"Do not love the world nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." (New American Standard Bible)

 

What clues us in when our attention is on the world?  What clues me in?  Well maybe this is a no brainer for you1  Sometimes questions like these can seem so easy--like we talked about tonight, they're easier to answer than they are to live out, for sure.

 

Here are some thoughts....The things that might clue us in to a focus on worldiness...

1.  Thoughts...What am I thinking about most of the day?

2.  Time....What do I spend my time doing?

3.  Talents...Where do I use them?  Are they for His glory or my own?

4.  Treasures...Where do I spend them?  On things that fade away or on eternal things?

5.  Talk...What do I bring up in conversation?  The new curtains I bought or the cute boots I found? (me, tonight)  Or am I talking about the Lord and the awesome things He's doing in my life?

 

I'm not saying it's wrong to think about worldly things at all.  I don't think John was saying that.  It's ok to get cute boots and mention them to friends, and to talk about the curtains we're excited about (and I am excited, and I have talked about them).  But we are not to LOVE these things.  If these things take us away from God--if they shift our focus from Him--if we're thinking about these things instead of listening to our pastor's sermon--if we want to wake up early and think about curtains rather than reading our Bible (ok, that sounds a little silly, right?), we have a clue, something is wrong!  Our attention must be directed to the Lord.

 

And it's not like we can say "ok, self, you're talking too much about THINGS of this world, you should talk about the LORD more" to prove to ourselves or the people around us that we're spiritual or something.  That's not what it's about, first of all, and second of all, that's not how it works.  We can try and try and try to focus on the things God would want us to focus on and we will fail because we aren't relying on His power.  Not that we cannot DO anything and so we say stagnant in our faith--but we cannot do anything without His strength, so it's not about "I'm going to do better," it's "I'm trusting the Lord to make this better."

And another thought--it's a heart issue.  It's not just what we're talking about--it's what's inside that makes us do the talking.  Where's our heart, where's our focus?  That's what will pour out of our mouths when we're around people.

 

"For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."  Mark 12:34, (NASB)

 

So how do we let Him change our hearts?  Well, I am going to go back on something I said just in my last newsletter!  I talked about time with the LORD being important, and I said it doesn't matter when that is or what it looks like.  For the most part that's true.  Since I wrote that newsletter I have noticed a tremendous difference in my days when I have made the effort to get up early and get into God's Word.  When I didn't, frustration, stress, anger, impatience--these were all part of the day.  (I live with 3 boys 4 and under, of course there will be some of that anyways--they test me, that's just what they do!).  But when I start the day in God's Word, and praying and committing my day to Him, it's totally different.  I can call my husband at work and when he asks "how's your day going?" I can honestly say "fine," in a cheerful voice.  I will tell him the negative things that happened, still in a cheerful voice and with a good attitude--and with hope that it will get better.  On the days that I do not make the effort to get up early and get into the Word, when I talk to my husband at 8:30 am I am already burnt out and stressed "Kaleb did this and Isaac did this and ugh...Noah, stop bugging Isaac!"  You been there?  And it's not like I can just make myself have that cheerful attitude...it's totally the LORD.  So now that I said (in the newsletter) not to worry about it if you were spending time with the LORD in the morning (ok, that's not exactly how I said it!), now I'm telling you, at least in my life, morning prayer and time in the Word makes a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE difference!

 

My kids get up at 7 am.  So if I want to take a shower, get ready, have time to pray and be in the Word, I have to wake up around 5 or 5:30.  And that's totally doable, with the Big Mighty God we have.  Wanna know why?  Because I just pray: "God, wake me up to spend time with You."  And guess what?  The alarm goes off and I can't sleep.  I press snooze because I know I'm tired, and I might lay there 10 minutes out of disobedience and laziness, but I caaaannnooott sleep!  So I challenge you, try it!

 

On that note, I really ought to get to bed, since it is 11 pm!  I am so excited about this site lately and I have so many ideas for it.  I am finding or hearing about at least a few sites a day that I want to link to, I have some books to review, I'm making menu plans with prices, carb counts and grocery lists, my hubby is working hard on a recipe database that is going to be AMAZING, and I'm thinking of what to write in the next newsletter.  Oh for more hours in the day!  :)

 

Some recent family photos for ya:

 

 

Back row: my husband Karry, me (Brenda)

Front row: Kaleb (3), Isaac (4), Noah (2)

 

 

The boys running!

 

 

 

I call them my "sunshines" :)

 

 

Isaac, 4, small for his age, Mr. play it by the rules, soaker inner (is that a word?), cautious but loving, analytical, people pleaser, argues limits, good persuader, really trying to understand everything around him, loves compliments and praises and seeks them ("I didn't be naughty, right Mommy?" or "We will go to the store and I won't be naughty, I will be good" and silly ones like "that was a big poopy, right Mommy?"), he gets very disappointed if I say "that was naughty," and if I act hastily or out of frustration or even anger, he is quick to anger "No that wasn't! I'm not naughty!"--so I really have to keep my cool and watch my tone of voice, with all of them, but especially this little sensitive guy.  He, out of all of them, is the most like me.  Wants to be a pig farmer or a builder when he gets older.  He pretends he is making websites on his toy cash register. :)   

 

 

 

Kaleb, 3 years old, looks like a 4 1/2 year old! (wearing 4 T and size 5) Mr. silly, social, affectionate, baby and little things lover, extremely imaginative, obsessed with learning people's names and remembering them, quick learner (knows his letters and sounds before older brother), pushes limits, wants to pray for everyone and every thing, so cute his arguments against why he shouldn't be disciplined are almost convincing, talks about Jesus being in his heart, asks if Jesus is in other people's hearts, and says silly things like "Jesus is in my tummy."  Reminds us to pray every time there is a siren or an emergency vehicle (even if someone is just getting a ticket!). He reminds me a lot of his daddy--very thoughtful of other people.  He thanks me for every meal I make and tells me daily that I am pretty and says things like "I like your hair Mommy."  He wants to be a cow farmer or work on computers "like daddy" when he gets older. :)

 

 

 

 

Noah, 2, little for his age, Mr. goofball, silly attention getter, another soaker inner, watcher and learner of EVERYTHING (didn't talk until almost 2 years old, but could point at each person in a group of 20 or so when we named them off and quizzed him on who was who), smart beyond his age, ignores limits and tests me throughout the day, can tell me exactly what he did wrong when it's time for discipline, but will do it again in what seems like 2.2 seconds, adorable dimples, gets the whole family laughing when he says things like "we eat bugs," "we eat turtles," and then laughs, he's the best eater out of all of our kids and has been eating "grown up food" ever since he could, does great at picking up his toys when he's told to, just began saying "sure, I will!" when he's asked to do something, similar in some ways to Kaleb (so social, loves people, funny, goofy) and in some ways to Isaac (quiet, watches everything happen around him and learns from it, sometimes doesn't seem to get things and moments later he spews off an entire sentence about it), gets along the best with Kaleb and picks on Isaac (like the good little brother that he is!) :), wants to be a sheep farmer or a basketball player when he gets older.  :)