Citizens of Another Kingdom

So, several times in the past few weeks, I've made the following statement to friends or people I was conversing with. The statement impacted all profoundly as none of them had heard it put the way I had put it (but I can't even remember who first said it to me.) It is not my own quote, but it is an eye-opening quote.

"For the person who has Christ as their Savior, Earth is their hell. It is the closest to hell they will ever get. The pain and sufferings here are all we will ever know. Sadly, for the lost soul who will spend eternity in Hell, this Earth, this place of horrible pain, suffering and loss is their Heaven. It is the closest to Heaven they will ever get."

That statement is so true if you really think about it. What a paradox! Praise God he saved my soul because many days I realize I am in exile here. And the following scripture reminds me that my citizenship lies in another kingdom.

Ephesians 2:11-19 (New International Version, ©2011)

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

¹¹ "Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹²remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household"

Fellow citizens: citizens of Christ's Kingdom. Believers, your citizenship lies in Heaven, and you are truly a foreigner here. It's no wonder you face persecution and strife. It's no wonder the enemy is gunning for you always. It's no wonder we have such strong convictions that typically stray SO FAR from the world's standards. You are not of this world. Be encouraged! As we celebrate Easter this week and next weekend, let's focus on our true citizenship. I heard an amazing sermon about this topic by Barret Jordan from Redeemer PCA Church in Teays Valley WV. That is when I first realized that I was in exile on earth...but what a beautiful thing to realize, for the born-again, you will never come a step closer to Hell. This should cause us to fall to our knees for our lost loved ones.

Happy Easter to all!

Andrea Gayle

Noble Character, A Noble Calling

Proverbs 12:4 "A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones."

Shew, that is a gut shot isn't it? We have the ability to adorn our husband as a crown, yet in the same sense, we can be rotting his bones. Wow, whoa, and what does that mean? There are many verses in the Bible dedicated specifically to women. We should take it as a personal challenge to find them and know them, and put them into practice ASAP. This verse stuck out to me today because when I think of proverbs talking about women, in my mind I jump right to 31...but this is Proverbs 12. And this particular verse is plopped right down in the middle of 27 other verses speaking generically. However, if you want to look at the entire chapter you can take it personally, wives. Take it VERY VERY PERSONALLY. The first verse talks about correction. "If you love correction, you love knowledge. If you hate correction you are stupid." It's very blunt. I take that personally. When we buck the constructive criticism of friends or our husbands or even the outright conviction of the Lord, we are STUPID. He said it, not me. To be tender to the correction of God's hand as he speaks to us through his Holy Word and our husbands and the Holy Spirit is to love wisdom and knowledge. To honor God with our lips like we are called to in such a high standard in verses 6, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23 and 25 -- To do the opposite, God detests. He DETESTS! How are you speaking to other people? How are you speaking to your kids and your husband? How are you speaking ABOUT your kids and your husband to your friends? How are you speaking of your other friends? Are you "offering a kind word to lift up?" v.25 Or do you "blurt out your annoyances at once?" v 16. These verses are a great starting point to changing into a wife of noble character. Other verses in this chapter emphasize our need to be dilligent at work, not lazy, verses 10, 11, 24, 27. I picture myself at home...ask yourself, are you busy at home? Are you helping your husband? It's the one job you were DESIGNED FOR. It's written on your DNA to help him. When you don't, he suffers and you suffer. Are you rotting his bones? Ouch! This is tough stuff. Are your kids secure? Are their needs met? Or are you off doing your thing putting you first not serving your family? Can you recognize the little areas where you can be Prudent, Trustworthy, Righteous, Truthful, Honest, Wise, Fruitful, Good? This is God's will for you in Proverbs 12.

Read Proverbs 12. Pour over the Lord's wisdom for us. Cling to the promises that he will bless you for desiring His goodness -- His discipline which leads to knowledge and righteousness. And if you still love folly and the things that are not in line with God's commands...ask Him to help you mourn your sin and move in a direction toward sanctification. The fact of the matter is that we are not good. Romans says "None is righteous." So, how are we these things then that Proverbs 12 wants us to be? How can we be like a crown VS. the alternative - decay? It starts with a dramatic heart surgery. Forsaking yourself and all the "fun" of this world and laying it down at the feet of Jesus at the cross. Then, He does an amazing reconstructive surgery on you. You have a soul that is no longer dead but alive for all eternity, and you will also have the ability to no longer be a slave to your sin but to righteousness. The "fun" things will appear what they really are, foolishness and a death sentence. You can stop being "quippy" at your husband. You can begin to respect him like you are called to. To help him like you are called to. To honor him when you are in public in such a way that your character sets you apart and is like crowning jewels. Because of your behavior, your husband's name will be praised. It is a noble NOBLE calling to be a wife. And to be a wife that the Lord wants you to be is one who is reverent and calm. Peaceful and quiet. Not boisturous. Not gossipy. For Heaven's sake, NOT GOSSIPY. Kind, serving, putting your husband and children before yourself. Are you doing all these things? Or are you rotting the bones? Isn't that a horrible way of thinking about it? But it's God's way. His standards are HIGH. It is not something to be coasting through. Do not be luke warm. Take your calling as a wife seriously. Take it personally. Stop wearing your annoyances on your sleeve. Stop being lazy at home. Stop being mouthy when you are in public or responding to your family. "For without a single word from you, you can win the heart of your husband for Christ." I Peter 3:1

I wrote this blog today for me. If no one in the world reads it but me, I am weaping as I look at what is on this page b/c I have so far to go as a wife and a woman after God's own heart. I want to be these things. This challenge I have put on myself. If you read and are blessed and challenged PRAISE THE LORD that his word is so sufficient to convict and to save. But if no one else sees this, I see, and God knows I see, and I am grateful that he cares enough to put this calling out on me. This noble calling. Praise His Holy Name!

Here are the sweet ones I've been called to serve!

With a heart of purpose,

Andrea Gayle

Invisible Mom

I cannot take credit for what I'm about to share, but it HAD TO BE SHARED! I am currently in a mentorship with the woman who I would consider to be my spiritual ideal of Biblical Womanhood. She passed this on to me based on a conversation we had during our session this week. It was just what I needed, and I want to preface this by saying to you dear Moms out there reading this: please take your job as a mother this seriously: you, dear Mom, are in charge of someone else's life. It is a NOBLE CALLING!

"The Invisible Mom"

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?, What's for dinner?'I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: 1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. 2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. 3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. 4) The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was Almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it there...'As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

--Author unknown

Attached are pics of the two that I've been entrusted to pour into for the duration of their lives!Have a blessed day! With a heart of sincere purpose, Andrea

Food IS Fuel

Seth and I are fasting today because we have a really big decision coming up. I have been exempt from the fasting around here for the past 3 years as I’ve been consistently pregnant and nursing non stop. I have done a couple of “until noon” fasts where I forfeit my morning meal and pray through the morning. Those are actually VERY POWERFUL. I highly recommend. However, this is my first official full 24-hours since becoming a Mom. GUESS WHAT I’VE LEARNED? It’s really hard to fast when you’re cutting up yummy snacks and feeding square meals to two kids all day. I didn’t realize it would be so hard as I slice up a tiny orange for crying out loud. I began salivating a couple of times today just feeding my kids crackers. Seriously, FOOD IS FUEL. I felt my weary body giving at different moments. I just wanted to lay down and say the heck with it. I also wanted to shove food in my mouth and say the heck with it. Then came the case of the short-fused attitude. Lord have mercy! Landri did something she never has before, and all because Satan knows I’m low on fuel no doubt. She brought me poop today. Ya heard me. She went to the potty and brought it to me. I screamed. I was in shock and I just tried my darndest to get that stuff back in the bathroom before it was all over my floor. As it all unfolded (and as I smell the food I have served my kiddos for dinner tonight) I am realizing what true fuel food is to our bodies. Christ foregoing food for 40 days in the wilderness…folks that was so supernatural. The Father in Heaven Sovereignly was with Jesus as he experienced that. I am certain I would begin hallucinating. I mean…in just one day (and I’m not even done yet) I am feeling whoozy. Not only that…but I have still seen how Satan is side-tracking me. At this moment, I’m blogging b/c my kids are sitting here eating…but I’ve avoided watching shows or facebooking today, and no kidding, I’ve been sidetracked by other stuff – stuff that is silly like addressing Landri’s Valentine’s. That can wait til tomorrow, and mark my words, it will because when I clean up dinner, I’m going to finish praying through as I’m a mess of starvation and crabbiness.
Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD."

Let me end this positively: God is so good. He has reminded me through this why we do it. Every time my tummy growls, I’m forced to redirect my thought to Him. Fasting and prayer is truly an amazing experience when you commit your day into truly leaning on God and waiting on him. If you’ve never done it, follow the example of Christ and really try it. I’ve never done more than 36 hours, but even a morning fast and forfeiting one meal is refreshing to the soul. God is so great. You will realize that we shove junk in our mouth all day long, but at the end of the day, it is fuel for our bodies.

With a heart that's hungry to know Him more,
Andrea

New Year, Same Focus

I feel like I'm so out of it. I was really feeling a tug on a regular basis when I first began my blog to really put some encouraging and thought-provoking things out there. It turns out now, that I will have an awesome thought or inspiration...and I'll sit at my computer, annnnd nothin'! I just can't write. So I walk away. It has seemed each time that the Holy Spirit has guided me in the blog, and if I don't feel like he's here, I am just like forget it.

Today I am babysitting, so I have my 1 year old, my sister's two year old and my almost 3 year old. Somehow, they're all in bed...so I had my quiet time with the Lord and laid on my couch for a little afternoon snoozer, when the sun shone so brightly through my big living room window that I looked out like, "What's up God?" I knew he was there. And the stillness of God's majesty is one AH-MAZING thing. Psalm 46:10"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth!" Just being still and knowing that He is Sovereign. Omnicient. Omipotent. All knowing, All Present. All Powerful. It was wonderful. And I started thinking about how I came to know him - how any of us come to know Him really. I thought immediately of the scripture John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." As I pondered that...I began to think about some of the most studs of men in the old testement who I have recently read about. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses. And, I realized how all of them were drawn by God. They weren't out thinking about the Lord. They weren't on a mission to find God. To take it even further, Moses was even like, "God, you got it wrong. I'm not your dude." In the new testement we see Paul a true picture of a modern-day terrorist killing Christians. That is not a man seeking the divine salvation of our Holy Creator. Then God STRUCK him down on the road to Damascus in Acts 9:1-4 "Then Saul (later named Paul), still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul..." In thinking about these men who God loved and who came to love God and receive many of God's blessings and some of God's covenants, I thought what a PRIVILEGE to know God and how humbling that he would draw me to himself. I know that I am a total screw up, and God knew that and he tells us in His word that we are born bound for hell's eternal fire unless he divinely saves us. Jesus made a long walk up a hill with his cross so that God can draw us to himself through Him. God the Father cared enough for you and me to send his Son Jesus to hang on a cross as retribution for our sins. As our substitute. Now he desires to take you by the hand and bring you to himself and glorify you on the last day. Wow! I laid on that couch stunned by his overwhelmingly infinite character. His very mysterious and difficult to understand but PERFECT HOLY character of the trinitarian Godhead. God, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit.

Romans 10:7 Faith comes by hearing...and hearing by the word of God. In the case of all these men who came to be of the greatest of faith and graced by God, they audibly heard the word of God. He spoke real words to them. For us today as sinners in the need of a Savior, our faith comes by hearing the scripture (God's word written by eye witnesses.)
If you are in a place where you know there is a Christ-shaped hole in your heart, please just be tender to the drawing of God.
If any one is stirring inside and feeling empty, and looking for God, I'd very much assume that God is already drawing you. ONLY BECAUSE I KNOW GOD CANNOT LIE. We aren't humanly capable of just deciding we need something. We are hard-wired to love sin Romans 3:10-11 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. If you feel a tug toward the Son and his sacrifice for you...and you ask him into your heart...you can KNOW that the Sovereign God of the Universe..the one true God has drawn you. I then thought about Jonah. Jonah was told what he was supposed to do. And he kicked and bucked God. He hid from the Lord. We all know that can't happen right? Like, from the first living human beings Adam and Eve who hid...it doesn't work. Landri says, "I cannot see God but he always sees me." For out of the mouth of babes....
So, our lives are an open book to him. And he will get what he wants out of us. Hide, kick, buck the system all you want. You will suffer consequences, and then just like our earthly "Daddy" who trains our will to obey his commands, our Aba Father (Daddy in Heaven) perfectly persuades our stubborn dead will to bend to his perfect plan and accept his will for our life. If you do not, he will get his will even through your sinful response. In Jonah's case, the power of persuasion? Shew, a big ole fish! Lord have mercy! But eventually Aba Father showed ole Jonah what was his divine plan and Jonah did just what God called him to do. If you are worried, "What if God hasn't drawn me?" I don't have any worries for you at all. If you are feeling a tug in your heart...if you are searching...if you have a Christ-shaped hole in your life, don't try to fill it with junk, stuff, material posessions, relationships. Nothing can fill your cup: not your spouse or children. Don't try to buy the filler for it. Accept the free and perfect gift of Christ. When you stand on judgement day (because we're all going to II Timothy 4:1) God will need you to give an account. With even one sin on your record you are qualified to go to Hell for eternity. And that's all of us because we are born into sin thanks to Adam and Eve. If you have Christ's blood flowing through your veins, however, it covers the multitude of sins. God will look at you and see only His perfect substitute...Christ, the holy spotless sinless lamb who took your place. Every single one of us are scum. It's the truth. Sorry if that offends you but the Bible says in Romans 5:12Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So, let Jesus perform surgery on your broken dead heart. Let him make you alive. Your sin will be as far as the east is from the west, and you will 100% be in Heaven for eternity. Nobody wants to realize how real hell is. Nobody wants to imagine that a "fair" God would send anyone there. Thank heavens God isn't "fair" or he would send us ALL TO HELL. But he is just. And he saves us to be with him. T be with him you have to accept Christ first....remember, if you feel that you need Jesus, it is supernatural. You haven't come to that conclusion on your own. God the father loves you that much that he has drawn you to himself. You should be one humbled human being. We all get so caught up on "Why not this person? Why won't so and so just bow down and accept Christ?" But honestly...we shouldn't even be able to get past "Why me Lord? Why am I so blessed to know you?" God is so merciful. His mercies are new every morning. Praise the Lord!

Brand New Year - Same Kingdom Focus:
A HEART OF PURPOSE, Andrea

The B.I.B.L.E.

I once heard that B.I.B.L.E stood for "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth." At the time, I was impressed by the clever acronym. However, I've since come to frown on it. Never before and never will there be such a book to revere as the Holy Bible, God's living word. It is not just a book that we are handed as an instruction manual. Oh, no! It is far more than that. It claims of itself that it is "alive and active! sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, bones and marrow, discerning the motives of the heart" -Hebrews 4:12.

NOW THAT IS A MIGHTY PROCLAMATION! A book is alive? What does that even mean? I can tell you that it means just that. The words on the page are the spoken word of the infinite and one true God. "The word of God stands forever!" -Isaiah 40:6

Romans 10:7 also makes this very serious claim: "...so faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." The B.I.B.L.E yes, that's the book for me, and that's the ONLY book so able to perform and do mighty work in our hearts. It is NOT an instruction manual of "basic" things before we die. It is everything of SEVERE AND GRAVE IMPORTANCE while we are on this earth and mattering for our eternity with God. Sharper than a two-edged sword? Gosh, even if it were sharper than a plain old sword wouldn't it still be more unfathomable than any other book known to man? Do not pick up your Bible light-heartedly to "browse" for some good insight. Pick it up with complete and utter reverence and respect. Open it's cover expecting to not only read with your eyes but to drink with your very soul the not-so basic design of God for his people. Expect that you will find yourself seeing words illuminated on a page...possibly words you have read before, but suddenly they have revealed to your soul a great, new, and unexpected truth. This week I have been reading Isaiah, and MAN OH MAN, did God makes some INTENSE statements about his character and nature promises to His chosen people. I have been uplifted night after night as I DRINK IN THE TRUTH AND LIVING PROMISES of God's words. This week in Isaiah I read about a virgin who would come to deliver a Son...only it was written some 500 years before that actually happened. The prophesies that have unmistakenly come to pass continue to ring true over and over that God cannot lie, his word is strong and will stand forever. There are prophesies in the Bible that we are still waiting to see fulfilled...and they WILL come to pass. One of those is that Jesus Christ (who's birth we are celebrating this very season) will come back with a thunderous rapture to take home the ones who's veins pump with his very blood. Do you have Jesus' blood covering your sinful heart? Please consider the verse in the Bible 1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. If you do that, and accept Jesus as not only Savior but also Lord, he will bring you home when that final prophesy is fulfilled.

SO, please, look at your Bible with a new appreciation. It is AMAZING!

See this video of my son before his first birthday. He's singing before he can talk. He's so special to me!

Jesus Slept

You're probably familiar with the shortest verse in the Bible being "Jesus wept" John 11:35. However, I wish there was a verse that concise to remind us that He also "slept". Jesus was sleeping on a pillow in Mark 4:38 when the diciples awakened him and asked him if he cared that the storm was raging around them. This verse says so much more than that the diciples had little faith. Jesus Christ was actually on the boat w/ these people and they doubted He was still in control of the storm around them. But it says something ELSE TOO! God the Son, meaning Jesus Christ who was also 100% human as he was 100% diety UNDERSTOOD our physical need for rest. He, Himself, SLEPT! This month I have battled the ability to rest at all. I experienced many sleepless nights and sleepless nap-attempts. I was up worrying about things...and when I wasn't worrying about other things, I was worried I would have a sleepless night. It was MISERABLE. I was walking around during the day in a complete fog, exhausted. But night would fall, and I dreaded my bed...lying awake in a panic that morning was sneaking up on me. I was definitely in sin by all the worrying because God commands us to not worry in SEVERAL scriptures in his word. But I was struggling to turn it off. Worrying is no good. It's one of God's favorite things to do on our behalf, but we rob him of that by doing it ourself. I don't know why. We definitely do not enjoy panicking over uncontrollable things...it is one of Satan's pleasures to hang worry over our heads, but we need to remember that God alone is in control. The best thing we can do is plunge ourselves into His word, "dwell on what is true" (Phil. 4:8) and leave the worrying to the Lord. James commands us to "submit ourselves to the Lord (that includes our thought-life), resist Satan and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:7-8
So...how does that work if we continue to not rest? I have had a LONG MONTH of battling this, but here's the good news. God has won the war. Sometimes we have to go to battle but God has won the war. Take refuge in that dear friends and Moms and remember God DOES want you to rest. He created an entire day for it! He also commands us to "Be anxious for NOTHING but in all things with thanksgiving make our petitions known to him." Philipians 4: 6-8
Stop worrying, don't be anxious, give your cares to the Lord, dwell on the truth and pray about the worry and things that ail you. That is all found in the word of God. Hold on to Him! He loves you...and remember that the God of the universe never slumbers or sleeps. When you are awake in the wee hours of the night or morning -whether it be worrying or with a baby who is fussy or restless, getting up to start the day or just can't fall asleep at night- the God who never sleeps is watching you and is right there next to you ready to comfort you and whisper scripture's truths in your ear. God is so good! Praise his holy name! Have a great and peaceful week full of rest!

With a heart and soul full of purpose,
Andrea