Choose God’s Presence

“But the Lord answered her, “Martha, my dear, you are worried and bothered about providing so many things. Only a few things are really needed, perhaps only one. Mary has chosen the best part and you must not tear it away from her!” Luke 10:42 Philipps. 

Do you ever find yourself worrying about all you have to do?

Have you ever noticed how worry adds stress and strife to your life.  When you try to push your kids into doing what they should do, all you get is a sense of frustration on all sides.  When you have too much on your plate you end up not being able to do anything well.

In the Bible there are two sisters, Mary and Martha who took a different approach to life. Martha, the successful homemaker was entertaining Jesus and was worried about many things to make his visit turn out well. Her sister simply sat at His feet, listening to His heart, looking into His eyes, and enjoying His presence.  When Martha complained to Jesus that she needed more help in the kitchen, Jesus affirmed that Mary had chosen the best part.

In your life and home, have you chosen the best part. Are you most concerned about being in the presence of Jesus, transformed and empowered by His word.  Or are you trying to work for Jesus.  Today, changing your approach.  Choose the better part.

 
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Get Up And Fight

“Beat your plowshares into swords
And your pruning hooks into spears;
Let the weak say, ‘I am strong.’”

Joel 3:10 NKJV.

Do you ever feel too weak to overcome a situation.

There are times as parents that you have to go to war for our kids. It doesn’t mean that you don’t love them. It doesn’t mean that you are not tender and nurturing in their lives. It doesn’t mean that you aren’t compassionate. It does means that there are times to like Joel 3:10 says, beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears and to say to ourselves, I am strong for war. So you set aside your dishes and your laundry and your work assignments and you diligently focus on imparting truth to your child.

Make no mistake the enemy Satan hates you and He hates your kids.  He has an agenda for the life of your kids to try to kill, steal, and destroy them (John 10:10).  But you are a warrior.  You have been anointed and appointed by God to go to war on your knees.  You are strong in God. Yes, your children ultimately have the power to choose whether they will follow God. But you have the power to choose to fight for them in prayer and to instruct them in godliness.

Don’t lay down on the job of being a parent. Get up and fight for your kids.

 
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Extraordinary Life

“We call Abraham “father” not because he got God’s attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn’t that what we’ve always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, “I set you up as father of many peoples”? Abraham was first named “father” and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, “You’re going to have a big family, Abraham!” Romans 4:17-18 The Message Bible.

Have you ever felt like a nobody.

Well you are in good company. All of us are ordinary people until God makes us extraordinary.  Abraham and Sarah were told by God that they would be a father and a mother of many nations.  Yet year after year went by and they assumed that they had misunderstood God’s call on their lives. We have the tendency to wait till things have happened to believe God. But God calls us to believe first, then to receive the outcome of being who God said we would be.

So shake off your low self-esteem, your doubt, your unbelief and belive God to make something out of nothing.  When everything is hopeless believe God anyway.  Choose to live not on the basis of what you can see and do, but on what God said He would do in and through you. Believe and you will receive.

So, if your house is full of strife, believe and receive a house that is full of peace.  If your children are disobedient and rebellious, believe God to show you how to turn it around, If you are constantly underachieving your goals, purpose in your heart to make your goals line up with Gods best for you and then watch Him full fill it in His power and by His anointing. He will take your ordinary life and make it extraordinary.

 
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God’s Promises

by Sue Detweiler

Have you ever felt so discouraged by something that it was hard to do what you were called to do?

Joshua had served Moses for 40 years and couldn’t imagine going into the promised land without him leading the way. God spoke to Joshua after Moses’ death and said “Get going!”  He assured Joshua that He was leading him across the Jordan River. Not only that, He promised strength and courage.

As a mom, there have been times that I have been discouraged enough that I emotionally wanted Read more

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Joy Stealer

One of the things that can be a joy-stealer is meditating on things that you cannot change. If you remember things from the past, rehearse what you “should have” or “could have” done to change things, you waste time and mental energy. Looking to your past can help you learn so that you don’t repeat things in the future. However, in order to move into the future with a joyful heart you must let go of the things in the past that you can’t change. That means forgiving others, forgiving yourself, and even releasing God from any false charges you have made against Him. You may think to yourself, I would never blame God for something. Yet sometimes our anger towards God is even hidden from ourselves.

Coming to the point of being real and honest with God will help you be real and honest with yourself. Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you. You may have gone through a divorce that you never wanted. You may have a spouse that was unfaithful to you. You may have had a loved one die in an accident.  All sorts of things happen that can change your life in a moment.  Learn to let go of those things you can’t change. Accept where you are even as you are presently even while you are on the road to your future.

Paul knew what it was to let hold of his past, live in his present, in order to lay hold of his future. He writes in Philippians 3:12-14,

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (NKJV).

Accepting the things in your life that you are unable to control or change does not mean that you are settling for the status quo. It simply means that you are honestly accessing where you are in order to more fully move into your future free of regret. Take a moment right now to come into God’s presence, asking Him to give you a fresh perspective of letting go of your past, living in your present and laying hold of your future.

 
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Sue Detweiler Interviews Amy Philips

Amy Philips serves as the director of Women’s Ministry at the Gate Community Church in Franklin Tennessee. She has been married to Caleb for 13 years and they have two sons. Together they have a heart for marriages and parenting. Amy came to a point in parenting their first son Noah where she needed new skills to help her be an effective parent who sows seeds of love and respect into her household.  In this interview Amy recommends a book by Danny Silk called, Loving Your Kids on Purpose. This resource can be found at http://www.lovingonpurpose.com/. 

 

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Pure Joy

“Blessed (happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth!” Matthew 5:8 The Amplified Bible.

How often does your face radiate with joy?

Think about how easy it is to see pure joy in a child’s face when he lifts his hand to catch a bubble or dance in the sunlight.  In a similar way, we encounter God’s joy as we are childlike before Him.  We experience life-joy and fulfillment when we see the truth of who God is.  It is in walking intimately with God that we inherit the fulness of the joy that He has for us.

Max Lucado says it like this, “Think about God’s joy. What can cloud it? What can quench it? . . . Is God ever in a bad mood because of bad weather? Does God get ruffled over long lines or traffic jams? Does God ever refuse to rotate the earth because his feelings are hurt?No. His is a joy which consequences cannot quench. His is a peace which circumstances cannot steal.”

Tap into God’s pure joy by opening your heart to Him in meekness. Meekness is strength in control and it leads to you inheriting the earth.

 
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Change The Way You Think

Do you agree with God?

Every day we have the opportunity to agree with God and allow His joy to flood and fill us so that every negative thought and emotion is force out.  It is like having a pressure washer in your mind. Renewing every thought. Refusing to be conformed to the strategies of the world.

Romans 12:2 in the New Living Translation says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Today, Agree with what God says about you. It will change the way you think.

 
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