~The gift we return and try to earn~

 Have you ever had a birthday when you have said "don't get me anything"...."I don't need anything"..... "I've got every thing I need"?!?!?! Well if your an adult I know at one point or another you have said this or someone has said it to you. I think way too many of us "Christians" carry this mentality within us spiritually over to God without even realizing what we are doing because we are so wrapped up in church, christian organizations, us having the mentality.....the more we do.....(or don't do for that matter) the more we are holy and acceptable to God. 
 Now have you ever heard a kid say " nahh....don't get me anything for my birthday"?!?!?! hahahaha Well I have never in my life. Kids are very accepting to gifts. They know that we do not love them more or less because of what they do or don't do. And they know that more than likely we r gonna get them a gift for their birthday.....no matter what horrible things they have done.
Jesus talks about how we should have a childlike approach in Luke 18:17  17 I assure you, anyone who doesn't have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God."  
("their" meaning children)
We need to have faith that God does not love us more/less by the things we chose to do/not to do. His gift is always available.


Romans 4:4-5 says When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive. 5 But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.


Some synonyms of righteous include - holy, godly, good ....etc. 


Definition of "gift" - something given voluntarily without payment in return, 


In other words: 
If we could earn salvation it would not be a "gift"

Romans 4:16 says: So that's why faith is the key! God's promise is given to us as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it, whether or not we follow Jewish customs, if we have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.


Romans 5:16 says: And the result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but we have the freegift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.


Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.


Isn't it amazing how many times it says FREE GIFT!!! In this economy if ne-1 sees the word "free" they jump all over it. I think people would be alot more likely to come to believe in God if we emphasised the word FREE more often. I believe there are so many Christians who believe you must wear certain clothes/not wear certain clothes, listen to this kind of music/ not listen to this particular kind of music, cut your hair/ not cut your hair, go to church/not go to church, read this bible/don't read a certain bible......and the list goes on and on. But the bible specifically states that nothing we can do will get us saved.....it's only when you believe in Jesus Christ that you are saved and......NOTHING ELSE!!! All of these things are fine to do or not do.....it's all in personal preference but we should never think that we are more saved for how we dress, where we go to church, what music we listen to, what bible we read......and so on. It's all about BELIEVING IN JESUS CHRIST!!!


Ephesians 2:8-9 God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 


How many of us are pushing aside God's FREE gift and trying so hard to be right. It is time to stop trying to be right with what we are doing, but believing Jesus is right with what he has already done.


                   ~Thanks 4 Reading~
                   ~God Bless w/ Love~
              ~Kimberly R. Hutchinson~

~The Unknown Disease~

I thought I would post a blog on this subject because we do get asked about Tobby's condition here and there and I thought maybe I can use our situation and put a positive spin on it. :)
(Before I go any further I did ask Tobby before I posted any of this and he was fine with it).
Lets go back to the year 2001..... (the year me and Tobby met). At this time the doctors had already diagnosed him with a disease called Friedreich's ataxia. (he was already wheelchair bound)-------- Friedreich's ataxia is a rare disease passed down through families (inherited) that affects the muscles, nerves and heart. It slowly gets worse and causes problems performing everyday activities. Most patients need to use a wheelchair within 15 years of the disease's start. The disease may lead to an early death. <------thats what the internet said


Now thats alot for a 15 year old  (me) to take all in. We were both pretty positive about the whole situation. I prayed and prayed for Tobby to not have that disease any more and to be healed and he did the same. 2003 we got married knowing he had the disease and knowing what might be our fate. Love is definately blind to all the imperfections we both had.


I'm not sure what year we found out ...but awhile after we were married.... Tobby's sister Diane (who had the same diagnosis) wanted to find out what condition they really had. So she went and had a really expensive blood test done. This really expensive blood test was to detect any known diseases in the world. Well when the results came back from her tests.....it detected NOTHING!! Therefore; they do not have a known disease or condition in the world! At first, when I heard this I was extremely excited... for probably years I suppose....just focusing on the fact that they don't have this horrible disease friedrich's ataxia. Then slowly the thought of how they have an unknown disease made me question everything. All the negative thoughts kept entering my head "what if their unknown disease is worse than friedrich's ataxia?!?" .....all the possible "what if's" entered my head and all the "why him?!?....why her?! ....why me?!?" ...kept resurfacing over and over and over. Satan loves to throw all the questions at any already difficult situation.


So today I started thinking about our whole situation and how "the norm" of people probably don't have to deal with the physicalities of this problem......but most people can relate to the spiritual side of the "unknown disease."


So many people (including myself) find comfort with the spiritual "known diseases" .....example: "well, I act a certain way because my family had alot of problems" OR "I was abused, thats why i do this particular thing" OR "well my parents raised me to be like this"    Everyone is always trying to find that one answer of why we are acting or not acting a certain way.  ..........all of these quoted statements could have some truth to them but what about the person with a list of 80 problems that came from a squeaky clean background?!?!? It's almost like we as people get more satisfaction when even the worst of  problems can be explained by something or someone else. But the "unknown" well it's just plain scary. 


Proverbs 16:1
 We can gather our thoughts, but the Lord gives the RIGHT answer.


1 Peter 1:6-9  So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. 7These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 Your reward for TRUSTING HIM will be the salvation of your souls. 


That means we have to trust his answers..... not ours. There are so many questions in the world about everything and everyone. It is not our job to answer them but trust the only one who gives the RIGHT answers about everything. Jesus Christ is the only answer to all the "known diseases" and all the "unknown diseases" in the world both physically and spiritually. 


                      ~Thanks 4 reading~
                            ~God Bless~
                  ~ Kimberly R. Hutchinson~

~4 Letter word with a HUGE meaning~

That word would be LOVE. :) I thought about doing this blog around Valentine's Day...then I thought "eh that would be kinda cheesy" so I just kept trying to 4-get about it....and it kept coming up in my life. I believe God has been trying to tell me the past couple weeks that I needed to write this blog...and i kept ignoring him.....soooo out of my stubbornness ....2 weeks later...i actually listened and.......here it is. :)

Jesus said in  John 15:12&14 "I command you to love each other in the same way I have loved you."14.)"You are my friends if you do what I command."

Romans 13:9-10 For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting -- and any other commandment -- are all summed up in this ONE commandment: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10.) Love does NO wrong to ANYONE, so love satisfies ALL of God's requirements.

Jesus also said in John 13:34-35  So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35.) Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.


As Christians we think "well of course I love everyone" "duh" :) But as I continued in this journey of what love REALLY is.... I ended up questioning myself ...."do I really LOVE others (even the people closest to me) or do I just say that I love everyone because i am a christian and that's what we say and think we do?!?!"

I know i know.....most people already know this verse but i gotta include it..

1 Corinthians 13:4-7  Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.


Here's a chart to help simplify things


LOVE IS           LOVE IS NOT
-------------------------------------------
Patient                   Impatient
-------------------------------------------
Kind                       Insulting
-------------------------------------------
Content                  Jealous
-------------------------------------------
Modest                   Boastful
-------------------------------------------
Humble                  Proud
-------------------------------------------
Polite                     Rude
-------------------------------------------
Does not demand    Demands it's
it's own way           own way
-------------------------------------------
Cheerful                  Irritable 
-------------------------------------------
Keeps no record       Keeps a record
of being wronged     of being wronged
-------------------------------------------
Does not rejoice      Rejoices when the
about injustice        truth is out
-------------------------------------------
Never gives up         Gives up
-------------------------------------------
Never loses faith      Loses faith
-------------------------------------------
Always hopeful         Always hopeless
-------------------------------------------
Endures through       Discontinues the 
every circumstance    circumstance


I mean are we really loving everyone....?!?!


1 John 4:7-8 ⁷ Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸ But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.


(Since it said God IS LOVE....God is that whole left side of the chart. That is what he is to EVERYONE!! )


and finally......


Romans 12:9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.


I am ready to truly love everyone....not in a way that i think is pleasing to myself or the other person....but in an authentic way to satisfy God. I want to prove to the world that i am Jesus' disciple by loving everyone.


okay one more :):)


1 Corinthians 13:2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.


Conclusion: We are NOTHING without love. God is Love. The more of God we have in our lives the more love we can show to others. 


   Thanks 4 reading
      ~God Bless~
       ~Kimberly~

~I'm Not Oprah~

Sometimes we think of our life as not having much impact to others. I'm not Oprah with all her wealth and power. I'm not Dr. Phil with all his answers. I'm not a pastor with their inspirational words. I am Kimberly Hutchinson. And honestly my OPINION matters very little in this huge world. But what about my LIFE?!? I think us with the little simple lives often feel like we are less important than the ones that people openly look to for answers. But maybe, just maybe, people do look at our life as an answer to how they want or do not want to live theirs. The matter of fact is we can touch the lives of people around us in our own special way that no-1 else can.
In my opinion there are 3 types of "Christians" who make an impact:

• Type 1-(white picket fence Christian) I think I live better than everyone else attitude....even better than other believers.They are painting a picture for themselves and Christianity that is unrealistic. These people r really missing the big picture and are ultimately unrelatable to the non believer and push fellow Christians further away from Christ. 
• Type 2- (turn your head the other way Christian) these people r pretty relatable but when they see someone going through a hard time in their life ....They just turn the other way and focus on how great their life is. ( they might say a prayer for them) lol
• Type 3- (I am not perfect Christian) this is the category I want to be in :) they know they r not perfect and don't act like they have the perfect little life in every way. They try to help people in need. They talk to the believers AND the non believers about Jesus Christ. And know that their life is so messed up without him. These people can really relate to other people because they realize that we all are just that...PEOPLE with human tendencies!                      

 I believe it is very important to be a positive influence to others ... However; let's be real about our lives , our problems , our trials and our temptations. Lets be relatable. What's funny about the "Christian type1-3 list" is I have been all of them at one point or another sometime in my life. 
This week I have had my eyes opened to the fact that people r in our lives for a reason. And we make an impact whether we realize it or not. Hopefully we can make an honest positive impact on someones life by being realistic and developing a relatability towards people for Christ and only Christ!!


2 Verses 2 Think about:
Ephesians 5:2  Live a life filled with LOVE for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins. 
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud


Thanks 4 reading!
    ~God Bless~
        Kimberly