I decided to get a new email to go with my new computer...
So I had to switch up my blog! LoL...anyhow, here are my past blogs:
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
AMERICAN IDOL 7 RESULTS!!!
Yeah, I bet that title caught your attention.
To be honest, I am tired and not really in the mood for a devo right now. I was just about to crawl into bed after hours spent sitting on the couch listening to "Thank you for voting for contestant num---click" and pressing 'redial'.
The program's title is really quite fitting: "American Idol"
We don't usually think of things in our lives as 'idols', but when faced with the decision of wasting time instead of doing a Bible study, which do I choose? Where is my heart and my joy...? Is it in a life-altering moment with my Savior or the "Season Finale" of a television show?
Should I care who is
smarter than a fifth grader,
doesn't 'forget the lyrics',
makes it off the island,
gets the music contract,
or receives 'the final rose'?
I would rather care about
an intimate relationship with Christ,
developing godly friendships,
and bringing God glory in all I do.
Lord, help me see when I am wrong. Forgive my MANY faults and skewed priorities. Let me remember that you ALONE offer freedom and forgiveness. Your grace is SUFFICIENT for me, for YOUR power is made perfect in weakness. Oh, how weak is my flesh, Father...let YOUR power and strength make me perfect IN YOU.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Getting OUT!
Let's talk about getting OUT!
It is not a matter of 'dealing with it', we need to get out and stay out. It doesn't matter if your whole life has been spent in the pit or in and out of the pit, you have to get out!
Ummm...problem. Just how do you get yourself out of a pit? The answer is, you CAN'T do it. GOD is the only one who can deliver you from this pit. I can hear everyone (and even myself) saying, "Nah, I can get some friends to help me out". Guess what...it won't work. I know from experience!
I mean, it is a lot easier to get a human to help you out. You can see them, hear their encouraging words, and know that they are listening, but that isn't enough. Don't get me wrong. All these things are great, godly things to do when someone you love is in distress, but you cannot get them out of that pit they are in.
Beth Moore uses Joseph to illustrate this point:
"If a man - or woman - pulls us out of the pit, solely assuming the role of the deliverer, he or she will inadvertently sell us into slavery of one kind or another almost every time..."
Wow. Just think about that for a minute.
Have you ever been hurt in a friendship or relationship that left you scarred? The person who hurt you may later come back to pull you back up out of that pit, but you will still be left with emotional or physical scars from what was done to you. They can never mend the heart that has been torn in two. You will be enslaved until you give this over to the Lord.
An amazing quote from Beth:
"People can help us but they can't heal us. People can lift us but they can't carry us. On occasion people can pull us out of a pit, but they cannot keep us out. Nor can they set our feet upon a rock...
They may pull us out of a pit and even hang around a while to push us away when we try to get right back in it. But eventually their backs will give out. And when they do, we're liable to be mad at them. In fact, we might not speak to them for years. They let us down."
Guess what, folks... People are almost always going to let you down. God is the only One who will never let us down... Why can't we put all our trust in Him???
I loved this analogy from Beth Moore, but I am going to add a bit to it: "Human clay finds it moisture in relationships and will evaporate into dust without them." I would like to add that God is the one that is in charge of shaping this piece of human clay... not the friends, not the relationships, and not the churches. It isn't their job. It is no one's job but the Master Potter.
Isaiah 30:1-5, 15 says this:
"Woe to the obstinate children...
to those who carry out plans that are not mine...
heaping sin upon sin...
In repentance and rest is your salvation
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it."
This passage reminds my heart that God is always there. I am the one who turns away from Him when I choose to follow my way and not His. He waits for us with all of His love, but we do not want to be a part of it. For me, I felt like God wouldn't love me anymore or that I had messed up too much to be forgiven. This pride will keep you chained in your sin.
Then we come to an incredible verse from the same chapter in Isaiah: "YET the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion."
Wait, you mean that God forgives me for everything that I have done? Exactly. He longs to be gracious to us and He will be there forever. He rises...HE - our Almighty, Amazing God - gets up off of His throne to show ME - a poor sinner saved only by HIS grace - compassion that I do not deserve... wow. Not only that, but Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:10 that "He has delivered us...He will deliver us...He will continue to deliver us". Past. Present. Future. God never did leave anything out now, did He? :)
Let's stop trying to deliver others out of their pits.
Let's stop relying on other sinners like us to get us out of our pits.
Let's let Jesus be Jesus. He's good at it.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Pit Jumper-Inners
I guess I have been putting off this next chapter because I am so guilty of being what I have termed a 'pit jumper-inner'. To me, this is the worst pit possible. You have a full awareness that what you are going to do is completely wrong, but you do it anyways. You don't care what the consequences are, you just want to do your own thing because it 'feels good'.
Winding up in these pits is usually a result of placing someone in an unworthy place in your life that is "either a wimp or a fraud". We must remember that God is neither one of these, and He is most worthy of the highest place in our lives.
"When all is said and done, you, like me, probably do what you do because you want to. You ordinarily jump into a pit because you like the trip. No, you don't necessarily like the cost but, like all vacations, a great trip can be worth the expense. It looks good. It feels good. Or it tastes good. It just doesn't last nearly long enough, which is why we come back and take the next trip"
~Beth Moore~
Job 33:29-30 says:
"God does all these things to a man-
twice, even three times-
to turn back his soul from the pit,
that the light of life may shine on him."
Though God gives us warnings, we choose to avoid them Basically, we stick our fingers in our ears before we jump into the pit. Jumping is the "most dangerous and the most supremely...consequential". God examines our motives and our character, and both of these are out of whack when we choose to jump into a pit. He doesn't look at simply what we did and how we did it, but why we did it.
1 Chronicles 28:9 says,
"the Lord searches every heart
and understands every motive
behind the thoughts"
Psalm 19:13 says,
"Keep your servant from willful sins;
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be innocent,
and be cleansed from blatant rebellion.
These 'willful sins' and 'blatant rebellion' are what drive us to jump into a pit. The only way to get out is through a deep repentance - turning of the heart and mind - and healing from the Lord. Without this change of heart and healing from the Father, we will soon revert back to our old ways.
Beth Moore points out the Greek translation for the 'evil desire' mentioned in James 1:13-15 is epithumia which means 'deformed desire'. This is referred to in Isaiah 44:20:
"He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him;
he cannot save himself, or say;
'Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?'"
Our only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ who can save us from these pits. We must go to Him with a willing and repentive mind and heart and be ready for His healing. Psalm 40:8 reminds us that our delight is in the Lord and His law is within our hearts. The desire to jump into a pit shows our deep distrust of God. We think that, like others in our lives, He will cheat us and betray us, but this is not so!
Ephesians 4:27 warns:
"Do not give the devil a foothold"
It is not too late...even if Satan has wounded you, he hasn't devoured you.
"He got the leg, but he's never gotten the thigh, though goodness knows he wanted it. I may walk with a spiritual limp, but thanks be to God, who holds me up and encourages me to lean on Him, at least I can walk. So can you. Walk away from that pit before its the death of you."
~Beth Moore~
Lord, let my hope and trust be in You as I live my life for Your delight! Let me trust you and know that You will not fail me...Do not allow Satan to have a single toe in the doorway of my life. Your mercies are new every morning...blessed is Your name!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
'Get Out of that Pit'
I have recently been reading a book called "Get Out of that Pit" by Beth Moore. It has inspired and encouraged me over this past week, but it has been a tough read. Basically, these pits are traps that Satan has put out there for us that we find ourselves in. I went through a lot this past semester in the way of 'pits' and this books has shown me how these 'pits' progressed in my life. Let me explain... There are three different ways to get into these pits:
1. You get Thrown in
2. You Slip in
3. You Jump in
At the beginning of the semester (Spring 2008), I innocently found myself in a pit. I got thrown in before I realized what had happened or where I was. Just like when Joseph's brothers threw him into the pit, I was blindsided by this pit. I wonder, however, if I could have prevented this first type of pit. I mean, as Joseph was walking around, talking about his dreams and flaunting his new coat...was I looking for trouble, too?
This first pit makes you believe that everything is your fault. Believe me, it is very difficult to forgive the person who threw you in. God's grace and power is the only way that you will ever get out of this pit. You have to forgive yourself for being swept in and forgive the other person for pulling you into their own existing pit.
The second type of pit is one that you slip in. You don't mean to exactly, but you weren't watching where you were going and got distracted by new things around you. It wasn't what you wanted to happen, but before you knew it, you found yourself in the bottom of a dark hole. No one else can be blamed for it, but boy, do you want everyone to feel bad for you!
I kinda 'progressed' from being thrown into a pit to slipping into it later on my own. I thought it had to be someone else's fault, but I was wrong. When I tried to point a finger, I found three fingers pointing back at me. Each day that this pit is a struggle for me, I have to remember to put my hope in God and praise Him...for He is my Savior (Ps. 42:5).
I just started the chapter on the third pit, but it has to be the worst. You know that this pit is wrong, foolish, and is not God's will, but you jump into this nasty pit of sin anyway. I know that this became my attitude in the last few weeks of the semester. I tried to blame this pit on my own innocence, but there is no innocence found in the bottom of this pit.
So...that is where I am in the 'pit' book. It has challenged me to live each day and every moment for the Lord. I can't just go crawling back to Him each time I find myself in a pit of some kind. Each day is His, and the decisions I make will effect my future.
I have been reading through Proverbs as well...one chapter each day. My favorite verse thus far is Proverbs 4:23. You probably know it as "Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." I always wondered exactly what that meant, but I came across a children's version that made a lot of sense to me. It said, "Be vey careful about what you think; your thoughts run your life." How very fitting. Every thought I have must be held up to the Word of God. Like a farmer sifts his wheat from the chaff, my ungodly thoughts must be blown away in the wind.
Lord, help me live each day for You and give You all glory and praise. This day is not about me or my desires, but about giving you the honor for my every breath.
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