Tag Archives: God

Christianity Is Not About Rules

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If I was asked to sum up Christianity in one word, what would it be? Well, I would choose a four letter word, L-O-V-E, LOVE.

People, the church and religion has complicated Jesus!

I have four beautiful kids. Each time I gave birth, the nurse would put my sweet baby in my right arm and a large rule book in the other arm…no, not really. The nurse didn’t need to give me a rule book of do’s and don’t’s.

You see, when she placed my baby girls and my baby boy in my arms, I instantly felt LOVE. I wanted to be the best mom possible for them.  As I looked in their eyes, the love was so strong, at that moment I knew my life wasn’t my own. From that point on, my life was their’s! I was there to protect and guide them.

Is it required to have a rule book to be a parent? NO, but I now wanted all the information I could get my hands on to help me raise my children! Why, because I love them. Parents that truly love their children are constantly asking advice from doctors, other moms, and family members. They spend time reading books and blogs on parenting, terrible twos, potty training, teenage years, etc…that’s because when we love, we give our best to those we love.

How many of us take our kids to sports practice, dance class, piano lessons etc. multiple times a week or even drive an hour or two to their event every weekend? Why do we do it?  We do it because we love them, we will go the distance for those we love.

That goes the same for our relationship with God. When we ask Jesus into our life, we are instantaneously filled with LOVE. We quickly realize our life is not our own, but God’s. We don’t need a church to give us a list of do’s and don’t’s, but because we love Jesus with all our heart we want to read all we can about Him. When we love Him, we long to spend time with Him in prayer, talking to Him. You desire to build a close relationship with Him and when you deeply love Him, you never want to leave Him. You will possibly find yourself driving 40 to 50 minutes to church, three to four times a week…why, because you love Him.

To be a Christian is not complicated at all. Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and the rest will follow.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ~Deuteronomy 6:5

 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ~Matthew 22:37

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. ~Mark 12:30

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..’ ~Luke 10:27

 

 

 

Who’s at your center?

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20140913-105252.jpg“Whatever we place at the center of our lives will get the bulk of our care and attention.” -George Muller

To be totally honest and transparent…God at times was put on the back burner. I had a newborn to take care of or two toddlers and a newborn. Then there was my husband, the house, bills, and don’t forget about the mountain of laundry piling up! There was always something, always an excuse!

Thankfully, I realized I needed change. My priorities were wrong and my marriage was feeling it. There would alway be a “to do list”. There would always be something or someone screaming for my attention. I had to choose….God or all these distractions. You also have to make a choice and it’s not a one time affair, but everyday you have to choose…how much do you want God?

Signs that God is Not at your Center:
-weariness
-fatigue
-angry
-short temper
-anxious
-depression
-bitterness
-low self-worth
-tension with your spouse
-lack of self-control
-poor quality of sleep
-problems with critical thinking

Now I ask you…What’s at your center?

(The Message)
Romans 12:1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

 

I Want God

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20140808-195948.jpgWe need more of God, but we do not really want Him. The truth is, until the want matches the need, nothing will ever change. Needing without wanting is just a really good idea that never sees light. (Excerpt from Lisa Whittle’s new book, I Want God)

*Do you want Him or just need Him? Something to think about this weekend.

To PREORDER Lisa’s book, I Want God, CLICK here.

Do You Have The Regulator?

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HawaiiMarriage is made up of two people from different upbringings, personalities, ways of thinking, and maybe even different cultures. With all that going on, you add financial strain, pressures of work, a house to maintain and a couple of kids to raise and you have a pressure cooker ready to pop, unless…you have God at your center.

At the top of a pressure cooker is a regulator. The regulator releases the steam from inside the pot when it has built up. God is our regulator.

A couple of days a go my feelings were hurt by my husband. At that moment I could have exploded, put up a wall or even left the house, but I didn’t. Instead, I went to my closet and cried out to Jesus. I allowed Him to regulate the steam that was built up inside of me. I allowed God to remove the “me” out of the situation.

If ever you think you can handle your marriage on your own, be careful. It will be only a matter of time before you see an explosion! Don’t wait until it’s too late…ask God to be the regulator in your life and your marriage. Allow him to remove the steam and for healing to take place.

 

Is Your Glass Half Full?

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Do you ever walk around feeling half full, like something is missing? There are times I battle insecurity. It is a battle I bring to my Heavenly Father monthly and sometimes weekly.

During my struggles I can feel alone and unloved. It doesn’t matter how much my husband says, “I love you or you are beautiful,” it’s never enough! Like a glass that has a crack in it, no matter how much water you pour in, it will never fill up. The same thing happens, when my husband speaks words of affection, they slip right through the crack of my heart. Which leaves me doubting my husbands love for me, even though he verbally and physically shows me.

You have to love yourself first before you can receive love from someone else. If you don’t, you will never be satisfied with the love you are given.

It is not my husband’s job to fill in the cracks of my heart. He cannot fulfill me. I must go to God, he is the only one that can bring light to my thoughts of darkness.

Friend, stop relying on your husband to fill your void, if you don’t, it will leave you frustrated, while putting stress on your marriage. Take your thoughts captive and lay them at your Father’s feet.

Power Verses:
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ~2 Corn. 10:5

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. ~Romans 15:13