Be Wary of Mingling with Normalcy

I’m about to blow someone’s opinion about me & that’s ok. I don’t really want to write this, but alas, this is the story the Lord’s put on my heart this AM.

As I read how the Israelites mingled among the nations, adopting their evil customs, a sin-filled season popped up from my memory banks. It is a time that would’ve resulted in more Oden men in my brood than just the four.

Not only did the people of Israel worship their idols, they sacrificed their children to the idols of Canaan. They polluted the land with murder by shedding the innocent blood of children.

In His abhorrent anger, the Lord handed them over to be ruled by the pagan nations whose customs they followed.

During a season of not following Jesus, I became pregnant & Markel & I decided to have an abortion. While in the clinic, an ultrasound showed twins...it was before cell phones & Markel was not with me. I thought if I kept the babies that I’d lose this amazing guy, so I adopted the custom of culture & aborted my babies to the idols of temporary comfort & fake security.

We’ve prayed through this together & have since received healing, but it doesn’t remove the grief & regret.

We were part of the problem that is perpetuating our nation-polluting the land with the blood of innocents. (Life literally begins with an explosion of light when the sperm meets the egg. Google it! It’s a spectacular thing to see!)

It’s easy to mingle among culture & assume that what is common is normal. The Psalm passage says they sacrificed their children to the idols OF Canaan, but I think we can fill in the blank with our own “of ___.”

Abortion may not be your story, but is there any cultural custom or belief that has crept into your home simply because it’s “normal”?

“Normal” is an illusion that doesn’t necessarily equate to Truth. The creeping of “normal” culture is so sneaky-> movies, music, social media, mandates.

We’ve a responsibility to walk in wisdom, not normalcy. It requires a daily washing in the Word of God, & if we’re wise, we’d surround ourselves with wise people who do the same!

Father, guard us from mingling with normalcy & lead us with wisdom towards decisions that bear the brilliance of life!

#OneYearBible

November 8th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 18:1-19:14

💡HEBREWS 9:1-10

💡PSALM 106:32-48

💡PROVERBS 27:10

Living the Full Life Might Make Us Forget Our Need of God

Have you ever forgotten to eat? I mean not just a meal, but for days on end? I don’t think our bodies are designed to do so...our stomachs begin to grumble & fogginess settles over our thinking as a physical reminder of our need for food.

Proverbs 27:7 says that a person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

I remember fasting from all garbage food for an extended period of time & ending it with a full 24-hour fast. I broke the fast with some raw carrots & those things tasted like honey-roasted carrots on a Thanksgiving morning! So sweet! They wouldn’t have tasted the same had I been filling up on dozens of donuts 🤗

Psalm 106 describes a time when the Israelites forgot God. They forgot what He’d done, how He’d saved them & how He’d provided for their every need! It says that they wouldn’t wait for His counsel while waiting in the wilderness. They tested God’s patience in that dry wasteland by letting their desires run wild.

They filled up on things that satisfied their fleshly desires  & in doing so, forgot about the sweetness of their good & perfect God.

It’s easy to do that, right? To test God’s patience when ours is being tried? We become impatient waiting for an answer or provision & rush on ahead, filling in the gap with our own answer & missing out on the full, sweet & perfect provision of Him.

Father, forgive us when we forget You. You are our Comforter, Counselor, Provider, Sustainer & Savior. Any saving we try to do for ourselves will always fall short. We might become full for a moment, but at some point, we will be starving for You to save us from the consequences of our impatient decisions.

As we walk through what feels like wilderness seasons in life, waiting for Your provision or wisdom on what to do next, may we recall all that you’ve done. Guard us from indulging in a carb-like infused quick-fix & help us wait patiently for your perfect  provision that just might taste like honey-roasted carrots on a Thanksgiving morning 🤗

#OneYearBible

November 7th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 16:42-17:24

💡HEBREWS 8:1-13

💡PSALM 106:13-31

💡PROVERBS 27:7-9

Deep Love | An Open Rebuke From a Friend

Have you ever been wounded by words? Like not the wounding that comes from angry words, but woundedness that surfaces when there’s a thread of truth held within the words?

Proverbs 27:6 describes it like this:

Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

Saying hard things to a friend is hard. Being on the receiving end isn’t any easier especially when the words ring true.

I remember when my son brought home a cat from college. One of the scariest things was clipping his claws. The end of the claw is just dead cells so you could clip away as long as you could wrestle him down! But, if you cut too short, you’d hit nerve endings that would send the poor guy through the roof!

Years ago, I read a book called, “Let Go“ written by Francois Fenelon, a Christian from the 1600’s. He describes the idea of woundedness from a friend like this:

If a friend confronts you about something you’ve said or done, & it doesn’t sting inside, then there may have just been a misunderstanding. Kinda like clipping a cat’s dead-cell claws. But if the words wound, they’ve hit something alive inside that needs to be addressed.

If our friends address something that simply doesn’t resonate, then let’s believe the best about them & love them for loving us enough to address it!

If what they say hurts inside, there may be a thread of truth that need be addressed. We can still love them for approaching us with a hard topic that will only help us grow!

Honestly it’s a win-win either way! We grow close when we trust them to say hard things. We can choose to change when it resonates or let it drop like water off a duck’s back when it doesn’t.

An open rebuke is far better than hidden love. Sometimes our actions cause others to hide their love. How might our relationships grow & change if we embraced an open rebuke for the deep love that it truly is?

Father, guard us from the pride of thinking that we need to appear perfect. Let us embrace the loving counsel & correction from a friend. Give us compassion for the messenger because it can’t be easy to say hard things. Help us cherish an open rebuke so that others need not hide their love from our thorny places 💕

#OneYearBible

November 6th One Year Bible Readings

💡EZEKIEL 14:12-16:41

💡HEBREWS 7:18-28

💡PSALM 106:1-12

💡PROVERBS 27:4-6