No Second Class Citizens!

I wrote this blog over a year ago, but this past Friday at my Book Club a lady brought this blog up as she was thinking about someone she loves dearly. She said, "I have to remember something that Cheri said, "In Heaven there are No Second Class Citizens". I replied, "True & we also need to think about the Lord's prayer & how He told us that we should pray: "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done on EARTH as it is in HEAVEN." We need to treat each other that way NOW." I love how the Lord is constantly teaching.

I absolutely love the voice of the Lord. I love how He speaks so clearly. I love John 10 that talks about Jesus being the Shepherd and how His sheep know HIS VOICE

There are so MANY voices crying out for us to follow and we must stay close to the Good Shepherd, so we will know when an imposture is speaking.

Tonight, I had one of those moments when I heard the Lord speak clearly. Not an audible voice, but loud and clear enough to be audible.

I was thinking about two people, whom I love dearly, that have recently been mistreated by fellow Christians. I was thinking about how these fellow Christians were justifying their ill actions as I was talking to the Lord about the situation. I am so glad I can tell Him how mad and sad these situations make me and that He comforts me by telling me that they make Him mad & sad too.

Then I heard the Lord say, "In MY KINGDOM there are no second class citizens!" WOW! Thanks Lord! You are right. We are joint heirs with Jesus, we have received full citizenship! Hallelujah!

I shared with my husband what I heard the Lord say and how I was talking to the Lord about the two situations when I heard the Lord clearly speak. My husband's eyes filled with tears as God's message was so clear.

My husband's short version response:

"But many who are first will be last, and the last first." Mark 10:31

Oh Lord, Help us to treat each person you created with love and respect. This is my prayer in Jesus' name. Amen

Character or Compromise

Many of you followed the Dukes tragedy with me and are aware of the many ways God has used this tragic situation. I have been so blessed to have people like the Dukes in my life. I had the privilege of having Dr. Dukes as a professor while at seminary and I will always treasure the truth I learned under his teaching. The godly character I witnessed in many professors went far beyond my seminary classroom experience. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed because of the great examples I have had. I have been so blessed!

Even my 16 year old son commented last week on how James and I sat under some of the best teaching while we were at seminary. He has heard us quote the teaching of people like Dr. Charles Harvey, Dr. Ferris Jordan, Dr. Landrum Leavell, Dr. Jeanine Bozeman, and Dr. Dukes many times throughout his life.

While he has never met some of them, he feels like he knows their character because of how we have quoted things we learned from their teaching as well as how they handled everyday situations.

Character is so important!

Recently, we have been influenced by someone by the name of Ed Stetzer. I went to a conference on how to reach young adults back in September and he was one of the speakers. I took many notes, but I did not have a personal conversation with him.


Through the Dukes tragedy, I started a twitter account as one more way to follow their journey. On twitter, I noticed that the Dukes were friends with Ed Stetzer, so I began following Ed on twitter. Ed challenges not only himself, but all of us to live a gospel-centered, repentance-filled life. I am going to post a recent sermon of his. He shares an outline as well as a video of him preaching.

In the video, he is speaking to a group of pastors; however, the week before he had preached this sermon to his whole congregation at church. It's a message we all need to hear and it is EXTREMELY challenging.

Ed has trained pastors and church planters on five continents and has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. He has been a seminary professor, author, and ministry consultant. Ed's primary role is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay's Missiologist in Residence.

Here is Ed's twitter post. If you click on either link below, it will take you to his sermon.

edstetzer"If Satan cannot get us to compromise our beliefs, he is happy to settle for compromising our character," http://is.gd/1IfKx


http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/2009/07/message-on-secret-sins.html

Challenged,
Cheri

"Caring" On!

Yesterday was the memorial service for Retia Dukes in Orlando. The service was a great tribute to her. She definitely left a legacy. A legacy of love that will continue to carry on through every life she touched.

It meant so much to me to get the voice mails I received yesterday from friends that didn't know Retia, but prayed for her over the last 4 months. Thank you for leaving messages that you were praying for me and her family yesterday as we remembered Retia.

It was hard for me to look at the grandkids. These little ones that she loved so much. It still makes me sad and angry that they will not have Retia to share life with as they grow up. Times like these are hard to understand, so I won't even begin trying to explain them. I am clueless. It just doesn't make sense.

It doesn't make sense to my finite mind at all. In a world where so many families do not have an example of unconditional love, why would this family that is full of love and grace have such a significant person taken from them? That question continues to roll through my mind and I have to be honest, I struggle with it.

Yes, I know Romans 8:28. I know that God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I know that God has been at work in this family and will continue to be at work. I know that, but he never said that all things are good. Losing Retia is not good. It is bad. It is sad. The promise is that God will take all of this bad and sad stuff and bring good out of it. Somehow, someway he knows how to weave a beautiful tapestry out of circumstances and emotions that can get me all tangled up.

We live in a fallen world. This world is not our permanent home. THANK YOU GOD! We will suffer. Even when it is not our fault. I am sad today. I am sad because this has been a long journey for this family, and the journey is not over.

Yes, Retia is no longer among them physically. There is finality in that; however, the journey of learning to live in this "new normal" has just begun. Please do not stop praying for this precious family as the Lord brings them to your mind. They need are prayers just as much now.

While I am sad today, I am thankful for a blessing the Lord gave me on this journey. God has blessed me through the CaringBridge website. God knew I needed to have a visual picture of how big His family is. There were so many people that gathered around this one family. It was good to reconnect with old friends and make new ones as I read the journals and the guestbook.

I couldn't help to think about how much bigger God's family really is. It is huge. I needed this reminder. I needed to be reminded that God has His children scattered all over the place. He knows where each of us are and one day there will be a "great gathering" of all the saints. MUCH bigger than CaringBridge.

Until that day may be about our Father's business. May we continue to love as we have been loved. May we walk where Jesus would walk and remember how He carried his cross up a hill in order to bridge the gap between us and God.

Let's not forget one another. Let's keep caring for one another and allowing Christ to bridge the gaps.

"Caring" On!
Cheri

A Beginning

Through the years I have come to realize that there are many, many believers that struggle with their salvation. I used to be one of them. I struggled terribly from my late teens to mid-20's.

What I found was that God could handle my struggle, questions, and doubt, but He sure hated seeing me doubt what He had already taken care of so completely.

Let me just say that there has to be a beginning point. and as simple as my beginning point was.......there was a beginning point when my faith journey with Jesus began. I was 5 years old and while it was very simple, it was a personal beginning.

It cannot be your parent's faith, it is "personal".

PLEASE do not compare your salvation experience to another person's experience.

Remember God knows you better than anyone and He knows how to speak to each of us.

Let me just say for those who have a date and time when they were saved. I am happy you do, but for those of us who don't, we are not any less saved.

Through the years, I have heard people say, "Unless you know the exact time and date of when you began your relationship with Christ than you are not saved" I have wondered if they are putting more faith and trust in that time and date than they are in taking Jesus at His Word. Just a thought.

Simply put........it's FAITH. Faith in the finished work of Jesus. Not faith plus a time & date, faith plus a specific prayer, faith plus walking the aisle, faith plus following specific steps, roads or acrostics.

JUST FAITH in Jesus. Faith that He paid it all. It's not so complicated. It begins in an instant; however, we will spend a lifetime growing in that faith.


I will be writing some thoughts in the future about growth and about why I think so many people doubt their salvation, but I will end with a personal story.

When I was about 25 years old, I was going through a really difficult time. It involved a person that was constantly doing things to hurt me and my husband. I wanted to forgive this person, but I was struggling with how to forgive, when I knew I had forgiven, etc. The enemy was constantly waging war with my mind.

I called a professor of mine, Dr. Charles Harvey, and asked him, "How do you know you have forgiven someone?"

He said, "Cheri, when you can honestly get on your knees and release that person." When you can say to God, " that you are leaving the vengeance up to Him ". "When you are no longer seeking revenge."

I said, "But it still hurts." He said, "Oh yes, it will still hurt, but that doesn't mean you haven't forgiven."

Then I said, "I feel so rotten inside, I have even been doubting my salvation and now I am worried that I am not saved."What he said was so simple, but it STUCK!

He said, "Cheri, just the fact that you are "worried" about your salvation says you are saved." He said, "Honestly, I've never met a lost person that worried if they were saved. He said, "just that fact that you are worried about it says you believe."

Now that was simple, yet profound.

I am writing this to anyone that may be struggling. Don't let the enemy hang you up.


Just remember that when God convicts it is for the purpose of setting us free, and restoring us. He is about freedom, but when satan speaks it is about condemnation, our performance, shame and BONDAGE!

Stay close to Jesus and His Word and no longer allow yourself to be a slave. Saturate your mind with His Word and then you will be able to distinguish between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the fiery darts of condemnation from the enemy.

If you began your journey with Jesus, He is with you always. You can tell him everything you are struggling with. He already knows, but telling Him will give you relief and allow you to feel His comfort.


Love You All,
Cheri

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who BEGAN a good work in you will carry it on to completion until he day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6

"Caught"

You may have heard the saying that much more is "caught" than "taught". We learn by observing others.

As a child, I "caught" plenty.

I've been thinking about some of those things.

How did I know the Bible was a special book???? My first remembrance was going to a Ladies Home Bible Study with my mother. It had to be prior to me starting Kindergarten, because it was during the day, while my brother was at school.

I remember the elderly lady who led the study. Her name was Mrs. Jones. I remember how she held the Bible. She held it as if it was her most precious possession. She licked her fingers before she carefully turned each page.

I even remember going home and practicing turning the pages of my own Bible, just like I had seen her do. (even licked my fingers!)

I didn't know how to "study" the Bible, but what I "caught" from Mrs. Jones and all the ladies who listened so attentively was that this was a special book. It was God's Word. It was true and it must be very important because week after week these ladies would gather to read from it.

So what cherished memories do you have? What have you "caught"?

Would you be willing to share some of those memories?

If so, please post a comment. I would love to hear.................

Cheri

BEFORE I KNEW

I like to tell people that I became a Christian before I KNEW I was a Baptist.


You see I became a Christian at a very young age, I wasn't quite 5. There were a lot of things I didn't know, but there were some things I knew.


I knew I was a sinner.

I knew Jesus died for my sins.

I knew He didn't stay dead, but rose again and lived in Heaven.

And I knew that one day, John 3:16 became very personal to me.

I remember approaching my mom and telling her that Jesus was speaking to my heart and that He wanted to live inside it. I remember telling her that I knew I was a sinner and that Jesus died for my sins. I remember her taking the Bible as we knelt beside our couch in the living room. I remember her putting my name in John 3:16 as she read, "For God so loved, Cheri....... and I remember that He became my Lord and Savior on that day.

I remember how the burden of my sin was gone. I remember that freedom!

Those are the things I knew, those are the things I remember. That is before I knew.........

someone had written a prayer called "The Sinners Prayer".

someone had written several plans of how to become a Christian that included steps, roads, and different acrostics that had specific meanings.

someone had written a "program" called evangelism and another "program" called discipleship.

before I had been taught different approaches to studying the Bible, I KNEW it was a special book and that it was the TRUTH.

Even before I knew much of what Lordship meant, He was my Lord. (and I am still learning more about what it means)

Before I was "officially" trained to witness, I was telling people about Jesus.

And Yes, even before I knew there was an "aisle to walk", I had walked right up to Jesus and asked Him to enter in my heart and be the boss of my life.

That was before I heard some well meaning pastors say, "Unless you know the specific time and date you asked Jesus into your heart than you are not a Christian." Oh dear, I wouldn't know that about my physical birth unless someone documented it, but I certainly know I was born. And YES..........I know I was "born again."

I am not mocking knowledge. I am not saying we shouldn't be trained, and make plans; however, before I knew so much, I KNEW, and what I knew was simple. Simple, but strong and sure.

I think that is probably why Jesus loved being around the little children and why he had something to say to the disciples when they asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:1-4

I am learning that faith isn't so much about knowledge & understanding as much as it was about TRUST.

Trusting in HIM. I want to dwell in knowing and remembering the simple things. Knowing He is trustworthy. Knowing I am weak, but He is strong. Knowing that He paid my sin debt in full.

Oh God help me to renew my childlike faith and trust that one day I will know fully, as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13)

Teach me how to remain childlike, without becoming childish. Help me to grow in my knowledge of you, without thinking I have outgrown my need for you.

Jesus Loves ME, this I KNOW.