not only to my daughter, but to all teen girls who have been in my youth group. Emotional hurt takes so long to heal, and without a savior, many never find their healing.
Our girls are told daily that in order to be loved; in order to “land him” they must offer their bodies. Well, when most girls offer their bodies, they offer their minds and their hearts as well. This is what leads to the emotional pain. I find it disheartening that our society ok’s and even endorses our girls (and guys) act in this manner.
I encourage you, especially if you are a parent, to talk to your children. Tell your sons to treat girls as they deserve to be treated. Tell them to use respect. Tell your girls that they are beautiful and deserve to be treated as such. Tell them that they deserve to have a man who will love them and only them. Tell them that contrary to popular belief, giving your body away will not “land him”. Just a thought….
November 13, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Family, Life, Parenting, Praise, Religion, Servanthood, Trust · Tagged christian life, hurt, parenting, Praise, relationships, Religion, trust, Worship
I was thinking today about God holding and bottling every tear that we cry. That’s an awesome thing to me because in the past week or two I have cried an extreme amount of tears. I have experienced the kind of emotional pain that hurts so deeply you feel like your heart is literally being ripped out. I have questioned myself and wondered what in the world I did wrong. What did I do to cause this to happen? Little offers me comfort. Little makes me happy. Little offers me hope. I am just being honest and transparent here. Please don’t leave me comments telling me I have no faith….I have faith. I have faith enough to call on His name even though I am too tired to. I have faith enough that I know He is still in control. But, I am human. And right now, I am a human who is hurting. 
My mind goes back to Job…blameless Job who did nothing but love God and yet had everything stricken from him. Job, who would not curse God and die. Job who passed his test. Job who, after going through the fire, came forth as gold. During this trial, I have remained faithful. Not because I have to, but because I want to. I have still read. I have prayed. I have fasted. I have still led worship. I have taught Sunday school. I have preached in youth. I have lived my life as God wants me to live it. I have sought His will, His grace, and His mercy. Am I perfect? No way! But…Jesus is my everything. He is all I have. He is all I need. I believe that He is going to turn this situation around. I pray He does is soon….because I can’t handle much more. I have heard it said without a TEST you would not have a TESTimony. I will have a great one after this is over. Why am I writing this? I don’t know. I have stated before that this blog is my source of catharsis. I am the type of person who has to get things out and this is my way of doing it. I also want your prayers if you are reading this and are a Christian. I want you to know if you are at a place where you are hurting, hang in there. It’s all we can do. We can’t go back. I wouldn’t want to. My God is faithful. He is faithful and He is worthy. No matter my circumstances, I’m gonna praise Him. No matter what it looks like, I believe he is in control. So, I’m gonna hang in there. You hang in there too.
November 13, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Redemption, Religion · Tagged God, Grace, Jesus, redemption, Religion, trust, videos
I just heard this song and loved it! I want to dedicate it to all who are running as hard as they can run…..you can’t outrun mercy; you can’t outrun grace. He loves you…no matter what. Quit running and just…..come on home.
October 26, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Family, Life, Praise, Redemption, Religion, Trust · Tagged Christian Living, God, Healing, Jesus, redemption, Religion, Sexual Abuse, videos
I recently heard this song by Matthew West and it amazed me. As most of you know, I was sexually abused as a young child (if you don’t know, read past blogs to read my testimony). I have felt the pain and shame and know how alone this can make you feel. I know how it feels to want to take your own life because you can’t take the shame and who you’ve become. You don’t have to be that way. God stands with open arms waiting to heal you and make you whole. You don’t have to live broken any longer…
October 15, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Praise, Redemption, Religion, Servanthood, Trust · Tagged Christ, Christian, God, Jesus, redemption, Religion, Satan, sin, videos, youth
This video is one the most amazing human videos I have ever seen. In this a young girl goes from having Jesus as the center of the universe, Him being her best friend to being coerced by Satan. Just like that, her world is changed. First there comes romance, then money, followed by partying and drinking, self-esteem (or lack thereof) and finally depression. She is almost ready to end it and realizes that Jesus is her everything. She starts to run back to Him, but the world is fighting her. She’s fighting so hard to get to Him. That’s how it is for us sometimes. We want to get back to where we were with Him at one point in our lives, yet we feel like we can’t. But! I want you to take special care to notice this…..the whole time Jesus is on the other side pulling her….literally pulling her back to Him. That’s how He is….He pulls us, woos us back to Him. Let me ask you….is He your everything?
October 8, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Praise, Redemption, Religion, Servanthood, Trust · Tagged Christianity, faith, God, Jesus, Plan, redemption, Religion, trust
…..I left off with Rahab. Now I want to introduce you to a man named Saul. Saul hated Christians. I mean he hated them; it was his main goal in life to kill them, to hurt them, to destroy them. But God had a different plan. One day Saul was on his way to Damascus and a bright light appeared to Him. He dropped to his knees and said “who are you Lord?” The voice said “I am Jesus who you are persecuting.” Then Jesus told him to go to Damascus and wait. After that, God spoke to a Christian man Ananias. He told Ananias to go to Damascus to Saul of Tarsus. Ananias was like “eh…are you sure Lord? Do you know who this guy is?!?!? He will kill me and enjoy every minute of it!!! “ (my paraphrasing). God was like “GO!” Ananias obeyed. When Ananias got to Saul the Bible says he laid his hand on Saul and something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes. Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit and became a Christ follower. Interestingly enough, God had told Ananias that He (God) was going to show Saul how much he must suffer for Christ. And suffer he did. Saul became Paul and suffered beatings, imprisonment, ship wrecks, storms, persecution. But, God always had a plan! Paul wrote a significant part of the New Testament and is responsible for spreading the Gospel over a huge amount of land! What an amazing testimony of the grace of Jesus Christ! God had a plan for Saul to become Paul. Out with the old, in with the new.
Now, to a man named Jesus. Jesus was born in a manger to a virgin. The world was not lying in wait for him as stories like to make us think. No, there was chaos all around. The scene Jesus entered into was a scary one. But rest assured God had a plan. Jesus grew. He was a son, a friend, a brother, a leader. He was led into temptation by Satan himself and tempted so that He would know how you and I felt. He was beaten, belittled, sworn at, spat at, and hung on a cross. But God had a plan. What was that plan? As Jesus stretched out His arms and said “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” God looked down the road 2,000+ years later and saw a messed up young woman named Kim calling on His name. He saw her; hurt and beaten down by life, He saw her at her wit’s end. He saw her hurting and needing a healing from the inside out. And as Jesus took his last breath and said “it is finished” the veil in the temple ripped from top to bottom granting US total access to God the Father, something that until that moment had not been accessible to anyone other than the high priest. The sky grew dark. The Earth began to shake and the very people who had killed him said “surely this was the Son of God!” As this happened, He looked down the road and saw humanity in all their weakness, needing a savior. Perhaps He saw you, at your wit’s end; calling on His name saying “Jesus! I just can’t do this by myself! I need you!” Yes, there was a plan. There has always been a plan. It’s a plan of redemption. It’s a plan of mercy and grace. Above that, it’s a plan of love.
Let me assure you. I don’t know where you are. I may know you, I may not. But, I do know Jesus. And, Jesus knows you. I do know that He always has a plan. He had one for Moses, he had one for Rahab, he had one for Saul, and He had one for Jesus. He has one for me and he has one for you. He already paid the price. All you have to do is accept the gift.
October 6, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Praise, Redemption, Religion, Servanthood, Trust · Tagged Christianity, God, Jesus, Plan, redemption, Religion, trust
This blog is based on a message that I did at our youth group a couple of weeks ago. It is lengthy, so I am going to write it in 2 blogs…. I want to take you through several Bible stories. All of these will probably be very familiar to you. I want to show you that throughout time, and even now, God always has a plan. No matter how bad things look, God is working in the background.
First, I want to take you to Moses. The Israelites had been ordered to throw their boy babies in the Nile River. Can you imagine being a parent and your leader ordering you to throw your child into a crocodile infested river where they would die a horrible death? Moses’ mother had a different idea and God had a plan. So, she put him in a basket and sent him on his way in the river. Not only did God have a plan and deliver him, but God had him raised in Pharaoh’s home! Yes….the very one who had ordered him dead. God used Moses years later to deliver His people from Pharaoh. Moses led millions of people through the wilderness and then onto their promised land (though he never crossed into the promised land himself; that is another blog). You see though, God had a huge plan.
Now I want to take you to a woman named Rahab. Rahab was a harlot; a prostitute. Rahab was not part of God’s chosen people so she had not been raised with the Law of God being told to her. Sure, she may have heard it here or there, but she wasn’t raised as one of the religious Jewish people. But, the Bible tells us that to every man “a measure of faith” is given. I believe it was that measure of faith that caused Rahab to hide 2 spies when they came over into Jericho where she lived. They were coming to spy out the land before they overtook it. They were part of God’s chosen people. Rahab hid them with one condition; when they came back to destroy the city, they had to let her and her family live. They agreed and told her to have a cord hanging from her window and to make sure that all of her family were in that room. They would instruct their soldiers that everyone in that home would be spared. God had a plan. God used a harlot to help his people. God used that same harlot in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Yes, Rahab the harlot was one of Jesus’ Earthly great grandmothers (I can’t remember right now how many “greats” to put in there, but it was quite a few)! This tells me something else as well. That God doesn’t need the cleanest, most well behaved people. Nope, He just needs someone willing to be used by Him…
To Be Continued…..(but are you beginning to see the picture yet? Our God is so amazing!)…
October 2, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Redemption, Religion, Trust · Tagged Christian Living, Disciples, faith, God, Jesus, Paul, redemption, Religion, Satan, Serpent
I was reading Acts the other day and read a story that I have read a hundred times before, but this time it really struck me. It is in Acts 28. Paul, after surviving a shipwreck finally gets to the island of Malta. He builds a fire and as he gathered brushwood a snake, who was driven out by the heat, bit him. Actually, my version states “it fastened itself to his hand”. But then (read this carefully!) Paul simply shook the snake off of his hand! The islanders who were watching started talking amongst themselves saying that surely this man must be a murderer because he escaped the sea, but now justice was not letting him live. In their thoughts, fate had jumped in.
Now there’s a couple of things here we need to examine. First, in the Bible the serpent usually represents evil or Satan; keep that in your mind. I can just see it now, Paul was exhausted from a storm in the sea and being shipwrecked and is thinking to himself “ahhh, I am finally gonna get warm and get my belly full” and then a snake bites him! Paul was like “are you kidding me?!?!? I don’t think so! God didn’t bring me this far to let me get bit by a snake and die!” So, he simply shook it off! This is how we need to be with satan. He has no power if you are a born again child of God. He has already been defeated! Shake him off. Look at him like Paul did when he looked at the snake and say “uh….no I don’t think so! Get off of me!”
Secondly, we need to look at the islanders. They immediately looked at what was happening to Paul and assumed he was being punished for something. Remember Job? His friends did the same with him. People in your life will do the same with you. They will look at you when you are going through troubles and wonder why. Then they will wonder how you are going to react. How are you going to face troubles thrown at you? How are you going to react to the snake when he comes?
As the islanders see that Paul is not going to die, they began to look at him as a God. People will watch us. When they see that you are coming out of a storm, that you shook off the enemy, that you kept a good attitude while being attacked, they will look to you. This is your chance to show them that no, I am not a God…..but I can show you THE God.
So, my question to you is this; how will you react when the snake comes your way? Will you just shake him off and keep going? Will you weather the storms in your life hidden in the shelter of the most high God (Psalm 91) and when people ask….will you point them to the true, living God?
So today…..let me encourage you to go ahead……do a little shaking.
September 27, 2010 · Filed under Christian Living, Life, Religion, Trust · Tagged Christian Living, Devotion, God, Jesus, life, Religion, trust
I was putting on my make-up this morning to get ready for work. Well, I have a vanity in my bedroom that I do this daily ritual to. My vanity has a light that shines so that I can maybe see what I am doing and not go out of the house looking like a harlot 
Anyway, my light started acting really strange (and it was the only light in the house doing so). It went dim, flickered; you know like when your power is going to go out. After some investigation, I noticed that the plug to said light was just slightly connected with the plug in. It had somehow almost wiggled it’s way totally out of the power source. But, it was connected just enough to have a tiny bit of light. I thought to myself “wow….kinda how we are with God….’” (I have told you God speaks to me through the weirdest things!!)
It’s true though. We can be just slightly plugged in. You know reading our Bibles cause we feel we have to; putting in a little prayer time, etc. We can have a little bit of power at that point; a little bit of light. Or, we can be totally disconnected from Him, never speaking to Him, never reading His word. When that happens, we have no power! The power we have to defeat the enemy of our souls and to live an abundant life comes from being connected to God. If we disconnect ourselves from Him; we go dim (like my light). At that point our lives aren’t satisfactory. We can’t enjoy sin anymore because we have the Spirit of a holy God living within us. I know because I have been there. I would love to tell you I have been the “perfect” Christian, but I can’t. I am human and have had my seasons of dryness; of feeling and being “unplugged”.
But, I have good news! It’s never too late! He is always there with arms wide open, waiting to fill you with His power. So, my question to you is……are you feeling disconnected? If so, guess who moved? Not Him. He is faithful. No, if you are disconnected, it is because you wriggled yourself away from Him. Maybe it was accidental, such as life getting busy or maybe something such as an illness hit your or your family (these things can cause us to not have as much time as we once did) or maybe not. That’s between you and God. If this is you, be encouraged. Draw close to Him again and seek Him. He is always there. The Bible tells us that He is near to all who call on Him and that to the one that knocks the door WILL be opened. Seek Him, love Him, connect with Him and be filled with His power; a power that defeats everything life has to throw at you!
