365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 254

What does it mean when we call someone Lord? The definition of Lord says, a person of authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief or ruler. From some research, the primary reason for the use of Lord in place of God’s Hebrew name is to follow the tradition of the Israelites in not pronouncing or spelling out God’s name.

www.Gotquestions.com/LORD_GOD_Lord_God.html

“Lord” is basically another name for God. We are to set Jesus apart as Lord because he is God, God among us. This concept of three in one can be tough for some people to accept but God can do and be anything and he chose to come down and dwell with us in Jesus and Jesus told us when we believe we will have the Holy Spirit within us. Our Lord is within us. Think about that and be amazed again at who God is and what he does for us.

1Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 220

Today as we celebrate the freedom of our country, I will celebrate the freedom given to me by God. I remember the day that the weight of fear and shame was lifted off of me thanks be to God. Driving home from the Women of Faith conference, a sweet lady in the car asked me about how I came to know Christ. I told her about my years of disappointment after disappointment trying to get pregnant with our second child and how I finally opened up to God and acknowledge that I didn’t have control over what was to happen with my life but He did. With my knowledge of my temperament and temperament theory, I can see how that was the time when I started really communicating with God. When it comes to relational and social issues, my temperament is a double-edged sword. I do not initiate friendships and conversation for fear of rejection but I need to have a good amount of this to be fulfilled. During this time of infertility, my two best friends became pregnant and my sister. It was a struggle to maintain my emotions with them so the topic was avoided as much as possible but it pushed me towards God and ultimately led me to accepting Jesus into my heart. My need for socializing was now being met fully by the one who can meet all our needs. Another temperament need I have is the need for lots of control over other people and no control from them over me. Because I was becoming more open to God and starting to learn about Jesus, I finally was able to submit to God and acknowledge that I didn’t have control. But the third need in my temperament regarding love was not being met yet because of my fear of rejection. I have a compulsive need for love and affection but do not initiate it so others don’t know of my need and it doesn’t get met. As I told my story in the car to this dear lady, I heard a voice ask “why are you afraid?” It was at that point I realized that I didn’t need to fear rejection because I have the one and only true God who loves me in ways beyond measure. This love set me free. The weight of shame from the three abortions I had in my younger years was lifted so I went home and told my husband and family of my past sins. I was free from the fear of people rejecting me because of my past sins. I know that I am loved and that compulsive need for love has been fulfilled by the only one who could fulfill it. Do you have a freedom story? I would love to hear how the Lord has set you free. Have a blessed independence day!

Matthew 10:8 Freely you have received, freely give.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 208

Saturdays are always in need of more patience and gentleness because I am with my strong-willed daughter all day. Thankfully, I have the power of the Holy Spirit within me to help me overcome my own need to control and be gentle and patient with my daughter who wants to take charge. Praying your Saturday will be filled with joy, love and all the fruits of the Spirit.

2Corinthians 13:11 Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 207

A song by Colton Dixon keeps running through my head with the words “scars remind us who we are”. We are not perfect. We fail and fail again and fail some more. We say things we shouldn’t say. We do things we shouldn’t do. We don’t do things we should do. We don’t say things that should be said. Got all that? We are not God. We are not in control. The mistakes we have made, the scars within us should remind us of how imperfect we are, of how we are not the one in control. We choose what controls us. Do we let the sinful nature control us or do we let the Holy Spirit control us? It is a choice that must be made continually.

Romans 8: 5-8 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 190

Yesterday I found myself stressing and later thought about why I was stressing. Indeed, why? The Lord has my back. He’s got it covered. But the control part of my temperament has a need to control everything so when things are not in the control I like, I get stressed. The busyness of life has taken over and my prayer life has been little bits here and there but I need to take those moments much more frequently and reverently; not like I am in a hurry. Peace comes when we are one on one with the spirit of God inside of us. So, I may get caught today with my head bowed in prayer looking like I am doing nothing but it really is everything.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 166

As I relaxed in the spa last evening with my daughter and her friend, I listened to my daughter play out a conversation that her animal friends were having that she was playing with. The mother animal said “time for bed” and the child animal said “why do we have to go to bed?”  The mother animal says a simple “Because I said so”.  I cracked a smile at that and than began to think of how God tells us the same thing. We want to have the control over our lives but the reality is that we need God. He made us that way so that we would search, find and hopefully choose him. Without God we are children trying to do things our way and we know what happens when kids get to do whatever they want. Mess after mess, disaster and chaos. The sooner we realize we need to depend on God the better off we will be. The answer to all those why questions to God is a simple “Because I said so.” God is God. He knows best.

Isaiah 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 162

I come from a family of women who are have a tendency to not listen well. We speak before thinking, react before processing and let anger take control. My mom, sister and I were on our annual spa trip together this last weekend. It is a good time but inevitably becomes a therapy session. Being the quieter one within this trio, I tend to just let them do the talking and will pipe in when there is a purpose behind it. I am not one to talk much about nothing. This time around I was having a very difficult time maintaining my patience and gentleness with them because of the negative stuff that seemed to be coming out more than anything else. My mom, being older and wiser, realized she may have to temper her mouth a little more so as not to set off my sister. I came to the point that I was thinking about not doing this anymore. I need a vacation from my vacation. It feels like walking on egg shells at times because anything you say can be held against you and may set off a volcano. I can’t be the therapist to my mother and sister and our relationships because I am too close to it all so I just have prayed and let them know I love them and hope that the Lord will guide them both in drawing nearer to the Lord so that they may bear the fruit the Holy Spirit can give.

James 1:19-21 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 133

My thoughts have been on control and releasing that to God so it doesn’t surprise me that I am seeing this in and around me. My daughter and I went to see Jurassic Park 3D this weekend. It has been a top ten favorite movie of mine that I have seen too many times to keep count. My daughter had seen it only once so I knew it would be scary but she could handle it. The best part of the movie was feeling her jump in her seat beside me in the abrupt frightening moments of the movie. The main theme of the movie is about control. The owner and creator of Jurassic Park was delighted by all that he had created and was admonished by the other characters for his lack of humility. Releasing control to God requires humility but humility requires understanding the scope of who God is. And though you read and understand who God is, you have to feel that in your heart for it to really take effect and give you the humility required to submit to God fully. Like all things, it is a process we must go through and a daily regiment needs to be done to continually move forward in progressing to full submission to God. Jesus was perfect in this and is our example. We won’t attain this state of perfectness in this life but it is and will be a blessing to our lives here if we keep marching toward that goal.

Romans 8:6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 131

I long for the day when menopause is finally here. I haven’t been sleeping well for the last 10 days and it is driving me nuts. On top of that, I have a fibroid on the outer part of my uterus that has reared its ugly head again and is putting pressure on my bladder. I did the search this morning on the internet for natural remedies and came up with little to nothing except lose weight, meditate and get soy in your diet. So, I finally cracked open my bible and looked under the topic of health. I am trying to be in control of the situation and solve the problem but I should not rely on my own wisdom but look to the Lord for his. Again, it is a control issue. I have to release these things to the only one who can solve the problem. I am raising the white flag. I surrender all to you, all to you.

Proverbs 3:7-8 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 129

God led me this morning in my bible to my concordance and the word, submit. I chose to look at the verse in James since it has been a focus book for me at this time. In reading the verse, I found I needed more so I looked up the definition of submit. The main definition is accept or yield to higher authority or the will of another. In the secondary parts of the definition, I saw the word surrender and that grabbed my attention. I am a rebel. I want things my way. I want the control. I accepted God’s will back in 2000 after suffering from the secondary infertility issue for 2 years and I was at peace but this submitting to God’s will has to be daily for me because it is part of my temperament to want control. The song by Chris Tomlin, White Flag came to mind so I pulled it up on my ITunes library and played it and sang my prayer. It felt so good to let go like that. I will be singing my prayer every morning and anytime during the day when I feel like I am trying to grab back the reins on my life. My life is God’s.

James 4: 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will fee from you.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 128

Have you ever seen someone do something to someone that was disrespectful and as soon as they left the room, you reacted with negative words about the person who just left? That was me yesterday. I have talked to God about this one as it is an issue I have had all my life to react to something before thinking about it. It is the control part of my temperament that is leading me in this. I have to let go of all control and give it all to the Lord. This will have to be a daily commitment to let Jesus put the yoke on me and guide my steps, actions and words. For a more contemporary feel, I get a visual of squeezing lemons into a colander sifting out the seeds so we can make lemonade. Lord, be my colander today and let all things go through you.

1Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 110

Reality TV is popular for a reason. It is real and you see some real emotions. Usually, it is the heartfelt tears but this week’s Survivor had a man who was really mad. He was so mad he literally dumped out the rice and beans for the tribes food. That is a big bad on Survivor! His tribe had unanimously voted to forfeit the immunity challenge to the other tribe and go to tribal counsel which has never been done before on all the seasons of this show. This man was crazed with his anger and it was like a volcano going off to watch it. He was out of control. He is one of the fan favorites from a past season who from the past talked about his faith and God but not this season. He has strayed the path and it showed in his total loss of self-control and tantrum of anger that he displayed. He was proud to be voted off in the end because he wanted to control his destiny. He needs our prayers. This was a very real example of how our temperament weaknesses can be played out. Without God in his life, this weakness with anger was able to take reign over him. I pray that he will find his way back to God and get in the Word and ask the Holy Spirit to help him with his anger, give him self-control and especially understand and accept that God is the one in control. 

Proverbs 29:11 A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control. 

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 81

The drama continues at my workplace… Monday tasks were switched around and Tuesday they were switched back to where they were before. The head honcho was not happy with our visiting worker from India who made this switch before evaluating everything. She came up to my desk later in the day and wanted to train me how to record something in another program but I was in the middle of trying to get the mail finished and she just expected me to drop it all and listen so I did. I thank God for giving me patience with her because she wants to make sure of things but doesn’t want to hear my answer. She wants a yes or no but there are things I have to point out to her so she fully gets the whole process. Than, just as abruptly as she came she will walk away and go to another person’s desk and interrupt them without a care. I don’t know how long she is here for but I am sure the frustrations she brings will keep coming only because she is trying to do her job and has the stress of reporting to the head honcho who likes to be in control of everything. So, I am trying to remember that there is another part to her, the part that God loves no matter what.

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 62

A co-worker and I connected yesterday when I said I like to have my work look stellar. We were talking about the increased mistakes of all of us because we are so overloaded and we looked at each other with that “aha” we are the same expression. I told her it is in my nature to want to have my work look awesome and when it is not I am frustrated and angry at what I consider the cause, our boss. But it is time to let it go and know that God is in control, not my boss. I do the best I can do with what is given me and that is all anyone can ask. So, the peace of knowing that God is in control will pull me through. Thank God for helping me to see my weakness and give it to him.

James 1:19-21 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 340

It is amazing what the power of wind and water can do. From the news, there are people that did not evacuate from areas that mandatory evacuation was called for. Now, I can understand if physically they were not able but if you make the choice to stay and “ride” out the hurricane, you are making the choice to face the consequences. Just in watching some of the aftermath, I have a healthy respect for what water and wind can do. I am betting that a lot of the people that chose to stay have control issues. They think they have control over their lives and everything is in their control but when you are suddenly scrambling to get up on top of your house to avoid the flooding waters, you are not the one in control. So, my prayer is for these people today who are waiting to be rescued that they can learn to let go and let God. Praise to our Father who is in control and will rescue us from the grips of sin and death.

Isaiah 45: 6-7 That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 322

Thank God it is Friday! There is a reason people are excited about Friday and the end of the work week and the beginning of the weekend. It is the end to the controlling aspects of our job and the beginning of a weekend free to do what you want and need. I am pretty sure that God will have a purpose for us even in Heaven but I do believe we will not feel the controlling aspect that we feel in our work life on Earth. We will be doing our job cheerfully, without stress, anger or frustration because we love God and when you love someone you have the motivation. My workplace environment has been filled with negativity and so I am trying my hardest not to fall into line with all of the negative. I hope to be the one positive thing and with God’s help get things turned around. I did my best yesterday speaking with a co-worker about her anger and frustration over the new work that will be put upon her on Monday. We all have a choice on how to deal with everything. Just do your best, communicate constructively and let go of all the rest. It felt good to stand up to the negativity and hopefully impart some wisdom onto this co-worker. Again, I am so thankful it is Friday. I will have the weekend to recover from the week long negativity at work. Thank you Lord for helping me have the right words and heart to speak up about negativity in my workplace and try to get things turned around to a positive track.

Matthew 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.