There is no surprise that the world we are living in today is tough. Seemingly with any little thing, people reach a whole new level of upheaval. Don't believe me? Spend 10 minutes on social media. Someone is upset about their kids schooling. One person wants kids in school, the next thinks all kids should be home-schooled. You either like Trump or you don't but how dare you believe the opposite of me. We should have gun control. We shouldn't have gun control. Wear masks. Don't wear masks. And then, on top of all the political junk going on, everyone is posting their very best of their personal life on social media, which can lead to us questioning if we are getting this thing called life right! Ya feel me?!
Whew! Just typing that intro paragraph gave me some anxiety! But friends, I am here to encourage you and remind you that we don't have to live by this world's standards. We don't have to have all the right answers or get everything just so. Yall, we don't even have to be politically correct most of the time because a lot of politics don't agree with the bible. We don't have to stay on the struggle bus of keeping up with the Jones', staying current with the ever-changing trends of the world.
We are not here to live in and measure up to the world's standards. We are here to follow the guidelines set forth for us in God's word. Words which have been true from the beginning of time and will remain true and consistent for eternity. We have the promise of hope and peace if we stick to the standards God has set before us.
Let's take a look first at what God promised us in our lives in Ecclesiastes 3:
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,15 The Lord did not promise us rainbows and butterflies all the time. He has never told us anything but that this world would be full of good times and bad times. Yet, even in the trials, we can grow closer to the Lord, get to know Him more intimately, and ultimately produce the fruit of the Spirit. Before I dive into the fruit of the Spirit, there's something I've been seeing a lot of, and am not above myself. Something that I feel has caused a lack of maturity in the church. This something, is that we as Christians, want to talk the talk without walking the walk. We want to give our hearts to Christ and fill our minds with shows like Tiger King and Ozark, full of violence and sins that make our God weep. We want to go out and party with friends, or even just have a few beers a night, smoke a little weed here and there, hook up with someone now and then, or live like we are married with our boyfriend/girlfriend before we've said "I do." Though these things are all totally acceptable in the standard of the world, dare I say even encouraged, they are heartbreaking to God. He remains the same, but we don't when we are constantly going against His better plan for us. We cause a separation with Him by our sins that keeps us from fulling reaping the fruit of the Spirit because we are living of the flesh. The hardest part about being a Christian is the daily laying down of self and picking up one's cross. But if we don't, oh if we don't, we may get to heaven one day and hear Jesus say He never knew us. I know that is a scary thought, especially in a church that is all unicorns and roses, but friends, we have to take to heart what God's word says to us and put it into practice each and every day. **Side note, this post is as much a written reminder for me to reflect on time and time again, as it is a reminder to you. Please know, I am aware that I am so, so far from perfect, but I want to build a community through The Wandering Homesteader where we can lean on one another, encourage one another, lift one another up, and hold each other accountable.** Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:21-27 I don't know about you, but I don't want my house crashing down the first time a storm comes. Now, I will say I have definitely been in that place with my faith fairly recently and I fully believe our faith is a journey of constantly growing and deepening our roots. We may have initially built our house on a sandy foundation, but that doesn't mean we can't rebuild on the rock. If you've stuck with me this far in the blog, you are probably wondering, so what are the standards of God and how exactly do I go about living up to them? Well, my favorite place to look at how God measures success is the fruits of the Spirit. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23.
If we are abiding in the Lord, giving our hearts to him, and following His guidelines for our lives. We should be able to see these fruits produced in our lives. The more we grow in faith, the more we should see these things. That's not to say that we will never be anxious or get angry, be selfish or lose control, but those moments will be quickly replaced by thoughts of scripture, turning towards prayer, and seeking counsel from those who can help us in our faith. The Lord is far more concerned with our heart posture than He is our material wealth. All of this comes with a good bit of discipline and effort on our parts. Just as we work hard to get a promotion or grow our following on social media, just as we work hard to get our horses more trained, and be more successful in our hobbies, we must also work hard to grow our relationship with God. Here are some practical ways to do so:
Set a timer and pray out loud for 10 minutes a day, or start with 5 if 10 sounds daunting. read one chapter of your bible a day
Start a prayer group with 2 to 3 of your closest friends. This could just be a once a week group text, or it could be more of a daily thing depending on what works best for you.
Find a church that helps you grow spiritually and get involved! Serve on the welcome team, the worship team, hang with kiddos, lead a bible study, help serve others.
Journal. Sometime if talking to God feels awkward, I will write down what I am feeling. You can write down what you struggle with and how you hope to improve upon those struggles.
Remember my friend, the standards of the world our not ours to bear! We do not have to be trapped in the definition of success that is always changing and just out of reach! The Lord has created us on purpose, for a purpose, and that purpose is to love Him and love others. That is something we can all be super successful at!!! What a blessing!
Tithe. By giving God not just our hearts, but also physically giving him the first 10% of our earnings is a practice of obedience and a great reminder to self that we must trust God. If you don't believe in tithing, ponder this, I once went to a church where the pastor and his wife challenged the people to tithe for 90 days. At the end of those 90 days, if someone did not experience God's blessing in their life in one way or another, the pastor and his wife promised to write a check from their personal account full reimbursing the person. In the years that I have known that church, never once have they written a reimbursement check!
Let me know how I can be praying with you or for you. I am here to come alongside you and do this thing called life with you. Be bold in your faith and walk in obedience to Him. I love y'all so much and am so thankful to have you be part of The Wandering Homesteader. Every time I write, I am reminded that God does not call the qualified, he equips the called. xo, Sara
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