Category: Building Christian Character

As Christians, people should be able to look at us and see Christ. People should be able to see who we serve in the way we act.

Beating the Odds

Posted on by Wendy
Some things flourish against all odds.

I was working outside this weekend with my hubby. We finally got some rain last week, but I noticed that the ground was still cracked and rock hard. While I was holding up a board, a bright green sprout caught my eye. He patiently waited while I snapped some photos. After twenty years of marriage, he’s used to dealing with the fact that I’m easily distracted when I’m outdoors.

I really can’t help myself. I tend to see God’s fingerprints everywhere in Creation.

On this particular day, the green sprout stood proudly, despite the hard, inhospitable ground, almost as if in defiance. It was like it decided to grow against all odds and was thriving. I couldn’t help, but to be impressed by its perseverance. I thought about the little sprout for the rest of the day.

I thought about how God’s economy is so very different from ours. If we want something to grow, we water it and tend to it. We pamper it and hope. We can put endless hours into something and it may flourish or it might not. While we love to believe that hard work always produces results; sometimes it does not.

We live in a society where we have been taught that self-reliance is something we should strive for. We should be able to do everything completely on our own, by the sweat of our own brow.

The Bible teaches a different dynamic. The Bible teaches us to acknowledge first and foremost that we rely on God for everything and that every good thing comes from Him. Yes, we are called to work hard, but we are also called to know that He has a plan and that it often differs from our own. Obedience and faith teach us to be okay with that.

The Bible also teaches us the importance of community. We are called to help each other and work together. There are some things we simply cannot do alone. There are times when we need other believers to hold us up and to stand in the gaps for us.

There are times, when against all odds, something beautiful flourishes when it seems next to impossible, when on paper, there was just no way. If we dig a little bit, we often will find that there was prayer behind the miracle and many times a group of prayer warriors.

In those instances, we are reminded that nothing is impossible with God. A little green sprout reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

The Rewards of Seeking

Posted on by Wendy
“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Proverbs 8:17

I was taking a walk recently and praying. The day was beautiful and unseasonably warm for a winter day in Georgia. I had a lot on my mind and my heart was heavy. I often find that God communicates with me when I’m out in nature.

In the past, He has sent me a hawk. Once there were three smooth stones for me to find. Another time there was a lone penny. All of those items corresponded perfectly with the situation where I found myself.

So, I reluctantly, went for a walk and watched for God. What I really wanted to do, was to lie on the couch and eat cookies, but I went seeking.

I thanked God for the day and the many blessings He has showered me with and I poured out my heart, hoping for answers. I watched and waited expectantly as a lone buzzard soared above, yet seemed to follow along with me.

“Just great,” I thought. “I came looking for inspiration and all I see is death.”

Yet, almost as soon as I thought it, I could feel another voice. That voice reminded me that buzzards don’t kill anything. They just clear away what is already dead. They have a very important job. Without them, dead things would pile up and dead things can carry all types of diseases and harmful bacteria.

As I continued to walk, I thought about how often we carry around things from our past that cause us harm. What things do we need to let go of and allow Jesus to take them away. Maybe it’s constant worry and anxiety. Maybe it’s old anger or old wounds. It could be almost anything that burdens our souls. Sometimes these emotions had a useful place in our lives, but as time has passed, they are only piling up and hurting us.

The buzzard reminded me that Lent is the ideal time to ask ourselves what things we are carrying around that are dead weight. What are we allowing to come between us and true relationship with God, a relationship that means true peace?

As I contemplated that thought, I heard a hawk call loudly in the distance and once again, I was reminded that those who truly seek with open hearts, will find. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Lent Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
Lent can be a spiritual time to ask God what needs redemption in our lives.

Today is the first day of Lent. It will last for forty days, not counting Sundays, and will end with the celebration of Easter. The forty days come from the time Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness, being tempted by Satan. Afterwards, He began His ministry. In a sense, it was a preparation for the work God had planned for Him.

For Christians, it’s a time of repentance, prayer and reflection. It’s not a Biblical practice. It’s more of a church doctrine and not all churches participate in Lent.

Lent is not really a joyful time. Self-reflection, is a hard look at what needs to be changed about ourselves in order to draw closer to God and to better serve Him. Repentance means to stop doing something we are not supposed to be doing, and to ask for forgiveness. Neither of those are fun activities.

It’s always tempting to skip the whole Lent thing and go right to the Easter celebration, and we can. There’s no Lent Police walking around to make us participate in Lent.

But, over the years, I have come to look at Lent as an opportunity. Easter is our highest holiday. It’s our day of redemption. In order to fully participate in that celebration, we have to give some careful thought about what needs redeeming.

Are we carrying around unresolved anger? Are we carrying around guilt over past hurts? Are we carrying around unforgiveness? Are we carrying around pain? Do we have relationship issues that need repair in some way?

Easter gives us the opportunity to place all of these heart crushers at the foot of the Cross. Jesus will redeem them for us. There is only one requirement: We have to ask.

He cannot redeem what we refuse to lie down and if we aren’t willing to do some honest soul-searching, we can’t even admit what our needs are. This is where quiet time, prayer, and reflection come in.

Many people choose to give up something for Lent and that’s fine if that’s how they want to honor the season. Others choose to pick something new up, like daily Bible reading. That’s also fine. Over the years, I have done both and have benefited from both.

But, we can also choose to intentionally use this time to ask God to show us what we need to change in order to be more Christ like and to deepen our faith. The bottom line is that observing Lent makes Easter much more joyful.

Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Lessons from Eve

Posted on by Wendy
Staying close to God, protects us from attacks.

I sat in on an adult Sunday school class a few weeks ago. They are journeying through Genesis, one of my favorite books of the Bible. There’s just so much that happens in that book. The world gets created. Humanity gets created. Humanity falls. The flood occurs and all kinds of other major events.

On this particular Sunday, they were discussing the incident in chapter three, where Eve takes the apple from the serpent and changed human history forever.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I have pictured Eve talking to a snake and taking advice from it, I have found myself thinking she must have been a complete bubble head. What was she thinking? I mean, who would listen to a snake? I don’t even like to be in a room with one under glass.

But, the beauty of community Bible discussion is the facts that get brought out. First of all, we were reminded that at the time, there was no fear between man and animals. In other words, they could literally stroke a lion’s mane as it walked by. Can you imagine?

Then another fact caught my  attention and remained on my mind for days. The Hebrew word for serpent means, “shiny upright creature.” The slithering creature we think of when we think of a serpent, is an entirely different creature.

That information rattled around in my head for days as it made me look at Eve in a different light. Would I be more likely to listen to information from a shiny upright creature than a snake? Probably. No one ever accused Satan of being stupid. Of course, he would appear to Eve in some kind of pleasing form.

I feel like there are at least a couple of lessons in my newfound information.

First of all, it’s always wise to remember that we have an enemy who likes to exploit our weaknesses whatever they may be. To fight him off, we have to stay close to God in prayer and know what the Bible says about how we are supposed to live and act. We can bet that he does.

But, secondly, I am reminded that we have a tendency to try to look down on others for their sins, but rationalize our own. Think about it. When we find out that someone has lung cancer, what’s the first thing we ask? Did he smoke? It’s as if we want to make that cancer deserved somehow. We often have the same reaction when we learn someone has some type of addiction. We like to believe that someone definitely brought that upon themselves.

Eve’s story reminds us that we all have weaknesses. No one is perfect. We are all sinners and we are all capable of falling hard. We all have a common enemy. But, her story also reminds us that there is redemption. God provided clothing for them. He punished them, but He still loved them.

May Eve remind us to stay focused on God and to remember that we all need grace from time to time, whatever our transgressions may be. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Not Natural, Supernatural

Posted on by Wendy
Christianity revolves around the supernatural.

At the weekly Bible study that I attend, we have been talking about the Gospel of Matthew. This week we were talking about the, “eye for an eye” and the “love your enemies,” part found in chapter five. I don’t know about you, but I have always found those verses a little tough to swallow.

Is it truly possible to love those who want to harm us? We can try. One of the ladies in our study pointed out that when we fail, we can just keep on trying. But, is that enough? Can we succeed in loving the unloveable by sheer human grit and determination alone?

I don’t think it’s humanly possible. Forgiveness is not in our nature. Thankfulness is not in our nature. Humility is not in our nature. Selflessness is not in our nature. If you don’t believe me, casually observe any two-year-old child. Me, my, and mine are their battle cry. If we look around, we will find many adults aren’t much different.

But, my pastor tossed out a phrase that really stayed with me. “It’s not natural, but supernatural to walk differently.”

Isn’t that at the heart of what we believe?

While revenge may be our natural tendency, we are able and called as Christians, to tap into the supernatural. Jesus said that, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

So, if we truly want to practice forgiveness, love and thankfulness, then we have to more than strive. We have to pray. We have to read the Bible. Those are the practices that allow us access to the supernatural. Those are the practices that set us apart.

We won’t always get it right, but when we walk with Jesus, we ask for forgiveness and we get back up and continue on a little stronger and wiser and a little more at peace. The beauty of our faith journey is that we never finish on this side of Heaven, but we get to draw a little closer to Jesus with each step along the way.

That thought gives me a lot of hope. Maybe you needed some today too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Light After the Darkness

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes we get to see something amazing after the dark times.

The Bible study that my hubby and I attend, recently focused on the temptation of Jesus, out in the wilderness, found in Matthew. There are certain aspects of that account, that always jump out at me.

One is that Satan doesn’t even go after Jesus until He’s at His weakest, nothing to eat for forty days. I mean, let’s face it, most of us get cranky when we have to do fasting blood work. The first thing he tries to get Jesus to do is to turn rocks into bread and alleviate His suffering.

I think that scenario is true for many of us. We are often not tempted to sin when everything is going well, but when we are tired, in pain, lonely, or desperate for relief, that’s when we can become targets. I always find the temptation story an important reminder that Jesus, Himself was tempted, so He gets it when we are too. But, that’s also when we can cling tightly to, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13

My pastor put a new angle on the account that I hadn’t thought of before. He pointed out that the angels didn’t appear to help, that the supernatural didn’t enter into the fray, until Jesus resisted the temptation on His own. We don’t find the angels attending to Him until He tells the devil, “no.”

My pastor asked us if we had ever found ourselves in a dark situation and wondered if God was really there. Was God really listening? Did He even care?

These questions gave me some serious food for thought.

I can say in my own faith walk that there have been times when God has seemed silent, times when I desperately wanted answers and none seemed to come.

As I look back on those times, I can see that God used them to grow my faith. Do we believe that God is at work when all seems lost? Do we believe that He walks with us when we are at our lowest? Do we believe that He’s present when we see no evidence of it?

When we can answer that question with a yes, our faith grows, which is what it is supposed to do. We can tell our children all day long that they can ride a bike without training wheels, but at some point, we have to let go so they can see for themselves. After they complete that ride, we celebrate with them with some major pride and joy.

Maybe our faith walk is the same. Maybe from time-to-time, God lets go so that we can see how much He has taught us and how much we have grown.  Like any good father, He’s close by and afterwards, He celebrates with us and shows us something new and special that we couldn’t have possibly understood or appreciated  without the struggle.

That little nugget just happened to be something I needed to wrap my heart and mind around. Perhaps you needed to as well.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Prepare the Way

Posted on by Wendy
What do we need to do to prepare the way?

My hubby and I have been attending a Bible study at our church. This one is focusing on the close relationship between the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.

It’s fascinating stuff. When we are able to look back across centuries and see how God weaves His plan throughout history. There’s no way the people living it could see it at the time, but God was at work.

When Isaiah was talking about, preparing the way of the Lord, “Make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain,” the people of the time had no way of knowing that he was talking about John the Baptist who would point to Jesus.

In our study, we talked about how we can prepare our hearts for the Lord. What valleys do we find ourselves in that keep us from Jesus? Are they valleys of despair or depression? Are they valleys of guilt? Are they valleys of feeling not good enough? Maybe the valleys are filled with pain.

The Bible says that those valleys will be raised.

What about our mountains? What blocks our path to Jesus? What hinders us? Is it our busyness? Is it pride? Is it anger? Maybe we have been hurt by people of  the church before and just refuse to trust.

The Bible says those mountains will be made low.

The rough and rugged ground may be things that trip us up in our walk. These are things that might interfere with our best intentions. They could be simple things like fatigue or excuses. We have every intention of attending worship services or reading our Bibles, but something always comes up to keep us from it.

The Bible says the rough ground shall become level and the rugged places plain.

It’s amazing how words written thousands of years ago can speak so clearly today and be so timely. When we give our hearts to Jesus, when we surrender our hearts to Jesus, He raises up or lowers, or smooths out. He does whatever heart work that needs to be done.

He did all of that through the cross and because of that sacrifice, He prepared a way for us to be with God. So, now the question becomes what do we need to do to prepare our hearts?

It’s never too late. A Bible study reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Supernatural Strength

Posted on by Wendy
When we give others the opportunity to pray for us, we gain supernatural strength.

I recently had a bit of a health scare. After a yearly visit to my doctor, I got the dreaded call that I needed to come in for another mammogram and possibly an ultrasound. I got the news from the young doctor who replaced my doctor of over twenty years who just retired. She assured me that it was no big deal and encouraged me to wait for three weeks to get in with the group who already had my films, taken over the past ten years. I would know my results immediately.

I agreed. Did I mention that my mother is a breast cancer survivor? I should have known when I chose peace to be my one word to focus on this year, that I was in for a bumpy ride.

I Googled the few words I had from the report and learned that it was rarely cancer. Yet, I never throw much credence to percentages. At every turn with my mama’s cancer, we were told it was most likely nothing. Two failed lumpectomies and eventually a mastectomy, proved them all wrong.

Thankfully, Mama is well and feisty and doing just fine over ten years down the road. She’s happy and healthy and a light to all. God used her cancer for good and grew her faith immensely.

I kept all of that information along with my own diagnosis, mostly to myself for about two and a half weeks. I knew I would be okay either way. I didn’t really need to talk to anybody and I wasn’t going to bother anybody with a prayer request. There wasn’t even officially anything wrong.

But, the waiting wore me down and I hit a wall. The unknown became too much and I began to feel very anxious. I knew Jesus would walk with me whether I was sick or not. I didn’t have a crises of faith; I just couldn’t deal with the not knowing anymore and so I reached out to some select prayer warriors.

My hubby is a member of a men’s prayer group at our church and they prayed. My pastor pulled me aside on Sunday and he said a beautiful, comforting prayer with me. I could feel the Holy Spirit at work. When I got home, I sat on my porch in the sunshine and I texted an old friend and asked her for prayer just like she has asked me in the past. I messaged some of my prayer warriors from my mission trip.

I got immediate replies all around and I felt that peace that had been eluding me. The next day, I received several messages including a text from my pastor’s wife encouraging me and lifting  me up and I thanked God for all of them.

When I went for my mammogram, it all took less than an hour. All was well and when the technician used the same exact words that my pastor had prayed, “We looked and there was nothing there,” I knew the Holy Spirit had been busy and I learned a valuable faith lesson that I should have already known.

I don’t know why I resist asking others to pray for me when I am so willing to pray for them. The asking doesn’t make me weak; it makes me supernaturally strong. I feel grateful, blessed and humbled all at once. I am reminded that the strength in a faith community comes not from a few strong ones doing all of the praying, but from everyone sharing their burdens and lifting each other up.

May I never forget. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Super Bowl Revelations

Posted on by Wendy
Prayer can unite.

Last Sunday night, the world was treated to Super Bowl 51. The entire state of Georgia was atwitter with the possibility of the Falcons winning a Super Bowl. Schools all over the state had Falcons Day. Offices across the state encouraged their employees to dress in Falcons garb. There were even churches who got in on Falcons fever.

The first half was fantastic as the Falcons looked unstoppable. But, alas, the Patriots made the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history and walked away victorious.

I always enjoy the pomp and circumstance of a game that is so uniquely American. Ever since my Daddy and I watched the Chicago Bears do the Super Bowl Shuffle in 1985, I have been hooked. I rarely care about which team wins. It’s just usually fun to watch. Even the commercials are entertaining.

This year was a little different for me. I really wanted Georgia’s home team to win and they didn’t. I was also disappointed by, for the most part, with the less than entertaining commercials. But, there were other events last Sunday, that I will always remember.

When former President Bush and his wife Barbara, came onto the field in a wheelchair and a golf cart and the crowd went wild, I was proud to be an American. When President Bush tossed the coin and the crowd went wild, I fought back tears and when members of both teams shook the former president’s hand, I could feel unity, even though the teams were opponents.

I saw every member of each team stand for the National Anthem and I could feel unity.

At half-time, when Lady Gaga took the stage, I held my breath. Honestly, I have never been a very big fan of hers and lately, members of Hollywood have made it their business to preach their views rather than to entertain. Gaga had a choice to make and she could have gone either way. Would she use the biggest moment of her life to unite or divide?

She began with classic patriotic songs, “Good Bless America” and “This Land is Your Land,” and then actually recited part of the Pledge of Allegiance including the lately controversial part, one nation under God, and then she entertained. She did a few things that showed her idea of the importance of inclusion, but she made a choice to unite and not divide.

I could feel unity.

As divided as we have been, there have been many prayer warriors, praying for peace and unity. I feel that I was blessed to get a glimpse of the fruition of some of those prayers on Super Bowl Sunday. Although the game did not turn out as I had hoped, there are aspects of that game that will stay as close to my heart and as alive in my memory as the Super Bowl Shuffle has for all of those years.

May we all remember that we are one nation under God and may we all strive to stay that way. The Super Bowl reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy

He’s in the In-Between Too

Posted on by Wendy
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I have always found February to be a particularly tiring month. Christmas has come and gone. The idea of a brand new year has worn off. It’s cold outside. I struggle with an exercise routine. There’s nothing new on the horizon at the moment. Spring is a couple of months away and I’m tired.

My daughter and I have been discussing graduation and college orientation dates, but she’s still stuck in the doldrums of her high school schedule and all of the stress that it entails. She’s tired.

This time of year is one of those in-between times. The trees are bare and the earth is asleep. Intellectually, we know spring is coming, but it seems far away.

Life can get like that too. Sometimes we find ourselves trudging through day after day, with no excitement and no big plans. We feel like tomorrow will be just another repeat of today. There’s nothing tragic going on, but nothing exciting either.

We may yearn for change. We may pray for change and yet, we find ourselves wandering from day-to-day. We wonder if God hears us or if He can even use us anymore. Is He done with us?

The Bible is full of people in similar predicaments. Joseph was stuck in Egypt as a slave or a prisoner for thirteen years before God delivered him. Moses was a simple shepherd for around forty years before the burning bush incident when God called him to lead the Israelites out of captivity. After David was anointed by Samuel to become the king of Israel, it would be around twenty years before he actually became the king.

One of the most amazing things about the Bible, is that it is filled with imperfect people who can give us hope. When we read the stories of the people in it, we find flawed humans like ourselves, who often spend a lot of time in-between. Some of them were promised big things and had to wait. Some of them never even dreamed of being used by God in big ways. Some of them simply lived simple lives that were disrupted by something huge.

Whatever the individual case is, we can always see God at work in their stories. We can see Him arranging things in ways that would be impossible for them to have ever imagined, much less created on their own. All He required is faithfulness and obedience, a willingness to be used.

And so it is with us today. No matter where we are in our journey, whether we are at the top of our game, or in a pit, or just stuck in the in-between, if we woke up today, God is not done with us. He has a plan. He is at work.

If we need a reminder, we can crack open a Bible. It’s full of them. A cold and dreary February day reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂