Archive for March 2011

I made this quick, impromptu video after making dinner for my family and realizing I had a couple minutes to spare.

As I prayed about how I might best spend these few minutes, the LORD was kind to remind me of a recent video I had seen on Facebook where a Christian woman was telling other women that they are being "fake" or are wearing a "mask" if they looked halfway decent when and if they work from home. She was stating that if we are being "authentic" then we will stop trying to impress others to try to get them to love and accept us. She taught that women should just be who we are, without makeup, without hair combed, without a shower, etc., just as she was in the video (oh, but she did state that she washed her face).

While I agree with the concept of being authentic, this poor sister missed a major point...CHRIST! I was very disturbed that she not only professes to be a Christian, but she also has a Christian ministry where she is wrongly teaching other women about God and the things of God. It is obvious this sister needs to spend much time under godly and wise teaching rather than consider herself a teacher as it is written:

"Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness"
~James 3:1

Since one of the things the LORD has called me to teach women is biblical womanhood, after much prayer, I made this counter-video so that Christian women can know and live by God's truth written in His word rather than listen to the erroneous teachings of the falsely humble emergent church "Christians".

If your entire focus is on being "authentic" so that others will love you for who you are, realize that your focus is yourself and not the Lord Jesus whom you profess to trust and love.

Beloved sisters in the Lord, I urge you to flee from this deceptive teaching and practice of seemingly exterior "holiness" and be holy as the LORD our God is holy by the righteousness of Christ, who alone can make you holy, acceptable and pleasing before the sight of God (2 Cor 5:21, Rom 3:10-12).

Humble yourself before the Lord and do all things for His glory, for His name to be exalted...not yours.

Our time with the Lord is very precious and vital to our spiritual health. As His children, we all require daily time with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And because it's something that is essential to our spiritual health, our enemy, the devil, works hard to keep us from it...any way he can. The devil either makes us too busy so that we forget how to be still and know He is God (Psalm 46:10) or he weighs us down with such guilt that we haven't spent "enough" time with the Lord, that even the time we have becomes ineffective and joyless. The enemy also deceives us into believing that there's a special formula, plan, or regimen we must follow if we want our time with the Lord to count. Which brings me to a question I am asked often: "How much time is enough time with God?"

During a phone conversation with a precious sister-friend a few months ago, she shared with me a burden she'd been feeling about "missing time with God". Here's a little excerpt of our conversation (used with permission).

Sunny: (smiling) Is God still your God, I mean, do you still have Him or did you lose Him somewhere? Do you still have fervent love for Him and are you still spending daily time with Him, living for His glory and pleasure alone?

Edie: (with great joy) Yes! I know God is always with me! And no, I haven't lost my fervency. And yes I'm still daily in the word...even throughout the day. But it's just not as much time as I used have and I feel guilty about that.

Sunny: So, if you still have God, you still have great love for Him, and are still seeking time with Him daily, what exactly is it that you're "missing"?

Edie: Oh, I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess nothing.

Sunny: You're not "missing" God, but because of your great love for Him, you're longing to spend more time with Him. Using the word "missing" gives us a sense of loss; something that's past and gone. It makes us feel sad or guilty. Whereas "longing" gives us a sense of hope of spending more time with someone we are already intimately acquainted with, but for whatever circumstances that are out of our control for a season, we cannot spend as much as time as we once did.

Edie: Yes! That's it! I'm longing for Him, not missing Him...since He's always with me.

Sunny: Sweet sister, we all travel through different seasons of our lives -- even day to day living isn't always the same. There's no magic formula or exact calculation for how much time with God is enough time with God. If only God knows everything, then we must trust Him to tell us how much daily time we require. There are many Scriptures that give us guidelines on how much time we should spend with God and Psalms 1:1-3 and 92:1-2 are two examples.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others."

~Matthew 23:23-24

In this passage, our Lord Jesus mentions tithing mint, dill and cumin. All three spices are used for flavoring food and to make medicines. But as most of us know, different dishes require different amounts of spice. If you use too much, too little, or the wrong combination of any spice, instead of flavoring the food, we end up making it unpalatable. The same directives apply to these spices being used for medicinal purposes. If they're not used in the correct proportions for a specific individual or in the incorrect combination, the spices will hurt the person rather than heal them.

We see here that though God made spices for a good purpose, if we aren't careful to seek His wisdom in using them, then what we offer will not bring flavor and healing to our lives or those around us, but instead, will bring distasteful and harmful results.

Since our Lord Jesus included these spices in his teaching, we know that it's important and purposeful. Jesus said, while tithing these spices were good and of significant value, without the "weightier matters": justice, mercy and faithfulness, their tithe had no meaning. Whatever we offer our glorious God (whether our money, time, service, etc.), it must be out of love for Him and not out of duty so that somehow we might feel good about ourselves because of our "works".

Jesus doesn't want us to follow the letter of the law (Romans 3:21-22), but know the heart of our God through faith in Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we might understand His word and apply it to our lives according to His will and wisdom, not ours.

"Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man boast about his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD."

~Jeremiah 9:23-24

So, how much time is enough time with God? The answer is simple: Ask God and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. We all need daily time with Him. How much; is different for everyone.

What does it mean to be a true Christian?

“Everything God thinks are called facts, everything we think are called opinions!”

1 John 5:3-4
“This is love for God; to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Matthew 7:21-22
“Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.”

John 10:4-5
“When he [the Shepherd] has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

John 14:15-17, 26
“If you love Me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you...But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

John 15:8
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

1 Corinthians 2:12-14
“We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

1 John 2:3-6
“We know that we have come to know Him [Jesus Christ] if we obey His commands. The man who says, ‘I know Him’, but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His word, God’s love is truly made complete in Him. This is how we know we are in Him; Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.”

1 John 3:6
“No one who lives in Him [Jesus Christ] keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.”

1 John 3:10
“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

Many people say that we should not “judge” anyone. That’s correct, just as Jesus stated in Matthew 7:1. But as Christians we are commanded to "judge" one another (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).

Believers are expected to be holy and act differently from this world and if they are not, they should submit themselves to correction and rebuke from more mature Christians; but unbelievers are not held to that standard and are not expected to heed to Christian correction or rebuke -- as they cannot please God in any way (Hebrews 11:6).

Don’t think just because you believe in God you’re a Christian. Even Satan and all the demons recognize God to be God, they just don’t trust their lives to Him, submit to Him as their Lord and Master and certainly don’t obey anything He tells them (James 2:19).

We all fall short of the glory of God because we have all sinned (broken the Ten Commandments), therefore, we are all in need of a Savior, because there is nothing we could ever do to be accepted in the sight of a holy God, except through faith in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin, who lived a perfect, sinless life, willingly offered to take the blame and punishment of our sins on Himself, then rose again on the Third day to prove He alone is God and has the power to defeat sin and the second death, which is eternal damnation in Hell. A true convert of Christianity is someone who hears the Gospel of Jesus Christ, believes it in its entirety, understands it and repents of their sins (that means turn away from them and forsake them), then asks Jesus to save them from what they rightly deserve -- the wrath of God.

No one except Jesus Christ satisfies the perfection God requires, because only Jesus Christ is sinless, He alone was 100% man and 100% God, while here on earth. Though He was tempted in every way to sin, just as we are, He was without sin. By trusting in Jesus Christ as your only source of true life, eternal life and freedom from the bondage of sin here on earth, you have made a trade, God’s righteousness for your sinful life (2 Cor 5:21). Acknowledging this, a true convert of Christianity will (not perfectly, but will habitually) live only to please God and no longer to please their sinful nature. And from this, they will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

If you’re just now discovering you may not be saved or someone you love may not be saved, then I’ve got GREAT news for you....God’s adoption process is still open! Repent and trust in Jesus today! And teach others to do the same. Read your Bible every day and read the link on your right entitled “Save Yourself Some Pain” to help you get started in your new life with Christ!