Saint Patrick

As an Irish-American, St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. I love to celebrate with family and friends, and while St. Patrick’s Day in the US is mostly an excuse to throw a parade and get drunk, that isn’t the way it’s traditionally celebrated in Ireland. In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a Catholic feast day. It’s celebrated with family and friends by attending mass and eating a large meal. In our own family, we cook traditional Irish food, read fun books with our kids about leprechauns and fairies, and watch themed movies, but we also take a minute to talk about St. Patrick himself and the incredibly important work he did as missionary and apostle to Ireland.

In honor of the day, I’d like to share some things about St. Patrick to encourage your faith and help you celebrate.

Patrick was not Irish. Most people with only a passing knowledge of the legends of St. Patrick might find that a bit surprising. After all, Patrick is one of the patron saints of Ireland, but the fact remains that Patrick was British. It’s hard to say where exactly he was from. It could have been England, Scotland, or Wales. Either way, Patrick was captured by Irish pirates and taken back to Ireland at the age of 16 to serve as a slave.

Patrick’s father was a deacon of the church, so Patrick was familiar with Christianity. By his own admission, he wasn’t actually a believer before his capture. During his time as a slave, Patrick became a believer and spent much of his time in prayer. He credits a vision from God with his subsequent escape from slavery and return to his family in Britain. He also credits a vision from God with his decision to study for the priesthood and return to Ireland as a missionary.

Even though Patrick is most often associated with the shamrock, he never mentions it in his writings. Most of the actual facts we know of Patrick’s life come from his Confessio, an autobiographical account he wrote in response to some type of charges leveled against him with the church. We don’t know what the charges were exactly, but most scholars surmise that they had to do with finances and seeking office for gain, given that the Confessio makes mention of returning gifts to the rich women of the area and other means of Patrick financing his own enterprises. There’s also a reference to some old dirt drug up from Patrick’s past, something he confessed to already and that occurred when he was much younger.

In the Confession, Patrick never mentions using the shamrock to illustrate the trinity, but later legend from the 1200s attributes this to Patrick. The shamrock is the national flower of Ireland. It’s a pretty common clover with three leaves. Legend has it that Patrick used the shamrock to illustrate how God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (the leaves) was really one God (the plant itself). As a result of this lesson, you often see pictures of St. Patrick holding a shamrock in his hand.

Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, but not really. So another popular legend has Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland and into the sea. The truth is that there are no snake species endemic to Ireland. Given Ireland’s status as an island and its climate, the area is just not hospitable to reptiles. There are no snakes there currently and no evidence in the fossil record to say that there ever were any actual snakes in Ireland, so where did this legend come from?

Well, in all likelihood, this legend is a metaphor. Snakes are often used in association with paganism and works of the Devil. There’s no doubt that Patrick’s prolific missionary journeys and church planting endeavors turned Ireland from a vastly pagan island to a Catholic hot spot. So it makes perfect sense that his feats of driving out the pagan religion and works of the devil would be translated into a legend about driving the snakes out of Ireland.

For those of you with a good old-fashioned Irish sense of humor, here’s a song my family and I love to listen to about Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland:

Heywood Banks

There’s no doubt, that Patrick was a humble man of great faith. Patrick’s writings reveal him to be passionate about the Irish people and a man of great faith. Patrick was constantly giving thanks to God for allowing him to serve as a missionary to others. He is credited with raising the dead as one of his miracles. He was beaten and chained for his faith and risked being martyred at many turns. The Lorica of St. Patrick, a hymn attributed to Patrick for protection shows just how much he placed his faith in God. Here it is in musical form:

Remembering the early fathers of the church and those of great faith who have gone before us can help to strengthen our own faith. It’s amazing to think of the great things these men and women of God were able to accomplish.

Fight the Good Fight

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2 Timothy 4:7 (AMP)

“I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith [firmly guarding the gospel against error].“

I love Paul’s analogies in his writing. I love his use of the body as a metaphor for the church. I love the idea of the Christian life as a race to be run or as a fight to be fought. Paul used common everyday things that his readers would relate to to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ. The entire Roman world was familiar with the Olympic Games. They knew the training and de, dication it took to be an elite athlete in those events. They knew the grueling discipline and passion you had to possess to be successful.

In the ancient games, boxing was a sport of endurance and honor. There were no weight classes, no time limits, and no real rules. Opponents were chosen by drawing straws. A famous boxer from the games in 45 AD, Melankomas of Caria, was said to have fought for two days straight without lowering his guard. He was famous for refusing to strike his opponents and for dodging their punches. He became champion by waiting out his opponent, avoiding their strikes until they dropped from shear exhaustion. No doubt, Paul was familiar with this contender.

So here Paul is writing Timothy at the end of his life. He is imprisoned in a dungeon, and he knows that he does not have long, so he passes the torch to Timothy. Paul has outlasted his opponent, the devil. He has endured. He has trained himself. He has refused to give up. He has fought with honor. He has protected the gospel from corruption and spoken out when others would seek to add religious requirements to the plain and simple truth of the message of Christ.

That’s the goal for all of us. How are you running your race? How are you fighting the good and noble and worthy fight? Are you in strict training? Are you disciplining yourself with prayer, fasting, and studying the Bible? Are you keeping yourself in fighting order by putting on your armor and abiding in Christ? Are you enduring to the end, dodging the enemy’s attempts to strike you? Are you holding firm to the faith, to the plain and simple truth of the gospel message? There’s no better time to start.

Father, I thank you for the purity and simplicity of the gospel message. There is nothing I could do to earn your favor. There is nothing I could do to earn your forgiveness or your love. Thankfully, Father, you provided a way for me to be forgiven because of your great love for me. You provided grace. Thank you for grace. Thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for favor. Help me to run the race with discipline and dedication. Help me to fight the good fight, avoiding the enemy’s strikes and enduring to the very end. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Sharing Your Faith With Others

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Many of my friends do some kind of MLM marketing. I have friends that sell Avon, friends that sell Mary Kay, friends that sell Tupperware, friends that sell Scentsy, friends that sell Norwex, and friends that use essential oils (both Doterra and Young Living). You know the one thing they all have in common? They love to tell me about the things they sell. Why? Well, because these women believe their products are the best in the world. They believe their products do something no other product on the market does or that they do it better than other products or safer than other products. In short, these women LOVE the products they sell. They use them daily in their own life. They love the results they get from using them, and they can’t wait to tell everyone they know about the difference these products make in their own lives.

I love my friends. I love their enthusiasm for the things they sell and love. I love how passionate they are to share the message about these products with others. It got me thinking. How many of us will easily share a favorite product or recommend a favorite restaurant or talk about a favorite hobby? And how many of us will share our faith and witness to our neighbor? Suddenly, the numbers drop. We can go all out in talking about products we love or places we love or things we love to do, but when the subject of evangelism and sharing our faith comes up we become tongue-tied and silent. Why? What is the difference?

I think for a lot of people the difference lies in how they feel about the subject. Many of us have heard the label “Bible thumpers.” We’ve had bad experiences with street preachers or street evangelist who have turned us off with their yelling, and we don’t want to be lumped in with people like that. Maybe we think we don’t know enough to share our faith. Maybe we think that we should leave this job to pastors or evangelists or other professionals trained to know the Bible and be able to answer deep theological questions. Maybe we’re afraid of rejection or afraid of screwing up. Maybe we just think someone else will do it.

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28: 18-20 THE GREAT COMMISSION

Jesus gave the directive to his disciples to go into all the world and make disciples. The great commission was given to his followers. It was given to those of us who believe. The early church took this commission seriously. They shared their faith with everyone they came in contact with, and as a result the church grew exponentially, even in the face of great persecution and trials. How could those early Christians share their faith so powerfully when we often feel that we can not?

I think the answer comes down to a rethinking about what it means to share our faith with others. You see these believers had found a solution to their problem: Jesus. Jesus had changed their lives. People who knew them before saw the change in them. The early believers were passionate about what they knew of Jesus. They were passionate about the salvation He had given them. They didn’t want any of their neighbors to miss out on that salvation. So they shared what they were passionate about. And we’re not talking elegant street preaching. We’re talking simple messages of truth. These men and women told others about what was happening in their lives, about what Jesus had done for them.

You have a story to tell. I have a story to tell. All of us who have come to have a close, personal relationship with Christ have a story to tell. It’s the story of what our lives were like before we met Jesus, how we met Him, how He rescued us, how He changed us, and what He has done in our lives from that day to what He is doing in our lives right now at this moment. And the beauty of this story is that it’s ours. People can argue a lot of things. They can argue the teachings of religious orders. They can argue what the Bible means. They can even argue if Jesus was really the Son of God. Know what they can’t argue about? Your story. They can’t argue with your lived, personal experience. They can reject it. They can refuse to believe it. But they can’t argue with it.

That’s why our testimony is so powerful and so important. You see we are called to spread the world about the greatest solution to the greatest problem ever. While we might be able to passionately talk about makeup to make us more beautiful or cleaning products that are safe for us and for the environment, we need to be able to just as passionately speak about the one who saved our soul and the only one who offers that love and salvation as a free gift to everyone everywhere in the world no matter what they’ve done or where they’ve come from!

How do we do it?

First, we live it. No one is going to care about your story if they can’t tell you’re passionate about it. If your life has been changed by Jesus Christ, those closest to you are going to notice. They’re going to see that there is something different about you. They might know you from before your salvation and wonder why you don’t go to the places you used to go or do the things you used to do. They might work with you and wonder why you have such a strong work ethic and such integrity. How do you do it? Why do you do it? Maybe they live near you and notice that you are always kind and compassionate and giving. Maybe they run across you during a crisis moment in the world, and they notice that you are calm and steady and seem so sure that everything will be okay.

The truth is that you can’t have a close, personal relationship with Jesus Christ and not be changed. You may not notice the change in your life right away, especially if you came to know Jesus when you were very young, but others will notice. Your life is your greatest testimony of Jesus. You are Christ’s ambassador. The only way anyone will ever see Jesus is through the lives of His believers, showing His love to the world in His name. Make sure you are a good ambassador for the Lord.

Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.

St. Francis of Assissi

Next, we pray. Some people skip over this step thinking it really isn’t important, but it is. We need to pray. We need to pray that God will open doors of opportunity for us to pour into the lives of our friends and neighbors. We need to pray to God that we will have an answer for anyone who comes asking us about the reason for our hope. We need to pray to the Holy Spirit for the right words and the right time. We need to pray that we will recognize those moments when it’s time for us to speak out and share with someone else. We need to pray that those we are led to share with will have a receptive heart. Prayer is a very necessary and important step.

We need to listen. Jesus is an excellent listener. Have you noticed that? All throughout the gospel books of the Bible we find times when Jesus sat down and had a conversation with someone and really listened. He seemed to see right through them to their needs. We aren’t going to be able to read minds like Jesus did, but we can see their needs if we’re praying and listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Bottom line: listening is an excellent way to show love. When you truly listen to another person, you are loving them. You are allowing them to share with you. Listening presents an excellent opportunity to share. Maybe a friend or neighbor comes to you with a problem. They pour out their heartache to you. You listen. You love them. And then, you offer them prayer and a touch from Jesus. It can be as simple as offering to pray with them over the problem. It can be as simple as telling them about your own struggle with the same issue or a similar one and how Jesus touched your life in that moment. Sharing our struggles with others is a great way to connect and to show love to them the way that Jesus would show love to them.

We need to speak. As I said in the previous point, there will be lots of ways that we can share what Jesus has done in our lives. We need to be unafraid to share. We need to be willing to be authentic and vulnerable. Ultimately, we’re talking about sharing with another person the one way that they can have eternal life and relationship with God. That’s huge! It’s really bigger than whether or not they accept us and like us after we share. The thing is that even if they don’t accept our message, most people won’t reject you for sharing it as long as you do it authentically and out of love. People can sense when you are speaking from your heart. They can also sense when your words and your life don’t match up. Nothing is more frustrating than dealing with a hypocrite. So don’t be a hypocrite. Be yourself. Be real. Be authentic.

We need to let go. Often, the biggest reason we don’t share the gospel with other people is that we’re afraid they won’t receive it. You know what? God doesn’t promise us that sharing the gospel with someone else will result in an immediate harvest. God simply asks us to share. To go. To speak. To love. To plant the seed. It’s our job to plant. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to water. It’s God’s job to see it through to the harvest. If we do happen to have someone listen to our message and want to pray to accept Jesus right then and there, chances are good that others who have come before us have shared the same message and been rejected.

If we are sharing in love, trusting in God, and praying all along the way, then it doesn’t really matter how the other person responds. We have been faithful and obedient to our part. We are trusting God for the rest. If the person you are sharing with doesn’t respond right away, keep praying. Keep praying that God will water that seed you planted and make it grow. And keep sharing as the opportunities present themselves. You have no idea what God is doing to prepare their heart to receive while you faithfully follow His leadings.

When my husband and I began dating in high school, he was not a believer. He knew that I was a Christian, though, so he asked me about the whole “Jesus thing.” I shared with him my own testimony, what I knew about Jesus, how much I loved the Lord, what he had done in my life, and Jesus’ offer of salvation for everyone in the world. It was short and simple. He appreciated my openness, but he did not accept the Lord. So I prayed. I prayed for his salvation while we dated. I prayed for his salvation when we broke up. I prayed that others would share the message with him. I prayed that his eyes would be opened and he would see God. When we got back in touch as adults, I prayed some more. I shared the message only when he asked me. Otherwise, I simply lived my faith. We got married, but he was still not a believer. Now I prayed standing on the promises in God’s Word that my household would be saved and that a believing wife could sanctify her husband.

I tried diligently to be a good example of Jesus’ love for him by loving him the best way that I knew how. And I prayed. All the time. I prayed that he would have an encounter with the Lord in a way that he would not be able to deny what happened. Then one day, when I was about 8 months pregnant with our first son, my husband came to me and said that he had encountered the Lord. He prayed with me in our home to accept Jesus as his savior. I had prayed for his salvation for 20 years at that point. I don’t know how many others had shared their testimony with him. He had been attending church with me for 3 years at that point. You see, you don’t know what it will take for another person to come to faith, but if you are obedient to God and don’t give up, you will see the harvest some day.

Still unsure about sharing your faith? Check out this article by Nicolas Davis, 7 Simple Ways to Share Your Faith With Others, or this one by Jay Lowder. Luis Palau has great tips on sharing your faith. So does Billy Graham’s website.

Shield of Faith

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Ephesians 6:16 (TPT)

“In every battle, take faith as your wrap-around shield, for it is able to extinguish the blazing arrows coming at you from the Evil One!“

God has given us the weapons we need to fight the spiritual battle we are in. Sometimes we forget that we are in a spiritual battle, but we are. We have a very real enemy, Satan, and he seeks only to steal, kill, and destroy. Before you were saved, you were firmly in his grasp, so you probably didn’t notice any attacks. But once you accepted Jesus, you were transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. Now, you’re a soldier in God’s army, and you can bet that Satan will do everything in his power to try to bring you down.

But God not only provides us spiritual armor to protect us at close range, He gives us a wrap around shield to extinguish the attacks before they ever reach us. The great thing about a shield is that it protects all of us at once. It’s not just a covering for our head or for our heart. It’s a covering for our entire body. Like the ancient Roman shields it is flame-resistant, but only if we constantly apply the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit to us. And like the ancient Roman shields our faith can link up with the faith of others to form a protective wall around all of us.

Faith is a wonderful gift from God! It is active and powerful. It performs miracles and protects us from the enemies attack. When we view faith as a weapon in our arsenal, our outlook can change. Let’s abide in God’s Word and commune with His Spirit. That’s the way to keep our shield well oiled and prepared for battle. Let’s link up in community with other believers for even more protection when we’re under attack. And let’s remember not to drop our shield of faith when the going gets tough.

Father, thank you that there is nothing that I need that you have failed to provide. You knew I would be involved in spiritual battles, so you gave me protective armor and weapons to fight the good fight. You even gave me the shield of faith to protect me from long range attacks and to cover me completely. You have given me a church body so that I can link my faith with the faith of others when I feel weak and need added strength and protection. Thank you for the wonderful gift of faith! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Spirit of Fear

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Nothing causes fear and panic like the unknown. Life has a lot of unknowns. Some of them are scarier than others. Right now, we have the wonderful coronavirus pandemic to throw us into a state of panic and chaos. The world seems to be going crazy all around us. Some people are predicting Armageddon is just around the corner. People are scared. There’s a lot of misinformation and fear-mongering going on with our media, and then there are the protocols put in place by various governments to try to minimize the effects of the virus. Yes, it’s a global crisis with lots of unknowns. So what do we do? As Christians, do we join the world in panicking? Do we ignore the government regulations? How does God want us to respond?

GOD DOESN’T WANT US TO BE AFRAID

The Bible is full of verses telling us not to be afraid. Sometimes these verses are found in the context of situations that would cause anyone to fear: things like war, plagues, and turmoil. Other times, they come in situations that are simply unusual for us, like seeing angels. Fear is a normal emotional response to danger. In the proper context, fear keeps us safe. It clues us into dangerous situations and gives us the adrenaline necessary to get out of those situations, but sometimes fear becomes something more.

The world is full of people suffering from debilitating fear. When fear appears in situations where there is no immediate danger, you can be sure there is a spiritual component to it. The spirit of fear creeps in subtly and opens the doors to other spirits as well. The spirit of fear tries to convince you to believe the lies of the enemy, but the spirit of fear doesn’t speak to you directly. It doesn’t say, “You can’t do this. You won’t make it.” or things like that. It speaks to you in the first person. It says “I can’t do this. I won’t make it.” Because the spirit of fear speaks to you as if it were your own thoughts, you may fall into the trap of agreeing with those thoughts.

GOD’S WORD IS THE ANTIDOTE TO FEAR

1 Timothy 1:7 says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but has given us the spirit of power, of love, and a sound mind. The spirit of fear has no place in the life of a believer, but that doesn’t mean that believers do not struggle with a spirit of fear without knowing it. It’s easy to spot a spirit of fear when it’s manifesting as outrageous bouts of phobia-like fear. We look at people with issues like agoraphobia or OCD fears and think that if anything is a manifestation of a spirit of fear that is!*

Of course, it’s a lot harder when fear manifests itself as nightmares, random anxiety, panic attacks, worry, uneasiness, stress, tension, physical ailments like stomach ache or headache, or when it manifests as anger. These symptoms are much more subtle, and because they aren’t loud and in your face most of us write them off as just something that happens or just how we are. We never even consider the possibility that a spirit of fear may be tormenting us.

In her book, Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce Meyer talks about the ways the enemy uses our own thoughts against us, and the spirit of fear is no different. In this time of unprecedented uncertainty, how often have you found your mind going to thoughts of: “what if?” “What if my job closes?” “What if school doesn’t reopen?” “What if we run out of food?” “What if I can’t find toilet paper?” Do these thoughts sound familiar? I know I’ve had them. How long do you entertain these “what-if’s”? Do you hold them captive to the word of the Lord and rebuke them with His promises? Or do you let them play over and over in your mind until you are worried and anxious?

The answer to fearful thoughts and a spirit of fear is to take every thought captive. When a fearful thought comes your way, grab hold of it. Don’t entertain it, but recognize it for what it is. Then find out what God says about it. The what-if’s above can be countered with verses like Matthew 6:25-26: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” God has graciously promised to provide all our needs. He will take care of us.

Here are some other verses that you can use to combat fear: 1 John 4:18, Romans 8:15, Philippians 4:6-7, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 23: 4, Psalm 27:1, Deuteronomy 31:6, and Psalm 56:3-4. Psalm 91 has some wonderful promises of protection, especially from plagues. We can put our confidence in God and resist fear. There is no need for us to be anxious or worried or fearful about anything that comes. God has prepared a way for us. He is not shaken, and so we do not need to be shaken either.

GOD WANTS US TO USE WISDOM.

Now, we know that God does not want us to operate out of fear. We should not be running around in a panic like the world around us may be doing. We are to be a steady beacon of God’s light, His assurance, and His peace so that we point the way to Him to all of our neighbors who are full of fear right now. We should not be out buying items in bulk without reason or fear-mongering with bad information, but neither should we ignore wise precautions when it comes to dealing with this particular virus.

Romans 13:1-2 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” God has placed the ruling authorities in power. We are to submit to their authority and follow their directions UNLESS they explicitly violate the Word of God. If our government were demanding that we cease to worship God, demanding that we pray to other gods, or demanding that we participate in immoral acts, we would be justified in disobeying them. We are NOT justified in disobeying directive to wash our hands, social distance, and avoid spreading the virus to others.

In fact, following these precautions is a way for us to demonstrate in a tangible way that we love our neighbors. It’s a way for us to put the needs of others above our own concerns. We aren’t following precautions for those of us who will get this illness and suffer only mild symptoms. We are following these precautions for the minority of people who will get this illness and need serious medical intervention in order to survive. We are trying to give them the best shot at surviving by making sure that adequate resources are available to care for them when and if they need them.

So shine your light to the world around you. They will see your trust in God, the peace that passes understanding that rules in your life, the fruit of the Spirit, and they will wonder what it is that you have that keeps you so steady and calm. What a great opportunity that presents to share with them the gospel message and to offer them the opportunity to experience God’s perfect peace and love for themselves! We have been praying for revival. We know God works all things for good. Let us be vigilant and attentive to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves to share the gospel and to love our neighbor. This world needs the Lord, and we are His ambassadors!

*I am in no way suggesting that all mental illness is attributable to spiritual demonic attacks. I think mental illness is much more complex than that. However, I do believe there are spiritual elements to a variety of health issues and that we need to treat all possible elements in order to truly be healed.

I Am Sending You

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Acts 26: 15-18

“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.  ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.  I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

The apostle Paul was devoted to God. He was lived a devoted life from the days of his youth. In fact, his persecution of the church was because of his devotion to God. He thought he knew who God was and what God required. He thought he understood God’s plan, and that understanding did not include a suffering Messiah and death on the cross. It didn’t include the church. It took Jesus revealing himself to Paul for Paul to see that he hadn’t really understood and that he didn’t really know what God’s plan was or what God required. When Paul’s eyes were opened, he turned that life of devotion over to Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote the majority of the New Testament. He had a deep understanding of Scripture, and once his understanding of God’s plan of salvation was corrected, he knew that God wanted that message preached beyond the confines of Israel to the entire world. God’s divine appointment with Paul was a turning point in the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles around the world. God revealed to Paul that salvation comes through faith in Him alone and not by works.

God has revealed this truth to us as well. We can read about it in Paul’s letters, but we also come to experience that truth for ourselves when the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart. Just as God sent Paul to share his faith, God sends us as well. Faith isn’t something to be hidden away and practiced in private. Faith is a way of life that needs to be demonstrated out in the open and shared with the world. Sometimes we allow our own fear and insecurity keep us from sharing our faith with others, but notice in this verse that God says sharing that story can turn people from the power of Satan to God and to a place where they can receive forgiveness of sins and be sanctified by faith.

What a privilege it is to know the truth of God’s plan! It’s up to us to spread it to those around us.

Father, I thank you for your awesome plan of salvation. I thank you that your vision encompasses the entire world. You want everyone to come to a saving knowledge of you. I thank you for revealing yourself to me through your Word. I thank you for my salvation. Give me the courage to live my faith out loud and to share it with those with whom I interact every day. Help me to share that faith throughout the world. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

An Apology to My Lovely Readers

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Dear Reader,

I started this blog because I felt it was something God was calling me to do. I felt it was a call to ministry in a way, and I wanted to be obedient to that call. I also wanted to be smart about things. I know that a lot of people have taken up blogging in the hopes of hitting it big and being able to make money. I wasn’t sure what God was going to do with this little blog, and I wasn’t sure how to begin so I did some research and decided to start small.

I figured if I didn’t do the paid plan option where my blog could be easily found and would have its own website, then I would be able to build up some posts and articles and look a bit more established when I decided to take that next step. I thought only my family or maybe my close friends would read my posts, and even then I figured they’d only do it out of loyalty. I never expected for my blog to reach other people so soon or for those people who read it to take the time to like or comment.

It seems that God has really blessed my obedience by giving me an audience and filling a need with what I write. When I started this thing, I intended to post twice a day. I intended to do a devotional post in the morning and a topical post sometime later in the day since those take more work and research to bring to you. I thought this would be kind of a therapeutic process and something to fill the time of missing my kids and not really having a purpose and identity anymore–or at least not having the purpose and identity that I had a year and a half ago.

Life happens. Stuff happens. There are court dates and appointments and requirements and opportunities that crop up. Sometimes it’s hard to know where God wants you to put your time and energy. I get off track, and I don’t post like I want to. I’ve thought a lot about changing the way I blog and doing a once a week topical post, but I just don’t have peace about that right now. And a sure fire way to know that the option you’re considering is not from God is to not have peace about it. God’s option always brings peace, even if it also brings discomfort. So twice a day it is!

And so, dear readers, if you’ve taken the time to read these posts, to like them, to comment, and to read this far, I want to apologize to you for the few times so far in this journey when I’ve left you in the lurch with no posts for a few days. I’m about a week behind where I want to be right now. I know that dumping a bunch of posts at once is less than ideal, especially if you’re counting on email notifications to know when something new shows up. So I apologize. I apologize for how hit or miss my posting has been. I apologize for neglecting this ministry at times. Please forgive me.

I’m going to be a bit more intentional with my posts and try not to get so far behind again. I’m also trying to be a bit more prayerful in those times when I feel the stress of life to see what God wants me to say and when and how instead of feeling the OCD urge to just check the box on my to-do list. So I hope you haven’t given up on me, and that you continue to follow this blog. I pray it blesses you as much as it blesses me, and I pray that God uses this ministry for whatever He intended to use it for. I want to be a good servant of the Lord, even in the little things. So here’s to being a better steward of my time, and a more faithful blogger!

Your prayers and support are so very appreciated! Please keep them coming!

Laura

Doubt Your Circumstance

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2 Corinthians 5:7

For we live by faith, not by sight.

Life is full of difficult circumstances. After all, circumstances can change pretty quickly. Jobs can be lost. Health can deteriorate, and global disasters can take place. If we look at our circumstances, life can look pretty grim at times. Looking at our circumstances is a sure fire way to bring worry into our lives. We worry how we will pay our bills if we lose our job. We worry about what will happen when the diagnosis is bad. We may worry about all of those things plus a slew of others if a global disaster takes place.

Worry is the opposite of faith because worry places the burden for a solution with us. Worry says we are relying on our own ability and our own strengths to solve our problems. But faith realizes that no matter what our abilities and strengths can do, ultimate peace and provision relies on God’s ability. When we look to God to solve these unforeseen circumstances, we place our hope in the only sure bet. God is big enough to handle anything life throws at us. He is able. And He loves us and has promised us that He will take care of us if we trust Him.

It’s time we put our focus on God and not on our circumstances. It’s time we said, “God, I don’t know how this is going to work out, but I do know that you are more than able. I put my trust in you to get me through this.” That’s walking by faith and not by sight!

Father, thank you that I can look to you when circumstances get crazy around me. Thank you that you are never surprised, never caught off guard, by anything that happens in this world. Father, today I put my trust totally and completely in you. I choose to look to you and not to look at my circumstances. I put away worry and anxiety, and I choose to walk by faith. Thank you for your faithfulness and provision. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Does Your Child Struggle to Behave?

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If you have a difficult child or a child with severe behavioral issues, you probably feel like it’s your fault. There are parenting books and techniques all over the place on how to get your child to behave or follow rules, etc., but sometimes all those well-meaning techniques just don’t help. Sometimes it seems like your child goes out of their way to cause a problem. Most of our behavior management techniques are based on the premise that children behave when and if they want to. The various techniques work to make children want to behave well as often as possible. They reward good behavior, and they penalize bad behavior. But is that really what’s going on when children misbehave?

After a lot of struggle with my own behaviorally-challenged child, I can tell you from experience that behavior isn’t about want to. Research backs me up on this. Children behave when they have the necessary skills to do so. Children behave when they can. Think about it. Nobody wakes up in the morning intending to fail. No one wakes up thinking about all the ways they can create a problem and disrupt everyone else’s day. All of us wake up intending to succeed and to do our best. Some of us are better at succeeding than others.

When you have a child that is naturally compliant, highly resilient, and possesses key skills like problem-solving, flexibility, and frustration management, you have a child who is going to pose very few behavioral problems. Oh, sure, no child is perfect. You still have to correct these kids and discipline them, but for the most part you don’t have to do it repeatedly or often. They are labeled “good kids,” and they succeed behaviorally in almost any situation. But what happens when your child lacks some of these key skills like problem-solving, flexibility, and frustration management? Well, then you’re going to have a child with a lot more behavioral issues.

Skills like problem-solving, flexibility, and frustration management aren’t always natural. Sometimes they have to be taught. Teaching our kids how to utilize these skills and improve them is really the goal of discipline. Remember, the root word for discipline in Latin means “student.” When we discipline our children, we are teaching them the correct way to behave and the correct skills they need to succeed. You can’t always do that in the heat of the moment, especially if you have an explosive child who seems to go off the deep end and escalate everything well beyond normal.

What you can do is plan ahead and work on the problem before it happens. For the most part, melt down triggers are predictable. There are key times throughout the day where most children with behavioral issues struggle: getting ready in the morning, transition times, homework time and going to bed at night. As a parent, you know the situations that cause your child the most struggle behaviorally. Because you can predict when the bulk of issues will occur, you can plan ahead to try to avoid those triggers. The key is collaborating with your child.

It looks a bit like this: You notice that your child has a melt down every time you tell them it’s time to clean up their toys. The next afternoon when the child is calm, you sit down to talk to them.

“Hey, buddy, I’ve been noticing lately that you seem to have a hard time when I ask you to pick up your toys. Can you tell me what’s going on?

“I don’t know.”

“Well, it seems like maybe you get frustrated because you want to play longer. Could that be the problem?”

“Yeah. You always come when I’m right in the middle of something, and I don’t want to have to stop.”

“Yeah, I can see how it would be frustrating to have to stop right in the middle of something when you’re really focused. Here’s the thing, though, sometimes I really need you to pick up your toys so we can go on to the next activity. What do you think we could do so that you don’t feel frustrated and your toys get picked up so we can go?”

“I don’t know. I think you should not tell me to pick up my toys.”

“Well, that might work, but then the toys are left out when we need to leave. I can’t really have that happen. Can you think of something else?”

“No.”

“What if I gave you a warning so that you can finish what you’re doing and not feel like you’re in the middle of playing? Would that help?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

It will probably take a while for your child to open up and be able to have a conversation like this. It will probably take trying out a few workable suggestions to get to the point where you have a solution to the problem, but it does work.

A FEW KEYS TO REMEMBER

  1. Prioritize the behavior you need to address. If your child has a lot of behavioral issues, you can’t work on all of them at once. It’s too overwhelming. So pick the top one or two that are high priority issues and focus on them until they are resolved.
  2. Make sure both you and your child get time to talk about the issue. The goal is to have each participant lay out their issue. Your child says what their problem is that needs a solution. You say what your problem is that needs a solution. You’re working together to find solutions that address both sides of the equation.
  3. Use empathy and responsive listening to keep the conversation moving. By using this collaborative method, you are teaching your child the skills of problem solving, flexibility, and frustration management in the moment by modeling them.
  4. If the conversation gets heated, table it for later. Rome wasn’t built in a day. If the conversation isn’t staying productive or seems to be causing issues of its own, set an appointment to discuss it with your child at another time. This gives you and your child time to calm down, regroup, and think things out.
  5. Try all the workable solutions, no matter how strange they sound, until you find the right one. Sometimes as a parent, what you think the problem is is not the problem. Sometimes when you figure out the real problem, what you think the solution is is not the solution. Your child is a unique individual with unique needs. Allow them to tell you what the problem is from their viewpoint and what they think the solution might be. Sometimes the most off-the-wall reasons and solutions are the ones that work. Don’t entertain solutions that don’t address both sides of the equation: your problem and their problem. If there’s a reason a solution is unworkable, discuss in what way it’s unworkable during your brainstorming session. Once you hit on a solution that is workable and addresses both sides, try it out for a period of time. If it doesn’t solve the problem, repeat the brainstorming session.

For more information on working with children with serious behavioral issues, check out the book The Explosive Child by Ross Greene. It’s used by parents whose children struggle with mental illness, developmental issues, and/or trauma histories that make their behavior extremely challenging. For another great resource, check out the TED talks by Dr. Ablon on Collaborative Problem Solving.

Mustard Seed Faith

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Matthew 17:20 (AMPC)

“He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.“

When we read this verse we usually think that it means if we have just a small amount of faith we can do amazing things. It isn’t the size of our faith that matters. It’s what we do with it. It’s true that faith goes a long way, and whether you believe we can have a large amount of faith, a small amount of faith, or that God gives unto each person the same amount of faith, faith is what it takes to get things done.

But I like the way the amplified Bible puts emphasis on something else. Rather than the size of the faith, it looks at the quality. Faith like a mustard seed might mean a small amount of faith, but it can also refer to what you do with your faith. Is your faith alive? Do you plant it, tend it, try it, and watch it grow into something miraculous? Do you put it to work? You see a mustard seed does no good outside of the ground. It will never become a mustard tree or do anything it was created to do if it stays in the seed packet.

But if you plant it, it has the chance to fulfill its potential, to grow into a tree, to provide shelter to animals and to provide food. It does what it was created to do. So put your faith to work. Don’t leave it on the shelf doing nothing! Plant it. Use it. Exercise it. And see the miraculous wonders that God can do when faith becomes active!

Father, I thank you that you have given me faith. I thank you that faith can do miraculous things. It is faith that pleases you, and it is faith that makes miracles possible, pulling things from the spiritual realm into the now. Thank you that I have the ability to exercise my faith and see it do wonderous things. Help me not to leave my faith on the shelf, doing no good to anyone. Help me instead to exercise it. In Jesus’ name, Amen.