Careful What You Say

Matthew 12:36 (NKJV) ³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

I have always been a very firm believer in watch what you say.  I read something a while ago and believe that it's very true and should always be taken into consideration before we open our mouths to speak.  THINK:

Are your words true (Galatians 6:1; Proverbs 16:16,17)
Are your words helpful (Proverbs 16:24)
Are your words inspiring (Ephesians 4:29)
Are your words necessary (Proverbs 17:28; 29:20)
Are your words kind (1 Corinthians 10:23)

We are too quick to speak things that have no business being said, that are hurtful and judgmental. We are, often, not quick enough to speak words of encouragement and inspiration.  Most of the time the words fly right out of our mouth with out giving them a second thought as to how they may affect someone's life or heart.  Yet, when those words are spoken toward us or someone we love; we then become all too familiar with how wrong and unfair they really are. 

Proverbs 18:20-21 (AMP) ²⁰ A man’s [moral] self shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth; and with the consequence of his words he must be satisfied [whether good or evil]. ²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

This is also true about speaking negativity on ourselves; whether we tell ourselves we are not smart enough to do this or that, or that we always fail so why even try or even that we have made too many mistakes to come back now.  God doesn't do it, so what gives us the right to do it?  Life and death are in the power of the tongue, so if we are constantly speaking negativity then that is what our life is going to be filled with. 

           

At times, while carrying on a conversation, I am speaking things that have no business being said or can be hurtful and in the back of my mind I'm telling myself…now you know this isn't right.  Yet, they still leave my mouth and at the end of the day I find myself feeling badly because of the things I have said that I had no business saying.  Other times because I'm just too busy and caught up in what is going on, these words just fly out of my mouth.  I know that I will not always say the right or perfect thing, but I am praying that God will make me more and more aware of what I'm saying.  I want to be used by Him, I want people to see Him in me and they aren't going to see that if my words are unnecessary or hurtful.

We have to learn to speak life and edifying words of encouragement to ourselves and those we encounter. The mind and heart are very complicated and at times are like sponges; they retain and feed off of what is constantly spoken and done to them.  Even in the midst of a bad situation we have to learn to speak life and not to concentrate on the negative. To remember that we are still blessed and even in the midst of the storm we need to be uplifting and as positive as we can.

You're blessed because Jesus loves you!

When Do I Speak Up

These last couple of days I am fighting tears and just wanting to sit in a corner, cry and let go; but I know that I can't.  I'm very overwhelmed with sadness, heartache and confusion.  Confusion at the way things are being handled, heartache for the pain that those around me are going through and sadness that I can't take it all away to endure to myself or better yet, none of us have to go through it at all! 

Right now I feel powerless to change or to fix anything; I feel persecuted on many sides and can't understand why it's being allowed to happen or even why at a time like this it's even a thought to happen.  For many years I did what I thought was right; stayed instead of walking, thought I was protecting others, but now realize that I was just enabling them and allowed many things to happen because; well for many reasons.  I felt like I couldn't do it by myself, I felt I had to forgive to the point of letting it happen over and over again, and I was fearful of making some feel alone or condemned.  I felt that if I was trying to walk with God  I had no right to put my foot down and no right to tell someone they were wrong for this or that…I mean I am not God, I am not their judge…right!?! 

The truth of the matter is, while I thought I was helping, I have been standing in the way of God doing what He does best. Not just for those closest to me but, even for those that have entered my life through no choice of my own.  Many decision and choices have been made in the past based off of emotions, current situations and what others thought was best or simple just wanted. Now we are all left to deal with the consequences of those actions.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for forgiving…I'm the type of person that you can do me wrong one minute and the next I'll forgive you and give you a hug to seal the deal.  But, some where along the way I have failed to figure out how to stand up, to hold true to what I firmly believe in and not compromise my God given faith.

While I feel like I'm growing more and more in Christ, I realize that there are still many changes that need to be made.  However, I also realize that I can only control myself…that others are still going to do what they want.  Problem is, I need to figure out when and were do I draw the line, when do I speak up and to whom do I speak up to?  Trusting in God does not always mean sitting in silence, just praying and relying on my faith to carry me through; sometimes God calls us to step up, speak out and stand on our faith.  Now whether that's speaking the truth, putting your foot down or even walking away that's up to us to ask God to help us decide, but we do have to decide!

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NKJV) ¹³ Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

You're blessed because Jesus loves you!

Understanding

Last night I was talking with my son, Keondre, and he was very excited to tell me about something he learned in church on Sunday, needles to say I too was very excited to hear what he had to say. He said, I learned that God can just touch you with his finger and you will be healed...as he looked at the counter and pressed his little finger to it. My heart went from excited to heartache because I knew what was coming next. In my head I'm telling myself to keep your composer Terra and asking God to please give me the right words to say to my baby. Then he looked up at me and asked...why doesn't God do that for my brother?!?

What I want to say is; I really don't know baby, because I'm almost just as confused as you are as to why all this is happening! I know that I can't do that so I take a deep breathe and begin to try and explain as best I know how. I tell my son that God sees everything from way before we were born to long after we are gone and He has a plan for all of us. That God loves him better than anyone else ever could, even mommy, and He would never do anything that would not be best for him. I told him that God loves his little brother so very much and that even while he can't totally see it with his own eyes that God is taking care of him; that just because he hasn't healed him doesn't mean that He doesn't love him. I said to him that God is perfect and His ways are perfect, but it's ok that we don't understand. We just have to ask God to comfort us and to help us trust Him even when we think it is all unfair and when it hurts really badly.

I knew he was listening and heard much of what I said, but I saw tears well up in the corners of his eyes as he tried to fight them back. Later when we said our prayers he asked God to help him with his sadness over his brother, but still to heal his brother so that he can play and go to school and not have to use his wheelchair. This brought mixed feelings; part of me was happy to see that he understood that God can help him with how he feels about all of this, but still so very hurt and sad that I can't take all this away from him and especially from my little buddy Richard.

I'm going to be perfectly honest and say that I hate that my step son has to endure what no human should ever have to let alone a child and that some days, I as an adult, really don't understand. I know I have to trust God, but some days that seems so very hard to do especially with the way some things are being handled. At one time I was such a big part in certain people's lives and now I seem to be an outcast. My children have taken notice to this but, I do my best to stay positive for them and tell them that God is in control. Deep down, I know this is true, but sometimes it hurts more than I could ever put into words.

My daily prayer is that God will comfort all of us, help us to understand but, most importantly to trust Him. 

Proverbs 2:6 (NKJV) ⁶ For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Family Growth 3

Isaiah 41:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

It's been about two weeks since I've talked about our family growth progress, please forgive me for that. The prayer board is still on fire, my kids love putting up prayers and I love to see how much they think of other people and not about themselves all the time. My oldest especially, I'm close to believing that most of her friends have made it to the board for very serious reason. She genuinely cares for them and wants them all to seek and know Christ and for this I am ever grateful!

The daily devotionals have been going pretty well too, my younger two read them together and they take turns as to who reads them out loud. I'm finding that it's bringing up some questions from them too, which I love because it shows me that they are taking what they are reading seriously and wondering how they can apply it to their lives. It was a bit tricky finding one that was suitable for them to read together.  I didn't want the content to be to old for one and not old enough for the other, but I've found one that seems suitable and I will keep close watch to make sure that they are receiving God's word from it.

Our next venture is going to be me praying with them individually. Sometimes we are worried, scared or intimidated about individual issues and we won't share them with the rest of the family. So with this approach I am praying to help my children understand that there is no issue, no question or worry too hard or silly for God. My intent is to take one day a week with each of my kids and go to a quiet place with them and pray for the things that are important to or worrying them. Even though I am not able to be with the twins at this time I will still set aside a day of prayer for each of them as well. They may not be able to tell me the things that are on their minds or their needs, but God certainly knows and I will still lift my babies up to Him.

As the days progress until the next time I sit with them individually I will have them write down the things that are on their minds throughout the week so that they won’t forget and we can address these issues together.  Now of course if they feel that it needs to be talked or prayed about sooner or right then, we will do just that.  My prayer is to show my children that all of their needs, cares and concerns are God’s too, that He cares about everything that they go through and will be there for them through everything if they let Him.

Philippians 4:6-7 New Living Translation (NLT) ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Lip Service or True Service

Joshua 22:5 (NKJV) ⁵ But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

It’s easy to say words that are religious or to tell someone that you’ll pray for them or to pretend outwardly that we are walking the Christian walk, but are we really walking in the Spirit of the Lord?  Are we really practicing His word verbally as well as with both genuine action and love? 

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in “being” a Christian that we forget about walking as a Christian.  It’s not just about reading the bible, studying His word or even praying often.  Walking as a child of God requires so much more of us, much more than just lip service or being religious.  It requires patience and compassion, being a man/woman of your word and showing the love of Christ with all you encounter.  It requires a true dedication to His truth in spite of what we may feel, think or see.

God is not a sometime God, He’s not a feeling or a fleeting thought that comes and goes according to what we want or need; therefore being a child of God is not something we do from time to time. We don’t “sometime” take care of our children, just like we don’t expect God to "sometime" take care of us.  It can’t be an act or show to try and convince others or even ourselves, but instead a true dedication for Him through our hearts and actions! We are His advocates, He’s representatives for those who don’t know Him or haven’t given their lives to Him and let's be honest….He just flat out deserves it! 

We can't make a habit of talking a good game; of saying all the right words that make us sound like we are walking as a Christian, but instead we have to be true to it.  I mean think about it, if we are paying lip service then who are we really fooling?  Sure, we may be fooling the person(s) in front of us…but, what does that matter, we are not fooling God.  He is the one who sees and knows all, we should be trying to impress and honor Him yet we are too worried about looking good to others.

It's not always easy, trust me I know, it requires a true look at myself and the way I live my life. I've learned over the years to set real time aside for God, time for just Him. I pray often that He will purge my heart of anything that is not of Him, transform my mind and align the desires of my heart with His perfect will for my life.  He hears me, I know, because I feel a change within myself and my real desire to live life for Him.  My desire is that I will be the wife, mother and child of God that He has called me to be, that others will see Him in me.  It's not always easy, but neither is what Jesus did for me…so it is necessary! 

Mark 10:45 (NKJV) ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

You are blessed because Jesus love you!!

Through The Tears

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV) ⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Some days are so much harder than others.  Some days are so much more painful; like the nights when I’m rocking my 8 year old son as he cries himself to sleep because he misses his brother.  Like when he looks at me through tear stained eyes and says mommy I hate to see my brother like this and the only words of comfort I can muster so that I don’t burst into tears myself are; I know baby, but we have to know that God is taking care of him even if we can’t see it with our own eyes. I try to explain to my baby that he can talk to God. That he can tell Him it hurts, he doesn't understand and that he needs God to comfort and hold him.  I promised my son that He will because He said He will! 2 Corinthians 1:5 (NIV) ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

It’s heartbreaking when he asks when will he get to see him again and I don’t have a positive answer to give him because of some circumstances and with the distance between the two houses.  Especially when for a while they lived together and grew so close to each other.  After he finally drifts to sleep I crawl to my own little corner and cry my own tears of sadness and pain.  How do I explain to his sweet little mind and heart that this is all according to God’s will and we just have to trust Him when I sometimes, don’t even understand it myself??  How do you help him to comprehend that God sees everything from beginning to end and that His ways are perfect?  I know I can’t stay here sitting in my sadness and pain because this is not what God has for us but, for a moment…for a short time I want to just lay here and cry while God catches every tear that falls to my cheek and holds me while I can’t hold myself up. 

I know that He’s here; I know that He is holding my son and I know that no matter what happens He will always take care of him, of all of us! I will continue on; praying, offering God’s words of comfort and trusting His sovereign will for our lives.  I will not try to reason it out or use my words to try to explain away the pain.  We will go through this difficult time together doing our best to put God at the forefront and leaning on Him through constant prayer even when we don’t have the words to pray because I know the Holy Spirit will intercede on our behalf.  I don’t pretend that this is easy because it’s honestly one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I know for my son…for all my babies and my husband this is what I have to do.  I know that even when I can’t see or understand God’s plan it is still perfect and I will remain steadfast and holding on to His hand.  I know the pain in this life is temporary, but life with my Everlasting Farther is eternal.

You are blessed because Jesus loves you!

My little Blessings

2 Timothy 3:14-15 (NKJV) ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

I love being a mother; I have three beautiful children, 15 and 11 year old daughters and an 8 year old son.  Through some human choices I have also been blessed to be a step-mother to two beautiful twins, a boy and a girl age 7.  The term step-mom never seemed to give honor to what I am to them or what I feel towards them, so I much rather to say bonus mom;-).

            I'll be the first to tell you I'm not a perfect mom and I've made many mistakes. Sometimes my patience is lacking and I'm not the fondest of cooking.  At times I'll yell and don't always stick to my rules or punishment.  I'm good for crying when talking about or bragging on them, but love to do it just the same.  I love my babies, all five of them!  I call them the Culliver's Village.  Last year for mother's day they bought me a cake that had a sign on it that said Culliver's Village, I cried then too. 

            One thing I have always tried to teach my kids is about God; His unmatchable love and unfailing faithfulness.  That He will always be there for them even when we, their parents can't and that He is always a prayer away.  Also, that He is to be praised and thanked for everything that He has done.  A very strong and constant prayer of mine is to help them be so rooted in Christ that they will never fall from or leave Him.  We talk about Him all the time, pray to Him together and thank Him for how He blesses our family and friends. 

            It does my heart good when I hear of my oldest trying to win her young friends over for Christ, when I glance down and see my youngest son singing a gospel song out of the blue.  It makes me feel good when my middle daughter will stop whatever she's doing to help someone else because she has the love of Christ in her heart.  If my sweet twins see you praying they would quietly put their arms around you and join in the prayer, this always made me give thanks to God. 

            Our children are wonderful blessings loaned to us by God and it's our honored responsibility to raise them according to His will.  To help them grow up to honor, serve and praise Him as much as He so much deserves!  This isn't an honor to be taken lightly or for granted.  We can't love our children and say we want the best for them if we are not teaching them about God! 

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV) ⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The Reason

Psalm 34:1-3 (NKJV) 34 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. ² My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad. ³ Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.

            Sometimes I'm looked at like I'm crazy, like I talk about God too much.  Like every like aspect or instance of my life doesn't revolve around Him.  As if He doesn't have His hand in everything I do and if He doesn't then I'm the one making the mistake because He should! 

            God has been better to me than I ever could to myself.  He has carried me through every trial and tribulation I have ever had to go through.  He's kept me in spite of myself and because of His unconditional love and faithfulness. He has kept my husband and children safe with His hedge of protection and brought joy to our lives.  I can't even begin to tell all that the Lord has blessed me with.  I have truly been through too much not to worship Him.  My soul cries out because of His goodness and my prayer is that through my walk and through my talk I exalt Him just as He should be!  That everyone I encounter can see His light shining through me and reflecting off of my life.

            To bless the Lord is to honor and glorify Him with the highest of praise because He is worthy of all our praise.  Everything we have, everything we are is because of Him and His blessings that flow down on us.  There is not a moment in time that we can't find something to thank God for.  The breath in our bodies, our husbands, wives and children are reasons to praise Him.  Our jobs and the money they provide to take care of us and our needs…the list is never ending of reasons to praise and worship Him. 

            So…if I offend you with my continual talk with Jesus, with my constant reference to His goodness to me and my family or if I act like He has His hand in every detail of my life, don't expect me to apologize because I won't.  He is the reason for my life, the reason I am here and He deserves all of my praise!

You're Blessed because Jesus loves you!

Temporary or Eternal Fix

            How often do we convince ourselves that we can fix our problems?  How often do we use things to cover or numb the pain of it all?  Whether it's at the bottom of a bottle, in a man or woman's arms, on a plate or even through manipulation, it's always nothing more than a temporary fix or feel good to a deep down problem or issue.  So my question is; what good are we doing, what are we really accomplishing?  At some point we have to stop and realize that we can't fix these issues on our own because they always seem to rear their ugly heads again.

            I can tell you from experience it has done nothing for me but create more pain and often times more problems.  When my marriage was in trouble I tried everything of my own will to fix it.  Changing things about myself, giving into this or that, I even tried to manipulate certain situations to make them turn out the way I thought was best.  Honestly, it did nothing but make things worse.  Well, ok…sometimes it was a temporary fix, but it never lasted and created a "me" that God never intended me to be.  It's nothing but a vicious cycle that repeats itself over and over again.  Making us tired and filling us with feelings of incapability and worthlessness.  This is NOT what God created in us nor did He leave us here to deal with it on our own.

            I believe if we put as much effort as we do into these things that we think will solve our problems into serving and praising God that our pains, heartaches and issues will become less and less.  Now I'm certainly not saying we won't face some hard times because they come to make us strong.  To teach us as well as change and transform our minds into what He created us for, but they will be less and easier to go through when our Mighty God is our focus and on our side. 

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) ²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

            Taking on His yoke is to join together with Him.  Our burdens become lighter because He is carrying the load with us.  Through this we find peace for our souls because He is with us, He is guiding us and showing us the way.   I know this is hard to do sometimes when we feel like we are at our wits end and just can't take it anymore. We have to continually cry out to Him for guidance, for peace and for rest.  He is not a man that He should lie…He can't lie! 

            If you will, say this prayer with me.  Dear Heavenly Father, I humbly come to you giving you all the glory and honor, recognizing that without you I am nothing. I pray that you will forgive me of all my sins and teach me to walk away from anything that is not of You.  I give you thanks for all you have done for me, for your grace and mercy that has kept me even when I didn't realize I was in trouble.  Father I ask that you will reach out and touch each and every one of us, that your Mighty hand of comfort and peace will rest on our heads.  Praying that you will teach us to give our burdens to You, that we will learn to follow Your will for our lives and rest in Your loving arms.  Teach us to come to You and pray to You without ceasing, teach us to trust You fully with our whole lives and the lives of our loved ones.  We praise and thank You now for what You're going to do in our lives.  In Jesus Name, Amen!!

Many Names.

Most of us have nick names..Some were given to us by our parents when we were young babies and others were given by friend and family as we grew up.  Some we may like and others not so much, but how many of those named offer hope in our time of need?  How many of those names offer protection and healing when we need it?

            God wants us to know that He is truly our all in all, that He can fill every void and fulfill every need.  So much so that He has revealed to us His many names and their meanings.  He gave Himself a name for every circumstance we encounter and every need we possess, that is how much He loves us.  He wants us to know that there is nothing too hard for Him, nothing too far for Him to reach, nothing He doesn't understand and nothing He can't feel. I've called on many of His names and have always been blessed, not just in Him seeing me through, but by the mere fact that I know He loved me enough to show me how He is there for me! 

            Here are some of His many names, but I urge you to study the bible for more that will help you in your time of need.

Jehovah Ropha--(yeh-ho-vaw' raw-faw'), which means Our Lord who Heals.  (Exodus 15:26). Whether it's sickness in our body or a need of spiritual healing we can call on our Lord.

Jehovah Shalom--(yeh-ho-vaw' shaw-lome'), which means The Lord of Peace.  (Judges 6:23-24).  He can always quiet our minds and give us a peace that only He can give.

Jehovah Jireh--(yeh-ho-vaw' yir-eh'), which means The Lord will Provide. (Genesis 22:13-14). He can and will provide for our every need if will call on Him.

Advocate, which means making intercession to God on our behalf.  (I John 2:1).  What an honor and privilege it is to know that Jesus is praying to and speaking to God on our behalf.

Jehovah Rohi--(yeh-ho-vaw' raw-aw'), which means The Lord is my Shepherd. (Psalms 23).  He will lead us, guide us and order our steps through every thing we face.

Bread of Life, just as bread is necessary for life so is God for true life.  (John 6:32-35)

Author and Finisher of our Faith, which means He is God the Son who was the beginning of Christianity and he then died on the cross and was the final atonement for our sin.  (Hebrew 12:1-2). 

Redeemer, Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins by dying on the cross in our place. (Ephesians 1:6-7)

            These are only but a few of His mighty and wonderful names!!  He's everything we need, right when we need it and exactly how we need it.  He's so good like that and wants us to get to know Him, call on Him and trust Him for our every need!  Who wouldn't love a God like that!?!

Sometimes we need to encourage ourselves

Sometimes I can get very discouraged…whether it's a bad day, a poor choice, something that someone else has done to me or just flat out things not going the way I think they should that sends me to that pit, it's still a horrible place to be.  And even worse when we decide to camp out there…it starts to feel impossible to get out of.  Throughout the years I have learned to look to the ways God loves and blesses me during these hard times.  They are all around us, if we would just stop for a moment to see. 

Romans 5:8 (NKJV) ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.     

Romans 8:37-39 (NKJV) ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God gave up His only son to die for us; for sinners when He was not one Himself!  Now that is the ultimate showing of love that can never be duplicated. These verses assure us that nothing can separate us from His love.  We can also see the little, everyday, things all around us. 

            God's love shines through for me when I see that He has blessed me to be a part of five beautiful children lives even when they are not with me all the time.  He loves on me  when I come home from work and hear the thundering of my children's feet running to the front door to greet me and the many times throughout the day I hear those sweet words I love you from them. He shows me He loves me when my husband tells me that I am the most compassionate, forgiving and loving person he has ever known.  His love shines through when I watch my husband and son in the back yard playing ball together and my girls are drawing or reading in the house.

Knowing that the enemy tried to steal and destroy my marriage and family and yet we still stand is an ever present blessing of His unconditional love and faithfulness. Looking at my oldest and seeing her passion for God and her friends around her to meet Him is a blessing that puts me to tears often.  The people that God has placed in my life to show me support, encouragement and love is a blessing that I thank Him daily for.  Knowing that God will never leave me and is always listening is an unmatchable love that can't be described with mere words, but I will try to thank Him through my own life as a sacrifice to Him everyday.

Sometimes when we are discouraged we need to learn to encourage ourselves and remember all the blessings and ways that He loves us.  Think on those things, thank Him for those things and Praise His name because without Him we will always find ourselves in that pit.