Live in His Word

As we read through the New Testament it is so easy to look at the Pharisees and judge how manipulative and self-righteous they were. It seems like all they did was follow Jesus around trying to trap and discredit him. I read about them and think of how angry they must have always felt and how sad their lives must have been. As quick and easy as it is to judge them I can look around at our world today and realize that there are so many similarities- especially in the Church. God's goal was for the Jews then, and the Christians now, to focus on Him and have a right relationship with Him. As Christians, our focus should never be so set on being right that we forget to be righteous. The Pharisees were so focused on proving that they were right and Jesus was wrong that their focus was completely off of the God they claimed to serve and completely on themselves. They no longer cared what the truth was, they only cared about their interpretation of the truth, and they would do, believe, a...

  We read about the parable of a hidden treasure and a pearl of great value. Where the people sold everything they had to buy the treasure. In my study on these parables, I read two different interpretations that I found interesting. The most common interpretation discussed is that these parables do not mean that we can buy our way into heaven. It is that the treasure is the Kingdom of Heaven and the value is so great that it is worth more than any earthly thing. Everything else that we could have fades in comparison to that treasure and we should be willing to give up everything for the Kingdom of Heaven. The second interpretation was that we are the treasure. Jesus sees us and our value and He gave up everything He had to save us and purchase us with His blood. He gave up everything even to the point of His own life because he found us valuable and worthy. Both are very thought-provoking! To think of ourselves as a treasure worth Jesus giving His life for. It causes me to pause ...

  Do you ever feel like you are unimportant? Worthless? That everyone else has a much greater calling than you do? In Acts, we read how the church was growing so large that the apostles could no longer handle everything that needed doing. They ended up having 7 others come alongside them to help them so that they could contribute to studying and preaching. The people who joined them were in charge of making sure things ran smoothly and that everyone was getting their needs met. It could seem like the apostles' job was the most important, but as I read this I realize that wasn't the case. Acts 6:7 starts with the word "so". That tells us that what is coming next is the effect of what happened before. It says, "so God's message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased...". We all have a part to play. There is not a single gift that God has given you that is wasted in the body of Christ. You NEED to use your gift to help increase the b...

  God is in control. I hear people say that all the time. I know that it is meant to make us feel better, but the way it is used sometimes makes me cringe a little. People say it so flippantly I wonder if they really stop to think about it and if they really mean it when they say it, and what it implies to people who want to believe in God, but aren't sure if they do. I want to challenge us to dig a little deeper into this thought of God being in control by asking a few questions. Is God in control of your life? REALLY in control? Is He in control of everything you do? Do you have free will, or does he make you do the things He wants you to do? Is God in control of everything you watch on t.v.? Would you be watching everything you watch if you thought of the fact that God sees you and is in control? Would He have turned it to that show? Is He in control of everything you put in your mouth? (ouch, just stepped on my own toes). Is He in control of everything that comes OUT of your mo...

 Today is not a normal blog post for me, but this is what is on my heart. Today is September 11th.  So many people today are talking about how they want to remember what it was like on September 12th. The day people drew together. The day people put differences aside and remembered what was important. Why did we do this? We were hurting, fearful, facing the unknown. So what did we do? We put aside our differences and were there for each other. We had a common "enemy" so we banded together. I can't help but think of life right now. So many are so desperately hurting. So many are facing so much unknown. Facing doubts and fears. And what are we doing? We are making each other the enemy. Instead of banding together we are biting, hating, devouring each other. Why? Because we are convinced we are right. We feel it is more important that we are right and everyone knows it than to listen to each other, and understand the pain that each person is dealing with. What kind of world ...

  Being present is very difficult in the world we live in. We may be physically present, but so often we are not emotionally or mentally present wherever we are. We get so busy trying to accomplish everything we think we have to do, that we are always thinking of the next thing. Or we might be overwhelmed and stressed so we check out and play with our devices. To be present we have to be intentional. When we are so busy it is also easy to forget to be present in the presence of God. We say we want God’s presence, but we need to stop and really ask ourselves if this is true. I have heard the statement many times, “Are you seeking God’s presents or His presence?” When it comes to God’s presence, we so often want what we think He should give us more than we want Him. We want our needs met, we want our sicknesses healed, we want freedom from bondage, we want to escape hell- but do we really want Him for who He is? Do we want Him as a genie who grants our wishes, or do we want Him as ou...