Don't give up!

Pin It In reading through Acts 6-10 this week I was challenged once again by the life (and death) of Stephen.

When you are dead and gone what will people remember about you?

The bible speaks of Stephen as being...
Honest, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, full of faith and power...
He did great wonders and miracles and the spirit that he spoke with was irresistible!
He knew his Bible enough to recount the history of Israel to a captive audience and point them to Christ.
And in the end, when it came down to laying down his life for The Lord he loved, with his dying breath he asked for forgiveness for those who so wrongfully sought his death.

In comparison in Acts 8 we see Simon the Sorcerer. A man who hears the gospel, makes a confession of faith and then seeks to gain God's gifts through manipulation! Can you imagine the audacity of someone trying to buy a piece of the Holy Spirit's power?

But sadly enough, it happens every day. Instead of living spirit-filled lives we try to falsify the working of the Spirit in our lives so that the praise goes to us for our good efforts instead of glorifying God for what He has done in us and through us.

This week has been a rough mix of chasing kids and chasing my quiet time...visitor's leaving, a baby shower that caught me by surprise because I forgot to write it down, a fine arts contest, a crying baby on a growth spurt. I can feel the Spirit calling and more often than not this week I found myself saying, "In a few minutes...right after I finish _____...tomorrow I'll get up earlier." Whatever the excuse, it just kept getting put off and my walk with the Lord and relationship with my family suffered because of  it.

Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. It did not come by accident but by fully giving himself to God.

Today is a new day, and my timer just popped up to say, "It's time for your daily Bible reading!"

And my answer? I already beat you to it!

Don't let anything keep you from walking with Him today!

Be blessed,
Casandra

You cannot lie to God

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If you know anything about the book of Acts, when you hear the names Ananias and Sapphira you automatically think about lying and the consequences that it brings.
In Acts chapter 5 the church was just beginning and already sin was creeping in.  In case you don't remember, in Exodus 20 God expressed his opinion about lying. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." (v.16) In other words, don't lie!

Lying for some people is not just an occasional sin, it's a way of life.  One lie leads to another, which leads to another, until you cannot distinguish between what is true and what you have invented to cover up all of the untruths that you have previously told!

Proverbs 6:17, 19, lists lying as one 

of the six things that the Lord hates!

In v. 5 and 11 we see the affect that one lie had upon the other new believers.  The Bible says that "great fear" came upon them all.  They had lied to God and since the days of Adam and Eve we know that you can't lie to God.  Many have tried, but God is omniscient!  He knows everything, so while you may be able to pull the wool over the eyes of your fellow man, God is not fooled by your double-tongue.

Okay, okay, so maybe you are not the bold-faced liar that you accuse others of being.  That's fine. But let's hold off on the self-righteous patting ourselves on the back for just a moment.  What about the inner man?  Have I been lying to myself about my walk with the Lord?  Have I been feeding myself the age old lie that it doesn't matter what I do if the end result brings happiness?  Have I been deceived into believing that I am walking with God when I never read His Word, or meditate on it, and my prayer life can be described as emergency only?

Take a moment to reflect.

In the rest of chapter 5 we see the apostles filled with boldness for Christ.  Boldness to return to the temple and continue preaching salvation through Jesus' name. They had the religious leaders scrambling because they feared that this new teaching would conquer the world. The apostles were spending time in prayer, they were sharing what they had learned of Christ, they were obeying God's commands. They "ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Does this describe your heart attitude and your life?  

When you are spoken of does it reflect Christ in you?  

God sees our hearts and men see our actions.  So often Christians are accused of being hypocrites because we say one thing and our lives say another.  You can lie to man, but you cannot lie to God.

Get honest today!

Praying to the God of the impossible

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Okay, so today I was not up at 4 a.m. (Praise the Lord!), but I didn't let that stop me. When the "baby alarm" went off I hopped up and started Acts chapter 4.

The tension is building between the apostles and the religious leaders.  Peter and John are not quietly converting people in a dark corner somewhere.  They are in the temple, and about 5,000 men have believed after witnessing the miracle of the lame man made whole!  Talk about fruitful witnessing!

The religious leaders confront them with the question, "Where is your authority to do this coming from?", which was well within their rights to question anyone rising up and claiming to be a prophet.  But they take no glory for themselves.  Peter uses it as another opportunity, being led by the Holy Ghost, to preach Christ.  Who is their authority? Jesus of Nazareth, the same one who you crucified and God raised from the dead.  In His name only is there salvation.  Peter knew it, and he boldly shared what he knew with those around him.

It's all about Jesus!

The miracle couldn't be denied so the religious leaders try to silence the voice proclaiming Christ.  Christ cannot be silenced and Peter tells them just that.

"We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

The crowd gives glory to God. The believers give glory to God and pray for His help, His boldness to continue preaching and the power to continue healing even though they are facing persecution from the very ones who claim to believe in God.  And what happened?

When they prayed, God answered. 

Ah...herein lies the key that so many of us are missing today. We want God's help but we don't ask for it.  We ask for it, but we don't truly believe that God can answer our prayers.  Or we only pray for what we believe is in the realm of God's possibilities.  The apostles prayed and God gave them "great power" and "great grace" (v. 33).

This past Sunday my husband challenged our Sunday School class to take a piece of paper and write down three prayer requests that we believed were impossible.  I'm sure many thought that he would collect them and pray for us, but his response was, "Now that you have written them down...start praying for them!  

Our God can do the impossible! 

As I spoke to a friend last night I challenged her to take the prayer challenge as well.  

 We need God!  We all have things in our lives that seem or are humanly impossible.   It's as simple as that.  We can't do it without His help.  

We need Jesus!  Yesterday we were challenged to stop begging from this world.  The government can't do it, our self-motivation is not enough, sometimes even our well-meaning families cannot provide what we need to make it through.    

We need the Holy Spirit!  When you are feeling down and all alone, do not fall prey to the Devil's lies.  As believers, we have the Source of all comfort!   

Start believing, start praying, and be bold in praising God for what He, and only He can do, is doing, and will do in your life!

Be blessed!

Stop begging from this world!

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Once upon a time...I had free time.  Life with two children was easy and I could actually choose what I was going to do next.  Now with four kids under the age of six life is sometimes a roller coaster ride of racing to prevent the next major disaster from crashing the house down around my weary shoulders.  Those leisurely times for in depth study of the Word seemed like a thing of the past...until...my children decided to change the definition of "the crack of dawn" from sunrise to about 3 or 4 a.m.


My first response was, of course, frustration. After attending to the needs of three out of the four I was wide awake and desperately craving, begging for my much needed sleep.  As I blearily watched my two month old coo and smile at me I thought, "What if this is Jesus calling?" I'm always crying out for His help, desiring to spend time with Him, "Why not now?"  So here I am, meeting "the crack of dawn" with a smile instead of a grimace, because I asked God for help, expecting to receive something good...like more sleep...and I received something so much better!

Today I joined in with www.womenlivingwell.org in their study in the book of Acts.  Since there is no way that I would trust myself to write in my precious Bible with one eye open I printed out the chapters from www.biblegateway.com and then used a template from www.printablepaper.net to print lined paper on the back side of the chapters.  With my first grader's stash of colored pencils I was all set, and this is what the Lord showed me today in Acts chapter 3...

The blind man was sitting by the gate begging daily, "expecting to receive something" from the world around him.  On this particular day, he cried out to Peter and John and was commanded to stop begging from this world and to "look on them".  He had expected to receive "something" but what he received was far better than what he expected!  His life was touched by Jesus and he was never the same again!

In v.7 we see his physical need taken care of as his feet and ankle bones are strengthened. Then in v. 8 and 16 we see that his spiritual need was also met.  And as a public testimony of the effect that Jesus had on his life he "just had to praise Him"!  His changed life was obvious. Do others marvel at the change in you since you met Jesus?

When the crowds turned to wonder at Peter and John Peter takes advantage of the moment to point them to Christ.  First he gives it to them straight - you delivered Him to Pilate, you denied Him, you desired His death, and then you killed Him.  These are not words of one trying to win the favor of this world.  But Peter doesn't stop there. He acknowledges that they may have acted through ignorance in the past, but he informs them that the prophecies that they have been waiting for have been fulfilled - the promise to Abraham has been fulfilled - in Jesus Christ!  Stop begging from this world!  Repent and be converted from unbelief to belief, because only in Jesus will you find perfect healing through faith in His name.

Hallelujah!  What a way to start the day.  When I call on Jesus, all things are possible!

Esther Week 3 / Ester Semana 3

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The Triumph of Mordecai by Pieter Lastman, 1624.  

Insights from chapter 3 this week...

The devil is against the obedience of God´s people.  This should not come as a surprise to any believer!  Even if you are living a life that pleases God you can expect trials to come from the hand of God´s enemy.

Haman, through his prideful spirit, was used by Satan to persecute God's people.  As the king's favorite who was praised by all the province he was infuriated at being publicly humiliated by Mordecai.  His own pride led him to hatred of the Jews and we will see later on in the story how that because he did not esteem others more important than himself it led him to a great fall.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 

-I Corinthians 10:12

BEWARE!  Don't hide "little" sins in your heart!  As women we are experts in hiding bitterness, anger, resentment,etc, in our hearts against other people.  Whether the offense against us is real or imagines we need to overlook the offenses of others and leave them in God's hands.  Some would complain that they cannot, but they are lying to themselves.  The truth of the matter is that they DO NOT WANT TO FORGIVE.  We should not be fooled into thinking that we are right with God when we are harboring sin in our lives.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

-Proverbs 16:18

Are you filled with pride?  Are you overcome by a haughty spirit?  Take care of it today lest you become a source of division in the body of Christ.

Let's live Biblically today honoring the King of Kings!

Traducción (bueno...mas o menos de lo aprendido del cápitulo 3 esta semana)-
El diablo esta en contra de la obediencia del pueblo de Dios.  Eso no nos debe sorprender como creyentes. Aunque estas viviviendo una vida que agrada a Dios puedes esperar pruebas de la mano del enemigo de Dios.

Amán, a travez de su orgullo, fue usado por Satanás para probar el pueblo de Dios.  Como el favorito del rey y el querido del pueblo se enfureció al ser humillado publicamente por el rechazo de Mardoqueo.  Su propio orgullo le llevo al odio y vamos a ver como su propio menosprecio por los demas le llevará a una caída mortal.

Así que, el que piensa estar firme, mire que no caiga.

-I Corintios 10:12

¡TEN CUIDADO de guardar dichos "pecaditos" en tu corazón!  Nosotras como mujeres somos muy expertas en guardar rencor, amargura, resentimiento, etc., en nuestros corazones contra otras personas.  Sea la ofensa imaginaria o real, debemos pasar por alto las ofensas de los demás y dejarlas en las manos del Señor.  Algunos dicen que no pueden, pero es mentira.  La verdad es que por su orgullo, NO QUIEREN perdonar.  No debemos engañarnos pensando que estamos bien con el Señor si en nuestros corazones estamos guardando el pecado.

Antes del quebrantamiento es la soberbia,

Y antes de la caída la altivez de espíritu. -Proverbios 16:18

¿Estás llena de soberbia? ¿Sufres de altivez de espíritu o orgullo? Trata con esos pecados hoy para que no sea que tu tambíen seas llevado a causar división en el cuerpo de Cristo.

¡Viviremos biblicamente honrando al Rey de Reyes!

When life doesn't go the way you planned...

Pin It It's 6:45am here in Peru and I'm wide awake with free time all to myself.  With my husband busily preparing to teach his seminary class and three little ones from preschool age on down, I was almost too shocked by this sudden burst of freedom to do anything!  Maybe I'm just recovering from the way the day began.  Let's roll back the clock to 5:00 am....

5:00 am 
The baby: Waaaaahhhh!!!
Me: (sigh...roll out of bed, and walk down the hallway) Good morning, princess!

The princess coo's and then complains loudly that I am taking too long to start the feeding process.
 We stumble back down to my room and I grudgingly wake up.  It's not that I don't want to help her out in her moment of distress, it's just that my mind doesn't function so well before I've had time to put on my glasses!

When she's finished I figure that since I'm already awake I might as well make it a productive morning.  I quickly iron two shirts for my husband (It seems easier to do a two-for-one ironing so that tomorrow I can sleep in!)  Then I hear that another child is awake.

5:30 am
The 5 yr. old: (mumbling to himself loudly in his room...He has a bad habit of telling himself stories at 3 am at a volume level that awakens the entire household.)
Me: If you're going to be up talking I'm going to give you some schoolwork to do. (In my brilliant mind I'm thinking that he can be done with school by 6 am, eat breakfast, and go back to sleep!  What was I thinking?)

So...I went downstairs and started washing the pile of dishes awaiting me from yesterday afternoon when the water went off.  (another story in itself).  I put breakfast in the oven, rolled the baby into the office to "visit" with Daddy for a little while, and with a sense of accomplishment decided to check on my son before beginning my Bible study.  And that's when it happened...

He had climbed up on the desk in our schoolroom and was kneeling with all his weight ON TOP OF MY BRAND NEW COMPUTER!  (Believe me when I say, I almost had a heart attack!)

Me: YOU'RE ON TOP OF MY COMPUTER!!!!! (and then before I could react in my state of shock I sent him to work at the dining room table downstairs under my eagle eye of supervision).

Needless to say, I was not expecting to see that and I quickly rushed over to check the condition of my poor, crushed friend.  I must give kudos to HP for their sound craftsmanship on this own because the computer escaped unscathed, which is why I am able to type this now.

Later on, when I was calm enough to interrogate him I asked him if he saw my computer in the desk.

His answer? Yes, I saw it under the papers.

Then I asked him why he would do such a thing.  (O, how I wanted to scream at that moment...)

It has taken about an hour to get over it...and the culprit?  He finished up his schoolwork with an amazing attention to detail normally lacking (maybe he was trying to get back into my good graces.)  He ate his breakfast quickly and then meekly asked if he could return to his bed.

I sent him merrily on his way with the stern reminder that he was not to awaken his 3 yr. old brother.  I had had enough drama in one hour to last me the entire day without incurring his wrath at being awakened "before his time"

As I am just now settling down after some "quiet time" in the book of Esther I think about how insignificant my moment of drama was when compared to hers.  Uprooted from her home, from her people, taken captive with only the hope of being a slave to the king in the future, and then through a twist of circumstances facing certain death at the hands of an enemy who would see her people annihilated.

Proverbs 9:10 tells us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom".  To know what to do in a difficult situation, to know how to respond when things don't go the way you planned, to show wisdom every step of the way requires help from Almighty God.  In the difficult times in my life I need God's wisdom to guide me and to sustain me.  I can't wait until the hard times come to begin searching. I need to seek God's wisdom NOW in order to be ready to face whatever may come.

Today's devotional verse from the Love God Greatly bible study on Esther is Psalms 112:1 which states,

Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

It's not enough for me to know what God commands.  I need to joyfully obey His commands and take joy or delight in the who, what, when, where, why and how of how He is leading me.  My attitude is everything. 

Here is the weekly challenge from week 2.  Head on over to the Love God Greatly website for more inspiration.

May you take joy in His leading. 

Be blessed as you follow Christ today!

There and back again...

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It's been more than a year since my last post, and I could spend days recounting what has happened between now and then, but time is of the essence...so a quick update is all I´m going to give.

My husband and I are still missionaries in the mountains of Peru, and we thank God for the opportunities we have to share His Word each day.  Our main focus here is working with a Baptist Seminary and leading a discipleship program in the local church.  I have a class of about six ladies who meet faithfully on Thursday nights to study the Bible together.  With three little ones of my own and about four others from the other ladies that can become quite a challenging task, but with God's help they are growing in their knowledge of Him and that's what it's all about!

This week I started co-hosting a Bible study on Esther from www.lovegodgreatly.com or www.amaadiosgrandemente.com in Spanish.  I disbanded my English speaking group long ago due to lack of interest, but my spanish study group has soared to almost 50 ladies!  Needless to say I was stunned at the amount of interest and thrilled at the same time.  My goal is to give a weekly update here on what we are learning together.  Here is the recap for week 1.

Esther chapter 1

In the first chapter of Esther we see Vashti's story unravel as Esther's begins to unfold.  Several of the

devotional texts that we looked at in our study focused on the difference between the fool and the wise (or prudent).  Both the king and Vashti were unwise in the decisions that they made.  He was focused on displaying his own wealth and power and after 6 months of partying and lifting himself up it was infuriating for his wife to refuse his command to come and be shown off as one of his prize possessions.  Vashti was also in the midst of her own party with the ladies when she refused to honor her husband's request.  The twin monsters of pride and selfishness are obviously evident in this bird's eye view of palace life, but the story is not so unlike our lives today.

It is so easy to get caught up in ourselves.  What makes me happy?  What can I do to feel good about myself today?  How will I respond/react when others don't do what I want, when I want it?  How often do I respond without thinking, without considering the other person, without seeking Biblical counsel?  Am I a respectful wife to my husband or am I trying to make myself look good in the eyes of others while putting him down?  

No, I am not a queen of Persia.  Ha!  Far from it!  And my husband is not the king of 127 provinces, but it only takes a moment of disrespect to offend him, and the consequences can have a lasting effect on the harmony of our home.

May God's wisdom be the go-to foundation for my daily decisions and yours!

Be blessed!