Author: Wendy

I was subbing in a fifth grade class yesterday and I had a break because my students were at art. I took a deep breath because it had been a hectic day and I was basking in a little quiet time. It didn’t last long.

One of my favorite students who I had earlier that day, walked in with a smile on his face and said, “Hey Mrs. Gaines are you good at….?” The words froze in the air as I said a silent prayer pleading, “Please God, don’t let it be math.”

The words social studies, were the next words he spoke and I was flooded with relief. Snicker at me if you must; thinking that any simple-minded adult should be able to do fifth grade math, but you would be wrong. They have changed how math is done.

I have no idea who they are, but I’m here to tell you, a simple math problem which used to take all of four lines on a sheet of notebook paper, will now fill a page. I can get the right answer, but they aren’t looking for the right answer. They want to know how you got it and often times it involves drawing pictures. Can you imagine?

Now, social studies is history. History doesn’t change. I love history and I happily helped that young man with his social studies questions. Seems that the facts from the Great Depression are the same as they were when I was in school. Can I get an, “amen?”

The way school curriculum has changed drives me crazy, but as I was thinking about it, there are very few things in life that don’t change. Fashion and style change. Attitudes change. Laws change.

The church even changes. When I was a kid, we would have never worn pants to church. It was dresses and heels. But, now blue jeans are the norm. We wouldn’t have dreamed of eating or drinking in the sanctuary, but now people bring in giant tumblers of coffee.

People change sometimes for the better and sometimes for worse. But, God doesn’t change.

The Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.” Hebrews 13:8-9

In an ever-changing world, Jesus stays the same. The Bible still stands. Man may try to rewrite it to suit ourselves or to better explain it, like common core math attempts to. We can make it needlessly difficult, if we so choose.

But, in the end, we are saved by grace and grace alone, because God loves us.

“I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

And that, will never change. Sometimes I need reminding. Perhaps you do too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Yesterday, our sermon was about the Prodigal Son found in Luke, Chapter 13. It’s a familiar story for most of us. I’ve heard many sermons on it. I’ve heard sermons focusing on the forgiving, loving father. I’ve heard sermons that focus on the righteous son, as well as sermons that focused on the wayward son.

I suppose the focus for the reader is most often, which of the characters he or she most closely relates to. But, yesterday, the pastor pointed out that many of us have had the opportunity to be all three of the characters, at some point in our lives. I know I have. I can relate to all three.

But, as I sat in church thinking about the father and his sons, I began to think of all of us who are regular church goers, those of us who strive to stay on the right path and stay close to the Father. How do we feel about those prodigals who come in after, as Jesus put it, “squandering their wealth on wild living?”

More importantly, how do we treat them when they come to church to worship or to seek?

How do we treat the pregnant teenager? We can say we don’t believe in abortion, but are we willing to help support the young mother and her baby? What about the prodigal who was raised in church, but chose to do drugs and is now fighting that addiction? What about the man that we know has been unfaithful to his wife and is now a single father? What about the kid who walks in off the street covered in piercings and tattoos?

What is our reaction to these people? While at this point in our lives, we may be the righteous son in the story, we are called to act like the Father, not like the son in the story.

We are called to be forgiving. We are called to celebrate every single soul who finds its way home, no matter how off the path we may feel they have been. We are called to act that way because Jesus says God acts that way.

Jesus felt so strongly about giving everyone the opportunity to be forgiven and go to Heaven, that He willingly died for every one of us, so that we could be redeemed, all of us, not just some of us.

I suppose Lent is the ideal time to ask ourselves how we feel about all of the prodigals out there who are searching for forgiveness and love. Jesus taught that we are to welcome them with open arms.

Sometimes we can forget, but Jesus is so good about gently reminding us. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I love that Jesus was such a great storyteller and to me, a great storyteller is not someone who uses long eloquent words that have me running for a thesaurus. He had a simple message for simple people. Humanity has a way of making the even simplest things in life complicated, and we can do a fabulous job of complicating our faith too.

I’ve been thinking a lot about prayer lately and the power it gives those who choose to use it daily. It draws us closer to God and over time, turns us into serious warriors.

One of my favorite parables that Jesus told, is the one found in Luke 18: 1-8. A widow kept going to a judge in town to plea for justice. For a long time he refused, but then eventually, he decided to grant her request because she was going to wear him out.

Jesus wanted his disciples to never stop praying. He wants us to never stop praying.

It can be hard sometimes when we have prayed for something in particular, for what seems like forever. We sometimes can begin to wonder if God is even listening.

Luke 18:1 tells us that, “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and never give up.”

There are so many important things that Christians should pray about, but we sometimes get frustrated because we feel like God isn’t listening. They can be things ranging from marital issues, to sickness, to financial issues, to problems with friends and family. They can also be global issues like terrorism, violence, and national elections.

Jesus reminds us in this parable that God does hear our prayers and persistent prayer pays off.

Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is also reminding us that God is always listening, even when our circumstances seem dire.

There are many reasons to be unhappy about the twists and turns our lives take. There are many reasons to be fearful about the state of our world at the moment. But, if we remember that God is in control and to pray about everything that concerns us, we will be heard. We will be comforted. We will be answered.

The Bible tells us so.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Have you ever noticed that when you try to intentionally start doing the “right’ thing or living in a better way, that bad things sometimes begin to happen? Sometimes when we make the effort to draw closer to God, it seems that the world around us is against it.

Ever wondered why that would be?

As I read through chapter four in the Gospel of Luke the other day, it struck me that Satan didn’t even take notice of Jesus until He was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Of course, before that, He was just a carpenter, doing carpentry. He hadn’t yet begun His mission that God had sent Him to do.

It occurred to me that this is also the case with us today. When we are living our lives and doing our thing, apart from God, Satan doesn’t have much of a desire to interfere. Even if we are Christians, but aren’t really making an effort to learn what we are called to do and then do it, we aren’t really a threat.

Sure, we are one less soul for him, but we aren’t really affecting the landscape of Heaven, if we are just attending church intermittently and doing little else.

No, it’s when we really start to draw closer to God and bring others along, that he takes interest in us. That’s where the temptations start, just anything to draw us away from our true purpose.

Often it’s things that are benign like skipping worship service to go to the lake or skipping Bible study because we are too tired. It can also take on the form of that one person who drives us so crazy, that we elect not to get involved with some sort of ministry that we know we are called to.

Satan is more than happy to help us come up with all types of excuses to keep us home, because if we aren’t worshiping God with other believers, we aren’t growing and learning. We aren’t becoming a part of a community to help each other stay accountable.

It’s really important for us to remember that we have an enemy. It’s the same enemy that Jesus had. Jesus resisted His wilderness temptation with the help of the Holy Spirit. Christians today have the same access to the Holy Spirit.

It’s kind of humbling and inspiring at the same time. We will be tempted, but we will have help if we ask. The Holy Spirit always knows exactly how to help.

The Bible says to, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

That’s strong protection, but should we really expect anything less? God looks after His own. It’s up to us to stay close to Him and He will provide.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

My church is doing a Bible study on the Gospel of Luke. Last night, we covered chapter four. There’s a lot of events that occur in that chapter. The account of Jesus being tempted by Satan, as well as Jesus preaching in his hometown synagogue and being run out of town, are all big stories. Jesus casts out demons in this chapter and heals many. The last verses tell us that He went away for some quiet time.

I could write a post on every one of those worthy of our thought, topics, but last night, there were two simple verses that really caught my attention. It’s an account of an everyday woman, just like me. She was so ordinary, the writer doesn’t even bother to name her.

She is known simply as Simon’s mother-in-law. In verses thirty-eight and thirty-nine, we learn that she has been in bed with a high fever and they asked Jesus to help her. We don’t know who “they” are either, but Jesus answers their request and He leans over her and rebukes the fever. “She got up at once and began to wait on them.” Luke 4:39b

It’s just a simple story, really, of a simple woman, serving Jesus. Yet, it speaks volumes.

I love all of the simple stories of unnamed people tucked throughout the scripture, who are doing God’s work.

There were people who loved her enough to ask Jesus for His help. Isn’t that what we are doing when we pray for the people that we care about? Aren’t we asking Jesus to intervene in some way, whether it’s to heal physical sickness, spiritual sickness, emotional sickness, or financial or relationship issues?

How did Jesus react to the requests of those who cared about her?

He healed her.

How does she react?

Is she thankful, while she takes a long deserved rest? Does she take a vacation? Does she feel entitled somehow because she has been through so much and overcome so much? Does she question God for letting her get sick in the first place?

Nope.

She gets up and serves them, immediately. She serves Jesus.

What do we do when our prayers for healing or deliverance are finally answered? Are we super thankful as we get right back to living our lives or are we convicted in some way to serve the God who has saved us?

It can be really difficult sometimes, to get back to serving when we feel we have been smacked down somehow, yet that’s exactly what Christians are called to do. As long as we are breathing, there is work to be done. Simon’s mother-in-law serves as a beautiful reminder for me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have a awesome day!

Wendy 🙂