I have read an article this morning and it really hit home. It has made me think about our decisions and the impact it has on others.  As the song lyrics say in a Casting Crown song, Slow Fade reminds us …

People never crumble in a day. It is always a slow fade.

I ask all of us to think about our daily  decisions. It is so important for us to evaluate ourselves. Accountability is a great thing. As a sign says in my closet that I see everyday…. Keeping it real is a full time job. Surrounding yourself with good Godly friends will help you and challenge you to live an authentic life in Christ.

Please know that when people are struggling and the waves of life seem to be overtaking them, getting a text that says, Praying for you sometimes does not do much for that person.  Are we really praying? Is is just something we say to make ourselves look good or feel good? It really has gotten to the point that is is like, How are you? Let’s have lunch next week.  Words are cheap. Prayer is powerful. It is not something to just be said in vain. Making a difference also means  being there. It is serving, It is helping in times of need. It is being the hands and feet of Jesus that make a difference. Personal relationships with others can change a life forever.

As many know through my writing there has been a spiritual battle going on for months. God has been faithful through it all even when my faith has faltered and I  have really related to the Prodigal child story like never before. I have fallen flat face on the ground in my spiritual walk. This warrior is a child. The battle is the most fierce I have know in over a decade. Wounds are evident and a long spiritual recovery is in order. Keeping it real. Pretending all is well does no good for nobody as the southern saying goes. Letting others know that believers struggle with the same struggles everyone else does is being real. The difference is when we fall, when we sin, when we fail, WE HAVE A GOD Who has never fallen, never sinned and will never fail or falter. In our weakness he SHOWS UP~

As believers, we sometimes lose sight of why we started serving in the ministry or church in the first place. IN the last few months,  we have gotten the text that say praying for you when it was the 21 days of prayer at church. When I text back and say thanks for the prayers, etc.  but the 21 days of prayer seems foreign to me right now, I get a frown face back and never hear from them again. Or how about the text that sends the scripture ONLY of Hebrews 10:25 – Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. No thinking about you, no encouraging words, this scripture was all that was sent to us. It felt more like a reprimand  from them. HELLO….. do we real think this is helping someone?  Or how about the email that says to my family, Missed y’all and y’all have not served at church in awhile. Don’t know what is going on with y’all but they need to know if they need to delete my families names off the roster for serving? Don, wrote back, JUST DELETE. Their response, Wow…. that was a short response and they will accommodate our wishes. WOW… is right.

How about pick up the phone as a leader/member in the church. You don’t know what is going on because you have never taken the time to check or call. MY husband and son have served faithfully for years almost every Sunday at church. Prison ministry every other Sunday which is time consuming but he loved seeing a difference being made in these prisoners that so many others have just forgotten.  Mission trips to Africa and Israel with the church. The response  is… do we need to delete you?

I feel like when you are a part of a mega church sometimes people can be just a number. Thank God that God does not look at us as another number, HE KNOWS US BY NAME ~

The good news, I am still learning and experiencing  that relationships,  our marriages and our friendships can be rebuilt through repentance, forgiveness and grace even if it is us or  the other party that  does not deserve it. This is the beauty of grace. He forgives  the unforgivable in us  so we can learn to extend the same grace to others.  Our lives may not be easy. Forget the may not, THEY ARE NOT in this day and time being a Christian. Remembering… BUT GOD !

YES,  BUT GOD….. Two words. Two powerful words. HE  will give you and me the  strength if we  choose to follow Him fully. He created us and knows what will ultimately bring us joy. Again, so thankful  he knows are name. He numbered the hairs on our head. He has a plan for each one of us to fulfill.  His ways and His timing are not ours. His ways are not what the world tells us will bring us happiness. Jesus came to set us free from this world and He bridged the gap so that we can have a personal connection with father God. He will help you in your choices, both big and small, if you let Him. There are so many times I have taken the reigns like this horse owner does naturally instead of giving full control over to him. It is amazing what a mess I can make when I do it my way instead of his. Can anyone else relate to that?

He can teach us to be the leaders that he wants us to be to make lasting impacts on others. We can choose to make the right decisions  at work. We can change our decision to divorce our spouse. We can choose to make people feel valuable or just a number.  We can choose!!! We get to make the choice but we do not get to choose the consequences.  With God ALL things are possible.  We can forgive! One of the best decisions is to decide to not take advice from those that live selfishly and give advice that contradicts with biblical teachings.

Today, is a new day. New dawn, clean slate. Take five minutes to think about those in your life and chose someone today that may need YOU. We all need a  good influence in our  life, BE THAT PERSON.  There is a horse saying from my favorite trainer, Pat Parelli, Horses don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. TRUST ME, it is the same for people.

Words are cheap, quick and easy. Take the time that it takes, our decisions today can be the difference maker of  eternity for someone else. It is your move.  Will we follow the lead of our Sovereign God ? What will you decide today that can make a difference?  One decision to  truly be someone else’s difference maker !!!!