Wednesday, June 30, 2010

*** "Do you want to be made well?" *** (John 5:6)

"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Gentle "Keeper"
The Lord is such a "Gentleman"... He slowly; gently lifts us from our "sleep." For many He knows time is of the essence. Some are in a dream state. Others have yet to forget their nightmare left behind; there in that dark hell. The Lord well knows their pain and shame hidden deep down in that pitted well. The Lord is gentle... He is kind and will allow them more time. For He is the Keeper! He holds Time in HiS Great & Gentle Hands!! He holds each tear... knows when it falls and He always Hears us when (WE) His Dear Child calls out from our "sleep!"

"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love."
***Enjoy this "Mighty" message courtesy of Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ

Rescued-2-Save
JKEST-Vicki


Monday, June 28, 2010

"Marriage Matters" Monday #8: Love is not Jealous

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." (Romans 12:15)

Jealousy such a controversial word. The world may say, "Your just jealous of me!" Why are we not appalled! It seems to be an accepted phrase in society. Why is it OK to "try and make" someone jealous!? I believe this may be the rift cause of ruin in many marriages and other relationships. The Bible is clear on it's stance of jealousy.

Jealousy is a driving force; an intense emotion. It derives from the root word for zeal; it means "to burn with an intense fire." (Prov. 27:4) states "Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy."

There are actually 2 very different forms of jealousy: Legitimate jealousy is based upon Love. Illegitimate jealousy is based on envy. If you love someone you want what's best for them. It is never appropriate to purposely cause another person to feel jealous. Keep this in mind... open communication is key!

With the new era of many electronic forms of communication there are many ways too create jealousy. Determine if whoever you communicate with is helping your relationship or driving a wedge!?
It is essential you both have positive outlets; but keep balance and communicate openly with each other. If one of you feels jealousy for any reason, it is important to discuss why your feeling how you do right away. If not these "feelings" can soon turn toxic to yourself and your relationship.

Do you appreciate and enjoy the "successes" of your spouse!? Do you bask in the "glow" or cast a "shadow" over them? Do you have feelings of being "unsuccessful" right now? If so where are those feelings coming from? It could be a "form" of jealousy. You may feel others have a "better" job or "house"; or that their kids behave far more better than yours. That is what happens when were not content with what we have. The envy monster has been allowed to creep in; and you never even realized it! So when is jealousy an OK feeling to have...

The Bible clearly tells us "the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" (Deuteronomy 4:24) He is not jealous "of us"... as in envy. He has no reason to want what we have, since He owns it all including... "the cattle on a thousand hills" (Psalm 50:10) It's just that He deeply "longs" for us, He wants us to keep him #1 in our life as our 1st love. He doesn't want us to let anything into our hearts such as (jealous envy) to corrupt us. He doesn't want us to worship any other "gods"... meaning people, things, thoughts. Anything that consumes us, takes our time and attention away from HiM! He wants us to have a healthy relationship with our spouse.

Let love, humility and gratefulness destroy any envious jealous feelings in your heart. Praise your mates successes; allowing them to draw you nearer to each other. Become your spouse's #1 Biggest Fan! Reject any thoughts of jealousy. Begin to turn your heart toward your spouse. Focus on them and their achievements.

*** Love Dare*** If you did previous Dare #7 you will have 2 lists of positive and negative attributes of your mate. Now is the time to destroy the negative list... Burn it or ? Whatever way you can to completely destroy it. Then share how glad you are about a recent success or positive attribute about your mate.
*Encourage your mate to go forward toward future successes. No success is too small when achieved for HiS Kingdom!!!

"Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire." (Song of Solomon 8:6)

For HiS Kingdom,
JKEST-Vicki

Friday, June 25, 2010

Fruit-filled Fri. #8: Gentleness (Gal. 5:23)

"And be kind to one another, tenderhearted {compassionate; gentle} forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)

Def. gentleness- kindly, not severe, rough or violent; mild
Synonyms: peaceful: soothing; tender, humane, lenient, merciful. Gentle,meek, mild... refer to an absence of bad temper or belligerence.
Gentle has reference esp. to disposition and behaviour, and often suggests a deliberate or voluntary kindness or forbearance in dealing with others.
Meek implies a submissive spirit, and may even indicate undue submission in the face of insult or injustice.
Mild suggests absence of harshness or severity, rather because of natural character or temperament than conscious choice.
Antonyms: harsh, cruel; violent, sudden; wild, unruly

Being gentle is part of God's character and this virtue is highly treasured by God; as (1 Peter 3:4) states "the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit... is of great worth and so precious in God's sight." Jesus is the epitome of gentleness!

Gens- (beginning of gentle) means belonging together by birth
Other words that begin with Gen. happen to be... Genesis- book of beginnings, generations, genealogy; think of good birth or family; respectable; also genetic and genes. All meaning root or beginning of. Essentially, we can all lay claim to be from the same "genetic" background; if you claim God as your gentle Father! Gentlemen and Gentlewomen reflect their Godly source. May it be true of us all. May we be as sweet as the water of the well from which we spring.

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, Nothing so gentle as strength... under control! If you could put it in a bottle and sell it you'd make a fortune. Gentleness is a virtue, a gift we give to each other. How then are we to live (2 Timothy 2:24) states "A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone; be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people."

Jesus himself lays out a perfect example of gentleness in (John 8:1-11) I encourage you to read it for yourself! I will simply summarize. A Woman caught in Adultery... the law stated she be stoned; really she was used as a trap for Jesus... Jesus was gentleness to a T... while ignoring accusers he wrote in the dust with his finger. When he finally spoke... "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone." (conviction took over) as they left one by one. Jesus was left standing with the woman. "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." We are called to be "Jesus like." We are to deal with our accusers and sinners... in the same way!

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near; {and coming soon"} (Philippians 4:5)

JKEST Blessings,
Vicki








Friday, June 18, 2010

Fruit Filled Fri. #7: Faithfulness (Gal. 5:22)

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His faithful love endures forever." (Psalm 136:1-2)

I found it to be rather fitting to be blogging about faithfulness... 2 days before Father's Day!! One thing is certain... we ALL have a father... we also have his blood (scientific fact). How much he's in involved in our upbringing is another matter. No matter your feelings toward your earthly father; whether he's faithfully in your life or not. We all have "One Faithful Father"... He is Our Heavenly Father... to those who accept and chose to have a relationship with HiM!!!

As with all of the fruits of the Spirit, God Himself is the model we must study for examples of faithfulness to encourage us to trust and to emulate Him. The faithfulness of God is a familiar phrase to those of a religious mind, but its depth and scope are probably not as familiar.

Faith is an often used word in our everyday language. We say "I have faith in you"... Meaning I believe in you; that you can do it. But, is it the person you should believe in or the God who created them?! Is it not He who allows the person to complete or accomplish the task given?! Obviously we are not responsible for our own existence. Our parents had to have some "faith" in regards to our conception. In other words we are all created by the same "act" of our parents coming together! We are all carried in our mother's womb for approx. the same amount of time. We all enter into the world only one of two ways. This all takes "Faith" for the many parties involved.

We ultimately all come from one Father... yet many choose not to acknowledge HiM! Instead choosing to place their faith in themselves. They believe they can make it in this life "on their own." Yes, clearly it is our own choice. (Joshua 24:15) states, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,... But as for me and my (family), we will serve the Lord." Some put faith in their jobs, $MoneY$, HomeS, Spouse, and even children. The Bible clearly states, "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." (1 Tim. 6:7)
God's faithfulness is proclaimed throughout the entire book of Psalm. Just one example is Psalm Ch. 117 "Praise, the Lord, all you nations, extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever...

Many times in life, we may want to turn away from God instead of turning toward Him. No matter what, "He is faithful even when were not"... He remains the same... never changing. We move away from Him. He stays right there waiting for us to come back to Him.

Faithfulness is part of the marriage contract. So also with God. Faithfulness is not an option we choose. God expects us to be faithful to Him, and He seeks men and women who will live so as to consistently carry out His will. When we are too weak to have any faith left, He remains faithful to us. His Faithfulness is Ceaseless.

Faithfully Yours,
JKEST-Vicki

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Enjoy this hymn from Selah!!
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJHao_5N9d8&feature=related

Monday, June 14, 2010

"Marriage Matters Mon." #7: Love believes & Appreciates the Best!

[Love] believes all things, hopes all things. (1Corinthians 13:7)



In accounting, Appreciation of an asset is an increase in its value. So to appreciate a human being is to make them more valuable as a person. They will feel more valued and become more valuable in your own eyes. Depreciation has the reverse effect, it measures the fall in value of assets over their normal life-time.

Just as driving a car off the car lot immediately causes depreciation to begin... the same thing can happen in marriages and other "close" relationships. This is often a sad reality! It can affect not just married couples, but also children and their parents or even sibling relationships. Many times we don't put the effort into said relationships as we once did. The appreciation for each other has grown to a depreciation in terms of value. What may once have been a golden cherished relationship has been allowed to tarnish and rust away. Suddenly, we no longer keep in touch! We may have allowed "good memories" to become clouded by one or two bad memories or feelings. Unforgiveness on the part of either or perhaps both parties can usually be seen as a long contributing factor. Oh! we think we've forgiven... and moved on. But, do our actions show it?! We say "were so busy lately." Remember, time is of the essence. Our lives are are but a vapor! Our "times" are in HiS Hands. We know not the number of our days.

Family is not something we choose. But, we do choose what role we play as a member of each of our families. Will you be the one to choose to Build the Appreciation and Value of each member within your family... or will you allow depreciation to Rust away potentially lasting memories and connections?!



**Love Dare** (not just for marrieds)

This week, get two sheets of paper. On the first one, write out as many positive things about your spouse. (or Other person; whom you want to appreciate) Then do the same, writing out negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets away in a secret place for the next marriage blog... (Lord willing next Mon.) There is a different purpose and plan for each. At some point during the remainder of the week, pick a positive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse (or Other) for having this characteristic!

* Which list was easier to make? What did this reveal about your thoughts toward this person? What attribute will you thank your spouse (Other) for having? You can DO It... HE Can Help!!!



"If there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things." (Philippians 4:8)



Your Truelly,
JKEST-Vicki!!!!!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Fruit Filled Fri. #6: Goodness

For the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light or the Spirit [consists] in every form of kindly goodness, uprightness of heart, and trueness of life. (Ephesians 5:9)

The simple word "good" is very widely used in our culture... but do we realize what we are saying when we say "Good morning, day, night, bye" etc. Were saying to sometimes perfect strangers may "good" things happen to you... or are we telling them to exhibit "good" behaviour?! When did it become a term of wide use?! I guess my point is the essence of "goodness" must be cultivated. A seed planted- a new life begun...

No one would ever look into a newborns eyes and see "badness"... So how do they then turn into "terrible toddlers?" Funny how we don't have to teach what is considered "bad" behaviour... but we must teach what is "good." Do they learn these behaviours the instant they crawl away from their mothers? Think back to when a child first emerges from the womb. The first cries... Oh! how we yearn to hear that cry! We say with a collective sigh, "Good their crying"... cause it's "bad" at that point if their not! It means all is right with them- usually.

So, how is it that soon we come to hear that "same" cry as "bad." How can they be hungry again? I just changed them! O.K. so some of you may feel otherwise... but really this becomes a demand not always easily fixed. They want the comfort only you the parent can bring. Then, they grow more each year... and somehow become more "needy" and selfish!? They "need" more things that only the parent can give. They want you to work to provide things for their own pleasure... one year it's a bike, next a car!? But, I've been "good"... I "deserve" it!! Especially at Christmas time, right?

We are given the responsibility as parents... (whether you have one or 5 like us) to implant the "fruits of the Spirit" such as "goodness" into our children. As we know they certainly don't grow on their own. If we fail to properly nourish them with food for their physical bodies they will not thrive and mature properly. Thus, if we fail to properly implant the seeds of the "fruits of His Spirit" in their hearts, they will not thrive spiritually.

So fitting to be blogging on "goodness" on the 1st day of my kids summer break. Just this morning I heard the signs of "badness" emit from my living room... it's never "good" to hear fighting. Five kids, one living room, excitement of summer= bound to happen! I think, "Thank goodness their father is home." There's that word again... oh and of course I don't have to intervene.

What does it mean to tell our children, "Be good" rather than bad?! Do they really understand what is expected? Have we properly modeled the fruit that is expected? Have you ever caught yourself in a heated argument with said spouse or ? There's a knock at the door, or the phone rings. Suddenly, we turn ever so pleasant... then do we go back to arguing?! Do we teach our children this... (bicker, bicker) Now be "Good."

Why do we neglect to daily cultivate the "fruits" in our children? It is work, it takes patience to see the results! I personally have a goal to teach my own 5 Blessings as many of His fruits as possible this summer- 2 whole months. Then to continue even after. I want to send rich vibrant fruit back to 1st, 4th & 5th grades in Aug. I don't want rotten, spoiled, fruit coming from our home!

I am so overwhelmed and thankful my Lord exhibits all the fruits toward me... wretched sinner I am!! That I would exhibit that same brotherly Love toward others!
He rejoices over me... (Zeph. 3:17) That I would rejoice with others and not grow jealous!
He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) the Light in the darkness. (John 8:12) That I would shed the light of Peace in dark situations!
Patience. Oh! How the Lord is patient with me. That I would exhibit a portion of that patience with others and their short-comings! (Romans 12:12 & 2 Tim. 2:24)
He is the ultimate Act of Kindness! That I would strive to daily to look to see, where a small gesture of kindness can change an others day from "bad" to "Good!"
Thankfully our salvation is not based on "How Good" of a person we are. Let us remember to allow for each others faults... that no one... our children, our spouse, or others; would go away feeling there not good enough!
Remember, goodness is grace poured out!

In the end we all want to hear our Lord say, "Well done, good and faithful servant..." (Matt. 25:21)
Have a Good Day!!!

JKEST-Vicki!!!!!