Submission

Posted on by
6

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (Ephesians 5:22-23)

This doesn’t sound much like what we read in the magazines or hear on TV does it?

I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded of this command – often. Being stubborn and strong-willed, this is an area in my own life where the Lord has a lot of work to do.

Right now some of you are thinking “you don’t know what my husband is like”, or “what if my husband takes advantage of me”, or maybe “who’s going to meet my needs”.  Wrong thinking, wrong message.

There are three good reasons that I’m pretty sure you think that way.

Reason #1:   God said you would (To the woman he said, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Genesis 3:16b).

Reason #2:  You tell me that’s how you think (see reason #1).

Reason #3:  It’s how my mind works (see reason #1).

As the Lord continues to work in my own life concerning submission, I find that my load doesn’t grow heavier, surprisingly (to me) it grows lighter.  As I come to be more and more obedient to God’s command, and more and more dependent on His grace, I am enjoying many blessings in my relationship with my husband and with my Lord.

Still not sure?  Here is another passage that helps me when I struggle with submission:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, (Colossians 3:23)

When we do all things for the glory of God we don’t see burdens, we see beauty.  Go ahead, try it.

Sandra

Circumstantial Faith

Posted on by
Reply

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, (John 6:68)

I’m so glad the Lord left us this word, it comes to my mind so often and gives me peace.

Sometimes life gets hard and we just want to run away.  But where could we go?  In the passages preceding the one above, we read that some of Jesus’ followers left because the way was too hard. Some of us feel that way from time to time.  We, like the Hebrew children, think it would be easier to go back to Egypt. It wouldn’t. We think that way because we have faulty memory’s. We forget that we were slaves, we worked hard and gained nothing, the master we served was cruel.

But not Jesus.  He is loving and kind, gentle and meek. He gives to His children generously.

When the way gets hard, ask yourself, “to whom shall I go?”  Once you’ve asked that question, go ahead and run; but not away – run to the ONLY One with the words of eternal life, run to Jesus.

Sandra

 

Rejoice!

Posted on by
Reply

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered (Psalms 105:2-5)

How great our God!  How awesome His word!  How mighty His instruction!

Have you ever felt in your heart the desire to be closer to God but your mind got in the way?  God knew we would have times like that and so He told us ahead of time what to do.

  • Sing to Him – The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:3)
  • Talk about Him – Tell others what He has done for you. (Luke 8:3(0
  • Worship His name – With joy in your heart. (Psalm 100:2)
  • Seek His presence – He waits for you. (Jeremiah 29:13)
  • Remember all His works – .His mercy never fails.(Lamentations 3:21-24)

Begin your day with these and it will be unavoidable – you will find you are in the very presence of the LORD.  As you sing, talk, worship, seek and remember – you will draw near to Him and you will rejoice!

Sandra

DailyBread

Posted on by
1

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. (John 21:12)

Sharing a meal is such an intimate thing.

Since our bodies are sustained by the food we eat, when we break bread together, we are, in effect, sharing life.  In the gospels Jesus talks about food often, both literally and figuratively; both physically and spiritually.  Jesus spoke –  “…open the door and I will come in and dine with you”,  “I am the bread of life”, “take, eat, this is my body”, “feed my sheep”, “come, have breakfast” (that I have prepared for you).

When we pray “give us this day our daily bread”, we are saying “feed me Lord with the Bread of Life.  Sustain and nourish my soul with the meal you have prepared for me.”

David wrote in Psalms 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!”  As you begin your day, take time to sit at the Lord’s table, enjoy the feast has prepared for you.

Sandra

The Comeback

Posted on by
1

Were You Gone?

In case you haven’t noticed, a few months ago I took some time off from blogging so I could focus on my current book.  These past months have been busy, with everything BUT writing!  Well, I’ve done some writing, but not nearly as much as I had hoped.  As life would have it, some pretty big things came along and totally confused my plans.  Somewhere around mid March I came to understand the true meaning of James 4:13.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”–

So, that’s where I’ve been these past 3 plus months and now its time to look ahead.

What Next?

When I created this blog, it was primarily with the intent of promoting my writing.  Over the years my intent has changed but the site hasn’t. Consequently, I fear the blog has become  tired and not nearly as effective as it could be.  My word for 2016 is “intentional”.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been very intentional about being intentional. (???)  With all that said, please know that my heart now and always has been to share Jesus with other women through encouragement, the study of His word, and  discipleship; in that, there has never been any wavering.

What’s New?

I’m really excited about the direction  the Lord is leading me in ministry.  Even as we speak, I am working on a new look for SandraBivensSmith.com.  If all goes well, in just a few weeks the site will be back with a new look and a new format.

A new focus:  As stated above, one of the purposes of this ministry is to encourage. Going forward, the posts will be with that purpose in mind – words to encourage you while you’re on your way.  While the official name of the site won’t change, you will still find me at SandraBivensSmith.com, the site title will be “Morning Moments”.

A new look:  Y’all are probably tired of being met by  some dusty old books when you come to the site, I sure am.  While I haven’t made a final decision, I can tell you that the new look will be fresh, inviting and exciting.

A new schedule:  This is where my greatest blogging challenge lies.  I’m just being honest here, I really want to post daily but when I consider what’s required, I hesitate.  My thoughts keep going back to the warnings of Jesus to “count the cost” (Luke 14:28).  On the other hand, where is my faith?  On this point I have given and continue to give  much prayer.  For the time being, I plan to post three times weekly – on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  As time goes by, and as the Lord leads, that may change.  (Please pray for God to give me direction in this.).

If you are a regular (or even an occasional) visitor to the blog, please go ahead and become a follower.  It’s very easy, just go to any page on the site and where indicated enter your email and click “follow” .  As a follower, you will receive an email each time there is a new post or other updates to the blog.  And, while I’m asking for favors, won’t you share the site with friends either directly or through your social media page?

Let me close by saying “THANK YOU” to everyone who has given me support and encouragement over the years.  So many times I’ve thought to quit.  So many times the enemy has taunted me with doubt.  But then, someone tells me that what I’ve shared was a special blessing to them, or was a word they needed just at that time.  I’m not a professional writer, nor a theologian; I make no claims to any authority of my own.  All I am is a woman who the Lord Jesus loves even though I am unlovable, a woman He died for even though I was undeserving.  A woman who  is blessed everyday by the amazing love and grace of Jesus Christ.  There was a time when I was in such great darkness and someone brought the light of Christ  into my life, my despair turned to hope.  That is what I pray the Lord will use me to do in the life of another woman.

See you soon,

Sandra Bivens Smith

Parting Thoughts

Posted on by
1

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  

            “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

            “Woman, behold, your son!”  “Behold, your mother!”

 Read the final words of Jesus.  Think about all He had suffered, just before He spoke them.  In the garden, sweating blood as He anticipated the agony of what lay ahead.  The betrayal of His closest friends.  Merciless beatings, severe enough in and of themselves, to have caused His death.  Scorn from those, who just days earlier, had honored and praised Him as their king.  The humiliation of being mocked, spit upon, and stripped naked.  The torture of being nailed to a cross and finally, bearing the full sin of all mankind upon His sinless body.

Read Jesus’ words again.  Do you see it?  At His height of suffering, Jesus prays for the ones who drove the nails into His feet and hands.  In the midst of His agony, He offers eternal assurance to a repentant man.  He ignores His horrific pain, to insure His Mother will be cared for.

 It is only after He has seen to the needs of others that He turns His attention to His own suffering.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

            “I thirst.”

Even then, as Christ desperately cries out to His Father, I can’t help but wonder if He wasn’t thinking about us.  Are there any of us who have not, at some time in our lives, called out to God “why have you abandoned me”?  Haven’t all of us been through a dry season and longed for a cool stream to refresh our parched spirits.

Jesus’ pleas were heard.  And so are ours as He declared, once and for all…

“It is finished”

Nothing more to be done.  Nothing else needed  All the requirements fulfilled.

Final words, final assurance.

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” 

To anyone who has ever stood by the bed of a loved one as they took their final breath, these are words of comfort.  They promise us that He who knit us in our Mother’s womb is there, waiting to receive our spirit.  These words confirm that Jesus has defeated death.  We can have confidence that His spirit, having returned to the Father, will live eternally and so will ours.  In this final statement, we have God’s ultimate promise and our ultimate hope.

At no other time in recorded scripture do we see Jesus’ humanity so evidently revealed.  In the final hours at Calvary, we see Jesus, fully God, fully man.  The One who knew no sin, became the embodiment of sin.

Seven statements from the cross. Parting thoughts.   Thoughts of you and me.

In Jesus’ last words, we have the entire gospel message.  The message of forgiveness, eternal life, love for one another, His righteousness imparted to us.  It is a message important enough for Jesus to die for; shouldn’t it be important enough for us to live for?  Knowing He did all this for us, how can we do less for Him?

Blessings,

~Sandra

Father, never let us forget what the Easter season is really about.  Keep us mindful of the horrors of the cross and the sufferings we have been spared because Jesus suffered for us.  Always remind us that even in His final hours, we were never far from Jesus’ thoughts.  Above all, place deep within our minds the truth of the victory that was won for us that day at Calvary; and deep within our hearts a desire to share the message with those who remain lost.  Amen.

Christ died so we can live.  His sacrifice at Calvary is for everyone who will come and follow Him.  Have you made that commitment?  Have you knelt at the foot of the cross and surrendered your heart to the One Who died for your sins?  If you haven’t, there will never be a better time than now.

All you need to do is pray:

Confess to Jesus that you are a sinner who needs salvation

Believe in your heart that He is only One who can save you

 Ask Jesus to forgive your sins

Surrender your life and your will to Him

Ask Him give you a new heart, and a new spirit

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.  Romans 10:9

Out With The Old

Posted on by
3

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 I have never really considered myself a pack rat, but as each year passes I am finding that I can no longer find a place for everything. I tease my husband about not throwing away anything but to be honest, I’m as bad as he is.  My new year’s confession:  I have too much stuff.  Not only do I have too much stuff, I have too much useless stuff.

Recently as I pulled out my hair dryer from the bathroom cabinet, several hair brushes and a bottle of scrunch spray came with it. As my hairstyle has changed drastically in the past five years, I no longer scrunch, and one of the hair brushes was totally alien to me; I can’t remember getting it or when or if I have ever used it. I told myself “I really need to clean out this cabinet”. Then, as I opened my makeup bag, I found I had to move jars of wrinkle cream, pallets of eye shadow and tubes of lipstick out of the way to get to the few products I now use. [Looking in the mirror, I realized I probably should have used more of the wrinkle cream.] As for the lipsticks, neither glittery mauve nor deep red passion are the best colors for a 65+ year old grandmother. Then, there’s my closet, but we won’t go there.  I keep promising myself “one of these days”.  You think?

Clutter happens. If we don’t take the time every so often to get rid of some things, we will suddenly realize we’ve accumulated a lot of junk. This law applies not just to our cabinets, drawers and make-up bags.  Most of us will admit that we also need to go through the clutter in our lives and get rid of some things that are taking up valuable space. Let’s take a quick inventory together. “Do I really need to hold on to those old hurts”? “What about this bitterness, do I really need it?  “Am I ever going to use this anger that I’ve kept stored away for years”? “This critical spirit, what use is that in the life of a Christian”? Just as my hair scrunch, eye shadow and wild lipstick are no longer right for a grandmother, these things are no longer appropriate for the woman whose identity is in Christ.

There is an old saying “out with the old and in with the new”. We have to get rid of the useless clutter so that we can have room for what we need now; Paul gives us instruction on this in Ephesians chapter 4.

Throw Out…

  1. All your dirty talk
  2. Being bitter and angry and mad at others
  3. Acting like children
  4. Letting deceitful people trick us by their false teachings
  5. Living like stupid, godless people
  6. Lying
  7. Getting so angry that you sin
  8. Going to bed angry
  9. Stealing
  10. Making God’s Spirit sad
  11. Yelling at one another or cursing each other or ever being rude
  12. Your old way of life with all its bad habits

 

Be filled with…

  1. Humility
  2. Gentleness
  3. Patience with each other
  4. Love for each other
  5. God’s Spirit to keep your hearts united
  6. Peaceful living
  7. Honesty
  8. Hard work
  9. Generosity to those in need
  10. Kindness
  11. Mercy
  12. Forgiveness

 

If we do all this, what does it get us? Paul gives us the answer… “if we are to grow we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him”. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

It’s a new year, are you ready to do some cleaning?  I’ll end with this paraphrase of a current TV ad:  “What’s in your closet?”  Just something to think about.

 

Final Thoughts

In late spring or early summer, I began working on a new bible study.  As hard as I have tried however, I haven’t made much progress.  The draft that I have so far has become my own personal “elf on the shelf” in that it seems to follow me wherever I go.  I’m not kidding, the study seems to show up, in one form or another, here, there and anywhere; it’s the craziest thing.  Well, as the saying goes, “you don’t have to hit me over the head with a board”.

I realize that as I devote my attention to writing the study, I won’t be able to continue posting on a regular basis so this will be the last post for a while.  I hope you will continue to stop by from time to time and say hello and I ask for your prayers as I seek The Spirit’s leading in this project.

בּרכה Sandra