One shot….would you capture it?

I’ve been reading a book on money. The premise behind the book is not how to get rich quick but instead it teaches basic key principles for allowing your money to work for you, rather than you working for your money. The main principle I took from the book is really applicable throughout my life.

Live doesn’t happen over a period of a day but many days all tied together. Everything about life is a process, and anything really worth value in life takes time and effort.

I was running yesterday and one of the songs on my current iPod playlist is Eminem’s, Loose Yourself. The beginning lyrics go like this….

Look, if you had, one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment
Would you capture it, or just let it slip?

This idea of one shot, one opportunity, it happens to us over and over and over again throughout our life, and because of this reoccurring I think we have  a tendency to let important moments pass by. Especially if it requires long term effort. We will worry about our debt tomorrow, we will make up with our spouses tomorrow, we will spend time with our kids tomorrow, we will spend quiet time with God tomorrow, we will witness to our co-worker tomorrow. I’m guilty of this and it’s really convicting me. I don’t want to wake up one day and have a bad marriage, or be in debt to my eyeballs, or not know my children, or worse yet not know God or have lived for him. If I wait till tomorrow it’s just another day I could have seized a moment God has given me. I feel lazy, selfish, complacent. I want to live life like there is no tomorrow. I don’t want to fear tomorrow, I don’t want to wait till tomorrow.

God give me the energy, courage, and strength to choose today, everyday! Please, give me your eyes Lord, to see the work you are giving me today, and the wisdom to know how to approach that work with a Godly purpose. Let the insignificant become invisible to my eyes and my heart. Let my love for you shine through to every person you bring into my path today. Help me seize everything you want in this moment, I want to capture it! – Amen

The Thorn…

I’ve been blogging quite a bit on trials lately. It seems foreign to me yet to think of my trials as blessings. I’ve always been intrigued by Paul’s thorn. In 2nd Corinthians Paul is telling the story of his trip to the third heaven and the majesty he experienced. He has truly seen the other side, true paradise in all its wonders, to the point of being inexpressible. And he realizes the privilege he has not only in this experience, but in the trust and closeness to God that he might even share moments with him. YOU get the depth of Paul’s understanding the greatness of God, especially in comparison to his own life.

2Co 12:7-10 NIV To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I find a few interesting points about this passage.

• The Greek translation of this thorn in the flesh seems to indicate Paul was inflicted with a physical ailment
• At the time of this writing a physical ailment was commonly attributed to spiritual attack by Satan
• Paul makes a positive tie from his physical ailment to his need to maintain humility as if God has given him this ailment as a gift to help him maintain humility
• Paul asked the Lord to take away this thorn
• God responds as to why he will leave the thorn, he is choosing the best path for Paul
• Through the thorn God humbles Paul
• That humility helps Paul grasp God’s power over his life
• God’s power is perfect when we are weak – we become his perfect instruments

Questions and application to draw from this passage:

• Know that God brings us trials, physical and otherwise to bring us close to him, to help us rely on him, and not on ourselves
• I must remember that God’s power is the strongest when I am at my weakest. That said, I should pay attention to my surroundings in the midst of trials to see God work and to allow the sanctification process to happen.
• Through my recent studies (and blogs) scripture tells me I need to take my requests and anxieties to God, that his burden (versus my own) is light, and most importantly, God knows what we can bear, and will always provide me a way out of temptation

Are you a worrier?

I get a parenting newsletter from Crosswalk. One of the recent articles was about mom’s and their worry for their children. It identified a book (Running Scared) by Ed Welch and his biblical solution to our worry and fear. He explains that we need to fear more, but it’s God we need to fear. For “when you fear the Lord, there is not much else to fear.” The example he gave was pretty logical and powerful.

Dr. Welch illustrates:

“If you are trained in medicine and have parented five children, you aren’t going to worry when your neighbor asks you to watch her ten-year-old for twenty minutes. If you really want to fight fear, learn to fear someone who captures your attention in such a way that your other fears suddenly seem pedestrian and unimportant.”

But there’s more. When we learn to fear God, we will actually be protecting our children. Proverbs 14:26 says, “He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.”

I did some digging to find out more of what the Bible says about fearing God.

What to do in a trial – Part 3? – Have faith and do not doubt!

Do not doubt – (James 1:6-7) – We must ask for God’s wisdom, but when we ask, we must truly believe God will answer as He promises. In Matthew Jesus explains the power of genuine faith.

Matthew 21:18-22 “Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Notice the contrast he identified up front in his response. We cannot have faith and doubt at the same time. There is no gray area. With genuine faith Jesus explains the most difficult of circumstance can be moved. Some wonder if he actually meant moving a physical mountain. In that age, the phrase to move mountains was common among the Jewish, however is moving a physical mountain more miraculous than healing the sick or raising the dead, of which Jesus’ disciples were capable.

One thing I fight with in keeping my faith is being patient with God’s timing. When Jesus explained how we must have faith and not doubt, he didn’t say we are to have faith and not doubt until God responds, or until we get through our trials. For us that can sometimes seem like a lifetime. The devil can sometimes have his way with me while I wait. Sometimes I doubt, then I remember God’s timing and ways are not my ways (Isaiah 55:8). God wants us to wait on him. In fact the Bible tells us we are to be blessed if we wait on him.

Isaiah 30:18 NIV Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

What to do in a trial – Part 2? – Ask for wisdom!

Ask for wisdom - (James 1:5) – Do you find it coincidental that James explains the purpose of testing our faith and then in the next verse tells us to ask God if we need his wisdom. The purpose of the testing is to perfect us. (James 1:4). So we know we need to be tested, but at the same time he’s saying God will provide us wisdom for the testing. Wow…I had to stop and think about that for a second. God is the one giving the test, and he gives us the wisdom we need to pass the test. It even says he gives generously. Think about what college would have been like having a teacher who gave wisdom generously, especially when it came to tests. *smile*

What should I expect to see in the way of wisdom from God?

James 3:17 “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

I asked God for wisdom this week as I approached a simple trial. During my quiet time one morning I read Matthew.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

At the time Jesus speaks these words the Jewish people he speaks too are struggling to meet the law, to be free of their sin and be approachable to God. Jesus is explaining a new way, one that is much easier. They only had to believe in him, and his sacrifice, and they would no longer be bound by Satan, sin, or the evils of this world. But there is more. Jesus explains himself as gentle and humble at heart, again quite a contrast to their current spiritual leaders.

That morning as I read those versus I started thinking about my own trial. I began thinking of my own response during this trial. Honestly, my initial response was anger. As I examined my anger, I am embarrassed to say I felt I deserved better, which I realized is extremely prideful. All the sudden the light went on as I read the Matthew verse again. Anger and pride are complete opposite reactions to the gentle and humble characteristics of Christ. I realized that when I am angry and prideful I labor mentally and I’m frustrated, and I struggle. I started thinking about other trials I had responded by giving them to God to handle while I waited patiently. Where I have been able to give the circumstance to God while acting with the meekness and humility of Christ, things quickly became smooth, even, peaceable, and quiet.

So to summarize;
We enter a trial, we must realize it’s God testing our faith to perfect us. We should have joy knowing God is here with us, he knows exactly how we feel and how much we can bear, he provides us a way out, and his wisdom, should we ask for it will be pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

What to do in a trial- Part 1? – Consider it joy!

Life has its ups and downs. I typically have no problems taking the good times in stride but I’ll be honest, I sometimes struggle with even small trials. Lately God is helping me gain the proper perspective with trials. My morning routine includes spending time with Him, even just 30 minutes is making a difference in how I approach my day. Today’s post is just a snippet of scripture God has provided me this week as I’ve tackled a trial. I hope to post more as I get time. Like always, I’d love to hear your experience with trials and how God has worked in your life.

When trials come…what does God’s word tell us?

Consider it joy - (James 1:2-4) – James teaches us that we should feel joy knowing our circumstance is on purpose, and from God. I was asked two very important questions that really helped me put this into perspective. Does God make mistakes? No, Is he in control of my life? Yes

The Bible says God has numbered EVERY hair on our head. You can bet He is fully in control of our circumstance. 1 Corinthians tells us He will not let us be pushed beyond what we can bear. So we don’t have the excuse of saying God I can’t handle this. He knows exactly what we can handle. And we can have JOY in knowing that through this trial he is perfecting us (James 1:4, Phillipians 1:6).

Is God really still active in our lives? Do you live like it?

I had someone pose this question to me the other day, and it has really stuck in my mind. I’m studying theology through a free seminary program. Throughout the courses I’ve taken so far we have spent a fair amount of time talking about worldviews. I think this one is worth blogging. Let me start by defining a few terms.

Worldview - A worldview consists of a series of assumptions/presuppositions that a person holds about reality. A worldview, consciously or subconsciously, affects the way a person evaluates every aspect of reality. Every person adheres to some sort of worldview, although one person may not be as consciously aware of it as another person. These presuppositions affect the thinking of every person in the world. It logically follows that the way a person thinks affects what a person does. The term worldview refers to any ideology, philosophy, theology, movement, or religion that provides an overarching approach to understanding God, the world, and man’s relations to God and the world. See the full definition of worldview here.

Below are two worldviews, there are others:

Theist - (e.g. Jew, Christian, Muslem) A theist believe in one supreme God, who created the universe and still has complete control and interacts with it.

Deist – A deist has a theistic believe that that same supreme God exists and created the universe, but does not intervene or interact in its day to day operation. It’s kind of like God created the universe and walked away from it.

So, to the question. Jen, what is your worldview? As a believer in Jesus Christ, I’d default to being a theist, but in reality I have to admit I live my life too often as a deist. What do I mean by that? I believe in one supreme God, who created the universe, is still in control and interacts with ever aspect of that universe today. But I will admit there are too many days in my life I confess to be a theist living as a deist. That bugs me. :\

I will admit my prayer life has a tendency to follow my life circumstance. Are you like this? I pray a lot when I need God, but some days I fall back into the self sufficient tendency and forget God is still very much involved in my daily life.

Over the new few posts I’m going to dig into this more. Hope you will challenge yourself to do the same. What is your worldview? Can others tell by the way you live your life?

Wisdom from the Wave

I stumbled on to this article. Laird Hamilton shares 10 life lessons learned from surfing. Thought you might enjoy. I so love it when people are so passionate about what they do in life it defines them.

1. KNOW THAT YOU ARE A SPECK ON THE WATER. “The ocean’s vastness reminds you of your insignificance. It’s like a grounder. The ocean has been around long before people got here and will be here long after. The humility you learn from being in the ocean is a constant reminder of your vulnerability.”
2. GO BIG OR GO HOME. “You can’t kind of catch a wave. You either catch it or you don’t. It’s a commitment. That’s just like anything else — you either go or you don’t. He who hesitates is lost in the end.”
3. LISTEN TO YOUR GUT. “You have a feeling about things. You think something doesn’t feel right, then you look and see a shark. As a species, humans are growing away from listening to their instinct. It’s a learned skill based on survival and then reacting. The more you listen to your instinct and then react to it, the more you awaken the spirit, and that helps you make good decisions, no matter where you are.”
4. PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE. “People talk about their problems. Stuck in traffic? That’s not a problem. Don’t know how you’re going to pay your bills? Not a [life-or-death] problem. A problem is when you’re 80 miles offshore and have no way to get back.”
5. KEEP LEARNING. “Surfing is probably one of the most difficult sports. There are no referees, no timeouts. [The waves don't] care about your bank account, your ancestry, your intelligence. It’s just you working the water. And the more I learn, the more I don’t know. That’s an ocean lesson.”
6. BE DETERMINED. “With determination, most things will be quite easy. You go out and get hammered by a wave and then by another one and another one, and you think, ‘OK, I’m still here.’ And then you get a good wave, and you’ve made it. The one thing that’s great about surfing is that there’s no right or wrong way. ”
7. DON’T GET STALE. “Ideas [about new surfing techniques and new sports] come out of boredom and my desire to be passionate. You have to figure out ways to make things exciting and interesting. When something I’ve been doing for a while becomes popular, I’m beyond it. So by default, I end up being different. It’s that whole desire to keep inspiring and keep renewing your passion.”
8. DON’T JUDGE. “The ocean is non-judgmental. It doesn’t differentiate between you and the next guy. I want to be a little more like the ocean — not judging people who have an opinion. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that we’re all equal before a wave.”

Who am I video?

I love it when people put creative thought into visualizing a great worship song..take a look. *smile* and have a blessed day!!

Did you know your teeth could be telling about your health?

Check out this article…my dentist tipped me onto the fact my teeth maybe telling the tale about my health. Thank God I have good teeth!

http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=4647&Section=DISEASE&source=DHB_061124&key=Body+ContinueReading