Use your talents to spread His teachings

Been thinking a lot lately about Christian discipleship and what that means in my daily life.

I found a definition that addresses my discipleship ponderings on this website. If you clicked on the link, you found a page dedicated to following Jesus.

As I read that page I came across one sentence that summed up the whole idea of discipleship for me.

The statement? “Christian discipleship is more than being a believer - it's about being a follower!”

Since starting this blog the first of the year, I know that I have written a lot about being a follower of Jesus. Even though I have always been a believer in the Bible, God and Jesus, I have not always been a follower, at least in the manner of which He would have me follow Him.

Retreat to Belief is all about being a sinner in God’s sight. It’s about how to change my sinning ways, and perhaps yours too. It’s about sharing my loving relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with other sinners like me.

Basically, Retreat to Belief is a sinner’s journal of how I accomplish the Great Commission by walking the path to being a true follower. It’s about using my God-given aptitude for writing to share that journey with all of you.

The apostle Paul wrote extensively about using our talents for God’s purpose. Most of you are probably familiar with Paul’s often-quoted teaching on this subject. If not, Romans 12:3-8 (NIV) titled Humble Service in the Body of Christ, reads, 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

I believe Paul’s message is that using our expertise in the capacity for which we are led by Him is a form of discipleship, agreed?

Have you ever used your flair for (insert your God-given talent here) to disciple others for Christ? Why not use that talent to share your knowledge of Him with others? Why not use your God-given talents to become a true follower of His Way?

Sometimes that can seem like a daunting task; I know.

Jesus even labeled it so, as retold in Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then he [Jesus] said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

In the verses immediately following, Jesus gave some very good reasons to take up that cross – 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Jesus said it; I believe it. I am a follower. God will take care of me. Jesus promised to do just that if I take up His cross. If I take on his yoke and learn…

Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV) 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Praying God will take care of all of you, directing you in the path of Christian discipleship. Amen

Blessings sometimes come in strange packages

Nasty weather prompted togetherness in the Withrow household.

“Train your mind and heart to see the good in everything. There is always something to be grateful for.”   ---Author Unknown

Came across this quote on Facebook yesterday and thought, “Yes, there is always something to be thankful/grateful for in my life.”

Someone told me a long time ago that if you just stop and count your blessings every single day, there won’t be much time left over to gripe.

Then I thought about blessings and how to turn even challenging situations into grateful ones.

Take the Arctic cold we experienced this weekend – while it was not conducive to outdoor activities, the extreme weather prompted us to clear off the coffee table and get started on a jigsaw puzzle we’d had sitting around for a couple years.

Charlie and I spent literally hours this weekend pouring over a challenge of birds and fences and lots and lots and lots of blue and green puzzle pieces.

For the record, I left those to Charlie’s capable eye while I concentrated on the songbirds!

Now that situation, at least to me, is turning a challenge into a blessing.

We stayed inside; we stayed warm; we enjoyed each other’s company; we made a lot of headway on our birds-on-a-fence puzzle; and, bottom line, we experienced gratefulness in His plan to reconnect with one another through a blizzard.

Thank you, Lord. We are blessed.

Can you remember a time where a challenge turned into a blessing? I am sure if you thought about it for a few minutes some test that you thought would be daunting ending up making you grateful that it had the audacity to intrude on your life. Right?

After all, we all know God sends the storm so we appreciate the sunshine He sends afterwards.

Paul explained God’s process in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 1-5 (NIV), where the apostle counseled, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us,” [emphasis mine].

Bottom line – But your faith in Him. That way, the challenges that seem to destroy your life will only require you to turn to Jesus Christ, where you will learn to persevere, build character and revel in His hope for your life.

May God bless and keep you in all your challenges. May you always find the sunshine in the trials life sends to seemingly trip you up. Trust in Him. He is always there for you, no matter what! AMEN

Appreciation...defined

Appreciate every day of your life.

Good days give you happiness;

Bad days give you experience; and,

The worst days give you lessons.

Learn from all of them.

AMEN!

Walk away from the drama

There comes a time in your life when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it.

You surround yourself with people who make you laugh.

Forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right; pray for the ones who don't.

Life is too short to be anything but happy.

Falling down is part of life; getting back up is living.

AMEN!

After all, Jesus did say, "...With God all things are possible!" Matthew 19:26 (NIV)

God answered my prayers

Dorcas the Seamstress, a disciple of Jesus,
whose story you can find in Acts 9:36-42.

Have you had a personal prayer answered recently? I sure did, and I am so glad I lifted my dilemma up to Him.

After all, Jesus did, on many occasions go to God in prayer. He also instructed us to do the same. Go to God in prayer and ask in the same of the Son. In the Gospel of John 14:14 (NIV) {Jesus said} You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

Fair enough, I think. Agreed?

My issue came about as a result of attending a woman’s one-day retreat a few weeks ago. While praising Jesus with 25 other Christian women, we all learned about answered prayer and continuing service to God from participants who shared their stories at the event.

We also received pamphlets advertising the “It’s Tough Being a Woman Retreat – Dorcas the Seamstress.” This non-denominational retreat for women is set for Feb 27 and 28 in Escanaba. I read the literature and decided, “I really want to go to this.” When I got home, I talked the trip over with my husband, who encouraged me to attend.

However, there was an issue that had to be resolved before I could go.

Again, I called upon my Bible, reading another verse about God answering prayer. I delved further into John’s gospel, but this time I found a later verse, where Jesus tells us, yet again, to ask in His name. John 16:24 (NIV) reads, {Jesus said} Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

You ask, what could be the problem and why did you need prayer to attend the retreat? After all, you want to go and your husband is on board, what was the obstacle?

Well, to be honest, I had no clue who I could room with. Although I attend the women’s non-denominational Bible studies throughout the year, I really do not have a personal relationship with the women there. My best friend lives 2,000 miles away, and no one at my church planned to go to the two-day event. Consequently, I had no one to share a room with.

So, I prayed.

Lo and behold, I ran into our Bible study leader while grocery shopping this afternoon. She asked if I planned to attend the retreat. I explained that although I would love to, I did not have a roommate. To my delight, she said, “Neither do I!”

Problem solved.

More importantly, prayers answered.

After I got home, I immediately turned to my Bible and read perhaps the most famous of Jesus’s admonitions where prayer is concerned. I am sure you know the one of which I speak. It’s Matthew 7:7-12 (NIV), the Ask, Seek, Knock passage where Jesus said, 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Ask in His name, always. The answer may not come immediately. The answer may take days, weeks, months or even years. But if your request coincides with His will, He will answer you.

Step into a meaningful relationship with Jesus today through prayer. Confess your sins. Ask for forgiveness. Live life as a true follower of Jesus Christ.

And don’t forget to pray to Him daily. After all, it's what he prescribes.

May God bless each of you every day in every way. Amen

Forgive in your heart

Forgive as many times as you would wish God forgave you.
From Daily Inspiration: A Thought for Every Day of the Year via Guideposts.

There are many instances of forgiveness in the Bible, probably the most famous is the plight of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham – the father of the Jewish nation.

You may recall the account from Genesis – Jealous of Joseph, his brothers first plotted to kill him, but then sold Joseph into slavery. During his many years separated from his family, Joseph was falsely accused, thrown into prison, but eventually became second in command of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh! God used Joseph’s plight to save the family of Jacob.

You can read Joseph’s story beginning with his birth in Genesis 30:22 through his death in Genesis 50:26.

After many years absent from his family, Joseph forgave his brothers for their unsavory deed, praising God for the way his brothers’ betrayal was used to save the family into which he was born.

That, folks, is amazing forgiveness.

Are you capable of such absolution?

I know I have a problem wrapping my human mind around the notion of forgiving anything and everything, no matter how egregious the transgression.

But, I have found that if I employ my Christ-centered heart, and its corresponding attitude, I find forgiveness a simple extension of my life as a true follower of His Way.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus outlined the consequences of refusing to forgive. In Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV), {Jesus said} “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Pretty strong admonition, agreed?

Forgive and get forgiven, is what I read here.

Don’t forget that God knows what is in our hearts. We need to forgive all the way. Forgive in our hearts as well as with our lips.

Jesus even explained this direction further in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18:21-35 (NIV):
Pay particular attention to verse 35.
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” {emphasis - mine}

That nails it for me. Forgive as much as is necessary to accomplish true forgiveness in my heart.

It’s the only way to get the forgiveness we need to continue as His followers.

Forgive; kick it to the curb; make the 180; enjoy life minus the burden of hate.

You’ll be glad you did.

May God continually bless you and your forgiving ways. Amen

A friend is a blessed thing

A Blessed Thing

 

A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend;

One human soul whom we can trust utterly;

Who knows the best and the worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults;

Who will speak the honest truth to us,

While the world flatters us to our face and laughs at us behind our back;

Who will give us counsel and reproof in the day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again,

Will comfort and encourage us in the day of difficulty and sorrow,

When the world leaves us alone to flight our own battle as best we can.

 

Anonymous

 

Reminds me of one of my favorite hymns -
 

"What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear.

What a privilege to carry,

Everything to God in prayer."

Jesus prayed many times, according to all four Gospels. In fact, Jesus even gave us instruction on just how to offer up prayers to our awesome Creator. You can find the text of the Lord's Prayer, given to us by Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew, Chapter 6, Verses 9-13 (NIV).

You can also read it here:
⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

 

Of course it's always good to have good friends, especially one as described in the poem that began this post. I have friends like these and I thank God for them every day.

 

But, I do not know where I would be without my best Friend.

 

I can't pray to Kathy; I can't give Charlie my troubles and expect him to fix them (even though I know he would do his best to do so); I can't ask for eternal forgiveness from Katherine.

 

These issues, as with most everything else, belong to God.

 

It's Him I pray to; it's Him I give my troubles to; it's Him I confess my sins to and ask for His grace of forgiveness. It's Him...lock, stock and barrel.

 

Put everything in His capable hands. As I have said many times in the past, you'll be glad you did.

 

May the Lord bless you and keep you today and every day. Amen.

Is everything OK?

Days come and days go. Sometimes days are good and sometimes they are bad. If you are having "one of those days" or even if you're not, this poem may inspire you. It sure did me. Read on...

 

Don’t Quit

 

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

 

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow–
You may succeed with another blow.

 

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor’s cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

 

Success is failure turned inside out–
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit–
It’s when things seem worst that you mustn’t quit.

 

- Author Unknown

What do nicknames have to do with God?

Nicknames come in many shapes and sizes.

Some folks have nicknames. Some nicknames stick; some do not.

When I was a youngster, I was a little on the chubby side – not fat by any means, but “pleasingly plump,” as my mom always called it. The short, permed hair (easier for a mother that worked to care for), the freckles and the fact that back then girls always wore dresses to school and church, did nothing to enhance my appearance.

This chubby girl was hung with the unflattering moniker – Cheryl the Barrel.

Oh, the embarrassment. You can’t imagine, but then, maybe you can.

Did you have a nickname you hated? Fortunately mine disappeared sometime in puberty when I slimmed down and got a figure.

That isn’t always the case, though. 

I had a guy friend who, because of some prominent buck teeth, was plastered with the nickname “Bucky.” It stuck. To this day, everyone calls Conner – Bucky. Some people probably don’t even know, or remember, his given name!

As it would happen, a Christmas present got me thinking about these lousy nicknames. My sister had all the family slides transferred to CDs, and there I was in all my glory for my husband to see. Pleasingly plump; short, curly hair (with a bow, no less); freckles, red plaid dress (red was my favorite color even back then); Cheryl the Barrel – in spades!

Oh the embarrassment – all over again, 50 years later.

I even admitted to the nickname. Then I asked myself, “Cheryl, what is WRONG with you? Why did you reveal this deep, dark secret to your unsuspecting husband?”

Guess it’s because today, I can laugh at it, but I can assure you, it wasn’t funny back then.

Well, I guess I ran this blog a little sideways for a minute. Maybe that nickname bothers me today more than I care to admit? Maybe I need to make a confession about my less-than-kindly recollections of my opinion of the kids who used that awful name. You think? Yeah – time to get on my knees.

And time to get back to the subject of this blog post - What do nicknames have to do with God?

After all the reminiscing the photo CD aroused, I got to thinking about God, and asked myself, “Does God have a nickname, or maybe more than one?”

You might not consider God’s names, nicknames, but God does have many different (using today’s marketing designation) brands, most associated with his divinity.

You’ve probably all heard the terms omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence as they apply to our awesome God. I must admit that I sometimes get them confused with one another because they are so similar.

For this blog article, I decided to delve into my copy of Nelson’s Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible to set the omni(s) firmly in my brain.

According to my reference text, omniscience [om NISH unce] refers to God’s superior knowledge and wisdom; omnipresence [om nih PRES ence] addresses God’s unfathomable nature to be everywhere at all times; and, omnipotence [om NIP oh tunce] is defined as God’s all-encompassing power.

Of course these are God’s traits, not His nicknames, nicknames being defined as “a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person…”

The Jewish people bestowed many names on the All Mighty, some of which refer to his attributes, some his character, some His capabilities – maybe not nicknames by definition, but close.

According to Joe Stowell (Cornerstone University president and Our Daily Bread contributor) God has many such names. Here are a few Stowell mentioned in a recent ODB devotional post:

• Jehovah Yahweh, which means the covenant-keeping God;
• Jehovah Rapha, the healer God;
• Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace (many folks use shalom as a closing in emails, letters and verbal goodbyes);
• El-Shaddai, almighty God;
• Elohim, one God above all gods;
• Jehovah Shamma, the ever-present God;
• Jehovah Jireh, provider God.

WOW! That's quite a list, isn't it? God definitely is all the omni(s) previously mentioned – and more!

God is EVERYTHING to me. And, I hope and pray that he is everything to you. As his all-encompassing Word explains in Proverbs 18:10 (NIV) The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Are you safe? Do you run to Him to find safety?

No matter the situation, God can make you safe.

Get on your knees today. Accept his son, Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Submit to Him. Confess your sins. Accept His forgiveness. Obey His precepts. Become a true follower of Jesus.

What do you have to lose? Your life. What do you have to gain? Eternity.

No brainer, agreed?

After all, “…with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26b (NIV)

May God bless us all, everyone. Amen.

Overcome failure through confession

When we fail, it can be an eye-opening experience. Failure comes in many varieties. Failed marriages. Failed dreams. Failed investments. Failing grades. Failure to communicate. Failing at sports. The list seems endless, doesn’t it?

As most of you who know me know, I am an avid football fan. In fact, I guess you could say I am now experiencing football withdrawal. Being a fan creates innumerable highs and lows. The high point was THE Ohio State University’s undisputed national championship win on Jan. 12. The low point? Yesterday’s unfathomable Seattle Seahawks loss, and to none other than Tom Brady’s Patriots, the perennial nemesis of both Charlie’s Colts and my Bengals.

But, life goes on, and the football diversion goes on the back burner until next year.

In the meantime, my focus to reach the unreached in Jesus Christ’s name continues as we expand this daily blog. Last week my husband and I discussed the future of my blog-based ministry.  His insight proved invaluable.

As a result of much prayerful consideration, Charlie has decided to join this ministry. As such, you can expect to soon see blog posts from a man’s point of view, with Charlie sharing his male perspective of life as a follower of Jesus.

Back to the topic at hand…failure seems to rear its ugly head when you least expect it. But, just like sin invades our lives from time to time, so does failure.

As the followers of this blog probably noticed, personal blog posts were missing last week. Although links to the devotional I read every day were provided to you, I know it was not the same as a daily dose of personal reflection from one sinner to another. Missing even one day of sharing His Word, is, in my opinion, a monumental failure.

When I started blogging on Jan. 1, I made a commitment to not fail, and there I was, less than one month into this ministry, experiencing a colossal failure. Woe is me.

Then I thought about failure and sin and what the Good Book says how failure and sin, at least in my mind, may be related.

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV) says ²² This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of (failed in our pursuit of) the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. [emphasis and parenthetical meaning mine]

The apostle Paul writes that we are saved by grace if we believe in Jesus. But, even though we employ our best efforts not to, we continue to sin. Remember Jesus says that if we sin in our heart…

In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, Christ cautions against all types of heart-/mind-based sin. Matthew 5 gives the details. Read His instruction on the subject in your Bible or by clicking here.

My take is that I failed Christ in my absence from this blog for the last week. Even though I was ill, I should have at least made the effort to share His Word. I failed as a true follower. I failed. But that does not mean I cannot seek His forgiveness and begin again, does it?

My granddaddy always said, “Cheryl Ann, don’t you know confession is good for the soul?”

As always, granddaddy was right. As the disciple John put it so well in 1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

According to my study Bible, John wrote this letter to the churches in Ephesus to encourage their journey in the faith. The Bible remains a timeless vessel of unfathomable knowledge as witnessed in this passage which holds true today just as it did more than 2,000 years ago.

Amazing!

In today’s vernacular, God gives us “an out,” a way back to him. A way to process, and confess our failures/sins, a way to return to Him as a true follower.

Dennis Dehaan put it so well when he wrote, “Learning to benefit from failure is the key to continued growth in grace.”

Pray, confess your sin, ask for forgiveness, and work to do it better the next time. Grow in grace. After all, “…with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26(b) (NIV).

May God bless each and every one of you every day in every way. Amen.