Heavenly Minded?

I remember a conversation I had read awhile back when someone referred to me, in a generic way as being so "heavenly minded, but no earthly good." At first, the comment really made me pretty upset, but the more I thought about it, I realized that it was probably one of the best compliments I could have ever asked for in a back handed way.

I know the person who wrote it was basically saying that I was too judgmental on my stance as a Christian and again, it should be something I could see as a good thing. It means my faith in what I believe is pretty cut and dry and I'm sorry if that offends people but I have found in today's ever changing culture, that too many people want us to sugar coat things or water them down as to not offend anyone. 

The Bible is pretty clear however when it comes to the truth and that, my friends, is where I get my definition of what is right and wrong. If God considers it wrong, guess what so do I.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going around with my Bible, thumping people on the head, but I try and convince people of my faith solely based on my actions. There are some that don't want to be told what is what, and most of the time, I don't say anything. I simply chose to say nothing.

But there does come a time, when I simply can't sit idly by and let people go around thinking that my silence on the matter is acceptance. That is when I have to clarify things even if it means I make a few people a bit upset with me. Again not my intention, but if you don't like what God has to say, I'd advise you to take it up with Him when you see Him. You will see Him someday. We all will.

So back to the compliment I received, the part about being too heavenly minded to do any earthly good. Well let's see what the Bible has to say about that in context.

If you go to the Bible and find Colossians 3: 1-2, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." (NIV). 

I think the Bible is pretty clear on that as believers in Jesus Christ, we are not to be concerned with the earthly things, material possessions. What it means in a nutshell, is I am not here to seek pleasure or happiness but only by seeking God. 

We need to keep eternity in focus at all times. What happens in heaven should affect me on earth!

So what is our purpose as believers during the time we remain on earth? We are here to bring glory to God, to worship Him and to seek Him daily. 

We want to make sure that we don't pursue such sins that will keep up bound to the earth, any sexual sin that goes against God's definition of marriage, which is one man/one woman only. Even if this goes against what is becoming increasingly politically correct in the world today. 

The sin of idolatry and coveting, the need for more basically. Someone who wants more is never satisfied with what they have. Getting something that someone else has is always on their minds. It's all about the hunt. Reference Hebrew 13:5 ~ "
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
    never will I forsake you.”

Be content, not in what you have, but in who you know. More of God. 

Thirdly the sin of anger, meanness, slandering others. Anger with the thought of revenge, "I don't get mad, I get even!" mentality. An unsettled anger, speaking ill of others. So what can you say? How about referencing the acronym T.H.I.N.K. Means T = is it truthful? H = is it helpful? I = Is it inspiring? N = Is it necessary? K = Is it kind? 

If not, don't say it or share it. 

Before we know it we'll be standing before God. Heaven is not the default destination of every person, but only for those who have the ticket to get there, and that is ONLY by putting your faith in Jesus Christ only!!! Bought and paid for by what Jesus did, lived, died and rose again. 

Would love to hear your thoughts so please feel free to share them below and if you would love prayer, please email me at Stevenkat27@gmail.com. It would be an honor. 

Waiting in Anger

This has truly been a tough two days. You know how it goes, just when you think you got life down part, something happens to completely upset your way of doing things and that once routine way of getting through the day is one big mess!

Well that's been the turmoil in my days after a particularily spiritually dry time. I am sure you've all experienced those too. Those days when reading the Bible and even praying just seems like you're going through the motions but your heart just isn't in it, but you do it anyway because you know you should.

On Monday night, after a long eight hours of work, my hubby was called in to work that night adding to his growing work hours to do an emergency call. The trouble was, he was knee deep in a project already and had to put that aside to leave and head into LA but not before stopping quite a few times to pick up supplies. We could both see it was going to be a long night already.

Not only that, he was going to work with my brother who can be a rough challenge to deal with on his good days. Those two would be working together and it wasn't something either of us was looking to. Let's put it this way, he has a bit of an Eeyore personality that can suck all your emotions completely dry. When he is in a bad mood, everyone knows it. He's just not pleasant to be around. But he is trying to change according to him. It's this negativity that most people try to flee from and it's impacting his job. So he is attempting to change.

Unfortunately that night I got to talk to him and had to deal with Mr. Change. He is a very controlling personality and likes to control the conversation. He will tell you whether or not you have deviated from the topic in hopes of corralling you right back, unfortunately I don't like to be told how to have a conversation, so with him I completely and utterly lost it. I think all those dry days of just taking it all in and dealing with it internally, came pouring out. We literally verbally fought it out for an hour.

My poor hubby didn't even know that anything had transpired by the time he arrived to meet him for work, and during the duration of the time the two worked together nothing came out. However I tried in vain to bury all that emotion inside, knowing that Steve's birthday was the next day. I tried to call him and just have a different perspective on the emotions that were truly at this point running my day and making me physically sick. Only Steve didn't call back.

When his evening finally ended and he did call, I wasn't ready to talk to him and just explained I would talk when he got home. During that time, I asked God how to deal with this situation. I never really got an answer but tried to keep my emotions in check and when Steve arrived home, I told him everything that had happened. Needless to say, he was pretty upset because he knows how cruel my brother can be. He was angry because he didn't even know any of this had transpired.

That's when emotion struck and I let him have it too. I explained that having to work in the communications field made him a poor communicator because he can't even talk to his wife on the phone. Let's just say that this conversation was not going well. For two hours we fought it out.

Can you see where all this is going? I've learned a valuable lesson that I have to let the fire of anger burn out before talking about it. I am trying to learn how to not let my emotions run away with things and put it on the back burner but for me, my emotions are a way of who I am. They influence me in more ways than I care to count.

The birthday yesterday went ok, and we had to stay at home, due to the nature of his work, could require him to be called to work at any time. It took me most of the day to let all the anger to leave so we could actually enjoy Steve's birthday. We all took him to dinner last night and it was a better evening.

I just wanted to share with all of you, my ability to fall short and not be the perfect Christian. I don't know if anything else would have worked out differently. I am still in the process of defining boundaries with people that try to take too much of my time and really work on rebuilding our relationship that took a terrible beating last year. It's a work in progress but if you could pray for us, for wisdom and protection from the enemy, I'd appreciate it. For now, I am drawing closer to God and seeking His help!

Did You Pack Your Angry Eyes?

I remember the movie Toy Story when Mrs. Potato Head is packing Mr. Potato Head up when he was leaving on a search for Woody and Buzz. She specifically wanted to make sure that she packed his "angry eyes" just to make sure he could express that emotion if he found himself getting angry.

Since most of you already know that I recently finished a book entitled, Fresh Start by Doug Fields about dealing with excess baggage we all have a tendency to carry with us throughout our whole lives.

Its not like any of us really want to either, it's just that we don't know how to deal with getting rid of it. I wish it were like baggage because I know despite airport security measures, we would leave that piece of luggage all by itself and never look back.

It is amazing to see just how far some of us have been carrying it too. I don't know about you but when I am planning a trip if I know I have to carry it, then I am packing really light. Less harder on your body especially if your luggage doesn't come with wheels.

Here is how to leave some of that angry baggage behind once and for all and how to learn to deal with it when you notice it's lingering again.

Ephesians 4:26-27 "Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger and give no opportunity to the devil."

Psalm 4:4 "Be angry, but sin not."

Did you catch those first two words from God?

Yes, it says be angry. God gave us anger for a reason but we are commanded not to sin while dealing with it. So when a situation has got us angry we have two choices to make; choose pain or peace.

Which would you rather have pain or peace? Most of us would willingly pass on the pain and go for the peace but since we don't know how to have peace when we are good and steaming mad, we opt for the pain.

Since we are all familiar with the pain, lets look at the peace part.

1. Don't deny it. Somethings wrong and it's okay to say that. Realize what is going on and that you are in the midst of anger.

2. Delay your anger. Put it on hold and say, "I could be wrong here, so let me think this through." You won't be able to deal with what is really going on while this controlling emotion is running your thoughts and actions. So this is a great time to step away from the situation to let that kettle of boiling water, cool off.

3. Define it, then give it to God. Anger is actually a secondary emotion, usually you feel some sort of hurt with it as well. It could be frustrations, disappointment, annoyance, betrayal, loneliness or even fear. You have to see beneath the anger, like pulling back the covers of a lumpy bed to see what is hiding beneath. If you don't, your just dealing with the emotion not is what is causing the pain.

Reflect before you respond. If you don't you will either live in denial, or discount your anger or blame others, or fall into the trap of being a victim.

4. Defuse the Situation ` Diffuse your Anger. Defuse means to remove the fuse from, like removing the fuse from a bomb. Diffuse is to pour out like a liquid, mixing in different actions that will produce peace.

A. Ignore a negative comment. Just walk away. This instantly makes the situation less harmful. You're not there!

B. Don't reply to a person's irritating email. All the words you probably think of are along the lines of jerk, burn in hell, idiot, stupid, nutball, fool, and toilet plunger. Choose, instead, godly silence - and hit Delete.

C. Back away, and don't pursue a fight, even though you know you're right.

D. Let that psycho driver go on down the freeway after he just cut you off. Face it: there will always be nutty drivers in the world. You don't need to teach every one a lesson.

E. Take a deep breath and say nothing when a harsh reaction begs to spill from your lips.

F. Go to the gym and work out your anger on the treadmill - even though you're angry as a hornet and would rather sting.

These are just a few samples of ways to defuse or diffuse the situation. How you choose to respond is entirely up to you. Once that anger is gone, now you can talk about what is really bothering you.

Out of Touch But Not Out of My Mind!

Sorry for those of you that have been following my blog. I guess I feel like an addict that has fallen off the wagon. It started with a bad 45th birthday for me. My hubby was still out of town for work and somehow I had it deep in my heart that possibly he may just sneak home as a surprise and not tell me.

However the 8am phone call the morning of March 3rd, confirmed my sadness and disappointment, that like my 11th year anniversary, my birthday would be pretty much the same thing. On one end of the phone line, was a very sleepy and overly tired husband who wanted to wish me a Happy Birthday before he went to sleep that morning. He works from about 9pm to 8am every night. No days off. I couldn't begin to explain to you what I was feeling at that particular moment, and I often admire women who can hold their tongue until they process their feelings and emotions. It's a bit of a fog now, but I believe I said some really harsh things, and hung up on him.

You know in that small silence you are experiencing at that moment, so much happens in that time. Tears pour from your eyes, thoughts come into your head that it's so not fair, anger begins to burn up inside, nothing is worth this, and all hope seems lost. Throughout the day, I heard God's voice speaking to me, but I was too proud and hurt to listen. I wanted to handle my day. It was supposed to be special. It was suppose to mean something. It was the celebration of the day, God created me to be a unique being. I wanted that acknowledgment. I wasn't getting it from my husband so I felt it was going to mean anything coming from anyone else. My friends called all day to wish me birthday greetings, but I just screened calls. The only thing in my mind to make it right, was my husband wasn't going to be with me.

My brothers, opinion, also hubby's boss, said to celebrate it when the job is complete in about 4-8 weeks. That's a solution? I never thought I would feel so out of touch, lost and hopeless.

Gifts arrived from hubby all day, first flowers that a friend had been asked to purchase and deliver since Steve knew he wouldn't be home. I could honestly say, they didn't mean anything although the gesture from my well meaning friend, did. She is a fellow Christian, and allowed me to pour out my heart to her. It was something I needed to do. I felt much better because for once, someone understood the heart of a woman. Her hubby works from home as well but not gone for so long as mine. Hers is only gone for 4 days most weeks and within an hours drive from home, so she stays with him when she can.

Later that day, God hadn't given up on me just yet when I was reading Max Lucado's book and I came across a story about a man who was only 200 feet from the summit of Mt. Everest. He was preparing for his last climb since to make it to the summit without bad weather is a bit on the rare side. When people struggle on their way to the summit, they are often passed up by other hikes not willing to take the risk to help and forfeit their climb. Sounds a bit heartless right? Not to these men who spend years training and trying to make it. Very few despite all the attempts ever do.

On that particular day, 8 people had died and they had come across their bodies on their way to the final camp. When they were prepared to set out, they noticed a flash of yellow to their left and upon closer inspection found it to be a climber, who was thought to have died that day, hanging off a dangerous precipice. In those extreme temperatures, he wasn't going to be hanging on for much longer, and this man was faced with a choice; to forfeit his climb to the summit and save the climber, or to continue on to his only possible journey to the summit being that close. What would you have chosen?

His choice was an easy one and an easy one at that, he chose to save the climber and help him to receive help. He got the climber to medical attention by being airlifted off the mountain. His reward, well let's just say that the climber's wife appreciation to this man as well as his children was more than enough of a reward. He saved a life! Makes you wonder why so many others, chose differently.

That day, God spoke to my heart and told me, that like this climber I had a choice to make, to either stay mad at my husband, or take the better path. His words, "Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me!"

The outcome, my hubby and I didn't resolve anything that day, but we did talk. We talked about what really mattered and it was that both of us hated this situation the current economy has stuck us in. We hated the fact that not only did this job keep us from celebrating our anniversary, it also impacted my birthday as well. Every day without my hubby is a challenge. It's hard to go from spending time with someone all the time or at least the expectation that your hubby comes home every night, mine doesn't. I have had to learn to deal with life's hand without any preparation that it was coming. It was like learning to swim by being tossed in the water and told to swim or die. I guess some days I feel like dying and most of them, I am learning to swim.

If it wasn't for the support of my Christian friends, my family and God, I would definitely be sinking for sure. I would have given up since it's so much easier. However, God in His infinite wisdom, keeps His children close and constantly watches over them.

We are much better today for that difficult circumstance. With our pastor's help we have come to realize that this job is great for us financially at times, but on the back end with God, the cost is too great for this family. We are continuing to look for something that does not require my hubby to be gone from home, one that has him home at the end of the day and no traveling required. For some people, it's a no brainer. They can handle lengthy separations. For my hubby and me, we are connected too close to allow anything to come between us including this job.

In the midst of how you handle difficulties lies room for growth, and we have been growing a lot lately!