Working Moms – Part 2 of 4

I chose to be a stay-at-home mom while my kids were small. I knew it was the best I could do for them, but I didn’t enjoy being bound to the house. Some mothers may feel fulfilled in their role as stay-at-home moms. But, what if, like me, you have also chosen to be a stay-at-home mom but feel unfulfilled? What if you desire to be doing more than just housework? In order to keep some variety in my life, I tried different things, such as working from home to bring in a little extra money.

Choosing to stay at home to raise your children is not an easy task, especially when they are small and you still have to do everything for them. From babyhood to toddlerhood they are completely dependent upon you. There’s nothing they can do that doesn’t require some help or monitoring.

If you’re feeling stuck, then maybe it’s time you redefined yourself. With God there is infinite creativity. He can give you an idea that requires you to think outside of the box. Try to discover what you like to do and where God wants to use you.

If you work away from home and hate every minute of it, perhaps it’s for the wrong reason. Is it because you have placed more faith in that pay check than in God? He knows that you need clothes and food, but He asks you to seek His kingdom first, and then all these things will be given to you (Luke 12:22-31). God’s kingdom principles will never fail you or your family.

Linking up with Brooke @ Covered in Grace

Read More

Working Moms – Part 1 of 4

Being a mom often requires a delicate balancing act. Sometimes, you may even feel more like the clown in the circus rather than the acrobat. Jumping from the role of wife, to mother, to employee, and all the rest, can get you into quite a knot if your rhythm is wrong. Timing and balance are of the essence.

What if you feel deep down inside that you are meant to be spending more time with your kids, but don’t think you can because you need to work to make ends meet? Deciding how much time you’re willing to spend away from your kids is one of the most crucial decisions you’ll ever make in life. At the end of the day, your family is your number one priority. A job is something that passes away, but a family is something that remains forever. Therefore, our families should come first.

So how do you get it right? Everything that I’ve written up till now has pointed to hearing from God, staying connected to Him, and knowing your own limitations. By being obedient to Him, you will have your priorities in the right order, and He will look after you.

The thing is, people too often feel pressured to make decisions that in the end were not God’s best for them. For example, money pressures can rob you by becoming work pressures. Before you know it, earning money becomes your main focus, rather than your family. The question is, will you let the pressures rob you or will you resist the pressures and submit yourself to God’s solutions? God has a solution for every problem.

The Lord knows what’s best for you and your family. You can trust Him to help you make the right decisions. You should not allow anyone or any situation to dictate to you something that goes against your own gut feelings. When the pressure is on, stop and hear from God before making a decision that you may regret later in life.

Read More

Prayer is Powerful – Part 1 of 5

Prayer is an integral part of a vibrant Christian life. Fortunately, God does not grant us everything that we pray for, especially when those prayers are misguided. Usually, we start out praying the best we know how without properly tapping into the Holy Spirit’s leading. These self-led prayers are not all bad. God will listen to anyone who reaches out to Him; He’d rather we try than not pray at all. He also desires that we grow in our ability to pray as His Spirit leads. The more we pray God’s way, the greater the results will be.

God had to deal with me regarding my prayer life. There was a time when my prayers mostly revolved around me and what seemed missing in my life. My prayers were the kind that flowed from a discontented heart. The discontentment stemmed from the many sacrifices I was making to try to create a happy family, and it culminated in self-pity.

This self-pity became the driving force behind my prayers, which seemed to be going nowhere. Finally, I realized that I had to make a shift from selfish prayers to outward-focused prayers. The more I took the focus off myself and tapped into what was on God’s heart, the more my prayers took a positive outlook. No longer were they weak, directionless, and powerless. They were now taking a turn toward being dynamic, effective, and power-filled.

It’s difficult to look outside of yourself when you don’t know who or what to pray for. You might even need to ask God to give you a compassionate heart. Next, become aware of those around you. Once you notice the need around you, recognize that God has blessed you so that you can be a blessing. Then, ask God to lead you so that you can pray pinpointed prayers. Specific prayers bring about definite results. Pray that God will lead you according to His desires and have faith that God will answer. It’s all about “God’s will be done” and not “my will be done.”

Read More

Thankful in Times of Need - Part 4 of 4

What would be your reaction if, after following the Lord’s voice, things didn’t turn out as you expected? How would you feel if your family didn’t have a place to stay or enough money for the next day’s meals? It can seem frightening when you no longer have control over basic things.

The faith walk that we are called to doesn’t depend on what we see, but on what we don’t see (God and His promises). Thankful hearts provide the positive perspective we need despite seemingly negative circumstances. Being thankful when we don’t see provision can only come by faith. With faith on our side, we will thank Him no matter what the circumstances.

Your faith is tested by your actions, but you mustn’t act until you know what God is asking of you. Faith operates through obedience. However, if God has called one believer to give all his money away, that doesn’t mean that He has told you to do the same. Other people’s testimonies are there to enrich you and to help you grow, but not to dictate to you your faith walk. Your faith walk is unique.

Tweet

Read More

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

Tweet

Read More

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.

Tweet

Read More

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.

Tweet

Read More

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.

Tweet

Read More