New Beginnings

In my quest to honor God with my body, I have been exercising every morning and it leaves me with not enough time to sit, read my bible and write a blog entry. NO. No excuses. The reality is I have been in a slump without the motivation to delve into writing. I like to have the time to really contemplate what I am reading and not just toss out whatever I can each morning. So, in an attempt to get my motivation back I am working on some topics that I want to explore more and grow from. As I go through the exploring and growing, I will share with you what I have been enlightened to, what I have learned and how I am applying it to my life. This may or may not come to you daily but as the Lord guides.
I will also be starting the new year by doing a reading through the bible in a year plan. I will post the plan here when I find one and will encourage you to follow along with the reading plan and make comments to my entries about the readings.
Lord, we thank you for the thousands of chances for new beginnings you give us when we wake to each new day. Please forgive me for letting worldly life things control my everyday actions. Help me to do everything I do for your glory whether it be in what I eat, what I say, what I do, how I act and react and every aspect of my day. I give my life to you in words but help me to live that out in my life with actions. You are the one and only God in which all things are possible. Amen and Amen.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 319

Reward is a strong motivating factor for some people depending on their temperament. When it comes to spiritual things like self-control, this reward motivation can be very helpful. Now, this will take some imagination. God gave us an imagination. We can utilize it to help us in serving and glorifying God through our thoughts and actions. My sweet tooth is a constant struggle as you are already aware. But through the power of the Holy Spirit and using my imagination, I am going to imagine my reward for self-control is not only being and looking healthier but that in Heaven, Jesus will come to me and say “you did it!”

2Corinthians 9:24-27 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

365 Days of Spirit-Filled Fruits Challenge-Day 57

I like this quote from Joel Osteen: You have a choice; you can either keep your joy, or you can give it away.  Choice is by far one of the biggest factors in becoming a believer of Jesus Christ and in our Christian walk. From the moment we make that first choice to believe that Jesus is the son of God and died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead so that we too might live we have the Holy Spirit within us. But everyday is a new day and so everyday we have choices to make. Not just the physical choices of what I am going to eat for breakfast or pick to wear today. Not just the mental choice to have a positive attitude or figure out the bills to pay but the spiritual choices of do we rely on God today, do we pray for the Holy Spirit and the fruits he can ripen within us or do we go it on our own. I for one have seen the power of the Holy Spirit working within me and it motivates me more. It is much like going on a weight-loss plan. The first week you are motivated by the idea of losing weight and feeling better about yourself, etc and by the third or fourth week the motivation comes from the very real reaction to your action. You get on the scale and see you have lost 3lbs and are thrilled. I have felt that same way every time I experience the Holy Spirit has given me what I needed. It makes me want the Holy Spirit working within me every moment of my life. For each day in the rest of my life, I am going to choose to pray in the morning for the Holy Spirit to ripen the fruits of the spirit within me, to help me love, to remind me that my joy comes from knowing I am saved and have the love of an awesome God.  And each night, I am going to pray and thank the Lord and confess my sins and what I could have done better and thank him for all the blessings, help, guidance, protection, inspiration, love and fruits of the Spirit that he gave to me for that day. I made a choice a couple years ago after a dentist visit with the typical talk about needing to floss. I made the choice to do it everyday and have only missed maybe two days in the last 2 years. If I can floss everyday, I can certainly pray everyday and so can you.  It is your choice.

2Thessalonians 2:13

But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 362

Okay, this may seem a bit nutty but I am praising God today for the blessing of having my scale. I am a person that is motivated by accountability which is one of the reasons this challenge on my blog this year has been so successful. I am motivated because I know people are reading it. That scale and getting on everyday and recording it in my notebook on my bathroom counter is one of the best ways to keep me in-line with maintaining my weight. I know that when it goes up I have to plan what I am eating better and than it comes back down. So, I have been in the take off a pound or two mode for the last couple days in preparation for Thanksgiving. I have 2 new desert recipes and a cranberry salad recipe I am trying out this year and don’t want to shoot the weight up too much. The bible says our bodies are temples and we should be treating them well. This can be very challenging in our culture of drive-thru fast food, an abundance of dining establishments and grocery stores with choices abounding but with the Holy Spirit all things can be conquered and we can have self-control. If you haven’t already heard, Twinkies are no longer on the shelves as Hostess went bankrupt.  Such is life. Here today, gone tomorrow. But the Lord will always be with us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 187

Hallelujah! I know we have all been there and done that. Been in a funk where you just aren't motivated or can't focus or think. I am in a bit of a funk this morning... I have a few random thoughts about things but nothing enough to inspire me. With my Christian radio station on in the background, my mind went to the song and singing it rather than thinking about what to write. Our brains are not perfect either. Sometimes they don't want to work the way we would like. Today is a brain-malfunctioning kind of day and that's okay. On days like this and in moments I have had where I can't even speak the words to pray, God hears me anyways. He hears me in my heart or in the song that is currently stuck in my head and it's all I can think of. My stuck song is now from Aaron Shust... Savior please, keep savin' me...Praising God for his heart hearing ability and hoping to be out of the funk tomorrow morning.

Psalm 95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

365 Days of Praise Challenge-Day 46

Discouragement. It gets to me usually at that time of the month in my cycle which is now. It's the time when I feel defeated with all that I do. It's the time when my attitude shifts to negative rather than positive. It's the time when I want to just give up. Those hormones are working on me and the evil one is So trying to pull me further into it but thankfully I am mindful of the power of God and know that with His help I will get out of the mire of depressing thoughts once again. I grab onto anything that is encouraging but I am especially boosted with the written word whether it be in an email or a card someone sends me and reading my bible. That is where I will go to now and ask the One and Only God of the Universe to give me a kick in the butt and get me back into a positive frame of mind and to give me motivation to keep on with my purpose. Do you have times of discouragement? What helps you get out of it? I would love to send you an email or card whenever you are feeling down in the dumps. Just drop me a line and we can help each other out of the pit.
Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.