SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST -- HE IS the Christian LIFE

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SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST -- HE IS the Christian LIFE

Christianity is a PERSON, not a procedure; the LORD, not a list! Not church attendance, not Christ-like qualities, not good works, not the Christian "to-do list" (which may vary depending on the group and "camp" you are in)...

Not evangelism, not mission trips, not a quality "quiet time," not Scripture memorization or Bible study...

Not spiritual disciplines, not prayer, not fasting, not obedience, not miracle-working faith...

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SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: Morning Thoughts for Battles You Face Today

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SIMPLICITY IN CHRIST: Morning Thoughts for Battles You Face Today

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV

Good morning, brothers and sisters in Christ.

May you rejoice in this gift of another day to experience the sufficiency of Christ who lives in you today … right now.

And let’s face it … there will be battles today in this fallen world. Christ has won the war. But while we are here on earth, we will face opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil (who uses the world and the flesh to lie to us and lure our dependence away from our loving Father God).

So here are a few thoughts and scriptures that may help as we face our today:

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Revisiting My Needed, Favorite Words

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Revisiting My Needed, Favorite Words

I have favorite words…do you?
Maybe because my “love language” is words of affirmation, I treasure words … especially words I hear from God. Sometimes His words are those that “jump off the page of Scripture.” Sometimes they are words that enter my consciousness, gently or suddenly or in response to a question I barely had time to ask.

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Called to Be Spiritual Fathers/Mothers

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Called to Be Spiritual Fathers/Mothers

If we are followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, siblings in the family of God, we are called to mature into “spiritual fatherhood/motherhood” in the family.

Is that a surprising thought? Let's think together about this idea of "spiritual parenting."

In his first letter, the fatherly, aged apostle John penned a tenderhearted passage on the growth stages in a believer's life.

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I Have a Father

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I Have a Father

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. …

As we come up to Fathers’ Day, I’m remembering this song. Its a heart-warming reminder of my True Father, and it grabs my grieving soul with its moving music and lyric.

You see, the beautiful person deep inside my earthly father had been often obscured by the abuse of alcohol that trapped his soul and body. (Remembering My Dad)

Oh how sad and painfully tragic! Oh how I miss the real Daddy whom I truly loved yet often “hated” at the same time.

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YOU are "Ordained"...for the purpose and pleasure of God!

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YOU are "Ordained"...for the purpose and pleasure of God!

Today I witnessed the Ordination to the Gospel ministry of a young man who grew up in our church. It was a very moving experience. And it reminded me of a similar ordination I witnessed back in July of 2013 and the blogpost that I wrote in response.

The reason I would like to share that post again is a powerful truth that the Holy Spirit revealed — we children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ are ALL “ordained by God to minister (serve) for HIS purpose and pleasure while we are on this earth (Acts 13:36).

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A Mothers' Day Pause -- The Emptying's

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A Mothers' Day Pause -- The Emptying's

There are lots of emptying in life … Motherhood, in particular, is filled with emptyings -- from the emptying of the womb in childbirth to the emptying of self in child-raising. The stripping is hard, every step along the way. And then there is an emptying that affects all mothers sooner or later -- the emptying of the nest.

I know. This is what we have been preparing our children for, right? The launch, the flight out of the safety, security, and nurturing of their childhood home, out into the excitement of what God has for them up ahead.
But who prepares moms for this?

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You are NOT an Obstacle to God

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You are NOT an Obstacle to God

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

Please hear this.

You are not an obstacle to God.

You are His beloved child, His instrument to express His Life on this earth. You are His work of art, His '“poem” He is speaking into His world through you.

Others may think of you as an obstacle, but God is bigger than that. He uses you in your circumstances and relationships to express who He is. Yes, even in your mistakes and failures and fleshly ways. He can turn them around for your good and His amazing purposes today.

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Stone #12: God in My Ordinary

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Stone #12: God in My Ordinary

I’ve come to learn over these years of walking with God that things aren’t always what they seem. The extraordinary is hidden in the ordinary. And let’s face it. You and I live quite ordinary lives. We compartmentalize our lives into secular and sacred. Then we go through each day wondering what this present life is all about. We don’t see the glory all around.

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Remembering Stones: Reflections on a Life Being Lived

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Remembering Stones: Reflections on a Life Being Lived

Live while you are alive.  (Patch Adams)

Each of us has a life … the life we were given.  We didn’t choose our life.  But I guess the issue is,  “Are we living while we are alive?” Or, are we waiting till “things settle down,” or, “we lose ____# pounds,” or, “the kids grow up,” or ????,  or ????, or ????.

“Things settling down” was always my trap in my early years of adulthood. But things don’t ever settle down, do they? Not for long anyway. They just change. And then the cycle begins again, and so then we never really embrace the life that is ours. So this is what I eventually realized: I need to …

…live the life I have, not the one I wish I had.

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Easter Bonnets and Bunnies: Living in Newness of Life

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Easter Bonnets and Bunnies: Living in Newness of Life

I have two younger sisters, Linda and Nancy. At Easter every year, our mom would dress us up in our ruffly Easter dresses, shoes, purses, and of course, bonnets. Since I am the oldest of the three, my Easter clothes were usually brand new. My younger two sisters, on the other hand, had hand-me-downs, but they were “new to them.” This was especially true when it came to our Easter bonnets.

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A Word of Reunion

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A Word of Reunion

Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.

So goes a traditional nighttime prayer taught by American moms to their children for generations. It may seem odd to us today that there would be the mention of death in a child's prayer.  But scientists say that sleep is the closest we come to death while still alive.  The Greeks even had a proverb,

Sleep and death are brothers.

However, in the first century, Jewish moms taught their children a different bedtime prayer...quoting Psalm 31:

Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.

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A Word of Completion

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A Word of Completion

Tetelestai!* It is finished! The death of Christ on the Cross is the HINGE of human history...and nowbefore He breathes His last breath... a cry of victory,It is finished!

What's finished? It must be something BIG,...look at what happened when Jesus died:

At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead.

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St Patrick's Prayer for Today

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St Patrick's Prayer for Today

I’m not Irish except in the sense that everyone is Irish on St Patrick’s Day.

So this week, I’m returning to a beloved “hymn”. Today more than ever we need the beautiful truths expressed in what is traditionally known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate.

St Patrick's Breastplate is a Celtic hymn, usually attributed to St Patrick, that is sung around his feast day (March 17th).  There are many variations to this hymn.* But I have chosen a simple version to share with you.

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