Good Morning! I am on a different porch this morning.... I'm on the balcony off "the boys" room. :) We live in a Charleston style house, so off the front is a porch upstairs, a porch downstairs, then my "normal" place is the screened in back porch. Praise GOD for where we live!!! I truly love it for this season of our lives! We moved here from a 900 square foot apartment, you could see EVERY room in the apt from our living room, not to mention all of our stuff was just "on top of" each other! Crowded! Well, praise the Lord that, "The blessing of the Lord IT maketh rich and He adds NO sorrow to it!" This is a blessing.
Bella update.... if you were following.... Bella Sue is officially here! :) Jill-da-Thrill (my sister-in-law) gave birth to Bella yesterday morning. She's perfect and healthy. Both mama & baby are doing great! 7 pounds, 21 1/2 inches with a full head of hair! :) The boy & I will be going to stay with them to help cook & change some baby Bella diapers sometime late next week (after Bella's "Grandparents" heads out). Should be fun. Excited to see baby Bella & help out. Tyler made a good point about serving...because we were originally going to head to GA for Father's Day weekend....but he said, "Serving is not meant to be convenient, that's why it's called serving." And another good one is, "Serving is not thinking about what is best for 'SELF', it is thinking about what is best for the person you are serving." So... with all the flexibility & juggling... let me just say this... Praise the LORD that over the last several years Tyler & I have been building & developing a business & business team that has provided enough income so I have the OPTION & CHOICE to be able to go serve WHENEVER I need to without the restraints of a job or boss telling me when I can go. PTL!
Well, let's dive in... it is some good stuff this morning!
So... spiritual strength.... what is it, what does it mean to have it and what is the fruit to having it? What is the benefit to having spiritual strength. It can all be boiled down to ONE word: LIFE. LIFE LIFE LIFE! It is LIFE to have spiritual strength. Without it things look pretty dim.
The STRONG SPIRIT of a man sustains him, in bodily pain or trouble.... Let me tell a story that portrays encompassing a strong spirit. My Pastor, an amazing man of God, was having some medical challenges (this has been quite a long time ago). Just to paint a picture, he reminds me of "Mufasa" off the Lion King! :) hehe! For real! Have you ever seen someone take their fist, hit their chest and just say, "Mufasa! I am Mufasa!" Well, my husband does that sometimes.... heck, I do that sometimes. It shows "strength". "I am strong" or "Don't mess with me because I'm 'bad-to-the-bone'" (you get my point - even though I would say 'good to the bone'). Well, my Pastor, he is that kind of guy. He's big, he has broad shoulders. Not big as in 'fat'... he's big as in he walks tall. He stands up straight. He is confident. He has an "aire" about him that makes you know that "the Greater One lives inside of him" and you wouldn't want to mess with him.... like an army of angels would just come up by his side and do some "booty kickin". He's that kind of guy. Not to mention, he is a "brother" too, so that makes him seem even more "bad-to-the-bone". So, Mufasa, my Pastor drives to the hospital. He probably looks a bit pale. He gets there and after checking in, the nurses ran some tests on him. After getting the results of the tests, they just responded, "How did you get here?" He said, "I drove myself." They said, "That is impossible. You can not drive. You should not even be conscience to speak or talk or move." In amazement they said, "You're tests show that your body does not have enough blood in it right now to even be functioning well, let alone talking, walking, driving, sitting, by yourself! For real, how did you get here?!" He responded again, "I drove myself." And I can see it now, the rumbling, loud, solid, strong voice from God come from the depths within Pastor roar, "THE STRONG SPIRIT OF A MAN SUSTAINS HIM!" Medically, when tests, doctors, nurses flood to the room to see this IMPOSSIBLE feat... this IMPOSSIBLE occurance.... a man drained of blood to levels that should not be functionable, and he is FUNCTIONING! Because the SPIRIT OF THIS MAN is STRONG! He is filled up with the WORD! When medicine says, "You are sick." His God says, "I AM STRONG!" When medicine says, "You can't walk." His God says, "The SPIRIT of a man sustains him! I CAN WALK!" The strength of the HOLY SPIRIT within my Pastor SUSTAINED HIM! When the medically impossible said NO, the strength of the HOLY SPIRIT said YES!
LIFE! - IF you were in a similar medical situation. Is your spirit strong? Are you girded up with spiritual strength? Our Proverbs 31 woman, like my Paster, also would have walked in like MUFASA. She would have been able to hit her chest, in strength & say "MUFASA!" Our Proverbs 31 friend is indeed girded up in strength! She has the spirit of the Lord sustaining her!
How? How do you get to that point? How do you get girded up in the Spirit? How do you get that strength? Re-read yesterday's post. It takes time in the Word. It takes devoting yourself to spiritual growth. It takes reading the Word. It takes spending time MEDITATING in the WORD (meditating - aka: listening! what does God have to say about this Word for YOUR life? He has a WORD for you specifically when you take the time to listen.) BUT not out of "condemnation". Not out of putting a guilt trip on yourself and saying, "Man, I'm not this person. I'm not spiritually strong. I would not have been "Mufasa"." Conviction is from the Holy Spirit, conviction pulls you, draws you towards doing what is right. Conviction is the Holy Spirit prompting and drawing you in to spend time with Him. Condemnation is the enemy. Condemnation is Satan telling you, "You are a loser. You don't spend time in the Word. You are too busy. You have too many things going on. All you do is run, run, run. You are too busy. You are a loser. You aren't spiritually strong, and you will never have the time to get spiritually strong." Satan uses condemnation to make you feel bad. To make you feel worthless & useless in regards to spiritual matters. Satan's goal is that you will listen to him calling you a loser. His goal is that you will come into agreement with HIM!! That you will agree that you are too busy, too much to do, too many other priorities. He wants you to agree that you will just never grow spiritually. Like a baby, you will always just be sucking down that bottle.....maybe getting a little Word on the holidays when you attend church. DEFY HIM! When the guilt & condemnation come on, say out LOUD, "GET BEHIND ME SATAN! I WILL NOT HAVE THAT! I AM A CHILD OF GOD! I AM GROWING SPIRITUALLY! I AM MAKING TIME TO SPEND WITH THE LORD! I AM! I AM! I AM! I REFUSE to accept guilt from you! I AM being led by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit DIRECTS ME what to do! The HOLY SPIRIT directs me what to get done! I am listening to the voice of the HOLY SPIRIT not the voice of YOU!!!!" Get violent with him if you have too! He IS a toothless lion. He has no teeth, he just wants to get YOU to be your worst enemy, and condemnation is his tool to do that.
So today.... begin. Begin the journey of girding yourself up with strength! Begin the journey of developing a daily plan of how you are going to spend time in the Word. What is your SGP? Your "Spiritual Grown Plan"? TODAY, RIGHT NOW, take a few minutes, get out your calendar (phone calendar if you don't use a paper one).... set time now that you are going to make growing spiritually a priority. Write it in your calendar. If you are busy, if you are running all the time, make the best use of your "unexpected wait time"....ie: sitting in the car pool line, waiting at the doctors office, sitting in 5:00 traffic. Whether you have your Bible, a devotional book, Proverbs saved on your cell phone, or a reminder list to pray..... be ready. B.U.S.Y. - BEING UNDER SATAN'S YOKE Take "BUSY" out of your vocabulary and become PRODUCTIVE as you pursue GOD! - Progressing Regularly On: Direct Understanding, Clear Thoughts, In Virtuous Engagement as you PURSUE your relationship with GOD! BE PRODUCTIVE. "Engagement" - Engagement shows being "in the pursuit" of something. BE Purposeful in your Pursuit! (Virtuous = morally excellent, upright, conforming to moral & ethical principles, Engagement = as going to battle) VIRTUOUS ENGAGEMENT = A morally excellent pursuit of battle!
I would say a battle for LIFE is a good one. Mufasa?
And... I leave you with one last thought.... when is the best time to spend in the Word? Yes... you spiritual scholars out there... the Word does talk about "morning", "first fruits", etc, etc. And... yes, morning would be the "best" answer.... BUT it's not neccessarily my answer for you. When is the BEST TIME to spend in the Word? Answer: WHEN YOU WILL DO IT! The best time, is when you will actually DO IT! If you haven't been able to wake up and do it at 5:00 before you leave for work.... just do it sometime. Fit it in. Schedule it. Remember, we don't walk in condemnation. Eventually, I bet, you will end up doing it in the morning. But remember... starting is the most important. I run at NOON every day! Sound rediculous with South Carolina heat. Yes, probably. But... why is that the best time for me? Because that is when I can do it. That is when I can fit it in. (Not to mention, thankfully the sprinklers are running at that time). So, when is the best time to do whatever you want to do? Answer: WHEN YOU WILL DO IT!
Love you all!
Comment today! :) Tell me your thoughts!
___________________________
On a light....fun note.... I have a video that I think is fun! I'm definitely being "ME".... and Tyler thought I might be pushing the envelope here.... but I think it's a fun way to hit home with today's message....Getting STRONGER!!! Over 13 million hits... I think you will enjoy it!
Get STRONG in the WORD! :) You will be impressed with this!! Clean & cute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6RJyZd
Get strong! :)
Bella update.... if you were following.... Bella Sue is officially here! :) Jill-da-Thrill (my sister-in-law) gave birth to Bella yesterday morning. She's perfect and healthy. Both mama & baby are doing great! 7 pounds, 21 1/2 inches with a full head of hair! :) The boy & I will be going to stay with them to help cook & change some baby Bella diapers sometime late next week (after Bella's "Grandparents" heads out). Should be fun. Excited to see baby Bella & help out. Tyler made a good point about serving...because we were originally going to head to GA for Father's Day weekend....but he said, "Serving is not meant to be convenient, that's why it's called serving." And another good one is, "Serving is not thinking about what is best for 'SELF', it is thinking about what is best for the person you are serving." So... with all the flexibility & juggling... let me just say this... Praise the LORD that over the last several years Tyler & I have been building & developing a business & business team that has provided enough income so I have the OPTION & CHOICE to be able to go serve WHENEVER I need to without the restraints of a job or boss telling me when I can go. PTL!
Well, let's dive in... it is some good stuff this morning!
Proverbs 18:14 - The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear?
Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task]...I know we have used Proverbs 31:17 several times...hopefully you are not getting "bored" with it... but we are not done yet. Today we are going to focus on the "SPIRITUAL STRENGTH".... and one day, we will dive in to the tail end of Proverbs 31:17... that's a whole different subject in itself...but one that I really like.
So... spiritual strength.... what is it, what does it mean to have it and what is the fruit to having it? What is the benefit to having spiritual strength. It can all be boiled down to ONE word: LIFE. LIFE LIFE LIFE! It is LIFE to have spiritual strength. Without it things look pretty dim.
The STRONG SPIRIT of a man sustains him, in bodily pain or trouble.... Let me tell a story that portrays encompassing a strong spirit. My Pastor, an amazing man of God, was having some medical challenges (this has been quite a long time ago). Just to paint a picture, he reminds me of "Mufasa" off the Lion King! :) hehe! For real! Have you ever seen someone take their fist, hit their chest and just say, "Mufasa! I am Mufasa!" Well, my husband does that sometimes.... heck, I do that sometimes. It shows "strength". "I am strong" or "Don't mess with me because I'm 'bad-to-the-bone'" (you get my point - even though I would say 'good to the bone'). Well, my Pastor, he is that kind of guy. He's big, he has broad shoulders. Not big as in 'fat'... he's big as in he walks tall. He stands up straight. He is confident. He has an "aire" about him that makes you know that "the Greater One lives inside of him" and you wouldn't want to mess with him.... like an army of angels would just come up by his side and do some "booty kickin". He's that kind of guy. Not to mention, he is a "brother" too, so that makes him seem even more "bad-to-the-bone". So, Mufasa, my Pastor drives to the hospital. He probably looks a bit pale. He gets there and after checking in, the nurses ran some tests on him. After getting the results of the tests, they just responded, "How did you get here?" He said, "I drove myself." They said, "That is impossible. You can not drive. You should not even be conscience to speak or talk or move." In amazement they said, "You're tests show that your body does not have enough blood in it right now to even be functioning well, let alone talking, walking, driving, sitting, by yourself! For real, how did you get here?!" He responded again, "I drove myself." And I can see it now, the rumbling, loud, solid, strong voice from God come from the depths within Pastor roar, "THE STRONG SPIRIT OF A MAN SUSTAINS HIM!" Medically, when tests, doctors, nurses flood to the room to see this IMPOSSIBLE feat... this IMPOSSIBLE occurance.... a man drained of blood to levels that should not be functionable, and he is FUNCTIONING! Because the SPIRIT OF THIS MAN is STRONG! He is filled up with the WORD! When medicine says, "You are sick." His God says, "I AM STRONG!" When medicine says, "You can't walk." His God says, "The SPIRIT of a man sustains him! I CAN WALK!" The strength of the HOLY SPIRIT within my Pastor SUSTAINED HIM! When the medically impossible said NO, the strength of the HOLY SPIRIT said YES!
LIFE! - IF you were in a similar medical situation. Is your spirit strong? Are you girded up with spiritual strength? Our Proverbs 31 woman, like my Paster, also would have walked in like MUFASA. She would have been able to hit her chest, in strength & say "MUFASA!" Our Proverbs 31 friend is indeed girded up in strength! She has the spirit of the Lord sustaining her!
How? How do you get to that point? How do you get girded up in the Spirit? How do you get that strength? Re-read yesterday's post. It takes time in the Word. It takes devoting yourself to spiritual growth. It takes reading the Word. It takes spending time MEDITATING in the WORD (meditating - aka: listening! what does God have to say about this Word for YOUR life? He has a WORD for you specifically when you take the time to listen.) BUT not out of "condemnation". Not out of putting a guilt trip on yourself and saying, "Man, I'm not this person. I'm not spiritually strong. I would not have been "Mufasa"." Conviction is from the Holy Spirit, conviction pulls you, draws you towards doing what is right. Conviction is the Holy Spirit prompting and drawing you in to spend time with Him. Condemnation is the enemy. Condemnation is Satan telling you, "You are a loser. You don't spend time in the Word. You are too busy. You have too many things going on. All you do is run, run, run. You are too busy. You are a loser. You aren't spiritually strong, and you will never have the time to get spiritually strong." Satan uses condemnation to make you feel bad. To make you feel worthless & useless in regards to spiritual matters. Satan's goal is that you will listen to him calling you a loser. His goal is that you will come into agreement with HIM!! That you will agree that you are too busy, too much to do, too many other priorities. He wants you to agree that you will just never grow spiritually. Like a baby, you will always just be sucking down that bottle.....maybe getting a little Word on the holidays when you attend church. DEFY HIM! When the guilt & condemnation come on, say out LOUD, "GET BEHIND ME SATAN! I WILL NOT HAVE THAT! I AM A CHILD OF GOD! I AM GROWING SPIRITUALLY! I AM MAKING TIME TO SPEND WITH THE LORD! I AM! I AM! I AM! I REFUSE to accept guilt from you! I AM being led by the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit DIRECTS ME what to do! The HOLY SPIRIT directs me what to get done! I am listening to the voice of the HOLY SPIRIT not the voice of YOU!!!!" Get violent with him if you have too! He IS a toothless lion. He has no teeth, he just wants to get YOU to be your worst enemy, and condemnation is his tool to do that.
So today.... begin. Begin the journey of girding yourself up with strength! Begin the journey of developing a daily plan of how you are going to spend time in the Word. What is your SGP? Your "Spiritual Grown Plan"? TODAY, RIGHT NOW, take a few minutes, get out your calendar (phone calendar if you don't use a paper one).... set time now that you are going to make growing spiritually a priority. Write it in your calendar. If you are busy, if you are running all the time, make the best use of your "unexpected wait time"....ie: sitting in the car pool line, waiting at the doctors office, sitting in 5:00 traffic. Whether you have your Bible, a devotional book, Proverbs saved on your cell phone, or a reminder list to pray..... be ready. B.U.S.Y. - BEING UNDER SATAN'S YOKE Take "BUSY" out of your vocabulary and become PRODUCTIVE as you pursue GOD! - Progressing Regularly On: Direct Understanding, Clear Thoughts, In Virtuous Engagement as you PURSUE your relationship with GOD! BE PRODUCTIVE. "Engagement" - Engagement shows being "in the pursuit" of something. BE Purposeful in your Pursuit! (Virtuous = morally excellent, upright, conforming to moral & ethical principles, Engagement = as going to battle) VIRTUOUS ENGAGEMENT = A morally excellent pursuit of battle!
I would say a battle for LIFE is a good one. Mufasa?
And... I leave you with one last thought.... when is the best time to spend in the Word? Yes... you spiritual scholars out there... the Word does talk about "morning", "first fruits", etc, etc. And... yes, morning would be the "best" answer.... BUT it's not neccessarily my answer for you. When is the BEST TIME to spend in the Word? Answer: WHEN YOU WILL DO IT! The best time, is when you will actually DO IT! If you haven't been able to wake up and do it at 5:00 before you leave for work.... just do it sometime. Fit it in. Schedule it. Remember, we don't walk in condemnation. Eventually, I bet, you will end up doing it in the morning. But remember... starting is the most important. I run at NOON every day! Sound rediculous with South Carolina heat. Yes, probably. But... why is that the best time for me? Because that is when I can do it. That is when I can fit it in. (Not to mention, thankfully the sprinklers are running at that time). So, when is the best time to do whatever you want to do? Answer: WHEN YOU WILL DO IT!
Love you all!
Comment today! :) Tell me your thoughts!
___________________________
On a light....fun note.... I have a video that I think is fun! I'm definitely being "ME".... and Tyler thought I might be pushing the envelope here.... but I think it's a fun way to hit home with today's message....Getting STRONGER!!! Over 13 million hits... I think you will enjoy it!
Get STRONG in the WORD! :) You will be impressed with this!! Clean & cute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6RJyZd
Get strong! :)
2 comments:
Thank you so much for your blogs - I'm battling rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia - 2 chronic pain diseases. I was giving up the fight, but your bloghas been inspiring me to fight!! Thank you so much!!
Staci!
Thank you for your comment! I'm so glad that these post are helping you to continue the fight! Praise the Lord that our God is the same yesterday, today & tomorrow! And HE is still in the business of healing! I will be in agreement with you to be completely set free and healed of these diseases. Praise God we do serve Jehovah Rapha - God Our Healer!
Thanks for following!
Xoxo,
Amy J :-)
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