1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray continually

Matthew 6:9 This then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name..."

Another reason I want the boys to know Scripture is because it teaches us how to pray and encourages us to do so. I would love to inspire them that if they are thinking of someone or worried about something, to recall the Scripture that says to pray continually. I want them to know they do not have to be at the dinner table or kneeling by their beds to talk with the Lord. They can just tell Him what they are thinking right then and there. And also, if they memorize the Lord's Prayer one day, they will have a guideline for the things God wants to hear from them about. He wants to hear their praise, He wants them to be in line with His will, to ask for what they need for the day and for forgiveness of their sins, and for the strength to get through temptations and hard times.

2 Corinthians 2:17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

2 Corinthians 4:2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.

I really do not know what took me to these scriptures, but when I read them, I thought: one way to speak before God with sincerity and to not distort His word is to speak it/pray it to Him literally. My friend brought up the fact that our translations do not always give us the entire meaning/picture of what Scripture is actually saying. I think that is true, and I hope that the boys grow into young men who will delve deeper into the meaning of the original Scripture. I know that every time I do that, I feel more connected with what God was actually saying and I have a greater understanding of His Word. Also though, the Lord knows our hearts. If we are praying His Word, as we know it, back to Him with a sincere heart, seeking Him, then He will bless that. If we know His Word literally and we can bring it to mind, then we will know what to pray and we will know what we are praying for/asking for is in line with God's Word.

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.

Jesus tells us that He wants His words to remain in us. He does not say "the concept of me" or "the concept of my words." I tried to look up any extra meaning about this, but the internet was not very helpful this morning and I am running out of time. I also tried to look on E-sword, but I think I need to explore that a little more and figure out how to use it, lol. One of those things that is on my list. Time flies when I sit down to study, read, or figure out how to do/use something! Anyhow, back to the topic. Jesus was talking about Him being the Vine and us remaining in Him, meaning we need Him in order to have what we wish. And, if we know His words, they are in us, then what we wish will line up with what Jesus can/will give. I want that for my boys: to be in line with God and to have His purpose fulfilled in their lives. There is not a doubt in my mind that if they live for Christ, whether or not it looks like it to all the rest of us, their hearts will have joy.

OMGoodness!!! If you can believe this there is still more! For another day though... Much Love,

Carla

This is a post I never moved from my email, written just after the first of the year.

Matthew 25:46 "These people will go off to be punished forever, but the good people will go off to live forever." (NCV)

So, I don't actually have anything to say about this verse directly. It got me to thinking though, about how we often don't want to believe what the Bible is saying to us. We want to mold God into what we want Him to be. We want to believe that we don't need a Savior, that we are inherently good. We want to believe that hell does not exist...

I am, of course, juggling many balls. I am trying to finish up reading a controversial book, which then took me to other places to get answers to the questions I had after reading it. Then, that leads me to other places and I am on the internet for hours, browsing sites that I found interesting, convicting, or that I feel like I am learning something from. Today, I just got a reminder that started with a question: will I humbly believe in God's Word, even when I do not fully understand it every bit of it? Well, I suppose I have trouble with the idea of believing what I do not fully understand... However, God does state, through Jesus and the other inspired writers of the Word, that He is mysterious and that we will never fully know Him in this lifetime, but that He is holy, worthy of praise and trust. And with that, for me, comes comfort. I believe He is holy, worthy of praise and trust because I believe He sent His Son to die on the cross for us, that none who accepts the gift of His death on the cross should perish.

I believe that the Bible, all of it, is true. I believe that there are many, many people out there who have read and understand much more of it that I do. And so, I will take the time to read myself, to learn from them, and also to pray that God reveals to me what He wants me to know and see in His Word. I will ask that the Lord provide me the ability to trust Him, even when His Word says something hard to take in or that I do not understand. I am beyond the first hurdle: I have believed in Jesus death and resurrection, in His deity. I have believed in Him as my Savior... I have no trouble believing in supernatural things, and Jesus resurrection was certainly that. I have believed in something pretty unbelievalble:) I think I can keep doing more of the same, as I keep reading and delving more into God's holy Word.

Enjoy God and His Word in 2012 my friends!! Happy New Year!

Isaiah 55:11 So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

I have a friend who knows about all the "school stuff" the boys and I are doing every week. One of the things we do are letter boards, each week focusing on the next letter of the alphabet. And we have taken some breaks in between and done a Thanksgiving and Christmas board. Each week I put scripture on the board and the boys and I memorize it. Then, we decorate the rest of the board with fun things related to the letter of the week. For example, for our "G" week, we decorated letter G's with glitter and made little goldfish, which we then glued to the board for display. As you might imagine, little kids love displaying their work.

This week my friend asked me why I think it is so important the boys memorize scripture and why it is so important to me in any personal way. I explained the best I could there in person, in that moment. But when I came home I ended up being so happy she asked the question. I think my answers in that moment were honest and valid. But her question spurred me on to sit down and look into the Bible to see what God actually says about His Word and it's importance. I sat down to do Bible study homework and got into this instead. My own personal Bible study! I was on fire finding scripture that I believe applies to this question. What I loved most about it was that I actually felt like the Lord was right there with me, spurring me on to know Him deeper and to really get my mind around how much He wants to know each one of us...

And that is one of the reasons I want the boys to memorize and know scripture: to know God. I don't think we can ever fully know Him, but His Word gives us the opportunity to relate to Him, to know His character, and to have some insight into His plan for us and His plan for creation.

Hebrews 4:12 For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

I read this verse and then was thinking about how Jesus is called "The Word" in the first part of the book of John. This verse says to me that Jesus is living and active in our lives. Knowing the Word is having access to God through Christ; knowing the Word means knowing His promises to us.

Another reason I cited was that I want them to be able to pray scripture back to the Lord, which is what the scripture from Isaiah is talking about: God's Word will accomplish it's purpose. If we pray it directly back to Him, how much more powerful will that be. And, if we pray it exactly, we will be putting our prayers in line with what God's Word actually says, and not twisting it to fit our own desires.

Next, I want them to have God's Word written on their hearts and in their minds, so it will come to them whenever they need strength, comfort, wisdom, patience, and the list goes on...

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.
You cannot turn from something you have memorized. Many times stuff we learn as children comes back to us at the strangest times. I want the Lord to be able to use what I have taught the boys from His Word in their lives, whenever they need it.

Psalm 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Deuteronomy 11:18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols to your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

John 17:6 I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

Jesus was talking about the disciples. In this passage He was actually praying for them, talking to God about them. Jesus taught to many people, but He carefully prepared His chosen disciples to know who He was/is and to continue spreading the Good News. Once we become saved, I think we should consider ourselves part of the people given to Jesus, especially because the Holy Spirit promises to be with us and enables us to love like Christ and spread the Good News too.

I am not sure if there are people who believed in or became closer to Jesus because of my presence in their lives. I hope so, because that means I have (at least in part) been doing what Jesus put me here to do. I am thankful for the people in my life who drew me closer to Christ and helped me see my need for Him. Sometimes other people are the only ones who can pull us out of our own little world, the box we put ourselves in, the lies we believe about ourselves and the world.

Did the Lord give me people specifically to love out of this world? In a way different than Jesus (because he never married or had kids), I know He did; I married Mike and have two adorable kids. They are mine, given to love like Jesus loves and prepare them to go into all the world and show His love and salvation. But are there more? I believe so... they are the friends that have "stuck" with me through the hard places, through the past, through all the growing I have done (and I am sure not finished yet, so I hope they will stick around for more.) They are the other family that has to put up with me and sees how I live my daily life, as much as is possible from 1700 miles away.

Today, right now, I am lifting up prayers for my friends and family to know Jesus more personally or for the first time. My prayer will always be that you see Jesus in me.

John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well.

I have been thinking about our pathway to heaven a lot lately. Some theologians would say that Jesus is the only way to heaven, as per the Bible. I would tend to agree, as long as someone or something in our lives has caused us to cross pathways with Jesus. Ask me a few days ago, and I would even have said that for those who have not had a chance to hear about Jesus, He is still the only way to salvation. But then... this scripture: "If I had not come and SPOKEN to THEM..." Well, we know Jesus speaks through all the people converted to Christianity and that we (said Christians) are supposed to take the gospel to all nations. Here, Jesus is saying that He came and people heard of Him. So, if they have heard of Him and chose not to believe or dig deeper to figure out if they believe, then there is no excuse. They had their chance. But when He said "them" did He mean all of the world after His death and resurrection? Or did He mean only the people who have actually heard of Him somehow?

Does that even matter? We know that the Bible says we have all rejected God (when Adam first sinned). We also know that the Bible says that somehow, some way during our lives, God reveals Himself to each one of us, verbally, spiritually, through His awesome creation... somehow. But then, we choose not to worship God (the Creator of heaven and earth). We choose to live for ourselves--hence, our need for a Savior. So, then the question is: if we reject God in the first place, does it matter if we never hear about the saving grace of Jesus? Is a rejection of God the Creator without knowledge of Jesus equivalent to rejecting Jesus?

Either way, we are left with those who have definitely heard of Christ, been taught of His saving power and then choose to live without Him. Believe me, life is not all peaches and cream after we choose Jesus. In fact, He said our lives might be hard, we might be persecuted for our belief in Him (as are many who live outside the USA, and as many have been throughout the history of Christianity). But He also said our reward would be eternity in Heaven with Him. I'll take that. And I will also hold onto the call to take the gospel into all the world. I am still figuring out what that looks like for me. But my desire is to see people know the saving grace of Jesus... and since I know that is His desire as well I want to figure out how best to do my part.

To all of you reading this: I love you very much. I know some of you I have not seen in years and others I see and talk to all the time. You are my heart. I hope you feel the love of Jesus through me, that you have seen me become better because of Him and that you all know how much He loves you... and that He came for YOU.

John 7: 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

8:6 ....But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said the them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Many of us do not want to see/accept Jesus for the first time, because He tells us the truth: we have sin in our lives. Sin makes us unworthy of heaven and we need a way to get there (if that is where we want to end up after this life). He is the way. But we don't want Him, because we know that if we accept Jesus this means our lives will change. We might end up like those boring Christians.

I am in love with being a boring Christian. My life has changed. I feel better about myself than I ever have in the past. And I know what my future holds (in eternity). And so, because of that knowledge and assurance of Jesus, I want to share Him. I want to love like Him. I want to see those I love coming to Him so we can walk this walk together.

I know there are still plenty of blind spots in my Christian walk, and the Lord is showing those to me. My goal is never to make someone feel condemned because of their sin. I still have sin in my own life (whether or not I recognize it) and so... I walk with Jesus, praying that He opens my heart that I can see the ways I am blind in my walk. My prayer is that He uses that blindness and my new knowledge of it to be glorified on this earth and to bring more people to Himself.

John 6: 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.

66 From this time many of his disciples (not the twelve) turned back and no longer followed him.

I am reading this book called "Radical," by David Platt. It was a gift I did not know I needed. Following Jesus is hard; He calls us to so many ways of life that we simply do not want to follow Him into. He wants us to share about Him, love people no matter how they behave, and to follow Him despite the fact that we may be persecuted for doing so. He wants us to do all this to glorify God. "Radical" is a reminder of the reason God created the earth and man in the first place: for His own glory. I am reminded that Jesus brought salvation not only because He loves us, but because in showing His love for us in that way, God is glorified and worshipped.

I am reminded because of this book, that if I am not worshipping God and trying to glorify Him through my life, then I am making my life about ME. Everything aside from the Lord winds up only being about how I am feeling, how well I am satisfied, what my needs are. If I am not bringing all the glory and thanks back to God, I am showing my own selfishness. I am showing that I believe I can do this life by my own works, my own ingenuity. I am showing that I am not truly a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am desperate for God, for a relationship with Him, to love Him and know Him more. Knowing the depths of my sin and admitting that I need a Savior brought me to Jesus, God's grace for us in the flesh. I am asking the Lord to keep this desperation (longing) for Him in my heart, so that I can keep growing and knowing Him better, so that I can be more like Him and be unafraid to tell people of the reason for my hope and my lifestyle, and so that I never want to turn back from Him. I am asking that He give me a heart for His Word, the way to knowing Him. And, I am asking that He show me, here in this new place (the Azores), how I can glorify Him.