WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...is it possible to be faithful?

As Christians, love is the basis of our entire identity. Our spiritual rebirth comes because "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." (John 3:16) And because of God's love, we are propelled to go into the world and love others.

Our love for others is what is suppose to be how people distinguish us as Disciples of Christ! (John 13:35), it is the root and ground of our very being (Ephesians 3:17). It is what we should all be striving towards to get better and better at.

So what happens when the love that we have nourished and shared is rejected? How do we handle it when someone we have loved, chooses to not love us back? This happens in many relationships, not just marriage. Friends turn their back. Spouses leave. Parents split up. Co-workers betray your trust.

Being faithful...how difficult is it to just do what you say? In last week's YOUR OPINION MATTERS, I polled the readers the following question, "Do you find it difficult to remain faithful to things?" The top 3 answers were:

1. 60% of those polled, said that they find it difficult to be faithful to read their Bible.
2. 20% voted and said that it is difficult to be faithful in alot of things.
3. 10% said that keeping commitments was really difficult to be faithful to.

The results of this week's poll makes me think that possibly when it comes to being faithful, we must learn to be faithful in the small things before we can be faithful in the bigger things! Learning to be faithful in our relationships may first start with learning to be faithful with our time, with our money and our talents. The prophet Hosea was a remarkable example of the depths of faithfulness that God's children should take:

Against all logic, God instructed Hosea to marry a woman who was a prostitute. Even though his marriage to Gomer produced 3 children, it wasn't long before her past caused her to be unfaithful. Hosea was brokenhearted and no doubt feeling abandoned and shamed. Hosea loved his wife, but she was disloyal and adulterous. She rejected him for another cheap version of love.

Time had passed by, and God spoke to Hosea again. Yet again, God asked Hosea to do something against all logic...find Gomer and reaffirm his love to her. Gomer had reached an all-time low and had been brought before the slave block, to be sold. Hosea paid the price for her redemption and brought her back home and embraced her with love and forgiveness.

What a beautiful story of faithful love, even thru rejection. This depicts the very love story that God has for us! Even though we reject Him, and we are unfaithful to Him with our Bible Reading and Praying ... He still waits with open arms to welcome us home. There is no better love than the love of our Heavenly Father.

It IS possible to be faithful not only in the small things, but the BIG things too...with the help of God!

A PIECE OF MY HEART....To Save A Life

I have been reading a book entitled, "To Save A Life", written by Jim and Rachel Britts. The story unfolds of two teenage boys who were childhood friends, but different paths find them going down different roads. One finds a road that leads to popularity, sports and the center of attention. While the other finds himself lost on a road that seemingly has him lost in the crowd, where nobody notices him or even cares about him - including his childhood friend.

Thru different choices made, the popular teen finds himself grieving and asking "life" questions after his childhood friend commits suicide right in front of him. As the quest goes on to find out why nobody seemed to care, the friend left behind finds God and begins to impact other social castaways the best that he can.

It took a "death" to find "life" for this teenage boy. A quest that many of us never embark on or find. Reading this novel has really stirred my heart and I began to dig deep into my own life and heart and I have asked myself..."What am I willing to do to save a life?"

Am I willing to lose social class to save someone?
Am I willing to lose friends to save someone?
Am I willing to put my faith on the line to save someone?

1 JOHN 3:16 "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Of course the ultimate death was given on Calvary so we all can have life, and we cannot really save anyone, only the Grace of God can do that. But what am I willing to do to toss a life line to someone who is drowning and about to give up on life? Am I willing to do what it takes to shake my world for Christ?

and this has been a piece of my heart today;

Treating a callous

Have you ever worked so hard that you got a callous on your hand? Perhaps while working in the yard or around the house? When I was in Ecuador, I spent days doing nothing but mudding walls. I gripped the wooden handle of that trowel for hours at a time. The first day wasn't so bad, but by the 2nd and 3rd day ... I was feeling the work I was doing in the middle of my palm.

A callous was forming. My perfectly soft and gentle palm was now rough and the skin began to tear. Have you ever noticed that when you get a callous, that after some time of rubbing, the skin becomes hard?

The same thing can happen to our hearts. Through a sermon, or a Bible reading or thru a friend who speaks encouragement into us ... I'm not sure how, but I do know that God uses people and things to prick our hearts. Our hearts get pricked and pricked and pricked again, but sometimes our heart can be pricked so many times that we don't even feel or recognize the pricking of the Holy Spirit. Like our calloused hand, our hearts become hard.

MATTHEW 13:15 "The hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes - so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them."

When my hand became calloused in Ecuador, I wrapped it up to protect it from coming even more rough. The extra care and the padding seemed to protect the skin and instead of getting worse, it got better. Our hearts are just as tender as our hands, and it needs protection.

It is difficult to hear and see God's Truth and Light when your heart becomes hard and calloused. We have only been given one heart ... keep it protected!

The Proof is in the Pudding

THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING!

This old proverb always puzzled me. I mean really? ... how can pudding prove anything? The meaning of this saying actually means that the only way that you will know if a food is prepared correctly is by tasting it. So in other words, the only way we can know if pudding is the real thing is by testing it!

The same is true of knowing if a Christian is made up of the right ingredients.

LUKE 6:43 "For a good tree does not bear bad fruit. Nor does a bad tree bear good fruit."

The proof of Christianity can be found in the fruits. It says it so well in this above passage, a strong and healthy Christian will only produce strong and healthy fruits. The proof can always be found in the fruit.

Seeing is believing.

THANKFUL THURSDAY...a selfless heart and a purse

This week for THANKFUL THURSDAY, my 14 year old daughter is my guest writer. We recently returned from a 2 week missions trip to Ecuador and I asked her to share with us something God spoke to her while in Ecuador. Here is what she had to say:

Being in Ecuador for two weeks can really change a person. I went to Ecuador with a selfish mentality and walked into a wake-up call from God. Everything that I saw while being there made me realize how wonderful I have it here in the United States!

As we would walk the streets or go to different towns, my heart began to break for the families who lived in the one room, dirt huts for a home. They go home everyday not knowing if their home is still there or if they're going to have dinner for the family. When I go home, you know what I see? I see a messy house with dinner on the table. I see a carpet and a wood floor. Things like this may seem little but they really are big things. God has an amazing way in tendering your heart.

One day, everybody was on the bus going to a school. My mom and I were admiring this poor ladies purse. I pointed to it and smiled. The lady then emptied her purse and.. gave us her purse! She probably was going home to a dirt home with no dinner and no money. However, she decided to show a servent's heart and gave me her purse! Just the thought of that makes my heart break because I took it.

(This is the beautiful Ecuador lady who gave her purse away)

I have too many purses to count and she has nothing. I have a selfish attitude and she had a selfless attitude. God is so wonderful and magical.. He used a lady giving me her purse to show me what I need to work on spiritually. I want to break my heart for what breaks His. My heart and life needs to become more selfless like Jesus and less selfish like the world.

Thank you. Anna

Aren't you thankful that Jesus showed us how to have a servants heart? He is our ultimate example, may we each strive to have more of a selfless attitude like Anna has reminded us of today. Thank you Anna! And thank You Jesus for lessons learned from a purse! :)

Join your grateful heart with ours over at GRACE ALONE with IRIS this week! HAPPY TT!!

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD...satisfaction!

WHAT GIVES YOU SATISFACTION? Doing a good job? Earning a good living? Doing good for the less fortunate? Knowing that your spouse or a loved one cares about you?

In the recent YOUR OPINION MATTERS POLL, I polled the readers the following question: "What brings you satisfaction?" The top 3 answers were...

1. 67% responded and said that they get satisfaction from helping others.

2. 44% voted and said that their satisfaction comes from doing a good job.
3. 14% replied and said that a tall glass of iced tea brings satisfaction.

Many times we seek our satisfaction in other people and other things. And I would have to agree with the poll this week and say that I too find satisfaction in all 3 of the top answers. But many times I have also found disappointment from the very thing that also satisfies me from time to time.

In my walk with God, I have found that it is in Him that my true satisfaction comes from. Serving Him is not a part time acquisition. Setting my mind and heart on Him every single day is what satisfies my soul. He alone can satisfy. In others, there seems to be conditions of our limit of being satisfied. But God satisfies even when all else fails us.

Everyday I place expectations on people around me. Sometimes they meet them and most of the time they do not. In all honesty, we as humans, can never really totally satisfy all the demands put on us. The demands go unmet for various reasons, but mainly because some of our demands are unreasonable and partly because we are human.

The only one who can completely satisfy is God. Whoever approaches Him with total dependence each day will find out just how dependable He is.

No-one else can give us such satisfaction.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6,7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

How difficult is it for us to trust God to supply all of our needs? The story of the Samaritan woman displays how we try to meet our needs with other things. (John 4:10) The woman who had tried getting her needs met through a string of failed relationships, found herself at the well with a empty water bucket and an empty life. She arrived at the well broken and desperately in need. But the water she found at the well was much more than what she had expected. In Christ she found what He called the "Living Water" to quench a thirst that she had like no other.

This is the kind of satisfaction I desire. The kind that God offers that never quits giving or refreshing. It offers complete satisfaction!

A PIECE OF MY HEART...hanging on when things get tough

One of the hardest things to do is hanging on when things get tough. Sometimes I find it easier to just throw in the towel and give up then to press in and keep going. Recently, I was given a test that really pushed my endurance to the limit.

As many of you know, I just returned from a 2 week missions trip to the country of Ecuador. On the second night of our trip, I took a tumble and fell down (hard) on a cement step by the pool. I knew instantly that something was not right in my body. I could barely walk. Each day I had hoped the pain would ease, but it didn't. It hurt to walk. It hurt to sit. It hurt to bend. It hurt to stand. It just plain hurt.

There were a few days that I just did not think I could keep on going because of the intense pain. But I was determined to finish the job that I had started. Even though my body was weary, God was the One sustaining me! He helped me to keep on going.

GALATIANS 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

Since returning home to the states, I have found out that the intense pain was the result of a broken coccyx. As I think about the bumpy bus rides, all of the mudding and scraping I did and the long, bumpy airplane ride home - there is no doubt in my mind that it would have been easy for me to give up and quit but because I leaned upon Gods strength, I was able to endure what seems impossible with the human eye.

What God did for me during my tough time, He will do for you. Next time you feel weary, tired and like you can't hold on anymore ... remember God will hold your hands up and secure your steps. Don't give up. Keep on keeping on.

"We are all on our way somewhere. We'll get there if we just keep going."  - BARBARA JOHNSON

and that is a piece of my heart today;