A near miss…

Several weeks ago my boys and I were in traffic slowing down for a red light when a small pick up truck whipped around the side of our van where there was not enough room for another vehicle. Somehow this pickup truck seemed to avoid hitting us but blew out two of his tires.  Somehow he was able to get in front of us, pull into the gas station and we did too. He said his brakes had failed.

A helping hand (in more ways than one?)…

Then about two weeks ago the boys and I were driving through a city park nearby when my tire went flat. I had to pull over. I was on a curve in the road of the park. As I was on the cell phone calling roadside service I happened to look up and was shocked to see a man standing by my car window. I told him we were fine. He said he could help with the tire ( his wife was running the track there and I guess he was just waiting for her).

I accepted the help but stayed vigilant about the situation.  I did see his wife (with jogging stroller) and I called my husband to let him know what was going on. Then another man showed up.

The first man was having trouble getting the tire loose from under the van and the second man seemed to know how to do it.

When the job was done the couple (and their baby in the jogging stroller) started to walk away but man #2 lowered his voice and began to say he wasn’t from around “here” and really needed to leave and was looking for some help.

Thankfully, the wife of the other man  was looking my way and I silently motioned to her to wait. She did. I told man #2 I didn’t have any money (and let me just say I did NOT want him asking me for a ride anywhere). I’m not opposed to helping others, but I knew better than to let that happen just for the sake of being safe!

“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:” Isaiah 59:1

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you.” I Peter 5:6-7

A divine appointment…

About 10 years ago I was working in sales for a cemetery providing pre-need and at-need services. I did a home presentation in another city about a half hour or so away from home. I was meeting with an older couple. Through our conversing we discovered we knew some of the same people. This couple were Christians as I am and there’s just something special you feel when meeting with other people who know the Lord.

Long story short, after our meeting I headed home- it was late and dark…around 10pm. My car broke down. I walked to the closest house  and they let me use their phone. I was able to call the couple I’d just met.  My car could not be fixed that night and so, I became their guest.  In the morning the Mrs. made me pancakes for breakfast and I found out at some point that they had my car sent to a repair shop (that of a  man also being a Christian who knew some of the same people I knew) and it didn’t end up costing me much money.

[My connection to these folks did not end that night. My husband and I, while dating, went back to visit these folks for dinner, eventually, and the Mrs. has been over to our house once or twice, her husband passed away years ago.]

I could go on about the risky situations I’ve found myself in from my apartment being broken into to lack of money or broken down cars. But God has always taken care of me!

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.  And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.” Psalm 37:39-40

Do you know the Lord? There’s no relationship in the world like the one you can have with Him, He is the God of the universe! Its not about religion, its about admitting the truth that you are a sinner separated from God, believing that Jesus Christ (God’s Son) died for your sins to pay your sin debt, He was buried, He rose from the dead and by putting your trust in Him for salvation you can know Him and spend eternity with Him in heaven after after death. If you are not sure whether you are  a sinner I encourage you to take this test:  Are you good enough for heaven?

Also linking at Mom’s the Word.

As we see the only sun rise in the morning bringing life to our world- our soul should be drawn to ask “Who did this?” Like a bridge needs a builder and a painting needs an painter.

Do we question whether such things just “happened” one day? No, we automatically know someone with a plan is behind it!

Even in secular music we can see pictures of God’s love.

I’ve recently come across this French song- its been around, nothing new on the scene. I looked up the English translation and it is a love song about how far one would go for the person they loved. I found an incredible picture in this song about the depth of God’s love for you and me – and this isn’t a “Christian” song and I know nothing about these men’s personal lives.

By the way, did you know that if you’ve trusted in Christ you are His Bride?

Yes, you are, whether you are man or women- every believer is part of the Church,also called the body of Christ or TheBride.  As my Pastor says: he’s fallen deeply in love with a man… Jesus Christ!

I love hearing the following song in its French version with all its emotion and thinking about how much God loved us that He came in the form of man, Jesus Christ who is God, God the Son.  All He left, gave up and went through for the joy set before him…(you and me).

You might want to read the English lyrics while you listen to this song- the English title is “If That’s What It Takes“:

“I will risk everything, I will fight, I will bleed, I will lay down my life if that’s what you need”…

He gave up everything for You and Me.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;

who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and is set down

at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:2

No one else ever did that for you. Not Confuscious, Buddha, Mohammed or any others.

God made marriage a picture of His great love …

“Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;…So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:”  Ephesians 5: 25, 28-29

Like it or not, the bible is clear. Marriage is only to be between man and woman. Homosexuality is a choice, a decision, to follow after sinful lusts that probably just about any human being is capable of feeling. Having that desire is one thing, choosing to fulfill it is sin.  Homosexuality is an abomination in God’s eyes and  distorts the picture of His love for His Body, the Church.  Romans 1:18-32; Genesis 18 & 19 Sodom & Gomorrah.

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** Click here to find out why You do need Jesus Christ.

I had a terrible headache this morning. I figured it was time to “get up”, even though it was earlier than I wanted to and yet, it was about the time I was “trying” to be up by weeks ago so I could fit in my quiet time before the boys were up. That plan had crashed and burned long ago it seemed as I slept in more and more and then a couple trips out of town seemed to be the undoing of it all.

So I got up with my killer headache, took a generic Excedrin and ate breakfast. For some reason turning on the tv didn’t seem “right”. I got my bible and sat down. I didn’t really have a plan of where to read, although I am working my way through writing out the book of Mark. Sometimes I like to look at other passages. This morning I opened my bible- but before I made any decision on where to read, my eyes caught verse 17 of Jeremiah 32, where my bible was open to…

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”

vs. 18-19  ” Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name. Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:”

vs. 22-23   “And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandest them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:”

vs. 27   “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?“

The context here is about Israel’s failure to obey God. The bible clearly teaches that with obedience comes blessing from God and with disobedience/rebellion comes a curse.  God’s chosen people were about to be taken captive.

Not only do I, indeed, need to be reminded that God not only blesses obedience in my life, but also will chasten me for my disobedience to Him (Deuteronomy 8:5-6 & Hebrews 12:6,7 & 11 ); but sometimes I need to be reminded that there is nothing too hard for him and that he does, indeed, have a plan for my life! (and this goes for YOU too!).

“Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:2-3

What are you trusting Him for today?

*All scripture is KJV.

*How to be Saved.

Brendan’s response was- lets go. And he meant, like now. He asked if he could go to the neighbor’s and I could watch him from the door (he’s not allowed to just roam the neighborhood). Of course I said no to that- but I have reached out to neighbors in the past.  Sometimes we hand out gospel tracts at the store or to people we run into. I told Brendan he could take some to the theatre (we were going to see Toy Story 3 last night- we rarely go to the movies).  He was concerned that I only gave him 4 of the “million dollar” tracts to hand out and we talked about who he could give them to…the ticket seller, the popcorn person…who else? He had given out all 4 tracts before we left the theatre – 2 hours after we arrived.

Like the lyrics in this Mercy Me song, I want to go and share- unashamed.

To be honest, I struggle to hand out tracts to strangers. Too concerned about what they’ll think of me. I don’t have a problem talking to someone about Jesus once the ice is cracked. But, boy, I’m not too crazy about being the one to “crack” the ice. Sometimes I lament: why don’t people just come up and ask me about Jesus if they really want to know? { Ha! The easy way out. }

No. Most don’t know I have the answer. Those who know I do- probably don’t want to hear it because they don’t want to submit to God. Some think as long as you sincerely believe in God (mental belief) or sincerely believe in “something”, you’re okay. But thats not what the bible says.

“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the STONE WHICH WAS SET AT NOUGHT OF YOU BUILDERS, WHICH IS BECOME THE HEAD OF THE CORNER. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:10-12

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6

Yes, Oprah (see clips here), Jesus is the only way to God- he said so Himself!  

*Are you going to heaven? Take The Good Test.  *Get a FREE book that answers your questions about Eternity at OneHeartBeatAway.

As a bible believing mom, myself, its very important to me that my son’s know the truth about God’s Word. Faith is not hereditary, that is, just because I believe the bible and have chosen to follow Christ doesn’t guarantee my children will. You cannot make another person a Christian. That is only a work that God can do and I am just God’s partner in the process. However, my job is of utmost importance. I must teach my boy’s the truth. When they are of age, they will have to choose who they will follow.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” As a born-again follower of Christ I have the Holy Spirit to guide me as I read and believe the Word of God and as I’m learning, I teach my children too.

Some of the ways my husband and I teach our boy’s about God is through just reading and teaching them the bible. Sometimes its at night, sometimes I do it with the boys as our first “class” of the day (I’m homeschooling). Usually the boys have their markers and a blank piece of paper in front of them to illustrate a picture of what I am teaching them that morning. Lately, we’ve been in Genesis talking about The 6 days of Creation, Adam & Eve and Sin, and Noah’s Ark (God’s judgement).

At night we use this technique to help our boys learn to pray about a variety of things and I have seen them grow from praying for the one prayer request drawn to thinking about other things to pray about. Even at meal time lately I’ve heard one of them pray about other things than just the usual “thanks” for our food

My First-grader is learning to write out scripture as part of his handwriting practice and our boys are being taught to memorize verses. Today we worked on Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure:”… A very important verse in our family! My husband and I have just about finished a series about such things.

Plants Grown Up

Doorposts.com sent me Plants Grown Up to review. I love this book! I plan to start actually working with some of the concepts this week or next. I plan to be ready to share my experience using this study with the next MOB link up October 16th. If you want to be sure you don’t miss my real REVIEW post on it you can subscribe here for my email updates or here for RSS.

*I’m linking this post with TheMOBSociety’s “Plants Grown Up” link-up today. If you’d like to see how other MOB’s (Mothers of Boys) are teaching their son’s to follow the Lord, click here.

*Also linking this with RaisingHomemakers home making link up.

Recently I heard a fellow Christian-friend talk about a survey he did with random people he met. He asked them questions like “How many beers can you name?”  He said some could name off maybe a dozen, give or take.

Next question, “How many of the 10 commandments can you name?”

With results not as impressive as the first question he then asked,  “Does it bother you that you know more about beer and less about the standard God will judge you by someday?”

Hmmm. He has a point, you know. Someday we will all… all… ALL stand before God. Your money, affluence, influence, talents, and or self-righteous “goodness” won’t amount to a hill of beans. In fact, I think we may wish we had a hill of beans to hide under on that day.

So I ask you, are you aware of this standard you too will be judged by one day?  Oh and before you think that I think that I’m not guilty, let me assure you. I am guilty of breaking  every. single. one. of these commandments. You know how I know? Because the bible says if we’ve broken just one of them, we are as guilty in God’s eyes as if we’ve  broken them all. Period.

We will all be judged by The Judge, Himself.  (Following are just brief mentions of what you’ll find in Exodus chapter 20).

1.  Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me. (Sometimes we worship our careers, lovers, etc.)

2.  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image… (Do you put someone or something before God?)

3.  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain… (For starters… “OMG– and G’D— it.” yeah…you know what I mean. But thats not the only way we can take His name in vain.)

4.  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… (God worked {created} in 6 days, rested on the 7th.)

5.  Honor thy father and thy mother… (Are you disrespectful? Do you hurt them, are you taking care of them in their time of need?)

6.  Thou shalt not kill… (Killing people. Jesus said in the gospels that to hate someone is the same as “murder”.)

7.  Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Not just physically being sexually involved but also lusting for someone other than your spouse…Jesus made this clear in the gospels as well. Sin is sin whether its committed in the heart/mind or with the body.)

8.  Thou shalt not steal. (Steal. Doesn’t matter the value of the item…could be a piece of gum or a car.)

9.  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Making up rumours, lying.)

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house… (Strongly desiring what isn’t ours.)

I know you’re thinking…there’s NO way. No way someone could go without breaking at least ONE of those!  And…You’re right!

Thats why God humbled himself and put on flesh John chapter 1 and 3:16 (born as a baby) so he could fulfill ALL the law (including the 10 mentioned above) perfectly. And then be crucified on a cross. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. He became that sin for us so we could be made “perfect” in God’s eyes. Its a gift and it requires faith on our part to receive it. Are you willing?

It begins with being honest about “who” we are in God’s eyes and then putting our faith and trust in Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. The book of Romans clearly tells us …”all have sinned” and that “the wages (payment) of sin is death”. Without Christ we are right now spiritually separated from God. After we die, we will be forever separated from God with no hope, ever.

Yes, we are in trouble now, apart from a relationship with God through Christ, but if you obey what God says in the bible you will receive forgiveness of all your (past, present and future) sins.

You might want to take the Good Test here. It might answer some questions you have right now.

If you’d like a free book about eternity, click here to request One Heart Beat Away by Mark Cahill.

If you’d like to read my testimony about me receiving Christ as my Savior, subscribe here for my updates by email or RSS. I plan to share about this in a post within the next week or so.

You’ll find more Top 10 Tuesdays posts at OhAmanda.com.

I don’t know about you, but this blesses my socks off

I know I am, are you?

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]]> http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2010/05/forgiven/feed/ 0 http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2010/04/praying-for-our-children/ http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2010/04/praying-for-our-children/#comments Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:59:40 +0000 Tracy http://www.halloffamemoms.com/?p=3956

When I was pregnant with Brendan I received a really nice book as a baby shower gift. God’s Little Devotional Book for Moms by Honor Books, Inc. (Thanks Mary Clare ). Lately I’ve been reading the short inspirational stories in it and came across one that I just decided to make as my Top 10 Tuesday post.

I really believe that praying in detail for our children, husbands and others is vital in life. Vital to “their” lives, yes, but prayer changes the one doing the praying also.  This particular short story I read gave 10 points we should consider praying about for our children.  I didn’t realize there were 10 things until I wrote them out  (they weren’t numbered).  I’ll  share the list with you here in black font and the tweaking I gave them in blue.

Ways to pray for your children:

1- For their physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

2- An abiding sense of safety and security. Hedge of protection from all harm.

3- Courage to face the problems of each day.

4- A calm spirit to hear the voice of the Lord.

5- A willingness to obey. To obey God, us-their parents and authority in general.

6- A clear mind, both to learn and to recall.

8- Wise teachers, mentors and counselors.

9- Unshakable self-worth and personal dignity.

10- Eternal salvation and a home in heaven one day. Being saved IS eternal (though it starts immediately here on earth) and automatically includes a home in heaven- they are unseparable! We are a new creature in Christ right away    Are you saved?

Look for more Top Tuesday posts at www.OhAmanda.com

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]]> http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2010/04/praying-for-our-children/feed/ 3 http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2009/11/relationship-or-religion-talking-about-god/ http://www.halloffamemoms.com/2009/11/relationship-or-religion-talking-about-god/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:57:41 +0000 Tracy http://www.halloffamemoms.com/?p=2100 One thing I do respect and believe in is that everyone has to decide for himself/herself what they believe when it comes to God. I personally believe the bible to be God’s word and that God cannot lie. Therefore, I believe that I must be born-again as Jesus says in John chapter 3. That, as a sinner (Romans 3), I cannot go to heaven, I cannot know God- unless I accept what He did for me on the cross as the final payment for my sins.

I must receive … His gift.

His gift of …forgiveness (because I have sinned).

His gift of eternal life (eternal life starts now in knowing Him and goes on for eternity with Him in heaven). John 3:16

I do believe that NO one,   n.o. o.n.e.,    can make ANYone , a Christian. If you’ve succeeded in making someone a “Christian” – you’ve probably just made them “religious”.

And there’s a difference.

Being religious is not the same as being a Christian, though there are alot of people who think that way. Being a Christian is to have been redeemed by God through the blood of Jesus Christ (God in flesh who humbled himself to be born as a human so he could live a perfect, sinless life and then die for our sins on the cross only to rise again having conquered death and sin). The bible says that God is not only loving and merciful but that He is a judge of  justice and holy. Look at it this way. If someone killed your child and stood before the judge in court to answer for his crime and  said…”well, I’m sorry. I won’t do it  again, I promise.” And the judge said…”I believe ya. Your free to go.”  What would you think about that judge? Was he “just”? Was justice served?  I’ll answer that for you…NO. That would not be a “just” judge.

God is loving and merciful but He does require that justice be served because we have all broken His law, the 10 commandments. The bible says that if we have broken just one of them- we are as guilty as if we’d broken them all.  Jesus Christ paid for our sins by dying on the cross. If we don’t accept that by repenting of our sins and trusting in what Christ did for us on the cross then we are left with one other choice. To pay for our sins – ourself. And that means being separated from God forever, for eternity in a place called Hell.

And so, I do believe that it is “my” responsibility as a believer in Christ to tell everyone I can that Jesus died for you and conquered death and sin and that through faith in Him you will…

1.   Be forgiven of all your sins…past, present, future.
2.   Become a new creature in Him. Old things are past, all things become new…
3.   Have access to God, Himself! No such thing as having to go through a priest or anyone else. You can talk to him whenever, where ever, about whatever…and He hears and answers prayers!
4.   Spend eternity in heaven with God after death.

Whatever you decide to believe doesn’t change the fact that I care about you, my readers. I don’t ask you to become a Christian for me…I just want you to know that real hope lies in the truth and that truth has a name…Jesus Christ.

I care about what people believe, but then again, I don’t in that I accept my friends  just the way they are…whatever you believe is your business. You believe in what you want. I’m not trying to force anyone to become a Christian. But keep this in mind…some people think as long as we all sincerely believe in “whatever” that everything is ok. Truth is…if we lined up everything we all believed, we’d see there are a ton of contradictions and my God and some of those other gods couldn’t coexist.

I just want to share these free resources with you so you can do some checking for yourself. You owe it to yourself to do so.  You know, statistics show that 10 out of 10 people will die.

If you don’t know God personally, or have doubts, click here to take The Good Test and see where you stand before Him now.

If you just have questions about eternity, maybe you can’t get over the “theory” of evolution or there are some other “reasonings” that you have that you just don’t have answers for how about requesting your free copy of Mark Cahill’s book One Heartbeat Away by clicking here. I’ve already received my free copy and have started reading it- and they don’t bug you with emails. I got my book in just a couple days or so and don’t think I’ve ever received one email from them. I found out about this book after I started reading his other book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven. Another very good book.

Finally, if you are wanting to learn more about the bible I would encourage you to click here to take advantage of the free mp3 downloads and study notes from First Baptist Church of Jackson. You can listen to the exact sermons we are sitting in on Sunday mornings.  This is the church we go to so I can really verify for you that you will be getting the goods from this place! Click on “messages” and see whats being offered online. As I type this out we are studying through Ephesians on Sundays mornings.

I want to leave you with these final thoughts. I know where I’m going when this life ends, do you? I know the God of the universe, personally. He’s heard me, answered my prayers (not always giving me “my” way, though). Every day I can experience real peace inside that only He can give. I trust Him to guide me and He does through His Word and His Spirit… do you have this? You can.

I welcome questions too. I can provide more scripture to back up what I believe. Just ask

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