What's Love Got To Do With It?

The Misconception of Love

Love is one of those things that I hear people throw around so casually and incorrectly. It is used to make excuses for wrong-doings, it’s used to try to make people feel guilty, and it’s used to describe an emotion that’s not truly love. With that being said, the way people use love is actually not love at all. They use it to manipulate. That’s not love. They use it to justify their sins. That’s not love. They use it to describe their lust. That’s not love.

When someone does something wrong and are sinning and you try to tell and explain to them how it’s wrong and the consequences of those actions, but they get angry and say you are supposed to LOVE everyone and not JUDGE, one-that’s not judging and two-love isn’t letting you continue sinning while I smile and watch or tell you everything is going to be okay. If you see you child steal something, you’re not going to sit and smile and tell them everything is okay and accept that they are thieves because you love them! NO!!! You’re going to stop them, get on to them, tell them it’s wrong and why it’s wrong, and you’re going to punish them! Why? Because you love them! You don’t want to see them going down a bad path. You don’t want to see them heading towards destruction or eventually eternal doom. So because you LOVE them, you will raise your voice and punish them, but you will also talk to them and teach them.

So many people want you to be NICE to them while they sin and call that love. It is not. Being nice and love are two very different things. You loving someone doesn’t mean you accept their sins or go along with their sins. Jesus said in John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” So, if you do not follow the commandments, you are sinning. Therefore, not showing love to God. And God IS love, so if you want others to LOVE you, shouldn’t GOD be the root of it, and if He’s the root of it, doesn’t that mean you need to STOP SINNING? With that being said, you can’t be in the middle of your sin and trying to tell others that’s trying to correct and help you that THEY need to love! You’re not even showing love to the One that IS love!!! “…God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16)

There are also many people that like to use love manipulate others to get what they want. They try to make you feel guilty and use love to mean that you owe them something. For example, if you love me, you will do this for me or do that for me. And it’s usually something that goes against God’s word and His will. In situations like this, you really have to understand what love is and this is not it! My response to people like this would be, “And if you truly loved me, you wouldn’t be trying to talk me into going against God’s will.”

And those of us that believe we love someone, but it’s only lust. We’ve all been there! You just like to person for how they look and how they make you feel physically, but love goes beyond that. If you can drop someone instantly because they are not fulfilling something physical that you want or something materialistic that you want, you never loved them. It’s time we get to a point where we actually call things what they really are. Actual love should be called love. Lust should be called love. STOP calling lust love. They are certainly not the same!

So What Is Love?

As I’ve mentioned before, God is love. If it’s truly love, then it is of God. The bible spells out what love is. It is patient, it is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not arrogant, it is not rude, it does not insist on its own way, it is not irritable, it is not resentful, it does NOT rejoice in wrongdoing, but it rejoices with the TRUTH, love bears ALL things, it believes all things, it hopes all things, it endures all things, love NEVER ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

People seem to get the kindness confused with truth. Speaking the truth is not being unkind. Especially when the purpose of speaking the truth is to help you.  If you are in wrongdoing and get angry when you hear the truth about your wrongdoing, you may want to step back and think about why exactly are you getting angry instead of realizing you need to fix that problem…

People speaking the truth to bring conviction to others (which is to help you get on the right track, if you are convicted then you feel bad about your wrongdoing and realize God is watching your every move…) is not hate or judgment. It’s simply bringing to your attention what you’re doing wrong and what the actual judgment will be if you don’t stop and repent. A lot of times, it’s easy for people to tell you the truth and shame it brings because they’ve been there, too! They know that it brings nothing but shame and eternal misery. It would actually be the OPPOSITE of love if they knew all of this and DID NOT warn you!!!

And yes, you can tell the truth without being rude or condescending. People should see and feel the love, too. You can’t just tell people the truth about everything and think you are loving when you are rude and hateful with it. Remember, love is not arrogant. When you share truth with others, it should come from a loving place and brings those in wrongdoing to conviction, not condemnation. Love hopes all things. It should bring hope, not take away anyone’s hope. And you can love people and still let them know you are not accepting, condoning, or tolerating sin of any kind. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, so no we are NOT going to celebrate your sin.

Love is also part of the fruit of the Spirit. (Notice it’s fruit, not fruits.) The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) So all 9 things together make up THE FRUIT of the Spirit. Without love, it’s impossible to live by the Spirit! Notice that another part of the fruit is patience and kindness. We already know that love is patient and kind. So without love, you can’t function in those two!

Also, remember, love is choice. You choose to love. Love is unconditional and endures all. When people say they fell out of love with someone, they never loved the person. They lusted after the other person or liked what the other person could do for them. But that isn’t love. I titled this post “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” because love has everything to do with everything. God is love and God is our everything. We cannot abide in his Spirit without love. Obviously, I got the title from the Tina Turner song, but she was singing about love not meaning anything. This is why I am explaining all of this. In her next line she says that love is just a second-hand emotion. Well, I beg to differ. Love is not an emotion. It is a choice and it is something you DO. Tina based that song on the struggles she went through, but that struggle was not love at all. This is why we can’t confuse love with words people say. Watch their actions. What are they doing? Do their actions SHOW love? Do they show patience and kindness? Do they show generosity and modesty? Are they humble and polite? Do they do what’s right and not all about what they want?  Are they good-tempered and forgiving?

Someone treating you badly is NOT LOVE. Someone manipulating you is NOT LOVE (Remember what happened to Samson??? Judges 16). Defending sin is NOT LOVE!!!

Webster’s Dictionary refers to love first as a noun, but according to the Word of God, it is a verb first! It’s what you do! (1 John 3:18)

God defines love as:

-part of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22)

-patient

-kind

-not envious

-not boasting

-not arrogant

-not rude

-not insisting on its own way

-not irritable

-not resentful

-NOT rejoicing in wrongdoing

-rejoicing with truth

-bearing all things

-believing all things

-hoping all things

-enduring all things

-never ending

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8

How many of you do all of these to those you say that you love??? Hhmmmm…

Something to think about…

Let me also ask you these questions:

Do you exemplify this love to your enemies? (Matthew 5:43-48)

Are you willing to give up a child? (John 3:16)

Are you following the law? (Romans 13:10)

Do you say you love God, but your actions show you hate your brother? (1 John 4:20,

Would you lay down your life for a friend? (John 15:13)

Are you a friend to Jesus? (John 15:14)

Are you following the law? (John 15:14)

Do you love Jesus? (John 14:15)

Are you following the law? (John 14:15)

Do you owe others nothing but love? (Romans 13:8)

Are you following the law? (Romans 13:8)

Are you in fear? (1 John 4:18)

1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. We know because of its repetition that love is fulfilling the law. God is the fulfillment of the law. How?

Matthew 5:17- Jesus came to fulfill the law.

God is love. Love is fulfilling the law. Jesus came to fulfill the law. Jesus is God with us.

We can’t have God without love. We can’t have love without the law. We can’t have the fulfillment of the law without Jesus. We can’t have Jesus without God.

Love is God. Love is Jesus. Love is the law.

That, my friends, is what’s love got to do with it! (Notice it doesn’t have anything to do with accepting other peoples’ sins or trying to make them feel less ashamed for their sin! That isn’t love!)

About The Author

Amy McCutcheon is a loving wife to Angelo McCutcheon and mom to two boys, AJ and Amauri McCutcheon. She is the creator of A Supermom’s Journey, a blog about motherhood and all that it entails. You can read more about the journey at  www.supermomsjourney.com.  Amy is also an educator and teaches middle school ELA and reading. She also teaches English online to ESL students in China. Amy is also the creator of the YouTube channel A Supermoms Journey and runs a tutoring service called AR Learning where she tutors students ages 4-18 in all core subjects and helps adults with obtaining their GED, college entrance essays, resume writing, and document proofreading. You can book an appointment at www.arlearning.wix.com/home. Amy is in ministry with her husband. They run EBT Ministries which is an outreach ministry to help believers truly understand Yah’s (God) word and the truth about being a child of Yah. You can learn more about the ministry at www.ebtminitries.org. Amy is the creator of the blog GMEL (God, Marriage, Education, Life) where she writes about what Yah’s word says about life for a woman. To continue to read, go to www.gmel2000.blogspot.com.

Want to contact Amy?

Email: mrsm3108@gmail.com

Emotional Thermostat: How To Keep Your Emotions Under Control And Aligned With The Word Of God

We all have emotions that we experience depending on different situations. As females, we tend to experience more emotions and stronger emotions than men. We have to have more venting sessions, crying sessions, and other things that may seem a bit “extra” when we deal with our emotions. Some things may be no big deal to others while we may find ourselves overly emotional about the exact same thing. Now, I’m not saying that as women, we should not be so emotional. No, we cannot help that! It is part of our being, part of our DNA make up! We are emotional beings and we NEED to be in order to the nurturing mothers we were created to be! What I’m getting at is when we tend to let our emotions become our REALITY!

Trials and tribulations happen all throughout life. We know that. But when we let the emotions that we feel during those times become our reality, or plainly said, we let our sadness make us feel like that’s how things will be forever, that is a problem. Things happen and we lose hope. We lose sight of what we were originally seeking, and lose confidence in God. We start to let that sadness cause us to feel like there is no hope and nothing good will come out of the situation. But I am here to tell you that you CAN NOT let your emotions become your reality! You cannot let your emotions get the best of you! You cannot let your emotions run your life! And most of all, you cannot let your emotions make you forget the God we serve and how powerful he is and how loving he is and how merciful he is and how FAITHFUL he is!

As women, we need our emotions to properly be the nurturers we are created to be as I said before, but our emotions are separate from our faith in God. Faith is not based on emotion. Faith is based on hearing the word of God DESPITE your emotions! I have seen things happen to friends that if they let their emotions take the lead, they would have lost EVERYTHING! What led me to write out this is the fact that I have dealt with my strong, over-powering emotions through a recent testing of my faith. In October of 2014, I miscarried for the first time. It was my very first pregnancy and my husband and I were super excited. I later found out that I had a blighted ovum, a sac but no baby. Later, in December I found out I was pregnant again. In February of this year, I miscarried again. This time, there was a baby, but the baby’s heart eventually stopped. After wanting to be a mom so bad, and coming short at every time I tried and losing actual babies and knowing I couldn’t help them, ripped me apart. And this is normal. It’s a terrible thing to go through. It’s hard, it’s hurtful, it’s exhausting, it’s heartbreaking. But while emotions say to “dwell in this pain, give up hope, you won’t be a mom, just quit, it hurts too bad to keep trying, you are going to fail again if you keep going, just cry and be angry at others who are moms, you have every right to be bitter…”, FAITH says “But God…”

I, too, had to remember that God is in control and that my faith lies in him, not my circumstance. Jeremiah 29:11 tells me that God knows the plans that he has for me and that they are plans for peace and not for evil, to give me a future and hope! I then read Romans 12:12, which says, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer,” and this was definitely the game changer for me. I knew I had to change my focus to God.  I needed to keep hope and be joyful because I’m still able to hope, to expect good things! I needed to be patient through the troubles because they won’t last always and patience will help me get through to the end. Remember, the race is not given to the swift nor to the strong, but to those that endures to the END! (Ecclesiastes 9:11) So, being patient through the hard times gets me to the end of the race! Also, it tells me that I need to be constant in prayer! I have to always be in connection with God, always keeping up with my relationship with him. Being constant in prayer keeps me close to God and it helps God help me through the tough situations. Part of dealing with things is following God’s lead and a lot of answers come through constant prayer.

I also read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 which states that there are times for everything! There is a time to cry, and there is a time to rejoice. So, it’s okay to be sad at times, but don’t let that season last forever for you. Endure to the end and come out of it! Again, I’m not saying to forget about those things as if they don’t matter or didn’t mean anything. What I mean is, you build back up with strength to grow stronger another day. I still have sad moments at this point, but I don’t let it run my entire day. I let my emotions be emotions, NOT my REALITY! I take up the whole armor of God and STAND FIRM! (Ephesians 6:13) I know that God has plans for me and my future family. I have to be patient to reach my reward.

It’s okay to have emotions in different situations. You are human. The thing is, don’t let those emotions run your life. Don’t let those emotions determine your circumstance. Things may be bad right now, but your emotions can make you think that things will be bad from this point on with no end and no hope. That is what I am trying to get you to understand to not do. Let your emotions show that you are sad in this season, but let your faith show that joy comes in the morning! Let your emotions show that you are happy in this season, but let your faith show that it is only through the goodness of God. No matter the situation, let your circumstance be determined by God’s word, not your emotions.

About The Author

Amy McCutcheon is a loving wife to Angelo McCutcheon and mom to two boys, AJ and Amauri McCutcheon. She is the creator of A Supermom’s Journey, a blog about motherhood and all that it entails. You can read more about the journey at  www.supermomsjourney.com.  Amy is also an educator and teaches middle school ELA and reading. She also teaches English online to ESL students in China. Amy is also the creator of the YouTube channel A Supermoms Journey and runs a tutoring service called AR Learning where she tutors students ages 4-18 in all core subjects and helps adults with obtaining their GED, college entrance essays, resume writing, and document proofreading. You can book an appointment at www.arlearning.wix.com/home. Amy is in ministry with her husband. They run EBT Ministries which is an outreach ministry to help believers truly understand Yah’s (God) word and the truth about being a child of Yah. You can learn more about the ministry at www.ebtminitries.org. Amy is the creator of this blog GMEL (God, Marriage, Education, Life) where she writes about what Yah’s word says about life for a woman. To continue to read, go to www.gmel2000.blogspot.com.

Want to contact Amy?

Email: mrsm3108@gmail.com

Just Keep Swimming!

I made a previous reference to Dory from the movie “Finding Nemo” when talking about letting go of those things that are actually keeping us from following God and inheriting the good he has for us. If you take even further it also leads into faith. That little blue fish continued to sing that song and keep going despite the surroundings, despite the odds of actually reaching their destination, and despite the attacks. I look at this as how our faith in God should be.

In order to first have faith, we need to hear from God. He is our guide, he will lead us in the right directions. When he gives directions or instructions, our job is to follow. We follow despite our surroundings, despite our situations, despite our FEELINGS! This is faith. When God says to do something and you can’t figure out how it’s going to work out, but you do it anyway is faith in God.

My students, as always, come to mind as I think of this topic. When I give them directions on completing assignments, sometimes the directions sound complicated or pointless. Sometimes my students don’t see the point or don’t understand the connection to the expected outcome, or sometimes don’t even realize what the outcome will be! But I tell them to TRUST me. I give them a little bit at a time. Complete the first direction. When you’ve done that, I will give the next. 

Sometimes they are too afraid to move forward because of fear of failure. I reassure them that it is okay and that I will not let them fail. They then move forward. By the time they complete all of the directions, they have a full project completed. I can then review the steps that they took and show the connections. They can look back and see how they figured things out and worked out problems and see how it led to the final project.

If we follow God’s directions like we should, we could see so much growth and so many completed projects, but because we lose faith, we have so many unfinished projects and are completely unaware of their rewards. We have to follow God’s directions despite what people may say, despite what they may think, and despite how it may makes you look. We have to follow even when the situation seems like you can’t make it. When it seems like there’s no way through. When it seems like it won’t get better. When it hurts too bad. When you have no more strength. Because everything you need comes from God. Your peace, your bravery, your boldness, your strength, your endurance! Keep faith and He will supply all of your needs (Philippians 4:19)! Your needs to get through. Your needs to keep going. Your needs to overcome!

Misconceptions of Faith

Many people, even believers, have this idea that faith is naming, claiming, and believing God for something. Their mindset is solely on physical/material things. If you want a brand new BMW 7-Class with ALL of the upgrades, we believe if we go to the dealership, lay hands on it and name it, claim it, and believe God for it, then it will show up in our driveway with the title and all and be ours. Now, faith doesn’t work like this. Not faith. If you want something, I’m DEFINITELY not saying God can’t or won’t make it happen for you, but this isn’t faith. This is just wanting something material and hoping God honors your request to have it. No different from a child wanting a special toy and hoping their parents get it for them. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t. It depends on if the parent sees fit. Same with God. If He sees fit, then he will make that way. Also, if that child is making bad grades and not doing their chores, misbehaving, more than likely the parents will not give that child that special toy. They haven’t earned it. They haven’t showed themselves deserving. 

We can claim a shiny new car all day long, but if don’t even work for it or towards it, or don’t take care of what we already have, or don’t behave like we should, why would God bless us with it or see fit to let us have it??? This is the misconception of faith. Faith in God isn’t that if I name it and claim it then it’s mine. If you want something, you simply work for it and work towards it. Faith is so much BIGGER than this.

Faith is so much BIGGER than material things and how fast and how much you can get. Matthew 21:22 says “and whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” So, first you have to make sure your prayers are even heard. Proverbs 28:9 says that those that turn away from the law, even their prayers are an abomination. If you’re not following the law, you can pray all you want! 

What is the law? Read Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Or check out this list of God’s laws. If you follow God’s law, you’re following God’s word! When you do this, as you pray, you will know what to pray! Even when you are unsure what to pray about, God will give it to you! It will come out in your prayer! I have done this many times. I’ve felt like there was SOMETHING I needed to address with God, but couldn’t figure it out myself. I just went into prayer and He provided me with what I needed to ask for or pray about. Our desires are HIS desires! That’s why when we ask, we receive because God already wants it for us.

There are so many that quote Romans 4: 17 where it says, “calleth those things which be not as though they were.” But people neglect to look at the whole thing. It says, “As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” GOD is the one that calls those things that be not as though they were!!! It doesn’t say you do!! You are supposed to have FAITH in the GOD that calls those things that be not as though they were! When someone dies, you don’t see people always hollering, “The bible says to raise the dead!!!” But when someone wants a shiny new car to flash in front of everyone or a gigantic house, then it’s “God said to speak those things that be not as though they were!!!!” But God did not say that. This was Paul talking about Abraham’s faith in the God THAT raises the dead and CREATES ALL NEW THINGS!!!

What is Faith?

Faith is believing God’s word. It’s believing God’s word when, as said above, everything around you says, shows, and feels the opposite. Faith is believing in God’s word and moving on it despite how you feel or how bad your situation is. Faith is moving on God’s word when you don’t even understand the purpose. Faith is believing and moving on God’s word when you don’t know what the outcome will be. Because God said it, you do it. Because God said it, you believe it. Because God said it, you trust it. Faith is when you want to quit because you see no end or no escape, but God says just “keep swimming”, keep going! Trust Him! Depend on Him!

Faith is when you are in a dark place and you see no way out, but God says, “I am the light of the world, Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,”(John 8:12) so you KEEP walking and what do find? LIGHT!!! That’s how faith works! Faith is NOT believing in your wants. You know the routine, people see something they want (a shiny new car) and believe they are going to get that want and say “God said that’s my car!” No, you said it’s your car. That’s believing in a want, not having faith in God.

What I’m saying is faith is believing and trusting God’s word despite the situation or the possible outcome. “Faith comes from HEARING, and hearing the WORD of GOD!” (Romans 10:17) Faith is believing and trusting what you have HEARD God say. What does he say? Well, we can read his WORD all through the Holy Bible! That’s how we even know what faith is! Build your relationship with God and learn to HEAR Him speak to you. When His WORD is shared in services, pay attention!

If there is something you want that is material, it’s okay to want, but make sure having that thing is God’s desire for you. We get having faith confused with wanting things. So, if there is something you want, let me share with you how to handle that without becoming greedy for worldly things and never being satisfied or content.

As I’ve said before, build your relationship with God. Get close to Him so that you can tell when He is speaking to you and you understand what He is saying. He will guide your steps throughout your day. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (or guide your steps)” (Proverbs 3:5-6). So, once you’ve built this relationship, your desires will be his desires. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). This is because once you become close with God, your desires are actually his desires for you. You will want what it is God wants for you! When you let God guide your every step, you tend to want what it is he wants for you and when that’s the case, he will give it to you!

Let me give you a personal example. When I was in my first year of college, I was looking for a part time job so I could make my own money and start being more independent and learning more adult skills. I had been looking for a job since I was 16. I was 18 at this point. I never had a job before, with all the applications I had filled out and turned in, I had never even been called for an interview. I was well into my studies in college and job searching was just getting really frustrating and tiresome. I started to wonder if I really needed to be pursuing a job at the time. After all, my parents had always thought I should just focus on my studies and they would help me with whatever I needed. So, I was wondering if that’s what God wanted, too. I wanted to do what he wanted me to do.

After a long day of putting in applications, I sat in my car on campus and just cried out to God. I knew he already knew how I felt and what was going on, but I just needed to pour out my heart and my frustrations and seek guidance because my way was not working. (This is where I learned that I can’t depend on things happening my way!) I asked God what he wanted me to do. I asked him if it was his will for me to have a job at the moment or did I need to wait. I let him know that I was on the brink of calling the job searching quits. I let God know that if he wanted me to have a job then, I would be happy.  I also let him know that if he did not want me to have a job yet, I would be happy. I just wanted to do what he wanted. I knew he would guide my steps and everything in my life would, to me, fall into place, but to him, go as planned! This was a Wednesday when I sat in my car having this talk with God. That following Friday I got a call for an interview and was hired on the spot! I started my first job that next Tuesday! I can even go into how this job was aligned with God’s purpose for me, but I will save that for another post!

My point is, faith is believing in God’s word. Desiring THINGS is not faith. When desiring things, make sure it all aligns with God’s will. If it doesn’t, you don’t need it. Therefore, should not want it. Nobody wants the best for you as much as God does, so why would want something he doesn’t even want for you? Think about it. And stop “having faith in getting a car” and have faith that God will lead you to be the person he has created you to be despite the world!

About The Author

Amy McCutcheon is a loving wife to Angelo McCutcheon and mom to two boys, AJ and Amauri McCutcheon. She is the creator of A Supermom’s Journey, a blog about motherhood and all that it entails. You can read more about the journey at  www.supermomsjourney.com.  Amy is also an educator and teaches middle school ELA and reading. She also teaches English online to ESL students in China. Amy is also the creator of the YouTube channel A Supermoms Journey and runs a tutoring service called AR Learning where she tutors students ages 4-18 in all core subjects and helps adults with obtaining their GED, college entrance essays, resume writing, and document proofreading. You can book an appointment at www.arlearning.wix.com/home. Amy is in ministry with her husband. They run EBT Ministries which is an outreach ministry to help believers truly understand Yah’s (God) word and the truth about being a child of Yah. You can learn more about the ministry at www.ebtminitries.org. Amy is the creator of this blog GMEL (God, Marriage, Education, Life) where she writes about what Yah’s word says about life for a woman. To continue to read, go to www.gmel2000.blogspot.com.

Want to contact Amy?

Email: mrsm3108@gmail.com

His Grace is Sufficient!

I know that when we think of grace, we automatically think of 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” when Paul pleaded with the Lord about his thorn, and Romans 6:14, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” I know people like to quote Romans about we’re not under the law but under grace, but do we all really know what that mean? What is grace?? By the end of this post, we will have that answer!

Let’s begin with the children of Israel. All through Exodus, the tribes of Israel face Pharaoh to escape captivity with the help of Moses who is led by the one, true, living God. They escape Egypt and are travelling through the wilderness to reach the Promised Land that God has for them. As they go through the wilderness, in chapter 16 of Exodus, the children of Israel complain of being hungry.  They want to return to Egypt because in their minds, they will at least have something to eat. God told Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you.” The next morning, “when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what is was.” (Exodus 16:14-15) The people gathered this bread for six days. The sixth day they were commanded to gather twice as much so that they had plenty to eat on the seventh day, the Sabbath. They then called the bread “manna”. Those that gathered a lot never any leftover and those that gather little never had a lack. There was just enough for everyone’s needs, whether they ate a lot or ate little.

Shortly after, the Ten Commandments were given, along with all of the laws to abide by the takes up the rest of Exodus through Leviticus. These laws say what God’s people should and should not do, how things should be done and how things should be governed. These laws give the consequences for not following each law. This is how we know how to observe the Sabbath, what to eat, what is sexual immorality, how to treat others and tons of other things to follow in order to please God and be a pleasing people. If you want to know how God feels about something, referring to the law will help you understand. For example, Leviticus 18:22 says, “You shall not lie with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.” An abomination means it is an extreme disgust to God. He detests it greatly. The same for lying with animals. It’s perversion, or not normal, not okay. Just before these, we know how God feels about abortion in verse 21: “You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.” People would sacrifice their children through passing them through fire in the name of Molech, a false god. That’s all abortion is, sacrificing your child.

So we have the manna and we have the law. What do these have to do with one another? Why bring up the law when we’re not under it anymore? Let’s find out!

Romans 2:13 says, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” Just before that it says, “For all who have sinned without the law will perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.” Keep this in mind. Also, what is sin? 1 John 3:4 simply says, “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.” And it goes on discussing how sin is not of God. And this is why. It is lawlessness. Going against the law is committing a sin. So, if we are not to follow the law anymore, then there is no more sin. There’s no more right or wrong. So that means I can kill people if I want…it’s no longer a sin because sin is lawlessness but we’re not under the law so…

You get where I’m going with this!

Let’s talk more about this law. The Law (notice the capitalization), or the God-given Instructions, refers to the first 5 books of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These together make up the Torah, the Instructions. This is where we refer to learn about the do’s and don’ts, the consequences, the blessing for obedience, how to have faith, how to be obedient, how we have dominion, how to properly honor God. We examples from Adam to Joshua on how to please God and what makes Him angry. Our do’s and don’ts are not just in the many laws in Leviticus, but throughout those entire stories from Genesis to Deuteronomy. And they all point to one, Jesus.

How do I know? I’m glad you asked!

First, the stories in the Torah have little nuggets or previews to Jesus. For example, sacrificing the lambs for sins.  We no longer need to use scapegoats rid ourselves of the guilt of sins.  Jesus is the Lamb. The ultimate sacrifice. Do you see where I’m going with this? Let’s keep going!

If you study the feasts, you will notice that they all align with the purposes of Jesus! Refer to my post on the feasts!

Also, if you go to Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” The Law is not done away with.  Jesus came to fulfill it. I mentioned Romans 2:13 earlier and to keep it in mind. If you read further, verse 16 says, “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” Sinning under the law will be judged by the law, will be judged through Christ Jesus.  Jesus is the law! We won’t get stoned as in the law of that land, but we are still to follow the law through Jesus!

This leads to grace. People think that grace is simply not dying right then in your sins. But if you know that law and don’t follow it, you will be judged accordingly through Christ. Grace gives you that time to get it right. That time to repent and go back to living righteously with all your might. Not time to kick back and think, “oh I will ask for forgiveness later, I got time, I’m under grace.” But what IS grace? Let’s go back to Exodus…

Another example of how the Torah points to Jesus is the manna in Exodus. The bread was sent from heaven to fulfill the people’s hunger. Those who gathered had just enough for hunger needs, whether it was a lot or little. If you go to John 6:31, it reads,

“Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written (the Torah, the Law), ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”” (verses 31-35)

Jesus is grace! He came down from heaven to fulfill the law, therefore, he is the law. And in fulfilling the law, he died on the cross for our sins, giving us grace. This is why we shouldn’t have any worries or anxieties. He paid for it already. Jesus is our bread. Jesus is our manna. The manna is always enough to get through. His grace is sufficient!!! His power is made perfect in your weakness!!! His suffering, his dying on the cross is enough for anything you can possibly go through!!!

So those thorns (problems) you have in your side, you have enough grace from Jesus to make it through. You have that time to repent and keep going. I mentioned in my last post about God’s peace through storms and this is EXACTLY why we have peace through those tough times! Jesus is our manna. Jesus is our bread. Jesus is grace. His grace is sufficient in those times of bills piling up! His grace is sufficient in those times sickness! His grace is sufficient in those times of lose of loved ones! His grace is sufficient in those times of failures. His grace is sufficient in those times of depression! His grace is sufficient in those times of low self-esteem! You are still alive because his grace is sufficient! HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT!!!

We have enough manna to get through it ALL! THIS is why Jesus is the ONLY way!!! Jesus is the law. Jesus is grace. Jesus is love. Jesus is peace. Jesus is everything God wants us to be! Jesus is God’s living example of the Torah! Our living example of the law! HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT!!!

I am so blessed by this!! In closing, remember our daily bread is our daily relationship with Jesus.

(The Lord’s Prayer-Matthew 6:9-13)

With Peace Comes JOY

We all go through hard times. Many of us pray to God to rid us of our troubles or to get rid of the pain or to make things better. Sometimes we pray for God to help get us through our tough times. But rarely do we pray for His peace through hard times. We want so badly to be rid of the bad situations and be rid of the pain. But rarely do we want the peace to maintain through the bad situations and through the pain.

I recently went through a really hard time where I felt like giving up on being a good person, giving up on hope, and giving up on faith. I’ve always tried my best to be a good person and do things the right way. But when things suddenly didn’t work out the way I had thought they would, despite my faith and good works, I was left in disappointment and honestly, feeling selfish because I felt like the situation wasn’t fair. I felt like since I was working to please God, things should be easy and all smiles. But I had a hard lesson to learn. Having faith means even though you do what you are suppose to do, things will still get hard and that’s when you have to keep your faith in God despite of it all.

I felt like the bad situation was happening for reason. I didn’t want to ask God why because that sounds like “why me?” and that’s pouty. I didn’t want to get angry because I knew some kind of blessing was going to come out of it all. I didn’t want to ask what was the good that was going to come out of the bad situation because that would take away from me being patient. So, while in prayer, I just gave God all of my cares (1 Peter 5:7). I told him I wouldn’t worry anymore, and I handed it all to him. I let him know that I understood that he sent Jesus to die on the cross that I wouldn’t have to suffer. I could hand over my worries, my sadness, my hurt, and my depression to him because he already paid for it ALL. I handed it all over and asked God to give me peace through this storm. I remembered that God did not remove the thorn from Paul’s side because his grace was sufficient. So I knew with God’s grace I could make it through. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

I began to give God the glory and praise for getting me through the bad time, even though I was still in it because I knew it was only by him that I would make it anyway. I asked for his peace so that I may endure to the end. Shortly thereafter, I was blessed with his peace. Even though things around you look awful and may be falling apart, that God-given peace is indescribable. Having a calmness and joy inside despite it all because you know God himself has you at the palm of his hand.

Imagine there is a horrible storm outside. You know how we (especially us in the country) start to turn everything off and everyone is balled up with blankets, nervous, and trembling at every crack of thunder or flash of lightening? That’s how we are through spiritual storms. When we go through things, we’re ready to shut down and we let fear and worry overcome us. We get scared it’s going to be so bad we won’t make it through.

But imagine that same storm is going on outside, but this time you have your worship music playing inside and you’re relaxed on the couch with a book or a warm bowl of soup. You’re aware of the storm outside, but you have PEACE because you know you have God’s protection and He’s holding your hand through it all. John 16:33 says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We will go through trying times, but Jesus has already overcome the world. So be at peace.

I found with peace, there’s a joy that comes with it. When people see you going through, but you’re smiling and just taking everything in stride, they don’t understand. At one of the places I worked, the environment was definitely not ideal. It was stressful, we were mistreated and underpaid. I had one particular co-worker that just could not understand how I was always happy even though we worked at the most awful place under the most awful conditions. It was almost like she was upset with me. She was struggling to keep up on the job and still didn’t know how her bills were going to all get paid and here I am walking around like everything is just so wonderful. And honestly, it was! She couldn’t take it anymore and came to my door and asked me, “How do you stay so happy with all of this going on?” I simply replied, “Jesus”.  I went on the explain how I knew that Jesus was going to take care of me. I knew I was ALREADY taken care of. So, I did my best at that job, and it turned out to be my best year teaching, my bills were paid, AND I bought my first house, and made it through a summer without pay and ALL of my bills STILL got paid! I trusted God COMPLETELY and therefore, I had peace and my happiness came after. I was excited about how God was going to get me through that situation AND use me as an example to others around me of just how good and powerful He is.

I found that in the Bible, peace and joy seems to go together. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” We have hope because we believe in God’s power and with that peace and joy, our hope is even stronger! Proverbs 12:20 says, “Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.” With peace, you have joy.

Also, Galatians 5:22 tells us the fruits of the Spirit and what do you think they include? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”.

So, keep in mind that when you are going through, be patient, have hope, trust in God, believe Jesus paid it all, know you are covered and protected, continue to do good and be righteous, give your worries and stresses to Jesus, and you shall have peace, and joy comes in the morning!

(Romans 5:1-11) Peace with God through Faith and Rejoice!

A Parent's Secret Weapon

As a teacher, I see so many wonderful things happening with our children in their academics and athletics and just pure creativity. However, I also notice that there is a rise in the not-so-wonderful things. Therefore, I’m writing this post to ask the question:  When are we going to invest in our children?

By invest, I mean teach them the skill they need as a foundation to achieve well in school AND the proper social skills to successfully get through life’s situations AND teach them God’s word that will guide them through it ALL! They are our secret weapon. They carry on the legacy that we set. Are we doing a good job of polishing that weapon???

Nowadays, it seems it’s all about “gettin’ mine” and we neglect to take our abilities and wisdom and invest them in our children. Some of us are so worried about what our children can do for us that we don’t even teach them how to properly function first! Ask yourself this, how often do you just sit with your children (no TV, computers, no electronics at all) and talk to your children about serious topics, funny topics, encourage them, and about how they are gifts from God and how their good works and faith in Him pleases Him? How often? For those of you that do this very often, think about the other families you know. How often do they? Do you feel like the time you spend and invest in your children is more and more on the rare side in today’s society?

More and more children, CHILDREN, are committing suicide for reasons that could be overcome by knowing and understanding the goodness of God and that the race is given to those that ENDURE. We don’t teach our children to ENDURE! None of us would make it if we didn’t depend on God in some sort of way. Even those that are not saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost get to a point where they begin to turn to Jesus. They may turn back to their sinful ways, but they know who to turn to when things get tough. That’s because Jesus carries us through those tough times. THAT’s how we endure!  We can’t do it without Jesus!  We have to lead our children to Jesus.

That means we have to take the time to read and learn God’s word for ourselves.  Jesus IS God’s word. Once you read enough of it, you will notice a pattern: it’s ALL about Jesus! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the life of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1) Jesus is the Word. And darkness has not and cannot overcome him.

We have to teach our children that through Jesus, we are more than conquerors and we have the victory. Ask your children: If you had to play a really hard game against someone and wasn’t for sure if you were good enough to win the really cool prize at the end, but if you lose your opponent will badly beat you up, would you play? If it got really hard in the game and you were losing really badly, would you quit in the middle of the game?

Then ask them: What if you had to play that same hard game, but you already knew you were going to win no matter what because you had a secret weapon for the game, would you play? If you start losing in the game, but you still know you will win that really cool prize anyway because of your secret weapon, would you give up in the middle of the game then?

We have to teach our children that Jesus is our secret weapon against the enemy, and the thing is, He’s not even a secret!! We have to teach our children that even when we look like we’re losing, if we keep going, we WILL win the victory! We have to give our children this foundation. Once they have this foundation and learn to depend on Jesus through their every move in life, they will be blessed academically, in athletics, musically, creatively, in whatever else they put their minds to and in being well-mannered, well behaved, respectful children because you will have set that foundation and they understand WHY they should do well in ALL that they do. We all know the verse about sparing the rod you spoil the child, but the ESV reads in an interesting way, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (Proverbs 13:24) Part of that foundation is discipline. It’s not the easiest or the most pleasant thing, but if you love your child enough and want enough for them to do well, it is a must.  We have to train our children how to live right! And TEACH them WHY certain things are wrong and why certain things are right.

You have now invested your time, energy, and knowledge in your children and have begun righteous generations to come! Psalms 127:3-4 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.” Your children are your arrows, your weapons! You point them in the right direction and let them go!

Here are some verses to refer to:

Discipline-

Proverbs 22:6

3 John 1:4

Ephesians 6:4

Hebrew 12:11

Proverbs 23: 13-15

Proverbs 29:15

Proverbs 12:1

 

 Education-

Ecclesiastes 7:12

Proverbs 16:16

Romans 12:2

Proverbs 4:13

Proverbs 16:3

Deuteronomy 11:19

Proverbs 18:15

Proverbs 10:14

Proverbs 9:9-10

Daniel 1:17 (this whole story is powerful!)

Colossians 3:23-25

 

 Children are Blessings-

John 16:21-22

Matthew 18:1-6

Proverbs 17:6

Leviticus 18:21 (don’t abort)

Jeremiah 1:5 (God knows us before we are formed in the womb)

You Are What You Eat

We will continue the discussion on the laws by talking about the dietary laws. I first had a conversation about this topic with my husband after reading Leviticus 11. It describes clean and unclean animals, what to eat and what not to eat. I noticed that some of the animals it mentioned to not eat are some of the things we eat (DID eat for my husband and I). So, I asked him out of curiosity, “hun, are we suppose to still follow the dietary law?” His response was, “no”. I shrugged it off with an, “oh, ok” but still wondering if it really should be followed. Later (some weeks later), my husband came back up to me and said that we actually should still follow the dietary law. His response from before was because of not wanting to let go of those things we love to eat and have become oh so attached to. We had a pretty good discussion about it, and my husband mentioned that he realized that the dietary law was meant to identify what actual FOODS are (what’s meant for food and what isn’t) and that the things not meant for food can actually be harmful.

Deuteronomy 14 also restates the dietary law. It must be important to be repeated. God is trying to protect us. Especially when He says, “it is unclean to you” or “it is detestable to you”. Those unclean animals are not good for you and your body, so don’t eat them as food! For example, pork, which is hard for a lot of people to give up, is not meant for food. Think of all of the health problems that are a result of eating pork. Pork was not difficult for me to give up because I couldn’t eat much of it anyway because it caused me really bad headaches. But you would be surprised at how many things they put pork into, and I will get to that later!

In the very beginning, man ate only from the earth: fruit. In Genesis 1:29-30, man was given fruit to eat and the animals were given the green plants as food. So when did man begin eating meant? Especially since the dietary law was made clear in Leviticus while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, but before they left Egypt, they ate lamb during Passover. Well, in Genesis 9, after the flood, God gives man flesh to eat. “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” (Genesis 9:3-4)

When God explained the Dietary Law, he specified which of those meats were good for his people, which were clean and which were not good for them. Some of us don’t realize it, but part of honoring God is protecting and honoring our temples, our bodies. And it starts with what we put in them. We have to avoid those unclean things. When Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were sent to Babylon, the king wanted them to eat what he ate. But Daniel realized the king’s food was not clean and he challenged the chief of eunuchs to give them vegetables for 10 days and let the other youths eat the king’s food for 10 days and see who is better in appearance. Daniel did not want to defile himself. Those unclean things are not good for us. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah ended up appearing healthier than the other youths so the other youths were then given vegetables also. God gave these four youths learning and skill in all literature and wisdom. Daniel had understanding of dreams and visions. (Daniel 1:1-21) Daniel is also where we get the “Daniel Fast”, but he was in mourning for three weeks after a word was revealed to him.

Nowadays, it’s a little more difficult to avoid those unclean foods offered by “the king” (the world). Even when we choose things that are considered food for us, we have to look at what was put in it, and you would be surprised!

I find that swine (pork) is mentioned several times throughout the bible, so it seems if there is anything to avoid it is definitely swine! But here’s the thing, if you look on the packages of the foods you eat, you will find there is pork in much of it. What? You say it doesn’t say it has pork in it? Well, lets look at a different name: gelatin. We know gelatin from things like jello, gummy bears, and anything with gel-like textures. But, what exactly is gelatin? Well, in plainest terms, it’s pig skin, pig fat and tissue and cow bones along with other animal by-products. Gross, right? Finding out what all has gelatin seriously broke my heart! My favorite candy was gummy bears. No more of that. My favorite dessert is cheesecake and Sara Lee cheesecakes (my favorites) have gelatin. No more of that. Even sliced cheese that we all eat on burgers, sandwiches, and on broccoli (because that’s the only way you will eat broccoli) has gelatin. No more of that! And it’s not just gelatin. There are so many other unclean things put in the foods but labeled under different names.

But my question is WHY??? What is the significance of putting this stuff in the foods? Remember, there is always something spiritual behind something natural that happens and vice versa. Just like God has plans for us, the world also has an agenda. This post is mainly to make you aware of the dietary law and to be mindful of what you put in your body, and also to cause you to question the overall goal of processed food and even any food not handled by your own hands. This sparked in me to grow my own garden. What we put in our bodies should be important to us. What we put in our bodies should bring glory to God. Everything we do should bring glory to God, even what we eat. He wouldn’t specify what to eat if it weren’t important to him!

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) and these verses are referring to sexual sin which is also not glorifying God through your body and is another topic to discuss in another post!