Category Archives: Who I am in Christ

Simple TRUTH

Christianity, Grace, homeschooling, Love one another, mom, motherhood, Parenting, Spiritual Encouragement, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

truth_000

Simple TRUTH

Wow, do we ever complicate the truth about grace. I just finished reading ALL IS GRACE: A RAGAMUFFIN MEMOIR by Brennan Manning. It was the last book he wrote before he passed away. I think I have mentioned him once in my blogs. That is because the truth of the gospel hits me between the eyes when I read his books….A RAGAMUFFIN GOSPEL, RUTHLESS TRUST, ABBA’S CHILD, THE RELENTLESS TENDERNESS OF JESUS and many more.

We as parents are so concerned in raising our children in the way of the Lord.  We take them to church every time the doors open, talk Bible and scripture, and sometimes unknowingly have an expectation of perfection.  When we should have been teaching constantly about the unconditional love of Jesus and truth of grace, we were teaching rules and regulations. And I am pointing the finger at me as a parent.

Oh, our hearts were in the right place…and later on I myself got the grace message and taught it, but oh, how I wish I had it down deep in my heart before that!  I would teach, show and exemplify the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.  I would extend grace to others as He extended to me. 

While under legalism, the rules and regulations have a way of catching up with you!  We cannot maintain the law!  It is impossible.  Then the cycle begins….obey, fail, guilt, start again….try and obey, fail, guilt, start again….and on.  Many times we believe God could never love us after that “sin”, so we just give up.  We fail.  We do not deserve the love of God!

But the truth of  grace is simple.  Not that what Christ did was simple…He sacrificed more than we will ever understand.  But His extension of grace to us is about Him, not our ability to get to HIM by all the “good” or “right” things we do! Grace is “something we don’t deserve, unmerited favor.”

Brennan Manning says:  “God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”

His grace is contingent upon me being as good as I can be. Truth.

THAT, my friends, in my humble opinion is what we should be teaching our children.  Theology is great, scripture memorization is awesome, even those called to apologetics is something to behold…but if I have not an understanding of unconditional love and the truth of grace, what do I have?  

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

True Grace—

Be Blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE
Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV*

Want to be a Princess?

Christ's rest, Christian encouragement, Discouraged Christian, Encouragement for Women, Freedom in Christ, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Love of God, Spiritual Encouragement, To Rest in Christ, Who I am in Christ, , , , , , ,

Image

I wonder if every little girl wants to be a princess at some point in her life?

 

I know I did.  I did not want to be an ordinary princess though.  I wanted to be a “tough as nails princess”  The kind that rode horses, participated in sword fights, and really didn’t need a prince to save her from anything.  I wanted to be the type of princess that was beautiful, yet didn’t really care if all her gowns sparkled.  I wanted to be that type of princess that people liked because she was kind and helpful, not just because she was a princess.

I think my vision of “princess-hood” came from my experiences as a child.  My parents divorced when I was young and I was the oldest, thus the “caretaker” of my brother and sister (or so I thought).  I had a tendency to protect and hover over those I loved….and no one, I mean no one could mess with me.  Not that I was mean….I just didn’t take any junk from anyone!

As I grew up I realized that I wasn’t a princess at all.  I feel like I fought for a lot in my life.  I am not complaining, it made me who I am today…but princess, naw….no need.  I was my own woman.  I did not need anyone, or so I thought.

Once I got married, I didn’t really act like I needed my husband either.  I did not have a good relationship with my dad, thus the tough exterior.  Well, that did not work so well.  I did not know who I was….nor how much God really loved me. Then I found out I was treasured…I was a princess.

James 1:12 “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

Isaiah 62:3 “You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

I needed to know that then, and I need to know that now.  I love God with all my heart, and He loves me. And I am still a princess!

Be blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

 

*google image, NIV Bible*

Dandilions! Every Year!

Christ's rest, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Spiritual Encouragement, , , , , , , , , ,

Image

 

Dandilions!  Every Year!

 

As every spring begins, there is a lot of yard work to go along with it.  And with the long winter that has been hanging around, it is indeed a pleasure…even though every muscle in my body will be yelling at me tomorrow!

The goal this day:  Remove the dandelions from the back patio.  They grow in-between the division in the bricks every single year.  The task seems so daunting.  But, I will admit, the sea of yellow really is pretty!

Now yellow is one of my favorite colors, so the question runs through my mind every year.  Do I really want to pull them?  They really are just pretty little flowers.  Ah, my reasoning really doesn’t hold up, so seeing the patio does become a priority.  But there is not a year that is different.  Every year.

I lean down to pull out the first one.  That was easy enough.  Oops, the green leaves seem to remain. Strange.  And even more curious is that every year I go through the motions of pulling these things!  One more try…just the yellow flower head!!

I decide that whether I like it or not, I am going to have to resort to the way in which I end up doing it every year.  Pointed blade of one of my garden utensils…first dig deep to the right, then the left….then pull!  Aha!  The entire flower came out roots and all!  I go for another one….great, two…super, three…I am on a roll!  Four…ooops, what happened?  The root was only removed in part.  

At this point it hits me…every year….these pretty little flowers are…..weeds.  Now I know to some they have value, but to me their value is nothing when they are coming up on my brick patio. They do not belong there.  The battle continues…every year.

What does that sound like?  It sounds a little like sin to me.  Sin is “missing the mark” and the result of sin…sins…”the fruit”.  That cute little flower was missing the mark, it was in the wrong place.  These weeds would soon take over and cover my patio.  Sin is so deceiving.  It can appear pleasurable and beautiful and good.  Then you see the root of it.  The consequences overtake you, they are inevitable at some point.

The deception is the key.  It can appear good, even beautiful.  It is pleasurable for a moment…then…

Hebrews 8:12 is one of many scriptures that give us hope.  “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Do you have dandelions in your life?  I sure do.  I have to ask myself if I am pulling them by the root so that they have no more life?  Or because they are “cute”, do I leave them there to simply overtake my life?  The decision is mine…the decision is yours. Every year, every day.

The Father wants us to live our life abundantly.  He has His “best” for us because He loves us.  Once we discover that truly those dandelions aren’t the best for us…we can replace them with lovely day lilies…and it will happen every, single year.

Be Blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

 

 

*google image, NIV Bible*