OMG TV

So, in my last post I told you that the stomach bug had left our house. At the time I posted it, I thought it was true (absence of puke means "all better", right? Wrong). Unfortunately, there was more vomit to come. Kaden threw his guts up was sick for 4 days last week. We actually stayed home from church yesterday just to be sure that he was REALLY better....and we NEVER stay home from church.

Since we weren't at church last night, we got to watch a show that I love, but never get to watch because it comes on Sunday nights while we are at church...Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I love the show, but I always hate it when the people come back to see their home and the first words that come out of their mouths are "Oh my God!". It seems that no one sees those words as blasphemous anymore....even some who claim to be Christians. I was glad to see that the family that was on last night did not say those words, but they were not the norm.

I was thinking about that this morning when I went on to Facebook and (not coincidentally) one of my Facebook friends, Barbara Cameron, had commented on something her daughter had posted called ohmygod.tv. It is really a great site and I think you guys will love it. People use those words way too often and without thought to what they are saying. God's name used in vain should cause a Christian to shudder, not just because it is a violation of the "Big Ten", but because it is a blatant, blasphemous offense to God Himself. If something is offensive to God, it should offend us as well.

Hope you all have a fabulous Monday....excuse me while I go do 17 loads of laundry from the past few days..................

Is God Good All The Time?

You will be glad to know that the stomach virus has left the building....well, it has left our house for the time being anyway (although my stomach is making strange noises that are causing me some concern). After reading the comments from Tuesday's post, I have a feeling that I didn't express myself very well in writing that day. Maybe I should try to explain myself a little better so that many of you (who are not regular readers) do not think I am unsaved and searching for....well, searching for God......... ;-) I mean at one time, like all of us, I was searching for Him and I found Him on November 16th, 1986. No, my search isn't to find God........What I AM searching for is a deeper understanding of Who He is. Who He REALLY is.



As I said Tuesday, one of my "New Year's Resolutions" is to know God better. I use the term resolution loosely, because I am famous for breaking resolutions by January 2nd or before. When I say "know God better", I mean know better WHO He is, REALLY know His TRUE nature, know more of His character........I believe God is urging me to get to know Him more intimately and dig deeper when it comes to knowing His character...I don't know why He keeps bringing this up to me at this point in my life, but I am sure He will reveal His purpose in His own time (and in case you were wondering, yes, I am a little concerned by what the outcome may be, but I have no control over it, so.....).

How many of us have not heard "God is good all the time/all the time God is good"? I have been to churches where the congregation repeats this phrase in every service. It is something that rolls off our tongues pretty easily, but are we just saying words or do we really believe that God is good all the time? It's easy to believe God is good when your life is free from trials, but do you believe God is good when your life is in turmoil?

Psalm 100:5 says,"For the LORD is good and his love endures FOREVER; his faithfulness continues through all generations." His love endures forever - His faithfulness continues through all generations......This verse requires us to look at the big picture and not simply what is happening today. The big picture is what most of us have a problem with. We understand the immediate and not the eternal......but when we are saved, we become citizens of heaven....the eternal city. We we are saved our bodies need to be reprogrammed from Daylight Savings time to Time Eternal. John 5:24 says, I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life". A saved person can no longer view life in light of this world, but must view their life in light of eternity.

When we are in the midst of terrible circumstances it is easy to be caught up in the "why's" and forget that God has control of time, space, the universe, AND our present circumstances. The big picture is hanging on the wall in God's office, He painted the big picture, and knows it like the back of His hand. When all we can see is our hurt and pain, God is studying the big picture and keeping His master plan for our lives in motion so that when all is said and done, we can look back over our lives and see the scenes in the tapestry that make up the big picture. In order to truly believe God is good all the time, we have to get over the "immediate", squint our eyes really tight and try to focus on the big picture. That, my friends, is a "hard teaching".


In Luke Jesus is talking to the rich young ruler and says, "'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good - except God alone." God is the standard for goodness. Should make us think next time we tell someone they are "good"........even Jesus said only God is good. Jesus may have been trying to give the young man a subtle hint without shouting "I AM God, silly". Or Jesus may have been warning the worldly young man not to be impressed by earthly credentials that might prevent him from pursuing the True God...back in that day, there were plenty of "credentialed teachers" that did not teach the Truth, but taught religion. Jesus may have been warning the man not to focus on imposters because God is the only one who is REALLY good. Either way, we are told that 'No one is good - except God alone'..........No one.

So, if we believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant Word of God. If we believe it is true down to the last jot and tittle, then we have to believe God is good all the time because His Word tells us that no one else IS good except Him. Our standard of good is completely off base. The meaning of the word good is not what we thought it was, because none of us can ever be good (even at our best we are not good). We can throw our ideas of what is good out the proverbial window......ONLY God is good. And since He said, "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." (Malachi 3:6 ).....I suppose the phrase "God is good all the time/all the time God is good" is VERY TRUE even when we cant see the big picture.

Snow Day? No Way.

So, I have been up all night with Kaden. He has some sort of evil stomach bug. He has kept a sip of Sprite and a cracker down for an hour, so he may actually be on the mend. He is behind me on the couch counting in Spanish with Dora. (Don't let anyone know he watches Dora, because he says it's a girl show - a five year old has to keep up his image). It is snowing here (big ole flakes, too). We have almost 2 inches on the ground which would normally close all schools in the area for at least 2 days, but we weren't even on a snow schedule....dern City schools. Don't they know that this mama needed a break today? hahahahaha Just kidding, although a break would be nice, a break is not possible for me in the next 15 years near future. After school, Lake has guitar lessons and tonight he has a basketball game............Rest? Nope, none to be had here people.

Anyway, I will be back either later today or tomorrow with an actual blog post. Guess I am not doing very well with my Mon-Wed-Fri schedule so far in 2009.............Oh well, good thing blogging isn't my job, huh? BUT.......if you know someone who is looking to hire a part-time blogger (who can work from the privacy of their own den) let me know! ;-)

Have a great day! Hope the stomach bug stays away from you and yours!

Don't Judge Me, But.....

Okay, so I am going to share one of my "unspoken" New Year's resolutions with you. Remember? I have several resolutions that I keep to myself so if I don't keep them, you wont think I am such a big loser? Yeah, this is one of those that I am bringing out of the closet and into the light....if I don't keep this one, you will know it. So here it is: I desperately want/need to better understand the character/attributes/personality of God. Please don't judge me, because I am really ashamed to admit this, but I tend to view God more as a huge deity up in the clouds that is waiting to "smite" me than a loving God who has my best interest at heart. I have a sneaking suspicion that I am not the only one who feels this way.

I think because we know what Jesus went through for us on the cross, we minimize the fact that it was the Father who sent Him there...for us. It is easy to see Jesus as compassionate and loving because we know He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do". Likewise, because of all the examples in the Old Testament of God's wrath, it is easy to view Him as a strict ruler instead of a loving God. Or maybe it's just me that thinks this way........

So, one of my goals for this year is to set allow the Holy Spirit to set me straight as to the character of God. I want to take off my old mindset and put on a whole new one. I know God is good all the time, but I want to know WHY that's true. I want to really KNOW Him. I want to know Him better than I know anyone....ANYONE. I want to replace my self-imposed ideas with the Truth of God's Word when it comes to who God really is.

Why do I want to do this?

So, I can respond to God out of love instead of fear. So I can talk to Him in truth. So He can tell me 'great and unsearchable things I do not know'. So He can TRULY be made known to others through me - if I don't know the true nature of God, how can I accurately explain Him to someone else? So that I can worship Him for who He really is........

When I Googled "The Character of God", I got 65,400,000 results. So, I KNOW I am not the ONLY human being on the face of the earth who is interested in knowing more about the character of God. So, over the next year (more or less), I will be posting about the character(istics) of God, the Father.

I hope I wont be boring those of you who have it all figured out ;-).

It's Over

Lake goes back to school tomorrow. I hate to see the fun of Christmas break end. We have spent several of our days in pajamas (that never happens here anymore). So, today, instead of spending time blogging, I will be spending time with my favorite guys. See you guys tomorrow when I am back to my regularly scheduled program.....For those of you who came here to read something more substantial than me griping about my son returning to 2nd grade......here is a snippet of something I wrote last December:

I have been thinking about New Year's resolutions. Maybe a resolution or goal would get my mind off the bleakness of January. I have resolved to spend more time in the Word, but other than that the only two other resolutions that I can come up with are to exercise and lose weight. I hate to be cliche since EVERYONE makes a resolution to exercise and lose weight, but I will try ;-).

I have to admit that I am skeptical every time I hear someone say that they are making a New Year’s resolution. I suppose it is because I, myself have never actually kept a resolution for more than a couple of weeks (okay,… days). It seems to me that the most common resolutions are ones having to do with our physical health, not our spiritual health (I.e. lose weight, get into shape, and spend more time on “me“). While those are all noble causes, I believe that many times as Christians we miss the mark on what God wants us to change about ourselves.As women, I think we tend to compare ourselves to the rest of the world. We want to look and dress like the hottest Hollywood actresses, with no regard to the fact that most of them live totally immoral lives on and off the screen. We envy people who don’t even know the Lord, or worse, completely deny his existence. Should it not be the other way around? The Bible says , “We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

Too many times we get consumed by the latest trends, when we should be consumed by God.This year instead of resolving to beautify our outside appearance, maybe (definitely) we should work on beautifying what is inside. Jeremiah 9:24 says, “But let him who boasts boast of this: that he understands and knows me”. While I think we will never completely understand God on this earth, to better know Him and understand Him is the best resolution for everyone. I think that my main resolution will be to spend more time with the Lord in Bible study and prayer. If I exercise more, then that will just be the icing on the cake (oh, wait I can't have cake......;-).

I pray you all have a Happy (Healthy) New Year !

Acknowledgement

Hey guys! Thanks for the compliments on the blog skin. Not sure if I like it, but I am sick of looking through all the possibilities. I might change it so don't be surprised if you come back to something different. Forgive me for the following stream of consciousness, but I don't really have time to flesh everything out "perfectly" (HA!) this morning.

The verse "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven" ( Matthew 10:32) has been on my mind for the past couple of days. I don't know why the Lord keeps bringing it up to me, but I know He has been. Maybe I am lacking in the acknowledging department or maybe I am about to face circumstances that will warrant some heavy acknowledging....we'll see.

"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God." Luke 12:8

"No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also" 1John 2:23

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God" 1 John 4:15

"He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels". Revelation 3:5

Some of the Hebrew synonyms/definitions for the word "acknowledge" are: be aware, familiar friend, kinsfolk, kinsmen,have respect for, be sure of, understand, be certain of.....

In the Greek it means : recognition, full discernment and knowledge

I have been asking myself these questions: Do I acknowledge Jesus as my familiar friend to everyone I meet? Do I give Him the proper respect? Do I give Him proper recognition? Do I have full discernment and knowledge of Him?

When I get to heaven, I wonder if I will get an "A" in Acknowledgment.....will Jesus tell me that I acknowledged Him at every opportunity or will He tell me that I did a poor job in the subject of acknowledgement. I wonder how many opportunities I have missed to tell people Whose I am. I wonder how many times I have kept my mouth shut when I should have spoken up for Jesus.

Have my actions represented my faith? My words?

I truly believe Jesus will rapture the church any minute now, but I pray that in the time I have left that I will acknowledge Him to everyone in EVERY situation, because I want Jesus to acknowledge me before the angels and before the Father in heaven.

Happy First Day Of The New Year!

So, I have some New Year's resolutions in my head that I refuse to put in print (that way if I don't keep them, you guys don't know what a loser I really am ;-), but one that I will put into print is my resolution to memorize scripture. I have decided to join LPM in their year long scripture memorization challenge. Here are the first verses I chose to memorize for the year:

Jeremiah 33:2-3

"This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

Why did I choose these two verses?


This is what the LORD says -- If the Lord said it, I want to hear it


he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it - if the Lord made the earth, then my little problems are nothing for Him to handle

the LORD is his name -- He is the Lord, not me, my name is Beth - His name is the LORD - I have to quit trying to do His job for Him because I stink at it.

Call to me - I don't do that enough

and I will answer you - when I do call on Him, I don't always expect an answer and am sometimes shocked when I get one - whats up with that? Oh me of little faith!

and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know - If the Lord is willing to tell me things, I want to learn to be still and listen.....especially great and unsearchable things!!