If you are…

Have you ever been attacked? I was attacked on social media a couple of weeks ago by someone who doesn’t even know me—but said they were a Christian. If you’re like me, you get defensive and then angry. It’s so tempting to strike back in the same vein—but even harder.  

After two weeks of nursing my wounds, I finally went to God about it. He took me to Matthew 4 and the temptations of Jesus. I stopped on the very first temptation. Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and nights before Satan showed up. The first thing Satan attacked with wasn’t his hunger, necessarily…it was his identity. “IF you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  Jesus’ identity is wrapped up in his name, Jesus, which means “Jehovah is Salvation.” Satan came saying, “Save YOURSELF!!  Prove your power. Turn this rock into a loaf of bread.”

Jesus may have become angry with righteous anger. But he knew the truth. So did Satan. Remember?  He was in heaven at one time. He knew who Jesus was and knew his purpose. At any rate, he knew Jesus’ identity which was wrapped up in his name. He’d come to be the savior for mankind, not himself. If Jesus had defended himself in anger and set out to prove who he was to Satan, he would have lost the battle. He knew that.  

Here’s what Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jesus knew there was no purpose in the short-term goal of proving who he was or in feeding his belly. He knew God’s long-term goal of saving mankind from sin. But he didn’t even feed Satan’s insatiable, hellish desires by feeding him any info about the future. He just said, “I’ll do whatever my Father tells me to do…one step at a time.” Jesus wasn’t controlled by his flesh. He walked in sync with the Father. He had no desire to prove a point with an angel which had been cast out of heaven because of sin.  

Satan will attack our identity and purpose—which is also wrapped up in our names. He’ll use people—even Christians. God is teaching me that when I become defensive, I’ve turned to my flesh. I’m in self-protective mode. Self. That should be a red light! I need to do what Jesus did. He spoke truth to Satan. He quoted scripture to him. And he revealed HIS purpose and HIS plan—to obey every word God spoke. 

I’ve still got a long way to go. It’s so easy to become defensive and want to prove WHO I AM!!  But it’s more important for the enemy to know WHO I SERVE. 

Straining Against the Yoke

I didn’t realize how MUCH I did my own thing without giving it much thought. Someone has had a hard day? Take them a meal. A grandchild is sick? Jump in the car and go help. Someone else’s house needs a carpenter? Who do I know that I can call for them? 

This morning, I was overwhelmed with needs all around me. I put on my Superwoman cape and sprang into action! The only problem was…I strained against that yoke I’d submitted to. I was going, but Jesus wasn’t. After I gave that yoke another hard push, Jesus began instructing me. 

That person having a hard day needed to hear Him. If I intervened, they’d only hear me. That sick grandchild? He needed his parents. And his parents are building spiritual muscles through this hard time. I needed to pray for them all. And the person needing a carpenter? Jesus already knew their need and as a master carpenter, He knew who to send. He also knew how to save them money. 

I know Jesus will let me be a part of helping. He wants that! But how many times have I inserted myself in a situation where I wasn’t needed or wanted—and only hindered what God was doing? Before I spring into action, I need to hear Him. I need to check my motives. I need to agree with God for what HE’S doing.

And…I need to burn that Superwoman cape.  

To Live is _________

So many things have led me to this moment. Tiredness. Studying about being “yoked” with Jesus, reading the gospels as I’ve watched The Chosen—and especially watching Jesus’ pace. But last night, I watched Dr. James Merritt on “Joy Ride” and he quoted Paul in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Paul was saying because he lived for Christ alone here on earth, departing to heaven was only a benefit—he’d have a face-to-face walk with Jesus there.  

Dr. Merritt asked us to fill in that blank for ourselves.  He asked us to answer this:  “For to me, to live is _________.  What do we live for? What do I live for? All we have to do is look at our calendar and our bank account to know the truth. I got honest. My blank said “family.” Don’t get me wrong—I love Jesus. I try to obey him. But I haven’t stayed yoked to him. I haven’t gone at his pace. Jesus hasn’t been my sole focus—which explains my tiredness. 

What has struck me as I’ve watched The Chosen is that Jesus didn’t hurry—he wasn’t always available. He couldn’t be coerced, manipulated, or guilted into doing something. He only did what the Father told him to do. He wasn’t driven by expectations. Of course, all of that is in the Bible, but seeing it acted out in a continuous timeline has made it more obvious to me.  

This year, I want to be yoked to Jesus and go where he goes.  I want to go at his pace and rest when he rests. I want to do what he’s called me to do. 

I want to answer, “For to me, to live is CHRIST, and to die is gain!”

My Opinion on The Chosen

Last night, I posted my opinion of The Chosen and what I’ve learned from it. Your opinions came quickly. And that’s all they are—our opinions. 

Here’s what I learned years ago when my children were small. Someone said a children’s show was demonic. I took up the bandwagon, demonized the show to others, and wouldn’t allow my children to watch it. I never investigated the show for myself. Later, I was strongly convicted by God to never take another’s word—good or bad—for something without investigating it for myself.  It’s the same thing I do when pastors preach. I don’t just accept what they tell me. I investigate on my own for truth.  

You see…as believers, we have the Truth. But John told us we needed the Spirit to guide us into all the truth. (John 16:13) None of us have arrived to that place of all truth. That’s why we need each other. We need to encourage one another in truth. 

You should know that people reach out to me privately to correct me—in love. And I receive correction when it’s done in love. I know not everything I post is truth. Sometimes it sounds right until someone points out the error.  But like you, it’s hard to receive condemnation. Last night, I was personally attacked by someone who doesn’t know me, doesn’t know how much I know about the Word, nor knows how I follow Jesus.  It’s proof we need to do life with those around us. Social media is pseudo-social life. 

Interestingly, God had my attention yesterday. I had to go do something really hard. I asked Him for a word as I went. The word was in the chapter I’d read that morning—I Corinthians 16:13-14. “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.”

That’s the key. Love. It’s so hard to guard our hearts on social media. We’re not in a face-to-face encounter. We’re much bolder. We get angry quickly. We say things we’d never say if we were standing in front of that person. But God didn’t say, “Let all that you do be done with love—except on social media.”  He said ALL.  

After my best friend read some of the responses to my post about The Chosen, she said, “ Honestly.... if all I saw of church were responses on that page... I would never step foot inside a church.” That’s not love. We can do better. 

I can do better. God has given me the responsibility to manage this page. I’m the sole creator and manager of So You’re a Pastor’s Wife. I created it to encourage pastors’ wives. But I kept it an open page so the Church could understand our struggles. I don’t expect you to agree with everything I post. Of course not!! But if you choose to disagree publicly, I expect you to do it in love and with kindness. I can’t have people following this page and not wanting to go to church because of harsh or unkind comments on a Christian page for pastors’ wives. If I consider your comment to be unkind, harsh, abusive, or without love…you will be banned. 

Honestly, I’m constantly praying whether the season for this page is over. Or if I should just not allow comments.  But I want to believe the BEST for us as the Church. We need one another!!  And we should be God’s instruments of love and encouragement.  

Let’s do better. 

Jesus on The Chosen

If you haven’t watched The Chosen (free on The Chosen app, YouTube, and most media outlets), I hope you’ll give it a chance. It’s what you read in the Bible with flesh and blood and personalities.  It’s real. And the writers don’t hold back—they tackle hard things. They show possibilities. It’s made me consider things I’ve never considered.  

It’s also taught me about Jesus in these first three seasons. By watching Jesus come to life off the pages of the Bible, God is teaching me. I think the thing I’ve been amazed with is Jesus’ pace. He never once got in a hurry. He didn’t give in to the pressure of other’s expectations. He refused to be manipulated. He stayed focused on what he knew he was to do. And he got away with his Father often.  

Those are things I want to do this year.  

All Kinds of Tired

All Kinds of Tired

There are all kinds of tired, but you can probably fit them all in one of these three categories: spirit, soul, or body (physical).  The results of all three can feel the same. But to correct why you’re tired, you need to understand what has made you tired. 

Our spirit was created to be the temple (or home) for the Spirit of God. Blaise Pascal called it the “God-shaped vacuum of our heart.” When you repent and follow Jesus, the Spirit of God comes and lives there. He’s promised to help us, teach us, correct us, counsel us, and heal us—and that’s just a sample of all He does! If you never repent, you are constantly struggling, searching, and chomping at the bits trying to fill that space with SOMETHING.  But the only thing that will ever satisfy you and bring you peace and rest is the Spirit of God. 

The soul is made up of mind, will (choices), and emotions. When you think too much or too long about a problem, your body can become just as tired as if you’ve run a marathon. Or if a big choice sits in front of you and you turn it every which way and chew on it for days, you can exhaust yourself. If you’ve been hurt by someone else of if you’re worried about a loved one, you can find yourself sighing or wanting to run away. Our soul can exhaust us.  

You know the physical. You can over-exert or overextend your strength. You’ve been going too fast for too long. You’ve done too much. Your body is worn out and you need rest. 

Honestly, today I feel like most of our exhaustion comes from our soul—our mind, will, and emotions. Our minds are overloaded with information. The world has never been so connected and so filled with information—and it’s available at our fingertips. It’s overwhelming! Google says we make 35,000 choices a day. Satan is manipulating our emotions like never before. The chaos and conflict in our world alone is enough to make us want to hide in bed with a pillow over our heads!

As always…God has a solution. Matthew 11:28-30 says this: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Choose to yoke up with Jesus today. Get in step with him. Learn from him. He will give you rest.  

Rest…sweet, TRUE rest.

Repent

Jesus never said, “Pray this prayer and go to heaven.”  He said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” And then he said, “Follow Me.” (Mark 1:15, 17). Jesus came preaching repentance.  What is it?

To repent means to be sorrowful over your sin and to turn away from it.  We have all been dead in sin. We have to turn our back on it and make a 180° pivot to leave it completely behind to follow Jesus. When Jesus said to believe in the gospel, he was saying to believe there’s a new kingdom—His kingdom where He’s the ruler.  So now we are to live in that kingdom—not the world’s kingdom where sin reigns and anything goes. 

Too many people think they can continue in their sinful lifestyle and make it to heaven because they prayed a prayer. But did they repent?  Did they recognize they were deep in sin and turn away from it broken over their sin?  Are they following Jesus wholeheartedly? Is there fruit in their lives?  Are they living for God’s kingdom?

You can.  Repent!!  Be sorrowful over your sin.  Follow Jesus wholeheartedly.  Live for His kingdom. The only way to know how to do that is to read his directions in the Bible. Start in Matthew and read what he taught his disciples. 

God has called you out of Egypt

God has called you out of Egypt! What does that mean? Egypt was a picture of the world, sin, bondage, slavery, hard work, and death. Just like Israel was held captive in Egypt…Satan wants to hold us captive to the world.  

Jesus is our only hope!! He lived a perfect life, died a sinless death, rose victoriously from the grave, and reigns majestically from heaven—all in an effort to bring us back to God. But we have to accept him—choose him and his way of life.  It’s not enough to pray a prayer. His call is to leave Egypt and follow him with all of your heart!  You have to repent!!  Repent of your sin—and leave Egypt behind. Don’t cling to that old way of life. There’s no hope there. 

Life is in the Promised Land. God has offered you all that is his. Will life there be perfect? Of course not…not yet. But it’s where God is and where he wants to help you overcome. He wants you to live in peace and purpose. He wants to meet all your needs. But he wants you seeking him and his kingdom first.  Hope is in the Promised Land. 

Leave Egypt. Repent. There’s HOPE in Jesus!