Being Salt and Light

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being effective in today's world, being light, being salt, christian witness, clarity, helping people see Jesus, how to be salt in the world, how to shine your light, light, light of the world, refinement, salt, salt of the world, wisdom, you are the light of the world

As I was reading a book by Neta Jackson a few weeks ago, I came across an explanation that I’ve pondered for quite a while. In her book series, Souled Out Sisters, one of Ms. Jackson’s characters describes “salt people” as people who make a situation taste better and “light people” as people who bring clarity and not confusion. I liked that…a lot.

In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men. You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

If you know me at all, you know I love my salt and if you have been around me enough, you also know I love windows because I adore light. Both salt and light add joy to my life. So, why I’ve had trouble with being salt and light in this world is beyond me! I think I’ve tried to make it more difficult than it really is. If salt is simply making a situation more palatable, (as Ms. Jackson’s character explained) we can all do that. It’s not as complicated as I’ve thought.

If attitudes are going south, we can express an encouraging word. If everyone is exhausted, we can be the wise one and suggest a breather, or offer a bag of almonds to help energize the situation. If fear is invading, cover the situation with prayer. Such simple things make life more appetizing, and that’s being salt in this world.

Same with light. If being light in a situation brings clarity instead of confusion, then we can pray for wisdom, and know we will receive it because James1:5 says, “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.”

How neat is that? Jesus didn’t just give us a command and leave us to figure out how to fulfill it on our own. He tells us how to receive the clarity we need in each situation in order to be light. It’s called wisdom. How do we receive the wisdom we need for clarity? The book of James tells us we ask God for it. Simple stuff. He gives us the needed wisdom, which gives us the needed clarity, which gives us the needed light to share. Love it!

Oftentimes, I feel like I’ve been more pepper than salt, and more darkness than light, but I’m encouraged by this simple way of looking at being children of light and salt-a-holics in this world. Through Christ, we can bring clarity. Through Christ, we can make life full of flavor for those around us. So, let’s do it. Let’s be salt and light wherever we go.

*image by bbc.com

Seeking Hearts Ministries

 

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When God Doesn’t do what you Want

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burdens, can be trusted, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, crisis of faith, devotions, encouragement, exhaustion, faithfulness, family devotions, focus, God can so why won't He, God's love, God's love for you, God's pursuit, hope, light, love, never failing God, no dark side, obsessed, obsesseion, our God, our good God, perspective, quiet time, quiet time thoughts, remembering who God is, struggle in the trusting, trust, trusting God, who God is

I’ve said for some time now that there is a certain crisis of faith that comes to every human when deciding whether they believe God can do what He says He can do. Can He really save me? Can He really heal? Can He really drop manna from the sky? And then, there is the crisis of faith that comes when you know without a doubt that God can move mountains, but He’s just not doing it for you. I mean, what is more frustrating than knowing that someone, anyone, can help, they’re just choosing not to? When that happens, a whole new crisis of faith occurs. Your mountain is looming large and you know your God can move it, but He’s choosing not to and you are left floundering with questions. Is my God really good? Can my God really be trusted? Does He really have a plan for my good? Do I really matter to Him?

I’m not going to pretend to know all the answers to why God is allowing certain things in your life. I’m not even going to pretend to know why He is allowing certain things in my life. I’m not going to pretend to have the answers as to why God would allow children to have cancer, rapists to go free, or even why food can’t be put on every table this week? But, I can tell you (and me) what to focus on when God doesn’t do what we want Him to do.

Let me start by assuring you that you do indeed have a good God. You have a God who does choose to move mountains for you. You have a God who wants you to look like Him and act like Him and love Him as He loves you. You have a never failing, never ceasing, never forsaking God who has a detailed plan for you since before the first molecule was on this earth. Know that because it’s true.

Lamentations 3:17-26 says, “My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. Then I thought: My future is lost, as well as my hope from the LORD. Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the LORD.” Verses 31-33 go on to say, “For the Lord will not reject us forever. Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”

This passage is so great. We get to see the struggle that Jeremiah had with what was happening all around him and to him. He couldn’t understand it and he became depressed. He even admits in this passage that he lost his hope in the Lord. Then, he decided to remember who His God is. He decided to think about God’s faithfulness, His love and His mercies. He decided that The Lord was his portion for this life and his hope. He decided to rest in God knowing that His God would come through. God’s deliverance obviously wouldn’t look like Jeremiah thought it would. It obviously wouldn’t come at the time that Jeremiah thought that it should, but Jeremiah decided to look up, remember His God and trust. That’s the kind of faith I want, don’t you?

First John 1:5 tells us, “Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.” You can trust that. Our God has no ulterior motives. He has no dark side. He is good. He is holy. He is true and He. Is. In. Love. With. You.

Song of Solomon 7:10 says, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.” God’s desire is toward you. God wants to be with you. He wants to be so melded with you that all people see is Him being uniquely displayed through your personality, your giftings and your sweet face. He has fashioned you for such a time as this and will not stop pursuing you until every fiber of your being is His. He is obsessed with you. Hebrews 13:5 says He will never leave us and Zephaniah 3:17 says He sings over us.  That is not a God who fails. That is a God who loves. Believe that today. Know it with every fiber of your being. If you have to be like the father in Mark 9:24 who said, “I do believe!” and then, quickly added, “Help my unbelief,” so be it, but keep pressing in to your God. He can be trusted. He will come through. He will strengthen you for the task and He is worthy of every fragment of faith you place in Him. He has you, precious one. He has you. Rest in that today.

Seeking Hearts Ministries          My Story

 

 

 

 

Less Than we Deserve

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Christian encouragement, Christianity, consequences, devotional, devotions, encouragement, family devotions, focus, God, grace, less punishment than deserved, light, mercy, punishment, unfailing love

Ezra 9:13, “…seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this.”

So many times I focus on what I don’t have instead of what I do. I focus on what is going wrong instead of what blessings I’m receiving. But, when I remember past sins, my hardness of heart, my lack of forgiveness, I realize that I am always punished less than I deserve. I realize that God delivers me over and over again and I then want to pass on that same grace to my family and those I see throughout my day.

When I am facing a situation where someone is less patient than I feel I deserve, I remember that God forgave me for my impatience the day before.

When I am not being forgiven readily, I remember all the times I have held unforgiveness close to me.

When I am facing a consequence for a sin, I remember all the consequences that have been reversed in times past.

Let’s take the time today to remember that no matter what punishment God has allowed in our paths, it is less than we deserve. He is a gracious, loving and kind God who gives us more than we can imagine and restores us in ways we never dreamed possible.

He is not a God who delights in punishment. He is not a God who has a dark side (I John 1:5). He is a God of unfailing, unchanging love.

Psalm 143:8 says, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Let’s lift up our souls today and ask God to cause us to hear His lovingkindness, see His faithfulness and know without a doubt that He is a God who always punishes less than we deserve.

My Story       Seeking Hearts Ministries

*Image by domestically speaking

A Christmas Poem

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Christmas poem, Helen Steiner Rice, light, light of the world

“I Am the Light of the World”

    A poem by Helen Steiner Rice

 O Father, up in heaven,

We have wandered far away

       From the holy little Christ child

Who was born on Christmas day,

And the promise of salvation

That God promised when Christ died.

We have often vaguely questioned,

Even doubted and denied…

We’ve forgotten why God sent us

Jesus Christ, His only Son,

And in arrogance and ignorance

It’s our will, not Thine, be done…

O, forgive us our transgressions

And stir our souls within

And make us ever conscious

That there is no joy in sin

And shed Thy light upon us

As Christmas comes again

So we may strive for peace on earth

And goodwill among men…

And, God, in Thy great wisdom,

Thy mercy, and Thy love,

Endow man with the virtue

That we have so little of…

For unless we have humility

In ourselves and in our nation,

We are vain and selfish puppets

In a world of automation,

And with no God to follow

But the false ones we create,

We become the heartless victims

Of a Godless nation’s fate…

O, give us ears to hear Thee

And give us eyes to see,

So we may once more seek Thee

In true humility.

Please visit us at: Seeking Hearts Ministries

The Scary Forest

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control, directions, faith, God, guidance, light, roadmaps, steps, ways

The Scary Forest

 

  –Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am what you would call a “roadmap girl”. I like to know what is going to happen, how it is going to happen, with who it is going to happen and any other detail that is possible to know. I like to know every aspect, every angle as far in advance as possible. In fact, a few YEARS ahead of time would be great. Are you getting the picture?

  Did you know that God has refused to hand me the roadmap for the years ahead? GASP! Shocker, isn’t it? He simply doesn’t seem to agree with me that I need to know all the details years in advance.

  So, how do I reconcile these two opposing views? How am I able to rest in the fact that God has the map, the details and the plans to every area of my life and my families’ lives but He is just not sharing them with me? How can I not fret and stew about what’s next?

  First off, it is vital for me to remember that He IS absolutely sure of the way that I take. I might not have the map, but He most assuredly does. Job 23:12, says, “But He knows the way that I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” God is not making this up as I go along. He is not changing His mind midstream about His plans for me. He is not confused, or directionally challenged. He doesn’t even have to check which side of the tree the moss is growing on. Just as He told Jeremiah in chapter 1 verse 5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you…” He has an amazing plan for my life. I need to rest in that.

  Secondly, I must know that His way is the best way. All throughout Scripture I find that His ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30) and He is a GOOD God, full of light and love (I John 1:5, I John 4:7). I need to believe this whole heartedly and as the man cried to Jesus in Mark 9:24 to help his unbelief I need to come to Him when I doubt this. I need to confess my unbelief and claim His faith.

  Third, I must follow. How am I supposed to follow God without a map? I follow the step He shows me. Then, I follow the next step and the next just as the children of Israel in Exodus. When the pillar of cloud moved during the day, they moved. If the cloud didn’t budge, neither did they. They also had the pillar of fire by night to show them the way. God never left them to wander without purpose. Unfortunately, they had to travel the same path a few times, but it was NEVER without purpose. And, He NEVER left them alone. That holds true for me as well. Hebrews 13:5 says, “…He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.’”

   As I was mulling this over, I pictured myself walking along a very narrow, dirt path through a dark forest. I am in my armor as commanded in Ephesians 6, my sword is out, my shield is up and I am following a lantern of light that is swinging in front of me. I can hear strange, blood curdling sounds all around me, but what am I concerned about? I am only concerned about the next step. Sometimes I sense something in the darkness, but I know that if I just continue to follow the light, I will only come into contact with what I am prepared to face. Daniel 2:22, says it this way, “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.” As long as I am close to my Savior, I am close to the light. He sees the dark forest as clearly as I see in the sunlight. I can rest in that. Everything is under His control.

  Sometimes along this path, I do face an enemy; sometimes an obstacle that is obstructing my way. What do I do? I remember Psalm 18:28-29, “For Thou dost light my lamp; The LORD God illumines my darkness. For by Thee I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.” Whether obstacle or trial I am assured that when God allows it, there is a purpose for it. Not only is there a purpose, but there is assured victory through Him. I Corinthians 15:17, says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Why be troubled about the steps I can’t see when I KNOW whatever comes my way must pass through my Savior first? Why be fearful about the noises I hear all around me? The screams in the forest of cancer, sickness, financial ruin, addictions? I can rest in the light of my Guide knowing that if it does come on my path, He will uphold me. When “My foot has held fast to the path; I have kept His way and not turned aside” as Job 23:11 says, I am assured that He will enlarge my steps under me, and that my feet will not slip (Psalm 18:36). This “roadmap girl” can rest in that. This “directional diva” can know most assuredly that He will light my path as needed. I need not worry about the scare tactics in the darkness. I need not worry about which way the moss is growing on the trees. I can rest in the fact that God has my map, He has my direction and He is my light. This “roadmap girl” can then gain the peace that passes all understanding as described in Philippians 4:7 because I KNOW that He has my back. I KNOW He has both sides and I KNOW He is definitely before me, leading and lighting my steps. I don’t even have to have a compass.