In Whose Eyes?

How would you define success? Even to Christians there is an element of worldly gain attached to the definition. We would say that a successful ministry reached "X" number of people, handed out "X" items, or had "X" amount of visitors. While there is a certain amount of truth to this, we must make sure not to rely on numbers solely.

God does not view things through the same eyes we do. He sees so much more and knows the outcome before it can even begin to be conceived of by any of us. I love the first few verses in Job 38, where God decides it is time to speak up to a group of arguing "theologians":

Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words?

Get ready and answer Me like a man;

when I question you, you will inform Me.

Where were you when I established the earth?

Tell Me if you have understanding.

Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

What supports its foundations?

Or who laid the cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:2-7

There is a quote by Oswald Chambers that I've printed and use as a bookmark in my Bible. It is a wonderful reminder to look at my life and the ministry He has called Kevin and I to through His eyes and not our own. Read the following quote and ask God to show you what your life looks like to Him today. Perhaps you are more, or less successful than you think.

God called Jesus Christ to what seemed

unmitigated disaster.

Jesus Christ called His disciples

to see Him put to death;

He led every one of them to the place

where their hearts were broken.

Jesus Christ's life was an absolute failure

from every standpoint

but God's.

But what seemed failure from man's standpoint

was a tremendous triumph from God's,

because God's purpose is

never man's purpose...

The things that happen

do not happen by chance,

they happen entirely in the decree of God.

God is working His purposes.

Oswald Chambers

Honor Him

Yesterday I quoted Psalm 50:15:

Call on Me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me."

Fulfill this verse today in one way. Leave a comment honoring God's Name in what He has done for you. Not only will you get some good practice at doing this, but it is also a way to encourage one another.

*Here is a good example and it explains a little more about my post yesterday! http://auny.blogspot.com/

Faith Pay Scale

The Lord has shown me over the last year that I am to be His worker. In other words, He is my provider and support. I have thought many times about trying to write for a publisher or organization, but over and over I have come back to doing it all for free. There have been so many times over the last 10 years that I wished I could get some book or study to do, but couldn't afford it. I have seen others who might have the finances if they really tried to save for it, but lack the conviction to do it because they have not read the material that would help motivate them to save to buy it. What a Catch 22 we have going for immature believers!

Last week, my husband and I were discussing how I really felt the Lord telling me I need to be like George Muller for now: In the area of writing, not opening an orphanage! The Spirit spoke to my heart and told me to give my writings away to all freely and rely on Him for my provisions. There was a peace over us about this decision even though I saw it as a distant promise.

I have also had quite a problem with my health recently. There was a PhD & CCN (Environment/Biochemical & Certified Clinical Nutritionist) I felt the Lord led me to around a month ago who seemed like the perfect fit for figuring out some of my problems. However, when I looked at the fees and realized they didn't take insurance, I put her card on the shelf for when pigs flew.

Guess what? My God can make pigs fly.

Today, a friend of mine, out of the blue handed me a check to go see that doctor specifically, and I already have an appointment for Monday.

Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
Call on Me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.
Psalm 50:14-15

Thank you Abba! I will honor You. Help me to honor You more...

Free Will, Grace, And Our Future Hope: In The Eyes Of A 6 Year Old

Last night while praying with my children before bed, my son amazed me with his simple understanding of principles theologians tend to get lost in. Here is his prayer as close as I can remember it:

Dear God. Thank you for letting us make and eat food that is not good for us. We know we should eat healthy things so we can live longer and be healthy our whole lives for You. Sometimes we want to eat bad stuff and not live as long so we can get up to You faster and be with You. But we shouldn't want to do that, because You want us to be healthy and stay here to help other people. So we'll eat good most of the time to make You happy. I love You. Amen.


If only we could keep our faith and devotion that pure. Our children can teach us so much if only we listen!

"...Let the little children come to Me. Don't stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. I assure you: Whoever does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."     Mark 10:14-15

Spiderman and the Holy Spirit

Yes. There is a connection.

Recently I have been growing closer to the Lord. One of the great truths I have been spending time learning, is that we have the ability, through the Spirit of God, to do amazing things (John 14:12). The problem is that we don't ask for it with the right heart (James 4:3). God wants us to produce much fruit in His name! In John 14:13, Jesus says, "Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

There is just one little difficulty in this. It really ticks off Satan when we are living fully for the Lord and learning to become better disciples. He doesn't want us to have it too easy when we are producing much fruit, so he tries whatever tactics he can, to get to us. In fact he is so predictable in this, it is often one of the clues that I am pleasing the Lord.

This is when the verse comes to mind from Luke 12:48. "...Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more." If we ask God for greater empowerment through the Spirit, we need to understand that much will be required of us. That includes putting up with the tactics and antics of the Fallen One.

The funny thing is that every time I read Luke 12:48 I think of Spiderman. When Peter Parker is learning to cope with his new found spidey-skills, his uncle Ben tells him "With great power comes great responsibility." It becomes a sort of motto for him throughout his crime-fighting career. This is exactly what I feel like when asking the Father for the Spirit to empower me to do even greater works, to the glory of the Father through the Son. With them comes a great responsibility to honor the Lord and not myself in any way.

All the way through my sin-fighting career...

Remember When?

Lauren and Elijah work on memorizing a Bible verse every night from a chart I've made for them. When they get a row completed, 5 verses for Lauren and 4 for Elijah, they get to choose a treat at the dollar store. When the whole chart is completed, 5 rows, they get to pick a toy up to $20. (I know my little girl is growing up by the fact that she's working toward getting her ears pierced for her big prize this time!)


When they begin learning a new verse, I explain to them what the words and verse means. Saturday night we came to Romans 14:12 for Elijah's new verse. "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God."


I told him that one day we will all have to stand before God and talk to Him about every good and bad thing we have done. But, those of us who have given our lives to Jesus will not be punished for the sins we've committed. I've discovered concepts like these are difficult to put in child-like terms, and not wanting Elijah to feel like that meant he could get away with whatever he wanted because of grace, I told him that we will also need to explain to God why we decided not to obey Him for every time we chose not to. 


At this point Elijah'e eyes started getting bigger and bigger. Then as a tear started to come, he said in a  deeply concerned voice, "But I have a horrible memory!"


Desperately trying not to laugh, I told Elijah that the Bible says the Holy Spirit helps remind us of the things of God, (John 14:26), and that God will make sure we remember before we have to answer.


Afterwards I began thinking: How often do we blow over the times we have chosen not to obey God. Not walking over to talk to someone the Spirit prompts us to may not seem like a big deal now. But, if we start looking at it as a choice between obeying God's direction here - no matter how odd it may seem - or having to stand in the presence of God, one on one, and having to explain why we chose to ignore Him, perhaps we would listen better and obey more often. I know I will begin thinking in this way more often. So, who knows what you will see me doing...

The World Is Awsome

Here is a great video I found that the Discovery Channel put out.
The World Is Awsome
Thanks God for making it, and us, so unique and diverse!