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Repent & turn

/ Jodie / Leave a comment

Matthew 3:2 New Living Translation (NLT)

2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.[a]”

Mark 6:12 New Living Translation (NLT)

12 So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.

John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus by telling others to repent of their sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven was drawing near. Jesus’ disciples were sent out to carry this same message to all they came in contact with.

Repent & turn.

Why, do you suppose we have such a difficult time making disciples and telling them to repent and turn? The bible says ALL have sinned, so we must conclude that ALL need to repent.

In a society that prides itself on being tolerant & politically correct on all issues, the message of repent & turn is usually met with much hostility. Since the fall of man (& woman) in the garden, we have struggled to resist the enemy & submit ourselves completely to Our Creator. When confronted with the choice to repent, we often find ourselves mimicking Adam & Eve, blaming the enemy- or others for our sin.

Genesis 3:11-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

So how do we model Mark 6:12 in 2013?

It begins with me.

I know from experience that if I do not have daily communication with God (& by this I mean; beginning my day going to a room- ALONE, locking the door, reading scripture, praying, repenting, listening to Him…& talking and listening to Him throughout the day) I am destined to live a life full of pride. This will result in me making myself the center of my universe and consequently blaming everyone else around me when a comet or plant collides with ME! This choice makes it extremely difficult for the ones I am discipling to receive anything through me. However, when I repent & turn to God, my heart perspective changes & God is given His rightful place; the center of my life. Then, the Holy Spirit equips me to advance His Kingdom by making disciples….AND, I no longer fear telling them to repent & turn.

That is Jesus’ model of discipleship.

Repent & turn.

May 2013 be a year where we, disciples of Jesus, repent & turn to God every day and boldly “go, make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19)

Simplify

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(Originally posted to The Bullard Pack blog on 7/24/09)
I repeatedly hear from other women that they are busy, stressed-out, overwhelmed, tired, running on empty, feeling guilty, the list goes on and on… Why do we, as women feel the need to do EVERYTHING? Why do we feel like failures when we aren’t the host-est w/ the most-est like Martha Stewart? Why do we agonize over the fact that we don’t cook scrumptious meals like Paula Dean? Why do we feel guilty when our homes look like those portrayed in an episode of “Clean House?”
I agree that our society puts undo pressure on us to be “super women.” We are tricked into thinking that we CAN have it and do it all. However, we need to realize that it’s just not true! We must have realistic expectations of what we can do, and do well! There isn’t enough time in the day to be a help-mate, nurture and train our children, work a full time job, cook, clean, do laundry, pay the bills, mow the grass, plan a birthday party, go to the grocery store, chat w/ friends on Facebook, watch tv, scrapbook, catch up on some reading, work-out AND have a few minutes to ourselves! If we continue to try to do all of those things, we’ll usually only do a few of them well. The remaining items will be ignored, or not done w/ excellence.
Recently, I have been reading to my children about our early American ancestors. I have been inspired by the simple lives they led. They built simple homes. They had simple tools to plow their fields to feed their family. They ate simple meals. They made simple toys for their children to play with. They had simple forms of family entertainment (reading and music, mostly). Now, I don’t necessarily want to go back in time and live w/ Laura Ingalls, but I do want to follow their example of simplicity.
Question is: HOW do I simplify? My husband is a big list maker, so I followed his direction. I wrote down ALL the things that I am responsible for (WOW!). Next, I went through and circled all the priorities in my life. These are my categories, if you will, that I feel God has called me to do in this season of life (stay at home wife & mother, home-school teacher, mentor). Then I marked off those items that didn’t fall under those categories. Then I omitted those items that just weren’t important, or maybe could wait for another time. Then I went through items that I could ask for help with from my husband and children. After I dwindled my list down, I discovered that although I still am responsible for much, I am not responsible for it ALL. God hasn’t called me to do it ALL- He’s the creator of the universe; I think He can handle that!

Choices

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(Originally posted on The Bullard Pack blog on 7/20/09)
Quite regularly, I find myself overwhelmed w/ my “to do” list. Recently, after having another one of my “I want to go to a private island and never return episodes….” I cried out to God and asked “what do YOU expect from me?!” His response was quite clear. I am to be His child. I am to be a wife. I am to train and teach my children. I am to invite and serve others in our home. After receiving that renewed sense of purpose, I knew that I had to get rid of some of the excess in my life. In order to do that, I had to make some tough choices. Some of those choices involved personal sacrifice. Some of them required swallowing my pride. And some of them I just needed to give back to God to control! Regardless of the outcome, I needed to make them, or I would continue to spiral out of control
In Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”, Ariel is faced with a life altering choice. She will have to give her voice to Ursula, the great sea witch, in order be transformed from a mermaid to a human. While contemplating her decision, Ariel speaks about all the things she will have to give up. Ursula responds, with great sarcasm, “Life’s full of tough choices, isn’t it?” Despite her fear, Ariel summons up the courage to make her choice…she chooses to sacrifice everything to be with Eric, the human that she loves.
Sometimes, out of fear, we choose to do nothing about our circumstances. Sometimes, out of selfishness we make the wrong choices. Sometimes, we contemplate our decisions carefully, and make the right one!
Do you have some choices to make? Don’t let fear or selfishness deter you. Make the right choice!
“…..choose today whom you will serve.” Joshua 24:15

Weeds

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Every summer, when my sister and I were growing up, we were given the task of weeding the mountain on the side of our parent’s property (ok, it was a slight HILL…but a kid’s perspective is much different!).  Each morning, just before the California sun was beginning to emerge,our mom would arm us with weeding tools and send us out to tackle the dew covered mountain.
I hated weeding. I grumbled and complained the entire time- yanking those suckers out as fast as I could. I didn’t care that Gardening 101 stated that we should pull them out by the roots, or else they would continue to grow. All I knew was that every summer there was a mountain of weeds to pull anyway! I just wanted to get the chore done as fast as possible so I could get back to riding my banana seat bike with the cool FM radio.  
Sorry, I digress…………..
While drinking my cup of coffee on the front stoop this morning, the sun begin to peek through the clouds and I watched the steam lift off the dew covered grass. The North Carolina humidity felt like 100% as I strolled through the yard, surveying the plants and trees that were soaking in the rain from last night’s shower. Then I saw them. Those pesky weeds!!! They must have hopped a 747 from California and planted themselves in our yard!!!! As I squatted down and began pulling them out God reminded me of all the roots my husband and I brought from our respective childhood homes. Most of them, unbeknownst to us, hopped right into our honeymoon luggage and planted themselves in the yard of our first home. And, every time we moved…you guessed it….they followed us!!!
A very wise friend once told me “we all have “weeds” that have grown in our soul since we were kids”…..and a lot of them hitch a ride into our marriages. Some “weeds” appear to look like a beautiful flowering vine. Others linger below the surface of the earth, but then push through the soil and quickly choke out everything around it. Then there are those nasty, thorny “weeds” that stand their ground as long as they can, b/c everyone is afraid to touch them. As the homeowner of these “weeds” we are responsible for getting those suckers out of our yard!!! Sure, we can spray them with weed killer, but that only stunts their growth for a period of time. Or, we can half-heartedly yank at them, and pull the tops off, leaving the root to continue to grow below the surface. But, the most effective form of weed control is to arm ourselves with the tool that the Master Gardener has given us: The Holy Spirit. He only is the only one that can uproot our “weeds.”
My husband can attest to the fact that I still HATE pulling weeds. When we moved to our current home, I struck a deal with him; he takes care of all the yard maintenance and I take care of the inside. Happily, he agreed, b/c he loves to go outside and piddle in the yard!! In the case of our personal “weeds”, though- one spouse can’t extract the other spouse’s weeds from the garden they share. “Weeding” has to be done on an individual basis, by allowing the Holy Spirit to expose and uproot the “weed” that needs to go. However, if one spouse refuses to allow any uprooting, their “weeds” will begin to choke out their spouses “weeds” (or any healthy growing plants that have been planted).  When that happens, the spouse that has been tending the garden sees the slight hill grow into a daunting mountain, and usually decides it would be easier to take their remaining “weeds” to another plot of land.
Maybe you HATE weeding like I do. Or perhaps you’ve never taken a Gardening 101 class. As a fellow gardener in training, I suggest you meet the Master Gardner, and then find someone who can teach the class (a mentor, counselor, etc). Your yard (& your spouse) will thank you for it!
Now……let’s go pull some weeds!!!

-Jodie

Healing = Pain

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In March, I went into my dentist’s office to be fitted for a crown. After being escorted to my BARCO-lounger, my bib was placed around my neck and I opened up to say “ahhh” for the very large needle full of numbing medication. A few moments later, the dentist began drilling the cavity out, and pain began shooting through my jaw line. I muffled out: “ooooOOWWa….stop!!! I received ANOTHER very large needle full of numbing medication.  A few moments later, the dentist began drilling the cavity out- AGAIN, and pain began shooting through my jaw line-AGAIN.  I muffled out: “ooooOOWWa….stop!!!”- AGAIN!
I received ANOTHER very large needle full of numbing medication.  A few moments later, the dentist began drilling the cavity out- AGAIN, and pain began shooting through my jaw line-AGAIN.  This time, I just sucked it up and allowed the dentist to finish the procedure.Hours later, as the numbing medication wore off I began to experience sharp, stabbing pain shooting through my jaw line-AGAIN! I called the dentist, and received my first round of pain med’s.
Several days later; I went back to the dentist and was told that I would need a root canal. I received more pain medication and a round of antibiotics.
A few days after that, I went back to the dentist for more numbing and drilling. At the end of that visit the dentist told me she couldn’t complete the root canal because it was a “difficult” tooth. I was then referred to an endodontist. That experience turned out to be much like the prior. The “specialist” attempted to complete the root canal- twice. Again, the pain persisted, and I was given another round of pain medication and antibiotics.

A few weeks later…..I returned to my dentist to discover that the only option now was to extract the tooth. And so, we did. You would think this is the end of the tooth saga, right?
WRONG!
After the extraction, I incurred a dry socket. I then tried every pain remedy known to man. Nothing worked. I returned- AGAIN, to my dentist office and was told that the pain could be because the infection had spread to the bone. WHAT????!!!!!! My 3rd round of antibiotics was administered.
3 ½ months later, the great chasm in my mouth is finally beginning to heal. I have prayed daily, sometimes hourly for God to relieve me of this suffering. I have had friends and family praying for me, laying hands on me, rebuking the powers of darkness from me………….but to no avail. A few days ago, in complete desperation, I literally cried out to God; “why won’t you take this pain away!??!!” After I finished whining and blowing my nose, I heard Him say “because you have something to learn from this.”
In that moment, I thought of Jesus. The suffering He endured was far greater than mine, and He deserved none of it. I wept uncontrollably.
Kind of puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
But that wasn’t the only thing my Father wanted to teach me……..
Healing = Pain.
Whether it’s a physical healing, such as a broken bone that has to be re-set, or casted, or an emotional healing that was caused by a deep hurt long ago, the healing process is usually painful. That is why most of us chose to stick an emotional band-aid (denial, blaming others, anger, etc…) on that sucker!!!
The thing is, you can only cover up an emotional infection for so long.
I was told by my dentist long after my initial crown appointment that when she first drilled into the tooth, puss and blood began spewing out. REALLY?! Had I know that, I would have decided at that moment, to yank the it out. Instead I listened to the “professionals” who said it was best to try to save the tooth by doing everything humanly possible to clean it up with a root canal and a crown.
Sounds a lot like what the enemy does, doesn’t it? He convinces us that it would be better to just leave those emotional infections alone rather than asking the Lord to extract them, so that we can be healed. He whispers in our ear telling us that it will hurt less if we just ignore them.
What a liar.
When we allow God to extract the deep, dark, infected places of our soul, we will endure some pain, but it pales in comparison to the damage that, if left untreated can wreak havoc on our  relationship with God, our spouse, our children, and others.
Kind of puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
What infections are lurking in your soul?
Ready to let God extract them?