I have not made any New Year's resolutions. I never keep them.
For the coming year, I do have this one wish for me and my family....
that we would be the Christian family that God wants us to be.
What does that mean for my family?
Well, I'm not sure where it will lead us, but I want us to be open to whatever God has in store for us.
Jeff will finish seminary this spring. Until then, he is nondeployable. After seminary, we will just have to pray that we listen to God for what he wants us to do next. Jeff is in the reserves so our military life is a bit different from many of you out there whose husbands are full time active duty. He goes to Nashville for drill once a month. Right now, he is basically just an observer because he is not yet a Chaplain. After he graduates from seminary, he will become a Chaplain and then, more than likely, be moved to a different Army Reserve unit. After that...God only knows. We just have to put our faith in HIM and trust what He has in store for us.
For me, I want to be a better mom to my boys. I want to be more patient with them and lose my temper less. I want to be a better wife to my husband. I want to show him in every action and word that I love and adore him, that I appreciate what he does for me and our boys.
Recently, I have been thinking back to a post I read in October by Misty. I won't repeat what she wrote, you can go read her thoughts, but lately I've been thinking about what she said and how I (and other Christians) lead our lives.
If we have had an honest to goodness, face to face meeting with Jesus and opened our hearts to Him, then people will know. They will know that we are set apart from others. Our thoughts will be different. Our words will be different. Our actions (and reactions) will be different.
Will we be perfect?
No. And if you have been reading my posts long, you'll know that I will never claim to be.
We won't be perfect.
We will be different.
See, what we think and believe defines us.
If we think and believe it is ok to live in the flesh and satify the flesh in every word and action, we will be no different than the rest of the world.
However, if we believe in Jesus Christ, what He did and still does, and what He wants us to do.....if we listen to Him with open hearts and allow Him to guide our thoughts, our words and actions will be of HIM.
Will I still lose my temper and eat my words? Sure, but not as much. I'll learn what triggers those feelings and learn how to control them with the help of God.
Will I still want new shoes and spend money on things me and my family really doesn't need? Yes, but through prayer, God can help me spend money more wisely.
Will I still listen to Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, and Rob Thomas? Yes, but I'll live my life by the music of Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, and Third Day.
Will I still watch TV and read things that aren't "religious?" Yes, but those things will be limited and I will seek advice from and live the way the Bible says to.
Worldly things are always going to be there. Temptations are always going to exist. But through prayer and Bible study, we can live our lives the way God intended. On Earth, we will never be perfect. We'll mess up. But if we allow God to live through us, we will learn from those mistakes and work to make things better. A lot of people believe that Christians should be perfect. They will always do things just right and never hurt others. The truth is, that is just not so. Out of all the Christian people I know, I've never met a perfect one. We are human. We should not attack a Christian's character by the mistakes they've made. God will deal with them. Instead, we should be working toward the good of God.
We should examine ourselves, removing the log from our own eye instead of focusing on the speck in our neighbor's eye. It is so easy to critcize others for their mistakes because it makes us look better. The one question we should ask of ourselves is, "Do I have a relationship with Jesus?" If not, then you better get on it because we are not promised tomorrow. We can choose Him or we can choose Hell. I'll admit, I used to think if I was "good enough" I'd get to heaven. But one day, I met Jesus at a revival in Allen County. I was ashamed and terrified and I pushed him away. He sought me and didn't give up. Finally, I opened my heart to him. I realized I would never be good enough to get to Heaven. He was the only one to get me there.
If we do have that personal relationship with Jesus, we need to ask ourselves if we are serving Him the way He wants us too. Are we doing what He wants or what we want? Are we serving in a way that makes us look good in front of others? Or are we serving as part of His will for us? We can easily decieve ourselves into thinking we are in His will.
I get on these soap boxes and feel like I am rambling, like words are just pouring from me to the screen.
Just take this with you....
Your relationship with Jesus Christ (or lack of) is the most important relationship you will ever have. This relationship will determine the course of all other relationships. If we are not true to Him, we cannot be true to ourselves. Then we can not be true to others.
My quote for the day, "I am not defined by my situation; my situation is defined by me." From The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
For the coming year, I do have this one wish for me and my family....
that we would be the Christian family that God wants us to be.
What does that mean for my family?
Well, I'm not sure where it will lead us, but I want us to be open to whatever God has in store for us.
Jeff will finish seminary this spring. Until then, he is nondeployable. After seminary, we will just have to pray that we listen to God for what he wants us to do next. Jeff is in the reserves so our military life is a bit different from many of you out there whose husbands are full time active duty. He goes to Nashville for drill once a month. Right now, he is basically just an observer because he is not yet a Chaplain. After he graduates from seminary, he will become a Chaplain and then, more than likely, be moved to a different Army Reserve unit. After that...God only knows. We just have to put our faith in HIM and trust what He has in store for us.
For me, I want to be a better mom to my boys. I want to be more patient with them and lose my temper less. I want to be a better wife to my husband. I want to show him in every action and word that I love and adore him, that I appreciate what he does for me and our boys.
Recently, I have been thinking back to a post I read in October by Misty. I won't repeat what she wrote, you can go read her thoughts, but lately I've been thinking about what she said and how I (and other Christians) lead our lives.
If we have had an honest to goodness, face to face meeting with Jesus and opened our hearts to Him, then people will know. They will know that we are set apart from others. Our thoughts will be different. Our words will be different. Our actions (and reactions) will be different.
Will we be perfect?
No. And if you have been reading my posts long, you'll know that I will never claim to be.
We won't be perfect.
We will be different.
See, what we think and believe defines us.
If we think and believe it is ok to live in the flesh and satify the flesh in every word and action, we will be no different than the rest of the world.
However, if we believe in Jesus Christ, what He did and still does, and what He wants us to do.....if we listen to Him with open hearts and allow Him to guide our thoughts, our words and actions will be of HIM.
Will I still lose my temper and eat my words? Sure, but not as much. I'll learn what triggers those feelings and learn how to control them with the help of God.
Will I still want new shoes and spend money on things me and my family really doesn't need? Yes, but through prayer, God can help me spend money more wisely.
Will I still listen to Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, and Rob Thomas? Yes, but I'll live my life by the music of Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, and Third Day.
Will I still watch TV and read things that aren't "religious?" Yes, but those things will be limited and I will seek advice from and live the way the Bible says to.
Worldly things are always going to be there. Temptations are always going to exist. But through prayer and Bible study, we can live our lives the way God intended. On Earth, we will never be perfect. We'll mess up. But if we allow God to live through us, we will learn from those mistakes and work to make things better. A lot of people believe that Christians should be perfect. They will always do things just right and never hurt others. The truth is, that is just not so. Out of all the Christian people I know, I've never met a perfect one. We are human. We should not attack a Christian's character by the mistakes they've made. God will deal with them. Instead, we should be working toward the good of God.
We should examine ourselves, removing the log from our own eye instead of focusing on the speck in our neighbor's eye. It is so easy to critcize others for their mistakes because it makes us look better. The one question we should ask of ourselves is, "Do I have a relationship with Jesus?" If not, then you better get on it because we are not promised tomorrow. We can choose Him or we can choose Hell. I'll admit, I used to think if I was "good enough" I'd get to heaven. But one day, I met Jesus at a revival in Allen County. I was ashamed and terrified and I pushed him away. He sought me and didn't give up. Finally, I opened my heart to him. I realized I would never be good enough to get to Heaven. He was the only one to get me there.
If we do have that personal relationship with Jesus, we need to ask ourselves if we are serving Him the way He wants us too. Are we doing what He wants or what we want? Are we serving in a way that makes us look good in front of others? Or are we serving as part of His will for us? We can easily decieve ourselves into thinking we are in His will.
I get on these soap boxes and feel like I am rambling, like words are just pouring from me to the screen.
Just take this with you....
Your relationship with Jesus Christ (or lack of) is the most important relationship you will ever have. This relationship will determine the course of all other relationships. If we are not true to Him, we cannot be true to ourselves. Then we can not be true to others.
My quote for the day, "I am not defined by my situation; my situation is defined by me." From The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Natasha, This is soooo good....so what I feel too. I love your blog and will probably reread this post in the days to come. It's so encouraging. Thank you.
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