Welcome Jude Alexander Simmons

Jude's Here! What a precious boy he is! He is so sweet and little! He weighed 7lbs. 9 ozs., and was 19 and a half inches long. We are doing really well at home. I can't wait to see how much he weighs today! We are going to our first weight checkup. He is a really content baby, and his brothers and sister adore him! They all love to hold him and just look at him. We are adjusting really well and we are so glad to be home and finding our "normal". Today was the first day that we actually feel like we are on a semi-schedule. The first few nights have been spent making adjustments and finding what works for his sleep patterns, and mine :) We are really excited about Christmas and just being a quiet family Christmas. We will be able to just relax and love on each other while being so thankful to our God for sending us His Son into the world in such lowly circumstances. What an amazing God, and what an amazing plan! Enjoy your loved ones this Christmas and know that God put you in exactly the family He knew you needed and needed you! Love you all,

Christy

Thoughts on Ezekiel...

So Ezekiel begins by telling that he was sitting by a river with the exiles and the Lord God began to give him visions. In Chapter 2 he gets his official call from the Lord. He is being sent to the Israelites – the rebellious nation. The Lord tells him that whether or not they receive the words, he is to go and tell them the messages from God. Then, in chapter 3 it gets really interesting. God tells him to eat the scroll that is before him and he opened it and ate it. It was sweet in his mouth – as sweet as honey. Then, the Lord tells him that He will harden Ezekiel’s heart so that it is like the people of Israel’s and yet, He commands him to go and speak His words to them – no matter their reaction. He just has to be faithful. Verse 10 strikes me as the Lord says to him, “Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself. Then go to your people in exile and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ Do this whether they listen to you or not.
Alright Ezekiel, I am calling you. I am telling you that I am going to put my words in your mouth, and you are responsible to tell this rebellious nation, no matter what they respond with. But FIRST, I want you to hear these words. Let them sink – DEEP IN YOUR HEART. Then you can go to others. What an amazing lesson for the people of our day. How often are we ready to go to someone with a rebuke or a reproof and yet, have we really ingested the words for ourselves first? Galatians 6 exhorts us to go to our brothers when we see them in sin, but it also gives us a warning. Look at this, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. The, he can take pride in himself WITHOUT COMPARING HIMSELF TO SOMEBODY ELSE, for each one should carry his own load.”
Verse 12 says that the Spirit then lifted him up and he heard a rumbling sound. It is the coolest thing to realize that he pauses and literally says, “May the glory of the Lord be praised in this place!” He is so in awe of the presence of our God that he has to stop and just say, “praise the Lord!” in the middle of telling the story. Wow! How awesome is our God? His worth and beauty we are completely inept to understand! So, then he finishes telling the story that the Spirit carried him away “in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord’s hold on me was strong.” He says, ‘I didn’t want to do it. I was kicking and screaming, but the Lord’s hand held me fast, and I couldn’t get away.’ I love that! He doesn’t have a great attitude, or a soft heart. The Lord told him that he was going to harden his heart like that of the people. So, it was with a hardened heart that he went to the people as God has told him. I love that! Talk about being willing to take on things that are uncomfortable for God. The Spirit carried him to the Kebar River again and he was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days. Can you imagine everything he saw and felt and heard in that seven days? I cannot fathom it.
What sort of person would God choose to do things like this? He didn’t say that Ezekiel had a hard heart. When He spoke to Ezekiel, He said that he would harden his heart. That means that Ezekiel’s heart was soft. He was willing. He was ready to take the message, or God would not have chosen him. How hard it is to imagine that he went off in bitterness and anger and turmoil? What would that have been like for him? What would it feel like to have a hard heart that you didn’t spend time creating? How difficult would it be to be striving with the Lord when in reality he wanted to do God’s will all along. We harden our hearts to the Lord by telling Him no when He asks us to do things, or by not entering into painful places with Him because we have more fear than faith. But, what if we didn’t have a hard heart, and all of a sudden, the Lord shows up and says, I am going to harden your heart so that you can be a witness to these people. Overwhelmed for seven days seems pretty short to me. I think I might have been overwhelmed for a month! I can’t imagine what that would have made him feel like. The separation from the Lord. The knowledge that the Lord is Sovereign, and yet, the inability to respond to the Lord with a sweetness of spirit. Instead, it is a bitterness of spirit that he has to operate in. It is in turmoil that he was dealing with the Lord. After those overwhelming days, the Lord shows up again and speaks to him finally with the message. The message is not an easy pill to swallow. Read Ezekiel 3:16-21.
“After seven days the Lord gave me a message. He said, “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death’, but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths. If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me. If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths. But, if you warn righteous people not to sin, and they listen to you and do not sin, they will live and you will have saved yourself too.” Then the Lord took hold of me and said, “Get up and go out in to the valley, and I will speak to you there.” So I got up and went, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had seen in my first vision by the Kebar River. And I fell face down on the ground.”
Talk about responsibility. The Lord gives out responsibility in accordance with our faithfulness. He told Ezekiel that HE would be responsible for people’s death if he didn’t warn them as he was told! He was appointed a watchman for the people of Israel. God was basically telling him, “I gave you eyes to see so that you could warn them, and if you don’t use the gifts I have given, their death – in eternity will be on your head.” Wow. I wonder how the Lord would use us if we would have a willing Spirit. I wonder what things He wants to let us share in if we would only have hearts willing to do what He requires. I am not saying that I want to be responsible for other people’s salvation, but I am saying that aren’t we already? Hasn’t He already commanded us to go and spread the gospel? Hasn’t He commissioned each one of us with a calling that will both build up the body of believers and at the same time lead people to Christ? 1 Corinthians 14:26 says, “Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.” God Himself has placed us in what body of believers He desires, and the Spirit has chosen which gifts to give us. It is our responsibility to work as unto the Lord in the body, and out of the body of believers. We are to share our gifts with the lost AND THE SAVED. We were not given gifts for ourselves alone. We were not given abilities to build ourselves up – but the whole church. Isn’t it time that we embraced the things that God wants for us? Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights. He gives us so many riches that we stomp on the ground under our feet. Oh to have a willing Spirit like Ezekiel that doesn’t run away from the responsibilities that the Lord desires to give! I want to have a willing heart and mind. I want to have a heart that says “Yes” to God – and that when Satan goes to accuse me before God’s throne, He is so certain of my reaction that He would let me be like Job – just to show that my heart is faithful to Him above all things. Oh, Lord teach us how to have a spirit that is not weak. Help us to be strong in You alone! Help us to have a heart that fears your Name! Lord that we could say with the Psalmist in 119 that says, “I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.” And Though I constantly take my life in my hands, I will not forget your law… My heart is set on keeping your decrees until the very end!” Help us Lord, pour your mercy down on us!

DAZED AND CONFUSED?

So much of our confusion, our “depression” and our condemnation (which makes us feel worthless) comes from forgetting the basic things of the Word of God. The good news is that we are not alone in this forgetfulness. Obviously the Galatians and the Ephesians forgot these same things.

Look at Galatians with me:

Paul has just finished reminding the Galatians that he is not after their approval, but God’s alone. He is rebuking them for turning away from the good news so quickly regarding Christ. Look at these few verses in Galatians 1:6-7, “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.”
Then he begins his discourse in Galatians 2 that hits the specifics of the things they have forgotten and the new things that they are embracing. The cool thing is that he first brags on the leadership who didn’t demand that Titus follow the “law” – and then he fronts out the “so-called” Christians that brought in the new teaching. Trying to take away the freedom that Christ brought – or should I say bought. Read this with me:
Galatians 2:4-5, “Even that question came up only because of some so-called Christians there—false ones, really —who were secretly brought in. They sneaked in to spy on us and take away the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to enslave us and force us to follow their Jewish regulations. 5 But we refused to give in to them for a single moment. We wanted to preserve the truth of the gospel message for you.”
He then goes on to say how he and Peter and Barnabas had a strong disagreement because of the way that they had been led astray by other teachers who emphasized the law over God’s grace. I will just type out the next few verses where Paul gets very specific about what made him so angry with all of this teaching.
Galatians 2:16-21, “Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” 17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. ] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”
Did you see that? If keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was NO NEED for Christ to DIE!!! Woah. Think on that. Really stop and ponder what Paul is saying there.

Now, look at Galatians 3:1-5, “Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3 How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4 Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? 5 I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.”
Okay, so hop over with me to Ephesians if you want to see that this was not an uncommon struggle. I will not quote all of Ephesians to you, though the Word of God is really the only thing that will impart life to you… But, let me just quote this one thing.
Ephesians 2:8-10, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”.
You can’t take credit for this… Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done. We are HIS MASTERPIECE! Do you think that He messed up in calling you? If you can’t mess up His calling, and His work, then why do you think any of the rest of it depends on you? It would be as if we hung the Mona Lisa in our living room and then we tried to take some credit for how beautiful the work is (or how flawed, whatever your opinion of Ms. Mona). That is ridiculous. It was never our work. We simply display it for others to see. We are way too self-focused and the enemy knows this and uses it against us. This is how he gets to us. We take our eyes off of the author and perfector of our faith and we put them on ourselves, and our works. This is always a route to failure and depression. Because we are the Israelites. We are hopelessly lost without help from our Jesus. That is why He came! So, we need to remember that God did not call us to walk this thing out on our own, in our own power or strength, but in Him – and in Christ alone.
Finally, I am pondering 1 Corinthians 12 and our gifts. It says here that he created us so we can do the good things HE PLANNED for us long ago. And, that leads directly into the giftings that He has given us as His children. We are each to operate as the part of the body that He made us to be. We are not to get caught up in other people’s callings, because He has clearly made each one of us with a different calling, but the same Spirit. So, though, I will not explore that throroughly, it is something that I cannot help but mention. Because if we are called to be the hands and we are trying to be the feet, we are walking upside down! That doesn’t bring glory to our God, but attention to ourselves – not to mention that we will not be doing any of that in His power, but all of our own, so we will only look rather silly, not to mention feel completely incompetent to do what He is calling us to do.

Alright, I know that was random, but it does give a good image. :)

What is normal anyway?

This morning as I woke up I thought it would be a normal day.

As I got out of bed I prayed for a friend of mine with physical pain in her body – pain that I know nothing about, but that the Lord is gracious to remind me of.

As I took a shower, I prayed for other friends. Friends that are fighting this fight of living life right! Friends that have real hurts and needs and struggles and strongholds. I contemplated the things in life that we think are so easy, or think about so flippantly. But, things that are heavy on the Lord’s heart. Trials that we dismiss thinking they are only for other people, or think so highly of ourselves that we are somehow immune to the pain that comes with them.

As I got ready and got breakfast ready I was weak and wanted to sit down. I wanted to rest – I wanted someone to fill my cup and prepare my food. (Psalm 23:5 “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.)

I pushed through and went up the stairs to wake my boys. Oh little one, you are cold because you have had an accident. Let’s get a bath. My big strong man of a boy – get up love, the day awaits for you…

Then my girl, my precious sleepy girl… you have had a great night! You are dry and so beautiful in your sleepiness…

As we sat down and read Psalm 7 we talked about the refuge that our God is. Oh, our God… don’t seem so far off… We are desperate to KNOW you. Why don’t we know you…

And then as they all left for school, a heaviness settled in. Not a heaviness from the enemy that is oppressive and unyielding, but a sadness seemingly from the Lord Himself. Oh, what my Savior? Why does your heart hurt this morning? And could you really want me to share the pain with you?

Oh, I believe He does want us to know that He is a God who feels. He is a God that is Almighty and All-Powerful, and yet has a heart that is grieved by His adulteress people. (Genesis 6:6 NLT, “So the Lord was sorry he had ever made then and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.”) But, He seeks one who will feel with Him and be righteous, and wholly devoted to Him. (2 Chron. 16:9, “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are wholly committed to Him.” (Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found favor with the Lord.”)

As I read and listen to people sing of God’s love and mercy and beauty, a song plays in my ears.

“Oh capture me again, revive what seems so dim. Restore first love’s fire - my heart’s desire. I see the Beauty of Your Goodness, but I settle for something much less. Your gentle whisper, Your Presence so sweet will I walk away or sit at Your feet, Oh Jesus please break through, I don’t want to miss this moment with You…”

Reflections on Joshua

Has God ever given you an assignment that you knew was from Him? Did it seem bigger than anything that you could handle on your own? Did you immediately start doubting that it was indeed the Lord who was calling you to the task? Did you set out – in small faith, or big - and soon after your feet slipped out from under you and you doubted the whole thing was ever really from the Lord? I am often surprised how we skip over small words in the Bible. Words that would bring freedom if we would look at them a little longer. I was reading Joshua. Just the first part of the first chapter. No extensive reading, just asking the Lord to show me all the scripture that He wanted me to meditate on. I tend to read chapters and chapters and find so much encouragement. However, I think the motto for right now is slow down. Sit and read a small amount and reflect on my Word, my Truth and my Goodness. So, Joshua it was this morning. Anyway, I noticed that God told him, “I am with you just as I was with Moses, my servant. I won’t leave you, or abandon you – and here is my command – be strong and courageous. It was a command. He had even told him how to stand strong. He said to meditate on the book of His commands. He gave him the answers before the test, and Joshua still failed. Test #1 – be strong and courageous – I have already given you every place you will set your feet.
So, then Joshua goes to the leaders, the officers of Israel, and he commands them to get ready to go. They tell him “Yes, we will do whatever you command us, and we will go where you send us…So be strong and courageous.” Isn’t that something? At this point, he didn’t even have resistance from his top leaders. They said, we know you are in charge and we are ready to follow – by the way – be strong and courageous, just as God said. I always kind-of imagined that Joshua was pulled aside by some of the leaders, and at their urging, he sent out spies. But, according to Joshua 2:1 – Joshua sent out the spies secretly. It was as if the enemy started whispering to him as soon as he went to the leaders and told him he was foolish – or could it have been the Lord who sent him on this mission- a mission with a purpose. We do know it was very soon after he met with the leaders because the spies stayed in the hills for three days. That was the same amount of time that Joshua had told the leaders that he would have to prepare to go to battle. So, it really seems like he met with the leaders and then went straight to the spies and said “go”.
Now, there are obvious implications from this act, and we aren’t certain if it was doubt that caused him to send out the spies, or if it was an act of obedience to something God said to him that wasn’t recorded in scripture. The severe implications from this act, whether obedience to God, or in disobedience, is that Rahab and her family are saved. Rahab was the mother of Boaz. Boaz was in the line of Jesus. So, obviously, it was in God’s great plan to save Rahab. We cannot possibly fathom God’s Sovereignty. And scripture uses the word “secretly”, which means it was a hidden act. Though we don’t know for certain if Joshua’s act was an act of doubt, or if God came back to him and told him to send the spies, we know that in disobedience, or in obedience God is still the God of all things. Of course God could have spared Rahab in a different way. She was even commended in the famous “Hebrews Hall of Faith” for her act of faith towards the spies. So, if Joshua was in sin for sending out the spies, it shows that God can take our mess-ups, or sin, and our doubt and turn it for His own Glory. We are not big enough to thwart God’s plans. We only miss out on the blessings of obedience when we choose to disobey and doubt. There is still so much to think about and read and consider. But, I am just going to camp here for a little while and ask God to help us hear His voice. Father, help us to run from the voice of the enemy and to recognize your voice alone. Protect us from doubt and fear. Help us to be strong and courageous – as you have given us great and precious promises as well. You are a good God. Help us to recognize that all the time.

Family Update... School has begun!

All three of my precious kiddos are in school now! Wow! What a fun time this is for our family! Jake is doing so well in intermediate school. He rides his bike to school everyday and has a routine for his homework. He is making wonderful grades, and I couldn't be more proud of the way he is keeping his things organized. Praise the Lord! He is really growing up. If you don't believe me, just call him sometime and talk to him for a minute on the phone. He sounds so grown! He is showing me this year that he is really very capable of keeping up with assignments and turning stuff in on time. He is also such a help to me at the house. He helps me so much. I never dreamed that he could take so much off of me - but he does every day! He officially has an extra hour of awake time after his brother and sister have to go to bed. He needs it most days just to finsih up homework and have a little down time. What a blessing he is to his Momma and Daddy!
Then there is my Maddy-Bella. Oh she is indeed a beauty! She is taking her new challenges and running with them! Her Spanish teacher this year ONLY speaks in spanish! Talk about full submersion! She is doing great! Yesterday she said, "Mommy, I wrote in Spanish in my draft book today!" I am so proud of her and excited for the opportunites that will come in her life from this program! My favorite thing that is going on in her life right now is the way that she is listening to God. She hears His voice and it is so encouraging to this momma! Please ask me about this if you want to know more. I promise it will be an encouragement to you to. It has really made me want to have a more child-like faith. I want to feel conviction as quickly as she does. I don't want a hard heart - and I see the ways that God is protecting her from that. Wow! She is a delight to my heart and my spirit. What a breath of fresh air!
And last, but not in any way less than my first two, there is Jared. Oh what a joy! I asked him what his favorite part of his first day of school was, and he quickly said, "the whole thing!" He is feeling so grown up, and loving his school. He is going to learn so much about being a big kid this year. That is a little hard on me, but he is no longer a baby, and it shows. He is so precious. I am so proud of him! The first day of school he also said, "Hey Mommy, there is a girl in my class - in a yellow dress - and she doesn't love God." I said, "Oh, were you talking about God today in school." His response, "No ma-am". So, I said, "Oh. Well, how do you know that she doesn't love God?" After much talking, I am still not certain how it all came about, but he and another little boy were telling her she was rude because she doesn't love God. Oh boy! I had to explain that if they ever wanted her to love God, they had better stop telling her that she is rude and start loving on her. It was such a hoot! Yeah that he is already talking about God - one way or the other. Ha!

Great and Precious Promises....

2 Peter 1:4 “And because of His glory and excellence He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

The word for share is “Koinonos” and it means a partner, associate, comrade, companion; a partner, sharer, in anything of the altar in Jerusalem on which the sacrifices are offered; sharing in the worship of the Jews.

2 Cor 7:1 says, “Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward holiness because we fear God.”

What are these great promises? Just above 2 Cor. 1:7, Paul takes a look at what God has promised. Read 2 Cor. 6:16-18. Look at these promises…. These are promises straight from God’s mouth… He says:

I will live in them and walk among them.
I will be their God and they will be my people.
I will welcome you
I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters

Wow! Precious promises indeed. I need to spend about an hour on each one of these just to begin to ask Him to open my eyes to what He means here. He will live in us. LIVE IN US! Not just dwell among us – although, that was perfection in the garden…. He will abide, reside, make His home, LIVE IN us! A holy, perfect, untainted God will dwell within our frail bodies that are dying and weak. He calls us His people! He welcomes us – not just as a friend, but as a Father – a perfect, loving Father. As we BELIEVE these promises, we will become free from the temptations of the world, because they are NOTHING compared to the precious promises we have. So, he says, again, “let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.”

Woah, even a quick list could be days long. How much do we let corrupt our bodies and especially our spirit’s? We fill ourselves with food, tv, entertainment, activities, phone calls, magazines…. The list goes on and on… but aren’t we killing our spirits? The very One who lives inside us has the smallest pull on our hearts. He has the smallest voice in our minds. We are defiling our spirit… every day, in so many ways. Soap operas – defilement. That racy novel by that “wonderful” author… defilement. Why do we fill ourselves up with it? Why, when we have those great and precious promises? So, he says, “let us work toward holiness because we fear God.” We don’t fear God. That is why. We don’t fear God, and we don’t really love God. We love the world. One last thought…. 1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love this world, nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

LOVE.... TRUE LOVE....

In studying the Sermon on the Mount and really being burdened for marriages and relationships among believers in general, these are some thoughts, and scriptures that have come up. Most of the scripture I am using is taken from The Sermon on the mount – specifically Matthew 5:38-47 .
Jesus is taking everything that His disciples know from the "law" and making the heart of the issues come forth. He gets so far away from what is the norm in the next passages that I am certain some people decided that what He was saying was impossible, and it is impossible, apart from a relationship with Him. In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 39But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
I think that the point is pretty clear here. When people do you wrong and take from you and treat you harshly, you are to treat them with love in return. Proverbs says, “a gentle answer turns away wrath…” If they want what you have – give it to them and then some. If they are mean with words, don’t return the ugliness, fight your flesh and love them in return. It is not okay for a child of God to respond to any situation like a non-believer. We are to be salt and light. This is all just an extension of the things that we have already learned from the beginning of the sermon on the mount. It is a blessing to be persecuted. It is a blessing to be meek, humble, poor in spirit. Don’t you get it? It is a blessing to be different. It is a blessing to not let “things” fill our needs. It is a privilege and a freedom to be able to give up all your stuff for Jesus. How much easier it is to spend time in the Word if you don’t even have a tv. All of our “things” distract us so much from the important things. When we are completely satisfied in Him, there is nothing of more value that someone can take away from us. Then, it is FREEDOM to be taken from. It is freedom because that thing, or that right is so pale in comparison to the fullness that you have in Christ, that it is impossible for people to really “steal” from you.


What Jesus says next is one of my favorite portions of scripture. It is really straight to the point and very clear about what is important in life. Matthew 5:43-47 says, "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

It isn’t hard to love people who love you. It is however, one of the most difficult things to love someone who is mean to you - to care for and love people who are always just nasty to you. But, the Lord is clear. I find that it is more difficult for me to love “Christian” people who are mean than lost people. I believe lost people don’t know how to love because they don’t know the love of Christ. They are supposed to be calloused and selfish. But, believers who act in the same way are much more difficult to love. John 13:35 tells us that people will know that we are Christians by our love for each other. That is scary. I don’t know too many people who exhibit the kind of love that Christ is talking about in order for people to notice. I think that I know more believers who give a great example of how NOT to love one another - pretty sad. But, if we would get this – this one thing, we would have an easier time walking out our faith. I think that is why Jesus ends this particular passage with “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Once we have figured out how to love one another perfectly, we will be perfect. Please see 1 Cor. 13 - God's most excellent way....

Why is it that the greatest command is to love God? Scripture makes it clear that we love because He first loved us. (1John 4:19) Because if we don’t receive God’s love towards us we can never love Him, which then makes it impossible to do the second greatest command (Matthew 22:34-40) and that is to love one another. But it is the most often repeated command in scripture. The whole Word of God from beginning to end is telling us to love God and love others. It is because there is no other way to show the love of Christ to someone else. (Philippians 2:3-5) Consider others better than yourself… Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit…. (Col 3:12-14)Bear with one another… forgive as you have been forgiven. It is not about YOU. It is about the glory of a Holy God. It is about the privilege of being different. This is so simple to understand when you have the perspective of the cross. But, when it is still about how situations make us feel, and how things affect us, it is impossible to love in the way that God asks us to.
He ends with be “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It seems to me that we should be the most thankful for the top 5 most difficult people in our lives. If you will consider with me for a moment, I believe one of the quickest routes to holiness is through pain and rejection. How can we really fear God alone and not man if we always please men in the things that we do for God? Rejection by men, and especially men that we respect and love, will cause us to determine who we live to please. If we always are taken care of and put first, how will we ever get a chance to walk out true humility? If we say we love people, and we don’t have any difficult people in our lives to love, then how do we really know? It is the people who falsely accuse us that show us that the truth about our hearts belongs to God alone. It is the selfish and hateful people who teach us how to turn to the Lord to fulfill our deepest needs – and truly find the beginnings of the depth of His love for us.
The more we are rejected by fellow man, the more we must turn to the Lord to find our worth, and how deeply we are loved by Him. And there is no love that can match His love for us. How great is the Father’s love that He has lavished on us! It is important that we are being rejected because we are choosing God and not because we are being rebellious to the authority God has placed in our lives. God puts people in our lives for a purpose. The refining that is done to our hearts by relationships with difficult people is a blessing from the Lord. Even people who aren’t traditionally “difficult” will be used when necessary to bring about holiness in your life. It is time that we realize that we are difficult people too.
Until we know how to look past our needs, our rights and our feelings, we will not love as He loves. We will only love ourselves. We cannot on our own be perfect as our Father is. He loves us perfectly. Jesus wants us to understand that the bar has been raised. It is a standard unable to be met on our own. We must have the help of the Holy Spirit and we must keep our eyes on His cross. Oh, Lord help us to be perfect as you are perfect. There is no other way to read that. He wasn’t saying try to be perfect. He wasn’t saying, try not to mess up too much. He said be perfect.

Webster defines perfect as being entirely without fault or defect – flawless. Are you striving to be flawless for God? Romans 12:11 says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Let’s be zealous for the Lord – and less zealous for our own rights.

Family Update

Jacob starts "intermediate" school this year. 5th grade. That's right - my firstborn is ten in less than two weeks! Unbelievable! He has been such a blessing to me over the last few months. He is now the resident dishwasher, garbage man, and sometimes cook. He is amazing! My favorite thing that he does right now is rub on my ever growing belly. He pats it, kisses it, and rubs on it several times a day and asks me things like, "Are you sure the baby can hear me?" Precious boy!

Maddy is going into the 2nd grade. She just turned 7! That is scary to me! She is growing up faster than I know what to do with. She is so smart, and of course, so beautiful. She is my prayer warrior. She prays with me and for me and for her friends. What a joy to God's heart to hear her lift her voice in prayer. She is also an amazing ice-skater! Oh my goodness! She is certainly on her way to becomming my real ice princess! She is an incredible girl! She is always making up new dances and new "plays" to perform for us. And praise the Lord - she is way more graceful than her mother!

And of course, Jared. This boy starts school this year! Kindergarden! Wow! We are so excited that he got in the dual language program. He will be learning Spanish every single day for half of the day. In fact, his teacher won't speak a word of English to the class at all. Talk about a good way to learn quickly! He is certain to be the class clown, and I am praying that I won't have to frequent the school for discipline! He is such a funny boy. What a joy to my heart! He is also my encourager. He saw me painting my nails just yesterday and said, "Mommy, your nails look pretty." Wow! He notices everything.

Ken and I are planning a get away for October because we remember pretty well what it is like to have a new baby in the house. So, we are looking at taking a cruise and having a little "us time". He spoils me!

The daycare is going well, we're gearing back up for the fall. Patty does an incredible job of keeping everything running smoothly.