forgiveness

The Fallen Nature of Man

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I love so many of the stories throughout scripture. There are some amazing heroes of the faith and their stories are just as incredible. However, one of the other things I love about scripture is the raw honesty and the fact that the good is presented along with the bad. It would have been easy for the early church to “clean up” the original stories to make them show God’s people in a much better light. However, that isn’t what happened. The dirty laundry is in there right along with everything else. I truly believe that the Word of God is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit and that all of that junk was left in there for a reason.

In my opinion, one of the biggest problems that the church (meaning all Christians as a whole, myself included) has is that we try to hide the not so appealing parts of our humanity. We so often put on a facade of perfection that attempts to hide our flaws. The sad part about it is, those flaws will eventually come out. Instead, we need to be able to admit our shortcomings. Sometimes those shortcomings can become our biggest witness. On the flip side though, when we hide our flaws and pretend everything is perfect, that can often hurt our witness more than anything else.

If you want to see a flawed side of humanity, read a few chapters through Judges. Starting in Judges 2 we see that after Joshua died, entire generations of God’s people grew up without knowing anything about the God who rescued them from the Egyptians. It also says that the people turned to false gods and did all sorts of evil. I see a lot of parallels with how our world is today. I think that is part of why those stories are in scripture. We aren’t supposed to make the same mistake the Israelites made. Maybe, if we are startled by a man chopping up his concubine (Judge 19) or by one of the judges ordained by God being deceived by an evil woman and who was also known to seek out the company of prostitutes (Judges 16), we might possibly seek a closer relationship with the one true God.

I pray for our world right now. There is so much evil and suffering. Too many people are ok with having nothing to do with God just like the Israelites were. My generation is a highly unchurched generation. We are reaping the harvest of that now in the acceptance of abortion, the celebration of sin, and the astounding number of single parent homes. If there was ever a time that we needed a divine interaction with God, it is today.

My challenge to us: let’s be the change that this world needs. Let’s not just accept the evils of this world but instead diligently learn to follow the will of God. Let us not put on a facade with others, but instead be willing to get in the trenches with others. Let us turn this nation back to God.

Grafted

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Oreo and little orphan Buck

If this image looks a little strange to you, it’s because it is. We raise a breed of goats that are called Boer (they are the ones with white bodies and red heads typically). However, we also have a handful of Lamancha dairy goats that we inherited with some of the Boers that we purchased a few years ago. Lamanchas are an interesting breed of goat because they are some of the most gentle, even tempered goats you will ever meet. The drawback is that they are ugly as sin because they have no ears and they are not really a market animal (which is what we are in the business for). Well, this particular black and white Lamancha, Oreo, is such a sweetheart. Unfortunately, she had a hard time giving birth to her very first baby last weekend and ended up delivering a stillborn, that my husband had to help pull. Rather than her finding out that her kid didn’t make it, I quickly grabbed my little bottle baby, Buck, so that we could try to graft him onto her.

Little Buck couldn’t even stand up for over a week after he was born

Let me give you a little back story. Buck was born a little over a month ago and was the runt of a set of triplets. He was not able to stand up and his mother really didn’t tend to him. After trying throughout the day, unsuccessfully, to get her to tend to him and get him to stand up, we finally decided to get him inside and get him warmed up and fed. Since that time he has been my little bottle baby. He lived in a small water trough inside our house for about 3 weeks so that I could feed him (forcefully to begin with) and treat a nasty eye infection. Over time he healed and started standing, walking, running, and finally got well enough that we couldn’t even keep him in his little makeshift pen because he would just jump out. So we moved him to a little pen out in the barn with the other goats.

Buck in his new home in the barn when we moved him out of the house

My goal has always been to get him a real goat mom, but I was unsuccessful trying to get his actual mom to take him back. Goats are funny about that. Once they abandon a kid, they will not take them back. So I went along just feeding him several times a day. That all changed a week ago when I finally had a mom that needed a baby.

It has taken the full week but the picture at the top was the very first time she was letting him nurse without me having to be in there with her. It is an amazing feeling (even if it is a goat) to see an orphan gain a mom. And that got me to thinking about a few things.

I realized that every single person who calls themselves a Christian is also an orphan that has been grafted into a new family. “But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.” Romans 11:17 NLT

Grafting is an interesting process in the plant world. It is essentially taking part of one plant and putting it with another to make it grow as one. As time goes on in the process, the plant being grafted on (called the cutting or scion) takes on the characteristics of the one it is being grafted too (called the rootstock). Grafting is not a simple, or painless, process. As a matter of fact it involves cutting, bandaging, and a lot of time. This is often done when a plant has rooted poorly, or not all, and would die otherwise.

WOW! Isn’t that an analogy for us? Our process of grafting into the family of God is not necessarily a painless one. Sometimes there are things that need to be cut away and lots of time for healing past wounds. Nonetheless, we are called Sons and Daughters of God. We have been adopted, but we are chosen as heirs to the very kingdom of God. “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” Romans 8:17 NLT

Did you catch that last little part? Yes, we are His children, but we are also not immune to suffering on this earth. So, while you go through the pains and frustrations that can come with your own grafting process, I want to encourage you with this: as you heal and are fully grafted, you will also grow closer to the source of life and with that you will also start to take on the characteristics of the rootstock. So no matter what you are going though, push through the pain and remember that you are already grafted and accepted just as you are.

But also remember this: just because you are accepted exactly as you are, that doesn’t mean God is going to leave you that way!

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” Psalm 51:10-12 ESV

Giveaway Time!

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wilderness

During the last financial crisis, in 2009, I was laid off from my job. It was a scary time for me and my husband. It’s hard to explain the emotions you go through.

Now we are in a whole new era with a different kind of crisis. So many have once again been laid off or furloughed from their jobs. There is a lot of uncertainty. Because of that, I want to give away 5 copies of the book I wrote born out of my own time of crisis, Finding God in the Wilderness: Learning to Trust God During Times of Uncertainty.

Entering is easy, simply comment on this post for yourself or tell me about a friend who you would like to enter (you can definitely do both). Please share this post on your social media as well!.

I will pick 5 winners on my wedding anniversary, April 28th.

If you just can’t wait until then, you can order a copy here.

 

Time to Step it Up

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Best Friends Forever Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images ...

Ladies, this one is for you. I have something on my mind, and have for a little while, it’s time to share it: We have got to do better!!!

Let me explain.

I want to flash back to junior high and high school for a minute. I remember back in those days so often preferring to hang out with “the guys” simply because girls can be so cruel. One minute we were best friends, and the next there was drama for one reason or another. I have already started seeing this happen with my second grade daughter. It’s heartbreaking when she comes home from school telling me that someone was mean to her and she was left out of a game on the playground.

I’m not sure what it is about females that causes us to be insecure, competitive, and sometimes downright mean. This shouldn’t be! After all, we are the nurturers. We should naturally be protective and encouraging of each other. We should believe the best about each other, unfortunately it is often just the opposite.

I absolutely love the story of Jonathan and David in 1 Samuel. Their friendship was unrivaled. It says in 1 Samuel 18:3 “Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.” Wow! Sign me up for that kind of friendship. I was re-reading the story of David and Jonathan the other night and I just couldn’t get over the selfless love they had for each other. They built each other up and encouraged each other, even though for Jonathan, it meant risking everything.

I have to admit, I am slightly jealous of my husband. He has never had a shortage of good friends. The thing about men, especially confident guys like my husband and most of the men he calls good friends, is they can just be relaxed and be themselves without comparison, judgement, or feeling like they have to portray themselves a certain way. I have some great female friends, but I can honestly say it has been years since I have had anything close to a “Jonathan/David” type of friendship. It seems like the older I get, the longer it takes us girls to tear down the walls between each other.

So what’s a girl to do? I want to issue a challenge that I myself have been try to do. I want to challenge every single woman who is reading this to go out of your way to encourage another woman. Whether that means speaking an encouraging word to someone, supporting a startup business, or even taking a younger woman under your wing, just do it! Be the friend that you want others to be to you! Use the idea of the golden rule: treat other women the way you want to be treated. Give the women you work with and do life with the benefit of the doubt.

When my husband and I first moved into the town where we live, 13 years ago, we had several couples in our church who took us in. We had no family in town, and really didn’t know anyone, but the people who poured into us then made so much of a difference. Be that person. Be the friend you wish others would be to you. Be the person to welcome someone new. Be the one to believe the best. Be the person to spread good news, and not rumors. Be the one to encourage another woman when she is trying something new. Be the one to build another woman up!!!

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Book Review: Off the Hook

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So many of us have them. That person, or those people who once upon a time did something that hurt us, and we carry that burden with us. Every time we see them the hurt rushes back over us. We can go from having a great day, do a deep pit of despair just with a memory of what they did to us. We can’t seem to let it go. Forgiveness doesn’t seem possible, because after all, they were the ones that did us wrong. We shouldn’t let them off the hook easily, right? The sad thing about that line of thinking though, is that us holding onto the hurt, only really hurts us.

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Off the Hook: How Forgiving You Frees Me, deals with that very topic. You may not even realize that you are holding onto unforgiveness, until you are able to walk the path of forgiveness. Off the Hook uses stories of real life people who had to deal with very difficult forgiveness journeys, but were able to experience freedom that they never thought possible when they did. The authors also use Biblical truths to help the reader know how to truly forgive.

Throughout the book there are sections revealing Lies that we believe, as well as truths that will set us free. The forgiveness in this book is also not limited to that person who hurt you. They also address how to forgive when you have been hurt by the one institution that is supposed to lift you up, the church. This is a book for every single person, even if you don’t think it would apply. We all have areas of unforgiveness in our lives, and it is so freeing to find those areas and learn to truly forgive.

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If you would like to learn more, please visit the Off the Hook webpage or watch this book trailer to see more details. You can also enter to win your own copy here. If you just can’t wait and want to get a copy for yourself, the authors are running a Kindle Countdown sale February 20-27 starting at $0.99 1st day. (Regular price $5.99)! I hope that you will get a copy and get rid of some of the heaviness of unforgiveness in your own life!

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