Are You Living With Truth or Lies?

“Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:8‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Our class is studying a series of lessons on building our core...physical core, emotional core, mental core and spiritual core. 

Last Sunday, we studied how to build our mental core. I found that to be the hardest thing of all four things to strengthen. We can work on our spiritual core by reading our Bible and praying to God with regularity. We can strengthen our physical core by lifting weights, doing aerobic exercises and work on our flexibility. We can “grit our teeth” and be mindful of our emotions...sadness, anger, fear, and happiness. 

But somehow to make progress in the area of the mind takes an enormous discipline. Everything goes into our mind! 

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I was noticing this week that all of us struggle with what is truth. For example, our jealously sometimes towards others are based on a lack of knowledge. Have you ever look at someone’s life and think that they have a “perfect life?” But later on you find out that this person has some problems that you would not want to trade with. A good rule of thumb is to not be jealous of someone’s life. No point in this, whatsoever.

Another example of not knowing truth is not realizing the unbelievable poverty that some are facing in most of the world. We have pity parties about finances when there is something we desire and can’t buy it right now. But the item is not even on the mind of most of the world. If the truth smacked you in the face, you would give more of your time or money or prayer to the more than 10% of the world that is living on less than $2 a day. That is more like closing our eyes to the truth. 

Not knowing truth means that most Christians do not understand what it means to follow Jesus. Stop and think. Do we often get mad at God because we are suffering? We are bitter because we have problems. We want life to be about us.  

“Jesus continued to say to all of them, “Any of you who want to be my follower must stop thinking about yourself and what you want. You must be willing to carry the cross that is given to you every day for following me.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭9:23‬ ‭ERV‬‬

This week, I have been intentional about what truth/lies enter in my mind. It’s hard work! So I have asked the Lord to reveal what is a lie that I am believing about my life. Oh my goodness! It’s shocking, the bald-faced lies that I allow to sit around in my mind. These lies need to be cleaned out and replaced with truth. 

“So stand strong with the belt of truth tied around your waist.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:14‬a ERV‬‬

To build a strong core of truth in our mind will impact the core of everything else. 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭12:30‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Check your belt tied around your waist. Is it truth or a bunch of lies that you are wearing around? 

If God Wants You to Suffer

“But they do not let the teaching go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13:21‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Sometimes I have a bad attitude because I am suffering. There are several ways that I observe how suffering people react, including myself. We try to analyze why in the world God has allowed this in our lives. We question why God picked us and not our neighbor. We try to buy more or eat more or try to stay entertained more to wipe out our pain. The majority of people just get bitter and decide that God cannot be trusted because they are suffering and they walk away.

“So if God wants you to suffer, you should trust your lives to him. He is the one who made you, and you can trust him. So continue to do good.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭ERV‬‬

Look what this verse says, "If God wants you to suffer." Yes, even though I don't like this sound of this, God has a reason for me to suffer. He says that this is the very reason that He can be trusted. Think about that. Because you are suffering, He should be trusted. Why is that?

“My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:2-4‬ ‭ERV‬‬

He wants us to be mature and complete. He wants us to be patient in suffering. I was crying out to God this week and was asking God to end my dad's suffering. Pa has ALS and the suffering is unbearable! God clearly spoke to me that night. He made it clear to me that He knows exactly when Pa will be mature and complete. He knows exactly when I will made mature and complete. He knows what it will take in our family's lives to be made mature and complete. He has not turned away on a break and forgotten us.

I must ask myself. Do I want to be all that God wants me to be? Do I want to be complete? Do I want the end result to be good for eternity? Each of us must decide that when we suffer, we will choose to trust. If we walk away bitter and decide that He cannot be trusted, in eternity we will be judged harshly.

When I woke up the next morning, I felt joy. Joy is different from happiness. Happiness can be bought with food or money or entertainment. It is cheap.
Joy is when your circumstances did not change one bit but you changed.

Thank you, Lord for loving me so much that you know what I need, including the suffering. Thank you so much that when I meet you in heaven, you will remember this time of pain and you will say that I pleased you then, instead of grieved you with my attitude. I want it to be said that I trusted you wholly.

Why did this happen to me?

“Some were laughed at and beaten. Others were tied up and put in prison. They were killed with stones. They were cut in half. They were killed with swords. The only clothes some of them had were sheepskins or goatskins. They were poor, persecuted, and treated badly by others. The world was not good enough for these great people. They had to wander in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground.”
Hebrews 11:36-38 ERV

Our pastor is about 6 months into the book of Hebrews. This was a verse from Sunday that may be the most important thought I have had lately. I had written about it yesterday morning and the IPad deleted it when I finished it. I always think that this is the enemy trying to delete a powerful message so I will try again. 

These verses were written about faithful saints...not the wicked. Let that thought sink in. This was taken from the "faith" chapter. How many times have you thought "why is this happening to me?" How often have you thought that the suffering that you are experiencing is unfair because you are a follower of Christ? We have this erroneous thinking that God owes us blessings because we are living right. On the contrary, with Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father, there are decisions made in heaven that confound us but should never cause us to lose our faith in the wisdom of God. 

The power of these verses is wrapped around this truth...heaven is NOT here on earth. These saints believed that their extreme joy was waiting for them in heaven and not on earth. A death, an illness, a divorce, a job loss, a wayward child are not a cause to doubt the love of a Heavenly Father. God has the best plan for us. You can't always understand it but you can trust him. His promises are ultimately seen and experienced in heaven. 

“God was pleased with all of them because of their faith. But not one of them received God’s great promise. God planned something better for us. He wanted to make us perfect."
Hebrews 11:39-40a ERV

Wide path or narrow path to losing weight

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. — Matthew 7:13–14

I could not help but smile when I read this verse. The majority of Americans choose the wide and broad gate on the road to their health choices. I know that most of us have a goal to lose a few pounds. The problem is that we want to choose the easy way to lose weight. The way that does not involve any sufferings or pain.

But the small gate will lead to abundant life. Let our prayer be to embrace the narrow way...in every area of our life. 

Power comes from the Lord

““Joseph is like a wild donkey, like a young donkey by a spring, like colts grazing in a pasture. People attacked him and made life hard for him. Men with arrows became his enemies. But he won the fight with his mighty bow and his skillful arms. He gets power from the Mighty One of Jacob, from the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,”
Genesis 49:22-24 ERV

i am mesmerized by the book of Genesis. I start every year off by reading through the Bible. I am always a little sad when I reach the end of Joseph's life in chapter 50.

We can learn a lot from Joseph's life. It says, "people attacked him and made life hard for him." His life was REALLY hard. Reread Genesis if you need a reminder. But he "gets his power from the Mighty One." It's okay if we whine a little and say that life is hard. Job spent 40 chapters whining about his life and he gets a book in the Bible wriiten about his life:):):).

But don't miss the key...Joseph drew his strength from the Lord, from the Shepherd, from the Rock. We would do well to follow that example in our lives today.