The World or the Word

Well, I'm up at 3:15am and I'm not quite sure why...just couldn't sleep...my Spirit is working so I woke up my flesh to help out.  I shared some things with my Bible Study this evening that I feel like God wants me to share with others....so, here it goes....

For months, God has dealt with me through church and my Spirit about preparing me for hard times to come....wanting me to get strong in my faith - to get back to my foundation.  At first, I was fearful, knowing in my Spirit that our family, our country will be shaken BUT God has given me such a peace as I've grown closer to Him. I am able to walk side by side with Jesus daily in confidence and comfort - not focused on the negative circumstances in the world (or what's to come) but on my hope in Jesus and how I can grow God's Kingdom.  I have (and continue to) built up my foundation on Jesus through DILIGENT studying of the Word of God and through constant prayer and conversation with God.

Why am I sharing this with anyone wanting to listen right now?  Because God loves YOU and desires no ONE to be lost. His Will is that everyone come to know his Son, Jesus, as their personal savior and develop a relationship with Him.  God is love - "Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10) And, because He loves you, He wants you to realize the crucial time period that we live in and He wants us to get back to our foundation. We MUST begin making God the FIRST priority in our lives DAILY, HOURLY, MINUTELY.  We must get back to focusing on growing our relationship with Jesus instead of spending most of our time during the day focused on the things of the world.  For if we do this, when hard times come, we will be prepared - we will not be afraid and our children will not be afraid.

You see...all of the things of this world (money, possessions, reputation, celebrities, movies, Facebook, junk we see on TV) - all of this will come to an end - so, we have to ask ourselves - why do we spend so much time focused on these things?  Our relationship with Jesus and our heavenly Father is the only thing that will stand - it is eternal!  Because of Jesus' sinless life, death, and resurrection, nothing can EVER separate us from God so we should focus on building our relationship with God (through His Word and Spirit) rather than all these destructible things of the world.

Romans 12:2 says "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." A renewed mind surrenders to God - it guards against the world's influence by focusing on God's Word (the Bible) and by being led by God's Spirit. In order to guard our minds and to stay in tune with the Spirit of God, we should ask ourself this question often - "Is this helping me become the person God wants me to be or is it hindering the process?"  So...as you go throughout your day and you have choices as to what you focus on and what you put your energy into - ask yourself that question and think about - am I feeling my mind with worldly distractions or am I focusing on what God wants me to do today, right now?

Think of all the times we can ask ourselves that question...
-when driving in our cars - what music do we listen to?  Do we listen to music that influences us with the Word of God or do we listen to the "popular" junk that is on the radio now? Which one renews your mind and keeps you focused on God?
-when you get up in the morning - what is the first thing you do?  Do you turn on the TV, check your email, look at Facebook? Or, do you go to God in prayer and ask Him what He wants you to do for His Kingdom today?  Speaking of this - in Mark 1:35, we learn what Jesus did first thing in the morning - it says this, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He (Jesus) got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there."  Well, isn't Jesus our daily example for living?  Yes, He is! And, what did He do first in the morning?  Spent time in prayer with His Father preparing Himself to do the perfect Will of God that day.  Oh, may I strive to start everyday like Jesus...seeking God's will for my day....
-when we have free time during our day (which, for me, is late at night after Luke is asleep)-what do we do with it? Do we watch mindless movies, play video games, search the internet, read mystery novels, or do we take some time to study God's Word - to learn about God's ways?

I know, I know - some of you are thinking right now - "None of this sounds like fun. Who wants to sit around and read your Bible - that takes diligence, discipline, WORK." Yes, my friend, it does, but that doesn't mean you have to eliminate FUN from your life. Matter of fact, when you get God's Word DEEP within you so that It becomes a living teacher, guide, and comforter to you, everything becomes more fun because of the peace that comes with it.  You can enjoy quality time your family, maintain your work at your job, participate in hobbies that bring you joy ALL while seeking God's plan and His desires. How? listen and look for God in everything and when you hear God, you stop and do what He asks - then the contentment and joy and peace that you get outweighs any worldly FUN than you could ever have.

Living in the will of God is where ultimate peace and joy come from. I have found that when I move away from God (when I don't spend as much time with Him and I don't seek His purpose for me), that's when fear, doubt, worry, and anxiety creep in.  Spending time with God, constantly thinking on His Word leaves no room for attacks of the enemy. The Devil loves for us to stay focused on the things of the world because look at what is in the world - fear, evil, hatred, killing, gossip, lies, lack of trust, instability - why would we want to focus on those things when focusing on God brings us joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self control?

Again, who is our example of How we should strive to live? Jesus! As I have studied the life of Jesus, I realized that Jesus never displayed emotions of fear, doubt, stress, unbelief - Jesus knew He was going to suffer and die and He still walked through His daily life with joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, and self control.  Why is that? How could He do that?  Because Jesus was ALWAYS in tune with God - always talking to God, seeking God's direction. He didn't let the world's circumstances and influences affect Him. We SHOULD learn from Jesus - we SHOULD learn that if we consistently and constantly (daily - all day) seek God, the things of this world will disappear (become less of a focus) and we will be able to walk our daily lives in a peace beyond our understanding.

Having said all this, this morning (at 4:10am to be exact), I offer you this challenge - TODAY, reflect on how much time you spend reading and studying God's Word and praying/talking with Him compared to the time you spend on the things of the world. When you seek the answer to that thought, be honest with yourself and with God and then ask God to help you make changes in your life so that your relationship with Him can grow.  You see - being a member of the body of Christ is more than just going to church each Sunday - it's about allowing Jesus to flow through you to others EVERY DAY and EVERY HOUR.  Living for Jesus is a way of life - NOT a weekly routine. Let's get back to our first love and only hope....Jesus - the ONLY foundation that will stand when this world is shaken.

And...before I close....let me say this, if you don't know Jesus as your personal savior, I pray that you turn to Him. We are all sinners - that's why we needed a savior. Sin separated us from God but God loved us so much and wanted to restore this relationship with us so He came down from his Holy, pure place to this dirty, sinful world for YOU! After being born of a virgin (fathered by God), Jesus lived a PERFECT, sinless life - a life that included teaching others about the Kingdom of God, healing, restoring, and LOVING and then He gave up His life by being beaten, tortured, and hung on a cross until His death ALL FOR YOU. But, glory be to God, He's no longer on that cross or in that tomb - He rose from the dead and now sits at the right hand of God interceding for YOU. If you believe in Jesus with all your heart - you repent and then turn your life over to Him - then, you can rest in Him through a peace that His blood has covered your sins - all of your sins (past, present, and future) and through a relationship with Jesus, we can pass from this life, this world into Heaven in peace and one day live with Him forever.  Thank you, God, for this hope!

And, thank YOU for reading my thoughts (God's thoughts through me) today, I think I now can rest....

Love,
Toddy

Father's Day Collage

Luke and I decided to give Landis a collage with a few pictures showing Luke's favorite things about his Daddy.  Here are the pictures that were included in the collage (along with a few extras that we would like to call the "out-takes"). :)  Luke is not a fan of pictures so I did use some minor bribery to get his cooperation - I allowed him to have a few M and M's after each picture and he was able to mess around in the woods and around a creek in between "takes."  It ended up being a lot of fun. 

Enjoy the pictures...

(1)  "Daddy...I love you THIS MUCH because...."  (notice Luke stretching out his arms as wide as he can...this is what he says and shows daddy often).  

 (2) "You tickle me and make me giggle."  Luke loves it when Daddy tickles him.  This was one of my favorites that was included - this is genuine smile from Luke (not a cheesy one).

 Luke being silly in between pictures....

 Still being silly....

 And, finally, the picture I wanted....(3) "You get the monsters off my teeth."  One of Daddy's daily jobs is to brush Luke's teeth at night.  While Landis brushes Luke's teeth, he tells him that he is looking for monsters or monkeys to get off his teeth.  That makes Luke tolerate teeth brushing so much more!

 (4) "You give the biggest bed time hugs ever!"  Before Luke goes to bed at night, he asks Landis for a TON of hugs...Landis will give him a BIG hug that "will last all night" and then walk out of the room. Within seconds, Luke is begging for "one more hug from Daddy."  Daddy NEVER turns down the 10 extra hugs...even though bedtime is stalled for just a few minutes, it is too sweet to stop!  :)

For this picture, I asked Luke to hug a tree...he tried his best! :) This is the picture we used for the collage...

 But this was a cute one too...

And, before I go, I had to put a few pictures of Luke playing at the pool.  Luke is NOT a fan of the big pool at Founders yet this year. Right now, he prefers the little pool and that's okay because while in the little pool, he entertains himself quite nicely.  Even though it was quite chilly on Friday, we went to the pool for about an hour and the whole time we were there, Luke swam around the little pool on his little boogie board.  He would throw these tiny sharks into the water and then swim over to get them.

As you can see in this picture, Luke took it very seriously...see Luke's face as he checks on one of the sharks???

 Swimming, swimming!!!

This weekend, I was able to accomplish my first summer project - get the 400+ pictures downloaded onto my computer. There was NO way I could have ever posted all those pictures on this blog so I just decided to start here with the most recent.  Because Luke and I have begun our summer schedule, you know that we will be visiting at least one park each week and then we will save one day each week for a road trip to a museum or other fun place.  I will TRY my best to post the pictures quickly so I don't get behind again.

Sitting here on Sunday night knowing that I have the WHOLE week this week and many weeks here after to spend all day, everyday, with my favorite 3 year old makes me smile.  I am so appreciative to my heavenly Father for the blessing of a career and job that allows me to have this time with Luke.  I pray daily to take it all in - moment by moment - and make sure to give thanks to Jesus every step of the way.

Check back soon for updates on our summer!  :)

Toddy

Spring 2013 - Family Pictures

In May, Jessica Phillips with Memorable Moments Photography took our family pictures at Old Salem. We had a great time and Jessica got some great shots! Luke was a little stinker - gave us his cheesy smile most of the time and refused to look at the camera for other shots SO we are thankful that Jessica was sweet, kind, and patient and ended up getting lots of good pictures.  Visit her website on Facebook at...https://www.facebook.com/memorablemoments.byphillips?fref=ts

And...here are our pictures....

One more full week of school!!! :) YAY! 

Toddy