Snake Bite

When you blow it, step on the snake, it rears its head to strike. I stepped on some snakes last night with my mouth open wide, spewing words, and I got bit.

Hearing about a situation, I criticized. I complained. I disagreed and made my point loud and clear. In essence, I tore down. I destroyed. I opened the door wide and welcomed snakes.

Thankful beyond belief, I have a loving Abba who has the serum for my poison words laced with strife. The still voice and the calm hand of my hubby, guided me towards forgiveness. Asking and believing, He forgave. The others involved showered on me as well.

This morning, with boys snuggled close we read about the Israelites and their problems with snakes. I smiled. God knows best. I knew who the lesson was for. We read and I learned. God had given His chosen people blessing upon blessing. Freedom, direction by fire and cloud, supernatural miracles, provision of fresh water and bread from heaven. In the midst of the day to day, they took their eyes off the blessing and wanted more. They complained. They criticized. And the snakes came.

When bitten, the people would die. Desperate the Israelites went to Moses. Pleading for his prayers to God, he agreed. The Lord answered his prayer and gave him the solution. Place a snake on a pole. If anyone was bitten by a snake, they simply must look at the pole and they would not die. Looking up in faith, they would live.

I'm looking up today at a cross shaped pole. One fashioned for my Jesus. A sacrifice that provided me direct access to God without having to go through a Moses to pray for me.

I recognize the problem. Guided by His loving hand, I see my need. Repent. Receive forgiveness. In faith, seeing my scaley words nailed. Turning from the habits of old. Forgetting my past mistakes, I look to the future. I fill my mind, my mouth with His words.

"Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. Don’t grieve God. Don’t break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don’t take such a gift for granted. Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you. " Ephesians 4:29-32

See friends, I'm a real person. I am learning. We all are. When we turn to the Word of God, we can truly see our lives in truth's spotlight and change. Aligning my life with the Word of God, I commit to guard my tongue and squash the snakes. Just call me snake stomper Sarah.

Pulling Up Weeds

I am growing to despise them. The weeds loom everywhere. Nasty things, going strong and fast. Have to rip them out or they simply take over. Choking out everything.

I've learned a secret in the desert sun after many hours on knees pulling and digging sticky spiky green. Soak the ground first, with water. They absorb the water, their roots relax. Give a simple tug and out they plop, roots and all.

We're looking for weeds in our lives today. Digging into God's Word to soften them up, pouring living water. Pull them up roots and all. I've tried the lawnmower approach, in my yard and in my life. It simply doesn't work. You can cut off the top of the weed, the behavior or bad actions, but it grows right back. The key is the root, soaking it.

"Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23

Think of your heart as a garden. We cultivate what we want to grow. Above all things, guard your heart, your mind, your emotions, your will. These are what life comes from, the you.

All the seeds, promises, blessings God has planted deep. Don't let just anything stomp through trampling the precious seedlings as they blossom and grow. When a weed pops through the soil, go after it. No matter how small it may seem, it can grow quickly and overtake the goodness growing near.

In my life, I am learning to guard against weeds. One deadly spiky, nasty thing, pride remains on my hit list. It's the type of weed you need to get the gloves on to uproot as it leaves spikes and itchy bumps, fighting to remain in its place.

"God opposes the proud but gives grace the humble." James 4:6

Honestly, I need Abba's grace. I don't even want to think of life with my God opposing me.

We have a weed killer, a sure fire way to extinguish any spores of pride lurking in the garden of our lives. Humility, being willing to be know for who we are. no more. no less. Walking in humility produces a bountiful harvest.

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you; Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Romans 12:3

To combat pride which hinders God from doing all He desires in our lives, we learn to walk in humility. We can learn the steps as we follow in His footsteps.

Step by step as we

serve others (phil 2:5-7 & mark 10:45)

be broken (psalm 34:18)

encourage others (eph 4:29)

speak the truth in love

lay down our rights

prefer our brother (phil 2:3-4)

seek justice and defend the weak (proverbs 31:8-9)

admit our weaknesses (1 john 1:8)

react in the opposite spirit (prov 15:1)

see ourselves through others (prov 13:10)

we walk along the humble path.

Will you take a step with me today? One step and with each step we are transformed more into His likeness. We reflect him more clearly. We dig up weeds.

If you would like the complete list (with references) of simple ways to cultivate humility, simply leave a note in the comments with your email (if it's not attached to your blogger profile) and I will send it to you. I'm speaking this week, so slip on your comfy shoes and join me, as each day I will be posting little snipits as we walk together.

Breaking Down Walls

I'm all about sledgehammers today. Smashing. Crumbling. Destroying. To put is simply, I'm tired of the walls in my life, in our lives. Anyone care to join me?

We build them, trying to find a place to hide. For some, walls of rejection. Bricks labeled with sadness, self pity, depression, guilt, insecurity, darkness, despair, and the wall continues. These bricks we pile caused by hurt, pain, sins of others, sins we chose, affect our lives.

Others build walls of rebellion, building with bricks of hostility, vanity, wordliness, manipulation, deception, bitterness, criticism, death... Stacked one upon another to protect us, they begin to control us.

Stuck in the middle of the walls we build. We have to deal with all this junk. We wonder why we cannot hear God clearly for ourselves.

God cannot build on an uneven foundation. He will not. He knows the end result is simply devastation. We cannot try and cover our crooked walls and play like everything is okay. We hide with our fears behind these walls. What happens when the storms of life beat down?

"Because they lead my people astray, saying Peace when there is not peace and because when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall." Ezekiel 13:10-12

No more hiding. I will be know for who I am, who God created me to be. The walls built around my heart, brick by brick, separate me from a loving God as I crouch behind. Being real. In vulnerability, asking forgiveness for the bricks of sin stacked in heaps.

God desires. He wants to make us clean before Him, to purify us from all unrighteousness and bring the plumbline into our lives. To see if what we have built aligns correctly with His Word. If not, bring out the sledgehammer Jesus. Knock down the walls.

Confess. Renounce. Smash.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

I'm teaching this week, so slip on your comfy shoes and join me, as each day I will be posting little snipits from my speaking so we can walk together. And if you would like a "no excuses" list to combat any excuses rising in your life with what God has to say, leave me a comment asking for them along with your email and I will send it to you.

Digging Deeper

Time to dig deep. Dust off the shovel, get our hands dirty. To plant some seeds deep down, the kind of seeds that bear fruit, we gotta dig a little deeper.

The best part, the part that makes me get excited and grab my gardening gloves ... I don't have to do this alone. The master gardener is right beside me, guiding my shovel. He gave us the best gardening guide for my life, filled with seeds of abundant promises. The Word of God.

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless as the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it." - Thessalonians 5:23-24

Great news. Shout it loud. Fill up deep. God is with us. He is for us. He desires to help us get rid of all the icky things that are stinking up the garden of our lives. It's a process. A process worth every shovel of dirt. My life, a breathing example that God is faithful and He will do it.

WIth the first thump of the shovel hitting dirt, we need to ask "Who am I?" Deep, this question impacts your identity, setting you apart from everyone else. We can no longer put our value, our identity in people or things. They all will rot. Believing what God says about you, deep down in your heart, protects your true identity.

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10

God desires to purify us, to change us more into His likeness. He wants us to understand, really know, who we are and our value. God wants to give us an identity and for us to walk, heads high as children of the King.

Circumstances out of our control, words spoken over our lives that stung deep, sins against us, sins we chose, all the junk ... no longer should they define us. God can never lie. His word, TRUTH. What He says about me, that I can believe.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

Think about it for a moment. A moment with a shovel in your hand. People, things, sins, circumstances, do they always shout the truth? God does. It is our choice. We choose what we believe.

Maybe, like me, you've made the mistake of listening to the shouts of others in your lives, believing what they say about you. God always is the voice of truth. Make a choice today, to listen to what He says about you. Trust in God. Step out of your boat. Take His hand. Walk on the waves.

Wanna be brave with me, take a moment. Let go of all the false stuff in your life, the pebbles thrown at your identity. Hold onto the rock. Ask God to show you, who you are to Him.

If you would like a list of verses proclaiming "Who I Am" (really, the truth), please leave me a comment asking for them with your email and I will gladly get them to you.

I'm speaking this week, so slip on your comfy shoes and join me, as each day I will be posting little snipits as we walk together.

Comfy Old Shoes

You know the feeling, the comfy shoes, worn to fit your feet. Slipping into them, the world seems right. You can run a marathon. This week, I'm stepping into the old comfy.

Teaching for a week, think conference times 15 hours. Speaking. Molding. Sharing my life. Serving with Youth With A Mission. As a family we have taught in a few different nations. This will be my first in this one.

Anticipation for what God has planned for all of us. Joy of speaking and teaching again after a time of rest. Excitement for the freedom that awaits a group of hungry believers. Bubbling over as I step into comfy shoes once again.

Our topic for the week, Divine Plumbline; aligning our life with the Word of God. Simply put walking into freedom. Feel free to slip on your comfy shoes with me this week, and stop by. I'll be sharing a snipit each day so we can all walk together.

Lacing up,

Sarah