What Are We Doing With That Gift He Gave Us?

I’m horrible.

I have been in a rut. If any of you know me… you can probably tell that I am in a rut by my facebook posts. I go through these stages where I am a good mom/wife/housekeeper – bad – good  – bad.

And by ‘bad’ – I mean lazy. Out of control. My household has been full of chaos lately & I don’t know how to calm things down.  I don’t know how I get in these lazy/chaotic ruts.

God speaks to me & tells me,

“GET UP and stop being lazy!”

“Get organized!”

He NEEDS to YELL at me though, haha.

He is telling me,

“These children are a gift I gave you! I gave you your husband! You have a roof over your head & food on the table! What are you doing with these blessings I gave you?”

Am I the only one that God needs to yell at & scold? I sure feel like it!

So there is a lot on my mind as a sahm. As I go to look up verses for different reasons, somehow God keeps making me stumble upon verses like these below… and even when I see these verses for husbands/fathers -  I am feeling like this is God speaking to ME, not men. Really all these verses apply to me too.

I really have some shaping up to do!

Psalm 127:3
Children are a gift from the Lord; babies are a reward.

Psalm 113:9
He gives children to the woman who has none and makes her a happy mother. Praise the Lord!

Proverbs 13:24
If you do not punish your children, you don't love them, but if you love your children, you will correct them.

Proverbs 20:11
Even children are known by their behavior; their actions show if they are innocent and good.

Proverbs 22:6
Train children to live the right way, and when they are old, they will not stray from it.

Proverbs 23:13
Don't fail to punish children. If you spank them, they won't die.

Proverbs 29:15
Correction and punishment make children wise, but those left alone will disgrace their mother.

Proverbs 29:17
Correct your children, and you will be proud; they will give you satisfaction.

Proverbs 31:28
Her children speak well of her. Her husband also praises her,

Ephesians 6:1  Children, obey your parents as the Lord wants, because this is the right thing to do.

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not make your children angry, but raise them with the training and teaching of the Lord.

Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in all things, because this pleases the Lord.

Colossians 3:21
Fathers, do not nag your children. If you are too hard to please, they may want to stop trying

1 Timothy 3:4
He must be a good family leader, having children who cooperate with full respect.

1 Timothy 3:12
Deacons must have only one wife and be good leaders of their children and their own families.

1 Timothy 5:10
She must be known for her good works—works such as raising her children, welcoming strangers, washing the feet of God's people, helping those in trouble, and giving her life to do all kinds of good deeds.

Titus 1:6
An elder must not be guilty of doing wrong, must have only one wife, and must have believing children. They must not be known as children who are wild and do not cooperate

Titus 2:4
Then they can teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

Proverbs 12:4
A good wife is like a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful wife is like a disease in his bones.

Proverbs 19:14
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is a gift from the Lord.

Proverbs 31:10
It is hard to find a good wife, because she is worth more than rubies.

Ecclesiastes 9:9
Enjoy life with the wife you love. Enjoy all the useless days of this useless life God has given you here on earth, because it is all you have. So enjoy the work you do here on earth.

1 Corinthians 7:3
The husband should give his wife all that he owes her as his wife. And the wife should give her husband all that she owes him as her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:4
The wife does not have full rights over her own body; her husband shares them. And the husband does not have full rights over his own body; his wife shares them.

Ephesians 5:23
because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church.

Ephesians 5:28
In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself.

I just hope I am not totally displeasing the Lord in every single way. I hope He sees  my desire to please Him… and I hope I am able to climb out of my rut!!

I want to be a better wife & mother.

I hope I can get better control of my household.

I want things to calm down & the chaos to end & I want order back.

I want to run my home in a way that pleases HIM.

Condemnation vs. Justification

Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit"

What does this mean? What is your standing in Christ? Are you a Christian? Are you "In Christ"? There are only 2 classes of people in this world: Christian and non-Christian. Sooo if you are a Christian you are "In Christ". If we are saved, washed by the blood, living & walking with Him then you are NOT living under condemnation. No matter what anyone says - God's Word says otherwise. God's Word says we are free.

Condemnation is not a feeling. Condemnation is a standing. The opposite of condemnation is justification.  Justification is also a standing. We are either condemned to hell or we are 'justified'.  Condemnation = GUILTY!  Justified = INNOCENT of all charges!!

Imagine two chairs sitting across from one another. One one side you have the seat of "Condemnation". On the other side you have the seat of "Justification".  IN the middle between these two chairs is THE CROSS OF CHRIST. To get from the seat of "Condemnation" to the seat of "Justification"... the person needs to go through the Cross of Christ!! Thank you Jesus for shedding your precious blood so we can live eternally with you!!

However we are imperfect, and apart from the grace of God, all we do is sinful and falls short of God’s glory - we are not condemned. The Christian who falls & commits a sin...  This is when the Holy Spirit will make us feel 'conviction' for the wrong we have done against God. This IS a FEELING. And a feeling we should be thankful for! Thank God He sends His Holy Spirit to convict us of our wrong doing and set us on the right path again. Again this conviction is a feeling - unlike condemnation which is NOT a feeling. No Christian should feel condemnation. We are free!! We are JUSTIFIED!! We are INNOCENT of all charges!! Thank you Jesus!!

Romans 8:2 goes on to explains this: Paul writes, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” He explains that because of the certainty of this awesome reality of life in Christ by God’s grace, the condemnation of sin that brings death no longer holds us captive. We are free. When we grow in grace, the grip of fear has less and less hold upon us.

It makes me angry when 'preachers' tell a whole congregation they are on their way to hell because they slipped up & sinned. For years I feared every move I made during the day. I was in prayer 24/7 repenting 'just in case'. I was living in fear and had NO JOY in my life. I was no taught about God's love & His grace. My kids were taught the same. They were taught that they would miss the rapture if they had a sin unrepented of. They also were not taught about God's grace. I have seen so many poor souls walk in church, get saved, and walk back out into the world - never to be seen again. That life is a miserable life. It is a life of constant condemnation. No joy. No peace. Why bother? It's too hard? No one can live under law. When living under law we are living under the death penalty. No one has successfully lived under law except Jesus. He came to fulfill the law. Put an end to it. We are now under His grace. I do not take sin lightly. Sin has no place in a believer's life. However, we do have Jesus. He will never leave us or forsake us. We can always call on Him!!