The Trials of Life

Well, things in my world are going good for the most part but they do say when it rains it pours...LOL! Now, I am not all about complaining but times are tough....but good.....if you know what I mean. I am blessed! God is good to me! When I look around I can see His love everywhere and I praise Him! With that being said, I know that I can get through anything because God will not put anything to hard for Him in my life and He is the one that will be handling the things I am unable to handle to I just give it to Him....it is all we can do and at the same time it is the most powerful things we can do. Praise God!

We are told time and time again in His Word that He will work things out for us....that we don't have to worry!

Romans 8:28 tells us that it is all for our good, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that we will never be tempted in a way that we can't endure. So when we are tempted we should immediately be looking for a way out because we know that God has given it to us, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with that temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us straight out that we are NOT going to understand everything. This tells me that there are times we HAVE to walk by faith because God knows what is best always. He will make our paths straight....if we listen to Him He WILL guide us....but we HAVE to listen to HIM....NOT our own understanding. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."

Then if you read Psalms 34:17-20, James 1:12, and Philippians 4:19 you will see that no matter what you are going through He is with you. All you need to do is cry out to Him. This doesn't mean that you will never have troubles. Quite the opposite....Jesus is saying that you WILL have trouble....that is what these verses are for. To let you know that He is with you through those troubles.

Psalm 34:17-20, "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saved such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken."

James 1:12, "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

Philippians 4:19, "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

I hold on to these verses when I am going through trying times. There are so many more....the Bible is full of promise and encouragement. Praise God that He loves us so much that He gives us these promises knowing that we can accomplish nothing without Him.

Though my life is blessed and completely and totally awesome is has its problems, as all of our lives do. I am behind in my school work. My bro in law is in the hospital. I have an alcoholic in my life that makes thing difficult. There are NOT enough hours in a day. I don't have a home church right now and am searching and waiting on God. I am a single woman doing more than many married women do. I have people on all sides expecting different things from me. MAN IT IS STRESSFUL!

But, none of that really matters so long as I can make Jesus smile, and we all can! He wants our love and obedience....that is all. He takes care of the rest. Praise God that He keeps promises and that He loves us and that He handles all the hard stuff. Being a Christian is the best thing ever! Thank You Father for sending Your Son on the cross to die for my sins. I know that without Him I would be totally and completely lost!

Have a blessed day!

My New Favorite Website!

Click here for my new fav website:
Bedashed: Praise to the Lord!

 

Have you ever wanted to have a place to keep all your thoughts and prayers and also listen to worship music and watch sermons and shout out praises! Yea...me either....LOL! I mean, I wasn't really looking for this when I found it, but I guess that was mainly because I didn't know it existed. I was just looking for on online prayer journal because I can stay focused better when I am typing because I can type faster than I can write. But I didn't want to just have a word document or something because with my luck I would lose it or something and I wanted to be able to look back at my past prayer requests. So, this is how I ended up finding this site and IT IS GREAT! I read the devos they post every day and there are really good reads. It also offers and Bible reading plan. I don't follow that plan though because I already had a plan on my phone that I was following....but I looked at it and the plan looks great for anyone that doesn't already have  a Bible reading plan. Anyway, check the site...I love it and I hope you will too!

 

Be blessed!

*~Dawn~*

Well, I am back at it! I know that I said in an older post that I am not runner and I suppose that is true but I can JOG! I am actually on Week 5 of the C25K program and it feels GREAT! I am doing it on the treadmill and it actually keeps me pushing a little harder. When I am just running outside I can slow down as I go but on the treadmill I walk at a pace of 2.5 and I jog at a pace of 4.3, no slowing down or speeding up...the treadmill keeps me accountable for sure. Now, if anyone has walked or ran on a treadmill they know that 4.2 isn't exactly a speedy pace but you know what, it is MY pace! Do what you can...doing something is ALWAYS better than doing nothing. I am signed up for my first 5K on June 28, 2014. I am doing the color run and I can't wait! I really won't be done with my training by then but that is okay. I am going to take it slow and enjoy myself. God gave me this body to live in while here in the natural and I am going to take care of it and have fun doing it! Be blessed!

It has been awhile

Just looked in at my blogs and realized that I haven't posted anything since 2013. Does that mean nothing has been going on? Oh no....it is actually just the opposite! I have been too busy to be blogging! School has got me running in circles and I am just now getting a very much needed break. Hanna is on break also, this has been a trying year for us both....actually, a trying few years! But I have learned and grown more in the last few years than I ever thought possible. If anyone had told me some years ago that I would be where I am today I would not have believed them. God is has brought me so far and is so good to me.

I am still going to Liberty, working on my MDiv in Professional Ministries. I am just taking two classes a semester so it is taking some time to get to get it completed but with God's help, I will get it done. What God has planned for me after I graduate, only He knows.

I am also still homeschooling my Hanna. We finally bought an online curriculum. I miss planning the curriculum myself but it has been super helpful. It has freed me up so that I can do my school while she does hers and then we can have time to work together and play together and go on missions together. It just frees us up so that we can really live out this life God has blessed us with!

Well, I do promise to start back with my blogging since I am finally getting a bit freed up....been setting some boundaries so that I can make first things first as God would have me do...

Be blessed!

The Important Things in Life :)

 

 

God has been doing some super and amazing things in my life recently. Well, He always does, we know that….but recently what He has been telling me and showing me I have tried my best to heed. I am making an attempt to really listen and learn and apply what He is showing me. I am taking a Spiritual Formation class right now at Liberty and I am loving it! I took Spiritual Formation at Mt. Olive but I was sooooo not ready for it then. Don’t get me wrong, I learned a lot even then…but not like now.

It still amazes me that I graduated with a degree in Religion and was not even saved. I actually started Seminary AND planned and to go on a mission trip overseas because I was even saved (I had very good intentions but you know what they say about good intentions…). I guess Satan knew what was going to happen in those days because the attacks started and boy oh boy was it ever hard. I mean…not just hard, but impossible. Have any of you tried to fight the evil one without Jesus? Yea….that was me. Trying to do all ‘I’ could do! HA! I suggest NEVER doing that. If you know don’t God and you haven’t been building that relationship that your Lord and Savior that He so badly wants to have with you, please take a moment now to think about why and what you need to do. It is the most important thing in this life!

Well, on to what God has been showing me more recently. As I started this Spiritual Formation class I have been convicted about my time with God. And here it is…my confession…I have had NO time with God. Yes, I work in the church. I help people. I work with the children on Sundays and Wednesday. I work at the soup kitchen. I randomly pray here and there for those people in my life who are hurting. But is any of that really time with God? The answer I got when I asked that question was a big ol’ no! Wow!

So, what am I doing about this….I am taking time with my Lord every single day! I am getting up earlier to come to Him in prayer and to study His word. Do I miss that sleep? Well, when that alarm goes off YES! But once I get to talking to my Father and listening to what He has for me all thought of that lost sleep is gone. Spending time is with God is more important than sleep. Do you hear what I am saying? I mean, answer this question: Is God more important than anything else in this life? I am sure many of you would say yes BUT then in the next thought you probably put sleep above Him…and eating above Him…and your job above Him….and your family above Him. I know we don’t do it on purpose but we DO it EVERYDAY! You make time in your life for what you really and truly want to do….it is time to make time in life for the One that provides for us all we need to be doing the very things we love. If it were not for Him we could do nothing.

Get up 15 minutes earlier to give that time in prayer to God.

Spend your lunch reading His Word instead of gossiping with friends.

Spend your evenings in prayer or in Bible study instead of staring at the TV screen.

Plan time for family devotions.

Read a chapter in the Bible a day instead of spending that time on social media.

Take a look at your life and decide what is more important….yourself or God.

Be blessed!

 

My thoughts on Psalm 5

Psa 5:1-12
(1) For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by the flute.
O LORD, hear me as I pray;
pay attention to my groaning.
(2) Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for I pray to no one but You.

Something is weighting heavy on David's heart as we can see from verse one. He is groaning. In verse two he is crying out for help. Whatever is bothering him he knows he cannot handle it all by himself. He needs God's help in this situation. He affirms in verse two that God is the only One he prays to and the only one that can help.

Prayer comes in many forms. I can groan and cry out to my God. Emotions should not rule over us but they can affect the way we pray. Also, God is the only One we should pray to. This also reminds me that He is the first One that we ought to run to. ..before family or friends.

(3) Listen to my voice
in the morning, LORD.
Each morning
I bring my requests to You and
wait expectantly.

David prays every morning. The NRSV says that he pleads his case to the Lord in the morning. The NLT says he bring the Lord his requests in the morning. The MSG says he lays out the pieces of his life on the alter every morning. Then David looks up and waits. This is his morning routine. He says in "the morning" showing this is what he does every single morning....not just the morning this was written....

Everywhere God is pointing me toward shows God leading me towards starting my day with Him. This is what He wants and it is also my desire. I will start my day with my Father giving everything to Him....every part of me....and then I will wait and go ONLY where he leads.

(4) O God,
You take no pleasure in wickedness;
You cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked.
(5) Therefore,
the proud may not stand in Your presence, for
You hate all who do evil.
(6) You will destroy those who tell lies.
The LORD
detests murderers and deceivers.

God hates evil in a way that I can't imagine. I cannot love as God loves but I also cannot hate as God hates. It says God hates all who do evil. Those who do evil are the enemy of God. I can see them as His enemy but cannot see Him hating them. God teaches to love one's enemy. I believe a better translation would have been that those who do evil are God's enemy.

In seeing how much God hates sin and how it says he will destroy the evil doers I can rest in the fact that God's got it covered. When someone wrongs me or someone that I love, I don't have to worry about fixing it or making it right (revenge). I don't even have to be angry. God will make it right in the end.

(7) Because of Your unfailing love,
I can enter Your house;
I will worship at Your Temple with deepest awe.

David knew that on his own he had NO right to enter God's house or worship in His Temple. It was only through the Lords unfailing love that this was possible. Because of God's mercy and David's holy fear and reverence.

I must constantly remind myself that I also have NO rights. All I do and can do is solely because of the Lord and His love for me and mercy on me. This includes every single part of my life. I would have and be nothing if it were not because of my Father.

(8) Lead me in the right path, O LORD,
Make Your way plain for me to follow.
or my enemies will conquer me.

When David said for God to make the path 'right' he was asking God to show him His way. The righteous way. God (Jesus) is the way, truth, and the life. We must go that way for freedom and to evade our enemies. This means following God's laws and direction. David is asking God for discernment so that he will know the best way. The only way.

I need to never make a move without talking to God and asking for His direction.
I need to stay in His Word to learn His laws and what He expects from me.

(9) My enemies
cannot speak a truthful word.
Their deepest desire is to destroy others.
Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
Their tongues are filled with flattery.
(10) O God,
[My enemies still...]
declare them guilty.
Let them be caught in their own traps.
Drive them away because of their many sins,
for they have rebelled against You.

I can see how very small I am in comparison to God and all that He has and wants from me. He know what I am capable of when I submit to Him. I am capable only in His power. When I am not in His power (His will) I will fail...I will trap and destroy myself!

Up to this point David has humbled himself before the Lord. He knows he is not worthy but He also knows he is a friend of God and he sees his enemies as God's enemies, which they are. In v9 he describes his enemies in detail and in v10 he asks for their destruction. He knows they will destroy themselves with their own evil ways. He knows that we must have God's protection and forgiveness to not destroy ourselves.

I can also be caught in my own traps and destroyed by my own devices if I do not come to the understanding and belief of God's sovereignty over my life. I cannot do anything on my own. I must follow God in all things or I also will rebel. The only way for me to know God and know what he expects is by spending time with Him in prayer and in His word.

(11) But let all who take refuge in You
rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread Your protection over them,
that all who love Your name may be
filled with joy.
(12) For You bless the godly, O LORD;
You surround them with Your shield of love.

David is praying for a blessing over God's people. He knew that God would always love and protect His people. David refers to the people that God will bless as godly or righteous. It is only through God that we can ever be godly or righteous. We cannot do this on our own ever. We must seek God in all things and allow Him complete control over our lives.

If we want God's blessing we must strive to be like Him. Jesus tells us all to follow Him. He is our example. There is no way to follow such an example without God's wisdom in us. This only comes from the Lord through prayer, His word, and all of the many spiritual disciplines that He calls us to.

Running....ugh!

Well, I haven’t ran in a couple of days and guess what! My back doesn’t hurt! This is just one example of how we push ourselves to do things that aren’t even what we want or need to be doing. Don’t get me wrong…I love to exercise. I love working out and spin class and swimming and hiking and long walks but I AM NOT A RUNNER! So why in the world do I run all the time?!? That is a very good question and is exactly what this post is about.

We need to learn to be who we are…who God intended us to be…no more…no less. Each and every one of us is different. We aren’t all going to be small, or tall, or have long beautiful hair, or….be a super running star….LOL! I mean, if I think back to my past I remember that running is one of the main reasons I got out of the military and it has been my nemesis ever since. I have realized that I am trying to prove to myself that I can run because I have been told and made to feel for so long that I could not run. Well, maybe I just don’t want to. I don’t have to do something just because it is what others are doing. I have so many friends running in the next 5k and I just didn’t want to be the one who couldn’t. But, here is the thing…I CAN do it! But, I just don’t want to….running HURTS!

When I feel like I can’t do something then I want to do it all the more…always trying to prove myself. Of course, for me…I try to prove that I am super woman which I am NOT! We ALL live differently and not one way is right or wrong. We have to stop doing what the world thinks we should be doing!

So….I am from this moment forward embracing gentle nutrition along with gentle exercise (both I.E. principles). There is no reason to harm myself just to stay healthy. Live well and strong in what you know is best for you J