As You Begin the Week, Align Your Priorities with God

I follow A Wise Woman Builds Her Home but not as closely as I'd like most times. I came across this post (catching up on what I've missed the last few days) and thought I'd share the link for others. This a truly beautiful blog with a wonderful Godly purpose.
The title of this post is what I took away from what I read- something I need to do everyday.

God demands our whole life

"The one thing Christianity can’t be is moderately important: either it’s

untrue, in which case it’s of no importance at all, or it’s true, in which case

it demands your whole life." --C.S. Lewis

When you put it that way... Although, with the focus on "Christianity"
there I am caught between a rock and a hard place- I think. Perhaps I think too much! I say the focus on "Christianity" like that because I feel that it has become associated with a religion or a church. Wouldn't it be better to say "The one thing God can't be is moderately important: either He is untrue, in which case it's of no importance at all, or He is true, in which case He demands your whole life"?

Maybe it is because of the way people have put the emphasis on Christianity...instead of God. If that makes sense. Like saying, "I'm a Christian but I still watch inappropriate movies; I still smoke; I still behave the same as the world does, but I'm a Christian."

Shouldn't it be something like, "I'm Christ-like and I do not watch inappropriate movies nor do I smoke or act as the world does"?

I don't think it matters what church you go to or what denomination you call yourself, but it most certainly does matter what you believe. That's where it comes in that God must be your whole life. If we find Him to be moderately important then we are not believing as we should.

(No offense intended; it's not up to me to take the mote out of someone else's eye when I've got a huge beam in mine. I need my own 'advice'...)

Sundays- Not Online? Who am I kidding!? Reflections

I decided to take off the little icon that used to be on the right side of my blog that says Offline Day because I really cannot say that there is a day of the week that I am not online. I have tried very hard to stay off on Sundays under the pretense that we try to focus more on Godly things. But I cannot say that we do any more 'focusing' when I am not online than when I do get online. We try to focus on God every day in some way. It seems that Sunday is the day I wrap up all my 'online' activities: usually homeschool scheduling, searching for last minute resources, catching up on Yahoo! Groups.

Today, in Sunday School a question was asked about praying for God to 'move mountains.' The question was pertaining to Matthew 21:22- "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Pastor definitely agreed that, if we are believing when we pray, and it is God's Will, then our prayer will be 'answered'. Of course, sometimes the answer is not what we want to hear and we continue to ask because we have not been granted a 'yes' to our prayer. During the session I was reminded of a scripture but could not for the life of me find it. During service, however, it came to me. James 4:3- "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." At first, I guess that Pastor (and others) may have thought that the person asking this question wanted something big, such as a new vehicle, or something like that. I suppose if we had thought of who was doing the asking we perhaps wouldn't have assumed that. He was asking specifically because the church is attempting to 'wait on the Lord' to have the means to complete the building of the church add on. Some would say that it is wrong to pray for something that appears to be a 'material' want because we already have a church that is acceptable- perfectly fine to meet the needs of our congregation. Pastor reminded us that whatever we ask for should bring glory to God. If it does not, then do we really need to pray for such things? Whose interests are we asking to be satisfied? A very good point that Pastor also brought out in relation to prayer: healing. When there are people who are suffering or dying, we often ask for healing. God can and does work wonders in the lives of believers (and non-believers in my opinion- whether they believe it or not) because it will bring glory to Him. There are times when He does not 'heal' because it brings more glory to God when they are given grace to endure. An example is Paul; his affliction of poor eyesight he 'thrice' prayed fervently that God would heal. God did not heal Paul's affliction so that we could understand (as well as Paul) that God's grace is sufficient. 2 Corinthians 12:9- "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

I thought that our Sunday School was very very good and well timed. I love the songs we sang today. The one I appreciated the most was My Savior's Love. It reminded me that Jesus died for me because He loves me. He didn't just love the people who were alive at the time He was crucified, but He loves me now, today. He loves every person, every one of us. There isn't one that He doesn't want to be saved, to believe in Him and be saved. Whether or not we believe that Hell is a 'lake of fire and brimstone' but it is absolute absence from God. Absence from His light and love. The lake of fire and brimstone is bad enough to think of but the absence of God's love just scares me so much more than an actual pain.

I am reminded today that "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things."- Philippians 4:8 That is what I want my every day to be focused on. Posting on Sundays, if I feel the urge, I think will help me to focus on those things.

Good Morning! Just my personal reflections

It is indeed a good morning. I am thankful to be alive. I am thankful to be with my family, who are healthy and not in need. I am thankful to have a reliable car, and the money to buy coffee creamer, which is not a necessity. I am thankful to have my wonderful husband, whose smile lights up my day, still makes my heart do a little flip. I am thankful for my wonderful children who come to me for anything, talk to me about everything and laugh so easily. There is no greater sound than my children laughing. I am thankful to have a mother that is well and that loves me greatly. I am thankful that my mother has found someone that will share her dreams with her and let her be herself. I am thankful to have a sister that has a huge heart and wants to care for cancer patients. I am thankful to have another sister that randomly calls me just to talk about whatever. I am thankful that we all have a good, loving relationship. I am thankful to have a computer and internet that I can type this on. I am thankful for the ability to read and think about information while I am in college. I am thankful that I can go to college. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to homeschool my children, to spend more time with them. I am thankful that I have a good church to attend with people that truly care about others. I am thankful that I have oatmeal to eat, coffee to drink and a container full of sugar to sweeten it with. I am thankful that I have enough to be able to sponsor a child in Mozambique and send her bookmarks, stationery, and little things to hopefully brighten her life. I am thankful for having running water in my house, a working stove and refrigerator. I am thankful to have food to put in the refrigerator and to cook on the stove. I am thankful that I have food in my cupboards for my children's breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am thankful that we have enough that we can buy new food to try. I am thankful that we live in a small town and have a store only 4 blocks from our house and we do not have to travel an extensive distance to get some of our food. I am thankful that I have a cat that can entertain us, rub against our legs, and to keep us company.

Have you ever just stopped and thought about all that there is to be thankful for? I often say a prayer that has the line "Thank you for all that you have provided for us..." but that just doesn't say what I am thankful for. I find it amazing all the things that I have to be thankful for. I also am amazed at how ungrateful I seem for having all the great things I do. My prayers are quick and short. I often ask for more than I say thank you for. I didn't intend to say all that I am thankful for in this post but you know, I have so much! I am thankful. And yet, I seem so ungrateful, I take it for granted.

I think the thing that I am most unrecognizably grateful for is that Jesus gave his life for me. I have always believed that. I grew up in a home that taught that Jesus died for the sins of the world. I am one of those sinners that Jesus died for. It wasn't until last year that this really sunk in. The love that God has for us to send his first born son to die for me is amazing. It's monumental. And yet, what do I do to show that I am thankful? I unfortunately do not read my Bible as often as I should and am quite Biblically illiterate. I cannot quote scriptures and often do not know who said what, when, why, or where to find it in the Bible. Often I know I have heard a verse that is pertinent to life and I would like to be able to show others from the Bible where it is, or even just what it says. But honestly, I really can't. I attend church at least 3 times a month and usually on Sunday morning. Where I go to church we have a Sunday school and morning and evening service, then evening service on Wednesday. It is so easy however to not go on Wednesday because my husband works late. On Sunday evening it is to get busy with making dinner instead of going to church. I love going to church; when I am there I feel God's presence. There are only two churches that I have felt that and I am thankful that this is one of them.

I often think of the things that I am not doing for God. I do not talk about him to others, with the exception of on the internet, to my children, and occasionally to my husband. I do not invite others to church, nor do I try to see if people have accepted that Jesus is God's Son and died for our sins. I do not want to pry. It's difficult for me.

But I am thankful for so much and I have so much to be thankful for. I don't want to lose sight of all that God has done for me, because I truly believe that all things are from God.