It Depends

  “And why should the good of anyone depend on the prayer of another? I can only answer with the return question. ‘Why should my love be powerless to help another?’ ” ~ George MacDonald

“It depends.” How often have we heard that in our lives? “We will go to the coast but it “depends” on this or that. We might be able to buy  a new car but it “depends” on if I get my raise at work.” We even use that phrase on our kids. “Can I go to the dance this weekend mom?’ ‘Well it depends.”


The picture really gets dark and dim when we think of the fact that we also use this phrase on God. “I will be good to the person but it depends on how nice they are to me. I will give to the church but it depends on if I get what I want first.”


In life some things do depend on other situations or circumstances. However, when it comes to being good that is something that should never depend on anything except the fact we need to do it, no conditions attached. Our Christianity and the things we are suppose to be in Christ should never “depend” on something else. If you think about it and tear apart this formula we have created the “something else” always is centered on us getting something first THEN the later can happen.


It’s like the Psalmist who writes in the Bible, “God if you do this for me I will praise you.” No, we need to praise the Lord no matter what, not add a condition to it. Imagine that prayer, “God I will praise you but it depends on if my husband gets that job he applied for.”


What part of the word “No!” don’t we understand. When we allow our attitude and Christianity to be controlled by our circumstances then we have a problem. We are the ones that need to be in control. Recently as my husband applied for a job I read Phil 4:4-7 that talks about being anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. THEN the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and mind through Christ Jesus.


After reading that scripture I had to stop and examine my prayers asking myself, “Did I pray with thanksgiving or just a laundry list of why I thought my husband should be hired.” Behind the scene was I saving the “thanksgiving” part of the verse for after the “Depends on if my husband gets hired or not” clause.


To make sure I did it correctly I prayed once more and with thanksgiving as well. It felt good. I even made up a mock prayer praying for someone’s mom’s knee surgery to see if I could pray with thanksgiving with all my prayers. It was a good exercise for my heart.


This morning the news of my husband’s job came in. He did not get the job. Eleven long years of only hit and miss jobs will continue on. However, my goodness, my thankfulness, my gratitude and praise to the Lord doesn’t depend on the answer being “Yes.” As much as the job would have helped life, what I have with God is of more value. I can’t imagine waking up this morning thinking, “Well God no praise for you today because it depended on whether Don got the job or not. Good day, maybe tomorrow.” Yuk, it brings tears to my eyes to even think of such an attitude, to think my fingers could even type such a thing.


What I want is God to be able to depend on me not me living my life around made up conditions of if A doesn’t happen then B won’t happen either. I want the “depend” to be on me, that God and His kingdom can count on me no matter what the circumstance, no matter what the situation.


The best part of it all is the fact that we can depend on God. Amen? Amen!!!


**Before starting this today I didn’t know what I wanted to say about the quote. I just couldn’t come up with something to say. I prayed to God to take my fingers and give them something to say. Once I got started I couldn’t shut up. God is awesome isn’t He? Imagine if He was one of those who waited around for the “depends” to happen. We’d never be saved!

© 2011 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing

A Checklist for Our Souls

“If we’re going to become the women God wants us to be, we’re going to have to begin being consciously selective, which means we ask ourselves questions like: Is this the best use of my time, money, energy, and resources? Is this God’s highest and best for me? Is it the healthiest thing for my spirit, soul, and body? … Do my daily choices reflect my true values or am I taking the path of least resistance simply to avoid the hard work of making conscious selections?” by Donna Partow, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be: A 90-Day Guide to Living the Proverbs 31 Life


Years ago when trying to sort out the question in my mind about “What would Jesus do?” I found myself hung up on the question in certain situations. There were things going on that I didn’t have a clue what Jesus would do because He never would have allowed Himself to get into the siutation in the first place.

Over and over again I tried to figure out, “What would Jesus do?” After several attempts of trying to figure it out I began to look at it from a different angle. In the process of studying the stories of Christ in our Bible study and looking deeply into the characteristics of Christ I soon found my new approach. I started asking myself after I did something, “what characteristic of Christ is that?”

Talk about bringing a conviction to my heart. If I couldn’t instantly name what I did, thought, or said as a characteristic of Christ I knew I had just been busted for wrong behavior. Indeed for me as hard as it was to try and name what Jesus would do I found it easier to label what I just did Christ-like or not. I even made a bracelet that had WCOCIT on it to remind myself to ask that simple question in all I did and said.

Too often we think that being a Christian comes to us the minute we arise from the waters of baptism as if it was projected to us by some type of osmosis. As much as we would like to believe otherwise it’s not that simple. It takes a conscience effort on our part. We need to stop and think about what we are doing. We need to ask ourselves some questions. It doesn’t matter if it’s the questions Donna has given us in her quote or ones we come up with ourselves.

One Christian speaker I listened to once referred to this as “accountability” questions. His recommendation was to make a list of questions and give them to the accountability partner of your choice to ask once in awhile. Taking on the challenge I wrote down my questions and picked my accountability partner. Too bad the list of questions never got to her. Hum, no wonder one of the questions on the list was “did you follow through with what you started this week?”

We question God, we question where we think earth came from, we question our spouse’s behavior and what are kids are thinking but we don’t question ourselves enough. We need to live intentionally especially in our Christian walk and that takes effort on our part. Some of that effort can come through the questions we ask ourselves. “Did I glorify God today? Did I walk in His will? Am I doing all I can to further His kingdom? Is that really a characteristic of Christ?”

We have checklists for our groceries and bills why not a checklist for our soul and spirit. All it takes is a simple inventory that will tell us where we are and where we are likely to go if we don’t pay attention. Its not a checklist to use as evidence against us but one to further our walk towards the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Walk, listen, and learn, it often starts with a question. “Where do I want to go in life?” Towards Jesus is my destiny of choice.


Our host today is Patricia on her blog, Typing One-Handed so you better get over there and there’s no question about this one you need to join in, its fun!

The Need to be Different

“Christians make a difference in this world by being different from this world;they don’t make a difference by being the same.” from Unfashionable by Tullian Tchividjian

“It’s too hard to be unique it makes more sense to be like everyone else. Going upstream in a downstream world isn’t fun anymore, how are we supposed to reach the other side! Standing out in a crowd will only get you in trouble so blend in.”

This sad thinking that’s for sure but it’s a train of thought that seems to have swept the world more and more. Christians have gone the easy route in the name of “reaching the unsaved” or “tolerance” and we have wound up similar in many ways instead of different.

In order to live differently later for all eternity, we need to live different now. Wow what a novel idea. In order to make a difference we need to be different. Oh, we’re on a role here. If what we see out there on TV, in the movies, in the public is “normal” behavior we need to make the decision, “I don’t want to be normal.”

It seems like Christians are a dying breed but we don’t have to be. We need to stand strong by our convictions even if the decision gets us mocked, tortured, or looked down upon. As much as people try to fight it, what we stand for can make a big difference if we allow it. Such as love instead of hate. Peace instead of hostility. Encouragement instead of putting people down. Patience instead of road rage. Thankfulness instead of ingratitude.

They say if you put any and all politicians, regardless of their affiliation, in a bag and shake them up they will all come out looking the same. This should not be the way it is for Christians and non-Christian people as well. In John 8:59 we read where Jesus purposely slipped through a crowd, not to become one of them but to go through them. It reads, “Then they (the Jews) took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them and so passed by.”

The only way we should be in or of the world is to do it in the way Jesus did, just passing by. We should be disappearing in the crowd not because we are blending in with everyone else’s behavior but because we were going through as Jesus did and making a difference along the way. At the start of the journey we make look a little worldly but at the end of the adventure we need to come out different.

In our quest to be different we often become like one of the crowd acting like everyone else. The best way to be unique is to find out who you are in Christ and live that out in your life to the best of your ability. Don’t accept the world’s mold that it hands you.

Although the world doesn’t know it, it needs the difference we can make. The difference in attitude, the way we conduct ourselves, the way we work or play, the way we raise our kids, drive our car, treat others and so much more. We need to make up our minds that we don’t want to be normal if what we see in the world is suppose to be normal. We need to be different, am I wearing out that phrase?

We need to be like Jesus, the One who truly made a difference and still does today. Invite Him over, rearrange the furniture in your heart and see the difference He truly can make!


© 2009 Karen J. Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing