Guest Blog by Hester Christensen - Dying to Live!

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Read more about Hester and her ministry at the end of the devotional.

Dying to Live!

Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV 1984) "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." 

Jesus is in the business of bringing death to life.  He does it physically; He does it spiritually.  He did it with Lazarus (John 11:25).  He did it with Saul (Acts 9).  He can do it with you.

Remember, we are freed from sin and death to experience true and abundant life. Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10b).  Jesus is the life-giver.  Satan, however, is the life-stealer.  He comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10a). 

Because Christ is risen, His followers have the same resurrection hope and power.  Our reality changes because of Christ's victory over death.  Christ's triumph becomes ours through faith, which frees us to live the resurrected life every day.

Romans 6:12 teaches we are to count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. A resurrected life buries the desires of self and crucifies the sinful nature in order to proclaim this new resurrected life.  

Romans 6:13 further instructs us to offer ourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of our body to Him as instruments of righteousness.  A resurrected life belongs to God and lives for Him.  This life becomes a tool for His Kingdom.  

Living a resurrected life is a testimony to the risen Lord and a witness to the world.  Like Paul, we should honestly be able to say, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20).  Just as Christ overcame death, we too can overcome by dying to self in order to live for Him.  We die so we can live!

To become like Him in His death is to lay down our life in order to experience the full significance and breadth of a resurrected life.  This is the goal and prize Paul reached for in Philippians 3:10-14.  He wanted to know Christ and the power of his resurrection; to become like Him in His death, and to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus resurrects my life.  As I continue to grow in my faith this truth revolutionizes the way I approach each day.  I see how God saved me from the clutches of death and restored my life to experience abundant life in Him.  

• He delivered me from severe bondage to eating disorders.
• He filled the gaps of my insecure heart as a young wife and mother.
• He brought healing to brokenness from crippling childhood wounds.
• He gave me strength to walk with hope and comfort when my mother died.
• He replaces my fears and concerns with trust in His sovereign will.
• He brings me joy despite frustrating circumstances.
• He calms my irritations.
• He enables me to love and respect my husband.
• He provides wisdom and patience as I strive to nurture my children.
• He rebukes my pride and unfair comparisons when I am discontent.

Do I get it right every time?  Hardly.  But, I believe the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, is also in me.  When I submit and choose to operate in His power and not my own strength, my response to life is beyond my own ability.  This is the power to live a victorious, resurrected Christian life!

Are you dying to live?

Heart Work:

The most significant event in history changed everything.  How has Christ's victory over death changed you?

Don't forget, when we die to self it offers the hope and life of Christ to others.

Heart Exam:

In what ways has God given you victory and new life?  

Have you died to self and been made alive in Christ?

How can your life better display the power of the resurrection of Christ?

Heart Transforming Word:

John 11:25-26 (NIV 1984) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?"

Romans 6:4-5 "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live new life."

1 Corinthians 15:57 "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Cor. 4:10-12 "We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.  For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.  So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."

2 Cor. 5:17 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

1 Peter 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

 

Hester Christensen has been married to her wonderful husband and ministry partner, David, for 18 years and has three delightful boys, 14, 12, & 9yrs. old. They reside and serve in ministry in Spokane Valley, WA.

Hester is a co-author to "Greater Than A Superhero," set to be released this fall, a contributing author to "Women in High Def," has written over one hundred devotions and has published work featured in Rooted Living and The P31 Woman and other online sites. She is currently working towards publishing her first Bible study.

Hester has impacted numerous women through retreats, conferences, Bible studies, mentoring, and other women’s events in the United States and abroad. She has an undeniable love for God and His Word and her heart is driven toward discipleship. While her passion is leading women toward spiritual maturity, her greatest desire is to bring glory to her King!

Help Me Unplug!!

 

“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16 (NASB)

I need to unplug.

It seems as if my brain is on constant drive. My feet hit the floor in the morning and my eyes have not quite adjusted to the light before I hit the home button of my smart phone. The screen glares at me as if to say: “Take a breath, woman. I’ll be here after breakfast. You are not the President.” I cannot stop at a traffic light without being tempted to reach out to my phone and check if anything has changed from… uh… 30 seconds before.

It’s pitiful, I admit. But judging from what I see around me, this is certainly not my personal issue. It’s an epidemic. 

I went out for dinner with my family last week. As we settled at our table, I scanned the territory around: A group of teenagers, a young couple seemingly on a date and another couple and their 5 year old son. They were all holding on to their gadgets as if the air that they breathed was only released at the push of a button on their thingamajigs. The young couple seemed to exchange only a couple of sentences all evening. Long sentences seemed to be reserved to whoever was reading their social media pages or texts.

I don’t mean to sound overreacting, much less judgmental, since I am often guilty of the same flaw, but I am afraid technology owns too much of our time. I don’t read as much as I used to. Or play with my children like I should. Truthfully, life was already very busy before these niceties came along claiming our attention 24/7, but now it seems as if we have allowed them to rob our attention from just about anything we do. Shamefully, I heard my oldest daughter ask me if I was listening, because I had to grab my phone in the midst of our conversation. Gizmo buzzed and mom went to it. I’ve been treating it like a colicky baby. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that we drive a hammer onto anything we own with an LCD screen. But I think we have a growing problem in the western world: not only is technology impersonalizing our relationships, it is also dividing our thoughts. It is claiming our attention when we should be plugged into more important matters.

Worse yet, I’m afraid our gadgets are robbing us from precious time with God.

If Only God Would Text Me!

“If we are weak in communion with God we are weak everywhere.”  Charles Spurgeon

With the overflow of technology in our days, many of us are guilty of spending less time with God. Nevertheless, our hyperactive minds are flooded with information that is at best unimportant. We’re able to waste time nosing around or inflating our egos on social media walls and yet have a hard time finding 15 minutes of quietness before our God. And as cool as it would be to receive a text from the Almighty, we know it won’t happen. If we are to listen to what He has to say to us, we must learn to unplug. Be still. And patiently wait. 

 

The difference between spending quality time with God or not may just mean the difference between a purpose-filled life and a wasted one. That sounds harsh. But it is true.

Learning to Unplug

The first step in learning how to better connect with God and the people we love is to realize and admit that we are indeed “over plugged”. Next, I would like to share some changes that I have implemented to my routine in order to realign my priorities and learn to unplug:

•  While studying Scriptures or praying, I am keeping my phone on the other side of the house.

• While tending to my children, I will not check my phone.

• While dining with my family or friends, Gizmo shall stay in the purse. Or in the car. I’m reminding myself I am not that important.

• I am committing to pick up the phone and call my friends more. And text less.  

Lastly, my weekends shall now be called “Electronic Sabbath”. I will check my emails in the morning and then again in the evening. That's it. The rest of my weekend will be dedicated to rest my soul from the cares of this world: the news, business matters and whatever the Joneses are parading to the world on social media. 

Electronic Sabbath will be reserved to enjoy my greatest treasures in life: my family and my God.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 (NIV)

 

My Latest Column for the AJC: "Worshipping Perfection Not in God's Plan"

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Guest Post - by Amy Carroll (Proverbs 31)

Reading Patricia’s post on “Shifting the Praise Paradigm” made my mind drift to an event that years ago taught me a similar lesson as I watched a woman struck by tragedy live out her praise in a way I could never imagine…

A chill swept through my body as I listened to my friend’s voice on the other end of the phone.  Ozzie, a young man in our church’s youth group, had died in a tragic fall while at a youth retreat, and the youth ,including my son, would be coming home early.    Questions swirled through my mind as I hung up.  How had this happened?  Wasn’t this the sort of thing that was just on t.v. or was reported about places far away?  Was my son, Anson, ok?….And on and on….

After the dazed and grieving group returned home into the waiting arms of their parents, reports of the accident and the subsequent events began to be told.  The one story that I struggled with the most was told to me by my son.  Ozzie’s mother, Maria, had been a chaperone for the youth that weekend and was able to be with Ozzie as he died.  After accompanying his body to the hospital, Maria had returned to the camp to speak to the shocked group of kids and leaders who were waiting to hear some news.  She spoke of God’s goodness and His sovereignty.  She testified of Ozzie’s love for Jesus and his journey to heaven to be with his Lord.  She reminded the group of God’s love for each one of them, and she comforted them through her own sorrow.

I just couldn’t believe it.  How could she have been able to do such a thing immediately after the death of her son?  How was it that my son had been so comforted and inspired by this grieving mother?  The cynic in me answered that surely her ability came from pure shock.  It was simply not normal.

God brought conviction to my heart that night as I read an author’s perspective on the praise that flowed from Mary’s lips after hearing the news that she was to be the mother of Jesus.  Just like Maria, Mary had also received some shocking news.  Although the coming of the Messiah brought joy to Mary’s heart, it had to have also brought feelings of fear and uncertainty that this child was to be delivered through her own unmarried, teenage body. 

God softened my heart as I thought of Hannah who praised God as she gave her only son to a life in the temple (see I Samuel 1 and 2)  and Job who worshipped God following reports from successive messengers of doom and loss (see Job 1).

Maria’s reaction wasn’t normal.  It was extraordinary!  I have no doubt that days of excruciating pain and grief are ahead for Maria and the rest of Ozzie’s family.  However, as I learn more about Maria from her friends and church family, I know that her outreach to our hurting youth group was an overflow of praise from a woman that has cultivated a habit of praise through hard times. 

The question that God has gently raised in my heart is, “Sweet daughter, what are you doing to create a pattern of praise?”  Blame, anger and bitterness are the sinful soul’s response to tragedy, so praise is something that must be practiced and made a habit.  “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4--NIV)  Won’t you start with me today as I count every blessing and rehearse the truths of God’s character in the good times so that I’ll be ready to respond with praise when hard times come?

Amy Carroll’s joy and passion is helping women find a deep connection to God’s Word and each other. As a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries speaker team and director of Next Step Speaker Services, she’s committed to opening up her whole life to teach the lessons she’s learned in her pursuit of applying God’s truth.  Amy is an ordinary woman who laughs at corny jokes, cries at Hallmark commercials and is afraid of bouncing checks and her own double chin. But she has a God-given ability to share His big truths in small, understandable bites.  She loves scripture and is dedicated to teaching it in all its unvarnished glory. You can get to know Amy better at http://www.amycarroll.org or www.nextstepspeakerservices.org.