July 30, 2008

I sought the Lord and he answered me;
He delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
Their faces are never covered with shame.

(Psalm 34: 4-5)

It’s taken me some time to realize that shame comes from Satan. Satan will put thoughts into your head like “yes, you’re the type of girl who would do that” or “everyone knows what you did.”

These kinds of thoughts are not of the Lord.

Once you have truly asked for forgiveness of something and repented, which means turn and run in the other direction, you are forgiven of that sin. God no longer remembers it. Now that’s a lot easier said than done. As humans, we tend to constantly remind ourselves of that sin and ask for forgiveness repeatedly.

Is it because we don’t trust God and his word? He clearly says:
Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

It’d be a whole lot easier if we just believed Him and we felt like our slate was wiped clean. Then we worry about what others might think of us and wonder if they’re judging us. This too is what Satan does to trick us into thinking we are not forgiven, but sister, let me tell you- you are.

Turn it over to Jesus- the one who can make the lyrics of this popular hymn become reality

“My chains are gone, I’ve been set free,

My God, My Savior, has ransomed me,

and like a flood, his mercy rains,

unending love, amazing grace.”

God’s grace is good and I hope you have found it. I want to encourage you to spend some time in His word, get to know Him. That’s what it’s all about. A relationship with the Savior so when you get to Heaven after a lifetime of proclaiming His name- Jesus will proudly proclaim YOUR name to those in Heaven.

I want Him to be able to say, “Well done Michelle, well done. You gave ME the glory. That’s what it was all about.”

Now, my face is no longer covered in shame because I sought the Lord and he answered me.

Have you given God the glory out of a sinful situation?

It’s never too late.

HOLDING ON...

Michelle

July 10, 2008

Relationship

I’m not one of those Baptists who know the exact day and time and place of their salvation. I’ve always heard about Jesus from my grandmother or my aunt and uncle and other members of my family and I sincerely believed in my heart that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that He died for my sins so that I may have eternal life with Him.

I believed that when I had my 8th grade confirmation at a church in Nashville where I was the only girl NOT wearing a white dress (I didn’t know any better). I believed it all throughout high school and into college. I believed it when I walked the aisle at another altar call in Ft. Lauderdale while I was about 20 years old. I always wanted to go up to the altar because I just wasn’t sure if I was saved. If you don’t know for sure that you are saved then sometimes when preachers are giving altar calls you kind of question your salvation.

There’s no question now.

However, nothing in my life showed that I was a Christian. It took me years to realize that it not only takes believing and asking Jesus to come into your heart- it takes a relationship. I adore fellowship with my Savior. I adore reading the Word of God and being in Christian fellowship with my fellow brothers and sisters of Christ. Why did it take so long to realize that that’s all I needed?

I am sad that I’ve missed out on that relationship for the last 26 or so years. A relationship- but not just any relationship- it’s the most important relationship of all. More important than the relationship with my husband or my children. I firmly believe that if your relationship with God is where it should be, everything else falls in place.

Oh, the pain I could have been spared had I known Jesus in my childhood and longed to follow Him as I do now. I can’t get enough of Him now. My favorite time of day is when I can sit alone and read His word and speak to Him and listen. That’s an important part of the relationship too- not just to ask and ask and ask but to listen. I want to be silent and be still and know for certain that God is leading me in my life. I’m working on that.

I knew when I got married that I needed to have the kind of family that goes to church and takes their kids to all the church events and it took me a few years into marriage to just grasp that concept- to have that lightbulb turned on.

DUH- my Savior wants a relationship with ME.

He longs for it as I do. He longs for me even though he knows my past, my present, my future. He knows my heart and He loves me anyway.

Oh how precious.

Thank you God for turning that light bulb on (even though it took 30 years). Now I just look forward to that sweet fellowship with God for the rest of my life.

Holding On,
Michelle

June 18, 2008

Submission

Spiritually it seems everything is right in my life.

Seems.

That’s the operative word. I am an active member of my church, I am gladly and anxiously reading my bible everyday, I am praying, I am listening to praise music, I am teaching classes on different biblical principles, but there is one area where I’m not practicing what I preach and that’s with my husband. You’d think after 11 years together we’d have each other trained by now but it just doesn’t work that way.

I am a strong willed wife who thinks she desires to be submissive. I do, really, want to be the Proverbs 31 woman however, I may not be putting in the somewhat “easy” effort that it takes to be that woman. A book I am reading poses a hard question “When people see the way I live my life, would they know that I am a Christian?” In most cases, yes. I guess it’s what happens behind closed doors that people don’t see that make me question whether or not they would know that I am a follower of Christ.

Another book said to live your life in such a way that you wouldn’t mind loaning your pet parrot to the town gossip! That’s where I’d get in trouble because, quite frankly, I’m not the submissive wife that I think I want to be. I just read a great book called “The Strong Willed Wife” by Debbie Cherry and I want to “lead” it in a women’s discussion group soon. Notice I didn’t say teach it! Many times I believe that those that can’t do, teach. Now if you would ask my husband, he would say that our relationship is completely normal and much better than average and that all couples argue occasionally- I guess it’s the Type A personality in me that is looking for perfection. I know it’s not going to happen because we are not perfect people, only Jesus Christ is perfect. But a life filled with no more arguments or disagreements with my husband- that seems like utopia to me.

Just when it seems I am on top of my game spiritually I get knocked down a notch when I read that my relationship with my husband is the only relationship on earth that I can show Jesus Christ how much I love him through my submission to my husband. It is the one and only relationship we have that God is looking at as a mirror image of how we would treat HIM if He were standing among us.

Try swallowing that horse sized pill!

What an opportunity to show God how much we love Him. He gave us a husband to love, respect, and submit to just as we would submit to Him. He wants to see our love for Him through the way we love and treat our husbands each day of our lives. So since the way I treat my husband is a direct reflection of how I am doing spiritually- I feel that I fail daily (okay, maybe every 3rd day or so).

Now, would Lee say that I’ve failed? Absolutely not. He’d give me a B+ at least if not an A- but sometimes little arguments to me seem gargantuan and just really make me look inward and say “Wow, would I have said that to God?” or “Would I ignore God to watch TV?” or “Would I have treated God that way?” I would like to say “Of course I wouldn’t do that to God” but that’s what I do everyday when I don’t place my husband above the kids and all other things going on in this difficult season of life with two children 3 and under. God comes first- naturally. Lee should come second. The kids should come third.

The requirements of biblical submission can only be met by a willing heart. There can be no self-serving motives in submission.

So my prayer today is that the Lord would give me a heart that genuinely wants to be submissive to my husband.

How about you?

Holding On…
Michelle