How to GROW Belief?

Matthew 17:20-21 (NKJ) - So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. ²¹ However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

If you remember in the Bible it talked about each of us given the measure of faith as believers. One believer not given a "greater measure," but each of us has the same amount. Well then, why do some people do significantly more with their life? Why does it appear some people have such greater faith because they accomplish so much more? Well.... let's take a look at that this morning.

Here in Matthew 17, the disciples have just come to Jesus because they were not able to cast out a demon. They wanted to know why, so Jesus goes about telling them. They had been given "the" measure of faith, so faith should not have been the problem. Jesus proceeds to tell them it is because of their unbelief. When I looked up "unbelief" in the dictionary, it defined it as skepticism, rejection of belief. 

Where and what is the TIME spent on? Rejecting belief? Dwelling on what is not possible? OR is time spent on building up belief? Building up what IS possible? Unbelief is rejection of belief. Belief was defined as confidence in the truth. A quote I read this morning goes hand in hand with what we are talking about, "It is usually overlooked, it is noteworthy that leaders spend a considerable time alone, with nothing but their own thinking apparatus." 

To increase belief, we need to increase the time we spend on that topic or area we are looking to grow. At the end of Matthew 17:21, it talks about prayer and fasting. The type of demon that the disciples were trying to cast out only came out through prayer and fasting. Their unbelief was too great, they had not spent enough time increasing their belief. In this instance, Jesus said it could have been done through prayer and fasting. Prayer, often something done alone.... and when one fasts, it is often giving up food to spend more time in prayer or with the Lord alone.

Leaders spend considerable time alone. 

It is not a mystery that the greatest leaders, good and bad (Stalin, Hitler, etc - spent jail time and had much alone time to devise their evil schemes) spend a lot of time alone. They are able to plan, increase belief in the plan. Increase belief in their beliefs!

So.... today.... what area do you want to grow in belief? DWELL on the positive of it. DWELL on why it is possible! DWELL on the how it can be done. Continue to think, dwell, ponder on the positive, on the possibility. GET ALONE to think, to journal, to pray. As you do this, watch your unbelief diminish until all that is left over is the DOING IT!!!! You will have accomplished what at one point seemed like a distant wish or dream! Through spending that time alone growing your belief, you will have accomplished victory!

#235 - Don't Die on the Vine!

Good morning!
Slow but sure... I'm coming back! An update? Trinity is doing great! We are working on getting into a routine with her. She has been sleeping very well through the night, which is a blessing! Anywhere from 6-11 hours through the night. Praise the Lord!! The house? Well... as most of you know, we have been building a house. The original "closing date" was October 21st.... well, we still have not closed. At this point, I've decided not to get frustrated despite the delays. My new mindset? We will be in the house SOMETIME!

Well... let's jump into the Word for today! :)

Proverbs 11:2 - When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness.

Proverbs 31:10 - A capable, intelligent, and ^[a]virtuous woman--who is he who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.

Wow! This morning as I began reading Proverbs 11... I barely got to verse 8, as each verse just jumped off the page at me! Verse 2, verse 3, verse 5.... it was as if I had never read Proverbs chapter 11 before! But we all know, through this monthly journey of Proverbs & the Proverbs 31 woman.... we HAVE read Proverbs 11 before! Many times!

I can relate to Proverbs 11:2... and unfortunately, have personal experiences that ring in my mind when I think back over the years. Swelling & Pride. Firsthand, I can relate to the whole cycle that Proverbs 11:2 is talking about! Swelling & pride, leading to emptiness & shame, then leading to what for me has been painful pruning & chiseling, but now coming out on the other side with soundness. A cycle somewhat unavoidable if one wants to bear great fruit. I'll share a personal story shortly, but as I was meditating on this verse, this is what the Holy Spirit had to say to me about it:

Being pruned IS part of the process. For every great tree, bearing great fruit, pruning is necessary. A time is involved where cutting back may cause a season of no fruit, BUT because of the pruning GREATER harvests are to come. As long as you are willing to grow through the process of pruning, as long as you are not willing to give up, to throw in the towel, to lose home & lose your dream - as long as you are willing for the pruning to lead to the harvest - you will experience the joy of completion. The joy of fullness! The joy of expectations being fulfilled. Will you come out strong after the pruning takes place? Don't die on the vine.

I read briefly how this actually takes place with the growth of grape vines. "Pruning is simply getting the plant or in this case grape vine growth to encourage more growth. Grapes will not appear on your grape vine for at least a few years, in the meantime you will need to maintain and care for your vines and this is done through careful pruning. How you prune your grape vines will have a massive effect on the sort of harvest that you will yield." 


OK... take off your robes & put down your stones for a minute.... I'm going to share ONE of the ways I've personally had to change in this area. Back 8-9 years ago after Tyler & I started our own business, with good intentions, I remember speaking to a group of people saying if they didn't do "________" they were "saps." I remember saying that everyone should be able to grow their numbers and business to a certain level within a certain period of time. I know, horrible, huh? What kind of terrible person would be so cold? I was fiery and excited, I spoke with passion & believed what I was saying. I was just overly excited. I look back on that time and season, and I now would love to apologize to anyone who may have been in hearing distance. My zeal most likely hurt feelings and was based in a degree of pride versus humility. 


Shortly after that time, the pruning process in me began. If you are the one being pruned, is it fun? I would answer that with a HEARTY NO! :) But, has the process been good? Absolutely. Some of the things I have gained from the pruning include; feeling compassion for others, seeing where others are coming from, being able to truly empathize, learning how to allow GOD to be in control instead of "my ability" to do or accomplish through my own efforts, not judging (I'm still learning this!), allowing people to grow at their pace versus my pace for them.... and the list goes on! 


As I read about the Proverbs 31 woman, I read in verse 10 how she is a capable, intelligent & virtuous woman. I see her having encompassed compassion, having most likely traveled through a pruning season coming out on the other side bearing much fruit. Eyes full of compassion. A heart that sees where you are and where you have been. Ears that listen & when you stop talking, she allows the silence to penetrate so you will continue talking.... ears just listening, as if they are saying "Go on. Tell me more. Don't stop there. I want to hear what YOU have to say. Tell me your story. Share your pain, I will be here and won't judge." The Proverbs 31 woman encompasses trust. Not only does her husband trust in her (Proverbs 31, verse 11), but those she knows trust her too. 


Pruning WILL produce a harvest for you. Will you, can you be patient even in the season where the harvest is not coming in? Will you allow the pruning to produce a growth in you and around you that will bring completion? It will encompass what you are called to do and be. As the Holy Spirit reminded me, I'll leave you with this too.... Don't Die on the Vine. God is not through with you yet. Enjoy the growth. Enjoy what you are learning and allow the pruning to take place. Proper pruning produces extraordinary crops! Don't Die on the Vine, allow yourself also to be pruned! 


Have you experienced a season of pruning? Do you have a harvest you'd like to share? I'd love to hear your story!

#143 - Continual Growth

Good morning. :) Or.... HAPPY THURSDAY! :) It's a great day! The boy is enjoying watching Miss Pattycake right now! Any parents out there? Miss Pattycake is a great DVD/CD series that sings songs, teaches kids about God & Bible stories, as well as the basic things they need to know about using manners,  numbers, ABC's, colors, hygenine, healthy eating, etc. It's a great DVD series with a lot of energy. Tyler and I find ourselves walking around singing the songs... it's pretty funny! But if your in the market for some good Bible Based, high energy DVD's that teach great principles... Miss Pattycake is a winner! :) 


Ok... well, let's get rolling. :) 

Proverbs 17:28 - Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding.

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

Well.... it's amazing how the Word is a continual source of instruction and correction! Sometimes it's not fun... but as we are on this journey to become all God has created us to be, I guess it's good. ;) I know it's good! Have any of you talked when you should have just been quiet? Or have you been around people that ALWAYS are talking and you can't get a word in edge wise? Or those people that always change the subject when you are talking to them.... and they change the subject to, guess what? Themselves! I know I have been guilty of it too! But, as it says in Proverbs 17, even a FOOL is esteemed as a person of understanding when he CLOSES HIS LIPS! 


A couple of practices for the week:

1. When you (and I) are talking to people this week... when we are tempted to change the subject or BEGIN a sentence with the word "I".... let's take a second and stop ourselves! Can we NOT focus on ourselves? Can we keep the focus on them? Allow them to talk not us?
2. Practice Humility - When we are tempted to tell someone... "Well, let me tell you what I did...", or "Well, I actually went there AND I went here too...." - Let's practice the art of not trying to "out-do" someone else's story. AND.... if we feel tempted to brag about something we've done, let's take a second and just CLOSE OUR LIPS. 

Have you ever said something, sent an email, text or something and then your corrected by the Word? Or later when your not "in the moment" you think, "Man, that was kinda stupid." I know I have.... and I continually find things in my life to work on and fine tune. Here's just another one. 

What about Proverbs 31:15? Our Proverbs 31 friend "rises while it is yet night and gets spiritual food for her household." Do you ever wonder, "Am I ever going to get this whole thing down?" The whole being a good Christian, diligent, disciplined, etc. With a growing family, I am learning this. Tyler Junior is 15 months, so his schedule seems to evolve as he grows. So for me, my schedule changes too. Our routines change. I had my main quiet time before he woke up this morning. Spent some time meditating on some specific scriptures... then, the boy woke up. Pull out the "Mom Card" and do breakfast, etc. Well, after breakfast, Tyler Junior watches a short DVD called "My Baby Can Read", and then he watches "Miss Pattycake." So, as I'm reading through Proverbs, I'm listening to this song, "Fruits and veggies in your tum tum tum, Fruits and Veggies yum, yum, yum!" And OTHER fun Miss Pattycake songs, but songs that are NOT too conducive with having a QUIET "Quiet Time." 

So... I don't know if your schedule and life is changing, but if it is.... like me, do you need to figure out how to allow your Quiet Time to be what it needs to be? QUIET. An atmosphere that is inviting for the Holy Spirit to be present. Praise God that we are on a path of continual growth, that we will be forever learning and we don't "arrive." 

So THANK YOU as you are on the journey with me that you allow me the latitude to grow! I pray as I'm growing, God is doing things in you for you to grow. 

Would you share? What are you learning? How are you growing? I'd love to hear your voices out there! :) 

#50 - A Man Will DO More & BE More When....

Buenos dias! :) This afternoon we are going to pick blueberries again with some friends. It seems like "Thursdays" have become our fruit picking day! :) Well, I am going to believe now that it will be great, cool with a light breeze, and NO wasps, bees or fire-ants (or any other biting/stinging creatures!)


I had a nice DOR yesterday! I went to the $2.00 theatre and watched Karate Kid! :) It was really good. Jaden Smith does a good job as the little Karate Kid. :) Some good lessons in the movie about "respect", and language in the movie was good (only about 2-3 times the word a** was used in the beginning). So, overall, a good flick for kids too. :) 


Let's begin our devotion... get your steel-toed boots on today. :-/ 

Proverbs 12:4 - A virtuous and worthy wife [earnest and strong in character] is a crowning joy to her husband, but she who makes him ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Proverbs 31:29 - Many daughters have done virtuously, nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness], but you excel them all.

Well, today's word stems from a few bits of conversation that I had with Tyler this morning as he was leaving for the day. If I were to guess.... I would anticipate many of you have had similar conversations with your spouse. Maybe different words, but the same context. Just to give you a bit of background... Tyler just downloaded a "To-Do/Task" matrix on his cell phone. It allows him to keep up with tasks or "delegate them" to someone else, date them for a future completion, etc, etc... Let's see if you can relate... 

T: Hey, I'm going to forward you an email of a few things to do.

A: Well, I'm not going to guarantee that it gets done today. I already have a lot of things I'm going to do. 

T: Well, you didn't even see what it is. It won't even take long. 

A: Well... I just know that I have lots to do, and if it was a lot of tasks that had to get done today, I just wanted you to know I didn't know if I'd get to them. But I can probably plan them into my calendar for later.

T: All I was going to do was ask you to drop off the dry cleaning. I have all my shirts laid out on my chair upstairs.  (*bit of frustration in his voice*)

A: Oh. Well, I can do that when we leave to pick blueberries. (*feeling a bit bad that such a big deal was made out of something that would be so easy to do now that I knew what it was* - Now outside, as he's walking to the garage.)

A: And ,your welcome for packing your lunch. (*A bit of sarcasm since he didn't say thank you.*)

T: And, Your welcome for me going to my job, making money and providing for our family. (*frustration in his voice because of feeling under-appreciated*)

There ya have it! :) The perfect world of the McCart's. :) It seems pretty small... but even just the "tension" in the air of our conversation wasn't a great way to begin, or set the stage for the day, for having a good day anyways. Then... of course, the Word continues to correct, teach, rebuke and help. All good things since we are all continuing to learn and grow. Correction is all a part of a believer who wants to grow. 


Proverbs 12 talked about being a crowning joy to her husband and of course that is something that I always want to be. A blessing. A joy. An encouragement. This morning was a good wake up call to the power of appreciation. Or the power of a lack of appreciation. Then as I continued to read in Proverbs 12, it talked about the wife who makes her husband ashamed, how she is as rottenness to his bones. Rottenness stinks, rotten breaks, rottenness brings fruit flies & bugs. There is nothing real good about rottenness. And I definitely do not want to be any of that to my husband. As I meditated on the word ashamed, I really came across ways that a wife can do that, can bring shame to her husband.


The wife can cause the husband to feel "Shame" or be "Ashamed" in several different ways....


Ashamed in Himself:

• Lack of Appreciation - Feeling like he is not appreciated. What he's doing goes over-looked as he goes works with the people, makes the sales calls, deals with "drama" that may come up with work. Deals with client problems. Deals with numbers, emails, voicemails, to-do lists, projects to complete, #'s to grow, $ income to increase, people to please, boss to make happy, and the list goes on. As he goes through ALL this, and rarely gets a "Thank You" for all he is doing to provide for his family. Lack of appreciation can cause dissatisfaction with work & disunity with the spouse.
• Lack of Accomplishment - Through her lack of appreciation, it shines light on their "Lack of Accomplishment". Sometimes causing him to feel shame in  how far along they are not. They have not gotten in life as far as they anticipated. They thought they would be further along in their goals, but they are not. She may mention or remind him of this with her attitude or words.
• Lack of Attainment - Through lack of appreciation, this can also make him feel like what he has provided doesn't make her happy. Even though he's doing everything he knows how to do, nothing is making her happy. 
• All of this making him feel like he is Not a good Provider - A man wants to know he is that "Hulk", "Mufasa", "King Kong", "He-Man". He wants to have the feeling of "beating his chest with his fists" and crying out "Oughhhh Oughhhh"... kinda like the "Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor" would do on his show. Lack of Appreciation partnered with Lack of Accomplishment, then can cause a husband to feel like he is not a good provider. Then self-doubt sinks in. And the OPPOSITE begins to happen, instead of looking at where he can go, he may begin dwelling on what he is not. Who he is not, or has not been. Dwelling on failures and self instead of WHO GOD IS and WHAT GOD CAN DO through him. All of this self-imposed, or wife-imposed does not help the cause of progress, but directly can move them backwards. 

Ashamed in Her:

• Actions - Non-productive. She does things that are un-prayed about and un-productive. She focuses on self. Doesn't serve him. "The least will be greatest. The one who serves is the one who is great." - This statement doesn't show through her actions. She does not serve. Her actions are not helping to move their family forward financially or spiritually. Lazy. Unkept house. Lack of peace.
• Attitude - If she has a negative attitude all the time. Looks at the glass always as half empty instead of half full. Sharp tone. Sharp glares. Sharp words.
• Attire - Dressing sloppy... or doesn't wear make-up or do her hair for him.  Dressing in a way that would be too revealing. Wearing clothes that are either too short, tight, low-cut or just inappropriate. Causing him not to take pride in showing off his wife. "Wearing her around as his prize when he is out in public." Like he is showing off a gem. 
• Advancement - In her spiritual growth. In her physical fitness growth - being fit for HIM, to look good for HIM. In her PERSONAL growth. Reading books. In her fiscal growth - aspiring to make them money or save them money. Her not being a "shop-aholic" and spending money on things she and they do not need. 

WORK WITH YOUR MAN: 

• A man will do more and be more when he is VERBALLY appreciated. 
• A man will do more and be more when his wife treats him like her HERO. 
• A man will do more and be more when he is loved. 
• A man will do more and be more when he is RESPECTED. 
• A man will do more and be more when his wife's actions show that SHE is in agreement with him. She takes action towards their goals, you see her "buy-in" to their goals by what she does because she is moving in the same direction! Their actions are in unity!
• A man will do more and be more when he is served & treated like the King. She is the queen of the castle, but he wants to be her King!

I hope you didn't feel like this dwelled a lot on the negative. But... my goal is to avoid the negative and have my life dwell on the positive. Sometimes in order to do that, we need to know what the negative is. Are we inadvertently being negative in some way? Well... I know that I need to be more proactive with the POWER OF APPRECIATION! Actually with everything that was mentioned. I STILL have my work cut out for me. (I'm not even going to proof-read this today... arghhh!)

To Do:

Pick one thing today that you can apply. 

Prayer: 

Lord, In JESUS name, help me to be the help-mate to my spouse that you created me to be. Help me to encourage and lift up. Help me to serve even when it may not be "convenient" or fit into MY schedule. Help me to focus on loving and serving and being a spouse that allow my husband to MOVE MOUNTAINS because I believe in him. Through my words and actions, help my husband know that I believe he can do ANYTHING!! May I empower him to do great things! And may I help him to do great things. Prepare us Lord for what YOU have in store. For the GREATNESS you have for us! We thank you today for your protection according to Ps 91, and that we go out in FAVOR FAVOR FAVOR according to Proverbs 12:2. We love you and praise you in JESUS name, Amen!

#19 - MUFASA! :)

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!

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!


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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! :)