faith

January is Coming

/ The WheatandTares

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and I wish you a very happy New Year’s!

With Nee Year’s comes new year resolutions, reservations for new school vents and sometimes even “revolutions” to start a new thing and accomplish it with fire!

But then, after only a few months, we often see so many temporarily quit, back up or walk away altogether from their declarations. Why?

More often than not, it’s because a great proclamation can’t change the heart.

If you too closely resemble the world you are wanting to change, it will be harder for you to being about change.

If you never implement accountability, you’ll never have a foundation for truth and honestly.

If you never truly come out a be separate from that thing you are leaving, how do you ever believe you can truly transform?

So, as the new year quickly approached, let’s do some reflecting. Let’s go some pondering.

But most of all, let’s do some deep soul searching to find the true depth of the change we want and so desperately need.

And then, let’s step out of the comfort zones. Let’s rip through the veils of secrecy.

And let’s shine the light of absolute truth and stand apart from what was to become what can and will be.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..

1 Peter 2:9

For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:2

Turn Back

/ The WheatandTares

C. S. Lewis has such a way with words. We work so hard to move forward, make progress, never wanting to pause the success and forward motion of our journey.

Yet, sometimes, a good pause is warranted.

Sometimes, an about face turn is in desperate need.

For if we continue to advance, never changing course when the path is in error, we will end our journey devastatingly off course.

So, if you find yourself on the wrong track today, if you recognize this is not the destination for which you first set out, have no shame, have no fear.

Make haste. Do a 180 immediately.

And return to the one degree you missed way back beyond.

It’s never too late.

Unless of course, you stubbornly proceed until you have no more breath.

Now, therefore,” says the Lord,
“Turn to Me with all your heart,
With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
So rend your heart, and not your garments;
Return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger, and of great kindness;
And He relents from doing harm.

Joel 2:12-13

Choosing Fear

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

You’ve heard the statement Faith over Fear, or maybe you’ve seen the tshirt, but what does it really mean?

To embrace faith, do you truly let go of fear?

To hold onto strength while pushing away intrepidation?

Or do you simply grasp fear by the throat with one hand and link arms with faith with the other and walk boldly forward through the raging fire and burning flames?

I say truth faith is the latter.

True faith is when the pain takes your breath away, and you have no idea what brings tomorrow or if it will even come, but you square your shoulders and take the step onward.

That’s real faith.

And I’ve seen it in living color…

And it’s all together inspiring and beautiful.

And oh. So very rare.

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior…

Isaiah 43:1-3

Do the Hard With Grace

/ The WheatandTares

What is something others do that sparks your admiration?

I have a friend whose husband has just had his leg amputated this past week because of diabetic neuropathy. He was cracking pirate jokes the day after, and she was back in church worshipping on Sunday.

I have a friend whose husband travels extensively throughout the year as a lawyer who defends faith rights as she stays home with her littles, and she still offers a friendly hand, makes a phone call to the hurting, reaches out to the lonely.

I have a friend whose husband was shot in the line of duty, and she works hard to raise their fifth child while also sharing with others about her faith and the peace Jesus can bring in spite of pain, and she’s also working vigorously on her own degree in the study of law.

I have a friend whose wife died tragically in a car wreck, and the very week following her funeral, with tears still to shed, he got on a plane to fly to her hometown to preach the gospel and tell people about the Jesus that she desperately loved.

Each of these friends have heart wrenching stories with details that might break the next person. But each them stand in their faith and keep loving, keep reaching, keep grieving, and keep worshipping their Creator. I’ve watched some go through much less and blame God, walk away from Him and even curse Him.

And you might wonder what’s the difference. Or maybe look at them with criticism and scoff at their faith. Or maybe you gaze upon their path and wonder how in the world you could do the same.

But I’ll tell you what I admire most: their admiration of their King and their ability to do the hard with the deepest of grace.

Their adoration inspires me.

Their vigor admonishes me.

Their dedication and determination encourages me.

It’s not your circumstances that make you.

It’s what you do with those circumstances that makes the difference.

Choosing grace over anger creates an atmosphere of strength and fortitude that cannot be easily silenced.

Choosing faith over despair creates a contagious courage that cannot be ignored.

It doesn’t mean pain is not felt, and it doesn’t mean fear is not faced, but it is the warrior within who brings a peace to those following which cannot be shaken by what’s to come and is sought after as if for fine gold.

This is what ignites my admiration.

This is what sparks the flames of my praise.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

How Big is Your Dream?

/ The WheatandTares

Are you dreaming small or dreaming tall?

What you dream of, you’ll shoot for.

What you reminisce, you’ll reach toward.

What you chase after, you’ll find in one form or another.

So, be careful what you wish for.

Dreams can become reality if only given moment to live.

You’ll either fan the flame or squelch the embers.

The choose is yours.

And today is the telling hour.

What is your dream?

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24

Faith Over Fear

/ The WheatandTares

That’s really easier said than done, isn’t it?

Faith over Fear

It’s such a cliche, such a catchy phrase.

It just rolls off your tongue like so much psychobabble.

But what about when you’re standing in the edge of a cliff, and it’s either jump or fall?

What about when you’re hanging on the side of the boat, and it’s either swim or drown?

What about when you’re climbing the side of that mountain, and it’s either step or stumble?

What about then? How easy to do those words come?

What about the moment your spouse wavers?

What about the moment your child is impaired?

What about the moment you falter and fail?

What about these moments of truth?

Where is your faith now?

Faith over Fear is not be the fairyland you once believe.

Faith over Fear is not the jingle jangle of the faint of heart.

Faith over Fear is the moment truth is revealed for all to see.

What will your vision be?

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

What are You Seeking?

/ The WheatandTares

Some seek religions.

Some seek fortune and fame.

Some seek education and intellectualism.

Some seek philosophy and a higher power.

What are you seeking?

What you seek, you will find, when you seek it with all your heart.

What you seek, you will find, when you seek it with no bounds.

If it’s religion, you’ll find tradition and law.

If it’s fame and fortune, you’ll find self gratification and temporary pleasures.

If it’s academics, you’ll find knowledge and affluence.

If it’s philosophy, you’ll find a wisdom and deeper meanings.

Yet, in all of these things, you will still find an emptiness, a void, a vast domain within your soul that cannot be filled.

But if you’ll seek a relationship with the One who created it all,

You will be filled.

…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17-19

Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

John 4:13-14

Happy Thanksgiving

/ The WheatandTares / 4 Comments

No matter where you are today or where you’ll be tomorrow,

From our family to yours,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat well. Be at peace. Embrace hope.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

Thanksgiving is an Attitude

/ The WheatandTares

Thanksgiving is not an event to be attended.

It’s not a holiday to be survived.

It’s not a date to be dreaded or anticipated.

Thanksgiving is an attitude of the heart.

It begins with gratefulness and ends with love.

It is consumed with peace and wrapped up in hope.

Thanksgiving can be now, and it can be tomorrow.

As long as you never leave it behind.

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Thankfulness Begins With A Thought

/ The WheatandTares / 3 Comments

Gandhi said,

Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.

Although, I don’t follow the teachings of Gandhi, there is truth in those words.

Scripture tells us this in a much simpler form,

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Thanksgiving isn’t a date on the calendar or a time of year, it’s an attitude of the heart that should be lived out every single day.

What are you thinking about today?

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7