The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12

Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying:

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.

8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.

10. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

LIVE WITH HIGH EXPECTANCY

But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. Psalm 71:14

If you live with a strong sense of expectancy, then God will bless you and use you in a powerful way. It's difficult for some people to imagine this, but you must come to the realization that God is so much bigger than anything you will ever face.

So why would you not live your life expecting Him to give you victory? God wants you to be a champion, not a failure.

If you claim victory and expect victory, God will give you victory and peace! God wants you to live an abundant life, so expect His abundance.

You are designed for a life of excellence; do not settle for mediocrity in any area of your life! No matter what has happened to you in the past, God wants you to pick yourself up and keep going on the path that leads to victory.

The Lord promises that if you will look up to Him, He will renew your strength and help you soar like an eagle. That's an amazing promise from an amazing God!

Keep pushing ahead even through the tough times, you will surely succeed.

God wants you to pursue and fulfill your dreams, and not to let the challenges of life stand in the way.

Of course, there will be many obstacles in your path, but don't let them stop you from striving towards the goals God has put in your heart.

He doesn't want you to stop until you have discovered all that He has in store for you. Your future is far bigger than your past failures. Lift up your head and walk tall!

Prayer: In the name of Jesus, I declare that it shall be well with me in this land.

Scriptural Reading: Psalm 71:12-24

Recipe: ADORABLE OWL CAKE

Have you ever tried making an owl cake? If not then try this one that is so adorable and super easy to recreate. To make it first you have to bake two round sponges and one semi sphere. Stack them together and frost with chocolate butter cream. Then take fondant in four shades of brown color and cut their discs. Stick the discs in an ombre manner as shown. Then at the back side of the owls make feathers with the technique that is used to make a petal cake as shown.

























Then cut and make eyes with white and black fondant and beak with yellow fondant. Make ears with two triangles of light and dark brown fondant. Make a bow with red fondant and voila!



You can try more colors too if you want like these cakes


source: stylishboard.com

The 10 Ways to Help Children Who Have Lying Issues

According to authors Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, "Honesty is the basis for any relationship because it develops trust, and upon that foundation simple things like communication and responsibility rest. When a child lies, that trust is broken and relationships suffer.

"Parents often don't know how to handle dishonesty, and common discipline techniques don't quite address the problem. A more comprehensive plan is usually necessary since dishonesty often has several components."

Here are 10 ways to help children who have a problem with lying:

1. Talk about reality and truth and how they are different from fantasy, wishes, possibility, pretend and make believe. Require that children use cues to identify anything other than reality. Here are some ideas: "I think it happened this way," "I think this is the answer," "I'm not sure ..." "Maybe..." (possibility); "I wish this were true," "I'd like it if..." (wish); I'd like to tell you a story..." "I can imagine what it would be like to..." (fantasy).

2. When you sense a child is beginning to stray from the truth, stop them. "I want you to stop talking for a minute." Sometimes children just get started and can't stop. Parents can help teach them. "Think for a minute and then start again. I'd like to hear the things you know separated from the things you think." "Start again and tell me how it really happened. Just the parts you are sure of."

3. If a child has ADHD or is impulsive, use a plan for self-discipline. Sometimes children who are impulsive blurt out things without thinking. Other times they start talking and don't know how to stop. This impulsivity component can lead to dishonesty because of a lack of self-control. It's not always malicious lying, but it's still not good and shouldn't be excused because the problem often gets worse. Even though children may have poor impulse control, they must learn to tell the truth. The route, though, may contain more self-discipline training than some of the other suggestions.

4. A courtesy generally given in relationships is called "the benefit of the doubt." When a child has developed a pattern of lying, we don't automatically give that courtesy. Believing someone requires trust, and it's a privilege that is earned. Privilege and responsibility go together, and when a child is irresponsible privileges are taken away. For a time, the things your child says are suspect. You may even question something that is found to be true later. A child may be hurt by this, but that hurt is the natural consequence of mistrust, which in turn comes from lying. Being believed is a privilege earned when children are responsible in telling the truth on a regular basis. Not believing your child may seem mean, but your child must learn that people who don't tell the truth can't be trusted. Tell your child that you would like to believe him or her but you cannot until he or she earns that privilege.

5. Some situations won't be clear, and some children will deliberately lie to avoid punishment. You find yourself in a predicament because proof seems impossible, yet you have a sense that this child is not telling the truth. When possible, don't choose that battleground. It's too sticky and you will usually have other clearer opportunities later. Children who have a problem with lying demonstrate it often. Choose the clearer battles, and use those situations to discipline firmly.

6. Confrontation should result in repentance. This may seem unrealistic at first, but keep it in mind as your goal. Children who are confronted with the fact that they are telling a lie should immediately agree and apologize. A child who is defensive is relying on arguing and justifying as manipulative techniques in order to avoid taking responsibility. This is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.

7. You may, for an introductory period of time, in order to motivate repentance when confronted, withhold further discipline if a child responds properly to correction. "If you can admit it was a lie and that you were wrong when I confront you, I will not further discipline you for that lie." This is a temporary approach to teach a proper response to correction.

8. Be proactive in teaching about honesty. There are several good books at your local library on this subject that are written for children and are well illustrated to capture their interest. Tell stories from your life, or read stories like:

•        The Emperor's New Clothes
•        The Boy who Cried Wolf
•        Pinocchio
•        Ananias and Sapphira from the Bible (Acts 5:1-11)

9. Give an outlet for creative writing or storytelling to further emphasize the difference between fantasy and reality and a proper use of fantasy.

10. Memorizing proverbs dealing with honesty is a way to appeal to a child's conscience.

These suggestions will go a long way toward helping a child tell the truth. Don't let this problem go. It only gets worse.

The Spiritual Adultery and Fornication in the 21st-Century Church

Just a few decades ago it was easier to tell the difference between a real Christian and a non-Christian, a saint and a sinner. There was not the kind of wiggle room we have today when we say of some professing Christian, "He's a Christian, but he's really messed up." Or "He's got a good heart, but he lives with his girlfriend." Or nowadays, "She believes in Jesus, but she's gay."

Certainly when a person is truly converted, he does not become perfect or completely sanctified overnight, but at some early point in his Christian walk any genuine believer should be showing evidence and fruit of a true conversion. A grace that does not change us is not the grace of God.

Not only is the church vastly different than it was a few decades ago, but it is such a phantom of the original that it would be difficult for the early apostles to recognize it. Except in a few nations in the world where there is great persecution and other obscure places, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recognize the spirit and the message of today's Christianity.

Back in the days of the early church, being in ministry leadership was the greatest sacrifice anyone could make and it reflected the message of the greatest sacrifice that was made the cross. To be in ministry leadership today could be as easy as ordering an ordination certificate through the mail, taking a few Bible courses, polishing your sermon presentations, learning some leadership and church-growth principles, including how to win friends and influence people, and you're in. I know this sounds a little sarcastic, but the point is made nonetheless.

In the early church's purest form, the cross was the power of God and the center of Christianity, ruling the lives of the early believers. They had as their examples apostolic men who apprenticed under Jesus and who hazarded their lives for the sake of the gospel. There was no mistaking the pattern and the purpose of the lives of those first-day apostles. It is the reason they had power to make radical disciples who were distinct from the world. What they preached and what they practiced enabled them to transform the minds and hearts of so many. We have so little power to transform people's lives today because we do not preach and live the cross.

The cross is not just about Jesus Christ dying for the sins of all mankind; it was a death to purchase mankind. We were bought by His precious Blood, remember (1 Cor. 6:20, 1 Pet. 1:18-19)? The cross is symbolic of our own death and separation from the world. Christians are people who are in the world but not of it. They do not partake of the carnal amusements and follies of the world that compromise their separation. They are not addicted to entertainment, obsessed with sports, caught up in worldly fashion, and indulging their lives in the flesh.

The Word of God likens the church to a chaste virgin who is presented to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). Defilement of this separation is called spiritual adultery and fornication.

"Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).

Who is your friend? And who is your enemy?

In the church of Thyatira, a false prophetess named Jezebel apparently was causing many in the church to defile themselves by spiritual fornication. The Lord severely rebuked the church for allowing this condition to continue.

"Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols" (Rev. 2:20-22).

History also offers us the possibility that this could have been physical fornication. Ancient types of labor unions called guilds controlled all commerce in Thyatira. The city was famous for the common practice of sealing business contracts by making an offering to a god in a temple, and then having sex with a temple prostitute to seal the deal. Either way, whether spiritual or carnal fornication, it was causing Christians to compromise their separation from the world.

Another factor that contributed to the defilement of early Christians occurred sometime toward the end of Paul's life and years before John died. This was the time a philosophy called Gnosticism arose. It taught Christians that the body is inherently sinful and evil, but the spirit is born again and pure and holy. Therefore one could live how they pleased in this life, because in your spirit you were righteous and heaven-bound.

This gave professing Christians justification to live like the world while remaining a "Christian." It also kept them from being martyred for their faith if they wanted out. This heresy greatly threatened to dilute the message and ministry of the cross.

Over time this belief system meant people could be "believers" in Jesus or fans of Jesus without actually being "disciples" of Jesus and answering the call to be separate from the world. We are seeing this today in various forms and philosophies and teachings.

John also addressed this demonic doctrine of Gnosticism that could lead to spiritual adultery and fornication and admonished Christians not to love the world.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world" (1 John 2:15-17).

Lest any professing Christian take this lightly or throw this off as some legalistic form of doctrine, or a turning back to the law, let me remind you that Jesus called it the depths of Satan.

"Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come" (Rev. 2:24-25).

One translation says that the false teachers of John's day called this doctrine of Gnosticism, which permitted spiritual adultery and fornication—thus defiling the Christian's separation from the world—as the deeper truths of Christianity. What some were calling "deeper truths" Jesus said were the depths of Satan. Things haven't changed too much in this regard from what we are seeing in our modern day.

We must recover the spirit and the message of true Christianity. God is working to restore to the church its true character, power and authority. Without the preaching and practice of the life of the cross, we won't get there.

Beware of a cross-less Christianity that breeds spiritual adultery and fornication.

Bert M. Farias

Do You Wait on God or Go?

Sometimes life comes at ya kinda fast, doesn't it?

I feel like for the last four weeks I've done nothing but rush and run and rush some more.

I made decisions...took leaps of faith...and God opened doors just when I thought I was going to hit another wall.

My journal has been full of questions like, "Am I moving forward when I should be standing still?"

"Should I be stepping out in faith or should I be waiting on the Lord?" "Should I be seeking more counsel or searching more Scripture?" "Am I discontent or being moved by the Spirit?"

And honestly, a lot of the counsel I got was contradictory...like those questions. 

I decided to take steps forward and pray, "What now, Lord?"

And the Lord answered. 

Just when I thought that time was up God flung open a door, and I grabbed my children's hands and jumped through it.

About three weeks ago I saw an ad for an English teacher position in a great school district. On Wednesday I applied for it, on Friday I interviewed for it, on Monday I accepted it, and on Wednesday I started it. It was the craziest seven days!

So now my children and I have moved (sorta) and I have started teaching sixth-grade English. It has been exciting but absolutely and thoroughly exhausting! 

There doesn't seem to be time to do anything but work, drive children around, be with my children, and do the regular everyday stuff of living.

I'm ever so grateful though. God is so good. I once again feel like David who was in awe of God's goodness to him and his family.

"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! And what more can David say to you?  For you know your servant, O Lord God! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears" (2 Sam. 7:18-22).

I so often feel overwhelmed by God's goodness. I'm thankful that even when I struggle with trusting Him about things...when I feel afraid, anxious and frustrated...He doesn't fold His arms, shake His head, and say, "Well, if you aren't going to trust Me, then you can just sit there and I'm not gonna do a thing for you." 

Instead He looks on me "according to [his] own heart" and does what He does best...loves me and takes care of me and all my stuff.

It is in these moments when I wonder why I struggle so...why were the last few months so full of difficulties...why can't I just trust Him? 

I think I could say that I'm a lot like the father with the sick child who pleaded with Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief!" (Mark 8:24)

I believe God answers prayer, and I believe God has absolutely only our best in His plan, and I believe God loves me more than I can imagine, but I know from experience that sometimes the plan hurts. The plan can be quite difficult....excruciatingly difficult. I know that sometimes the answer is no or not yet. I know that sometimes God lets us wait so we learn patience and trust...so our faith can be strengthened in the process.

And here I am...I want quick solutions, fast answers, easy plans and some peace and rest in the process.

Who doesn't want those things, right?

But God desires us...not necessarily us doing something better or different or faster or quicker or more patiently or more kindly...although all those things can be very good. God wants ME.  He wants all of me. 

Me...the stressed single mom.

Me...the worried woman.

Me...the tense new teacher.

Me...the exhausted one. :)

I kept thinking while I was waiting for direction that I must have been doing something wrong...that I was too much of a mess, too anxious, focused on the wrong thing...that I was missing something. It was something I was or wasn't doing. 

But God has reminded me once again that it is ME He wants. Me...in whatever goofy state I'm in.

There is so much beauty in that.

I don't have to worry or stress or fuss. I don't have to do or not do something. I don't have to think or be or say or not think or not be or not say something. 

My life is not defined by me; it is defined by Him. 

He is my life.

"Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Col. 3:2-4; emphasis added).

I'm praying that I will remember these days of provision...that I will build a little place of remembrance in my heart and mind so I won't forget that even though I had to wait a bit and things were uncertain, God was faithful...as always.

Sue Birdseye

GOD KNOWS BEST

One day a local evangelist bragged during a crusade that his God was more able than all the other gods in the town and the powers of the universe that the villagers worshiped put together.

Just then, rainstorm sounds started sounding overhead, threatening the progress of the crusade.

The evangelist lifted up his voice and declared with confidence that if the rains fell, then he wasn't a man of God; he would stop preaching!

Before he could finish his bluff, the rains began to hit the crusade grounds so vehemently, apparently in disregard to his declarations.

The whole town left the crusade grounds to their houses, shaking their heads in disappointment and dismay.

The evangelist, so distraught and angry, packed his belongings and left the town the next day.

On his way through the next town, he checked into a local drinking spot and drank himself to stupor.

As he lay on the ground cursing God, an old seedy looking man tapped him gently on the shoulder."Man of God", the old man began.

But the evangelist quickly cut in, "don't mention the name of God to me. He is fake. He is unreliable. I am no longer a believer in this God.

A God who chooses to disgrace his servants. Leave me alone!"
But the old man would not let him be. He continued, “I am the fetish priest in the village you just preached at.

During your one week stay in that village, you destroyed all the charms I had made on the people for 45 years.

Your prayers and your words always came with some fearful fire and power. I tried so many times to eliminate you but I couldn't. My last chance came yesterday.

I had loaded my gun with gun powder lying wait on the mountaintop where I had a very clear view of you. My plan was to shoot you from a distance since I couldn't get close enough to you due to the fire around you.

But just when I lifted the gun, the rains came from nowhere, wetting my gunpowder and covering you in a cloud so that I couldn't even see you.

All I saw was a bright man holding a sword in front of you. I was so terrified.
I concluded that your God was indeed all powerful and Almighty. That is why I’ve been looking for you since then. I want to follow this your God!"

The ex-evangelist bowed his head in shame!

Reflection:

Dear friends, sometimes, it is just wise for us to believe that our Father knows the way He is taking us. We should just trust His leading.

Let our boast be in the Lord, not in ourselves. If we decree a thing and it doesn't happen, let us not see it as disappointment or dishonor from the Father.

Let us just believe that the Father wants His perfect will to be done in all things.