Catch those foxes

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: 

for our vines have tender grapes.

Song of Solomon 2:15

This simple thought came to me last September. So, before that thought becomes a total waste, I figured I would jot it down.

Imagine a beautiful garden of grapes, beginning to bud out and take on their shape.

Everything is in place for them to succeed as a plant. Proper sunlight, the right amount of water, the gardener has pulled out all the weeds.

Yet, in the dark of the night, led only by a lace of moonlight, foxes come sneaking into the garden while the world is fast asleep. Because of the narrow pathway to get to the grapes, the smaller foxes have an advantage at being able fit down the lane. As the sun rises over the plain, the gardener wakes to find his young, blossoming grapes, that he had so cared for, have been destroyed as he slept.

Are there any little foxes slipping through the small entrances of your heart's garden?

My dad did not become an alcoholic overnight all those years ago. I did not become depressed overnight three years ago. The young mother did not become anxiety stricken overnight. The person sitting in jail today, didn’t get there, spiritually speaking, overnight. You don't become addicted to porn, attention, gossip, lying and money... overnight. 
Yes, my dad is delivered from alcoholism, has been for going on 19 years this September, if I’m not mistaken. I have been delivered from depression for three full years now. But, a person could get right back to those places if they let the little foxes sneak in.

I know there are a million little foxes out there, waiting and watching for the right moment to sneak into your garden, that blessed vineyard that you are caring for, and spoil the baby grapes. A fox is sly and will camp out in a den near a location in which they have easy access to food.

I want to touch on just a few little foxes.

Anxiety

Is your mind distracted and your heart robbed of peace?

This little fox is a professional at causing you to worry about things that need to be placed in God's hands.

Distrust

Do you claim that all men are liars and you’ve isolated yourself from godly bonds?

Stop worrying about somebody taking advantage of you and just start obeying God.

Let God be your vindicator. 

He wants to fight for you and for you to stand still! Hold your peace!

Don't let the fear of someone mistreating you cause you to grow lonely and more bitter.

We so often forget that we let people down as much as they let us down much of the time.

 Have you even shut out God?

A little lie

Hey, I know it’s tax season. But, seriously, check out Revelation 21:8.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 Mindsets

Do you view yourself as worthy, forgiven, and loved?

On that same note… are you just as quick to view others as worthy, forgiven, and loved?

I have messed up countless times. So have you. And so has your pastor. And so has every person that has stepped foot on this planet, besides, obviously, Jesus Christ.

Let the love of God, which covered your sin and your wrongs, rush over your soul in this very moment as you see yourself and those around you, who are striving to serve God, as worthy, forgiven and loved.

Unhealthy relationships

1 Corinthians has a beautiful way of showing us what unhealthy relationships do.

Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

In other words, bad company, bad friends, and bad relationships will mess up good morals and character. 

My sister and I sang a song when we were about 6 and 9 years old, as the reigning "Little Miss Wheat Queens" in Wellington, Kansas. The duet is on a VHS with my mom. We had the best 90's hairdo ever.

The chorus went like this..

“You better walk with the wise, you better flee from the fool, find a friend who walks with God to walk along with you! Choose your friends carefully, be who you ought to be, walk, walk, walk with the wise.”

The verses told about how when you walk with a dog, you’ll get flees and when you hang out with a pig, you’ll wind up muddy. Same goes with your every day encounters and the people you hold closest to your heart. Being a godly person isn’t about writing everyone off and living inside this bubble of perfection. Being a godly person and a godly friend is being willing to share your testimony with the other person and if they are struggling, you can lift them up. But, if they don’t want lifted, if they don’t want helped, if they don’t want freedom found only in Christ, they are not turning you away, they are rejecting God. Don’t let rejection from others discourage you. God gave you the family you have and the few godly friends you have for a reason. Love them and encourage them in their walk with God, especially when they are down. Hold tight to those who love you regardless of your faults and your short-comings. Those who are not willing to serve God, can not be put in a place in your life that will bring you down. Yes, witness to them, love them and be there if they need it- but do NOT do something against God’s Word and something that would corrupt your own morals and character.

Justification of sin

Oh, how I believe justification is a common little fox.

This fox tells you to say...

I have to drink or take this bottle of pills to calm my nerves. The doctor said a little wine is okay for the stomach. 

I only shop when we have the extra money, no we don’t tithe and we don’t help others out, but I really needed all that stuff. Seriously, it was on sale.

I can’t go to church because everyone knows my past in this town! And plus, I know everything the Sunday School teacher has done, so I don’t take him seriously, anyways. What’s the point?

I only fib a little when it’s not a life and death situation. I mean, I’m not harming anyone.

I only watch movies that don’t cuss more than like 10 times.

I only lust after other women when my wife is being a jerk. I mean, she basically asked for it.

I will respect my husband when he does something to be respected for.

I only cuss if I am extremely mad. If the Chiefs lose this game, you’ll have to pardon my French.

I don’t gossip, I ask my other friends to pray for this situation! No, we never end up praying, but it always feels good to get it off my chest.

I am only going to forgive them if they come to me and admit every single thing they ever did wrong in their entire life towards me. I deserve this and I will stay mad and bitter until I get a worthy apology. (I have soooo been there! I think we all have at one point or another. If you haven’t, then you just haven’t lived long enough yet, hehe.)

I am sure some of you are half mad I mentioned drinking, and that is A-OK with me. I don’t write this blog to get big and famous and liked. Nope. I write this blog because it’s a platform to share the TRUTH of God’s Word. I know what happens when someone drinks. I saw the damage it did to our family. I personally have seen the damage it has done to MANY people in my life and you’ll never be able to convince me that Jesus Christ bled and died a horrible death for us to partake in something that harms us on many levels. Why would you want to drink something that effects your thinking, anyways? Little science for ya in case you don’t want scripture. This is off of a website. “Alcohol has a profound effect on the complex structures of the brain. It blocks chemical signals between brain cells (called neurons), leading to the common immediate symptoms of intoxication, including impulsive behavior, slurred speech, poor memory, and slowed reflexes.” 

Why, why, why would any Christian think it’s OK to drink alcohol?

I know the answer for you in case you haven’t come up with it on your own.

It’s one word.

Justification.

A bitter and unforgiving spirit

I dealt with these "twin sisters" before. Or maybe I should say, they dealt with me for some time!

When I was able to get down on my knees and ask God to forgive ME, instead of me begging Him to help me to forgive others (and/or praying for others to come running to apologize to me)…
I suddenly was free from this unrealistic expectation I held for others.


Free to love them and free to move on with my life.

Life is too short to live it being mad and upset with those around you. 

The truth is, as soon as you're done being offended at person A, person B, C, and D... all the way to Z, they are around the corner and you'll be right back at being offended again if you live your life waiting for another chip to fall on your shoulder. 

Brush it off and continue on your journey to Heaven and love those and bless those around you. God sees your heart. And He sees mine!

Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.
Grace is unmerited or undeserving favor.

Legalism only looks at what people do.

Have they went above and beyond to make things right? Did they even attempt to be sensitive enough to recognize the pain they caused? I wander if they'll ever make it right with me!? 

Again- legalism thinks this way. 

God is patient and long suffering towards us, so we should be the same towards others. Especially those who hurt us. Joseph is a prime example. His brothers sold him off into slavery and one day, when Joseph ruled over them, he covered their sin and made provisions for their future. I can't wait to shake Joseph's hand one day in Heaven and tell him how his life was an example I looked to many times when I felt wronged by others.

Unforgiveness will mess up many areas of your life. Try worshipping God with bitterness in your heart. It is truly impossible. Try being joyful. Try being fun to be around. It won't come too easy or at all when you have this junk in your heart.

Lastly, just remember how you too have failed others and let them down. You too have sinned against God, the one Who is worthy. So, when you see yourself in this light, you will be much more quick to let others off the hook and show them love. This is a big part of how I got my freedom. I saw myself in dirty rags and how I was before I was saved and how each day I am being sanctified and slowly growing closer to God, yet I will never reach the "mark" as long as I live on this earth. But, one day, here soon, saints, we will be rewarded by God Himself and I believe (or at least like to imagine) He has a special jewel to place on the crown of those who offered mercy and grace when the world told them to hold onto the hurt.

Pride

God hates pride and it says clearly that the meek with inherit the earth. That is the opposite that we see with many in Hollywood and most anyone who is famous. 95% of them likely are ate up with pride. God looks for the “Little David,” the son that the father did not consider. He looks for the man who is insecure, who says he can’t speak just right. He searches for the boy whose name He has to call several times in the night. He sees the woman who is made fun of because she can't have a child. He sees the woman who slept around with many men and He washes her white as snow. Don’t be discouraged that you aren’t seen by others or you aren’t the most attractive and the most talented or the one in the limelight. I don’t consider myself an amazing writer, I honestly don’t have a very broad vocabulary. I'm sure you've figured that out! But, God chose me to write, and if it’s only a few people it encourages to press on another mile on this Pilgrim’s narrow way, I will do it. 

Pride has no place in a person seeking God, striving to please Him with their life, which is as a vapor. God isn't concerned with a show of worship and praise you put on, but He is concerned with the hidden man of the heart. 

Who you really are inside.

He sees beyond the fake hallelujah smile you put on as you sing along at church. He sees how you're gritting your teeth at your spouse as you see them raising their hand in church. He sees the pride that you mask and hide from others by offering compliments and smiles to others. He sees through the fancy outfit, the lessons you teach and the tithes you throw in the plate.

God sees right through it.

Spreading rumors

(True or not.)

If it isn’t 100% necessary..

Kind..

Truthful..

Do. Not. Say. It.

The. End.

If some of you take this to heart, you’ll talk about 80% less.

:-) seriously, though...

Oh the foxes. The little foxes.

Ask God to reveal to you right now as you finish reading this, what the foxes are in your life.

I maybe mentioned one or two that are fighting to devour your tender grapes right now. The grapes which come from the vine of your salvation. The fox (sin) wants to not only destroy the grapes, but also destroy the vine. Sin does not play fair. That is because Satan wants to kill you and me.

It’s time to go on a fox hunt, Christians.

What's in your heart?

We must allow the word of God to correct us the same way we allow it to encourage us.

A.W. Tozer

Whatever a man depends upon, whatever rules his mind, whatever governs his affections, whatever is the chief object of his delight, is his god.

Charles H. Spurgeon

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21

What really matters most to you is not a difficult question to find the answer to.

I have found that the older I get, the more the world is pulling for our love and affection. 

And it's coming up with more and more ways to do so!

I know I've said it before, but back in 2014, just a couple months before we had our son, Jack, I made the decision to permanently delete my Instagram account. Which was my only social media avenue.

I understand that this isn't going to be everyone's conviction. And more than a conviction, I saw that it was pointless to my life, it was not adding lasting value. This is just my little personal story. Everyone is different. I honestly felt I was living life through a little 5 inch screen, rather than noticing the details of the people around me. I won't go into further details, but to me, it just wasn't healthy. I always keep stuff simple in life and I always ask, "is this helping me spiritually or is it feeding my flesh more?" For me personally, again, for ME, social media had way more cons that pros.

I said all that to say, it's important to me to not purposely place any distraction in my life that could potentially bring me down, even just 1% down, spiritually.

I like to compare my decision to leave Instagram with this quote by A.W. Tozer.

"Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, however harmless it may appear to be."

I made more time many days for Instagram than I did really studying God's Word.

So for me, it was sin.

It was a sin hidden in my heart.

 I saw in my prayer journal the other day where I wrote down years back the name "Bella Bush." She is doing good right now as far as I know, but for a huge part of her little life, she has fought cancer. And buddy, she has fought! Any time I think I'm having a bad day, or I don't feel good, I often think of Bella and her courageous parents and siblings. I know many of the lows we've faced don't compare to cancer. And if you are a Christian, I can almost guarantee you know what I'm talking about. That is why it's so important for us to put on that WHOLE armor of God. Not just one or two pieces.

I believe we are seeing physical and spiritual attacks left and right and for that reason, it is a serious matter for you to consider what is in your heart. When you're faced with a trial, where do you run? When you have prayed and prayed and still the sickness remains, will you cave? When your family and friends forsake you, will you press on? If a knife was held to your neck for your belief in God, would you tremble with fear and denounce?

We are living in the last days and I believe that the Christian who will not stray, will face adversity because so many people out there, including Christians alike, will say you are being too holy, you're being too forgiving, you're being too humble. Oh, where are the Christians today who will stand up for what is true and what is righteous and what is pure? Where are they at? I know there is a remnant of them out there. May I ask, will you be found spotless and without blemish or wrinkle if the Lord steps out and calls His children home today? Or is there bitterness, hatefulness, or envy (Raylea learned this word in school this week, so incase you don't know it's meaning, it simply means wanting/longing for what someone else has.)

What is in your heart, sir? Ma'am?

C.S. Lewis said, "For pride is spiritual cancer; it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense."

Pride. 

We don't want to admit we have any, because, well, we're prideful!

Do you live by rules/laws and view God as someone pressing His big thumb down on your helpless life?

C.H. Spurgeon said, "If I hate sin because of the punishment, I have not repented of my sin, I merely regret that God is just."

When you're pride is ridden, you can walk in the freeness of God's amazing grace, peace and forgiveness.

Unforgiveness

Spurgeon also said, "Until seventy times seven, said Christ to Peter; we have not yet reached that, and if we have, let us begin another seventy times seven, for God has forgiven us countless numbers of offences."

A holier than thou attitude

"It is not the absence of sin but the grieving over it which distinguishes the child of God from empty professors."

A.W. Pink

We all need to fall on our faces and humble ourselves before God, no matter how "good" you think you are.

Letting grace be a license to sin

Really, think about this one.

"Since I know that Jesus bled for little sins, I cannot wound his heart by indulging in them."

C.H. Spurgeon

People pleasing


That may be considered a "little sin" to some. Wanting approval of others. I'm sure anyone of any age can relate, but if someone walks out your life, either on purpose or maybe they decided they don't have the time for you anymore and you slowly drift away, it hurts. You grieve.
I want you to know though, that God calls us to love others, not chase them down and force them to love you back. That is a lesson I learned the hard way in my adult life.



I encourage you to be a true friend to others, but don't neglect those who have loved you in the good, the bad and the ugly, to try to win over those fair weather fickle friends. :) That was a tongue twister!


False friends will give you a quick fix by telling you how important you are to them and how significant you are in their life, yet, when trials hit, when you are at your lowest, when your name is brought up in a negative way, when you have nothing to offer, when you feel like nobody truly cares... this person will tuck their tail and run. Remember, don't worry if other people are being true to you, just worry about yourself, and YOU be the true friend, even if a single soul never returns the favor. God sees your heart.

God will send you a true friend, or maybe two in life and I also encourage you to take the time this week to write them a card thanking them for their constant love and friendship.

Iron sharpens iron.

"God allows us to feel the frailty of human love so we'll appreciate the strength of His." 

C.S. Lewis

Doubt

This is not my quote, instead it's unknown to me, but so true.

The serpent did not tempt Adam and Eve to steal, to kill, to commit adultery; he simply tempted them to question God's Word.

Your thoughts

Remember that thought is speech before God.

C.H. Spurgeon

Ouch!

Idleness

The idle man tempts the devil to tempt him.

C.H. Spurgeon

Being angry about God's timing

There is a level of spiritual maturity that only comes from seasons of waiting and struggle, trusting God through adversity. 

-Matt Brown

Living in the past

When I got saved nearly 14 years ago, I stood there spiritually speaking, completely exposed before the Lord. All my flaws, all my insecurities, all my sin. Rather than telling me I was dirty, unworthy and broken, He called me beautiful. Righteous. Justified. As I knelt at that altar at a little church in Wellington, Kansas, I found that I could now live for the future instead of living in the past. 

Eyes for the World

Those who have truly seen Christ in His glory have eyes for nothing else.

A.W. Tozer

Thinking God's grace will cover your willful, continual sin

Evil comes from the abuse of FREE WILL.

CS Lewis

Being too sensitive

The man after God's own heart must be dead to the opinions of his friends as well as his enemies.

A.W. Tozer

Lastly,

Refusing God

Repentance is not when you cry, it's when you change. 

Some of you don't know me. You'll never meet me on this side of heaven. I know this because a great portion of my readers are out of the USA. 

But I want to share with you this. My life goal is to help others realize that nothing in life will satisfy their craving for love and worth until they meet Jesus. I'm a mother who has chosen to stay home to raise her three kids until they're graduated from high school, whom I also have chosen to homeschool until their graduation days. I understand I'm not someone of much value to the world, and I don't have a single college degree to tell you of, to maybe get some respect from you otherwise. But, I can tell you this, my whole heart is turned toward God. The Maker of you and me. The One who forgave me of my sins on March 15th, 2006. The One who afforded me the opportunity to marry a godly man, who preaches the Gospel with God's anointing on him. There is no thing, no relationship, and no success that compares to the peace I have in my heart, knowing that my soul is peaceful because of Jesus' blood shed. I don't just ask, but I beg you, whether you are saved or not, to seek God like you never have before. Tune out any distractions that aren't necessary for your survival if need be. Television. Busy work schedule. (Take a few days off if possible to revive your spirit. We take vacations for everything else, why not take time off to spend with your Best Friend?) Social Media. Your cell phone. A hobby. An ungodly friendship/relationship. If this person is pushing and keeping you away from serving God and keeping you from those who love you the most (your parents, your children, your spouse, even!) If this person is keeping you from God and other godly people, take a big fat timeout from that person. They'll find someone else to leach onto, I promise you that.

If you're not saved, read in the Bible John 3:16 and Romans chapter 8. You can find it online if you don't have an actual Bible. 

Seek you the Lord while He may be found, call you unto Him while He is near. 

Isaiah 55:6

As always, thank you for taking time to read what God laid on my heart.
2020 will be a wonderful year, in JESUS name.