An Introduction to the Book of Titus- Titus 1:1-5 NLT

This week I want to take a look at Titus. I know a Titus in real life. He is adorable, funny, smart, intuitive, and such a people person. He is just a tiny guy and part of our family, actually. We normally spend time with him around now in the summer and so maybe that's why I feel a prodding to study this book that this sweet little boy was named for.

Titus was actually a Gentile man (Galatians 2:4) who followed along with Paul in his mission (Galatians 2:1) to spread the truth of Jesus to the entire known world. This is no small assignment. In fact, Paul spends much of this letter calling us away from the ordinary life and into an extraordinary life serving God. He wants to see us use our God-given gifts and talents to serve God and introduce others to Him.

Remember that Paul was the one who wrote much of the New Testament as we know it today after spending a portion of his life as a Jewish pharisee, persecuting the new believers. Everything changed when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. His life was forever changed after that and Jesus has been using him ever since to change our lives as well.

Paul is actually the author of this book, this letter that is written to Titus. The first verses in this book tell us so. They also explain why Paul is writing:

"This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. 2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began. 3 And now at just the right time he has revealed this message, which we announce to everyone. It is by the command of God our Savior that I have been entrusted with this work for him.

4 I am writing to Titus, my true son in the faith that we share.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace." (Titus 1:1-4)

If we read on, we can also see when Paul wrote it and what Titus' purpose was there:

"I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you." (Titus 1:5)

Now within five verses, we know that Paul is writing to Titus just after leaving him to spread the message of Jesus and appoint elders on the Island of Crete. There's something else to see in these lines too, though. Paul actually tells us that he is not only a "slave to Christ (a master-slave position)" but that he has also chosen this position (apostle of Jesus Christ). An apostle was chosen and sent by Christ himself. In this letter to Titus, and in several of his other letters, Paul identifies himself as someone who willingly serves Christ.

But what else do we know about Titus? We know that Paul considered him his "true son in the faith" that they both shared. Keep in mind that Paul never had any children of his own nor did he marry. So calling Titus his son is an expression of father-like love for this man that he loves as a son. He also references him as a companion alongside Barnabas in Galatians 2:1. Therefore it's safe to assume that Titus was a really close friend of Paul's who was also working to introduce others to Jesus. And more than anything, Paul longed to see Titus and the people of Crete knowing the real truth that comes from God not the fake truth that the false prophets were teaching all around them.

We know little else about Titus, but the letter that Paul wrote to this man of the faith serves us in a big way today. From it, we gain a list of what to look for in church leaders (elders). We see the importance of right teaching and making good choices. But most importantly, we read Paul's message of HOPE, Christian Hope which is so much more than some uncertainty of the future. It's a promise grounded in the words of God. The Book of Titus is tiny but packs a big message. It'll be great to dig into this little book of the Bible over the next week.

And as we do so, we are going to unpack Paul's messages and apply them to family life. How can we serve our families as a team? What does a strong and uplifting mentor relationship look like between women? How can we, as women, lift our husbands up? What are some ways that we can be bighearted and courteous in our own homes? Join me this week as we strive to answer these questions.

It's my prayer that we come through this study of Titus with a different perspective, a powerful hope, a renewed sense of purpose, and that we are changed because of what we have learned. I can't wait to see what Jesus teaches us over the next several days.

* Bible Gateway Commentary about Titus, "Greeting:" https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Titus/Greeting-557

The Wanderers James 5:19-20 MSG

It's hard to believe that we are wrapping up our time together in the book of James already. We have learned so many amazing things along the way on this journey. Most recently, we talked about patience, materialism, obedience to God, and loving others. We have also seen verses that tell us about applying wisdom, favoritism, showing our faith in our work, and closing our mouths. If you missed any of these posts and wish to read them, you can find them in the archive on the right side of the blog. They've all been labeled with the tags "Book of James" and "Bible Study." You can also find them by clicking the labeled tabs above or using the search bar at the bottom of the page.

Next week we will start a new study in the book of Titus. This time, though, we'll be applying the truths that we learn from Titus- well, Paul writing to Titus- to marriage, family, and parenting. These three areas are places that I am not only currently living, but they are also very near and dear to my heart. I'm looking forward to digging into Titus with you to see what we can learn there.

Today, let's take one last look at the book of James. These are our final two verses:

"My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God." (James 5:19-20)

I can't say this enough. Jesus loves us with this amazing, extravagant, unparallelled love. He longs to live in relationship with you and be a part of your everyday life. He never promises an easy or always happy life, but there is always the ability to have a deep-seated, Jesus centered joy deep within you. We need Jesus to live our lives effectively and well.

There's a story in Luke 15 that Jesus tells about a shepherd and his lost sheep. In the story, the shepherd owns and herds one hundred sheep. Now a shepherd grows close to his sheep. He loves them. He spends all of his time with them. They are valuable to him. So when one of those hundred goes missing one day, the shepherd doesn't just let it go and write it off. He doesn't say, "oh well, at least I still have these other ninety-nine!" No. He drops everything and goes off in search of that missing sheep. And when he finds it? He doesn't scold it, call it stupid or bad, or try to punish it in any way. Instead, he embraces it and carries it back home with his other sheep. He has this deep joy at finding the missing one.

Jesus told this story in order to compare lost people to those sheep. The shepherd is Jesus. This story shows us that Jesus doesn't just give up on us. Once we are one of his children, he will always be there for us. He loves us too much to do anything else. And we are called to live like Jesus as much as possible in our lives. In my life verse, Ephesians 5:1-2, it says:

"Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."

So when one of Jesus' own wanders away, we should want to get them back on track. If we are living and loving like Jesus, we want what's best for his people. That's really loving others. Seeing a family member, a friend, a fellow believer falling away and coming alongside them, loving them, praying with and for them, helping them back on the right path- that's some extravagant love.

Typically, our first response when someone else messes up is judgment. We look at them and just know that we could have done it better. Except we don't know. We don't know what is truly going on or how much they are hurting. A better response is prayer, empathy, guidance.

The other day I was on Facebook reading through posts from my friends. One of them wrote about something that was a source of conflict in Facebook Land. Big surprise, right? I read through the comments on that post; most of them were loving, insightful, and full of ideas for change. Others were sadly overly harsh, judgmental, and full of angry words. And you know what? Every word that was written on that post could be seen by believers and unbelievers alike. Did every person's words represent Jesus well? I don't know and I'm not going to make any judgments. The point of my telling you this is that there was a wanderer in that fight on that thread. Every word written- whether meant in a loving and guiding way or in a harsh, judgmental way- was thrown back at the writers. That wanderer was angry at God. I assume that he or she still is. At some point, one lone believer came on the post at the very end and wrapped his/her virtual arms around the wanderer by apologizing in place of whoever had hurt the wanderer and offering prayer.

I have no idea how that story turned out. This was a week or two ago now and I haven't heard anything else nor do I expect to. We don't get to know everything. But God knows. And I just love that one of his children came alongside a wandering, angry soul and tried to guide that person back. The guide knew that the wanderer was still loved and cherished by God himself and wanted to do his/her best to put them back in line with Jesus so the hurts could be healed.

What would happen if we approached more angry and hurting souls like that? I was reading about conflict resolution and how to approach angry people in my devotions from Ecclesiastes today. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 9:17 that "the quiet words of the wise are more effective

than the ranting of a king of fools." That means that when we speak gently and kindly with a loving voice, we are far more effective at conveying our point than when we fly off the handle and scream at everyone.

This is my challenge today- and it's not just for you. I'm working hard on this one too because, if I'm honest, I struggle with this sometimes. Let's work to yell and scream less. Let's try quiet words, soothing voices. Let's seek to understand and explain rather than forcing our opinions on others. Let's believe the best of those around us. I'm starting with those in my own house. Where will you start? At work, at home, online, or at church? Somewhere else?

I pray that we can do this together. The world could be an amazing place if we could all communicate well and love each other, believing the best first, rather than fighting. Don't just be blessed today, strive to be a blessing to others.

The Power of Prayer James 5:13-18

"Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing." (James 5:13)

These 9 simple words are strung beautifully together in The Message translation of James 5:13. James has taken the sometimes overcomplicated-by-our-human-selves act of prayer and made it so easy. Are you hurting? Then pray about it. Are you having a great day? Sing about it. There are so many emotions and events that can happen between hurt and greatness. We are called to pray through them all. What an amazing feeling to know that the God of the universe, He who made everything we see and touch and interact with and love every day also wants to talk to us day in and day out, whether our days are good or bad. That information all by itself sparks a feeling of joy in my heart that no one can take away.

"Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out." (James 5:14-15)

I would love to say that these verses mean that praying hard enough equals complete healing for the person here on earth. But I think we all know that's not true. God is not your personal genie. He isn't going to grant your each and every wish. Sometimes, because we live in an imperfect and fallen world, bad things are allowed to happen. And beyond that, God knows what he's doing. He can see the bigger picture. He will use every single thing for his greater purpose. So even when something bad happens now, you can expect a greater purpose in the future whether you get to see it or not.

The way God heals a person of their illness sometimes includes their going home to heaven. What is going on in their lives is solved by Jesus simply calling them home. In heaven, they are whole and healed and perfect again. Other times, the healing they receive means they are healed temporarily here on earth. This is not our permanent residence, remember. The Bible tells us in Philippians 3:20 that our permanent address is heaven. It's not here. This is a short stop in our eternity.

Look at Paul who wrote half of the New Testament (almost). He was afflicted with what he described as "a thorn in the side." He never comes out and says exactly what this is, but it's possible it was some simple but uncomfortable chronic illness like headaches or migraines. He prayed and prayed for healing and it didn't come. God said his power is made greater in Paul's weakness and so he continued to have that thorn in his side for the rest of his days as far as anyone knows.

A couple of years ago, two of my friends each had a son dealing with cancer. Both are great women who love Jesus, go to church every week, and do their best to live their lives like Jesus. They pray constantly and asked their communities to surround their babies in prayer. We absolutely did that. One son was declared "in remission" and is seemingly healed today. The other is in heaven with Jesus. Two women. Two sons. Two outcomes. Two different ways of healing. The same Jesus.

Does this mean Jesus loves one more than the other? That he answered one prayer and not the other? Absolutely not. He loves each and every one of us the same, with a fierce and unending love. Both of these guys are loved by God himself. One has more life to live here on earth, the other had the privilege of hearing "well done, my good and faithful servant" as his short time here on earth came to an end. Yes, we miss him, but we will be reunited one day in heaven. Those words don't feel like enough and they aren't. Nothing can take away the absolutely heartbreaking feeling of losing a child, not even the "time" that everyone claims.

"Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again." (James 5:16-18)

From sickness and healing, James takes a turn at confessing our sins and praying for one another. I love that James challenges us all as believers to pray for one another. There is nothing more powerful that you can do for another person than to talk to Jesus on their behalf. And this isn't because your prayers are better than anyone else's. It's because you are building a relationship with Jesus one prayer at a time. You are giving complete trust to God that he will take care of those you love. And at the same time, you are living in fellowship with other believers which is one of the ways that God made us to live our lives.

I have loved the challenges that God is giving me lately and I have another for you for today. My challenge for you today is to start a prayer journal. It could be written out on paper, in an actual journal, or even on your phone. Write out the names of the people in your life. You can make this longer or shorter, but write it. Add notes about things that are going on in their lives. Then start praying for them. Every single day, open that journal and pray. When you hear about an answered prayer, make a note. It'll be amazingly uplifting and encouraging for you a few weeks from now to look back on it and see all of the answered prayers.

I used to do this, actually. I'm going to go now and update my own prayer journal. I pray that you start your own as well. Have a blessed day.

Patience: James 5:7-12

"Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time." (James 5:7-8)

James uses the word patience (or a variation of it) three times in these two verses. I'd say patience is pretty important, wouldn't you? And so many of us completely lack this fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We live in an impatient time. We rarely have to wait on anything. Have you noticed? I'm waiting on an important email? It's delivered immediately to my phone while I'm away from my house. I hear a song that I like on the radio? I can just download it instantly to my phone. I feel like having pizza? I place an order online and then walk in and pick it up. There is virtually no waiting for anything anymore. We are an impatient generation and the next one will likely be even more so.

But patience is vital to our faith. James says it in those verses. So how do we develop patience in a completely impatient world? That's a great question that I really can't answer on my own. Let's keep reading this passage and see if we can come up with any more answers:

"Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner." (James 5:9)

Hmm. What do our friends have to do with patience? Why is this verse here in the midst of a passage on patience? In praying about it, I think our friends are the key to practicing and building our patience. God has placed us in fellowship with other believers- and even several nonbelievers- for many reasons. It's my belief that developing patience within ourselves is one of those reasons. Think about it. Every single person was created in this world to look differently, act differently, sound differently, believe different things. Everyone possesses different personality traits and quirks. We have habits- good and bad.

We will never get along with another human being 100% of the time. Everyone disagrees on occasion. Some people actually enjoy disagreements and seek them out. How do we correct an issue with a friend? How do we resolve a conflict? One of the key ingredients is patience. Sure, there is empathy in there as we strive to understand the other person's point of view and compromise as you work to come to a happy conclusion, but one of the most important elements is patience. We can't approach a disagreement that we hope to resolve without possessing a good deal of patience for the other person. Impatience only leads to more anger and hostility. Patience helps to bring the level of anger down several notches. Patience says, "I want to hear what you have to say even if I have to wait to share my side."

My oldest son is the most patient person that I have ever met in my entire 35 years and counting. Honestly, he has the patience of...I don't know...someone with a lot of patience. Just trust me. He's very patient. He is rarely in a disagreement with anyone because he is so patient with everyone. In our house, there are little spats amongst three of our four kids constantly. They always want their own way and are always trying their hardest to get it. But not my oldest. He rarely tries to get his own way. He puts others first often. He is optimistic about their motives almost always. And he is so, so patient. When he plays a video game with "the baby," who is seven now so not an actual baby in any way, he patiently teaches him how to work the game, what the buttons do, what the best way to get through a level is, and he even lets him win sometimes. Patient. He doesn't care how long it takes for the baby to understand what he is saying and instructing. He just waits for him to get it. It's awesome.

Let's keep reading and see if we can glean anything else from James' words:

"Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail." (James 5:10-11)

And here's another way for us to learn to be patient: by studying those who came before us. James describes "the old prophets" here as great mentors who have put up with a ton, gone through everything under the sun, and persevered despite it all. And they did it all to the glory of God. We can still read about and study the lives of those "old prophets" by opening our Bibles. When James wrote this, the Bible was several books in the old testament. The new testament wasn't a thing yet. It was still being written in the form of letters to the various churches throughout the known world. So when James says to study under the old prophets, they are men from old testament times.

These verses may point to another group of people as well- our elders. People who are older than us have more life experience. It's just a fact. Finding someone who has lived on a similar path to yours and could give you their thoughts and experiences would be a great way to build up your skills, including your patience. So often I think we disregard the older generation as out of touch with current times and lacking in anything more to offer. They are full of knowledge and should continue to be valued until the Lord welcomes them home with the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Finally, James has an important warning for us to end this portion of his letter:

"And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you." (James 5:12)

God operates on his own timetable. He will not be rushed or challenged into moving quicker. You cannot force his hand or make things happen that he isn't prepared to see come to fruition. He is God and he is in charge. Pushing for something to happen rather than patiently waiting on God to do it will only lead to heartache.

When we bought our first house as a married couple, I wasn't in love with it. In fact, I didn't really like the place much at all. It was in the general area where I wanted to be but the layout was strange (our master bedroom was a walk-through to our oldest son's bedroom) and the yard was small. It was the best that we could afford at the time and my husband swore we would only be there five years. Mistake. Five years came and went. At seven years, I wanted to put the house on the market. Neither of us felt like God was leading us to go yet, but I wanted to go so we listed. And guess what? Our house didn't sell and we didn't find another place to move either. Total heartache. So we stayed five more years. In those years, I did my best to be patient and to remember that where we lived didn't matter. It was how we lived and what we did with what God had BLESSED us with that mattered. My focus shifted. And then, all of a sudden, we found a house we wanted and a buyer for the old place and we were moving! It happened so fast after we had waited so long!

My question for you is this: What has God placed in your life to teach you patience? Who has he placed with you to teach you patience? Now that you recognize these things and people as valuable resources in your life, what are you going to do differently?

As always, it is my prayer that these words somehow change your perspective in both an earthly way and an eternal way. May God bless you as you go forward today.

Are You Materialistic? James 5:1-6MSG

"And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment." (James 5:1-3)

We live in one of the richest countries in the world. The large majority of us are what the world would consider rich. According to Richard Stearns, President of World Vision and author of "The Hole in Our Gospel," those who make $50,000 a year or more are in the top 1% of the richest in the world. Earning $25,000 or more puts you in the top 10%. We live in a very rich country when it comes to material wealth- spiritual wealth is a whole different post. So as I write about "the rich" in this post, I'm talking to all of us.

As I read over these verses, I did what I always do. I asked Jesus what he wanted me to take away from them. What does he want me to learn? And then, what does he want me to share with those reading this blog? And this is what I feel like he's saying: We love our stuff too much in this country, and we don't love our neighbors enough.

We have houses, cars (sometimes more than one or two), closets full of clothes, and refrigerators packed full of food- we often have so much left over that some of it goes bad waiting to be eaten. We have swimming pools, perfectly manicured lawns, toys for our kids pouring out the windows, every electronic device created- many of which we no longer use because they aren't new enough. And I'm not saying that having this stuff is necessarily bad- neither is James. It's what we do with it that determines its value.

Somehow we have lost focus. We've forgotten that we are called by Jesus himself to love our neighbor. But loving your neighbor is way more than a feeling. Love isn't a feeling at all- it's a choice you make, an action you take. Saying "I love you" with your mouth is pretty easy. Saying "I love you" by babysitting the neighbor's son for free for the last six years, painting the shutters on the old neighbor lady's house, sharing your food with a new mom who needs a meal after giving birth, or handing over some of that hard-earned money to a kid who has nothing in another country and will never ever pay you back (in money that is)? Those are totally different, much more difficult ways to say "I love you." They take serious action, sweat equity, and the tough decision to keep going even when it just plain sucks and the other person doesn't seem like they "get it."

"All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it." (James 5:4-6)

You know, I read these verses over and over again trying to wrap my head around them and figure out what on earth to write about them. And the part that stands out is this: "You've looted the earth and lived it up." Aren't we, as a country, doing this? We use up so many resources each and every day, much more than many other countries in the world. In fact, this is a quote I found on this subject from EMagazine in an article they published in September 2012:

"United States Leads the World in Consuming Natural Resources. With less than 5 percent of world population, the U.S. uses a third of the world's paper, a quarter of the oil, coal and aluminum, and 19 percent of the copper. The U.S. ranks highest by a considerable margin in most consumer categories as well."

We might not be personally abusing or using any people at this point, but we sure are using and abusing our earth. We overuse every single thing that is available to us, everything that God put here and declared "good" we are digging up, using up, and leaving for dead. I'm not going to go all "Environmental Protection Group" on you, but we need to do this one better. We have to slow down on our overuse of resources.

Off the top of my head, the one I struggle with the most is buying and then wasting too much food. I really don't like to admit that one at all. What I really need to do is use what's already here first and then only go shopping again when it's truly necessary. Honestly, I should just donate half of the non-perishables that are currently residing in my cabinets. I don't NEED that much food here. I'm hoping I'm not the only one that struggles with this.

Okay, so let's talk about a challenge for this week. First, look around your neighborhood. How can you say "I love you" to at least one of your neighbors this week? Does someone need their lawn mowed, their dog walked, or their chickens fed while they're away? Do you have a child that's older than theirs whose clothes you could pass down when they're outgrown?

Second, look outside your neighborhood and into your community. How can you say "I love you" to your community? Is there a food bank that needs more donations or some help with organization? Is there a soup kitchen in need of volunteers? How about a halfway house that needs some paint work or a pregnancy center taking donations? What about a nursing home that just needs some regular visitors or some gardening work done on a weekly basis? How about a smaller church that could use help mowing their lawn? The possibilities are endless. Pack up your family and do something! Do anything! Not only will you be helping out your community, but you'll be bonding with your family and demonstrating real love for them.

Finally, take one more giant step out. How can you help a community in another country? Do you know someone collecting donations for a new well they want to dig in Kenya? Or what about sponsoring a child? Missionaries always need donations, how about finding one to start donating to? Is there a mission's trip you can sign up for?

Can you imagine what the world would be like if every single one of us took the resources that God blessed us with and used them to further his kingdom by demonstrating active love? It is my heartfelt prayer that we get to see that one day. I know we may not see it this side of heaven, but I still pray for it. Don't just be blessed today, choose to be a blessing to others.

When God Says Jump, You Jump! James 4:13-17 NLT

"Look here, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.' How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, 'If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.' Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.

Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." (James 4:13-17)

During the school year this past year, I was homeschooling my younger two kids while the older two went to public school. This wasn't a new thing. We'd been homeschooling for several years by that point, but the older boys had gone off to public school as we felt led to send them. At the start of the year, therefore, I submitted paperwork that said I planned to homeschool both my fourth grader and my first grader all year long. If you had talked to me last summer, I likely would have told you that I planned to continue homeschooling indefinitely. I enjoy the extra time I get with my babies by doing so.

But by Christmas break, I was getting this feeling like my daughter needed to go to public school. I pushed it away, of course, because why? But every few days, I would just get this overwhelming feeling about it. I prayed about it. I talked to my best friend about it over and over again (we beat that proverbial horse until it looked like a monkey*). I even mentioned the idea here and there to my husband. But I didn't make any sort of decision. Finally, in February, I took a tiny step. I told my husband that I thought we should actually look into it for the rest of the school year. I thought that surely he would say no, that it was silly to send her for just a couple of months, and I would be in the clear on this one. But he went and said, "yes, I agree." *LOUD SIGH*

I have to insert here that I felt a little like Jonah with the message to Tarsus. In that story, he was afraid to go and didn't want to give a message of mercy to the evil people of Tarsus (see the Book of Jonah in the Old Testament for the whole story). Like him, I really didn't want to do what I felt like God was leading me to do. I was struggling with the exact thing James warns about in verse 17! "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it." Thankfully, God has blessed me with an amazing, overly honest sometimes, and encouraging husband along with an honest, loving, pushy-in-a-great-way, Jesus-knows-what-he's-doing-so-just-do-it best friend.

I took another tiny step. I called the school and talked to the admissions lady about what I would need to do to get my daughter enrolled. She gave me the steps and I completed them. Step by step over the next several days, I walked the path that I felt God had laid out for me and before I knew it, I was standing in the elementary school office on my daughter's first day of school in the public school system (ever!). My fourth grader walked into her classroom with her teacher and a class full of kids that she didn't know. And you know what happened? She loved it, of course!

By the end of the school year, I found myself wishing that I'd been brave sooner, that we had enrolled her in school sooner. Even though I missed her like crazy when she was gone during the day, I knew without a doubt that she was where God wanted her and she was loving every minute of it. In fact, when the last day rolled around this year, she was super sad to see the year come to a close. If it had been her choice, she would have kept going to school all summer long. Haha.

So why did it take me so long to listen? Well, I'm not sure which it was but I can think of a few reasons that could have led to my choices:

1. I wanted it my way- Who doesn't love doing things their own way? Don't we all love life a little bit more when things are going our own way? The problem here is that my way didn't match up with God's way.

2. Fear- Honestly, this was the biggest deciding factor for me. I was afraid to take the steps forward on this decision. What if she hated it? What if she struggled? What if she failed? What if something happened to her either in school or on the bus on the way to school?

3. Was it really God or was this a trick? You can only sit in indecision for so long before you're actually making a decision by not deciding. Whew, that was a mouthful. But it makes sense, right? If I had continued to waffle on my decision, we would have easily ended up at the end of our school year (my daughter only needed another 60 days or so of school by February as we always start early so we can end early). At some point, after talking to plenty of people who also love God and love me, I needed to take a step of faith and see what God guided me to do next.

The next time you are feeling like God is leading you to do something, no matter what it is, move forward using these steps:

1. Pray about what you're feeling. Talk to God about it and see what he shows you. He may never speak audibly to you (I don't know, I'm not you) but he does speak- through his followers, through memes and billboards, through messages at church, and especially through His Word.

2. Check the Bible. Open it up and see what it says in there about what you're being called to do. If you are feeling called to do something that goes against the Bible's teaching, it's not God calling you. God is never ever going to call you to do something that he has already said no to in the Bible.

3. Talk with trusted family and friends who absolutely have your best interest at heart. What do they think about the calling you're describing? Do they see any flaws in the plan? Do they have any valid concerns that you should consider? Or maybe they have a different first step that they think you should take? What does God think about that step? Ask them to pray with you. Remember that Ecclesiastes 4:12 teaches that "a cord of three strands is not easily broken." And Jesus says in Matthew 18:20, "when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there."

4. Keep talking to God as you take the first step. Let him guide your steps. He is going to lead you through what he's leading you to do. Even when you're afraid to do what he's saying, take the steps anyway. God's way is always infinitely better than our own!

Today I pray that we can all take the steps that God is calling us to take. I pray that you are brave and strong. And that you continue to talk to trusted people in your life because God has given us fellowship for a reason!

As we close, think about the following question. What is God calling you to do in your life that you're afraid to do and what is the first step you need to take in order to make it happen?

*No actual horses or monkeys were harmed in the making of either my decision or this post.

Let's Talk About Loving Others Again- James 4:11-12 MSG

"Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it. God is in charge of deciding human destiny. Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?" (James 4:11-12)

I've spent much of my morning reading about death and my heart is hurting over it all. Deaths in Dallas, Texas as police officers were killed. Death in Minnesota as a man was killed in front of his girlfriend and her child. Death in Louisiana as a man was killed in a convenience store parking lot. Death of a newborn baby whose mother used heroin during her pregnancy. Death as abortion is chosen over life again and again. So much death. I honestly am at a loss for words over what to say about it all, but I'm obviously going to try to find the words here.

I read today's verses for our study of James and my mind just went right back to all the videos I watched this morning and the articles I read. I cannot shake the feeling that I need to say some things about it all. James says that "God is in charge of deciding human destiny," so why are we constantly trying to do his job for him? That's what all of this feels like to me. A group of people decided that those officers were wrong to take the lives of the men in Louisiana and Minnesota (and I am not disagreeing), so they decided to shoot officers completely unrelated to the incident in Texas in response? How does that make any sense at all? How does taking more lives, shooting more people, causing more death and division help anything? Do these people who have committed this latest act of violence truly feel any better about all that is happening in our country now that they've done this? I can't imagine they do.

God's word, his Message, his Royal Rule are absolutely taking a beating here in our country lately. People aren't loving one another as we are called to do in God's Royal Rule. We aren't spreading God's message of Jesus's love. We are resorting to killing each other! My heart isn't the only one broken here. God's is too. We are quickly becoming a country divided against itself in so many ways- Christians vs non-Christians, Muslims vs non-Muslims, immigrants vs non-immigrants, rich vs poor, homeless vs homed, white vs black. The list goes on and on.

#blacklivesmatter has been circulating social media a lot recently. And it has everyone up in arms. #blacklivesmatter doesn't exist in order to say that other lives don't matter. #blacklivesmatter is here because we are losing so many black lives for no good reason right now. As a country, we are slowly circling back to isolating a group of people and acting like they don't matter, like we don't care about them. And guess what? Black lives do matter. They matter to Jesus. They matter to me. They matter to my family and my friends. They should matter to you too. Because Jesus made those lives. He put those souls into those bodies. He breathed life into them and placed a purpose in their hearts. They are here for a reason, just as we all are. We should be embracing one another, not in spite of our differences, but almost because of our differences.

Those differences are what make this world spin around and around. God wanted us all to be different. He made us colorful on purpose. He gave us personalities on purpose. He gave us passions on purpose. He gave us idiosyncrasies on purpose. He gave us talents on purpose. When God made us, he stepped back and said we were very good work. Not just mediocre, not "eh, I could do better." No! Very good (Genesis 1:31). And you cannot convince me that he doesn't put in every effort, every bit of his sweat, love, and tears into each and every life that he creates.

The Bible tells us that we are all "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalms 139:14). He has carefully crafted each of us for his good purpose here on earth. We have no right to snatch the lives of others away in a moment of anger. No right at all. I long to see our country unite as one again, or maybe I should say for the first time.

Today I want to do something a little different. I want to issue a challenge to anyone reading this. I don't know if I'll have one person read this or a thousand, but here's my challenge: Reach out to those you don't agree with in your life today. Tell them that you love them and that you are so glad that God made them so uniquely different. Find something that you love about them and tell them. Embrace the things that make you different from everyone else. The world needs you exactly as you are. God only made one of you, so be the best you that you can be. Don't cave to the pressures of the world. Don't conform and try to become everyone else. We already have everyone else. We need you.

I also want to challenge you to step outside of your perfect little box. There's an entire world outside of that box that you haven't even seen yet! Go somewhere different. Order food at a restaurant you haven't tried before. Visit Goodwill in a different city (because come on, Goodwill is quite possibly the best store ever, seriously). Gather up canned goods and take them to a new food pantry in the "scarier part of town." Offer up your services at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter. The only way that we can see the kind of love that God calls us to in the world today is if we step up as a group and start showing it.

I pray today that God can heal the hurts in our hearts, that he can come alongside us so completely that we feel his presence throughout the day. I pray that he can help us to pick up the broken pieces and rebuild them into something so beautiful for his glory. More than anything, I pray that we can all come together and realize that every single life matters to God. And I pray that we will start showing God's love to everyone around us beginning today.

Just as we are called to do in Ephesians 5:2, let's go forward "and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us" today.