Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Faithfulness. Self-Control. In just a couple of minutes, I was able to open my mouth and crush every single one of the attributes of the fruit of the Holy Spirit we Christians so often talk about. I immediately felt a pang of conviction and shame.

Don’t judge me. I bet you can relate. It only takes being alive to be a hypocrite some days. We all have done it. We read Scriptures and attend our religious services. We serve in religious organizations and bring our tithes and offerings into our houses of worship. We often counsel and teach our congregations. And then, one busy, stressful day, our children, spouses or parents push the wrong button at the wrong time and, in a matter of seconds, we manage to silence every song of praise from our lips, and deny, with our ugly actions or words, what we preach.

Years worth of work for the kingdom can be destroyed. A word can be engraved in our child’s mind and heart forever. We can drive a wedge that breaks our spouse’s trust. Although many times these actions are forgiven and the consequences aren’t irreparable, we are perceived as a fraud, even if for a moment.

I was recently reading through the Gospels and came across one of Jesus’ most chilling admonitions to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. In a speech that instantly made him the most hated man among the Jewish leaders of the day, he admonishes them for their hypocritical lifestyle. For leading others away from God with their actions. For loving religious rituals more than God, and for caring more about the appearance of goodness than about the condition of their hearts.

Although his rebuke was aimed at religious leaders, it gave me great pause. Because the last thing I want is to think that my family would see me as a hypocrite, even if for one moment. It makes me realize that it doesn’t matter how many books I write, or how many times I speak and teach God’s truths to a crowd. My religion is worth nothing if it doesn’t lead my household closer to God.

My religion must start with those I love the most first, as I make time to listen to the same not-so-interesting story, or stop typing to look at their eyes when they speak. It starts when I bite my tongue when I am too tired, too stressed out, or too hormonal, and choose to pray instead of impulsively speak.

My religion must start with those I love the most first
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Indeed, I am convinced that my best days are not the ones when my website has the largest number of hits, my Facebook page has the most likes, or my tweets get re-tweeted more often.

My best day is any day I realize that my religion is perceived as skin deep, ask for forgiveness, and vow to change. It’s any day I am a living testimony of the grace that follows me when I need it, and forgives me when I stumble. It’s any day my life shows that I love God and people more than anything I could ever accomplish. More than the appearance of good. My best day may seem small and unfulfilling in the eyes of the world, but it’s any day my mouth and my hands are in sync, and their message is one and the same: Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Faithfulness. Self-Control.

Patricia Holbrook is a Christian author and national conference speaker. Her book, “Twelve Inches: Bridging
the Gap Between What You Know About God and How You Feel,” is available on Kindle, at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon and other retailers. 

The post Living Out What We Preach {Atlanta Journal Constitution Column} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

“Hand of God” Painting by artist Young Sung Kim

Passage: Matthew 14:22-34

“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,”he said, “why did you doubt?” v.31

It was the miracles of miracles.  

The first mass miracle took place in Decapolis, where between ten to fifteen thousand people were fed with two fish and five loaves of bread.

I can only imagine the excitement, as the multitudes watched the fish and bread multiply before their eyes. Yahweh Jireh, their Provider, fed the hungry in an unprecedented display of His glorious provision to the masses.

The disciples’ hearts must have overflowed with joy… and Pride.

After all, they were His selected men. The ones who were chosen to walk alongside the Christ.

As we read the text, it’s interesting to realize that, instead of allowing them to remain with the crowd a little longer, Jesus immediately “made” His disciples get into the boat, cross the sea and go to the other side ahead of Him, while He dismissed the crowd (v. 22). I believe Jesus knew their hearts were swelling with pride for being part of Messiah’s inner circle. They needed to withdraw, get away from the accolades of men and the material substance of the miracle, regroup, and realize that He had come to give them much more than just daily bread.

He knew their faith needed more testing and they were about to get it.

Success and popularity have the power to excite us and make us start hoping for great things. The problem is that, though we hardly ever realize it, our hopes for spiritual victories too often include hopes for our own advancement. Therefore, after a season of miracles and supernatural blessings, God often pulls us out of the hype and excitement, and sends us on to the next journey of testing, where we will realize that our faith must grow in the same proportion as our humility and dependence upon God and God alone.

It’s true – We see the bread before our eyes and our faith grows within us. After all, we can touch it, taste it, feel it. The provision and deliverance is real. We can boldly shout to the world: He provides! He heals! He reigns!

But then, just as He did to the disciples, He takes us out of the material and sends us into the sea of the Unknown. In the dark hour, storms rise and our boat tosses about.

Fear rises within us… And we forget.

The eyes which have seen the miracle are suddenly blinded by the darkness around.

The hands which touched Provision become restless.

The tongue which proclaimed the miracle can’t even pray.

We watch the winds and the waves raging at us, and we forget the grand miracle we just witnessed ashore.

In our distress, we see a ‘Ghost’ walking on the water, and we don’t even realize that it is He.

The One who just broke the bread and multiplied the fish… walks towards our situation and we don’t identify Him. The one who heard our heart’s cry… comes to our rescue in the night and we can’t recognize Him past the storm.

Oh, how my heart understands Peter as he realizes it is Jesus who has come to their rescue. How I understand his reason to say, “tell me to come to you on the water!”

He knows Jesus is his safety. He’s eager to believe. He thinks his faith to be strong. He trusts his heart not to wave.

So do we, Peter. So do we.

And yet, as our eyes veer from the Savior’s face and focus on the raging sea, our faith tested once again, we forget the bread and the fish. The storm reveals our weakness…

And we sink.

Oh, Lord, my God, how I truly understand, that it doesn’t matter how many times we’ve watched you act, our feeble hearts so often betray what we know:

That even when You seem to have left us alone, You’re always there…

That all we have to do is call Your name… “LORD! Save me”

And hear You say:

“Take courage! It is I.

Don’t be afraid.

You can walk on water.

You can face the storm.

Because it is My omnipotent hand that calls you out of a life of little faith, to one that watches Me deliver, again and again.

Don’t trust your heart, child.

Just trust My hand.

I’ll pull you out of the icy, stormy waters.

And make them solid ground.

Because wherever I stand… you cannot sink.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” Isaiah 43:2

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I smiled and uttered a prayer of thanksgiving for my mom. Once again, this loving woman had dropped everything in her life and  had flown 6,000 miles to take care of me and my family in a time of need. Regardless of distance, time or cost, I know that as long as God gives her breath, I can always count on my mom.

My mind goes back in time and I remember our relationship as I grew up. As many women of her day, mom had to work five days a week and sometimes on the weekends to help the family budget; therefore she was not very involved in our day-to-day activities. During the teenage years, as my parents’ relationship became stormy, we were all victims in the consequences of a broken marriage. Hormones and anger made my young mind shut down to any common sense. The hurt of seeing my parents growing apart blinded any attempt to understand my mother and so our relationship became distant and shaky.

As we both struggled with our individual crisis, we hurt each other deeply. As in many other mother-daughter situations that I have known, there was pain, misunderstanding and incompatibility for far too many years.

Today, however, in spite of anything in the past, I can honestly say that Mom is a best friend. I long to see her and spend time with her. I love to hear her voice when I dial her number. And even though our personalities are pretty different and we don’t always agree, our love and longing to be together grows deeper with each passing year.

Our secret?

We set each other free.

We can’t help but grow old, but we have to choose to grow wiser.

As a grown woman, I started to understand her longings, sorrows and disappointments. I often made myself put on her shoes to imagine her experiences.

When I became a Christian at 25, I realized for the first time that no one is worthy of forgiveness; however that is exactly what Christ offers to anyone who will ask. I also came to realize that true love never withholds forgiveness and that we cannot expect to be forgiven if we don’t forgive others. This former Catholic school girl knew all too well the words of the Lord’s Prayer in Luke 11: “And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

I know several mothers and daughters who are wasting time and missing out an abundant life with each other because of unforgiveness. I know daughters who dread the thought of being around their mother and mothers whose daughter can never measure up to their expectations. I know mothers who compete with their daughters and daughters who will never agree with their moms, even when they are absolutely right. The same occurs in different relationships where trust and dreams are shattered . Without forgiveness there is no factual restoration. Without restoration, our future is bound to defeat. Heaven shuts down. Our Faith Bridge stays broken and therefore nonfunctional.

As we stand in a position of self-righteousness, holding on to thirty year-old grudges, we fail to realize that we are the ones held in bondage. Even if the person who wronged you has a hardened heart and continually hurts you, do yourself a favor: Set them free! Ask God to help you forgive them and pray for them. Extend the same forgiveness that you so long to receive from those you hurt.

I cannot remember exactly when it started, but somewhere along life’s way, I started to choose to love my mom for whom she is. I don’t try to change her and I don’t look back anymore. I look forward to the years we have ahead of us. No matter how many we have, I am choosing, one step at a time, to fully, abundantly enjoy each one.

Regardless of who hurt you, whether it was a parent, spouse or friend, forgiving is not easy. Actually, I believe it’s quite impossible without God. But with His help, you can.

Have you tried asking Him to help you overcome?

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

This devotional is an excerpt from Patricia’s newly released book Twelve Inches – Bridging the Gap between what you know about God and how your feel.” Today we’re giving away a copy to one of our readers. Leave a comment to enter, or if you are in a hurry, simply say “I’m bridging the gap!” in the comments section. For more information on the book and to read some of the endorsements, click HERE

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We are so excited to announce that Patricia’s First Book, Twelve Inches – Bridging the Gap Between what you know about God and how you feel has started pre-selling at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, among other on-line retailers. The kindle version of the book should become available in the next few weeks and the printed version will be shipped in the beginning of July (official release date is July 7th).

Do you want to help us make this book a huge success? Click on one of the links below and read a summary of the book… then please go ahead and order your copy! This would help the book hit the Amazon’s Hot New Release list quickly. It will also help to call the attention of retail distributors and buyers. While you are at it, please share it on your social media walls, and tell your friends and family about it! We appreciate your support!

Click HERE TO ORDER THROUGH AMAZON: TWELVE INCHES (AMAZON)

Click HERE TO ORDER THROUGH BARNES & NOBLES: TWELVE INCHES (BARNES & NOBLES)

In His service,

The Soaring with Him Ministry team

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