In John 1 it says; “…from HIS fullness we all receive GRACE upon GRACE…” The grace God bestows upon us, is a grace we never deserved. His grace is a gift given to us. How will we enjoy, use, pass on His grace today? ~ Sarah
Christian
LOVE IS …
Love is… a lot of things! Jesus loved us perfectly even while we were still sinners He died for our sins so we could have a relationship with our Heavenly Father and be with Him in eternity. For us mere mortals where we are not perfected yet, love can be tricky. Love is not about getting everything perfect or being perfect or expecting others to be perfect! Love the ones your with! And if they are, or if you are… ever unlovely, give or ask for forgiveness and move on. Life is too short to hold onto un-forgiveness or bitterness.
I have been crazy busy with another international move and our family has become extremely close. I think giving each other grace for our unlovely moments helps. There has been a lot to do and there still is a lot to do but God has really held us close as we transitioned into new communities and ministries. I am learning to understand that God hasn’t called me to watch life pass by in a safe and easy way being able to live in one place. He has called our family to participate and live life to the full in Him. Often we have to move to where ever He leads us in the world. God calls each one of us differently and some He calls to live in one place all their lives and be of great value and service to their community. (I hope one day He will call us to live in one place!) For our family for the time being we have been asked to move around the world. I don’t find change easy I find it stressful and my autoimmune diseases flare up and I have all that drama to deal with. I guess when you move there are a lot of challenges but there is also joy. There is the delight of seeing how God stretches our faith to solely rely on Him. It is exciting and fun getting to know new people. There are a million other things to be grateful for. Anyhoo, I just wanted to quickly write something since I have been M.I.A. for so long. I will pop by Living in Grace now and again. To all those who have written beautiful notes to me I want to say how thankful I am that you would be so kind as to think of me and my family. I will reply to you all individually (now that we have the internet up and running). Hope you are having a great day where ever you may be in the world! ~ Sarah
Ephesians 3:20
Take Courage
Forgiveness
A friend has been battling in this world of late and needed some encouragement so I though I’d put pen to paper OR fingers to iPad and write about our conversation a little.
The big question was; when do nasty people become nasty and how could she deal with a particular situation? Would you consider a nasty person to be your friend or foe? I’m not going to mince words or pretend life is a fairytale. Because life can be hard sometimes and people can be mean. Yup, this can even be a co-worker, or a Christian person, or a friend, or perhaps one of your well meaning (or not so well meaning) family members. When does hurtful, cruel, gossip and mean-ness become part of who they are? Or is it just an innocent mistake? Sure and of course there are lovely people and are genuine and can make mistakes. I know I sure mess up even when I’m trying not to. But this is more about people who actually do mean to be, well mean, and gossip, be cruel and plain nasty. People can be mean and horrid with out words too, with an action or lack of action or even a simple look. A look can talk far more than words sometimes. When does that one lie or twisting of the truth become so entrenched into someone’s daily life and speech that their words are all but lies? And then there seems to be no truth left in them where they seem to live unfulfilled and barren lives. My friend is trying to navigate through a difficult time and wanted some advice, help and a sounding board.
I have often joked and said “I’m not the nasty people whisperer”. I can’t wish, will or talk someone out of being mean and nasty by some magical whispering. In the end it is none of my business, if people want to be unkind, nasty, jealous, competitive, gossip or lie about me, my family or friends. Really someone else’s opinion isn’t up to me to be concerned about or want to change. Sure it would be great if everyone was kind to one another. But we live in the real world where some people just want to be nasty no matter what you do or don’t do. They may choose to be your enemy or perhaps behave like the are in battle with you, but you don’t need to join in. All I can do is to give them and their mean spirit, lies, cruelness and nastiness up to God to sort out. I can choose to pray for them to be blessed and guard my heart so I do not let bitterness take away any joy and love God has given me. I am still surprised that people who don’t even know two sides of a situation can adopt a mean spirit toward you, your friend or family because of what someone else has told them half a story. This has happened to me over the years especially as a Pastorswife where you are suppose to be perfect and live up to everyones expectations. Really can anyone person meet someone else’s expectations all of the time? I don’t think so. And it probably wouldn’t be healthy if you could. Has this ever happened to you?
I tried to encourage my friend to genuinely feel compassion for them and I feel so sorry for them. Especially when you see that their lives are messed up and that they are unhappy. Some people do want to cause hurt or pain because that is all they know. If that is all they know then how are they going to change without someone like you or I showing some kindness. Haven’t all of us been messed up one time or another in our lives? When I was in my teens and twenty’s I was a complete mess! Even with the best intentions we too, can upset or hurt to others sometimes without even knowing. Remember if there is someone who is unkind, cruel, nasty or plain mean to you, that they are hurt people, going around wounding and hurting those around them. Sadly it does seem misery does love company. And do you or I want to become apart of the misery group. No way. Sometimes the kindest thing to do is to walk away and leave them to their gossip, assumptions and nastiness. They may or may not know any other way to live. Be thankful and grateful that you do know another way to live and that God has shown you a way to live in the truth of His love. A dose of grace, mercy and love from the Saviour can heal our brokeness so we then in turn can give love, show grace, mercy, kindness and forgive others. In Matthew 6:14 (NIV) says; “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Forgiving benefits us even more than it can benefit or help the person we are forgiving. Isn’t that the way of Jesus? By forgiving we actually receive far more.
Sometimes showing love is keeping the peace and not telling your side of the story. Sometimes it means being quiet and letting people think badly of you when you have done nothing wrong and walk away. Sometimes it is having a direct, awkward and uncomfortable conversation to sort the problem out. And sometimes all you can do is pray and give it all to God. What helped my friend and also what has helped me over the years is realising that satan is the originator of sin and father of lies. And sure some people like to give him a helping hand but often times they get dragged into places they never intended to go. It helps to see the person who is causing the issue as being misused by Satan and if you need to blame someone then go ahead and put the blame on Satan who loves to cause trouble. The important thing is the One person who needs to know the truth, does. God knows you and He knows your heart. God knows the truth of your life. God loves, loves, LOVES you and He has your back. No one is prefect, and we all can live wonderful, happy, joyous, for-filling, and blessed lives with a clear conscience even while dealing with difficult circumstances or people. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” Stay strong through these trials in this world and look forward to receiving praise from God in heaven. Remember God loves, loves, LOVES you!!!
With love & blessings always
~ Sarah xxx
© Copyright 2013
Not A Fan
Hi Everyone,
Hope you and your family had a lovely Christmas and 2013 has found you happy and well!?!! I will be taking a brake from 1Pastorswife for a little while. I’m trying to wrap up some writing. I’m getting there but need a little more concentrated time. I just wanted to share this movie with you called “Not a Fan” it is available free to watch on YouTube for the month of January. After that you can pop on over to the Not a Fan website to get the movie. I loved the movie I hope you all do to.
Blessings ~ Sarah
Visit www.notafan.com to learn more about the Not a Fan movie.
The Not a Fan Movie, “A Follower’s Story” is an adaptation of the original 6-episode DVD series to a full-length feature film. The movie includes scenes from the original study, as well as teaching by Kyle Idleman.
Follow the journey of Eric Nelson, a man leading a compartmentalized triple life as a pleasure-seeking rebel, a cutthroat corporate executive, and a nominal Christian. But when confronted with a near death experience, Eric embarks on a spiritual journey that transforms his commitment to Jesus Christ and tests the faith of his friends and family.
DIY – Wooden Sign
Truth
Something To Think About
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” – Edmund Burke
On Brittney Moses blog she has a great collection of thought provoking videos click HERE to get to Something To Think About. Brittney’s first video “180” has a link below (warning the below video is controversial and graphic) is by a man called Ray Comfort. Growing up I met Ray many times. He would visit my Cousins, Aunt and Uncle’s house (they lived next door to my childhood home). I remember Ray was always full of passion and questions. He would stand on an apple box in Cathedral Square or in New Brighton in Christchurch, New Zealand asking questions, teaching and preaching the gospel to anyone who would listen. He moved to the USA where he writes books and is involved in making Christian media. His style of sharing the gospel is a thought provoking natural theology (Christian Apologetic) method. This kind of apologetic’s enables Christian’s to relate the gospel in the modern world context in which we are familiar. Sometimes when people hear the truth they can become interested, questioning, angry, offended and hostile. And sometimes convicted to change. I don’t agree with everything talked about or how it is done on the video’s, but I love to be challenged about why I think what I think. If you like to be challenged or if you are someone who likes to think outside the box, I highly recommend visiting Brittney’s blog HERE where you can make your own mind up. My favourite part of the “180” video is at the end where you see hard hearts become softer by hearing the truth and where they start to think differently. Remember before you do click PLAY that the video is controversial and graphic. ~ Sarah
Living In Grace 
