365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 262

Have you ever felt beaten down? Like you are the biggest loser? You are not a good Christian? Know that Satan is working in your heart when you feel like this and know that all it takes is action. Start reading your bible again, start praying, start demonstrating your love to your family, friends, neighbors with kind acts and most especially talk to the Lord and ask him for forgiveness, help, guidance, whatever you are needing. Turn on your Christian music and sing! Action in the truth will push out those condemning feelings and things Satan is whispering in your ear. Take action!

1John 3:18-19 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 168

There is nothing quite as wonderful to witness as someone you love reflecting the love of Christ. My hubbie was asked to serve as an usher in December because one of the ushers was having surgery on this foot and would be out for a while. I am sure they recruited him because he always wears a suit to church and because of where we normally sit. My hubbie told me this was not in his comfort zone and you could tell he felt a little out of place. But he went to a meeting at the church on Saturday for training on various things and seemed more confident in what he was suppose to be doing. But the thing that really made my heart soar for him was when he gave up his seat for a last minute mother and daughter. He has such a servant heart. Acts of service is his love language. I have seen these acts at home with myself and the kids but to see it in action out with a random mother and daughter was a real treat. At the end of the service, he was to hand out the roses to all the mothers as a gift from the church. I just stood there watching him with a big smile on my heart and face. What a wonderful gift for my Mother’s day!

Ephesians 6:7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 141

I can’t begin to think of the number of times I have thought to do something in my head but the action did not follow. When it comes to expressing love, my lack of action is pathetic. I now understand that it is the way God made me. I have a very high need for love to be expressed to me but have a low need to express love to others. It is due to my high fear of rejection that is also part of how God made me. You might be thinking why would God make you with these negative things but they aren’t negative if you have the help of the Holy Spirit within you. If you have chosen to believe in Jesus, the God-void within each of us is filled up with the Holy Spirit. With God all things are possible. So, yes, a person like me who does not feel the need to express love can do it and have the attitude of love. In Gary Chapman’s book Love As a Way of Life, he explains how kindness is the first key to making loving a way of life. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. It is an action part of loving. A thing he proposed to do, in order to become more aware of kindness in your life, is to write down every kindness that is done by others. In becoming more aware of the kindness of others, you will become appreciative and will be motivated to act in kindness as well. Kindness begets kindness. It is like a smile. It is contagious. We just have to smile and act. I am starting Project Kindness this week and will become more aware of all the kind acts around me and cultivate the desire to be kind and show it.

Romans 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 194

I have two more doses of medicine that are needed to heal the disease to please that I have to share with you.
Being shackled by expectations was another morsel in this sermon on Sunday that gave me a good visual too. Am I so worried about what other people think of me that I am not truly serving God in the best way possible? Yes, it is true. I am not trying to win the approval of God, but the approval of man. I am ashamed and will be everyday asking the Holy Spirit for his help to let go of wanting to get people's approval and focus only on making God proud of me. Paul says it well in Galations 1:10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Chist. Step number two will be to pray everyday for my faith to rule over my actions and let go of the fears that keep me from being the servant of Christ I want to be. I especially like this quote said by who knows who? "Courage is fear that has said it's prayers."
We will encounter rejection, suffering and misunderstanding said Pastor Singleton. It's not something anyone wants to encounter but it is a truth and it should not be a deterent to taking action for Christ.  Another quote I found speaks well of this idea of using action to conquer fear, "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to couquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." Dale Carnegie.
I read an article on-line about the steps to conquering the fear of rejection. The method was simple, just go out and face that fear and do it.  Let it be your goal to be rejected 10 times and you will find that the more you just do it, the easier it gets.  It may take the 10 "no's" to encounter the "yes" and it is always worth getting the "yes".  The third dose of medicine to heal us from this disease to please is to take action.
So, I put all this into a faithbooking layout and starting contemplating the photos I would use. I started looking through some photos already printed I had lying around just to do some photo placement on the design and came across the perfect photos.  These are photos of myself taken back in the late 80's that I put into my hope chest because I didn't want to show anyone. They have been there all these years and I pulled them out recently and my hubbie saw them for the first time. Again I have been self-conscious about what others will think and I knew that my first action in conquering my fear of this is to put them in my faithbook page and display it.  It wasn't any coincidence that the color I am wearing in the photos goes with the faithbook design colors. Thank you Lord for bringing me this lesson and leading me to use these photos. It feels good to be free of the fear! I will continue to take my meds to help me overcome my fears. Are you in need of some medicine too?
Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 183

Summer is here! School is out. Grades were good. Summer camps are set-up. My daughter asks, "where are we going this summer?" Unfortunately, we are staying home. Finances will keep us close to the home as it may be for many people. Thankfully, we live in a beautiful area with plenty of hiking trails and parks. Camping may be an option as long as it's in a cabin with air matresses. Summer is a time of action. Do this-go there kind of attitude. We have to keep in mind that it's not about the places you go or the things you do but it's about being together. Let's go with whatever God plans for us and be content. Enjoy God's creation and your summer but remember it's about being together and God's plan.
Proverbs 14:22 But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 116

Growing up in the Catholic church, I was not exposed to the differences that other denominations have. My experience yesterday at the leadership meeting at a non-denominational church was so wonderful. The thing that really stood out to me the most was when someone was leading us in prayer, the rest of them were saying little things along with the prayer. Amens, hallelujah's and all kinds of other things. It actually felt like we were all participating in this prayer because of the action of speaking out. I am again profoundly aware of the power available to us by being in the body of Christ. I had a friend who always told me her church was being outdoors in the mountains with God. I always thought that was nice but not enough. God created us to be in relationship with others and to work together in his plan for the world. Whether it's in a more conservative church atmosphere or in a more action-oriented church atmosphere, we are all one body. Have you tried a different church lately or ever? It can be an enlightening experience that will stir your soul. Give it a try.
Genesis 28:15 "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go."

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 48

How often do we take the people we love for granted? Am I just surviving day to day or am I taking action? My letter pin for the month is "E". After my horrible mood the other day and the lingering discouragement issue, I felt led by God to turn the tables on that by having my daily reminder to be encourgaged and be encouraging. But another "e" word stood out to me and that was 'example'. My husband is a great example of service kind of love. He will get up and do whatever you need. He really is an amazing example of this love language. It's not my dominant love language but we are all capable of doing all the love languages and learn how to do the other love languages more and more. I often have thought maybe I am just 'lazy' but it really isn't a laziness, it's just not my love language but I am going to be working on it. Jesus was the greatest example of this when he knelt down and washed the dirty feet of the disciples. Jesus calls us to put our love into action. I am going to keep a list of the actions I take for others in the next month and see if I can increase those numbers as the month goes on and get better and serving others. Join me and challenge yourself this month to stop and serve whether it be in small ways or big ways.
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will received an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 28

Today I am praising God for something that may not seem so significant and important to others but to me it's made an impact. I found an ice pack at Walmart made of clay a few days ago that has a strap so it can be strapped to my shoulder. The clay makes it much more moldable and it also has an even cold through out and lasts longer. So, this isn't really a big thing but this little thing has made my life more bearable the last few days and kept the swelling down in my shoulder. It's a good lesson to see that anything we do or say can be of great significance to others. The impact we make on others by just loving and caring about them and maybe dropping a seed or two about Jesus can make all the difference if this person finally deciding to make the "choice" to beleive in Christ. We may never know the impact a word or action we take can have on someone or someones like the person who came up with this clay ice pack but he did it and it made a difference. So I am praying that today and all the days to come I can be more aware of my actions and words and that what I say or do can make all the difference to someone's hopeful eternal life.
2Cor 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.