Live in His Word

  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...

  Facebook memories can be such an interesting thing. It can help you to see things that have been important to you over time.  So many of my memories that have popped up from the last several years have been about wisdom. Verses about wisdom, talking about my desire for wisdom, etc. The older I have gotten and the more I have been around various people, the more I have realized how much I do not know. I want wisdom to know how to handle the situations we are facing, how to handle the people I encounter- and disagree with at times and to know how to be the best me I can be. The book of James has much to say about wisdom. In chapter 1 verse 5 it says that if we need wisdom we should ask our generous God. He wants to give us wisdom. All too often we think that whatever our point of view is or what we believe is what wisdom is. We assume because we are Christians we must be right.  We believe that we know it all and we don’t have anything to learn, and if we do have somethin...

This week I have been working on teaching my students to be more proactive than reactive. I try and explain to them the importance of controlling themselves and their reactions to others. I talk to them about making sure they stop and think about what they should say and do before they act. It is funny how when you are teaching something, that seems to be an area that you begin to struggle even more. Over the last year and a half, I have found myself wanting to react so many times. When I see people say and do things I want to give my opinion and try and get people to understand why I am right. I want to join in the reactive conversations that cause hurt and pain to others as people vehemently declare their rightness and everyone else's wrongness. I have never in my life seen a time when people are so vicious and just downright rude to each other. It also breaks my heart when I see people try and use scriptures to back up their opinion, but use them completely out of context and th...