Celebrate Growing Older by Regina Brett

I received this in an email and wanted to share it.  It is by Regina Brett 

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

                  

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift..

Snopes

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!

What Are You Storing Up?

Our church encourages the 'family' to share on Sunday mornings, this was my Sunday. It's just a small portion of where I've come from and the grace of God in my - in our lives!

Reverence? Respect? Really?

Ephesians 5:22-33 talks about husband and wives but I want to zero in on the last part of verse 33 – on wives because the Lord has been talking to me about respecting my husband and how that relates to my worship on Sunday’s at church.

Ephesians 5:22-33

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

I use Strong’s Concordance and here’s what I found.

(respect)    to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience

Then I went to the dictionary.

definition of reverence - Regard or treat with deep respect.

Definition of respect - A feeling of deep admiration for someone

Definition of admiration - Respect and warm approval

So ladies, we are to treat our husbands with deep respect have a feeling (and I believe show the feeling) of deep admiration. Our men stand taller when we do this and I know I get a benefit of being the woman on his arm, the one he likes to show off, the one he loves coming home to.

Now let me ask you, when you talk to a coworker, a person at church, even to yourself…..what do you say about your husband? Do you complain that he isn’t listening to God, that he doesn’t take the trash out, that he is stupid or lazy? Do you realize you are speaking death into your husband’s life as well as your marriage? Do you speak to your husband this way? Do you tear him down, play Holy Ghost, Jr?

In this context, I found Colossians 3:22 and the word ‘slaves’ very interesting because of the reverence slaves (believers) are supposed to have for Christ.

Colossians 3:22 

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.

Greek for slaves -  sadoúlos ("bond-slave") is used with the highest dignity in the NT – namely, of believers who willingly live under Christ's authority as His devoted followers.

That would be us, those that have accepted the Lord as our Savior. What are ‘slaves’ to do? ‘reverence the Lord’!

So let me ask you, when you go to church and shout out ‘Amen’ or nudge your husband in the side because you think he needs to ‘get’ what the preacher said or you just basically close yourself off because you just know it’s your husband that has the problem……do you see where I’m going?

If we are to ‘respect – reverence’ our husbands and we are to ‘reverence’ God, yet we are walking a day here and there disrespecting our husband,  do you think that reflects on God? Do you think the full power of God will fall on you as you worship? You have unbelief, un-forgiveness, and maybe even anger at your spouse. I wonder if we only see half of what God wants to do because we are not walking as ‘one’ with our spouse?

One more Scripture and then I’ll close.

I always thought I Peter 3:1 meant husbands that were not saved, well check this out!

I Peter 3:1

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

Ladies, look what ‘obey not’ means in the Greek!

Obey not -  Greek meaning –   are disobedient, rebel

Then look at ‘conversation’!

Conversation – greek meaning –   behavior, manner of life

It may be an unsaved rebel of a husband OR it could be a saved but disobedient husband, one that ‘you’ feel isn’t doing it right. And even if he isn’t doing it ‘right’, it is commanded by God, that your behavior, your manner of life (which includes what you speak as well as your attitude) will win them over.

On Sunday there were two things that happened and I believe one was a lesson, an encouragement and the other one was a correction.

First, we are fostering a dog and we’ve only had him a few days. My husband was leaving for work and I had just prayed over him. Well, he opens the door to leave and out goes the dog, man is he fast – down the road he goes and out the door I go screaming his name running after him until I see he is way down the road by now. I turn and look at my husband and my flesh wanted to scream at him and blame him for not being careful. But I heard the Lord speak to me and the Spirit took over and I kept my mouth shut (that is a miracle from years ago, just ask my husband….okay maybe months ago) but anyway, I knew it was not his fault that I could have had a leash on the dog before opening the door, etc. So I stopped and said a short but to the point prayer and thanked God for His faithfulness. I kissed my husband bye, told him I loved him, went in picked up my keys and a leash, and proceeded to drive down the street. God answered my prayer, the dog had turned around and heading back to our home, so about ¼ of a block down he had stopped. I got out of the car, sat on the side of the road and called to him. He came running to me, let me put the leash on him, jumped in the car and off we went. If I would have let my mouth and flesh scream earlier and had not prayed, it could have been awful. I’m so thankful I did not mess up my husband’s day and with that, my day was awesome too.

The second thing is something I’m working on and I admit with great difficulty.  The Lord asked me, while I was mindlessly watching a show, is it honoring, and are you respecting your husband when you have an area that needs cleaned up and it’s still a mess when your husband gets home?  Ouch. It’s not like some BIG project, it’s a small stack of papers on the floor I’ve been meaning to go through or maybe a sink of dishes and you know what it is in your home. There are times I will tell my husband I will do this and that but when he comes home I have spent too much time watching Netflix or being on Facebook or just being lazy. Now there is nothing wrong with any of those things, in moderation. But when it’s 9 hours later and I did not get those one or two things accomplished – not good.  So that is what the Lord has been speaking to me and I’m happy to say those papers are not on the floor they are now filed away or in the trash where they belong! Now about those dishes !!!!!  Oh wait, I had to get this blog finished….right??!!