Amanda BethSharing the Truths Behind the TRUTH

Feb 21st Monday’s Blog: Love Does Not BOAST

We are on our fourth week of studying what love is according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

This week we are moving on to…love does not boast. This happens to be a popular saying in our household. Whenever one of my kids receives something special, or praise for doing good, they immediately run to tell their siblings. The siblings then get jealous and tell the one who is bragging not to boast. They usually then come running to my husband or me and squeal on the one who is boasting.

It’s hard not to boast. When we’re excited about something, we want to run and tell everyone. But just like with my kids, not everyone is going to share in our excitement. So does this mean we should never share anything good with anyone?

At one time, I made my mind up that I was not going to talk about anything that had to do with me when I was conversing with someone. This went okay for the first ten minutes, but when they’d ask about me, I’d give a quick reply and switch the conversation back to them. This made it uncomfortable for me and the one I was conversing with. I’d have to come up with a bunch of questions for them and they would have to focus on themselves by answering all my questions. This actually made me force people to boast about themselves.

It didn’t take long for me to learn that there has to be a balance and boasting is not completely wrong. 2 Corinthians 10:13 says, “We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.”

Verses 17-18 say, “But, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”

I learned that boasting about the things I produce by my own effort only leads to pride. Whereas, boasting about the things the Lord produces in and through me, that will benefit others, leads to glorifying and praising God. If no one ever shared how God has worked in their life, we would never be motivated to press on and take hold of all that God has for us. It blesses me to hear how God works in others, because I know that He has no favorites. If I hear that He is working in your life, then I know He will work in mine. This kind of boasting stirs people’s faith. The other kind of boasting stirs nothing but our own pride.

This doesn’t mean we share with everyone everything God does for us. The Apostle Paul set an example for us to learn the proper limits of boasting. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-6 he stated, “I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.”

Paul boasted in others and only things in himself that would benefit others. Even though he could boast about all the marvelous revelations he received from God, and be telling the truth, he still chose to refrain himself so that people wouldn’t think higher of him than they ought.

Not everyone wants to hear about all the good God is doing in our lives. We need to be sensitive to those we are conversing with and know when to refrain ourselves when we’re around those who don’t want to hear it.

When God called me to step out and write my first book on marriage, I was so excited that I wanted to tell everyone. I quickly found out that everyone wouldn’t share my excitement. This only brought me down and did nothing to help others.

A friend told me recently that God warns us about sharing our visions with everyone. It only hurts us and feeds other people’s envy and jealousy, as we can learn from the story of Joseph. He didn’t act wisely by sharing his dream with his brothers and father in Genesis 37, even though his heart was right and he was telling the truth.

2 Corinthians 11:30 says, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” Instead of sharing only the good God was doing in my life, I should’ve shared all the attacks and testing that came along with the great blessing. I should’ve shared how many times I fell and wanted to give up during that time. I should’ve shared how my marriage was tested to the point where I felt I was completely unqualified to teach anyone anything about marriage.

When we share our weaknesses and trials along with our blessings, it helps others relate because no one walks through life continually blessed and free of trials. When we only share our good, it makes others wonder what they’re doing wrong. Our weaknesses help others to know that they are not alone. I learn the most from those who share their struggles and how God worked in those struggles.

Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise and skillful person glory and boast in his wisdom and skill; let not the mighty and powerful person glory and boast in his strength and power; let not the person who is rich [in physical gratification and earthly wealth] glory and boast in his [temporal satisfactions and earthly] riches;

But let him who glories glory in this: that he understands and knows Me [personally and practically, directly discerning and recognizing My character], that I am the Lord, Who practices loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 (AMP)

Let us not bring glory to ourselves. Let us boast about the things of the Lord that will benefit others and bring glory to God!

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**Something to think about this week**

I read a blog recently on love by LynnMarie Earl at “Realm Ministries.” She encouraged others to pray 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and substitute their name in place of love. I thought that would be a great thing to do this week, confessing that we are patient, we are kind, we do not envy, we do not boast, we are not proud, we are not rude…. We can carry this verse to help us stay focused on loving others, while reminding ourselves that we have all these fruits in us through Jesus.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

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**Have a very blessed week and come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and encouragements throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.

Posted in Love Series, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with
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Feb 14th Monday’s Blog: Love Does Not ENVY

We are on our third week of studying what love is according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. If you missed the last two weeks click here on Love Is PATIENT and Love Is KIND. This week we are moving on to envy. To be envious means to be discontent with who we are and what we have, and to be jealous of someone else and covet what they have.

The Amplified Bible defines envy as “an evil eye” because it is not of God, it is of the enemy. James 3:14-16 says, “But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” When we allow envy into our hearts we open the door to the enemy and lead ourselves into deception.

I used to be constantly envious of others. If I saw someone wearing an outfit I liked or having a certain look I wanted, I’d be searching for that outfit and figuring out how to change my appearance. I remember buying eyebrow stencils that were shaped like my favorite movie stars’ brows because I wanted to look like them. I don’t know how I thought having their eyebrow shape would make me all of a sudden look like them. It actually did the opposite. It looked completely ridiculous on me.

I was young and naive and very insecure. I always had to have something that someone else had or had to be better than others to feel good about myself. I was in constant competition with others. I remember my husband and I even having car payments almost double our house payment because we wanted the best. We always had to have the latest and greatest new thing that was out, and when someone would have better, we would want it.

I look back now and see how much work and effort it was to keep up and stay ahead of everyone. How miserable it was for me to constantly live in discontentment. I praise God that He rescued me, changed my heart, and showed me my true identity and value in Christ. God has given me such freedom by teaching me how to be content with myself and not have to compete with others.

God doesn’t want us to be envious of anyone because He has something uniquely special for each and every one of us. We are each gifted and called to a special purpose. If we always want what someone else has, we will miss out on what God has for us.

I’ve found that most of the things I thought I had to have, and was envious of in others, I didn’t even want. Envy completely deceives and blinds us of our true heart’s desires. That’s why the Bible calls it an evil eye, because we don’t see the truth when we harbor envy in our hearts. We are looking through a distorted eye.

I could share with you story after story about how envy distorted the truth in my life. I chased after so many things that I never truly wanted because I was so blinded by envy. One example was when I was younger, before I knew Christ. During this time, I had been trying for many years to pursue a modeling career. People had told me since I was an early teen that I should be a model because of my height. As I got older, the more I heard it from people the more I wanted to pursue it. I did everything I could to pursue this career and spent a lot of time and money trying to make it happen.

Then one day, in my early twenties, I finally succeeded and got into an agency. When it actually came time to do it, and I learned I had to do all kinds of things to keep up my appearance and be ready to leave town when they wanted me to, I suddenly realized that modeling was not something I wanted to do. I had coveted it for so long that I never actually stopped to think about what it entailed.

Envy completely blinds and deceives us. It makes us think we need something that we actually don’t even want. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.”

Envy literally sucks the life out of us because it makes us never satisfied. I wasn’t satisfied when I finally succeeded and got into a modeling agency. I was actually mad that I wasted all that time and money chasing after something I never really wanted in the first place.

And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

I remember the freedom I felt when I finally laid down everything I was chasing after and gave my will in exchange for God’s will. When I stopped wanting what others had I became free to be me. It is freedom not to have to prove ourselves to anyone and not to have to try and chase after things that will never end up satisfying us.

By being content with what God has given me, He has been able to bring out His true heart’s desires in me. I could never see those desires before because they were buried under envy, greed, and worldly lusts. I can honestly now look at others who succeed and be truly happy for them because I know I will succeed in whatever God’s will is for me. I don’t need to chase after what someone else has because I have my own purpose.

Last summer, God revealed several promises and plans He had for me. As I was believing Him for these promises, I saw someone else have an amazing breakthrough in the same area I was believing for. Instead of being envious, I sincerely felt happy for this person. As I was telling God how amazing it was that He did this for this person, I instantly heard Him say, “Wait until you see what I do for you!”

I know without a doubt that was God speaking to me because I wasn’t even thinking about my breakthrough. I was just happy for this person and amazed at seeing God work. I honestly don’t think I would’ve been able to hear from God had I been envious of them.

God is speaking His will to us but we won’t hear it if we are envious of others and chasing after things that are not for us. We need to lay down our will in exchange for His perfect will. That is the only way we will be truly satisfied with our lives.

God is speaking this to you today, “Wait until you see what I do for you!”

Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

Proverbs 23:17 AKJV

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**Something to think about this week**

Do not let the enemy deceive you into wanting what others have. He just wants to keep you from all that God has for you. God has amazing plans for you so do not allow envy in to blind your true heart’s desires. Let us remember this week to be content with what God has given us and wait for Him to bring to pass our full purpose and potential in Christ.

…be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.“

Hebrews 13:5

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**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and encouragements throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.

Posted in Love Series, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with
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Feb 7th Monday’s Blog: Love Is KIND

We are on our second week of studying what love is according to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Last week we talked about patience. This week we move on to kindness. Kindness does not come without mercy. As God displays His kindness toward us out of His great mercy, we need to be merciful in order to be kind to others. If we don’t continually receive God’s mercy for ourselves, our hearts will not be merciful to others. We can’t convey true kindness without a merciful heart.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12

We can’t put something on that we don’t know we have. If we don’t believe we are made holy by Jesus, and God loves us unconditionally, we won’t be able to put on any characteristic of love. If we always think God is disappointed in us, we won’t be able to move forward in allowing Him to work in us. We may show acts of kindness toward others, but we won’t be able to truly feel mercy for them when we’re not being merciful with ourselves.

We should view ourselves through God’s eyes. When God looks at us, He sees HIS perfection in us. He sees what His power working in us can accomplish.

Philippians 1:6 says, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” And Psalm 138:8 says, “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Your hands” (NASB).

If God sees us as patient, kind, and loving already, it should encourage and motivate us to live up to that. We often think about what wretched sinners we are, when we should be thinking that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

When I think about how bad I am, I find myself falling into sin because I’m so down on myself that I am easily led astray. I unconsciously live up to what I think about myself. I am a sinner so I live up to that.

But when I see myself as God sees me, I want to live up to that. It motivates me to live a holy life because I don’t have that constant disappointment of failure.

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”

Galatians 5:13

We don’t ever have to worry if we are doing enough to please God. God has set us free because of His great mercy and love for us, so we can be merciful and love others.

Does this mean we should never feel sorrow for our sins? No, we are to confess and repent when we purposely do something wrong (1 John 1:9). But when God is working with us in an area, we don’t need to beat ourselves up every time we fall.

When my kids were babies learning how to walk, I didn’t yell at them every time they fell. I lifted them up and encouraged them to continue trying. God works with us the same. He doesn’t get mad when we fall. He lifts us up and encourages us to continue walking with Him.

“Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him.”

Psalm 37:24 (AMP)

Take a look at the woman in Luke 7:37-38 who wet Jesus’ feet with her tears because of her sinful life:

“When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.”

In verse 50, Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” The Bible doesn’t say this woman continued crying at His feet over her sins, nor did it say she returned to Him in tears every time she slipped up after. She went away in peace that day knowing she was completely forgiven for her past, present, and future sins.

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”

Luke 7:47

Once we begin to grasp how much we have been forgiven for, we will be able to love others. Once we realize how many times we have offended God and turned our hearts away from Him, we will have no excuse but to be merciful toward others.

Our world needs to see genuine, merciful kindness. There are not many people who are truly merciful. You can’t dare make one mistake or people cut you off and turn their backs on you. Even worse, when you do what is right, people despise you more because your loving-kindness convicts them of their wrong doings. You can’t win with people.

Thank God He doesn’t treat us that way. Isaiah 30:18 says, “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion….” God is always merciful and kind to us. We should follow His example by being merciful and kind to everyone, including ourselves.

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**Something to think about this week**

Let’s not wait for anyone to be kind to us. Let’s go out and show people God’s mercy and loving-kindness. We can carry this verse to remind us that we’ve been forgiven so that our hearts can be merciful to others.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:32

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**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and encouragements throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.

Posted in Love Series, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with
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Jan 31st Monday’s Blog: Love Is PATIENT

In my New Year’s Resolution blog, I talked about focusing on loving others as our primary resolution. For the next couple months I want to focus on what love is as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

This week, we will start with the first description of love, which just so happens to be the thing I struggle the most with, and that is patience.

My husband would say if you looked up the antonym for patience you’d find my name. Patience is not my strong suit. I remember once rushing through a teaching on patience and having to go back over it and read it again. I am impatient even when trying to learn about patience.

I know I am not alone. During one of my women’s Bible studies, a woman asked us to pray for her to have patience. At once, all the women in the room shouted, “Oh no! You don’t want to pray for that! You’ll be tested!”

No one wants to be tested with patience because that means we’ll have to wait for something. Yet I have learned that waiting isn’t the difficult part. It’s keeping a good attitude while we wait that’s challenging.

I was tested in this area once while studying patience. I was in a hurry one day when I quickly stopped to order my kids lunch through the drive-thru. After receiving my order, I drove away and realized they forgot an item.

As I was grumbling that I had to go back and wait in the long line when I was already running late, my daughter calls out from the back seat, “Mom, aren’t you studying patience this week?” I responded, “Yes,” and asked her how she knew that. She responded, “Because whenever you study patience you get impatient.”

It doesn’t feel too good when God humbles you through your children. However, it showed me I needed to be tested in that area because I kept failing.

May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy.

Colossians 1:11 (ESV)

We spend most of our lives waiting for something. So there are many opportunities the devil can use to tempt us to lose our patience. I lost my patience once when my husband expressed, “The devil is laughing at you because you fell right into his trap.” It angered me that I made the devil happy because of my lack of self-control.

The Bible instructs us:

in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety)…For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

2 Peter 1:6, 8 (AMP)

Self-control is one of the fruit of the Spirit God has given us (Galatians 5:22-23). When we exercise knowledge (discernment) in situations where we are tempted to lose our patience, the fruit of self-control starts to develop. We don’t instantly walk in self-control; it has to develop in us. The only way to develop it is through times of testing, when we have an opportunity to exercise it.

As we exercise self-control, we start to develop patience. The more we exercise it, the more it develops. When we develop patience, we develop godliness, and then Christ’s love can be seen through us. This is why the devil works hard to tempt us to lose our patience. We lose our self-control when we are impatient and we don’t walk in love.

Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation.

Romans 5:3-4 (AMP)

We can face our trials with a joyful attitude because we know we need them to develop endurance, to keep us pressing on and maturing in Christ.

I used to be insanely impatient toward my husband and children. They couldn’t do anything wrong without me losing my patience. I’d always try to change but I only seemed to get worse. I didn’t change until I learned that I had the fruit of self-control in me and I needed to yield to God and allow Him to develop it in me.

This knowledge helped me in situations when I had to use self-control. At first, it wasn’t easy and I failed many times. But the more I leaned on God and kept working at it, the easier it became because His fruit of self-control started to develop in me.

The Holy Spirit’s fruit works the same as edible fruit. It starts as a seed, and as long as you feed it and don’t neglect it, it eventually develops into fruit. When God is working on an area with me, at times it feels like it’s always going to be a struggle. Then one day I suddenly realize it’s not as difficult because the fruit begins to develop.

We need to yield to the Holy Spirit whenever we get in a situation where we are tempted to lose our patience. The more we yield, the more fruit God can develop in us, and the more we will walk in love.

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**Something to think about this week**

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God always provides a way out when we are tempted. Let’s remember to take that way out this week and practice self-control whenever we are tempted to lose our patience. We can carry this verse to remind us to yield to the Holy Spirit and allow God to develop His fruit in us.

But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

James 1:4 AKJV

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**Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.

**Follow me on my facebook page as I share verses and encouragements throughout the week that correlate with each week’s lesson.

All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.

Posted in Love Series, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with
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