Don’t Water It Down

March 3, 2016March 3, 2016 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

My childhood as an Army Brat is one I wouldn’t trade for anything. We lived all over the world, and my brother and I were lucky enough to spend two years in school at Hawaii Baptist Academy in Honolulu. While I certainly fell away from my faith late in high school and in college, I credit many of my teachers and one of my Bible classes at HBA with my excitement in studying Scripture and learning about God.

If you want the very best for your children, send them to a Bible-believing Christian school for K-12 – Yes, nowhere is perfect. Yes, the sports/activities may be lacking (or not!). But instilling a love for Christ and the Bible at an early age is such an amazing gift. One that, even if it is thrown aside during adolescence and/or college, can be picked back up with fervor later in life.

All this to say that this morning, on my way to work, I was thinking about my 8th grade Bible class. Hawaii’s population is, if not primarily, largely Buddhist – and this was the case even at a Baptist private school. Bible classes were mandatory, however, and Jesus was a little part of every course, so if the Gospel didn’t manage to touch you in some way, it was only because you were intentionally stuffing your ears full of cotton.

Our Bible teacher that year was phenomenal. In fact, many of the faculty from my years there are memorable. Most of them had traveled to Hawaii to teach at this school as missionaries, and while this may seem like a glamorous calling…Trust me… Hawaii without air conditioning for a Southerner is not even close to glamorous. As Craig can attest since we spent our anniversary trip via ‘true Hawaiian style’, it is HOT.

Hawaiians: Y’all need A/C.

I remember it like it was yesterday…our teacher, originally from Alabama, which made me feel right at home, assigned us to read the book of Genesis and the entire room of eighth graders, characteristically tactless, groaned audibly.

“Now, hold on,” she told us. “The Bible, and Genesis in particular, is quite the soap opera. You won’t find yourself bored at all…As a matter of fact, I dare you to compare some of the events in Genesis to something that could be on the Jerry Springer Show!”

We were shocked! Jerry Springer?!?! Now that was juicy!! And as we read how Eve deceived her husband, Cain killed his own brother, Lot’s daughters getting him drunk…WHOA! How the heck was this stuff in the BIBLE?!?!

The truth is…the Bible is probably the one completely honest piece of literature ever written. Most books gloss over their ‘hero’s’ faults and mistakes…The Bible is quite upfront about David’s indiscretions, Abraham’s initial lack of faith, Peter’s denial…even Jesus asked if there was any way crucifixion could be taken from Him. When we read Scripture, we are reading the living Word of God and that is beyond powerful!

Certainly, there is nothing ‘boring’ about the Bible. You just may need to find a translation that’s easy for you to read. While the King James Version was written in the vernacular of the day, The Message and the New Living Translation and the English Standard Version are more akin to modern language and therefore, easier to delve into and allow God to speak through.

I’m currently reading the first book in a trilogy of Christian fiction…I made the wrong assumption it would be heady and holier than thou, and I have been more than pleasantly surprised. This book is captivating and real and a fascinating portrayal of what the early Christians endured. It is filled with a picture of the ancient cultures of Rome and Ephesus…A society that lacked morality completely and tolerated anything…Anything except Christianity. In fact, Christians were burned as torches for a ‘circus’ the Roman emperor, Nero, held. It is a description of a society that sounds all too (increasingly) familiar…

And if you don’t believe me… Read this, this, this and this. An Amazon review of the trilogy mentions it is very graphic for Christian fiction…and I wonder…Has this woman read the Bible?!?! It is an honest, if graphic, portrayal of the world early Christians lived in and what they endured for their faith.

And it is important to read in these frightening times.

As Christians, we don’t need to water down what is going on around us…and we certainly don’t need to water down and dress up the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus never claimed His Way was easy. In fact, He tells us the world will hate us and that we will be outcasts when we truly live for Him. His Way is the only way, however and making Christianity into a pretty, neat little package that fits into your particular box is a dangerous path…

The video below provides a great analogy about what palatable packing does to the message of Jesus Christ. {Click the image to play the video.}

Until tomorrow…

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Prayer Changes…?

January 28, 2016January 28, 2016 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

Prayer. If I don’t begin my morning with it, the rest of my day goes quickly downhill. And the question is: Why?

Does my prayer change what’s happening around me? Does prayer persuade God to do things differently? And what is it that we should be praying for, anyway?

I believe much of the answer to all of these questions is found in the book of 1 Kings, Chapter 3 – to be specific:

Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked,both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” 1 Kings 3:3-14 ESV

Solomon could have asked God for anything, and yet, he chose to ask for wisdom… and God responds by not only giving him wisdom in abundance, but by giving him all the more on top of this – things above and beyond, that Solomon didn’t even ask for.

So, what does this have to do with our prayer lives?

It should tell you two things:

We should be praying for wisdom to discern God’s Will in our lives above all else.
When we are following the Lord, not only will He answer, abundantly, our prayers for wisdom and guidance, He also will provide the things we unselfishly don’t ask for.

We are all familiar with The Lord’s Prayer – right?

It’s found in Matthew 6:9-13:

Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
    may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
    as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
    as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation,
    but rescue us from the evil one.

Lord, let us honor YOU above all and anyone else. Please come quickly and take us with you to your Kingdom. Please give us wisdom to discern your will on earth. Provide our basic necessities, and forgive us like we have forgiven others. Give us the strength to follow you at all costs and overcome temptation. Save us from death and satan’s tricks.

I think it’s pretty obvious from only those two (of thousands) passages from the Bible what we should pray for and how. I also think reading these prayerfully, it becomes quite clear that prayer changes us – the way we think, how we go about our day, our interactions with others…

If I am praying for the Lord to guide me and give me wisdom, the same troubles and difficulties may come my way…but how I approach them will be different.

If I am praying for God to give me strength to resist the devil, when temptation comes, I am prepared to stand firm.

Recently, God put something on my heart. Something big. Something I didn’t even want to think about talking to Craig about. But the Lord was persistent. The more I sat in prayer with Him…the more I was convinced I just had to talk to Craig…

…Craig reacted in just the way I thought he would. He was totally opposed to what I told him God had put on my heart. I told him I was too…but that the Lord was very strongly speaking to me. We prayed about it more…We studied Scripture and we prayed again.

About two weeks later, Craig came to me and said, “The Lord changed my heart. He is telling me exactly the same thing as He’s been telling you.”

Still, this calling was/is not what neither Craig nor I would have chosen for ourselves, but prayer gave us peace with God’s plan. It provided understanding about how this would be possible. It allowed us the wisdom we needed to hear Him.

Until Tomorrow,

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Faithful Fear: Craig’s First Post of 2016

January 14, 2016 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

It’s our favorite day of the week here at The (Not-So) Newlywed Lefebvres… and I have such a treat for you today!! Craig graciously told me he would write today’s post!! He is such a wonderful man and an amazing spiritual leader for our little family. I loved his insight and I hope you will too!

Let’s just start this off quick and to the point. Being a Christian is not easy. If you think it is easy, then chances are you are not doing all of what Christ is asking of you to do.

The most faithful of followers even will admit that following in the footsteps of Christ and doing what we are called to do as Christians is not an easy road. BUT what they also will tell you is that it is a rewarding road – A road that leads to much more than just life for these 80, 90, 100 years we are on this earth. It leads to the most rewarding promise God has – eternal salvation.

While reading through the Bible, I have noticed that in the last few books I’ve read, (Isaiah and Jeremiah) God has asked His people to do some difficult things – things that would definitely make you fearful and that only trust in Jesus will overcome.

In one instance, He asked King Zedekiah to surrender to the Babylonians. By doing so, God promised to save him & his family and Jerusalem would not be burnt down. (Jeremiah 38:17-18) In the society in which we live, though, surrender seems like defeat. And since Bible times, not much has changed. As the events go on, out of fear and lack of trust in the Lord, King Zedekiah did not do as he was asked and surrender, and as a result, he and his family died and Jerusalem was burnt. (Jeremiah 39: 6-8)

Shortly before this, Jeremiah was placed into a cistern and left to die at the order of King Zedekiah. Again, the king acted in fear as he did not know what to do with this prophet (Jeremiah) who was foretelling of great destruction to Jerusalem. In retaliation, his officials lobbied to have Jeremiah thrown into the cistern.

Fear can be a bad thing when you are not following Jesus closely and not putting all trust in Him. HOWEVER, fear also can be a sign of going against the crowd and speaking what Jesus is telling you – A good fear! We see this demonstrated in a man named Ebed-Melch. He was one of King Zedekiah’s court officials. When he heard that Jeremiah had been placed in the cistern and left to starve to death, he spoke up to the king – demanding that Jeremiah be lifted out of the cistern. (Jeremiah 38:9)

To come against a king like this must have brought immeasurable fear into Ebed-Melch! It could cost him everything… Often, when doing what Christ wants, we find that it could cost us what seems like everything. But, we must remember that when we place our trust in Jesus and follow Him in all that we do, losing the so-called ‘everything’ here on earth, gains us the EVERYTHING of eternal life in Heaven! Later, in Jeremiah 39:15-18, Ebed-Melch gets to hear our Lord tell him he will be saved and rescued for his actions in standing up to King Zedekiah for Jeremiah.

For today, let us focus on standing up for what God says is right. And what the Lord sees as right, is not necessarily what the world dictates or the easiest path to follow. But by following Him, He will always make a way, even when it seems impossible, for His plan to be carried out.

In this story of Jeremiah, all it took for King Zedekiah to change his mind and let Jeremiah live, was for one person to come forward and speak his mind. When we are called to be that one person, I pray that we have courage to trust in Him, and be the Ebed-Melch of today – changing the tide of evil.

You can be assured, through Scripture, that “Anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.” (Rom 10:11) Don’t let fear rise up in you. Trust in the Lord for you will not be disgraced!

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Not Too Thirsty

August 27, 2015August 27, 2015 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Thirsty for Christ. What does that phrase mean to you?

I’ll tell you what it means to me – hungering after following Him, being consumed by wanting a deeper relationship with the Father, realizing that nothing else can satisfy your soul the way He does.

We currently have a world population of more than 7.3 billion people. Roughly 31% of those 7.3 billion people claim to be Christians. That’s over 2.1 billion people. 2.1 billion.

If all two billion of us were truly thirsty for Christ, would this world be in the state it’s in today? We live in a world predicted by the prophets:

“ Be sure of this. In the last days hard times will come. People will love themselves. They will love money. They will talk about themselves and be proud. They will say wrong things about people. They will not obey their parents. They will not be thankful. They will not keep anything holy. They will have no love. They will not agree with anybody. They will tell lies about people. They will have no self-control. They will beat people. They will not love anything that is good.They cannot be trusted. They will act quickly, without thinking. They are proud of themselves. They love to have fun more than they love God.They act as if they worshipped God, yet they do not let God’s power work in their lives. Keep away from people like that.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5

Um…that sounds like now to me…but regardless, shouldn’t we Christians (all 2 billion of us) be shining SO brightly that we overshadow the over 69%? Shouldn’t we be so loving and forgiving and helpful and full of JOY that people can’t help but be drawn to us?

Why is it then that instead of striving to be like Jesus, we are fighting, assimilating with the secular world around us, insulting, blaming, judging…

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2

We are called to be transformed – to be different, outsiders! We should have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, and therefore, have the mind of Christ – making it more than a little obvious when something isn’t right.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” John 15:18-24

I pray for all of us to strive to be more Christlike – to thirst for Him. Christianity is not passive. It is not a club you belong to and never visit. It is a LIFESTYLE that affects every single decision you make, and every single thing you do. It is a CHOICE to follow Him, no matter what is thrown in your path.

A true servant of Jesus Christ is one who is willing to experience martyrdom for the reality of the gospel of God. When a moral person is confronted with contempt, immorality, disloyalty, or dishonesty, he is so repulsed by the offense that he turns away and in despair closes his heart to the offender. But the miracle of the redemptive reality of God is that the worst and the vilest offender can never exhaust the depths of His love. Paul did not say that God separated him to show what a wonderful man He could make of him, but “to reveal His Son in me…” (Galatians 1:16). (from ‘My Utmost for His Highest’ by Oswald Chambers)

Are you willing to thirst and hunger after Christ at all costs?

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

A Spirit-Filled Atmosphere

August 20, 2015August 20, 2015 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

Good Morning Friends & Welcome to Thirsty For Christ Thursday!

If you have been reading our blog for long, you know we love the devotionals written by Sarah Young – most especially “Jesus Calling” and “Jesus Today”. So this morning we want to bless you with a recent devotion from “Jesus Today”, in a format you can even print and hang by your desk as a reminder:

I just love the imagery that is derived from those last few sentences: ‘When Christlike goodness collides with worldly vileness, be on the lookout for miracles! The collision of spiritual opposites creates atmospheric conditions that are conducive to My powerful interventions.‘

Those words give me a visual of storm clouds erupting into miraculous lightening strikes.

You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. Psalm 77:14 NLT

One thing to take from Ms. Young’s devotion is this: “Be on the lookout for miracles.” If you are told to be ‘on the lookout’ for an approaching train, you would be expecting that train to come around the corner at any moment! So the same we should be in being on the ‘lookout’ for God’s Mighty Hand at work!

As the psalm above says, He is the God of great wonders, and our faith in Him should reflect our belief that nothing is impossible with Him.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.” Matthew 19:26 NLT

Be expectant of the miraculous in your circumstances!

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Your Choice

October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres4 Comments

Yes, I know. I’m the Worst. Blogger. Ever. If that award is anywhere to be awarded, send it my way. I deserve it! One of our last blogs already detailed how busy we have been, and the past few weeks have been NO EXCEPTION, but, at any rate, I feel guilty for abandoning my blogging family so much since our move! 😦

Forgive me?

Since taking on my new role as Youth Minister for two parishes in Southern Maine, I have been faced with new thoughts about our faith – some of them, I never thought I would have to look face-to-face, but therein lies the joy of life! Nothing is ever what you THINK it will be!

Deuteronomy 6:4-9

⁴Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.⁹Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Children and teenagers today don’t have it the way our grandparents did…or our parents…not even like I did. Youth of today are faced with enormous responsibility – so much so that I am fairly certain naptime would be a welcome word for many of today’s middle-schoolers and teens. Seriously.

When I was growing up, going to church and being involved with our Christian faith was not a CHOICE. It was just what your Sunday and Wednesday (evenings) consisted of. At least in my family, and the families of MANY of the kids I grew up with. Today, kids playing soccer or football have not only practice, but games and tournaments on Sunday mornings – forcing the child to CHOOSE between missing those activities and attending church…Wait, did I just say ‘forcing the child to choose’?!?

Oh…I did…and it isn’t any mistake! Parents today are allowing their children to be tiny adults…They make decisions about the events they are involved in and where their priorities are placed…Do you see anything wrong with this picture?

Re-read the passage from Deuteronomy above: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

As parents, it is your responsibility to show Christ to your children. That is your JOB as a parent, just as it is your duty as a spouse to show Christ to your husband or wife. Children are not born to you for show and tell, dressing up, parading talents, or reducing your tax burden. Children are God’s gift to parents, and in turn, they are to lead them to Christ.

As a couple facing infertility head-on, Craig nor I take our future responsibility lightly, and it is painful to see the teens I lead have to choose between playing in their soccer game or going to youth group or church. Parents need to set priorities – and this is a nationwide phenomenon.

As Christians, if we believe what we read in the Bible, we know that Sunday is the day for the Lord. He teaches us plainly that NOTHING should be above Him in our lives, and that includes high school activities, Sunday football, shopping trips, family get-togethers, etc. etc. This past Sunday 6,000 Maine high schoolers were involved in a soccer tournament in the morning! 6,000 players and HOW many parents and siblings?!?

When did we stop being a Christian nation, and allow the future of our country to CHOOSE for themselves how they would spend their Sunday? Even worse, when did parents decide it was okay for school events to be held during church services?

Proverbs 3:6

⁶In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

Matthew 6:33

³³But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

This doesn’t just apply to parents or those raising children, either. This applies to each and every one of us. The moment you make the choice to put God first in your life, to take all of your concerns to Him in prayer, to lay all of those you love on His Altar, things will begin to dramatically change for you. Doors will be opened and His Will will begin to be illumined. Things that mattered so much before will fade away, and you will yearn for God’s favor.

It’s a miraculous thing being a child of God. Don’t pass up eternity for soccer on Sundays.

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Relief

June 19, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres8 Comments

Aaaah…I can honestly say that one of my favorite parts of the week is going to the chiropractor. Each week I go, during lunch, and have an adjustment and then an hour-long massage. All the tense muscles from the stresses of daily life become relaxed, and I feel like a brand new girl.

Seriously. Hands-down. Best. Lunch. Ever. 🙂

But as I was lying there today, my muscles relaxing, my tension releasing, I heard the familiar PING of a text message come from my phone.

When my massage was complete, I checked my messages and saw the one that had arrived during my moment of relaxation. It was from my dad:

Ma is doing much better now. They moved her to a regular room; sodium levels are up and white count is down…Prayer does work. I’ll keep y’all updated.

Love, Dad

Wow.

The relief of that message took more tension out of my neck than the massage I just had had. And then, it hit me – The relaxation. The release. The awesome feeling of having a massage. That’s what God wants us to get from prayer.

Being in His Presence should be a wave of warmth and comfort and peace over us. Our faith in Him should lead us to healing. Out reliance on Him should cause tension to leave us because we don’t have any reason to worry when we are following the Lord with all that we are.

Matthew 11:28 (AMP)

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

Do you truly realize that we serve the God of the Universe who wants to hold us tight and make us feel like a million bucks?!

Just as I laid on the massage table this afternoon and my tired muscles found relief, so is the feeling for your whole body, soul, mind and spirit when you lift your heart up to God in prayer and worship. He wants to have a “Daddy” relationship with you!

Let him be your relief from this world.

P.S. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of you who lifted up my grandmother in prayer! He listens. He answers. He is The Healer. He is The Sustainer. We are blessed with your prayers, your love and your friendship!

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Grace, Guidance & His Everlasting Love

May 15, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed LefebvresLeave a comment

At the top of our prayer list is a request for God to guide us along the path He has chosen for us. Over the past couple of months, as we have walked down those paths and continued to pray for His guidance, He has led us and spoken to us in some utterly amazing ways.

I mentioned on Tuesday that I spent a large part of Mother’s Day evening in tears. Whenever I let the enemy remind me of past failures and regrets, sadness and sin, it gets me into the pit of depression. (Does this sound familiar to any of you??) I feel injured and helpless, hopeless and despairing – but that is NOT the state of mind God wants for His children. Not in the least!

And He is an the answerer of prayer.

This past week, He sent His messengers out with the following Word for me:

I love you with an everlasting love.

Here are, specifically, the messages He sent my way:

“Times like this are when I sing “I Have Loved You” over and over. He loves us with an everlasting love, and we are His! If He loves me that much, who am I to question my worth or why I am sometimes lonely?”

(Here’s a close-up!)

If you can’t read that on your screen, it says “He loves us with an everlasting love and nothing can thwart His Will. This means we should be at peace. We should set aside our worries. We should remove our fingers from our ears that we might hear the music of the rolling spheres magnifying His name.”

And then last night on Facebook, this came across my news feed:

I’m sorry, folks, but this just brings me to tears (of joy!) even as I type this. God loves us so much that He wants to calm our silly fears and concerns and worries! He SPEAKS TO HIS CHILDREN!!! He wants a real RELATIONSHIP with YOU. That’s right – The One who CREATED THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING wants to be your FRIEND, your FATHER, your FIRST LOVE!! How could that not phase you!?!?!

You could be cynical and say this was coincidental – but God doesn’t work in coincidence! I am a firm believer that He speaks to us through His faithful people, through the world He created, and through His Word.

Last night, just before I fell asleep, I caught a brief snippet from Max Lucado on television, speaking about how, historically, the world’s religions have been based on attempting to find favor with their gods – through their lives, their actions, their own doing. But we don’t have to worry about that!

Christianity does not work that way. God gave us this precious gift called GRACE.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

We could never even think of doing anything remotely good enough to deserve an OUNCE of His love, but we don’t have to. All we have to do is accept Him as Lord over our lives, to believe in Him and believe that He sent His own Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for our sins. That’s it.

God’s absolutely amazing grace takes care of everything else.

His reminder to me this week was that He loves me with an unstoppable, unchanging unbelieveable, otherworldly love – A love I cannot begin to fathom; and I don’t have to be “good enough” for Him to bless me (us). I don’t have to be “good enough” to do His work with singles (I can’t WAIT to begin!). I don’t have to be “good enough” to share His love and mercy on this blog.

All I have to do is love Him back – and even when I fail at that (which is often), He loves me STILL.

{Yes, you will have to watch and listen to this in a browser! And do listen…This is a beautiful hymn…Sung by a men’s quartet beautifully!}

God’s Blessings To You All,

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

Leave YOU Behind

April 24, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres2 Comments

Surrender.

It’s one word, with a lot of power.

Who do you surrender your life to now?

Is it the One who died for our sins, so that we might live eternally?

Or do you surrender to your career, your hobbies, money, your earthly desires?

I will tell you one thing I know for certain. If you truly surrender your life to Him, you will look back on your life and see drastic changes and movement and blessings. It’s absolutely amazing. I sat in church last night, and thanked God for the unbelievable blessings He has poured out on us over the past year and half. We put a toe into the pool of His mercy and have been IMMERSED. Truly.

In 2014, never having been anointed with oil and healed by God through His servant in my entire life, I have been anointed, prayed over, and had a laying on of hands 3 times now – all because we trusted Him to lead us and guide our steps.

Last night, I learned an important lesson:

Hope is for the future.

Faith is for the here and now.

We don’t HOPE for His blessings. We WAIT on them in FAITH because we KNOW He has blessed us, and is in the process of blessing us!

Have faith in Him. Have faith that if you lay all of YOU behind, He will lead you where you need to be.

You won’t be sorry.

Surrender.

The video/song below says it all. Ask Him to flood your atmosphere – all the time. Live in His Presence, in complete surrender. {view in browser}

Thirsty For Christ Thursday

His Way Or The Highway

February 20, 2014 The Not-So Newlywed Lefebvres1 Comment

{Note: Please view this post within a browser to see the included video.}

Ah, choices. The famous Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken” was written about our difficulty in making decisions:

The Road Not Taken

BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Choices and our reactions to them are discussed in the Bible, as well.

Mark 8:27-33 says,

“Jesus and his disciples set out
for the villages of Caesarea Philippi.
Along the way he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that I am?”
They said in reply,
“John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others one of the prophets.”
And he asked them,
“But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said to him in reply,
“You are the Christ.”
Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him.

He began to teach them
that the Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed, and rise after three days.
He spoke this openly.
Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples,
rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.‘ ”

Rebuke. Interesting word. I was pretty confident I knew what it meant, but I looked it up to be sure…because I really wanted to understand what was being said here.

re·buke

verb

to express sharp disapproval or criticism of (someone) because of their behavior or actions.

So Peter criticized Jesus for what He said…Wow. Can you imagine making that choice?!?!

WAIT A SECOND…

Peter may have criticized the Lord in His physical presence, but don’t we often do the same thing exactly the same thing? And with the Holy Spirit living right in our souls…

How many times have you read or heard something Jesus asks of us as Christians to do and rolled your eyes or talked your way around obeying Him? How often do we doubt His Word and His promises? If you’re human (and I’m guessing most of us are), you are guilty of it every single day. I know I am.

But let’s look at Jesus’ reply:

‘Get behind me, Satan.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.‘

S. Michael Houdmann head of Got Questions Ministries says,

” …we must also see how easily we can become an unwitting spokesperson for Satan. This is especially true when we lose sight of God’s plan for us. This comes about when our focus is on our careers, our possessions, our security, the things of the world rather than upon sacrifice and service and the proclaiming of God’s message. When Peter’s focus shifted to his own desires and plans, Jesus rebuked him in order to get him back on track. May our focus always be on God and His plans, that we may never experience a similar rebuke from our Lord.”

I think our loss of focus on GOD’s will for our lives can sometimes stem from prayer we feel has been unanswered. I know I am guilty of losing grasp of any understanding of His purpose for my life when things take an unexpected turn.

But the more I pray, the more I force myself out of my comfort zone and into my Jesus zone, the more I push myself into scripture reading and singing…the more I fall back into God’s grace.

Isaiah 55:8

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

Let’s make a steadfast effort to make the choice for HIS WAY… because I don’t even want to fathom what awaits us heading the other way…

Last night on my way home this song was on and it brought me to tears and my newly found up-raised arm…How powerful.

Make the choice and the change for Christ.

PS – Here are the lyrics for the song above. I just have a feeling you’ll want to know them, and pray them.

“Keep Making Me”

Make me broken
So I can be healed
‘Cause I’m so calloused
And now I can’t feel
I want to run to You
With heart wide open
Make me broken

Make empty
So I can be filled
‘Cause I’m still holding
Onto my will
And I’m completed
When you are with me
Make me empty

[Chorus:]
‘Til You are my one desire
‘Til You are my one true love
‘Til You are my breath, my everything
Lord, please keep making meMake me lonely
So I can be Yours
‘Til I want no one
More than You, Lord
‘Cause in the darkness
I know You will hold me
Make me lonely[Chorus]