spiritual stuff | Permission to Peruse

Human Trafficking Awareness Day

January 11th, 2012 at 4:21 pm / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

(image courtesy of http://www.stopthecandyshop.com/)

When I went to Catalyst in 2010, I was blown away by Christine Caine who heads up The A21 Campaign, a non-profit which aims to abolish human trafficking. As a follow-up, they also showed a promo for a short film/parable bringing awareness to child sex trafficking called The Candy Shop. I had the pleasure, or should I say discomfort, of finally watching it today for Trafficking Awareness Day.

Did you know Atlanta is the LARGEST city in America for trafficking and comes in at tenth in the whole world? That’s 375 little girls just a few years older than my Emma and Lexi that are taken advantage of every single month. Just last month, the FBI said a pediatrician was arrested for child pornography. The thought sickens me. But we simply cannot ignore the nausea. We feel helpless but there are organizations making a difference. The A21 Campaign works all over the world to restore victims, prevent new ones and bring perpetrators to justice. Street Grace is the organization that partnered with the film company to produce The Candy Shop film. Here are ways to partner with them and make an impact:

Check A21’s site for 21 things you can do, learn signs of sex trafficking and donate while you’re there. A21Campaign works all over the world to
Visit http://www.streetgrace.org/ or http://www.stopthecandyshop.com/ for ways to make an impact specifically in the Atlanta area.
Pray. I don’t say it flippantly. We need to pray for the men in our country that their hearts are turned toward God and not the evil of their flesh.
Get others involved. This is the kind of thing that should be going viral on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s so disheartening to think about these things but we can’t be like the people in the film that just say it’s none of our business or believe the lie we can’t make a difference. We CAN. Let’s do it.

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Forbidden Love

January 5th, 2012 at 8:18 pm / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

Some days in the office are exhausting. By the time I get home almost 11 hours after I leave the house, I feel much like a ragdoll ready to be set on a shelf and left alone. Thank goodness I had spaghetti leftovers for us to eat tonight. One less thing to think about. I had promised the girls this morning I’d take them to the Dollar Store tonight. Emma had a dollar from her chore chart and Lexi had one for trying her baked beans the other night. What? Don’t pretend like you don’t bribe your kids. And of course they couldn’t save their money. It’s been a whole 10 days since hitting the motherload at Christmas. So I took them and they bought fairy wings and a play cash register, which I admit was quite fun. I don’t get to throw around $100 bills often.

On the way home, Emma asked what forbidden love was. Seeing that our conversation to The Dollar Store was sparked with the question, “Is there really a medicine you can take so you don’t have babies?”, this new question didn’t startle me in the least. Immediately, Romeo and Juliet popped in my mind. I explained they were from two families that were sworn enemies and they weren’t supposed to love each other. Lexi piped in that she had seen a movie where Juliet was a dog and Romeo was a cat and that was forbidden love because cats and dogs aren’t supposed to love each other. All I have to say about that is whoever cast that movie got it all wrong because we all know cats are girls and dogs are boys. The girls seem to catch on to the idea and finally Lexi said, “Who started this anyway?” Which is what they always say when we’ve found ourselves knee deep down rabbit holes.

All that to say the whole conversation got me thinking about God’s love for me and how it’s a forbidden love. He has no right to love me. Him, being perfectly perfect and patience and joyful and loving. And not just having those qualities but BEING those qualities. He has no right to love me in my pride and stubbornness and impatience and jealousy and all those things I wish I could rid myself of. It ought to be forbidden for Him to love me as much as He does.

When Romeo found Juliet sleeping, assuming she was dead, he drinks poison, killing himself so he could have eternity with his star-crossed lover. Much like Romeo, God found me in my death, before the earth had its foundation and because He loved me so much, He chose to come and die so I could join Him in eternity one day. The best part about our love is it’s not a tragedy. It’s a beautiful story that’s been written long before Romeo and Juliet and has an ending that all forbidden love’s only wish they had.

I put together a listing of all the ways He loves us for my eBook Entangled. Maybe you need a reminder of His forbidden love today. I know I did.

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Know Why You Do What You Do

December 31st, 2011 at 10:12 am / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

I’ve kept this post open in my browser for days. Daye posted the top ten things she’s learned about blogging this year. Something about her first point has stuck with me.

Know why you do what you do- It is okay to not have a well thought out vision for the next 20 years of your life. But it’s important to have a reason for what you do. For me this means that I write because when I do, I feel God’s pleasure (One of my favorite quotes is from Eric Liddell of Chariots of Fire fame- "I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.").

I didn’t blog for much of December. Time and inspiration were not lacking. But I didn’t feel like it would please Him. Not because of their content because many of them would have been tucked away in the spiritual category. I don’t know why it was but I didn’t feel freedom to blog. The day after Christmas I finally felt His permission to write but He needed to ask me that question: why do I do what I do?

I don’t know how the content will change in 2012, if at all, but my goal is to work on this thing called writing and to do that for as long as I feel His pleasure. I hope you’ll join me.

Happy New Year!

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Captivity

December 29th, 2011 at 12:42 pm / Amy Bennett / 2 Comments »

I mentioned it in passing in a blog post but I’m in the midst of reading through the Bible again. I’ve done it 2 other times but this time, this section stuck out to me from 2 Chronicles 6. Solomon had just built the temple and was dedicating it:

“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; ³⁷ and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; ³⁸ and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; ³⁹ then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.”

A light bulb moment this time. That entire paragraph is the story of Entangled. No, I didn’t have soldiers in another land the God gave me over to but I was my own worst enemy. Satan was right with me when I sinned and God let me dwell in captivity in an emotional affair. My body was not held captive but my mind was. But when I had a change of heart and turned back to Him, He forgave me. I give Israel a hard time for continually turning to their wicked ways but I’m no different. Not at all.

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Merry Christmas 2011 – Alleluia

December 25th, 2011 at 11:30 am / Amy Bennett / No Comments »

Alleluia – used to express praise, joy or thanks.

Alleluia

Close your eyes, lift your hands and say thank you.

Alleluia

My soul quakes and my flesh feels the waves of thanksgiving. We celebrate him abiding in flesh as a babe but today He abides in me. In His church. In the body, not a body.

I hope that’s truth for you. That this Christmas when you stretch your hands out with alleluias, you feel Christ abiding.

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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On Finding Joy

November 21st, 2011 at 2:44 pm / Amy Bennett / 5 Comments »

Today at lunch I took the time to make my manicotti for dinner. Someone please give me a high-five for thinking ahead! Cooking the jumbo shell noodles is one of the first steps. It took a few minutes but the water was a full rolling boil by the end of the required 15 minutes. I noticed though just as soon as I turned the heat off, the bubbles stopped. I figured there might be some lag time as heat dissipated but no, it was instant. I couldn’t help but think back to my confession of my emotional affair to Scott. Before the confession, I felt like that rolling boil inside. Truly, as if my stomach had been put in a pot of boiling water. I was a mess dealing with all my deceit and other emotions. But when I confessed, it was like someone had turned the heat off. Sure, I still had some inner turmoil going on but that sickening feeling disappeared immediately.

That boiling pot also reminds me of what we should be bubbling over with: joy. But deceit and joy can’t coexist. Proverbs says There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace. There could be many reasons you aren’t joyful right now but if you’re not, I challenge you to ask yourself if there is any deceit in your life.

What are you covering up?

Refusing to talk about?

Hoping no one finds out?

Doing when no one is looking?

Find someone to confess it to. Confess to the Lord. I know it’s scary. Really, I do. You feel like no one has been there. No one understands. No one will like you. No one can help you. No one will look at you the same. No one will forgive you. But we’ve all got stuff. And those are just lies from Satan to keep you in your deceitful behaviors. The longer we keep it in, the longer we don’t have our joy and that means the longer someone doesn’t see God’s glory displayed through you to its full potential. So let me help. How would you finish this sentence?

I haven’t told anyone this, but I [have been] _______________________.

Now go find someone to email or speak that sentence to privately. Really. Your joy is at stake.

I talk a lot more about deceit, confession and joy in my eBook Entangled. I’d love for you to check it out if you haven’t. And if you have, please hop over to Amazon and leave your review.

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Entangled: The River

November 14th, 2011 at 6:30 am / Amy Bennett / 4 Comments »

God gave me something really cool this weekend regarding Entangled. Well, lot’s of things but I want to share this one. You’re going to have to read an excerpt of a chapter though to get the gist of it. The following is from the beginning of the Love chapter.

A flower, watered by the rain, grew on the side of the riverbank. When the rain stopped, it reached through its roots to the river. The flower bloomed like never before. In time, the river dried up and the flower wilted until the rain came back gently. However, the flower was the same as the others now, never blooming as it once had when fed by the river water.
That was the gist of a metaphorical short story I wrote the year after my affair ended. It defined how I felt about what had happened. Scott had been providing what I needed to survive. When his “love” felt like it ended, I started looking elsewhere to survive. This new person, the river, made me feel like I never had before. But that was temporary. Scott eventually began pouring his love out again and I could bloom once more. At the time I wrote the story, I just knew I would never feel complete.

I went on to talk about how our source of love should be from God and not man. I used the verse in John 15 where it talks about Jesus being the vine and us, the branches.

Now, before I sound like some disciplined saint, I have to be honest and say I have not been reading Scripture lately like I should be. Sure, I listen to sermons and music and read books but haven’t sat down with the Bible like I should be. All my extra time has been spent on launching this book. It’s no excuse, but true.

Last night my Bible opened to Jeremiah 17 and of course I recognized 17:9 so I decided to back up a bit and read what was leading up to that verse. And look!

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7, 8 NIV

I mean, are you for real? The same weekend I launch this thing he gives me a picture of the EXACT thing I had written years ago, for sinful purposes, at that. Another beautiful reminder of how our source of love is only in Christ. I love that it says in a year of drought, it never fails. Yes! When we have those times of drought when our marriages and relationships are suffering, if we are getting our love needs met through Him, we will not fail. In fact, the beginning of the passage says we’ll be blessed.

God is so cool.

If you want to read more from Entangled, please hop over to the site!

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She’s Full of Grace

October 12th, 2011 at 11:40 am / Amy Bennett / 3 Comments »

“Grace is giving someone a gift they don’t deserve and that’s what my middle name is,” Emma paused in her explanation. We’ve gone over her name meaning a few times.
“Yes, and Emma means ‘full of’ so your names mean you’re full of grace.” I closed the car door as I finished the explanation and grabbed the girls hands. We were walking into the Speak Up magazine launch last night in an area of town we’d never been. It was getting dark and it was rainy and it’s not in the newest part of town. I didn’t feel unsafe but I think the kids did a little. I was glad to hear I could take the girls though since Scott was working and I wouldn’t have been able to go otherwise and I was truly glad they could come and see firsthand. It seemed like it was going to be a great teachable moment.

One of the vendors (low-income/homeless person selling the magazine) was at the party selling copies of the magazine. At the advice of Lana’s email earlier yesterday I had stopped at the ATM on the way to get $20 so we could buy our own copies. After we chatted at the party for a few minutes I took the kids out to the vendor to buy the magazines. A very gifted artist who is featured in one of the articles of the magazine (pictured above) was happy to help us. “I have $20 so whatever that will buy me! 6 and you can give me $2 change or 5 if you only have a $5,” I said happily. Dag was happy to oblige and gave me 6 with $2 change he pulled out of a hat keeping his money. I carefully explained on the way home that the magazines would be sold by homeless or jobless people to help them earn money. The girls asked if Dag was homeless and I replied I really didn’t know. They seemed to move on to other topics on the way home like how one of the new buildings downtown was lit up in rainbow colors unlike the red we had seen last time.

Last night as I was putting the girls to sleep Emma asked again about Dag. She said, “You know, next time someone buys magazines from someone like him and they have $20, they should, you know, just let him keep the $2. I think that would help him.” Like a punch in the gut, my eyes were opened. I hadn’t even thought about letting Dag keep the change. I was so excited about giving him business that I made it too much about business. “Yes, Emma, I don’t know why I didn’t think of it but I’ll do that next time. That would show a lot of grace, just like your name.” She gave me a big hug and Lexi understanding dawning says, “Mommy, you’re mean!” “Lexi, I’m not mean, I just didn’t think of it.” “Yeah, Lexi, Mommy wasn’t mean, she didn’t do it on purpose.”

I tried to teach my kids about giving and while I might have, I think they taught me a lot more about grace.

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Week 4 James Read-along

September 28th, 2011 at 7:33 am / Amy Bennett / 7 Comments »

Today’s post is simple. The verses speak for themselves considering this.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13-14

Read more at MarlaTaviano.com

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My {Current} Take on the Topic

September 22nd, 2011 at 6:00 pm / Amy Bennett / 17 Comments »

Latest Update:

OK, after the disclaimer I wrote below on the original, original post way below, I decided to take down the post, even with the disclaimer. I felt like I was putting confusion out there and while I completely believe in asking questions and not knowing answers, it just didn’t feel right. Mostly because the more I thought about it, the more I could not agree with Justin’s interpretation of Scriptures. Specifically, it came down to the meaning of verses in Romans and Corinthians and more importantly, marriage and how that should look. I went back and finally read the other side of the argument from Ron and I have to say that it was spot-on to the way I am feeling. Yes, homosexuality is a reality but acting out is a sin and that marriage is a picture of Christ and the church and meant for a woman and man. I beg you to read both sides. I can not handle when people blindly accept a truth just because they don’t care to learn about the other side. Given that, I simply could not find peace about Justin’s side and felt like it took a lot of flimsy arguments to let homosexual relationships be acceptable. On the other hand, Ron looks at Biblical history and Christianity as a whole and honestly, a whole lot of common sense. So, with lots of struggling, I am still back to my original stance that I can not support gay marriages (and of course any sort of sexual activity outside of marriage).

To those that are not Christians, feel free to do whatever you want. I don’t expect you to live by God’s law when you have no interest in following Christ. I still love you and God does too, though. For the record though, I think you’re missing out. God rocks pretty hard. For those that are Christians and struggle with this, I come to this conclusion with love and a hurting heart. I rest my hope in the fact that God knows best and that He will not give us any temptations from which we can not find a way out.

Everything below is the post I took down which also had a disclaimer about the ORIGINAL post I wrote:

I feel the need to preface this and say I did not mean to publish this. Well I did and then I didn’t. I thought I had moved it to a draft stage but then it ignored that and published at it’s scheduled time. I still am not settled on this issue. The more I wrestle with it the more I can not feel peaceful that practicing is not a sin, particularly after rereading the Corinthians passage. Still, there are other valid points in here that are worth the read.

Here is the original post:

If you aren’t around the Christian and/or gay circles you probably haven’t seen this interview with a gay Christian. I’ve written about my viewpoint on same sex marriages before and I just have to say my viewpoint is changing. It’s been 7 years since I posted that. I’ve met people, mentored people and done a lot more reading.

And here’s the thing. I’m more convinced than ever that homosexual tendencies are not simply a choice. Justin and others who are Christians willed themselves to not have these tendencies and could not. Some of these I think could be caused by emotional and relational trauma but reality is reality. They are attracted to the same sex and even when willed they can not stop.

So the question is what to do with that?

Justin called this decision Side A and Side B. He believes in a monogamous, Christ-centered same-sex relationship. The other side believes the person should be celibate.

I have no idea what I believe anymore.

I err on the side of celibacy. I’ll be honest and say I have a super hard time believing that Christ-centered same-sex relationships exist but you know, that doesn’t mean much. Up until as recently as a week ago I would have said acting out on those desires was sinful. After reading the interview and further on his site, I can follow his logic. I’m just not sure if I follow that logic and can make the same conclusions from Scripture. The point of the matter is it’s all interpretation.

But I do know what I’m pretty sure my mind is turning about…whether government should restrict same-sex marriages. IF there are (and there are) people out there like Justin that have whole-heartedly searched God’s word and still do believe that homosexuality is ok then who am I to stop them from marrying? What if their interpretation is right and I’m wrong? I don’t know that I’ll ever push for it and be able to say that practicing homosexuality is ok but that is between them and God.

Sarah Mae published her thoughts on Justin’s interview and I love that she is wrestling with this too. And my comment to her was this: Christians need to figure out what we believe and in a much more loving way than we have to date. The face of homosexuality has changed a great deal in the last decade or two and it’s not something that is just behind doors now. I figure my views will change, maybe even as soon as I publish this, but one thing isn’t changing. These people need LOVED. Period. The hate has to stop. Even if homosexuality IS a sin, we don’t turn people away that are alcoholics or drug addicts or obese or cruel or whatever their struggling sin might be.

Hating them is only turning them away from the one thing you’re wanting them to follow.

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My Tongue

September 22nd, 2011 at 6:50 am / Amy Bennett / 3 Comments »

Did you catch my James 3 commentary on controlling my tongue yesterday? Yeah, so I opened my Reader this morning and Marla’s challenge was up:

And then the very next post entitled “Put a Lid on It” I opened was from Cindy Beall:

And then I went to Facebook and ran into this:

*sigh*

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Weird and Mysterious

September 20th, 2011 at 11:49 am / Amy Bennett / 6 Comments »

God is weird sometimes. Mysterious. Weird. Whatever you want to call it, God is THAT. I’ve been scheduled to go to Women of Faith for nearly two months. BookSneeze graciously offered me a set of tickets in exchange for a review post. I’m a little bit of a conference junkie so I was psyched to go. But then God started tugging on me to weeks ago that I shouldn’t go. Which is WEIRD. I mean, why wouldn’t God want me to spend two days learning more about Him and sharing that with others? But still, the nagging wouldn’t go away. I think I’ve mentioned God can be quite the nag. I even went so far as to text Dani last week and tell her exactly that: it’s weird, but for some reason I’m feeling like I shouldn’t go, please pray. Being the awesome friend she is, she said do whatever you feel God wants you to and who knows what the reason might be. I didn’t tell anyone else about my reservations and still planned on going. Hence, the blog post yesterday. My mom calls me out of the blue mid-day yesterday and basically tells me she had a catch in her spirit about me going. I was little dumbfounded. Well, uh….me too. OK that is WEIRD. Mysterious. Whatever. But I love when God confirms things like that. None of us were clear though whether I should skip the whole thing or only a few sessions. The girls would be at Scott’s mom’s for their usual biweekly sleepover and Scott was not going to be home either. I really had no reason NOT to go Friday night and Saturday morning. Except as I prayed over the past 24 hours, I could never, ever find peace unless my mind settled on the fact that I shouldn’t go AT ALL. So I called Women of Faith, confirmed it was ok that I gave the tickets to someone that wanted and needed them (Heather!) and also confirmed with Dani it was ok. And I found peace with my decision.

See, I have NO IDEA what God is up to. I could be spared a car accident. I might need that last vacation day at work for something else (Relevant, I hope!). Heather just might need their messages more than me. My kids might not need me gone that extra time. Or maybe He’s trying to keep me home so I’ll finally organize my recipes. Look, I have no clue. But that’s the weird and mysterious thing about God. He has a huge clue and He doesn’t have to let me in on it. I just have to obey.

In the end, it’s ironic that I’m having to be a Woman of Faith by not going to Women of Faith. It’s weird. And mysterious. I know. But don’t ignore weird and mysterious. I hear God works that way sometimes.

If you can get to Charlotte, I do hope you’ll consider going (if He wants you to). Enjoy the promo video below:

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James Read-Along Week 2

September 14th, 2011 at 5:53 pm / Amy Bennett / 6 Comments »

James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

I was reading an article this morning about an 85 year old man who got stuck in his car for days. It was so hot and he had no food and only 8 ounces of water to survive. He was so sure he was going to die he wrote a goodbye note on the car’s console explaining it was an accident. He was finally rescued and you know what this 85 year old man planned to do? Not vacation or eat an entire chocolate cake or go on a shopping spree or fishing trip. “Porter said he was going to concentrate on giving more of his time and resources to charity, according to KENS.” I read that and said, YES. Even at 85 when most of us younger folk would say, it’s time for you to rest. You’ve lived your life and you now deserve to be served. This man, that had looked death in the face, did not want to squander his true last days on himself, but giving away more of himself.

But the part that’s gotten me all week is what are these good deeds?? Is it like the guy said, is it helping charities? Is it simply forgiving an enemy? Is it letting someone else go first? Is it sending a card to someone? Is it adopting a child? What is required of me??

I guess it’s easy to throw this off and say does it really matter? And to me, it does. Because I don’t want to face death and realize I’ve missed a life full of good deeds. Ephesians says: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” I know I have faith and I try to do good deeds, but ya’ll, I do not want to miss those things God has planned for me.

What do you count as good deeds? Do you believe we have specific ones to do TODAY?

Make sure to check out other James post over at MarlaTaviano.com

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One Verse

September 8th, 2011 at 6:00 am / Amy Bennett / 4 Comments »

I asked a burning question today on Facebook and Twitter.

And this is what I love. First, we needed clarification on the TYPE of favorite verse.

After I clarified that I was looking for those that speak to us personally, many had trouble finding just one verse!

TweetDeck

And even those that picked just one had answers that were far and wide:

Just reading through those gets me so pumped! God’s word is alive and is doing a work within each of us.

“Do not be afraid.” What if that smidgeon of Joshua 1:9 is all I had from His Word? It would be enough to sustain me through so many trials.

What if all I had was “Be still and know that I am God.” It would be enough to get me through the most confusing moments.

What if all I had was “now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.” It would be enough to make all the hard times worth it!

And this is what we need to get. There is SO MUCH POWER in just ONE VERSE. One PHRASE of ONE VERSE. We have them ALL available to us. We are so rich and yet. And yet! There are 340 MILLION people that can not read one WORD of it, much less one verse.

One-third of the world’s language groups speak a language which the Bible has not been translated into.

There is no hope, no comfort, no encouragement, no reminder that He is God, that He is with us, that He is in control, that there is a reward, that He loves us, that we should love others. Yes, God shows Himself in many ways but oh how He speaks through His word. For those 340 million people, my heart is broken.

But OneVerse gives me hope.

OneVerse works with local translators to get God’s word translated into their language. A sponsorship amount of $26 provides enough resources to get one verse translated. Only $26 would be enough to give an entire people group your favorite verse. Look, I know that our money goes into a big bucket and funds an entire translation but it’s so important. We DO have the solution to this problem. By being a part of this, we give some of those 340 million people an opportunity to read the Bible and find their verse.

If you can and feel led, please hop over to their site. You get to pick the region and language of the translation you help sponsor. It literally takes seconds to fill out the form. Give a verse or a lot of verses.

If you can’t give, do me a favor and go read His Word. Pick out a verse or a lot of verses. Memorize them. Use them. Find comfort in them. But most of all, thank God for them.

*This post was written in part as a submission to a Relevant Ticket Contest. I was not compensated in any way for writing the post but as a result may be chosen to receive a free Relevant Conference ticket. In any case, I love what OneVerse is doing and am glad to help spread the word!

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James Read-Along Week 1

September 7th, 2011 at 7:25 am / Amy Bennett / 10 Comments »

Well, Marla is at it again with another read-along. God was faithful with the last one so I couldn’t turn this one down. And honestly, I need some accountability to stay in the Word.

James 1 is no joke. You could spend your whole Christian life in this one chapter and always be both encouraged and challenged.

I was specifically encouraged by two verses and then challenged by 3 more. Let me share.

Encouraged

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds

How can you not be encouraged by this verse? Like everyone, we’ve been facing trials of our own. Many personal, others somewhat public like Emma’s start to school. What a great reminder that these things are doing a work within us. Even things that Satan means for harm can be used to make us more like Christ if we turn to him in these trials. And not for him to magically make them disappear but to learn to persevere through them.

James 1:5 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. (The Message)

I love the way The Message words this verse. And how many times lately have I just prayed, “God, I have no idea what I’m doing! You have to help!” It’s true. We have to remember to go to HIM for that wisdom and direction. He is just waiting to give his wisdom but we have to ask for it in faith.

Challenged

James 1:19 Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.

This has been on my prayer list for weeks. I need help controlling my tongue. Period.

James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

I think those of us, particularly in the blog world might struggle with this. How often do we read or listen to posts or messages about Christ and yet fail to actually live them out? We are DECEIVED if our life does not look like the word.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Marla pointed out in her post that these are the two spectrums of people..the socially aware liberal and the law-loving right-winger. We are responsible to be BOTH. But what struck me reading it is that phrase “polluted by the world”. What is the world? How do I become polluted by it? How do I be a part of it without being polluted? There are lots of questions for me here.

I’ll be honest and say one area I’ve been challenged by the past year is TV. Is that considered “the world”? All of it? Some of it? Just my penchant for addiction to it? I have stayed away happily from TV this summer. Should I continue through the fall? Or to what extent? All I can say is God definitely is pricking me in this area and I’m searching for the right balance for me. And trust me, I believe that it is different for all of us.

Whew, see? That is enough to keep me going for quite a while. Make sure to hop over to Marla’s and read the rest of the linked up posts.