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.

Nation Building Musings

Posted on by Wendy
What would our world look like it we spent more time caring about the things closest to God's heart?
What would our world look like if we spent more time caring about the things closest to God’s heart?

I live one town over from Athens, Georgia, home of the Georgia Bulldogs and the University of Georgia. Like most SEC schools, football is king here. We also have a new coach, so that’s a regular topic of conversation too. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Bulldogs as much as any other alum, but college football for some folks is almost a religion.

I recently read a very interesting interview with Peyton Manning. He openly talks about his Christian faith, when asked, but he says he prefers to share his faith in the way that he lives. He also says that he doesn’t pray about winning football games. He says he prays that there are no injuries, but that he doesn’t think God cares either way who wins the game.

Gasp! Could it be true? God doesn’t have a favorite college football team? Does He even love the Florida Gators?

We all seem to be born with the desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. I understand that. I’m all for cheering on my college team. I’m all for the shirts, car tags and bumper stickers. But, at what point does all of it define us?

If you were to die today and be buried in a t-shirt with words that defined your life, what would they say? Would they be your favorite sports team, or perhaps that you were a good spouse, or a good mom or dad, or maybe a good friend, or maybe that you made a lot of money?

Would they say that you followed Jesus with all of your heart? Would there be a cross somewhere on it?

If God doesn’t care about sports, what does He care about? Oh, yeah He cares about the broken and the lost, the sick and the poor, and the friendless. How much time do we spend caring about these people? Do we spend enough of our time and energy on the things that are close to God’s heart, for it to help shape and define us?

What if Christians spent more time on becoming a unified Jesus Nation? What if we put the things that are closest to God’s heart, first? What would our churches look like? What would our towns look like? What would our country look like?

I’ll bet it would be amazing. It might even be worth a try. What do you think?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

How Hot is Your Prayer Life?

Posted on by Wendy
The power of praying Christians is unstoppable.
The power of praying Christians is unstoppable.

The ladies of my church watched the movie, “The War Room,” last night. It was one of those movies that truly is life changing because you can take the specific situation represented and transfer it to all areas of Christian life. The focus of the movie was prayer. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.

The questions that it asks all Christians to ponder is, not only, “Do you believe in prayer,”but “How hot is your prayer life?”

When the elderly, Ms. Clara asked her new young real estate agent, Elizabeth, that question, she answered that she was busy with work and family and that her prayer life wasn’t cold or hot, but somewhere in the middle. That seems like a viable answer. The middle is usually good. Right? Middle class, moderation and warm, are things that many of us aspire to.

But, Ms. Clara then handed her a lukewarm cup of coffee that almost made Elizabeth gag. Point taken. There’s nothing good about lukewarm coffee or for that matter, lukewarm faith.

Jesus even talks about a lukewarm church in Revelation. He says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16

In the spiritual realm, where we really grow and use our faith, lukewarm is useless. Jesus says as much.

Reading the Bible and prayer is how we grow our faith. It’s how we get strong. It’s how we become the warriors that we are called to be.

In the movie, Elizabeth, learns to pray effectively, give her heart fully to God, and with His intervention, saves her faltering marriage.

Christians hold an enormous power through prayer, that we so often, barely tap. We wait until life gets scary and then we pray, not realizing, if our prayer life was hot, like it should be, life would never get scary. The things of the world would be unable to scare us, if we were intently focused on trusting and obeying God.

We have an election coming up. The mudslinging has already become fierce. There may even be a Supreme Court seat in the balance. What can we do?

All Christians can get off of the bench and get into the game. We can pray, pray without ceasing, for God’s guidance in choosing our next president and for His intervention in our country’s politics. We can pray that He will raise up Godly men and women to lead our country.

We have to do something, because doing nothing, is simply being lukewarm. We are called to do more. We are called to pray, listen and act.

“If my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:13-14

Those are powerful words. The next move is ours.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Nudged to Love Others

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes reaching out can be as simple as a song.
Sometimes reaching out can be as simple as a song.

I often give my neighbor a ride home from church. She always worries that she is a burden somehow. I just smile as I explain that I was raised in a tiny Baptist church, yet the church owned a school bus. Picking people up, especially for Vacation Bible School, was what we did. Lack of transportation was never a viable excuse for not attending our little church.

When my sister and I were growing up, my cousin and her hubby would come pick us up for Sunday school, and my mom would join us for church service. I truly believe they were happy to help.

When my daughter was younger, there was a little girl in our neighborhood, who we would swing by and take to church with us. On Wednesday nights, I would run to the neighborhood across the street, to pick up a couple of kids who wanted to come to our program.

I suppose it’s true that you learn what you live. I can’t imagine not being willing to give someone a ride. For years, I drove a minivan, that was full more often than not, of kids who needed transportation. My mama did the same.

I guess I consider transportation to be a gift. Not all people have it. If God were to ask me if I am using His gift to further His kingdom, what would my answer be?

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving my sweet neighbor home, we were talking about her son, who passed away. She was really missing him. I can’t imagine the pain of burying a child. I’m sure it’s not anything you ever get over.

These conversations tend to make us squirm, don’t they? We never know what to say and we don’t like that. There is no magical Christian answer to heal a grieving heart. We can’t fix it and that makes us feel helpless, so we often just avoid the conversations or even the people who need us to be there and listen.

Giving someone a ride is easy. It requires no emotional or spiritual presence on our part. But, what if all of those years of giving rides to kids, was God’s way of preparing me for something deeper?

I listened to her and my heart went out to her. I promised to pray for her peace as she got out of my car. As I drove down the road, thinking about her pain, a song came on the radio, that seemed to have been written for her.

I thought of her and that song all day and wondered if it would speak to her as it spoke to me. Would she get it? Would it be helpful or hurtful? After wrestling all day, I sent her an e-mail and attached it. I prayed that it was the right gesture.

She sent me the sweetest reply and told me that was exactly what she needed to hear.

Looking back, of course it was. There I sat not knowing what to say, and praying for her peace, and God sent me the answer in a song. Why did I doubt?

There are times when we desperately want to help, but just don’t know how. These are never the times to do nothing. These are the times to go to God in prayer and ask for guidance. We are trying to do His work of loving others. We don’t have to know the right answers, but He does. He will send them.

We just have to have our eyes wide open, or in this case our ears, and not be afraid to act when nudged. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Here’s the song; if you would like to hear it.

We Are Called to Do

Posted on by Wendy
There's a time for talking and planning and a time for doing.
There’s a time for talking and planning and a time for doing.

Yesterday, we had only one boy show up for our Sunday school class. It was a holiday weekend and a lot of people were out of town. I attend a small church, so when a few families are out of town, it makes a difference. You are missed, when you miss a Sunday in a small church. It can be a blessing or a curse, depending on your perspective.

My hubby and my son had a big box out on one of the tables in the fellowship hall. I asked him what they were doing. He informed me that they were changing the letters on the sign out front. I asked him what he thought about our one student, helping them out. He told me that was exactly what he was planning.

And so they worked on the sign together, my hubby, a high school freshman and a fifth grader. When I spoke to the boy’s mother and told her what they were doing, she surprised me with her answer.

While I didn’t think she would have a problem with him helping, she was actually very encouraging. She told me that she felt like being a part of a church was learning to serve. She said that while Sunday school was for learning, that she felt like her son also needed to learn that there are many ways to serve and that the best way to learn to serve is by doing.

I thought about her words as I went through my day. I thought about working with kids and teaching them about the Bible. I thought about teaching about the Christian walk. I believe that it’s so important to share our faith and knowledge with those who are young in their faith.

But, I also thought about the doing. Sometimes the best lessons are the hands on. We can talk about serving all day long, but unless we actually do something, it’s just talk.

I would love to believe that my young Sunday school student, will remember all of the faith lessons we have talked about. But, I know he will remember partnering with other church members who weren’t his age, to work on fixing the church sign. When he rides by the sign, he can take some ownership. He can see his work.

My own faith lesson on Sunday was remembering that Christians are called to do, not talk about doing, and it’s so easy to get bogged down in the talking. While there is a time for talking and planning, at some point, we have to do something.

An eleven-year-old boy reminded me of that. Maybe you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Valentine’s Reflections

Posted on by Wendy
The most important love to remember on Valentine's Day is God's unending love for us.
The most important love to remember on Valentine’s Day is God’s unending love for us.

Valentine’s Day is on Sunday and it’s hard to set foot in any retail establishment without being reminded of it. The grocery store has flowers and chocolates. Clothing stores have red and pink items plastered in their windows. Restaurants are running specials for couples.

Just out of mere curiosity, I did a Google search on St. Valentine and turned up some interesting information. First of all, little is definitely known about him. There’s lots of legend and there may have even been two stories that got molded into one.

But, here’s one that I found that grabbed my attention. Valentine was a Roman priest during the time of an unfriendly emperor, Claudius, who persecuted the Christian church. Claudius had decided to forbid marriage because, unattached soldiers were better fighters. They didn’t have families or loved ones at home to think about.

The culture at the time was very sexually permissive. Several wives were okay, but the one man and one woman deal wasn’t very popular. But, for whatever reason, there were those who were drawn to the Christian faith. Does any of this sound in any way familiar?

Of course, the Christian church, always encouraged one woman and one man, Christian marriage, so there was a priest, Valentine, who married couples in secret.

He was eventually caught and imprisoned. There are legends about his time in prison. The story goes that one of the men who was to judge him, Asterius, had a young daughter who was blind. Valentine prayed over her and healed her. Supposedly, Asterius became a baptized Christian and one account has 44 other members in his household converting as well.

One story has Valentine released, but then arrested again for continuing to stand by his faith. In 269 AD, he was sentenced to a brutal death of beating, stoning and decapitation. The Romans were always kind of blood thirsty. Supposedly, the last words he wrote were to the young girl he healed and were signed, “Your Valentine.”

Not all romance, chocolate and roses, huh? You have to hand it to good old American commercialism. But, Valentine has a different kind of love to teach us, a deeper love, one that spans the centuries.

Valentine decided what he believed in. His faith, surely bolstered through the Holy Spirit, made him willing to die for what God called him to do. He gave up his earthly life, knowing that he would spend eternity with Jesus.

I think it’s fitting that Valentine’s day comes during Lent, when Christians are taking some time to reflect on the sacrifice that Christ made for all of us. It’s a great reminder of the greatest love of all. It’s also a great reminder for us to all take stock as we walk towards Calvary.

What is it that we believe? What does our faith teach us to stand up for, to fight for?

So, as we encounter all of those hearts and flowers, over the weekend, let’s stop and take a minute to give thanks for all of those people who have stood up for their faith along the way, and most of all for Jesus, who represents eternal love, that never fades.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

 

Glimpses of Heaven

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes God gives us glimpses of Heaven to remind us that we are just travelers here.
Sometimes God gives us glimpses of Heaven to remind us that we are just travelers here.

Last Sunday, our pastor talked about the Transfiguration of Jesus. It’s found in three out of the four Gospels. Luke tells us that Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John, his besties, up to a mountain top to pray.

I always find it interesting that Jesus seemed to seek out beautiful spots in nature to pray. I’ve always felt like mountains have a spiritual presence. I find that I too, feel closest to God in the beautiful places that nature provides. Jesus had them once again, hiking somewhere and when they got to the top, Peter, James and John, had to rest. They even fell asleep.

This too, is a reminder that when we decide to walk with Jesus, the path sometimes gets bumpy and downright exhausting, but we are called to rest as well. I imagine they had become used to walking with Jesus at this point and they may have realized that they had to grab some rest whenever they had the opportunity.

Life with Jesus then, just as now, was never boring.

When they became fully awake, Jesus was praying and had changed into something glorious. “His face changed and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” Luke 9:29

Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus. This is the point where my pastor said that this must be what Heaven is like. He said he often gets questions about whether or not we will recognize our loved ones in Heaven when we arrive. Peter, James and John had never met Elijah and Moses. They had been dead for centuries and they certainly didn’t have any photos of them; yet they knew who they were. I find that comforting.

So upon seeing a glimpse of Heaven, what did Peter suggest?

“Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Luke 9:33

Peter didn’t want to leave that mountain top, ever. He had glimpsed Heaven and he thought they should just stay right where they were, indefinitely.

Who hasn’t been there?

We all have had glimpses of Heaven. It may have been a mountain vista, or a perfect sunrise, or a beach, or holding our child for the first time, or saying “I do,” to our spouse. There have even been people who have had near death experiences that describe a brilliant light, that they are drawn to, but are pulled back because it’s not their time.

I think God gives His people these glimpses, these gifts, from time to time to let us know that there is something better and brilliant that awaits us in eternity. I think He reminds us sometimes that we are travelers here, but while Heaven awaits us eventually, we have work to do now.

We would all love to just stay in those glimpse of Heaven moments, but that’s not what Christians are called to do. Jesus had the cross awaiting him and Peter, James and John would not only be witnesses, but would be there for the resurrection too. They would also go on to be instrumental in the birth of the Church as we know it.

None of that could have been accomplished on that mountain top.

The Bible reminds us to treasure those glimpses of Heaven. They are special and sometimes miraculous. They are a gift. But, we are also reminded that until we get to Heaven, we are called to work hard and share the love of Christ with as many people as we can.

What will you do today?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

The Gift of Lent

Posted on by Wendy
Don't let the sacred time of Lent, pass you by.
Don’t let the sacred time of Lent, pass you by.

Today is the first day of Lent. It comes early this year, because Easter comes early this year and Easter is on March, 27th. Christians look at Lent in many different ways. Some religiously give up something that they love until Easter Sunday, like wine, or coffee, or social media.

I did that one year. I gave up chocolate. At the time, I was a huge chocoholic. A day rarely went by when I didn’t have at least a bite. It was tough to give it up. Interestingly, I’m no longer a huge fan. I like chocolate; but I’m no longer obsessed with it.

There are Christians who pick something up, like reading the Bible everyday, or take a set amount of quiet time, or attend a Bible study. I’ve done that too. I actually did a Lent study here on Graceful Gaines one year, on the Gospel of John. You can access it, if you are interested in reading through one of the Gospels for Lent.

There are also Christians who don’t observe Lent at all. My church never talked about Lent when I was growing up. It’s not in the Bible. It’s more of a “Church Universal,” doctrine. I’ll have to admit that there have been years that I haven’t given Lent much thought. There have been years where I was just too consumed with other things, or too tired, or really just couldn’t wrap my head around Lent.

I couldn’t think of anything to give up or pick up. I just couldn’t think of anything to do.

I’ve come to understand that therein lies my problem. When I kept asking myself what I could do, I kept coming up empty. I’ve learned over time, that when I don’t know what to do, is when I need to spend more time in prayer. Those are also usually the times when I’m feeling the most overwhelmed by life in general.

At some point, our wise Father, revealed to me that Lent isn’t about doing something for God. The idea of giving something up or doing something extra because Jesus died for us, is kind of ridiculous. We can’t do anything to earn grace. Think about it. I’m going to give up chocolate, because Jesus gave up His life?

Lent is a gift from God to us, an invitation to draw closer to Him. It’s a relatively short period of time for Christians to be intentional about our walk with Christ. It’s about putting our faith first and leaning into Jesus and into grace. It’s a special time. It’s a sacred time.

However Christians decide to observe it, the important thing is that we observe it, because when we really make Lent a priority, Easter Sunday has a brand new meaning and truly embracing the miracle of Easter, is what we are all about. Don’t let Lent pass you by.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

P.S. This song is such a beautiful reminder of Jesus’ love for us. Enjoy!

Advice from Paul

Posted on by Wendy
What does a quiet life look like?
What does a quiet life look like?

I recently read a blog post centered on 1 Thessalonians 4:11. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands just as we told you.”

The writer went one way and my mind went spinning in an entirely different direction. I looked it up and discovered that the you, is followed by a comma, not a period, so I read the rest of the sentence, which is verse twelve, “so that your daily life will win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:12

I quickly read the footnote for explanation. Paul had written this letter to the people of Thessalonica, who were doing a good job in their Christian walk, but he had a warning for them. First he tells them how to live and then he tells them why.

The Greeks of the day, apparently, looked down on people who performed manual labor, worked with their hands, and Paul was reminding them that Christians are called to work hard and not be dependent on others due to idleness. If they led a quiet life and worked hard, others would see and be drawn to Christ as well.

This verse swirled in my thoughts all day long. Paul could have written it for us today.

In a world where we all desperately seek our fifteen minutes of fame at all costs, living a quiet life seems almost impossible. We take to social media to tweet every thought that comes into our minds and we take pictures of our meals to post. We broadcast when we get a new dog, a new car, or a new spouse. We feel compelled to share everything.

But, all that sharing is the opposite of quiet and it also leads to the next warning about minding your own business. It’s fairly difficult to mind our own business when we can’t put down our social media, because we are so engrossed in everyone else’s business.

Christians who are able, are also called to work hard and not depend on others to take care of us. Paul is not talking about the elderly or sick; he’s talking about people who are simply lazy.

On the surface, it seems like a simple recipe. Lead a quiet life; mind your own business and work hard. But, I don’t hear a lot of quiet these days and it seems like no one minds their own business. Everyone has an opinion about just about everything, and they feel deeply, the need to express it. And, we have a lot of able-bodied folks who refuse to work.

So, what can we do?

The change, starts with me and you. We need to lead a quiet life and mind our own business. We need to work hard, because the rest of the verse says that we, “may win the respect of outsiders.”

Outsiders are non-believers. Is there a better way to share the Gospel than earning the respect of those who don’t believe?

Isn’t that what we are called to do? That’s what Paul believed. What do you believe?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

 

Lessons from Peter

Posted on by Wendy
"Then Jesus said to Simon, 'Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.'"
“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.'” Luke 5:10b

Yesterday, our Sunday school lesson for our middle school class, was on Jesus calling Peter, James and John to be fishers of men. I remember this story well from my own Sunday school days. I feel like there were felt board cut outs for it. I know there was a song.

As I recall, these guys were cleaning their nets and Jesus strolled by and said, “Follow me,” and they dropped everything and walked off into the sunset.

But, as I read Luke 5:1-11, for our lesson, verse eight, really spoke to me. I don’t ever remember discussing it as a child in Sunday school.

The men had fished all night and had caught nothing. It was now daylight. They had cleaned their nets and were probably ready to head home. Jesus told them to go out and try again. Peter reluctantly agreed. When he cast his net this time, there were so many fish, that the net was breaking; his companions, and James and John, brought their boat over to assist and they had so many fish in both boats that they began to sink.

Peter, a seasoned fisherman, knew he was in the presence of the Lord. Do you think he embraced him and thanked him for the huge bounty?

Nope. “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.'” Luke 5:8

There Peter stood in the presence of Jesus, and instead of reaching for Him and trying to lean into His goodness, his first instinct was to push Him away.

As I attempted to ask the kids in our class if they had ever done anything that they felt was unforgivable or that made them unworthy of Jesus’ love, I was met with blank stares.

Youth is such a beautiful thing; isn’t it? I suppose that’s why the Bible says we all need to have the faith of a child. Children tend to believe in God’s unconditional love. They haven’t done much living, yet.

But, as we grow up and tender hearts get broken and toughened and bad choices get made and we fall, over and over, we can come to believe that grace and forgiveness are for everyone, except for us. We can believe that we are too far gone or have committed just one too many sins to ever be forgiven or redeemed.

In fact, as adults, that’s often our go to. Look at Peter. “Get away from me Jesus, I’m a sinner.” (my paraphrase)

But, Jesus knew that He was here to save sinners. Peter was just one of the many. Jesus certainly wasn’t shocked by any of Peter’s shortcomings or yours or mine, for that matter.

Do you know what Jesus said to Peter?

“Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

Don’t be afraid. Ever notice how often that phrase turns up in the Bible? Jesus wanted us to know that we have nothing to fear when we follow Him, not our pasts, our present, or our broken hearts, or our sins, or our doubts, or even our lack of faith.

He simply wants us to take His hand and follow Him and when we do, He will take care of all of our baggage. That’s the beauty of grace.

And grace, well it’s amazing and undeserved, yet ours to have, if we choose. Our lives are no different than Peter’s, while we are all sinners, Jesus loves us and calls us anyway. He wants to use us too.

Peter believed what Jesus said and he left everything and followed Him, and got to be on the front row of the greatest love story ever told.

Jesus is still calling. What is our answer?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Our Story

Posted on by Wendy
The people in the Bible remind us that our stories are not so different from theirs.
The people in the Bible remind us that our stories are not so different from theirs.

Our church started a Bible study on Wednesday night on the Gospel of Luke. I love Luke because of all of the intricate details that it includes. Luke is the only place where we see Gabriel visit Mary and Zechariah to tell them about their miraculous babies.

Luke also includes “Mary’s Song.” After Mary has had some time to let the angel’s news sink in and after she has spent some time with her older and wiser and also pregnant, cousin, Elizabeth, she embraces her situation. She comes to realize that the unplanned and unanticipated pregnancy, is actually a gift, a blessing from God.

She decides to believe that God does have a beautiful plan and she bursts out in a song. The musical loving gal in me, can so appreciate this.

Our pastor pointed out that Mary’s song was similar to a prayer spoken by another woman named Hannah, hundreds of years earlier. Hannah was old and desperate for a child and God heard her prayer and Samuel was born. But, he pointed out, while the two praises were similar, Mary’s was different. She took Hannah’s prayer and made it her own.

Our pastor said he felt like that’s what the entire Gospel of Luke does, it makes Jesus’ story, our story.

I pondered that all day the next day. Isn’t that why the Bible is so important for guidance for Christians? Yes, it’s God’s word, but it’s also the story of God’s people. As God’s modern-day people, we can see our story in theirs. That’s what makes the Bible so amazing.

No, we probably won’t ever see the entire earth flooded and build and board an ark, but Noah teaches us that we can trust God. Noah teaches us that God will save those who walk with Him. Noah teaches us patience and obedience.

We probably won’t ever be put on the spot to save our entire nation, like Queen Esther, but Esther teaches us that we were made for the very moment we are living in and that God will use us if we trust Him and allow Him to.

Most of us aren’t or haven’t been a prostitute like Rahab, but her story teaches us that we are all redeemable if we decide to worship God.

Most of us aren’t ever going to be shepherds, or a king, but David teaches us about slaying giants and about repentance and God’s unfailing love for His people.

Most of us won’t ever be sold into slavery by our brothers like Joseph. But, Joseph’s story teaches us about faith and trust in God and forgiveness for others.

Why do Christians read the Bible? Because we can easily see our story woven in with theirs. We have all been betrayed. We have all needed redemption. We have all needed to be forgiven and we have needed to forgive others. We all need to learn to trust and obey God and we all need to grow our faith.

The Bible teaches us all of that through the stories of God’s people and ultimately through Jesus, the greatest love story ever told.

And the story of God’s people is still being written today. What will your part be?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂