Humble Pie Anyone?........

How can a person be humble?  What exactly is humility in a biblical sense?  Do you think you are humble?

I am currently leading a bible study about Ministering Through Spiritual Gifts by Charles Stanley.   The gifts are Prophecy, Ministering or Serving, Teaching, Exhorting, Giving, Leading and Mercy.  So far we have covered the first 4 out of 7.  This a very interesting study and it generates a lot of discussion.  We get so excited that we end up in more than 1 discussion at once.  This is my first time actually leading a bible study and as the leader, I have to learn how to restore order with gentleness.  I believe leading anything requires a good amount of patience, discipline and humility.  I think a good way to acquire humility would be to listen more, talk less and let others say what's on their mind.  This is no small feat for me because I always want to throw in my 2 cents.  Half of the group consists of talkers such as myself and the other half is more on the quiet, reserved side.

Humility is one of the best qualities a person can have.    For a person who believes that they are right most of the time and has to admit when they are wrong and apologize, that takes an act of humility.  In a conflict, when a person decides to apologize for the sake of someone's pride, even if they believe they are not in the wrong, that takes an act of humility.  How about showing love and respect to a person that you really don't care for?  That takes a genuine act of humility.  Wives who submit to their husbands or anyone submitting to authority are exercising humility.  It is not easy to be humble in certain situations but with God's help, it can be done with a glad and pure heart.

When you decrease your status or pride, it does not mean that you are allowing people to walk all over you like a door mat.  You are setting yourself up to be exalted by God.  You see, God gives grace to the humble and opposes the proud.  The opposite of humble is pride.  Pride is when a person exalts his own self or elevates his own worth by acting superior.  Sort of like putting yourself on a pedestal, you know, like patting yourself on the back most of the time.  God will humble those who exalt themselves and exalt those who humble themselves.  Luke 4:11 NKJV   That  means, if you are arrogant, God will humble you without your choosing.  It basically means you will be brought down from that pedestal.  But when you choose to be humble, God will exalt or elevate you.  To elevate is to move or raise to a higher position, like being promoted.  By lowering yourself or humbling yourself like a child, God will make you the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 18:4 NKJV

Even though Jesus was w/o sin, he never defended his self.  Instead he humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  He carried His cross and died for our sins.  He experienced pain and sorrow and men did not recognize His worth.  He was wounded for our transgressions.  Jesus, was definitely humble.  When I am prideful, angry or hurt I have to think about what Jesus did for me and push my emotions aside.  That takes, humility.  I'm so glad today when I do or say something that I shouldn't, God has given me the heart and spirit to turn it around by saying 2 words, "I apologize" without the 3rd word, but.  And that takes humility.

Every Man For Himself (Woman too)

When it comes to salvation, it is up to you to make that decision to accept Christ as your personal saviour and walk with Him.  Your faith in Him will save you.  Your works do not pay your way but w/o works, faith is dead.  Last week at church, the pastor asked, "How many of you know without a doubt where you are going when you die?"  I raised my hand and a handful of other people including my 15 year old daughter and her friend.  There were many people that I know personally who should have raised their hand.  If they don't know where they are going when they die then they have missed a major factor of their faith .  Either that or they weren't bold enough to claim eternal life in Heaven before a church congregation.  Now if you are unable to do that in the church house, will you have the boldness to speak about eternal life to others?  That is an important factor in evangelism and witnessing.  You must know where you will spend eternity and be able to help other's understand how you could possibly know that.  How could you be bold enough to talk about heaven and tell people how to get there? 
I have heard a lot of Christians admit that they aren't sure if they will go to heaven when they die.  Honestly, there was a time when I wasn't even sure myself.  My Mother was the one who assured me to know and believe without a doubt that I will spend eternity with God as long I continue to follow Him, trust Him and have faith.  Don't just take my word for it but study God's word to show yourself approved.  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Romans 10:17

No one can pray you into heaven after you die.  Some people believe that if you die in a fallen state of grace, you will go to purgatory (between heaven and hell) while your living relatives pray you into heaven.  Really?  What is a fallen state of grace?  Does that boil down to not being perfect when you die?  Well that means we will all end up in purgatory waiting for our loved ones to pray for our salvation?  If that be the case then Jesus would've never had to die on the cross for us.  Jesus is the only way to eternity with God aka heaven.  Salvation is a free gift, and it's up to you, not your mother, not your father, not your sister, not your brother.  Please understand that grace is going to lead you home.
 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever  1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 .

Whose Job Is It To Make You Happy?

Have you assigned your happiness to someone or something?  Your friends, children, spouse or significant other?  What do I mean by that you ask?  Well first of all, happiness is an emotion which is driven by one thing, your choice.  You do realize that you can actually choose to be happy, sad, angry, etc.....?  Let me just tell you that my emotions are typically all over the place on any given day.  But I am currently learning that I need to control my emotions and try not to let my emotions control me.  That is a difficult task for me but with God's help, I know I can do all things.
  To control your happiness or any other emotion, is to decide what or who makes you happy, sad or angry.  There is a time for everything.  There are times when happiness would not really be appropriate, like when somebody hurts you physically or emotionally.  That would cause you to be angry or sad and that's OK.  The important thing is our reaction, like getting even.  If someone is rude to me, I cannot help but to be rude right back.  But God is not very pleased with me when I do that and He lets me know that right away. 
  Yesterday morning on my way to work, it was so beautiful outside and my morning had a great start.  I almost forgot my coffee which can be a bit disturbing for me, or not.  You never know with me.  So I find my coffee in the garage where I left it and now here I am in my car with my coffee listenin to some good music of course.  Once I get on the freeway I take a swig of my coffee and it spilled down my shirt and into my lap.  Oops, the lid wasn't on tight enough.  Now, my main emotion to this is frustration and my reaction would be a few dramatic choice words.  Yes, apparently I am a drama queen according to my friends and family.  Whatever, they always seem to see things that I don't.  What is that all about?  Anyways, that's an entirely different story and I will write about that some day.  Back to my reaction to getting myself all dirty before I even get to work.  That morning, I had also began my draft on this posting so I was already geared up for this test.  I pulled myself together, thanked God that I wore black pants and only got a small splash on my super cute tan shirt with the giant black flower.  I chalked it up to que sera sera, whatever will be will be and told myself not to cry over spilled milk, well coffee in this case.  I have literally made a big ugly deal over spilled milk before. 
I just happened to be prepared for that test and made the choice to be happy and continue to enjoy my beautiful commute to work.  I would say I got an A on that emotions test for a change.  I ended up having one of the best days at work that I've had in a long time.  I even helped a co-worker channel her emotions when our system decided to crash while she was trying to meet a very important deadline.  I told her, it is what it is, just work on something else but she really didn't have anything else to work on so I told her to take a break, in a nice way of course.  That's exactly what she did and she was happy.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

On 6/13 I spent my 34th birthday with my family and friends in a luxury box suite at a Reno Aces baseball game.  We had such a great time.  I won 20 tickets, plus VIP parking.  The stadium does not have a parking lot so you have to pay $5 or $10 to park close or hike from the nearest casino. Can you believe that the game just happened to be on my birthday?   I know who orchestrated that and if you don't know, you better ask somebody.  We had an amazing view, the weather was perfect and the Aces won but I can't remember the score.  The mascot came to our suite and sang happy birthday to me even though we have no clue exactly what the mascot is.  Here are a few pics from that special day.  Maybe you can tell me what that mascot is supposed to be.


 

Does Ace look like he's gettin ready to slap the back of my head?

Me and my Bestest Friend aka Soul Mate

My youngest daughter

Say cheese Mom

Sisters from another mister

 

One of these girls is my daughter

 

Mom and Grandma

Life is good

My daughter enjoying the view

Happy Birthday to me

We love this game

They say he was created by Pixar Studios,
he's supposed to be a monster.



The Judas Kiss (muah)

 



BE-TRAY

1. to deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty: Benedict Arnold betrayed his country.

2. to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling: to betray a trust.

3. to disappoint the hopes or expectations of; be disloyal to: to betray one's friends.

4.  to reveal or disclose in violation of confidence: to betray a secret.

5.  to reveal unconsciously (something one would preferably conceal): Her nervousness betrays her insecurity.

6.  to show or exhibit; reveal; disclose: an unfeeling remark that betrays his lack of concern.

7.  to deceive, misguide, or corrupt: a young lawyer betrayed by political ambitions into irreparable folly.

8.  to seduce and desert.

You will experience betrayal many times in life either as the deceived, the deciever or both.  Since we live in a fallen world it will most likely be both.  As you can see, there are many, many ways to commit an act of betrayal.  Can you think of a time when someone betrayed your or "sold you out"?  If you know how it feels to be punched in the stomach then you know how it feels to be betrayed by someone that you love or trust.  I remember when I was about 6 years old, a boy on the playground that I barely knew punched me in the stomach. :(  I actually lost my breath for the first 5 or 10 seconds.  I was in such shock that someone would do that to me for no reason.  I would later learn that boys don't always have a reason for a lot of the things they do.  (Honestly, I think he thought he was He-Man or G.I. Joe because this was back in the early 80's.)  For those of you that have never had the wind knocked out of you, take it from me, that's exactly how it feels when someone betrays you.  Like a straight up sucker punch.


Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, not with a gut punch but with a kiss. I don't know which one is worse. The coldest part about this story is that Jesus knew who would betray him and when they would do it.  Although I don't think that made it any less shocking or painful for Jesus.  His words to the 12 disciples while they were at the table during the last supper were, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me."  This made them all sad, then one after the other denied it.  Then Jesus said, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.  But woe to that man who will betray the Son of Man.  It would be better for him if he had not been born."  


By this point Judas had already collected his 30 pieces of silver and was just waiting for the opportunity to deliver Jesus over to the chief priests.  Judas actually had the nerve to respond by saying, "Surely you don't mean me Rabbi?"  Really Judas?


Jesus answered, "You have said so."  In other words, "Now you know, that I know, that you know, that you have already sealed the deal."  Needless to say, Judas ending up hanging himself.


Whether you have been sucker punched, thrown under the bus, sold out or cheated on, you can recover from such a shady situation.  The key point is forgiveness which isn't easy but it's necessary in order for you to "mount up with wings as an eagle and soar above your circumstance".  Trust God to reveal things to you and leave vengeance to Him.  I know what your thinking.  That's easier said than done.  That may seem true but you need to know and believe without a doubt that with God, all things are possible.


You may have found yourself acting like Judas a time or two.  If you find yourself throwing the punch or doing the kissing, you can redeem yourself.  You must repent by turning away from your demons.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Allow God to transform your heart and your mind.  We often betray and deceive ourselves when we don't acknowledge how wicked our own hearts are.   It's so much easier to see everyone else's evil ways and judge them.  But when you walk with God, He is always going to tell you before you betray Him or that He knows you will betray Him just like Jesus did with Judas.  That's our cue to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves.


Ponder this, if Judas would've asked God for forgiveness, he would've been forgiven.

There's Hope

It doesn't cost a thing to smile, you don't have to pay to laugh, you better thank God for that.

This is a very upbeat and inspiring song by India Arie called, "There's Hope" (see below).  I absolutely love her music.  She is an example of someone who loves the Lord.  Can doubt be found where there is hope?  I don't think so. 

When we start getting down and frustrated, we should only focus on the negative long enough to accentuate the positive and mount up with wings as eagles, Isaiah 40:31.  Focus on what you can do for another person to help them overcome a negative situation.  At the same time, be sure you are strong enough to avoid getting caught up in their mess.  I don't recommend doing this w/o God, that's for sure. 

A very close friend of mine lost her husband in a tragic accident about 8 months ago.  This woman has taught me a lot through her own life experiences, not just the death of her husband.  She never lost her hope in God.  She gave Him the glory through it all.  She has plans to go on a mission trip to Africa this fall to do what?  Help someone else in need.  The main thing I have seen her do throughout this journey is be there for everyone else around her.  She opened up her home for a recent bible study that I attended.  It was the greatest bible study that I have ever been a part of.  God used her for all of our benefit and let me tell you, the presence of the Lord was there every time.  The Holy Spirit was in our midst.

Through her pain and grief, her faith never, ever wavered not one tiny bit.  She is a living example to me of God's power manifested through our trials.  She didn't mind sharing the details of everything she went through from that tragic day til now.  She shared every single emotion, and there were many on any given day.  And that's why we are so close.  She helped me stay close to God during some very difficult times in my life.  I told her that I wanted to write about her story and of course she didn't mind one bit.  This is a person that shares God by sharing her own personal struggles, flaws, joys and pain.  The good, the bad and the ugly.  Her integrity is very important to her so being honest comes naturally for her.

Nothing happens by accident.  God uses everything that we go through in our life to show Himself to us.  If you don't see Him, believe me when I say, there is hope.  If you seek Him, you will find Him.  And when you do, you will know that you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength, Philipians 4:13

Rapscallion's

Last weekend at the MS Walk, my mom bought a raffle ticket and gave it to me.  Thanks to her, my husband and I won a Sunday brunch for 2 at a restaraunt called Rapscallion's.  We had never been there before but everyone around us expressed what a great place it is.  Thank you Mommy!  Since today happened to be Sunday, we decided to steal some time together, just the 2 of us.   

The skies were blue with a good mix of sunshine and clouds and  the temp was about 70 degrees.  That's perfect weather in our book so we rode our motorcyle's to the restaraunt.  

It's a hidden hot spot located near downtown Reno.  What a dainty little restaraunt, with very neat landscaping.  There were table's and chair's outside and even a few tree's for shade. Quite a few people were dining out on the patio enjoying the sunshine.  The inside had a very charming ambiance but since the weather was so nice, we decided to soak up some vitamin D outside.  There was only 1 small table available with 1 chair so the staff found another chair for us. The service was exceptional, as was the food.   They started us off with warm blueberry muffins and fresh fruit with some kind of pink, creamy sauce drizzled on it.  We were also served champagne. 

My husband ordered New York steak and eggs.  His steak was tender and medium well, just the way we like it.  I say "we" because we always share our food with each other.    

I had what was called "Joe's Special Scramble".  It consisted of scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms, spinach, onions and italian sausage.  A preferable and perfect combination for me.  Both our orders included home fries which had a wonderful flavor.  We could only take a few sips of our champagne so we ordered a glass of orange juice which came to us freshly squeezed.

 

That did it, we were both extremely pleased with Rapscallion's, all the way around.  We were sure to give our compliments to the waitress and the chef. 

It's days like this that we really cherish.  We have to schedule dates with each other more often.