FEAR is a BIG DEAL!!! / Mrs Ellie DeAnda

Mrs Ellie DeAnda

Pastor's Wife

Iglesia Bautista Casa de Gracia

Chicago, Illinois

I was asked to write an article for today's blog.  Can you guess what  topic we'll be talking about today after looking at this emoji?: 

             

       

You guessed it!! Whether you want to admit it or not, all of us are afraid of something! Some people are afraid of the dark, spiders, snakes, dogs, being alone, crowds, doctors, needles, heights, tests, storms, & death. That’s just to name a few! FEAR is a BIG deal! Fear can get out of control and keep us from doing the things that we need to do. It is a serious issue that people deal with on a daily basis. The bad thing about fear is that many people have been controlled and crippled by the monster of fear to the extent that it greatly influences their entire perspective on life! Fear can kill dreams, destroy desires,  steal futures, it can even affect our thinking, give us ulcers, headaches, neck pain, back pain, affect our digestion-- our overall health. 

I chose this topic because one of the biggest things I have dealt with my entire life is FEAR! When I was a little girl, I had a lot of fears! Just to name a few, I was afraid of speaking in front of the class. (I did almost anything to get out of it, like fake sick the morning of), I feared getting a certain 5th grade teacher because everyone said he was mean! Guess what? I received a letter in the mail the month before school started and wouldn't you know, I was assigned to the teacher I most feared. 😢 I even made a trip to the doctor's office that summer since I made myself sick worrying about being in his class. 🤒I remember countless times fearing death to the point I made myself sick. After I received assurance of my salvation in 4th grade, my mentor told me I should get baptized,  I was terrified to get baptized at my church. The cycle continued throughout my life and as I got older I "wore a mask" to cover my real feelings, just because I didn't want to bother anyone with my fears and insecurities. The older I got, the more I feared the way people perceived me. (The outward appearance, because that's what I was taught to focus on)  You could've called me a people pleaser.  I looked to find approval and acceptance from everyone, because that made me feel happy but it never gave me true joy. I rarely ever considered who I was in Christ. In recent days, I have found myself worrying about what people think of me, my family, if they are criticizing the decisions we've made on where we have chosen ministry, if my kids are going to turn out right, if I'm nagging my kids too much, if I'm really doing a good job rearing them, & if I'm doing enough as a Pastor's wife.  All that to say, I face fears often and I'm sure some of you reading this do as well.  The problem is, fear is a poison that the devil uses to stop Christians. He doesn't want us to be or do what God created us to be or do!  As long as he can continue using fear to conquer us, that's what he will use! Is he using fear to stop you from being who God created you to be?  Do you worry about who people say you are instead of who God says you are? Are you stressed and worried because you're aiming to please people more than you are aiming to please God? Oh, I've been there, I know- it's REAL!! The Bible tells that fear brings torment! 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love."        

I've been tormented by fear to the point where fear controlled my thinking. It allowed me to believe things that weren't even true! What are you afraid of? Is it tormenting away from God's will? I've swallowed that poison in small doses throughout my life, but I am not going to let the devil have the last word in my life!! NO, way Jose!!! Satan is always going to bring fear against us at different times in our lives, but as I've so often been reminded of the verse I memorized as a little girl,  "...we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Rom 8:37)  

Fear does not have to control us!

When I was younger I was afraid to talk to anyone about my fears, it paralyzed me in some sense. I was embarrassed and scared to tell my mom that I was afraid to die. (I wasn't saved, but didn't realize it at the time, which explained my fear!) From hearing and reading the Bible, I have learned that fear is not from God.  Let's read II Timothy 1:7. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Remember when you were little, and you woke up from a scary nightmare or when a loud crash of thunder or lightning rumbled outside your window? I do!! I would always wake up and scream, "MOM!!! DAD!!!", while I hid under my covers and waited in hopes they would come RUNNING to my rescue, and if they didn't come within 5 seconds (felt like 20 minutes) I bolted out of my bedroom, down the hall and jumped into their bed as fast as I could! And I always cuddled as close to them as possible! I'm sure they felt my heart beating out of my chest! 💗Being near to them calmed my fears, but it didn't calm the storm outside. It didn't erase the nightmare I dreamt, but it did change the way I felt! (I usually always feel asleep in their arms but somehow woke up the next morning in MY bed! I never quite understood how that happened, it was always a mystery to me, until I finally had kids.👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 hehehehe) The fear I had when I was alone in my bed was gone because mom and dad were there! This is exactly what our Heavenly Father does for us when we face fears, if we follow His word and believe what He says to be true! 

I can think of many people in the Bible who faced fears! Can you think of some? I would definitely say David and Joshua did when they stood in front of GIANTS! Jacob after he tricked his father and fled for 20 years in fear that his twin brother would kill him! Moses did when he had to stand before an entire sea!! Daniel did when he faced hungry lions!! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did when they were cast into the fire! Jonah did when he was swallowed by a giant fish! Yikes! I can not even imagine any of those things happening in my life! What FEAR they faced! I love what the Prophet Isaiah wrote in chapter 41 verse 10 - "Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." What?! God told us not to FEAR?! Really? It's so easy to fear, isn't it?! Especially the unknown! David said in Psalms 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." Growing up in a Christian home and attending a Christian school my entire life, I always heard and was taught that the Bible had the answers to all my problems. Now as a 36 year old, I can honestly say, YES, It does!! In order to face fears head-on, I MUST have confidence in the POWER of God's word!! God is so smart! He has given us a book that is more powerful than any two edged sword! If we choose to follow His word, it will help us to conquer the fears we face! When we continually allow fear to control us, it is most likely because we are not controlling our thoughts or because of unbelief in our life. Let's read Philippians 4:6-8 "Be careful for nothing (don't worry); but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." 

3 ingredients are listed in these verses that we need in order to expel the fear that so often cripples and dominates our lives: PRAYER, SUPPLICATION, & THANKSGIVING. If we are to pray the way God wants us to pray, we must include all 3 things! When we find ourselves worrying, we need get alone with our Saviour and pray by worshiping Him! Take a second right now to think about what you usually pray about. How much of your prayer life includes God? And how much of it is about you? Every time I pray, I want to first praise Him for who He is. (I'm far from being perfect in this area, but it is my goal) Worship Him by praising Him for Who He is! (He's faithful, He's everywhere, He's forgiving and gracious, He's the beginning and the ending, He is the greatest gift I've ever received, etc...) We  just need to spend time adoring Him! Our God is so BIG so strong and so mighty,  there's nothing our God cannot do!! We need to recognize His greatness and His power! He's BIG enough and STRONG enough and POWERFUL enough to solve our problems and calm our fears! From experience, I am so apt to run to Him with all my problems and to quickly rattle off all my needs and desires to Him when really, I first need to approach His throne with praise. So, the first thing we must do when we pray is to come to Him in adoration! The second is supplication, which is a sincere sharing of our needs, worries, problems, etc. God wants us to be completely honest with Him, to tell Him everything with wholehearted sincerity. Lay it all out for Him to see. Don't hide anything from Him. Thirdly, we must give thanks to Him.  As a mom, I so enjoy hearing my children say after cooking a meal for them, "Thanks, mom, dinner was awesome, you're the best!!" Wow, that makes my day! It makes it all worthwhile!! Let's not be quick to ask Him for things and then slow to thank Him! Remember the 10 lepers Jesus healed in Luke 17, and how only 1 returned to thank Him? Let's be like the minority, and be thankful and count our blessings! It's easier to focus on the negatives in life rather than to thank God and focus on His goodness!  Determine to be a person who is thankful and blessed!! I love when I ask someone how they're doing and they respond with, "I'm blessed!" It reminds me that I'm blessed too!! But I don't want SOMEONE to remind me that I'm truly blessed, I want to count my blessings daily before God and remind myself often of all the good things He has given me! After all, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17 

So these verses in Phillippians tell us not to worry about anything, but to pray about everything! God wants us to talk to Him about everything, even the little tiny things we face. That is our first step toward winning the war of fear!  We must realize that our heart (wrong feeling) and our mind (wrong thinking) are the 2 things that cause worry! Isaiah 26:3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Wrong thinking will cause us to worry! Our thoughts are so powerful!! And the Bible tells us we must bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ! (II Corinthians 10:5)  Paul helps us here in verse 8 by listing all the things we should think about as Christians. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, (Satan is a liar and wants to control us with lies, the Holy Spirit will control our minds with truth.) whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, (we shouldn't focus our thoughts and attention on dishonorable things) whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report (beautiful things, things worth talking about); if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise (things that motivate us to do better. Don't focus on the bad things in your past or thoughts that make you feel worthless or make someone else feel worthless), think on these things." We must fight daily to have the right thoughts. We must daily choose to think on "these things". Our minds filter the good and the bad of what we hear, see, etc. It's so easy to find something negative or wrong, we won't have to look long before we find it! It's everywhere. So we must detect when wrong thoughts enter our mind. If we fill our hearts and minds with God's Word we will know when wrong thoughts enter.  Psalms 119:165 says, "Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them." We must daily renew our mind in God's word and meditate on it.  

So, when worries come, let's pray the way God wants us to! I know from my own experience that we do not do this enough!  We need to pray. Your money may run out, your health may be failing, your family or children may be in trouble, you may have nothing left in life, but you can always turn to God and He will be there!! That's what is so amazing about God. He comes to us exactly where we are and how we are! His grace is AMAZING! "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wrech like me..." 

Praying: No appointment necessary. You don't need to take a number like at the license bureau or the deli counter, and you won't get His voicemail, He won't put you on hold, you can speak directly to Him, and He will make Himself known to you!!  We can pray alone and in community with other believers. (Idea: Start a prayer meeting with your girlfriends or w/ other sisters in Christ that live near your home)  We can pray anywhere! He's anywhere we need HIM to be...even in the scariest moments of life! Don't worry, just pray!

Shull Prayer Letter

How is Your Vision? / Mrs Judy Davis

Mrs Judy Davis

Pastor's Wife

Talking Rocks Baptist Church

Branson West, MO

How is Your Vision?

I recently had cataract surgery and I’m so glad I did because I can see so much better.  When the doctor took off the shield I was amazed at how bright everything was.  As I think about comparing my blurry vision to my Christian walk with God it is true in our spiritual lives we don’t notice our spiritual vision slowly getting very dim and the same if we neglect our bible reading, prayer life, church attendance, etc.  we don’t notice that Satan is deceiving us into believing those things don’t really matter, we start to grow cold and indifferent and our spiritual eyes become dim and blurry.  We think after all we have our reservations secured in heaven we can live like we want to, that God will understand.  The Bible says in Romans 14:7 no man lives to himself and no man dies to himself.  We need to always be aware someone is watching us and as for me I don’t want to be a stumbling block to someone and to have to give an account to God for causing them to fall.  I am by no means a perfect person but my desire is to please Him.  Just like cataracts on your eyes come on slow the way we neglect our Christian walk comes on slow in how Satan, the sneaky snake, as a pastor in a former church would call him, it doesn’t happen overnight we need to be aware of what is happening and make a conscious effort to try to get as close to the Lord as we can because before we realize it we are away from Him and don’t really care about the things of God.  We can claim this promise in I John 1:9 “ if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”  As you grow closer to God and He takes off the shield, so to speak, and brings you into close fellowship with Him you will have a heavy load taken off and trust me you’ll be so glad you did because when the trumpet sounds and we are caught up to meet Him in the air don’t you want to be found faithful and to hear Matt. 25:21 “ well done thou good and faithful servant”? I do.  I hope this was a challenge to you as it was for me to be faithful and not allow Satan to come and steal your joy. 

It's Too Hard For Me!! / Mrs Cindy Crutcher (5/16/16)

Mrs Cindy Crutcher

Assistant Pastor's Wife

Parkside Baptist Church

Mesquite, TX

 

It's Too Hard For Me!!

 Almost 39 years ago, I was expecting my 1st baby (I  was 10!). It was an exciting time. I had dreams of her being the “perfect little child.” I could hardly wait for her arrival. We set up a nursery and I started decorating it. I bought little outfits and lined them up  all along the side of the crib. I would go into the nursery and just stand there looking at everything. I could hardly wait to meet her and hold her. I just knew she was going to be a perfect baby and I was going to be the perfect mother!

Then on October 31, at 2:37 in the afternoon the nurse laid the most beautiful baby girl in my arms I had ever seen. I thought again, she is perfect, and I am going to be the perfect mother.
Well it didn’t take long after I brought her home from the hospital to realize when she wouldn’t stop crying, had “pottied” all over her beautiful little blanket I had worked so hard to make, and threw up all over me, that this mothering thing wasn’t going to be easy. I should have known that or we wouldn’t start it off with something called labor! By the time I had my 4th child my expectation went from having the “perfect” baby to, “Lord, please Help!” It was too hard for me.

When I got married, I married my high school sweetheart. I thought I was marrying Prince Charming and that we were going to live happily ever after. I know, you thought you were marrying a Prince to, then you kissed him and he turned into a frog! But I thought I was going to live happily ever after.
On October 13, 1983, I went to pick my daughter up from our Christian school. Her teacher met me at the door and said, “The preacher would like to see you in his office.  As I walked to the office I was thinking to myself, what in the world could she have possibly done, she is in kindergarten – how bad can a 5 year old be??
As I  knocked on the door the preacher opened it and asked me to have a seat. I walked in and saw my mom and her good friend sitting there. The preacher began to tell me that there had been an accident. He said, “ Your husband was driving down the road, and hit the side of a bridge, it cause his car to flip over onto the other side. The car fell down into the creek,  he then said, “I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it,” and that quick, my happily ever after was gone. It was hard for me.
I went into a deep depression. I didn’t want to leave my house or get dressed. I didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone…it was too hard for me.
It was about 2 months later that my mom began to get very concerned and worried about me. I was getting sick all the time and throwing up a lot. I began to lose weight. My mom said, “ You need to go to the doctor.” I agreed and she made an appointment for me and took me to see him. After the doctor examined me and ran a few tests, he came back into the room and said, “Congratulations, you are going to have a baby!”
I looked at my mom and I began to cry and I said, “I can’t do this, it’s too hard for me. My baby was never going to know her father. She was never going to see him or know what he was like. My baby would never know how much he would have loved her!” It was hard for me.
Then I began to think, how am I going to take care of all these children. (This was going to be my 4th child) To make a long story short, my grandmother called me one day and said she saw an ad in the local newspaper. It offered a free computer class at the local community college near where we lived for those who qualified. She said, "be ready tomorrow, I will pick you up first thing in the morning to take you to apply.
I won’t go into all the details, but amazingly, and just by a miracle of God, I got accepted and began to go to classes. Through the course of the class, I got to know the lady that sat beside me. We got to share some things about our lives and got to know each other a bit. She told me one night when we were talking that she had a son who was going through a tough time. He had just broken up with his girlfriend and he was having a hard time with it. She thought maybe I could go to dinner with him sometime and encourage him. She basically wanted me to share my faith and befriend him. I said, “Sure,” I had nothing else to do. So that Friday night she arranged everything and I met him for the 1st time at Applebee’s for dinner. After our “date” he went home and told his mom, “I’m going to marry that girl someday.” She said, “She’s got 4 kids!!” But that was exactly what he did! We were married on May 25, 1985. This year will be 31 years.
Now let me fast forward here a little bit. My husband came home one day and said, “The Lord’s called me to be a Preacher and we are going to move to Hammond, Indiana so I can go to school,” I cried-I didn’t want to leave my mom and my family. It was hard for me.
Well we did move. We got through college and graduation then, we got called to our first church in Goodland, Kansas. I called my mom and said, “I can’t do this, I’m not Preacher’s wife material.” I had been watching Mrs Hyles for the last six years and I said, “I can’t be like that!” She was graceful and soft-spoken and there I was chasing our lawn mower across the front yard.

More change for me meant more fears. As we were packing up to move to Goodland, Kansas I was scared. It was hard for me.
I called my cousin, and I said, Cindy, I’m scared, we are leaving in a week and I don’t think I can do this.” She took me to lunch the next day and gave me the best advice. She said, “You will have to grow into that position, if you will stay faithful, read your bible and keep going, you will grow into it.”
Ladies, through all these things that have happened to me, I had to learn to be willing to grow. II Peter 3:16 & 18  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest. As they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. (18) But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
We need to realize that change is necessary for growth and, is inevitable. Whether it be physically or spiritually, change happens, I’m going to be 57 years old this year and I’m experiencing some changes. I don’t remember things like I used to. My skin is falling! It’s starting to puddle down around my knees! Things are changing. I used to have to worry about the hair on my legs, now I have to worry about the hair on my chinny chin chin! (That’s a scary change!)
The Bible says in II Peter 3:18 – But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Change or difficulties, trials, heartaches, or whatever you want to call them, are a part of life and can be hard, but it’s inevitable and sometimes necessary for our spiritual growth. You will do one of two things – you will either grow from it or you will give up and quit! A marriage will either grow or decay, or even worse, fail because of difficulties. Even in a church, both church growth and church splits are usually the result of hard times, strife, change or some sort of difficulty.  Except them and decide to grow ….even when it’s to hard for me
Let me share with you what can happen to us when we go through hard times.
(Shoe Stretcher) – God allows things into our lives so we will grow. He is stretching us to a new spiritual growth.
How do we handle that? Get close to Him. Sometimes, when you buy a new pair of shoes they are tight, after wearing them a little at a time you can stretch them until they become more comfortable. That’s what God is doing to us. He is stretching us and growing us to be better for Him.
So first get close to God. While God is stretching you, keep your heart soft and tender. Don’t get tough or hard. It will be your natural instinct to become hard or bitter. The world would like for us to believe as women we should be strong and we can do anything. The world is telling us, “I am women hear me roar.” But there is a difference between being a strong woman and a strong-willed woman. The world’s attitude is a strong willed woman. 
A strong-willed woman says, “I can handle it, you can’t hurt me, I’m strong.”  But that kind of thinking is only causing you to build a hard shell around your heart.
A strong woman will be able to go through the hard time with a strong stand and not be moveable, but, in her soul, she is weak and tender and cries out to God. She doesn’t think she’s going to make it and truly gets ahold of God for her strength!
Example: The times I have disagreed, strongly, or argued with my husband I will think to myself, “He’s not going to treat me like that. I deserve better than this. He just doesn’t understand”…blah, blah, blah. What I am doing is hardening myself and the Bible says in Prov. 28:14, But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. Don’t let your heart get hard.
But once I start talking to God and pouring out my heart to Him, He starts softening me. He starts giving me thoughts like, “He just has so much on his mind” or “He’s really not feeling good today.” “He’s had a hard day at work,” and I start to soften up and my heart will get tender towards him again and I can go back to him and apologize and be able to say, “I’m sorry.” ( I’m just a girl)
(The resoler)
Second – After a difficulty comes, know how to re-soul yourself. This is key – the most important part. When a difficult time has come to you, it will leave you with a big hole in you soul. (your heart)
(Husband’s shoe with hole in bottom) My husband has walked a lot in these shoes and he has worn them out. That’s what happens to us. We get worn out through the trials and hardships in our lives and we have to “re-soul” ourselves.
A re-soler is used to fix the hole in your shoe. Get fixed! Know what works for you! Get help! And DONT be ashamed!
Third God wants to use you – (Shoe shiner) After you are re-souled, renewed, and strengthened again (back on the right path) then God can use you to shine through and you can help others. I Peter 5:10 says, “ But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
God wants to use us! II Chron. 16:9 – For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
Life can be hard. Heartaches will come. Don’t get hard hearted or become bitter or quit. God loves you and wants to use you. Keep your heart soft and tender.
Are u going through some stretching?  God obviously believes that you can not only take the load and won't  break, but maybe is also trying to  teach you something so He can use you in a greater way!
When things happen in your life that seem like "that's too hard for me" and you don't understand remember (my life's verse)Proverbs 3:5&6 - Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him; and he shall direct thy paths.

SNAP OUT OF IT / Mrs Laurie Whitehouse (5/9/16)

Mrs Laurie Whitehouse

Vice President's Wife

Commonwealth Baptist College

Lexington, KY

 

 

                                                                  SNAP OUT OF IT!

Psalms 101:2  I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
Last Christmas I woke up very early in the morning to spend some time with the Lord before the festivities of the day began. Christmas has always been a family day for my family in which we spend the whole day together opening gifts, eating, playing games, and enjoying one another’s company. As I read my Bible and prayed during the quiet morning hours, the realization of the transitions I would face in 2016 began to flood my emotions. Our oldest of four children is already married, our second son is getting married in May, and our daughter (although not engaged at the moment of this writing) will undoubtedly be married by the end of the year leaving our youngest son who is 18 at home. Christmas 2016 will be decidedly different than the Christmases we have had for the past 27 years. The tears came poured down my cheeks, as I asked the Lord to help me not be an emotional basket case. Finally, I thought to myself, “You can get up, dry your tears, and make a good memory of this day, or be a silly, emotional mess. Is that what you want your kids to remember?” I determined at that moment how I wanted to be remembered. I got up, dried my tears, turned on Christmas music, lit the candles, and began cooking. We all went on to have a wonderful Christmas day, and no one was the wiser in knowing that mom had an emotional start to the day!
Psalms 101:2 reminds me how important behaving rightly in my home is to my family. My testimony to my husband and children far outweighs my testimony to anyone else on earth.  My family is my number one ministry.  Although my kids are older now (18, 21, 22, and 27), it has been my goal to have them remember me as happy, joyful, active, industrious, even-tempered, fun, funny, sensitive to their needs, and spiritual.
Many years ago I memorized these words to a song that impacted how I felt about being a mom:
Up before dawn and out the door
What in this world are we striving for
We already have much more than our time affords
Struggling up the ladder offers us little reward
If we’re heroes to strangers and strangers to our children
We won’t stand blameless before the Lord.

He said, “Suffer the little children; for such is the kingdom of Heaven.”
Oh, you know He loves the little ones.
So mothers and fathers, let’s follow the Saviour
And cherish the treasures we have in daughters and sons.

I would often recall this song when our children were little because we had chosen for me not to work so that I could be home, and we were financially struggling; and now I recall the lyrics when I think of the inheritance of the testimony I long to leave my children (they might not get much more! Lol!). Being a wife and a mom is a one-shot deal. I hate the stereotype, which unfortunately is often earned, of a woman
being grouchy, silent, worried, moody, and emotionally out of control—even though we have all been there. I don’t want to leave those images as my legacy to my family. 
Here a few tips that help me when I need to snap out of negative emotions:
* Take your grievances, sorrows, and pain to the Lord. He knows and cares about what is happening in your life. He truly is the Friend that sticks closer than a brother. 
* Meditate on a verse that helps you. This year I have claimed Ephesians 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
* Play some peppy Christian music. Music helps lift my spirits.
* Challenge yourself to keep your negative moods at a minimum. I decided long ago that I won’t waste days being upset at situations. If I am mad, I try to get over it quickly. If I am upset, I won’t let my worries affect my whole day. Although we all have situations to deal with, we also have a life to live. I long to be known as a happy person. 
* Decide how you want to be remembered in life. You are making memories with your family every day. Your children will remember things about you that you will not remember. 

Even when I get in “one of those moods,” I need to realize it and ask God to guide me out of it so that I can be what I am supposed to be for my family—a happy wife and mom!



What is Your Fragrance? / Mrs Lisa Butler

Lisa Butler

Pastor's Wife

Word of Life Baptist Church

Mattoon, IL

 

What is your fragrance?

Eph.5:2 And walk in Love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. 

Now that it is springtime, I start thinking about flowers! I start planning in my head what kind of flowers I will plant this year and what flowers I already have planted, they will start coming up and showing their beauty. One of my favorite flowers are roses, I especially love yellow roses! 

I think roses are a favorite flower to many, they are not only beautiful but they also smell nice too. Beauty and fragrance, what a combination! 

I’m afraid some of us don’t have a pleasant smell all the time, it’s not anything physical. It’s not acceptable to have body odor is it? So why do we think it is acceptable to stink as a Christian.

 Our attitudes may be off, we may have a bad habit that we think is just a little thing that doesn’t matter, maybe we speak a harsh word to someone and walk away without the thought of the fragrance it will leave in the air.

We start letting our attitudes slide, our quiet time with God dwindles down, and soon we are not leaving a pleasant scent on the world.

We need to get back on track to being Sweet smelling women for the Lord, we need to strive to be fragrant roses God intended us to be.

Here are a few ways to improve our fragrance.

1 Be Kind.

Nothing smells up a place more than someone who isn’t kind.

Eph.4:32 “and be ye kind one to another”

 2. Be Forgiving.

How can we be sending off a fragrant smell if we hold grudges and never forgive those who we know we should? 

Eph.4:32 “Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”

3. Be Joyful.

When you aren’t happy in the Lord, you rub off on others. Find joy in the Lord. Study his word, and have time in prayer to fellowship with him.

Psm.35:9   “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.”

4. Be Content.

It isn’t very refreshing to be around a discontented person. Grumbling and having self-pity parties.

Phil. 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” 

Okay, what kind of fragrance did you leave today?