Tag Archives: scripture

The First 100 days – Day 40 – the number 40

Have you ever noticed how often the number 40 comes up in the Bible?

February 9th is the 40th day of OUR year…and a good time to look back and see if I have started the year right.

  • 365 divided by 40 = 9.125(of course, we do have that leap year issue).
  • 9 is 3 three’s.
  • Three is the number of the Triune God.

An article about Biblical Numerology explains the way the Bible languages  also have numerical meanings.  Christian Resources discusses this unique layout of the Bible, WITH warnings of the occult nature of numerology.  A better term is numerics.

We once had an article that discussed this in more depth, and the wonderful thing about this is how intricately God wrote His word. Within the scriptures in the original languages, there is a type of numeric grid that threads through out the Bible, through out the writers, and shows God’s Amazing Authorship. And that is my point. God has set in motion NUMBERS!

  • Evening and Morning, the first(second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh) day.
  • Sabbaths are set on a schedule.
  • Seasons are set on a schedule.
  • Even the land has a sabbath.
  • The Bible kept track of ages and children(numbers!).
  • And then, there is the year of Jubilee – the 50th year!

So many things that are part of our spiritual walk have been high-jacked by the enemy, and we are so afraid to touch the evil, that we forget that the originator of ALL things, called them ALL good.

So, FORTY DAYS into the New Year.

A good time to look back.
Also, a good time to look forward.
What if we made a resolution for FORTY days…even 2 sets of 20, 4 sets of 10…could we make a difference?

Can I do anything for 10 days? Or break it down, 5 days? I can do ANYTHING for 5 days. Then start over…and do that 7 more times…and I’ve done 40 days. Then, start over, and do that 8 more times, and I have done something for 1 year.

  • I can eat right for breakfast.
  • I can choose the right snack mid morning.
  • I can eat right for lunch.
  • I can choose the right snack for afternoon.
  • I can eat right for supper.
  • I can choose the right snack before bed.
  • I can choose to go to bed at a reasonable time.
  • I can wake up the next day and start all over again.

I wake up every day – anyway – and make choices.
I know the last 40 days have been full of choices, some good and some bad. But I know that my redeemer lives…and that HE holds tomorrow in His hand. I just have to choose for this minute.

Another thing about 40. If you do something for 40 minutes, then take a 20 minute movement break…in an 8 hour day…you will have added up 2.66 hours of movement!  Hmmmmm, that’s cool!

I’m recommitting to my goals for this year…and I’m going to take the next 40 days one day at a time, adding up 5 days, then 10 days, then 20 days, then FORTY DAYS of doing something different than last year.

That’s growth…moving forward. So, happy 40th day!!!



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.

  1. 100 days of moving challenge – day 40 -Sick
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 25 verses in 52 weeks – Ps 15:1-2
  4. 90 days Bible Reading – Ecclesiastes
  5. 50 days T-Tapp – check – SICK
  6. 30 days – T-Tapp January Jumpstart- SICK

The First 100 days – day 38 – Love?

What is love?

1 Cor 13 says love is

  • patient
  • kind
  • does not envy
  • does not boast]
  • is not proud
  • is not rude
  • is not self seeking
  • is not easily angered
  • keeps no record of wrongs
  • does not delight in evil
  • rejoices in the truth
  • always protects
  • always trusts
  • always hopes
  • always perseveres
  • never fails

The fruit of the Spirit are:

  • love
  • joy
  • peace
  • patience
  • kindness
  • goodness
  • faithfulness
  • gentleness
  • self-control

I’ve been thinking about ‘love’ for a while, and in a conversation on a thread I wrote these thoughts:

“The thing is, the love is no better than the sinner that professes it. I know I don’t love 1 Cor 13…shoot, I’m still working on ‘love is kind’….and to expect that my partner is less human, as in more divine than I am is  to have WAY too high of expectations. I don’t know about ya’ll, but my husband married a sinner, and I married one too. We’re still workin’ our way out of the past things that have got to be taken care of so we can move forward to more wonderful…we had divorce papers on the table 5 months before our 25th anniversary. It AINT easy…but my commitment wasn’t to Jim…my commitment was to God – and as long as HE says stay…my faith is held in the balance. KWIM?”
“It is so much easier to love when you are ‘in love’….those feelings make things easier…but also blind us sometimes! It’s the long haul work that deepens the relationship. Just this weekend, Jim decided to be less than divine…and you know what? I responded in a very less than divine manner! But after 32 years, we KNOW we are going to work through it…so it is safe to have hurt feelings, angry feelings, disappointed feelings…because LOVE is no longer a feeling..it’s a state of being that governs everything else.”

There is that ‘love’ that one feels when one is attracted to the other person, and doesn’t see any faults, because all they can see is the positive.  It could be the beginning of love, it could also be the fruit of lust.  My point is, it’s a FEELING.

The day one get’s saved, there is this feeling of exultation, deliverance from death and resurrected into life!  It’s a wonderful feeling! Walking and talking with God all along life’s narrow way!

Then a trial comes along.  And God doesn’t feel so close by. And it hurts.  Life just happened.  And now, this is the work of working out your own salvation with fear and trembling!  This is the exercise program of our faith – when we don’t ‘feel’ it, when we want to quit because it’s too hard – when everything around us is dark and stormy, and obviously God is busy on the other side of the planet!

THAT IS WHEN FAITH AND COMMITMENT ADD UP TO LOVE.

We love because HE FIRST LOVED US.  When did He first love us? while we were yet sinners.  Job didn’t ‘feel’ God was near.  And Job was not happy that God would not hear his prayer for death!  And in the middle of that dark valley of the shadow of death – God spoke.  His rod and His staff straightened Job out, and then comforted him.

Job loved God before this trial.  And the trial had to be tough enough to refine Job.  And afterward, Job loved God more.  Job never denied God, nor cursed God, but Job struggled with the trial.

In marriage, there are trials.  And it’s in these trials that you work out your OWN marriage with fear and trembling.  You may feel that the other person has abandoned you.  You may want to abandon the other person.  You may even want to kill the marriage with divorce at times.  This is that dark valley of the shadow of death, where REAL marriages are made.  When feelings have NOTHING to do with REALITY.  This is where you practice 1 Cor 13, and this is where fruit is proven.

I don’t always feel saved – but I KNOW that I am.

I don’t always feel loved – but I know I am by God, and I know that my human counterpart tries to love me, as much as I try to love him.  I KNOW that we have chosen love.

We don’t have a choice.  Not if we intend to stay on God’s good side!

We are commanded to love.

WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE.

love one another…..

we love because he first loved

freely recieved freely give

love the church

love your neighbor

love your enemies

greater love hath no man but that he lay down his life for his friends

LOVE  is NOT  a feeling.  LOVE IS A STATE OF BEING. LOVE IS A WAY OF LIFE. GOD IS LOVE – and God is NOT a feeling.

And when the first reaction to anything is love, then 1 Cor 13 and Gal 5 will follow in kind.

The first fruit of the Spirit mentioned is LOVE.  And love has a huge definition.  If we just work on being love – all the fruit will flow and life will be a little more like heaven in our hearts.

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.

  1. 100 days of moving challenge – day 39 – fighting cats and dog
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 25 verses in 52 weeks – Ps 15:1-2
  4. 90 days Bible Reading – Job
  5. 50 days T-Tapp – check – OIP/HF, AL
  6. 30 days – T-Tapp January Jumpstart- day 12

The First 100 days – day 37 – ADHD Bible Reading

Hi.
My name is Christi.
I have ADHD.
(Hi Christi!)

I get distracted. Even when I read my Bible.
I don’t get distracted when I read a fiction book.
I think this is the work of the devil.
Nevertheless, it is what it is, and I need tools to help me ‘read’ my Bible.

Are ‘tools’ acceptable to God, or do I need to be puritanically religious about sitting down and reading and studying and notating MY Bible? Well, when Timothy was having some issues, Paul wrote this: Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities. (1Tim 5:23)
If that isn’t enough, God thought it was good enough to be put into the Bible!!! Now, I’m NOT talking about drinking wine instead of water!

I have been doing Bible in 90 days, and I have had some difficulties. I am committed, therefore, I have looked for some tools.

First, Speed! the Bible in 90 days website has some tools. Of course, these are for reading through the Bible in 90 days.  As for benefiting someone with ADHD…it is a faster way to get through all the begats and such. It moves faster, more at the speed of an ADHD brain!

Second, for ADHD persons, there is a need for multiple sensory experiences for things to hold our attention, and to stick in our brains. Here are some multi sensory tools that I have used, or have just found:

VISUAL – obviously the Bible reading is visual, but black letters on white paper is not very stimulating.

  • Christian Cinema has Matthew, Acts, and John on DVD.
  • For children(young and old) there are picture Bibles – such as The Beginners Bible, The Picture Bible, The Comic Book Bible, The Children’s Illustrated Bible.
  • For adults, there is this really neat Bible – The Archeological Study Bible. It adds details that keep this ADHD person from mentally straying!

AUDITORY – Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God…

KINETIC OR TACTILE – Touch it…..

  • Write out the Bible Verses.  Have a journal, or a flip chart, such as the one Beth Moore offers.
  • Coloring charts – yes, even for adults. PapaJan has free ones. Another site, Coloring.ws, has some pages with scriptures.
  • Kay Arthur’s Inductive Study Method, which my husband calls me coloring my Bible.

And here’s two more that I have just started to incorporate:

SCENT – a candle burning that stimulates memory.

  • Ps 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee [as] incense; [and] the lifting up of my hands [as] the evening sacrifice.

TASTE – I have a personal communion time – with a small piece of bread, and a small amount of grape juice.

  • 1 Cor 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

Taste and Scent are strong memory encoders.

For me, the key is to have various opportunities and tools that will flood me with the Word of God.  I hope this helps anyone with a tendency to be distracted as they read the Word 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! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

  1. 100 days of moving challenge – day 38 -Sick
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 25 verses in 52 weeks – Ps 15:1-2
  4. 90 days Bible Reading – Ecclesiastes
  5. 50 days T-Tapp – check – SICK
  6. 30 days – T-Tapp January Jumpstart- SICK

The First 100 days – day 35 – Hurry Up!

I’m almost to the 2 month count down for going to Germany.
Before I go to Germany, I have to have this apartment packed up to move into our RV.
Before we move into our RV,

Anna's Paintings 1

Triptich for Anna

I have to finish the painting I’m working on for Anna.

There is so much to be done to finish these paintings….there is so much to be done to pack for Germany….there is so much to be done to pack up(or rather, pack down) and move into an RV.

I feel like I am hearing this song over and over and over and over…hurry up,

Anna's Painting 2

The Triptich Separated

can’t waste time, hurry up, can’t waste time….racing with the clock!

I’ve written about racing, being in a race, how I’d love to do a triathlon race again(sprint….not iron man)…and how I’d love to be in better shape than I am.

But a new racing is hitting the fan…my heart.  Tachycardia is a BAD thing.  But anxiety is even worse.

Phil 4:6 NLT Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Matt 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

I am excited about going to Germany.  Me And Gabe

I am excited about moving into the RV full time.

I am excited to see Anna’s face when she gets these paintings.

I’m nervous, a bit, about flying for 10 hours with a service dog…I’m a bit nervous about downsizing for the RV….I’m a bit nervous about completing Anna’s paintings so that I can stand to see them hanging in her house.

Why should I take no thought, not worry, not be anxious?  Because I have a promise:

Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Is 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee: FEAR NOT, I WILL HELP THEE!

And there is this basic promise:

Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us?

So, with all my excitement, and with the short time, and with all that I have to do….my focus needs to be on this:

Matt 6:33-34 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.

What can I do more than what I am able to do?  If I do all that I am able to do, then that is good enough.  Getting caught up in the hurry up mentality will only make me too sick to enjoy ANY of the new things that are coming down our path.

And just in case those three things aren’t enough in the next two months, I also have to plan our three week vacation, starting one week after I get home(and that week is our move out/into week!).

“If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day. I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.” ~ Martin Luther
“Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with the Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees.” ~Corrie ten Boom
There are more quotes about prayer at Christian Prayer Quotations

Prayer, a prayer time, prayer focus.  My dear daughter reminded me today that the way I taught them to pray was to wake up saying “Good Morning Lord, thank you for this day…..” and to go to bed saying, “……good night, Lord, thank you for this day.” The point being, never stop in between.

Prayer combats the sin of worry…because faith displaces fear.

May we each be blessed today with what God puts before us to do…and to do that as unto the Lord.

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

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.



  1. 100 days of moving challenge – day 35 – walk on treadmill
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 25 verses in 52 weeks – Ps 15:1-2
  4. 90 days Bible Reading – 2 Chronicles 11-
  5. 50 days T-Tapp – check – SATI, OIP/HF, AL
  6. 30 days – T-Tapp January Jumpstart- day 9

Guest Blogger – What Do You do When the Pillar Moved, and You Didn’t?

My dear friend Phyllis Sather has written a beautiful blog about realizing that you missed the moving of the pillar.

“What would have happened if the children of Israel had one day decided not to get up and follow that pillar when it began to move?”

What pillar? The Pillar of the Lord, that was before the Israelites.  When it stayed, they were to stay put.  When it moved, they were to pick up and follow.

Ex 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

Here’s Phyllis’ blog “What do You do When You Discover the Pillar Moved, and You Didn’t?”

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.

February 1 Memory Verse

MY verse 3 of Beth Moore’s challenge to memorize 25 verses in 2011.

Psalm 15:1-2

  1. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
  2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh truth in his heart.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE abiding verses.

Ps 91:1

  • He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Ps 61

  • 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.
  • 7 He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, [which] may preserve him.

John 15

  • 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
  • 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.
  • 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
  • 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

So, for these two weeks, I’m ‘abiding’ in the first two verse of Ps 15.

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 First 100 days – day 32 – short thoughts

Zachias was a wee little man, a wee little man was he,
He climbed up in a sycamore tree, the Lord he wanted to see.
Jesus said “Zachias, you come down from there,
for I’m going to your house today, for I’m going to your house today.”

Zachias was short.

Zachias was a tax collector.

Zachias was hated.

But Jesus saw his heart.

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.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

The shortest verse of the Bible is the most heart wrenching:

John 11:35 Jesus wept.

The Shortest chapter is Ps 117

Ps 117:1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

Ps 117:2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD [endureth] for ever. Praise ye the LORD.

The Shortest book(by words) is 3John. Here are two of my favorite verses:

3John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

3John 11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

I am short.

I am hated by some.

But Jesus sees my heart.

He knows me from my mother’s womb – Ps 139:13.

Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

And He has chosen me!

1 Pet 2:9 But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

And what’s really cool is that this applies to tall people, too!  So, today, I may not have to climb any trees (Thank you Jesus), but I am going to watch for Jesus’ hand in my day, and I pray that He and the Father with the Holy Ghost will come and abide with me all the days of my life! 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.

author note: the comment button is after sharing buttons, I’d love to hear what you think – please leave a comment! Or follow me with the RSS feed.

  1. 100 days of moving challenge – day 32 – find a place to walk
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 90 days Bible Reading – 2 Kings headed to 1 Chronicles
  4. 50 days T-Tapp – check – MORE, OIP/HF, AL
  5. 30 days – T-Tapp January Jumpstart- day 6

The First 100 days – day 31 – Represent

Christians divorcing and then claiming that they are acting as Christians, so why isn’t God giving them peace with their children?

The divorce rate among Christians is the same as non believers.

Christians protesting at funerals that God is happy with deaths of soldiers side by side with Christians saying God is love.

Christians dressing like Beyonce’, Madonna, or any other ‘American Idol’ type person – and then wondering why nobody takes them serious when they talk about holiness.

Christians going bankrupt because they cannot afford the great and wonderful church that GOD WAS SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE FOR THEM.

Christians speeding down the road with the little fish on the back of their vehicles almost flying off.  What a witness to the officer that pulls them over.

I have an old book – IN HIS STEPS, by Charles M Sheldon.

The popularity of this book started the WWJD movement.  Of course, sometimes, it’s an embarrassment to see what folks with WWJD jewelry are doing, as they are ambassadors for Christ.  Sometimes I wonder if the WWJD crowd ever read the book.

Here’s the intro:

What would happen if members of your local church pledged for an entire year not to do anything without first asking, what would Jesus do?  An intriguing question, and the very one that motivated Charles Monroe Sheldon to write his Christian classic, In His Steps.

For some, following in Jesus’ steps caused misunderstanding and suffering: for all it meant an entire dedication of money, talent, and life’s work, rewarded by immeasurable peace and joy.

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:

1Peter then goes on to describe HOW Jesus walked.

Here is an excerpt from the book:

“The church was the first in the city.  It had the best choir.  It had a membership composed of the leading people, representatives of the wealth, society and intelligence of Raymond.”

I am weary with being invited to churches that have the best choir, the most people, the best youth ministry and Sunday School (so you never have to deal with your children while you worship).

I want a church that embraces the Word of God.  I want a church that asks “What would Jesus Do?” and they can KNOW what Jesus DID because they KNOW the Word of God.

The church we thought we would attend has had several things come up this year.

  1. 3 million dollar expansion project…even though God has repeatedly closed doors.  So, everyone give give give!
  2. Peace Peace when there is no peace.  Preaching about peace being Jews and Palestinians living together with no borders, America with no borders between Canada or Mexico.  People with nothing to divide them….that is Peace.
  3. The first love in Revelations 2 is love of people.  It wasn’t return to your first love – the joy of your salvation.
  4. Youth program was watching movies like Transformers to teach Biblical principles.

The people are wonderful.  The people love the Lord.  But where does this lead?

  1. Owing a huge debt, when the present building could be paid off.
  2. Forgetting that we are a peculiar people, set apart to God – there is a difference between Christians and the world. And true Peace comes from being at peace with God – salvation, which sets a person at odds with everyone.
  3. God is love of everyone..forgetting that God is the Just Judge, and He will call each man into account.  God’s love is a tough love…not a fluffy good ol’ boy love.
  4. Children are to be nurtured in the admonition of the Lord…the need to learn the ways of God from His word FIRST, not secular movies and tv shows.

Matt 7:13-14KJV Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Matt 7:13-14 NLT “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.”

ONLY THE NARROW GATE – SMALL, NARROW, FEW!!!

Broad is the gate that leads to…..apōleia

  1. destroying, utter destruction; a) of vessels
  2. a perishing, ruin, destruction; a) of money; b) the destruction which consists of eternal misery in hell

The wide way is EASY!  The path with Christ leads to persecution –

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

And we are to have a DIFFERENT RESPONSE when the fight comes:

Matthew 5:10 Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This is the key – persecuted for righteousness sake.

John 15:21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

The only way to be persecuted for Jesus’ name sake, is to be walking LIKE JESUS.

What would Jesus do when He was depressed? We know he went to the garden and prayed!

What would Jesus do when verbally attacked? We know that he held his tongue.

What would Jesus do if the congregation got to big?  He got in a boat…he sent them away….they all created home churches.

What would Jesus Do about paying taxes?  he paid them…supernaturally.

What would Jesus Do in a divorce situation?  Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are what a family is supposed to represent…they are one, and they cannot be divided.

John 10:30 I and [my] Father are one.

Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

He REPRESENTED THE GODHEAD!!!

And it’s by being ONE with the FATHER, SPIRIT AND SON, that we can truly learn to walk in Christ’s steps as HE walked with God:

John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Mark 1:12 And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.

And this is how we are to REPRESENT CHRIST obeying His Father, and being filled of the Holy Spirit:

Rom 8:14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

How did Jesus walk?  What did Jesus Do? He fulfilled this:

Eph 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Eph 5:24-25 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We have No excuses:

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.

Heb 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Moses pleased God – and he was the one that wrote the first five books of the Bible!

David pleased God – and he was the one that wrote most of the Psalms.

Peter, John and Paul pleased God – and they wrote most of the New Testament.

They DID NOT HAVE THE WORD TO TEACH THEM THE PATH! But, we do.

The rest of Romans 1 describes our country, and unfortunately, much of our ‘Christian’ identity.

WARNING WARNING WARNING!

Acts 28:26 ” ‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

Acts 28:27 “For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'”

Rom 11:8 as it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.”

2 Tim 4:3-4 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

2 Thes 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

2 Thes 2:11-12 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Jesus NEVER took pleasure in unrighteousness.

I confess, I do.  Movies that do not represent Godly values.  Doing things that are not the best for my body, or not doing things that ARE the best for my body.  Gossip.  Selfishness.  Complaining. Nagging. Worrying. Laughing at jokes.

If I didn’t take some sort of pleasure in them I would quit doing them, right? As Dr. Phil would say “How’s that working for ya?”

It’s time to rise up and be the Christian that God defined….in His WORD made flesh.  That is What Jesus Did Do.  So, if we study what Jesus did do, in the whole Bible(Old and New) – we will have the answers ready for What Would Jesus Do, when we ask.  But the real question is, does anyone REALLY  want to do what Jesus Did?

And yet, that is the NARROW GATE, that is the NARROW WAY.

Matt 7:14 NIV But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

BE FOREWARNED BY THE 5 FOOLISH VIRGINS! We must keep our oil full until the Bridegroom comes…or we may hear:

Matt 25:12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

Matt 25:13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

Many…MANY…..

Matt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Matt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Here is God’s promise:

Is 42: 5 – 6 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Is 42:7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, [and] them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

Is 42:8-9 I [am] the LORD: that [is] my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.  Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.

God has a plan, and God will bring it to pass.  And we have a responsibility:

2 Chron 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This promise is addressed to God’s children, called by God’s name.  Who more responsible than those that go by the name of Christ?

We are not without help…God gives us many promises of His help…the point is, we must do as Jesus did…and turn towards Our Father, and focus on the WORD of God, so that we can know how to walk as Jesus walked.

Is 50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

Four commandments have to deal with our relationship with God.

One commandment deals with our relationship with our parents.

Five commandments deal with our relationship with others.

God has a lot to say about our relationship with Him…because He is a jealous God!

God, through Jesus, told us that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is without forgiveness…so, God is not happy with anything that blasphemes His name.  He will not shame us, and we should try to live so that we do not shame His name.

Phil 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Phil 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

We have been given everything we need to walk IN HIS STEPS.  It is my prayer that every decision I make, I will begin with What Would Jesus Do? What Did Jesus Do?  And then to say YES, LORD, and walk in that path, no matter how narrow or straight.

We need to make sure our ears are open, our eyes are open, and our hearts and minds are discerning God’s way.  I pray each person that reads this will KNOW that Jesus is Lord of their life, and that they hear His voice, and follow Him.  I KNOW that MY redeemer liveth – do 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.

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  1. 100 days moving challenge – day  -my goal, walk 30 minutes.
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 90 days Bible Reading –
  4. 50 days T-Tapp – check
  5. 30 days – T-Tapp January Jumpstart- day

The First 100 days – day 26 – commitment day

commitment – noun

  1. the act of committing
  2. the state of being committed.
  3. the act of committing, pledging, or engaging oneself.
  4. a pledge or promise; obligation:
  5. engagement; involvement:
  6. perpetration or commission, as of a crime.
  7. consignment, as to prison.
  8. confinement to a mental institution or hospital:
  9. an order, as by a court or judge, confining a person to a mental institution or hospital.

Today, I am making a 30 commitment to T-Tapp January Jumpstart, which runs from January 27th to February 27th.  Please don’t blame me for the January Jumpstart beginning almost in February.

That will be 30 days of T-Tapp – eating right – weekly workouts with a trainer and walking 30 minutes a day.

Many people have had great success with this exercise program, created by a rehab person, Teresa Tapp.

I’m scared….but excited.  I will be posting scriptures that will help me to stay committed – and I will post my losings here.  It is my hope that my weight loss and inch loss will be an encouragement to others that have body image issues.

Right now, the verse is I can do all things through Christ Jesus Who strengthens me.

and of course:

Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, AMEN! (Jude 24-25)

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.

  1. 100 days challenge – moving – check my goal, walk 30 minutes.
  2. 100 days challenge- blog – check
  3. 90 days Bible Reading – I’m in the Samuels
  4. 50 days T-Tapp – check
  5. 30 days Jumpstart(1/27/11) – check – trainer meet up today



The First 100 days – day 23- burn that fat

Since this Fasting-For-Food project, I’ve been enlightened a bit about my eating habits.  I’ve been enlightened a whole bunch!

Exodus.

Captivity. Slavery. Bondage.

It just kind of happened.

First, everyone loved Joseph…then, generations forgot Joseph…and then, “why are we bein’ so nice to these people?”

First, I just ate…it felt good, it never argued, and, with fast food, it was always there!!!!

Why didn’t the Israelites just get up and say “No More”, and walk out of Goshen?  Why didn’t they just quit taken’ the stuff…and just leave?

Why don’t I just get up from the table and say “No More?” Why don’t I just stop eatin’ the stuff that’s killin’ me?

Captivity. Slavery. Bondage.

I have been held captive by food ads.

Seeing that Wendy commercial,

I can taste the fries! (side note – the new ones just aren’t as addicting to me…but then, I’ve eaten them anyway.)

THIS USED TO BE A HUGE PROBLEM!!!!!!! Well, true confessions, it still is.

The thing is…sugar, caffeine, chocolate, ice cream, french fries, Mike-Sell’s Potato Chips……

Yeah, a bag of Mike Sells, a tub of bacon cheese dip, a 2 liter of some diet pop….to make up for the calories of course…and I was in fat heaven!  Comfort Food Chaos!

These are my issues.  These are my food idols.  These have held me captive.

Writing about this now, having not eaten any of these for 23 days, I can taste the banana split, I can smell the potato chips…and I am struggling to say NO – even though they aren’t even here!

I am 130 pounds overweight – at least.  That’s the weight of a normal sized woman of 5’2″ stature.  I cannot move like a 120 pound woman.  That’s right, I’m over 100% excess person.

1 Aug 2010

Here's my fat face!

25Jul2010

Me at a campground with Gabriel

Christi and Gabe

Sitting on the beach wall at Lake Livingston, TX

As is obvious, I need some help.  I am trapped by my ‘addiction’ to my ‘idols’.

~it is now January 30, and I have since eaten a banana split, and pancakes for the sake of research.  I even went to Wendy’s, but I could not bring myself to eat the french fries…so, I ate the salad!

I have suffered with health issues, because of the food I eat.

About.com has an article about how diet and disease correlate in a few cases.  What does your doctor say when you have a major issue? Stop the high sweets, caffeine, fatty foods and eat more fruits and veggies.

MedicineNet.com has an article, Healthy Diet for Disease Prevention, about what foods TO eat for Healthy Living.

If we consider disease as a path to death, and health as a path to wellness and living life…then fat, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes type 2 are all consequences of choosing ‘death’ in our food.

CHOOSE LIFE!

Deut 30:19 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:

Deut 30:20 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.

The Bible does have a few things to say about what we eat….not just the legalistic following of the Jewish Kosher Diet.

The first thing – is fasting.

Deut 29:5-6 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I [am] the LORD your God.

Part of the Israelites’ process in the wilderness was not eating bread nor drinking alcohol.  It was part of knowing that God was their LORD.

Isaiah talks about reasons for fasting:

Is 58:5 NIV Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?

Is 58:6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is 58:7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

God doesn’t want fasting for fasting sake…but there is a promise for fasting to set the oppressed free…and break every yoke.  Consider fasting as part of your sacrifice to God.  There are many studies about it’s benefit…one is The Daniel Fast.

That brings me to a variation on fasting, the Daniel Fast, taken from Daniel 1, where Daniel refused to eat anything other than plant based foods, and water.

This book, The Genesis Diet, by Gordon Tessler, explains a lot about the types of food from the garden.

BUT HEAR THIS!!!! After the flood – God gave MEAT to man to eat!!!! Genesis 9

Romans 14 & 1 Corinthian 8 handles many of the discussions about what to eat.

And if anyone tells you that you should NOT eat meat…it is a doctrine of a demon! 1 Tim 4:1-5

1 Tim 4:1 -2 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

1 Tim 4:3-5 Forbidding to marry, [and commanding] to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

My point, in all of this, is that God is interested in what we eat.  And it IS between US and God…

Rom 14:5 Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. with

Rom 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

It is IMPORTANT, because we are putting it into HIS temple – because WE are the temple of the Holy Spirit!

1 Cor 3:16 – 17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.

I admit, I’m in an Egypt of eating, I have idols of food, I have addictions to additives.  I confess that I am the temple of the Holy Ghost, and that I want the Godhead to dwell in me fully!  And I have read how carefully crafted the temple items were made that were put into the Tabernacle and Temple.  I admit, I do not take that much care, nor do I take care of myself as if I AM the temple of the Almighty God.

Exodus

Captivity. Slavery. Bondage. IDOLATRY.

It just kind of happened.

But what do I do now?

2 Cor 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2 Cor 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Glutton is sin.  It is one of the most accepted, if not THE most accepted sin in the church today.  God commands me to put off sin…tear down the strongholds and high places and go no more to them.  For me…that means….Wendy’s.  Yes – I’ve said it.  That means to NOT start up the Steak-n-Shake habit again.  No more drive through Cinnabon Pecan messes.  BECAUSE they pull me down a path I do not want to go!

Pr 23: 2-3 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [be] a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful meat.

Remember the verse – let every man be persuaded in their own mind.  I have no problem passing cigarette displays.  I have no problem passing Captain Morgan or a Budwieser Poster.  I do have a problem passing the apple pie at Krogers!

My definition of idol is anything that comes between ME and God.  I am going to have to adjust it.

Idol: Anything that comes between me and God, or hinders my ability to be ready when God calls me.

Idolotry: choosing anything over what God has asked of me.

Ps 106:36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

1 Sam 15:23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee….

But with confession, with repentance, comes forgiveness.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do [them].

My life is a living sacrifice to God. I do not know why I thought eating didn’t have anything to do with it! The great thing about God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, is that HE loves me enough to continue to call me further on and further in!

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.

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