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I write about what matters...to you---
women, wives and moms---
about your family, faith and future.
I write about what's hard, what helps and what heals.
I show you how it's done. And not done.
I hold your hand as you find what matters to the Savior.
And let go of those things that mattered to you, but not to Him.
I write about what matters...to Him.
Sonya Contreras
Are You Spit in God's Mouth?
We've been looking at the seven churches in Revelation. The angel is blunt with what they need to do. We consider the church in Laodicea today.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I Know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are luke-warm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:14-16).
There is great danger in complacency. If you are not striving after God, you are not standing still. The stream of life is carrying you downstream.
As a mom, there’s no time to rest in our laurels.
God gives moments of rest, where we re-group and then carry on, but He doesn’t allow us to stop and gloat.
We can feel proud of our child’s accomplishments but we cannot rest there.
When every son graduates, I heave a sigh of relief that milestone is finished. But that accomplishment comes with vulnerability. I know their weaknesses and pray that they stand in the world and look to God as they make their decisions.
I could become immobilized by the world’s dangers or rest in what they’ve already done, but I must return to my work with added motivation and help those boys who remain.
The complacency of “just getting them through” is gone and the push for diligence takes its place—for a short time. It is so easy to “just do enough to get by.” Sometimes my dinners are just slopped together. Sometimes my teaching is just “get them through.” Sometimes . . . that’s complacency. There’s no energy to do it. Where’s the motivation? the drive? the umphf?
I want to be finished but I’m not, but I act like I am, and rush through what must be done. I’m complacent.
I’m spit in God’s mouth.
There’s no “retirement” with God.
Paul spoke of this idea. He did not want to get “shelved,” and ignored by God. FIND VERSE
Many Christians want to be on a shelf and admired for what they have done, instead of what they should still be doing.
What’s our condition?
Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” (Revelation 3:14-19).
Because of our “shelf” mentality, we don’t even know how wretched we are. We see through rose-colored glasses, and don’t realize the river has taken us away from God. We’ve lost what’s valuable and we don’t even miss it. We’re exposed, vulnerable, and needy, and don’t even know our clothes are gone! We can’t see the truth for the pride that we keep.
But the angel doesn’t leave us there. What does he say?
“Be zealous and repent.”
Zealous is a negative term today. We want to be “balanced,” not over-bearing, nor commanding, cautious and calculating, not jumping in without thinking.
But the angel reproves and disciplines us to be zealous.
That’s committed, “fervent, earnest, eager, enthusiastic, excited, ardent, gung-ho, impassioned, passionate, fervid, feverish, rabid, vigorous, vehement, forceful, energetic, determined, persistent, dogged, tenacious, devoted, devout, religious, pious.“ (From J. I. Rodale’s The Synonym Finder.)
That’s anything but complacent.
That’s giving God your entire heart.
How?
First the angel says, “Repent.”
Am I so bad I must repent?
Look at the state of this church.
They are naked and don’t even know it.
They have taken their eyes off God.
They have forgotten what it’s like to see. When I wore my glasses for the first time, I could not believe how green the grass was, and the sky—it was so blue. And the street signs, I could now read them. My brain had adjusted to the fuzzy, blurry images relayed by my eyes. I processed the world through a haze.
In the same way, our complacency with what God has given us to do—Be a Mom—makes us lose sight of eternal values, of what’s important, of what we should be doing. We see through a haze and think we are rich, when we are destitute. Our priorities are skewed. We’ve lost our values. What was once dear is now trampled. We no longer see from God’s perspective.
Repent of losing sight of God and what He values.
Repent of not giving God your whole heart.
After repentance, what’s next?
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:20-22).
What is the cure for complacency?
Dining with Jesus.
Jesus said, "I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
By allowing Christ to control every area of your life there won’t be room for half-done jobs.
It’s all or nothing.
You’re with Him or you’re not.
You give your whole heart.
He doesn’t eat with someone without changing them.
Zacchaeus, as a tax-collector, gave back four times what he stole from the people when Jesus ate with him.
The Pharisees, wanting to trap Jesus, invited him to dinner. They ended up killing him.
That’s either hot or cold.
God won’t keep spit in his mouth.
Choose.
I want to dine with Jesus, not just be spit.
Author of Biblical fiction, married to my best friend, and challenged by eight sons’ growing pains as I write about what matters.
Faith
Find more articles about faith here:
Dear Faithful and Loyal Readers
Life Falling Apart? Try Gratitude
A Few Words about Marriage
When Suffering Gets Personal
What an Amazing God We Serve
Response to Healthy Gaming
How Miserable Are You? Are You Happy?
The Need for Meaning Even in Pain
Reminders of What's Important
God's Unmeasurable Love
A Quarter of a Century Spent for Our Country
What Were You Thinking?
Who Are You Watching?
Boundaries for a Better Life
God's Boundaries
Memories of a Hero Mom
The Ripple Effect
How Do We Think Like Jesus
Litany of a Waiting Woman
Ever Cook a Frog?
New Year's Reminders
They Galled Her Gammy
When God Speaks
A Russian Christmas Story
Be Thankful
Be Grateful
Are You Tired of the Same, Old Thing?
(reprint)
Laughter—Why Laugh?
Mom
Are You Disturbed?
Unity of the Brothers
Encouragements To Declutter
Do You Have Too Much Stuff?
Too Much Stress
Getting Past the Noise—The Value of Silence
Are You Scatterbrained?
How Good Are You?
Looking for Something Good To Read?
A Cup of Cold Water
I Will Trust When I Cannot See
Encouragement—What Is It?
Being in God's Presence
"Einstein and the Professor"
When God Is Silent
Do You Crave Beauty?
Using Stories to Discipline
The Danger of the Wrong Story
Using Stories to Teach Lessons
God is in charge of the future
November Dare Joy Challenge
Ungratefulness
Developing an Attitude of Gratitude
Looking for Jesus
What Do Your Prayers Reflect?
Life's Little Pleasures
Daniel—Greatly Loved by God
Take Every Thought
Jars of Clay
What Do Your Words Reveal about Your Heart?
How Do You Get Strong Faith?
Too Busy for God's Word?
How Do You Think Like Jesus?
Reflections from a Mom
Pain—What's It Good For?
Why Marry?
Consider the Robin
One Life Who Made a Difference
What Day Are You Living In?
Interrupted by God
Is Jesus Really the Answer to Everything?
Are You Beat Up?
What's Your Hurry?
Are You a Manipulator?
Are You Salty?
Are You Condemned?
Trying to Understand?
Do You Expect Answers to Your Prayers?
Do You Eat Your Stress?
Need Focus?
Going through Trouble?
Immanuel—God with Us
Looking for a Relationship?
When God Says, "No!"
What Do You Do with Left-Overs?
How Great Is Your God?
Are You Needy?
How Do You See Sin?
What Do Your Words Mean?
Is Evil Overwhelming You?
Those Aha Moments
Is Your Soul Happy?
Are You Ignored?
Looking for the God Moment
Do You Know Truth from Almost Truth?
I Believe in Jesus—What Now?
Do You Have Your "Son"-Glasses On?
Less Is More
Singing His Praise
Are You Trying To Do It All?
What Do You Do with All These Prayer Requests?
Have a Problem?
Do You Know How to Pray?
Looking for God in Every Moment
Are You Receptive to God's Blessings?
Tell the Senate: Mothers Aren't Birthing People
Is Your Life Complicated?
How Do We Fight Evil?
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Giving Up or Taking Away
the Bible is simple
Are You a Dripping Faucet?
What's Your Testimony?
The Final Move
Be Careful What You Wish For!
Are Your Prayers Answered?
I Choose Joy
What Have You Learned from Your Hardship?
Who Are You Trying to Change?
What's Your Five-Year Plan?
The Danger of "Aloneness"
My Colors
Are You a Whiner?
Are Your Works Approved?
Do You Think You're Stressed?
Is Your Soul Feeling Ragged?
God Speaks to the Heart of the King
What about the Details?
Have You Felt the Long-Suffering of God?
How Does God Lead You?
Do You Have Enough?
Don't Carry More than You Need
Cast the Seed
God Is Faithful
Are You Deceived?
Are You Essential?
Are You Safe?
Are You Tired of the Same Old Thing?
Does the World Make Sense?
Have You Seen God's Majesty?
Do You Feel Judged?
If You Only Had One More Day To Live
Are You Understood?
Do You Long for the Word of God?
Slow Down and Smell the Dead Leaves
Are You Hospitable?
Our Heritage Is Bought by Blood
Are You Disturbed?
Are You Depressed?
I Did It My Way
Finding the Simple Life with Meaning
The Simple Life
Do You Have the Right Words?
Did Your Dream Die?
On the Other Side of the Fence
Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence
Confessions of a Desperate Mom
Saving for Tomorrow
A Wedding Remembered
Who Will Stand in the Gap?
Are You a Protector or a Ruler?
Who Are You?
Are You an Image Bearer or a Wad of Cells?
Are You a Watchman?
Where Do You Find Meaning?
The Lamb of God as Told by a Scribe
What Love Is This?
Remember: The Symbols of Passover Explained
Tea and Rest
Do You Have Peace?
What Makes a Marriage Work?
When Life Is Awful
Are You Strong Enough?
Rules
Seasons
Be Faithful through Suffering
Do You Know the Word?
Wake Up! Strengthen What Remains
Are You Spit in God's Mouth?
Is Jezebel in Your Midst?
Do You Stand Against Satan Himself?
Are You Tired of Being a Mom?
What in the World Is Happening?
It's Not My Story
How Would Your Faith Compare?
Are You Sinking?
Are You a Rule Follower?
Useful for Him
An Intimate Moment with Mary
The Worldview that Makes the
Underclass
Thoughts to Ponder
What Does It Take To Know the
Heart of God?
See the Story in the Stars
Do the Scriptures Burn You?
Being in His Presence
Contentment: It's Not for the Timid
How Secure Are You?
How Do You Respond To Stupid People?
The Earthworm Is My Hero
Heart Issues or Issues of the Heart
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
More faith articles are found here:
under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Or here:
under the Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Articles on Suffering can be found here,
under Table of Contents. Also available in book form.
Special Days
Remember: The Symbols of
Passover Explained
Aug 12, 2017 The Heavens Declare the Glory of God
July 4th, Freedom
What Is an American Soldier?
Valentine's Day: A Day of Love?
Memorial Day-A Day To Remember
Veterans' Day-To Honor Our Men
Fall Colors
First Thanksgiving Day
Proclamation
Christmas: Stories behind the Songs
Christmas: Stories behind the Songs, part 2