Jesus said...

Good morning my sisters-

Do you ever feel confused on what we deserve or should have, over what is real?  In America, I know it can be very confusing.  We are sanctioned as the Christian Nation, really?  Hasn't anyone looked around.  We are very liberal with not a ton of Christian values.  Organizations that say they stand by Christ are falling off because they are afraid of division or worse law suits.  Okay, I get the fact you don't want to be sued.  But what about division? Are we going to carry the cross or are we going to move with culture?

More and more, I hear things like, "I deserve happiness, all I want to do is be wealthy and all my problems will be over, or life shouldn't be this hard."  In my heart I totally agree, all these things would be wonderful but never did Jesus say being a Christian would be easy or that life would hold all our hearts desires.  If that were the case, Christ would not have walked down a long road with a cross on His back.  Remember, someone had to carry it for Him because He was so weak from the beating.  Now I know that women don't like to hear these things because we are full of feelings but reality dictates that we must understand that our lives were not given for ease or worry of division.  Our focus must always been on the words of Jesus.

 Part of why I have spoken of prayer so fervently is so that we will wash our desires and our misconceptions out of our minds and put on the full armour of Christ.  Prayer and the word will guide all of our decisions.  More importantly, prayer will write our wishy washy hearts that tend to go toward our feelings and not what is right.  I love having a heart because it loves others.  I love praying for people because that heart gets wide but if I let my heart take over completely, I will steer more toward the world than to Christ's words.  We can't let that happen.  As warriors and sisters in The Lord we must protect the Word, believe it and begin to right our minds to the truth and not be deceived.  The world will split in two someday.  It already is.  There are those that are following the cross and those that believe Christians are evil, wrong and illusioned.  This is real.  I don't care where you live, this is what people believe so get used to it.   We are blessed when our hearts yearn to know what Jesus said, not what we hope for.

For the next couple of weeks, I'm going to write about Jesus said.  Hopefully this will be our guide into the year and help us get closer to Him as we get close to Easter.  Be well my sisters!

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:1-12 NIV)      

My prayer today:

O, Lord right our hearts toward your desires and not ours.  Give us strength to fight the good fight with compassion and heart.  Let us not be like the Pharisees. Give us wisdom to align our thoughts with yours. You are mighty!  I want all my sisters to see the greatness of believing Your words and following the cross.