love

Choose Your Weapons Wisely

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments
lion1

pinterest

Monday I posted about winning the battle against the enemy, but it made me wonder…Sometimes, I wonder if we, as Christians, give the right answers to those who feel like they are losing the battle of life. I mean, to the common reader on this site, what does this mean, “winning the battle”…”we’ve been given the weaponry”…”pick up your sword of the Spirit and your shield of faith?” I know for those of us who have grown up around church and the things of church and Christianity, these words might be a common vernacular; however, for others, these might make as much sense as a foreign language.

So, today, I’d like to share a little of what I have come to know. I want to share a little of my story, what He means to me, and how I have learned to fight and stand tall in this fight of faith. I hope it will help you, whomever you are, and I pray you will be encouraged to seek more of Him to find the truth and love that I have found.

TRUTHS:

Life can be hard sometimes, and being Christlike doesn’t necessarily change that.

Being a Christian does not cause our lives to be perfect.

Loving God does not make all bad stuff go away, never to effect us.

Relying on Him doesn’t mean we won’t have doubts and fears.

Trusting in Christ takes just an ounce of faith and a whole lot of surrendering of our will.

Once you decide to trust, He makes up the difference between our ability and lack of faith.

Our Christianity isn’t based on good feelings, happiness or getting what we want.

He has given us promises on which to stand and build up our faith.

His promises are true, steadfast, uncompromising and unchanging.

He is a God who is full of unconditional love, unwavering mercy and unrelenting faith.

He is a God who is forever reaching to us and eternally seeking to draw us back to Himself.

I could quote Scripture after Scripture of who He is and what He is about. I could recite verse after verse of His goodness, His promises and His commands; however, unless, you actually develop a relationship with Him my words won’t make much of a difference for you. Until you come to know Him, truly know Him, as your Savior and your King, as your Refuge and your High Tower, and as your Prince of Peace, what I have to say will not really make an impact on your heart and mind.

Oh, but if you can just have a moment with Him. If you can call on His Name just once, and grasp even a glimpse of the love that He has for you, I promise you, you will be forever changed. All I can tell you is just try Him. Reach out to Him. Call on His Name, and see what He might do.

 

 

Love Me Challenge #2

/ The WheatandTares

Oops, So sorry for a delayed post! This is yesterday’s, and today’s will be post d at 11:00 am today. 😉


There is a “name game” we play, often, in settings with new people. You introduce yourself by using an adjective before your name, one that starts with the same letter as your name, to help people remember your name. I almost always use “Mindful Mia.” I would say that describes me a lot.

I am, probably, too mindful at times. 😂Haha. I am always thinking of my family, our church, what’s going on with others, what’s going on with me, what’s next, what do I need to plan, etc. If you’re not much of a planner and wish to be, you might can think that’s a good thing, but I can tell you, it’s not always. I have had to really get in a routine of “turning down the volume” in my head; so, I can clearly hear the most important voice, God’s. Well, that’s another post for another day which you can go read about. 😉

Yes, I would have to say the one word  that describes me the most would be “mindful,” and even though, it can get me into trouble if/when I allow my strength to become my weakness, I wouldn’t change this aspect of myself. For, I know this is the way God created me, and in the good, the bad, and the ugly of it, He is still God if/when I allow Him to be. If I can help it, I will always work to allow Him to be God of my mindfulness; so, He can get all the glory from my life! 😊

Love Me Challenge #1

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

I saw this pic a very long time ago and saved it as a draft here on the blog. With today being February 1, I thought I’d share it and encourage us all to take the #LoveMe Challenge. Learning to love ourselves can be the first step to learning to truthfully and authentically loving others…

 

love-me-challenge

pinterest

 

#1 – Why are you doing #loveme challenge?

It will be fun. It might encourage others to join in. It might be an encouragement and a moment to share love and kindness with another…

 

Our Heart’s Desire

/ The WheatandTares

The soul longs for solitude; yet, it loathes the loneliness. We seek out friends to fill the empty space only to push them away when times get tough. We pull them close for the thrill seeking adventures and shove past them for the broken dreams and torn up paper houses. It’s a constant push and pull to gain the happiness for which we seek.

The mind yearns for stability; yet, it rejects true wisdom and grace. We search for the highest success and desire the richest affairs only to plummet to the depths of despair as we fail the test over and over again. We chase after dreams and compare with the elite, always trying to get ahead only to cheat and compete, biting and clawing at anything or anyone who might come close. It’s a constant push and pull to gain the happiness for which we seek.

The heart cries out for peace and comfort; yet, it wars against silence and truth. We wander, wonder, wishfully believing the noise will bring answers. We go to this philosophy and that fountain of knowledge, always avoiding the absolute, the only true Way. We grasp at this intellect, that debate, and those arguments, never embracing the very One who died once and for all. It’s a constant push and pull to gain the happiness for which we seek.

Can you not feel your soul reaching for His righteousness?

Can you not hear your mind shouting for His faithfulness?

Can you not see your heart bleeding for His unconditional love?

 

He simply stands there, arms outstretched, awaiting your release.

 

 

Are You A Fan?

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment


As I was reading this Scripture today, it made me think of being a fan. Not an electric, “cool you off fan,” but a “I am so excited! I am going to scream and holler for my team” kind of fan.

When you’re a true fan, you follow the team. You get excited when they are on the tv screen, playing national championships or in town for a big game. When you go to the game, you shout, you raise your hands, you get excited over the good things they do in order to win the game.

When we’re a fan, no one has to tell us how to get excited, how to cheer or even how to clap when our team scores. Noone has to instruct us, because we love our team. No one has to encourage us to cheer, because we are passionate about who and what we love!

Yet, too often, when we come to the House of God, we allow our mood to dictate how we react. We allow the circumstances of our lives or the people around us to influence how we worship. We my sit through a whole worship set, and even half the sermon, before we allow our face to crack a smile.

Yet, we say we are “fans” of our God. We tell other people we are passionate about the man who saved us. We express to those around us how we love Him, the man who gave His life that we might live. We share with new converts how we must reach out, share the gospel, and tell the world of the good things He has done, because He brings hope to all.

Really??

If you call yourself a Christian, could you ask yourself today, “Am I really a fan?”

He is My Portion

/ The WheatandTares

Sometimes in life, we might feel like our circumstances, our fears, our doubts or our troubles will completely consume us. We feel like we can hardly breathe under the weight of it all. Yet, when we have a connection to the Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, we will never be consumed. He loves us so much, and He will see us through. 

We will not be consumed, because He is bigger than any problem you can have. His ways are higher. His thoughts are more complex, and when we rely on Him for the answers, He is always faithful. He will never fail. When He is your portion, all you have to do is trust in Him, and He will be enough. 

Sometimes, our problem is in the waiting. Often, we don’t allow ourselves to get still for even a moment, much less wait on Him to meet our need. However, if we will give Him the opportunity, He is just waiting to be our portion, everything we could ever hope for and more. 💗

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:22-24 (NIV)

All Things New

/ The WheatandTares

Watching the snow fall late Friday night, I was reminded of this Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Just as the snow appears to “wash” everything in a beauty of white, Christ’s salvation makes our hearts pure and clean again.

Salvation doesn’t cost us a thing. It is not something we can earn. It is not something that we deserve. Salvation is a gift from our Heavenly Father, and we simply must believe and accept it as our own. Salvation is freely given, and it’s freely received.

When we receive it, we are a new creation in Him. All things are past away. All things are made new. That means our past sins are forgotten and washed away by Him. Never to be remembered again. When we accept Him as our Savior, our Lord, we don’t have to return to those old habits, those old ways and those old lifestyles that brought sorrow, brokenness and eternal death.

We can have a second chance at a whole new outcome.

How about allowing a little bit of that snow to wash over your heart?

Embrace It All

/ The WheatandTares

I walk down this broken road of memories

The dreams that once were, crashed along the side

The joys filled the hours and the laughter rang out for days

I could glory in those moments that once were

Yet I would be mistaken, for those were days filled with smiles and with pain

As time moves on, we seem to embrace the sunshine and push away the clouds

We forget the misery of which we survived

We put away the those heartaches, praying they will never come again

If I only grasp the good and never the bad, I cheat myself and I cheat you

For in the sorrow, wisdom can be found

In the brokenness and the tragedy, grace is remembered

Throughout my agony and distress, that is where His strength and love is deepest know
Penned – MG – 1/2/17

Moving Forward

/ The WheatandTares

Pinterest


The New Year can often be filled with regrets and remorse over the things of the past. Sometimes, it can be filled with so much trepidation that it might even impede you from moving beyond it. Yet, can I tell you? With God, all things are made new. 

Knowing Christ and surrendering our lives to Him can give us a fresh new start. He simply washed away all sin, as if we have a brand new, clean slate. Isn’t that awesome? 

Now, please understand. Committing your life to Christ doesn’t mean your relationships are instantly made perfect or that traffic ticket is somehow demolished or even that your past due bills are miraculously paid off with no effort from you. No, sometimes, the consequences to or wrong actions are still there, and we have to walk through those painful experiences still. However, as we commit our lives to Him, all of a sudden, we are not alone anymore. We don’t have to be fearful anymore, and we don’t have to dread the future or lament over the past. Our past no longer defines our future when Christ is at the center, because He now defines it. 

He gives us a second chance, a chance we don’t deserve, and we can’t earn. He gives us grace, meaning we have unmerited favor simply because He loves us. He shows us His mercy, not because He needs us, but because we so desperately need Him!

Now, that is something to look forward to. That is something that should make your New Years a pretty good one! 😉

YouTube

Do You Have Presents or Presence?

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

Taking time out with family and friends does a body good…and the mind and the soul… If you’re the type who has to work, work, work, and you never take time out to relax, to spend time with family and friends, and just to simply take time out to think, you are really robbing yourself and the ones who love you. When you consume your time with “presents” (of wealth, fame and power) with the lack of presence (of people), you will find your life full of emptiness.

It’s so sad to me to watch people who filled their life with agendas and ambitions, and then, when they grow older and aren’t in the work force anymore and aren’t able to accomplish what they once did, they find themselves sitting alone in a room wondering when someone will come to visit. You can simply walk through the assisted living facilities and nursing homes and see countless men and women waiting alone.

The presence of relationships is so important in this life. You don’t have to have a ton, but the ones you have must be deep. They have to be meaningful. They have to be full of love and life. When you have these, you have something to hold on to when the days grow dark and the nights grow lonely.

As this new year approaches, ask yourself, are you ambitious about the presents 🎁 or are you ambitious about the presence (of relationships)? Let’s make this new year meaningful and full of life…