Marcia’s Blog

Today’s reading for me was Matthew 7. I’ve read this before but today so many things jumped out at me. Read it if you get a chance.

The first verse slammed me. It’s about not judging others. I think that I’m not judgmental often, but if I stop to think about it, I am. I need to get good at guarding my mind and monitoring my thoughts. It’s so easy to let your thoughts wonder into judgment. I don’t want to be judged that way though. Maybe the lady at the bank who was ugly to me just got some bad news or maybe someone is wearing dirty clothes because that’s all they have. They are not perfect but neither is anyone else who walks the earth including myself.

Verse 15 and on talks about how we are supposed to be known as christians by our fruit. Have you ever seen a fruit tree that will not grow fruit? I have 2 trees in my yard. I have no idea what kind they are. Several people have said they look like fruit trees. I wouldn’t know since I don’t have a green thumb. One day if one pops out an orange I’ll know, but for now it’s an unknown tree to me. Are you an unknown or a known tree? We don’t have to go around hitting people with a Bible for them to know we are christians. They should know us by our attitude, actions, convictions and how we deal with issues. We are supposed to be a peculiar people according to the Bible. You don’t have to have the fish on your car, the biggest cross on your neck or a Bible on your dash for people to know. In fact if you display those things but don’t show fruit, you’ve become a hypocrit. Nobody wants to hear what that person has to say.

There is a lot of great things in this chapter, Matthew 7. Take the time to read if you can.

I don’t know if you are following the reading schedule or not but the new schedule for the quarter can be found at…. http://downloads.celebration.org/2010/documents/2010_-_NT_with_Psalms_and_Proverbs_-_3rd_Quarter.pdf

Do you ever feel like you’re in a sinking ship waiting on someone to throw you a line? Where is the Coast Guard when you need them? I’m sure at times David felt that way. The reading for today was Psalm 62 – 64.  David is in the wilderness and is being hunted. He had been hiding out in caves for his safety. I put my self in David’s shoes and I don’t know that I could have the same attitude as David does in these chapters. He is so confident that God is going to deliver him and He does later. Davids words are so full of praise and faith. He seems unshaken in his faith even though he is in the “water” waiting on a flotation device.

I’ve been through a few difficult things, but never like this. David’s life is actually in danger. Yet, I’m guilty of whining and complaining about my little circumstance. There are so many stories in the Bible of how God delivers. Why do I find it hard to believe it for me?

Many times, I believe but I get impatient. Yes I know He’ll deliver but when? I’m sure this thought ran across David’s mind as well, but God’s timing is perfect. Remember the story of the Israelites marching around Jericho? (Joshua 6:1-27) They were instructed to march around Jericho 7 days and on the 7th day they were to walk around it 7 times. On the last time they were to shout and blow their horns and the walls would fall. God’s timing for their victory was the 7th time around on the 7th day.  What if they got tired of walking on the 3rd time and decided to blow the horns then instead? (Yes, I know I’m rambling, but it’s my blog so I guess that makes it ok Their victory would not have come. God had victory in the plan, but it was up to them to wait on God’s timing. The place would have been right, but the timing wrong. Man, I’ve been there and done that! I’m sure they were thinking, why do we have to walk so long? God could do this right now. I’m tired, my feet hurt and I’m hungry and thirsty. Does He know how far one trip around this city is? I don’t know why He had them walk around so many times, but I’m sure He had a good reason.

Well, my point is all over the place here. Let’s see if I can wrap it up. God can and will deliver so don’t be shaken in your faith. He may not deliver now, but His timing is perfect and it will come at the perfect moment! Don’t worry the Coast Guard is on the way!

This comes from Hebrews 4:

 14Therefore, since we have a great ^(Z)high priest who has ^(AA)passed through the heavens, Jesus ^(AB)the Son of God, let us hold fast our ^(AC)confession.

   15For we do not have ^(AD)a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been ^(AE)tempted in all things as we are, yet ^(AF)without sin.

   16Therefore let us ^(AG)draw near with ^(AH)confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

My pastor has been talking about this very thing. When Jesus came to earth, He was all man and all God. However, He chose to live as a common man among other commoners. He could have set the stage so that He did not have to endure hardship or pain, but He chose to live life as we live it. He needed to experience pain, rejection, hardship, financial difficulty, temptation, abandonment, hurt and misery. After He was baptized, He immediately went into the desert to be tempted by Satan. Notice the word “tempted.” He actually experienced that.  Just because He was God did not mean He still did not have to make right choice. He could have killed Satan right there and bypassed the cross, but He didn’t.  Sometimes it’s easy to believe that He doesn’t understand our hurt, but He does. What have you gone through that He has not? The scriptures say that He causes all things to work together for our good if we love Him.

I know that I’ve made some bad choices and some good ones too. But I choose to believe that even though my bad choices seem pointless, that they were not. I learned things from every one of those experiences.  Try to extract the lessons from each experience you go through. It will change your outlook and perspective.  If Jesus could do it, we can too.

Ok… todays reading was Proverbs 13. There is a lot of great advice in this chapter. My favorite is, “ ⁹ The life of the godly is full of light and joy,  but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.” Well, the snuffing out part is not my favorite but the first half where it speaks of christians lives being full of light and joy. When I got home my husband told me today that I looked …….tired. What he meant to say was I looked haggard and I did. I felt like light and joy had been sucked out of me. I was totally deflated. I must say that displaying light and joy can only be done from the inside out. When I try to fake it, it doesn’t last very long. I need that kind of light and joy that cannot be extinguished easily. Although I had a tough day and was tired, I went to choir practice tonight and got filled up again. Going to choir for me is like going to recess! I think all of us need His light and joy on a daily basis. You can close your eyes and repeat “I want to be a car, I want to be a car” but when you open your eyes, you will not be a car. You can also close your eyes and repeat, “Light and joy, light and joy” but when you open your eyes, you may not be any different. The only thing that can keep us in that state is a daily encounter with Him. Just read a few verses, talk to Him in the car, sing Him a song or something. I promise, touching base with Him daily can help us go about our day with light and joy no matter the circumstance.

Well, I gave my 2 cents worth. What do you think?

I was reading tonight and a few things jumped out at me. It came from Ephesians 2. Verse 10 states, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” This talks about not just making a bunch of carbon copies, but forming or building us out of His workmanship. each created especially for the good works he has for us individually. Later on in chapter, it talks about how we are built to come together to create a dwelling place for Him. He was speaking to the church in Ephesus at the time and how they were to be joined together properly. It’s no wonder we are all so different. It’s unfortunate that we see others differences as imperfections, when much of it may be by design. God created us to fit together in a certain fashion to create something wonderful. Puzzle pieces are odd in shape and if you try to put them with other pieces that don’t match, you know it immediately. But when all the pieces are in place, it can be a beautiful picture. Paul is speaking to the church and how they were to be fitted and joined together. I know life gets busy and we can get consumed by the things we have to do on a day to day basis but for me, if I don’t plug in and give my supply I feel that I am of little use in the kingdom. I come alive when I’m giving my supply. What else can you say makes you come alive? Not much. Most things out there will suck the life out of you. If you have not found a place to plug in and use your gifts and talents that were created especially in you, I encourage you to do so. There is nothing more fulfilling! You will get more than you give.

I love the show Man vs. Wild. I think it’s awesome to see how Baer navigates through the jungles, deserts and woods. He eats horrible things though. It’s pretty gross.

Strangely enough, I thought of this show after my reading of Proverbs 12. It’s all about Godly vs. ungodly or being wise vs. foolish. I love to read about how to be wise and honorable. My favorite proverbs from tonights reading is, “¹⁸ Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.” Another good one is,  ”¹⁶ A fool is quick-tempered, but a wise person stays calm when insulted.” There is even a proverb that talks about being kind to animals. I think God wants to give us clear directions about how we are to act and behave. I like it when He breaks it down plain and simple so even I can understand it. Just think, if Bear from Man vs. Wild had not been through extensive training to face all sorts of challenges, he’d probably be dead by now. He got some good instruction along the way and has become wise about how to navigate the wild. I want to be wise in navigating through this life. I want to be a successful christian. One that understands how to act and treat others. I don’t want to get to heaven and God say, ” Well, you barely made it.” My prayer tonight is that God will give me the guidance to navigate through my day tomorrow. To be wise in all my words, only speak those things that are encouraging and to love discipline. That’s a tall order but through Christ all things are possible.

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged anything. I wouldn’t consider myself much of a writer, but recently my pastor, Stoval Weems at Celebration Church, has asked the members for the next 3 weeks to share with others any insights from their personal devotion time with a few people either in person, by phone or by web. We have been going through a Bible reading schedule, about a chapter a day. I would like to invite you to read the Word along with me daily, post something on my blog about what you are getting out of the reading or just respond to my posts at http://marciamedders.wordpress.com/ . I’m excited to get started and hope to hear a lot of good revelation from you all! You can download the reading schedule yourself  through this link, http://downloads.celebration.org/2010/documents/2010_-_NT_with_Psalms_and_Proverbs_-_2nd_Quarter.pdf . I will also post the reading schedule weekly. Let’s get started!

Saturday/May 29 – Psalm 50

Sunday/May 30 – Psalm 51-53

Monday/May 31 – Proverbs 12

Tuesday/June 1 – Ephesians 1

Wednesday/June 2 – Ephesians 2

Thursday/June 3 – Ephesians 3

Friday/June 4 – Ephesians 4

It has been AGES since my last post. I’ll admit, I’ve been lazy about writing down some of the things swirling in my mind.

It seems that lately every time I listen to a TV minister, open the Bible or go to church, I hear about the love of the Father and how our self worth must come from Him. I am fascinated by His love for us and have been for several years now. Sometimes I just search the Bible for what He has to say about me. Needless to say, if I can truly understand how God thinks of me, what kind of troubles can I possibly face that would seem insurmountable? If I truly understand the depts of His love and all He thinks of me, I’ll be a better mom, a better wife and a producer of Godly fruit all on accident! I must create a stronghold of love in my life.

It seems that the only times that I hear the word “stronghold” it is used in a negative way. “She has a stronghold of addiction” or “He has a stronghold of lust.” I never hear something like, “She has a real stronghold of love!”  I believe that stronghold is a military term and means a place of fortification or a place that is protected or heavily defended. If I can create a stronghold of love in my life, this will be the place that I receive my self worth from and give love from. How can we create this stronghold of love in our life? I’m glad you asked! We need to know what God has to say about us.

Psalms 139:17 and 18 states, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.” David seems to understand how much God loves him! Here are a few things said about us from Romans, Corinthians and Ephesians: We are children of God and joint heirs with Christ, we are justified, no condemnation awaits those who are in Christ, we are sanctified, righteous and holy, a new creation, we are the righteousness of God, adopted as His children, raised up to sit with Christ in glory and have eternal glory! Wow!!! This is only a few thoughts He has for us.

Dig in to the word and begin to understand God’s love for you! Build a stronghold of love in your life that the enemy cannot come against. Feelings of failure, hopelessness, depression, self pity, self loathing, confusion, strife, division and much more are all attacks of the enemy, not from God. Fight back with what the Word has to say about you. Take every thought captive and fight back from your stronghold of love!

I don’t know why, but I’m always rethinking the christian box. You know, the area around our perceptions of what christianity should be.  I grew up in a Nazarene church. They loved God dearly, and were wonderful christian people, but something was missing and I knew it as a child and as a teenager. It seemed that christianity was contained to the four walls of a church building. It was what we did in that building that made us all christians. I remeber thinking, “This is so dull. Why do people want to do this? There is no life here. It just feels dead. They have all lost their minds.” I kept repeating this over and over in my mind. I became bitter and rebellious because my parents wanted me to live this way, but it was simply impossible in my mind. Looking back, I can now understand what went wrong. I wasn’t a bad kid, just starved for His presence. It wasn’t until I started dating my husband and attending his church that I began to find what was missing, the Holy Spirit. I found a direct connection with God the Father. I had never had that before! Worshiping in His presence is the sweetest place to be. What had seemed like worship to a dead man, now seemed like worship to a living God.

I wonder, can people around us see the living God in us? So much of the world sees christianity as a dead religion and in many cases, rightfully so. Here’s a scripture to think about:

Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Even Jesus needed the Holy Spirit! If Jesus needed him, how much more do we need him? Also, His acts were not confined to a church building. The scripture states that He “went about.” I want to go about and show Him to the rest of the world.  The rules of the christian box state that salvation only happens in the church building, and so does healing and deliverance. Wrong! I charge you to go about and do good in your community, neighborhood and workplace. Let them see the Holy Spirit on the inside of you! That is God’s plan for the world, one neighbor at a time!

It is sooo great to be me.  I have been a christian for so long! I’ve also been in ministry so that makes me a very mature christian, right? I even tithe! Surely I’ve arrived to the status of super spiritual christian, especially since I only listen to christian music.  I’ve been a christian so long that my thoughts are God’s thoughts now! I don’t even have to question myself anymore! I can’t stand to see people who are squandering their life away in abusive relationships, drugs and alcohol. I’m sure they don’t even want to hear about God. I don’t think they could do what I do. After all, they are weak but I on the other hand am a very strong person. I’d rather not get mixed up in that. It may affect my spirituality.

I hope you have figured out by now that I am just being silly. I certainly see how it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking more highly of myself than I ought. Have you ever met anyone like this? In The Message translation it’s stated in 1Peter 5:

God has had it with the proud, but takes delight in just plain people. So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs.

I’m sure many of you will need to read that in another translation (elbow to Kelly). I don’t know about you, but I like being me and I don’t want to try to fit into man’s mold for christianity. I want to fit into Jesus’ mold. After all, he’s my example! In the New Testament, I see Jesus taking the time to be with those who were unlovely and unwanted, the misfits. He also addressed religious thinking in the Pharisees. He took a bunch of fishermen and other unlikelies and used them to spread the gospel throughtout the world. I think he must have seen their heart and not their outward appearance. I hope my heart is in right standing. I want to be just like Jesus, he’s my hero! What are your thoughts?