Love Covers All Wrongs

            A little bit ago, I was venting to my mother about a friend who was getting on my last nerves. This friend had, in my eyes, really offended me, and I couldn’t get over it. I kept telling my mom about it and even told my dad my “woes,” but then, my friend needed me. At first, I didn’t really want to help, but the Holy Spirit beckoned me to be there for her, to love her. 

            So, that’s what I did. I went and spent time with her and loved her, and guess what? I found myself not rehashing the things my friend had done wrong anymore. I saw what had happened in prospective and realized how wrong I had even been. Also, when I was loving her, I didn’t have time to hate on all the bad stuff.

            That night after realizing that I needed to just love my friend like Christ does, I opened my Bible to Proverbs 10:12 that says, “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs” (NIV). In that moment, the scripture became alive to me again because I had experienced that verse earlier in the day with my friend. In the past when I had been angry with her, all my venting did was stir up more anger and fuel my selfish fire, but when I stopped and loved her, those wrongs disappeared and love covered all.

            God teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and we can’t do that while hating him or holding a grudge or gossiping about them behind his back. We may think we are justified in “venting” and being angry, that maybe our anger is okay and justified, but in reality, all that stuff does is make you miserable and eat at your soul. Forgiveness and love is powerful; they set you free.

            When I let go of all the petty things that had been bothering me, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Don’t let anger hold you down and cause more trouble for your life. Hatred (or even "dislike") leads to more hatred and then, bitterness, but love erases hard feelings and sets you free.

            Love covers all wrongs. Who do you need to start loving today?

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Living to Retire

            I recently did my taxes—well, someone else did them, but I saw the questions. Anyways, they asked me if I have a retirement fund. It got me to thinking about the future. At the moment, I only have a little bit of money saved up. In all honesty, I haven’t had the opportunity to save much, but I’m working on it. Thinking about saving money for retirement made me realize how odd that thought really is. Why would I work my whole life just to retire?

            Some of my friends and I discussed it later, and I realized that I am not alone in this thought. Before I go further, I want to say that preparing for the future is not a bad idea; it’s a good one, but what I am saying is that we shouldn’t be spending our lives looking forward to the time we can sit back a do nothing. Personally, I want my entire life to count. I don’t want to just work a job. I want my time to matter. When I meet Jesus, I want Him to say I’ve done well bringing Him glory.

            Then, I realized something else. I don’t want to work just to graduate from college and grad school. Waiting on a certain time in my life seems futile because God has called us to bloom where we are NOW. We aren’t supposed to wait to live. Life is happening all around us. We need to be a part of it. Fill your years advancing the Kingdom, not simply looking to the future and waiting on the next step in your life.

            I’m reminded of Colossians 4:5 that tells us, “Make the most of every opportunity” (NIV). Opportunities happen every day. Look for them. I don’t think we can make the most of every opportunity by waiting on graduation or retirement to live. Follow Jesus now. Take risks now. Give money, food, and clothing to those in need now. . .

. . .because, honestly, living to retirement isn’t guaranteed.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Good Things

           Many times during my childhood, I can recall not getting what I thought was good for me. Skittles, Fruit Rollups, and limitless amounts of other candies are what I begged my mom for every time we entered a grocery store. To my dismay, she hardly ever said yes because of cavities and such.

           I always thought she was horrible and unreasonable, but in actuality she was doing what any good mother would do. My mom was protecting me from future pain even if that meant I wasn’t happy every split second. She wouldn’t compromise my health for temporary pleasure, and neither will our heavenly Father.

          As we grow up, the world feeds us many lies. Society tells us that in order to have a “good” time, we need to get drunk with our friends, and if people ever want to be “loved,” they have to give each other their bodies. Not only that, but the world also tells us that in order to be happy, we must have iphones, ipads, tons of clothes, a nice car, and mainly, lots of riches. 

         The problem is that God’s word tells us a different story. We are to wait until marriage to know intimately our significant other, and getting drunk doesn’t allow us to have fun; it can actually hurt us. Also, riches will not make us happy. In fact, the love of money is the root of all evil (notice I said the LOVE of money, not money itself). Despite reading God’s truth, many people are deceived by this world into thinking that God is holding out on us, but I know this to be false.

         The truth is, God designed us and knows exactly what is best for our lives. The Bible teaches us that God is love, so why would He give us anything but good?

         James 1:16-17 says, “Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (NIV).  God doesn’t just give us some good things or okay things. He gives us truly good things that the world cannot offer.

        Whereas the world often changes, God never does, and we can rest assured that He has our best interest at heart. He offers us good things. 

Living Life Together, 

Rebecca Thomas

He Will Provide

            I’ll be honest with you. I’ve been beyond stressed out with some financial issues in my life lately. Every time circumstances seemed to get better, another road block blew up in my face. Today, I even cried over it. From my perspective, nothing was or was going to get any better. But, thankfully, a dear friend reminded me of the truth: God is faithful, and He will provide.  

            My friend reminded me to think on what we know to be true, and that is that God promises to take care of His children and provide their every need. He knows my financial needs, and He will come through. Not only did my friend remind me of God’s promises, but she also prayed, in faith, for God to send someone to me with the answers. Guess what? Within 30 minutes of lifting up our hearts to my Father, He sent someone.

            Once again, God proved to me His unfailing love and provision for my life. I’ll be honest again. I don’t have all the solutions to my financial problems worked out just yet, but I know He will provide them, and regardless of the outcome, I know that God is in control and will take care of all of my needs. Therefore, I will praise Him even now. In the uncertainties that loom ahead, I will praise Him because He is good yesterday, today, and tomorrow. In Matthew 6:34 we are reminded “not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself.” God has been teaching me that concept for a long time now. Sometimes I think that I must have some sort of amnesia because if I kept my focus on Christ, there would be no way to forget what He’s done. I can remember my family having $5.00 left on the night after payday with a whole week of needs hanging over our heads, but we never went without a meal or clothes to wear. He provided then, and He’ll do the same now.

            I don’t know what circumstances are looming in your horizon or are at your front door, but I do know that God is faithful. I don’t know when your financial needs will be met, but I know who will meet them.

Philippians 4:19 states, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

Remember that promise today. He WILL provide ALL of your NEEDS. So, don’t stress and worry; they get you nowhere anyway.

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

When Sin Binds You

            Recently, my heart was broken for someone whom I love dearly. Her story is all too familiar among Christians. We fall into temptation and sin. Then, one sin leads to another, and we find ourselves feeling trapped. Unfortunately, we, sometimes, believe that God will not love us like He used to and doesn’t want to talk and spend time with us anymore. We think, “How can I, a Christian, keep on sinning when I’ve been redeemed and expect God to love me still?”

            My friend thought that she was too far away from God and that there was no way she could ever be right with Him again because of her sin.

            That’s a Bold-Faced LIE! I wholeheartedly believe that we fall prey to that lie when we fail to remember that God set us free from sin. “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died to sin has been FREED from sin” (NIV, Romans 6:6).  When Jesus took the punishment for our sins on the cross, He did so for all of our sins—past, present, and future. Christ defeated sin and the grave and offers us a new life living in His victory. This means that we don’t have to feel bound to sin because sin no longer binds us. Therefore, quit thinking you are bound to sin because Jesus shattered those chains to 

oblivion. We have freedom!

            Also, God saved us out of His love and grace, not because of our merit; therefore, we can neither lose nor gain our salvation. In addition, if you have fallen into sin, confess it to God because He says that He is faithful and just to forgive those who confess their sins to Him.

            Remember, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).

            Be set free from your sins today, knowing that God will take you back and remember your sin no more.

   

           Don't let defeated sin bind you. Sin's power is Dead!

Living Life Together,

Rebecca Thomas

Facebook Distractions

            Buzz…Buzz…BUZZ. The sound of my alarm jarred me awake. I jerked my arm out from under my covers, frantic to silence the unwelcome noise.

My phone read 9:00 a.m., the latest time I could sleep ‘til.

God, please help me get through this day. I don’t want to be up right now.

My feet met the cold, tiled floor of my college dorm room. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and checked the time on my refrigerator, wishing my phone had been wrong. It wasn’t.

            “Taylor, do you care if I take my shower first? I need to print off my lesson plan for TESOL before chapel.” I asked my roommate who was still tucked underneath the warmth of her covers. Her alarm was going off.

            “No, go ahead. That’s fine,” she said, pressing the snooze button on her phone to gain a much coveted five more minutes of sleep. I headed into the bathroom.

            After I finished my shower, I checked the weather on my computer.

            Great, no rain today. All sunshine. Thank you, Jesus!

            The water in the sink gave me chills. It was cold, but it felt good against my hot hands after I dried my hair. 9:35 a.m. I had enough time to brush my teeth, pack my book bag, and print my paper.

            Perfect.

            Just as I was about to grab my bag and walk out the door, I sat down for a quick minute.

            I wonder if I have any emails or Facebook notifications?

            The news-feed of my Facebook page flashed on the screen. One message notification from my friend beckoned for my attention.

            “Just in thinking about our talk Monday night and doing this "rhythm" separately but together, I thought we could start a message thread. And see what we learn from it. I would say to definitely include anything we learn that stands out, along with ideas we attempt to get ourselves more into the Word, and even failings when we don't . . . So yesterday, I opened the Word before bed. And today, I wouldn't allow myself to turn on the computer in my office until I had read . . .”

            Wow, I’ve done everything else but spend time with God this morning.

            The words from her message hit me hard. I grabbed my pink and brown study Bible from my desk shelf, opened it, and began reading. 

            9:40 a.m.

This is a story from my life. What are you letting distract you from spending time with God today? 

Living Life Together, 

Rebecca Thomas

Out of Tune Clanging Cymbals

            "The people in the crowd rise to their feet as the first notes of the National Anthem ring across the stadium. Everyone opens his mouth to sing along, but a sound similar to nails scratching down a chalkboard permeates through the crowd causing the people to plug their ears in desperation to stop the noise. The vocalist keeps belting out lyrics of freedom, but the only thing the crowd wants is a power outage to silence this butchering of the National Anthem. The message of the lyrics is sweet, but the out of tune notes misconstrue the message."

            Most of us can relate to this make-believe scenario described above. The National Anthem (along with other beautiful songs) has been sung over and over and many times, terribly messed up by the band or vocalist. When this has happened to me, I’ve felt embarrassed for the performer, and I’ve wanted to stop hearing the song immediately. If it was a song I’d never heard before, I simply stopped listening to it, never to find out if the message was worthwhile.

            1 Corinthians 13:1-3 sums it up well, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing” (NIV).

My dear brothers and sisters, please speak in love. We have enough people yelling in this world. As followers of Christ, we have the most beautiful, love filled, and important message for the entire world, but they will never hear it if we argue and fight with them. Jesus was able to love the sinners (while never supporting their sins), and that love changed their lives. We can love them, too. Love those who do not know Christ, and through that love they will know that we are His disciples and maybe, thirst for the same Living Water (John 4:10 & 13:34-35).

We can proclaim the truth from the mountain tops, go on a million mission trips, memorize the Bible, pray 24/7, and everything else, but if we have not love, we’re just like the out of tune singer and band playing the national anthem.

But if we have love, we’ll be like the first rain after a drought—soothing and refreshing, a much desired necessity. 

Living Life Together, 

Rebecca Thomas