Encouragement

My Filthy Rags

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

I had three major confrontations with the Lord in 2001. They began at the women’s Bible study (testimony here) and continued through the summer, when I finally dipped into a pile of articles Doug had given me to read.

Those articles would eventually be life changing, but I didn’t want anything to do with them at first. Oh, I was very happy for him, because he’d finally found a ministry that actually addressed his spiritual need. It was the first time we’d heard anyone use the term sexual addiction, and these men* had testimonies to back up their articles. He felt so much hope, and I was hopeful, too. Maybe, this was the answer we’d been waiting for, and all my suffering would finally be over. 

You see, while I recognized there was a spiritual war going on, I didn’t realize Doug and I each had battles to fight. I thought this war was his war, because it was his fault. If he would just do the right thing, we’d win the war and live happily ever after. Wasn’t I doing my part?  Keep the home fires burning, Caroline! Despite the fact God had been dealing with me all year long, calling me to yield to His will for my life, I just didn’t understand that there was something for me to do. I was sure our problems started with him, and would only end when he stopped living a chronic cycle of Sin-Repent-Repeat. In the meanwhile, I would be the good Christian wife I thought I was and endure this suffering. Isn’t that what longsuffering means?

HOLD UP

Wives, God doesn’t call us to endure our husband’s sin. If we’re just holding our own, trying to get better at enduring, we’re wasting our time. That’s as far away from being a help meet as we can get. Yet, I know that’s what most wives think they’re supposed to do: don’t quit on him. Without meaning to, they become his enabler.  

You see there is a difference between godly endurance and human endurance, and too often we confuse them. Godly endurance stands out, because it bears spiritual fruit in both you and him. It doesn’t enable him to stay unchanged and in sin, but instead reminds him that his race isn’t over. We don’t ignore his fall and fail to hold him to account, but urge him to get up (repent) and keep going.  

WAIT A MINUTE

I’m not sure when I gave in and picked-up an article, but I do remember the words took me by surprise. Like a tsunami. The first article was called, “Why People Remain in Sin and Bondage,” by David Kyle Foster. I remember thinking that maybe this article would help me understand Doug better, but instead it helped me understand myself better. It was an incredible experience. Yes, it was life changing.  I very clearly recall sitting in bed and sensing the presence of Christ beside me. I could see myself next to Him, my head down, looking at the pure white drapes of His robe. It was then I finally saw my filthy rags. I wept, I repented. My eyes were opened. For so long I had seen myself somehow ahead of Doug on this course, but suddenly I realized we were in the same place. I had no advantage over him, because I didn’t struggle with his brand of sin. I was not further ahead, because I had grown-up in Sunday school classes. We were equally wretched sinners, both in need of a Savior. 

PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN IT

Looking back now, I realize that God was preparing me for what was soon to come. If our family was going to survive the onslaught Satan had prepared for us, I was going to have to rise up out of my selfish version of Christianity and become a woman God could actually use. I was going to have to put my flesh in its place, just as much as Doug would—though in very different ways. I was now in the war.

❤

*David Kyle Foster (Pure Passion) and Steve Gallagher (Pure Life Miniseries)

TBT: Some Thoughts on “Hotel Rwanda”

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

I originally wrote this in 2012. This month was the 25th anniversary of this horrific event, and it seemed appropriate to share it again.

I’d been looking forward to seeing it.  I knew it would be a excellent film.  I knew the acting was going to be incredible.  I knew it would be informative.  I knew it would be a completely fulfilling movie experience, as good as I’d heard, and worthy of all the awards and accolades it’s received.

However, I had no idea it was going to speak to me so deeply.

No, I’m not going to start protesting human rights or dive deeper into politics in order to fight for social justice across the world.  Quite the contrary.

After I’d turned off the movie and while I was sitting in my bathroom weeping into a wad of toilet paper, I thought to myself: Who was the U.S. President then? Who can we blame for this? Then something happened. It was as if the Lord was turning my head and redirecting my line of vision.  I was suddenly looking down at the earth from the heavens. I could see the continents, and I was  trying to find Rwanda on the African piece of the planet.

That was when I realized it didn’t actually matter what country it was where this happened. God didn’t care about Rwanda, He cared about the people in Rwanda. And, the people in every other nation on this planet.  He doesn’t see the borders between countries. He sees the people. He sees the million bodies of the slain people in Rwanda that lined the roads for miles and miles, filling ditches and covering fields. These are people He so loves that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for them. To save them—not from this life, but from the eternal death to come.

As I was watching Don Cheadle’s performance, I kept reminding myself of the real man who was willing to put his own life on the line for others. This man, just a regular man, was willing to give everything to save those who were helpless and defenseless against their enemy.

Wait. Wasn’t God asking the same of me? Wasn’t I supposed to be willing to lay down my life for those who are defenseless against the Enemy of their soul? Isn’t that what God has called us all to do?

So many Christians have taken up social causes and concerns, from abortion to human trafficking to crimes against children. It’s not that these things aren’t worthy concerns. They are terribly wrong acts against God.  That they are wrong—in fact, sin—is why I think we need to question making them, or supporting them as, a cause. Some Christians have built their entire faith and Christian walk around a cause that essentially boils down to trying to stop people from sinning. “Stop killing!” “Stop raping women!” “Stop unlawful behavior!”

Yet, we were not given the authority to do that, to stop people from sinning. Only the Holy Spirit can convict us of sin, and only the blood of Jesus can break those bondages. As Christians, we have the answer for the one who is bound. It’s called the Good News, and that is what we are called to preach. Why are we trying to do the Holy Spirit’s job, and not the one He has actually given us to do?  We’ve been commissioned to tell the lost how to be saved in order that they may have this power from on high. We should be prepared to lay down our lives in order to get the truth of the Cross to them, not the message that they should stop sinning. Who cares if anyone is spared from sin, but still left to die and go to Hell? It’s reverse legalism. And, it’s terrifying to me that the church has made this their gospel.

I really have to ask myself why have I spent so many hours of my life caring about politics and political issues, when there are people living and dying without Jesus. Why am I here, except to win the lost? Am I willing to I lay down my political activism at Christ’s feet and pick-up His cross instead?

I know that many will object to this message, and I can hear their arguments all ready. I do respect people for speaking out against injustice, and I don’t think we are supposed to not care that these things happen. However, I believe our approach has mostly been wrong, and I believe the proof of that is in the fruit of these efforts, and in the lack of souls in the church.

After forty years of pro-life activism, where’s the fruit? Why aren’t churches full of single mothers with children? Most churches don’t have a single mother’s small group, or a ministry to teen moms, or even a well-staffed nursery! Not to mention that most churches have a pitiful children’s ministry that is almost a second-thought. And, if so many Christians care so much about children and babies, where are the hordes of Christian foster parents? Why isn’t every Christian’s car full of neighborhood kids coming to Sunday School? How many churches have given up on VBS, because they couldn’t find enough volunteers?

Imagine with me what would happen if instead of giving $10 a month to stop human trafficking, Christians instead stopped patronizing pornography websites. What if, instead of protesting abortion, Christians began volunteering to teach Sunday School? What would happen if Christians stopped sending their money to conservative political lobbyists, and instead gave that money to missions? And, what if, instead of sending money to a charity that will feed the hungry, we gave our time and money towards opening a food pantry and soup kitchen in our own church? A rock star tells us to care about this, or care about that, and we jump to answer his call. We need to stop for a moment and ask ourselves what  the cause of Christ is first. What cause did He die for, and what cause did He call us to die for, too? Did He come to carry a sign in protest?  Is that the example we are supposed to follow? No, He came to carry a Cross.

Please, don’t get me wrong. My heart is stirred with compassion when I hear of the needs around the world. I wish another baby never had to be aborted again. I want to build wells in Africa, too! I care about these causes. I love meeting needs! However, I know it’s a lot easier to give money, than to give myself. And, it’s a lot easier to give myself to a man-made cause, than to give myself to the cause of Christ. I have been lead astray by the temptation to “do good” through a $5 or $500 gift, instead of actually “doing good” and living a life that will make a difference.

If you are still reading this, please ask yourself this question: What am I doing to support the cause of Christ? If you are not giving of your time, talent, and money to the cause of reaching the lost with the good news of John 3:16, I urge you to seek God and reconsider your choices.

Addendum

After writing this,I came across the following quote.
‎”Loving Him is to be our cause. He can take care of a lot of other causes without us, but He can’t make us love Him with all our heart. that’s the work we must do. Anything else is an imitation.” (Keith Green)

Three Ways to Guard Our Faith

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

“So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 1017, NKJV

So, how do we guard our faith? I think these are three tried and true ways to do it. Remember, it’s God’s will we guard our faith, so He will help us in the process. As we seek Him, He will reveal specific things that are threatening our faith—things we may be allowing into our life now, or have allowed into our lives in the past. He will always help us, when our desire is to grow in Him.

Okay. Here we go. 

THREE WAYS TO GUARD OUR FAITH

1. Get Into Fellowship.

And, when I say fellowship I mean church first, all other fellowship (small groups, coffee with spiritual friends, Bible studies, prayer meetings) second.

“Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of His coming back again is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25, TLB

The American Christian really has few good reasons for forsaking church fellowship, but endless excuses. The most common excuse is that it’s hard to find the right church. Well, I’ve been there. I know that’s true. However, going to church doesn’t have to be a marriage proposal. You can just go to a church you only want to casually date, or hang-out with as a friend. You know what I mean?  Lower your expectations and just have fun. So what if it isn’t “The Right Church”? As long as they’re preaching God’s Word, going to “The Wrong Church” can be great! Just go to church.

2. Study The Word.

Studying the Word of God is critical to our faith. I know this feels very challenging for many Christians, but if we will pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help us, He will. The Holy Spirit will give us understanding of God’s Word. And, you know what? Even what we don’t understand still profits us!”

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

Studying God’s Word will also lead to our knowing God more, and that will be like a mighty fortress for our faith.

3. Walk In Righteousness.

It seems obvious, but we humans tend to forget the obvious. Or, we get distracted. Whatever the case, if we are living in spiritual compromise, we are powerless to guard our faith. Secret sin and private idols separate us from God.

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2, NKJVIf we want to guard our faith, let us pray for the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin—and let us respond quickly, that we will remain in right-standing with God. 

God bless you today. It’s a brand new week to walk in faith, obedience, and surrender to our Lord and Savior. It’s a brand new week to try again, and give ourselves another chance. It’s a new start for us all.

Happy Monday! ❤

The Mystery of the Rapture

/ SaxophoneWife / Leave a comment

Do you believe in the Rapture?

If you do, it might surprise you to learn that many Christians do not. And, an increasing number of Believers who do believe in the Rapture do not believe in a Pre-Tribulation (or, pre-wrath) Rapture.

There is also a whole category of Christians who just can’t decide what they believe. They feel confused by the various teachings they’ve heard and articles they’ve read. So, they just don’t commit.

Let’s consider this: a Pre-Tribulation Rapture is the Blessed Hope of every born-again Christian, and a promise from God prophesied in His Word, being noncommittal seems inappropriate. God is very committed to our deliverance from His wrath.

But, people don’t longer believe in the wrath of God. I haps, they imagine irascible God blessed me and loving and kind. I think that believer must have forgotten how much God loves them.

Sync with me of the last story in the news that you heard the mother of God are defending their child.Would He give His own divine Son’s life just to see His born-again sons and daughters face His wrath on a world that is as wicked as the world we know today, where unspeakable crimes are committed against the most innocent and. Gand we should be, too. In fact, we should be looking up: our Redemption draweth nigh! (Luke 21:28)This is a message from Amir Tsafarti of Behold Israel. I have written a very rough outline for his message, with time stamps and scripture references. Hopefully, that is helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPxGs_wyGZA&t=917s

 

INTRODUCTION (0:00) 
Isaiah 46:9-10

10 Fast Facts about Faith

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment
  1. Faith is not reasonable. Hebrews 11
  2. Faith is a gift of God. Romans 12:3
  3. Faith should grow. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 | Romans 4:20
  4. Faith can die. James 2:17
  5. Faith is precious. 1 Peter 1:7
  6. Faith protects us. Ephesians 6:16
  7. Faith must be guarded. 2 Timothy 4:7
  8. Faith is defeated by Fear. Mark 4:35-41
  9. Faith and Doubt cannot co-exist. Matthew 21:21
  10. Faith brings God glory. Romans 4:20

Building A Case Against God

/ SaxophoneWife / 2 Comments

Every hero of the faith has had to make an ultimate choice to trust God with everything. They had to be willing to risk it all—their dreams, their fortune, their health, their reputation, their very life.

Consider the choices these heroes of the faith had to make:

  • Esther’s willing to enter the King’s chambers.
  • Daniel’s refusal to bow.
  • Abigail falling to her face before David.
  • Mary accepting the words of Gabriel.
  • Noah preparing the wood for an ark.
  • Elisabeth Elliot staying in the jungle with her toddler.
  • Ruth laying at Boaz’s feet.
  • Gladys Aylward riding that Siberian train alone.
  • Stella Cooper flying to Cuba without the money for a return ticket.
  • Moses returning to his adoptive home with a divine command.
  • George Mueller taking in that first orphan.
  • David Wilkerson standing up in that NYC courtroom.

I could go on and on! Thank God for the many examples we have to follow of men and women of God choosing to trust the Lord. They each had to decide if they were truly going to live for God, or for themselves. Because they chose to surrender to the Lord’s call, God’s will was done.

Now, most of us would never count ourselves in the same category as any of the men and women listed above, these giants of the faith. In fact, we may even look at them and be thankful that God would never require of us what He required of them.

Yet, history proves that thinking to be very wrong. The fact is that God absolutely calls us all to live a life of that kind of surrender and faith. It’s not like high school, where only college-bound students had to take a third science or extra-curricular activity. There are no “AP” Christians.

Of course, we all have a different call on our life. We aren’t all meant to serve in China. That point of decision for us may not be a matter of life and death—though it might feel like it. Whatever that thing that God is asking of us, that place of surrender He brought us to,  is hard enough. We know it is the course that God has set for us. We know deep down. We may not understand how it’s part of His plan, His perfect will, but we know. And, something keeps us from surrendering. We allow our flesh—our unbelief, fear, pride, something—to crowd out our faith and obedience.

When we resist the call to surrender, something horrible happens. We find ourselves in a place outside of God’s will. We find ourselves in a place of compromise. We are not eternally separated from God, but we have rejected Him. We have disobeyed. We try to convince ourselves that we can reach the same destination by following our own map, but that will not go well for us. How can it go well?

And, some of us are going to blame God, when things go poorly. We are going to accuse Him of not answering prayer, of not providing, of not hearing, of not healing, of not loving. These incidents will each then become a piece of evidence in our secret case against God. Each failure convinces us that we were right to not trust Him with “that other thing.”

I’m sorry to say it, but things will get worse. That place where we have failed to surrender is going to be a constant stumbling block for us. The longer we stay on this course, the sooner we will find ourselves falling into sin. We don’t want to fall into sin. We don’t want to fall away from God. Yet, what else could possibly happen? We’ve chosen to not follow Him, to not trust Him.  Our rebellion against His will is compromising our spiritual intimacy with Him. We just cannot obey God in part, you see? But, we will take offense at that biblical truth. In fact, we will find more and more in the Bible with which to take offense, pulling ourselves further and further away from the Lord.

We have not yet lost faith in Christ, but we will become Christians who proclaim Him with their words, but whose actions and reactions deny Him. They will tell the true story.

The days will pass on.

Each time something we imagine should happen doesn’t happen, each time the things we believe God should be doing aren’t done, we will have more evidence in our file—one more charge we raise against God.

As our heart inevitably grows colder, we will become more and more convinced that God cannot be trusted at all.

Our case against Him grows.

It doesn’t have to keep growing, though.

We can repent.

It’s easy to do.

After all, God wants us to be in right standing with Him. The Holy Spirit has not stopped reminding us of our need to surrender, no matter how much we try to ignore Him. Am I right? God helps us obey Him. He’ll even help us make-up lost time.

My mother used to say that there was no more miserable person in the world than the person who had rejected God’s will, ignored His call. It’s a call you can’t unhear, you see? You can only run from it, like Jonah.

Thankfully, God’s mercy is constant and follows us, just as it followed Jonah. He pursues us, reminding us of His call.

“Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have rejected me and cast me away. How shall I ever again see your holy Temple?’ I sank beneath the waves, and death was very near.

“The waters closed above me; the seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains that rise from the ocean floor.

“I was locked out of life and imprisoned in the land of death. But, O Lord my God, you have snatched me from the yawning jaws of death!

“When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the Lord. And my earnest prayer went to you in your holy Temple.” Jonah 2:4-7

Jonah knew all along that he was wrong, but it took a hellish experience to bring him to repentance. And, surrender. Reading his story, we see the proof that God does accept us in our worst place of rebellion. And, He DOES help us make up lost time. He does help us accomplish that which He called us to do.

If you can identify with this at all, if you have that secret file of accusations against God that pull out with each disappointment, I pray you will not wait a minute longer to repent and surrender. Sometimes, there are people who refuse. Their flesh is strong from so many years of feeding it and exercising it. They are not easily humbled. We can pray not to be that way. We can pray and ask God to spare us from having to learn the really hard way—like in the depths of the sea and the belly of a great fish. We can ask the Holy Spirit to humble us. We can ask Him to help us repent. To show us how we need to repent. And, we can ask Him to help us obey.

If we wait until we feel like it, until we’re “feeling it,” we’ll be sorry. Repentance and surrender are not acts of our feelings, but of our will. Don’t will yourself into a deeper, darker place. Throw out that case against God. Drop those false charges against Him. Admit your disobedience, and choose obedience now.

God bless you all.
❤️

Take Ten

/ SaxophoneWife / Leave a comment

“Friendly suggestions are as pleasant as perfume.”
Proverbs 27:9 (TLB)

I think it’s important for everyone to give themselves a break.

Literally, give yourself ten minutes to do nothing. No matter how busy your life is, how behind schedule you are, how much is left on your list—give yourself permission to take a break.

  • No media.
  • No reading.
  • No phone calls.
  • No text messages.
  • No thinking.
  • No talking.
  • No worries.
  • No excuses.
  • No guilt.

Just rest. Close your eyes. Quiet your mind. Take a power nap. Count your breaths. Put your feet up, or stand outside. No walking, though, because that’s too much like exercise.

If you want a cup of something or glass of another, have it ready before you go. No pouring or stirring allowed on this break.

Then, just stop your work, and walk away. (It will all be there, when you get back.) Don’t make a big to-do of it, just tell the world you’re on your ten.

2018-04-27 12.09.57

I’m a big fan of productivity and hard work, but sometimes we just need a break. We need a breather. And, we need not feel like we’re doing something naughty, because we shut our eyes for two minutes. Did you know that just a ten-minute nap can boost your energy and focus for hours? Yet, instead of giving ourselves permission to stop, we make ourselves keep pressing-on. I admire persistence and perseverance, but we need to allow ourselves to step away and tune out.

Hope you’ll consider this friendly advice. 🙂

 

Hey, Jude

/ SaxophoneWife / Leave a comment

We must not take our salvation in Christ for granted.

“I must write…urging you to stoutly defend the truth that God gave once for all to hHis people to keep without change through the years.”

Once we are saved, yes, we are never required to say the Prayer of Salvation (Romans 10:9), again. However, that doesn’t mean we have permission to compromise Christ’s righteousness through our sin.

“Some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God’s punishment.” 

However, once we have believed, our life is meant to be an ever-growing, living testimony of that confession.

“But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. Stay always within the boundaries where God’s love can reach and bless you.”

If your life today is not a living testimony of Christ, I hope you’ll stop and pray. Repent. Be restored to a place of right standing with Christ. It is possible, you know, to fall away from that great Salvation Christ won for you on the cross at Calvary. I don’t think you want that to happen.

Scriptural reference:
The Book of Jude (KJV)
The Book of Jude (TLB)

 

What Hea-Woo Did in Prison

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

This is the story of Hea-Woo.

Hea-Woo is from North Korea.

One day, she escaped across a river to China.

While she was in China, someone witnessed to her about Jesus Christ. Hea-Woo came to know Christ as Lord and Savior, and and began learning about her new faith.

It was not long, though, before she was captured by the secret police and returned to North Korea. There, she was sentenced to a prison camp.

At that prison camp, she made a few important decisions. She decided to:

  1. Tell her fellow prisoners about Jesus.
  2. Witness to her fellow prisoners by helping them (sharing her rice with the sick, helping others wash their clothes, etc.).
  3. Begin a secret church. They met in the prison bathroom.

Her church really captured my interest.

  • Her church met on Sundays and on Christmas.
  • Without access to a Bible, she could only from what she remembered learning in China. Whatever songs or Bible verses she remembered, she would teach her tiny congregation.
  • Their singing had to be as quiet as possible to avoid detection. It was almost imperceptible.

Hea-Woo ultimately was released from the prison camp, and later escaped to South Korea.

During her time in the North Korean prison camp, she lead five people to salvation. She says, “They were on the edge of death, and I could give them the message of hope.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd46BOaywLg

For My Brothers on Father’s Day

/ SaxophoneWife / 1 Comment

On Father’s Day, I always think about the fathers I know who are brokenhearted over how they have let their kids down; how they have failed to be a godly dad for them. Some don’t even get to see their kids, because they made one bad choice too many.

I feel really sorry for these men. It is very natural to focus on our failures, and it is right to be full of remorse. Yet, I am compelled to encourage these fathers.  So, this post is for them.

Brothers, at the end your life, you don’t have to be defined by your failures. You don’t have to be remembered by your children for how many times you fell down, but for how many times you got back up.

It may feel like it’s too late to change, or too late for change to matter. You may be convinced all hope is gone, but that’s just not true. That’s a lie from the one who hates you (and hates your kids), Satan himself. Brothers, with God, it is NEVER too late and no change is too small. Don’t give up on what God can do. Don’t quit on Him.

And, don’t quit on yourself, or your kids. Keep going! Keep going back to the Cross with a humble heart and contrite spirit. Keep asking God to perfect His Son in you, to make you the man and father He meant for you to be—and, that your children need you to be for them.

Listen, it doesn’t matter how old they are, or how old you are, either. It doesn’t matter how much time you’ve wasted, or how little time you’ve given them. Keep asking God to finish the good work He started in you, and keep praying for those children. Keep asking God for the impossible, whatever that means for you, and start believing that God is able to do the impossible.

And, brothers, one last word: depend on each other. Share your needs, and pray for each other. You don’t have to be alone in this.

God bless you, Dads. I’m praying for you today. ❤

James 516