The Bible Series

Tonight my family and I gathered around to watch part three of The Bible series that has been airing on History channel. The whole time we have been watching this I am just more and more amazed.

I was thinking tonight how so many people have died for their right to honor, worship, live for and serve him. I mean the lives lost over it is unreal.

Here we are living in the greatest country in the world, free to openly profess our love for him. Free to worship, pray, and live 100% for him, and yet here we are hiding him.  Some were made to worship other idols and being denied the right to worship God. While we aren't bowing down to statues and other idols, what are we putting before Him?  We are keeping him to ourselves for fear that we might offend someone. Scared people will think we are weird.  That is nothing compared to the fear of losing your life over him. 

I too have been guilty in the past of saying "well the reason I don't spread the gospel more is because I don't want to seem pushy". Surely I am not alone in this thinking. Perhaps your excuse was different than "pushy"

Aside from our words that should be teaching and leading others, we should also be concerned with our actions. Are they lining up with what is coming out of our mouths or are they contradicting what we are saying.

Our troops fight for our right of speech, our right to vote, our right to freedom, our right to to have rights and our right to serve the one true living God. 

What are you doing with your right?

CHOOSE

This last week has been so crazy. Up and down. One step forward a few back. But I gotta give a shout out to the Lord above for answered prayers. I have been praying daily for several people and I am seeing His hand in their lives and it is wonderful. I am just as excited as if it were my life. 

Today I got heckled for being "all God like" Righteous or whatever.  The thing of it was the person said something foul, not about me or even to me and it was immediately like "oh I better watch it Jennifer is here"  I really didn't know how to take it. I didn't know whether to be offended or feel glad that the change in my life was noticeable. Why do people think a relationship with Jesus means a boring life, like they'll never have fun. I am not perfect, but I LOVE life and I LOVE my life. I have and will fall so short all the time, and I can't tell you the guilt I feel because of that, however, Romans 8:1 tells me that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" So why do I feel guilt, shame and condemnation? It's not from the Lord. Oh and fear, let's not ever go there. That is not from the Lord either. It's that evil that wants to keep me bogged down. Thank God that He is a loving, good God full of mercy. I pray I can be a more loving person full of mercy.

I keep trying. It's not easy. There are days when I feel so BG, beginning in God and there are days when I feel so close to Him.  We were just talking about easy. Have you noticed that everything great and worth having does not come easy. It takes work, determination, and dedication. And all three of those things comes down to one word....CHOOSE. Either we choose to or not to do whatever.

I CHOOSE to always give my BEST, the very BEST and let HIM do the REST.

Ever wondered about your destiny or gifts?

I wanted to share with you my devotional that I read this morning. I love reading this along with my bible study. Here are the words of Rick Warren. Read them and let them soak in. We are preparing for a new series at church that touches on this very thing.

How can I know my destiny?

Do you know what God created you for?

Do you know what your destiny is?

The first thing you must do to understand your destiny is to recognize the gifts God has given you to use. They include the things you can't control -your parents, your nationality, you race, your language. They also include your SHAPE-your spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences. These are the things that make you uniquely you. 

Now you are not responsible for the gifts God didn't give you. In other words, if you are not artistically gifted, you are not expected to paint pictures like Rembrandt. But you are responsible for the ones he did give you.

When you get to heaven, God isn't going to compare you with anyone else, but he will compare you with yourself. What did you do with what you were given? What could you have done if you had trusted God a little bit more? Romans 14:12 NIV says "each of us will have to give a personal account to God"

God has given you gifts for a purpose, And you have a responsibility to be a good steward of those gifts-not for selfish  uses, but for the good of others. Your gifts are not for your benefit. God gave you gifts for the benefit of other people. Ask yourself, "What has God given me to use for good?"

WOW. That was powerful. Especially that last paragraph.  Remember those first three questions...So how do you discover all these things about you? Well you are more than welcomed to ask me and I can certainly help you by showing you this incredible journey of discovery we are about to embark on coming up soon. Seriously, we would love to have you. If you have ever wondered, now is that time to find out.

The new normal

I am so proud of myself. I accomplished most of what I set out to do this week. I have met my bestie at the gym Monday and Wednesday and Lord willing we will meet again on Friday. Friday is cardio and then Kenzie and I are going to play racquetball.

Today MacKenzie has a doctors appointment and then we will go to the gym after that as well.  It is only the first week and three days of a new year, I keep telling myself that this is the new normal. It has to be.

The treadmill is much better than I remembered. Last time I got on one of those was years at least four or so years and it hurt my legs so bad. Gave me the worse shin splints. So far, none this time. Praise the Lord.  Of course the elliptical is a crazy beast all on it's on. And lastly, those exercise bikes are not, I repeat not BIG BUTT friendly. But that's ok, my butt is going to get smaller and smaller, although I still don't think I'll be a fan of bikes.

I read in Deuteronomy this morning. Chapter 11:13-26. It says in 13 if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today-to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul-14-then I will send rain on your land and in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.  So if you just read that and thought "wow, all I get for loving him and serving him is rain, grain, and grass, what kind of a deal is that?" You need to go and reread.
For me he is telling me, he will provide for me in every way in every season of my life. I will not be in lack. He provides steady work, which in turn enables me to provide through Him from which all good things come.

Verse 16 says Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other Gods and bow down to them.17 Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
In 17 it is speaking of being tempted by things of this world, our fleshly desires and wants.  Bowing down to them would mean giving in to the worldly things.  He will quit providing and that good land, those steady jobs won't come; as a result I will suffer the consequences of turning from him and struggle financially. I mean think about it, picture farmer man standing there staring at an empty field, if there is nothing in the fields, no anything, there isn't a harvest, nothing to gather, just sitting staring at empty land. Nothing to work and no work means no gain.

Does it mean you have to be perfect? Absolutely not! He just wants your pure, honest, humble, and very best you have to give Him. 

Just think about it. Hope you are having a great day.

The first step

Today has been one of those days where when you wake up you have a plan and you are amped up and ready to go, but then, things have a way of going their own way. 

The first step is the hardest, or so they say. There have been times in my life where I felt there was much truth to this, and then times when I felt like keeping on stepping was harder. As for right at this moment, definitely the first step is the hardest.  I will be meeting my dear friend at the gym today to workout.  I have always been fond of the fitness classes, cause they are an hour, someone else has a plan and once I am there I am good to go. The thing about going and just working out on equipment is that I have to make myself commit to keeping on doing something. I have a tendency to get on the elliptical, do that for 10 minutes, feel like I really done something, then hop on the treadmill, tootle on it for about 15 minutes and then my mind starts going to all the other things I "need" to be doing at home or work. So I am hoping that today I will stay the course. This will be my first workout in at least a year. :( 

On a good note, I done really great last week, I am down 3lbs. I'll take that.:) Today I have done really well.I plan to weigh in every Monday morning.  So we'll see. 

I am stoked about going to bible study this evening after my workout with some amazing women from church. I also started a new bible study program today for my morning bible & time with God.

And I'm off, hope your day is going great wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

60 in 12

I think so. It appeared to me in prayer time this morning.  Then I went and calculated it. I can totally lose 60 pounds in 12 months. That comes to 5 pounds per month, which is not unrealistic by any means.  What is unrealistic however is believing that I can continue to live the way I have been living and expecting change.  I can feel it this time. Something is different. God is with me and he has assured me, "we got this" He has already helped me change so much.  I can honestly say for the first time I am totally dependent upon him. I however will do all that I can. Cause let's face it, I have to do my part in this.

We kicked off the New Year with our really great friends. That was fun. I have an action plan. I spend most of the first creating the plan. I started the day in deep prayer, worship, and meditating on God's word and listening to him. After that time together it was clear to me that creating that plan was the first order of business. I mean if I want to travel to a specific destination California I need a map. I mean I can make it to California without it, but it will take longer, I'll be stressed, I'll probably a whole lot of times not really know which way to go. With a map/plan I can get there safely, efficiently, and a lot less stressed. No guessing on what I should be doing.

I started today doing the same thing. It is my desire to start each day that way.( I also have a list of people I have been praying over. If you would like me to pray for you, leave your name in the comment section on the blog or fb. I will most definitely add you.) I hope that I come to have a true thirst for His word. Admittedly there are times when I pick up the bible to soak in his word, and well my mind goes in a million directions and then I am like let me reread that I didn't pay enough attention. But that's ok I will reread it as many times as it takes to get it. And then of course I want to put into action what it says. James 2:17 says Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Hope you are having a great start to this year. There is really nothing magical in starting anything on 1-1 of a new year, I think it's just a mind thing, but that is ok cause that's what we need to get right is our mind.

The last Saturday before Christmas

I must say that this Christmas is turning out to be one of my favs. Nothing super special or particular, I just feel so wonderful So close to the Lord and the most grateful I have ever been for his sacrifice for me and for you. I feel so blessed to know that my kids know what Christmastime is all about.  The presents are fun and cool, but celebrating the birth of our savior is the focus.

As I was cooking dinner tonight I was pondering everything, my life, everything leading up to this moment.  I think most of it has to do with me being closer and having a relationship with the Lord and the the other part of it me being older and much more settled. Also my oldest is 13 and I love sharing so many conversations and memories with her.  And my youngest, well he will keep you in stitches. You literally never know what will come out of this mouth. 

God has been so good to me, to my family.  Jason recently had a biopsy done on his hand. We were concerned that it may be a form of skin cancer. Seeing how he works out in the sun all day everyday with no sun block whatsoever. When I googled the signs and symptoms, we were both panicked. After reading and looking at all that we were convinced.  Of course I made the appointment and prayed.  I have to say that the moment I prayed and laid it at his feet, I feel relieved.  I knew I had turned it over to the one who can see, control, and heal all. 

So off to the dermatologist we go... She said 10-14 days before the results. I was hoping sooner, but amazingly wasn't jumping every time the phone would ring.  And then there was a part of me that thought, well getting the call after Christmas might be better. The call came on (I think) Tuesday or Wednesday that it was harmless and no cancer. Praise the Lord.

I have been cleaning and cooking today. This morning I woke up and couldn't find Braden's medicine, as I looked and looked I kept hearing the Lord say, you threw it away, you threw it away. Jason had done took the trash out of the can and down to the dumpster, so off I go to dig in the trash. Thankfully it was right on the top and I didn't get to messy. I'll tell ya sometimes I don't know about me. Isn't it wonderful that the Lord will talk to us about the simplest things.

 The kids made a gingerbread train, which MacKenzie just informed me was an epic fail.  I said, did you have fun doing it? She said yes, and I told her that's all that matters. 

Jason has worked all day. He is still out. He just hates it when ppl can't flush. I told him to come on home.