How Do I Not Hold on to the Things of This World?

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Matthew 6:24 NKJ

LEARN

Growing up I loved playing the game Monopoly. The excitement of getting all that money at once and setting my own bank up made me feel rich. The game promised fame and fortune if the dice rolled right. There was also the chance that I could end up in jail while others passed by waving, losing the possibility of purchasing property like the Boardwalk, one of my favorites. I always wanted to be the banker who was in charge of all that money. It made me feel so important but mostly secure, and in full confession, as the game went on if I saw I was getting low in money I would just quickly & quietly take money from the bank! Running low on money was such a fearful thought for me and actually continued throughout my years growing up. It is sad how money can have a hold on us like that. Jesus shares a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 where three slaves were entrusted with their owners property while he went away. He gave the first slave 5 talents, the second 2 talents and the third one talent. The slaves with 5 and 2 talents went and invested them and doubled their talents, but the slave with only one talent went and buried it out of fear of losing it. That slave would have been me!

Another story I love in the Bible that talks about money is found in Matthew 17:24-27.  “When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?” Peter said to Him, “From strangers.” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.” This story has many lessons but for me it reminds me of when I managed my Dad’s Land & Development Company for 10 years from the age of 20 to 30. I was fresh off the turnip truck when it came to running a business and handling his accounts. Deals were being made, property was being bought just like in monopoly. The end of each month would come around and I would have many bills to pay. More than not, the week before the end of the month I could see we didn’t have enough funds to cover all the bills. My Dad each month would tell me with such a calmness not to worry because the good Lord would cover it, and to my amazement He always did! I can picture Jesus in the same calmness telling Peter in the story above to just walk down to the water’s edge, throw a line in the water, pull the first fish out, open his mouth and get the coin out that was in there. Wow, now that really took some faith! Working for my Dad, in the beginning I would still worry about money but as the years passed I learned to have the faith my dad had and together we would take that coin out of the fishes mouth that the good Lord would send. After working for my Dad I married my husband Michael and he went a little further with my lesson on money and taught me when finances get tight the Lord knows who we are and what we need. I love how that truth sets me free!

KNOW

In the story with Jesus and Peter, Jesus could have easily just *POOF* had the money appear for Peter, but he didn't. So why didn’t Jesus just give Peter the money? Jesus anticipated Peter coming in and saw he was worried about where they were going to get the money. He was teaching Peter to trust Him through showing him that though he may not always see where it is possible for things to come together, if he has faith they always will. In Peter’s case the impossible was finding a coin in a fishes mouth. The same goes for us, when we doubt we are making a case for our limitations, but with God all things are possible. In Isaiah 33:6 we read “wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the Lord is His treasure.” Do you hold tight to the things of this world so much where you are missing out on the blessings of trusting Jesus? Mammon is Aramaic and means the treasure a person trusts in like riches, money, possessions, or property that is opposed to God. I don’t know about you but this makes me want to examine what and who I am serving and putting my trust in!

DO

1. Count your blessing not your mammon.

2. Take time to share the Lord, your treasure, with those around you.

Is Our Health a Matter of the Mind?

Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

-2 Corinthians 10:5  NKJ

LEARN

Mental Health is such a vast subject and is hard to write in a short blog all the areas it covers. I had to begin by just looking up facts and studies that have been done on the brain and found our brain to be so fascinating! Google search shares this about our brains...

“Your brain has all the power connections, wiring, storage, memory and processing power you need to function as a human being. If your brain is the hardware, then your mind is the software. It's the operating system that gathers, stores and manages information, using the massive processing resources of your brain. The unconscious constantly communicates with the conscious mind via our subconscious, and is what provides us with the meaning to all our interactions with the world, as filtered through your beliefs and habits. It communicates through feelings, emotions, imagination, sensations, and dreams. Traditionally, scientists have tried to define the mind as the product of brain activity: The brain is the physical substance, and the mind is the conscious product of those firing neurons, according to the classic argument. But growing evidence shows that the mind goes far beyond the physical workings of your brain.”

Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist, also has research about mental health showing that “75% to 95% of the illnesses that plague us today are a direct result of our thought life. What we think about affects us physically and emotionally. It's an epidemic of toxic emotions. The average person has over 30,000 thoughts a day. Through an uncontrolled thought life, we create the conditions for illness; we make ourselves sick! Research shows that fear, all on its own, triggers more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses and activates more than 30 different hormones. There are INTELLECTUAL and MEDICAL reasons to FORGIVE! Toxic waste generated by toxic thoughts causes the following illnesses: diabetes, cancer, asthma, skin problems and allergies to name just a few.”

The Bible teaches in Proverbs 23:7 ...“As someone thinks within himself, so he is.” I don’t know about you but I think I need to do some housekeeping up stairs! So, how do we cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ?

KNOW

God wants us to be transformed to be like his Son Jesus.  Jesus’s mind was totally focused on the will of His Father.  It all begins with our thoughts. What we allow into our minds determines the reality we live in. We are created in the image of God, full of love and grace. Through Jesus we have the power to change our focus from ourselves onto the Father’s will. Our Father in Heaven tells us to “be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. Prayer and meditation on God’s word is key so He can transform our mind. This requires stillness and practice. We all know what we practice we get good at!

Do you daily take time to be still before God so you may know Him more or is your day and mind filled with worldly busyness? “When you think, you build thoughts, and these become physical substances in your brain.”  Dr Leaf

What do you allow your mind to be consumed with? Paul shares “Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. Philippians 4:8

DO

Take an inventory of your daily thoughts using a journal.  Next to each thought listed - mark if this focuses on your will or God’s will by using YW for your will and GW for God’s will.

As you begin to be still and practice Phillipians 4:8 above, you will see more GW’s than YW’s and experience God transform your mind into a much more joy-filled spiritual life, walking in unison with our beautiful Lord!

How Can You Practice Contentment?

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

LEARN

Seasons of life pass by like the wind. Let's look at what King Solomon also shares in Ecclesiastes 1:13-14. “And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.”

I find myself clinging to God more as life passes by with a big smile on my face. What a seat we have in the arena of life as a Christian. We go through many seasons of our lives from birth to death leaving a trail of memories good and not so good. For myself at 59 with the golden years to come each season seems to build upon the last where I notice myself waining and the Lord waxing, less of me, more of Him, trying not to lean on my own understanding, heading for that smooth stretch of highway as my husband Michael likes to say. Which season has been the hardest so far? It has always seemed to be the one I just finished!

KNOW

Jesus is always with us and our relationship with Him is constant! Developing our relationship with Jesus, not in a religious way but having a constant personal relationship, one on one communion with Him is key in all seasons of life. Do you have this relationship with Jesus in all seasons? Do you believe He is always there with you? Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV) teaches us: let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

DO

Practice being content and aware of your communion with the Great I AM !

Is it Sinful to be Fit?

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

1 Timothy 4:8

LEARN

To be or not to be exercising is a question that comes up in my mind everyday. There is a long legacy of athletes in my family. My mother’s father was a football coach growing up and my grandmother taught swim lessons while also enjoying watching and playing many sports herself. Both my Mom and Dad grew up as athletes playing sports throughout their lives. My Dads love for sports continued into college where he played football for Tulsa University, and my mother also attended Tulsa and was a cheerleader. Now at age 85 they both are still very active! Being raised in a family of four girls my parents were good at keeping us busy growing up. Funny story - my Dad at bed time would have us do push ups and sit ups before jumping into bed. Looking back on my childhood I remember early morning swim team practices where many times I just wanted to sleep in, and also going skiing in snow blizzards while wondering why are we skiing in this? But through it all, it instilled in me an exercise discipline that I still have today, and gratefulness for the opportunities we were given to experience many types of sport activities.

I find this topic of exercise interesting to ponder on because we can see all around us how some people focus too much attention on their physical bodies and neglect their spiritual growth and godliness, while others focus too much on spirituality and neglect the physical temple that God has given them. I believe we can all agree that both these practices are not pleasing to God and out of balance. You know the saying... what would Jesus do? I began to think about that and wondered how Jesus exercised. Well...I think it was walking!

KNOW

The bible does clearly show us that we are both physical and spiritual beings and we are to take good care of our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) but also warns against vanity (1 Samuel 16:7; Proverbs 31:30; 1 Peter 3:3-4). We see above in 1 Timothy 4:8  that God does tell us that exercise is valuable, while also saying that godliness has value for all things! We all know what exercise is but what is godliness?  Bible.org shares “Godliness is a personal attitude toward God that results in actions that are pleasing to him. This personal attitude toward God is what we call devotion to God. The practice of godliness is an exercise or discipline that focuses upon God. God centered actions as well as attitude, living no longer to our own will and lust. In 2 Peter 1:5-8 we see a cascade of helpful supplements to practice along with our faith - virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection & love. For me self-control and steadfastness really jumps out.” When it comes to your physical and spiritual life what actions can you practice better that would be pleasing to God and give him glory?”

DO                                                                                                                         

If you find your balance tethering more on the spiritual side try what I call the Walkie Talkie exercise. Enjoy a walk and talk with a friend or with my best friend Jesus! If you find your balance tethering more on the exercise side try taking a time out with pulling up a chair and pouring yourself a tall glass of living water by  reading the bible! In either case practice listening to the still quiet Holy Spirit inside you that wants to guide you down a more joy-filled healthy path.

Whose Kids Are We?

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

1 John 3:1-3 (NKJV)

LEARN

From the day we are born we start the journey of finding our identity. Even at a young age, adults like to ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. Most kids look to who they admired most to imitate. For me as a young girl it started with wanting to be like my mother. Then as I grew I started wanting to be like other people who were a part of my life, like my older sisters, teachers, and coaches. Looking back it’s funny and sad at the same time how even growing up going to church I never thought to say I wanted to be like Jesus. The world made me feel as if I needed to be someone other than who God made me to be. Someone who others would admire because of my talents, accomplishments or job title. I was told if I went to college or would start my own business or get married and have a family I would finally be somebody. Perhaps this sounds familiar?

As time went on I did do all that - college, started several businesses, got married, had a family, but my soul still yearned for more. I wasn’t content.

My Days became months, months became years and before I knew it my children had grown up and moved out on their own, along with my husband and I selling our surfboard business. My identity of being a full-time mom and business partner was no longer needed and I began looking in the mirror asking myself, who am I now? I found myself desperately clinging to my raft as my identity sunk beneath the waves. Maybe you haven't gotten this far in life but you too find yourself looking in the mirror asking who am I ?

I began to look for my identity in the word and found it in 1 John 3:1.

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of  God” There it was…. We are His kids!

So why do we still have a hard time believing our identity is only found in Christ? The remainder of this verse helps us understand why we have a hard time finding our identity in Him...“Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”

From childhood we are dropped into this world looking for our identity in what the world has to offer us, but the worlds identity is not in Christ, because the world does not know Him. No wonder we find ourselves not feeling complete. 1 John 3:2 shows us “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be”. The truth is, with love, Jesus has bestowed on us our true identity as His kids and we don’t have to search for what we are to be here on earth. The Word tells us to believe our identity is in being a child of God. Now that I believe this I have stopped searching in this world and have contentment. I now know who I am in Jesus Christ and He is who makes me whole!

KNOW

1. Christ in us is who we are  “but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2
Has Jesus revealed himself to you? Do you believe He alone can give you contentment?

2. “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” 1 John 3:3.  Our souls are purified through our faith by union with Christ and our obedience to His word. Is your hope in Him first and are you being obedient to His word?

DO

1. Take time asking the Lord to show you who you are in Him through His word. Meditate on those truths.

2. Then “(purify) your souls by your obedience to the truth”.  1 Peter 1:22

Continue to believe in what He has revealed to you and take time daily

to trust that you are and will only ever be fulfilled in Christ!