When God Sees A Rainbow

Long ago in Bible times, after God flooded the Earth, He put a rainbow in the sky. I always thought the rainbow was for us. A covenant with us that He would never flood the Earth again. And yes, it was for that, but when you read it closely you see that it was for Him too.

Read Genesis 9:14-16 with me:

14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” (NLT)

Notice He says, "When I see the rainbow in the clouds I will remember the eternal covenant…"

God commanded a rainbow to appear after every rain to remind Himself not to give up on His creation. He knew that even this new generation of people beginning from Noah would still struggle with sin everyday. He knew that His heart would be troubled and broken over and over by the sins of His children. He knew that He would need that reminder, that rainbow in the sky to calm the storm and bring hope and promise back to Himself.  
God hates sin, so Praise the Lord He made rainbows, because without them, we probably would've been wiped off the Earth already! I know I would've.

So when I first researched why the rainbow was the sign of gay pride I was angry. How could they use something made as a promise from God and turn it into a representation of sin? But after reading in Genesis today, I think the rainbow is the best possible thing they could use to fly above their heads and cover their profile picture with right now. Because when God sees it, it reminds Him to have grace and to not destroy His creation.

Maybe when WE see that rainbow symbol when can also remember that we need to have grace and mercy- and LOVE for that person; not judgments, anger, and destructive words.   You know by my other posts of course that I am not saying to support the sin, (you won't see me changing my profile pic to a rainbow) BUT every time I see one I will pray for that person. I will also pray for myself, that I would not let negative thoughts or judgement come into my heart.

Today we learned that God not only made the rainbow for us, but He also made it for Himself. So if the God of the Universe felt He needed a reminder to show grace to His people, then how much more do we need that reminder?

To My Fellow Christian

In regards to my last post entitled, "Do You Call Yourself a Christian?" AND in regards to what is happening in America today,  I feel the need to leave you with a passage from Romans. 

But first,
If you call yourself a Christian, then you are claiming you believe and obey what is written in the Bible, NOT the ways of the world. Yes we are to LOVE others, but if "loving" turns into direct disobedience to His Word then it becomes a sin. We need to love others GOD'S way, not the world's way, even if we get persecuted for it. Jesus got persecuted too, in fact He hung on a cross for being Himself. He came to SAVE the world, because He knew that sin leads to DEATH, and He didn't want us to die. 

He loves us too much. 

Fellow Christian, I love YOU too much to watch you walk so blindly any longer. For the unsaved I pray, "Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." But for the Christian I say, "God help them see the truth in Your Word and be brave enough to stand for it, even though it is not popular and is viewed as hateful by the world. God help us to be bold for you!"

Romans 1:16-32:

16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.[g] 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”[h]

God’s Anger at Sin

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.[i] 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.

28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. (NLT, bold emphasis by me)

And don't forget, to know God is to love God, and to love God is to obey God.

1 John 2:3-6 says,

And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. (NLT)

Do you call yourself a Christian?

I am seeing a ton of Facebook posts from "Christians" that don't seem to line up with what being a christian actually means.

By the dictionary's definition it means: one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ. (http://www.merriam-webster.com)

Yes, I agree with that, but it is so much more.

You see, to know God is to love God, and to love God is to obey God. (read that again, slowly)

That's pretty much it, in a nutshell.

Do yourself a favor and read the book of 1 John (it's only 5 chapters long, you can do it.)

1 John 2:3-6 says,

And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. (NLT)

So….if this isn't making it clear…a Christian is someone who obeys God, and lives as Jesus did.

Are you doing that? It's a good question to ask yourself if you claim to be a christian.

Are you supporting things of this world and living in a way completely opposite to what God commands in His Word? Are you not even sure what the Bible says about certain topics, like sexual immorality, divorce, and other issues?  If that's the case, it sounds like it's time to crack open that Bible and start researching. There are A TON of people out there professing to be christians,  yet are living the complete opposite.  They do not even know right from wrong! The world is lying to us constantly, so if you spend more time listening to the world than the Word, then you will be one confused "christian."

When we die and come face to face with God,  He will say one of two things. Either, "Well done my good and faithful servant" (reference form Matthew 25) or He will say, "Depart from Me, I never knew you."  Yikes.

Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

WOW. Scary stuff! You could totally think you are a christian, going to church every sunday and be living your life just fine, and then WAMO!! He might say He never knew you, because you were down here living what you THOUGHT was christian, because you listened to the world more than Him.  

And just in case you are skeptical of what I am saying, maybe you don't even know if God is real, well consider this. The Bible says that someday we will ALL come face to face with the Creator.
Romans 14:10-11 says,

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

EVERY KNEE and EVERY TONGUE, that means every world religion, all the atheists, Mormons, Buddhists, every religion you can think of, EVERY single person will be on their knees in His presence after they die, and they will KNOW He is God. There will be no more doubt, or twisting of who He actually is, they will KNOW.

So if you are reading this, then please, take a look at what you believe. If you realize that you are not living up to what God defines as a christian, then just know It IS possible to come back to Him. You can turn from any sin, any addiction, any religion, and any confusing sexual feelings. IT IS POSSIBLE, but ONLY with God, because He is the ONE that makes it possible. He gives you the courage to turn from those desires, He gives you the mercy you need, and He can fill your mind and soul with His love so that you can recognize the truth from the lies, the light from the dark. 

Repent, Turn from your selfish ways, and Follow Him. (Matthew 16:24)

And remember, to know God is to love God, and to love God is to obey God.  

It's simple, if you love Him you will obey Him. And it all starts with knowing Him. So open up that Bible and get to know Him. He will guide you and make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) :) 

It was my best birthday ever

Because it wasn't about ME.

Now I didn't give gifts out to all my friends or feed the homeless or anything, (although  now that I think about it, I should do that for a birthday someday!!) BUT this birthday was my first "best birthday yet" because something has changed within me. Something is not the same. I was practically Defying Gravity.

(If you didn't get that musical theatre reference then never mind, just keep reading)

You see, I used to be a VERY selfish person. I was so selfish that I didn't even know I was selfish. I just thought I liked things the way I liked them. And I wanted things the way I wanted them! Isn't everyone like that? I think another good word for me was spoiled. Spoiled and selfish. 

I mean I probably came across as a sweet and kind person, but once you got to know me, watch out! The real me would eventually come out. 

I was always looking for ways to get more, or do more, or satisfy what I wanted. I used friends who had talents or abilities that would benefit me, and my excuse would be, "well they are giving it to me", or, "they aren't charging me because we are friends!" But come on, if a friend wants to gift you something out of the kindness of their heart you should ALWAYS do something kind for them in return, i.e. write a kind note telling them how grateful you are, take them out to lunch, give them a huge gushy shootout on Facebook, you know, just something to show you appreciate their kindness and generosity. So yeah, I rarely thought to do things like that.  I was too busy being happy about what I got. 

I mean, I LOST friends over my selfishness. I almost lost my marriage. I spent so many years of our marriage dwelling on how I felt, "why doesn't he know what I need right now?" or "why is he just sitting there while I'm doing everything, why won't he help me?" and "I'm not happy. I don't even love him anymore" Talk about dwelling. I had an internal dialogue going on with myself all the time about how unhappy I was. 

The scary thing is that no one thinks about how selfishness leads to sin. I mean it IS a sin, but it leads to MORE sin. Selfishness should not be taken lightly. 

Unfortunately we live in a society that encourages selfishness. Every ad or magazine you see is about YOU and how to make yourself look better, or how to make yourself more happy. Imagine if you saw a magazine with big words advertising "How to put others before yourself" or "5 ways to be humble" or here's a doozy, "How to submit to your husband and let him be the head of the house"….ha! That one would never fly! Society doesn't want women submitting to their husbands, that's oppression! Society doesn't want you to be humble, that's weakness! Society doesn't want you to put others first, they wouldn't make any money! 

We live in a world that screams "It's good to be selfish!"

Well I've had enough. And so did God all those years ago…that's why He sent His son down to us, to die for our sins, because we would have too many to ever be able to be with Him in Heaven. Even just one sin is too many. 

So back to this being my best birthday yet…it's because for the first time in my life, I wasn't thinking about what I was going to get, I wasn't expecting perfection from those around me, and I wasn't even thinking about what I wanted. I was just thankful to be alive, to be turning another year, and to have family around me that LOVE me. Whoa! What crazy things to think on your birthday!

Not really. These are what we SHOULD be thinking. A birthday shouldn't be a day where you get a free ride to be selfish. It should be a day where you are truly celebrating the gift of LIFE that God has given you, how you don't deserve it, but that His grace has brought to this point. You have breath in your lungs because He put it there. What a gift. A gift that so many take for granted.

So how did I reach this realization? How did I go from expecting everyone to bend over backwards making my day special (only to be completely ungrateful and depressed when it didn't happen), to becoming someone who is just thankful to be alive??

It's called Grace. I reached such a low point in my sin and selfishness that I desperately needed God's GRACE. I needed forgiveness. 

The cool thing is, the second you realize you need it, it is given to you. God is so ready for you to come to Him. 

God's grace for me has transformed my life. I am a new creation because I realized what His gift of grace is, and I am truly humbled by it. 

From that point on I began putting God first, and I would stop myself the second I started having that negative internal dialogue. I started turning complaints into prayers, and worries into praises. I began reading my Bible everyday, and surrounding myself with people of the same mindset. Selfish peers had to go, because it was like I was in rehab, and I couldn't be near what would cause me to stumble. 

I started reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young and it played a huge part in transforming my mind from thinking inward to thinking outward. Thankfulness is the key to joy. It took almost 2 years of transforming…but I finally got here.

(And just to be clear I am NOT saying, "I have arrived, I'm perfect now and don't need anymore refining!" No way!) I will always be a work in progress. But praise God He is finally able to shine through this little life of mine because I'm not in the way mucking it up anymore!

So I hope this encourages you today. It's my story. If you feel like you might relate to any of it then I encourage you to talk to God about it. If you're thinking, wow I think I might be kind of selfish and didn't even realize it, then good! That's the perfect place to start your grace journey with the Lord! In order to truly be a follower of Christ (which is supposed to be what being a "Christian" means) you need to:

1. Turn from your selfish ways

2. Take up your cross

3. Follow Him.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. NIV

Praise God that by obeying Him with those 3 things my marriage has been saved, friendships have been restored, and my life has purpose and joy. My birthday wish is that everyone could experience His Grace. And since prayers are more powerful than wishes, it is my prayer for you.

Thank you for reading. God bless. #beacrown