Frosting Can't Fix Every Problem

I admit that there have been a few times in my baking history that I’ve totally bombed with something I’ve created for my family.  We’ll never forget the time when I misread the recipe for one of our favorite desserts.  Everyone’s taste buds were salivating for homemade hot fudge pudding cake which I’d been successfully baking for years.  I believe that my slightly elevated hormones at the time may have played a factor in my confusion, leading me to alter a few portion sizes in the recipe.  When I finished mixing everything together in the bowl and poured it into the baking pan, I rationalized the batter’s soupy appearance in hopes that it might turn out better than ever before.  Though I knew down deep inside I must’ve mixed up the ingredients, I remained optimistic.  I reasoned in my mind that since I was working with chocolate and sugar, there was no way anything could possibly go wrong! I placed the batter in the oven and left the kitchen to attend to some household projects while it baked. 

A while later, I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen and wondered what could be happening!  I slowly opened the oven door to find that the whole cake had blown up like a volcano everywhere.  Oh the sight of burnt chocolate pudding splattered all over my previously spotless oven!  Besides being quite humbled at the explosion of our dessert, I still had hopes of salvaging some of the outer edges for us to enjoy although they were a little crunchy.  The cake was not very pretty, but since I really strive these days not to pass judgment on the outer appearance of things, I ignored the negative and focused on finding the positive.   As I served the remaining portion of burnt cake to my kids, I assured them that it could’ve turned out far worse.  No matter how much frosting or powdered sugar I smeared on the top of the cake to cover up the problem, it was still ruined.   None of my efforts were going to solve the problem and I couldn’t pretend like it didn’t exist.  Although I’m not a professional baker, I do know that our dessert disaster stemmed from my neglect to follow the recipe accurately.   Frosting wasn’t the solution; I had to vow to follow the recipe more closely in my next baking adventure to ensure success.

Does this same type of scenario ever occur in other areas of our lives?  Do we sometimes find ourselves in a mess and attempt to solve our problem by pretending it’s not there or by covering it up?  The danger of ignoring conflicts is that if we don’t handle it biblically our Enemy will most definitely use it to cause destruction in our lives and the lives of others around us.  Our motivation in every situation that comes into our lives should be to give honor, glory and praise to our God and unresolved conflict never pleases Him.  I Corinthians 10:31 shows us clearly what our goal should always be, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do ALL to the glory of God.”  Although dealing with conflict is never pleasant, I’m thankful to have encountered many situations that God has used to help me realize the power of the truths He teaches in His Word.  When I have a dilemma that extends beyond my baking catastrophes, I can never expect to truly resolve it unless I am committed to following God’s recipe for resolution which is clearly stated throughout Scripture.  

There may be times when we feel we don’t even possess the proper skills or understanding to work through conflicts.  Most of us haven’t had years of training in counseling and all of the ‘philosophies’ of how to deal with different kinds of conflict.  Most of us don’t fully understand the methods and strategies of sociology and all of the disorders or syndromes our modern day psychology has claimed to uncover.  BUT we can intimately and personally know the very One who created our hearts and minds in the first place.  We have the privileged opportunity to possess a deep relationship with the ONLY One who totally understands the intricacies of the human brain and our entire body, soul and spirit.  If God created us and knows everything about us then I’m certain He knows how to solve ALL of our problems.  Our Father is omniscient and has a solution for every single problem in our lives if we would only follow His recipe.  We’re told in 2 Peter 1:3, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” The solution for every problem we have is found in His Awesome Living and Powerful Word.   

Whether we encounter conflict with another person or it’s an issue we’re struggling with inside our own heart, there are biblical steps we can take to bring resolution:

1)     Admit there is a problem.  Ignoring it or refusing to discuss it does NOT make it disappear. Be open to the possibility that the problem may even lie with you.

2)     Pray for God’s wisdom and guidance in getting to the root of the problem, whether it’s our own turmoil or issues with another person.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally….” (James 1:5).

3)     Don’t be a hypocrite!  We need to humbly and thoroughly cleanse our own heart from harbored sin before we’re qualified to resolve conflict with another person. “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5

4)    Once our heart is pure of unconfessed sin, we must go and humbly speak the truth in love in a spirit of gentleness to the person who has offended us or whom we have offended.   Ephesians 4:15 says, “But speaking the truth in love…” Galatians 6:1 tells us, “Brothers, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…”

5)    If they do not desire to biblically bring about resolution, we can bring witnesses with us to try to plead with them to resolve the issue.  Matthew 18:16, “But if he will not hear you, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” 

6)     If we’ve been offended, it’s our responsibility to forgive our offender no matter what.  This ensures that God will forgive our sin so we can live in freedom from the prison of destructive bitterness. Jesus says in Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

7)    When we’ve done all we can do but the conflict remains unresolved, release the relationship to God and pray for Him to work in the other persons heart.  Pray for God to bless them with a humble sensitive spirit. “Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.”  Luke 6:28 

We can also get so wrapped up in the other person’s wrong responses toward us and how they’ve hurt us which is exactly what Satan’s goal is for us!  If our enemy can distract us from the utmost goal of bringing God glory and honor in every situation, he has won the battle.  We must remember that even if our offender does not respond correctly, it is our goal to make sure we’ve done everything possible on our part to make the situation right.  Romans 12:18, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”  I have also come to realize that even if I attempt to have a good relationship with everyone I know; it is a fact that not everyone will like me or care to have fellowship with me.  There will be conflicts that may not ever get resolved.  It all boils down to the fact that each of us will only be responsible to God for our own sin, not for someone else’s sin.
      
There were many years that I just ignored problems with others by trying to smooth things over which never brought lasting solutions.  I also believed that if I just eliminated difficult people from my life it would solve all of my problems.  I thought it would allow me to live a life of perfect bliss because I’d never have conflict again.  The only problem was that I still had my own selfish sin nature to deal with.  I was so prideful and wouldn’t take responsibility for what I did wrong and lived a life of inner turmoil and bitterness toward others.  I’m thankful that God has humbled me and worked in my life over the past several years to allow me to clearly see the truth.  I’ve also realized that God purposely allows us to encounter conflict so that we will learn, grow and mature from it, making it an opportunity to honor and glorify Him.  Just like putting extra frosting on a cake won’t cover up a baking disaster, ignoring or glossing over problems in our lives won’t give us true lasting solutions.  

Is there some hidden sin hindering your personal relationship with God right now?  Are you having conflict with someone at this time in which you’ve previously enjoyed sweet fellowship with?  We must realize that if the problem still exists, we haven’t truly dug down deep enough to uncover the nasty root cause.  We can be sure that our Enemy will grip firmly to that root so that we will never get the problem solved. Satan then has full advantage to wreak havoc in our lives and the lives of others around us, bringing damage to God’s kingdom.  Just like putting frosting on my hot fudge cake couldn’t cover up the fact that I didn’t follow the recipe, ignoring God’s clear recipe for conflict resolution will never heal a damaged relationship.  It’s only when we mix in the ingredients of humility, confession, forgiveness and love that we can reach the point of biblical reconciliation and restoration.  It is when we are finally committed to faithfully following God’s way of conflict resolution that we’ll be free to live in harmony and peace with God, ourselves and others. 

Denying Our Denial

Most of us would describe ourselves as very loyal and devoted people.  We will always be faithful and true to the end, unwavering, steadfast and firm in our allegiances to those we love and value greatly in our lives.   Although we tend to cling to this positive perception of ourselves, what do our actions truly reveal about our character and our real motives?  Are we as dedicated and trustworthy as we believe ourselves to be or could we be more honorable, responsible and reliable in our close relationships?  What about our loyalty to the most important relationship we will ever have with our Savior?  Evaluating our inner heart’s intentions with the truths of God’s Word is the best place to initiate our internal inspection to see if we have some changes to make.  It would be beneficial for each of us to closely examine ourselves to determine whether or not we are in denial about our sin of denial.  I must admit that God has been working on transforming me big time in this area over the past few years.  I’ve been learning to identify and allow God to change the areas in my life where I’ve been denying Him on a regular basis.  As you read this post, I pray that you will also see where you may be denying Christ and how He may want to transform you as well.

As I reflect on some examples of real life people in the Bible who seemed to be devoted to God but then openly denied and disobeyed Him, the primary people that come to mind were Jesus’ very own disciples.  They were His closest friends who claimed to love Him and whom Jesus loved greatly. They spent three years of their lives following Him and witnessing His love and compassion for those He came to save.  We all know the account of Judas Iscariot and how He betrayed the Savior for thirty pieces of silver and later was so overcome by the guilt of his sin that he committed suicide.  We see how grieved Jesus was by just knowing that Judas’ would betray Him in John 13:21, “When Jesus had said these things, He was troubled in spirit, and testified and said, Most assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.” How much pain it must also cause Jesus when those who claim to love and follow Him continually choose to betray Him over and over again.

Peter was another one of Jesus’ disciples. He identified himself as a devoted follower of Christ who loved Him greatly which makes his denial seem to be more surprising than any other.  In Matthew 26:31-35 Jesus is explaining to His disciples how all of them would be made to stumble and deny him that very evening.  For a short time later they would all fall asleep during the time when Jesus had asked them to fervently pray for Him.  Out of all the disciples, Peter vehemently and publicly proclaimed his loyalty to Christ by declaring in verse 33, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”  Jesus then tells Peter in verse 34, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”  In his response that Christ would even imply doubt concerning his love and faithfulness to his Savior, Peter adamantly announces his unfailing love and allegiance in verse 35 saying, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”…   We then see that Christ’s prediction is beginning to be fulfilled when Peter was confronted by a little girl in verse 69 who says, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”  Peter said in verse 70, “I do not know what you are saying.”  In verse 71 another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”  In verse 72 Peter denied the accusation saying, “I do not know the Man!”  After awhile there were people who came to Peter who said to him in verse 73, “Surely you also are one of them, because your speech betrays you.”  Finally in verse 74 we see that Peter even curses and swears and shouts, “I do not know the Man!”  How could Peter deny the One who he had claimed to love so dearly that he would even die with Him rather than betray Him?  How could someone like Peter be completely committed to serving and following His Savior yet so easily become unfaithful and disloyal?

How do these biblical accounts of betrayal by Judas, Peter and the other disciples relate to us in this day and age?  We would never sell out Christ today and betray Him for money like Judas did, or would we?  We personally would never fathom the thought of denying Jesus like Peter did, or do we?  After all, we are always faithful and pure in all of our motives and we would never dream of placing any allegiance above our devotion to our Savior. All of the disciples had seen Christ work amazing miracles right before their eyes and witnessed every day the deep love and commitment that Christ had for mankind.  We have all personally seen the power of God accomplish mighty things in our own difficult seemingly impossible situations.  Just as Judas, Peter and the other disciples seemed to forget so easily about God’s faithfulness and goodness to them, we too often fail to remember ALL that He’s done for us and choose to disregard the indescribable unfailing love and devotion Christ has for us.  We ‘claim’ to love Christ and be sold out for Him, but we continue choosing to deny Him regularly . Maybe we’ve never had a gun pointed at our head by someone threatening to kill us if we don’t blatantly declare that we’re denouncing our faith in Christ.  Maybe we’ve never uttered the words “I do not know the man” like Peter did three times in a row or traded our allegiance to Christ for money like Judas did.   We may have never even publicly denied Christ in front of unbelievers; however we all definitely demonstrate our denial and rejection of Christ in numerous other ways every single day. 

We often show our ‘denial’ of Christ by how we spend our time, our money and our talents.   In reality, none of these belong to us in the first place.  This life we are living is really God’s life.  The time we waste is actually God’s time.  The money we spend is really God’s money.  The talents and abilities we believe we possess have been given to us on loan by God to accomplish His eternal purposes.  Our life, our time, our money, and our talents are all God’s and have been given to us for the sole purpose of bringing honor and glory to Him and Him alone, not ourselves.  In any area of our lives that we are not totally devoted and sold out for Christ and His purposes, then we are certainly denying Him.  There are countless areas in which we choose to betray Christ on a daily basis.  Here are just a few in case you are still not convinced that you yourself ever deny Him:

1)      We do not regularly read and study God’s Word.  If we do read it, there are times when we do it out of duty and not because of our utter devotion and hungering and thirsting after Biblical truths.

2)      We do not pray like we ought to, seeking after God’s will and direction for our lives.  Sometimes our prayers are empty, meaningless and sweet communion with our Father is broken because we choose to grip tightly to our sin instead of confessing it.

3)      We waste our time choosing to be entertained by media for hours a day instead of advancing the cause of Christ that will count for eternity.

4)      We fail to speak up when the Holy Spirit prompts us to talk about our faith in Christ with others.

5)      We often refuse to give God ALL of the honor and glory for a situation and allow ourselves to receive the praise for what God has really done.

6)      We take the credit for the talents and abilities that God has given for us to serve Him and others with.

7)      We choose to waste our finances on frivolous meaningless expenditures that bring us temporary pleasure rather than investing in the kingdom of heaven.

8)      We allow our minds to be consumed with worry, fear and anxiety because we do not trust in our Sovereign Creator.

9)      We attempt to accomplish things on our own rather than depending on the strength of our Father.

10)  We chase after earthly pursuits that will never bring us true satisfaction instead of resting in the Only One who can ever meet our needs.

When we see all of the ways that God’s own children blatantly choose to deny and replace Him with their own selfish desires, I cannot even imagine the extreme pain and agony it causes our heavenly Father.  I do not dare claim to fathom the devastation that our Savior feels when His creation chooses to continually deny Him.  On a human level however, I can definitely identify with the deep pain of being betrayed by those I dearly love and have sacrificed for.   I have personally experienced the anguish that accompanies blatant rejection by a loved one.  I have felt that gut wrenching pain and agony that reaches to the deepest innermost part of my soul as a result of being traded in for and exchanged for worldly passing ‘pleasures’ that only bring destruction to the lives of those who blindly chase after them.  I understand the feeling that results from being tossed aside by someone I thought loved and appreciated me and someone I adored and would even give my life for.  Maybe you too can empathize with the despair that comes from someone denying you?  Maybe you’ve endured utter ruin in some of your relationships because someone you believed valued you unexpectedly denied you and your love. 

 Although we may have endured the devastating pain of a loved one’s betrayal, none of us have ever come close to suffering and giving up what Jesus has sacrificed for all of us.  How much more excruciating and intense the pain of betrayal that Christ must endure on a regular basis by His very own children?  We are only partakers of Christ’s suffering as we travel life’s road.  God knows the pain we bear and promises in Hebrews 13:5, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”   He will always be close beside us to comfort us through our suffering, and He knows and understands our pain of rejection very well.  When we have experienced firsthand the heartache of betrayal in our own lives, it should cause us to deeply empathize with our Savior’s pain when we forsake Him.  The pain we have felt personally should stop us dead in our tracks from the desire to ever deny Christ again.

So should we just all give up because we’re doomed to the fact that we will continually be led away by our selfishness and pride and deny our Lord?  Absolutely not!  The cure for betrayal and denying Christ is for us to obey what Christ calls the “greatest” commandment of all.   Jesus reveals this greatest commandment for us to follow in Matthew 22: 37 “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind.”  Anything short of totally loving God with ALL of our being as Christ commands is to deny Him as Peter, Judas and the other disciples did.  As we see in Peter’s life, God thankfully does not toss us aside and render us useless for His service because we have betrayed Him.  In Scripture we witnessed Peter humble himself before God after he sinned against Him.  Peter saw clearly his wicked sin of betrayal after denying Christ three times, and wept bitterly in remorse over his sin.  God forgave Peter and used him greatly just a short time later when Peter preached to the multitudes and 3,000 souls were saved.   We must also humble ourselves and admit that we’ve traded in our loyalties to Christ for our own selfish sinful motives.  Keeping our heart pure through continual confession of sin will allow our commitment to Christ to reign foremost in our life.  Our loving and forgiving God will also use us to accomplish His purposes even after we have denied Him, when we come to Him and confess our sin of betrayal.  How amazing and awesome our God is to forgive us of so much and use us greatly in spite of our past sin! 

As you reflect on your own thoughts, motives, speech and actions, are you in denial of the fact that you deny Christ at times?  I’m amazed at myself and how I’m so easily swayed into a bad attitude, selfish motives, unkind speech and disobedient actions on a daily basis.   At times I’m unthankful, unyielding and unwilling to always ‘see’ the true amazing power of God at work all around me, every single day.  I’m so much like the Peter in that I ‘claim’ to love and adore my God yet I allow myself to be pulled away from my complete allegiance to Him and desire to exalt my own will and way above God’s ultimate plan for me.  If I have so much work to do in these areas of betraying Christ, maybe you can identify with me as you’re reading this post.  If so, I pray that you will begin to humbly come before God and confess the areas in which you may have betrayed Him.  It’s time for us all to lay down our pride and stop denying our denial of the One who loves us more than anything and gave His life to prove it.

Throw Away the Plastic!

It’s time for radical action.  We need to throw out ALL of the plastic!  No, I’m not implying that we immediately purge our kitchen cupboards of our entire Tupperware collection or refuse to recycle our plastic and just throw it in the garbage instead.   I’m not even referring to cutting our plastic credit cards into little pieces and pitching them so that we won’t ever be tempted to overspend.  The kind of plastic I’m talking about has to do with the fake masks that each of us put on from time to time.

 Every one of us has chosen to wear our shiny little plastic veneers in the presence of others in an effort to look better than we really are.  We work so hard at trying to cover up our imperfections and vulnerabilities so that no one else can ever see the real us.  We’re not comfortable with letting anyone know if we’re hurting inside, stressed out or struggling with a personal or family problem.  The whole practice of hiding our weaknesses or pain from others is disheartening because what we desperately need during difficult times is encouragement, love and support from others who can identify with our pain.  However, we continue to believe the lie that the precious mask we insist on wearing will bring us the respect and admiration of other people in hopes that they will think more highly of us.  The falsehood behind this thinking is that in reality the mask we hold so dear really isn’t beneficial to us at all.  Our plastic most certainly never benefits or encourages anyone else whatsoever.  The only purpose for wearing our perfection mask is to present a false impression that our lives are ideal, we have no problems and that we are better than everyone else.  When other people believe the lie we’ve got it all together then it makes them believe they can never measure up to our false façade.  They also feel that there must be something terribly wrong with them because they aren’t perfect like we are and they’re the only ones struggling.

Where is the most common place that I have observed women sporting these not so attractive plastic masks?  It’s in our churches that I’ve seen many of these masks most commonly being modeled.   What better place to pretend like every area of your life is perfect and problem free than in front of other believer’s right?  We let on like we’re faultless and never mention any battles that we’re facing on the inside for fear of being judged by those who appear sinless.   What in the world does carrying out this sort of make believe scenario actually accomplish? What a terrible thing to feel as if you cannot share your burdens with others because they may look down on you for being less ‘spiritual’ than they are.  If I have learned one thing for certain in my lifetime so far, I’ve never met any human being who is without sin.  In fact, there isn’t anyone who has ever walked the face of the earth who was perfect except Jesus Christ.  The last time I read Romans 3:10 it still said “There is NONE righteous, no not one.”   That means that none of us are perfect and to pretend that we are stems from a heart that is in desperate need of a good spiritual cleaning.

The biggest problem with wearing these masks is that we are ignoring what God instructs us to do in His Word regarding serving others, which is sin.  There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t long deeply in their soul to be encouraged by other people, especially when we are battling sin issues in our life.   We all need to be lifted up and built up by those who are in the body of Christ who are to genuinely love and care for us.  Instead of making people believe that we lead an ideal sinless problem free life by hiding behind those plastic masks, we could actually decide to start being transparent from now on.  We could actually begin talking about how we struggle so we can help others with what God has taught us because every human being struggles with something.  

We see time and time again in Scripture that it is our responsibility to love, encourage, support and build each other up.  If we neglect these commands from God then we are choosing to be disobedient to Him.  Our Creator designed us in such a way that we crave the love, support, comfort, and encouragement from other believers.   I Thessalonians 5:11 shows us that we are to “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another…”   I believe so many of us in our churches are failing miserably in this specific area.  God teaches us in Galatians 6:2 that we are to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”  James 5:16 says for us to “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another…”   We cannot obey these commands to love, encourage, pray for and serve others when we refuse to remove our “holier than thou” plastic mask.

So why is that we insist on holding tight to those fake masks that God never intended for us to wear in the first place?  It is most definitely our pride that motivates us to put on those plastic masks every week.  It is our pride that fuels our need to cover up our sin.  God never planned for His people to go around acting like they were perfect but to encourage others in the things that God has been teaching us.   One of my favorite passages of Scripture that I absolutely love is Psalm 51 where King David pours out his soul to God in his prayer of confession for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.  I can identify with King David in so many ways.  God lovingly placed David’s account of repentance and forgiveness in Scripture as an example for each of us to follow.  What if David had learned all of those lessons about God and His great mercy, love and forgiveness but decided not to share any of it with anyone else?  The sin that we deal with and what God teaches us along the way is extremely valuable and can be used by God to work in other people’s lives to encourage them in their walk.  In Psalm 51:13 David talks about sharing what God has taught him with others.  “Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will be converted to you.”   We’ve all heard the saying “Christians certainly aren’t perfect, they are just forgiven.”  This is extremely important to remember when we’re tempted to put on those plastic masks.

 Do we truly desire to continue wasting this earthly life with empty shallow relationships devoid of any deep spiritual meaning at all?  Are we completely satisfied with surface acquaintances we see once or twice a week as we greet them with our plastic smiles?  When everyone is busy pretending to be sinless, we will never enjoy the true biblical fellowship that God intended us to experience with others.  We waste time focusing our conversations on more surface issues, discussing things that don’t really matter for eternity.  I don’t know about you, but I long for deep lasting friendships with ladies that I can be myself with and talk about what I’m struggling with.  I now have developed several of those amazing friendships and I praise God every day for those ladies.  Life has more meaning and purpose when you have established godly relationships with others based on love, support, encouragement, transparency, and godly admonition.  It’s definitely time for all of us to reach deeper beyond the surface and live richer more abundant lives making a greater difference and impact for the cause of Christ.  This will never become reality if we continue refusing to throw away our plastic.

I know personally all about hiding behind a plastic mask because I wore my little mask everywhere I went for years.  I polished it extra clean and shiny before I ever entered through the doors of our church building each week.  I really believed that my mask was so convincing that it could even fool God.  I thought if I pretended enough and went through the motions of the Christian life on the outside that it would be enough to get me by but we can NEVER ever deceive God.  We may be able to con everyone around us but God won’t ever be snowballed by our outward actions. Our Creator is the only One who truly sees the exact condition of our inner heart.  There were times in my rebellious state that I even neglected to bring my Bible with me to services because I didn’t want to have to carry it, but boy I never forgot to wear my mask!  It brings me to tears to think of how spiritually apathetic I was that I even fell asleep during church services often because I thought it was boring, but at least I had my mask on.  Over the years, my kids were constant observers of my superficial motives and how I simply went through the motions of the Christian life.  I can’t even begin to explain to you the devastating effect our prideful hypocrisy as parents has on our children.  We’re only condemning our children to a life of plastic masks when they see us modeling insincerity and dishonesty to others.  I’m thankful that my radical heart change which caused me to throw away my plastic has paved the way for my kids to refuse to be plastic recyclers.   

I’m not saying that getting rid of the masks will be easy or that we should even expect everyone to participate.  Sadly, some will never humble themselves and remove their masks.   If we go before God in the spirit of humility, He will transform our hearts in ways that we never dreamed would be possible.  I choose not wear my plastic mask anymore, I finally placed my sin of pride under the blood of Jesus and asked for forgiveness for exalting myself and my will above God’s will for me.   This requires an ongoing process of confessing my sin of pride and asking my heavenly Father to teach me to be more like Christ.  I can’t even explain how wonderful and freeing it is to be transparent and open with others about the sin I’ve dealt with and continue to deal with.  I am done worrying about what other people think of me, I now choose to concentrate on what my Savior thinks and knows of my true heart motives.   Yes, I’ve gotten some wide eyed looks the first time I meet someone and begin telling them about how God has worked in my life regarding my sin.  Most Christians don’t even feel comfortable talking about sin anymore because they might have to relate to someone on a deeper level than they’re used to.  And they certainly would never want to expose their own sin struggles to anyone else because of their pride.  The fact that Christians often ignore the subject of sin even in our churches must make our Enemy pretty happy because we’re playing right into his plan.

What would happen this Sunday if none of us wore our masks?  I believe that being real about our sin would actually lead to revival in some of the churches where people play the “perfection” game every week.  Maybe you could be the first to take off your mask in your ladies group and start an amazing work of the Holy Spirit in your church.  Are you willing to follow Christ’s commands to be pure in heart and see God do awesome things in your life?   In this world where so much of the ‘real’ has been replaced with fake plastic, let us all rise up and come together in an effort to rid ourselves of the plastic masks and be the women God has called us to be.   No more plastic!

Don't Ever Say "I Love You..."

Do not tell someone you love them if you are impatient with them and do not demonstrate gentleness and thoughtfulness towards them, for true biblical love is longsuffering and kind.

Don’t claim you love someone if your actions reveal jealousy or boastfulness because real love does not envy and is not conceited in any way.

Don’t even utter the words “I love you” to another person if your heart is full of pride and you’re rude and offensive to them.  Genuine love demonstrates the humility of Christ and is not insulting to others whatsoever.

Don’t declare your love for another person if you are selfish and insist on having your own way.  Authentic love is never self-centered, self-seeking or egotistically focused.

Do not say you love someone other than yourself if you are irritable or resentful.  The perfect example of love modeled by God in His Word is in no way angry, bitter or easily offended.

Don’t proclaim love for another human being if you are unforgiving and rejoice at the wrongs others have done.  Biblical love does not delight in the failures of others and keeps no record of past sin.

In other words, we cannot truly say “I love you” to our spouse, our children, our family, or our friends if any of the above characteristics are the least bit evident in our attitudes, conversation or actions.  When impatience, rudeness, jealousy, pride, irritability, unforgiveness, and bitterness are detected in our lives, it simply mirrors the condition of our inner heart for all those around us to see, even if we are blinded to it.  This is a dangerous state of heart and mind and must be taken care of right away before it causes more destruction. 

When my husband and I were married 24 years ago this month, we received many very nice wedding gifts.  Picnic baskets seemed to be an extremely popular gift back then because I believe we received six or seven of them.  Out of all of the beautiful presents our loved ones bestowed upon us as we began our new life together, a gift that has remained one of our favorites is a beautiful cross stitch of I Corinthians 13.  As a newly married couple, my husband and I took pleasure in hanging it directly above our couch to serve as a great reminder to us of what “genuine” love looks like.   I distinctly recall reading through this passage of Scripture many times as it hung on our wall during the years I was feeding our babies late at night.  Those verses were especially convicting to me as I tried to ignore them during the times when my husband I were engaged in strong disagreement for the first several years of marriage.  I remember thinking to myself, ‘How in the world would anyone ever be able to live up to those Scripture verses about love!’  I thought it would be impossible to possess that kind of amazing love for someone, unless of course you were married to the ‘perfect’ person.  Thankfully I finally figured out that the ‘perfect’ spouse doesn’t exist.

As you can clearly see, I had the wrong perspective!  I was selfish and wanted my own way many times.  I was prideful and easily offended.  I was jealous and impatient with the fact that my husband didn’t totally understand everything about me and meet my every need.  I was an unforgiving and bitter person.  To be totally transparent with you, I used to keep a special notebook of ALL of the hurtful things my husband said or did to me so I wouldn’t forget them. What’s even MORE embarrassing is that I kept one for my sister too because I thought she was way too forgiving!  Can anyone else identify with me on this?  I was completely blinded to my own sin and pride so that I could spend all of my time concentrating fully on my husband’s sin.  Okay, by now you are realizing how messed up I really was!  I had absolutely NO concept of TRUE biblical love whatsoever. 

If I had continued to remain prideful and refused to humble myself before God, I believe that my marriage would not have survived for many more years!  My self-seeking bitter heart would have eventually destroyed every relationship in my life if left alone to fester and further poison my heart.   Praise God for the Holy Spirit’s conviction of my sin through the preaching of His Word and the healing restoration that our confession of sin brings to our soul.  I John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins, He is FAITHFUL to FORGIVE us our sins and to CLEANSE us from ALL unrighteousness.”   God’s forgiveness made possible only through Jesus’ blood purifies us from absolutely EVERYTHING we’ve done wrong, but it can only begin with bowing in humility on our part.

I now possess a deeper understanding of how you can love someone else with this biblical kind of love.  If God can transform my ugly heart by allowing me to better grasp the love of Christ and how to demonstrate His love to other people, then He can change anyone!  Humility is the key to possessing this authentic biblical love described for us in the “love” chapter.  We can continue to claim to love our spouse, our children, our friends and our family members but if our definition of love doesn’t match up with God’s definition, then we don’t truly love anyone other than ourselves.

I Corinthians 13: 4-13 

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;^{[a] 6} it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The next time you think about expressing your love to someone else by saying “I love you”, I challenge you to first compare your attitudes, actions and the words you choose to speak with God’s version of love demonstrated clearly in First Corinthians 13.  We can claim to be loving people who truly care about others, but the proof of our love will be evident to everyone around us. God also tells us at the beginning of I Corinthians 13 that we can have ALL knowledge and possess ALL faith, we can give ALL of our possessions to feed the poor and even become a martyr for Christ, BUT if we do not possess authentic love for others, we are absolutely NOTHING! 

How sad that many of us are personally missing the mark when it comes to showing biblical love! We are wasting precious time that passes way too quickly by remaining self absorbed, self centered, and self seeking. How will we ever influence anyone for Christ if the only love we demonstrate to others is the love we have for ourselves?  How about you, would others say the love you proclaim for them matches up with God’s definition of biblical love?  If not, now is the time for change! 

Savor the Handprints

 

There was a time in my life when as soon as I noticed any handprints on the windows or glass doors in our home that I quickly grabbed the Windex bottle and promptly cleaned them off.  After all, there’s not a mother alive that enjoys seeing kids smear their handprints all over clear shiny glass, right?  But as I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed that my standards have loosened regarding all of the smudges I see left behind.  I knew something strange was happening to me several months ago when my sister and three of her kids stayed at our home.  Their youngest little daughter was about 18 months old at the time and she really seemed to enjoy playing peek a boo next to our glass French doors.  After they left to go home, I was cleaning up around the house and distinctly remember walking past the doors where my sweet little niece had been playing.  It brought me joy to discover that her handprints were all over the glass.  My heart was warmed so much that a little part of her still remained for me to enjoy that I couldn’t bring myself to clean the smudges off.  What in the world was happening to me?
 
I truly believe at that very moment that God was revealing to me one of His tiniest blessings to savor. It was sad for me to realize that I’d missed out on “seeing” those handprints as special occurrences over the years as our kids were growing up.  When it comes to our spiritual lives, many times we’re totally blinded to the amazing handprints that God lovingly leaves behind for us to enjoy. Often we may only notice the more substantial blessings He bestows on us and tend to overlook the tiny details He has orchestrated together for our good and for His glory.  No matter what stage in life we may be going through, it’s never too late for us to finally open our eyes to God’s divine handprints all around us.

As my husband and I are nearing our 24^th wedding anniversary this next month, I recently revisited in my mind all of the amazing details of how God brought us together almost a quarter of a century ago.  I look back and marvel at how all of the pieces of our love story fit perfectly together, just as if it had all been planned by a sovereign Creator.  Here are some of the interesting details of how God began to knit our lives together years before we even met.

1)  In the spring of 1987 at the Youth Conference at Faith Baptist Bible College, Richard recalls seeing me because I attended the youth banquet with one of his friends.  I was sixteen years old.

2)  In the spring of 1988, as a senior in high school attending the Youth Conference once again, I noticed Richard for the first time and almost fainted because he was extremely handsome and wore a suit!  I found out he was actually a Youth Pastor who had brought his teen group to attend the conference as well.

3)  In the fall of 1988, my freshman year at Faith, I briefly dated a nice young man who I found out was one of the teens in Richard’s youth group the year before.  At Faith’s college break, this guy went back home and told his Youth Pastor Richard all about me and thought he had found his wife already.

4)  I became very close to my resident advisor in the dorms who was giving me special insight on Richard because she had actually dated him right before me.

5)  I’d been writing letters to a guy in high school who I later found out was a friend of Richard’s as they grew up in the same area in Nebraska.  This young man was able to give Richard special insight on what kind of person I was.

6)  On November 1^st, 1988, Richard’s friend that had been writing me finally introduced Richard and me in the college cafeteria.  That same guy drove me two hours to go on my first date with Richard and was our chaperone for the weekend.  Of course we included him in some of our special wedding photos 8 months later.

7)  When I gave Richard my family’s address back home where I grew up, he thought it sounded very familiar.  It turned out that he had actually been sending letters to the girl that lived in my house long before I moved there, about 8 years earlier.  My bedroom was in the very room where she wrote her letters to MY future husband.  How many times does that happen?

8)  As a Youth Pastor, Richard had attended a conference in Indiana a few years before we met.  He thought my last name sounded familiar at the time when we were introduced.  He figured out that he had stayed at the very same home as my uncle during that conference.  Richard enjoyed visiting with my uncle and getting to know the family he’d eventually be marrying into.

Just in case you haven’t realized it yet, God cares about every microscopic detail about His children.  So much so that in Matthew 10:30 we are told, “And even the very hairs on our head are numbered.”  Our Creator knew each of us before we were even born and fashioned our bodies into existence.  Psalm 139:13 says, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  I absolutely love Psalm 34:8 which says, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good…” because our Amazing God is extremely good to us and gives us “exceedingly abundantly above ALL that we ask or think.”(Ephesians 3:20)  God deeply loves us and longs to bless us more than we can ever imagine.  He also greatly rewards those who delight in His goodness.  Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourselves also in the Lord: and He will give you the desires of your heart.”   We need to greatly praise and thank our sovereign God for all of the many ways He touches our lives with His divine handprints.

 If you desire to be truly blessed, I challenge you to take some time to recall all of the little details that God has pieced together in your life. God not only desires for us to see Him working in the more visible things, He also wants us to look close enough to notice the smaller handprints He leaves behind for our good.  We are to share these visible “handprints” with others and encourage them to look for God’s touches in their story as well.   I will never look at handprints the same as I once did and I’m learning to be more careful to savor them.  Now that I have been blessed to be called ‘Grandma’, I do believe I will cherish those tiny precious handprints in a way I never have before.  

 If you come to visit my home sometime, do not be surprised if you see some smudges and smears on my lower windows.  It only means that I’m taking the time to finally focus more fully on ALL of the little blessings my heavenly Father has given me.  How about you?  Do you stop and take the time to savor the handprints God has left behind on your life?  Too many times we are quick to rush over and wipe the smudges clean without giving thought to taking delight in the very One who put them there.  God is unfathomably good!

Hoarders of a Different Kind

 In 24 years of marriage my husband and I have moved our family with all of our earthly possessions to 13 different locations. Although I actually do enjoy many parts of moving, the one facet I extremely dislike is the whole packing process. While packing things up, it is very difficult to keep the house clean and once the boxes are full and taped up, where in the world do you put them all to maintain any sense of order? It seems as if boxes and totes end up lining almost every wall in the house before moving day making it very difficult to even find a path to walk through. We usually need to begin packing several weeks ahead of time, which leaves us living in a very crowded and cluttered space for WAY too long!

Anyone who knows me well can vouch for the fact that I do NOT do well in a cluttered environment. I begin to have some peculiar symptoms when everything is messy and out of place. I have difficulty breathing, become completely drained of all my energy and feel extremely stressed out. Many times while packing to move, I just wanted to roll up in a ball and laugh and cry all at the same time. Trust me, the adverse effects clutter has on me is definitely not a pretty sight!   

A few months ago while packing up our farm to move, I strongly felt the need to overemphasize to any visitors stopping by that we were really NOT like the ‘hoarders’ you see on t.v. and we were not ready to sign on for our own episode on the cable network.  Feeling overwhelmed as I stared at the boxes stacked nearly from floor to ceiling everywhere, I was often tempted to reveal my “TRUE” status regarding ALL of our clutter on facebook.  Thankfully I had enough sense at the time to stop myself!  I told my husband that if I was ever kidnapped by terrorists, the best form of torture they could inflict on me is to hold me hostage in a messy cluttered house for awhile.  Eventually I would go crazy in that environment and most assuredly tell them anything they’d want to know.  By now you’ve gotten the drift that I have a strong aversion to having clutter in my home, but boy did I ever used to enjoy collecting massive amounts of clutter in my heart!  For years I was definitely a hoarder of a different kind, a hoarder of hurts.  

From the time I was very young I collected and packed away all of the rude things anyone ever said or did to me.  I not only carefully boxed up those offenses like you would a fragile Mikasa vase or family heirloom, I taped them completely shut and piled them around every available corner of my heart.  I never overlooked, never forgave and never cleaned out any of that nasty clutter.  Wow, was I ever miserable inside!  I know from experience that collecting that kind of clutter is extremely bad for you, not to mention the damaging effects it has on everyone else around you.  Bitterness is like a virus that has the potential to unknowingly infect the people you come in contact with.  We are warned in Hebrews 12:15 about how our bitterness can easily spread to others, “Looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any ‘root of bitterness’ springing up causes trouble, and by this many become defiled.”  My hoarding of hurts not only caused A LOT of trouble in my life, it almost destroyed my relationship with my husband, other family members and most importantly with my God.  The deception from Satan sounds perfectly rational to us because we believe the lie that we can punish our offenders by holding them captive by our unforgiveness.  In reality, WE are the ones that end up being locked up and held prisoner to our own bitterness and suffer the horrible consequences! 

If we continue hurt hoarding for any length of time, our thoughts, attitudes and actions are poisoned with the stench of our pride and selfishness.  No one enjoys being around us for very long because a bitter person is neither pretty nor pleasant.  That nasty bitterness will also begin to permeate our speech and how we talk to others.  It’s extremely sad, but the damaging effects of words spoken to others from a bitter heart can never be completely erased.  Those destructive words we choose to speak pierce the hearts our spouses, family and friends like poisonous arrows.  In Proverbs we see how powerful our tongues can be.  Proverbs 18:21 shows this significance, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.”  In fact, there is absolutely NO area in our lives that our bitterness will NOT leave untouched and eventually destroy.  We are witnessing that widespread destruction in Christian marriages today in part because one or both spouses have unresolved conflicts from hoarding hurts, which leads to bitterness.  We will ultimately experience the outward tragic effects from willfully CHOOSING not to forgive offenses.  This is one of the biggest and most effective tools that our enemy Satan uses to destroy us as women!  

If the medical community knew an outbreak of a highly contagious poisonous disease was primarily targeting women and destroying their health, EVERY media outlet available would be warning the public of its dangers.  We’d all want to learn about the precautionary measures we’d need to follow to avoid this terrible illness no matter what the cost.  If we had already contracted this deadly virus, we'd surely be desperate to find out the cure for it.  That’s the sole reason why I’m writing this blog post about hoarding hurts!  I’ve seen in my own life, the destruction that the virus of bitterness will bring.  I’m passionate about warning women of the disastrous consequences of refusing to forgive others.  

The Great physician, Jesus, has lovingly given us the precautionary measures we need to follow to avoid the virus of bitterness from infiltrating our lives.  Bitterness is actually not only an epidemic mainly affecting women, we need to be aware that it’s spreading at pandemic proportions because Satan uses it to attack ALL people whether male or female.  The only remedy and hope Christ provides as a cure for this pandemic outbreak affecting all of humanity is called ‘FORGIVENESS’ which He so graciously modeled through His sacrifice on the cross.  It’s simply our choice whether to follow Christ’s own example and be blessed or completely ignore what He teaches in His Word and eventually endure the devastating consequences.  Keeping all of those fragile boxes full of our hurts, taping them shut and piling them up until we are completely blinded is exactly what Satan has planned for us.

If we know that Satan wants our destruction, then why do we choose to make ourselves suffer miserably by following the path of unforgiveness rather than living the life of freedom, joy and peace that God has provided?  The answer to this question lies in the fact that we are prideful and we do not FULLY comprehend the amazing and awesome significance of Jesus shedding His own precious blood on the cross so that WE can have forgiveness for OUR filthy sins.  Isn’t it ironically heartrending how WE expect others to forgive US for our faults BUT we CHOOSE to collect and hoard the offenses that others commit against us?

God deeply loves us and shows us in His written Word how to live a life full of His blessings.  This is why He reminds us over and over in Scripture to be tenderhearted and forgive others.  Ephesians 4:32 tells us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as even Christ for God’s sake has forgiven you.”  God also tells us that we shouldn’t plan on Him forgiving our sins if we choose not to forgive others.  Matthew 6:14-15 says, “For if you do forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  BUT if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  This concept shows us that the forgiveness we extend to others is completely and directly correlated to whether or not our sins are forgiven by our Creator. 

I’ve learned that whether its clutter we’re collecting from material possessions in our homes or in our spiritual lives by hoarding hurts, it only brings chaos and confusion never peace.  Are you living the amazing joy filled life that Jesus died to give you or do you have cluttered areas where you’re selfishly hoarding hurtful offenses from others?  It’s a life altering choice each of us must make every minute of every hour of every day. I now willfully choose to live the clutter free life, absolutely no more hoarding!  How about you?

Helpless, Hopeless, & Slightly Hazardous

 

What do gas stations, diesel trucks and me all have in common?   This unlikely trio is the perfect environment for continual lessons of review in humility, patience, flexibility and learning total dependence on God.  Because of our pride at times in thinking we can rely on ourselves, God allows us to go through situations to remind us of where our source of strength really comes from.  In an attempt to lead us to total trust and reliance on Him, God will sovereignly place events in our lives that will teach us WHO is ultimately in control.  Okay, I admit it!  On my own I am helpless, hopeless and sometimes slightly hazardous. 

A few nights ago I had the opportunity to fellowship with a dear sweet friend for a few hours.  I’m thankful for the times God allows us to visit because she is such a constant source of joy, wisdom and encouragement to me.  We had been in discussion about how God doesn’t waste anything we go through but uses every single situation that we encounter in our lives to teach us and then equip us to minister to others.  Our Father also desires for us to learn and grow closer in our dependence on Him through those unexpected bumps in the road.  Little did I know that I was headed straight for another one of those ‘learning situations’ just a few short minutes after my friend and I said goodbye. 

While driving home from the church my son reminded me that we needed to get gas in our truck. I’m extremely thankful for his promptings because I have to admit that I rarely think about checking the gas gauge.  And after the “putting wrong gas in our diesel truck” incident from several months ago, Lord willing I will always remember that NOT every gas station carries diesel fuel.  Once we found the right gas station, it was already about 11:30 pm.  I then got out to help our teen son with fueling up the truck.  The boys claimed that they were extremely thirsty and pointed out the fact that the fountain drinks were on sale for 79 cents.  I usually encourage them to wait until we get home for a drink, but for some reason I agreed to treat them this time.  We finished getting fuel and I grabbed my purse from the truck as we all proceeded inside the gas station.  Trying to avoid any drinks with red dye 40 in them, we found some suitable beverages and checked out at the counter.  We finished paying and I went to grab my keys so we could finally leave and go home.  They weren’t where I usually try to put them, but that doesn’t always mean they aren’t in my purse.  Sometimes I lose things in there for weeks, but the missing items eventually do turn up. I believe for this very reason, our oldest son while growing up lovingly referred to my large purse as the ‘endless abyss’.  After searching for a few minutes for my keys, our teen son went out to the truck to see if I had left them in the ignition.  Indeed, he could see by looking through the window that the keys were locked safely inside our truck! 

Of course I knew I'd eventually need to call my husband to inform him once again of what was going on at the gas station. Whenever I get myself into these sort of crazy situations, I always begin my conversation with, “Don’t worry Richard, we are still alive and well.  We have not been in an accident and we are safe and okay.”  I think he has learned from that point what to expect from the rest of this type of conversation.  My goal is to help him remember to be extra thankful that we are okay, and that this tiny little incident is not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of life. Of course, he has been quite understanding each time and only wants us to be safe but I’m covering all of my bases just in case.

Okay, I’m being totally transparent and admitting that I’m really not an independent person.  For this very reason I believe God sovereignly knew I needed to get married two days after my 19^th birthday.  My husband is seven years older than me and very much the opposite of me, which is exactly how God planned it.  He is usually aware of what is happening around him, knows where he is going, doesn’t get lost while driving and doesn’t usually forget things.  If my personality is the exact opposite of those characteristics, then you’ve guessed it; I don’t always pay attention to everything that’s going on and I don’t always know where I’m going.  I’m directionally challenged and get lost on a regular basis while driving.  I tend to get distracted easily and don’t always remember things.  You are probably wondering how I am able to even get along in life?   Well, the simple answer is that I am dependent and I realize that I need lots of help.   Don’t get me wrong, I have other God given strengths and qualities that my Creator uses to glorify Him and serve others but I must admit I have many weak areas that I seriously need help with.  I believe that in our marriages, families and churches today we have gotten so caught up with the world’s philosophy and mentality of “I can do it all on my own”, that we don’t even realize that we do need each other’s help and support.  We’ve gotten away from closely knitting ourselves together in our relationships. We’ve drifted away from sharing our needs and vulnerabilities with others because we want to appear to be able to fine on our own without anyone else’s help.  

Because we all like to believe that we are totally self sufficient, we often depend on our own human ability to handle life's situations . We must come to the realization that we just don’t have the strength and wisdom it takes to solve all of our problems.  We must remember the reality that we are not independent and we cannot do anything apart from God.  Jesus says in John 15:5 “ I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing.”  No matter how big or small your trial may seem, God always has one goal for His children.  Our loving Father wants us on our knees in prayer of adoration and praise to Him, trusting and depending on His sovereign will and plan for this life He has given us.  Apart from this, we CANNOT expect to be blessed by God when we are trusting in our own human abilities or intellect.  Our power and strength come from admitting we are weak, powerless and absolutely nothing with our Savior.  In our weakness we can rest assured that Christ will always show His strength.  We see in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”

I’m thankful to God that our gas station story has a happy ending.  I’m learning that we must always look for the beneficial reasons for why God may have allowed a situation to come into our lives. The blessings from our little escapade actually turned out to be numerous!  We were able to witness the kindness of the gas station attendant who gave us a free box full of donuts to take home, which the boys were extra thankful for.  I was able to share with the man about how God answers my prayers every time these kinds of things happen.   I got to spend quality time talking with our boys about the importance of flexibility and patience during these kind of situations.  We were thankful that we only had to wait only an hour and thirty minutes for the tow truck to come and unlock our door for us.  I also knew that God wanted me to share what He was teaching me through this situation with others through this blog.  No matter what happens in this life, we always need to look for the things we have to be thankful for.

Our sovereign God is Amazing!  I praise and thank Him for His love and patient reminders that He is always there for me as my source of power to accomplish what He has for me to do.  I am extremely grateful that I never need to rely on my own meager strength to accomplish anything.  Apart from God’s power, I’m a miserable failure and I’m okay with that. He continues to work daily on me by stripping away my pride and bringing me to my knees in humility. God’s strength is always perfect even though in my own strength I am helpless, hopeless and sometimes have the potential to be a little hazardous.