The Living Room
We love having company and sharing time with other families, because we love people. It wasn't always that way in the Anderson home. Years ago we hardly ever had company and didn't spend much quality time with anyone. We didn't think we had the time but the reality is that we didn't really have anything to share. You have to have something to share it. We were practically "bankrupt". Financially we were deep in debt and getting deeper every day. Our bank account wasn't the only thing empty, our marriage had the same negative balance. Of course a marriage reflects the emotional and spiritual condition
June 2008
of the couple. We were both in the red there too. Naturally, attitudes and behaviors of children are affected by the emotional and spiritual atmosphere in the home so we had a deficit in the discipline account. All of that negativity causes sickness and susceptibility. Heavily taxed in the health area we had several chronic issues requiring regular prescription medications. Are you getting a picture of what life in our home used to be like? Would you have wanted to visit our house?
Proverbs 15:6 (MSG) says "The lives of God-loyal people flourish; a misspent life is soon bankrupt." That pretty much summed us up! We prayed (usually begging), went to church and read things in the Bible but somehow everything went in one ear and out the other - none of the words actually affected or
brought about a change in our lives. We had spent our lives always trying to refigure and rearrange and repair. God was more concerned about repairing us than repairing our problems. He let us continue to spiral into the negative until we were bankrupt enough to finally let go of the do-it-yourself method of life and bring everything directly to the Master Accountant. We went to God and He sent us to His Word.
Humbly we came to realize that our methods weren't adding up. Then we realized that God's methods weren't about religion or traditions or ways and methods that men have come up with. Life's problems aren't solved by other people, programs, groups, formulas or a multitude of media and books. To find the one source of life-changing power we had to go to the One Source of Life. All of the answers to our live's problems are addressed in one place - the Bible. We found it true that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
There are three keys that have unlocked the doors of divine change in each of our lives and in our home: devotion, discipline and diligence. We systematically began applying the Word of God to every area of our lives and one by one, because of our obedience to follow God plan's God's way, every column on our ledger of life's debts have turned around and "made a profit"!
Today we are well on our way to living without debt and are able to give as the Lord directs us to do so. We have a loving marriage and a family that loves each other and actually enjoys each other's company. Individually, we have each experienced deliverance from areas of bondage, change and growth in our spiritual walk and in our mental and emotional well-being. All of our many illness issues have been healed! No one takes any regular prescription medications for anything anymore. We live in divine health. All due to the grace of God and the work of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Change occasionally comes instantly but more often it is a gradual process. We are still changing daily and still have a long way to go! It is our desire as a family to '"'Love the Lord (our) God with all (our) heart and with all (our) soul and with all (our) strength and with all (our) mind'; and, 'Love (our) neighbor as (ourselves).'" (Luke 10:27) We strive to live transparent lives of integrity.
God has deposited so much into our new "accounts" that we are truly rich! Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tells us in Luke 12:48 that "For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more." This is true. God has given us countless opportunities to meet people who have experienced so many of the same deficits that we had and we have been able to give them "Words of Wisdom" - not from us but from God and His Word. Jesus also tells in Matthew 10:7-8 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.'" A contemporary language translation of the Bible called The Message words Matthew 10:7-8 this way: "Don't begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don't try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously." This is what we do. Nothing fancy, nothing formal and usually mixed with a lot of fun (and usually food!).
Our family is no longer "bankrupt" in every area of our lives. We now have a home blessed with more than we could ever ask or imagine: love, joy and peace; mental, spiritual, emotional and physical health; and happiness. One of our richest blessings is being able to share time with people like you. We want to share with you out of the abundance we have received.
Welcome Home!
Dwayne, Angie, Brennan, Bradley, and Brett Anderson
and Zekie too!
Take home some Words of Wisdom for the month of June:
2 Peter 1:1-11
To those, who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, have received a faith as precious as ours:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
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.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith - goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Emphasis added)
Wow! Those are truly "Words of Wisdom". Hang out here on the couch as long as you like. Just let God's Words spoken by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit through Peter saturate your spirit and renew your mind. Print it out, make it your screen saver, write it down, TM it to your PDA. Stick it on the fridge, the bathroom mirror, the steering wheel, wherever you will repeatedly see the Word. Now say it out load - often. It will get into your mind and then into your heart. Pretty soon it will be a part of your life!
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