Walking with Christ

A few weeks ago I heard the following posed in a casual conversation: "So you go to church and you hear a great sermon. You get convicted and fired up that you are going to make a change, but that only lasts a few days. You get back to life and you just go right back to doing what you were doing. How do you make the change permanent, how do change your life to walk with Christ daily?"

This reminds me of what Paul said in Romans 7:19-21 "19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. "

This is actually human nature. We want to do good, but the simple fact is we are sinful and can not do it on our own.

So how do we evoke change in our life? Simple we stay in God's word constantly. One sermon a week is not enough to help us evoke change. We have to keep God and His commands on our mind every minute to evoke the desired change. As soon as we get back to work and life we focus on the world around us. God has called us to be in the world but to keep our focus on Him while we are in it.

I think back to the changes I've made in my life. In the past 10 years I have changed the music I listen to( now its just Christain), I changed the movies I watch (no rated r movies), I changed the tv I watched (no trashy tv shows for me and pretty much everything on tv is trashy). These are just a few. The biggest change in me is my thought processes. How did I make changes 8 and 10 years ago that I have stuck with? Well first of all God convicted me of these, while I was doing in depth Bible study 5 times per week. Then I made a committment to make the change. Then I prayed daily for God to help me make the change. I memorized verses that gave me strength to make the change. Most importantly I stayed in the Bible daily not just once a week.

It is impossible to walk with Christ when you only think about Him on Sundays. If you want to walk with Christ, make the committment and then follow through on the committment, do not follow your feelings follow your committment. The Bible says the heart is decietful above all things. Following our feelings will lead us astray, following Christ by true committment will lead us down the path of righteousness we desire. Have a Blessed Day!

Living Wisely

Have you ever wondered why some people seem to have it all together? They always make the right decisions and everything seems to always go their way. I think some of the reason why some people seem to never make a wrong decision or choice can be seen in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapters 1-4 are all about wisdom, which is something I pray for daily.

Proverbs 3:19-20 tells us that God used wisdom to lay the earth's foundations and by His understanding the heavens were put into place. Then verses 21-23 say, "My son, perserve sound judgement and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament around your neck. Then you will go your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble."

Wouldn't it be awesome to go through life and not stumble. The NIV Study Bible explains these verses by explaining the difference between discernement or discretion and sound judgement. Discernement or discretion is an ability God gives many people to think and make correct choices. Sound judgement is only given to those who follow Him. It includes discernement but goes even farther than that. Sound judgement includes the knowledge that comes from instruction, training, and discipline, and the insight tht results from not only knowing God's truths but applying them to your daily living.

I know in my life this has been true. The more I study and know God's word, the better my decisions in daily living have been. I think God's wisdom is one of the most important qualites we can seek from Him and we should do so diligently. After all God told Solomon that He could have anything he wanted, and he asked for God's wisdom. We too can have it, all we have to do is ask and be in His word. Have a Blessed Week!

The Power at Work Within Us

The Bible is full of references to God's power. My two favorite are found in Ephesians 3:16 and 3:20. Eph 3:16 "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being," NIV Eph 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us" NIV I think these verses are amazing. First they tell us that God's power is within us. Second they tell us that the same power He uses to accomplish more than we can ever ask or imagine is at work within us. The power God created the world with, the power God raised Christ from the dead with, the power that answers our prayers and provides daily miracles is within every born again believer. Sadly though most of us are living our lives in defeat rather than in the strength of His power. Ephesians 6:10 tells us to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. So how do we tap into that power? By daily getting down on our knees, turning ourselves over to Christ, repenting of our sins, praising Him and asking Him to unleash His mighty power in us! Friend everytime you feel down and defeated, remember you have access to the mighty working power!
Have a blessed day!!!

Why I Homeschool

Well it is that time of year with school starting back again. I guess you could say the "rat race begins". We sent our first child to kindergarten and we hated it. I didn't have children for them to be gone all day and never see them. People often look at me like they feel sorry for me when I say that I homeschool my children, but the truth is we love it. I love seeing my children grow, and learn. It is absolutely amazing to see a light bulb turn on in a child's head when all of the sudden they understand something. I love being with my children and I don't need to send them to school to get a break. Below is a further list of why I homeschool.

Why Do I Homeschool?

Why do I homeschool, mainly because God has called me to. This is the place He wants me at this time in my life. I don’t know how long I will be doing this or what the outcome will be, but God receives all the credit good or bad.

What would my child’s day be like if they attended school? They would have to wake up earlier than their natural tendencies. We would rush around to get breakfast and get dressed with me constantly saying hurry up. They would be gone at 7:30 am and not return home until 3:30pm. They would snack and have some free time until dinner, dishes, homework, bath, and bed by 8:30. I have my child’s mind for 6 hours the school has it for 8.

My child would spend all day with teachers that couldn’t possibly love and know them like I do. What happens if they don’t understand a concept in class and is too embarrassed to ask for help? What if they don’t perform they way they are expected and lose all their self esteem?

What type of peer pressures will they face? Will my child be strong enough to resist the peer pressure?

What type of values will they be taught? Will someone tell them that there is no right or wrong to do as they feel? What type of untruths will be fed to them? Will they be expected to know that the earth is millions of years old and was created by a big bang and not even be told the truth? How much damage control will I be able to do when they are taught the world’s lies (ie. Homosexuality, evolution, Hinduism etc.) At public school, whose God will they be learning about?

Will the teacher care about the different personalities of my children? What if their personality clashes with theirs?

Private school can take care of some of these fears, but between tuition, dress codes, supplies, parties, field trips etc it is very costly and still someone else if forming my child’s mind and personality.

It’s not what I know about school that scares me, it’s what I don’t know. At home, I know what they are learning while I am building a bond and relationship with them that will last forever.

Hope you have a blessed week!