“Oh my God” should be banned from everyone’s speech… PERIOD! But what about OMG? I very strongly think OMG should be banned from everyone’s speech as well. Ok, I get it. When you use that acronym you mean “Oh my gosh!” or “oh my goodness”. Or maybe you mean “off my game” or “over my grave”. You could mean anything.

I get it. But guess what? How do you feel about causing a sister in Christ to stumble? Yep, that’s me! The girl you are causing to stumble. Every time I see OMG all I can think of is Oh my God, and it literally is heartbreaking every time.

On my page I can choose words to ban, so if you use OMG in a phrase it gets blocked or deleted. Here’s why: as much as you may think it’s harmless, let’s take a look at where it was derived from.

We all know oh my gosh and goodness is a shifted form of oh my God so we think we aren’t using God’s name in vain. That’s the reality of it. And what are you really saying when you say oh my gosh or oh my goodness? What is your gosh? What is your goodness?

Did you know gosh is considered an oath and only God is good?

The Bible has some important things to say on these words.

Regarding Gosh:
We must let our yes be yes and no be no. We should not make oaths. Matthew 5:33-37
You may also think it to be derived from golly. But here is the thing: at some point in time, someone who was rightly offended by the use of using the Lord’s name in vain decided to shift it to a more PG version, so they added golly, then gosh. Or how about gee wiz, or even holy cow? Aren’t they harmless. These are all direct derivatives from taking God’s name and trashing it as nothing. It is a big lie from Satan. Gee wiz is the “good form” or Je-sus or Jeeze. Holy cow is derived from when Moses was on the mountain and the people made a cow out of gold to worship. ALL of it is Satan’s attempt at replacement theology and we need to pray really hard about how to proceed.

Regarding Goodness:
If you are saying oh MY goodness then this is a slight turn of the truth that Satan has etched right into your heart. “Oh My Goodness.” Every time you say that, you are going right back to the Fall. Adam and Eve’s original sin of wanting to BE God. Yikes! Only God is good, so by saying Oh MY Goodness, it is about YOUR goodness rather than God’s. Is that right?

Most importantly, God’s name is holy. To use his name without thought or as an empty phrase is a huge sin. Exodus 20:7

There are so many forms of God replacements, such as a simple OH MY or OH MY WORD. For me, words matter. Saying OH MY or OH MY WORD is also not good because it is putting trust in YOU rather than God. It goes back to Satan’s lies and deception, even if it is small. The smallest of fractures cause the largest of cracks. The biggest idol there is, is the idol of self… us wanting to be God. I choose to do a better job of stepping off the throne of my heart and allowing God to have it all. I am not perfect but to exclaim OH MY or OH MY WORD is putting it all back on me. It is not about me or my word, it is about God and God’s Word!

Ever since I got saved I can’t handle hearing anyone say the Lord’s name in vain. It’s worse than any curse word anyone could ever use. When I hear it, it’s like nails on a chalkboard. My soul hurts and my heart breaks.

No matter how the letters OMG are used in your own mind, please consider others and try to love them well by not using it. Consider loving God well by not using it. Consider spreading the truth about OMG and help others not use it. This is a bigger deal than you might think.

Our Father, in Heaven.
HOLLOWED BE YOUR NAME. (Hollowed means holy)
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:9-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Did you catch that? God’s name is holy. It must be holy.

God’s name is not holy here on earth. Jesus told us to pray that God’s kingdom would come and His will be done. But where? On earth like it is already in heaven. That cannot happen if His name is not holy. Yes it will happen. We know every knee will bow and tongue will confess.

My question to you though is, “Do you want to see God on judgement day and have have Him say to you that your words were careless when it came to His name?

I encourage you to simply say WOW. It means what it means and is three short letters like the bad one. Even simpler to type I might add.

Share with other believers the root of gosh and goodness.

Let’s get rid of that awful acronym that flies in the face of our holy holy holy God!!

Join the conversation at www.Facebook.com/groups/rootsfruits

When I got saved it was then that I understood how God’s law was written on my heart. It was an odd and obvious sensation for me.

I was an excellent liar. I could not lie anymore. It was an intense tug on my heart when I tried. I’m jealous for Him and cringe when I hear someone take God’s name in vain. My family knows that saying “Oh my G – -“ is worse than any curse word they could ever use, so it’s banned in this home, even for others who enter.

Here’s the thing… we are human. We make mistakes. We aren’t always eager to read the Word. But God smiles at us even when we do it all the while dragging our feet.

When my son does the right thing and cleans his room, or does the dishes, it makes me happy, even though I know his heart may not be in it. I know it’s building his character. God knows we are being sanctified when we do as He commands.

Do you find it hard to do the right thing sometimes? Do you consider your needs and comfort above others? I know I’m guilty all the time. How can we strive to take all the commands of God seriously and genuinely fall in love with His law?

“What if I don’t get the same conviction of sin when I’m supposed to do something but don’t?” RC Sproul defines these sins like this: “When we do what God forbids, we are guilty of a sin of commission; when we fail to do what God commands, we are guilty of a sin of omission. In both cases the law of God is violated.”

So when you sin by omission and get concerned about how you would even know if you sinned, that’s where sanctification comes in.

Here’s an example. I used to treat my parents with harsh disdain. I would correct my mom all the time and get into silly arguments with my dad. I felt I was right. Until a pastor taught me in a sermon that the verses on honoring your parents was written to ADULTS.  

As an adult I am to honor my parents. So I just started. I spoke more kindly to my mom and dad. I asked them their opinion. I honored them and respected them because God asked and commanded me to not because they deserved it or I wanted to. Now my relationship with both is so pleasant. God has blessed me because of my obedience.

If God piled on us all our sins of omission I believe it would be far more than we could bear. It would stop us from moving forward at all. He gives us what we can handle. Slowly over time we grow. This is the blessing of sanctification. Can you share an example of a sin of omission that God revealed to you recently or during your life?

The “You Do You” movement is really just steeped in lies about selfishness. In 1 John, he talks about a sin that leads to death. What could that sin possibly be? We get a glimpse of what he is talking about in the final verse of the entire book of 1 John in the last chapter and last verse.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

As you read the full text (see below), this verse seems a bit out of place. In reality, that last verse is the sum of all the parts of the book of 1 John.

Take a look at what A. W. Tozer says in Knowledge of the Holy.

“That God exists for Himself and man for the glory of God is the emphatic teaching of the Bible. The high honor of God is first in heaven as it must yet be in earth. From all this we may begin to understand why the Holy Scriptures have so much to say about the vital place of faith and why they brand unbelief as a deadly sin. Among all created beings, not one dare trust in itself. God alone trusts in Himself; all other beings must trust in Him. Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust not in the living God but in dying men. The unbeliever denies the self-sufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of the man.”

You might be removed to say, “This isn’t talking about me because I’m a believer. I believe in Jesus!” So why did the father in Mark 9 say “I believe; help my unbelief!”?

Unbelief is rooted in idolatry. Not just any idolatry of external things and trappings, but idolatry of the worst kind: the leaning on and counting on yourself.

The usurping of God’s place and giving it unrightfully to yourself is paramount to grand theft and punishable to the full extent of the Law. Yikes!!

How do I usurp God exactly? Well, it’s simple really, and Satan made sure it would be simple. I lean on my own understanding. I try to control everything. I try to please people rather than God. As my friend Susan says “I play Holy Ghost Junior”.

Can I do it all, have it all, be it all? We women are great at that. Fitting it all in, becoming so busy and great at all we do, because after all, God calls us to be excellent in whatever we do. In the end am I just relying on my own strength? So I must remember John’s reprimand: Little children, keep yourselves from yourselves!

1 John 5:16-21
If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. ~ 1 John 5:16-21 (ESV)

Addictions can leave you trapped in a rootball of anger. What comes to mind when you think of the word “addiction”? The obvious are smoking, drugs, and alcohol, but what about food, or relationships, or even our identity? Addictions can be to anything, but the real question is what happens to you when someone takes away your addiction?

In food we can be addicted to casseine in dairy, gluten in wheat, caffeine in drinks, processed sugar in everything, etc. The food addiction list can be long and try taking it away and you’ll see a physical reaction that will make you fiercely angry!

Addictions can also be seen in our relationships as codependency and even our identity based on someone or something else. Consider how women can be addicted to being a mom, or a wife, or a career woman, or someone who is a helper, or (fill in the blank). If that identity is threatened, look out!!

More insidious areas are in the addiction for control, entitlement, and people pleasing. They aren’t so blatant, but they pack a much greater punch when it comes to the anger trigger.

Addictions are everywhere and the real word for them is an idol. When an addiction (an idol) is threatened, we lash out in anger. The anger is often swift and can feel like it came out of nowhere. The next time you lash out in anger, ask yourself which of your idols has been stepped on and then figure out how you can break the addiction to that idol. Practice lengthening the time between the trigger and the response and ask if the response is worth the long term damage you may cause. Be blessed today!

Frustrated, impatient, annoyed, prideful, arrogant, irritated, exasperated, mad, haughty, anxious, stressed, intolerant… these are all descendants of anger. If you’ve felt any of these, and we all have, almost daily I’d suppose, then you are dealing with anger. And yes, anger is a sin.

Many women I know struggle with anger. I’ve heard them try to excuse their outbursts by staying, “I have a chemical imbalance.”

I struggled with anger for my whole life. There isn’t a home I’ve lived in that didn’t get a hole in one of the walls from one of my outbursts. But get this… I was doing it to myself, albeit unintentionally. I found out later in life that the cause of my chemical imbalance, that caused such major bouts of rage, was my simple consumption of gluten. I now stay away from it like the plague. Knowing that it causes this chemical imbalance and then intentionally eating it is now the sin because I am culpable in the knowledge of what it does to me.

Food is a real issue that many women are unwilling to address. Their emotional distress of depression, anger, and even emotional martyrdom, are all areas that the devil has a hook in. Find out what you are eating that may be satan’s hook. Here are a few common ones:

Coffee (caffeine)
Processed Sugar
Gluten (wheat)
Dairy (milk products)
Grains of any kind (some people cannot eat any grains at all)

If you don’t have actual mental illness or head trauma (from injury or ptsd), and want to get a handle on the area of anger in your life, then dig in and do the hard work. Find out what you are poisoning your system with.

I can tell you it is the best thing you will do this season! Don’t allow Satan to hook you any longer. There is freedom in Christ and sadly many of us still believe the lies Satan has whispered to us that there is no hope. Believe there is hope and that your sin of anger is healable, but God may be waiting for you to realize your part in your over indulgence. Blessings sisters!

Note on mental illness: I know many of you have family or yourself who struggle with mental illness. I’m not a doctor, but there are countless stories and studies on how good effects mental illness even in elderly patience. My personal friends who struggle with mental illness and depression all day that when they eat really clean they are symptom free. I only want to encourage you to find the source of the hook and eliminated it. “If your eye causes you to sin, cut it out.” So in the same way, if a food item is causing you to sin, cut it out!

I love watching period shows with kings, queens, and warriors. I am significant because I am the daughter of the King. I have been acting like the bratty, entitled, know-it-all princess when my calling is humility, kindness, and love toward the King’s subjects.

What idol have you been shown and are working on? What challenges has it presented? 

My pastor once said, “every need is not a calling”. This is so true and as women we can feel like we are the only ones able to get this or that done.

I stretched myself way too thin yesterday, because out of 5 kid’s parents, I was the only one able to drive them to and from the beach. It’s 30 minutes away so that’s 2 hours of driving to drop them off and then come back later to pick them up.

Even though I said yes, I knew I really didn’t have the time. So my rushing around to fill this need for my son caused me to blow up at him later because he wasn’t where he said they would be when I picked them up.

A simple miscommunication mistake on his part became a huge outburst on my part. I was harboring resentment of wasting my time and why no other parent could help out.

I should have been thinking what a blessing it is that we have a 7 passenger car and how I was blessing the kids to be able to go to the beach together since everyone is doing virtual school. My own selfish sinfulness got in the way.

I drowned myself in self-pity, self-sufficiency, and self-righteousness, rather than relying on God to work things out. My perspective was off and so was my heart.

Yet today as I understand my sin better, I am able to ask for forgiveness of both God and my son. I need to get better at recognizing my own limits, but also how my actions, even when unnoticed can bless others or curse them.

I am forgiven when I deserve death. I am a child of God, loved and cherished, when I deserve hell. This profound truth humbles me and lifts me up at the same time. Thank you Jesus, for teaching me, reproving me, correcting me, and training me in Your righteousness so that I may be competent and able in Your eyes!

I love watching period shows with kings, queens, and warriors. I am significant because I am the daughter of the King. I have been acting like the bratty, entitled, know-it-all princess when my calling is humility, kindness, and love toward the King’s subjects.

What idol have you been shown and are working on? What challenges has it presented?

I have been painfully working through some idols in my life over the past month – things I never knew were there. I have seen an idol of control be ripped from me and now I am doing painful heart work in that area. I’ve recently been shown an idol of significance. It’s my desire to be seen as significant and feel significant. It’s a form of people pleasing that has insidiously dug its claws into the fabric of my heart. My issue is how to remove it without completely going MIA online and neglecting my service projects? Changing my mind and removing this idol will take greater work and will be a longer process I’m sure.

I love watching period shows with kings, queens, and warriors. I am significant because I am the daughter of the King. I have been acting like the bratty, entitled, know-it-all princess when my calling is humility, kindness, and love toward the King’s subjects.

What idol have you been shown and are working on? What challenges has it presented? 

If you do not have the book yet, you may buy the set (Book, Study Guide, and Prayer Journal on Amazon or the individual book at HERE.

Attend the live Week 8 session at 2pm pacific (5pm eastern) on Sunday April 5, 2020 at HERE or catch the replay that will be loaded to this site after.

WEEK EIGHT

……………………………………………………………………………….

Instructions: Read through the Final Thoughts and answer the following questions. Be prepared to discuss the questions in your week eight group meeting.

FINAL THOUGHTS

1. Go back through your notes and share what parts of this book helped you to undomesticate God?

2. What parts of this book did you disagree with and why?

3. Do you feel like you have been teachable through this book, or were you constantly frustrated? Why?

4. After your church service, do the people around you focus on discussing pleasantries or the sermon? If the latter, are you willing to make a commitment to take notes during the sermon, then intentionally ask your friends afterward what they thought, then share your thoughts?

5. The author mentioned two types of readers who would make it to the end of this book. Do you identify with one? If so, which one and why? Is there a third option that she missed that you feel better describes you? Explain.

6. After reading this book, and going through the study guide with others, share how this process has impacted your life. What changes do you wish to make, and how will this help you guide others in their walk to help them get one step closer to Jesus?

Individual and Group prayer for the week:

Pray for a teachable spirit moving forward in your walk with Jesus. Pray that God would use you to help spread His message to those in your sphere of influence. Pray for boldness and that the Holy Spirit would give you courage and the words to speak. Ask the Holy Spirit to continue to convict you and that you would see evidence of your sanctification. Pray that your heart stays repentant and that your desire to do God’s will increases. Ask God to protect your church and your family from evil. Pray that God would strengthen you so that you are ready in the strength of Christ for the schemes of the devil at all times. Pray for revival in the church and that God’s message would increase and grow as we desire His kingdom to come!

Verse to memorize this week:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24 ESV)

Passage to meditate on this week:

2 Timothy 3:1-17 ESV

1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. 12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.