I have been continuing reading the book, “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at your Table.”  I have really enjoyed this book and the thoughts to ponder that come with it.  There are many times the Devil finds ways to get into our minds and invade and hurt our thinking.  One big tactic the devil tries to use is shame.  Shame is a harmful way of thinking many people, including Christians have.  It can be very debilitating.  We can start to spend time thinking about all the wrongs we have done and will probably do in the future.  

There are many times Christians do need to spend time praying to God and asking for forgiveness of sins.  We need to be willing to give away the sin in deciding to follow God more closely.  However, this guilt or this bringing problems to the Lord is very different from shame.  Louie Giglio describes this greatly by saying, “Shane acknowledges guilt, yet it intertwines the sin with your identity.”  (pg. 140).  A big thing is guilt admits what you do wrong where shame will tell you, you are wrong.  

We, without God’s grace, are filled with sin.  We have sinned and made a lot of mistakes.  There are times, even after we are saved, when we will still make the same mistakes, however, it is not the only defining trait for us anymore.  Later, Giglio has a great quote about how we as people need to be defined.  It says, “God changes your identity.  The enemy wants to define you by your scars.  Jesus wants to define you by His scars.”  (pg. 148).  God has changed you.  God has made you a whole new creation. Therefore, this feeling of sin and shame should not be a part of your new identity. 

This is brought up many times in scripture.  For some examples, there is Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, John 3:6, and 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.  However, the verse I want to highlight in this blog post is  Philippians 1:6 which says, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”  I love this verse because it is a good reminder that we can be confident in the work he has done for us and the work he continues to do.  

I have a tendency to be filled with shame. I can sometimes really struggle being too hard on myself, especially after I have failed something at work that I was working on.  I want to do everything just right or just perfectly, so I am upset when I make a mistake.  Suddenly I have moments where I am talking bad about myself and I feel as though I am a bad worker.  However, in reality, I made a mistake, and there are many opportunities for me to learn from these mistakes and to grow, therefore not needing to be filled with shame.  I don’t need to hold this over my head for an extended period of time.   

When we are constantly filled with shame, that is not the Lord, Jesus Christ talking to us.  This is the enemy or Satan talking to us and telling us we are bad or not anything God wants us to be.  He is the one who is constantly going into our brains and sitting at our tables trying to tell us we don’t belong with the Lord.  There is no way God would say this to us because we were created in Him and for Him and because we have been saved and made clean by Him.  He wouldn’t take that time if he didn’t want you.  

The challenge for you this week is to spend time identifying anything you have shame in.  What is a time when you tend to feel shame or insecurity?  When are the times you talk bad about yourself for an extended period of time?  What are the things you say or can’t forgive yourself for?  It is important to recognize these moments.  It is important to realize the times we struggle with shame.  It is the only way we can start to fight the enemy on this matter and get Satan away from our table.  

One of my favorite verses I believe people need to hear on a regular basis is Psalm 139: 13-14 which says, “For you created my inner being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” You were created delicately and uniquely by our Father, creator.  Because of this, we need to be reminded God doesn’t want us to talk badly about ourselves.  He wants us to focus on Him and grow in Him, not be filled with shame. Go in peace of mind everyone!

I have been reading the book “I want to Trust You, but I Don’t,” and  I have really been enjoying this book so far.  It has really dove into the things we as people experience making it really hard to trust others.  There are times when we as people are lied to or we can be excluded and hurt by those we trusted.  Lysa, the author, is very honest about her thoughts and feelings as well as her struggles, especially after her divorce from her husband who had many affairs.  

One chapter I really enjoyed was about resiliency.  Lysa discussed being on vacation, when the ice machine broke down leading to her breaking down emotionally.  She describes her temper tantrum and emotional outbursts she had after this ice machine broke.  Was it monumental?… no.  The reason she had this emotional breakdown was because of every problem she had in the recent past with her divorce and the loss of other friendships occurring after the divorce was finalized.  The ice machine was just one little other broken thing in her life.  However, after having her tantrum, she decided she was going to fix the ice machine.  She watched the Youtube videos and got the instructions of how the ice machine works, and she got it to work once again.  

This chapter in particular had some great quotes including, “…but don’t miss an opportunity to overcome an ‘I can’t or I don’t’ today.”  Lysa took a moment to be in an “I can’t,” or “I don’t,” or “I won’t,” state to then overcome it and eventually say, “I can,” and “I will.”  She realized at this moment she needed to find ways to be resilient on a regular basis.  It can be hard and it can take courage and strength, but it is something that will help anyone through any sort of trust issues or hurt issues. 

One other quote I loved from this chapter was something she learned from her therapist. This says, “Trauma isn’t an event that happens. It’s how you process the event.”  I want to be sensitive about this.  I am very aware I haven’t had huge amounts of trauma in my life, especially compared to other people in the world.  However, this is something to realize that trauma needs to be processed in a good way. 

When trauma doesn’t mend properly, then it creates a lot of issues for the rest of your life.  It will come out in ways one didn’t expect later in life.  Later in the book, Lysa even says this with the quote, “Unresolved hurt inside us will be multiplied out by us unless we make the conscious choice to stop it.”   Lysa talks about a particular organization that has hurt her in the past, and I realized many of us have experienced this.  We have maybe been hurt by family, a workplace, a friend group, and even maybe in some situations, a church or a Bible group.  

I have been very hurt by a particular friend group, and I have realized over these past few years I have struggled with trust issues.  I have talked about this before, but this particular friend group just decided to stop regularly inviting me to things.  I will say it wasn’t everything, but there was enough that there was consistent hurt.  When I brought up these concerns with them, I often felt as though I was made to be the bad guy.  I was making them feel bad when they didn’t intentionally try to hurt me.  Then once I moved away, I felt as though I had to do all the reaching out and the connecting if I wanted this friend group to stay friends with me.  I won’t say this whole friend group is rotten or bad, but maybe they were not the friend group I needed. 

I sometimes don’t know if there are people who really love me or who will just decide one day they don’t want me around.  It is something important for me to realize I can continue to trust in God, and his love for me.  I can trust in him and his discrepancy for the relationships I choose to have with people in the world.   They aren’t going to be perfect, but I can always be with God for the times when I am hurt or left broken. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “”Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him” 

The challenge for this week is to do some personal reflection.  Are there times when you personally really struggle with trust?  What do those situations look like?  When do they become the most noticeable?  Then after some time in reflection, pray to God to deliver you from this lack of trust you have with others and maybe even with God.  We can really only be resilient in our trust issues through our prayers to God. 

I recently finished my Nehemiah Bible Study.  This book has really been very influential in my Bible life.  I had never spent a lot of time focusing on this book of the Bible, but I do really think it is a book of the Bible that should be read and focused on more.  It really highlights a lot of good characteristics every Christian should focus on. 

Chapter 13 highlights a sad moment though.  Chapter 13 takes place after a great celebration and rededication to the Lord.  However, the people had decided to turn away from God and start living their own life again.  They decided to move away from following the Sabbath rules and who they were getting married to, etc. This was really disheartening because the people had really started to dedicate themselves to learning the Lord’s teaching and worshiping Him in music and prayer. 

 One thing that really caught my attention in the devotional reading was the pointing out of people bringing their sin into the temple.  They did this through having those who were not close to God, in fact those who were widely against the faith in the temple.  The Bible Study devotional pointed out the people of Israel brought their sin closer to the place where they needed to be holy as opposed to bringing their best to God. 

I think there are many times when we are too close to our sins.  We can grow so comfortable we almost forget they are sins.  I know I can be this way with my impatient thoughts or attitudes.  I can start to become so comfortable with them that I have those thoughts anywhere and everywhere, even at church when I am in the most holy of holy places.  

One little caveat I do want to make.  Chapter 13 discusses the people of God bringing in outsiders to the temple, completely disrespecting and dishonoring God as their main sin problem.  Those were different times.  The people didn’t have Jesus who died for their sins yet, so they were still making sacrifices in the temple in order to be justified with God.  This is why it was very important to make sure to keep the temple as holy as possible.  I believe it is important that we as Christians, and people of God, do bring outsiders to church.  We should have a heart to serve the whole population and bringing others to the love and acceptance of Christ is one guaranteed way to do this.  

There are a lot of verses from the Bible that speak of the importance of avoiding sin and temptations.  One set of verses is James 1:14-15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”  This seems a bit morbid, yes, but it is also very true.  If we have certain temptations we don’t keep in check, then we fall into sin, and with this particular sin growing more and more prominent or present in our lives, then it would suddenly lead to spiritual death.  This is why we need to constantly be checking on the sins and the temptations we currently have.  

The challenge for you this week is to really identify what the main sins in your life are.  What are the main things that make you seem to keep falling back into sin?  What is the big temptation you seem to focus on, even when you are in a place where you are supposed to be filled with praise and worship.  I definitely could list off a few things that I would put on this list besides my impatient thoughts I mentioned earlier. I want to make sure you don’t let those pieces of sin or temptation lead you down a life filled with spiritual death.  I want your life to feel fulfilling and be spirit filled. 

The one encouragement I can give you is we do have the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the entity we have to guide us through these times of fighting temptations and through fighting of sin and keeping sin farther away from the Holy Places.  It is so much more important to have the Holy Spirit’s help and love when we go to seek fighting away from these sins. 

I was just proposed to on Sunday! I love Cole Thomas, my new fiancé and future husband.  I have a lot of excited energy and anticipation for the next few months that are coming before the wedding and the new future takes place.  I believe it is important to pray all the time and over everything.  However, I am a big believer in praying over the big life alternating moments.  When approaching these life changes, it can be easy to let fear override all other emotions, so that is why prayer is so vital.  

Because I have some readers who may be curious and because I want to write about it, I will talk about how Cole asked me to marry him.  He brought me to visit UNI, which is the college where I graduated, after homecoming weekend.  We went up to the campanile which is the bell tower in the center of campus.  Even though I was a student for four years, I never got to go inside.  It was beautiful in the campanile.  It was awesome to see through the windows, to see the whole campus from around the campanile, and it was really awesome to see the organ-like instrument where the music is played once a week.  Then Cole and I went down the steps on our own while the instrumentalist stayed upstairs to “tidy up.”  At the bottom of the campanile, he proposed while his dad taped the whole thing.  Then at the top of the campanile, the song “Yellow” by Coldplay played, which is my favorite song.  It was the most perfect and beautiful day, and I am so blessed Cole did that for me.  

I wanted to take this time to pray over our upcoming future.  I know not everyone reading is going to be in the same life situation when it comes to these romantic relationships.  I have some readers who have been married for a long time, those who are single, and maybe even some who are going through a divorce.  However, I know each and every one of us are going to be approaching major milestones in the future, even if we do not know when.  This could be graduating from school, starting a new job, starting a family, losing a family member, etc.  This could be any new change in the very real future. 

Dear Lord, 

I praise you for your perfect love and holiness.  You are completely perfect and never sin, yet continue to love your people when we sin and when we choose to turn away from you.  I appreciate the grace and mercy you have given your people.  You have a perfect plan for your people’s futures.  We don’t always know your plans.  We don’t always know your next steps, but we can be confident in your love and sovereignty.  

Thank you for the individual blessings you have given me.  Thank you for the years of growing and learning I was able to have amidst my singleness.  Thank you for the love I have learned to grow for others through the various forms of relationships.  Thank you we have encouragement from those around us who love us and care about us.  

Thank you for bringing Cole into my life.  Thank you for helping me trust a man.  Because for a long time I was really very fearful and anxious to really trust someone to come into my life and love me like he has shown.  I didn’t think I would ever find anyone who could love and cherish me.  Then after some time in prayer and through talking through feelings of insecurity with my therapist, I discovered I can have the ability to trust someone else into my life. 

Please Lord help Cole and I in this next stage of our lives.  Please help us to continue to grow in our love for you and our love for our church community we have found.  I pray we continue to individually prepare our hearts and minds to now become one unit. I pray we are both individually and as a couple receiving regular advice for how to best approach situations in our marriage. 

In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

My challenge for you this week is to spend time in prayer for any new things or new steps you are going to be taking in the very recent future.  Again, it is very important to spend a great deal of time in prayer for anything, but whenever you spend time in prayer over the future big events, it can help your overall anxiety.  Remember what is said in 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

I was continuing to read more of Nehemiah for my morning devotional.  This book has continued to be an eye-opening book for me to learn more about Nehemiah and his importance to the word of God.  One thing I really enjoyed was reading through chapter 8 of Nehemiah and the insight that gives me to the character of Nehemiah and all those in Israel.  

 This chapter starts to describe a big feast and a celebration the people of Jerusalem were having. They were having this feast because they had just completed alterations and the rebuilding of the wall.  Originally, one of the goals of Nehemiah was to go to Jerusalem and to help rebuild the wall after many people had decided to destroy it, therefore leaving Jerusalem and the temple open to many more attacks from other countries.  Nehemiah and his men of workers were victims of a lot of evil people trying to discourage and to hurt them through this process, but through God’s strength, they were able to persevere.  

The people were enjoying the food and the camaraderie of others.  However, the big piece of this party or feast was the reading of God’s Word.  The people sat around and listened.  However, as we later find out, we find people listen for the majority of the whole day, and not only that, but they came back for more each and every day.  They did this for roughly 7 days straight to listen to the word of God.  These people were loving every moment of the community and the praise they were receiving from being with Christ.  

I think this can be a very important thing to note.  Sometimes, we as people can only care about hearing God’s Word for a short period of time.  For example, to be honest, sometimes we can only care about church being one hour long.  Maybe we can handle an hour and a half, but how many of us would be frustrated if church ended up being three hours long.  I know I have been frustrated when church has gone on longer than I anticipated .  I have been especially bad on the days when I feel as though I have a lot to do, and I start to get overwhelmed in the middle of church.  I can constantly be checking the time to make sure I will get out with enough time to do all the things I had originally planned.  

We as a society do struggle with this because of our constant distractions in our life.  We have a lot of things that now distract our minds.  This can be our phones, the activities we are all involved in, work priorities, and even our church duties or volunteering opportunities.  There are a lot of things each person is doing constantly.   

This actually does bring to mind my mentee’s church.  I have gone to church with her a few times to watch her perform in the church choir.  One thing I did notice about her church was people did not care how long the church was.  They were there to worship and to sing solos, say what God has been doing in their life.  Her church service was at least 2 ½ to 3 hours long.  The people had the greatest amount of joy amidst the church walls.  Then they often would convent together afterwards for a meal.   

One verse I wanted to highlight was John 4:23-24 which says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  This verse is a good reminder that God does appreciate those who are worshiping him.  God wants us to worship him in both spirits in truth, which I would say means he wants us to both worship him in regard to the Bible and His words as well as worshiping him in the Holy Spirit.  

There are a few different options for a challenge this week.  The first one is to put away your phones during church.  I know, I use my phone for my Bible app like a lot of other people do.  However, if you find you are also very distracted by the time and thinking about when church will be getting out, then I think this will be a good challenge for you.  I know I will be participating at least once or twice.  If bringing a phone to church is not something you really struggle with, then it is important to maybe spend a good couple of hours, or don’t even care about the time frame, in worshiping the Lord.  

Today in church we talked about 1 Kings 21.  This chapter discusses the king of Samaria, Ahab with his wife Jezebel.  One day they decided they really wanted to buy this man Naboth’s vineyard.  Ahab wanted to use this vineyard to make a vegetable garden, and he in particular wanted this vineyard because it was close to his palace.  

However, Naboth did not end up selling this vineyard to Ahab even though he was even offered a better vineyard or would be given the money of what the vineyard is worth.  Ahab was offering a nice deal for what he wanted.  However, Naboth knew God’s law really well.  He knew that he wasn’t allowed to sell the vineyard because a man of God was not allowed to sell the land handed down to him from his fathers. It was His.  It was a piece of land that was intended to stay with God’s people.  Naboth was supposed to pass this land along to future generations.  It must have been really scary to be Naboth.  He said no to the king of Samaria, but he was content with what he had and he was also willing to follow God first. 

Now to start, Ahab didn’t do anything wrong.  He just wanted to buy a vineyard for a vegetable garden. It is perfectly fine to offer a deal to pay for a vineyard or a piece of land.  However, it is how Ahab responds to this situation.  Ahab instantly became a big complainer.  He came home sullen and angry.  He just laid in bed and refused to eat.  Now Ahab has switched from just being interested in land to coveting what he couldn’t have. 

Then it gets even worse.  Jezebel creates a scheme where the people had a feast, and then she wrote a letter to have two people accuse Naboth of disrespecting their god and to have him stoned.  He was killed, so then Ahab would be able to take his vineyard for himself.  He got what he wanted.  Ahab does later regret his decision.  Elijah, the prophet, comes to him and rebukes him for the murder of an innocent man.  Ahab also has to face some justice.  Ahab is told by Elijah that there will be a lot of destruction done to his son and his household.  

The main thing we can learn from this story is again, the destructive power of being covet.  The act of not coveting is so important to God that it is one of the ten commandments.  The tenth commandment says, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, nor his farm, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his!”  The Lord makes sure to say this because he was very aware that people, when they choose to covet, can become just like Ahab.  Their desires can take root and make them become frustrated, depressed, or angry by the lack of things they have. 

It is so important to love what we already have.  It is important to be content with the talents and the goods one has received, so those don’t feel bogged down by what they don’t have.  Otherwise, we start to look at others and are constantly filled with bitterness and with anger and with more and more discontent.  There are more verses about coveting than just in the Old Testament through the ten commands, but also there is Luke 12:15 which says, “And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

I have recently struggled with this a bit.  I mostly have because I have been struggling with my finances.  I often get very discouraged by the finances I currently have, and I want to be in a different position than I am currently.  I don’t necessarily think it is wrong to set goals to be a better place for the future.  However, I do think it is important to not constantly be looking at others and wishing I was in the place they were financially.  I need to be grateful for the money I currently have and need to be continuously wise with these finances.  

My challenge this week is to spend some time in reflection.  Think about one or two things that you wish you had that other people have.  I want you to be reflective and to be willing to admit the items that you are coveting.  Then instead of thinking about or focusing on how you will receive this item, instead, be grateful for five things you do have instead. I pray for you as you continue to fight against the pull of covetousness. 

I just recently started a new devotional study all about the book of Nehemiah in the Bible.  I was very excited to start this series because this is not a book of the Bible that I know a lot about.  I don’t necessarily know Nehemiah and his story.  I have read through this book before, but it has been some time.  The start of the book, as well as reading my devotional book has really opened my eyes to the beautiful way in which Nehemiah prays.  He prays with adoration, patience and persistence, and prays for the good of multiple communities and people.  

Something I have recently learned about Nehemiah was all about the importance he put on prayer.  There is a lot of emphasis and care when it comes to his prayers.  However, I believe the best part of his prayer is when he spends time in adoration or showing God praise before you ever ask for anything.  Then second, he also prays for forgiveness.  He is aware that he has sinned in the past and needs to ask God for forgiveness to be completely filled with His Spirit.  

I was really struck by this because I am not always the best at spending time in adoration to God.  I know I need to do a better job, but there are definitely times when I don’t spend time praising God as much as I do ask God for certain prayer requests.  I do enjoy spending time thanking God for all he has done for me, but I don’t always spend the time to praise him for all of his quality traits. I definitely take them for granted. This made me realize that I need to make sure to not just spend time praying to God through making requests to God.  

The other big thing about Nehemiah is his patience he had through his prayers.  Nehemiah heard devastating news about the temple of God being in jeopardy.  He also heard that his city of Jerusalem was not going to be protected by a wall as it was before.  He was upset and was scared.  However, we see him spend months and months praying for the exact thing that he was supposed to do.  He knew he was going to have a role to play in helping to fix this issue, but what exactly? That was what he in part was spending prayer time doing.  

After many months of spending time in prayer, Nehemiah was asked by the king as to why he was so sad, why he was upset.  Nehemiah knew this was his moment to finally speak up about what his concerns were about Jerusalem and the temple inside.  Nehemiah knew he finally needed to be honest about what he had been praying about and what he had been concerned with.  So Nehemiah finally spoke to the king, with the courage and the wisdom from months of prayers, to finally ask to go and help build back the wall and the town of Jerusalem.  

The King that Nehemiah was under simply asked how long he would be gone.  He didn’t get angry or upset.  He just let him go without any problems or concerns. This is because God had set the path for Nehemiah to go on his way and help with the new protections for the city of Jerusalem.  God had a plan for Nehemiah, so he let it be so that he could be a part of that plan.  The plan was revealed to him because he continued to pray.  One quote from the devotional book I am reading from the daily grace company says, “Being used by God often begins with prayer and preparation.  Patience and waiting are often things that mark our journeys in serving the Lord.  We often push against seasons of waiting and preparation, but God uses those seasons to prepare us for the work that He called us to do.”  

It is really important to stay consistent and patient in prayers.  It is really important to watch out for God’s signs of His plan. One important piece is to remember to be on the lookout and to be ready for God to tell you when He is calling upon you to act.  This really does become more and more obvious through time in prayer.  I have had this when I was called to move to a new job and town a few years back.  I was praying for direction, and then the Lord provided me with a new opportunity and a new community of which I really love.  

One other thing that I want to highlight when it comes to Nehemiah’s prayers is that he was very good about praying for the world and the problems at large.  I have talked about this before, but I in particular sometimes struggle to pray outside of my frame of reference.  I am good about praying for the needs and the desires of the people around me.  I am good about praying for my friends and family members, even my students.  But sometimes, I struggle to spend time in prayer for the world and the natural disasters/heartaches around it.  For example, as I am writing, the southern part of the United States was very much hit by a massive hurricane.  One of the biggest in a long time.  The destruction that it left was monumental. I need to challenge myself to remember to pray over the people and the communities that were lost in the wake of this massive hurricane.   

My challenge for you this week is to spend time in prayer.  However, I want this to be spending time in prayer like Nehemiah prays. This means spending time in adoration and praise to God to start.  It can be very easy to start praying for the needs of the people around us, but to start time in praise and thankfulness is really the best way to do prayer.  Then be spending time in prayer for the world around you.  Yes, there is always an opportunity to make personal requests and for those loved ones around you, but really spend some time in prayer for those who are suffering all around the world. 

I am continuing my reading of the book about God and work, called “Every Good Endeavor,” by Timothy Keller.  Through this book, there are a lot of chapters of working and the importance of working hard for the glory of God.  However, there is then a chapter about the importance of working selflessly.  This is not working with a sense of pride, but rather this is working with a sense of godliness and overall humility at knowing that the work being done is your calling.  

I wanted to make sure I talked about this because previously in my last blog post, I only talked about the importance of hard work.  Sometimes people could take that and run with it too far.  They may start to try to work too hard where the work starts to become a god to them, or they start to look at work in a very selfish light.  It is only to bring glory to themselves or to bring in a lot of money for them.  They don’t work to spread God’s word or to show other people love.  It is very important to make sure you have a good heart when you go into work, every single day. 

I can sometimes care too much about work.  I care too much about looking a certain way, and I want to be considered a very good worker at whatever place I am working.  I want to make sure I look good in front of everyone and in front of every job employer.  I need to always make sure I look presentable.  In part, I do think this is important.  We should want to look professional and make sure to hold ourselves accountable to do good work.  However, on the other hand, we need to make sure we are doing it for the glory of God, as opposed to doing it for personal glory. 

It can be so easy to turn our success around and start to think that this success is only brought by ourselves.  One quote I really like from this chapter said, “We either get our name-our defining essence, security, worth, and uniqueness–from what God has done for us and in us (Revelation 2:17), or we make a name through what we can do for ourselves. (Keller, Timothy, Every Good Endeavor, pg. 110).  It is really an either/or situation.  We can not be completely committed to Christ and His Glory if we are too focused on our own success and glory.  

There are many verses that bring up fighting against idols.  One of them is Habakkuk 2:18, which says, “What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies? For its maker trusts in his own creation when he makes speechless idols!”  This Bible Verse is a good reminder to us people that idols are really not something or anything of value.  They are something of our own creation.  They aren’t something holy or glorious or anything of that nature, they are just a part of our own hands and working.  

Sometimes when we can start to make work too much of an idol, then we can also start to be judgmental of others and how they do work.  We can start to compare ourselves to others.  We can start to make sure we are always looking better than the rest of the other workers.  This can be against other Christians as well as those not yet a part of the Chrisitan faith.  We instead can be so focused on the work that is being done by ourselves, that we don’t see the good that is being done by all people and all workers as a unit. 

This is a good reminder that God gives goods and talents to all people in the world.  He has certain things people need to accomplish, and that is the thing we should be more focused on.  We need to be more focused on the work being accomplished for God’s glory, not whether or not we are the ones who are accomplishing these certain goals and these certain good things.  

I have two challenges for you this week.  The first is to encourage another coworker you have.  It is just a good reminder to say encouraging notes and to keep in mind that God is at work in every one of the workers at your particular job.  He has given various degrees of talents and interests to them, so there can be hopefully a productive work environment.  Sometimes we all need a bit of encouragement, so I encourage you to be that for someone else at your place of work.

I have recently just started a book by Timothy Keller called “Every Good Endeavor.”  This book is really a great book on the importance of work, and how work is a very godly thing to do.  It is a part of God’s plan for humanity, and it is not something we just have to bear or live through.  It should not be considered an unnecessary evil, but rather it should be considered a way to live by God’s example.  

The first thing I loved about this book was the showcase of God as a worker.  It is a good reminder that even before there ever was sin in the world, God was working.  He wanted the chance to be a creative person.  He created the light and darkness in the world.  He created the oceans.  He created the heavens. Then he went back and added some more details. He then added the creatures and the people who were going to occupy the world, so there could be more life and movement.

God also gives us the opportunity to work.  This was mentioned in the book as a reminder, but God did actually give Adam a task to do.  He told Adam to go into the world and name all the animals.  He also gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to work and garden the crops.  Yes, this was even before the fall. This is said in Genesis 2:15,  “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”  The fall and sin meant the labor was going to be hard, but the actual idea of working in and of itself was something God thought was very good and essential for a thriving lifestyle even before sin was in the picture.  

This book also does a really good job of showing that it is not just any jobs Christians need to have.  Sometimes society, especially in the west, can look down on certain jobs.  The ones with the intellectual jobs can look down on those who have manual labor jobs or who are working a service job.  However, throughout the Bible, it shows that any job can have an importance.  Jesus came down and started work as a carpenter, and a lot of his followers had jobs like being a fisherman.    

Other people Jesus would commonly work with were tax collectors.  Granted at the time, they were not the most respected profession, but that was only if they were not following the law well.  The main reason people during the time of Jesus didn’t always respect the tax collectors was because of their behavior and their attitudes towards the job.  They were taking their job and using it for granted, their power and their position to receive more money than they were supposed to. He just wanted them to respect people while they were respecting their job.   Because of this, Jesus would become their friends and would even try to inspire them to become believers and then leaders of how to be a Christian while also being a tax collector.  

There is more information on how to be a better worker throughout the New Testament.  Paul really speaks to the importance of working.  One verse I want to use as an example is Galatians 6:4-5 which says, “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.”  I love this verse because this is a good reminder to work really hard, but not in the way of taking pride, but rather there should be more focus on doing your particular “load.”  Load, here I would say, means the task or the calling God has set on a particular person.  

The challenge for this week is to spend time being grateful for your job.  Write down a list of ten things you really love and appreciate about the job or the jobs you have currently.  I am not saying they are perfect.  I am not saying you need to stay there till the end of time, but it is a good thing to practice being really grateful for the jobs we do have.  There may be at least a few people you do really enjoy meeting with.  There may be one chance to work on certain tasks you enjoy.  There is something about the job that brings you joy.  I hope you take the time to reflect on this work to really bring work going closer to God.  That joy just might inspire others to become believers as well. 

I have recently finished the book, “Forgive,” by Timothy Keller.  This book has really been a good insight to me on how to feel about forgiving others, as well as how to be overfilled with appreciation and joy from the forgiveness God has shown us.  Through having this deep appreciation over God’s forgiveness, we are able to use that forgiveness to overflow to others. 

This past chapter I read was all about forgiving ourselves or dealing with shame/guilt when we do sin or make a mistake.  I really enjoyed this chapter.  Keller did a good job showcasing to me some of the ways we as people, including myself, can show repentance.  Some of this is true repentance and then some of it is fake repentance.  There may even be times when we believe we are showing true repentance, but instead we are really just trying to make ourselves feel better or get shifted from the blame.  

There are three main ways we as people can show fake repentance and this is through shifting of the blame, self-pity, and lastly, self-flagellation.  Shifting of the blame is when we start to give excuses for the reason we have sinned or made a mistake.  This could be shifting the blame to our upbringing and certain trauma we have experienced, or it could be through shifting the blame to what other people have done.  Keller really showed us that this type of shifting of the blame is not showing repentance and it is not real love for the person you are apologizing to.   

I believe I can often fall into the shifting blame.  I can start to blame my certain attitude or issues on some of the things that are happening around me.  When I am really stressed, I can start to explain the reason why I am not acting like myself.  However, really at the end of the day, I need to just apologize and repent from my sins, accept forgiveness from God and hopefully the other person, and then try to act in a better way for the future. 

Then self-pity is another example of fake or not real repentance and therefore not showing real love.  Self-Pity is when a person cares more about the consequences than they do actually about apologizing. They start to develop a “woe is me” concept.  They can even start to compare themselves to others who do not seem to get as punished, even for a similar crime.   It is important to not fall into self-pity and to not spend time feeling sorry for oneself. 

This last type, if I am honest, is the one in which I struggle the most. This type of repentance is self-flagellation.  This is the idea of self-loathing and cries of feeling awful for who you are as a person.  Essentially, this is calling yourself a really bad person, and eventually hoping there will be someone else to comfort you and tell you that you are not that bad, or the sin that happened wasn’t that bad.  This is to make yourself feel better, or to make yourself feel more self-righteous. 

The quote that really struck me from this description was in “Real Repentance involves an acceptance of God’s free mercy.”  (152).  This means that when we repent to God, we need to be willing to accept the mercy God wants to give us.  We need to realize that part of God’s mercy is that we are not good enough on our own, so God had to send his son to die on the cross for our sins.  

There are times when I really struggle to go on and on about how I feel like a bad person.  There are times when I am genuinely not as happy with myself as I wish I could be.  There are times when I feel as though I have very wrongly sinned and that I am not a very good christian or I am not doing what I need to do.  However, I never took the time to realize that during those moments, I am also looking to be encouraged.  I am looking for someone to tell me the opposite, that I am a good enough person, that I am a good christian, that I am lovable, etc.  

A big part of being a Christian is learning to accept grace and mercy from God.  There is a reason God died on the cross for our sins.  He wanted to make sure to take away all the sins we have done.  He wants us to be forgiven.  He wants us to feel loved and accepted by him once again.  However, in order to really take this acceptance, we do need to believe that we don’t have to keep wailing about how we have sinned.  We need to be willing to accept forgiveness and move on in a better way from that moment on. 

There are many verses throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testament that speak of the importance of repentance and forgiveness.  Even before the world had the sacrifice of Christ, God was still calling his people to come to Him.  This is from 2 Chronicles 7:14 which says, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  The Lord was calling the people to humble themselves, decide that they can not save themselves on their own, then pray to God and seek him in order to really be forgiven and to be made whole.   There is another verse that I do believe really showcases how God feels about how true repentance needs to be.  2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”  There is a certain level of grief that happens when people need to repent.  However, this needs to be a godly grief.  This needs to have the desire to really reach out to God and seek repentance.  This is different from worldly grief, where the person may be looking to be redeemed through their own actions and through their own words.  No challenge for this week, but please keep these thoughts in mind, the next time you are need of true repentance.