Keeping Up Appearances

You can’t go to the movie theater. No makeup. Girls can’t wear pants at church. No drums in the church. No dancing. No coffee. No pepper. You can wade in the water on the Sabbath, but you can’t swim. Sound familiar? All of the little rules that people are nit-picky about are just physical manifestations of things that should be happening internally.


“And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” Mark 7:6 – 8 (ESV)


“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” Matthew 15:19 – 20 (ESV)


The focus of holiness is not solely the conversion of the mind; it is also the conversion of the heart. The issue is people keep the appearance of holiness without a real relationship with Christ. Because the conversion is not genuine they put on the garments of righteousness, but what lies beneath is a heart that is untouched by God. True transformation occurs when God abides within an individual and His presence inspires obedience from the heart. He is knocking, let Him come in.



To being wise,


Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Be Careful What You Wish For.....(Part 2)

In our previous post we discussed how God’s plan is so much better than anything we could come up with on our own. So what does the righteous life look like? What’s in it for you?


1. God will not deny you good things. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11 ESV


2. Those who seek the Lord lack for nothing. “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Psalms 34:10 ESV


3. Whatever the righteous desire will be granted. “What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.” Proverbs 10:24 ESV


4. Unlimited grace and favor. “For you bless the righteous, O Lord; you cover him with favor as with a shield.” Psalms 5:12 ESV


5. The righteous will thrive. “Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are his delight.” Proverbs 11:20 ESV


6. The righteous will rejoice in the fruit of their deeds. “Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.” Isaiah 3:10 ESV


7. The righteous are not left alone in times of trouble. “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” Psalms 34:17 ESV


8. The righteous will not be forsaken by God and can expect help from Him. “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” “The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble." Psalms 37:25 & 39 ESV


9. Our inheritance is from God. “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Psalms 37:29 ESV


10. The righteous have eternal life. “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46 ESV


This is more than winning the lottery, more than being on the cover of Forbes and more than being famous. God offers you eternal life, will you settle for death?



To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Be Careful What You Wish For.....(Part 1)

Because you just might get it. Is what you want in life clashing with what God’s wants for you? What is preventing you from totally receiving the lifestyle He wants for you? What we fear is that God’s plan is not as good as our own. We perceive God as the policeman keeping record of our faults and keeping us from having fun, instead of perceiving Him as our Father who has only our best interest in mind.


Trust us, we feel your pain. Our entire lives we have witnessed people living the “holy life”, and it seems like an existence void of fun, joy and happiness. We have grown up believing that everything that is good for you is boring and everything that is fun is bad for you. This is a faulty perception that we have only now just realized. God doesn’t want to keep us from fun; He wants to keep us from pain. Take sex for example. Does God (the creator of sex) want to keep you from having sex and pleasure? No. He wants to give you guidelines that shield you from danger, suffering and shame. Being promiscuous can lead to abuse, an unwanted pregnancy, STDs or a broken heart. That is why God’s intention for sex is within the safety of marriage. Another example is keeping the Sabbath. Does God want to keep you from having fun? No. God provided a day for our minds and bodies to rest from the stress and strain of work and school. But it is deeper than that, knowing that we would be consumed by the cares of this world, He created a day when we could be reminded of who made us and where we came from. God gifted us with a day to re-connect with Him and be rejuvenated.



“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalms 1:1 – 3 NKJV



To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

A Low Down Dirty Shame (Part 2)

In reference to our previous post, it was rather grim. We are not fire and brimstone kind of gals, but we wanted to convey the severity of that message, the malignancy of sin. We want to inspire you to let God exterminate sin in your life, like you would exterminate cockroaches in your kitchen.



It doesn’t mean that God does all the work. It starts with your choice. Every single time you are tempted you have to choose to let God work in you. From the moment you wake up to the time you go to sleep and every moment in between each choice should allow God to move on your behalf.



The problem comes when we take control. We fail, because our very existence is born into sin. When we sin, which will happen and we allow the guilt to separate us from God, we are no longer abiding in God’s grace. This is the devil’s most successful and popular deception to separate us from God. As a result, every time sin is the cause for our estrangement from God, our bondage to Satan is exposed. That is why it is imperative to cling to God even more in moments of shame and weakness. For it is through a contrite heart, repentance and forgiveness that we benefit from God’s unlimited grace and we remain free in our connection to our Master.



To be bonded to Christ is the ultimate freedom. Every low down dirty shame that you accumulate is covered by the pure and perfect blood that Jesus shed for you.



To being wise,


Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

A Low Down Dirty Shame (Part 1)

It was a balmy evening in paradise, but something sinister had occurred. It started so simply, nothing more than a woman’s hunger. She just wasn’t satisfied; the possibility of having it all was within reach. She gazed at what was before her. It was beautiful, tantalizing and she knew it was like nothing she had ever had before. She pondered what was about to be hers and the pleasures it would hold for her. When it was offered, she took it without hesitation. What seemed like bliss became horror. The life she had known was shattered forever but this one act.



I am sure this story sound very familiar. Eve was tempted by her own desires. The desire to know and to be like God was something that had already been present in Eve. Satan provided her with an opportunity. When that opportunity came, rather than thinking twice about what God told her, she relied on her own judgment and her own longing.



Does this sound familiar in your own areas of weakness? Satan tempting you with something you have secretly wanted and you succumb. With your covetous eyes you will use all manner of flawed reasoning to get what you want. What we see here is that sins starts with corrupt desires.


“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:14 & 15 ESV


“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:7 – 9 KJV



“He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.” 1 John 2:4 & 5 NKJV



That is why sin needs to be conquered. The way we know that we are in Him, is that His love perfects us to sin no more. Sin keeps you in bondage to Satan. If left unchanged, you remain shackled and this reserves your place in hell.



To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Turning Point (Our Steps to Christ)

Marisa:

It all began my sophomore year in college. My major was in jeopardy, I was about to fail a class. I felt that this occupation I was pursuing was God’s path for me. But this one class was the key to my success or my failure. All I was praying for was a passing grade, I asked God to help me in this class if this was where He wanted me to be. I passed, by the skin of my teeth and something was revealed to me; that God wanted to show me who He was and that He was interested in every aspect of my life. The next year I fell ill and my major was once again in jeopardy. Again, God proved that He had my back and could do the impossible, if I allowed Him to. In those moments of despair I realized that God was my constant. His was the friendship that had to be a priority. I graduated with my degree and was accepted into a school of higher learning in my field. I feel God has shown me that this is where I am meant to be, as long as I follow Him.





Meredith:

It started for me, when the path I chose for myself was not working out. I went through a period where I blamed God for certain things not working out in my life. I asked Him for help and when it did not come in the way I had expected, I withdrew from Him. Surprisingly, God stopped talking to me, which was the perfect way to reach me. The silence made me worried. I had grown accustomed to God pursuing me and when He didn’t it gave me reason to pause. His silence (which was very effective) was what encouraged me to seek Him. Like a child who isn’t interested until you ignore them, I couldn’t be reached until God ignored me. After that, I was the one doing the pursuing. I found that God has just been waiting for me. He changed my path and the path He chose for me was far superior to the one I had chosen.





Jennifer:

For a long time I felt that my life was just fine. I knew about God and accepted that He was the Lord and Savior. I felt I was a good person, who fell short of the mark, but reasoned that everyone did, so it was no big deal. I made a life decision that left me looking for a job. I was not worried; I felt that as a competent and hardworking individual it would not be long before I found gainful employment. Four months passed and I finally turned to God. I began to pray, but realized that I had no business asking God for anything, because I did not know Him at all. I began seeking Him and so much has changed for me. A desire to know Him began in me that had never been present before. I found I had a void that I didn’t even know about! Since then I have had a job offer and my desire for Christ keeps on growing.



As evident in our three stories, God is always trying to reach us, in precisely the way we need Him to. He called to us and we listened, it was the turning point in our lives, will you ignore His call?




To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Life in Transition

Wouldn’t it be strange if a friend came to you and revealed that they were using the same toothbrush that they had since the 1st grade or that you had a friend who never left the 5th grade or that you knew someone who never managed to learn how to tie their shoelaces. You would find it strange that they had not managed to go through the normal progression of maturity and change. Everything about our lives is in constant motion and constant progression. We are always getting older, we are always learning and we are always moving. So why is it ok for our relationship with Christ to be stationary? If you are not getting closer to Christ, you are getting further away from him because there is no such thing as being stationary. If Christ is the new life, then if you are not getting closer to Him, you are getting closer to death.


If you are not growing in Christ, you are dying.


“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” Colossians 3:3 & 4 NIV



The three of us were born into this church. We know all about Seventh-day Adventism and all of the customs and beliefs. We have accepted these customs and beliefs and we live our lives by them. For a long time our view of the church was through our parents’ eyes. It always felt like their church, their customs and their beliefs. It felt like it was their God. And while we believed in the message and we believed in Him, we did not know Him for ourselves.



Our parents have inspired us, their connection with God is something we came to yearn for. Not until a few years ago did we decide that we wanted it to be our church, our customs and beliefs, our God.



To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa