I want my children to be independent headstrong people. Just not while I’m raising them. My goodness…does this ever ring so true in the midst of raising a teen and pre-teen! (insert head slap)
“Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.” Psalm 112:2 (NIV)
“Whoever hides their sins will not be successful, but whoever confesses their sins and stops doing wrong will receive mercy.” Proverbs 28:13 (ERV)
Do you have some hidden sin that is blocking your success and prosperity? Concealing sins can prove to be a road block or a hindrance to us. Hidden and unconfessed sin can also cause anxiety and inner turmoil. It can begin to eat away at us.
“When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.” Psalm 32:3 (NLT)
“I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within.” Psalm 31:10 (NLT)
God knows this and therefore has given us confession as an outlet. Weights can be lifted and refreshing can come when we confess things and come clean. Proverbs 28:13 promises us mercy when we confess our sins and stop doing wrong. Today I’d like to share four observations that I took away from this verse about hiding sins versus confessing them.
“Whoever hides their sins will not be successful, but whoever confesses their sins and stops doing wrong will receive mercy.” Proverbs 28:13 (ERV)
Don’t hide or try to conceal your sins. You shouldn’t cover them up. Don’t act fake. Don’t act as if you never do anything wrong. Claiming to be without sin is just deceiving yourself and others. Everyone has sinned. So be transparent! Concealing sins blocks success and prosperity.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10 (NIV)
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 3:23 (NLT)
“Whoever hides their sins will not be successful, but whoever confesses their sins and stops doing wrong will receive mercy.” Proverbs 28:13 (ERV)
Admit your wrongs. Tell God. Tell someone else so that you may receive help, healing and accountability. Confession of sins can bring healing (emotional, physical, etc.) to yourself and to others involved.
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” James 5:16 (NLT)
It will also lift weights to get them off of your chest. It’s important to get sins into the light so that the darkness can be dispelled. Satan wants to keep them in darkness.
“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.” John 3:20-21 (NLT)
However, keep in mind that all things in darkness and hidden will eventually be revealed anyway!
I found this awesome tip for your on Pinterest! You’re welcome!
“…throw it away…” Matthew 5:30 (NIV)
I was talking with a friend the other day. She’s been struggling with some things in her life and is having a bit of a hard time. Darkness might be a good word to describe what she’s feeling or what she’s going through. I thought I’d write this week about an analogy that I shared with her about lighting a candle in darkness.
In dark situations, we need to find the light. Sometimes all it takes in order to brighten the dark is just the smallest light…like lighting a candle in a dark room. Candlelight is a very tiny light. Nevertheless, eventually that candle will light the room, and we can see other things. Our eyes will adjust, and the room will get brighter even though previously it was all darkness. Then that light will open our eyes to see that things maybe really aren’t as dark as they seem, and there is hope.
Things also become clearer in the light. In the light we can have a more realistic or different perspective. The light might grant us ability to quit seeing things from a negative point of view in order to see things for what they truly are. In a sense we are not “blinded” anymore.
Light dispels, disperses and scatters the darkness. Evil is exposed in the light.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:5 (NLT)
“No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.” Matthew 5:15 (NLT)
“For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”” Ephesians 5:8-14 (NLT)
“All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.” John 3:20 (NLT)
Think haunted house. Things are worse than they seem in the dark. Continue reading
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the L in salmon is silent.” I saw this posted this week and laughed because Eric has a friend at work that pronounces the “L”!
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Matthew 11:15 (ESV)
The class I teach at the local community college is an introductory freshman class that is required for the majority of students their first year. More often than not, I get several students that are irritated that they have to take the class. I think for many of them they think what they are already doing is working, that the topic isn’t relevant to them anymore, and that there really isn’t any reason or benefit for the class. They are operating under a false belief that they can’t learn anything new or that they already know all that there is to know about the topics we cover in class.
It’s hard to work with people who aren’t teachable. However, if they’ll adjust their mindset a bit and stick with the class, they usually find that they will get something beneficial out of the class, even if they are already familiar with some of the material.
To preempt some of the negative attitudes in my classes I’ve added a statement to my syllabus:
You will be expected to participate in this class with an open mind, a willingness to learn, and a realization that everyone has room for improvement. “Know-it-all” attitudes should be checked at the door.
Additionally, I try to share some strategies with them to combat the temptation to think that they aren’t going to learn anything new. First, I ask them to be open-minded, to never believe that they are above learning, and be willing to admit that they might have some room to learn more. Next, I will often share stories of other students who were also first agitated that they had to take this class but then were pleasantly surprised when they did actually gain some new and valuable information and strategies.
Then, I tell them to try to look at subject matter that they’ve already learned in a different light or from a different perspective. Finally, I tell them if they still think that they already know everything there is to know to approach the class as if they are learning how to teach this information to somebody else (i.e. a friend or family member).
This bird is such a rebel! I saw this pic with some other “perfectly timed photos”.
“But the dove found no place to set her foot…” Genesis 8:9a (ESV)
If you are a Christian or have been in church for even a short period of time, you probably have heard that you should read the bible. For many this can seem like an overwhelming, daunting, or boring chore. So why do we need to push past those feelings that might initially stop us? Why read the bible? I find that it’s often easier to do something when we know the “why” behind it. This post will discuss several reasons WHY we should read the bible, but by no means is this an exhaustive list.
“And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 (NLT)
“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38 (NLT)
“Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’” Mark 12:29-30 (NLT)
The man answered, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 (NLT)
In order to love someone, you have to know them. In order to know them you have to spend time with them and learn about them. We learn about God by spending time with Him, and we do this by reading His Word in addition to spending time with Him in prayer and praise and worship.
Knowing God better wasn’t my primary reason when I first started a regular habit of reading my bible. To be completely honest with you, I initially started reading the bible out of desperation. Nevertheless, the end result was the same…my relationship with God grew.
I was raised in a wonderful Christian home and grew up in church. In spite of this though, I never really cracked my bible open outside of church. This was true for me up until the time I was in college. During that time my boyfriend of 3 years broke up with me, which was pretty devastating at the time. Nights were the worst, and I was unable to sleep. The only way I could find some peace and get some sleep was to read my bible before bed. I knew enough growing up in church that the bible was a place where one could go to find comfort and peace.
So I found a devotional book that someone had given me (My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers*), and I started reading that and my bible every night to calm my anxieties and help me sleep. Sometimes I would fall asleep in my bed with my bible still open laying on my lap. I tease sometimes and say that the bible was the only thing boring enough that would actually put me to sleep! In all seriousness though, God met me there in my place of need and desperation at that time. I used to feel guilty about falling asleep while reading the bible or praying, and then one day I felt like God said to me, “What better way to fall asleep than by spending time with me?” Subsequently, my bible reading habit was started…and thus my real relationship with God as well.
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