My Manner of Life

Let me tell you the devil is busy. He knows that his time is winding down, and he is throwing everything at us including the kitchen sink. Whew! All I can say is “Come Lord Jesus!” But remember things that we see are temporal, they are subject to change, and they can and will change for the better. Just hold on and don’t let go (I’m talking to myself too). 1 Peter 3:1-2 states: Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. This is referring to the husband and wife relationship, but I think it can be applied to any relationship and to no relationship at all. It’s telling the wife to live her life according to the Word of God before her husband who might not believe the Word; that without her even speaking a word, can win him by how she conducts herself. I believe that as Christians, male or female, win others by their manner or way of life. When you boldly proclaim the Word of God, or that you are a Christian (lay-person or anyone in the ministry), people begin to watch you. There is a spotlight on your life. They will begin to pay close attention to how you handle situations. They’ll begin to watch how you interact with others, and at your conversation. Now, I don’t think people expect for Christians (lay-person or anyone who holds an office in the church) to be perfect. If we are perfect, then let us go ahead and be with Jesus. When they see you walking away from a fight, or they hear you saying “Thank Jesus, I roll this care over on you”, people see that, and they hear it; even though, the situation calls for action, even anger. They are not hearing you say “Thank You, Jesus” and in the next breath cursing out Sally-Sue. It might not be obvious, but people are watching you; they are listening to you. Anyone in the ministry – pastor, pastor wife/first lady, evangelist, Sunday school teachers, deacons, ushers, writers/bloggers for Christ, even lay-people should conduct ourselves, to best of our ability, according to the Word of God. Mark 9:42 says “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” That doesn’t sound too good to me. I know you’re probably saying ‘Oh, this is talking about little children.” How many of you know that we have adults and young people in the church that are new to the faith, and we call them babes in Christ, though they are not literal babies or toddlers? So even in this if our manner of life does not line up with the Word of God, we could cause someone to stumble and lose the faith. It would be better for us to get a large stone and sink ourselves to the bottom of the sea. What other fate could be possibly worse than that??? How about being thrown into a fiery hell for all eternity where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth? I’d say that is by far a more horrible fate. James 3:1 states: Not many [of you] should become teachers ([a]self-constituted censors and reprovers of others), my brethren, for you know that we [teachers] will be judged by a higher standard and with greater severity [than other people; thus we assume the greater accountability and the more condemnation]. Pastors, pastor’s wives, evangelist, deacons and others who hold office in the church, this is talking about you. It is saying that though is a good thing, that not many should pursue these “titles”. You will be judge by a higher standard, and with greater severity. You hear about pastors on the news having inappropriate relationships with their people in their congregation; they might not know it, but they will be judged by this higher standard and with greater severity. Those who are not preaching/teaching the Truth will be dealt with in the manner as well. We have no clue as to who might be watching us, but God does; He sees and hears all. It is very important, as Sons and Daughters of the Most High, that we conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing in God’s sight. Wouldn’t it be great to get to Heaven and find out that some made it because they watched you and came to know and live their life for Christ? If there have been little nick-picking things, incident or even big things going on, and it seems like they have been constant – every time you open your eyes or turn around - causing your manner of life to be other than that of Christ, know that God sees you and is with you. God, The Holy Spirit, is here to counsel and teach us how to walk away, how to calm ourselves and do and say what Jesus would do and say. It can be done! And for people you have to “put them in their place”, there’s a way to say what you have to say, walk away and your point has gotten across. We must show forth the Love of Christ in our daily walk; that way our manner of life is sure to reflect His Love which is His ultimate message. Remember there's a sinner's prayer on this site. If you have back-slid or haven't tasted and seen that the Lord is Good, say this prayer. You don't have to be in a church building to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is a moment that will happen, and it will happen in a twinkling of an eye (as fast as you can blink), and those who have confessed Jesus as Lord and have walked according to the Word of God will be raptured up to be with Him forever and ever. Yes, it sounds too fantastical to be real, but don't take the chance that it's not and be left behind. So don't put this off. No one knows the hour or the day when this will take place, but it is for us to be ready when it's time to go. The first step is to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you say this prayer, contact me; let me welcome you and personally encouraged you in your new life with Jesus! Did you put your armor on today??? Be Encouraged Today!!!

Don't Let the Devil Play You!

Well, I am so grateful that Jesus is seated at the right-hand of God; that He ever lives to make intercession for me and my family. Jesus lives BIG on the inside of me. In this, I know that I am truly blessed of the Lord – blessed and cannot be cursed. Don’t let the devil play you is the title of this blog, and yesterday I let the devil do just that. Ya’ll know I always tell it on myself, but I do this so that the devil can’t hold anything over me. I am not perfect; in fact, nowhere near perfect, but I do strive for perfection in Jesus. All I can say is ♫Please, be patient with me, God is not through with me yet. When God get through with me, I shall come forth as pure gold♫. When I get played by the devil, I simply ask the Lord for forgiveness, and it is put under the Blood. He is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sins. Now we as Christians do NOT habitually sin, but there are instances where we find ourselves in situations where we allow the devil to play us – just as I did yesterday. My husband was out of town because there was a death in the family, and he went to pay his respects. So I had to pleasure of walking our two grown Dobermans along with my six (6), four (4) and almost two (2) years kiddos. My landlord had stopped by to check on a lock issue and had helped me to bring the dogs in for their walk. It was probably around 10:20AM after their walk, and I let them out on the balcony to eat, as I had promised my neighbor I would do since she’s afraid of the dogs. Well, she failed to mention that she had family down for the July 4th holiday. Her mom stepped out on the balcony, and what do you think my Dobermans did? You are correct; they barked. Of course, she begins to yell, and became belligerent. I started out good, but no one likes being yelled and least of all me. I asked her why she just didn’t let me know she had family over because I would have feed the dogs around their schedules. She knows that I feed the everyday, for her benefit, after 10AM every day. She said she didn’t have to tell me anything. Ok, this is when everything began to go downhill, because I began to raise my voice. After this whole confrontation Proverbs 18:6 comes to mind: The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. Now, if this had been somebody other than me, she might have gotten a good beaten. I mean this lady, a grown woman - probably old enough to be my mom, was just yelling and going off. But we, Christians, who name the Name of the Lord, should strive to represent Christ for Christ Jesus is love. I should have just told her that I would bring the dogs in and left it at that, but I let my flesh get the best of me and got played by the devil. Sometimes you have to let argumentative people argue by themselves - I know this. We live too close, townhomes, to have unnecessary strife between us. All of this could have been avoided if she had just let me know she had family over. They had every right to come out onto her balcony, as I have every right to bring my dogs out. But someone has to be the mature one, and in this case neither of us was mature. I did regain composure, and apologized to her mom for the dogs scaring her, but this didn't have to happen; simple communication would have prevented this from happening. James 3:16 states: For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. I told my neighbor that the “deal” of feeding the dogs at 10AM was off, but I’m not going to let the devil play me any further than he already has. I will continue to do this for her. Like I said before, God is love, and He has instructed us in Matthew 5:44 to Love our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and pray for them which despitefully use us, and persecute us. This I also know, but I allow the enemy/devil using her to play me, and I am woman enough to admit when I’ve been played. But you know what, I still win in Jesus’ name. I belong to Christ Jesus, and when those trumpets blow, and Jesus says “Come up hither” I will be going up, leaving foolishness and this world behind me. If you can, don’t allow yourself to be drawn into unnecessary strife; be the “bigger person” and walk away. Time is definitely ticking; Jesus will be back before we know it, and the devil is pulling out all the stops to keep us from doing the Word/Will of God in our lives. Look at all the things going on in the world, and all at the same time. Things are getting into place for our Lord Jesus’ return. Don’t let yourself get distracted and don’t let yourself get played – like me : (. Remember there's a sinner's prayer on this site. If you have back-slid or haven't tasted and seen that the Lord is Good, say this prayer. You don't have to be in a church building to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. There is a moment that will happen, and it will happen in a twinkling of an eye (as fast as you can blink), and those who have confessed Jesus as Lord and have walked according to the Word of God will be raptured up to be with Him forever and ever. Yes, it sounds too fantastical to be real, but don't take the chance that it's not and be left behind. So don't put this off. No one knows the hour or the day when this will take place, but it is for us to be ready when it's time to go. The first step is to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. If you say this prayer, contact me; let me welcome you and personally encouraged you in your new life with Jesus! Did you put your armor on today??? Be Encouraged Today!!!