Tag Archives: Jesus

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.

 

The Baby Left Behind Part 5

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Jesus' Baby Book Jesus' Baby Book Jesus' Baby Book Jesus' Baby Book Jesus' Baby Book*Matthew 1:18-25 The Birth of Jesus

*A Jesus Baby Book: Did your mom or dad keep a baby book for you? Ask if you can look at it. It will have pictures of you as a baby. It will tell interesting things about when you were young and how you grew.  You can make a baby book for Jesus. Think about the chapters you read in Matthew and  Luke. There are many things you learned about Jesus’ birth. Draw pictures of these things on some pieces of paper. Write Bible  verses that tell about each picture. Now stack the papers and punch two holes on one end. Thread a long piece of yarn through the holes. Tie the yarn to hold the papers together.

*My oldest took the challenge and drew each picture of her baby book about Jesus. For my other two we printed pages from the website below.

 http://www.coloring.ws/nativity.htm 

As a mother of three precious girls and one precious boy, I could not imagine having my own agenda on their birthday. Just think if I were to say I don’t have time for cake and presents, we’re too busy shopping for other people, we have to decorate the house for someone else! Their poor little heart would be broken. No, our world stops for our children’s birthdays. We plan parties, yes plural. We usually have a small one on their birthday and then another one on the following Saturday for all their friends to come to. We want to show them how much we love them and how special they are to us, so even more should we stop and celebrate the baby boy who came to save the world.

Thank you heavenly father for giving your only baby boy to die, so that we may live. Thank you Mary for obeying and trusting in the Lord. Thank you Joseph for not caring what the world thinks but holding true to what our heavenly father says. There are many lessons in this story to be learned, great character traits to follow after and verses to hold close to our heart. May we never forget the baby boy who came to give us this beautiful life we love and enjoy.