The Lord Disciplines Those Whom He Loves

"I love you, son!"

Have you ever sat or knelt under the Lord's discipline? I have. Not fun, is it?

For awhile, I sat licking my wounds, not at all happy about the place in which I found myself. Even so, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be.

Often, the Lord's discipline is compared to a loving human father and his son. When the son is found in error, out of love, the father disciplines the son that he may learn, correct his behavior, and profit from the whole experience.

The problem with this analogy, however, is many who walk with the Lord today did not experience a loving father/son relationship, and when discipline was meted out, it appeared much more like harsh punishment and its basis did not appear to come from love. Somehow, it tarnishes the reality of God's love when He disciplines us.

Making the transition from what we experienced with our earthly fathers to our Heavenly Father can be a difficult process. That is where we make a decision to choose by faith that God's word is truth. He says what He means and He means what He says. He carries out the reality of His love when He disciplines us.

On the other side of discipline, unpleasant though it seems, we have learned valuable lessons. Hopefully, we have profited by what we have learned and made some necessary changes. If so, we can now look back to our times of chastisement and enjoy the fruit that comes from the Lord's loving discipline.

~ Amen ~

"Speak, Lord, for Your Servant is Listening."

"Lord, I am listening!"

"And the Lord came and stood and called as at other `times, Samuel! Samuel!! Then Samuel answered, Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3:10 AMP)

Among our Christian brothers and sisters, many wonder how we "hear" God's voice when He speaks. I wondered the same for years.

Here are some steps to help:

1. Desire to hear from God.

2. Schedule quiet time with God daily and show up!

3. Pray to hear God's voice when He speaks.

4. Read a selection from God's Word.

5. Meditate on God's Truth from Scripture.

6. Listen. Wait. Listen.

Distractions Come! Expect Them! As much as it is up to you, separate yourself from all else during your quiet time with the Lord. Discipline Yourself to ignore these "other" voices.

In time, you will begin to hear God's whispers from within your spirit. You will begin to know His voice in much the same way a flock of sheep know the voice of their own shepherd. They are able to distinguish their shepherd's voice from any other they may hear.

Recognizing God's voice comes with some practice. With repetition, you come to know when it is God and when it is not. Not only in sound but in content.When God speaks, He never violates the Scriptures. As you become more and more familiar with God's Word, you will be able to discern truth from error, and the ability to discern voices based on the message you have heard.

Begin your journey today! Spend some quiet time with Jesus - and - Listen!

~ Amen ~

"Here I Am, Lord"

"QUIET YOUR HEART"

If you are quiet, your heart can listen

"QUIET your heart and simplify your life, My child. Always begin with Me - and ask. Then, indeed, follow as I lead you. What you look at as necessity isn't always so. I will filter not only your needs, but also the needs of others, and you will end up with just enough to do and not become overwhelmed." 

Guide our footsteps this day, O Lord. Help us with balance in our lives. Help us to do Your will, Jesus ... to follow You in all things. Help us to follow You, and not ask that You follow us. 

~ Amen ~

"

"As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, 

'I will follow You wherever you go.'" 

(Luke 9:57)

"NEVER GIVE UP!"

She was young. Yet, there was a sense in which she was already very old having never known a season of youth. She was young - and utterly defeated; her yesterdays a series of repeated failures. She desperately wanted to give up.

Her mother refused to give up on her, and refused to let her give up on herself. She would take her daughter's face into her hands, look deeply into her eyes and speak the words that forever became etched in the younger woman's mind, heart, and soul:

"Never Give Up!"

Why do people want to "give up?" Why the need to even speak these words?

Here are some common reasons why people give up:

• The goal is too hard or it takes too long.
• They have experienced too many failures along the way. Too many painful yesterdays.

BUT ... Yesterday is Gone Forever! Let It Go! 

Consider the Apostle Paul - responsible for the persecution of those who followed Jesus. Paul could have given up, sick with remorse over the things he had done in his yesterdays. Yet, this is what Paul said, and further, lived what he spoke: 

"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

We all have our yesterdays. Every one of us! Paul did; the young woman above did. 

By God's Grace, Paul did not give up regardless of his yesterdays, nor did our contemporary above. They both continued on!

Yesterday IS gone! Whatever YOUR Yesterday, please choose to Never Give Up! Pick yourself up from the shambles of your struggles and failures and move on.

Today is a New Day! 

Your Part is to Start Fresh! God will do His Part.

God has a good plan for you; a plan and a purpose to prosper you and not to harm you. A plan and a purpose to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11) 

Shall we take Him at His Word?

"Never Give Up!"

HURT AND DISAPPOINTED

As we sat in the quiet church, I asked the hurting young woman beside me: 

“What has been troubling you lately? You have not been yourself.”

Eventually, the tearful words emerged: “I have been so hurt and disappointed by someone.”

Later, recounting our exchange, my thoughts asked:

Is there even one soul who cannot relate to being hurt and disappointed by another person? Haven"t we all known this painful sting?

No doubt about it – disappointment hurts! It sears the soul with hot irons and strangles the heart with deep and penetrating emotions. Oh, how it hurts when people disappoint. 

Further, the wicked enemy of our souls knows how to use disappointment to cripple us and plummet us to defeat.

Here is what can occur within us when left unchecked:

• disappointment
• discouragement.
• disillusionment.
• depression
• defeat.

Disappointment with people can fester in our soul; the pain is that penetrating. 

What can we do to stop disappointment from eventually becoming defeat?

1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us:

"Give thanks in all circumstances."

Like a wounded animal, we may lick our sores for a time. Yet, ultimately – even as we deal with our painful emotions, in order to stop the cancerous progression in our spirits, we must again look up - and hard as it may be, we begin to give thanks. It helps us rise from the dust and ashes of our stricken hearts.

We intentionally remember the One Who will never leave us nor forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6)

In those moments when our hurt smarts so severely, we hold on closely to the One Who will never disappoint.

Yet I am always with You;

You hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with Your counsel,

and afterward You will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but You?

And earth has nothing I desire besides You. (Ps. 73:23-26)

~ Amen ~

"THINK ON THESE THINGS..."

Recently, I found a new recipe for tuna salad. The recipe called for fresh grilled tuna steak. I substituted canned tuna. Result: Disaster! Fortunately, I had both the time to scrap this negative creation, and the ingredients to prepare something entirely different. The end result was both successful and enjoyable.

As I reflected on this experience, I saw it as a parable about life. Substituting a lesser product can produce disaster.

Consider the things with which we fill the territory of our minds.

I am thinking of Philippians 4:8-9 -

"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

The Word of God tells me to fill my mind with good things and to dwell on them. And to practice them! The end result is most enjoyable. I, and indeed, we, are told the God of peace will be with us. Filling our minds with the good and the positive, dwelling on, and practicing these positive things gives us a recipe for success with enjoyable results ... (great tuna salad) ... God's peace.

The alternative is a recipe for disaster. A train wreck! When we choose to fill our minds with negatively impacting substitutions or alternatives to these good and positive choices, and we further choose to dwell on them and practice the outcome of our thoughts, the result for ourselves and others can be destructive and destroying.

Morning has broken on this new day in January 2014. My first thought is "Thank You, Lord!"

Thanksgiving is a great way to start any day! It is good to remain in a spirit of thanksgiving. Why not try it? Watch how your life will change!

How do you like YOUR tuna salad?!

Think Thanksgiving! Pray Thanksgiving!

Filling our minds with good and positive thoughts determines on what we will dwell and practice. It affects our peace.

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7)

~ Amen ~

A D D I C T I O N

... Cunning, Baffling, And Powerful ...

                             .. And I Hate It ...

"Hi, my name is Mary, and I am a Food Addict!" How I have learned to hate these words and the meaning of these words! I tell you, I hate it!

Yet, hate these words as I may, it is one of the first steps in overcoming my addiction to food. I admit it!

Everyone has a story; I am no exception. Part of my own story is my life struggle with food. Over the past eight-plus months, I have, by the grace of God, enjoyed marvelous success in overcoming the beast of my addiction. And in the last couple of weeks, I have watched as the beast has reared its ugly head aiming to take control of me again!

The lure and pull of holiday goodies, the parties, and the food have all called my name - shouted my name in fact! In almost every call and shout I have resisted the beast. Yet, not with the "squeaky clean" of the months immediately preceding. I have tasted and touched and danced around the beast. At present, a spider's web, easily broken - IF I resist another dance with that wicked enemy of addiction which is out to get me within its evil and ugly clutches again. I shout at it's beastly face with a booming voice: 

"No! You will not take reign in my life again! Not ever!"

If my shout should have any merit whatsoever, I must not let another moment pass without doing what works! So, what has worked over these months?

• Jesus Christ to rule and reign rather than the Beast of Addiction

• Having a Plan

• Taking Responsibility for my Own Actions

• Accountable Action

Others may say this differently. I say it this way. While I have employed different methods that have worked very well for me, a new one has appeared on the horizon of my life.

My higher power has always been my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Nothing else works for me in the role of "higher power."

At my church - 

RisenSon Fellowship
850 North Woodland Boulevard
DeLand, FL 32720

- my Senior Pastor, Rev. Wayne Neller, (Certified Addiction Professional) is beginning a new group: R.I.B.S. on Thursday nights, 7:00 P.M., January 16, 2014. 

R.I.B.S. is for ANY addiction! Any who are battling addiction, searching for help and recovery, and maintaining recovery  - with Jesus Christ as our center and our "higher power" - is invited to come. 

As a Christian woman, I need Jesus Christ as my center, as my head, as the one who reigns in my life - and I must have the freedom to say so.

R.I.B.S. is part of my plan - remember "Having a Plan" - for ongoing Addiction Recovery.

R.I.B.S.

• Respect

• Integrity

• Balance

• Spirituality

I am not alone in any of this! Fellow Addict, neither are you, - regardless of your addiction. We have Jesus, and we have each other. We have ongoing help. We can know, have, and maintain victory over our addictions. Anybody with me?

R.I.B.S.
7:00 P.M.
January 16, 2014

FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS

As this first week of the New Year draws near its end, and we consider our resolutions to change some things about ourselves for the better, what holds us back? 

Sometimes, I simply feel overwhelmed by the task ahead to make changes in me. How about you? 

Feeling overwhelmed can be crippling by creating a hurdle we feel we cannot jump. An obstacle course of seemingly impossible things to accomplish in order to effect personal change.

The following pointers come from Hebrews 12:1-3 and may provide inspiration to spur us on: 

• We Lay Aside Every Encumbrance 

             By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we release those things to Him which hold us back and weigh us down, i.e., stress, guilt, fear, shame, and regret. 

• We Lay Aside The Sin Which So Easily Entangles Us 

         By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we are to confess our sin before Him and rely on His strength to say "No" when we are again tempted by this entanglement.

• We Are To Run With Endurance The Race That Is Set Before Us

              By fixing our eyes on Jesus, we become able to keep our focus on Him and the goal before us, and when we slip and fall, for surely we will, we simply get up again and press on. With our eyes on Jesus, we choose to ignore obstacles, hurdles, and distractions.

Whatever we have resolved to change in ourselves this New Year of 2014, we know God has a purpose and a plan for us. If our resolutions have been founded in Jesus Christ; if we have been convicted by Holy Spirit to change in these specific areas of resolution, we know the goal and the victory has been set before us.

Press On, Saints ...

Jesus Has Got Our Backs!

He is the Founder and Perfecter of our Faith

~ Amen ~

You are NOT Your Own

"It's my body and I will do with it as I please!"

Five days into the New Year? How are you doing with your Resolutions? Still strong? Still keeping what you deemed as important to you? Beginning to waiver? Possibly already slipped from your resolve?

"It's my body and I will do with it as I please!" I can almost hear those silent screams! And why? Because I scream them too!

You see, I am an addict. My choice of drug is FOOD and one of the scariest four-letter words I know. I have spent a lifetime struggling with food, and wanting, desiring, and giving in to my addiction. And my body has worn the effects of my choices and my addiction for most of my life.

When I resolve to change, which is most mornings of my life, I fold to the addiction before long, and I stay on the path of self-destruction.

What motivates me - or for that matter - YOU - for resolution to change? For me, make no mistake about it, I want to look better, feel better, and improve my health. Yet there is an even deeper reason. It comes from Scripture. Listen:

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

My poor choices have led to unhealthy consequences, and as a Christian woman, conviction of Holy Spirit has been within me for a very long time. Much of my life, I have ignored the conviction, and the whisper of my Divine Lover to release my addiction to Him and honor Him in all I say and do - including the choices I make for my body.

How about YOU? Are you entrenched in the hole of self-destruction, shouting silently or out loud: "It's my body and I will do with it as I please!"

Do you sit under conviction, as I do - regardless of your own drug of choice? Are your resolutions in tune with Holy Spirit's whispers? Or more about what you want?

These are tough questions each of us must answer for ourselves - with our help coming only from the Lord who lives within us. If we choose to listen and heed Him.

We have been bought with a price. Shall we choose, therefore, to glorify God in our bodies? 

Will we choose to listen to Him today, or to ourselves. What choice will YOU make?

Seek First the Kingdom of God ...

What are your first thoughts as you awake in the morning? After you have scurried off to brew your first cup of coffee? Do you groan as you climb out of bed, morning having arrived far too quickly, and perchance somewhere in the midst of your groan, you utter: "Good Morning, Jesus!" And with that one moment's passing, your time with Jesus has come and gone.

To be sure, we are busy people, and there is so much on our plates to accomplish in most any given day. 

The Word of God tells us:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:33)

Does a quick "Good Morning, Jesus" suffice for seeking? Or does it in a second acknowledge God and that's it? Is that quick moment ... seeking?

The temptation of busy days which only get busier with their progression is to short-change God. I get that! Been there, done that! More often than I care to admit. 

As we all face this brand New Year 2014, perhaps we might consider the early moments of each new day with the Lord ... seeking, looking, asking, and listening to Him with intentionality and quality of our time.

He has promised us ... all the rest of these things ... we face in our day will be added.

We might just find the moments we spent with Him before we engaged the day ahead gives us a plan, a purpose, and a peace because we know He has ordered and blessed our steps.

Lord, please help us to keep You first, to seek You first, to spend quality moments with You before we jump into our days. We seek to honor You and glorify You in all that we do. And we trust You to order our day and bless us in following Your guidance. Thank You, Jesus.

~ Amen ~

"IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN ...

...YOU PLAN TO FAIL!"

Here we are - New Year's Day 2014. 

January 1st for many means not only the beginning of another year, but with the beginning - a new page has turned - and we have prepared a list whether long or short of  things we want to do differently - we want to change. 

Resolutions

 

That dreaded "R" word comes into play. We know we need to improve. We begin with all the good intentions in the world, but before long, we are looking at an "F" word that we hate even more. 

Failure

 We have barely embarked on our new journey for change when we have given up and returned to former behaviors. Are you with me? One reason why we fail is we have failed to have a plan to succeed. Our hopes for change simply remain hopes and without a plan, we are not ready to embark on our journey. We are doomed to failure!

"If You Fail To Plan, You Plan To Fail"

What is on YOUR list this January 1st? What changes do you hope to make this year? What will be different? As a Christian, how can you give yourself a fighting chance for success? 

Here are some pointers:

Success

• Seek the Lord's direction first

• Find a God-given plan and commit to it

• Start where you are

• Set your plan into action

• Establish accountability

If we are truly serious about making needed changes, we must have a plan for success, and we must set that plan into action. 

God has a plan and a purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). When we have received His direction and plan to follow Him, He will give us all the help we need for success.

~Amen~