The Room

If you are the owner or have access to a mobile device, you know there is just about an application or “app” for everything under the sun.  From games to social media to banking and more, whatever you need to keep up with, you can pretty much find in an app.  As a matter of fact, in March 2012, Apple announced there had been over 25 billion downloads from their App Store.  Billion.

 All this really says to me is that people are constantly in search for something that will either make life easier or happier.  Functional and educational apps are there to provide better productivity and efficiency in our lives.  Then there are the lifestyle apps that are just there to relax us and support the leisure things we might enjoy doing.  For whatever reason, it’s safe to say that people love apps.

I, like many others, have come to rely on the apps on my mobile devices.  As I continue to live, God often takes natural things in my life and helps me to find a spiritual nugget of truth in it.  I have come to learn that in all the ways apps have become a part of life for society, there is one app that was developed in the heart of God that has helped people for centuries.  The Bible – a book of practical APPlications that guide us in everyday life.  No matter what we are going through, there is something in the Word of God that can address it.  Whether it’s how to raise our children or how to interact with a co-worker; from money management to dealing with our emotions, God has an APPlicable word that speaks right to what we need. I often tell people, who are searching for answers regarding the issues of life, to get a good concordance or topical Bible to find scriptures that line up with their issue.  Truthfully, we can now Google phrases like “scriptures about depression” or “what does the Bible say about debt?” and get a wide variety of biblical references that you can follow up on to study and build personal confessions from. Read more…

What do you think of when you hear the word, “intimacy”?  Most people I’ve asked automatically associate the term with sex.  The dictionary defines it in several ways; however, I’d like to focus on the definition that says it’s a “close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group”.  Is this how you would describe your relationship with God?  Are you intimate with Him?

God wants this type of relationship with us. It’s difficult for us to understand how God would even pursue this level of relationship because we often view our relationship with God the way we do our earthly relationships.  Let’s think about this for a moment.  How often have we seen this played out?  A woman and a man meet and they have a purely platonic relationship.  They still have other friends/ acquaintances and they are content with the level of relationship they have with one another.  But something happens, they get to know one another more day by day until suddenly, they move from “like”, to love and then one of them says, “I think it’s time to take our relationship to the next level”.  What does this mean?  More commitment? Exclusive time spent?  Engagement? Marriage?  Either way, the statement usually is an indication that there is a progression, a moving from one state of a relationship to another state of greater degree.  There are a great deal of people who run from this level of commitment in an earthly relationship so when it comes to progression in our relationship with God, it can be equally as difficult for those same people. Read more…

 The Urban Dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com) defines the saying “Ignorance is bliss” as “The lack of knowledge in reference to a situation, particularly a messy one. Once the whole truth is revealed one realizes they were much happier being clueless.” This can sound very cute to say for some people, but it is really a very dangerous place to be, especially for a parent.

Often times, my husband and I will reminisce about old songs that fueled our courtship in our teens and early twenties.  As we have grown older, we may take a moment to find one of the songs on YouTube or in Pandora.  In the process of recalling the lyrics to these “oldies but goodies”, we are typically amazed at how many of them had innuendos or language in them that were just plain inappropriate.  Seriously, if my parents had really paid attention to what was on the “Quiet Storm”, the radio would have probably been removed from my room.

Fast-forward twenty years.  Now, my own children are moving into a time where they are young, but social, exposed to a broader range of children from homes where I don’t know their parents.  They live in a time where television and music with inappropriate themes are easier to access than ever.   Many children now have mobile devices and computers in their rooms.  Others boast of having Twitter and Facebook accounts where anything and everything can be said.  And while this is going on…where are the parents?  Many are working long hours, maybe two jobs.  Some are at church or are just never home.  Then there are those who are home, but allow the TV to not only entertain their children, it is now raising them.  One might think there’s no harm to it.  As long as the kids are staying out of trouble, they’re fine.  Some even think that because they pray and take their child to church, there is absolutely nothing to worry about.  All the while, the devil is sitting back saying, “Ignorance is bliss”.

God has given us charge over our children.  We are to do exactly what Proverbs 22:6 tells us to do: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it”.  We have to be on point, on guard and on our post when it comes to the things that come into our homes and what our children are exposed to.  The Bible is explicit in letting us know that we cannot afford to walk around ignorant to what’s going on around us.  We are admonished in 1 Peter 5:8 to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  When we are not covering our babies, the enemy is looking for an opportunity to get his foot in the door and position our children to be devoured. Read more…