Avoid Being Idle

"An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. .." Proverbs 31:10-31  

Fall has arrived! The trees are changing and losing their leaves, the days are getting shorter, the grey clouds have moved in and linger for days, the autumn winds are constantly howling outside and beating against our homes and the last of the sun's warmth is fading fast. Soon, we'll be buried in snow and arctic cold. For those of us who are stay at home mom's or who can't work outside the home, we can find ourselves battling idleness day after day.

Idleness is addressed in several places in the Bible and we're told to avoid it. Idleness not only tempts us to sin, but is the cause of a lot of sin and depression. When we get bored and are idle we tend to over eat, become sick easily, slipping into depression, stressed out, dredging up old memories and marinating in them for hours on end, complaining, in and out of bad moods, laziness, gossipping with friends, sitting on the internet, watching way too much TV, etc.

Winter commonly breeds depression, but this can be avoided with keeping ourselves busy and soaking up sunlight while it's available. Going outside for a short walk or even just to stand in the sun for a few minutes (especially during midday) allows us to soak up some vitamin D from the sun even on cloudy days, which directly impacts the emotional center of the brain.

Outside of the seasonal changes, idleness anytime can be deadly. There is truth in the old saying "Idle hands are the devil's workshop".

"Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not." 1 Timothy 5:13

"or even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies." 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11

In modern times, we don't have fields of crops that need planting, care and harvesting. Canning and storing food is no longer necessary. We can buy clothes cheaply rather than having to make them. Cooking can be done in 30 minutes or less and we've found ourselves with more free time than we can stand. Therefore, we find ourselves getting into all sorts of trouble or worse watching Jerry Springer.

 "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49
Man was made to be laborers. It's unnatural physically and mentally to be idle even in the work place. Part of the reason the West battles so many illness and diseases is due to lack of physical labor and "life of ease". We have diseases and illnesses, both physical and mental, killing us at high rates that are rare in 3rd world countries. The root cause is idleness.

For us women, there are a number of things we can do to keep us busy and productive especially during the winter months. Learning the old ways, even though we don't need to anymore for survival, has tremendous benefits and I'll throw out some suggestions...

Learn how to can food. Plant a vegetable garden in the Summer and in Autumn can them. It's not difficult, it's time consuming. If you didn't plant a garden this year then fresh vegetables and fruits can be bought cheaply and canned just as well. Canning jars and lids can be bought cheaply also at places like Target and reused. If you don't want to keep the food for yourself give it to others in need.

Save big projects that can be done during the winter for those short, cold, depressing days.

There are so many crafts that can be made at home and make excellent gifts, opportunities to make extra money or can be given to the needy such as homemade soap.

Learn to sew. You don't need an expensive sewing machine to make something. There are several stitches by hand that are just as nice and strong as a machine's and they only take a few minutes to learn via the internet. If you want to sew with a machine then check out second hand stores, flea markets or Craig's List for cheap sewing machines. Patterns for all sorts of things and fabric are cheap. It's also easy to make your own pattern. None of this is hard, it's time consuming and that's what we're after anyway. It's amazing the things that can be made using old and new material from curtains to purses to clothes. Have an old dress or skirt you can't wear anymore, but love? Use the fabric to make something else. If you don't want to make things for you and your family, then make them for others in need. A great example of this is a charity called "Little Dresses For Africa." A group of women make dresses for little girls in Africa from pillow cases.

Make a memory quilt from old material that can be past on as a sort of heirloom. Quilt making it surprisingly cheap and time consuming. You can get good material on discount and pay next to nothing. Or you may have an old quilt that can be refurbished. Buying a good quilt for winter months is expensive. Making your own is cheap and better made than a store bought quilt.

Learn to crochet. Crocheting is very easy. If I can do it I know anyone can. New patterns can be quickly learned from the internet and it's amazing what can be crocheted from some yarn and a needle. Multicolored blankets in soft yarn are awesome gifts especially when they're hand made or they can be given to the homeless.

Learn to make jams and jellies. My sister in law makes different homemade jams and I love walking into her house and smelling the strawberries, grapes or some other fruit being cooked down and prepared for jars. She's offered to teach me and I'm going to take her up on it. Making jam can also be looked up on the internet, is fairly easy to make and it's so much better than anything you can buy in the store. Afterwards they can stored for use, given away as gifts or given to the needy.

 Outside of learning new activities to keep your hands and brain busy, there are a lot of ministries we can get involved in such as collecting mittens, hats and gloves for homeless or needy families. Volunteering at soup kitchens (who always need help), volunteering at women's shelters or teaching other women a craft that you've mastered. You can take classes for something new and interesting at your local community center or community college cheaply or even free.

Not only does God expect us to stay busy, but we were made to keep busy. It's a sure way to beat depression, over eating, warding of sin, providing for our families and helping those in need. The benefits of avoiding idleness are enormous. Happy Fall!

 

Ask For The Ancient Paths

Amos 8:11-13  "'The days are coming,' declares the Sovereign LORD, 'when I will send a famine through the land--not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it. In that day "the lovely young women and strong young men will faint because of thirst.'"

In the above scriptures, the Prophet Amos was describing the fast approaching destruction of Israel. God was fed up and was ready to judge and destroy. It wasn't a matter of "if" it came, it was a matter of "when" in the very near future.

Pastor's and scholars use Amos 8:11 to describe our own time. I know now from experience it's very difficult, if not almost impossible, to find a church or teacher who is preaching the sound biblical doctrine alone without some infiltration from worldly philosophies and practices.(See HERE) When it's found...people hang onto it like a cup of water in an arid land. Those who are seeking the Words of the Lord are wandering, staggering, looking for somewhere it's distributed to the flock. Most churches are feeding their flocks the equivalent of fast, junk food. And many are eating it up gladly. In fact the junk food appeals to them so much they can no longer  put up with the Words of the Lord. They can't stomach it and therefore reject it.

A famine of hearing the Words of the LORD is an act of judgment by God. What we're seeing today is judgment make no mistake. I know in America and most of the Western world pop psychology, philosophies, mysticism, witchcraft have been added to popular teachings by popular teachers and distorted the Bible. Because they have continually rejected the Words of God and His knowledge and knowing Him through the only means He's provided (His Word)...He's rejected them.

"My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. 'Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.'" Hosea 4:6

As people have vomited up His Words so He is vomiting them up. This is a fatal blow. Not only do most not recognize it for what it is, they don't care...

 "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3

The teachers and Pastors propagating these myths are to be blamed because they are in positions of authority, teaching and leading so they will be judged far more harshly. But look at the above verse carefully. That verse isn't describing teachers. That verse is describing the people who flock to those types of twisted doctrine and teachers. They are not victims. They are just as guilty as the teachers. They can no longer put up with the sound doctrine. They themselves are surrounding themselves with these false teachers because they're being told exactly what they want to hear.


The people can't handle the truth. They don't want to hear it. They can't stomach it. They reject it. Because they reject it God rejects them by withholding His Words, His blessing and His guidance and turns them over to their sin. They love it so much they can have it. Another fatal blow. The longer they sit under those teachers the more they are subjected to their own deceit until they become so debased they are good for absolutely nothing. God has withdrawn His protective grace. Now they're on their own until they are utterly pulverized in their sin.

They're told God loves them just the way they are and don't have to change and they love it. They're told God wants them to be successful and rich and they devour it. They're told God is all love and understanding to their struggles from the past therefore won't act on their continued sin and they gorge themselves. They're told any suffering they go through is evil and God only wants to bless and they feast on it. It's exactly what they're itching ears want to hear and they flock to it, rejecting all sound doctrine. They've cast it off.

Look at these teachers. They fear the truth. It will drain their pockets so they malign the Bible and do character assassinations on people who are calling them out with the truth. They hate when anyone questions what they're teaching. They don't want anyone going behind them and searching the Scriptures to see if their teaching lines up or not. If Paul didn't have a problem when the Bereans cross checked his message in Acts 17:11 why do these teachers? But like rabid dogs they go on the attack and the people love it.

"Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." 2 Peter 2:2-3

They always have one thing in common...they all have special messages from God and they all have been given some revelation, dream or vision. God is always "speaking" to them. They take scripture and twist it to suit what they're eager listeners want to hear. They take scripture out of context. "God told me" or "God said to me" and when you compare their message to the actual Bible it doesn't match up. They all sound the same in many ways because they're all intermixing, taking and using things from each other then tailoring it to fit their listeners.


"'Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has My word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?' declares the LORD. 'Is not My word like fire,' declares the LORD, 'and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 'Therefore,' declares the LORD, 'I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from Me.'" Jeremiah 23:20


They use God's Word in twisted, distorted ways and "having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5) because they "think that godliness is a means to financial gain". 1 Timothy 6:6

Both teacher and people are guilty because they feed off each other in their debasement.  They both want the same things and as Paul Washer said "It's not God."

But those who truly want out and don't know where to look because they've been so inundated with everything but God's Word...

"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'" Jeremiah 6:16

"'Come out and be separate', says the Lord" (2 Corinthians 6:17) Go back to the Bible. Go back to the ancient way. This is the good way. It's the way all the Prophets, Patriarchs and Apostles have walked...the narrow road. Get rid of all your "Christian" books from your favorite teachers....lock them up, burn them, throw them in the garbage but don't give them away because at some point you're going to know that all your favorite teachers are in fact perpetuating lies and it's just as sinful to pass their heresy off on someone else. Get out the only book God has provided for you...the Bible. There is no room for laziness with God.

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) But we have to put in the effort. Start reading it, study it, meditate on it, know it, pray it because that is the way where God is.