From Vodka to Vanilla

Phil 4:13 - I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].

Philippians has always been one of my favorite books in the Bible. When I was in High School, Philippians 4:13 was my favorite verse, we even included it on the back of one of our cross-country shirts. Though there are the other great verses in the book, Phil. 2:13, Phil 3:14, Phil 4:8, Phil 1:6, just to name a few of my favorite.

This morning, for the first time ever, I read Philippians 4:13 differently as I read the amplified version. I noticed that in the amplified, it used the word "infuses." It says, "through Him Who infuses inner strength into me." 

You see... my recent "Martha Stewart" skills over the last 2 years caused me to try and learn how to make Vanilla Extract. I bake enough that I use vanilla extract A LOT! Not to mention my theory with vanilla... "If a little vanilla is good, a LOT is better!" When baking, I think vanilla makes everything better. If a cake or cookie recipe calls for 1 teaspoon, I add 2-3 teaspoons! But, vanilla is not cheap for the normal person! A small 2 ounce bottle may cost $4-5. That doesn't go to far with as much as I use it. So, that brings me to this eye-opening new way of seeing Philippians 4:13. I looked up the definition to the word "infuse." This is what it said:

infuse: to steep or soak (leaves, bark, roots, etc.) in a liquid so as to extract the soluble properties or ingredients.

In order to make vanilla extract, you need vodka or rum. You cut the vanilla beans, scrape out the "caviar" from the center, and both the bean and the "caviar" soaks in the vodka or rum. Then what happens, the vanilla flavor is infused into the vodka creating Vanilla Extract. The vanilla flavor is extracted into the vodka creating that super yummy ingredient for all your favorite baked goods. THE SECRET?!?!

Infusing takes TIME. 

For the vanilla beans to change the vodka from simply an "alcohol" to "vanilla extract" takes TIME. At least 6 months to be exact, and like wine, the longer the vanilla infuses into the vodka, the greater and richer of a flavor it will be. Like wine fermenting over time, vanilla beans will continue to extract their flavor and infuse into becoming a delicious ingredient that could make world renowned cookies! :) (If you know me, you know that I have been in a few chocolate chip cookie bake-off's, so I take my cookie baking and ingredients seriously! Ha!) 

The amplified version of Philippians 4:13 reads, "I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency."

The Holy Spirit will INFUSE INNER STRENGTH within you! But this infusing process takes time. It's going to take you and I steeping and soaking in the Word of God so that the Word of God can be extracted into our lives! So that the Word of God can begin to change our flavor, change our make-up, renew us, change us from the "vodka" (the world & flesh) to the "vanilla extract" (the good things, the God-nature, the Christian who walks in and by the Spirit). As we steep and soak in the Word of God, not only are we strengthened as it says in Phil 4:13, but our literal make-up begins to change. The cuss-words that were a part of our sin nature, as we steep in the Word of God, over time, those same cuss words begin to sound like nails on a chalkboard. Some of the movies we watched at one time, now seem to not be appropriate. As we steep, we are changing! The Holy Spirit is infusing us with INNER STRENGTH! When things come at us, we are stronger to handle them, where the previous us would have broken, the INFUSED US rises up with STRENGTH!

Friend, I encourage you.... take the time now steep and soak in the Word of God. Allow the WORD to get infused into your very being, so that when strength needs to rise up on the inside of you, that is exactly what will happen. You will be filled with inner strength and able to conquor anything!

#263 - Why You WON'T MISS IT?

Jeremiah 29:13 - Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Mark 1:35 (ESV) - And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. 

Proverbs 31:15 - She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household... 

Have you ever thought, "I just don't want to miss it. I don't want to miss God."

I know that there have definitely been points along my life where I thought the very same thing. This morning as I was journaling and taking some time to listen to the Voice of the Holy Spirit, I felt very reassured by what I heard.

If you get this next thing down, I believe you will have won 95% of the battle!!

What is that? First things first: Daily time with the Lord. Once we have committed and have established a DISCIPLINE in devoting time EACH DAY with the Lord, I believe a large portion of any upcoming battle is won. I believe we will "WIN" the day! I believe we will "WIN" in our relationships. I believe we will "WIN" with our dreams and goals!

I attended a business class last night, and the gentleman was talking about a mentorship relationship and what it looks like, what proper communication looks like and doesn't look like. He said something to this effect, "I recently had a conversation with a guy that I am mentoring. Consistently, when we would get together, he would talk the whole time. It may be an hour long of him talking, the guy barely came up for air. He established a habit of monopolizing the conversation. I'm OK with that, but I finally told him. 'You don't need me. If all I am is just a wall for you to talk to, you don't need me.'"

A true mentoring relationship sometimes means you need to be quiet! A true mentoring relationship means that both parties talk and both parties listen.

What does your time with the Lord look like? What does your "quiet time" with Him look like? Like the protege in the above relationship, are you doing ALL THE TALKING when you spend time with the Lord? Do you pray and pray and pray, then get up to leave while the Lord is still just sitting there. He never had a chance to get a word in. He didn't have a chance to offer HIS advice, HIS answer to the situation or problem.

WHY can we be assured we will not miss it? This is what I heard this morning...

Why won't you miss it? Because of this! Because of this daily time spent with Me! When you spend daily time with Me & even open up yourself to LISTEN, I will SPEAK because you are seeking Me!! You won't miss it! Business, marriage, money, kids. You won't miss it.

So friend, I ask, are you spending time listening? Sitting in silence, pen & journal in hand, ready to hear from that still, small Voice? Ready to record His thoughts about the very situation you are seeking Him about?

I encourage you to take some time today, to get in a quiet place and in that silence ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -    LISTEN. 

#177 - Complete Focus!

Good afternoon! :) We've had an eventful morning with one of Tyler Juniors little friends being over for awhile. They are like two peas in a pod! So funny to watch play together, tackle each other &... well... the occasional "toy snatching" has been a re-occurring theme. Nap time is officially upon us so the house is nice & quiet!

Let's jump into some Word today:

Proverbs 4:25-26 - Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. Consider well the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established and ordered aright.

Proverbs 31:16, 24, - She considers a new field before she buys it...  she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard.... She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them... 

The power of focus. As I think about our Proverbs 31 friend, I can't help to think about the many accomplishments that follow her. In today's time, if she had a "Bio Sheet" it would surely be a long list of success', business' she owns, and lives she has impacted. Listing off just a few of the areas that she proactively worked in, I can only imagine that to accomplish all she accomplished took a skill of discipline & focus. In the few verses:

• She CONSIDERS purchasing a new field.... so she weighs her options. Like Proverbs 4:26, she CONSIDERED the path of her feet before she took that path. She was most likely well informed about the property, educated about the sales process, knew the amount of money she was willing to spend, & well prayed up. 
• She BUYS the field. With her business skills and savvy, with money she has earned most likely in other successful endeavors, SHE decides the investment is a good one and takes the plunge. 
• She PLANTS the field. Let the work begin, and the income to follow. This woman is an entrepreneur. 
• She MAKES garments. She has something she believes in, something that she believes will be a benefit, help and serve other people, and she makes a FINE product. Her skills as a seamstress, her creativity, her pursuit for excellence shine through with yet another endeavor of success. 
• She SELLS garments. She saw a need & filled it. Now, her fine quality product that she has made is being sold, marketed & bought. People see the use & benefits of what she has produced & she sells it! Like any business person, I'm SURE she has made a profit with her talent of sewing & with her idea of this helpful piece of clothing. She is PROSPERING! 

This is only covering TWO verses of this Proverbs 31 woman! But, with the power of focus, she is able to be productive AND fruitful in her endeavors! It took focus for her to find success. It took diligence & consistency to succeed. 

Success takes focus. Like Proverbs 4 discusses, success requires a fixed gaze ahead, a fixed gaze on the destination. What is YOUR destination? Are you working on one area to accomplish success? Do you have a few areas that you are working on? Reading Proverbs 31, you get the feeling that her life is full, that she is succeeding in all areas. I would anticipate when she was sewing, her COMPLETE focus was there. When she was planting a field, her complete focus was there. What are YOU working towards? PLAN it. Put it in your calendar. Add CONSISTENCY, and when you work at it, give it your COMPLETE FOCUS. That includes your rest time. When it's time to rest, allow your complete focus to just rest!

Now, put your mind to where you want to succeed & apply COMPLETE FOCUS!

#157 - It's all about Consistency!

Good morning! It's going to be a great day. Praise the Lord for the rain last night to wash away some pollen! We definitely needed it. We have had a yellow layer of dust on everything, cars, streets, porches, etc. So, YEAH for rain!!

Well... let's get started.

Proverbs 24:33-34 - Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep--So shall your poverty come as a robber, and your want as an armed man. 

How is anything accomplished? One action at a time. One positive step at a time. One area that Tyler and I daily confess on our "goal cards" is that we are "Spiritual Giants." Our desire with our spiritual growth is that we would be wise, we would be continually learning the things of God, we would be "Spiritual Giants" of the Word & things of God.

Good or bad, big things in life happen because of a series of events and decisions. In the Proverbs verses for today, poverty came upon this man because of daily decisions that he made. If we could see into his day a bit more, I would anticipate we would see days compounded. Day after day, this man sleeping, doing things that were not progressing towards a positive end, laziness. I would anticipate we would see a man who epitomized the definition of lazy.

As Christians, or really even non-Christians can apply this.... it's the power of consistency. For example, when began my real journey of spiritual growth was back in 1996. I rededicated my life to the Lord, and for the first time in my life, began a journey of growth. I would say at the time, I was very "spiritually illiterate." I didn't really even know a lot of the Bible School stories that most children learn from Sunday School. I felt like I knew nothing, or at least very little. But, do you know what happened? Day after day I began to learn. Little by little, I began to take in the Word. Some days I would only spend 5, 10, 15 minutes in the Word, some days I would spend 2 hours. I was hungry. Over the years I have retired several Bibles. Bibles that would get so high-lighted and written up, that I was ready to start with a fresh new one. Or... early on, I used an NIV version of the Bible. As a new believer, it was just easy to understand. I have since advanced to really enjoying the King James & The Amplified versions. Back in 1996, I was not ready for that yet. I was still like a baby drinking from a bottle, I was on milk. I just needed to understand the basics.

Often what happens in our society today, and I am guilty of this in certain areas of my life... we want to have immediate knowledge or success. Putting in the "daily time" can seem monotonous, or like we aren't getting anywhere. BUT, WE ARE! I look back over the last 15 years of my life, and the daily consistency of being in the Word has REALLY REALLY grown me up. I still would say I aspire to be a Spiritual Giant, but it took DAILY CONSISTENCY to get where I am today. It did not happen over night.

I've heard a few very successful people say phrases like that.... one lady in particular who rose to a great level of financial success would say regularly, "We just did something every day." In reaching her success, she may not have moved a mountain every day, but she was consistent in doing something every day to move forward. Just yesterday I was listening to a CD and the guy said something pretty great... he said this, "I don't know how to be focused for a year, but I can ROCK 7 days!" I bet many of us could relate to that. It may be hard to stay on track for a whole year, but if we just chose to be diligent and consistent with a week, how much easier would that be? Each week you start over. Just a week! Or just a day! Just focusing on the small, and in doing so the time compounds!

I know I won't become a "Spiritual Giant" over night, but consistently spending time in the Word, listening to the Holy Spirit, etc... over time, it will happen. It's all about consistency, in WHATEVER the arena. Fitness? It's all about consistency. Finances? It's all about consistency. Keeping a clean house? It's all about consistency. Progressing in your business or job? It's all about consistency.

I'm sure you've heard the phrase, 'How do you eat an elephant?' Answer: 'One bite at a time.' Same with our goals in life, it's not about accomplishing the end result today.... but it's one day at a time, one positive step at a time. Before we know it, we will be there!

It's all about consistency! So today... maybe this weekend... maybe it'd be good to sit down, you, your journal, maybe your Bible.... and plan it out! Set a date with yourself, an appointment. What are the consistent steps that YOU need to take to get to where YOU want to be in life? Make a plan, break it down to the day, and then be focused on the Daily Action Plan! Before you know it, your dreams will be your reality!