"The" FREE Gift

Before you watch this video, please note that it is very graphic!  Most of these scenes are taken from The Passion of the Christ.  This movie was rated R for violence so please don't let your children see it unless you're sure they're old enough. 

I know it, you don't have to tell me.  I am abundantly blessed.  Tonight, on a Wednesday night, I had the wonderful blessing of listening to my pastor preach.  I get this blessing three times a week and I really, truly love it.  Tonight we went through several passages of Scripture.  My favorite was 2 Corinthians 5:21.  It says For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

After hearing this Scripture, I instantly thought of the song, Jesus Messiah, by Chris Tomlin and wanted to share it with you. 

Here's the thing, I write a lot about deals and FREE things on my other blog.  I often forget that I know all about the most important, life changing FREE gift - EVER!  The FREE gift of salvation. 

The Scripture I listed above says that Jesus, who never sinned became sin for us (He paid the price of our sins) so that the payment could be made for our sins.

You see, God is perfect.  He is holy, righteous, the Beginning and the End.  He is perfect.  Everyone sins and this perfect, holy God cannot be in the presence of sin.  Therefore, Jesus died to pay for our sins. 

In the Old Testament, a lamb or animal had to be slain and it's blood had to be poured out to pay for our sins.  That's why Jesus is often called "The Lamb".  Because HE was our sacrifice and He paid for our sins.  Isn't that amazing, Jesus, who knew all the sins I'd ever commit, before the beginning of time; He knew it all and He still died for my sins and yours. 

I don't know what you've done in life, but I know there's a Savior and His name is Jesus.  He died to pay for your sins, ALL of them. 

The truth is that God would have been perfectly just and worth of praise if He'd let us all die and go to hell!  He's GOD and He's perfect.  BUT, He loved us so much that He allowed His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and pay our punishment. 

The way my pastor put it was this:  We deserve the all consuming wrath of a righteous God because of our sins and He allowed His Son to be murdered to pay for our sins! 

What we have to do, is accept Christ as our Savior.  To believe that He died for your sins.  To believe that He rose from the dead three days after He died on that cross and that He's in heaven today with Jesus and one day, He's coming back!  People, get ready!

If you're interested in this "free" gift, or have more questions, email me (thefrugalfamily@ymail.com).  I'd love to talk to you.  More than anything in this world, my purpose is to honor and bring glory to God.  I want you to know that He loves you and He has a plan for your life.  I would guess that I don't know, personally, more than 10% of you that are reading this post but I care.  I know that God is perfect in His timing and maybe He wants you to see this tonight! 

Please watch the video.  It's awful and beautiful at the same time. 

Put the Kitten Down....

This is one of those posts where you can really see my personality.  I am soooo over the top silly sometimes and I say goofy things just for a laugh.  I hope you know I would never harm a kitten.  I'm just saying this because I was trying to think of the most sweet, loving, furry, cuddly thing I could think of. 

So often I get busy with life and the day to day activities that come from being a mom to three, blogger, coupon class teacher, helping to run a funeral home, teaching a women's Sunday school class, Awana leader, nursery worker, children's church teacher, soloist, wife, daughter, friend and everything else you can imagine that sometimes I forget about the grace that supposed to be in my home.  (just to name a few of the things I've been doing).  When we get so tired and so busy, it's easy to be frustrated at our children and husbands, even when they really haven't done anything. 

Just last week I reported to a friend of mine that I was in such a foul mood that I could have ripped a kitten's head off.  Now seriously, I was teasing.  I do not support the harming of any animals, I was just exaggerating and being over the top about my bad mood.  But it was pretty bad.  I was busy doing 4,000 other things that I neglected to stop and pray and ask God for Him to help me through the day.  Instead, I grumbled for a good 24 hours. 

Then, I sat down to read for a few minutes.  I really never get to read and never take the time to do it.  A few weeks ago I ordered a few books and got some really good ones.  On this particular day (the day of the poor kitten), I picked up the book The Most Important Place on Earth: What a Christian Home Looks Like and How to Build One.  It's a good thing I picked up this book when I did because who knows how much longer I would have gone on in my own misery that I was sharing with others.

This book is all about why our homes should be THE Most Important Place on Earth and why and how they should be DIFFERENT than other homes!

So, I picked up the book and here's what I read.  The Most Important Place on Earth is your home!  The author says, "Every home, regardless of what's going on inside, might as well have this over the front door (The Most Important Place on Earth).  For the children who live in these homes, it's a fact, good or bad: it is the most important place on earth.  Sit down over a cup of coffee with any family therapist in the country and usually he will tell you that, for a kid, it's at home - whatever it looks like - where everything in life makes up its mind. 

He then talks about why we need to have Christian homes.

In a Christian home there something special.  It's called grace.  In a grace-filled Christian home, there is salvation.  There is forgiveness.  There is hope.  Genuine happiness.  Purpose.  This kind of grace affects everything that goes on inside this home.

Uggg....at this point, I had to ever so nicely put the kitten's head back on and walk away from my GrouchFest! 

Grace?  Love?  Was I showing any of this?  No!  Absolutely not!  I know, it's hard.  I'm not saying there aren't days when it's easy to be grouchy, but instead of allowing myself to get more and more grouchy, I should have stopped and asked God for help.  I should have been showing my children love and grace. 

I don't know about you.  Maybe today is one of those days where you just want to scream at everyone and everything.  Just stop what you're doing and ask God for help.  Tell Him you need Him so you can show grace and love to your family. 

Remember that our homes should be homes of grace, love, forgiveness and happiness.  Does your home today feel like the Most Important Place on Earth?  Do you realize that everything that goes on in your home is shaping the rest of your children's lives? 

Do what I had to do, put the kitten down (remember- I don't really have one, I'm just teasing) and put on a happy face.  Ask God to remind you of His perfect grace and love and help you build a home of grace! 

Imitate.

Ephesians 5:1-2 Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Wow! That's a tall order. Be an imitator of God! To imitate Him? To act like Him? That's not an easy job to do.

In Sunday's sermon, our pastor told us that when the word "therefore" is in the Bible, you better ask yourself, what is it There For? It's something we better pay attention to. This is another one of those things in the Bible that is a command for Christians, not an optional task. The Bible says we are to be "imitators of God" and to "walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God...". What does that picture look like?

Have you ever wondered what imitating God would look like? What would it look like if we walked in love as Christ loved us? I do believe that means living selflessly, loving endlessly, forgiving, caring, taking on one anothers' burdens and lifting one another up. That's a tall task! How can we do it? I've said it before, if God says to do it, He'll bring you through it. Today, start today. If you're a Christian, try to be an imitator of God. Try to love someone, try to see them the way God sees them, let someone go before you, let someone elses' needs come first.

If you're a wife, love your husband unconditionally today. 1 Peter 3:1-2 says ¹ Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. This verse means to live in such a way that your husbands, if they do not believe in Christ, would see Christ through your life and find Him through your actions. If you are married to a Christian husband, encourage him, love him, lift him up in prayer and tell him how important he is to you and how thankful you are for him.

If you're a mom, love those babies and put their needs first, happily, without grumbling. Sometimes I am tired. I am worn out and if one more person asks me for a snack, I'm going to scream! BUT.... today I'm not. I have been trying so hard to be a better servant to my family... and no, I don't mean an actual servant. I mean that I am trying to care for them with a happy heart. It's a privilege and a gift from God to have a husband and wonderful children and I want to love them the way God wants me to. You know, it's a lot of work to coupon shop. It takes a lot of time and a lot of preparation. I have been trying so hard to look at this mundane task as a way to serve my family. Changing another diaper? Well someone has to do it and I am going to be thankful that I have a baby who's diaper needs to be changed. I remember losing a baby and having Molly made me ever so thankful, even for the dirty diapers and long nights.

If you're a co-worker, love them too. Try to imitate Christ at work. How would He act if He were there? I know, Jesus would never work in your office (it's just too awful, right?) but just pretend He would. How would He treat your co-workers? How would He treat your boss? Remember that Jesus loved even the adulterers, the tax collectors (most of which stole unimaginable amounts of money), fisherman, shepherds and every kind of person you can imagine - good and bad.

Whatever you do today and wherever you go, remember to be a example; an imitator of God; to walk in love - just like Christ!

It's a tall order, but you can do it! I always tell people to try couponing, shopping smart, living on a budget, breaking a habit, for just one day and see how it feels. I guarantee you it might not be easy to live "like" Christ, but you will be happy when you have. Please God and following His commands is the greatest feeling in the world!