Tag Archives: 100 days

100 Spiritual Walking Steps – 29 – did I bring the…..?

hmmmmm, where did I put that? missing files, missing workbook pages, missing tools, missing camping equipment, missing check book…where did I put that? Why didn’t I bring that?

“Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity” Henry Hartman

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Seneca

“Be prepared” Scout Motto(boy and girl)

Today, I was led to go up to the clubhouse and do the workout with ladies in my community. I found out that two ladies will be leaving, and the manager will have no one to do the workouts with when the Winter Texans flow in. Apparently they are coming in next week. She asked me to come up and do the workouts with her….

I have been praying about how I could be of help here in this RV Resort in which we live. I have friends praying that I would know what to do, and what to say when God opens up the doors. Now, to understand more fully what happened this morning, you have to understand what happened last week.

I took a flying jump into the walking workouts at our clubhouse. And the poor Achilles tendon did not respond well to the firmer calf, no matter how much better that calf looked! So, I bowed out for the rest of the week, and yesterday. I was going to workout at home, on my own.

But this morning, I woke up, and had the sense that I was supposed to go up and participate. Now to the preparation part. I knew I was to workout this morning…and so I had dressed for the part. But I had not

put on my heart rate monitor…because I assumed I was doing the simple stuff here in my trailer!
prepared a bottle of water…because the sink is right by my workout place at home
grabbed a sweat towel or headband…because those are all available in the laundry basket right beside my workout place in my home.
tested my blood sugar…ditto.

I was able to pace myself, with Gabriel’s discouraging looks when the heart rate got too high, though he got mad at me, and wouldn’t look at me when I wouldn’t sit down. That’s his job. My job is to listen! But, we made it through!

But if I am going to be doing this on a regular basis, I need to set up some keys! I need to BE PREPARED! Keys –

I need to go to bed per the days of creation time line(rest at night, up with the light)
I have to make sure I get up early enough to have my devotional time, and write something on this blog.
I have to wear the heart rate monitor…so I can keep track of my heart rate
I have to say “I’m done”…when I’m done.
I need to take treats for Gabe when my Heart rate goes to high….

We have to be prepared so that when the opportunity comes, we can say yes…and I guess that is what everything is about…being prepared so that when opportunity knocks, we are ready and able to open the door and walk right through.

This morning, I did not want to get up and even consider a workout…because workouts tend to cause me pain…yes, good, but also bad. If I had not, I might not have spoken with the manager about supporting her in this endeavor.

OPPORTUNITIES

There are many things that I am called to do, that I do not WANT to do…such as,

be nice to my husband on those rare occasions that he is a jerk.
I don’t FEEL like smiling at the clerk that snorted hello to me.
I really want to yell at the driver that almost cost many of us our lives because of the swerving in and out.

Why don’t I? PREPARATION

A soft answer turns away wrath,(Pr 15:1)
“if you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours,”
seriously, what good does yelling at another driver? And it could cause me to be distracted about what else is going on.

Success comes from opportunity and preparation meeting each other. I know that I have not been prepared for many opportunities that have come my way. On the other hand, I know there is only one way to cure that…prepare!

He that is faithful in few things will be trusted with bigger things(writer’s summary/paraphrase).(Matt 25:14-30)

The opposite is also true, he that ISN’T faithful in the small things will not be trusted with anything bigger, but rather, even that small thing will be taken away from him!

If we can’t be trusted with our own devotionals, why would He trust us with Bible study for others?
If we can’t be scheduled about our own life(speaking mostly to me) how can He trust us to be faithful to a schedule with impact on other’s lives?

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Col 4:6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Prov 22:20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, 21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

As Christians, we are to be ready always to give an answer…are we?

As Christians, our conversation is to be always full of grace and seasoned with salt…how’s our spice rack looking?

As Christians, we have no excuse…because God has provided us with the words of truth…so that we could go into all the world, preaching the gospel, making disciples of all men.

I need to check my spice rack daily, make sure my fruit of the Spirit is in good shape, check out my armor to make sure it is in good repair, BEFORE the opportunities arise!

How about you?

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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100 spiritual walking steps – 28 – sticking with the map

Our family, 1999

Yesterday, I read the daily devotional, for October 18, from the book Made to Crave God-Every Day of the Year. It was based around:

Matthew 5.20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

That last phrase hit me right between the eyes.

ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven

I made that red, because that is Jesus talking. Jesus said except my righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees I will in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven.

What?!

I have admitted that I’m a sinner
I have repented of my sins
I have asked Jesus to be Lord of my life, Savior of my soul, King of my heart
I have followed this inward action with a public declaration by water baptism
and as dear Martin Luther declared, the just shall live by faith

I’ll get to “the just shall live by faith” eventually.

First, to let everyone know…I know…

Ephesians 2.8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

NO, we are not saved by our works, and in this study of these Scriptures, I’m not looking for salvation. But, here are some verses:

Mark 16.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
John 10.9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Acts 2.21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 4.12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 16.31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Romans 10.9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10.13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
2 Tim 1.9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

I hope this will convince those that read this, I do know that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. Titus 3 sort of puts another twist and what I am looking at:

Titus 3.5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 [This is] a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

“that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works”

Ephesians 2.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Oh, look! The verse following Ephesians 2.8&9, is Ephesians 2.10! The very verse used to contradict any “works benefit” is followed by a verse that declares we were created for good works that we should walk in!

There are several things that come up when I look at these verses.

what is righteousness?
can we lose our salvation?
should we be working on ‘doing’?

I posted two of the quotes from October 18th’s devotional on facebook. I have no idea who the men are. Wikipedia articles on William Law and John Keble describe them as devote writers from the 1700’s.

“You perhaps will say that all people fall short of the perfection of the gospel, and therefore you are content with your failings..
But this is saying nothing to the purpose: for the question is not whether the Gospel perfection can be fully attained, but whether you come as near it as a sincere intention and careful diligence can carry you. Whether you are not in a much lower state than you might be if you sincerely intended and carefully labored to advance yourself in all Christian virtues. W.M. Law. (from the book “Made to Crave God – Every Day of the Year’ for Oct 18).”

‎

“We know not exactly how low the least degree of obedience is, which will brain a man to heaven; but this we are quite sure of, that he who aims no higher will be sure to fall short of even that, and that he who goes farthest beyond it will be most blessed.” John Keble (from the boook “Made to Crave God – Every Day of the Year” for Oct 18)

These also hit me in the head, and caused me to reevaluate my walk…am I really aiming high? Am I taking righteousness, separation, and sanctification seriously? Do I look, act, respond differently than the world? Or is there too much ‘world’ in me? And, how much is too much?

We’re not supposed to lust after the world, we’re not supposed to act like the world, we’re not supposed to love the world, that’s simple New Testament. Yes, they are supposed to know us by our love. Yet, I believe there is something about keeping God’s commands that I may be missing, because He says if you love me you will keep my commands(John 14:21). Do I keep His commands? What ARE His commands?

If Jim told me he never wanted me to wear green again, how would he feel if he came home and I was completely decked out in green? Or, reverse that, and how would we feel if our husbands came home decked out in something we’d told him that we did not like. I’d feel unloved, disrespected, and dishonored. Don’t we owe God at least that much if not much more love and respect and honor?

Anyway, it’s not about works. It’s about a heart that desires to love God enough to lay down naked and play with Army soldiers if need be(Isaiah 20, Ezekiel 4). And the thing is, He’s not asking that of us! He’s just asking for obedience, just as a father asks for obedience of the children, and respect from the wife.

An example from my life. I go back to the hair and the dress issue with which I have struggled.

Jim and I, 1999

For years, I have heard my husband share how he was hurt because he had made his desires known.

Jim's girls, 1999

He gave us free choice, and we,
myself and our three daughters, eventually, chose to cut our hair and wear pants.

Dear Jim, I’m sorry. Please forgive me for all the years that I have not loved you enough to honor and obey your desires. I do love you, and I thank God for giving me to you, and you to me.

And now, as I try to be a better wife for Jim, I have to try to give God at least as much.
This makes it a little clearer for me.

Jim doesn’t love me because I wear dresses,
and he didn’t/won’t stop loving me if I wear pants.
But when I choose to do something to acknowledge his desires, our fellowship is sweeter.
If I wear pants, he won’t divorce me.
When I cut my hair, he doesn’t kick me out of the marriage.
if I choose to do the opposite of what would please Jim,
I hurt him,
I disappoint him,
and there is a block in our fellowship.

And that’s with someone I can see, hear, smell, touch, and actively talk things out with. If I can’t do it with him, whom I can see, what chance do I have with the God I cannot see?

1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

And then, all the years that I proclaimed my liberty and freedom of choice as a wife, I also proclaimed my liberty and freedom of choice as the daughter of God. But what was I declaring my liberty and freedom from? Obedience?

This is not condemnation, this is conviction, mourning over the ways I have hurt the two most important beings in my life. And this sorrow is godly sorrow, and I pray that it brings about the righteousness of Christ in my life.

2 Cor 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

What is the map? The Word of God…I say with Peter:

John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

So, I am taking some time to make sure that I am walking down the path that I see, as I read my map.

Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Phil 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

I want to walk this walk towards my Saviour…pressing on for the MARK of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. There is a pressing on. There is a working out our salvation with fear and trembling. There is a race to be run – and some will not finish the race. I want to finish the race, with all that is in me, glorifying God in every way. I will be looking into those three questions in future blogs. Thanks for hanging in here with me!

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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100 Spiritual Walking Steps – #23 – Stuck in the Middle

In Pilgrim’s Progress, there is a point where Pilgrim is faced with two lions ahead on the path. He later learned that they were chained, and if he walked ‘smack dab in the middle’ they could not touch him.
A similar thing occurs when he is going through he valley of the shadow of death…if he stays right in the middle of the path, he will not fall to the left or right and end his journey.

I was thinking of a commercial with Two chips Ahoy cookies – “Squeezed in the middle”
then I looked up the old song “Stuck in the middle with You” – by Stealers Wheel. Wierd music video…but then again, it’s a weird song!

But the verse that was stirring up these middle thoughts was this:

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD thy God in the midst of thee [is] mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Isn’t that BEAUTIFUL?

The LORD – First…one has to know Who is their LORD…and this promise is made to those that call Yehovah LORD.
Thy God – Second…you can have many lords over you…but this Lord is GOD – meaning ruler, judge, divine one.
IN THE MIDST OF THEE – Abiding within…

Rev 3:20 – Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

We have to invite Jesus in…within….within the midst of our lives…smack dab in the middle!

As we abide IN Him – He abides in us:

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15 has much about abiding…and consequences for not abiding.

My thought was about being in the midst…God being in the midst of ME…and the prerequisite that I choose to be in the midst of HIM…such as in Ps 91:1 –

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high, and abideth under the shadow of the Almighty….

It’s a choice…and with this choice, the Lord God – the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth and all that there is….

shall rejoice over thee with joy
He will rest in His love
He will joy over thee with singing

It makes my heart sing to think that this is what my Father in Heaven wants of me…that THIS is what would bring Him joy…and singing. He wants to be in the MIDST OF ME AND MY LIFE!!!

Is Mighty….The Lord thy God in the midst of thee IS MIGHTY…

1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

This verse is a mighty spiritual warfare verse…and the key is IN US. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty!

I pray that each person reading this will make sure that they have asked Yehovah God, Yeshua Christ, and the Holy Spirit to dwell smack dab in the middle of their hearts…and that from that day forward, we would choose to dwell smack dab in the middle of His secret place…in His throne room, where His joy abounds, and we are given strength through that joy. Then, we will have the ability to face the trials of the day with JOY.

Stay to the middle of this straight and narrow path…so that when we come to our final destination, the dirt and grime from the world on our left and right will be minimal, and more importantly, we will not fall prey to the lions that try to pull us off our path.

1 Pet 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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

100 Spiritual Walking Steps – #22 – Sleep Tight

Genesis 2:2-3 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Rest is ordained by God.

Ps 4: 8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Ps 127:2 [It is] vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep.

When God created the world/universe, He created time.
He also created rest.
We are to give ONE day a week to resting in His presence.
I’m not talking about that kind of rest.

God created our bodies with this circadian rhythm that keeps us in balance. This is the rest I am talking about. Sleep is a blessing from God.

Harvard Women’s Health Watch agrees:

Importance of Sleep : Six reasons not to scrimp on sleep
January 2006

A recent survey found that more people are sleeping less than six hours a night, and sleep difficulties visit 75% of us at least a few nights per week. A short-lived bout of insomnia is generally nothing to worry about. The bigger concern is chronic sleep loss, which can contribute to health problems such as weight gain, high blood pressure, and a decrease in the immune system’s power, reports the Harvard Women’s Health Watch.

While more research is needed to explore the links between chronic sleep loss and health, it’s safe to say that sleep is too important to shortchange.

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.

Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.

Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.

Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.

Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.

Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

There is a reason that sleep deprivation is a huge part of brain washing and torture! Wikipedia has an article on Sleep Deprivation with more than you’ll ever want to know. My point for including it here is that there is a section that discusses sleep deprivation as a from of Interrogation.

In my personal life, with a depressive disorder, if I do not sleep well for a period of time, I have had psychotic events that have caused various difficulties.
I have also had times, because of dreams or night terrors that I have been afraid to go to sleep. I have cried out for those promises.

In order to be able to walk, one must have the strength to walk, whether mind or body. Sleep is God’s way of restoring our bodies. How can we restore what we may have lost?
In this Helpguide about Sleeping, it talks about paying off the sleep debt:

Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you need and the hours you actually get. Every time you sacrifice on sleep, you add to the debt. Eventually, the debt will have to be repaid. It won’t go away on its own. If you lose an hour of sleep, you must make up that extra hour somewhere down the line in order to bring your “account” back into balance.

I have never seen a plan for paying off the sleep debt, but this makes sense to me. Find time that you can go to bed at the normal time, and then, wake up with no alarm clock. They recommend a two week period, but not everyone has that flexibility. So do it on the weekends.

In the end – a good night’s sleep makes the next day much better.
And in the consideration of walking, every thing is much steadier.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures, and leadeth me beside still waters.

My Shepherd leads me to rest BEFORE I walk into the valley of the shadow of death! Not after.

In the creation story, a day is described Evening and morning were the first….day.
Rest comes first – then the strength to walk through the day.
Rest is ordained by God.

Ps 4: 8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.
Ps 127:2 [It is] vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: [for] so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Sleep is a blessing from God.

I am walking a race – and I do not want to become weary in well doing, and faint…therefore, I need to take care of this body, and rest as God has instituted.
Good sleep every night, and resting in His presence every week(another post later).

So – good night! Sleep tight! and love the Lord with all your might!
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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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!

Battle Plan for Comparison Blues – part 2

Battle Plan
An Antidote for Post Conference Blues or any Comparison Blues!

Every time I go to a conference, I come back with Post conference blues. I am so quick to compare myself and my children and my efforts with everyone else, and to take the talks terribly personally, that I am overwhelmed with my conviction, and am tempted to give up.

This year I recognized it a bit before going…with the issue of dress, and looks, and expected appearance. After we arrived at home, the blues hit again, and this time, I cried out.

Here is the antidote that God gave me: Part 2

I needed a battle plan….I was definitely in warfare!
I went to the obvious warfare passage:

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].

I was fighting with my husband’s flesh, my children’s flesh, and my own flesh (the latter being the most difficult!). I was falling prey to those fiery darts big time…and they were coming so fast and so furious, and I was so beaten down, my shield was almost too heavy to lift up.

Psal 3:2 (KJS) Many [there be] which say of my soul, [There is] no help for him in God. Selah.
3 But thou, O LORD, [art] a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

Somewhere I was missing something…but that goes back to part one…I was missing my promises! As my dear husband meditated on 2 Pet 1, he taught us on these verses – more promises to add to those God gave me (mentioned in part one)!

2Pet 1:2 (KJS) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Promises:

11) Grace
12) Peace
13) both of those Multiplied through the Knowledge of God and Jesus!
14) I’ve been given All things that pertain unto life and godliness (I can do it through Him!)
15) other exceeding great and precious promises that will make me to be a partaker of the divine nature
15 b) and to escape the corruption of the world through the lust thereof

So, God has provided a way, and I just have to wait, and rejoice. I was already crying!

Phil 4:4 (KJS) Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.
(James 1:2 always comes to mind when choosing to rejoice!)
Phil 4:6 (KJS) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Ok, so I am taking thought, caring for my children’s futures, how to schedule our days, our seemingly endless failure to complete wisdom books(homeschooling) on time, and the fact that our marriage is not the ideal marriage, our life is not always lining up with what we say we believe…all this added to the health issues….whew. I needed to just get quiet! Rejoice?!? Count it all joy?!? I was trying hard not to grumble and complain!

So, how do I take on the enemy? Well, I’ll have to tell you that in Part three!

PART THREE

PART FOUR
BACK TO PART ONE

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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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!

100 Spiritual Walking Steps – #21 Let go of those broken chains

What do I mean by ‘let go of those broken chains’?

Ps 2:3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

I told my friend Mark that I was working on binding my will to God based on his comments in his Bible Study for Tuesday morning, on Genesis 12:1-3.

God moved Abraham. Literally. He told Abraham to move from the land and people he knew. In our moving away from that with which we are comfortable, God is able to bless us. It is our movement toward his will for our lives that becomes a blessing for us. Our own wills becoming bound to the will of God is what brings us happiness.

This 100 Spiritual Walking Steps has been all about moving towards God – and being IN the presence of God, IN His Will – is the fullness of Joy. (Neh 8:10)

I said I was trying to bind my will to HIS…but that I also need some work in James 1 – Counting all Joy when encountering trials.

He told me to watch out for the waves!
What waves? I had to go back to James!

James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Wow…that smacked me in my face…
I’ve been struggling with this new injury to the old issue of my left ankle.

I told Mark “I feel like I’m seasick!”

I’ve been struggling with the old injury with my hips, the old injury with my lower back, middle back, and neck. I’ve been struggling with the newer injuries of my forearms(stress from walking and mobility devices) and now my elbows and wrists. I’m struggling with more and more medicine and why don’t I have the faith to do without? I’m struggling with daily disciplines that keep me in contact with my Savior. I’m struggling…and yes, I feel like waves keep overtaking me, and knocking me under…and I’m struggling to stay afloat.

Funny thing is, I love to lay on the water and just ride the waves. In fact, my husband was afraid the last time I did that I would be pulled out to sea by the tide. With each wave, I floated farther and farther away from the beach! I was so relaxed, I didn’t care! I told him that we’ll buy a long leash and tie it to my ankle so he can pull me back in!

Chains…we all started with chains that pull us back, pull us down, and keep us from soaring, or riding the waves.

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

That passage describes being set free to me.
Mature and complete, not lacking anything!
When Jesus died on the cross – He paid the sin price for me!
When Jesus rose from the dead – He defeated death and sin for me!
When Jesus ascended into Heaven – He became THE advocate for me!
I am set free!
And that is the truth…and the TRUTH shall set ME FREE!

And I don’t know about you, but that makes me want to dance!

It’s a choice…hold on to the chains that USED to describe me…or agree with the one that broke the chains and freed me.

I’m dancin’!!! Sing with me?
Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance….
I just want to praise You!
I just want to praise You!

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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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!

Comfort From the Comforter –

Let me share something what the Lord led me to do, as I was in an MRI machine. I had meant to choose a verse to meditate on….but was met there by friends to stay with my son…and had not chosen one yet.

As I lay in the machine, with many strange noises, The Lord brought Ps 23 to mind.
Here’s how He did it:
The Lord (this is one of the acrostics He gave me)
L – oving
O– mnipotant
R – uling
D – ivine

IS
I AM that I AM, eternal, without beginning or end

MY
I was predestined and ordained to be elect,
He knows the plans He has for me!
He knew me before the foundation of the earth,
before I was formed in my mother’s womb

SHEPHERD
My sheep hear my voice and follow me (yes Lord, I will follow)
~ Saviour, Like a shepherd lead me…..

I SHALL NOT WANT
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills
My God shall provide all my needs according to His riches in Glory
If I delight myself in the Lord, He will give me the desires of my heart (even more of Him!)

Do you get the idea? He gave me a few more hymns and spiritual songs to sing, along with other verses. We got through to the still waters (Be still and know that I am God, <well, I didn’t have much choice…I had to lie still!>). He ministered to me for the whole 1/2 hour …..all to comfort me, and to keep my mind on Him while they did the MRI.

Where ever, or when ever we find ourselves in need of comfort, He will meet us, and bring the word that we have hidden in our heart to comfort us. And, He even works in us to glorify His name! He is so Awesome!

May you dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and hide under the shadow of the Almighty……(Ps 91)

(written 2000 or before)

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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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!

100 Spiritual Walking Steps – #20 – watch for signs of dehydration

WE NEED WATER!!!
I laid out the seriousness of the need for water in my post “Water, Water, Water!”

I have trouble recognizing that I am losing water.
Oh, the sweat the pours off my body is an irritation, so I just wear a bandana to keep it out of my eyes!

Sweating is a good thing…it cleanses the body…but it also takes the water, AND electrolytes OUT of the body. And the body needs electrolytes and water to keep things in balance!
What are the signs? The University of Arkansas lists these signs:

MILD:

flushed face
very thirsty
weakness
headache
cramping in arms and legs
dry, warm skin(no sweating)
crying with few or no tears
dizziness
small amounts of dark yellow urine

We have been given the water of the Word to keep us hydrated….but here are symptoms of being dehydrated from the water of the word:

flushed face – easily embarrassed by your recent behavior. Ezra 9:6
very thirsty – seeking something – Isaiah 55:1
weakness – from no time in God’s presence – Psalm 6:2
headache – no peace from activities – Psalm 7:16
cramping in arms and legs – No strength to DO for God Eze 7:17
dry, warm skin(no sweating) – life has ebbed away Ez 37:2
crying with few or no tears – no remorse for sins – Eph 4:19
dizziness – playing in multiple playgrounds – James 1:8
small amounts of dark yellow urine – intensify sinful acts – Eph 5:3-5

If not taken care of…dehydration leads to death.

MODERATE TO SEVERE:

FAINTING
SEVERE MUSCLE CRAMPS
BLOATED STOMACH
DEEP AND RAPID BREATHING
POOR SKIN ELASTICITY
SUNKEN EYES
CONVULSIONS

Moderate to severe dehydration includes death. It is best to deal with dehydration when you see the early signs.

If Spiritual Dehydration is not taken care of…it can lead to spiritual death.

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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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!

100 Spiritual Walking Steps – #19 Water, Water, Water!

We need water!

San Francisco 1998 - a lovely moment watching water

On How Stuff Works, I asked, How much water is there on the earth?

There’s a whole lot of water on Earth! Something like 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons (326 million trillion gallons) of the stuff (roughly 1,260,000,000,000,000,000,000 liters) can be found on our planet.

I wanted to know how much water makes up our bodies. At Wikipedia, I found out that:

In medicine, body water is 90 to 94 percent of the water content of the human body. A significant fraction of the human body is water.

The University of Arkansas provided this summary about the importance of water:

You can live as long as six weeks without food, but you couldn’t survive more than a week without water. Water or fluids that contain water fill virtually every cell and the spaces between them in the body. Water accounts for approximately 60 to 70 percent of the total body weight in a normal adult, making it the most abundant constituent of the human body. In terms of volume, the total body water in a man of average weight (70 kg or 154 lbs) is roughly 40 L (10.6 gallons).

Of course, as with any science, they differ with the previous amount that makes up our bodies – from 90 – 94 %(which did seem a bit high) to 60 – 70%. I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but between 60 and 94% of our body is made up of water!

Author note: The University of Arkansas article, Water-Drink Up is excellent info on the importance of water – during all of this heat, please read this and be careful!

aT A yAHOO Answer spot, I got this wonderful breakdown of our body’s make up!

Here is a summary of the common molecules found in humans:

Molecule……….Mass %…Molecule %
Water…………….65% ………98.73 %
Other Inorganic…1.5% …..0.74 %
Lipid………………12% ……….0.475 %
Other Organic….0.4% …….0.044 %
Protein…………..20% ……….0.011 %
RNA………………1.0% …….3 x 10-5 %
DNA………………0.1% …….3 x 10-11 %

By weight, we are 65% water, 20% protein, 12% fats, and a few incidentals on top of that. By number of molecules, we are pretty much entirely water.

Of course there’s individual variation, but the bigger factor is exactly what you are counting and how – by molecule count, there’s less than 2% difference between a person and a glass of water!

Symptoms of Dehydration –

Dehydration symptoms generally become noticeable after 2% of one’s normal water volume has been lost. Initially, one experiences thirst and discomfort, possibly along with loss of appetite and dry skin. This can be followed by constipation. Athletes may suffer a loss of performance of up to 30%^[6] and experience flushing, low endurance, rapid heart rates, elevated body temperatures, and rapid onset of fatigue.

I did find the seriousness of dehydration.

Untreated severe dehydration may result in seizures, permanent brain damage, or death.

WATER = LIFE

It is nice that there are many, many places that will tell you how much water you need to drink, and most of them are selling water filters! The point? Clean water is BEST!

On the Clean Water Blog, there is a summary of the historical effects on water.

For Homeschoolers!!!Exploring the Environment has a quick read on the importance of clean water, and may have study unit of the hydrosphere.

Many of the world organizations, and the missionary organizations go in to a place, and the first thing is to provide drinking water. Even one of our favorite charities, Compassion, has a program to provide clean water, and many articles about how clean water has ministered to the communities in which Compassion serves.

WATER = LIFE

There is so much to write about, when writing about water. Importance, cleanliness, wonderful aspects, and the ability to take it for granted.

I have been VERY guilty of taking water for granted.

A few years ago, I became electrolyte imbalanced because of performing a practice sprint Triathlon. I didn’t do it for time, I did it for completion so I had time to take care of things. I was maintaining track of my blood glucose. I was drinking 1- 20 oz. G2 between each event in an attempt to replace electrolytes and water. Apparently, something got messed up, because after completing this mini triathlonI just wasn’t ‘right’. Because we didn’t know the dangers of a diabetic over exerting in exercise, and the ease at which electrolytes can be washed out of a system…I crashed. The beautiful water that was sustaining me had poured out of my pores, and pulled potassium, calcium, phosphorus and other important elements out of my system. I became suicidally depressed and almost lost my life. I spent several days in ICU with IV electrolytes and bags of water being pumped into my body.

WATER = LIFE

Compassion International – Water of Life from Compassion International on Vimeo.

This will be a multi part post….This is the importance of water. And, if YOU have access to clean water, Thank God, and Praise Him! And consider helping someone else who does not.

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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

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!

100 Spiritual Walking Steps – #18 – Stop and smell the roses

smell the roses

I was reminded today of a post I wrote about embracing minimalism.

I had started a series at the beginning of the year called the First 100 days.
I was not able to keep up with a blog a day for 100 days. I need to go back and count how many of that series I DID get written.
I quit, because I couldn’t keep up,
I couldn’t keep up because I did not plan well enough for expected events.
The expected events had to do with minimalizing our life!
Very possibly, I should have MINIMALIZED my expectations of being able to write, even while packing(expected), physical therapy(unexpected), and travel(very happy event!).

In the post, The First 100 days – day 63….I wrote about minimalism. I quoted froma book, and recommended a blog post, A Short Guide to Consumer Disobedience..
I seriously need to read that specific blog EVERY DAY.

What does this have to do with stop and smell the roses? Sometimes in our lives, God gives us roses…and we look at them, nod, maybe even take a whiff, but we don’t go back and enjoy them. Days or weeks later, we walk by and notice that all the roses are gone, and wilted, and we wonder about the time we lost. We didn’t lose time, we gave it to something else…not the roses.

A dear friend, Trisch, reminisced about her daughters growing up in her blog “They Grow Up To Fast”. Our children, our relationships and our faith are roses, flowers in our garden of life, and we need to remember, that while we walk along, we need to take time to stop and smell the roses!

Drink from the flowers

I referenced another of Francine Jay’s blogs, “The Year of the Butterfly”.

The small butterfly
moves as though unburdened by
the world of desire

-Haiku by Kobayashi Issa
Today marks the first day of the Chinese New Year, which according to their lunar calendar is the Year of the Rabbit.

Well, I’d like to propose a special New Year for us minimalists: let’s make this the Year of the Butterfly.

Because I was ‘rushing ahead’ on my walk…writing down plenty of stuff about how I am growing…I had missed one of the roses God had given me at the beginning of the year.

“The year of the Butterfly”

A year, where the caterpillar turns into a beautiful Butterfly.
Her reference to her own book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide is a beautiful explaination of being a butterfly in the area of caring for the earth:

“As minsumers, we want to do the opposite. Instead of being bulls, we strive to be butterflies—living as lightly, gracefully, and beautifully as possible. We want to flit through life with little baggage, unencumbered by excess stuff. We want to leave the Earth and its resources whole and intact, as if we alighted just for a moment and barely touched them.”

I find this concept very much in keeping with the Genesis command to care for the earth in Genesis 1&2. In fact, the Bible sort of implies that God created man to till the earth….
Gen 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and [there was] not a man to till the ground.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Chief Seattle said “Take only memories, leave only footprints”

As we walk along our path, we have a responsibility to care for what has been given us.
Sometimes, it’s people, and the relationships we have with them
Sometimes it’s beauty – like a rose or a butterfly.
Sometimes it’s wisdom – written in a blog that touches your heart.

This year is not over – so even though I forgot my commitment to make it the Year of the Butterfly…I still have time.
In addition to time before me, I have changed over this year, and I now choose to work on being more like that Butterfly!
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.