Wife, mom, daughter, teacher, blogger, crafter, organizer - but most and best of all, I am a Christian. I am passionate about my family and my God. I am married to my best friend and am blessed with a one year old son who keeps me busy all the time staying at home with him. And I am glad to be in the service of our incredible and awesome God.
Joseph is such a vibrant character in the Bible. Reading the end of Genesis, his life is exciting, terrifying, depressing, and inspiring in turn.
In Genesis 39, we see him as a slave in Potiphar’s house, put in charge of essentially everything Potiphar owns. And then he comes face to face with temptation: Mrs. Potiphar.
The Story of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
As you read the story, you get the idea that Mrs. Potiphar is not just some old lady. She probably isn’t covered in warts or plump, jolly, and wrinkled.
Now Joseph washandsome in form and appearance.7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” (v6-7)
And as she spoke to Joseph day after day… (v10)
…she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” (v12)
She’s at least young enough to catch young, strong, in the prime of his youth Joseph by his garment. And she apparently is attractive enough that he can’t just “laugh” this off.
Neither does he stay to try to “reason” this out with her. What does he do?
RUN!
But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. (v12)
Joseph has cut his losses and is booking it out of there! He has no pretense. He knows that this would be a sin against God. And he is willing to do whatever is needed to get him out of that situation.
He runs out of the room.
Learning to Run from Sin
I think we have a lot to learn from Joseph. So often we try to justify our sin. We make it out to be something “little.” Something “not as bad” as other sins–instead of seeing it for what it truly is:
How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? (v9)
If we approached our own lives with such dedication to living for God, we might have to get rid of some ugly parts. We might have to feel uncomfortable. We might even have to run the other direction.
But in the end, isn’t that better? After all, if you’re running away from sin, doesn’t that also mean you’re running toward God? There’s no better place to be.
To understand Him is to understand hope. To understand His gift of mercy is to understand His gift of grace. To understand our continued state of rescue is to understand our place of refuge.
Abide.
Lately, nothing soothes my heart and mind more than the moments where I find myself sitting still and abiding with my Lord. There, I draw comfort and strength. I focus on Him and who He is as Father, Son, and Spirit. In the place of full abiding is where I can breathe Him in, refreshing and perfectly good.
Abide in His refuge.
Who He is completely captures me. Though I should want to recoil in shame, I am nonetheless drawn into His presence fully aware of the grace and mercy covering me. The very essence of my continued rescue is found in those moments when I rest in Him, and the exceptional standard of hope that is found in Him is given during these moments. Words from the Psalmist come to mind as I recall the image of refuge, a refuge found in those moments of abiding.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
Psalm 46:1-3
Abide in His Dwelling Place
The Throne Room of Heaven, the Holy of Holies. It is a place to where I move beyond seeking escape. It is a place where I can come to Him and it is intimate, beautiful, and holy. Holding fast to Jesus, I can enter His presence with reverence and with rest. This combination of feelings produces an attitude which depicts the place of His dwelling. Here grace envelops me all the more, so wherever sin has tempted and tried…sin finds full defeat.
Abide in the Rescuer
Through the God-Son, there is no manner of sin that was not defeated through His perfection, through His death, and through His resurrection. So, in all the ways fleshly desires hound us and in all the way sin’s aroma seeks to draw us in, we can hold fast to the knowledge of a Rescuer who felt the same temptations and conquered them. His accomplishments over–not just the very nature of sin, but as well as its enticing, tempting ways–are a victory we can claim. This continued state of rescue is what heals, strengthens, humbles, and produces an immense sense of awe.
“Therefore, since we have such a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Hebrews 4:14-16
Abide in Jesus
Maybe, like me, you sometimes feel the heaviness of struggle. Perhaps you empathize with Paul when he said, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” There is hope. For the believer, hold firmly to Him. Approach the throne of grace with the confidence you have as one who has been redeemed by, and through, Jesus Christ. He is our help and our refuge in time of need, in time of temptation and struggle. His grace binds us to Him completely. Hold on to that and find rest in Him. While on this side of heaven we are not free from temptation, but we are free from its chains–through Christ alone. Abide in Him, for in Christ our holiness is found.
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I am a recovering Army brat who loves to travel and start new adventures. My handsome husband and I met at Oklahoma Christian University and he whisked me away to Kansas. So, I bought some ruby red high heels and made Topeka my home. I have a rough and rowdy Princess 4-year-old girl, amazing twin boys (almost 3) and a newborn baby girl who all make every day an adventure. We are grateful to be part of an amazing church in Topeka who regularly challenges and encourages our whole family. I have been both a full-time working mom and a stay-at-home-mom and/or both at the same time at one point or another. I am constantly seeking God’s wisdom on “balancing it all” and following His plan for my life, not mine.
Last week my nearly three year old son had a splinter in the bottom of his foot. I told him to wear shoes outside on our wooden playset, but he chose to disobey and took them off before climbing the ladder. Lo and behold, he got a huge splinter. And it hurt him a lot.
My husband was working late that evening so it was just me versus the splinter. BIG SIGH.
I tried a few different tactics with my little boy trying to gain access to the bottom of his foot with my needle-nose tweezers, but he screamed and wiggled before I even touched him. I found myself contemplating sitting on him to keep him still. Seriously.
Finally, I grabbed him up in my arms and held him tight. I told him I needed him to relax and calm down and focus on the movie I turned on so I could help his foot feel so much better. He looked at me with tear-filled eyes and cried, “But mommy, no! I love the splinter.”
Suddenly, it struck me how similarly we act when we have a “splinter”–something harmful we hold on to when God is trying to make us new. But we can’t seem to let it go.
Whether it’s a particular sin we are struggling with, something we aren’t trusting the Lord with in our lives, a pain we are holding on to, or lack of obedience in our lives–how many times have you held on to your “splinter” and said you loved it instead of letting Christ heal your heart?
“How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.“
It also reminded me of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce when he describes the man with the Red Lizard. I found a partial transcript in Christianity Today if you want to read a longer segment, but pick up the whole book if you haven’t already. In this story, a man has a lizard on his shoulder which represents sin in his life. It’s a startling allegory about what separates us from God.
A mighty angel approached the man and asked, “Would you like me to make the lizard quiet?”
“Of course I would,” said the Ghost.
“Then I will kill him,” said the Angel, taking a step forward.
“Oh—ah—look out! You’re burning me. Keep away!” said the Ghost, retreating.
“Don’t you want him killed?”
“You didn’t say anything about killing him at first. I hardly meant to bother you with anything so drastic as that.”
“It’s the only way,” said the Angel…. “Shall I kill it?”
“Look! It’s gone to sleep of its own accord. I’m sure it’ll be all right now. Thanks ever so much.”
…
After much discussion and indecision, the man finally allows the Angel to kill the lizard. As the lizard dies, it transforms into a dazzling white stallion.
The man, now free from his torment, climbed upon the stallion that had been his sin and rode into the glowing sunrise toward the Savior.
That is available to all of us. We can be free from our torment. Free from the sin in our lives.
Galatians 5:1 assures us, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” {sin}
Walking around life with “splinters” in our feet is slavery. What pain, what agony, what self-inflicted misery we can wallow in if we don’t seek the forgiveness, restoration, and loving healing of Jesus Christ.
Why is our old nature so hard to let go of sometimes? We think it will hurt, and it might a little…but life will be so much better afterward.
Do you have a “splinter” in your life that you need to surrender to God? Have you experienced the forgiveness and healing of Christ? Did you know that even though it seems incredibly hard to be refined by God through repentance and obedience and trust in the Lord, that He loves you and wants to see you restored, healed, and following Him?
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh,in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Toni was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma.She graduated from East Central University with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics.After college, she returned to her hometown to marry her best friend, Charles.Toni is a stay at home mom to their three teens, two boys and a girl, whom God led them to homeschool.Her goal is to raise her children to love and serve the Lord.They live on a farm where they grow produce to sell at several farmers markets.She also plays the piano at church and teaches piano.
I have shared a few of my pastor’s messages recently. For the last several weeks, they have really hit close to home and have been very convicting. It really was making me uncomfortable. As we visited with the pastor one Sunday, I told him that I was going to have to change churches. Understandably, he was a little concerned. I then told him that his sermons were convicting me and he needed to stop. Thankfully, he understands my sarcasm and understood that was a compliment. But, nonetheless, I have been convicted of so much recently.
So many “TV preachers” only preach inspirational messages.
They hardly ever open the Bible and quote Scripture. They do not call sin, sin. If they offend someone with their message, they would likely lose money, so they only preach “feel-good” sermons. We need preachers who are not afraid to offend and who are not “politically correct.” We need to be discerning of the “preachers” we watch or listen to. If your preacher’s message on sin makes you uncomfortable, God is probably convicting you about something. When a message challenges us, it is good, because we need to be convicted by God when we sin. We need our preachers to preach the Word of God. They should fear God and not man.
I am not saying that the preacher can not give an uplifting sermon. We go to church to fellowship with other believers also. I would not want go to a church that was all doom and gloom, either. The purpose of going to church is not entertainment. Do not get me wrong; we have fun at our church, but we also have a preacher who preaches the Word of God. We go to worship and learn. If you are not getting this at your church, it may be time to prayerfully seek out a new church.
Toni was born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma.She graduated from East Central University with a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Economics.After college, she returned to her hometown to marry her best friend, Charles.Toni is a stay at home mom to their three teens, two boys and a girl, whom God led them to homeschool.Her goal is to raise her children to love and serve the Lord.They live on a farm where they grow produce to sell at several farmers markets.She also plays the piano at church and teaches piano.
My husband and I love gardening. Okay, maybe “love” is too strong of a word. We certainly do enjoy it as it is a major source of income for us. The one thing that we dislike about our hobby/occupation is the WEEDS.
My husband and our two sons were working out in the garden one day about 12 years ago, when one of the boys asked, “Why do we have weeds?” My husband explained to the boys that when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that the weeds were a part of the punishment.
Then to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field.” –Genesis 3:17-18 (NASB)
Weeds and sin are the same! They both get in the way of productive lives. Weeds keep the plants you want to grow from thriving. Sin keeps us from thriving. It keeps us separated from God. When we are wallowing in sin and not living in God’s will, we cannot have a complete and full relationship with Him. The weeds (our sin) gets in the way.
In case you have been following my series on healthy eating and living, yes, this is the third installment in that series. (Check out post #1 & #2.) You may wonder what this has to do with being healthy. Well, the growing season has arrived. It is time to get out there and start planting all those fresh veggies. And, yes, you will have to toil and get rid of the weeds but you will have a great crop of yummy, healthy food to show for it.
Health Tip #3: Grow your own food. This not only gets you fresh vegetables to eat but it also gets you out of the house and into the fresh air and gets you active. This is especially good if you have children who are picky eaters. When they get involved in growing and preparing their food, they are more likely to try new things.
Gardening does not have to be difficult or a lot of work. Start with container gardening. You just need a few large pots. You can put a variety of greens in a pot now. Add some radish and carrot seeds to one side and you have fresh salad for weeks. You can put a tomato plant in another pot and squash in yet another. Just make sure that you get bush type plants/seeds for the plants that get bigger.
The maintenance of these pots is fairly simple. Start with a good growing medium. Do not use dirt from your garden as it can contain weed and grass seed.
Like us, your plants need to eat and drink. Do not overdo it. When the soil starts to dry out, water them. Periodically, I feed mine fish emulsion. This is available in garden centers or you can make your own.
One of the best things you can do if you’re a coffee drinker (make at home, not Starbucks) is add your coffee grounds.
Your tomato plants will also love your banana peels and eggshells. One more thing about the tomatoes is that if they are blooming but not producing, beat them with a broom. Yes, literally, run a broom back and forth over them and that will help pollinate them.
Just a few hours a week and you will have great-tasting vegetables in your own backyard.
Recipe: I’ll be sharing recipes for garden veggies in the next few posts.
Asparagus
1 lb asparagus, tough ends trimmed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T olive or grapeseed oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat cast iron skillet over high heat. Add oil, then remaining ingredients, stirring constantly. Cook for about 3 minutes and serve.
