Jeremiah 29:13 ESV
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 ESV There is something so mesmerizing about the morning. As I am sitting on my porch listening to the stillness of the morning I am focusing on what God is telling me to do. This picture I am seeing reminds me of our relationship with Him. The sun is barely out. The fog is covering the ground. The trees are so still. Not a bit of movement. The sky is a clear light blue color. The moon is shinning so bright. Everything is so quiet and still. Waiting to come alive with the morning sun. Isn't this exactly the way it is when we do not know God or maybe we feel far from God? We are living in this state of stillness. We may feel lost, lonely, unsure of who we are. As the sun starts to make its way out you can see the aliveness of the earth. The fog starts to settle. A beam of sun hits one of the trees and you see the trees start to come alive. They are swaying back and forth. The birds begin to chirp. The more the sun comes out the louder the birds sing. Wow, this reminds me so much of our relationship with our Lord and Savior. Once we accept Him and see the love He has for us then we come alive just like the trees and the birds do when the sun hits them. God's light is the sun. It shines upon us and once we accept it then we shine so bright like the morning sun. The Lord brought me to Jeremiah 29 this morning. He says to me, "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you." God is so good to us. With each new day that brings the light of the sun think of it as a new day for you to bring the light that God has given you to shine on others. Take time to sit and listen to what He is calling you to do. He has plans for us all. He wants us all to seek Him. Only when we seek Him and find Him will our purpose be known to us. He is the only one to bring you out of captivity.
0 Comments
When I look back on my life, I am amazed sometimes that I am alive and have made it where I am today. To me it means that God is not done with me yet. He still has work for me to do on this Earth. I have had a lot of trials in my life. Most of them were my own doing but by the grace of God I was pulled out of the dark path I was on when I was younger. A path of self destruction. I am sure a lot of us have been or are on that path now. The most important lesson to be learned is that God is always with us. He is wanting to pull us out but we have to be the ones to grab a hold of His hand. His hand is right there at our reach. We must let go of our insecurities, self doubt, low confidence. We must grab His hand and have a confidence that will push away all the negativeness that takes over our minds. We must have a God confidence. As I was reading in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, I realized that there is a purpose in my sufferings. I have grown closer to God. I have been able to share my testimony with others who are hurting. I have learned that we suffer now but one day when our journey on Earth is over we will not suffer any more. I want to live this life in a way to make God proud. Yes, in my previous years I lived for myself but now I live for God. I want to know that when my time is up and I am standing before God I will hear Him say ,"job well done my faithful daughter." It does not matter what your past may be filled with. It is never to late to feel the love of Christ. He can erase everything bad in your past. He can bring a light to your present and future life that will be like nothing else you have experienced. All you have to do is except Him as your Father. Except that He is your Lord and Savior. You will see how He can transform your soul. He is right there waiting for you to grab a hold of His hand. It is never to late and that I thank God for every day. “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT Job 1 “Be prepared to let go of anything I take from you, but never let go of My hand! As I was reading in Job, the Lord says to satan,”Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Job 1: 12. Before this encounter, the Lord was telling satan that there was no other man like Job. He is blameless in the eyes of God. Satan told God that if Job had everything taken away from him then he would curse the Lord. God knew Job’s heart so He took everything from Job. He took his land, family, herds and flocks. What did Job do? He praised the Lord. He did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Job had a heart for others. He loved his family but most importantly he loved God. The devil is always out roaming this earth. He is trying to intercede between God and us. It is so refreshing to know that He cannot have us. We have God in our hearts and with God the devil has no foothold on us. Reading Job makes me think of the times in my life when I was not in a close relationship with God. I was so easily swayed. I was a follower and not a leader. I made choices that should of destroyed my life. Now, I look back and I see the path I was on has led me to where I am. I can literally say that I was saved by the grace of God. I was on a path of self destruction and only He could save me. As I have aged and went through life, I have been faced with difficulties that only God has brought me through. I have to thank Him daily for never leaving me when I was so lost and disobedient. He pulled me out of that life because He knew I could only get through what was coming my way with Him beside me. If you are struggling with your current lifestyle, struggling with the past, struggling to put one foot in front of the other because you feel like your world has been flipped upside down then you need to lay it down at the Cross. Jesus loves you know matter what you have done or will do. He will pull you out of the trenches. You have to let go and let Him take the wheel . God, you love us. You really do. I see it written all in your Word. I see it in my life. Lord, you know the trials I have been dealt in my life. I have come out of them for one reason and one reason alone. That reason is YOU. You know my heart and you know exactly what you are calling me to do. Everything I have faced in life and will face will get me closer to living your purpose for my life. I thank you for always being with me. I thank you for saving me when I did not think I could be saved. I love you. In Christ’s name I pray, Amen As I am sitting here writing this I am in tears. God has a way of reaching deep inside our hearts and revealing to us exactly what we need to hear. IT IS GOING TO BE OK. LIFE IS GOOD Amy Earley. These words I needed to hear from Him. We get so caught up in what is making us happy and we get less concerned with His will for us and what will make Him happy. I was reading my devotion this morning on contentment and let me tell you it came directly from God. I have been struggling with being content. I have felt like I am constantly swimming and barely staying a float. Drowning in my own desire for happiness. Why would I not be happy? I sat down and I wrote out all the blessings in my life. I am blessed to have a loving husband, daughter, family, friends. I am blessed to have an awesome job, co workers who make me smile, a job of helping others who are sick. I have a beautiful new home that I have not even had the chance to enjoy because I have been searching for this happiness in every little crevice. I have food, clothes, a car. I have a church that encourages me to grow deeper in the Word daily. I am apart of a ministry that I absolutely adore where we get to go into strip clubs and pour love into the ladies that work there. We get to show them the love of Christ and be that light they need. As I was sitting in my beautiful new living room, reading the Word, learning what it means to be content in life, my daughter woke up. I immediately went in there to cuddle her and rock her back to sleep. Tears streaming down my eyes because I have forgotten just how much God has blessed me. I prayed for her for years and now she is here and I get to hold her and snuggle her. I get to teach her about God and how good He is to us. I get to be a light for her as she grows up in this chaotic world. I am so thankful that God is showing me this because I have felt so lost lately. I could feel myself drifting further and further away and He knew that He was not going to let the happen. From here on out, I am letting GO and I am focusing on His love, His strength, His glory. Life is good and we need to never forget that. Jesus came to die for us so that we can be forgiven and live a life that is joyful. We get to be with our loved ones again. We get to be with Him in Heaven and here on earth. He is always with us. If you are struggling with life and trying to find happiness then it is time to sit down and write out what you are thankful for. Write out your blessings and thank God for each and every one of them. Write out your problems you are facing and give them over to God. He is the only one who can fix them.
Philippians 4: 10-13 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Soup screams cooler weather to me. I made this soup the other day and it was so quick and delicious. A real hit for the whole family. You can cook it in a crock pot and let it marinate or you can throw it together for a quick meal. I used my dutch oven and let it simmer.
1 lb chicken breasts 1-2 tbl coconut oil 1/2 onion 1/2 tomato 4 cups great northern beans 2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth 2 cups thick and chunky salsa (I used mild for a little kick) 1 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese 1 tbl Chopped cilantro •Boil or cook your chicken on the stove until done •If you boil chicken, shred after cooked. Sauté your onions with coconut oil until tender •If you cook chicken on stove cook with coconut oil and add onion • Add your chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, salsa to chicken and onions and let simmer for 20 mins •Add cheese and cilantro for your topping Enjoy:) Makes great left overs
7 months ago Beachbody came into my life for the second time. This time it came to stay . I signed up to be a coach in February because I was wanting to create a better life for my family. I was working full time Monday through Friday and felt like I never saw my husband or daughter. Since before my daughter was born I desired to stay home with her. The only way that would be possible was if I found a career I could do from home and make the same amount of income. To me that seemed like a long shot but I was determined to try. I said yes to Beachbody and jumped into coaching and working on my own fitness goals. Yes, it is possible to work on yourself while helping others. Little did I know the impact it would have on my life. A few weeks after I became a coach, I lost my mom in a car accident. She was my biggest supporter. I was determined to make her proud so I continued on coaching. God, my family/friends, coaching, and my team got me through the toughest 7 months of my life. Being a coach gave me a reason to stay positive and reach out to help others which in turn has helped me. My team has supported me from the beginning and even more so after the passing of my mom. My mom was going to get me PiYo. My team found out about this and surprised me with the ultimate PiYo set. You can imagine the emotions when I got that in the mail. It is an amazing feeling being on a team that has not even met me but is sending their love and support from all over. I know God sent Beachbody and this team to me for this specific reason. Now I am setting my goals high because I know I can reach them and I have the support not only from my team but also from my momma:)
|