love

Defeat that Demon

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Too many people claim they’re gonna live better, gonna do better, gonna act better, but they’re still holding onto that which brings them down.

Some assert they’re gonna eat right, but the cabinets are filled with junk, and the menu is filled with fast food and calories.

Some proclaim they’re gonna get fit, but the weights gather dust, the shoes stay in the box, and the gym membership rolls through a year with the door never opened.

Some declare they’re gonna speak right, yet the music is turned to trash, the podcasts are filled with perversion, and the languages are covered with cussing and crudeness.

Some affirm they’re going to act better, yet the friends stay the same, the words ramble on with no change, and the actions are as redundant as the clock hand.

If you desire change, it must be proven within.

It you desire an alternate path, it must first be evident in your walk, then the journey will follow.

If you’re still entertaining the demons from which you claim to have been freed, then your receptivity will be the burden on your own shoulders.

It will be the nightmares of your own dreams.

Wake up!

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.

Matthew 16:24-27

Be Like Jesus

/ The WheatandTares

So many say, “ I want to be like Jesus.”

So many preach, “You must be like Jesus.”

And so many more believe it’s such an easy task.

They claim we simply must be more kind, more loving, and more peaceful.

Yet, when love is proclaimed so elementary by pointing fingers at others and declaring what you must do,

I believe we are neglecting to look in the mirror at our own souls to see what we must do.

When kindness is demanded from others so readily, and it is said to be performed so smoothly,

I believe we are avoiding the reality that our flesh never truly desires to be gracious and kind.

No one is born good. We are not birthed in righteousness.

Our natural tendencies do not lend themselves to be like Christ without first dying to self.

If we long to truly be like Christ, we must remember He had a wilderness where He was hungry, tempted and had to be bold in faithfulness.

If we truly long to be like Christ, we must remember He had a Gethsemane where He was alone, discouraged and had to be brave in love.

If we long to truly be like Christ, we must remember He had a cross by which He was broken, disgraced and had to be truthful in kindness.

If we truly long to be like Christ, we must remember He had a Judas by whom He was betrayed, ambushed and had to be confrontation in peace.

When we profess others should be Christlike, we need to actually know who Christ is and what He did.

When we confess a desire to be Christlike, we need to actually recognize who our Savior is and what He did.

When we assert there is a common ground with a mighty King, we must acknowledge and embrace what must be crucified within us to become someone we are never capable of becoming

Without first, surrendering all to Him.

This is to be Christlike.

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3:9-11

And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:32

Wasting Time

/ The WheatandTares

As my husband would say, “Go and get off the asphalt!”

Too often, we stay in the grind, and we wonder why we have no peace.

We keep our head down, our hands busy, and our feet on flight.

We rush through the routine, seeking more and coming up empty.

But instead of continuing the toil, you’ll find that if you’ll stop to breathe, you’ll actually find more energy.

When you pause, reflect and take a minute, you’ll find the world can stop spinning.

So, go take a deep breath and soak in the mountain breeze.

Stand by a waterfall and remember it’s not about you.

Hike the hilltop and see that you can accomplish and win.

Walk beside a creek and find your laughter again.

Do some star gazing and be reminded of the Creator who causes your heart to beat.

These are never times wasted.

They are moments refreshed, restored and rejuvenated.

They are glimpses of peace and serenity.

Go get you some.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4

You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3

Grasping at Heritage

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

I recently lost my grandmother of 94 years, and I miss her so. She and I were a lot alike in so many ways, and often growing up, she was more like a mother to me than a grandmother.

She taught me how a young lady should carry herself and how to really love your man.

She taught me that a gentle word really can turn away wrath and a loving touch can bring harmony to a chaotic world.

She taught me how to be classy and be okay with tradition, religion and “the way things have always been.”

She taught me that you’re never too old to try new things, as she traveled to Jamaica in a missions trip at 80 years old.

She taught me that if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish just about anything, as she lived by herself for almost 20 years in a great big bay front property after my grandfather’s death.

And the most important thing she ever taught me was that a relationship with Jesus Christ and with the joy of the Lord being your strength, you can live out your days with laughter and peacefulness, no matter what the storms of life might bring.

I am thankful for the heritage she offered, and I will gladly pick up the mantle she left. She may not have always done everything right, and she’d have never wanted you to call her the picture of perfection.

But if I can live my life with as much dignity, class, integrity, charm, joy, love and peace as she had, I will call myself a blessed woman.

What heritage are you grasping hold of today?

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Proverbs 31:30-31

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

Proverbs 31:25

She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”

Proverbs 31:26-29

Healing is Messy

/ The WheatandTares

Healing is never easy.

Healing is not for wimps.

Just as a broken bone takes time to mend, it takes time for a wounded heart to heal.

Really, more often than not, it takes longer for the heart to take the journey of reconciliation.

And sometimes, the healing, the mending, and the restoration of peace and sanity may come while reconciliation never does.

Forgiveness is for the heart to heal and for the soul to be freed.

Forgiveness may not bring the reconciliation that was once hoped for or demanded.

For some things can be so damaged, the body cannot be recovered.

For some things can be so destroyed, the explosion left nothing but the crater that had already been formed.

For some things can be lost forever.

Never demand harmony when you’ve caused the destruction.

Never demand compromise when you were the source of the wound.

These are hard words to receive and much harder ones to actually live out.

But we all live by grace, and by grace we go forward.

So, forgive again and again.

Repent as needed.

Heal over and over.

And leave the rest up to the Creator of your soul.

For He knows all, and He will bring healing that soothes the soul and brings redemption.

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.

Jeremiah 7:14

Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.

Jeremiah 33:6

He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Proverbs 28:13

Stay on Mission

/ The WheatandTares

Keep going.

Keep striving.

Keep achieving.

Their words don’t matter.

They didn’t call you.

He did.

Stay on mission.

We’re not home yet.

And we have a battle to win.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

Choose Well

/ The WheatandTares

It’s so true that there are many things of which we have no control of our choices.

Decade in which we are born.

Parents. Birth location. Upbringing.

Physical attributes. Talents. IQ.

These things are given to us, and we have no say.

Yet, we do have a say in how we respond, in how we handle, and in how we carry on once we have them.

And this choosing results in our character.

Which is also a choice.

And it also will become our voice.

How we respond to the things we cannot control will determine our promotions, our successes, and our influences.

We are never a victim.

Being a victim is a choice. And that choice brings about our character.

When we choose to hate these things out of our control, or maybe just fight against them in a rage that wounds all those around us, it shows our character as rude, spiteful and selfish.

When we choose to embrace these things out of our control as chains, and we are just a martyr for the cause, or maybe we just can’t do any better because of all that has befallen us, it shows our character as weak, whiny and self centered.

Yet, when we choose to accept these things out of our control, fight against the things that would try to inhibit us, and become overcomers inspite of the pain, the turmoil and the difficulties, it shows our character as bold, courageous and focused.

And when we take this tenacious attitude a step further and begin to show others how to overcome their own obstacles, it shows our character as loving, giving, and outward seeking.

We can be a hero or a zero.

The choice is ours.

What will you choose today?

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:37

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Perspective Changes with One Shift

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

HOPE To NOPE

(Deleted GIF because it was corrupted and changing other blogs.)

I saw this little gif today, and it made me think how easily our perspective can change.

NOPE can change to HOPE

With one little shift in a letter.

Something broken can be healed with one little dot of super glue.

A rainy day can become sunny with one little wind surge.

The altered state can seem simple, small, and even insignificant,

But to the NOPE, it becomes HOPE.

To the broken, it becomes mended.

To the drenched, it becomes dry.

To the hopeless, it becomes a tomorrow.

Let your walk be realigned.

Let your vision be refocused.

Let your speech be rearranged.

Let your mind be rallied.

Let your heart be restored.

Love can overwhelm you.

Hope can consume you.

And you’ll never be the same.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2

Freedom to Be

/ The WheatandTares

We have the freedom to live free or chained.

We have the freedom to live free or caged.

We have the freedom to live free or bound.

It is our choice.

We are slaves to whom we lend ourselves.

If we choose anger, confusion, fear or agony, that is our prison.

If we choose joy, love, hope and grace, that is our sentence.

It is a choice, and it becomes our confinement.

Choose well.

For your choices will overwhelm and set shackles on you.

One is for life and one is for death.

And you get to pick and choose.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Romans 6:15-18

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

He’ll Run to You

/ The WheatandTares

I love the thought of my God loving me enough to protect me.

I love the realization that He loves me enough to defend me.

And I love the image of imagining Him as a lion running to me.

He will do this.

He is a mighty God, an everlasting Savior, an all Powerful Lord,

And yet,

He cares for me. He cares for you.

And He longs for us to be with Him.

And if He needs to run to us,

He will.

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

Luke 15:20-24

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16