Category Archives: Bible Thoughts

28 days of Grace – Day 13

What holds you back?
Why don’t you move forward?
Why do you hold back from doing your best?

I don’t have any answers for this one….since, I have just completed the 60 day challenge with T-Tapp, and I am struggling with the idea that I held back.
Could I have done more floor exercises? Sure.
Could I have eaten better the first 6 weeks? Sure.
Could I have been more consistent with what I knew to do? Of course.

The question is, did I take every moment, and make the choice to move forward? Fail forward if I needed to?
I don’t know.

Life is made up of choices…and we are the composite of all of our choices.
We are not in control of what others do to us, but we are in control of our reactions and replies.

The past 6 weeks, my husband did a challenge of his own.
Here is his blog post:

ON GOALS, CHALLENGES, AND DOING THE LITTLE THINGS,
by Jim Wildman
As I’ve said before, I frequent the Nerdfitness online community as “wildross”. Every couple of months the community runs a “6 week challenge”. Participants post 3 fitness goals and 1 life goal, then track their progress. In the most recent challenge, and video game system for scoring points was added (which I’ve ignored). The community is divided into “Guilds” depending on what your fitness focus is. Mine is weightlifting, so I’m a “Warrior”. My most recent 6 week challenge thread is here. As part of this 6 week challenge, the guild leaders proposed we try to lift the weight of a loaded space shuttle (4,000,000+ pounds) before the Enterprise was set on the deck of the USS Intrepid on June 6th. To track our progress, they published a Google spreadsheet and divided us into 2 teams.

Right off the bat I saw that keeping track of total weight lifted instead of just repetitions and sets added a different flavor to the competition. All lifts were counted at full weight, with pullups counting at 90% of bodyweight and pushups counting at 60% of bodyweight. I started out doing between 15 and 20,000 pounds of lifting during a workout.

On May 8th, I proposed a challenge to do 30,000# of weights in one session (no allowance for bodyweight exercises). That seemed like a real stretch goal to me. Two guys immediately did over 40,000#. It took about a week and I did it too. Not as hard as I thought at all. One competitor proposed a 100,000# workout. (No one has done that yet, but I believe I can with a bit more conditioning.)

As the challenge went on, I constantly had to revise my goals. 30,000# in a workout became my “standard”. I did it for 2 weeks straight, 5 days a week, with a max of 61,000# on the last day. I thought I would lift a total of 250,000# in the 6 weeks, then 300,000#, then 500,000#, then 700,000#… I ended up lifting over 970,000# of weights in the 6 weeks (including body weight exercises).

So what did I learn from all this lifting?? Maybe nothing new, but lots of basic things got solidly reinforced.

Consistency matters: going to the gym every day (or as my goal was, 5 days a week) adds up. A number or goal that seems impossible is attainable in steps.
Little things matter: the team I was not on “won” the challenge, mostly because several of the women realized that the pushups were “easy” and added up. One did 1,000 pushups in the last weekend (having never done more then a couple dozen in a day before); 10 or 20 at a time. Another did 500. Several of the men did as well.
Success breeds success: once we knocked off the 30,000# goal, we knew we could go much higher and were encouraged to do so. Once the women realized that they could do a set of 10 pushups every half hour, all day, it became possible to do it several days in a row.
To accomplish big things, you need to do a few little things well: The basis for my average of over 30,000# a day is my ability to do over head presses and bench presses. I can do 10 sets of 10 with a considerable amount of weight, every day. I would fill out the workout with other exercises, but those 2 were the base.
Lay the ground work by doing the little things every day: Early on in the challenge, I often thought about doing pushups before bedtime or before I took a shower, but I didn’t do it. 7 pushups a day would have put me over 1,000,000# for the challenge. But I didn’t know that until it was too late to make up the difference.
You have to use all your resources to do big things: I can’t lift 30,000# in a session with just my arms, or in just one exercise (at least not yet). But I have a number of exercises that use different sets of muscles that I can alternate. By varying the routine, I use the energy stored in all my muscles and get more done.
This one is old…slow and steady wins the race: Big and flashy wears you out.

So where does this leave me? Very encouraged at what I can do physically. Very humbled that I have not applied these simple principles to other areas of my life. I’ve sold myself short in many areas because I’ve swung for the fences (big splash) or thought a particular goal was beyond me. Or as the prophet Isaiah said it “Line upon line, precept upon precept”

So what big goal can you break down into little bit size pieces??

GREAT QUESTION!!!!
I’ve been held back because I could only see doing a Triathlon…not walking 1/4 mile 4 times a day.
I could only see doing the Full 15 minute Basic Workout for T-Tapp – not doing the 9 minute chair workout, twice.
I can only see the whole book written, not writing one chapter at a time.

I have been held back by seeing the hugeness of the task, and not breaking it into smaller bites.
Our daughter, Faith, memorized a poem from Shel Silverstein’s book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and I can hear her recite it in my ear today:

Melinda Mae
Have your heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started right in at the tail.

And everyone said, “You’re much too small,”
But that didn’t bother Melinda at all.
She took little bites and she chewed very slow,
Just like a good girl should…

…And in eighty-nine years she ate that whale
Because she said she would!

I pray that it doesn’t take me 89 years, but thanks to Jim, and several ladies I will be praising in one of my future blogs, I am making steps forward.
Here’s my favorite small steps song:

The goals Jim’s team made seemed impossible when they made them.
I do have to keep my health limitations in mind….but, I need to give myself grace, I need to look at things in smaller bites, shorter steps…one step at a time!
Thanks, Jim!

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

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28 days of Grace – day 12

Just some thoughts, looking around the world, and looking around a grocery store…
comparing worldly lusts of sin with fleshly lusts of food….

everywhere you look there are bread sellers…. sugar sellers… poison peddlers.
everywhere you look there are sin sellers
ecstasy at worship, then crash monday morning
sugar highs, then sugar crashes
too much crap for adrenals, thyroid, insulin. and ends up in insulin resistance
too much crap exposes you to itchings ears, newest music, latest teaching, and ends up in worldly resistance
Eventually, one is numb, scarred, toxic, and unable to see what is pure.

I charge [thee] therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2 Timothy 4:1-4

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
2 Timothy 3:1-5

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
John 3:19-21

We have a choice….laid out from the beginning –

Death or Life
Evil or Good
Poison or Pure

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, [and] that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he [is] thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20

The words of the LORD [are] pure words: [as] silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Psalm 12:6

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua 24:15

WE have to make the choice…the natural shadows the spiritual…we are not created for this world…but for another.
By GRACE are we saved, and that not of ourselves!!! Ephesians 2:8
My prayer….I need YOUR GRACE, LORD JESUS!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
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28 Days of Grace – day 11: The folded napkin

I got this in my email today, and it really hit me in the context of meals, eating, lifestyle, etc. I have reprinted it here:

So Why Did JESUS Fold The Napkin?
Do you know why? This is just beautiful.

Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

This is one I can honestly say I have never seen circulating in the e-mails so; I’ll start it.. If it touches you , You might want to forward it.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this….

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, ‘They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and I don’t know where they have put him!’

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.
The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every
Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished..

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m finished..”

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because……….

The folded napkin meant,
“I’m coming back!”

AND SO HE SHALL!!!

And so He shall return –

Luke 18:8 Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Why is that in red? Because those are the words of Jesus as told to us in the book of Luke.
Jesus has just proclaimed that:

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. (Luke 18:7)

Prayer….
Though HE bear long with them….
God will avenge…

Mary Magdalene, along with all the others, felt that the Lord had left them all alone.
Jesus had told them about this judge that didn’t fear anyone, even God, but a widow had come to him over and over and over to be avenged of her adversary…and he chose to do so, because of her constant appeals.
Jesus said that we should pray like that widow.
In fact, Luke says:

And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (Luke 18:1)

The point of the email was that Jesus is coming back…there is another meal being prepared…who is going to be found ‘worthy’ to sit at that table?
Servants of faith! (not fear – not to self)

Hebrews 11:1-3 says

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
For by it the elders obtained a good report.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

By FAITH the elders obtained a good report!

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Without FAITH – it is impossible to please God!

I wrote a series of blogs about Giants in my land, and one of those giants was the Giant of Fear.

Fear and Faith cannot co-exist.
Fear holds me back,
Faith propels me forward.
Fear steals my happiness,
Faith impels me to joy.
Fear makes me paralyzed,
Faith compels me to LOVE.

(mcw 6/8/2012)

Why do I continue to climb my way forward?
Because I have faith that HE is coming back for me!
He folded His napkin!
By His GRACE, I’ll be ready!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed. We have email subscription! Or sign up for an account, and you can manage your subscription from the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 days of Grace – Day 10

10 days out of 28…
or 10 days into the rest of my life!

My husband, Jim, wanted to share some thoughts…and I appreciate them, and him.
So, heeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeesssssssssssss JIM!

Jim Wildman – my husband of almost 32 years, and best friend for almost 40, and the father of my five children.

As Christi has pointed out, she (and I, though she has not said that) have had a real struggle with fast food. This goes back probably 15 years. In the evening, this has taken two forms. One is that she calls or texts me on my way home to swing through <name a fast food restaurant>. The other form is that I get home, then she asks me to go get something.

Since she started the yeast free diet 10 days ago, she has not done either of these even one time!! This really hit me tonight as I was driving home and she didn’t call me (I realized that I was expecting her to call). When I got home, I could smell supper from outside the trailer! What a wonderful aroma! And she had the table set and worship music playing. After supper (which we finished early because I did not have to go get it), we played a game of Scrabble Apple. One good thing leads to many others!

God is so good to strengthen my wife’s heart and will to be able to stick to a new way of eating!!

Here’s supper. Grilled salmon, sweet potato with coconut oil, quinoa salad with cucumbers, snap peas, and green onions. Very yum..

So much better than whatever fast food we would have had. As we were eating, it struck me..it can be very hard to give up things we “like”, even when we know those things are either outright bad, or at least not good for us. Even when we can see the bad side effects in our bodies, we still justify or explain away our behavior. I was thinking about this with food, but it applies just as well to sin. Making healthy choices is a struggle. Making holy choices is a struggle. Eating healthy must become a life style. Living holy must become a life style. There is no other real choice for a Christian.

~Christi here:

It has been a prayer of mine since becoming ill, and handicapped to be able to take care of my husband as he has taken care of me.
Because of hip issues, and the chronic pain from Fibromyalgia, I have not been able to stand at the stove/sink/counter long enough to prepare a meal, much less clean up after it.
I have been able to enjoy exploring my old cooking skills as my energy has been growing.

I am so blessed that God has blessed me and I have been able to bless Jim.

Easy Quinoa Recipe: How to cook Quinoa in a Microwave
1 C quinoa
2 C water
put in 2 qt microwave bowl with loose lid/cover

cook for 3 minutes
sit for 1
stir
cook another 3 minutes
sit for 1
stir

Quinoa is done when all the liquid is absorbed and the white outer starts spiraling off.

Then, treat it like rice!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

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Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – day 9

Today is the first day of the rest of my life!

I stole this image from a blog called Today is the First Day….

I don’t know anything about this person, except what is in this blog.
She and her husband have health issues.
They are tackling them with diet.
They are having some success.
It’s not easy.
The point is, I have made a connection!

In the midst of checking her out…I am amazed at her blogging connections.

Connections….do they help or hinder our desire to move forward?

For the last few years, because of homeschooling and T-Tapping connections, I have been listening to a friend of mine talk about several diets that have changed her life:

The Schwarzbein Principle

The GAPS Diet

And then, I have shared, and now am sharing, my own personal experience with The Yeast Connection

Some friends have also shared their experiences with gluten free, with one even doing a review of gluten free products on facebook.

Jim, because of Nerd Fitness Connections, has been checking out The Paleo Diet
Robb Wolf explains it better, What is the Paleo Diet?

Recently, a friend shared prayer concerns for a little girl that was having seizures every 5 minutes and there was no solution. Until The Ketogenic Diet was recommended. The episodes subsided and eventually left, unless she is given sugar! All because of connections!

I have done various diets in the past, and the times that I’ve been the most successful is when I have connections with others doing the same thing. We can share ideas, products that help, recipes, whatever. We can share our struggles and our successes.

I’ve done various types of counseling in the past, and the most successful was when there was a group session aspect that let me know I wasn’t the only one suffering. We shared ideas, medications that help(info about, not the meds themselves), and doctors, whatever. We shared our sadnesses and our joys!

The church is made of connections.
Without them, it is very hard to walk as a Christian.
We can wake up each morning, with His mercies being new, but without someone to hold our hand, it’s very lonely.

Not everyone is going to find the same diet is the right diet for them.
In the case of the Ketogenic Diet, it is said 1/3 have no response, 1/3 have some response, and 1/3 seem cured. Praise God this little girl, Autumn, is part of the last 1/3!
Not everyone is going to find the same church fits for them.

But everyone needs connections.

Those folks that I met in the counseling sessions? I’m in contact with two of them only.
Folks on the email lists? Some have come and gone.
Co-Dieters in WW, JC, and other varieties come and go.
Churches? Things change, folks move.
There is only one connection that can help us with all our needs – and that is Jesus Christ.

I thank Jesus Christ for the connections that I have obtained over the years…a steady diet of some foundational friends sprinkled with the sparkle of short time friends that enter and leave for whatever reason.
Even more so, I thank Jesus Christ for giving me the opportunity to constantly grow stronger and healthier and more like Him. Whatever diet he puts in front of me!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!
What are we going to do about it?

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed.

We have email subscription! Or sign up for an account and you can manage your subscriptions by password and the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – day 8

Week 2….one week down.
Cold sore….garbage coming out.
Causing me pain and a reminder of what I used to put in my body.

Old sin habits stick their ugly heads up..
Causing me pain to recognize what I used to do.

Cleansing repentance should bring godly sorrow.
Godly sorry

2cor 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Today was a day that kind of exploded….like pus out of a zit…I was overwhelmed with what I should do and what I could do and the vast chasm between them.

I won’t go into the gorey details, but I was freaking out.
So I did something I have been learning to do these last three years…I asked for help.
There are two women in my life right now that are calm in the face of everything….Carole and Mitzi. Usually, I grab Carole to calm me down but this time I felt I needed double duty.

Lunch meeting at Olive Garden.
I could work the menu for yeast free and still talk with my ladies.

Garbage comes out when garbage has been put in…and I had some expectation garbage that was oozing out! In their minds, my issues made so much sense, the solutions were so clear. They weren’t subject to the cacophony that was in my head making things so chaotic.

Sometimes when we are so set in our ways we need some one from the other side to deliver us from ourselves.

That’s what Jesus does and did for us at the cross.

2 Cor 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

freedom from the old way..grace to embrace the new way…forgiveness when we mess up.

Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.

I am learning that feeding my flesh is like, well, feeding my flesh!
What I eat truly does determine who I am.
I AM WHAT I EAT!
Physically – weak, sick and needy, or strong, healthy, able to minister fully
Spiritually – double minded, chaotic, fearful and fretful, or full of love, power and a strong mind!

Romans 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

So – now that I have experienced a week of freedom from the bondage of the garbage I had eaten, I am experiencing a freedom and an energy I had not previously enjoyed!
If the principle of cause and effect, choices and consequences fits in the spiritual world, the parenting world, the dog training world…then, why not in the body fueling world?

When I gave my life over to Jesus, or honestly, each time I renew my commitment to give my life over to Jesus, I am set free from some sin that has held me back, held me down. I experience freedom and joy that had not been there while I was bound by the besetting sin.

Phil 1:11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

Basically, this yeast free emphasizes GOD MADE food…un processed, un contaminated – in its most basic form, not the adulterated processed junk from the past. PURE!
Basically, my walk with Christ emphasizes being filled with HIS word in my heart and head, in its most clear form…not the tainted voices from the past. PURE!
The fruit of righteousness is definitely PURE!

As a Christian, in order to move forward, I have to leave the past in the past.
I have to give up past options that hinder future success for the Kingdom of God.
I have to give up lies from unknowing others from my past, to embrace the truth of Jesus Christ and His Word.

As a person desiring health, in order to move forward, I have to leave some favorites in the past.
I am going to have to give up some things from my past that will hinder my health in the future.
I have to give up some lies that have been taught me for years about nutrition, health, and food, and embrace the truth of REAL FOOD.

I have a choice…mentally, physically and spiritually.
I choose to move forward, by the grace of God!

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed.

We have email subscription! Just sign up for an account, and you can manage your subscription from the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – day 7

Yes, day 6 is missing….it’s sitting in it’s draft position because we had a wonderful day yesterday with a new church and a new group of people.
that post will be coming(just out of order)

Today, I woke up feeling great!
Nice, since this is DAY 7 of the YF diet…no symptoms.
I was realizing – I hadn’t taken Robaxin or Mobic to sleep for several nights! That IS a big change.
That means, no muscle spasms and no pain…at least not that I thought would keep me up!

Here’s another PRAISE!
I walked down the outside steps like a non handicapped gimp! as in, using my left foot with full motion and strength!

This morning my friend and I walked Gabriel 1.11 miles.
By the program I used to track it, we did it in…35 minutes….but we stopped to talk with friends for a few minutes, and Gabe kept slowing us down. On Monday, he has to smell all the smells from all the dogs that stayed in the RV park that weekend…no walking along on Monday!
That to say, I may have actually walked 2 mph!
and I don’t hurt!

What if, by choosing to take care of my body, my body is able to start taking care of itself????
By nourishing my body with GOOD things, everything is able to work together!

The Body of Christ is the same!

Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Huh????

NIV From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Everyone in the Body of Christ is needed in order to grow and build itself up in love!

1 Cor 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.

Last night’s study was on 1 Peter 4:7-11

1 Pet 4:10
As every man hath received the gift,
[even so] minister the same one to another,
as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Each person has received a gift – a job to do – and we need to recognize that this gift, this job, is in essence, the GRACE of GOD!
We must be good stewards of this GRACE of GOD!

NIV says it this way:

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

I have a saying when I offer something to someone, and they try to refuse it:
“Do you really want to steal my blessing?”
Why does someone refuse a gift? Pride? false humility? fear of obligation? Socially expected response?
But, it prevents the giver from enjoying the blessing of giving!

Last night, I saw the other aspect, the other side.
I have gifts that I have held inside because of fear – fear of rejection, ridicule, or failure.
Nah, I say it’s because I’m not ready, I’m not good enough, I’m not needed, or whatever false humility statement fits the bill.

I have buried these gifts, and kept them from being shared with others…
I have prevented others from receiving the GRACE of GOD that HE planted in me, in order that I would walk in good works, and bless others, to the GLORY OF HIS NAME!!!

That’s like burying your hand in the freezer because you don’t want to seem prideful that it is pretty….or something like that.
Oh, I know…it’s like having a surgery that removes parts of the body, and sends other parts reeling trying to make up the difference.
No matter that the removed part was going to destroy my life…the after affects caused my physical body to be ravaged.
My body didn’t have an extra that could step in…though my Thyroid and Adrenals tried to…they just couldn’t keep up.

In the Body of Christ, God is not going to let His body suffer and not move forward, but those that try to fill in the gaps of others burying their gifts can be burned out.
There may be other toes in the body, to help bring balance.
There may be another spleen, kidney, liver…whatever….but there is something that is lost because the person burying the gift did not GIVE it to the body.

As I ponder on GRACE – I realize that my gifts are FOR ministering the GRACE OF GOD TO THE SAINTS!

I have struggled with the concern that I am burying my gifts…sometimes by life situations…sometimes purposefully…sometimes in fear.
But until last night, I didn’t realize that by burying my gifts…odd gifts that many are not interested in accepting…I am robbing the Body of Christ the gifts of GRACE that GOD preordained to be shared by me.

I’ve been trying to place my giftings out for availability for several years now…though not all have been exposed.
Maybe that is part of the fear in obtaining this studio…
I’m coming out!
I’m coming out of my basket!!!!
I’m already out of the boat!

I wonder what will happen as I take my walks with Jesus farther and farther…growing stronger and stronger?
That basket will disintegrate in the face of HIS GLORY AND GRACE!!!

John 1:14,16 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
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28 days of Grace – day 5

I’ve lost 6 pounds!!!!
Yes, it could be all water from the inflammation going down….but IT’S 6 POUNDS!!!
and I was worried that I was eating too large of portion sizes!
And it’s not about the supplements, because Jim lost 6 pounds also!

Today, we attend a 4 hour grocery nutrition lesson from this program.
We meet with the nutritionist at the grocery store, and she goes through more details about this diet.

We have been praying for God to show us what we need to do for years.
I think that God has been showing us what we needed to do for years!
But, NOW, we are willing to follow.
I just had to get sick enough of the old like to be willing to move into the new way of living!

That’s true, spiritually, as well.
Why do we hold on to all those old sins?
We like them…
they aren’t causing us all that much pain, so, why get rid of them?
We can control it, right?
After all…Jesus ate with sinners and publicans, right?

Oh, wait….I’m NOT JESUS!!!

Heb 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

I’ve written about running, in at least one post because, I’ve had trouble with running.
Bu the point here is that in order to run THIS RACE, we must put off besetting sins…those weights that hold us back…so that we can run this race.!

Another chapter 12 says some very good words to this:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:1-2

So, if my eating habits are keeping me from running, what are my spiritual eating habits doing to my ability to run the race?
Food for thought, today!

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

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Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!

28 Days of Grace – Day 4 – it hits!

Ok, today I have a funky headache like thing going on…not quite painful like a migraine, but with all the pressure of a migraine.
Light and noise don’t bother me, but I am having trouble focusing my eyes.

The only thing I have right now is “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me”
And, if hanging on Jesus is the only thing I have…then I have everything I need.

Cleansing my life from toxins is painful….
For years I didn’t take getting rid of grains, sugar and dairy seriously!
Cleansing my life from besetting sins would be painful if I would work on it…seriously,
Cleansing my life from besetting sins IS painful…the reason those sins are besetting is that we are drawn to them…

So, today, I am suffering the pain of toxins washing out of my system.
Do I like it? No.
Can I see the benefit? Yes.
Will I stay the course? By God’s grace, yes I will – both physically and spiritually.
I just need to remember that this is part of the storm…and I’m supposed to be keeping my eyes on Jesus!

Not sure what else I’ll post today, but at least, I have posted for the day!

Evening Addition:]
What else?
well, we ran to WalMart, and they had a sweet lady handing out samples….and I caved!
what were the samples?
chocolate?
Cake?
no – fresh fruit! I forgot that I was not to be eating fruit yet on these 28 days….
I suppose that tiny cup with a blue berry, a black berry and two slices of strawberry won’t totally derail my program.
But, I thought it…I really did think it!
Therefore…I had to lean on God’s GRACE to let it go!
If this wasn’t these 28 days, that would have been one of the best samples to pick up in a grocery store!

In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7

28 Days of Grace day 3

Take a little wine for your stomach

1 Tim 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

Yesterday, I was reading about the GAPS diet.
One of the differences between the GAPS diet and the YEAST FREE diet is the fermented items in the Introduction Diet…

“Increase daily amount of homemade yogurt and kefir, if introduced. Increase the amount of juice from sauerkraut, fermented vegetables or vegetable medley.”

Dr McManus warned me that the GAPS diet was MUCH more strict than the Yeast Free diet I am on, but the principles are the same:
Heal the Gut so that the Body can be nourished.

Paul’s exhortation to Timothy may very well have been to avoid the water….as in Montezuma’s Revenge…and drink fermented grape juice(what wine was back then). The goal was to help Timothy be healed so that he could be used for God’s glory.

verse 22 says:

Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.

verses 24-25 say:

Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some [men] they follow after.
Likewise also the good works [of some] are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid.

It’s as if, in the middle of exhorting Timothy in his ministry, Paul remembered and just said, “Oh, by the way – stop drinking that water, dude! Drink some wine and heal that stomach so that you can get over all these infirmities! We gotta get you better, man!”

I was asking God yesterday, after the whole discussion about Peter getting out of the boat, should I ask you to ask me to get out of the boat?

now, understand, I had an hour drive…and I use this time to listen to the Lord…so, He had time to deal with me!

I could hear a faint ‘yes…..here I am’
I didn’t want to ask…
I didn’t want to hear “come”.
I knew what getting out of the boat meant…
It meant moving ahead with the art and writing!
It meant challenges to face,
It meant scary opportunities,
…people saying no…
believing for funds and helpers and provisions and ideas and HEALTH!!!

I finally got quiet…
“If it’s you Lord….”
‘YOU ARE ALREADY OUT OF THE BOAT – STOP LOOKING AT THE STORMS!”

WHAT???? When did I get out of the boat?
“when you signed the lease to the studio! STOP LOOKING AT THE STORMS!”

WHAT???
“When you said you trusted me with your whole heart, now STOP LOOKING AT THE STORMS!”

Stop Looking at the storms – WHY?
THEY ARE MAKING ME SICK!!!
…WITH WORRY
…WITH FEAR
…they are paralyzing me!
…they are preventing me from moving forward to do the work that God has prepared beforehand that I should walk in them! (Eph 2:10)

What about the wine?????

Psalm 4:7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time [that] their corn and their wine increased.

Then, HE reminded me of this verse:

Isiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

The point is, I have a job to do, I have good works that I am supposed to be doing so that God would be glorified. I have words that God has placed in my heart that need to be shared…
I’m NOT Christ, but I am CHRISTI, AND:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me;
because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;
he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
to give unto them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the LORD,
that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3

I’m already out of the boat – it’s my old nature that is looking around at that storm…
DRINK NO LONGER WATER – don’t pay attention to the things of this world…they are NOT PURE!
TAKE A LITTLE WINE FOR YOUR STOMACH – get your body healthy, with what I say!
AND FOR YOUR OFT INFIRMITIES – One preacher defined infirmities as those things that constantly come up and we constantly struggle with.
Mine is fear.
Lack of self confidence, even in my ability to hear the voice of the Lord.

Matt 26:27-28 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave [it] to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

The woman at the well asked Jesus for the Living Water, from which one would never thirst.(John 4:10ff)

Here is His reply:

John 14:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

My Father has provided, by His grace, a physical program to heal my stomach and gut. I need to follow it.
My Father, through Jesus Christ, has provided cleansing for my sins, and living water, pure and alive, for my ability to do HIS WILL to HIS GLORY.
I need to drink of HIS wine daily. I need to drink ALL OF IT!

I need to remember that sin is all around me, and always needing to be dealt with,
but in the middle of the storms of life,
God has provided me with PURE WATER – Water that HE turned to WINE by HIS BLOOD at the cross.

In a way, I need to give up my whine for HIS WINE…and drink freely from the fountain of living water!
And HE has provided the strength by HIS grace!

Thanks for joining me in this journey,
In His hands and under His wings,
~Christi
Ps 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

“The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear.
If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation.
If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself.” – from My Utmost for His highest

I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!
Or ‘like’ me!

If you like The WildBerry Patch, follow me with the RSS feed.

We have email subscription! Just sign up for an account, and you can manage your subscription from the dashboard!
Soon, we will have a gallery for the art I have created by the hand of God.

Naomi's Heart Mission

Help a child in need. Check out Naomi’s Heart Mission or Compassion International. The life that changes will be your own!