Day 1 “Mom, Your Bedroom Set is Ugly” Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Last night’s sermon was about growth as a Christian. I walked away being so very thankful for all the people in my life that the Lord used to grow me. And it ain’t over yet! When I got home and opened the door to my bedroom, my heart was filled with joy. My bedroom is beautiful and it takes my breath away. Not that long ago, my bedroom was redecorated, and every time I walk in, it makes me happy. The process of redecorating and my walk with Jesus have a lot in common. It started with someone being kind enough to share the truth with me. They shared the truth with no other motivation except their concern for my life and my eternal happiness. Jesus saves sinners. That is exactly how the remodeling began in my home. “Mom, your bedroom set is ugly.” I have never been one that cared too much about furniture. In all honesty, I didn’t want to spend my time or my money on furniture or decorating. The particle board, pinkish, bulky bedroom set I had was fine with me. After Ash gently made this observation (which she had done many times before, and just as gently) her husband came over to my house. I asked Sean if he thought my bedroom set was ugly, and he gently replied, “Yes, your bedroom set is ugly.” My eyes were opening a little wider. He, too, made this statement without motivation or righteousness. I pondered the observation from my children and I felt the need to find someone who was on my side. I told them both that Paul liked our bedroom set, as I had never heard him say he didn’t like it. Sean replied, “No, Paul thinks it’s ugly, too. And he wants a new T.V. There is a furniture store that has a sale right now. If you buy a bedroom set, you will also get a new T.V.” What? Paul thought our bedroom set was ugly and he wanted a new T.V.? I saw a conspiracy going on! What were they conspiring for? For me! They wanted my comfort. It was hard to be defensive when all they cared about was me. I called Paul and asked him if he thought our bedroom set was ugly, and he verified that it was. It was time for me to take action. The kids not only opened my eyes to the ugly bedroom set, they also gently took my hand and accompanied me to the store. They were probably afraid I would pick out another ugly bedroom set by myself. They were patient and kind, as I was filled with anxiety over spending money on furniture and the information overload of all the furniture in the store. At first, I did just what they asked. I went, I looked, and it was all a little overwhelming to me, so I told them to make the decision for me. They both told me that they wanted me to choose for myself and they patiently kept on showing me furniture and watching my reaction. Then it happened. I turned the corner and the most beautiful bedroom set was staring at me calling my name! It got personal. I fell in love! I was so excited, I did not care about the cost. Whatever it took, I needed that bedroom set. And now it is mine and it still takes my breath away. That’s exactly how I feel about my Savior. He is mine and He takes my breath away every time I look at Him. My walk with my Father and my new bedroom set have a lot in common. It took a very sweet man to show me the ugliness of my sin. He gently verified this with the Word of God. He had no motivation but my personal joy and my eternal life. He walked me around the Word and, as promised, the Word never returned void. He kept on gently showing me my choices. It happened! I saw the beauty of Jesus that healed the ugliness of Sin! I wanted it at all cost! My soul has found eternity through Christ and the bedroom is now complete. But the remodeling has just begun. And it ain’t over yet. Wait until I tell you about my kitchen! Change my life, Lord, with your Word, I commit today to: Because I love you, Jesus. Bless me… because YOU are YOU! Day 2 “Embrace the Past!” Psalm 32:1-2 1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. In our ladies’ Bible study, several of our ladies expressed a desire to “have no regrets about the past” and to “let the past go,” and I think we all have experienced this desire in some area of our life. The connotation here is seemingly negative; sometimes we are holding on to our past in a negative light. Past hurts, past pains, past mistakes—all of these issues can stop us from moving forward in our relationship with the Lord. I know in many marriages and relationships, people often bring up the past when they argue. Hey, I’ve been there, and I have done the same. When we reflect on the negatives of our past, it creates a hopeless attitude within our heart; it takes our spiritual breath away. But the reality is that the past is what makes us the person we are today, right? So I say this: embrace the past in a positive light! We can be thankful for every single mistake you and I made if it made us cling to our Savior. Yay! Can you imagine if we had perfect pasts? If we were perfect people? If we were perfect, then we would not need Jesus! Praise the Lord for our crummy pasts! For without them, we would not call out daily for Jesus. I’m not saying forget the past; I’m just saying to look at the past and accept it. Learn from it. Praise Jesus that He brought you through it! The Psalms that were written by David give us the perfect medicine in dealing with the hurts of our past with a positive outcome. In Psalm 22, David cries his hurts out to the Lord. He begins by asking why God has forsaken him. Then David tells the Lord that He does not hear his crying. Crying to the Lord begins to change his heart. Then his cry changes to worship! Through his tears and pain, he remembers who God is! And, yes, he does continue to tell Him all his woes—yet he continues to praise the Savior. In remembering his past, he depends more on his God! The joy of the Lord does not come from a problem free earthly life. The joy of the Lord is this: “Our transgressions are forgiven; our sin is covered by the blood…” Amen, amen, and AMEN! Change my life, Lord, with your Word, I commit today to: Because I love you, Jesus. Bless me… because YOU are YOU! Day 3 “The Golf Shot That Bore Fruit” I Samuel 25:23-24 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. There is almost nothing more powerful to me than the personal strength the Lord gives us to do right regardless of circumstance. Two things happen when I accept this gift from God. First, God is glorified in my life. Second, He allows me to bear fruit for Him. Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Our fruit glorifies God and for that purpose we were made. For His glory! I have a very dear friend who is going through a devastating time with her family. When she calls me for encouragement, we focus on God’s Word, claim His promises and His Holy Spirit power. It is taking all of her power to stay faithful. She is scared. She is weak. This is when God gets the greatest glory. And that is what our whole life is about. Yesterday we pulled our strength for her from Abigail and the wonderful victory she had for the Lord. Abigail saved her whole household because of her faith! She was married to a fool, yet this did not stop her from utilizing the personal strength God gave her—and each one of us—to do the right thing regardless of circumstance. My friend made it through the day yesterday glorifying the Lord. Last night, another young lady called me and had a circumstance beyond her control. I was able to share my friend’s victory with her and she was empowered! When one friend knew how her situation helped another friend, she was strengthened by this fruit. And we all put our heads down to sleep praising God and His everlasting Word. All in a day’s work for the Lord. This reminded me of the day my husband and I were golfing and his golf club flew through the air after a bad shot he made. He was not having a good golf day. The golf club came right at me and hit me not once, not twice, but five times! I felt the self-righteous anger rise in my throat. Scripture popped into my head: “Be ye angry and sin not.” My husband was staring at me, wondering what I will do next. The next Scripture that whispered in my ear was Proverbs 31:11. You know—the one that states how her husband safely trusts in her. My flesh answered the invisible voice of conviction with, “He can safely trust that I am about to throw this club right back at him!” Deep breath, Chrissy. That could have been the golf shot that ruined my day, or it could have been the golf shot that bore fruit. I reminded myself that I have given my life to serve others. This makes me accountable to my Lord. Didn’t I ask the Lord how I could help someone today? I really wished that voice of conviction in my head would be quiet! My husband started to speak. I asked him nicely to please give me a moment. Praise the Lord I was studying Abigail this particular week. I remembered how Abigail’s actions saved so many people and, after the crisis was over, she returned home to confront Nabal, her husband. He was merry with wine so Abigail chose not to speak at that moment. While Paul wasn’t merry with wine, I knew that if I did not choose my words carefully, my husband would react defensively and World War III just might have started on this very golf course. I knew that if I spoke the moment after I was hit with that club that it would not glorify God. Quickly I searched my brain for Scripture that would allow me to throw a club back at Paul. I wanted to justify my fleshly reaction with His Word. Nope, couldn’t find one Word of God that would ever allow me to throw a club. Even if someone throws one at me. God blessed my ten-minute silence with His Word. My husband apologized and we have had so many good laughs over this. It wasn’t too long after this incident that the Lord allowed me to use His victory that day to help somebody. Our life on this earth will be filled with many golf clubs being thrown at us. He never promised world peace. He promise His peace when we personally apply the Word of God to our life—and it never returns void. I can deny Christ just like Peter did, or I can be empowered by Christ like Stephen, in the midst of the stones—or golf clubs. Every moment in my life is about making a personal choice to apply God’s Word to every situation that crosses my path. When His applied Word is used in situations that make no earthly sense He is glorified beyond measure. It was only by the power of God that I did not throw a club right back at my husband that day. That golf shot just keeps bearing fruit. Change my life, Lord, with your Word, I commit today to: Because I love you, Jesus. Bless me… because YOU are YOU! Day 4 “One Lady’s Hairspray is Another Lady’s Helmet” Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another, any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. I work part time for a dear friend and her husband a few days a week. How blessed I am to work for a Christian lady and be able to help them with bookkeeping, which is something I love to do! Since I work at their office two days a week, I brought a can of hairspray and put it in their bathroom. Due to the fact that I have very rebellious hair, I rarely go anywhere without a can of my hairspray. Last week, my friend told me that she tried the hairspray, and she felt like she had a helmet on all day. My hairspray has some serious hurricane hold! Every time I thought of this, I just had to laugh! Her hair does not need a ton of product, while my hair can’t have enough product on it! What works for me does not work for everyone. Because I have a passion for styling hair, she and I were discussing different ideas that would work for her. One thing we did know was that my hairspray did not work on her hair. One lady’s hairspray is another lady’s helmet! How wonderful that the Lord has not only made us all unique, but He has a sweet plan of growth for us individually. Far too often I am trying to force my hairspray on someone’s hair without considering that my hairspray may just not be right for them. Who am I to judge? I can share my hair products, but just what good would it do to force my friend to have a helmet head? Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. And to her that thinks the hairspray gives her a helmet head, to her it is a helmet head! Ha, ha, ha! Which hairspray to use is not in the Bible, and neither are a lot of the preferences that children of God argue about. How awesome it is that we do not have to judge one another! How wonderfully sweet it is that we have been given the task to encourage one another. God does not need to see us arguing over meat, and He sure doesn’t need to see us arguing over hairspray! Oh, how I want to make sure that I am not a stumbling block to any one on this earth. One of my friends put it perfectly when she said, “I am so busy working on my walk with God, I don’t have time to judge anyone else!” Focusing on the bottom line today, as I spray my hair one last time . . Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And I sure don’t want my sweet friend to have a helmet head. Change my life, Lord, with your Word, I commit today to: Because I love you, Jesus. Bless me . . . because YOU are YOU! Day 5
“Get My Expectations in Order!” I believe one of the biggest enemies to our faith and walk with Jesus is improper expectations. Expecting something that was never promised is a tough way to live. It is a path of hopelessness and discouragement. Yet isn’t it interesting that even among Bible-believing Christians, our flesh can have us wake up each day and wish and hope for things that have never been promised. We hope for perfect weather or we hope we don’t encounter any problems. We wish all the work to be done before the day has even started! We walk through the church doors and want to feel warm and fuzzy from preaching instead of being exhorted to go fight the fight. Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. This is what we do to ourselves when we have improper expectations and hope. We make ourselves sick! In Proverbs 4:23, we are urged to “keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Improper expectations are a wonderful tool of the devil to suppress God’s children. If our hearts become sick through deferred hope, then the other issues of our life will suffer the consequences. This includes our attitude, spiritual vision, physical and mental health, and our love relationship with Jesus. Time for me to sing, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” We should start our day in prayer that the Holy Spirit gives us the proper hope. The proper hope is established when we beg for His desires. For “when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life,” His desire is the tree of life! Paradise has never been promised to us on this earth, and think of all the promises we miss when we focus on all these “non-promises.” We are promised all the wisdom we want if we ask for it. We are promised that we can do anything in Christ Jesus! Out with hopelessness and in with His hope! Dear Jesus, give me your strength today to serve my husband and children so that they can be all you need them to be. Lord, provide the strength and wisdom so I can be the hardest worker and keep my priorities in order; change my heart when I hear the sermon tonight; empower me to do your will. Lord, please be with me every step today. Guard my mouth and my feet. Help me respond properly in all situations, Holy Spirit. I want people to see Christ in me! Jesus, please bless my enemies and remove any unforgiveness in my heart. I ask you these things, Jesus, because you said, if I ask anything in your name, you will do it! I believe, Jesus. I believe in you and the hope of joy in every circumstance if my eyes are focused on you. Amen! I am ready for the battle when I am armed with the proper expectations. Change my life, Lord, with your Word, I commit today to: Because I love you, Jesus. Bless me . . . because YOU are YOU! Day 6 “Angry . . . On Purpose!” It is so profound to me that so much chaos is caused by uncontrolled emotion. What is even more interesting is how we can justify our uncontrolled emotion as a cause in Christ. The Bible has a lot to say about emotions, doesn’t it? I remember the first time I read that I was to have a meek (even) spirit. You can’t even imagine the panic I had in my heart. Me? Even? There is absolutely no way! Then, of course, after learning the wonderful truth that the Lord will never give us something that we cannot do, I realized that the path to this even spirit was controlling my emotions. Our wonderful Savior gives so much direction and guidance in doing just that. He is just so good to us, isn’t He? Today I want to focus on “anger.” There are many directions in the Scriptures regarding this very powerful, and possibly quite destructive, emotion. I began by researching two Scripture passages that seem to contradict themselves, and if I don’t study them out, they might be misused. Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: I am no Bible scholar, but I do beg the Holy Spirit to reveal to me the Word, and it is so important that we study the whole Bible. In Matthew, I learn how dangerous it can be if I am angry without a cause. What does this mean? It is anger which stems from self-interest or self- pride. It is me getting angry because I am too cold in church, because my husband didn’t do something I wanted him to do, or it is getting angry at other drivers on the road. Ha, ha, ha! Why does this Scripture say this type of anger is in danger of the judgment? Because it is evil! It is taking my personal sin and inflicting it on others. The Bible tells us to run from evil! Then, in Ephesians, it is recognized that I can be angry and then it commands me to sin not. That means we can be angry and sin not! Anger should be just; it should be unselfish, but it also must be expressed rightly by not allowing the anger to control me to the point where I will sin. For example, if I am angry with the leadership in our country making ungodly decisions then my just anger should prompt me to pray diligently for the leadership, maybe even become more active in government. But my just anger turns evil if I start slamming leadership to everyone who will listen. How do I handle being justly angry at my husband? At my children? At my friends? Do I pray for them diligently? Do I hang it over their heads? Do I focus more on being right than being at peace with my Savior? The first step we must take when we feel angry is to present our anger in front of the Lord and analyze if that anger is justified. If it is not justified, then get rid of it! I believe unjust anger that comes from improper expectations creates a beehive of emotional mess in our homes, churches, and country. If I take my anger to the Lord first, I beg Him to reveal to me my own selfish heart and actions and give me guidance so I don’t destroy someone in the name of Christ with my anger. Amen, Amen, and Amen! Continues... | 
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