Monday, September 5, 2011

Poem - Still Small Voice


Listen, do you hear
The still small voice
The One so near
To your heart and soul

He speaks with authority
And yet with patience
He, of the Trinity
Knocking at your door

He is your Helper
Who has everything to give
He is also your Keeper
So have faith in Him

You must learn to obey
If you want to receive
Put selfish desires away
And seek His counsel

He knows all
And wants to reveal it you
So hear His call
And be ready to respond

Therefore, learn to listen
To the Holy Spirit
Who dwells within
For He speaks of the Father

And it is the Father and Son
Who bless the Spirit
With their power in One
To prepare you for service

by Christina A. Morley

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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Hearing God’s Voice – Part 2

Besides helping us to interpret the written Word (as mentioned in my previous post), the Holy Spirit also speaks to us in other ways. Learning to hear His voice takes practice. Not only do we need to know how to obey Him, but we also need to know when we haven’t.

How to Know When You've Disobeyed God Maybe you’re not sure how to work out if you’ve disobeyed God. You’ll know by the conviction the Holy Spirit brings to your heart and mind. When He brings conviction, it’s not condemnation. Conviction leads to repentance and repentance brings full restitution, which is free of guilt. Condemnation, on the other hand, leads only to the bondage of guilt with no way out. It’s not from the Holy Spirit, but from the devil. Jesus is our advocate. Satan is our accuser.

Hearing the "Inner Voice" God wants to have a relationship with us throughout the day. It doesn’t happen only when we have a quiet time or when we go to church. The idea of hearing God’s voice may sound abstract, but it’s similar to learning to listen to our conscience and instinct. When we are born again, His Spirit speaks to us as an "inner voice."

Hearing His voice is not always restricted to “Christian” things either. During Jesus’ ministry, He often used every day events to explain godly principles. That’s why it doesn’t require us to be reading our Bibles to get a revelation from God. He can speak to us even while we’re washing the dishes.

God Speaks in Diverse Ways God doesn’t speak to every believer in exactly the same way. By looking at the world around us, we can see that He loves variety. Likewise, He speaks to us in diverse ways, such as through music, books, nature, TV, radio, or through someone else’s testimony. He keeps the relationship personal, because He loves the unique way that He made each one of us. We just have to learn to listen with our hearts as He prompts, guides, and convicts us.
What an awesome God we serve, taking the time to love us individually!

By fashioning each relationship with such care and precision, He makes it clear that He doesn’t want us to live according to formulas or rituals, but by His leading and guiding instead.

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Hearing God's Voice - Part 1

There’s a saying I once read that states, “Nothing is going to happen to me today that You and I together can’t handle.” The purpose of these next two blogs is to explain how to hear God's voice.

Reading God’s Word is the foundation of our Christian lives. Spending time reading God’s Word is often referred to as having a “quiet time.” This doesn’t mean that we all have to wake up at four or five in the morning before everyone else is awake or that it even needs to be all that quiet.

I’ve discovered that a personal relationship with Jesus is just that: it’s personal. Even the name “quiet time” can be a misnomer. How quiet it’s going to be really depends on you.

A successful quiet time is not measured by how rigid the program is. Instead, it’s measured by how well you connect with God. Too many people feel they have to copy someone else’s style, and when they discover they can’t keep it up, they give up.

If we live by man-made rules, then we place ourselves under a law that we can’t keep. We end up with the same feeling of guilt that comes from yo-yo dieting or owning an unused gym contract.

God is more interested in a relationship than in religiosity. This is why it’s important to find out what works for you. Some people do well at following a set routine, but others prefer spontaneity. It’s also important to note that as we go through different seasons in our lives, our quiet times may change.

Maybe you’re not sure how to know what God is telling you. I’ve already mentioned that reading the Bible is the best place to begin. It carefully answers life’s questions, it gives instructions on how to live morally, and it’s the living Word of God. It’s living, because you can always learn something new no matter how many times you read it.

The Bible as a whole looks formidable to read, but if you think of it as one big Book containing 66 smaller books, then it will be easier to manage. It all begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.

The Bible’s main intention is to reveal God’s plan of salvation for mankind. The Old Testament is about God’s laws, which were written on stone, and man’s need of a Savior. The New Testament is about this Savior who has made it possible for God’s laws to be written on our hearts instead. Through Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, we have forgiveness of sins, and through His blood we are made righteous.

God’s Love Letter to us is the Bible. Through His Spirit we can understand and correctly apply what we have read. When we are studying and building ourselves up in the faith, it’s important that we focus first on the clearly stated foundational truths. They are there to protect us from losing our way as we consider other parts of God’s Word that are harder to understand.

Even though it may seem like a very long love letter, in some ways it’s not long enough, because there are still so many loose ends. These loose ends cause lots of problems when we disagree on the interpretation of them, but I believe God knew this and has a reason for them. Mainly, He wants us to learn to rely on His Spirit for the correct interpretation before drawing our own conclusions.

The safest way to Bible interpretation is by reading it in context. Of course, if it was as black and white as the print on this paper then we wouldn’t need to learn how to tune in to the Spirit, our Counselor, who leads us into all truth.

We must keep in mind that it’s always easier to argue over our convictions than it is to love one another. Arguing and pride only bring division in the body of Christ. Love and humility bring us together.

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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Poem - God First

May we persevere to give God first place
Even with things rushing at a fast pace
Then we won’t drown, but will manage it all
Resting in God, He won’t let us fall.


by Christina A. Morley

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Giving God Control

When God is controlling our day, we won’t have any regrets. He helps us have the right perspective on ourselves, our families, and our work. He leads us through our day so that when we’re being pulled in five different directions, we can figure out what comes first and what can wait. The supernatural dictates the natural because our ability to stay close to God will determine the quality of our lives and our work.

Outside pressures only bring confusion and rob us of our peace. When the Holy Spirit from the inside is controlling us, then we’ll experience true peace of mind. He is our Prince of Peace. He is able to keep our minds from all worry and strain. We can’t look to our husbands or anyone else to give us this because they, too, can let us down. God, on the other hand, is always faithful and true.

Jesus never promised His followers an easy life, but He did promise that He would never leave them or forsake them. It’s from His Spirit that we draw that much-needed strength, that inner guidance, and that supernatural protection for ourselves and our families. With His life flowing through us, we can bear much fruit.

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Friday, July 22, 2011

A Busy Day


Keeping Focus

We are living in an extremely busy society, but what are we spending our time and energy on? Are we carrying all that stress and strain for the right reasons? Our motives determine whether we’re being busy for the right reasons or not.

The result of being distracted is that we lose focus. When we lose focus, then the enemy finds ways to steal our joy, our hope, our future, and the fruit of our labor. Our labor produces spiritual fruit when it’s endorsed by God, but becomes meaningless when it’s not.

How can we lead busy lives and still keep our focus? How can we live in a natural world where dishes need washing, meals need cooking, or laundry needs doing and still feel like supernatural beings in the sense that we are part of a spiritual kingdom too?

Living a Balanced Life

Whatever the work is that we are committed to, it’s not meant to rule our lives. We need to live balanced lives. By allowing God to lead us in our activities, we won’t be jealous or feel unfairly treated by others. If, however, we continue to live like Martha, we’ll run out of steam and eventually burn out totally.

Jesus knows that without Him we can do nothing. Just as the vacuum cleaner cannot work until it is plugged in and switched on, so we too need to get plugged into Him and switched on. He wants to be our Source and our Life.

It’s His holiness working in us and through us that makes our work of lasting value. It’s not about having the perfect day, but it’s about doing our best and leaving it in His hands. When our lives are flowing out of a relationship with Him, then we’ll live victoriously and successfully.

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Monday, July 18, 2011

Poem - To be a Christian

To be a born again Christian
Requires one act of honest confession
Receiving Christ’s forgiveness brings total redemption
It’s the only way for true restoration
God and man finding reconciliation
Accept this offer of Christ’s salvation
And in Him become a new creation
From there begins the work of sanctification
In heaven is our final destination
Where we’ll receive complete transformation
Amen!


by Christina A. Morley

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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Poem - Patience









Give me patience with runny noses, dirty hands, and whining kids.
Help me see past the constant messes, accidents, and endless bids.
I might feel pulled in every direction without a minute’s recovery.
I need Your wisdom to help plan some timeout just for me.

Teach me how to laugh – not to cry and complain.
Change my views so duties don’t feel like a pain.
Give our home music – help us brave the high seas.
I want to build my home on positive memories.

by Christina A. Morley


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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The "Perfect" Mom


When you’re not managing it all and feel below standard, it’s okay. Perhaps you’re tempted to think that other mothers are perfect all the time and you’re one of those that just can’t get it right. God never intended making us all the same, just as He made every snowflake unique. We each have our own personal weaknesses and our own special strengths, so don’t measure yourself by others.

We may be human, but once we become born again, God puts His Spirit inside us. His Spirit is perfect, and yet He’s willing to live through imperfect believers like you and me. At the same time, He doesn’t intend us to be trapped by our weaknesses.

Just as we wouldn’t like to keep a messy house, so the Lord doesn’t want His children’s lives to be cluttered by burdens or shortcomings. He will gladly carry our burdens. As far as our shortcomings are concerned, the Holy Spirit is careful not to overwhelm us by pointing out everything at once. He knows how much we can handle.

Sometimes we might be tempted to try to perfect ourselves without His leading, or we might be tempted to point out other people’s faults. However, that is His job and not ours. We must remember that God is the Father and we are the children, not the other way around. He just wants us to be willing to take time to listen to His promptings.

He has called us to be holy as He is holy, but He hasn’t called us to be perfectionists. Perfectionism is a form of pride as it places the focus on our own performance instead of on His grace. When trying to do everything right becomes the goal, we are operating in our own strength. This puts us in a difficult situation because if we are attempting to keep up our impossibly high standards, we’ll eventually burn out.

On the other hand, when holiness comes by His grace then the glory is His, not ours. It’s about exchanging our lives for His. It’s the difference between self-righteous living and God’s life that He wants to give us. We have success only when we allow God to live His life through us by the working of His Holy Spirit.

Whether you are a perfectionist or not, I have good news for you: you are already acceptable in God’s eyes because of the blood that Jesus shed for you. You don’t have to prove yourself to Him. He loves you just for being you.

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Monday, July 11, 2011

Motherhood


As a mother you have the highest calling in life, but even so there will probably be days when you feel alone and unappreciated. The “heartbeat” of "Happy Moms, Happy Homes" is to let you know that you are not alone and that no matter what you’re going through, there is Someone who wants to go through it with you.

I was often disappointed when I couldn’t create the perfect family environment. For instance, I would take extra trouble to cook a special meal, and my toddlers would refuse to eat it. Similarly, we would go on a family outing and all they seemed to do was cry. When these kinds of things didn’t turn out as I had pictured them in my mind, I would feel crushed.

Since then I have come to learn that the absence of trials is not what produces a happy family environment. Instead, it’s achieved every time I’m not shaken when trials come my way. I may not embrace them, but I’ve come to accept them. What is out of my control is still under God’s control. He’s there to comfort and guide me.

Hardly anyone welcomes trials, but the truth is that God allows even trials to shape our lives. He does not want to harm us, but to enrich us. The Bible promises that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; and character produces hope. It goes on to say that this hope will not disappoint us, because His love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:3-5). Knowing this, you don’t have to go under when you feel you’re going down. Just keep reminding yourself that God allows difficult times to change you, but not to break you.

Trust the leadership of His Spirit and watch Him go to work in your life, your marriage, your family, and your world. Never give up. Run the kind of race that is pleasing to God, which is to have an open and honest relationship with Him. Then you will reach the goal and gain that prize!


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Poem - Blue Ribbon











You might not receive a blue ribbon
at the end of the day
And being a mother is not
a job that will pay
But your reward is the journey
every step of the way
And “Well done!” are the words
that my Father will say.


by Christina A. Morley

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