Actions Speak Louder Than Words

It is time for me to act.  I am a words person and love to write and reflect on things in my life, but that is about how far I get.  I KNOW what to do, BUT I don't DO it.

This is my time to act upon what I know. It's go time.

For His Glory,

Amanda

Challenge Accepted (Part 1)

I was perusing the great world wide web in search of something that would challenge Christians, help them grow, move from their comfort zone, and perhaps suffer for Christ's sake a bit.  In so doing, I ran across an article entitled "An Unbeatable Challenge to Christians".   The purpose of this article was to back Christians into a corner and get them to pretty much deny their faith in God.  The weapon was the Bible, of course. The book that all Christians should be familiar with and "know" cover to cover.  I do admit, there were verses brought up in this challenge that I was not familiar with and nearly did a double take at the brevity of meaning stated.  But that in no way shook my faith, it only caused me to research further to discover meaning and context for these verses and how they were being used in this "unbeatable" challenge.

Question 1~Do you AGREE with your God that the innocent babies and infants living in the cities that God wants to punish should be dashed against rocks and walls and floors so that they die instantly?
First off, if this question was asked to a random 'average' Christian with no context or frame of reference, then yes, most Christians would DISAGREE that God would want babies to be "dashed against rocks" or murdered in such violence.
But because the author gave several examples from God's Word, I now know the context by which the author has misinterpreted to fit his own ideology about God or His non-existence (pretty much a trap tactic).
Psalm 137:9-This Psalm refers to the Israelites' captivity in Babylon.  The Israelites were praying they would not forget Jerusalem.  This verse in particular refers to the destruction of Babylon.  Babylon was an instrument of God's wrath against the Israelites and ultimately would get destroyed.  God gives everyone and every city the choice to follow Him.  Babylon was not doing this and his judgement would pour forth. The verse says, "Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."  This simply says in the context of the chapter that "he", a fellow Israelite would be pleased or happy IF the Babylonian little ones or babies were "dashed against the stones."  The inferred meaning could be that young Babylonians would grow up to be big Babylonians who would continue to conquer more of the known world.  The vulgarity of the statement clearly expresses the dislike of the Babylonians.
Hosea 13:16-This chapter states the sin of the Israelites, specifically Ephraim.  Idolatry and molten images were some of their trangressions.  God states His previous deliverance from Egypt and then prophesies the wrath to come for their sinful behavior.  God gave them opportunity after opportunity to repent and turn back to Him.  They failed, so they had to suffer the consequences.  In this particular instance, the consequences were severe.  Their children would be dashed against the rocks, and women with child would suffer the loss of their child and possibly their own life.
Isaiah 13:15-16, 18-This chapter is a prophecy-a foretelling of God-about His judgement on Babylon.  Babylon was a wicked city that did not follow after the God of the Israelites.  This is a very descriptive account of what was to come for the Babylonians.  God gives everyone the opportunity to choose Him or not.  Babylon chose not to follow God, so the consequences for not doing so were severe including dashing children to pieces.

AGREE or DISAGREE?
NEITHER-The question is flawed because it asks my opinion about something God already has done or had a part in doing that would be repulsive to most people with any amount of feeling. The past is the past, God did it, and I stand by Him.  His ways are not my ways.  I do believe in a righteous, just, and loving God.  Sin deserves major consequences (Romans 6:23).  God can't stand sin.  Sin is paid for by death.  It can be through the blood of Christ Jesus or the impending wrath of God for those who don't choose Him which ultimately ends in physical and spiritual death separated from God.

Part 2, Visualize yourself "dashing children against the rocks" will follow shortly.

For the Glory of God,

Tangled

Have you ever been in a place where your heart was tangled up inside of itself with no way of controlling a situation and its outcome.  You feel helpless.  You want to do something.  Help in whatever way possible, but circumstances prevent it.  What can you do?  Where can you go?  What can you do?  This was made real for me this past weekend.  A dear friend of mine went through an extensive surgery.  I wanted to help.  That is my nature to help.  I went to the hospital and met a family member I didn't know and we chatted about my friend and life in general.  It was an interesting time.  I handed him a card to give to my friend, and that was all the help I could give.
I wanted to do so much more. But in my limited access to the family and my friend, I turned to the only thing that I could do.  I prayed.  I prayed often.  I don't think I prayed near enough or with as much passion as I could have, but I prayed nonetheless.  As the situation progressed, my prayers began to change.  I prayed that God would get the glory and that His will would be done.  I don't think I have ever valued prayer-communication with God-as much as I do now.
Prayer is an intimate conversation with the Creator of the this world and us.  He is our Father, Savior, and friend if we have trusted and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ who paid our debt for sin with His life.  He is our Beloved, the Lover of our soul, He is "The One" that everyone seeks, but only some find.  Prayer is our connection to Him.  He listens to the longings of our hearts.  He answers them with a perfect answer in His timing.  We may not always like the answer, but God's thoughts are higher than ours and His ways are not our ways.
This weekend was a huge reminder that I can take everything to the Lord in prayer.  When I feel helpless, alone, or even joyful and happy, I can take whatever burden or news to God in prayer.  I know I don't pray often enough, and I want to pray more and for others and not just myself.  Remember that in all things, you can pray.  God is just a prayer away, and he wants to hear what you have to say.

To God be the Glory,

Heartblown!

Within a day or two of my previous post, God expanded my understanding even more on the matter of transformation for the believer.  God showed me that the soul is made up of three parts as well; our mind, will, and emotions.  Our mind produces thoughts, our will produces choices, and our emotions produce feelings.  Our mind has been deceived by this sin-ridden world, our will has become rebellious, and our emotions become controlling.  At salvation, our spirit becomes alive and the Holy Spirit indwells us.  We become new.  Our thoughts, choices, and feelings want to change.  The Holy Spirit desires to work through our soul to bring fruit to the body.  The spirit and fruit of the body is God's part.  Our part is to renew our minds and surrender our will and emotions.  We have to make those changes and allow God to rewire our thinking to please Him and glorify Him.  WOW!  What an incredible concept.  It is amazing how everything works together for a purpose.  I am thankful for the love He has shown us just so we can know Him.  I am so excited learn more, and ready for God to reveal what I need to change next.  It won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

 For the Glory of God,

"Be ye transformed..."

Have you ever had a light bulb moment where something finally clicked and made sense for the very first time?
I have.  This particular moment occurred during a message at church over Ephesians 2:1-3.  This passage speaks of how a Christian is made alive in the spirit when he accepts Christ as his Savior.  My wheels get to turning as man is described as body, soul, and spirit.  Pictures start flooding my mind and I start writing down what I see.  The end result looks similar to the diagram above for a non-Christian.  A non-Christian's body and soul are alive while the spirit is not, yet the spirit still has needs that need to be met.  Those needs are filled by the body or the soul.  When a non-Christian becomes a Christian, the spirit is "quickened" or made alive, and can now its needed can be properly fulfilled (see diagram below).  The problem is that because the spirit's needs were improperly fulfilled, the improper patterns and beliefs are set in place.  It will take a lot of trust, and effort to reprogram or "renew" the mind to reset the patterns originally created.  Salvation is an immediate and free gift, but renewal of the mind is a constant process.  God gave us His Son as payment for our sins, but the consequences of our sin are ours to bear.  We must seek to know God each day, and ask God to reveal the "stinkin' thinkin'" that we learned before Christ in order to be transformed.  Transformation speaks of change.  Change is never easy, but it is inevitable.  God also promises to be with us through every up and down that we face.   Let's hold on tight and trust the process of God's transforming grace (Romans 12:1-2).

      For the Glory of God,

GOing into Glory

GO ~ There is so much packed into that tiny little word.  For me it was a more than a command to go and do what God had for me to do for my harvests of kiddos.  It was a broader command to go and share the love of Christ to everyone.  It was a bidding to seek out the opportunities to be a witness to others.

That tiny little word also had a flip side to it with a meaning of "letting go."  This by far was the hardest impact of this word for me.  I can honestly say that I haven't allowed it fully to sink in and do it's work in me.  I have held on to particular things for so long that letting go feels like losing something that is a part of me.  I'm not talking about a coat or a jacket; it's more like losing an organ or body part.  I know in my head that "letting go" would be best for me, but getting that from my head to my heart are two very different things.

As for what I expected my word, Go, to do in my life was to give me a sense of awareness and boldness to share my faith to those around me.  I did that for a while, but relaxed a bit later in the year.  I also expected a sense of spontaneity, so to speak, to go and do rather than plan and plan to do something with no follow through.  This also happened to a certain degree, but there are several times when I still get hung up on the details.

I have now been in a waiting period for the past few months learning to trust God with my everything especially my health and harvests of kiddos.  This is where a lot of the "letting go" has been asked of me.  I am slowly learning to trust and surrender.  I know God's got me, but for some reason it has been difficult for me to let go of control even when my head knows God's plan is better for me.  God is always faithful and gives me exactly what I need.

As I close out 2013 in the next few days with my one word GO, I look with anticipation to 2014 with my one word Glory.  I seek to do everything in 2014 for the "Glory of God."  Whenever I ask "why", I will answer for the glory of God.  I look forward to educating myself on the glory of God and what my actions should reflect to bring Him the honor He so deserves.

For My One Word resources check out myoneword.org for more information.  It will change your life.

Thanks & Happy New Year,