Things of Value

Lately I have been thinking about things that I value and realizing just because I have something doesn’t mean it’s of any value to me. Most of the time we spend more time on the things that have no value to us or our life. The things that should be of most value to us get neglected the most like our children, our marriage, and our friendships. We just take them all for granted.

I can remember being a child and hearing my grandma and mom saying, “It doesn’t matter if the house is dirty, you better make time for your kids, especially if they are sick.” I can understand that now that I have children of my own. The same can be said for your marriage. Just because you are married doesn’t mean to stop working on your relationship with your spouse. If you value it and think it’s important, then you will continue to put in the effort to keep it strong. Once you stop working on the valuable things, the value will start to decrease without you even knowing it. You could almost lose the things important to you…or it could be too late to fix them.

We can take that one step further with how we value God. We show God how much we value Him by how much time we spend with Him, praying or by spending time in His word. There are times when I feel ashamed because I know I am capable of giving Him more of my time than I do.  If we stop and really think how much God values us, who are we to deny Him? He sent His only son to die on the cross just for us. It doesn’t get more valuable than that.

Make sure you are making what’s valuable to you top priority in your life and don’t take it for granted.

~Michelle Parrish

 

Image credit:

SUN OVER THE WATER
© Remigiusz Oprzadek | Dreamstime.com

A Triumphant Journey

People see the smile on my face these days, but most people have no clue what I went through only a few short years ago.

My junior year of high school started off like everyone else’s. I had a full course load of classes and doing well. One day I woke up with a back ache. Without going into lots of details, I was without a doctor for year, but the back ache turned into excruciating pain. Not knowing the severity of the problem, I remained in school, but Lortab became my constant companion. Sobbing in front of my friends because I was in too much pain to eat was an almost daily occurrence at the lunch table.

I love going to church, so I got a tens unit and had it on full blast so that I could sit through the service. In case you don’t know this is NOT normal. In January, I finally got an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. An x-ray revealed that I had a stress fracture, which is common among athletes and gymnast. I’m a bookworm, so this was quite a shock to me and my family. The doctor said only one in 1 million people have this happen to them. I was just happy to know there was a reason for the pain. My doctor didn’t want to do surgery right away, so we tried back braces for a few months. This is when I was at my lowest point.

The pain got so bad that I could not go to church with my mom anymore. Even thinking back to that dark time brings tears to my eyes. I would cry as I watch my mom get ready for church, longing to go with her instead of lying in the bed in agony.

Finally, I had an MRI that revealed surgery would be my only option. We still didn’t know the extent of the injury. I trudged on through my chemistry classes and English papers and could see my upcoming graduation through my haze of survival. God’s grace was the only reason that I was able to get out of bed each morning. When I could only take one step He definitely took two. In June of that year, I had a spinal fusion to repair my back. Much to everyone’s surprise my surgeon said that my back was broken and the vertebrates were floating around in the cartilage. Due to the extensive surgery, I had a long road of recovery ahead.

I can say with confidence that even when I lost hope, not able to see past my own pain, God never did. He saw me becoming a member of my church’s publication team. He saw me graduating from high school with honors. He saw me getting accepted into the Corporate Communication program at my college. I thank God that he never gave up on me! Whatever you’re going through, no matter how bad it may seem right now, you’re not going to stay there. God has plans to prosper you, so whatever you do DON’T quit!

 

~Madison Sanders

Kingdom Finances

MONEY CHEST
© Lockstockbob | Dreamstime.com

God is in the building business, but He uses His church to do the building. The Church can’t do very much building without money. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians still sit around waiting on God to rain money from heaven. Or worse, they waste their faith praying for the guy from Publishers Clearinghouse to show up and rescue them. It’s time we, as a church, became more aware of our responsibilities with finances.

Have you ever thought about how critical it is for the Church to maintain financial integrity in the world of banking? As a Credit Analyst, I have seen many churches take out loans that they cannot repay. It breaks my heart to see that lenders do not take churches seriously, but it is hard to fault their viewpoint when church after church tries to tell them that God is their primary source of income, and then they can’t pay their bills. I have seen many churches criticized because they relied on fundraisers to raise money but winded up unable to sell enough chicken to pay their bills. Face it: If God said to borrow the money, He will supply the needs and means to repay it. That means that either the church is not hearing from God or they are not being good stewards of their money.

When a church or individual Christians borrow money from a bank and don’t repay it at all or are habitually late, this causes the loan officer and the other people of the bank to have to do much more paperwork for the banking relationship. What kind of example is this showing them? Are we showing everyone that God supplies all of our needs or are we showing others that we are like the rest of the world and may or may not repay the money?

Kingdom finance means that churches and individual Christians should have the type of relationship with financial institutions that have bankers begging to lend us money. The economy has taken its toll on just about everyone, but God doesn’t depend on the economy to supply our needs. Maybe the first problem isn’t money: it’s that we have not stopped and listened to what God is telling us to do. Maybe we’ve focused on what WE want instead of what HE wants. God isn’t interested in making us look good. He’s interested in us making HIM look good!

~Christi Duncan

Seek First the King

CROWN SPARKLER
© Pavel Losevsky | Dreamstime.com

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ~Matt. 6:33

It has been said that if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. One of the most important lessons in Kingdom living is to learn to hear God’s voice concerning HIS plans for your life instead of trying to convince Him that your plan is the best for you!

My husband and I were happy with our lives in N.C. We were in a church we loved. We had built a house we enjoyed. We were among good friends and family members. With all that we had, we began to sense the urging of the Lord that a big change was coming to our lives. Even though we were happy, we began to feel restless. We were excited in our spirits, and we began to pray about our future.

During this time, I found The Celebration online. I began reading it every day and couldn’t get enough of it. I talked a little with Linda and the other writers through the blog and knew I was to be connected to it somehow. Amazingly, we found out the church hosting the blog was in the same county where our daughter was living, so we decided to check it out. There was no turning back from there; we knew God wanted us to move to Georgia.

Even though we heard His voice, we still had to walk out our faith. The real estate market in our hometown was at a stand still.  Well meaning people told us that we wouldn’t be able to sell our house. We didn’t turn our house over to a realtor. Instead, I put it in a community trader paper, and we had a buyer the next week. It only cost us $16.00 to sell our house!

I can’t say we didn’t have times when we shook our heads and asked each other what we were doing, but I can say that the excitement of what was ahead never left us. We knew God was directing us.

Since moving to Georgia, we have met wonderful people. We are part of an amazing church. We would have missed out on many awesome experiences had we not been obedient to His voice.

God doesn’t tell everyone to move two states over, but He does have marvelous plans for His children. Living for God is an adventure! It is exciting to realize that someone wiser than you is in control! We must seek first the Kingdom. If not, we will miss out on the best God has for us!

~Connie Robinson

 

 

What are you Fighting For?

FIGHTING STANCE
© Steven Pepple | Dreamstime.com

On any given, typical day in my life, I am an easy-going, good-natured person. I am so good-natured and easy-going, that I allow myself to be the doormat for others. Then why do I feel so scrappy this week? I almost want to fight something, but I do not know what or why. I have not felt this scrappy since the time in school when some girls were beating up on my cousin and my sister. I jumped in and socked a girl twice and that was that! Who would have thought I would do something like that now…NOT ME!

So…why so scrappy? The world tells you that as you get older your body changes. You cannot do things like you used to. You cannot take things like you used to. Your body is more prone to sickness and injury. Just about everywhere I turn, I am being told things are happening to my body just because I’m getting older, and I might as well just deal with it. WHO SAID? Not GOD! My spirit is getting stronger, making me realize that I really can fight against those mindsets!

The devil will fill your head full of lies. These lies stem from the worldly point of view, not God’s point of view. The Bible tells us that the devil comes to STEAL, KILL, and DESTROY. He will enter through your mind so quietly that, before you know it, you have changed your mind to line up with the point of view of the world. You have taken what other people tell you as the truth. I have been guilty of that a lot over the years, but now I am in the process of realigning my thoughts, actions, and words to line up with what God’s Word tells me. According to the sacrifice that Jesus bore on the cross, I am ALREADY HEALED! My body may not realize it yet, but it has no choice in the matter!

So, I am finding that the scrappiness that I am feeling is more along the lines of a battle going on inside of me to line up with what the Word tells me about ME and not what the world says about me. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am mainly a quiet person unless I know you well. But lately, I’ve been wanting to come out swinging when people start talking about THEIR ailments and how this is just the lot they have drawn in life. It’s the devil that has been telling them lies, and he’s the one I’m mad at!

Am I walking in total healing? Not at this time, but I WILL! I’m doing what I need to do in the natural – hitting the gym daily, confessing healing scriptures, meditating on the good I see in me and not the negative. I try to remember to tell myself that I am created in HIS image, so I am not stupid or ugly. We have to learn to love ourselves, which is a hard thing to do at times. I feel that if we start to love ourselves more, then even when we miss it, we can move on to the next level a lot quicker in God.

Getting past ourselves is a hard thing to do. For me, that is my biggest obstacle. I have to tell myself that I love ME, and God loves me just the way I am. Let the scrappiness that is inside of you come out and fight for what is yours and give back to the devil what does not belong to you. Remember that the plans God has for you are GOOD. He wants you to prosper and be in good health and, most importantly, HE LOVES YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE!

~Ronda Sullivan

Reveal the Real

YOUNG GIRL HOLDING A MIRROR
© Ramona Smiers | Dreamstime.com

I know God accepts me just as I am, but I have a hard time accepting myself just as I am. As a matter of fact, I’d have to say that this is my BIGGEST struggle in my walk with the Lord. I always feel like I have to be perfect… or at least closer than I am. In my eyes, I have believed the lie that I am not good enough. Just knowing that God accepts me doesn’t change me. I know it, but do I believe it? I have to change the way I believe about myself and so do you!

I find myself thinking on this more and more lately. I’m sure it’s God trying to get me to deal with it. I know that once I stop rejecting His image of me and start embracing it everyday, then what I am in God’s eyes will start to manifest in my life. In my eyes, I’ve wanted to see myself as perfect. In His eyes, I can see myself as loved.

We have really over-rated perfection as Christians. I just read a statement recently that said, “I don’t think it bothers the world that we Christians sin; It bothers the world that we act like we don’t!” We have all painted a picture in our minds how a Christian should behave or look when, in fact, all God wants is for us to just be real. No matter what we look like or what mistake we just made today, we can keep on going because He accepts and loves us just as we are.

I may still struggle with this today, but I am starting to change. Because I know that God accepts me, it helps me know that I still have a chance. He will not give up on me no matter how hard-headed I may seem in this area of my life! If I say or do something to put myself down, then I have to recognize that and give it to God RIGHT THEN, asking Him to help me see myself the way He sees me. One step at a time, one day at a time is how change takes place. We have to be willing to give our insecurities, fears and self-doubt to God everyday…everyday!!

You know, WE are our biggest enemy. If we can ever get past US, then God can really use us in so many areas. I accept myself more today than I did five years ago or even a year ago. It’s a process that I am willing to walk out because I want all God has for me in His Kingdom!! I am definitely learning not to seek perfection, but to just seek being real. That’s all God is asking for from both you and me!!!

~ Michelle Parrish

I Can Do It

SINGLE PLANT IN RUSHING WATER
© Michael Keenan | Dreamstime.com

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~
 Jeremiah 29:11

There are days that I wish someone would come along and take some of the load off of me or at least help me out so that things would be easier for me to manage. These are the days when I wonder where God is. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had days like this, right? Our circumstances can really scream at us, causing us to loose focus and to start feeling sorry for ourselves.

Recently, I was meditating the Word, and a picture popped up in my mind of a seed popping up through the ground. Well, I pondered on that picture and wondered why it popped up. I have learned that things do not “pop up” randomly for no reason. So, I tried to figure out what God was trying to tell me.

As I meditated on the seed, I was taken back to my science class where we were taught how a seed begins to sprout and form a plant. The roots come first, spreading and anchoring into the dirt so that the plant is stable. Then the seedling begins to push up through the ground. All the while the root system is still growing and expanding.

Have you ever seen a seed in a garden where it is barely up above the ground and it still has some dirt it needs to push away? I get so excited every year when I plant all of my vegetables and flowers. I mark on my calendar the day I plant and the day when I should see seedlings popping through the ground. I go outside every day to tend to them and watch for them. When I see a seedling that is just barely above the ground, I have to fight the urge to go and help it break through the ground the rest of the way. In trying to help that seedling out, I would actually be hindering it and causing some harm to the plant if I move the dirt out of the way for it. It would continue to grow, but it would not be as strong as it could have been if I had left it alone to push through the obstacle in its way. It is through this process that the plant becomes a strong plant that can stand on its own. I still go out and tend to it, doing what I NEED to do. I just do not jump in and do what the plant needs to do in order to be as strong as it could be.

God was trying to tell me that He is still tending to me and helping me where I need help, but in order for me to become the strong person I need to be, I need to push my way through, trusting in Him to guide me all the way and to support me as I grow. Being bailed out, so to speak, would not help me out in any way. It would actually hinder me from growing up strong in the Lord. I still have people who pray with me and for me. We all need that. We just do not need to be bailed out when the going gets a little tough or rocky. We need to learn to trust in God and His plan for our lives. It is a process and, like all processes, it takes time and patience. Eventually, we push through the obstacles and circumstances. On the other side is VICTORY!

~Ronda Sullivan

Don’t Let Your Dream Die

WOMAN DREAM OF SOMETHING
© Alexey Fursov | Dreamstime.com

For years, people tried to talk me out of becoming a writer. There was a particular instance in middle school that I will never forget. My teacher had given me an assignment to pick the career I wanted and to present a Powerpoint presentation in front the of class. As she was walking around the classroom, she said, “What did you choose, Madison?” I distinctly remember telling her “Journalism.” My Powerpoint had a very colorful cover slide with a picture of a quill.

“Oh, you will want to pick something else,” she said. Hurt, I continued to listen because she was my teacher, someone who I trusted to lead and guide me. “You won’t ever make any money being a writer,” she said and walked off. She never knew how much those words impacted me. Subtly, my mind shifted to other careers. “Let me look up the salary for a nurse,” I said to myself, knowing the healthcare field was always promising. Seeing the numbers on the screen settled it. I would be a nurse, even if every fiber in my thirteen-year-old body went against it!

I continued on in high school taking health occupations classes and even doing clinicals. My heart wasn’t in it, though. Away from prying eyes and judgmental attitudes, I would write at home. English was my favorite class. I would spend hours writing stories. I had tasted the joy of creating something of my very own, and no one could take that away from me. My mom knew my heart. She didn’t pressure me to do anything, but I know that she prayed for me and she listened. I’m so thankful I had someone to believe in me and my dream!

Countless friends and teachers in high school said I needed to be a teacher, because I am good at explaining things to people. I smiled and said, “That’s not the career for me.”  I said this to each person who suggested it. I got tired of hearing it, to be honest with you. Inside I screamed, “Can anyone see that I want to be a writer?” I didn’t know it at the time, but I was taking a stand for what I believed in and not letting other voices talk me out of what God called me to do.

In the midst of my battle with my heart and my head, my mom told my brother and me, “Do whatever you love to do. Don’t let anyone pressure you to do otherwise.”

When it came time to register for college classes, I was automatically drawn to the communication major because of the writing aspect. Somewhere along the way, I decided that my mom was right. Even if I never made an enormous salary from writing, I was going to do it because I LOVED it. Seriously, I have a page full of ideas on my computer of things to write about. I have dreams about characters and stories. No amount of money can compare to true fulfillment!

And now? I’m entering my senior year in college, working on many projects for Gateway publications and writing about current events for my internship with Athena Magazine for Girls. What if I had listened to my middle school teacher? I would be miserable! I want to encourage each of you to not let your dream die!

~Madison Sanders

It’s a New Season

Spring is here! The grass and trees turn green. God paints the ground and landscape with vibrant colors through flowers and budding trees. The temperature changes. The sun’s warmth increases. And birds, long gone to escape the cold of winter, return in mass to once again fill the air with songs of joy and celebration!

Well, just as life is being released once again into our part of the world, God is doing the same thing in His people. I know for me, as well as many others, that the past couple of years have seemed like a winter. Nothing much happening. Frustrated with the chill inside of me. Wondering what had happened to the dreams God had given me. Wondering if I would ever see deliverance in certain areas of my life. Almost giving up hope of seeing the passion I once had for God ever returning.

But hark! What is that I hear? The voice of the prophets, the Word of God, declaring deliverance, freedom, and a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit for God’s people, this year! The chains which have held us in the bondage of our winters are being melted by the power and mercies of God!

In the spiritual realm, we are already free! The chains have been removed. Now it is time for us to begin exercising those weak and achy muscles, and to spread our wings! For God has called us each to soar on wings like eagles, to declare the good news of the gospel, and once again release the songs of joy and celebration that God is here! It’s a new season of spiritual life!

Greatness

Isaac, Jacob, Samson and John the Baptist were all children of barren women. Each one of these women reached a place in their life of impossibility. Physically, their bodies were past the age of child bearing. Mentally, they accepted their circumstances as truth. But God had another plan and purpose.

While these women from the Bible were all barren physically, there is such a thing as being barren spiritually. In my life, there are things that are sterile and not producing. One of those things is song writing.

As a member of the praise team, one of our mandates is to write music. Prophesy has been given to confirm this mandate, but I thought it didn’t apply to me. I wasn’t there when the prophesy came, so I should be exempt, right?

Wrong! I had let myself become content with the way things were. I didn’t see myself as a writer, so why put forth the effort? God has plans to do in and through us what we can’t do on our own. If we could do them on our own, then where does faith come in? If I can’t do it on my own, then I am forced to start trusting God. When God does a thing, then only he can get the glory for it.

I am not smart enough or grammatically correct enough to write a song. Neither am I musically sound enough to compose a song on my own. But… I dare to trust God and His word.

I am expecting God to continue to birth some things in and through me. What about you? What areas in your life are not producing anything? What areas are lifeless? What areas have you accepted the way they are? What areas do you feel are impossible?

I would dare to say there are areas of barrenness in all of our lives. God desires to do mighty things if we will let Him. Dare to trust, dare to believe, and dare to take Him at his word!

~by guest contributor, Christe Grzehowiak