Don't Listen to Yourself; Talk to Yourself

I can tell already that this is going to be one long post so you might as well prepare yourself now! ;) I learned something recently that has been extremely helpful to me. Its actually a pretty basic thing, but after talking with some of my siblings and even some of you all about it, I have come to the conclusion that its something that the majority of us could use some work on. And that is in the area of discipline. At Bible Study two weeks ago we all were discussing different areas that we wanted to see growth in, in our spiritual lives, and it was pointed out, that without realizing it, what we all really needed to work on was having some self discipline. So at our next Bible Study, this past Friday, that is what we discussed in-depth. It was so helpful to me and since then I have been able to make some changes in my life for the better. Some of my struggles recently have been with getting up early in the morning for my devotions, knowing what I need to change but not changing it, and knowing I shouldn't do a certain things but going ahead and doing them anyways. I was getting very frustrated because I kept asking God to change me and help me to get the victory in these areas, but then the next moment I'd fail at them...AGAIN! I am basically just going to share with you, my notes, from the challenge we had at Bible Study. Hopefully it will help you as much as it helped me, because I know that if it does, you'll learn a lot! ;) And if this doesn't help you at all, well, this is simply for my benefit then! It helps me to have to think back on what I learned in order to write it out. The first thing I realized was that, yes, I need to be trusting in God for the strength to face my trials, but I also need to be doing my part to prepare myself for the battles. Galatians 5:24 "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." We need to say NO to self. Our nature is to sin and so most of the times we sin without even realizing we are doing it! However we are commanded to change that nature and yeah...that takes a TON of work. It takes a ton of discipline. The purposes for being disciplined are 1. To be Godly- In todays world we are used to a "we want something and we want it NOW" attitude. Yet godliness cannot be attained in that way. You may want it and you may want it now, but it is a daily work that takes time. 2. It is a painless discipline- ok, when she first said that I was thinking "What?! Are you kidding!? Getting up early is not exactly painless!" ;) But then she continued by saying "The alternative for discipline is disaster. If you can't say no to the little things you wont be able to say no to the big things." (To him that KNOWETH to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin) ... Talk to yourself, don't listen to yourself. The Process for Discipline is habit. God has given us the ability to have habits. The problem is that we can have both good and bad habits. Still, all sin is a choice and we need to be taking the time to train ourselves into good habits. On Friday, we all tried to write our names in our left hand instead of with the right. Trust me, I tried very hard to draw it neat and I took an eternity just to write out my first name, but it still looked pitiful next to the way I had written my name with my right hand. However, if my right hand were injured, I would learn how to write with my left hand and it would eventually be just as neat as my right. In the same way, I need to be practicing discipline in my life until it becomes very easy for me to deny my self something. Thankfully we have a pattern to follow. Christ set the pattern for us. In Luke 6:12 it says he stayed up all night praying. He denied his flesh and sought the Fathers will. (Something else was pointed out to me that I thought was really interesting...Jesus knew more than His parents and yet he submitted to them. When Joseph was showing Jesus how to do things in the carpenter shop Jesus could have been like "Thats neat, but you see all those trees out there? I made those!" And yet, Jesus chose to be subject under his parents. Anyways... that was just a little side note. Back to my "being disciplined" notes.) Ok, so we know we're supposed to be disciplined but how can we do that? Well first off 1. It takes Effort- The job of a coach is to make his players do what they don't want to do, in order to make them be what they always wanted to be! 2. Prepare Yourself Physically- give yourself challenges and be strict with yourself about keeping them. Such as running every day or drinking 8 c. of water a day. Remember that God lives in you. 3. Prepare Yourself Mentally- We are supposed to be "renewing" (to make like new; restore) our mind. In order to do that we need to be memorizing lots of scripture for the specific things that we are struggling with. 4. Prepare Yourself Spiritually- Read your Bible, Do a Study on Prayer, Ask God for help. Don't talk to others about problems until you've already talked to God about those problems for the same amount of time. 5. And finally...be Obedient. It may not be easy, but its always right. Don't do what you want to do, do what He wants you to do. The pain is what brings about the desired goal. Also remember that God is FOR you! "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world"

Ok...those are the majority of my notes. You can pray that God would continue to help me to be pliable and willing to be disciplined. It may seem like a simple thing, but it is something that was terribly lacking in my life and I have started working on it. I have even had to write myself a note that says "Be Disciplined" and put it on my alarm clock! ;) But its been working! God has helped me see what I need to change and by His strength He is molding me. (It may take Him awhile, because I keep getting in the way, but little by little He IS changing me.) He deserves not only to be first in my life but also first in my day.

I will end this "epistle" with a verse that has become a recent favorite in a matter of days... ;) Hebrews 12:11 "Now no chastening (or you could say discipline here!) for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."

Trying to pray for you all,
Chrystal

"Develop the winning edge. Small differences in your performance can lead to large differences in your results."

"God treated Christ like a sinner, so that He could treat sinners like Christ" (Rand Hummel)

Who's an adult?!?!?! ;)

Happy 18th Birthday Chris Read! Thanks for your encouragement, positive attitude and leadership in the youth group. Its been neat to see God work in your life the past year. Keep getting to know your God better in the coming one!

Standin' for Jesus

Peter implied three times that he loved the Lord, and then he repeatedly denied Him three times. I think that we all are guilty of betraying our Master like this. We would probably all agree that we would take a stand for our friends if we overheard somebody down talking them. But we also like to claim that Jesus is our best and closest friend, so why don't we ever take a stand for him? It's ridiculous that we can hear some one taking God's name in vain and not even say anything to them about it! At least Peter felt bad after he didn't take a stand for our Lord! We don't even bother to think about our sinful mistakes, just like it's something normal! It isn't normal, and it isn't right that we would just do something like that! How can we just sit back and not even let our conscience bother us about this?! But just like so many other times, we let pride overcome us, and we fall into sin. I find this being too much of a problem even in our Christian homes today. Never let a word like this just pass you by without even a thought or two of who they are talking about. Be willing to stand for our Maker.
Mark D.

Pride is the root of all ungodliness; Humility is the root of all godliness ~ Mark Dierking

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”

good stuff =]

ok, so i haven't exactly been on a mountaintop lately, but God has been showing me some important lessons. When he seems far away, He may be testing to see how your faith will hold out. but, don't ever stop!

something good i read last night -


“Did not our heart burn within us …?” (Luke 24:32).

We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn to maintain the secret of the burning heart—a heart that can go through anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people, that smothers the burning heart—unless we have learned the secret of abiding in Jesus.

This is so true! So often I get these visions of how i can serve Christ, and I have that burning desire to do his will, but when I get back to everyday life i forget, and ignore those things. We must learn to abide in Jesus at all times! That will take quite a bit of work, i pray we don't ever lose that desire!

another thing i read =] -

“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).

When you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur Providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, “This person should not have to experience this difficulty.” Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, “You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him.”

So often I look at somebody who is struggling and say "why would God allow that?" and we pray that he will take the pain away, but we must realize that God knows what is happening, and he not only knows what is happening, but what WILL happen in the future, he has it all under control. God uses tough situations so that people can do nothing but run to him!

Anyways, i just thought I'd share what i had been learning, I hope that was helpful to you as well!
praying for you!
Rachel

"If your faith isn't worth dying for, it isn't worth living for. Stand for something, or fall for anything."

We live and die; Christ died and lived! ~John Stott

Somebody just turned Sweet Sixteen! ;)

Happy 16th Birthday Rachel Dierking! Thanks for your smile, involvement in the youth group and many flute specials. Continue to be used of God and consider it a privelage to be able serve Him.

Jordan's 14th!!!!

Happy 14th birthday Jordan! We are praying for you, and are excited to see the way the Lord uses you in this coming year!

He will direct; we must walk.

I've been reading 'Strengthen My Spirit' in the mornings before work. It's a daily devotional that has selections from sermons by Charles Spurgeon. I wanted to share one of them with you all. They all have been good, but this one applies pretty well to my life as of late. The verse that goes with it is:
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. -Psalm 37:23

"He who walks does not need to think of directing his own steps, for there is One who will direct them for him. What if sin persuades us to take the wrong path and if poor judgement makes us err through oversight? There is no need for us to choose our own fate, but we may bow before the Lord and say, "You shall choose our inheritance for us." The choice is difficult for you: do not choose your own way, but leave it to Him who sees the end from the beginning and who is sure to make the wise choice. The burden of life is heavy -- do not try to carry it, but "cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you. Commit your way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." Do not let it be your choice, let it be God's choice.
If only we could but once abandon our own choosing and say to the Lord, "Not as I will, but as You will." how much more happy we could be! We should not be troubled by the thought that we should not direct our own steps, but we should be glad because our very weakness entitles us to cry to the Lord, "Now that I will not direct my own way, what I do not know; teach me." "

It was a good reminder to me that I can quit trying to hold everything together and figure it all out right away by myself. It's not my life anyway, it's the Lord's! "Now that I've given you my heart, soul, life, and will, lead me in Your timing, and Your way!"

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going!

Easter Thoughts

This past week had been a very discouraging one for me. My devotional life had been lacking and I felt like I was being defeated in every area of my life. God really used both of the messages, and a really good talk with a friend, at church yesterday to encourage me. They were exactly what I needed to hear. In the sunday morning service Dr. Palmeri was telling us about the people in Jerusalem singing and praising God simply because all the crowd was doing it. They were caught up in the emotion of it. Yet when the tough times came,(the times to stand up for Christ) those very ones who had been praising Christ, were the ones who were shouting "Crucify Him!" Those people had never had a fervent love for their King and they wilted and gave up when the hardships came. God used that message to really work in my heart and convict me about not giving up. I don't want to be one of those people who talks the talk but doesn't actually walk the walk. I don't want to wilt when I am being attacked or when the hard times come. And I was reminded this morning, through several things in my devotions, that with God'ds help...I don't have to! First off Rand Hummel said something that I thought was really interesting. "The same wind that can blow out a weak flame, can fan a strong fire." By God's strength, we can either let God's trials defeat us or draw us closer to Him. And then secondly Rand pointed out Matthew 7:24-25 "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." VERY encouraging verses! Then in the evening service, on Sunday, Phil Owens was talking about the servants who gave themselves over to their masters to be servants for the rest of their lives! (I still don't get why they would want to do that! ;) And they did it willingly! He was comparing this to Christ having given His life over for us. And He did it willingly. He did it out of love for us. And then when Phil Owens was describing the Calvary scene I felt really overwhelmed by the love of God. What I really realized (for the first time ever I think) was that God totally forsook His Son on the cross. I know how awful, lonely and miserable it feels when I get out of my relationship with God, because of my own sin, but I also always know that whenever I am ready to turn back to God, He is always there, with open arms, to welcome me back. God forsook His own Son, because of our sin, and there was nothing Christ could do to gain that relationship back until He had conquered death. Wow! Talk about pain and misery! We serve a loving and merciful God and this week especially I want to spend a lot of time thanking Him for His death, burial AND ressurection! God is so faithful and hasn't ever once forsaken me.

Well, I gotta run finish packing before heading off to South Carolina. Please be in prayer this week for Renee's surgery and for me to really be an encouragement to her and Jon. THANKS!

In Awe of Him,
Chrystal

Isn't it strange?

Isn't it strange
how a dollar bill seems like such a large amount
when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn't it strange
how 2 hours seem so long when you're at church, and so short when you're watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange
that you can't find a word to say when you're praying but.. you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn't it strange
how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?

Isn't it strange
how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games but they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn't it strange
how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust it for other events in the last
minute?

Isn't it strange
how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others; but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange
how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say but...we question the words in the Bible?

Isn't it strange
how everyone wants a place in heaven but... they don't want to believe, do, or say anything to get there?

A really good message.

If any of you get a chance, listen to Focus on the Family tonight at 8:30 on 94.5 fm. It's well worth the time!

If a commission by an earthly king can be considered an honor, how can a commission by our heavenly King be considered a sacrifice? - David Livingstone-

Consider the work of GOD, For who is able to straighten what HE has bent?
-Eccl 7:13



Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I
For though hast been a refuge for me
A tower of strength against the enemy
-Ps 61:2-3




When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers...What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
-Psalms 8:3-4

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.” Phil. 1:3

I often think of gratefulness as an attitude I'm supposed to have towards God, and it clearly is, but the Bible also tells us to be thankful for other people. Take a quick look through Paul's letters and see how many times he mentions being thankful for other people. You don't have to look far, he usually mentions it within the first five verses. Paul was thankful for other people . . . all of them, even when they were making life difficult for him. Sometimes he had to rebuke them, but even in the midst of rebuke, he was truly grateful for them. I don't know about you, but that's not very easy for me, consistently being thankful for other people. It's much easier to spend my thankfulness on me.

When you hear someone else's name, what pops into your head? To be honest, if I hear the name of a close friend and pull out my mental file on them, the first page might be something complimentary. If they are not a close friend, I usually think about what I wish they would do better and how much better I am. And if they are not a friend at all, the first page of their file usually reads about like a criminal arraignmnent. (Okay, it's not always that bad! I'm not completely rotten. . . at least not quite;) The point is that it's easier to focus on the ways people don't measure up than the the ways they have helped me. And believe me, other people have helped me, even when they weren't trying to, simply because God works all things together for good. I'm not talking about flattery (it is more despicable to lie about nasty thoughts than to ignore them) I'm talking about what I think to myself about them when they are out of sight and earshot.

That's what God has been showing me this past week. Yes, be thankful to God and all He's done, but don't forget to be thankful for the people around you, even if they haven't gone out of their way to be nice to you. Without adversity we are weak, and without fellowship we are cold. (Iron sharpens iron, and a three-fold courd is not quickly broken.) Next time someone comes to mind, see if you can think of at least one reason why they are good for you. It's not as easy as it sounds. Being thankful is much more than just looking for the best in other people, it is acknowledging that God can and does use all types of people to mold us into His image.

Mike.