Gutsy Christianity

Sometimes the study of trees (aboriculture) is interesting.

My tree has been plucked as of late, and boy am I sore. Twigs have been hacked and branches sawed off. In short, relationships have been lost.

 

Have you been ignored?

Have you been unfriended?

Were you left out of something important and your soul was crushed?

If you're getting ignored, it may just be that your tree is getting trimmed.

Pruned.

Either way, it hurts.

 

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Divert your energy into the remaining branches, and let the old be lopped off.

Let them die.

Refuse to give them any further resources. Nutrition takes away from your purpose and your branches that are still alive. They may droop a little if you divert energy, time, and emotion into things that dead or nearly dying. 

 

Imagine you were pregnant and needing to deliver your baby and that there was nowhere for you to do that. Imagine how left out you would feel when everyone was safe in their beds and you were outside in a stable giving birth. I'm guessing you already know what it's like to be on the outside looking in.

Jesus knew what it was to be disregarded.

Mocked.

Rejected.

Perhaps you've been the one who wasn't invited to the birthday party.

Perhaps your kids weren't invited, and it hurt you just as badly, if not more.

Perhaps you are always the last one to know about what is going on.

Maybe you know that people talk about you behind your back.

The good news is that how things are on heaven is different than how things are on earth.

While Mary was giving birth to the Savior in a dusty stable with just Joseph and the animals, a great stir was taking place out in a pasture. The angel of the Lord announced to some shepherds that the Savior had just been born, and a host of angels began to praise and give glory unto God.

In heaven there was a great outpouring of praise over the lowly couple that couldn't even get a hotel room. In Luke chapter 1, the angel who approached Mary referred to her as 'highly favored', and he said 'blessed art thou among women'.

In the book of Daniel, after Daniel was approached by the angel, the angel said unto him: 'O man greatly beloved' Dan 10:19

1 Samuel 16:7 says: "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Matthew 19:30 says, 'But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

It is true that among people you may be left out and rejected. It may be true that you are ignored and counted of little esteem. Your eyes may burn and your heart may hurt, but take courage in the fact that things are different in the heavenly economy than they are down here on earth.

Take courage in the fact that God sees your heart and that He knows who you are. It may just be that you are His beloved and that you are highly favored in His eyes.

Seek His face and pray to Him, focusing on your relationship with Him. It could be that He uses you to carry His comfort to someone else, because you know what it is like to feel alone. Trust in His plan that He will work everything for good and that He will put the pain of people ignoring you to good use. It says so in His word.

After your pruning, you may actually be healthier. Pour your energies into those things which are living or are just about to blossom forth. Let go of the old when a thing has run its course.

Cry if you need to, and remember that Jesus will never leave you or forsake you and that he always works all things for the good of those who love Him.

Stay Gutsy,

Rosa

Think a woman can't take an active role in her own life and pop the question? Think again!

 

Subscribe below, and I'll send you 3 free gifts!

You'll get access to:

'Ruth Did Not Wait for Her Boaz', + 2 free albums.

'Give Me a Song to Sing' - a folky country happy extravaganza (played on the radio!) and

'Salvation Songs' - a roots rock-inspired call to live for Jesus daily (also played on the radio!).

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You Need Salvation

 

The Beautiful Temptation

 

My Trip to the Gay Bar

 

Everyone is a sinner.

Including me.

Including you.

All of us have broken God's commandments.

And that is a problem, because God is holy and cannot look upon sin.

We've all told lies, have stolen something that did not belong to us and in other ways committed sins. Think of the ten commandments. Have you ever put anything before God? Disrespected your parents? Committed adultery? That's sin.

And the Bible says that:

 

'the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Romans 6:23.

Put simply, a person who dies in their sin will burn forever in a literal place called hell. God, however, does not desire that any should perish. (2 Peter 3:9)

Here is what God did so that you could be saved.

Jesus, who is the Son of God and God, came to this earth, born as a baby in a manager, and He fulfilled the law that you or I never could. He dotted every I and crossed every t. He was perfect, and He never sinned.

He willingly went to the cross for you and me to pay for the sins that we would commit. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. (Heb 9:22)

Jesus died and willingly took on our punishment. 

When you acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself, pray this prayer, believing in His sacrifice:

'Jesus, I am a sinner. I repent, and I ask you to forgive me of my sins and be my Savior. I believe that you died and rose again for pay for my sins. In Jesus's name. Amen'.

The Bible says that when you call upon the name of the Lord you shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

You don't have to guess or worry about your salvation. Believe on Him, and the Bible says you shall be saved. That's a promise.

That salvation is also eternal. John 3:16 says:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That life is eternal. You can be at peace. Today right now. It is my hope that you will say yes to Jesus and say yes to salvation.

Subscribe to my newsletter to get more encouragement, and get:

Think a woman can't take an active role in her own life and pop the question? Think again!

 

Subscribe below, and I'll send you 3 free gifts!

You'll get access to:

'Ruth Did Not Wait for Her Boaz', + 2 free albums.

'Give Me a Song to Sing' - a folky country happy extravaganza (played on the radio!) and

'Salvation Songs' - a roots rock-inspired call to live for Jesus daily (also played on the radio!).

All 3 are yours when you subscribe by adding your email address to the prompt below....aaaand you'll get weekly updates from Gutsy Christianity. What are you waiting for?!? Subscribe today!

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When You No Longer Trust Church People

 

My Trip to the Gay Bar

 

The Beautiful Temptation

 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

It happens in the desert when you're in a season of dry, barren landscapes parched for just a taste of something succulent.

Or it happens in the land of plenty when you're more than satisfied but maybe a little bit bored.

Either way, it is beautiful.

It looks like the shape of a lovely lady bathing on a rooftop (not that what happened was her fault).

It can look like a moment of convenience, like when the spouse is away, and you just happen to be laying down on a bed, like Potiphar's wife did.

 

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It can look like a handsome co-worker who says all the things that you're dying to hear. The one that sports those bulging biceps or the charming witticisms that make you think about him well past the hours when work is done.

That one who is so easy to get along with, unlike your husband.

And you fell in love.

How do I know?

Because most people aren't trying to screw over their spouse, nor are they trying to wreck their own lives. The bait is always mouth-watering, finger-licking good, and you're positively screaming for just one little, harmless little bite. You find yourself on slippery ground before you know it, and you're not sure you even want to turn around at this point.

 

'Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned?' Proverbs 6:27

The odds are good that the other person is just seducing you. Look at Samson with Delilah. She teased him, but she didn't love him. Look at Potiphar's wife and how quickly she turned on Joseph. She had him thrown in prison.

In Proverbs 9, there is a flirtatious woman who tries to seduce passersby, but in verse 18, it says this:

'But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.'

You may think you're in love, but the chances are that the other person is playing a game. A game of bait and switch. And the results are disastrous.

And even if they do think they love you, the end is still bitter.  

'But a man who commits adultery has no sense; whoever does so destroys himself.' Proverbs 6:32

If you're a man, the bait is likely that she gets you.

That she has respect for you, unlike your wife.

That she doesn't make you jump through hoops to get her smiles and her affection.

It may be that her clothes are just a little too tight and that her jeans fit her just right. She may think you're the funniest guy on earth, and she may laugh heartily at all of your jokes (a pretty good sign she's faking it, as nobody will find everything you do to be amazing. Just keeping it real).

Girls, if he just has all the time in the world for you, and he is intense and knows how you feel, if he seems inordinately interested in the minutiae of your life and cares about your feelings, even while sporting tense muscles and the cool facial hair of your preference, stay far away.

Far, far away. (He's also faking it.)

Your heart can be taken in by a beautiful temptation, a gorgeous sin, a deadly trap, a luscious piece of flesh wrapped up in a swirl of heady seduction. He may drive you crazy, dangling the forbidden fruit just an inch out of your grasp. She may show you enough so that you can easily imagine all the rest. You're salivating and chomping at the bit.

But don't fall for it.

That fruit has a worm with a deadly bite.

In the garden, the devil used a piece of fruit that looked good for eating.

It didn't look disgusting.

It didn't have the sins of the world etched on it, nor did it belie the screams of those in agony that would one day rot in hell because of the effects of sin. It wasn't covered in maggots, nor was it stained with the blood of mankind.

It was inviting, cool, and something new, although forbidden.

Sin is enjoyable. Don't let anyone tell you it is not, but it lasts just for a season.

His warm friendship will not warn you of an impending divorce certificate, nor of the selling off of all your things. The desire for his lips will not prepare you to inform your spouse of this betrayal. Your playful banter will not include the words: joint custody. Everything will be fun and games until the sting of this poisoned dart is felt in your flesh.

And then there will be regret.

Tears.

Confessions.

Anger.

Questions.

Silence.

The end of sin is death.

Repent if you have gone too far, and ask His forgiveness. If you've yet to take the plunge, my best advice is that you stay far, far away. (Prov. 5:8)

Stay Gutsy,

Rosa

Think a woman can't take an active role in her own life and pop the question? Think again!

 

Subscribe below, and I'll send you 3 free gifts!

You'll get access to:

'Ruth Did Not Wait for Her Boaz', + 2 free albums.

'Give Me a Song to Sing' - a folky country happy extravaganza (played on the radio!) and

'Salvation Songs' - a roots rock-inspired call to live for Jesus daily (also played on the radio!).

All 3 are yours when you subscribe by adding your email address to the prompt below....aaaand you'll get weekly updates from Gutsy Christianity. What are you waiting for?!? Subscribe today!

You can also join the Gutsy Community on facebook  and receive extra devotions not available on this blog! 

   

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My Trip to the Gay Bar

 

When You No Longer Trust Church People

 

The Hateful People We Admire

 

 

I was depressed.

I wanted to sing.

Singing cheers me up when all else is lost. I was in the middle of a divorce, and I was on vacation in Florida.

With my ex husband.

I was walking down the street in the vacation town, and I saw a sign that read: karaoke. The sign above the marquis was lit up in pastel neon colors, and it made me feel hopeful.

When the evening came, I ventured inside: I did not realize this was a gay bar. What attracted me was the welcome atmosphere and the sense of fun. I was not a Christian at the time, so it wasn't out of the ordinary to order a drink of rum and coke.

I wanted to loosen up so I could sing a song of heartbreak and woe. I took my turn at the mic. The song I selected was 'Crazy' by Patsy Cline. In the midst of my turmoil, the song provided an emotional release I desperately needed.

The crowd knew.

They seemed to understand.

The rest of the night was filled with me singing one sad song after another. And yet, I somehow felt surrounded by family. By people who understood alienation, grief, and loss.

No one seemed to judge me.

The bartender took his turn singing songs the regulars all knew and the people exchanged knowing looks.

Another person chose a song to sing that wasn't on the official list of songs. It was about chasing everything and missing the one important thing that mattered: the love of their life.

This same person sang this same song night after night. I know this, because I came back night after night. In between the sad songs and the knowing songs were the songs about celebration and having fun.

The range of emotion and open communication shared in a bar with strangers was not like that of an ordinary bar setting. There was a thread of shared alienation and hardship and an unwillingness to alienate others.

I felt accepted and could easily tell that most of the people there on any given night were not visitors. Much like I was becoming. Although I was really just a visitor myself.

When the fast songs came on and everybody danced and reveled in the enjoyment of living, it was than a random dance floor anthem. It was a release. These were people of deep feeling, just as I was then.

I wore my heart on my sleeve, because it was too heavy to conceal. I shared laughs and hoorahs with people who were attracted to those of the same sex. No one was mean to me or suggested that I hogged up the singing slots with sad songs of heartbreak.

No one was upset that I was using this as a venue to vent all my troubles. It seemed expected and like a place that welcomed that very thing. And that was the overall tome of my experience: I felt welcomed. Which is why I came back night after night like a soldier returning to old friends.

When it was time to go home, I did not regard this as my foray into forbidden territory or like I had done something scandalous. I had been attracted by the element of fun and the opportunity to sing, but I found something so unexpected: friends instead of strangers.

The pastel neon sign still beckoned me even as it was time to go, and I knew I would miss the community that presented a space be kind and simply to be human. I knew the reason people returned again and again.

It was the same reason I did.

To be accepted.

To not have to pretend.

Some people think the message of Jesus and of grace is hiding what we really are.

It isn't.

God knows who and what we really are. 

We need grace because of who we are. 

Sinners.

All of us.

 

Stay Gutsy,

Rosa

Think a woman can't take an active role in her own life and pop the question? Think again!

 

Subscribe below, and I'll send you 3 free gifts!

You'll get access to:

'Ruth Did Not Wait for Her Boaz', + 2 free albums.

'Give Me a Song to Sing' - a folky country happy extravaganza (played on the radio!) and

'Salvation Songs' - a roots rock-inspired call to live for Jesus daily (also played on the radio!).

All 3 are yours when you subscribe by adding your email address to the prompt below....aaaand you'll get weekly updates from Gutsy Christianity. What are you waiting for?!? Subscribe today!

You can also join the Gutsy Community on facebook and receive extra devotions not available on this blog! 

 

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You Need Salvation

When You No Longer Trust Church People

When They Ignore You

 

 

You used to trust church people. Until you got burned. And now you no longer trust people who represent religion.

I understand.

I knew of the mockery that existed within Christianity before even coming into the church. I remember the money hungry, ridiculous men and women on television with their greedy hands outstretched to grab ahold of the wallets of the poor and disaffected.

I remember it was like it was yesterday.

I would watch the television on Sundays and watch scripturally devoid messages, and I would later hear of people whose 'ministries' had erupted into scandal.

The church attracts wolves sometimes, and Jesus even said as much.

And it attracts legalists. These were the people who crucified Jesus. These were the ones for whom rules and prestige were more important than the truth.

It is true that some people inside the church have sinned grievously. Depending on your experience, some of these sins may have been overlooked by the church you attended.

It is also true that the church is rife with hypocrites. These are people who say they believe one thing, and yet they do another. It is exasperating.

You may have gotten sick of the cliquish way in which church behaves like a social club for spoiled sorority members more than it does a welcoming place for the broken.

You may be exhausted with the never-ending list of rules, and you may be tired of the worship wars.

You may resent the fact that some members gossip and backbite one another.

You may be tired of people judging you for things they do not understand.

You may have been deeply hurt or even betrayed.

The list of possibilities is endless, because we live in a broken world, and because church is the place we go where we're truly vulnerable.

We come expecting something, needing something, and instead, we get hurt and pain we were not expecting.

We let down our guard and were zealous, and we got a stab in the back in return.

This doesn't represent Jesus. And this doesn't represent all churches.

And in response, some may say that they can do church all alone or at home, but that really isn't true.

Even if we have to find a new church, we need to be faithful to the teachings of the Bible.

And we also need to guard against bitterness and unforgiveness.

Forgiveness isn't saying that what was done is or was okay, it is simply means that because we follow God we do what He tells us to do.

And He tells us to forgive.

He also tells us that we need to love.

Everyone.

From those who love us to those who hate us and everyone in between.

It doesn't mean we have to return to the fellowship that hurt us. It just means we are to love. Even if is from a distance.

It also says in God's word that we are not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together. So, find a church, and get plugged in. Love the people you meet, and understand that God will deal with those who hurt you.

He knows why they did what they did, and He, alone, is their judge.

You are set free from the matter completely.

Let God heal your hurts, and don't give up on church. And by all means, don't give up on Him, because He is the only One who will never give up on you. 

Stay Gutsy,

Rosa

Think a woman can't take an active role in her own life and pop the question? Think again!

 

Subscribe below, and I'll send you 3 free gifts!

You'll get access to:

'Ruth Did Not Wait for Her Boaz', + 2 free albums.

'Give Me a Song to Sing' - a folky country happy extravaganza (played on the radio!) and

'Salvation Songs' - a roots rock-inspired call to live for Jesus daily (also played on the radio!).

All 3 are yours when you subscribe by adding your email address to the prompt below....aaaand you'll get weekly updates from Gutsy Christianity. What are you waiting for?!? Subscribe today!

You can also join the Gutsy Community on facebook and receive extra devotions not available on this blog! 

 

Share to your social media channels using the share bar!

Do Women Belong in Ministry?

The Hateful People We Admire

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