Empty Your Heart of the Uneasy

Matthew 6:25, 33-34 - Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried).... But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.... So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow...

It is so easy today to DAILY go against Matthew 6:25. Stop being perpetually uneasy, anxious and worried. Is it just me? Do you find yourself easily drifting into a state of worry? Or maybe being uneasy? Anxious? Maybe anxious about your dreams and goals. Maybe it's being worried about how God will come through with your finances & paying some bills. Maybe it's being uneasy about fitting everything you need to get done into the allotted time that you have to do it? Maybe it's having grocery money for the week when your account shows $0.00? Maybe it's your marriage. How could you not stress out and worry, when everything looks like it is falling apart?

Friend, I'm here to tell you (and remind myself), God has everything under control if you will KEEP your situation in HIS hands! So often, I know that I'm guilty of this.... see if you can relate: At some point in time, I may hand over a situation to God. Maybe it's something that I've allowed to stress me out, so I verbally (or in writing in my journal) give the situation to him. Often, later that day or a few days later, when the "microwave" of God doesn't shoot out my answer in the "microwave" time period that I want.... like a true woman, with my actions I do this, I GRAB that thing right out of His hands and like I'm talking to my child, or even my husband, I say, "Let me just do it. I'll get it done quicker." (Because no one can do it better than "me", right?! "I will do it! At least I know the job will get done right!) So, there I go, taking the care, concern, worry back onto my shoulders thinking that maybe I can come up with a quicker solution, since GOD didn't manifest it as quickly as I wanted him to.  

I'm just going to remind you (and me), he DOES have a divine plan. He does have divine people lined up to HELP YOU! He has situations LINED up that are going to turn the situation to YOUR FAVOR!!! BUT.... there it is, the big BUT.... BUT, if we keep taking the situation OUT OF HIS HANDS, then we are prolonging those divine things to LINE up that HE has pre-orchestrated, that He has set up to happen! Our WORRY and ANXIOUSNESS, us dwelling on UNEASY is like giving that "thing" or "situation" priority over WHO GOD IS! GOD CAN and WILL handle the situation if we will only LEAVE it with Him. Let Him do His job!

So friend, whatever it is for you today, empty out your heart of the uneasy. Empty out your heart of the anxious thoughts. Empty out your heart of the stress. Empty out your heart of the sadness. Empty out your heart of the pain. Empty out your heart of the stress. Do it one more time, do it today. Cast that care and worry, cast your situation, your spouse, finances, dreams, relationships onto the Lord. ALLOW HIS plan to be carried out. Leave your situation with Him instead of giving into the temptation to take it back again. Watch as HE directs you step by step. He may not give you the whole unraveling of how everything will unfold, BUT if you will LISTEN today, friend, HE WILL give you the next step. It may just be ONE step, but the ONE step that you need to take next is ALL YOU NEED!

Is this you? Make a verbal commitment to someone today that you are casting it on the Lord. Or even just post a comment as your PIVOTAL decision. Just write, "I'm CASTING it on the Lord today. I'm emptying out my heart today." Pick up GOD's peace. I guaranty, having that in your heart will ALLOW you to smile today even when you feel like a smile shouldn't be possible.

Love you! :)
xoxo.

I'm going to start with my comment below..... 

#141 - How to enjoy TODAY

Good morning! :) Well... I have a PRAISE report for yesterday! :) The boy turned 15 months and had his 15 month "Well Visit" with Dr. Sooros. This weekend on Saturday he had a fever, and on Sunday the fever had subsided but when he was walking he was extremely off balance. Well... Tyler and I just did what we know to do based on the Word. "Lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." (Mark 16:18) "By Jesus stripes we ARE healed."(Is.53:4-5, 1 Peter 2:24) "When 2 or more come together in together and AGREE upon anything you ask for, it will be done for you by your Father in heaven." (Matt. 18:19) - So... we laid hands on Tyler Jr. and thanked God for his complete healing and restoration. From the symptoms, it would've appeared that he had an ear infection, but we just thanked God that our son was healed! He was whole, restored and walked in divine health! The report from the Doctor was good! He was perfect! :) He's in the 92nd percentile for height and 45th percentile for weight. So... he's tall and slender. :) Such a cute boy! :) It amazes me because he usually eats more than I do! Where does the boy put it?!? So, that was definitely a praise! Thank you Father for being true & faithful to your Word! 


Let's get started! Lately.... I've not been getting past Proverbs. I've been getting so much good stuff out of Proverbs! Psalms will just have to wait. :) 

Proverbs 15:13, 15, 29 - A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken. All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances]. The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous (the upright, in right standing with Him).

Man... do I know these scriptures Oh to well! But praise God for HIS Word that we can receive truth and revelation! :) I looked up the word "desponding" in the dictionary. This was the definition: to be depressed by loss of hope, confidence, or courage. There was a period of time where I felt like the word of "desponding" would have described me. On the outside, maybe one could not tell.... I smiled and did my best to have a Positive Mental Attitude. But in my heart, hope was shallow at best. My heart had grown weary and sluggish. It was like my heart had been running this race and I was just worn out. If you picture a person in a desert, shoulders hunched over, arms dangling, head hanging low.... or a (not in shape) runner who has run 20 miles, just exhausted.... I picture my heart looked like that if it was walking. My heart was just sluggish, slooping over, tired. My hope, confidence and courage were down. AND... one reason they were is because I was doing EXACTLY what this verse talked about! I had anxious thought and "forebodings". My thoughts were continually in the future, not in the present. I was anxious over the future. I was constantly thinking about the future which paralyzed me from enjoying my "TODAY." I missed the scenic view of my journey because I was so focused on where the end destination would take me. I was longing to live in the future I saw in my mind. I was so longing to live there, that every day in my present was a disappointment because I hadn't "arrived" at my destination yet. 


PRAISE GOD for GOD and HIS WORD! Praise God for my husband. Praise God for revelations! I somehow realized, probably greatly due to Tyler, that I could not live in the future any more. ALL I could control was my today! All I could do was enjoy my today. Sure... have goals, yes! But once I had my goals, work them backwards to figure out what the daily action steps are and then just consistently DO those daily actions. Not dwelling on or staying at the "end" but focusing on the daily actions I can do today. And while doing that, enjoying the journey. A JOURNEY WITHOUT TOIL! Enjoying the smell of the roses along the way. I realizes that being anxious was AGAINST the Word. If I was being anxious, I was trying to control something that was not MINE to control... ie: the future or other people. ALL I could control was my today... my RIGHT NOW. Not next hour or later tonight, or tomorrow. All I could do was control my right now. Enjoy my right now. Tyler STILL has to catch me and correct my thinking because I occasionally still try to live in the future. Or... get anxious, my mind would get bogged down because I'm thinking about all these things I need to learn or do... but they are things that the outcome hasn't even been established!  No need to be anxious. What's the wonderful verse say, "Be anxious for NOTHING, but in EVERYTHING with prayer & petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God." Phil 4:6.


The VICTORY in it? Check out Proverbs 15:29!!! :) What VICTORY! What GOOD NEWS! He hears the prayer of the righteous!!! GOD HEARS US!? Are you born-again? Are you saved? God HEARS you!!! Do you have sin in your life? Well, ask forgiveness, get things right. And then pray to God. Submit your request! God HEARS you! I actually recently was holding "offense" against a few people. When I realized it, I knew exactly what I had to do! Just what it talked about in the new testament. It says something like: If you are holding anything against your brother, leave you offering at the alter. Get up, go, get things right with your brother. THEN, come and make your offering. 


So, even me! I had to get offense right. I had to ask forgiveness from God, and my "brother/sister" in Christ. 


GOD HEARS OUR PRAYERS! That is GREAT NEWS! Something DEFINITELY to rejoice about! PRAISE GOD! And do you know, you can have a GLAD heart REGARDLESS of your CIRCUMSTANCE! Because you have the FAVOR of GOD on your side! If things look impossible... just smile and laugh and THANK GOD outloud - I HAVE THE FAVOR of GOD on my side! GOD EVEN MAKES MY MISTAKES TO PROSPER! :) I HAVE GOD'S FAVOR! :) 


Have a great day! Live in TODAY! Enjoy TODAY! Tomorrow has it's own worries. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Therefore, enjoy your TODAY! 

#119 - Avoid the TRAP!

Good morning! Actually... good afternoon! We had a wonderful weekend. Celebrated Mama's 90th Birthday in Georgia, and had the Ewing Christmas party! (Tyler's mom's side of the family) It was fun. We actually stayed in a 2-bedroom hotel suite with a full kitchen. That was nice. It allowed us to be close to the parties, but also allowed Mama to do some baking! Apple pie, pumpkin pie & mashed potatoes was my contribution to the Christmas Party. They did get good reviews, so I was happy about that! Thank you Grandma for your pie crust recipe that continues to live on! Love you Grandma! 


Well... let's get started... 

Proverbs 20:25 - It is a snare to a man to utter a vow [of consecration] rashly and [not until] afterward inquire [whether he can fulfill it]. 

Proverbs 31:16 - She considers a [new] field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings [of time and strength] she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard. 

I think this is a very appropriate topic with New Year's around the corner. I'm sure you have been thinking about what you want to change for your 2011. How do you want to improve? Who do you want to be? What projects to you want to start & finish? Pounds that you want to shed. It's that time of year when we think about CHANGE. IMPROVEMENT. 


Well, as it says in Proverbs 20:25 & 31:16, I want to CAUTION you when deciding upon your upcoming goals or changes you want to make. Picture the YELLOW FLASHING sign that reads, CAUTION. Look at the warning in Proverbs 20:25, and look at how the Proverbs 31 woman applies this verse to her life! In Proverbs 20:25 we could read it this way, An impulsive vow is a trap (The Message Bible) or Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost. (NLT) A VOW is more than a promise. It is a SOLEMN promise. It is a pledge. It is serious. 


Let me tell you a story about that. I have been taking two groups of people through a program called New Way New You. On a weekly basis I meet weekly and teach/coach each of these classes. One in person, one via conference call. The program involves proper nutrition, exercise, supplementation, weekly goal setting and changing one's mentality about themselves. It's a FULL program that encompasses everything that leads to Optimal Health. It's been a very eye opening experience for me as I have watched people who were very excited when we started and wouldn't you know it, week by week, many of them have disappeared. Sure, I know sometimes life gets in the way, other obligations come up and maybe some did not fully "commit" from the beginning. 


Personally, when I am looking to add something to my plate, the Holy Spirit and I have to have a serious talk. I don't want to add something in "vain." I don't want to add something that I cannot see through, or be committed too. I definitely do not want to do something if I am not suppose to do it because then it would definitely be TOIL! What is toil? The dictionary defines it as: to move or travel with difficulty, weariness, or pain. That is NOT my idea of a good time. When you commit to something on your OWN without the direction or approval of the Holy Spirit, it begins the series of disappointment. Let's just take a fitness goal. When you make a commitment or goal and then do not see it through, what does it do to you? It takes a hit at your self-image. And each day as you do not do that "thing", whatever it is, your self-image takes another hit. You go to bed thinking, "Oh dang it. I didn't do it again. I'm going to bed another night and I did not complete my goal. Arghhhh. I feel terrible. Dang it." Some people may have this battle in their head of thinking they are a loser. All of it could have been avoided had they not made a commitment on their OWN. By making a vow or promise that you are not suppose to make Proverbs says that you are setting a TRAP for yourself. You set the trap, and you walk into it. 


I recently had a really great opportunity. An opportunity that could have been VERY VERY profitable. As I was asking the Holy Spirit about it, I continued to have a lack of peace about moving forward. The Holy Spirit continued to tell me, "You will not have time for it. You will not have time. It is to great of an obligation to take on. I have other things for you that will be better." I continued to question him because it did sound like such a great opportunity, but peace never came. So... for now, it is something that I am passing on. 


The Proverbs 31 woman expands PRUDENTLY. She expands, yes. But, she does not expand before it is taken into careful consideration. Does she have the time to do it? Will the other obligations REALISTICALLY still be able to get done? Does she have the energy to do it? Does she have the resources? The faith? I would anticipate many things come into play when she is CONSIDERING expanding.... taking another thing on.... adding one more thing to her already full but productive plate/time. 


As you go into this New Year. CONSIDER what your promises are. Consider what goals you should set. Set yourself up for VICTORY not for FAILURE. Be realistic about your goals. If you are not working out at ALL right now, maybe you shouldn't set a goal to work out 6 days a week. Maybe your goal should be 3 days/week. That is AFTER you have asked the Holy Spirit about it. 


Avoid the trap of over-committing to the wrong things or even overcommitting to the RIGHT things, but at the wrong time! Set yourself up to win in 2011 & every year that follows!

#100 - Relax WITHOUT Toil!

Good morning & hello HEAT! Hip Hip Horray! We have heat! That's a good thing! I'm thankful for several reasons....but, it brings me back to a time when the heat may have stopped working because we weren't able to pay a bill, or did not have the money to fix it. Praise God, I'm thankful to say that God has brought us out of a time of lack. I'm thankful that God has MORE THAN ENOUGH to supply us with our needs and wants out of HIS ABUNDANCE. AND, with God's hand there is no shortage. He doesn't run out. There is pure abundance and overflow with Him. Praise the Lord. So... it makes me thankful that the heat did not go out because our lack of ability to pay for or fix something. Praise the Lord for growth & progress. From moving to revelation to manifestation. Walking in the blessing, that we can abide there. Praise God! What does it say, "abide in the shadow of the Almighty." With the Almighty is abundance of blessing, abiding IN there is accompanied with fullness and everything we need. I can't imagine "abiding in the shadow of the Almighty" and being hungry? Can you imagine that? Or not being able to afford clothes that fit. Abiding, living with God, and there being LACK in HIS house!??!?! That just doesn't line up. So I commit to STAYING in the shadow of the Almighty and abiding there forever! So long LACK! I've tried lack and I didn't like it, it only brought sorrow, frustration & tears. I choose ABUNDANCE! I choose prosperity! I choose to LIVE in the BLESSING!


OK... that was worth coming for, but let's jump into some MORE Word! :) 

Proverbs 10:22-23 - The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it]. It is as sport to a [self-confident] fool to do wickedness, but to have skillful and godly Wisdom is pleasure and relaxation to a man of understanding.

Wow. That is good stuff. As I was sitting down to read, I just thought, "Wow God! There is so much good stuff here! Where do you even start? The WHOLE chapter 10 is loaded! I didn't even get to read anything else. I was swimming in amazing verses that were jumping off the page, all of which I won't discuss in this devotion. 


As I was reading, my mind began to race at my schedule for today. To be honest, I was basically just toiling in my mind. Not completely "stressing", but my mind was definitely racing! And then the Holy Spirit said to me, "Amy, don't be so busy in your mind. Pleasure and relaxation. You can accomplish a lot & still be relaxed! Don't toil in your mind & thoughts. The blessing of ME makes rich. I add no sorrow. No need to toil, even in your mind!"  


Then... He told Tyler a pretty amazing thing too... as Tyler read it to me, I honestly thought he was reading a quote out of a book. It was good. This one is noteworthy enough to write down and keep somewhere as a reminder! He said, "When you plant & water, you put a lot of things into motion & sometimes you just need to relax & let the seed do it's own work." 


WOW! Relax. Don't toil. Trust in what you have sown that the law of sowing and reaping won't stop working with you. It's a law. Trust that once the work is done, the seed will grow and then RELAX! 


What a blessing that the Lord adds no sorrow with his blessings. And by us TOILING, living in frustration, or rush rush rush, go go go, constant toiling in our mind... that is NOT FROM GOD. Like He told me, we can STILL accomplish a lot without having to toil, but to be at peace moving from accomplishment to accomplishment. HE will direct our steps if we listen! HE will make the way plain. HE will make our plans succeed! How do I know that? It says it in his word! (Go study Proverbs 16 also!)


Bless you today! I've already wrote in my book, made meatloaf, made 48 ounces of baby food, been in the Word, wrote this blog, and now getting ready to go to MyGym with the boy. Blessed to listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit! Praise GOD that HE speaks to us today!


XOXO, 
Be Blessed!
Amy J

#94 - With FAITH, NOTHING is Impossible!

Good morning! It is a bit chilly here in Cola today! Definitely fall. Long sleeves and jeans. Wow! It's November! TOMORROW is a VERY important day... yes, it's important because it's my sister Angie's birthday.... BUT it's the day to VOTE!!! MAKE sure to exercise your right and OBLIGATION as an American to VOTE! Take some time today to read up on some of the candidates running in your area. See what the topics or bills are that you may be voting on. YOU matter! Especially you!!! I would anticipate most people who read this blog are Christians, therefore your vote is even more important. You can help to vote the men and women of God into office in your respective areas! We NEED your vote!!! In order to take this country back for GOD & Freedom we need men & women of God VOTING!!! Take it seriously! Encourage your friends and family to vote, take a car-load to the voter's booth. If you DO NOT exercise your right to vote, by default, you eliminate yourself from having an opinion or complaining about what takes place in our Nation. PLEASE take the time to vote tomorrow. Wear your "I VOTED" sticker with pride afterwards. Encourage all of the conservative Christians out there to VOTE their VOICE. One by one, we can win this country for God and keep it "In God We Trust." That is the only way the United States of America will continue to be such a blessed nation. Pray for the elections. 


So... let's get started. 

Psalm 1:2 - But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.

Psalm 30:7a - By Your favor, O Lord, You have established me as a strong mountain... 

Proverbs 31:11 - The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of [honest] gain or need of [dishonest] spoil. 

Matthew 17:20 - He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Faith. Habitually meditating on the instructions from the Lord. Faith. Trusting, having confidence, proceeding forward with no questions and no doubt. The questions are irrelevant because the wholeness of your entire being says you know "this" thing to be true. It is by complete FAITH. With faith, there is NO toil. With faith, there is NO frustration. With faith, NOTHING will be impossible to you. The mountains in your life will be removed like tossing a coin in a pool of water. The mountains will be removed with such ease that the simplicity of it's removal seems astounding. As the mountain is removed, you watch it disappear in awe as you stand in the midst of it disappearing. As you stand on the mountain and it vanishes to nothing. The mountain is gone. The goal achieved. The victory had. 


I specifically remember this very vividly happening ONE time in my life. I'm very excited to see it happen more. To watch every mountain disappear with NO TOIL from me or Tyler. It was November.... but it all began with a conversation that Tyler had with our business mentor at the end of October. He challenged Tyler on one of our business goals. Something that had been a goal for probably 2 years, but a goal that we hadn't really made any visible signs of progressing towards. He challenged Tyler, "Are you really going to do it? Are you going to go Ruby? Are you going to accomplish this goal that you've been talking about for so long?" At that moment, after Tyler said yes..... Bob questioned him again. "You've said yes before. Are you REALLY going to do it?" But this time, it was different. A second and third time, Tyler said yes. But this time he really meant yes. Yes! Yes! This time, YES, it was going to happen. 


Tyler walked into Qdoba, the mexican restaurant where we were having dinner and he said. "We are doing it. This month, November, we are going Ruby. We ARE doing it!" For some reason, this time, I fully believed him. It was like a transfer of faith occurred. I totally believed him! I believed him. I didn't have to try, I just did. I didn't need to know how, I just knew it would happen. What that meant is, it would be DOUBLING our business in ONE MONTH! DOUBLING! We needed to get to 15,000 points from 8800 points. A month came and went. No toil. No extraordinary work, just different work. We went from just "going through the motions" to having a purpose. Waking up with a DIRECT purpose every day. Like what it talked about in Psalm 1:2, habitually meditating on the instructions of God day and night. Every day when we got up my thoughts were "what am I going to do to move forward to our goal today?" Every day. Unlike what my thoughts were in the past, they were thoughts of toil. But this was different. There was NO TOIL at all. We did things and activities to move our business forward, but the difference was we were in COMPLETE faith. We went from 8800 to 18000 in ONE MONTH! What our business team did was pretty much unheard of. BUT, it was because we grasped faith. That mountain was removed! We did it. And it was sooooo easy. 


When things are done in faith, they are not hard. There is no toil. The only thing I could explain was when I saw the faith that Tyler had, that he fully believed we were going to do it, it was like a transfer of faith occurred. I immediately believed him. I had faith. Unwavering faith. Unquestioning faith. Then our business team had faith. We all progress forward in complete faith. Unquestioning. Unwavering. Complete faith.


Mountains can EASILY be moved. The mountain in our life that was moved and it was easy. What took the longest was for us to grab hold of the PURE faith that it would be done. Once that took place, time was not even an issue. God took what we thought should take months to progress to and did it in ONE month. The impossible was possible because GOD was in the picture. 


I'm excited for the other mountains in our life to be moved. FAITH says they can be done and they can be done easily. With faith, there is no toil.