Jesus

09
Aug
2023

Simple or Prudent? Wise or Foolish?

The simple believes everything,

But the prudent gives thought to his steps.

One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,

But a fool is reckless and careless.”

Proverbs 14:15, 16

We all have many choices and decisions that we make throughout our days. Many of these decisions that we make are made without much conscious thought. The choices that we make daily without conscious thought have become habits in our lives. There are many books written on developing good habits, but the basis of many of our choices are based on habit. My husband gets up for work at the same time every day, walks on the treadmill, takes a shower, has a glass of OJ, and heads to work. He no longer gives a lot of thought to these activities because they have become habits in his life.

We all know the people that have habits that we would consider reckless and careless: poor diet choices, poor entertainment choices, no exercise choice, poor relationship choices, etc.

Our verses from Proverbs today start and end with the simple and the fool. The simple person is someone who is gullible. They are easily led astray usually by their desires. They think that if the desires of their heart are met they will find peace, satisfaction, and happiness. They hope that the infomercial about the next great weight loss pill will solve all of their weight struggles. They believe anything that anyone tells them and think that what they are told will meet all their needs.

This simple, gullible person is easily led astray. They are taken advantage of often and those that are manipulators love this simple gullible person. The manipulator will have a follower in the simple. The simple will have someone who they think “cares” for them. Only too often, the manipulator is taking advantage of the simple.

In order to not be simple and not be gullible, we must seek to surround ourselves with those that are prudent and wise. We must consider the end result of the decision we are deciding to make. Will this thing that I buy actually give the promised results? If I eat this extra scoop of ice cream, am I making a healthy wise choice? If I spend time watching TV, playing this video game, or scrolling through social media am I using my time wisely when there are many chores that need to be done?

The prudent and the wise person thinks before acting and decides if the choice they are making will produce God honoring results or results that are fleeting. So many people are seeking happiness, satisfaction, and having their needs met only to find out that the temporal things they are seeking to satisfy these needs will never give to them what they had hoped. The wise and prudent person sees and understands this. The wise and prudent person understands that God and a relationship with Jesus is the only thing that will satisfy. The wise and prudent person understands that the Bible is the manual for how to live life, not their fleeting desires.

The fool is reckless and careless because they think that the fleeting desires they have will be satisfied by temporal things. Look at the lives of the rich and the famous. They seem to have all that the world has to offer – fame, fortune, and power – yet they are usually looking for more. Drugs, alcohol, illicit relationships, and possessions are what they keep turning to thinking that what is around the corner will satisfy. Yet, it never does.

Spend some time evaluating your life. What are your habits? Are you spending time in God’s Word each day seeking to live according to God’s standard for joy? Or are you known to frequent some external pleasure to provide the satisfaction you are looking for, only to be let down one more time because “it” did not satisfy?

Are you simple or prudent? Wise or foolish?

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
23
Mar
2022

Hear My Voice

When our youngest daughter was about 6 months old, she would cry when she was dropped off at the nursery at church. A pretty common occurrence for babies and children to cry when their parents leave them. They usually stop after a while, or once they get involved in another activity. Kudos to all the nursery workers and teachers that help these sweet ones get through this time in their life.

On Sunday nights, my husband and I would teach the preschool children so we would drop off Delaney in the nursery. I always told them if she didn’t stop crying to bring her back to me. I remember one particular Sunday night, I was teaching the children a Bible lesson and the nursery worker brought her back in her car seat. Since I was teaching, they just brought her into the room and set her down. I kept teaching and she stopped crying. Why? Because she heard my voice. I didn’t have to pick her up or give her any attention. She knew everything was going to be okay because she could hear my voice.

How comforting the sound of someone’s voice is. When we are separated from a loved one, it is nice to be able to talk with them via the phone so we can hear their voice.

I was reminded of this as I read John 10: 3, 4 “…The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know His voice.”

As believers, we are God’s sheep.

There is a lot of noise and confusion in the world. There are a lot of voices vying for our attention, and we have a choice of who we will listen to. The better we know our shepherd, the better we will listen to Him.

God does not speak to us in an audible voice. He gave us the Bible to speak to us. “He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” (II Peter 1:3). God does not speak to us audibly, but everything that He has said that we need is in His Word.

Does God’s Word provide you comfort? Does God’s Word give you direction? When you have a choice what do you listen to?

Delaney knew my voice. She didn’t in that moment see me, she heard me. How many think that they need to see God in order to believe in Him? Delaney didn’t have to see me, she knew me because of my voice. My voice provided comfort and peace to her.

Is there an inner turmoil that you feel? Does your mind feel confused or in a haze at times because of what lies before you?

“The sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” (John 10:4). Do you know God’s Word? Whenever there is a decision to be made, do you go to God and His Word looking for clear direction? The sheep follow God, because they know His voice. How eager are you to know the voice of God? Do you spend time in His word not just reading it but memorizing it? Can you quote His word like the lyrics to the songs you hear on the radio?

Delaney knew my voice. Amongst all the other voices that she heard on that particular Sunday night, it was my voice that brought her comfort. There are many voices trying to provide you “comfort,” but is only God’s voice that will provide you with true peace and comfort.

John 10: 3, 4 “…The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know His voice.”

(When Delaney was four, she was a sheep in our children’s Christmas play. So appropriate to use this picture for this blog:)

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02
Feb
2022
Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

“Imitation is the highest form of flattery”  (Oscar Wilde)

Have you heard this saying?

I have said this to my daughters often when they mention to me that one of their sisters or a friend is copying their attire or something else about them. They usually are not very happy with me, and remind me that they want to be unique and not have others copy them. My daughters have me pretty well pegged these days, because before they even tell me about someone imitating them they tell me “I already know what you are going to say.”

Imagine if Jesus had the same reaction with us for imitating Him. Imagine Jesus sitting on the right hand of His Father and saying, “You are not going to believe this, but ….is imitating me again.”

Rather, when God our Father or Jesus catch us imitating Jesus, they exclaim, “They are acting like we want them to act, speaking like we want them to speak, thinking what we want them to think.” This is what God has always wanted for us, to imitate Jesus.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you and example, so that you might follow in His steps.” (I Peter 2:21).

What did Jesus do for us?

He suffered for us.

Suffering is hard. Suffering leaves us broken and hurting. Suffering causes confusion in our brains. Our hearts feel like they are so broken and heavy they are going to literally fall out of our chest. Our eyes are tired from the tears. They are red and irritated. We can’t eat. We have trouble sleeping. We are “weary and heavy laden.” (Mt. 11:28-30)

Christ suffered for us so we could follow in His steps. He suffered for us so we would know how to suffer. He suffered for us because He loved us so much.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4).

Did you ever stop to ponder that while Christ was on the cross bearing the burden of our sin, He was also carrying the weight of our griefs and our sorrows? Go back and look at Isaiah 53:4 again.

He loves us so much, He carried the weight of our sorrow with Him on the cross. Doing this while being rejected by man and having His Father turn His face away because of the sin that Jesus was bearing for us.

When we are on the floor face down crying out to God because of our pain, remember that Jesus experienced it first. He felt the weight of your sorrow and your grief. You are not going through the suffering alone, Christ is by your side reminding you, “I know how this feels, I know how heavy this is.”

Then He wants you to trust Him.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Do you trust Him to go in this field you are in and let Him carry the weight you are carrying? Do you trust Him enough to learn from Him? Do you trust Him enough to take on the yoke that He offers you?

 

We don’t understand the path that we’re on

The pain is heavy and the road is so long

We can’t see the end or the way to carry on

So we look to our Savior who will do us no wrong

 

The burden is heavy and cumbersome too

It hurts and is painful each step of the way

If only the pain could ease for a few

So we look to the Savior for a glimmer a ray

 

He told me He’d suffered and felt all this pain

There isn’t one thing that is foreign to Him

Nothing surprises or causes disdain

So we look to our Savior with eyes so dim

 

Will He really walk beside me and teach me the way

Never leaving me to go a moment without Him

This path is so hard and I just want to stray

To a way that makes this pain not so grim

 

Though that way my be easier this moment, dear one

The end will result in more grief and more pain

Take the pain to your Savior, don’t walk my dear one, but run

Let Him help you bear the weight of this burdensome pain

 

Then search His Word

The way to obey Him you must

For in obedience to truth

You will find Him to trust

 

Faith is key to the way through this pain

Do you trust your Savior who bore all this grief?

There will still be pain

But His share He will bear, and in this you will find great relief.

 

So imitate Him in how He bore His sorrow

He went to His Father asking for wisdom and strength

To bear all the pain of His sheep for tomorrow

Look only to the Savior with eyes full of faith

 

Rest in His promises

For here there is peace

For tomorrow His mercies will be ever new

So trust in Your Savior He died out of love for you

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11
Dec
2019

Jesus paid the price. Will you believe what He says about you?

 

As we continue to look at our identity and who we are, we must look at a foundational principle. This foundation will not make us feel good about ourselves and there may be some who deny this fact about themselves, but it is true.

We are all sinners.

I know this fact does not make anyone feel better about themselves, but it is better to face the truth and know the truth rather than to live in a lie. So the truth is: we are all sinners. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23).

Another important truth is that tere is a wage that must be paid for this sin.

When someone commits a crime, they must pay for it by going to trial and going to jail. So as sinners there is a payment that must be made. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23).

The beauty of this verse is that there is a wage that must be paid, but Jesus paid that wage for us. “But God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8). God loved the human race that He created so much, that He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sin.

As I write this, I realize how much I take this for granted. I realize how much I don’t appreciate what God has done for me. Who am I to deserve what God has done for me? That is the amazing thing about God’s love for me…for us…we don’t deserve it.

Consider for a moment Osama bin Laden. He is a hardened terrorist who committed/coordinated many horrendous acts of murder around the world. What if rather than being killed in his compound, he was brought in to trial and found guilty of death or life in prison. At his sentencing of all these horrendous acts, someone stepped up and said that they would take his place. Who would do such a thing? He is one of the most notorious criminals of all time.

That is what Jesus did. He took my place.

Consider for a moment when Jesus was on the cross and the criminal next to Him asked, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42). Jesus answered him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). As Jesus was dying, He was dying for this man’s sins. Jesus also was so selfless that he forgave this man at this moment. At the worst moment, Jesus was not thinking about Himself He was thinking about others. This is not the only example.

From the cross, Jesus made sure Mary was taken care of after His death as well. (John 19:25-27). As Jesus hung on the cross dying for our sins, He cared for the temporal and physical needs of His Mother.

Jesus loves each of us so much.

If Jesus loves us this much, we should want to get our identity from who Jesus says we are not who the world says we are. Yet, too often the world slowly and meticulously changes our thoughts and we begin to believe lies about ourselves rather than the truth about who God says we are.

Why do people believe these lies?

They don’t think they are good enough to be loved by God. The truth of the matter is none of us are good. We are all condemned and all deserve to die the worst death possible. We all deserve to be separated from God forever, but God sent His only Son into the world to redeem the world.

Our identity does not come from who or what the world says we are. Our identity comes from who God says we are.

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
20
Nov
2019

The Truth about Our Identity

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion these days on an individual’s identity. According to Merriam Webster, identity is “the distinguishing character or personality of an individual.” We could call this a vague and even secular definition to our identity.

As a Christian, our identity must be viewed differently. According to Sam Allberry, “As a Christian, one of the key things for me is realizing that identity as Christians is not something that we discover in ourselves, nor is it something we create. It’s something we receive and are given by the only person who can know our actual identity, which is the God who made us. So my identity as a Christian comes from the fact that I’ve been created by God and redeemed by him through the saving work of Jesus.”

If only we could get this message out to the world and they would understand it and apply it to themselves. Too often people are searching for who they are. They are looking inside themselves to figure out who they are. This thinking is skewed by our sinful nature for who we are is not determined by what is inside of us, but by what God says about who we are.

It is so easy to be swayed by our feelings. They can be rascally creatures. They change and sometimes are not based on reason, but rather on misconstrued “facts.” The Bible speaks to this in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Our hearts can so easily deceive us, and with deception comes an instability. The antonym or opposite of deceit is truth or honesty.

If our hearts are full of untruth or deceit, than we must have something that we can turn to that is full of truth. That is God and His Word. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). In other words, Jesus never changes. While Jesus was on the earth, He said “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17). As Christians, we are set apart by truth, and the best place actually the only place to find truth is in the Bible.

When an individual looks to themselves to find truth, they will get deceit. When an individual looks to God’s Word for truth, they will get truth.

Our world seems to be spiraling out of control in regards to our identity as humans and where this identity comes from. This stems from a lack of knowledge and confusion on where their identity comes from. It also comes from a disregard for God and His Word.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” (I Cor. 14:33). Since God does not author confusion, we know that this comes from the enemy. When a person is confused about who they are, it is the work of the enemy, Satan, not the work of God.

As parents, it is extremely important to give our children and any other children we may be working with a firm foundation of who they are according to God and His Word. We will explore these topics in future blogs. It is important to establish a basis of truth with our children. The enemy will attack them. He will seek to destroy them in whatever way possible. It always starts very small and in a very insignificant way, so as parents we must be on guard to protect our children and their hearts.

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22
May
2019

Enjoy the Everydayness

I have been busy living life. Do you get that way?  The girls are home from college for the summer and Danielle, our oldest, is home for six weeks before her wedding. I love having the house full, a full refrigerator, and the many spontaneous conversations. They are working on furniture projects in the barn, baking, and cooking. We are training for a triathlon together. It is fun to share how our progress is coming together.

What I love the most is the everydayness of life with them being home.

Are you tired, Mom?

There are many moms out there that are tired of the everydayness of life. They are tired of all the meals, the laundry, the cleaning, the travels to sporting events and music events, or trying to organize end-of-school parties or birthday parties.

There are many epic moments, but there are so many every day moments. With my daughters all being away at college, what I miss the most is the everydayness.

Those moments are what teach them the most.

They learn when I make them their favorite meal that they are special and important to me.

They learn how to sacrifice when I sacrifice my sleep to make sure they have breakfast before leaving for the day. They learn sacrifice when I change my schedule to make sure we spend time together.

They learn how to work and get a job done by working with us on projects around the house or helping to clean up after meals.

They learn the value of intentional conversation when we sit on the kitchen floor and talk about the things that are important to them, even if it is time for me to go to bed.

I have opportunities to teach about their identity in Christ and how they gain value because of what Christ did for them when I take time to ask the right questions and really listen to their answer.

I miss the everydayness

I miss driving them to their various activities and the different memories we made along the way. The random places we would stop at and have an adventure. The spontaneous conversations. The funny observations they made when they looked out the window.

I know that the everydayness of life gets tiring when you are in the midst of it. It seems so long before you will be able to sleep in and have a leisurely Saturday morning, BUT…

When they leave and start having a life of their own and they don’t need you as much, YOU WILL MISS THE EVERYDAYNESS.

Don’t wish it away

Rather than wishing away the mundane of today, look at it as a treasure that you will never get back. Hug them more. Make them their favorite meal. Ask them questions that make them offer more than a “yes “or “no” answer.

Jesus discipled in the everydayness

There is no better way to disciple our children than in the every day. Jesus spent three years living with His disciples. They walked together. They talked together. They ate together. They fished together. They lived life together. Jesus did many amazing things that we read about in Scripture, but “there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25). Jesus taught His disciples in the epic moments. He also taught them in the everydayness of life.

“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9).  I am now enjoying the benefits of the “not giving up.” The truth of the matter is, we must never give up. As I look at the next decades to come, relationship with my daughters will look different, but if it is to continue, I must not give up.

So celebrate the everydayness of life. Enjoy every minute. Look for ways to teach your children in the everydayness. As you lay in bed and reflect on your day, you will be happy that you enjoyed the day and took the time to teach your children in the everydayness of life.

The everydayness of my life is beckoning me and I need to go make my daughters a rhubarb pie. It’s one of the things that makes them feel special.

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