sometimes i want to punch people in the face.

man. life is tough in the moment. and, ya know, sometimes i really really really want to punch people in the face. but i can't. cause that would be crazy...

okay, i'm just being real here. it's human nature to let our anger get carried away. but as christians, it's definitely not okay to just go around and punch people in the face all the time. we are supposed to be the light of the world, right?! we're supposed to share Christ's love & compassion, no?! so, what are we going to do in the moment when our flesh is so carried away and we just want to punch someone in the face??

in 2 chronicles 20:1-23, we see that jehoshaphat, who we will call JT, is in a bit of a sticky situation. there are multiple people coming to wage war against him {i just sat and read this story over and over again- don't we all feel like this sometimes?! for most of us, no one is actually waging a war against us, but it sure does feel that way sometimes} & he handles it so well!! even if people aren't physically or emotionally waging a war against us, the silly devil is always out to find a way to trip us up {1 peter 5:8-9}.

Okay- so here's what he does:
1. as soon as he is alarmed, the first thing he does is resolve {to make an earnest decision, to be determined to do something} to seek the Lord.
"alarmed, JT resolved to inquire of the Lord.." vs 3a

2. he proclaims a fast
"...and he proclaimed a fast for all judah." vs 3b
this does two things: 1. it joins people together. when we are struggling, we need other people to help us, to pray with us. 2. it humbles you before God, which in turn, gives you peace {1 peter 5:6-7}

3. prayed in assembly
"then JT stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem ... and said ..."
>>JT tells the Lord, and his companions, his struggles and his faith.
"if calamity comes upon us... we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us. we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." vs 9&12
>>two things i love about this: 1. how much faith JT has. i mean, whoa- 2. sharing with people what you're struggling with & what you need is one of the best things you can do when you are struggling.

4. he does what the Lord asks
"do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. go out to face them tomorrow and the Lord will be with you. have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful. as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated." vs 17, 20, 22

in the end, they win and they go home and praise the Lord. in verse 29, it says that all the surrounding kingdom --- when we resolve to seek after the Lord, join in praying with others, and listen & act  to what the Lord tells us, He is glorified through us. And {hopefully} no one gets smacked in the face.

{{you can see another example of a tough situation handled well in 1 samuel 23:1-14 when David relies on the Lord to guide his steps in dealing with saving a city.}}

{{linking up with oak and oats & A Harvest of Blessing & home of malones}}

she knew who she was in Christ

man, i so struggle with this- knowing who i am in Christ. i seriously deal with insecurity. i have my whole life. i will til the day i die. now, have  dealt with it? yes. am i better than i was this time last year? yep. we all have things we struggle with & insecurity is definitely mine. it comes and goes, ya know? some times- for days, weeks, months at a time- i feel great! and then one morning, or one ridiculous comment, i feel horrendous.

i really worry if people like me, if/when i said something stupid, did i make someone mad, did i hurt someone's feelings, about every awkward moment i have in day {and there are a lot... i feel awkward a lot}... and it can wear a girl down!!

if i'd just realize who i am in him, my life would be so much easier! he developed me for a specific purpose & i need to trust in that instead of being silly & worrying and being insecure all the darn time.

i stumbled on this quote and just had to make a picture with it; it's actually the background on my computer. i NEED to remember this!!

if we know who we are in Christ and accept what He has given us, it gives us the opportunity to dream big! we will know what our talents are and be able to figure out how God wants us to use them. we will be able to be satisfied with who we are, what our paycheck is, what our flaws are, and no one can use them against us, especially not the silly devil who just loves to mess with us. we will be able to overcome the devil when we know who we are in Christ.

*linking up with Wetherills Say I Do for Cofffee Date Vol. 2

spiritual warfare, chapter 5, part 2

As previously mentioned, my small group is studying spritual warfare by reading "Lord, is it warfare?" by kay arthur. Here's my continued thoughts and interpretations on chapter 5. 

there were some scriptures in this chapter that were extremely convicting to me:

"and so, my dear brothers and sisters, i plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. let them be a living and holy sacrifice- the kind he will find acceptable. this is truly the way to worship him."

romans 12:1

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how often do i do this? like really give up my body as a sacrifice, whether it be for something as trivial as what shoes to wear that day or as big as what i am going to do with my body?! 

"there will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. but if you have been merciful, god will be merciful when he judges you."

james 2:13

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ohdang. this is so convicting to me. i am not really the most merciful person. i hold others {and myself} to a super-high standard. God holds us to a high standard as well, but he also forgives us when we mess up. me? nosomuch.

there were also some that just made me want to praise God:

"3 all praise to God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. it is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. 
4 now we live in great expectation, a priceless inheritance- an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay."

1 peter 1:3&4 

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"he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. he washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the holy spirit."
titus 3:5

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"therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up."
2 corinthians 4:1

"19 once again you will have compassion on us. you will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
20 you will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as you promised to our ancestors abraham and jacob long ago."
micah 7:19-20

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what a great God we serve! he convicts us so that we will become more like him, but also forgives us when we screw up, which i never do all the time. what a perfect balance of expectation and love! 

spritiual warfare, chapter 5, part 1

As previously mentioned, my small group is studying spiritual warfare by reading "Lord, is it warfare?" by kay arthur. Here's my thoughts and interpretations on chapter 5.

we started out this week be comparing "the future of the lost and the redeemed" based on revelation 20:11-22:21 

the future for the lost:
-judged
-be in a lake that burns like second death
-outside of heaven's gates 

the future of the redeemed:
-no tears
-no death
-no crying
-no pain
-glory and honor of nations in it
-no more night
-no more curse

we then looked at ephesians 2 to compare "what life is like under satan and under god."

life under satan
-dead in sin
-separated from Christ
-gratify cravings of flesh & follow its desires & thoughts {{a slave to sin}}

life under God
-citizens with God's people
-saved by grace
-made alive with Christ
-he is our peace
-reconciled
-becoming a holy temple to the Lord

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so, as you can see, there is a stark contrast between the current lives and futures for the lost and the redeemed. i mean, whoa!! it was very interesting for me to see all of the differences. it helped me to realize the importance of the fact that Jesus died on the cross for me {and you}!! he did this because he loved us so much he wanted us to be able to spend a life with him in eternity instead of a fiery lake and so that while we are here on earth we can live in the freedom of his grace!

spiritual warfare, chapter 3 part 2

today i'm linking up with simple moments stick for:

as mentioned in this post, my small group is reading "lord is it warfare?" by kay arthur. this is my continued thoughts and interpretations on chapter 3. 

the second half of the week we focused on Job 1.

I wanted to copy the scripture into the post, but it's a whole chapter, so i'll post the parts that stood out to me the most.

1 in the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was job. this man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

6 one day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan also came with them.

7 the Lord said to satan "where have you come from?" satan answered the lord, "from roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it." 

8 then the Lord said to satan, "have you considered my servant job? there is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."

9 "does job fear God for nothing?" satan replied. 

10 "have you put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? you have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flock and herds are spread throughout the land.

11 but now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will curse you to your face."

12 the Lord said to satan, "very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." 

then satan left the presence of the Lord.

{after this lots of horrible things happen to job- his children die and all of his flock and servants are killed}

20 at this, job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. then he fell to the ground in worship 

21and said

"naked i cam form my mother's womb,

and naked i will depart.

the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised"

22in all this, job did not sin by charging god with wrongdoing.

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there are so many different things that we can learn about satan, and God, from reading this passage. 

satan:

>>is under god's control. {vs 12}

>>has access to earth and to God. he knows what is going on in our lives. {vs 7}

>>roams about the earth looking for someone to tempt {vs7&8}

>>is an accuser {vs 9-11}

God:

>>is in control. {vs 12}

>>protects his people when needed {vs 10, hedge reference- satan couldn't get to job because God had put a hedge around him}

>>doesn't give his people more than they can handle with his help. 

God knew that job wouldn't sin {vs 1&8}, so he felt comfortable with giving job these things to deal with. it's the same with our lives, God gives us things that with his help, he knows we candle handle. can we do it on our own? absolutely not. God puts us in situations where we have to rely on him. he does this so we can grow in our relationship with him and bring him glory, which will bring more people to have a relationship with him.

big points that kay makes in her book:
>>"because God is sovereign and because he limits satan's power, it's understandable that paul can say, 'no temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.' (1 cor. 10:13)" p.66
>>"it's interesting that satan is mentioned in the first and last books of the bible. sin has been the habit of his life from the beginning. since his triumph in the garden of eden, he's sought to deceive us, to blind our eyes to the light of the one truth which can free us from his dominion- the gospel of Jesus Christ." p.71

this last point was very convicting to me:
>>"if satan were to stand before the Lord right now, would your character be such that God would boast of you to him? and if satan were to throw down the gauntlet and challenge your motives for serving God, could God pick up that gauntlet in confidence? could he know that in the midst of conflict with the enemy you would not desert the One who had enlisted you to be His soldier?" p.67<<

spiritual warfare, chapter 3 part 1

today i'm linking up with simple moments stick for:

and southern girl blogging community for:

in the small group that i attend, we've been doing a study on spiritual warfare through the book "lord, is it warfare?" by kay arthur. and man, has it been good! i've learned so much and we're only on chapter 6! the book really focuses on learning the attributes of satan so you can defeat his pesky little schemes.

i thought i'd share some of my thoughts and interpretations on the scripture from the chapters that we've read so far. this post will focus on the first part of chapter 3. chapter three is entitled "lord, satan's roaring- need i fear?" 

on the first day we read John 8:44 and it really struck me! 

"you belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding the truth, for there is no truth in him. when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

when i first read this verse, it shocked me. i wrote "whoa!" beside of the verse in my book. i realized i'd been viewing satan all wrong. he is the liar. he is the one who screws things up, not god. when those pesky thoughts come into mind that stress the heck outta me, those are the lies from satan. that's what the scripture is referring to- satan speaking his native language of lies to us & us believing them. once we realize his stupid schemes, we can defeat him & his ridiculous lies using the correct defenses. 

on day 2, we read 1 peter 5:6-11. there were two verses the stood out to me- each for different reasons.

vs 8 "be of sober spirit, be on the alert. your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 



my first response is: "creeeeeper!!" but, no, really, satan sits around and waits for us to screw up or be in a sticky situation so that he can jump on us and tempt us to sin. he waits for the perfect moment so we will fall for it and he can devour us with his lies. 
reading this made me analyze my life and how many times satan has snuck up on me and i've fallen for it. just the other day, heck, just a while ago in my car, i was tempted. he knows our weaknesses and waits for situations to happen so he can devour us. what a jerk!! #sorrynotsorry

vs 10 "and after you have suffered for a little while, the god of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in christ, will himself protect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."

this is the story of my life right now. redemption. things have been tough for a while. but i have followed after the lord and he has kept his promises. he has delivered me. now, that's not to say that something awful won't happen tomorrow, but the lord is the one who sustains me and he will restore me. always. he can do the same for you. trust him. shy away from the devil's schemes and god will restore you and your strength, maybe not right away, but he will. i am living proof. 

 

there are so many things that i want to share with you about this chapter, but i won't keep going and going and going. if this is something you are interested in learning more about it, please read this book! i highly recommend it!! you can find it here.

i will finish posting about this chapter on my next spiritual warfare post :) i'm already excited about it! 

**all images from google.com**