No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.” -Anonymous

Disciplined in What? Obedience.

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23

The Christian life is a call to deny ourselves, to take up our cross and follow, to be a living sacrifice, to take self off the throne of our hearts and bow down to the King of kings and Lord of lords. How can be possibly do such grandiose things? Not by our own strength or power. Only by crying out to him and saying, “I can’t, but you can,” can we find power to follow and obey.

Christ several times says that obedience is love. How often do we try to put love before obedience? When I feel that I love God then I will obey. How fickle are our feelings! Never are they the same two days in a row. It is by obedience that I learn to walk with my Lord; by waling with my Lord I learn to love the one who gave up his life for mine.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:9-14

True joy is found in obedience and remaining in the Father’s love. We have been called to bear lasting fruit in this world through obedience. We store up our treasure in heaven were if reaps great reward.

Often times I feel like I take one step forward in obedience and three steps backwards. Why can’t I do the things I want to? The grace of God is so great! He loves me just as I am. Whether a saint or a sinner he loves me the same. But, He loves me too much to want me to stay in the filth of my sin. so He beckons me through one step of obedience at a time to follow Him.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11

February 15, 2009

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“No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.” – Anonymous

Dedicated to what? Truth.

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked. (John 18:37-38a)

What is truth? The ageold question that seems especially prevalent in our culture today. Sadly even Christians seem to be struggling with this question. A Barna study shows that when asked a series of questions about Christian faith only 8% of people in the United States truly have a Bible-based worldview. And when the same questions were asked of only professing evangelical Christians only 9% had a worldview that was aligned with the Bible.

One of the reasons I believe that we have gotten away from the roots of our faith is that we are afraid to proclaim the truth. We are afraid to take sides. God is the author of truth and Satan is the father of lies. Truth vs. Lies is the battle that has been waged from the beginning.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

Transformation comes by the renewing of our mind. We expect our hearts to change first or some spiritual awakening to happen suddenly in our lives. First we deal with the mind and the heart will follow. What do we renew our minds with? The truth of God’s word. With renewed minds we can be wary of the subtle – or not so subtle – deceptions Satan attacks us with. And with renewed minds we are also discerning of what God’s will is.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test a approve what God’s will is, his good pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

February 14, 2009

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I found this quote in my day planner and it really made me stop and think. Over the next couple days I’m going to share with you my reflections on this quote. There will be three parts total.

“No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.” – Anonymous

Focused on What? Jesus Christ.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right had of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

My life is so often focused on everything but what it should be focused on. Just yesterday I got up on the wrong side of the bed. The hum drums had gotten a hold of me and didn’t want to let go. Why? Because I got so focused on my schoolwork and what wasn’t getting done. When you get focused on what isn’t happening it depresses you and you are even less able to do that thing which got you here in the first place. Oh what a vicious cycle is created!

We can let ourselves get so focused on “good” things that we lose sight of what is really important, our personal relationship with our Savior and renewing our mind through his word. For me schoolwork has been at the forefront of my mind. That has only led to worry about what was not getting done and stress. But, if I hand this over to god he can handle it. This doesn’t mean not doing schoolwork, but placing all my anxiety about it in His hands and focusing on Him instead of it. He knows what is best for me and in his grace can manage my time better than I can.

The other thing that has fallen by the wayside is my quiet time. So I am back at it this morning, getting up at 6 am. I have also decided to turn off the CD player when going to bed. God should be my last though at night and my first thought in the morning.

February 13th, 2008

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1. Sold Out Submission

I commit to living in submission to my Savior. Daily asking of Him, “What is your will for me?” Taking one step with Him at a time, whatever that step is. Doing each task as to the Lord, whether it is washing dishes or taking a stand of faith. Essential in this resolution is a daily quiet time and taking the time to renew my mind.

Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

2. College Minded Intentionality

For a while now I haven’t really known what I wanted to be when I grew up. I have always wanted to be a wife, mother, and home-school teacher. Because of this, my love for kids, and input from others in my life as well as lots of prayer, I have decided to pursue a degree in Elementary Education. To be intentional in this pursuit I need to develop healthy study habits and be proactive in completing school assignments. Another part of this resolution is to actively make plans to pay for schooling. I will be taking online classes from a community college this spring semester and plan on attending a Bible college this fall.

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

3. 52-in-52

I will be taking the challenge in 2009 of reading fifty-two books in fifty-two weeks. I bought a set of British Lit. books when I graduated from high school and I would like to incorporate reading that set this year into this challenge. I love to read but find that I have not been making the time for it lately.

Proverbs 15:14 “The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”

4. An Apple A Day

I know this is something that is one everyone’s resolutions list. It has been on mine for years. That being said, I believe it will continue to be a yearly resolution for me because you can always do better. This resolution encompasses washing my face twice a day, exercise, drinking less pop, and flossing. Among other things. Not terribly exciting, but not something that should be overlooked either.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

5. An Open Door

I am a homebody and someone who always has new projects in mind. That is why it is very easy for me to hole up in my room with my computer, sewing machine, or a good book. And my door is usually shut. While I will continue to spend a lot of time in my room, I have decided to adopt an open door policy. The door stays open during the day. Anyone in my family may stop in to talk to me and see what I’m up to. So, this year the door stays open.

1 Timothy 6:18-19 “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

At Times I feel like Satan is out to get my quiet times with God. Actually, not only do I feel this, but I believe that it is true. There is spiritual warfare going on that we can not even begin to imagine. We do have an enemy of our souls. I believe that Satan has been out to get my quiet times. Most of the time the strategy is to get me distract by my sin or my to do list that I do not make time for reading my Bible and prayer.

The strategy however changes and it is time for Plan B when I do sit down with my Bible to intentionally spend time with my Savior. That is when the distractions come. Today it was my mom cleaning the house and becoming frustrated with the lack of initiative family members were displaying when it came to cleaning and keeping the house tidy. Usually, I would just leave the room to try to finish my Bible study. After all that is what I sat down to do. I set aside this time for that purpose. The end result is usually frustration. I get frustrated because I am not effectively able to focus and my mom is frustrated by the lack of help.

So today I decided to put down my Bible, notebook, and Beth Moore’s Patriarchs study. With a cheerful heart I began doing what I could do to help straighten up the house. And then when I didn’t see anything more to do at the moment, I sat back down to continue my time with the Lord.

This action created an entirely different result than at other times. No one was frustrated and I discovered a gem I may have otherwise overlooked. Towards the end of today’s lesson in my Beth Moore study I cam across this verse:

Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

I was offering my gift to God of time, prayer and study and yet there was an “offense” brought to mind. What a blessing it was to return to the altar of my Lord with a clear conscience! And I thank the Lord for this gem of truth he blessed me with today.

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