New Direction

Thank you for stopping by Titus 2 in Action. Your presence on this blog has been a treasure to those of us who post here.

I remember the night God gave me the vision for this blog. I couldn't sleep, so I took a notebook and a pen to my favorite chair and prayed. Very quickly, the Lord gave me the layout and even who would be the beginning authors on T2. What an exciting time! What a rewarding season.

Today, God is changing my ministry focus and this blog isn't in the new picture. I am just as confident today about ceasing T2 as I was when God first asked me to start it.

My ministry is submitted to God. He is always growing and changing me. In such, my life will take on different focuses at different times. The key is to be tuned into God so we can hear him directing us.

The new direction for my life will include posting to my personal blog, writing more freelance pieces and a new speaking ministry. Everything I do will still fall under the category of Titus 2, but I will no longer use this medium. Running a blog like this one does take quite a bit of planning and effort. Now I will have more time and energy to travel on the new path God has prepared for me.

Please use the links on the right side of this post to visit our personal blogs and keep in touch with each one of us.

May you follow hard after God and find satisfaction only in His presence.

Are your lights on?

This is how it looked as I drove the kids to school today. Thick fog - low visibility. Certainly not the best driving conditions.

It reminded me of our Christian walk.

We are expected to stay on the right path (road) which is narrow, the fog would represent the noise around us in the world (sin).

How should we, as Christians, navigate in such conditions?

First, pay attention to the road. I noticed how much more attentive and alert I became today. This didn't represent the usual driving conditions. Sometimes the chaos around us will sharpen our focus on the road ahead.

Next, turn on your lights. Unless an oncoming car had it's lights on, they would likely go unseen and risk causing an accident. I realized how all vehicles are equipped with lights, but turning them on in a fog is a conscious decision. We can turn on our spiritual lights by memorizing the word of God and then speaking it into our lives.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105

Have you turned on your lights today? If so, please leave a comment and tell us what you did.

Goals - One Day at a Time

Goals are not so easy to meet. We want them to challenge us and improve our lives, but boy do they get in the way when things get busy.

Here are a few tips to help you (and me) reach our goals by the end of 2012:

1. Be realistic. Don't set goals so lofty you need a miracle to reach them.

2. Be prayerful. Once you have goals in mind, take them before the Lord.

3. Be specific. Be sure to write down the specific steps needed to reach those goals.

4. Be committed. Research has shown that people who actually read over their goals on a daily basis are 80-90% more likely to reach them, so get into the habit of reading them over daily.

5. Be flexible. By February, most of us will have missed it on at least one goal. Don't throw them all away, instead ask the Lord to give you fresh resolve and start fresh that day. You still have many more months to be faithful to reaching your goals.

6. Reward yourself. As you meet goals consistently, reward yourself. Buy a book you've been pining for, or go for a peaceful walk with the Lord, basking in His creation. Pat yourself on the back because you did it with His help!

"And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it." Habakkuk 2:2

Are you Ready?

For years, my husband and I have toyed with the idea of buying a beachfront house.  Going to the ocean is our favorite family vacation.  Other than the obvious exorbitant cost, the other thing holding us back:  Hurricane Season!
If we did have the money, I think we'd get over our fear of a hurricane and buy one.  So how would we keep ourselves prepared for the pending storms?

1) We'd keep wood handy for battening down the hatches.
2) We'd have about a weeks worth of food and water in our beach house.
3) Insurance.

Next, we'd enjoy every moment of every day on the beach. Even though you know a hurricane will eventually come, none lives in constant fear of them.  Once you are prepared, you simply enjoy and relax - until you see the storm on the horizon.  But even then, you have the supplies you need to weather the storm.

It's the same with our spiritual walk. We want to live each day drawing closer to God in a good relationship. But, trials are coming, so we should prepare for them by:

1) Reading and memorizing scriptures.
2) Praying daily - developing a relationship with God.
3) Doing Bible studies and talking to other Christians.
4) Journaling.

Then, when a trial is spotted on the horizon, we brace ourselves and pull out our spiritual supplies.  We draw closer to God and weather the storm together.

P.I.L.

What's your purpose in life?" My brother asked me - for the umpteenth time.

"I don't know!" I blurted back at him, annoyed at his persistence with such a futile question.

Growing up with an older brother obsessed with such global questions seemed a little confusing to me.

Now that I'm an adult and have children of my own, I find myself asking them the same question, only with a twist, "What do you want to become when you grow up?"  Ironically, I still find myself musing at my purpose in life (but don't tell my brother!).

Until three years ago, being a wife and mom to six kids would have been my answer.  But now, I realize God has a different definition for my life's purpose.

"He has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time," (2 Timothy 1:9 NIV)

We are here to become His holy vessels.  In each one of us, it will look quite different, but we are all going through trials of various kinds so that the trying of our faith will produce steadfastness. Once steadfastness has its full effect, we may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (Paraphrase from James 1:2-4)

That's why pastor's can say, "no matter what you do, do it unto the glory of God."  No matter what path we take or what curves life may throw our way, we are all striving to become holy vessels - lacking nothing.  In this way, we will be ready to spend eternity with our perfect Savior!

Now I just need my brother to ask me that question once again..."What's your purpose in life?"

When he does ask me, I'll be ready and confident with my answer: "To become God's holy vessel."

an intentional walk

I daresay that most of us who read here desire in our hearts to go deeper with God. I would like to think that all of us are seeking to go Higher with Him than ever before. Our relationship with our Lord should be one that is constantly growing. Constantly changing. Constantly moving forward closer and closer to His side.

If we look back at our spiritual walk and we don't see that we are any closer to Him today than we were at this time last year, there is something wrong in our relationship with Him. If we are ever going to be all that we can be for Him and through Him and of Him, we have to be walking in the Spirit daily and we have to be on the path leading to Him.

Do you want to go deeper? Seek Higher? Our growth in our God is contingent upon our nourishment of His Word. We will only grow in knowledge through the fervent study of the Holy Scriptures.  We must make a daily effort to spent quality time with God in His Word. The more we do this, the greater  hunger we will develop for it.  The greater our hunger for Him and His Word, the more we will devour it and nourish our spiritual lives with it. 

As we sit before Him, let's sit with hearts wide open, eyes focused on Him and spirits ready to receive.  Let's pray that He will speak to us and enable us to comprehend. Pray that He will reveal the hidden manna from His Word to us and that we will grow in our intimate, personal relationship with our God.

His desire is for us to KNOW Him like never before. Let's be intentional about our spiritual walk and purpose in our hearts to nourish ourselves with the Word daily.

"For He satisfieth the longing soul, and

filleth the hungry soul with goodness"

(Psalm 107:9)

Seeking Higher,

Spiritually Fit - No Foolin!

It's April "fools" day today.  I've never liked April 1st because I don't want to make others out to be fools - or see myself made a fool. The devil wants to make fools of us, conversely, God wants to give us wisdom.

James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given him."  (NIV, Bold mine.)

How does that pertain to becoming spiritually fit?

The world tells us to be physically fit. God says in Ephesians 6:11 to "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." And in verse 12 he goes on to say, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

There's no amount of brawn that can help with this type of battle.  Ephesians 6 goes on to tell us how to be spiritually fit.  In verses 14-18 we find out how to put on God's armor.

Verse 14 tells us to stand firm with the belt of truth around our waist and the breastplate of righteousness in place.

I looked up the word truth in this verse and it means: a. What is true in any matter. b. What is true in things pertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth.

Righteousness means: a. The doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God. b. Integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting.

How can we "put on" a belt of truth or breastplate of righteousness each day?  Spending time in God's word!  We are told that the Bible is truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (KJV)

We are called to not only read the Bible, but to study His word and pick it apart, until we have a real understanding of its truths.  I like the verse that talks of meditating on the scriptures. We are told to talk about them all throughout our day to our children and friends.

I want to encourage you over the next two weeks to begin a practice of not only reading the Word of God, but pondering those words all day long.  Talking about them with others will give you more insight and depth as you let His words become your belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness.

Just like starting a new exercise program at the gym, this will not be easy.  You will have to be determined to take on this new practice of meditating and talking about God's word all day.  Remember the phrase, "No pain, no gain."  This applies to spiritual and physical aspects of life. 

Check back in two weeks, on April 15th to begin the next phase in your spiritual workout (more of God's armor).

Longevity

A longtime neighbor and friend recently passed away.  He was in his late 80's and a Christian.

How did he live that long?  I wondered.  Did he eat well, exercise? Surely he aspired to be healthy.

Being healthy is on everyone's minds these days.  Eating well, and exercising are key words in 2011.  With so many answers out there, the only question is: Are we willing to follow the guidelines to good health?  It will require sacrifice, dying to self and even some temporary pain as we pursue longevity.

But like my neighbor, one day these bodies will give out, however, our spirit's will live on for eternity. Why isn't spiritual health a hot topic in mainstream media today? In light of eternity, shouldn't we be pursuing spiritual health?

According to Ephesians 6:11-12, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but with principalities and spiritual hosts of wickedness. We are told to put on the whole armor of God, in order to stand against our enemy, the evil one, in the day of trouble.

The only physical battle I can think of is to stay healthy so I live long on this earth.  Am I battling spiritually?  You bet I am!  I see the enemy attacking my family, my marriage, my friendships, my calling, my service, and even my mind.  How can I put on the armor of God? What does that really look like?

Come back on April 1st to find out how to put on God's armor, and how to stay spiritually fit for eternity.