Do You Pick and Choose?

When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.

“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

Ezekiel 3:18-21

Have you ever left out part of God’s Word or sugar-coated it so the person you were talking to would not feel bad?                                                      

I know I have and then the Lord began to work on me. If I believe God, then I must know His Word and if I know His Word I must speak it as Truth – all of it!

He does not say, oh it is okay if you add to my word here and say don’t worry about it God will forgive you. God may forgive them but you are commanded to tell them what His Word says. Then it is their decision to continue in the sin or follow His Word.

I don’t know about you but I don’t to be held accountable for the blood of someone I did not tell the Truth to. I believe that is why so many churches are asleep today, why we are not seeing the power God says we have.

This is not an easy step to take but with God’s help we don’t have to worry or fret because He will give us His Words at the right time and He will protect us.

““I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:4-12

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. II Thessalonians 3:3

I can profess to know God, to have faith in His Word but am I walking my talk?

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. James 2:18-19

Demons believe but they do not fear the one True God so they keep sinning, ignoring the Word of God. We as believers, walking in faith, are called to know God’s Word, when we know God’s Word and have a relationship with him (making the changes we need to make during our lifetime) we are able to help others grow in their faith and show it by their deeds.

Satan is pretty slick, he will come in and say ‘everyone is doing it, even those in the church, so why should you lose out on the fun?’

The Bible is pretty clear on what God hates, this is just one passage of many.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 

Now I don’t know about you but I have had to repent of several of these things and more than once! That is why I believe we are to tell the Truth in love. We are not to beat them over the head and neither are we to tell them  it’s okay because their circumstance is different (if  it’s in the Bible it’s not okay!).

Too many believers want people to feel sorry for them so their ‘sin’ is lost in the emotional.

They talk bad about another person, telling things they should not be telling and usually leaving out the part they played in it. They have the poor me syndrome and that is not from God! We are anything but poor once we have accepted the Lord as our Savior, repented of our sins and started on our faith journey.

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:17

I know this will seem harsh to some of you, but if you are believers you can’t pick and choose what you want from God’s Word.

 I want to speak the Truth in love, and then it is up to them to make the choice according to what God says. Neither I nor you can make that choice for anyone, not our husbands, our parents, our children, our friends….but we can search God’s Word and ask Him for wisdom on how we are to act and speak so they will be drawn to God.

So make sure when the Lord has you speak to someone, write about something, whatever He tells you to do – make sure you are doing it with God’s love, with a true concern for them to know what God has to say.

Whatever God says to do or not to do something, He will always give you the strength and the way, we are never alone.

How many times have I not spoken Truth to someone, or shared my faith. Now to listen to God and see how to do this in love, not in fear, not in Bible beating, but in genuine love because you want to see them blessed by their Father. Because you have your Father’s heart to see them saved and not suffer the consequences for a bad decision – a sin.

If you get attacked, let it go and trust God, love them and pray for them.  It could be the Holy Spirit working on them, making them uncomfortable and you are just an easy target. Again, love them and pray for them.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up      Luke 18:1

I’m grateful for the people that spoke truth to me and never gave up praying.

It’s never too late to repent  -  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death 2 Corinthians 7:10
 Let Jesus release you from those chains!

Product Review For Women's Feet

I am a BzzAgent

and I love it !! 

The product I tried this time was Dr. Scholls' For Her.

I would highly recommend this product.

I decided this past winter I wanted to try high heels again so I purchased some boots. I have not worn high heels since the birth of my first child - 27 years ago !!

These are the boots I chose

I have worn them three times and each time I had to take them off after 45 minutes. My feet were really hurting and when I had to walk in them, well let's just say I walked funny.

After putting these insoles in these became very comfortable boots and I wore them at work and did not have to take them off.

I'm so excited to know about this product and to have had the opportunity to try it before buying it. 

They have a new customer for sure!!

Now I can't wait to buy some summer high heels and try the insoles in them. 

Sports, Cooking, Exercise, Movies All On One Box?

THIS IS AMAZING!  And I just found a new station on it that says 'no more excuses'~!!!!!

You can purchase a Roku box from the above link and get FREE exercise programs - Belly Dance, Salsa, Jazz Dance, Martial Fusion Cardio blast, Brand New Butt - Sculpt (I need this one!!), Dynamic Stretch, Aikido Drills, Kickbox Strike Zone, Pilates, Hot Core and more!!!

Again, click the Roku picture above to order yours today!

Other channels on Roku - Allrecipes.com, Bowhunting.com, Crackle, Elevation Church, Flixter, Heading Outdoors, iFood.tv, Pandora and the list goes on and on.

We do not miss our cable!!

Deception

Deception

This is my second blog from the book ‘The Bait of Satan’ by John Bevere.

I began reading the ‘Introduction’ and wanted to share the following:

“…satan and his cohorts are not blatant as many believe.

He is subtle and delights in deception….

He can disguise himself as a messenger of light….”

 

So, how will you be able to discern?

The Father said His sheep know His voice (John 10:14-16).

How do we know His voice?

By reading His Word, knowing His ways and testing what we see and hear against God’s Word.

A few of the things I do before reading God’s Word is to ask for wisdom and revelation so I’m not reading it as a novel.

When a certain chapter, verse or even a word sticks out to me, I will dwell on it – write it down, do a word search and meditate on it day and night.

I ask God to show me if there is something I need to change, repent of or stand firm in.

With our fast-paced microwave, fast-food world we often feel we don’t have time to do this. That is a lie from satan.

 

How many of us want our prayers answered? We want things to go ‘our’ way? Then we get upset when they don’t. I know I did. I did not know I was only living a small portion of what God teaches us. I didn't have 'time' to read God's Word for myself.

I believe a lot of churches have let a lot of the world in, the fast food, microwave, and easy mentality. Let’s just give them a fast, tasty sermon and pick out only the ‘good’ things. Why have we left out the ‘If you do…then I will’, the ‘if you obey me……if you serve me…..’?

It was when I earnestly began to seek God on my own (because of some very painful things that happened in our family we left the church) that I began to see why some of my prayers were not answered, why our finances were a mess, why some of my relationships did not have peace and I could list more.

I was glossing over those very Scriptures about serving and obeying. I did not want to do the….’if you do’ part. I wanted the ‘good’ stuff because it’s all about ‘me’ right??!! I became disillusioned because my mind was messed up, clouded by fear, un-forgiveness, anger and God must not be real or He hates me syndrome.  Do you see the lie of satan? Do you see how satan gets us on self instead of God’s complete Word?

God was moving and working through this time and I’m eternally grateful for the grace He gave me, for the grace He gave my husband during this time.  God gives us a way out, it’s in His Word!

I had (still do) have the responsibility to “in that they received the word with all readiness of the mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so..”  Acts 17:11

If you are in the trap, the lies of satan, freedom is in the opening of the Book and the turning of a pages. God is waiting to set you free and give you the abundant life He has promised. But we MUST know and follow the ‘if you will…..serve Me…..obey Me’.

I suggest you start in the book of John. I had trouble with my mouth so from there I went to the book of James. Ask God He will tell you what He wants you to read.

I also suggest you find a church that teaches ALL of God’s Word.

I see once again I started reading a couple pages of John Bevere’s book and gained some insight of what past I’ve left behind, what present I need to work on and what praise and thanksgiving I need to daily lift up to God!

Let’s see if I can get through the Introduction on my next blog post J

 

Oh The Memories!!

I was going through my stack of VHS tapes and putting the ones of my daughters on DVD's.

It has been a heartwarming experience as I see and remember just how close my girls were.

Anyway I wanted to share some of the songs the church we attended at the time, sang during youth worship. Our daughters, Lena and Amanda Hammes (now married so Lena Stephenson and Amanda Tucker aka Moonda) would be part of the worship team.

Enjoy and worship the Lord!






What are some of your favorites?

My husband and his friend Benjamin Mosier have a CD out now - maybe one of those will be your new favorite??

FAITH HAS A VOICE

blessings

SERVE WHOM OR WHAT

I was going to do a study in the Bible on the word ‘serve’ but stopped with the first verse that came up in my search list, Matthew 6:24. I began to do a study on a few of the words and this is what I found.

Matthew 6:24  "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

First I looked at the word ‘serve’ in the Strong’s concordance

#1398  Part of Speech: Verb  Transliteration: douleuó

Phonetic Spelling: (dool-yoo'-o)

Short Definition: I am a slave, am subject to, obey

Definition: I am a slave, am subject to, obey, am devoted.

(figuratively) to willingly give over the prerogative to be self-governing. See 1401 (doulos).

To serve something or someone makes me subject to them or to it. I am devoted to what I’m a slave to. I no longer govern myself.

‘money’  #3126  Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine

Transliteration: mamónas

Phonetic Spelling: (mam-mo-nas')

Short Definition: riches, money, possessions

Definition: (Aramaic), riches, money, possessions, property.

126 mammōnás – a Semitic term for "the treasure a person trusts in" (J. Thayer) who is transliterated as "mammon."

Money in this verse isn’t just the cash we have it is what we trust in. It can be our possessions, what we ‘own’.

Matthew 6:24  "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Now that you know what ‘serve’ and ‘money’ means in the Greek, would you say you are serving God with your whole heart? Or are you serving the cash in your pocket, your home or the games you play?

Don’t let the word ‘slave’ throw you off, ‘am devoted’ is also listed and it means – “Feeling or displaying strong affection or attachment”.

I don’t know about you but when I have a strong affection towards someone I desire to please them and therefore I ‘serve’ them.

Are you following me?

An example – I love (have a strong affection towards) my husband, therefore I desire to fix his coffee and serve it to him when he wakes every morning. I know that’s a small example but it helps make my point. I’m not doing it for selfish reasons, I truly want to ‘serve’ my husband in love and there are some awesome benefits of doing this type of serving J

If you haven’t already, you should take the time to check out all the benefits of serving our Father. They far outweigh anything cash, a home or a few games can give us in this life. In fact, the benefits are eternal.

Now on to the word ‘money’ - money, possessions, property

Often when we read this verse we think of cash, it’s a choice between God and cash, but that is not true. As you see in the Greek definition it is also possessions or property.

So now we have, are you going to serve God or cash, jewelry, games, house, food, tv and the list goes on.

We have a decision to make, what is yours? Will you serve your Creator or will you seek those things that are temporary?

Will you serve God with a devotion that just wants to lift Him up and show the world how wonderful He is? Or would you rather say you believe in God and then live like those in the world - chasing after selfish things that will break or rot away?

Have you replaced God and His power with a workshop, a prayer group, a counselor or a best friend? We need to know what God says in His Word so we do not place anything or anyone above Him. It is God who heals us, blesses us, gives us a way out when tempted, forgives us and shows us the way – the path He has for us and it’s to bring Him all the glory, honor and praise – it is to bring other people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

I do not have anything against a good Bible based study, counselor, etc. What I do have a problem with is these places or people adding to or taking away from God’s Word. When it becomes a gossip, talk bad about other people, find the answer in you type of thing. Always make sure to check God’s Word against what you are being taught, don’t just take someone’s word for it. And if they talk bad about other people, encourage you to feel sorry for them instead of helping them live according to God’s Word – run!! There is power in God’s Word and in our lives when we seek Him with all our soul, heart and mind.

I say these things because I’ve been there and stayed there with no victory – sympathy did not give me victory or the strength to overcome – but those that taught/teach Truth and gave me their faith, and God’s Word to live by – then I began to have victory through Jesus Christ…..I’m moving forward.

Carrying an Offense?

The Bait of Satan

By

John Bevere

I’m doing a study using this book and even though I’m only on Chapter 3, I highly recommend your prayerfully get and go through this book with your spouse or get a group together at your church.

One of the first things that stood out was in the ‘Preface’:

…..”it was not these miracles that pushed them to the brink of doubt. No, that challenge would come later toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Jesus had instructed His disciples, “If your brother sins against you…..seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.’ Their immediate response to Him was. ‘INCREASE OUR FAITH’ (Luke 17:3-5)”.

Then Mr. Bevere continues:

Jesus said, “It is impossible that no offenses should come” (Luke 17:1)

“It is not a question of opportunity to be offended, but what your response will be.”

How many marriages fall apart because one or both hold an offense? How many children walk away from the parents or siblings that love them as only family can – because of an offense? How many times will it take for a person to say they are sorry and ask for your forgiveness before you will quit playing God and allow Him to work through you? You are not just hurting the person you are holding an offense for, you are hurting yourself which will cause you to react in certain ways or hide yourself behind alcohol (getting drunk) or drugs (you just want to feel ‘happy’) or ….well you name it.

One of the testimonies in this book should bring encouragement to many married couples, whether you are married to a believer or non-believer.

“….He was unsaved and wanted nothing to do with the church. Someone put a copy of ‘The Bait of Satan’ in my hands. I read it and, within a short time, was completely set free from offense and bitterness. WHEN MY HUSBAND SAW THE CHANGES in my life, he surrendered his life to the lordship of Jesus Christ and stopped the divorce proceedings.”

Another testimony:

“….I hated my mother for abandoning me…..I realized I had to go to her and forgive…….Now the wall that separated me from God’s presence is gone!”

Now that’s just part of the Preface, can you imagine what the rest of the book is going to be like? Are you ready to take a chance and open yourself up to Truth? To allow God to show you where you are holding on to an offense?

Can you truly say you have never offended anyone? Have you complained about someone behind their back instead of going to them? Then you probably offended them and I’m sure you want them to forgive you and not carry that offense out.

I guess what I’m asking – what makes you greater than someone else that you don’t have to forgive? What makes you special enough that you can carry an offense and discredit them to your friends and family?

Is that placing yourself above God? Is that really where you want to be?

I know I don’t want to place myself above God, if you know anything about what He says in His Word then you know that’s not a good place to be.

I’m actually thankful I’ve let go of many offenses before reading this book. I believe there are a few hidden ones and that is why God has placed this in my hands to study. It may ‘feel’ and be uncomfortable but I want God’s blessings and I want to be a blessing so I’m willing to spend time in prayer, this book and check it against God’s Word – then do what the Lord instructs.

I just may continue sharing as I go through the chapters and what He is showing me – what do you think? Would you like to follow along?

There is nothing to fear, God wants us set free to live the abundant life He has promised, all we have to do is admit our sin, listen to how He wants us to make it right and then move forward in His strength, giving Him all the glory, honor and praise.

You can purchase this book at amazon.com  or check it out from your local library. 

You can also sign up to trade your paperback books here -