Faith

A Look Back

Leave a Comment / January 13, 2026

The other day, while searching for something on Amazon Prime, a movie was suggested on the screen that we had watched years ago. We wouldn’t watch that movie today as God has so kindly been gradually convicting us of the things we set before our eyes since that time. There are many things I “used to watch” that I wouldn’t choose to watch today.

Sometimes I can find myself thinking even today, “oh, it probably wasn’t that bad” and turn something on for nostalgia’s sake. However, I almost always end up turning the movie or show off because I realize now that it simply doesn’t please the Lord. Sometimes it’s hard to turn something off. Mostly, I don’t miss my old entertainment but I need to be honest with you—sometimes it’s hard.

But when we saw that specific movie on the screen, my husband and I started talking about some friends that had encouraged us to watch it along with other things that were simply not beneficial to any believer. We had a period of time where we watched a lot of popular tv and movies and the reason for this was because of these friends, as we had mostly avoided it earlier in our lives.

When we started to drift apart from these friends, we were very, very sad. We had appreciated our friendship with them. However, we got used to life without them in it and moved on.

It wasn’t until we saw the movie pop up on the screen the other evening that we realized that God took something that was sad and hurtful to us, which certainly didn’t seem “good” to us at the time, and He used it to protect us and to move us away from something that was hurting us spiritually. We never really thought of that before.

And I have been thinking of two things to consider from this look back at our lives…

First, it’s a vivid reminder that God really does work all things for our good (Romans 8:28). But it doesn’t always feel good. And it doesn’t always seem good. And we might not know for years and years later of any good that came from it. Perhaps we may never find out. But we need to trust Him. We need to trust that God is good and that He will fulfill His promise: If we love Him, then all things will work for our good.

Second, it’s a convicting reminder to be the kind of friend that encourages and builds up our friends in the Lord, rather than the kind of friend that leads people towards worldliness and sin.

It’s not just about entertainment—although that is a sadly overlooked problem among those who profess Christ. It IS a big deal and it changes us, whether we believe it does or doesn’t.

I can’t even begin to express how much difference it made in my walk with God as I intentionally began to remove worldly entertainment filled with bad language, sexual immorality, violence, and vain humanistic philosophies (the most subtle of all! and found in even the most innocuous entertainment) from my life. Not that I ever watched, listened to, or read really bad stuff. We can always rationalize, can’t we?

Even today, I can still catch myself trying to rationalize. Thankfully, I am now at least aware that I need to really pay attention to what I am allowing in my mind. I really encourage you to do the same.

Entertainment of all kinds—what we watch, listen to, and read—is a big old open door for Satan to implant his philosophies and perspectives in our minds. It’s just so dangerous. NONE of us are so spiritually strong that we can withstand the barrage of wickedness that comes through entertainment. There will be some kind of collateral spiritual harm. There always is, whether we are willing to admit it to ourselves or not.

But, it’s not just entertainment. We can also, if we aren’t careful, lead people in things like gossip, anger, and grudges; in encouraging people in humanistic and psychological philosophies; we can be a stumbling block by drinking alcohol; we women can tempt a man to lust by wearing immodest, revealing clothing.

Another very common way we lead people towards the world is by only discussing the temporal things of this life—the news, work or career, sports, our children and their doings, fashion, celebrities, etc. There is nothing innately wrong with discussing these things but when God and His Word rarely, or never, come up in our conversations or when these things are not discussed in light of God and His Word, it shows something about where our hearts are and it leads people towards the world, rather than towards Christ.

There are a lot of ways we can lead people away from Christ instead of towards Him.

Honest self-examination is the first step to determining if we are helping God’s kingdom or hindering it.

Of course, none of us will help 100% of the time. That’s never the goal because it’s not even possible.

But may our lives, as a rule, lead people towards Christ. Jesus says we are His friends if we do what He commands (John 15:14). May we be shining examples of leading a life of submission and obedience to God and His Word, rather than leading a life of “doing just enough to get by”, while clinging to the world or our sin.

And so there are two things I’ve been reflecting upon as I have been thinking about those cherished friendships that simply…disappeared. I have no idea where those friends are today and how the Lord has led them in the area of entertainment. Perhaps He has led them on a similar journey.

One thing we can be sure of—the Lord will lovingly and faithfully lead anyone who seeks Him. One step at a time, He will conform us into His image and use all things for our good and His glory.

May we be faithfully examining ourselves and seeking to humbly obey Him as we take the path of growing in Christ.

Peace in Tribulation

2 Comments / November 4, 2025

John 16:33 tells us that we will have tribulation in this world. In the chapter before and the chapter after, Jesus reminds us that we will be hated by the world. He says this in both chapters. It isn’t “you might be” or “you could be”. It is clear: To follow Jesus is to be hated by the world. Jesus puts it like this in John 17:14–

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥; 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥.

Can I be honest for a moment? This is why I am suspect about what is going on in our country today. It goes completely against what Jesus told us to expect from the world. It doesn’t say the world will embrace Jesus. It says that the world will hate Him…and His followers.

So if that is true (and this message is throughout the New Testament) then thoughtful Bible students must ask: Are these people actually following the true Jesus?

With just a bit of digging, it becomes clear that they are not. It may be that they are deceived. Some are most likely purposely deceiving for personal gain. But, if the Bible is our litmus test, then what is passing for Christianity today just…isn’t.

But this little verse in John 16 is such a comfort, given that our tribulation will not just be the normal stuff of life but will also include hatred from the world (which includes those who proclaim a Jesus that is not from scripture). Hatred, rejection, isolation, gossip…these are painful things to endure.

But Jesus reminds us: Yes, we will have tribulation in the world. We are not going to be spared tribulation. But we will have peace if we stay focused on Him.

Have you ever been in your home, by the fireplace or wrapped in a blanket, totally comfortable and at peace, while a bad storm raged outside?

The wind blew, the rain poured down, the thunder cracked, but you were safe inside your cozy home.

The peace of God is our safe place in our heart and mind. The storms will rage. The hurricanes will come and the unsettling winds will blow. Trials will threaten to undo us. But God’s peace settles into our hearts and gives us a safe place to weather the storm.

Let me just quickly add here: We will have no safe place to retreat to in our hearts if we do not surrender our will to God’s will in any given situation, be it small or large. (I know this from my own personal experience. With acceptance comes peace.)

Life is full of tribulation. Jesus told us to expect this. And that tribulation will sometimes come from directions we least expected. Sometimes it will come from people we trusted.

But Jesus reminds us: Yes, we will have tribulation but we are not like the world, hanging on to false hopes and fairy tale pretend gods.

Jesus is real. Jesus is God. And Jesus has promised, if we will but look to Him, to be the source for peace through it all.

Who’s Really Inside?

1 Comment / October 28, 2025

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to spend the weekend with my parents at the beach. It was extra fun, as the kind couple who allowed us to use their beach house had a street-legal golf cart that they said we could use. And so off we set on our adventure of exploring our favorite beach town from a golf cart!

Traveling down streets unknown to us before, we came across beautiful new houses, as well as small cottages that had been there for a long, long time. Most houses were beautifully cared for, while just a few sat a bit forlorn, needing a new coat of paint or some landscaping.

At one point, we went around a corner and we saw a brand new—rather large—building. It was cream-colored with black shutters and looked rather like a hotel…but not quite. As we traveled the block, the building became one story and stretched out the entire block. Curious to see what the building was, we turned the corner to find out as we came to the end of the block.

Lo and behold, what we saw surprised us all. For right behind the single story “building” (which ended up being only about two feet wide) sat the town’s electrical plant. None of us had even noticed the wires and towers behind the one story building.

We drove off and then I told my husband to turn around so I could take a photo (see below). I had been reading about the Pharisees and I knew that what we were seeing was a little like the Pharisees. They looked all nice and proper on the outside but they were downright ugly inside. Jesus called them whitened sepulchres (or whitewashed tombs)—

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)

We often hear stories of pastors or celebrities that “fall into sin” but these things do not happen in a vacuum. Many people put on an act and pretend to be something they are not. This is not unusual.

Oftentimes, the ugliest sins are hidden behind a “Christian” facade.

So many pretenders. So many liars. So many wolves in sheep’s clothing. They come as angels of light but they seek to starve your soul and take your eyes off the true God, the real Jesus, and the Bible.

But you know, these aren’t the only pretenders. I thought it was interesting to read this morning—

Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (John 12:42-43)

Here we see chief rulers pretending not to believe on Jesus Christ because they loved the praise of men more than they loved God.

What an indictment! May this never be said of us.

Some people pretend to be something they aren’t because they lack courage and they love themselves and the praise of men more than they love God and the truth.

So how does this apply to us? Those of us who have been saved by faith in Christ alone are new creatures. And so what is inside of us should be consistent with what is outside of us.

There should be no hypocrisy in the life of a believer.

I remember years ago, someone using that verse about God looking on the heart, while man looks on the outside (I Samuel 16:7) as a reason to look and live like the world.

But that isn’t what that verse means at all. We can know this by reading this verse in the context of the rest of scripture.

God expects our outside to match our inside. We cannot be a new creature inside without looking like a new creature on the outside. All throughout the New Testament we are given the description of the true believer. We are told what God wants us to look like.

We will never be able to match that description perfectly, of course. But, through examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5), by proving all things and holding fast to what is good (I Thess. 5:21), and by being diligent to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10-11) we will be sure to continue moving in the right direction.

Remember: It’s about direction, not perfection.

These things we are called to aren’t meant to be burdensome. We know that because Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).

If we are feeling burdened; if these things we are called to do not feel easy or light, well, then, perhaps we are a little like those chief priests—loving the praise of men more than we love the Lord. Having our souls entrenched in the things of this world, we struggle to turn from things that are not building us up in the faith. Loving the world and loving our sin keep us from growing as we should.

As we become less enamored with the things of this world and as our hatred for sin grows, the heavy burden we were feeling about holiness, turning from the world, and living for Jesus grows lighter and lighter.

And just to be honest, this only began to change for me when I began to read the Word—to really study it—for myself personally.

If we genuinely want to grow but the burden feels so heavy, then we must pray that God will give us that desire and open our eyes to what is keeping us fettered and imprisoned. What is keeping us from feeling the freedom we have in Christ to live a righteous life for God?

By the way—not to get too off topic—however, I feel like it is important to mention—

We are free to live righteously. We are not free to sin and we are not free to love the world and be like the world. This is so clear all throughout scripture but Romans 6 is a great place to start if you want to know more.

Life is full of challenges and one of those challenges is to be real and authentic. To be a godly person on the inside and the outside. Wherever this is not taking place, there is hypocrisy. God hates hypocrisy.

May we be those who shine the genuine light of Christ and may those who see that light find in us an example of consistency. May we be the same person both inside and out.

The facade that hides the electrical plant

The Butterfly Method

2 Comments / September 9, 2025

I enjoy a well-written novel. Always have. Sometimes it’s just wonderful to lose yourself in a good story. Of course, the challenge is finding one that doesn’t dishonor the Lord and His Word. And quite a challenge that is.

A few weeks ago, I decided to read a Historical fiction novel that is labeled “Christian”. I don’t have particularly high expectations with this label anymore and I am always curious to see if it really IS Christian. Most skirt around the Gospel and remain pretty vague but, thankfully, they aren’t filled with offensive content.

This particular novel, however, was interesting in that it basically promoted the belief that everyone is saved (what is called universalism). The author basically took all the happy and comforting promises from scripture and applied them to everyone.

Jesus’s death saved every person in the book and, thus, they were all entitled to God’s wonderful promises. There was no sin. No repentance. No Gospel. No indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No sanctification. God loves everyone and, therefore, everyone is going to heaven. Sure, it’s because of Jesus that everyone can feel so loved but why Jesus even had to die if there is no sin is simply never explained.

A few days later I was listening to an exposition on Ezekiel (I have been trying to understand this book at a basic level as I was reading it) and the teacher, in order to help us understand the context of the book, told us to turn to Jeremiah 29. In the midst of that, he asked how many people love verse 11 and have embraced it as a promise to themselves personally—

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

He went on to say how it is such a bad practice to take these Old Testament verses that are specifically promises for Israel and apply them to ourselves.

He then went on to call this the “Butterfly Method” of reading the Bible. People just flit and float to the happy verses and take them for themselves. They imbibe the pleasant promises and the verses that bring good feelings. And then completely ignore the hard-to-understand and the unpleasant.

In fact, they even flit to promises that weren’t for them because they are such happy promises. The promise in Jeremiah 29:11 is not for us. Admittedly, there is a principle behind the promise that is repeated in the New Testament (Romans 8:28-29) but we mustn’t pull verses out of context in the Old Testament and apply them to ourselves. A lot of false teaching has been a result of this practice. As serious Bible students, we need to understand the difference between a specific promise and a principle.

If we take a step back, we can see why it is so tempting to use the Butterfly Method of scripture study. We live in a culture that thrives on the pleasant and the good. We love a good happy ending. To focus on anything unpleasant or negative has become one of the greatest sins in this culture.

We have been steadily brainwashed with the message that “positive is good” and “negative is bad”. This is a very destructive message.

And here is the thing…

Is the Bible true or is it false? Either the entire Bible is true. Or the entire Bible is false.

We simply cannot just pick and choose what we like from the scriptures, while ignoring or changing the passages we don’t like.

That is simply intellectually dishonest. And it is self-serving.

The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. It is cohesive throughout and proves itself over and over for the serious student who takes the time to actually study it.

The entire Bible IS true. We may not understand it all and we may even abhor some of its messages, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.

Oh, that we may be courageously willing to accept the difficult messages while, at the same time, embracing the wonderful promises. It isn’t an either/or. It is always AND. We need to study and accept both.

May we be wise and courageous Bible students who trust in God and His Word—every single word of it.

The Wheat and the Tares

Leave a Comment / May 31, 2025

Recently, I decided to research some reviews for something we are preparing to buy. Reviews can be tricky because some people are never happy. But you can generally find a trend if you look hard enough.

But this got me thinking. Have you considered that religion is the one thing you are not allowed to honestly review? It’s the one thing that is considered off-limits to critique, evaluate, or examine.

Why is this?

It’s because religion, in all its forms, has become completely and utterly subjective. The individual gets to decide what is right for them (they are the judge), rather than God deciding what is good and right (He is the judge and has given us His Word to show us what is good and right).

While lots of people calling themselves Christians would never admit that they believe in universalism (everyone is going to heaven), they do believe in a form of it (everyone who “believes in Jesus” is going to heaven—no matter if their Jesus is in direct opposition to the Jesus of the Bible; no matter if they utterly ignore God’s Word; no matter that they live in sin and worldliness without conviction.)

I am not sure I realized until just now how we have been so deeply affected by relativism. Of course, I knew at some level. But it has so exponentially exploded so that you aren’t “allowed” to criticize anything. And if you do, you are the worst of the worst. You are the unloving, unkind one. YOU are the wicked, evil one.

It doesn’t matter if you have Bible verses in context as an argument. How dare you argue against someone’s opinion or feelings?

But opinions or feelings never inform true religion. My opinions and feelings are irrelevant to how Christianity is defined and lived out. And so are yours. I am no judge. None of us are. Our desire should be to proclaim the Word of God in its entirety. The Bible contains the most beautiful promises for God’s redeemed child. It also contains difficult commands that are not pleasant to my flesh. It has painful truths and delightful encouragement. Every single word of it is true and we don’t get to pick and choose what we want.

The Bible is what makes Christianity an objective religion. We don’t get to just go by our feelings, wherever they lead us. And, honestly, would we even want to? Oh, thank the Lord, we are not dependent upon our feelings for they will always end up leading us astray and away from God.

Many truths of scripture do not feel good. Many lies of the devil feel great. We can’t go by what we feel.

I was talking to one of my daughters last night and we were talking about how this subjectivity has infiltrated the churches—almost all churches— now. To the point that there are few Christians who don’t subscribe at some level to this feelings-oriented “Christianity”.

Who is saved? Who isn’t? The wheat and the tares are basically indistinguishable now (Matthew 13:24-30) and I certainly don’t know. But what I do know is that scripture is the basis for true, genuine Christianity and it will continue to be my guide, my litmus test, and my anchor.

If what someone is saying doesn’t line up with the Bible, I will be skeptical. If some famous celebrity is claiming to know Christ while boasting about still living in sin, I will assume he is lying. If some new trend comes on the scene to help me experience “God’s presence”, I will run.

Just because someone names the name of Jesus does not make them a genuine Christian. Remember—even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:17). Anyone can say words. It is our actions that prove our words.

So where does grace come in? Grace is an important word here because many people are blind to certain things. In fact, I would venture to say we are all blind at some level, no matter how much we love the Lord. It is the nature of humanity.

The other thing to remember is that true believers can resist certain truths because of what following the truth would cost them. I resisted a certain truth for 15 years. My conviction of it would come and go through those years, while I continued in a pattern of something that was not pleasing to my Savior. I praise the Lord for His patience with me over those years.

And so, we must have grace. True believers can be blind and can resist certain truths. We are not the judge and we are not God. We can’t know what is going on in any heart.

But the one thing we can do—and we can do with fervency—is pray. Ask God to save them or to grow their faith—He knows which is needed. Pray for those you see who are blind or are resisting the truth. Pray that God would open their eyes and soften their hearts.

And then, while we are at it, let’s pray the same thing for ourselves. Oh, that our eyes would be open and our hearts be teachable to the things God tells us in His Word.

We must just continue to do the next right thing as we endeavor to avoid the works of the flesh, walk in the Spirit, and crucify our flesh (Galatians 5). And this lifestyle is not burdensome to us because we have a new heart. It is the genuine Christian’s heart’s desire to live in this way and to please our Heavenly Father. Oh, our flesh may argue with us sometimes but, deep down inside, we want to be righteous.

May we not allow anyone to hoodwink us into thinking that we can worship or act any old way we want to and still follow Jesus. That is just not true, according to scripture. God has given us very specific guidance on what our lives should look like after salvation and those who are genuinely saved desire to follow this guidance.

May we hold onto the Bible with all our might as we live in the midst of this relative, subjective, groundless religion called “Christianity” (which clearly isn’t Christianity at all).

Lift Your Glad Voices!

3 Comments / April 17, 2025

There is nothing like death to remind us that this life is fragile and fleeting. Whether it comes with a shock or it comes gradually, it is a deeply painful process.

A few years ago, I memorized I Corinthians 15:55-57–

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

This passage takes on such deeper meaning when death hits a fellow believer for it teaches us that we have victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How can this be?

Because when Christ rose from the grave, He rose victorious over death! And so we do not weep as those who have no hope.

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (I Thess. 4:13-14).

Over the course of the past year, I have attended what feels like far too many funerals. And I have noticed something: There is a generally striking difference in the funerals of the saved and the unsaved.

It is because when a redeemed child of God says good-bye to this old world, it is not final. For all of us who are redeemed, death is not the final answer. We will see them again in glory, just as the Bible says.

As we approach the morning we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, I have been reminded of all that Christ accomplished on the cross. Christ’s death and resurrection is the most blessed, most important, most loving, and most incredible thing that has ever happened in this world.

Faith in Jesus Christ alone leads to LIFE. It leads to victory over DEATH. So that even when a believer dies, they are not saying a final good-bye but, rather, “see you later”.

From our human, earthly perspective, death does really sting, doesn’t it? It’s painful and full of grief. It’s an event like no other in the lives of those who loved the departed one.

But it is not final if the one we loved is a redeemed child of God. We will see them again. And that sting we feel is only temporary, as we look forward to that day we will meet Jesus face to face and have that glorious reunion with all those who went on to heaven before us!

Death is not final and it’s all because of Jesus. May we lift our glad voices in triumph on high, for Jesus hath risen, and man shall not die! 

LIFT YOUR GLAD VOICES

Lift your glad voices in triumph on high,
For Jesus hath risen, and man shall not die.
Vain were the terrors that gathered around Him,
And short the dominion of death and the grave;
He burst from the fetters of darkness that bound Him,
Resplendent in glory to live and to save!
Loud was the chorus of angels on high,
“The Savior hath risen, and man shall not die.”

Glory to God, in full anthems of joy;
The being He gave us death cannot destroy.
Sad were the life we must part with tomorrow,
If tears were our birthright, and death were our end;
But Jesus hath cheered the dark valley of sorrow,
And bade us, immortal, to Heaven ascend.
Lift then your voices in triumph on high,
For Jesus hath risen, and man shall not die.

(Hymn by Henry Ware, 1817)

The Buzzy Bothersome Fly

2 Comments / October 1, 2024

The fly was one of those kinds of flies. You know the kind with the extremely loud buzz that seems extra agitated and can’t sit for more than a second?

This is what greeted me the other morning as I sat down for my quiet time in our sun room. I debated for a second. Should I get a fly swatter? But it was so very agitated that it would be impossible to find it, much less swat it.

I sat down to see what would happen. The buzzing could be heard from across the room. It was so loud and distracting. It would move closer and closer to my head and then off it would go again. At one point, I did grab the fly swatter but it moved way too fast and just wouldn’t land.

So I sat down again. And tried to focus on my Bible.

Eventually, it either landed somewhere or flew to a different room because I noticed that it was finally quiet. I have no idea what happened to it. I never saw it again.

Distractions that come at us on a daily basis are a little like that buzzy bothersome fly, aren’t they?

They buzz around us loudly, demanding our attention. You can almost hear them saying, “chase after me…”

They keep us from prayer, from meditating and studying scripture, and from doing the good works the Lord has planned for us, such as caring for our families as we should or acts of loving service to others. Always insisting that they are more important, these buzzing flies have our full attention for far too long before we even realize what happened.

These flies can come in the shape of emails, social media, and news. They are things like entertainment, hobbies, sports, or overcommitment. Sometimes the “flies” are not bad things but they keep us from the best things.

For me, personally, my greatest buzzy bothersome fly is my phone. This small device demands my attention even when I am with people I love. I see other people who may suffer from this same distraction, as well. They hold the device when they are with family or friends, staring intently at it.

I wonder why do I do this? Why do I care about anything on my phone when I am with someone I love? And why does it call my name when I am spending time with my Lord?

Be rest assured that I am writing this with myself in mind. I am not judging anyone else. You may have a good reason that your phone is demanding your attention that no one else knows. This is a really personal thing because, generally, no one knows why the screen we are staring at is so important to us at that moment. Only we can examine our phone usage (particularly during our Bible study/prayer times or in the presence of others) and determine if it is unnecessary or even rude. But I believe it’s a pretty important question for many of us. One that needs an honest answer.

I think there is a good explanation for this innate drive to stare at this powerful object (and an intentional, very evil purpose) behind it all but that is not the purpose of this post.

No, the purpose of this post is to encourage us all (myself included) to examine what is distracting us from our best, most God-honoring life? And then to intentionally go about changing it, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Consider for a moment, if you will, a stick in a fast-flowing stream. What will keep that stick from flowing downstream? Nothing can or will unless someone intentionally picks it up from the stream and removes it.

We are like that stick in a stream that is quickly flowing away from growing in godliness and moving us towards a status quo, ineffective life. Our lives will not change unless we decide to intentionally change it. Yes, true and lasting change is impossible without the Holy Spirit, Who is there to give us the strength and help we need. But we need to remember that He’s not going to just swoop in and change us without any effort on our part (see verses below).

Effort is hard and some of us just feel…unmotivated. But may we not be so unmotivated that we stop living with intention. Even little changes can reap big benefits. What is one change we can make today that will start us moving in the right direction?

Our intentional efforts, through the help of the Holy Spirit, to be conformed to the image of Christ and to not be conformed to this world will shine the light of the Gospel into this dark, weary world. And it will encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ, reminding them that He does have the power to change those who want to be changed.

But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. (2 Thess. 3:13)

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

The Crunchy Grass (with a personal note at the end)

2 Comments / September 23, 2024

I walked across my yard the other day and heard the grass crunch beneath my feet. At the time, there was no rain in sight and we had missed what they were calling for the week before. The grass was brown and dry and, yes, crunchy. It desperately needed water.

Unlike thick green grass, which is plush and inviting, this grass looked ugly and felt very unpleasant to walk on or sit on.

As I took another step and heard another crunch, I had the thought that our spiritual walk is just like this when we are not consuming the water of the Word.

You see, the grass just needs some water. And, in fact, on Saturday night we had 3/4” of rain and it is amazing how quickly it is turning green and soft again.

We believers are no different. Have you noticed how quickly you are to be selfish, indulgent, angry, proud, or give in to the flesh in any other way when you aren’t in the Bible and meditating upon it?

I certainly have. It feels like fighting the flesh is so hard. And, in fact, if I am not in scripture, I may even forget to care! I become dry and dull and unpleasant. Oh, we may give the appearance of being lush and green, for that’s what hypocrites do. But, inside, we feel spiritually barren.

Grass needs the rain to thrive and Christians need the Word.

There is no other way. Going to church may be helpful, as may listening to sermons or reading a good book that points you to the truth. Spiritual discussions with friends can help as you practice “iron sharpening iron” as the book of Psalms says. But there is no replacement for reading and studying the Word on your own, in context.

I know I have mentioned this so often, but I learned this way too late in my life. The first forty plus years of my life were spent listening to “Christian” radio shows, reading devotionals (one verse and commentary about the verse), and trying to stay away from the “worst” in the world, while indulging in the things that weren’t “so bad”. This method of Christian living left me dry and dusty and I didn’t even realize it.

But when I began to very intentionally study the Bible and then, later on, began to memorize verses and passages, it all changed. God has provided a very simple way for us to be vibrant and growing believers and it took me far too long to find it.

And while I’d like to say I have achieved perfection in this area it’s obvious to those who know me that I certainly have not. Even green grass has its issues, doesn’t it? There can be insects or disease in even the most beautiful grass. Just as this green grass can struggle, so, too, can a vibrant growing Christian. Our problems and temptations do not disappear when we start reading the Word.

But I will testify that our ability to wage war against sin and to recognize lies changes. The length of time it takes to surrender to the Lord and His will shortens. Studying God’s Word and filling our mind with His promises and desires for us as believers sanctifies and grows us.

But we have to actually pick up the Word and read and study it. If you can read this, you can do this. I am nothing special. God, in His awesome grace and lovingkindness, led me to study His Word and to understand its importance. This has become my main focus here at Growing4Life…to encourage other believers to do the same. God has given me this platform and I believe this is why.

Of course, it is probably good to remind you here that I still have my “crunchy” days (and even weeks). Recognizing this truth doesn’t automatically mean you are eternally green, unfortunately. But recognizing this truth does help you know where to intentionally turn when you find yourself in that state again. Just as the water so quickly revives the grass, so, we, too, are quickly revived when we start watering our soul with the Word once again.

I don’t know where you are today. I don’t know if you are dry and crunchy both inside and out. I don’t know if you are pretending to be lush and green, all the while knowing, deep down inside, that you are faking it. What I do know, however, is how to fix the barren, discouraging state of your heart.

And that is to get in the Word and really spend time there. God has graciously provided His Word to exhort and encourage us. It is only through His Word that we can grow and thrive in our Christian walk. Oh, may we believers recognize the wonderful and never-ending treasure within the pages of scripture!

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

A Personal Note: Over the course of studying Revelation and through various other means, I have been vividly reminded of the truth of what lies ahead, both temporally and eternally, for those who do not trust in Christ for their salvation. One day, perhaps very soon, we will not be here to tell our unsaved family and friends about the Gospel or help them understand what is coming on this world. They will be bewildered at our disappearance and will be susceptible to many lies at that point.

It is with this in mind, that I have created a “To Those Who Are Left Behind” page here at the blog. You can find it here and I have also included it in the menu above. I have no idea if it will be of use to anyone now or in the future, but, for some reason, I felt compelled to do this. The world waxes worse and worse in every way and I just don’t know how long we are going to be here. Jesus could come tomorrow or perhaps not for ten years but, whenever it is, I wanted to have something up on the blog for those who are left behind when it happens.

That Day Is Coming

2 Comments / July 23, 2024

There have been so many reminders for me this year that life is but a vapor. Anything can happen to snuff out life at any time. Sometimes people are spared and other times they aren’t. Our days are numbered and God alone knows how many there will be (Job 14:5-7). Indeed, His sovereignty rules over all.

We were given a vivid reminder of God’s sovereignty yet again last week. We had gone camping with family and I had taken the five oldest grandchildren to the playground. A few minutes after we got there, I saw my mom walking towards me. “Did you hear what happened?” she asked. She proceeded to tell me that the electric pole (that fed one whole half of our campground) had fallen on our camper when there was a gust of wind. We were told to remove ourselves from our camper and our campsite immediately.

As I stood back a ways staring at that pole, I couldn’t stop thinking about what could have happened or stop thanking the Lord. Most of the family had been sitting quite near to that pole when it had gone down. My husband had been inside the camper. Had it fallen in a different direction… Other scenes played out in my mind as I considered the “what-ifs”. Why had God spared us such terrible heartache on vacation when other families are not spared? Just recently, I read of the little girl of a Christian family who was killed by a splintering badminton racket while they were on vacation. We can’t know His reasons or His purposes. Sometimes, we don’t understand His timing. But we can be thankful for each day we are given. Each one is like a precious jewel; a gift that will eventually no longer be given.

It is such a vivid reminder that we are ALL going face Him at some point. We may get a terminal diagnosis and have a bit of time to contemplate where we are going to spend eternity. But we may not.

A few weeks ago, I was at the funeral of someone whose eternal state was undetermined. We had the opportunity to share the Gospel with this man whom my husband had been friends with for many years. At one point, we thought he understood. But our last visit with him in the hospital left us both discouraged. He seemed to be basing his salvation on his own goodness rather than on Christ’s righteousness. We were disheartened.

His was an extremely difficult funeral to sit through. The pastor didn’t know the deceased and he read scripture passages and readings from a book he held in his hand (not a Bible but some kind of book specifically for funerals, I assume).

As this pastor spoke, he claimed the promises from scripture for the man whose life had been snuffed out by cancer. As I thought about this, I thought of how many profess Christ and claim the promises of the Bible but never live for Him or follow His commands.

Are the promises of scripture for those who lived their entire lives living in sin and loving the world? Are they for the person whose entire focus for their entire life was on their own dreams, desires, and delights? Are they for the person who never repented of sin? Who never felt convicted of anything? Who lived just like the rest of the world? Who never even thought about following Christ’s commands?

They are not. The Bible’s promises are for the genuinely saved person who recognizes their sinfulness, turns from it and relies on Christ alone for salvation; who takes up their cross, denies self, and follows after Christ.

We can live for Christ for our entire lives or it may be for just the few minutes we have before we die. We know from the thief on the cross and from the parable of the field that salvation is available to all who are still breathing. But it does yield a true change of heart whenever it occurs.

The Bible gives us a clear description of those who can claim the promises of God. It shows us how their desires and priorities change after salvation. Some passages to study are Matthew 5, John 15, Colossians 3, Galatians 5, I John 2. There are so many more. But this can get you started. These passages describe the evidence found in a life that has truly been redeemed by Christ.

One day we will all come face to face with God.

We will either face God as a repentant sinner saved by grace through Christ alone; as one who has been given a heart of flesh along with changed desires. If we are God’s own redeemed child, then we will be welcomed by our loving Savior to the place He has prepared a place for us (John 14:1-4). The Bible says that the Lord views the death of His saints as precious (Psalm 116:15).

OR we will face God as an unrepentant sinner with a heart of stone, still clinging to sin and this world; trying, in vain, to claim that that our “good deeds” were enough to render us right with God and give us admittance into heaven on our own merit. Those who never turned to Christ will find out too late that they have no merit to offer and that salvation and eternal life are found in Christ alone.

I can’t make you or anyone else believe the Bible is true. I can’t convince you that God’s Word teaches that the evidence of a true believer, according to God’s Word, is a life lived for Christ that distances itself more and more from sin and from the things of this world (never perfectly, of course, but always growing and changing, be it ever so slowly or quickly…) It’s a life that submits to and obeys God’s Word.

God isn’t interested in our “decision for Christ”. Anyone can make a decision. What matters is how we have lived after we have made that decision. Do our lives give evidence that we really believe what we said we believed when we made that “decision”? Did we really repent of our sin or did we just simply “accept Christ”?

Many times, people aren’t even told the true Gospel. If you aren’t sure you understand or want to know more about what the Bible teaches about how you can be saved and made into a new creature, you can find out more information here.

I hope I never have to go to such a hopeless funeral ever again. But I am sure I will. Many are those who aren’t prepared to see Jesus.

When we were visiting with my husband’s friend in the hospital, he shared how he couldn’t believe that in just a few short months he was facing death. He had felt so good not that long ago. But life had changed…and it had changed quickly.

That day is coming for each one of us and there is simply nothing more important than being ready to face God when we are on the cusp of eternity.

The Tangled Mess

Leave a Comment / May 7, 2024

I was crocheting a blanket and the time had come to use a new color. I grabbed the end from the center of the bright yellow ball of yarn. Things went fine…for awhile. But soon I found that every time I’d try to pull the yarn it would inevitably get tangled with the other end. Somehow the two ends were both coming from inside the skein (usually one is wrapped around the outside) and it was taking a lot of the joy out of my relaxing hobby.

I finally cut the yarn end from the project and decided to roll the skein into a ball. That should make it much easier to work with. But rolling it into a ball was no easy task. It was the strangest thing. While I would occasionally be able to roll up a long piece of the yellow yarn, I would soon find myself foiled by that aggravating end over and over again. The two ends were so entwined with one another that even rolling it into a ball was a difficult task that took much time. I did contemplate just buying another skein but here was this perfectly fine yarn in front of me. How silly to purchase more! At this point, it was the principle! I worked on it for several hours but finally, late last night, I groaned with frustration.

“What’s wrong?” asked my husband. I held up my yarn and told him how frustrating this task was. Never one to back down from a challenge, he told me to let him try. I most gladly handed the whole tangled mess over to him.

In a few minutes, he, too, agreed that it was an impossible task. The yarn was so snarled that it hardly seemed worth it. He did work on it for a while, making the ball of yarn a bit bigger. But, finally, he gave it to me and asked if I thought this was good enough. You can see from the photo above that there is quite a bit of yarn left but…well, life is just too short for some things!

As I sat there rolling that yarn, I did a lot of thinking. The whole situation reminded me an awful lot of life and our attempts at creating something useful and beautiful from an unorganized, sinful mess. The end that kept getting in my way and causing all of the problem was like my sin. Just always there, tripping me up, making life harder. Once in awhile, I would grab one of my needles to help me with an especially difficult knot. This reminded me of the living Word of God that pierces between joint and marrow and is a discerner of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). What my own fingers found as an impossible task, the needle not only made possible but even rather easy.

After I had given up, I realized that the tangled skein of yarn is like my life without Christ. I can work and work and work at it on my own and, perhaps, even have a time of smooth sailing and even be able to make some positive life changes. But without Christ, it is all in naught and I will eventually be beaten by my sin. If not in life, then in death. Sin will win, if Christ isn’t called upon.

The yarn also reminded me of how lost I would be without the Bible, which was given as a gift by God to us, His people. For where else do we learn of Who Christ is? Of what sin is? Where do we find true comfort? Just as my fingers couldn’t undo many of those knots in the yarn, so, too, our human vain philosophies and theories can’t provide any help in the midst of the temptations and trials we face. I needed that needle and we need the Word of God.

Lastly, I was reminded of how much sin gets in my way. Oh, how those sins we wrongly call “minor” knot up our lives. Sins like complaining; self-pity; being offended; loving the world and the things of this world; striving for popularity or wealth or health more than we are striving to grow in Christ; and so many others. They all keep us from being who we have been called to be by God. Denying self and its lusts, we must take up our cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23) All too often, we want to indulge self rather than deny it and this has its consequences in our lives.

I can walk away from that bright yellow ball of yarn. But I can’t walk away from my life. Because I am human, I will always struggle with sin, with wanting to love the world, and with a life that is messy and tangled, at some level. But intentionally confessing my sin, turning from the world, and working, through the help of the Holy Spirit, to be more Christlike and holy each and every day will yield much fruit in my spiritual life.

The other day I was talking with someone about how hard it is to follow the truth of God’s Word–all of it, not just the easy, comforting parts. The Bible tells us things our flesh doesn’t like–such as asking us to not be a friend of the world, denying self, and calling us to be holy and separated as a people. It reminds us to expect suffering for our choice to live for Christ. And while submitting and obeying God’s Word may lead to a more difficult outward life (the ridicule and persecution is real)–our ball of yarn (our inward life) unwinds so much more smoothly and easily. God really does keep His promises and those who follow His truth–all of it and no matter the cost–will find that the blessings that come from that are worth the ridicule, the suffering, and the persecution. God truly does bless those who seek Him.

Who knew unraveling a ball of yarn could be so thought-provoking?

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