The Price....

Everything comes with a price. I used to tell this to my son all the time when he was a teenager.. every choice we make comes with a price - a consequence. It took him time to learn this. There is NO easy way out. If you want to truly walk with Christ, there is no easy way. You can't just sit in church or watch a few "christian" studies and be strong with the Lord. A great relationship with God takes work... you need to open up the Bible, read it and pray. The price for doing this is a deep relationship with God, which is priceless. The price for not doing this is a mediocore walk with God with no real fruit being seen. Jesus paid the ultimate price for our freedom to have a relationship with him.. are you willing to do the "work" to have the ultimate relationship with him?

Reminders....

This week I'd like to just give you a few reminders from the Lord.....



1.   God has NOT forgotten you.... he has a plan for you

    For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper                   you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future 
                 Jeremiah 29:10-12 (in Context) 


2.  God wants you to CALL upon him and ask him for what you need

           Jeremiah 33:3

            New International Version (NIV)

        ³ ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable      things you do not know.’

3.  God has a special GIFT for you...the gift of eternal life through his son, Jesus Christ

           Romans 6:23

           New International Version (NIV)

     ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal lifein^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Remember...

I'm sure you are all aware that yesterday was 9/11... you couldn't possibly miss all the reminders on radio, tv, Facebook and everywhere else to "remember"... one thing we as humans have a hard time with is remembering. The word remember is in the bible 148 times... 16 times alone in the book of Deuteronomy... God knows that we are forgetful people... thus always the encouragement to remember. We even were given a physical reminder to remember that died for us - communion.. the only physical action we are encouraged to do "in remembrance of me"... So today.. I want you to remember why you started this transformation (inside and out) in the first place..bring yourself back to that moment.. and I hope it encourages you to keep going.. I may not be getting very far very fast..but I am committed to keep moving on this journey... I hope you are too.

Commitment...

Just thinking on the topic of commitment today... to bettering our health and with our walk with the Lord. There are many people who just think that church and God are "good" things to do.. but I'm not sure that in 2013 we understand truly what being committed is. Webster defines it as:

1 a : an act of committing to a charge or trust: as (1) : a consignment to a penal or mental institution (2) : an act of referring a matter to a legislative committee
b : mittimus
2
a : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially : an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date
b : something pledged
c : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled <a commitment to a cause

Any relationship relies on commitment to survive... years ago divorce was unheard of..you made a commitment and you stuck with it. Now it's at an all time high. I find that many christians say they want to follow Christ... but they really don't want to be committed. They want a convenient relationship with Christ.. they want to follow him when it's easy to do, but most will live together before marriage, drink, do drugs and put Christ aside when it's convenient to do so.

So what does the Lord want from us? Micah 6:8 says it -
"But to do justly, and to love mercy.. and to walk humbly with our God."

I must say, I'm thankful I have a more committed relationship with my walk with Christ than I do with my workouts... I struggle each week with this, and will be working on my commitment level both physically and spiritually.

Mosiacs

As I was sitting in my yard enjoying the last of this nice summer weather, I had some time to think about what God does in our lives. Often my life looks like a big mess of broken pieces... but then I am reminded that my God is a God who specializes in fixing lives... I guess we always think that he's going to put the pieces back together to make us back into what we were before we were broken... but that isn't the case... he takes our broken pieces..puts them into a beautiful mosaic and creates something NEW.... so if you're having a tough time...feeling broken... take heart in knowing that God has great plans for those broken pieces..he's working to create something new in you... that will be even better and more beautiful than before. And just like a stained glass window mosaic... his light will shine through the pieces and show the beauty.

Do what you Can...

6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” Mark 14:7-9




Sometimes as women we hold ourselves to high standards..we have to get everything done..and do it perfectly. We feel like failures if we do not accomplish this. Take to heart the words of Jesus when he was talking about the anointing by Mary... "She did what she could"... Jesus knows that we cannot do everything perfectly- only he could do that. We will have days where we won't exercise the time we wanted or eat the way we wanted to... just remember that is is ok to do what you can. That's all that's expected. Tomorrow is always a new day with a full serving of grace.. for today... we do what we can.

Are you a Mary or a Martha?

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”



We all know about Mary and Martha... Martha was the "busy" one who complained to Jesus about Mary who chose to sit and listen to Jesus. I think we're supposed to be a balance of the two... as women we are usually busy putting others needs above our own... Jesus says its okay to be a Mary and take take for ourselves for what is important. Spending time in the WORD is important... making sure to take time each day to exercise for OURSELVES is important... so make sure you take the time you need for yourself... it's ok...

So everyone...are you are a Mary...or a Martha?????

This is a great book if you'd like to dig deeper in Mary/Martha life lessons.....

Beauty

Have you found yourself confused by the worlds view of beauty?? I think that is because no one is ever really happy with they way they are.... the gossip magazines are criticizing one celebrity because they are too fat and in the same pages are concerned another one is too thin. No one seems to know where to draw the line. I've been listening to Amy Grant's new album and one of the songs says " You're lovely even with your scars".. what powerful words that we don't hear often enough. Most times we hear..you could be beautiful "if"... scars are part of who we are... just like wrinkles and gray hair... and only God can take those scars and see something beautiful. Now if we can just learn to see ourselves as God sees us, we'd all be better off. As we start this journey, remember... God created us, know us, and loves us even with our scars. Today I will pray that our scars will become part of this framework of a healthy body and healthy mind..and be beautiful to us as well.

Welcome ...

Hi everyone... I hope this is a place where you can come and be inspired along this faith journey in life.  It isn't always easy, but the Lord says he will always be with us.   We have to trust that his promises are true... and many times that requires walking in faith.  

Feel free to comment and share...let's inspire each other together in our walk with the Lord...