Author: livingbygraceml

Boy mom and a sinner who is in need of God's mercy, grace, and forgiveness every single day!

A Fork in the Road

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I had a great day. I was happy, content, and loved my job. Unfortunately, my day did not end so well.

The previous day I had made a mistake, one that I immediately regretted. I had a brief moment of lack in judgement. I had the best intentions of trying to correct it, but in hindsight, I just made it worse. The consequence of my mistake was the loss of my job.

This was new territory for me. In all my years of working, I had never been let go. I was devastated. I sincerely loved my job and missed it. I went into a deep mental and emotional hole for a few days. The false rumors about why I was fired did not help, and I chose to remain silent and just let them talk. My own self talk had become very negative.

I had come to a fork in the road. I had choices to make. I could believe God’s truth about who I was and who He is, or I could believe the lies Satan was saying about me. I could choose to find comfort in the Lord or find it in worldly things. The biggest thing I knew I needed to do was trust in Him, and allow Him to turn this set back into something good.

How did I do that? Well, it wasn’t easy. I made the conscious choice to seek God. I dove into scripture. I chose study after study and read His word each morning. I would highlight scripture to refer back to when the lies would creep back in to my mind. I prayed. I prayed every time my anxiety peaked and the devil tried to steal my joy as I was choosing the path of Jesus in that fork in the road. I leaned on Christian friends who encouraged me and prayed for me.

I was able to find peace and help by spending time with the Lord. I learned an even bigger lesson in this part of my story. See, my plan was to work at this job for years, at least until my youngest graduated high school. I had it all planned out. How silly of me thinking I have all the control. It is God who has the plan for my life, and He decides what happens. He decided my place was not at that job. So now I am back as a housewife, and waiting to see where He leads me next. Maybe this is where I am supposed to be. My children are busier than ever before and it is nice to be able to focus on that and manage the household. Maybe God has something even better in store for me. I don’t know, but I will continue to trust in Him.

I leave you with this bit of advice. When trouble comes and you are at that fork in the road, choose the road that leads to Jesus. There you will find your peace and comfort to weather the storm.

Living by grace

Misty

Setting a Foundation In Our Marriage

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I feel lighter. My burdens don’t feel as heavy anymore. I have a new pep in my step.

I have prayed so much for a change in my marriage. I have asked God to help us make Him the foundation for our marriage and family. I prayerfully asked the Holy Spirit to reveal my faults and what I need to do to change and become a better wife. I prayed for my husband that same prayer…

..and it is working!

Our attitudes and how we handle struggles are changing. We are learning to think before we speak (still a work in progress!) and slow to become angry.

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

James 1:19

We have begun doing Bible Studies together, even though making time in-between ball practices can be trying, it is vital in order to put Jesus first in our marriage. The best choice we have made in helping our marriage grow in faith is attending church again. We think we may have found a church home where we feel like God is speaking directly to us. It happens to be the church I grew up in and was baptized. I feel like I’ve come home. It is important to have a church family and worship the Lord with other believers.

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25

*** I wrote the above a few days ago. Since that time, my husband and I had an argument. I am telling you this to show you that the road isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Marriage is difficult and sometimes we fail when we allow our own selfishness to supersede the fruits of the Spirit. Self-control is difficult sometimes when you are in the throws of an argument. Ephesians 4:31-32 perfectly states how we should not only treat one another, but especially our spouse.

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Although we fought, we did come together and talk it out. Those conversations can be difficult. We have to actively listen to one another and extend forgiveness. Sometimes we even need to admit when we are wrong, and that is what we did.

I pray this post encourages you in your marriage. Remember we are not perfect and will make mistakes. It is what we do with those tough lessons that determines what direction our marriage will go.

Living by Grace,

Misty

Stepping Forward in My Beliefs in a Post-Christian Culture

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My relationship with Christ has evolved and matured throughout the last few months. I have been digging deeper into His Word. I have begun reading the entire Bible and am seeing a new world open up before me. It has been unexpected.

My perspectives about the society norms has started to shift as things become more accepted and tolerated. I can’t help to refer to God’s Word and then see just how much our world has changed. How far away we have distanced ourselves from the One true God.

My belief in certain circumstances may not be well received by some. Especially within a society that accepts and is more politically correct than ever before. I believe that we are saved by grace but we should also try to follow the Law. Try being the key word. It is impossible to do that because we all fall short of the Glory of God. This is why God sent his only Son, Jesus, to die for us. We could not in our humanness follow these commands. Does that mean we can do whatever we want? Absolutely not. Even though we are saved by grace, doesn’t mean we get a “free pass”.

Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the Law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

Romans 6: 15-16

Jesus commands us to love our God with all our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. These are the two greatest commandments. He also tells us to not judge others by their outside appearance (John 7:24). Scripture though also tells us something different where some may call it judging others.

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

Galations 6: 1-2

Hadassah Treu of onthewaybg.com says this, ” Only when our hearts and motives are pure, we can really judge the behavior or motives of other people and really help them.” I referenced John 7:24 in the last paragraph. The ending of that scripture says, “..rather judge according to righteous judgement”.

So what is righteous judgement and its purpose? Hadassah Treu defines it as, “The purpose of righteous judgement is to discern and fulfill the will of God in the given situation”. Hear me out… in order to have righteous judgement, our hearts must be pure, our motives must be to turn that person back to God, and we must judge and hold ourselves accountable. Then we can practice righteous judgement.

We must boldly step forward, in love, and have the difficult conversations. Boldly speaking God’s truth into their life. We do this for that friend who is caught up in adultery, the family member who struggles with addiction, the teenager who is confused about their gender, the husband addicted to pornography, the couple who have chosen same sex marriage. Then we pray. Pray for their hearts to repent and turn back to Jesus.

Now, before you rush to criticize me, let me tell you something some of you may not know about me. I committed adultery. I was living a life of sin that had me spiraling down the rabbit hole. It lead to a Christian friend calling out my sin to me. I did not take it well. In fact, I called her a hypocrite and told her she was being judgmental. If only I knew then what I know now! I then turned away from God for a season. I was angry at the world and was full of pride and selfishness.

Looking back, my friend was reaching out to me in Christian love. She was trying to turn me back to my Lord Jesus, when my heart had hardened towards Him. Hebrews 3:13 says,

You must warn each other everyday, while it is still ‘today’, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

Hebrews 3:13

Our children are being affected by this Post-Christian world. In my line of work, most say they don’t believe in God. The number of same sex couples, non-binary, and gender identity teenagers is shocking to me. Most seem to come from difficult home life’s and are just looking to ,”fit in” some where. Yet, I remain silent. I can lose my job if I say anything. My rights as a Christian and my beliefs have been taken from me. I’m the one who isn’t tolerant and accepting of others. It is hypocritical if you think about it. Where is the tolerance and acceptance for my belief?

The old saying of “love the sinner, but hate the sin, is actually true. I love those who live different lifestyles, I want the best for them, and I believe that no matter what they are still loved by God. Their identity is in Christ. He created them in the womb and it was GOOD. He yearns for them to return to Him. It is simple for all who sin, no matter what that sin is. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, repent (turn away from your sin), and follow Christ and His commands.

In closing, I know my views are not popular and I will be ostracized for them. Yet the Bible, God’s truth, is what I am trying to bring to light. I want everyone to have a relationship with Christ. I am a sinner. I ask for forgiveness all the time and thankful for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. He is a good and loving Father, and if you let Him, He will change your life.

A sinner living by grace

Misty