The aging of your pits!

One thing I will promise you about my blog is that you will never know what to expect...LOL! I was just putting on some deodorant and I was thinking about the new Dove Pro-Age deodorant. This may just be plain ignorance on my part but I was not aware that we needed to be concerned about the aging of our arm pits. Seriously? Do I just need to get clued in or is this another sales tool? I started to do a double take in the mirror and I think maybe my arm pits are looking old...ha ha! We need to be worried about growing old in a pit of sin but not our arm pits aging...surely?!?!? If you have it...does it work? I am a fan of some dove for real.

Mentality

We are busting out into some praise this afternoon to our God. Seriously, we just needed to turn off the sprout tv and listen to our praise mix. We are listening to the "Found" cd by Travis Cotrell right now. I caught Morgan lifting her hands at the table while she was eating. We are demonstrative (me and her) she learns it from her mother. She is already a d-r-a-m-a queen. I catch her making all of these expressions and sounds around the house and I think to myself...my do I wonder where she gets that! LOL! Anyway, I could not get the camera in time for her moment of praise. I am not sure if she was in to the song or if she was praising God for the fall little debbie! Either way give Him the Praise! She was trying to sing along to You fill up my senses. I was about to crack up because she still can't talk. The Lord was just ordaining some praise from her today. I have sooooooooo much to do today but I wanted to share a couple of things.
Yesterday I woke up and things just did not get off to a good start. I found myself about to lose it over the house and just being physically and mentally exhausted. So I did what most people do...I complained over it. I began to just lose energy if you know what I mean. Then, I went to work and out of like 15 customers that I greeted not one (NOT ONE) of them said hello back. It wasn't because they did not hear me. It is just the level of rudeness. Especially when you get in a higher end retail store you begin to deal with clients that are a little more snooty (not all of them are that way)...especially on Sunday. Anyway, I was shocked at the rudeness yesterday. So, I get off of work and go to the store to get diapers. Walmart was PACKED out. Well, I was tired so I just found a line and parked for a while and rested as I waited. I listened and heard people grumble and complain...and complain...and complain...and you get the picture. I listened as people counted the registers that were opened and complained that out of all of those registers only fourteen were in use...the horror of it all. I mean look out Walmart "so and so" was in the store and they must have not gotten the memo when making out the schedule. Anyway, I led the study Daniel by Beth Moore twice at our church and one of the biggest awarenesses that it created in me was the whole "Babylonian mentality." The mentality of have it your way now. You should not have to wait...you are...well, of course, you! Life is all about you! I saw this in myself a lot as well. The me first attitude. I want to be done with that!
So I turn open to the wonderful book of Exodus and guess what the Lord would have me read about this morning: the Israelites grumbling and complaining against Moses. I wish I had time to talk about Exodus 15-17 but I am afraid I would lose everyone reading this. Anyway, the Lord delivers the Israelites with a MIGHTY hand and OUTSTRETCHED arm. Go read the song of Moe and Miriam in Exodus 15 for yourself as a recap. I love these verses so much:
11 "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD ?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
13 "In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
to your holy dwelling.
In Exodus 15 you get the recap of what the LORD did for His chosen people. He is so stinking powerful it is not even funny. Just read the verses. I am ashamed at the limitations that I put on God. I love the word picture the following verses give us concerning the Awesomeness of Almighty God (esp. in verse 9 where I can picture the sea piling up like a congealed bowl of jello!...then God blows His breath and destroys the Egyptians who trusted in their horses and chariots to save them...yet the Israelites walk across the sea on dry ground...this REALLY happened...it's not some fairy tail!):
8 By the blast of your nostrils
the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood firm like a wall;
the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 "The enemy boasted,
'I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
and my hand will destroy them.'

10 But you blew with your breath,
and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
in the mighty waters.

So, the Israelites have this MIGHTY deliverance and what do they do? They forget obviously and go back to their complaining skills. I say skills because complaining is something that we are mighty skilled at. In the same passage of scripture they start complainin'! The water is bitter. I am not saying that we don't have circumstances that are worth complaining over...life is plain hard. I was teaching a lesson a few years ago about worry and as I was researching the words in the passage of 1 peter 5:7 about casting our anxiety on Him because He cares for us...I learned that the greek word for cast meant to throw off...to get rid of. Picture a bug or something landing on your face and you picking that thing off and casting it away as far as you can (and screaming like a girl). That is what we are to do with our anxiety. Not having water for three days is a problem that the Israelites had but complaining was not the answer, and complaining was going to get them nowhere in a hurry...yet complaining was what they defaulted to. Plus the Lord had used their circumstances over and over to test them. He does the same for you and me and unfortunately we won't be free from that in this skin. When I saw over and over that the Israelites complained and they grumbled against each other and to Moses and Aaron and they even went as far as to say that they wished they were back in Egypt and had died there (I am paraphrasing Exo 16) because at least they weren't going to starve to death. I think we can be the same way. We may be delivered from much and our walk with Christ gets hard and we wish we were back in our own personal lands of slavery. Sin in its deceitfulness makes us think it was better when the Lord is trying to get us to a better place but we are missing it for all of our griping and complaining. When I looked up the word grumble in the Hebrew in the context of these several chapters and the word means what you think to grumble and complain, but get this it means to blame!!!! Did you hear that?!?! TO BLAME! So much of our complaining comes from a lack of trust and lack of prayer and refusal to cast our anxieties at the feet of Jesus. I am NOT saying I have mastered this. I have certainly gotten into patterns of complaining to others as if they could do something and it just became a cycle of frustration because yes they could pray for me but until I took the anxiety to Jesus there was nothing they could really do. Go back to the garden with me for a second. Adam was given the command not to eat of the fruit and he did...and what did he do when God asked him about it? He blamed Eve. He said the woman He gave him made him eat of the fruit. I have been in a situation with someone who just constantly complains to me and I feel stuck like I can't do anything right. Well, as I have been studying these passages the Lord has been getting in my business and I have been trying to see what I need to learn. First, I need to stop all forms of complaining by turning my grumbling into prayers. When I feel myself going there I need to pray about it and acknowledge what I don't have control over and cast things off to God. Back to my situation. This person that has been complaining is not a person that God is calling me to cut out of my life...but I can't control whether they ever own up to their own responsibilities or not or whether this person quits blaming me for everything. What I have done is gotten sucked into the trap of well this person is complaining so it justifies my complaining. The Lord has told me clearly today to stop it. Whether this person does or not...STOP IT! Also, as a woman I take on too much responsibility. I am working with the Lord on not taking responsibility where I am clearly not responsible. We need to look at the amount of stress on our lives and see if we are carrying responsibility that the Lord has not called us to carry and unload those burdens. The world will not fall apart if we quit managing a few things. It is taking some renewing of the mind when this person wants to cast blame on me and responsibility on me that is not mine. It is a freeing thing to say you know what God you are in control of this and this is what you have called me to...this is what you are not calling me to....and I am going to have to let go of some things even when others are trying to condemn and control me...and rest in You and listen for Your voice. Even when things are hard and you don't know how you are going to make it...you and I would be wise to learn from the Israelites mistakes. We need to praise God for the things He has done. The times where He came through and it had nothing to do with our faithfulness. The times where He provided for us. They forgot constantly. He rained manna from heaven...they complained. He made the bitter water sweet...they complained. Long story short...I looked at the woman at the checkout last night and I said, "Ma'am I am so sorry for all of the whining and complaining that you are having to hear tonight. For whatever reason we think that life is all about us and it is not! We all need to have to wait a little more and complain a little less. I am so guilty." I got some news last night about a woman who just lost her only son in a car accident...he was 25. Then another lady was telling me about a tumor in her brain, another with leukemia, and another with lung cancer. There are people I know with marriages in turmoil and on the verge of breaking up. I guess it is good for me to get out and not be so stuck in my own problems that I can't differentiate between a real problem and something that is petty. The enemy wants us to be petty people who are not affective and people who waste our lives. Let's prove him wrong.

Devotional by Dr. James MacDonald

www.walkintheword.com

God is Good Even When Life is Bad

Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, . . . youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah. And the chief of the eunuchs gave them names: Daniel he called Belteshazzar, Hananiah he called Shadrach, Mishael he called Meshach, and Azariah he called Abednego. But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food
Daniel 1:3-9

When things are going smoothly in your life, you might not find it hard to believe that God is good. But if life takes a bad turn and something devastating happens, you might ask, “How could a good God allow this?” If you know that kind of pain, then you can empathize with Daniel.

Across the pages of Scripture that detail Daniel’s life from teenager to old man, you can write “sovereignty at work.” God was directing his life whether he saw it at the time or not.
Do you know his story? One bright day in Jerusalem when Daniel was just a teenager, he was captured as a POW and was ripped away from everything warm and familiar. Daniel’s enemies were working a cruel strategy. They singled out the best young people—the All-American teenagers voted MVP and ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ and brought them to their capital city near modern-day Kuwait. Their plan was to brainwash these kids with their culture and make them leaders. Daniel was given a foreign name, Belteshazzar, forced to learn a new language, and was given a new diet.

Had Daniel decided what God was like by looking at his circumstances, he would have become a disillusioned, confused, angry, young man. Kidnapped from his homeland, forced into slavery, most likely castrated to become a eunuch in the palace, Daniel’s eyes were still on God. Don’t gloss over these facts like they’re from some made-for-TV movie—this story is true in every detail. Imagine the suffering connected with his circumstances, yet Daniel went through the fire . . . successfully. This certainly gives us hope that we can make it through our firestorm, too.

No doubt a situation comes to mind right now from either your past or the present. You may wonder how a God of love could have allowed some painful, wrong injustice. Yet I would bet on the fact that you’ve not come full circle yet. There will be a day when you will look back and see how God’s sovereign hand was at work. Truth is, He is in the center of the situation that troubles your heart right now. He’s right in the middle of it. Just because you can’t see Him, doesn’t mean He isn’t there. Look for Him, trust Him—He is at work.

This just got me thinkin'

I came home from work tonight and immediately smelled a not so pleasing, all permeating, greasy smell. I can not stand fried food in my home. Nope can't stand it. And for those of you that thought I couldn't tie fried food into my scriptures I am fixin' to do it. I bust open the door to the den...sniff sniff...what is that smell? I ask Rod. What smell? He replies. It may be the dirty diaper I took out...he says. Nope thats not it. Oh it must be the fried chicken from earlier. You can't be smelling that, I cleaned it up hours ago. I have the nose of a hunting dog people! LOL! Anyway, it got me thinking. That smell permeated the whole house. It is lingering as we speak. I am worrying as I type that it may "get into the clothes". Anyway, it made me think about what kind of reprensentation I am putting out there for Christ. How am I doing? I can't even begin to tell you how many times I blow it. I want to be the pleasing fragrance that spreads Christ spoken of in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15
14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. 15For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

I was cleaning and I felt as if the Lord spoke these words in my spirit regarding the matter of obedience: Jenny you can either proclaim my name by the way you live or you can profane it.

PROCLAIM or PROFANE

You can see yourself as washed and holy, set apart for my use...washed in the blood. Or you can use your vessel for your own purpose and profane your temple and forfeit the blessing that comes from obedience. YOU CHOOSE. (I am not talking about just se*ual sin before anyone starts thinking that....I am talking about anything that causes us to operate as less than the child of God that we are.)
So how are we doing? Are we proclaiming or profaning Him by our actions?

Profane...

Leviticus 22:32
32 Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who makes you holy

or Proclaim...

Psalm 64:9
9 All mankind will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done.
Psalm 22:31
31 They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn— for he has done it.

Can I have a ride?

To tell this or not to tell this...that is the question. Leaving the mall... 9:45 pm sketchy girl approaches my car sporting an "addicted to pot" (I guess like pot the drug) shirt and asks for a ride. To which I reply no...because homegirl was clearly high and clearly invading my space bubble. Step away from my car I wanted to tell her.
Homegirl: "Why not"
Me: "why don't you go in the mall and ask security for a ride?"
Homegirl: "If you don't give me a ride I will have to be here until 10pm"
Me: "Well, it looks like you have 15 more minutes"
Me: "Why don't you ask the mall to give you a ride?"
Homegirl: "No because if I ask the mall they will get security involved and I don't need all of that right now."
Me: "Well, if you don't need mall security getting involved, you sure don't want me giving you a ride."

R-A-N-D-O-M jenny-ness! Seriously. I know you may be thinking what would Jesus do...
I just was not led of the Spirit to give her a ride.

A Tip

Just a little tip. My dishes were not getting very clean (after rinse aid and everything). So, Jenny decided to use a little Dawn in the dishwasher. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I did not even dare tell Rod. There were bubbles EVERYWHERE coming out of the dishwasher. A little soap goes a long way. LOL!!!!

Our Calling

The book of Jeremiah has been so important to me in the last couple of years. It has called me back to the side of my Father I am not sure how many times. Anyway, after I finished studying this morning I felt really drawn to several points in Jeremiah 17. I believe based on the word of God that as New Testament believers you and I have a calling in Christ. We are called to know Him and make Him known and of course we are called to "go and make disciples" but I believe that we have a "promised land" that God wants us to operate in. Let me go into a little story real quick. Back when Beth Moore came to Birmingham she spoke on "Making a Pact for High Impact For This Generation." Well, she told us to go home and pray about where we had been in our past, where we were now with God, and where we saw ourselves going on with God (more like what is the desire of our hearts with the way that God has gifted us spiritually speaking). So I went home that Friday night and did my homework. That morning it was POURING and I mean pouring down rain, and I lost my tickets and everything to the event. I later found them but I think the enemy wanted to do anything to keep me from getting there. So that morning I prayed and asked the Lord to put something on my heart to pray regarding the calling that I felt He had placed on my life. Nothing mystical but I just wanted His confirmation and I feel that I was prompted by Him to pray that prayer. So I prayed that if I was called to a teaching ministry that she would specifically call me out of the crowd of 18,000 women and that I would know that it was Him calling me to that. I felt Him say in my spirit "ask anything in my Name child and I will do it!" So anyway, Beth was teaching on Ephesians and how much we matter to God. She was in the middle of talking about how we think God does not notice us and how He does notice us...we matter to Him...then she sees me and says "you are the one that lost the baby..." she calls me out of the crowd and I told everyone what I had prayed. It cracked me up because I knew already that God was going to answer my prayer so much so that I made sure that I looked cute just in case she called me out! LOL! Anyway, the point is...God wants us to walk in His way and live and operate effectually in the area of our calling. God is still maturing me and growing me for that purpose but He confirmed His plan for me that day. Now what I want to get to is the scripture in Jer 17. and several points that I thought of when I was reading this morning: 1. we do have a calling in Christ 2. We can forfeit that calling 3. What can we do to get back on track with God after we have blown it? 4. How can we stay operating effectively where God has called us?

Let's face it we live in a fallen world and if you are like me you are prone to leave the God that you love. I can not tell you how many times I have strayed from the God I love. The only way we are going to be made right with God is to return to Him. He is the only one that can truly cure us of our our backsliding. The things we thought would cure us I am sure we found out the hard way that they were temporary and they ended up having a strong hold on us that left us more desperate than before. So He beckons us to come to Him and return and He will cure us. God will use anything to get us to return to Him. He is loving but He is just. He does not deal with us as our sins deserve but our sins still have repercussions or we would never learn.

Jeremiah 3:22a
22 "Return, faithless people;
I will cure you of backsliding."

The word for backsliding here is a word meaning waywardness or apostasy. The Old Testament speaks over and over of the Israelites being delivered and the great things that God did for them and yet they wandered and bowed down to idols and left God to in essence worship the enemy through their idolatry.

God offers the same invitation to us to return to Him. We will be lovingly disciplined yet He wants us to return.

Jeremiah 4:1
1 "If you will return, O Israel,
return to me,"
declares the LORD.
"If you put your detestable idols out of my sight
and no longer go astray,

I believe we need to do the same thing that the Lord called them to do in Jeremiah 4:1. Put the detestable idols out of His sight. Rid ourselves of the things that have separated us from our God. We can't be too drastic or serious when it comes to this. I was reading last night in Luke 16 about the rich man and Lazarus. Verse 25 really spoke volumes to me:
25"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
I really believe that so much of our own idolatry is the fact that we look around and say "you know what God you are holding out on us. In my marriage God you are holding out on me...it is not giving me what I need. Lord, this waiting on You in my finances and denying myself, it is not working. This serving You and giving up my time is getting me nowhere." Would you agree? Think about it. In your own efforts to help yourself out by meeting your own temporary lusts where you focused on what was seen or what was unseen? I think that is what the rich man was about in Luke 16. He was going to live for himself, bow to this world, he was his own god, and that is the way it was going to be. In the end...he forfeited EVERYTHING. You and I will forfeit blessing, reward, and living in the full measure of our calling if we choose to bow down to the idols and gratify self. It starts out small and then we have a giant on our hands that we can no longer maintain. It is just the way sin is. We think we can just manage it and then we have a beast on our hands.
One thing I have had a hard time remembering after I have blown it is that I am no longer a slave to sin. I do not have to continue to live the way I did before I was redeemed. I was bought at a price and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

Idolatry and going at fulfilling our desires on our own=shame (every time)

Romans 6:20-22
20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

Now let me see if I can get on to Jeremiah 17 some time today!

You and I have a calling in Christ. The enemy will do everything he can to keep you and me from operating and fulfilling our calling!

Here are a few verses supporting a calling:

Ephesians 4:1
1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

2 Thessalonians 1:11
With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

Hebrews 3:1
[ Jesus Greater Than Moses ] Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.

The word calling in Ephesian 4:1 is "Klesis- meaning to call, invitation, a call, a bid, or summons. A vocation, employment...."
So you and I have a literal vocation as ambassadors of The Christ. I know from experience that you will not find true satisfaction and purpose until you are fulfilling your vocation. For whatever reason I am in a season of waiting. I am not serving other than facilitating a bible study but I am having to trust and wait on Him because I am one to pry open a door that He may not mean for me to take. I began to get proud and find my worth in Jenny the Sunday school teacher instead of my identity being hidden in Him. My worth began to be tied up in what I did instead of who I was in Christ so I know the Lord called me out to wait on Him and see that I could grow and learn and my worth was not tied up in a class.

I have not even gotten started on this...but I have got to go start getting ready for work. boo! I am going to resume when I get ready :). I can really ramble on!

Y'ALL!! My modem is broken so I have not been able to post...oh the horror of it all! Just wanted to let you know why I have been missing. Also, the headache went away...and I was so thankful! I know it does not seem like a big deal...but it just scared me from having meningitis in the past.

I want to recommend the book "Downpour" by James MacDonald. You will not be disappointed!!! Gotta run! More to come :)

lyrics

This is a song that i loved when I was in high school. So good. Anyway, it is by DC Talk. If you have never heard it it is so good. I don't know why I just thought of it...I have not heard this in years! I just started singing it and can't get it out of my head. ps I am about to go to "Wising Up" I am having A LOT of muscular pain and a severe headache. It scares me everytime I get one I think...what if this is spinal meningitis again. I just really feel bad so I could use some extra prayers!


What If I Stumble?[the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today
Is christians who acknowledge jesus with their lips
Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.]

What if I stumble?
What if I fall?
Is this one for the people?
Is this one for the lord?
Or do I simply serenade for things I must afford?
You can jumble them together, my conflict still remains
Holiness is calling, in the midst of courting fame
Cause I see the trust in their eyes
Though the sky is falling
They need your love in their lives
Compromise is calling
(chorus)
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?
Will the love continue when my walk becomes a crawl?
What if I stumble, and what if I fall?
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
You never turn in the heat of it all
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
Father please forgive me for I can not compose
The fear that lives within me
Or the rate at which it grows
If struggle has a purpose
On the narrow road you’ve carved
Why do I dread my trespasses will leave a deadly scar
Do they see the fear in my eyes?
Are they so revealing?
This time I cannot disguise
All the doubt I’m feeling
(repeat chorus)
What if I stumble?
Everyone’s got to crawl when you know that
You’re up against a wall, it’s about to fall
Everyone’s got to crawl when you know that (2x)
I hear you whispering my name [you say]
"my love for you will never change" [never change]
(repeat chorus 2x)
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
You never turn in the heat of it all
What if I stumble, what if I fall?
You are my comfort, and my god
Is this one for the people, is this one for the lord? What If I Stumble?

Isaiah 46

Gods of Babylon

1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low;
their idols are borne by beasts of burden. ^[a]
The images that are carried about are burdensome,
a burden for the weary.

2 They stoop and bow down together;
unable to rescue the burden,
they themselves go off into captivity.

3 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all you who remain of the house of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth.

4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

5 "To whom will you compare me or count me equal?
To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?

6 Some pour out gold from their bags
and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god,
and they bow down and worship it.

7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;
they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
From that spot it cannot move.
Though one cries out to it, it does not answer;
it cannot save him from his troubles.

8 "Remember this, fix it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels.

9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.

10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.

11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
what I have planned, that will I do.

12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,
you who are far from righteousness.

13 I am bringing my righteousness near,
it is not far away;
and my salvation will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,
my splendor to Israel.

Not so deep thoughts-by Jenny

Hosea 6:1;6
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

I have had one of those wasted days. I just didn't get much of anything accomplished. I can't stand those kind of days. The other night I got home from work, propped my feet up, and began to do what I do...sort my skittles. I am such a creature of habit. I go to the same stores, the same gas station, I travel the same paths, eat the same foods, so much so that it is ridiculous. Frequenting the same stores though is really in the name of building relationships and having opportunities to share with others. But as I sat down to sort skittles I thought to myself, "Jenny, what are you doing? You don't even want skittles or have a taste for them!" It has been a habit for me so I just defaulted into what I normally do. I think that is the same way for us with our sin. We just default back to the old man. Help us Lord. I know lately I have been seeking God over certain areas that I need victory in and when I default back into that old way I believe the lie that I will never get the victory and I sort of give up and settle for low living. That is exactly what the enemy wants me to believe...that I will keep failing and that I will never get the victory. Well, he is a stinking liar! There is NO truth in him and there never has been...he is the father of lies and I am quite sick of him. Ok I am gettin' mad!
Lasting change doesn't always happen over night, so let's just quit with the constant condemnation and defeat, and let's press on to know God. What if we also got into some really good habits..like making His word absolute priority, seeking him above all others...what if we prayed more, worried less, and I could go on. But what if we let His word dwell so richly in us that we defaulted to Spirit filled living. That is what I want.

Mail Order

Yesterday at work I saw a real live mail order bride from Russia. Seriously, it was so obvious. I asked the man where his wife was from and he said Russia. I knew that already before he said it. He kept making her try on clothes and seemed very controlling (at one point I thought he was about to get on in the dressing room with her...scary). You could just tell that the two of them would have never gotten together in the US. I am sorry. I feel really fortunate to live in the United States. I can't imagine the desperate lengths that some will go through to get to the land of the free, we really take it for granted. Anyway, I wanted to slip a little note in her shopping bag that she could run away (to my house) to get away from that kind of weird control...but I didn't. I just felt sorry for the girl...you would have had to have been there. I have worked at the mall for ten years and you would not believe the things I have seen and heard. I am going to write a Seinfeld type of show about some of my adventures one day!

The little princess who likes all things clothes.

Me and Morgan after a really long day for me: church, work, church, and then I had to meet up with my family. My mom bought Morgan a bunch of clothes from a consignment sale and I brought them all home. Morgan (which is just like her mother) loves all things clothes and shoes. If you know me though you will know that I get some major dealios. Anyway, she began to take her jammies off to try on her new things! LOL! What two year old usually cares? She does! She gets it honest. I just went and checked on her in her room (my child does not sleep...like her mother there too) and she just fell asleep. She is so precious and I can't thank God enough for her. I never knew I could be a mom and it has been more than I could have ever imagined in a good way. I have been through some really hard times in the last several years and Morgan is a sweet gift...and some good company. She is my little buddy. We truly have some much fun... and she keeps me honest. We nearly laughed till we cried tonight at some of her dance moves. Before that she about splashed me to death with her bath time excursion. She is so funny! I caught her doing stretches along with the goodnight show (sprout) LOL!!!! She also shares a bowl of lactose free breyers homeade vanilla almost nightly. It is not as fun eating it by yourself!

(her clothes are all over the floor...morgan style)

Here she is Mrs. America...I had to try on the crown for the little princess to wear it.



her trying on her new clothes

Practicing for Winter!

Come On!

Please if you went to deeper still this weekend...I want to hear about it.
Also, I was reading my bible study this morning and got the reminder to feed the Spirit and starve the flesh. I think we could all use a little more of that! :) Gotta go to work!

I wish I were kidding

So today Morgan and I went to pick up my paycheck and we walked around for a while for some exercise. I did the mall walking she strolled. Anyway, as we were getting in the car (which can be a lengthy process...putting the stroller up and wrestling Morgan into her seat) this guy came running near our car. I just knew this was not going to be good. He had just finished shop lifting and was going to hide by MY car. I DON'T THINK SO! Immediately everything in me rose to the occasion of mother hen. I was going to make sure this guy didn't get any ideas of trying to get in my car. Anyway, this other guy comes chasing after the shop lifter (and he is on the phone with the police) and since I figured something was up I asked the guy if he was looking for someone and he said yes...so I told him the guy was hiding next to my car. Homey don't play that. I was not scared for a minute...praise the Lord. Anyway, I helped them follow the guy through the parking deck until I saw him run back in the mall. I followed him with my car...not in person. Anyway, then a few seconds ago I walked outside to get Morgans cup and a cat darted out at me and began to hiss. SCARED ME TO DEATH! I still have not calmed down from reaching my target heart rate. Crazy isn't it!!

D. James Kennedy

Wed, 05 Sep 2007DR. D. JAMES KENNEDY DIES
Founder and Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church Succumbs to Complications from Cardiac Arrest

FT. LAUDERDALE, Sept. 5 – Dr. D. James Kennedy, founder and senior pastor for 48 years of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church (CRPC) in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., passed away peacefully in his sleep at approximately 2:15 a.m. at his home with his wife and daughter by his bedside, following complications from a cardiac event last December. He was 76. Dates and times for a public viewing and funeral and private interment will be released when available.
“There are all kinds of wonderful things I could say about my dad,” said daughter Jennifer Kennedy Cassidy. “But one that stands out is his fine example. He ‘walked the walk’ and ‘practiced what he preached.’ His work for Christ is lasting – it will go on and on and make a difference for eternity.”
Dr. Kennedy, who is survived by Anne, his wife of 51 years, and his daughter Jennifer (Kennedy) Cassidy, preached his last sermon from the pulpit of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church on Christmas Eve Sunday 2006. He suffered a cardiac arrest four days later on Dec. 28, and has since been unable to return to the pulpit. The church announced his retirement on Aug. 26, beginning a process to choose his successor, and had planned a tribute worship service honoring the extensive ministry of Dr. Kennedy on Sept. 23.
“I would like to thank all of you for your prayers, cards, kindnesses and encouragement over the past nine months,” Mrs. Cassidy said during the retirement announcement. “Our family knows that we have come through this difficult time because of God’s grace and your faithful prayers, and it has brought joy to us to see God’s faithfulness in all of this.”
While hindered by persistent health problems that included asthma, as well as chronic and often severe physical pain from compressed vertebrae due to an injury suffered as a young man, Dr. Kennedy was indefatigable in his ministry work. He said on several occasions how much he looked forward to being free from pain in heaven. He was one of the nation’s leading Christian broadcasters and a vigorous and articulate advocate for Christian involvement in public life.
Dr. Kennedy began his pastorate at CRPC in 1959 and is also the founder and president of Coral Ridge Ministries and the founder of Evangelism Explosion, which equips people in every nation and territory to share their faith in Christ. He was also the founder of two leading educational institutions located in Fort Lauderdale: Westminster Academy, a nationally respected Pre-K to 12th grade Christian school and Knox Theological Seminary, a graduate school preparing Christians for ministry as pastors, teachers, and missionaries.
Dr. Kennedy was born Nov. 3, 1930, but his Christian life did not begin until 1953. Sleeping late on a Sunday morning, his radio alarm went off and a preacher’s booming voice invaded his slumber. “Suppose you were to die today and stand before God and He were to ask you, ‘What right do you have to enter into My heaven?’—what would you say?”
Dr. Kennedy soon discovered that answer was to trust in Christ alone for eternal life, and shortly after he made that commitment was called into the Gospel ministry. Crediting this radio program for hearing the call to Christianity, he founded WAFG (90.3 FM) in 1974 as an outreach for Christ to the South Florida community.
He began his pastorate at CRPC on June 21, 1959, and from the outset had a vision for global impact. In 1960, he read the words of Jeremiah 33:3 to the handful of people that comprised his then-fledgling congregation, “Call unto Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” He then told his small flock, “You know what? I believe we can change the world!”
That surprised many in his audience, but today, despite being a local pastor of one church for nearly five decades, Dr. Kennedy has had a worldwide ministry influence. In 1996, Evangelism Explosion--through which nearly 5 million people have made commitments to Christ in 2006 alone—became the first Christian ministry to be established in every nation on earth. Long after his passing, an extensive inventory of Dr. Kennedy’s messages will continue through “Truths that Transform,” a daily broadcast carried on nearly 750 radio stations across the U.S., and “The Coral Ridge Hour,” a weekly television broadcast that airs on more than 400 stations and to 165 nations on the Armed Forces Network.
Dr. Kennedy’s belief that God will continue to do “great and mighty things” through the obedient efforts of His people never faltered. His confidence in the future also extended to American culture. “America is in the throes of a cultural shift with enormous implications for the future,” Dr. Kennedy said in 2004, noting the growth in the number of evangelical Christians in America. “If that trend continues, and I believe it will, Evangelical Christians will be in the majority sometime in the next decade,” he added.
“We will miss Dr. Kennedy enormously,” said Frank Wright, president of the National Religious Broadcasters. “His moral leadership and his legacy of impacting the globe for Jesus Christ is unmatched by few in the history of the Church. It is our desire to honor him by sustaining and multiplying his impact through Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and all the ministries founded by Dr. Kennedy in the years to come.”
Viewing and funeral arrangements will be announced shortly. A legacy Web site, www.DJamesKennedy.org, has been developed to pay tribute to the life and faith of Dr. Kennedy.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Ron Siegenthaler, executive minister of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Frank Wright, president and CEO of National Religious Broadcasters, are available for interviews. Please contact Kristin Cole at 615.289.6701 or via kristin@alarryross.com for more information or to arrange an interview. Media information will be available at www.DJamesKennedy.org.

turning point devo

Ready for Departure
I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.2 Timothy 4:6

Recommended Reading2 Timothy 4:6-8

The October 2005 issue of the Gideon Magazine told of a ninety-seven-year-old man in cardiac ICU. As his son-in-law visited and shared the Scripture with him, it became apparent that the old man had never received Christ as his Savior. That day, he turned his life over to the Lord and signed his name in the back of the Gideon New Testament, signifying his new life in Christ.
How wonderful!
And yet how much better to invest one's entire lifetime in Christ and His kingdom, and to come to the end of life praising God that, after years of fruitful service, our departure is at hand. Our lives pass quickly; and as we grow older, it's important that we give Him everything we have every day, asking for His guidance and pleading for His blessings.
Let's pour ourselves out for the kingdom so that when the time of our departure comes, we can say, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).
Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.Norman J. Clayton

Delusions

This morning I went to bed around 4am from staying up to study. Well, before my head hits the pillow at night I open up the word to see what the Lord has to say and to align my heart with the word. Well, last night I was reading Psalm 42 out loud over and over and over until I could feel it in my bones. I got so much energy that I could not fall asleep after that! I hate when I get all excited and my heart starts pounding right before I go to sleep. I seriously thought that the Lord might have needed to just go ahead and take me on last night.

With that being said, I want to keep this short so I don't lose anyone with the length.

Isaiah 44:20
20 He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"

There have been so many times in my life where I have sought and sought to fill the insatiable need in my soul with things or people and I have come up spent and ultimately dry. When I have not sought satisfaction in Christ alone I have ALWAYS ended up bowing down to an idol of sorts and in doing so my heart has been led astray. As you know and idol is something that takes the place of God in our life. Something that exalts itself above the knowledge of Christ. Really to worship an idol is in essence worship of the enemy of our souls. When food was sacrificed to pagan gods, or idols were cast, or children were sacrificed to pagan gods in a fire, this was all really worship of our arch enemy. God will not be mocked. He is God. He alone is to be worshipped. He will be glorified and NO flesh will glory in the light of His presence. He alone is worthy. He knows that His commands are for our good and as we seek to live and walk after Him we will be wise and have health in our bones. However, if we depart from His ways and bow it will ultimately be the death of us.
I was thinking about the times where I have really turned to the right or to the left spiritually speaking and I want to tell you a couple of points that I think happened in my life that got me off the path of righteousness to unrighteousness.

1. I did not detect my own sin. If we do not compare ourselves to the light of Gods word, and by that I mean bringing your soul honestly before God and owning your own poor estate before God and acknowledging your sinfulness and need for His help, His power, His holiness and cleansing in your life consistently, you will ultimately be led astray by the deceitfulness of a deluded heart. A heart that feeds on delusions.

Psalm 36:1-2 says that we can flatter our self so much that we can not detect or hate our sin.
1 An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.

You and I desperately need a holy hatred for the sin that God hates. Without continual cleansing we will not have clarity in day to day living. We will lose our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

So what do we do? Well, for starters I would like to suggest that you get out some paper or a notebook if it takes that and ask God to search you and point out all known sin so that you can confess it and then pray like crazy for godly sorrow that leads to repentance in the areas that are really ensnaring you.

2. I suffered miserably from unbelief. Once I had gotten off track I felt that I had sinned too much for me to really get back right with God and really start living for Him after some of the things that I had done. I suffered from shame. I knew that I was not authentic and instead of believing God, and just working with Him through His loving discipline I would sort of lay down in defeat.

So what do we need to do instead of believing that we have gone to far in our sin to ever be redeemed? Run to the word. What does God say? How did He use others in the word who had blown it so badly?

Return to Him. Jenny, I can't do that you say. You don't know what I have done. No, I don't but God does. He loves you. He wants to take you back. He longs for you to come to Him but He will not force you to obedience. I will say this...if you have walked with God and tasted of Him...no He will not force you but you will be utterly miserable until you come back to Him.

Isaiah 44:22-23
22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."
23 Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

3. Once I had bowed to an idol to try to find satisfaction and the deeper I went in that search for satisfaction the harder it became for me to recognize the lies that I was believing. I would so desperately hold something in my right hand (with a tight grip) that I felt I could not let go of that thing. I felt that I needed it to live and breath, or better yet I felt that it defined me and that I could not go on without finding significance and worth in my idol. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Then I would begin to settle into a pattern and just except low living. I would just do the same thing over and over...come up dry and expect a different result. I was feeding myself delusions. That is the problem with sin. Once we feed the beast it grows and grows and desires to take over and just do us in. The word for lie in Isaiah 44:20 is the word Seqer. Here is a tidbit of the definition from my lexical aides: "deceit, fraud...something of little value...Denotes a way of life which goes completely contrary to God's Law, groundless words or activities which have no basis in fact or reality--completely worthless." So there you have it. That is the manner of sin...lies that prove to be completely and utterly worthless. The things we so desperately cling to that prove worthless.

So what do we do? Run hard after God. Turn away from sin and turn to God. Make small choices that ultimately lead to big choices of obedience.

The apostle Paul so lost his life in Christ that he considered the things of this world to be of little value to him. So much so that he says in the KJV that he considers his losses as dung. I like the word dung better because he is in essence saying I consider the losses to be poo poo! LOL!! Okay does anyone want to keep their dung around? I hope not! Let our sin and the temorary passions of this world become dung to us...a bad detestable stench!

Here you go in the KJV
Phil 3:7-9
7But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

Gotta hurry and get morgan ready! I lost track of time.

It's Thursday

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

Okay it is Thursday...
I would love to hear today a testimony of sorts as to how you came to know the Lord or a testimony of something great He has done in your life. We should always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have. You can share a praise or a verse as usual. ;)

Skool

My camera died last week at our last bible study for Daniel...so I did not get pics of all the beautys!




Okay and below is a prayer request! When you picture me (because you are wanting to say a prayer for me...I know you are) please picture me studying to finish my online courses. I am going to plow through the rest of this if it kills me!!!!! The light is shining near the end of the tunnel. I have come so far...and I want to give up. I can't so please pray that the Lord gives me focus, clarity, and determination so that I can cross over my Jordan.

From www.walkintheword.com
James MacDonald
Prayer for Today

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. Galatians 5:16, 22
Every good thing God wants to do in your life today comes through the work of the Holy Spirit. Everything: the fruit of the Spirit, the understanding of God’s Word, love of worship, strength in a trial, grace to forgive, compassion for the lost, comfort in heartache, boldness in witnessing, power in ministry-all of these are yours when the Spirit is in control. However, when you resist the Holy Spirit, grieving and quenching Him, you forfeit His filling and all of the good things that God wants to give you.
The Spirit’s filling is a moment-by-moment process. Every day, ask Him to fill you again with His power. How do you do that?
Step one: recognize your need to be filled. Let God begin to grow within your heart the desire for more of His fullness in your life. He wants to give that to you if you first recognize your need.
Step two: confess all known sin. Get a piece of paper, get by yourself, and ask God to reveal your sin to you. You have to get serious about taking hindrances out of the way. Tell Him, “I’m listening, God. ‘Search me and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! See if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!’ Show me my sin, God, so I can get right before You.” And then ask Him to cleanse and forgive you.
Step three: Now, when you’ve done those two fairly difficult things, you’re ready to do the easy part: ask God to fill you. Yield yourself completely to His purposes.
Here’s a prayer I pray in some way almost every single day. When I don’t, I wish I had. Pray with me today . . .
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. I can’t fix yesterday, and tomorrow seems a long way off.Today, Lord: Cleanse my heart from the fleshly residue of yesterday’s fallen humanity.Today, Lord: Scrub my thoughts and motives till they shine with singularity-wanting Your glory alone.Today, Lord: Wash me and I will be whiter than snow, purposed afresh to follow Your footsteps.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit today. The tasks ahead are too much. If I must go alone, I cannot go at all.Today, Lord: I’m not smart enough to know what is best, and not strong enough to choose what is righteous.Today, Lord: My wife, my family, my friends, my church, my ministry . . . I am not sufficient for these things, and I know it.Today, Lord: Or else what unfolds in the hours ahead will fade into the abyss of worthless, wasted time.
Lord, fill me with Your Spirit right now. Come, make these 24 hours all You’ve created them to be.Now, Lord: You know how to ‘give good gifts’ and I am so thankful to be called Your child.Now, Lord: By faith, I receive the Presence You’ve promised, and delight to know that Your Word is true.Now, Lord: You are filling my life with peace and purpose and freeing my soul to sing.Amen.
Ephesians 5:18, Be filled with the Spirit.

new pics

It took me a while to get this link to open but here are some pics from my sisters wedding. Click on Stephanie and Jeremy's wedding.

http://kelleymillsphotography.photoreflect.com

T M I

Too much information!

Isaiah 30:21-22
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." 22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"

I have a bone to pick with Evie Poo (That's Eve as in Adam and Eve) when I get to glory! She took that stupid fruit and now we are cursed with that time of the month! You can't imagine the time I have with my "friend" once a month. It is awful! Thank you for grace and mercy because I could not have made it in a generation without Ibuprofen. The Lord is good! Anyway, I have been eating us out of house and home going back and forth all week long from sweets to salts...sweets to salts. I finally starting hitting the midol today in hopes of some help! Anyway, I just ate the most odd dinner (I had not eaten much all day):

toasted wheat bagel with cream cheese
skittles (red and purple)
Breyers Lactose Free Homemade Vanilla (delicious)
A Little Debbie Fancy Cake (just one)
Lays Chedder chips

Get a grip! Anyway, if I were in the garden being tested with some fruit I would have to say that I would have said No (hands down) to an apple. The enemy would have had to throw some chocolate chip cookies on that tree (soft baked chocolate chip cookies). I am just joking for those of you who do not know me. It was a serious thing that they did...I am not lessoning that.

My bible study on Wising Up started tonight. I tell you I need to wise up! Sometimes I just shake my head at what an idiot I can be. Lord help me. I do have some verses to share but I have to go do a few things first.

I met a fellow blogging siesta at bible study tonight! Mrs. Lori Sue! She is so stinking precious for real!! Also, sorry for not getting back with some of you lately...I have been slammed!

A lesson gone Awry

I am about to run back to the lake. I had to come in to go to church. Y'all can I tell you how sweet the Lord is?! That is really not a question because I am going to tell you LOL!! Anyway, I had to take care of a bible study sign up table and teach this morning. I knew there would not be a lot of people there since it is Labor Day weekend and we are a new class. I was praying in the car and I said to the Lord that if the lesson was for anyone it was for me. Well, I stayed up most of the night preparing my heart. I always take it so seriously like I am preaching to the masses or something. Let me back track to say that I taught Sunday school in the singles for almost seven years and the first year I taught it WAS AWFUL!! Hear me AWFUL! Our singles minister asked me to teach and I prayed about it and said yes. I had no clue about gifts or anything. Anyway, this girl tried to take me in and wanted me to get up a basically read off an outline. IT WAS HORRIBLE! God in His grace allowed people to still come back. The lady who "took me in" she and I were not a good match AT ALL. I could not continue to do things her way when that is not how I was being led. Anyway, this morning two people were there and I think I taught one of the worst most scattered lessons that I have ever taught. It was like Jenny in the flesh teaching. I got in the car and almost cried my eyes out. I said to the Lord..."LORD, what in the world was that? That was TERRIBLE!!!" I called Rod and told him how I was going to spend the rest of the day beating myself up over what a horrible job I did!! Well, I got in the car and popped in sermon number 2 from a series I am listening to. Guess what?! Beth Moore was talking about how she has blown it in teaching Sunday school. How she has had days where she got in the car and said Lord what was that! The same thing I just did. She talked about how we learn as we use our gifts and many people just quit serving because they are afraid of failure. She said that we need to be patient with others while they are learning and using their God given gifts and that we have to be willing to look weak in front of others. WHHHHOOOOOAAAAAHHHH! I know the Lord used today to humble me. I am just so thankful for the sweetness of that sermon that was at the appropriate time. I get so afraid that I will fail Him...but HE will not fail me. No more sulking. Gotta head back to my family.

How to Kill Sin in Your Life
By John MacArthur
The following post is adapted from a message John preached on a practical plan for overcoming personal sin.
The question is, “How do I kill sin in my life? How do I do it?” Let me give you some little principles — very basic and straightforward.
If you live by the Spirit and are headed towards eternal life because of your salvation, the Spirit in you gives the power to be killing the deeds of the flesh.
The question is, “All right, how do I do that? I agree that the power is there, that’s the bent of my life, that’s the way I am going. I want to see the Spirit do more and more of it. How do I get to that point? How do I gain that victory? How do I establish that habitual pattern? What do I do?”
1. Recognize the Presence of Sin in Your Flesh.
Do you know why most Christians are most commonly defeated by sin? I believe it is because their sin has so totally deceived them, that they never really get to the point where they honestly evaluate its reality. They are not dealing with the issue.
They spend so much of their lives justifying their sin as a personality quirk or a product of their environment. They sugar-coat their habitual sins as simply idiosyncrasies of individuality, or some prenatal predilection that their mother had, or whatever. People can become so good at denying the reality of sin that they don’t see it. As a result, they don’t deal with it because they don’t even recognize it for what it is.
Any kind of spiritual victory begins by identifying the enemy. It is the same old story, ”If you don’t know what you are shooting at, how are you going to hit it?” How am I going to eliminate from my life what I don’t even identify as needing to be eliminated?
Sin is not only wicked, it is deceitful. And it’s there inside each of us. Believe me it is there. John Owen was right, he says of sin:
It has no doors to open. It needs no engine by which to work. It lies in the mind and in the understanding. It is found in the will. It is in the inclinations of the affections. It has such intimacy in the soul.
It’s there! But inevitably it’s covered up. As the Psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:22). We must ask God to help us see our sinfulness, if we want to recognize it for what it is.
Don’t be deceived about how good you are. Believe me, your sin is there, and it is wretched and it spurts forth between the cracks of your supposed righteousness. It comes out in anger and bitter words, unkind thoughts, criticisms, self-conceit, lack of understanding, impatience, weak prayers, immoral thoughts, and even overt sins. You need to know your weaknesses.
Haggai the prophet, in chapter one of his prophecy, repeats the command, “Consider your ways! Consider your ways!” (vv. 5, 7). In other words, take a good deep look at yourself. First Kings 8:38 says, “Know the plague in your own heart.” And Paul in Ephesians 4:22 talks about deceitful lusts. From these and many other passages, the Bible makes the point: If you want to kill sin in your life, you must begin by examining your own heart to see the reality of what is there.
2. A Heart Fixed on God.Second step. In order to gain this victory, its triumph, and to see the power of the Spirit of God begin to give you the power over the unredeemed flesh that you desire, that God desires, you must have a heart fixed on God. A heart fixed on God. The Psalmist said in Psalm 57:7, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed." What do I mean by that? Undivided devotion to God! That's that wholeness in spiritual life where I am given wholly to God. What do I mean by that? What I am really saying in this context is, you can't have sin in one area. You can't just sort of clean up a lot of it but leave it in one area. You can't starve it out and kill it in one spot and feed it so it lives in another spot. If it lives anywhere it will crawl all over everywhere. It is the most noxious, fastest growing weed in existence. It will not confine itself to one flower bed, it'll be everywhere. The Psalmist said in Psalm 119, verse 6, "Then shall I not be ashamed." When? When will you not be ashamed? "When I have respect unto all thy commandments." My life isn't going to be right, my life isn't going to be without shame until I give proper respect to every command of God. And that is to deal with every issue of sin in my life. The only unashamed life is the life of one who is totally fixed on God; everything has been dealt with. 3. Meditate on the Word.Meditate on the Word. The filling of the Spirit is equated in Colossians 3, to letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. When the Word controls you, when it controls your thinking, when it is there as the Psalmist said, "To meditate on day and night," when it is there hidden that "I might not sin against God," then you have a control factor in your life. The way to kill sin in your life is to feed it Scripture. It's a poison. It'll poison sin. Just feed a sinful life Scripture--it will poison it! Whatever really controls your mind, controls your behavior; so you learn to close out the garbage and you feed the sin, the remaining sin, in your life a steady diet of God's glorious truth and it poisons sin. And so you must give yourself to the Word. You must saturate yourself in the Word. You must hear the Word preached and taught. You must learn it yourself and you must meditate on it day and night. 4. Commune with God in Prayer.These are so very basic. Fourthly, and very important, commune with God in prayer. Commune with God in prayer. This sort of circles back around to the first point that I gave you. True prayer gives the heart a sense of its own vile character and renews the hatred of sin. True prayer does that. John Owens said, "He who pleads with God for the remission of sin also pleads with his own heart to detest it." Somewhere along the line, in your own prayer life you need to get honest. You need to get honest. And you need to begin to say to God, "I want you to reveal my sin, I want you to stir it up in me. I want you to show it to me. I want you to blow away the dust that is covering it. I want you to peel off the things that have been hiding it away in my life, so that it becomes manifest and visible to me. I want to see the reality of my sin. I want you to show it to me just the way it is." That's part of your communion with God. When you pray to God--that is an honest confession. You can say you confess your sins, but until you pray, "God show me all the sins of my life, reveal all of them, uncover every little corner of my life. Bring it up and may it become as detestable to me as it is to you, and may you give me the strength to see it go away." Those are the kind of prayers that are the true prayers of repentance. I have always believed that when you really confess your sins there is a little P.S. that you add to the end of it, when you say, "Lord please forgive me for that sin," and you always add, if your confession is true, "and Lord may I never do that again." That's my heart's cry. And then prayer exposes secret sins. Prayer weakens prevailing sins. Prayer finds strength in fellowship with the Holy God to kill sin in our lives. What must I do if I am to know victory over sin? First, I have to recognize the sin in my life. Don't kid yourself, don't gloss over yourself, don't underestimate your wretched condition as Paul didn't in Romans, chapter 7. And then fix your gaze wholly on God and become totally devoted to Him, so that everything in life, center and circumference, is Him. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 16, "I have set the Lord always before me," and that is the only way to live. And then it is also equally essential that you cultivate a knowledge and understanding, and a deep comprehension and application of Biblical truth, and that you spend time in honest prayer before God, bringing the truth to life in His presence. And in those kinds of simple spiritual exercises comes the death of sin. Then there is a fifth and last in this little pattern of victory.5. Cultivate Obedience.Now we go out of that private place, where you looked for your sin and where you fixed you gaze on God. And where you meditated on the Word, and where you communed with God in prayer, and we move into the public place and now the pattern of your life is set on a course of obedience. Paul said, "I haven't attained," I love this, "but," he said, "I press towards the mark." I haven't reached the goal but I am on the path. What path was he on? The path of obedience. Peter said, "Our lives should be characterized," 1 Peter 1:22, "by obedience to the truth." And we walk a path of obedience. If you want to engage yourself with a real battle with sin, just set your course, day-by-day, moment-by-moment, one step at a time, on a path of obedience. At first it seems hard, at first the progress seems slow, but you stay with it and eventually you become habitually obedient. Habitually obedient. It becomes a habit! You stay on the path that God has laid out in His Word. That path will lead you to grow in grace, to perfect holiness, to renew the inward man day-by-day, and you'll train yourself towards godliness.Now, it would be fair, I think, to ask a final question, and that is, "How am I doing on this?" How can I do a little inventory and say to myself, "Soul, Soul, how are you doing? How's this working out? Are you doing these things?" Just ask yourself some simple questions.
A. How's my zeal for God? Is my heart cold towards God? Has sin made me indifferent to times of communion with Him? Do I have little or no interest in His presence? In the glory of His name? Do I love His Word? Do I love His law? Can I understand what the Psalmist meant in Psalm 119:136, when he said, "Rivers of water run down my eyes, because they keep not thy law." Do I have such a love for God's law that I am devastated when His law is disregarded? Do I earnestly contend for the faith? Do I live to uphold truth? To live it? To proclaim it? What level is my zeal at? B. Do I love the Word? Do I find myself drawn to the Word? Almost pinned to it by some divine wrestler who has me on the canvas and I can't get up until its truths have become my own convictions. Do I find myself indulging in the deep things of the Word? Ask myself this, "Self, do you love the time of prayer? Do you love the place of confession? Do you eagerly rush into the place where you can confess your sin and ask God to do the self-examining process by the light of the Holy Spirit, so that every dirty thing can be brought to light. Do you seek that? Do you delight in worship? Is it your great longing to be here with God's redeemed people? Is it precious to you to spend the Lord's Day in the church? Is it your soul's highest delight to sing His praise and know Him better, that you might offer Him honor?" Or do you say with the Jews of Malachi's day, "What a weariness worship is!"
Ask yourself this, "Are you sensitive to sin in the church? Are you sensitive to sin in the world? Does it tear your heart up when you see sin around you any where? In your own life?" You see those are just the basic principles I gave you, just flipped around and turned into self-examining questions. Spiritual victory is there if you recognize that you are not under any obligation to sin. If you recognize that the Spirit of God has already bent you towards life, and so He's already killing sin in your life, and the power to kill all of it is there. Then all you need to do is tap into the means, and I gave you simple principles by which you can begin to do that in your life, and a little test by which you can examine where you are. I don't know about you but I want to have a life of virtue. I want to have a life of joy. I want to have a life of peace, and I want to have a life of usefulness to God, and this is the path to that life. And may God give you the strength to walk it; and may through you walking it faithfully, God bring glory to His own name. That's the purpose of everything.