This morning's devotional thought was I Cor. 16:14 "Let all your things be done with charity." This word "charity" is the Greek word agape, which means love, as in affection or benevolence. It's thinking and acting toward a person with kindly affection, and giving willingly of oneself for their sake, desiring to promote their prosperity and happiness. Some things are easy to do with love, but ALL things? Not so easy..

When it comes to performing certain tasks, doing them with love comes almost naturally. Things like making a gift for someone, or fixing up a surprise for a spouse. But what about the daily, mundane things, like washing dishes? picking up after someone? changing a stinky diaper? It's not always easy to conjure up affection while doing some of those! But the verse above says ALL things.

Agape love simply does not come naturally to any son of Adam or daughter of Eve. It takes effort, on purpose. Most of the times it takes denial of self and feelings. It's just not possible to feel affectionate and benevolent toward others, while having a mental pity party for yourself! ..But I'm finding out that that is one of the beauties of doing all things with agape. Once "self" is out of the way, there is real joy in doing those mundane tasks!

Proverbs 21:21 "He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour."

When I read that proverb with the children this morning, I thought what good companions righteousness and mercy are.

Righteousness without mercy is oppressive, pitiless, hard-hearted and cruel. By itself, righteousness tends to puff up and make one proud, and it will not extend a hand of compassion to the weak.

Mercy without righteousness is spineless, does not deal with sin, nor conform the heart and life to God's will. Mercy on its own has no character or compulsion to do what is right.

But righteousness and mercy, hand-in-hand, are the perfect balance! Jesus Christ is our example of that balance. This Psalm speaks of him:

Psalm 85

9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

We can follow Christ's example by walking in His steps (righteousness) and extending His hand to others (mercy) and giving them the Gospel! Therein is found abundant life, true righteousness, and honour for the Christian (though we deserve none).

Have you ever struggled with a particular sin, a bad habit, and found yourself unable to make a change? I think most everyone has, and it is no wonder...

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." (Jeremiah 13:23)

The fact is that we cannot make permanent changes for the better, of our own power.

"...There is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalm 53:5)

The root of the problem is a natural tendency to do wrong. Every son of Adam and daughter of Eve has it...

"Behold I was shapen in iniquity..." (Psalm 51:5)
"All we like sheep have gone astray." (Isaiah 53:6)

The GOOD NEWS is that God is not willing to leave us defeated in our sins! All the way back in the Garden of Eden He promised to send Messiah (Genesis 3:15), the Redeemer who would proclaim liberty to the captives of sin, and heal us, and restore our broken relationship to God!

"The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives...To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD..." (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Jesus Christ is Messiah, sent by God. He became the Lamb of God, sacrificed on our behalf so that we might go free (like Abraham's son Isaac!). He received the punishment that we deserve for our sin.

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)

God promised to send a Redeemer, and his promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ! But we must approach God on his terms, and not on our own terms.

"Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." Proverbs 14:12

Jesus Christ is the only way to approach God the Father; the blood He shed is what can cleanse us of our sins and set us free from that bondage. Only Jesus can bridge the huge gap that sin puts between you and God.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)

Jesus demonstrated his power over sin by his impeccable life (Luke 23:4); his power over selfishness by his self-sacrificial death (John 10:15); his power over death by his resurrection! (John 10:17-18)

Through Jesus Christ you can become a new creature! Can a leopard change his spots? Can a sinner be made clean?

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

Pray to God in Heaven, confessing your sins to him. Claim the blood Jesus shed on your behalf, and he will wash you clean!

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." (II Corinthians 5:17)

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:" Isaiah 26:3,4

Thanks to my husband, I was awake at 5 a.m. this morning. Seriously, I really am thankful! I got up, fed the baby (who promptly fell back to sleep), saw my Sweetie and Son #1 off (they leave for men's prayer meeting at 5:30), showered and dressed, then enjoyed some time in my Bible that was much more leisurely than it would have been if I had risen at the usual later hour. If I hadn't been up so early, I might have missed what the Lord wanted to give me to prepare for this day.

And, boy, did I need it.

Thou wilt keep him... It is the LORD who holds me in His hand. I am not aimlessly wandering on this planet Earth for no reason, but have a Creator God who has all things under control. This is a comfort to me, that the One in control is also my loving Heavenly Father, who has my best interest at heart!

...whose mind is stayed on thee... What peace we can experience when our minds are "stayed" on Him. I've kept this verse in mind all day long, through all the "issues" that have come up, and it really helps me keep things in perspective.

...Especially when company arrives unexpected at 7 a.m.

Now, maybe your house is company-ready first thing Monday morning. But after a busy weekend and the Lord's Day when we have three church services and are home barely long enough to eat lunch and nap the children...well, my house isn't.

But on keeping my mind stayed on the Lord, a thought occurred to me: What is more important, nursing my wounded pride, or greeting our guest with a smile and a cheerful word? In light of eternity, what matters more?

Now with that kind of perspective, I have perfect peace, even through all the other "issues" that have presented themselves today. It's a lot better than being stressed-out and annoyed. :o)

"Thou Shalt Not Kill."

This, the sixth of the Ten Commandments, is written succintly there in the context of Exodus 20. It is further explained in the next chapter of the Bible. There the law states that premeditated murder calls for execution, but a person who kills another person in self-defense or by accident is not to be put to death. The difference is in the intent and attitude of the heart.

"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer..."

...Words from I John 3:15 reiterating that murder is not just the act of taking the life of another person, but it is the attitude of the heart that makes a murderer. So one can be a murderer without taking someone's life!

Now I am going to say some things here that not everybody is going to agree with, but I think I stand on God's Word.

Most Christians believe that aborting a baby is wrong, that life begins at conception, and to take away that life is to commit murder. But many of those same people practice a form of abortion in the privacy of their own homes. Others have the spirit of abortion and murder, harbored deep in their hearts. I am talking about an ungodly attitude toward having children.

"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it."

We call it "family planning". But if you are a Christian, you say Jesus pilots your ship, that God is in control and you've surrendered your life to Him. Why is it, then, that you take the helm when it comes to having children? Whose job is it to build our families? It is the Lord's, and there is no Biblical evidence that shows that responsibility has been placed into human hands, regardless of our modern medical advances.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Children are gifts from the Lord! Imagine if the royal king of a vast kingdom were to choose to honor a peasant by bestowing him a rich, priceless treasure. He sends a caravan to deliver it to the doorstep of the pauper with much pomp and an entourage of well-wishers. But when they arrive, the poor fellow turns them away and sends the gift back to the castle from whence it came. He doesn't need it, nor want it.

Would this not be offensive to the king? Of course it would! It would be at the height of ingratitude and shameful arrogance on the part of the peasant. Or perhaps simply ignorance of the value of the treasure he turned away!


A child is an eternal soul, a priceless treasure, that God intends to give to a man and his wife. It is His blessing upon the marriage. Will the Christian turn away such a priceless gift, given with all love and blessings from the heart of God? It is certainly an unrighteous attitude toward the Giver of Life. Each one of us will give an account to Him one day.

And yet many Christian families take careful, premeditated measures to turn away the blessings of God. Why? Well, there are many reasons, but most of them have to do with convenience. (Peasant: "I don't have room in my house for all this gold!" or "I don't think I have what it takes to manage it all, and am too lazy to learn how.")

So what does family planning have to do with the spirit of abortion and murder? The attitude. The attitudes that one can't afford children, or just doesn't like children, or that it would disrupt the course one wants to take in life, are common whether contemplating abortion or just family planning.

Granted, family planning is not necessarily an act of murder (although most methods can destroy life that is already there). But I think Christians should rethink their attitude toward having children, and make sure we have the mind of God on this issue. If we were to place the same value on children that God does, there would be far fewer families limiting the number of children they have.

"Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed"

I hope you all have had a blessed weekend! Ours was...interesting. We were planning to have company over for lunch on Sunday, but the power went off on Saturday! It was raining and lightning outside when we heard a loud POP, and the lights went out.

When the power goes off, so does the electric pump that draws water from our well, so we were also without running water. We had to cancel our plans to entertain, call the power company, pray, and hope for the best.

A cool, dark house on a rainy weekend can definitely get dreary! But we are getting good at making do. We were definitely thanking the Lord that our stove is gas, not electric! So there was no trouble making hot meals. The older girls love to light candles all over the house (they are very careful), and Daniel fires up a Coleman lantern, and it's like camping out, only more comfortable :o)

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5

Sometimes in the evenings we roast marshmallows, or play Bible charades by lantern light. Once Daniel even hooked up the computer to the power inverter in the car, and I was able to check email while the car ran outside! Not a necessity, but it was nice. :o)

All that to say this: Even when things get difficult and don't go as we plan, we are blessed if we can be content. There are many blessings to enjoy along the way if we'll just look for them! Each week our family learns about a good character trait, and guess which one it was this past week? Contentment! Looks like the Lord wanted to give us a good lesson in contentment, and it really was a blessing. Thank You, Lord!

"...For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Philippians 4:11

Jesus, or Oprah?

In case you haven't seen it yet, here's the video .

Oprah says: "One of the mistakes human beings make is believing that there is only one way....There couldn't possibly be just one way [to God]."

Jesus says: "I am THE WAY, the truth, and the life: NO MAN cometh unto the Father, but by ME."

Oprah believes: "My mind is part of God's. I am very holy."

God says: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." and that we are "all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

Oprah believes: "My salvation comes from me."

God says: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH

One viewer asked Oprah how she reconciles these "new" teachings with her Christian beliefs. The truth is, these teachings CAN NOT be reconciled with the teachings of Jesus. You have to make a choice between the two. Consider this warning:

"There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them...And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." II Peter 2:1,2

Make no mistake, folks. There is only one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ. We are all sinners that must be washed by the blood of Jesus in order to come clean before God. Human love, kindness, intelligence, benevolence, will never be enough to earn a place in Heaven; we must come to God admitting our helpless, sinful state, repenting (turning from) our sins, and accepting the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf upon the cross!

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31

Has anyone ever pulled an April Fool's Day prank on you? I hope not. But if they have, you can take comfort in this: being fooled by a prank does not make you a fool, really. Who does God call a fool?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)

To despise wisdom and instruction is to have a low opinion of it. Many times Christians seek the wisdom of the world before they ever seek wisdom from the Lord. I hope this is not you! Worldly counsel will lead you down the path of error. It will never help you raise your children right. It will not bring you peace nor lasting happiness. It will not show you how to prepare for the day you will stand before God to give an account for your life.

Psalm 1:1 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly..."

Many times the ungodly counselor tells you to "do your own thing," or "follow your heart/instincts". If it feels right, it must be right! Right? Ummm...

Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise."

Hearken unto the counsel of the Lord, and you will be no fool!