Good day to you. Before I start with today’s topic, I will mention my last blog, “Front Porch Soaking”. Today, as I was thinking of you spending your valuable time reading what I have written, I thought of my blog, Tarry With Me, January 28, 2025. In Tarry With Me, I had already recounted my front porch experience, except with fewer details. Evidently, it needed repeating.😊 Also, that entire blog was to follow up on two previous blogs, “If” a Big Two Letter Word, and Defining Moments.

As I looked back at those blogs I had written at the beginning of this year, I noticed I wrote of a time in my early years as a Navy wife, when I questioned how I could spend an hour reading my Bible and praying. Then I explained,

“During those earlier years, I also had the misconception that I was saved for eternity, and from then on, I was to do the best I could with what I was given.” (After all, wasn’t it my responsibility to figure life’s challenges out?) “Thankfully, I stayed in Church, Bible studies, and experience with the Lord, which He used to correct some of my misconstrued notions and false sense of responsibilities”.

In a recent early morning conversation with my husband, David, we observed that this is how many Christians live their entire lives. As we acknowledged the honesty of other Christians who had openly expressed their likewise “misconstrued notions and false sense of responsibilities”, David said, “There’s your next blog”.  

By the Lord sending me back to review blogs I had written almost six months ago, He got my attention on what my husband had suggested several days ago, that I write about today…

I will begin with some common quotes of our misconstrued notions you might be familiar with. “I’m just doing the best I can with what I’ve been given”. “I’m barely hanging in there”. “I’m just getting by”. “I’m barely scraping by”. “I’m making do”. “I’m hanging on by a thread”. “I don’t know how I will ever get through this”. “Somehow, I will get by”. “I’ve been dealt a bad hand”. “I must have been snake bitten”. There is a goofy song that says, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all”. But sadly, some believe it is true for themselves. I could continue, but I think my point is apparent.

So, let’s look closer at why we Christians would live like that.  

I will start with the meaning of misconstrued notion (you know, where I was and where many of us stay). Misconstrue means to interpret something wrongly, often due to misunderstanding or a lack of full information. It implies a faulty or inaccurate interpretation of words. Notion is a conception of, an idea, or a belief about something.

I doubt that we have ever been without some kind of misconstrued notion. Therefore, I know you can relate.

From what I have learned from God’s Word, and my open and honest relationships with other Christians, I believe many of us have had a misconstrued notion of the meaning of Salvation. If not, we wouldn’t be saying the things we say and living like we believe this is all there is in Salvation. Do you agree?

So I think it is good to look closer at what Salvation brings. First of all, it does bring eternal life in heaven, just like I thought as a young girl when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. If you have never heard the Romans Road to Salvation, here are some of the scriptures used to receive the Salvation of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:20-21; 3:10; 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-10; 10:13. For there is only one way to receive salvation: Faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. I pray that you will read those scriptures and know for certain you have settled the most important decision of your life. I cannot emphasize that enough!

But what next, you may ask? If the goal is to be in Heaven with God and Jesus settled that for us, then why are we left here in this world? That is where the rest of Salvation enters.

Jesus explained to His disciples when He was preparing them for His return to the Father.

John 16:7 Jesus tells us, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.”

 And in John 14:15-18 NKJV

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

My friends, these are only two verses that can resolve my first misconstrued notions: I didn’t have time to spend an hour “Tarrying” with the Lord, and I had the responsibility to “figure it all out”. If that were the case, why would Jesus send the Helper to abide with me forever, dwell with me, and be in me? He is the “Spirit of Truth”, right? Who among us doesn’t need the Spirit of Truth?

So, Jesus tells us if we love Him keep His commandments. Just starting with the Great Commandment gets us on the right path, and we will grow from there.

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

If I were to love the Lord like this, how could I question an hour with Him? How could I do anything the Lord has called me to do if I don’t spend time with Him in His Word? All the while, the Holy Spirit Helper is there with me to lead me and guide me into God’s Truth.

I don’t know about you, but I believe that spells a life walking in the Spirit with the fruit of the Spirit… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. These are the qualities that develop in a person’s life when they are led by the Holy Spirit, as they are stated in Galatians 5:22-23. A life of abundance of all things good. No more just getting by.

No wonder the enemy wants us with a head full of misconstrued notions. Too busy trying to figure it all out that we don’t have time with the Lord in His Word. Too worn out and weary, trying to hang in there, scraping by, making do, and living with only bad luck. How sad!

Therefore, I will go back to the meaning of misconstrued notion: When combined, a misconstrued notion refers to an incorrect understanding or interpretation of a conception, an idea, or a belief.

Do you agree that this could explain why Christians often find themselves lacking direction, guidance, purpose, fulfillment, and most of all the Fruit of the Spirit? I humbly admit that I am lacking in some of the qualities that develop by walking in the Spirit. The Lord knows my heart. I desire more growth, and my Holy Spirit Helper doesn’t give up on me. Through my obedience to His Word (I do have a choice), as Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

I have a friend, Linda Dunn, whom the Lord brought into my life as a Spiritual Mentor over 35 years ago. Recently, we have been able to stay connected through texting. She shared this with me.

Unbelief is why we don’t obey.

The key to prospering is in the Presence of the Lord.

The key to the presence of the Lord is Obedience.

The key to obedience is Faith.

The key to faith is hearing the Word.

I ask you to ponder these words along with some of the verses in a poem I wrote in 2017. The Lord clarified these principles even more through “Body Builder Food” in Inspire Me. Here are a few lines starting halfway through the poem…

His Church, His body, becoming what it’s meant to be

Starting with His Word growing us individually.

Therefore, we must feast on His daily bread

Or be malnourished, downcast, and feeble instead.

Hunger for Him; the Lord gives us a choice

Serve Him, love others, actions give His Word a voice.

So, are you starving yourself not feasting at His table?

Surrender your will, Holy Spirit makes you able

To be strong in the Word and the Spirit of Life

Nourished and filled your light shining bright

Building the Body to fight the good fight!

I do hope you feel that your time with me has been well spent. Most importantly that this time has revealed more of His Salvation by living by the Spirit. All we’ll ever need and more than we could ever ask for.

God bless you, my friends,

Reba