Temptation Does not Disqualify You!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.~

Hebrews 12:1-3

What is the goal and mission of the life of a Christian?  Is it just to go to church? To read you Bible? To do good things and say kind words?
Truth be told, you don't have to be a Christian to do those things! In fact, there are many different faiths who teach on the similar and simplistic values of what we have considered to be "Christian". There are unspoken social rules that will praise your for doing what is kind and fair, and condemn you for anything less. There are even good natured Atheists who make a habit of preforming such routines in their own lives, without the help of the Holy Spirit and without the salvation of Jesus. So, when you think about it, doing good things is not the crux of the Christian's purpose. Our good deeds are not more valid than someone who is not a Christian and our temptations are not fouls that disqualify us from our faith. We have been called to live above the positives and negatives that seek to distract us from our true purpose.

Goodness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. What is good for someone doesn't mean it is good for everyone. And what was good yesterday is not guaranteed to be good today. This is how temptation enters our lives: by trying to convince us that our goodness is the standard and the measure by which God accepts me. But, according to scripture, this is far from truth. God's acceptance of me is totally based on my acceptance of Christ. When I am focused on His heart, then temptation will have no power within mine!

So, considering the scripture, how is it that we can develop our hearts to stay focused on Jesus and avoid the trap and the distraction of trying to be good? First, we must understand that focusing on Jesus doesn't mean that temptations around us will disappear. There will still be issues to face, habits to break and thoughts to battle. This is not a measure of your goodness or of your Salvation. 1 John 5:11-12 tells us that our Salvation is wrapped up in God's goodness through Jesus. If we have Salvation in Christ, then we need not fear temptation. Instead, we must use perseverance, just as Jesus persevered while He was on Earth. There were plenty of temptations, including His trial in the wilderness, when the enemy tried to tempt him (Matthew 4: 1-11). Yet in this distraction He kept His eyes on the mission- on His heavenly Father.

Hebrews 12 also brings forth another key element to staying focused: we must throw off everything that might hinder us, as well as the sins that seem to always try to get the best of us. For everyone , this will be different. Each of us struggle in different areas. My issues and temptations are different from yours. Your struggles are different from your co-workers and your co-worker's struggles will be different from their neighbors. Each of us have struggles that are uniquely specific to our own hearts and lives. Yet ALL SIN will hinder us from staying focused on Jesus and if we are not focused on Jesus, we will find ourselves drowning in temptation and ineffective for the ministry in which He has called us to complete for the Kingdom.

If goodness is the standard, then what is our need for Christ? Temptation cannot be battles by our good efforts or our positive affirmations. Jesus alone can keep us from falling, but we must keep our hearts on him! Anything that removes Christ as our priority is a hindrance to our relationship with Him, and if we are not living out our salvation in an effective manner, we are in danger of becoming a temptation for others who are watching our lives. Believers and  Non-believers are watching your life and according to this scripture, so are those Christians that have already gone before you. We are always surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses... they are cheering us on and they want us to be successful in our relationship with Christ and in our spiritual development here on earth. Even the non-believer wants to see you successful, because they are looking for something authentic. They are watching the closest because they are looking for reasons to hope and believe.

We can be "good" on our own, but there is no life change in that. Understanding that loving Jesus is not about our goodness gives us a better appreciation of God's grace, because, eventually, we will all fall in one area or another. But, when we move past a selfish faith- a faith that is only motivated by what we can get for our lives, we become humbled in the fact that we must keep our eyes, our hearts and our lives focused on Jesus. The mission is not to receive blessings, opportunities and prosperity for ourselves; our highest mission is to show the world what Love really looks like. And His name is Jesus!
Every rose has it's thorns, but that does not disqualify its beauty! We must persevere through our blessings and in our pains (and there will be many hard times), but we don't have to be afraid of our struggles or temptations, because we know that all things will work together for our good, if we only keep our focus on the Lord! (Romans 8:28). This is where our Joy comes from! Knowing that in my victory, I am encouraged, but in my weakness, God gives me His strength! Either way, we win! But, we must lay aside those things that will hinder and distract us, and
we must be sensitive to the lives that surround us- using us as their examples in the faith and looking to us as models for Christ.

Living as Christ is not a natural way of life- this is why we rely on His Holy Spirit to give us the strength and love that we need to be successful! So don't worry, God has it all under control! When you fall, confess your mess and keeping pressing on! Don't get distracted by trying to be good and don't allow your temptations to steal your confidence in Christ!!! Focus on God's love for you and let that be your motivation and your focus. I promise, it will fill your heart and spill over into the lives of those around you!
  

Be encouraged!

~Pearls

Flawed to Perfection

I look around me and I see beauty in everyone. I consider my family and friends- their positive characteristics as well as their less than lovely issues, and I am convinced that, deep down, everyone is loving and kind, in spite of less than admirable choices, mistakes or environments. And I'm sure I am not alone.
It's human nature to argue that our good outweighs our bad, yet even at our personal best, we are at our worst because our "goodness" and our "beauty" is only circumstantial. The sin that so easily ensures us makes it impossible for us to be completely whole, completely perfect or completely guilt free 24/7. We can do good things, say good things, act in a good way and encourage others to do the same, but without Christ, our best has holes in it and leaks out any effort we make to combat our imperfections.
Human nature tells us to excuse our flaws away; make light of wrong doings, compare ourselves to others, explain why our issues are personal and no one else's business... we've all been guilty of the "cover up". In Genesis chapter 3, we see that Adam and Eve produced the first attempt to cover and explain away their sin and man has been doing that ever since. Why? It's because the "cover up" is easier than the confession. It's easy to pretend nothing is wrong or that we have it all figured out. It's easy to excuse our messes or to avoid people who we know have higher standards for us than we do for ourselves. But there is no freedom in the "cover up". Christ has come to take away our shame and trade it for His freedom!

"But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin,

so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ."~Galatians 3:22

Sin is a prison and it confines us when we don't confess. Like weeds, it creeps in and restricts the opportunity for complete beauty to shine through. Confession is the pruning of the weeds which goals are only to hold us back and strangle God's Spirit within us, which is ours through Jesus. But let's be real. None of us go around exposing every internal conflict, mistake or issue. And as Christian women, we often get slapped with the hypocrisy syndrome- we are afraid to expose our problems in fear that others will judge or reject us. But I think it is important for us all to understand that hiding our issues is not strength, it is the lack of it. Maturity is the ability to live humbly before God and before man. Instead of hiding, its more liberating to recognize this is the number one struggle that the majority of us deal with in our lives: how to live a Christ-centered life, despite our spiritual struggles. I know I am not alone in this.


Last quarter, the Pearls completed a study on the book of Esther, and I'd like to share a quote which got my brain rolling on this subject.  "Even those most serious about their pursuit of God and godliness fail to be perfect examples all the time. That's why God is busy conforming us into the likeness of Christ."

To me, this is a sigh of relief and a breath of fresh air! In my weakness and in my struggles to avoid temptation, God has made Christ strong in me! Not so that I can continue to practice things which His word instructs me not to do, but so that I can have the resilience and the desire to say no when such things begin to slither my way.

To be human is not synonymous with hypocrisy. This was a fear that I spent the first years of my salvation trying to avoid and prove; to no avail. It's debilitating for us to deny the reality of our humanity. Christ calls us not to ignore it, but to expose it and to receive forgiveness and grace that only He can give! 1 John 1:9 is a scripture that we have committed ourselves to learn in our Bible Study:
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all wrong".

Perfection is not proof of salvation! We each WILL FALL. Let's go ahead and accept that reality now and save ourselves so much stress and worry. Our beauty isn't based on our efforts, its a result of God's goodness. When we live for Him, our lives are immaculate. But when we fall, know that we fall in God's grace! Our flaws are made perfect when we trust Him with all our hearts- The great and the misguided; the struggles and the victories. His loving kindness will catch us each and every time- when we are truthful with Him, with ourselves and with others. He is more than enough for all that we endure and he equips us with what we need, as we need it. We can find trusted mentors, family members or friends to pray with us and encourage us, because this Journey with Jesus is dynamic when we are connected with others. And as we travel and grow, confess and progress, we begin to shine like Christ, in spite of our situation, and that is true Strength!

As we live this life of faith and over come our instincts to cover up, then the beauty that is ours in Christ becomes more visible and exposed. This is the true testimony: not that we are good, but that God is great! We each have our ashes, but God wants to trade them for His beauty (Isaiah 61:3). That is what makes others feel encouraged and motivated to take part in this life of Grace!

One day, we will shine like our savior and we will be free from all of our flaws, but until then...Be bold in your living! Grace is not meant to be covered up, but shared and displayed! His love is continuously perfecting us and that is worth smiling about!
~Pearls

Great and Mighty Things

Happy holidays to you all!!! I pray each of you had an amazing Thanksgiving with your loved ones. The Pearls and I enjoyed a friends get together, in addition to our families and enjoyed good food and funny #thanksgivingwithblackfamilies hashtags!
Its always interesting for me to get together with family. Of course, there are those individuals that you keep up with throughout the year, but I especially love getting together with those you don't see so often; especially the children! its amazing to see them grow and change and watch their personalities. For example, one of my younger cousins was just getting into everything! His mother does not eat pork, yet somehow he ended up with some ham on his plate. The whole night, he begged for cookies, and snuck at lest 3 or 4. He was told to settle down, read his book, don't talk with his mouth opened. He was a talkative, rambunctious boy and i loved it! clearly, his mom had her hands full with him. She breathed her fair share of sighs over his activities, but what was so precious is that in spite of his rowdy ways, she was never too tired to give him hugs and the love that all children need. She was there for her son, when he called for her, regardless of his previous incidences. How sweet to know that our God makes himself available to us in the same way!

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you do not know. - Jeremiah 33:3

much like my little cousin, spiritually, we are all rumbunctious children. We all get into mischief and sin, exploring what is not necessary for us, trying things that will harm us, hiding the truth out of fear and sometimes, we even hide from God. But it never changes his love for us. We want to believe that Gods presence is some reward for the upstanding and righteous things that we do, yet scripture shows us time and again that God makes himself near to those whose unruly ways are out of control. Consider Moses, the murderer, Jacob, the liar, Rehab, the prostitute and Peter, with his foul mouth! Each of us has sin to over come, struggles to deny and issues to grow from, and in the midst of it all, if we but just call out to God, He wants to answer us and be near to us!

Yes, there are times in our lives when we feel so close to God, when our walk seems blameless and all our prayers are being answered left and right. We feel victorious, we feel God's presence and are aware of His blessings. It's easy to proclaim the faithfulness of God during these times in our lives; it's easy to approach the throne of Grace with boldness...But what about the other times? What about when we are knee deep in regrets and struggles? What about when our shame envelopes us with sorrow and we cannot find the words to pray? What happens when our mistakes seem unending or when life throws unexpected, unplanned problems in our path? Are we not to seek God in these times? Should we not look to heaven? Is there some how a revocation upon our welcome at the throne of Grace?

In Jeremiah 33:3, the Lord speaks to Israel, a nation who is notorious in scripture for their unruly, disobedience and unfaithfulness to God. However, the Lord does not disqualify them from His presence; His does not dismiss them because of their faults. Instead, He invites them to call upon His name. He urges them to approach Him, despite their inadequacies and not only to call on Him, but to expect an answer from Him!!!

God cares about everything we go through. He cares about the flowers and the sparrows, so how much more will He pour out His compassion and love towards us, His children, who are made in His image?! There are great and mighty things in store for you and it is God's will and pleasure to produce them in you! It doesn't matter where you are coming from, what mistakes you have made in the past, or even your current condition. The fact is, God was present even in our sin... yes, even in our mistakes and in our unfaithfulness, His loving kindness and Grace abounds (Romans 5:20). He loves you- every part of you, every experience you go through, every struggle, victory, trial and accomplishment. He wants to love you through it all... just call to Him and He will answer. Put your faith in Him and He will show you marvelous and wonderful things! You are never too far and never too close for God to use and work His amazing love in you!

Be encouraged!
~Pearls

                                   

As White as Snow

There is a precisely calming awe connected to snow. What is it about the frigid white blanket of solid precipitation that always seems to melt away the impatience, the moodiness and the restlessness of the world, if even for just a moment?

On Facebook, a friend posted, "Was I the only one who looked out of my window to check and see if it snowed this morning?". The response resulted in 244 likes and 52 comments. So, clearly, others around the country reacted in the same way. I know I did. To peel back even one blind and glance at a white covered world brings such amazement and serenity within that very moment. It makes me wonder: If natural snow, that will melt away, can give such affirmative peace, how much more than should I allow my life to rest in the eternal peace of my Salvation, which scripture tells us will make our hearts as white as snow?

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." ~Isaiah 1:18

God desires to give us peace, not just for the moment, but for eternity. His peace is what guards our life from the troubles that come with this world and sustains us through the uncharted waters and the ups and the downs of life. Sin, that which separates us from God, no longer has to be a fear in our hearts. When we align ourselves with God and His word and when we agree to allow Jesus to be Lord over us, then our sins are washed away and our Salvation brings about a clean heart before a Holy God. No need to fear His holiness, if we are partakers in it! It is a free gift with an everlasting promise: If we turn from our own ways and accept Jesus as our Savior, there is freedom from fear, peace for the unknown and a heart made clean like snow.

As we continue to experience the winter weather of the days to come, remember that all the beauty we see out of our windows will soon melt away. The white ice will turn black from the dust and the mud. Children will ruin the crystal landscapes with their sleds and snowball fights. The city will begin to shovel and salt the mystery away, but for those of us who are rooted in Jesus, His purity, which makes our hearts snow white, will never fade. It is eternally beautiful. Our peace and security in Him and in His love will outlast any season we may experience in this life. Through Jesus, our souls are made holy and pure and nothing can take that away!

~Pearls