Committ

OK, I have been committed to run (ok, more like jog, slowly) since September. I just finished doing a three week Daniel Fast that I committed to. I am committed to God, my family, my husband, my job, etc. So why is commitment such a big deal? Well, my pastor spoke on commitment, being fully invested in our walk with God. Here are my notes.

Commitments show what we value. Romans 5:10 says theat where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. So true. Be careful what you treasure. Make sure it is something eternal that will last and has value to God. An uncommitted life is a selfish life. Proverbs 4:23 says that commitments shape our life. Matthew 6:24 warns us that we can't serve two masters. We will love one and despise the other. Commitments set out destiny. It sounds overly dramatic, but it is true. Matthew 6:19-20 tells us to not store up treasures on this earthm, but in heaven where they will not be destroyed or lost. Commitments direct/point us/set our compass. You can't own something unless you commit to it. Think about marriage. Be specific and not halfhearted when you commit. Be fully invested in God and His plan for you and you will see great things. Be careful and deliberate in what you commit to. But don't be afraid to commit. Just make sure it is of God and it will bless you and others.

I. Make a WISE commitment. Luke 14 says we should count the cost. Proverbs 20:25 says that we should not be trapped by our commitments. We need margin room to work and move within so that God has room to work. If we are too strapped with time and finances,etc. then we can't say yes when God asks something of us.

II, Make a GENEROUS commitment. 2.Corinthians 9:7 Each one must do what he has made up his mind, not reluctantly, or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

III. Make a BOLD commitment. Don't let the "what ifs" get in the way. Be wise and bold. Matthew 17 Jesus put Peter wo work as a fisherman and multiplied his results. He didn't have to pay the tax, but chose to be generous.

IV. Make a GOD CENTERED commitment. It will be the beginning of something great and lasting, something Big for your life and for others.

"FIRST"=Commitments to God come first! Then everything else. Here are four "Firsts" that God wants us all to commit to:

1. The first THOUGHT of every day-in quiet times.
2. The first Day of every week-Sunday. Acts 20:7
3. The first TENTH of every paycheck. Proverbs 3:9
4. The first CONSIDERATION of every decision.

If we don't make commitments then our goals won't happen. You will get sucked into our culture. It is too easy. It must be a deliberate, daily act to stay committed to Christ. Letting God direct your life makes things simpler and more meaningful. Try it. You'll like it! (Just like Timmy used to say in the Life cereal commercials). Seriously, trust God, try it, you won't be dissappointed.

Run the Race!

Believe it or not, I have been running, well, more like jogging, very slowly mind you, since September. I started doing the "Couch Potato to 5K" app on my iPhone. It is awesome. I started out running 60 seconds then walking 90 seconds alternating with a 5 minute warm up walk and a 5 minute cool down walk, all for a total of 30 minutes. Well it slowly progresses you in the length of time you run. the last several weeks I have been running for 2 miles non-stop. The app stops there. Some people may be able to get 3 miles into the 30 minutes it gives you, but I only get 2 done. I am slow and can do only 15 minute miles. But hey, I'm doing it. Well I extended my run and kept going yesterday and did 2 1/2 miles. Today I ran 3 miles!!! Can you believe it? I told you, you wouldn't. Me, the person who has been deathly allergic to running her whole life has done it. I have always wanted to be a runner, but just couldn't do it. I have no stamina or endurance. But this app. is amazing and made it so doable. Anyway, I'm still an overweight, middle aged jogger; not the typical runner, but I feel so empowered. I haven't lost hardly any weight doing it, but I feel so much better. Yay! Horray! Thank you Lord for giving me the strength to run the race. Help me to do it in my walk with you as well. Anyway. Just wanted to share a true miracle. Ha!

Run the Race!

How To Pray For A Miracle

This Sunday my pastor taught on "5 Steps To Pray For A Miracle". Here are my notes from it along with my own thoughts. Hope it helps. (Luke 18:35-43)

1. Step one is to be PASSIONATE. (Luke 18;35-38) Seek God with all of your heart and you will find him. (Jeremiah 29:13).

2. Step two is be PERSISTENT. (Luke 18:39) Be determined, tenacious, relentless. Don't quit too soon. (Luke 11:9) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened to you. (ASK=Ask, Seek, Knock.) God is preparing you. It isn't that he doesn't hear you or know your need. The wait is the journey and it is when God is most active. I like to remember Moses. He spent 40 years prep time learning as part of Pharoahs family, then 40 years in the desert on the run, then 40 more years leading Israelites through desert to promised land. That is a lot of prep time. So why do I complain? I like to think that the longer the prep time, maybe the bigger the task ahead. Who knows what God has in store? Just because you can't see him working doesn't mean he isn't. His timing is perfect.

3. Step three is to be PRECISE. When we pray, God wants us to be specific and not vague. Vague is lazy and ambiguous. If and when God does answer them we won't even notice if not specific. (Luke 18:40-41) Jesus asked, "What do you want me to do for you?" (James 4:2) "You do not have because you do not ask." If God knows all, then why do we need to ask and be specific? If you are vague and not specific, then the prayer is not intimate. He wants to be the one you lay open your heart to, the one we can be truthful to. It is for our benefit, not His that he asks us to be specific. We don't draw close to Him if we don't get specific. We don't learn to trust Him if we don't get specific. We don't see clearly when a prayer is answered if not specific. So...get a journal and write down your prayer requests. You can use this as a reminder when praying. But even more importantly, you can look back and write when and how they are answered and when need strength, can look back at the work God has done in your life and others and be encouraged. I made a Banzet Book of Faith about Big prayers God has answered in my family's life. I must confess, I need to work on it more, though.

4. Step four is to be POSITIVE. (Luke 18:42) Ask with faith and expectancy when praying. (Mark 11:24) "Whatever you have asked for in prayer, believe that you have recieved it, and it will be yours." Ask God, then believe that He will provide. Faith comes by hearing the word of God daily. We have to know God's promises in His word in order to be a prayer warrior.

5. Step 5 is to be PRAISEFUL. (Luke 18:43) Give God the glory as we live in victory. After a prayer is answered you first follow Jesus and second thank God. You can even thank Him in faith as you pray for a miracle, thanking him before it is answered, trusting Him to provide. Praise is so important that it is mentioned 550 times in teh bible. There is no high like hearing your child say thank you. So if we feel that way, how much more does God, our heavenly father?

You can talk a lot about prayer, but it is another thing to do it. Like the Nike commercials say, "Just Do It!" Get out there and pray and see what God will do.

Catching up

Busy, busy, busy. Life just seems to increase in speed and demands. I find I have to make deliberate, difficult efforts to slow things down and keep the sanity in my family's life. I don't want to miss a minute of my kid's life. I am amazed, amused, and humbled by them every minute of every day. Oh what joy, my little, growing ever bigger, joy boys are! With that said, homeowork has increased greatly this year. Sam has some for the first time, and Max being in third grade...it is the year of leaps in the amount of homework assigned. We knew that in advance and so were prepared, which helps. I do have to give hoo-hoo's to my boys in the fact that they are great about doing homework. They don't fuss much about that and like to get it done and out of the way. Max likes to do even the assignments that aren't daily and have to be done by the next day to turn in, but aren't due til Friday. He likes to get it out of the way as I said earlier. This makes things much easier! What a helper! (Not that we don't have other things that we fuss about. They are still kids;))

Anyway,things are busy, but rolling. Some of the funny things they are into are "Angry Orange" and "Nannerpuss". You can google them on computer and see how annoying these short shows are. But....the kids love them. Sam likes to sing, "I came into the kitchen like a berry on a mission!" and sing beat box background sounds. Durng Max's karate class he always has to go to the bathroom and takes forever. The whole time Sam is in there he sings loudly and gives the class, Mr. Lance and all the parents a show. Ooooh Sam.

Max was talking about a girl in his class and I asked if she was nice and he said, "Yes, She represents Zarrow well." He also likes to say that things, (even cows on the side of the road) look European...get it, You are peeing! His new joke he uses a lot.

Soo, yes they boys keep me on my toes and laughing. Max is going to be Luigi for Halloween since his cousin Sawyer is going to be Mario. Sam wanted to be a Warewolf, but couldn't find a costume his size (still little)so is going to be a mummy. He is still obsessed with his much loved and admired Halloween decorations. He loves anything gross and scary. Max does not! He had nightmares after looking for a costume because was scared by some of them. Sam's dreams are Max's nightmares.

I have been running, believe it or not. Doing the couch potato to 5k app on Iphone. Love it. Worried that with the cold weather and shorter days I won't be able to get it done and continue. I haven't lost weight yet after 6 or 7 weeks, but feel better. Now to work on giving up pop and eating better. Sigh!

Well, I guess that is all I can think of to catch up. Better go wrangle the wild boys! Love to all. His love and mine. Din

Scandalous

Today My pastor preached on the series, "Scandalous". It has talked about how Jesus' teachings were scandalous to the people back then. His teachings are still difficult for us to understand and even harder to obey, but they are important, live giving and we are commanded to follow them if we choose to follow Him. Today looked at Matthew chapter 7:1-27.

It starts out with Jesus telling us not to judge others. Hard to do, even harder, as my preacher stated, while at the fair this year with all the mass of humanity and eccentric people around. "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged." (verses 1-2) This verse is simple, yet easily and often misinterpreted. People will use it as an excuse to get away with things. But judging others is not the same as evaluating them. We are called to be our brother's keeper and keep each other accountable. Speaking the truth is important. We shouldn't water it down to please people and not offend. We should also be wise in our evaluations and not throw our pearls to swine (verse 6). We can love and forgive others, but that doesn't mean we trust them if they have proven themselves unworthy of trust. They have to earn that back. There is a balance and wisdom there. Judgement involves condemnation. You can call a sin a sin and correct others, but don't say that person is worthless and going to hell. Only God and that person know that relationship. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God,(Romans 3:23) and I personally want to receive mercy and forgiveness and grace. So I need to show that to others---while using discernment at the same time. This is the golden rule we all heard as children, acted out in life.

"And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own. How can you think of saying to your friend, Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye, when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your ow eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye." (verses 3-5) This can be called 2 by 4 vision instead of 20/20 vision.

Verses 7-13 continue on with the golden rule idea and talk about God's provision if we ask him for help. Then verse 15 talks about false prophets. How do we know the truth in ourselves and others? It is by the fruit we each bear. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. We identify sin by our actions. What starts out in our hearts and thoughts eventually bears fruition in our actions. We are not saved by works, but if we are saved and in right relationship with God and Jesus, then an overflowing of that is seen in our works, done out of love. First we are saved by grace and faith, giving us an intimate relationship with our Savior. Second, out of that love relationship come works. This is how we evaluate others and ourselves, yet we can't condemn.

"Not everyone who calls out to me, Lord! Lord! will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgement day many will say to me, Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I will reply, I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws." (Verses 21-23) These are the scariest words in the bible, along with verses 13-14, "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 that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult and only a few ever find it." EEK!!! These verses literally haunt me. It is where I find my doubting and worrying. If the way is that narrow, am I really saved? I'm not a great saint or anything. All I can do is continue to ask God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit to search my heart and examine myself and my actions. Do I strive to follow Christ? Or do I follow my own ways? To be honest I do a little of both. My sinful nature is always fighting me. Ugh!!!

Verses 24-27 talk about building our lives on the solid foundation of Christ. Anything else is foolish and will crash down around us. We must invest in things that will last, in the things of God.

These teachings may not seem scandalous to us, since we have grown up hearing them, but to people in Jesus' day they were. His teachings went against everything the Pharisees stood for. That is why they strived so hard to silence him and ultimately crucified him. If His words were that powerful, then we need to know, learn, act on them.

Be Thou Holy?

I have often struggled with the verse, "Be thou holy as I am holy" and other verses that tell us to be like Christ. He is our example, but he and we know that we are incapable of doing that due to our sinful nature. Yes we are regenerated and made new, transformed, renewed when we accept Christ into our hearts and the Holy Spirit comes to live in us. But.....we still struggle. Come on, lets get real...at lest I do. My attitude sometimes stinks. I am a grumbling, martyred Israelite often. Anyway. There is a tension and struggle with this call to be holy-lived out in our lives. Well, I read the following in my Oswald Chambers devotional, My Utmose for His Highest. I love that book. Anyway, I thought I'd share it. It talks about how it is not our disposition, but Christ's disposition that we inherit.

"When it pleased God...to reveal His Son to me." (Galatians 1:15 and 16)

If Jesus Christ is to regenerate me, what is the problem He is up against? I have a heredity I had no say in; I am not holy, nor likely to be; and if all Jesus Christ can do is to tell me I must be holy, His teaching plants despair. But if Jesus Christ is a Regenerator, One Who can put into me His own heredity of holiness, then I begin to see what He is driving at when He says that I have to be holy. Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the hereditary disposition that was in Himself, and all the standards He gives are based on that disposition: His teaching is for the life He puts in. The moral transaction on my part is agreement with God's verdict on sin in the Cross of Jesus Christ.

The New Testament teacing about regeneration is that when a man is struck by a sense of his need, God will put the Holy Spirit into his spirit, and his personal spirit will be energized by the Spirit of the Son of God, "Until Christ be formed in you." The moral miracle of Redemption is that God can put into me a new disposition whereby I can live a totally new life. When I reach the frontier of need and know my limitations, Jesus says---"Blessed are you." But I have to get there. God cannot put into me, a responsible moral being, the disposition that was in Jesus Christ unless I am conscious I need it.

Just as the disposition of sin entered into the human race by one man, so the Holy Spirit entered the human race by another Man; and Redemption means that I can be delivered from the heredity of sin and through Jesus Christ can recieve an unsullied heredity, viz., the Holy Spirit.