“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” Revelation 2:4-5.
Do you ever find yourself going through your day, forgetting about God? Life just happens and before you know it you are walking things out all alone.
If God is your First Love, the One who is most important to you, you won’t go through life all alone. Relationships take time. You need to spend time talking to some one… being open and vulnerable. Sharing your life with them. Walking with God is the same way, yet unique. In order to really get to know God, you must be in His word on a daily basis. His word is the mirror that helps you know who He really is. It takes seeking Him, surrendering to Him, following Him, daily to keep the fire of your love for Him burning bright.
The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.
Some of you will rebuild
the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.
Isaiah 58:11,12
Do you ever feel like everything around you is falling apart?
I know many of you well-put together women who seem to have it all together when you are newly married and in the work force. You have made a choice to stay home with your children because of God’s call on your life. But for some of you, being at home is much harder for you than you ever imagined. It’s as though you are feel closed in on and everything around you is a mess. Applying your faith in every day life will make all the difference in your perspective.
As you set your hope on God, the Lord Himself will guide you continually. When your Spirit is dry and thirsty, He will refresh you with Himself. He is the One who restores your strength at the end of a frustrating day. He is the One that makes your life to be like a well-watered garden, when everyone around you is in a drought.
Turn to God today and let Him rebuild any places in your heart that seem deserted or run down. He will rebuild walls of safety around you and restore your home.
“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” Hebrews 10:23-24 NLT.
Do you motivate others to love and good deeds?
I know sometimes as a mom, partly because I have so many children, and partly because of my personality, I can go into drill sergeant mode with the tasks I am instructing them to do. I have a value of things being done quickly and with excellence. I tend to have high expectations. So though my intentions are good (like let’s have a clean house), my mode of operation is all wrong… Have you ever had this attitude, “I’m in charge here, obey me NOW!”
Well, if you have found yourself becoming a sergeant rather than a dad or mom, you know that it will not truly motivate your children to LOVE and good works. They may accomplish the work, but your relationship has not been strengthened. No wonder all children love Mary Poppins who magically makes the room neat and uses sugar to help the medicine go down.
Take a fresh look today on ways that you can Motivate your family to acts of love and good works.
“Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” Ephesians 4:29 NLT.
Have you every noticed that what you think leads to how you feel? And how you feel leads to what you say?
If you do not take charge of what you think and what you say, you will live a life where you are constantly controlled by your emotions. Your emotions are an accurate representation of what you have been thinking about. But your emotions can not be the driving force in your life.
Have you ever been in a store and your daughter sees something that she likes. If she is younger it can be a doll, if she’s older it could be clothes. If her mind get’s fixated on what she wants, then no matter if you had something better for her, nothing will please her. Then when she gets what she wants it sits in the closet untouched.
Just like it is childish to want whatever appeals to our eyes, it is childish to let the way we feel rule our house. So does that mean you should stuff your emotions? No! You can be honest and transparent without being negative and vindictive with your words. Sometimes we just need to say to ourselves, “grow up!” Have a new start today! Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to everyone who hears.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” Romans 12:2 NKJV.
Do you sometimes wish there was a button you could push at the back of your head that would instantaneously erase every bad thought?
If you become a Christian, your nature is regenerated instantly, but your mind needs to be renewed on a daily basis. Romans 12:2 challenges you to not let the enemy set a schematic for your life, but be transformed by choosing to think thoughts that line up with God’s word and will.
Have you ever gotten in the rut of what my mom calls “stinkin thinkin.” Everything is terrible. Nothing goes right. The more that you meditate on these negative situations the more that your mind magnifies and negative and overlooks the positive.
You may even have done this with your children. As a parent, you are charged to bring correction to your children. If you haven’t noticed, this is an ongoing process. If you are not careful, you will begin to think negatively about your children like “you always do that”… “I have told you a hundred times not to touch that.” Can you see how your thoughts, lead to emotions, lead to words, lead to magnifying the negative. When your though patterns are not renewed you will be the Grinch that stole the peace in your home.
If you have been stuck in stinkin thinkin, get out of the rut, make a choice to renew your mind today.
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“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Why is it that old patterns recur in your life?
If you are a Christian, from the moment that you made Jesus Lord of my life, you were regenerated. You were changed from the inside out. Then why is it that when you are stressed with the demands of life, that you sometimes act more like your old self than being new in Christ?
If you are a mom, have you every yelled at your kids? Have you had a short temper with your spouse? Have you over-reacted to concerns? Are you easily upset? Do you stomp around the house and pout and slam doors?
You may excuse this type of behavior in your mind, because you felt provoked by the situation at hand. But think about how childish this behavior is. You must leave these old ways in the past, and choose a new future.
In your ongoing walk with Christ, ask for a continuing revelation of the miracle of a transformed life. You access this reality through the choices you make on a daily basis. Your will is a powerful force in the universe. God does not override your choice. You can choose to walk in the newness of life, or you can choose to walk in the old patterns of death. It’s your choice. If you are sick of your old patterns, then make a choice to change. Believe God and receive from His Spirit the divine ability to change.
“And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children[b] of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you” Galatians 3:29 NLT.
What type of legacy are you leaving to your children?
Life moves quickly. It seems like moments ago that my daughters where playing with Barbies, now they are leaving for college. If we don’t measure each day carefully, it will be filled with stuff that doesn’t really matter.
Our children are our heirs. It is not just the physical things that we pass down to them like the color of hair or eyes, but it is the way we do life. We need to take stock of what we are truly passing on. Your children hear some of what you say, but they notice mostly what you do. Have you ever noticed them mimic the tone of you voice in an unkind way, scolding their younger brother or sister. Those are the types of things that are “caught” from you rather than taught.
The Word in Galatians 3:29, tells us that when we belong to Christ we are heirs of God’s promise. We inherit from our Father God precious promises that we can only fulfill in Him. When you think about your kids, are you helping them become heirs of God’s promise? Is your life and home so filled with His presence and power that faith in Christ Jesus is contagious.
Do you ever feel distressed by your own shortcomings.
You don’t want to let the enemy accuse you or condemn you or make you feel bad about yourself. You are the righteousness of Christ Jesus. He has made you a saint and you can walk free of your sin. In areas of your life where there is sin, His Holy Spirit will convict you and lead you to a fresh start.
The Message Bible communicates II Corinthians 7:10 in this way:
Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.
It may be “distressing” to begin to walk in the light and to call any of your fleshly patterns “sin”, but in the long run it will lead to freedom. Let Godly sorrow do its work in you and turn you toward His loving, forgiving heart. God never shines His light to expose you or condemn you. It is much the opposite. He shines His light in your heart to drive out the darkness. His way is light.
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Do you ever find yourself saying “I’m sorry” for the same thing?
True repentance is more than just saying “I’m sorry”, and then doing the same thing a couple of days later. The Greek word for “repentance” is metanoeo (where we get our English word “metamorphosis”), which means “relating to or involving a change in physical form, appearance, or character” (Encarta Dictionary). To repent means to turn around, to change. True repentance is evidenced when we change in three dimensions: 1) we change our minds; 2) we change our hearts (will and emotions); 3) we change our actions.
Matthew 3:8 says,
“Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God”
Our repentance needs to be openly seen. In order for that to happen, we need to walk in the light and admit when we have sinned. When my children were smaller there were a couple of things that I did to bring my sin our into the light. If I would have an angry outburst, I would put myself in the “time out” chair and have my children pray for me. I didn’t want them to think that just because I was older it was fine for me to misbehave. I would also bring it up in front of my husband and children sometimes at supper. God can give you a strategy for you to bring out into the light your sin. If you bring it out in the open, the light of God will illuminate the situation and help you overcome in Him.
Children are usually already well aware of their parents’ shortcomings. It is important that you admit when you have crossed boundaries and treated your children inappropriately. If you rationalize your behavior by thinking “he deserved it”, then you deceive yourself about your own harshness. Part of getting free from angry outbursts is to admit that you have sinned and to confess it. I John 1:9 says this:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo. It means “to say the same thing.” To call it what God calls it. Sin comes out of a repentant heart through confession with our mouths. Confession is your part to do. When you do that, you begin to see that He is faithful and just. Not only will He forgive you, but He will cleanse you! He always does His part.
