Blessing God ~ Grass in the Field

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

We are so fully busy every day and every second. Ask anyone you come in contact “How are you doing?” and 9 out of 10 will say something like, “Busy” or “Swamped” or “Just waiting for my vacation” or “Looking forward to the weekend.” Is that you? Do you answer that same way? Take the next 7 days to start answering that question differently. Say, “I am so blessed!” or “How gorgeous is today?!” Take time to remind yourself of all the good that is in your life rather than dwelling on your trials.

“Grass in the Field”

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”

– Matthew 6:30-34 (ESV)
Photography by Jen O’Sullivan

Blessing God Series:
“Rain from the Lord”

Fruit Audit ~ What Do You Crave?

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

What do you crave?

Matthew 22:36-38 (ESV)

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.

Have you ever had the insatiable appetite for something? Chocolate cake, a hot-off-the-conveyor-belt Krispy-Kreme donuts, cold water after a five mile run, the book of Revelation, your bed after dancing all night with your girlfriends, wait, back up, Revelation? What??? Yes, Revelation. Think about it. Have you ever been obsessed with reading your Bible? Have you hungered after it like a newborn is desperate for milk? Here’s what Peter says about it, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” – 1 Peter 2:2-3 (ESV)

The pure spiritual milk he is talking about is the Word of God. On the same note, what drives your life? What do you have an appetite for? Where do you spend most of your time? What do you spend most of your time doing? As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.” When we diet the first thing we usually have to do is start tracking everything we eat. Have you ever done a diet log? Writing down each day what you eat, how much you eat, and how many calories you eat? You cannot know what to change until you know what your current habits are. You may do this with your finances too. Tracking where every penny goes. I challenge you to do two things.

First, take a look at your checkbook and figure out where most of your extra money goes. Set aside cost of living and then tally up where you spend your extra cash. Do you spend your money on movies with friends, concerts, clothing and shoes, expensive purses, cars (this one is big for the boys but it has gotten increasingly important to us girls too,) how about eating out, or your drinking habits both coffee and alcohol. You can make your own list, this is just a short one based on what most people frivolously spend money on that they claim just disappears

Second, take a look at your waking hours and figure out where you spend most of your extra hours. Set aside your work hours and then tally up everything else. Don’t include your commute time in your work time. That is still yours. Do you spend your extra time watching TV, or how about social media? That one seems to be one of the biggest time suckers even overtaking our TV time. Do you have a long commute where you listen to the news or radio or perhaps your commute is with a friend where you casually talk about nothing important. Right now I bet you are spending tons of time online researching all you can about wedding ideas and finding the right vendors.

Taking inventory on where your extra time and money goes will help you to see what is really important to you. I often hear pastors state that we need to “carve out time for God everyday.” Hmm. That is odd to me. Actually it is pathetic. If I told you I were going to eat just one large meal a week and then each morning I would have just one bite of cereal, but don’t worry because each day I would change up my bite. Tomorrow I might have a bite of banana, and the morning after that I will be sure to eat a bite of broccoli, then the next morning a bite of chicken to get my protein in. You would think I was nuts. You would also tell me if I was serious that I would most likely die from malnutrition. And yes, you would be right.

So what makes us think we are spiritually full by getting 15 minutes of bible reading in, 15 minutes of prayer time, and 1 hour of lesson time from your pastor each week. The timing that I just listed is, I’m guessing, even more than you actually commit to right now. It is what a stronger Christian might serve up to herself. You might be lucky if you even get to church this week let alone open your bible AND pray every single day of your life. Oh, but you pray all the time, in the car here and there, when you are brushing your teeth, and all sorts of other times throughout the day. Oh, I see… well then in your case you are just fine. Keep it up. How’s that working out for you?

So, is carving out 15 minutes or perhaps even 30 minutes a day with your creator fair when you are spending 4 hours watching TV, 2 hours in a mindless commute, 4 hours on Facebook, etc. etc. etc. You get the point. I’m going to challenge you again. After you have completed the first two challenges, I want you to insert time with God into at least half of the mindless time things you are doing. For instance:

If you watch 2 hours of TV a day spend one hour watching TV and one hour reading your Bible.
If you spend 2 hours a day commuting to and from work, try spending 30 minutes each way praying out load to God in the car or listening to the Bible. You can get quality recordings for free online.
If you spend 1 hour reading fiction or magazines, try 30 minutes in a Bible commentary learning something new about God.
If you workout at the gym for 1 hour a day, try going on a walk with God in prayer. It is fun to do a gratitude walk where you tank God for as many things as you can think of in beat to your walk pace. Or, at the gym listen to a recorded sermon on your phone. You can find a bunch of amazing sermons by searching for a topic you want to listen to at www.focalpointministries.org or checking out some sermon libraries online.

Blessing God ~ Rain from the Lord

Posted on August 29, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

We often ask God to bless us. How do we bless Him back? Through prayer and giving thanks, through reading his word, through our actions and how we relate to others, and through our talents. Here is my feeble attempt to use my God given talents to give glory back to him. Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

“Rain from the Lord”

“Ask rain from the Lord
in the season of the spring rain,
from the Lord who makes the storm clouds,
and he will give them showers of rain,
to everyone the vegetation in the field.”
– Zechariah 10:1

Pink Magnolia
Photography by Jen O’Sullivan

Tuesday Teaching & Training ~ Wisdom

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” – James 1:5 (ESV)

In other words, we need to ask God every day for wisdom to do his will. Ask KNOWING he will give it to you without judgement.

The word “Wisdom” or the Greek word “sophia” is a word that describes direction. Jews of that time understood it fully because before Christ they had to ask God for wisdom on a daily basis. Wisdom is the practical application of God’s will. It is NOT a deeper understanding of a deeper meaning as we think of the word to mean today. He also plays on the reader’s understanding of wisdom which also means to make one perfect and complete which was a phrase he used in the previous verse as well as its ability to enable us to endure testing.

“And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” – James 1:4 (ESV)

Wisdom is not deeper revealed truths. It is what I need on a daily basis to become “perfect and complete”. Wisdom is the power to do God’s will and not my own. Wisdom gives me the desire to do what’s right not for my own victory but to be obedient to God; to please him. (See A.W. Tozer’s Pursuit of Holiness).

I ask for wisdom today to show humility… to learn humility… humility with everyone I encounter. I ask for wisdom for grace and mercy to those I judge so quickly and so harshly. Teach me how to slide judging others off my back quickly and effortlessly until it sweeps past me without even a thought. I ask for wisdom to know a deeper patience those I love and an even deeper one for those I don’t. Give me wisdom to sow seeds of hope that I might know and fully enjoy optimism. I want to sow seeds of goodness!

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” – Galatians 6:7-10 (ESV)

Have a truly blessed day!

~ Jen

God is Holy. God is Just. God is Love.

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

God is Holy, God is Just, and God is Love.

God is the Almighty Creator of this universe. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1 He is also the one who made us. “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” – Genesis 2:7 With this in mind, we must admit that He is ultimately in charge of us. He created us to have a relationship with him and it was perfect.

He is Holy, meaning he is set apart from anything or anyone on this planet. Because he is holy he desired for us to be holy too. “Since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” – 1 Peter 1:16 In the Bible, Peter is referring to Leviticus, the 3rd book of the Old Testament. “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” – Leviticus 11:44

Unfortunately, because we have a choice in how we respond to God, sin entered the world because people wanted to use their freedom in a selfish way (Genesis 3). They decided to do things their way rather than obey and follow God. Their choice in favor of sin rather than obedience to God caused them to be separated from God. We are now born into that sin and no longer have a perfect holy relationship with God.

God is also Just. By this he must be the perfect judge. He cannot merely overlook this sin because it goes against everything that he is. He requires justice and he promises that he will punish sin. “For behold, the Lord will come in fire, and his chariots like the whirlwind, to render his anger in fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.” – Isaiah 66:15

It is pretty clear in the book of Second Thessalonians too, “in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” – 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9

The wages of sin is death and complete separation from God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23 I’ll say it again, we have no option other than complete separation from a holy God. “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” – Isaiah 59:2 Your payment for your sin will be required and that is what Hell is. By the grace of God, however, he has provided a solution.

God is Love. “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” – 1 John 4:8
He is the purest form of it. He came up with a perfect solution to the sin problem. A love so crushing that when you think about it, no human would do what he did. This loving good news is that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, God in living human form. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” – Colossians 1:15, to pay, in-full, the price of your sin by becoming the ultimate sacrifice. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 Have you ever read the verses beyond John 3:16? I encourage you to do so right now. Click the above link to John 3:16 and find out what it says.

Did you know that Jesus died in the most brutal way possible, death by the Roman cross? You may be immune to what it means to die by the Roman cross. Not only was it meant to be the most humiliating but it also was the most painful and drawn-out death possible. But, get this, he did not deserve it because he was innocent of what they accused him of. He lived a life we could never live. A perfect life. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

He died a death that we fully deserved. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” – 1 Peter 3:18 Yet he conquered that death by raising again from the dead to prove to the world that only through him could this debt be paid. “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,” – 1 Thessalonians 4:14

You still have a choice and it is up to God to move you and you to accept the free gift of grace he is so lovingly giving to you. “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” “ – Romans 10:9-13

Living a good life, being kind to others, doing good deeds, and giving to charity will not get you into Heaven, it is only by the grace of God. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9 The only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

You must turn from your sin and trust in Christ. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9 It also states in Acts, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,” – Acts 3:19

Give your life completely to God and have faith in Him. “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” – Philippians 3:9 Ask him to forgive you of your sins and ask God to take control of your life. “… you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” – 1 Thessalonians 1:9 Thank the Lord that he is Holy, Just, and is Love.

Maranatha! (Come, Lord Jesus!)

Monday Modern Parable ~ The Rock

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

A man is asked by God to push a huge rock. He tries to push the rock but it won’t budge. He leans in with all his might, but still it is too heavy. He sits back to take a swig of water but gets right back up and tries to move it. He digs his heals in while sweat breaks from his forehead and blisters start to form on his hands. He takes another break, but continues what seems like a futile attempt, yet he still tries. Finally God comes back to see how he is doing. The man tells God that he is sorry but he was unable to move the rock at all. As he lowers his head, God lifts him up and says “I did not ask you to move the rock, only that you would push it.” The man was blessed by God for his obedience even when it seemed it was futile.

How often do we think what we do is in vain. Certain prayers are asked over and over and nothing happens, yet the Lord commands us to pray. We obediently follow his Word and at times feel dismayed and want to give up. Don’t, just obey. The Lord will bless you even if it is just for your simple yet profound act of obedience.

Maranatha! (Our Lord Cometh!)

~ Jen

Holding God Hostage

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Jen O'Sullivan

I was brought up in the church, taught to love God, love Jesus, obey his commands, and to be involved in church. I knew the bible (or thought I did) inside and out however I was holding God hostage with my own belief system. I was picking and choosing what worked best for me at any given moment rather than trusting that his Word, ALL of his Word, was 100% right regardless of what I thought. Even so, I was forgiven. I was His. Once saved, always saved, right? Or was I? Read some of the posts on this site to get proof of your salvation as well as some water for your soul.

To see the above story in its entirety, go here.