A New Vlog and a New Blog

As much as I have loved this blog I am going to change to a different one. 

Frankly, the main reason is because I was trying to fix someone an email so they could have a facebook.  Unbeknownst to me at the time- I changed blog ownership to their email.  I have no idea how I did it and there is NO WAY to change it back.  I kept their email and made them a new one but- now my blog is under an email that has their name in it.  I don't like that.

Recently I started a Vlog- and decided to start a new blog to go with the Vlog.  All of this is free.  I would love it if I had time to really get a good vlog and blog going but- so I haven't done that.  

So here is the link to our new Vlog:

A Quiet Life

So here is the link to our new Blog:
A Quiet Life

Celebration of Resurrection Week!

And so with the sun coming up bright and strong, my favorite holy time of the years begins.

I survive Christmas- barely : ) each year. I'm just not a Christmas person. But I am a Christ-person.

The time of year we celebrate our Lord and Savior's gift of Himself, He Who is Eternal Life, the Prince of Life.

If Jesus, God Himself, hadn't been crucified, dead, buried and RESURRECTED- we would still be in our sins, separated from God and have no life and no hope. Jesus, through His blood- ushered in the New Covenant of Grace. We would not be children of God. We would not have a new Father (John 1:12, 14:6).

But He did so much more for us through the Cross. For years all I knew about was Jesus "paid for my sins" and "brought forgiveness for my sins" through the Cross. To which I am eternally grateful. But He began to reveal to me- the multi-purposes of His life, ministry, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension.

If I just believed in Him, said a prayer- I would be forgiven from sin and saved from hell.

But oh thank You, God- there's so much more!

According to Isaiah 53:4-6:
Jesus bore OUR griefs,
He carried OUR sorrows,
He was wounded, pierced and crushed THROUGH for OUR transgressions and iniquities,
His severe discipline BROUGHT US peace.

Jesus, beloved Man of Sorrow- King of Glory- acquainted Himself with OUR Grief- humbled Himself- to the point of death-

For me. For you. For all of mankind.

Mankind is the one who chose independence of God. Independence of God is the very essence of sin.

We went astray-
"We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way;"

and yet God-
"and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
-Laid on Jesus, the Anointed Messiah, ALL the iniquity of ALL of mankind upon Him.

Let us begin this holy week remembering Who Jesus is and what He has done for us, to us, in us and through us!

Focus

I've had a motto the last couple of years.

"Wherever you are, be all there."

Friend, if you are on a LONG LONG journey in your life and you can't see the end of the tunnel- well, still, BE ALL THERE.

In other words, don't give up and don't give in. Just keep walking forward. Keep walking forward even if it's dark and you can't see.

For me, as a believer, this is the time of trusting. Trusting "this" is a part of God's eternal purpose and I am following Him, who is the Light that shines in the darkness.

AND even thought I can't see, there is God, who sees me.

El Roi- the God who sees me.

Can I stumble? You bet. When my focus moves away and looks at the situation I am in or when I look for an end in sight- then my focus moves away from Jesus.

"Eyes on Me, daughter. Eyes on Me. You can't miss Me- I go before you and I surround you. Don't look at the situation, eyes on Me. I see you and you see Me."

Simplicity

Simplicity. To me, simplicity is peaceful.

That's just how God created me. If my life is simple then I am not inner chaos. If I AM in inner chaos I am not good for anyone.

I am willing to pay the price for simplicity. I am willing to give up a lot of "worldly" things just to have peace inside. To be able to enjoy life- simply.

I am willing to the the hard things, yes even if they are tedious, that count long-term. I thank God for Nick, who supports simplicity, enjoys simplicity.

Dave Ramsey says, "Live today like no one else so later you can live like no one else.

"THIS is where God has me, us. THIS.

"Wherever you are, be all there." So, Lord, I want to be here. Here, in the everyday of remodeling and mortgage-paying off. I know in the long run this will bear fruit. In the long run- the house will be done and the mortgage paid off. Oh Jesus, please help us to run this race well.

Born Anew

Do you ever wake up about 3:30am and can't go back to full sleep? It's kind of like 3/4 sleep but in that God puts someone on your mind?

That's what happened to me last night (well technically a few hours ago). It's not someone I really know. I've never talked to this person. I know this person has made some bad decisions in the past- and it affected a lot of people.

But someone in their life offered forgiveness- again, and again, and again.

I was thinking to myself...and yet praying, "God, has this person really changed? So much hurt has been brought by their actions. Do people really change?"

And so clearly God spoke to me, "You did. Have you forgotten what I did for you, and IN you, 18 years ago?"

I guess when you've been a believer so long...maybe we forget that God still is the God of redemption and salvation. For the last 10 years I have taught about the healing, freedom and victory that Jesus accomplished for us through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. I speak to the believer, the one ALREADY saved- but maybe just doesn't know what this great God of ours, the Lord Jesus Christ, has saved us from!

This morning Jesus reminded me just how FAR He has brought me from. Literally from death to life. For you see, as God reminded me this morning, I, too, was the worst of sinners.

This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am (Greek: am, have been, it is I, was) the worst. But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience, as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. - Paul, in a letter to Timothy

To be honest, I do NOT feel like that person I was before. She seems so foreign, so strange to me. Truly, a different person. I think back to her and think, "Really? That was me?"

Yes, and no. It was. But no, it's not now. I was born again, literally "from above". For about 8 years after I was SAVED, I still struggled with the things old Starla struggled with. Oh boy, the struggle was real. Yes, there was fight in me. A soulical fight. A spiritual fight. My mind, will and emotions wanted to be comfortable and live the "old way". But my new spirit in which God, Himself, dwells- says, "No way, old way!" And I had to come to end of my self- and to Jesus.

That's when the change began. That's when I began to really FEEL and KNOW this new creation me. This new innerman Starla whose Source of Life is God.

This morning, God reminded me anew- He is the Source of change. He is. Not just in my mind, my actions but literally, ALL OF ME. Body, soul and spirit. He is the Great Exchange- 2 Corinthians 5:21. Like my Grandpa wrote in his Bible, "He became what we were so we could become what He is."

Oh how I pray for the person God brought to my mind this morning. Oh how I pray they too can look back in 18 years and say, "Really? That was me?" To SEE what God really does do. Key word: WAS.

Jesus came to save SINNERS. Those separated from God by sin. That is EVERYONE born, because we are all born sinners (Romans 5). But because of His great mercy, He makes fully evident, undeniable- His PERFECT, WHOLE PATIENCE- as an example (Oh I am His example!) for those that BELIEVE IN HIM! Oh what Grace! He saved me! From sin, death, satan, the world and temptation! He still does! Ever active and present in all of my life.

I am no longer a sinner. My core identity has been changed! I am new, clean, whole, righteous, holy, a saint, free- a child of God!

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.- John 1:12-13

Oh Father, thank You! Thank You for reminding me this morning of who I used to be- a sinner, a separated from You. But through Jesus- yes, beloved Jesus, I am can now call you Father! Abba! John 14:6. Thank You for reminding me what YOU have done not just IN my life but literally WITH my life. You made me new and gave me YOUR Life, Colossians 3:4. Jesus. I am now the temple of the Holy Spirit, my Counselor and Comforter. What great Mercy, Love, Patience and Grace! Thank You!

Contentment

I tell you.  Living in a "first world" country spoils you.  We have everything at our disposal.  Everything.  We live in super fine comfortable houses.  We drive super fine comfortable cars.  We take super fine comfortable vacations.  We eat rich, unhealthy food.  We pay enormous bills for tv, cellphone, internet- and then complain about the electric or water bill.  We loved to be constantly entertained.  Our kids have no idea what it means to play outside all day with friends, come home to a meal on the table, bathtime and bed.  We have LOADS of food in our refrigerators and pantry's yet we can't find anything to eat so we "go out" to eat.  We get bored easily.  We are tired.  We are anxious.  We are overwhelmed. We live in a driven society.  More more more. 

And we are so entitled= believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

I've been thinking- again, about "being content".  What does that mean?  Does it mean that if everything goes my way, I get everything I want then I will be happy? 

Not according to the Scriptures. 

Paul, beloved Paul- beaten, stoned, whipped Paul- wrote to the church at Philippi: Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. (Philippians 4:11-12)

Paul then wrote to Timothy: If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.  For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

The writer to the Hebrews wrote: Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”  so that we confidently say,“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”

I love what Paul also wrote to the church at Philippi:  And God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

A beloved Proverb:

Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
8 Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
9 That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God.

So what does all this mean?  Let's look at the word "content" in Helps Word Study.

842 autárkēs  self-sufficient, content in the sense of being satisfied because living in God's content (fulness). This inward sufficiency is as valid in "low times" (suffering) as in "high times" (temporal prosperity).

("sufficiency within") occurs only in Phil 4:11 where it refers to positive self-sufficiency (inward adequacy) – i.e. that comes through the indwelling power of Christ.

[842 (autárkēs) comes from autos ("self") and arkein ("sufficient") meaning "self"-sufficiency, which is entirely God-produced.]

To be content is to be satisfied in God's provision.  A positive, inward sufficiency that comes from Christ within, coming from Him.  It comes from trusting, believing- KNOWING that HE is the One that will supply all our needs.  

Why do we need so much?  The more we have the harder we have to work to take care of it.  And if that's so then what (or who) is being left out?  Because I don't know about you but I am not super woman.  I finally came to the point that I couldn't do it all and be the person God created me to be.  I had to come to a choice.  Believing and trusting God for His plan in my life or trying to fill up my self and my life with the things of this "temporal" world.  

 Peacefilled/ful, Joyfilled/ful, Overwhelmed and consumed by Grace= Content.  

And Paul, really meant and knew with all his heart the truth of the words He wrote to Timothy:

But godliness (God-centered) actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.- 1 Timothy 6:6

You want "great gain"?  You want more and more?

Hebrews 12:1-3

...lay aside....fixing your eyes on Jesus...so you will not grow weary and lose heart.  

Jesus is the More.  Jesus is the Great Gain.  

Serving and Ministering

Last night our youth gave a mission report about their week in Albany,NY.  

I was reminded again- how blessed I am with my children.  As parents we often see their faults- even when they are adults.  But I am learning more and more to see my children as the people (adults) God created them uniquely to be.  

Allison, Ben and Johnie are all youth "workers".  Ben is the youth pastor, Allison nurtures all the youth, and Johnie- his life is so interwoven in the youth that it would be strange if he wasn't a part of it.  He was 11 when he joined the youth group at BBC and went from a boy to a man- and now it's going on 13 years since he's been involved.  As a matter of fact, when he joined the youth some of the youth that are in there now wasn't even born!  

What I find as wonderful and so thankful for- is that all my kids Allison, Ben, Cody and Johnie are in some way involved- serving and ministering- at our church or our community.  Cody, although not actively involved in youth ministry, coaches a homeschool cross country team- and several of them on the team are members of our church youth group.  So- they all kind of work- serve and minister- together.

Thank You, dear Lord.  Thank You.