CHANGING COLORS

The bible says we are to lay aside self. I often call it dieing to self.  Think of it like fall trees.  The leaves may be dieing but the tree is now beautiful.  Eph. 4:22-24

Self you might as well say is sin. It is the sin side of us Christians. We have no problem living in self as it is so natural. The Lord said we would have this side until we die. But He also said we were to lay it aside.  

Ephesians 4:22-24

22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Years ago I was so critical of everyone and I mean everyone. It was so easy to see their faults and criticize the things they did. Self does feels superior when we do this. We become self righteous, by basing our righteousness on someone else unrighteousness.  But if we examine ourselves we begin to see ourselves as we really are, sinners.

I cannot say that I never criticize anyone but when I do I immediately am convicted of it by the Lord. It is just that I listen to the Lord's conviction on it now.

How this all came about was when the criticism started to be directed at the ones I loved. Someone as close as a friend, husband, church member, or adult family member.

You start off with seeing one fault, they have. You may even hint, suggest, something or just out and tell them in your own way what they are doing and expect them to stop.

Of course until the Lord brings this to their attention, they more or less ignore you. You become angry inside. Then you see another fault, and of course you have a cure for that fault, but they do not take your cure or even see their fault. Then you see another and another and another. Pretty soon there is hardly anything they do that can make you happy.

You yourself become miserable and angry inside. It is suddenly how you feel everyday when you wake up. You try to love them and be happy but just can't. Before you know it the love you felt for that person is being destroyed by the enemy.

What do I mean by the enemy. There is a spiritual world going on around us that we cannot see. The Devil and his angels set out to destroy our witness to others. It was not hard for the enemy to manipulate me as a fault in someone would be noticed and from there my sin nature could do the rest. 

The problem is it destroys Christian relationships, my witness, and  my happiness as well as individuals involved.

When I saw this my first reaction was what do I do.  How can I stop this.

1.   Ask forgiveness from the Lord for the sin of judging and most likely criticizing too.

2. Trust in the Lord for all circumstances and changes to my loved ones.

3. Ask the Lord to show me every time I started to do this and immediately put aside self

4.  To be content with my circumstances and the people around me.  After all the Lord is in control of my life, isn't He?  Which goes back to trusting the Lord.

5.  To look at the good things about my loved ones. Think about the things I loved about them.

6.  To leave those people in the Lord's hands to change.

I was to love them, be patient with them, forgive them, etc. Also to realize that I have faults too.  I was not to be judging them. That is for the Lord to do. He is the only one that can change or even get a person to change, including myself. This does not happen overnight.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

What I have found that works completely, is to do the above and ask God to show them their fault. Also if they are doing wrong (or I think it is wrong) to show them and if I am wrong to show me.  This is how I put it in the Lord's hands

This has worked years for me, and the Lord has been faithful to do just that. You do have to accept what the Lord answers!  

This took a lot of work between the Lord and myself. The problem is we do not want to wait on the Lord to do the teaching and changing in the ones we love. We want change now. The thing to remember here is we are to lay aside self.  We must not let these thoughts even start. We must not let the enemy manipulate us and ruin our relationships and our witness.

What is the main thing our loved ones want? I do not know about any of you, but the main thing is to be loved the way I am. To understanding that we are a  work in progress by the Lord. To have patience with me.  This might mean suffering my loved ones faults and mistakes.

I found out that the suffering and laying aside self leads to blessings we could not imagine.

Thank You Lord for your answers to our problems.

Nina

ME ORGANIZED ? REFLECTIONS

This last week I was telling someone that I use to be a very disorganized housewife and mother years ago. They said they found that hard to believe. This got me to thinking about how it came about that I am more organized and get a lot done in a day. Also I enjoy doing my work now.

First off the Lord knows our personalities and when we go to him for the help we need “He” always shows us the way. We do have to watch for these ways and be ready to accept and do what he shows us to do. This goes for all aspects of our lives. It sometimes means a leap of faith, but “He” is always faithful when we do what he has showed us.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

When I was a mother it was in the 1970's through 1990's. In the early years we could not go and google and ask about organization, keeping a home together, best prices on food and clothing or material for making clothing etc. We had to wait on the Lord for some of our answers. The Lord always showed me what to do (when I listened).

The first answer was in the Bible. The Proverbs 31 woman. It seemed totally out of reach for me at the time. But I also knew God was faithful and he was the teacher.

The second thing was a desire to even be like the Proverbs 31 woman. I did not work outside the home that meant (to me) that I had to treat my home and family like a job. I was to do the best I could in that job.

The second thing that came was a book called, “The Sidetracked Home Executives”. This was my personality and the Lord knew it. It was a card system for days of the week, every other week, every month, spring to do list, summer to do list, fall to do list, and winter to do list. Their system was perfect for me.

Here is an example of my side tracked habit. When putting laundry up in a room, I would see something that needed done and I would work on it. Then next thing I knew, I was someplace else doing something else altogether than the laundry. The day was almost gone and it looked like I had done hardly anything. No room or chore was completed. The card system and the book taught me how to stay focused on what I was doing and to stay with the one task till completed. Once I learned this so much more got accomplished in my home. This went for grocery shopping, thrift store shopping (example look for needs first then other things I wanted). Preparing meals, getting breakfast for hubby and kids, getting hubby off to work and kids ready for school, cleaning house, etc.

After doing their card system for a couple years, it became a habit.

This did not happen overnight. It took perseverance on my part and that desire to do my job to the best of my ability and to look to the Lord for all things.

I am now 67 years old, my children are grown and a lot of my grandchildren are adults and almost adults. My husband and I are now retired, even though we do a lot of work on this homestead we live on.

My husband is always telling me that he appreciates all that I do to help him. I may never be that perfect example of the Proverbs 31 woman, but I am glad that I did make her my mentor.

Nina

SIMPLE LIFE RULES

SIMPLE LIFE RULES

I ran across  An 87-Year-Old’s Economic Survival Guide 

In the article a man shares wisdom from his mother, who was about 10, when her family weathered recessive times.

Her advice is wonderful because she is wise enough not to focus ONLY on the dollars and cents of the matter or the circumstances.

-Lean upon God.

-Get back to the basics. Simplify your life.

-Be humble and willing to work.

-Be rich in love.

-Be a part of a community.

-Help someone else.

A REASON FOR SILENCE

Sometimes we have a reason for silence and quiet.  We have a cross to bear or a duty to perform, or just living.  This morning I came across something that is so true.  I picked up a book after moving, from a box.  It had been in storage a long time. From the time I was a young Christian this author has been a mentor.  Now I am an older Christian woman myself.  Her wisdom and knowledge of living a Christian life have given me pearls of thought about Christ and our Christian lives over the years.  

From "God's Guidance-A Slow & Certain Light"

The taking up of the cross will mean sooner or later saying no to self.  But it is also a resounding yes.  It means saying yes when everything in us says no.  To decide to do the thing that we (and it will seem everybody else in the world) do not want to do because it is not "natural."  And in our giving of wholehearted assent, we find to our amazement that the impossible becomes possible and the things we were sure were beyond us are now within reach, for God's command is his enabling.  Never has he given an assignment that was not accompanied by the power to accomplish it.

The cross entails sacrifice, too.  There is no getting around this.  Christianity has been criticized and rejected by many as an "unnatural" religion, a life that denies living, a negation and not an affirmation.  Jesus never tried to make it look easy.  The principles he taught cut across the grain of human nature: lose your life in order to find it; be poor in spirit if you want to be happy; mourn if you want to rejoice; take the last place if you want the first.  The corn of wheat must first fall into the ground and die if it is ever to produce anything.
  
What we must not forget is that he traveled this road before us. He himself endured a cross and thought nothing of its shame:--not because he had a particular liking for self-denial and suffering but "because of the joy he knew would follow his suffering.  Think constantly of him enduring all that sinful men could say against him, and you will not lose your purpose or your courage. 

Here is a poem she learned in college and what she says about it.

A few lines I learned while a student in college have come back to my mind, beckoning me when more immediate rewards were attracting my attention:

I heard him call "Come follow."

That was all.

My gold grew dim, my soul went after him.

Who would not follow

If they heard him call?

 by Elisabeth Elliot

Sometimes when we are called by Christ to do a certain thing, and we know some will not understand, we must follow his bidding.  He has a purpose for the future and the people involved that we cannot see.  We may or may not see the reason to take up such a cross.  What we can do is TRUST HIM, for he has the bigger picture in mind. We are but a piece of that picture, if we humbly hear his Call and Follow.   "Taking up the cross", as Elizabeth said, involves sacrifices that we may never have even thought of.  Thanks be to Jesus Christ our strength comes from him to accomplish these things asked of us.

Nana

RESENTMENT

Today I was reading a book that was suggested to me sometime back.  I have read it before and lined, highlighted, and circled areas that pertained to me.

In my 65 years I have gone through many circumstances that I considered good and bad.  One of the key things that have caused me problems is assumptions and resentment.
Looking at someone else's actions or non-actions I have assumed certain things about them.  I did not wait on the Lord to show me the truth, but listened to others who thought the same as myself.  I believe we call this "self-righteousness." 

Through certain trials in my life the Lord showed me how we all assume things by what we see or hear ourselves or from others.  We then act on those assumptions.  We become resentful of our lives or the people in them.  We can become angry, resentful, etc.

One thing I know is the Lord put these people and circumstances in my life to teach me.  Granted I have created some of these problems myself.  But God is always able to teach me when I am willing to listen TO HIM.  He did not forsake me even in my sin. 

If you read your Bible you will see over and over how sinful we all are and how many in the Bible did the same things as we do.  We can learn from that if we are willing, and do not continually think we have to be the right one.  Maybe we should ask the Lord-show "ME"  if I am wrong.
Below is a quote from the Book I read.

Finding God's Path through your Trials-by Elizabeth George
Page 113-114-quotes from

Resent:  Instead of getting onboard and marching forward into the trial in front of us, we resent the roles others play in our difficulty.  Although God is absolutely sovereign in our lives, we mistakenly think others have contributed to our coming to this particular place of pain and suffering. 
But God has a grand plan for our trials.
Resentment is a growth killer.
It is easier to resent our husbands, our job or his job, our children and the trials having them brings each day, or our singleness than it is to face our trials head-on.  It is easier to feel bitter about our in-laws, our parents, our bosses ( and on and on the list of resentees goes) than to grow up out of this immature practice. 
God is at work in life through people--with all their quirks and irritations, with all their shortcomings and sinful behavior.

Over the years I have come to learn that God's plan is for us to be servants to others, not ourselves.  I hope this helps someone today to go forward and not retreat from their trials.
Nina

LIFE IS SO DAILY

Our lives involve so many little details.  Day to day we do the little things that are routine.  I often use to think is this the Christian life.  What ever happened to ministry, to that romantic thought of spiritual life we are suppose to live.

The way life is for the most of us is what I thought I would share today.

We get up and we fix breakfast, go to work, or stay at home and do are daily duties.  We eat lunch and dinner and rest a little in the evening and go to bed.  Get up and start all over again.

The one thing we forget is that during a day we have many opportunities to just be obedient to Christ.  To listen to a friend or family member.  Take care of our families.  Even clean the toilet or change a diaper.

It may seem insignificant but what is insignificant to us is not to the Lord.  He wants us to be obedient in the little things in life he has put before us, as well as what we may call spiritual things.
Even the little prayers we say during the day and leaning on Him are of significance to Him. 

As Elizabeth Elliot said in her book "Be Still My Soul,"

Our obedience may lead us not to the fulfillment of our ideals but to very unexpected and "unspiritual situations.

The Way of the Cross is an ordinary street in an ordinary city.  It is an ordinary life lived in the grace of God.

So when you feel the little things you do are not significant just remember the Lord considers your obedience to do them significant.

FOOLISH BANTERING?

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I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder and said "Foolish bantering

makes fools of the wisest men.

No matter what you do, there are going to be some people that will

find fault in what you do or say.  They are going to criticize, nit-

pick, demean, and accuse you of things that you did not intend to

even do.
___________________________________

You cannot win an argument with these people. Why? Because

facts, logic, and kindness are not their intention. Their intention is a

fight. They don't care if you're right. Shoot, they don't even care if

they are right. They just want an argument.

They fight because they are hurt. Sometimes it is because they have

an over-inflated sense of pride to make up for their lack of self-

esteem. Other times it is because they are jealous or envious. And

still other times it might be because they are simply a jerk.

But if you call yourself a follower of Christ, do not engage in

meaningless arguments that only lead to strife and conflict. Just let

it go. The only way you can win is by not arguing. It's tough, but

you can do it.

23 Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,

because you know they produce quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s

servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able

to teach, not resentful. -2 Timothy 2:23-24

"You've done nothing by besting a fool."