#30 - Living Vanilla? Add Chocolate, Carmel, Whip Cream & Nuts

Good morning! It's going to be a jammin day today! Excited about it.... excited to get a lot done and accomplished. Yippee! So... let's get our roll on....

Proverbs 8:6-8 - ...the opening of my lips shall be for right things. For my mouth shall utter truth. All the words of my mouth are righteous (upright and in right standing with God); there is nothing contrary to truth or crooked in them.

Proverbs 31:26 - She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].

So much good stuff today. Where do you even begin? Words. Truth. Our words are so important. We even see that when our Proverbs 31 friend opens her mouth, good stuff is coming out! She opens her mouth in Wisdom. When she speaks it is with Wisdom and kindness. As we see in Proverbs 8:30, Wisdom was here from the beginning. Wisdom was here as the earth was created. Wisdom was hear before man was created. Before the sun & moon. Before animals, the water, fish of the sea. Wisdom has been here since before the beginning! So within Wisdom, it also accompanies the truth. Wisdom can not be a lie. Wisdom can not be false. Aside from everything else Wisdom is, Wisdom is truth. Our Proverbs 31 friend opens her mouth in truth. Wisdom often is love. Our Proverbs 31 friend most often probably opened her mouth in love, in encouragement or, as it says in verse 26, in kindness. 


I heard a statement the other day that shook me. It came at me and it was bold. It affected me. When truth comes, it separates bone & marrow. It comes straight. Straight! It comes hard. It comes bold. It comes in a glass that is not watered down. Truth does not try to wear flowers. It does not try to dress up. And we see the Word, JAM-PACKED with TRUTH. I began to think about it. I began to think about who I am attracted too. When we started our business about 7 years ago, I remember early on going to a conference. I heard people speaking boldly, and speaking truth. I heard things that, at the time, I did not even hear at church. I was attracted to the bold. I was attracted to these people who stood up for the truth. Who spoke the truth without standing down. The attractiveness of the Radical.  Truth is like a magnet. Truth draws us in. Truth is attractive. Truth is powerful. I go back to the statement I heard that shook me. When truth comes, it separates bone & marrow. It comes straight. I hear already some people saying, "Well, you have to leave room. You have to not be so dogmatic. You have to be gentle." What I have realized though is THE WORLD WANTS THE RADICAL!!! Think about it. Who do you want to follow? Someone who is passionate. Someone who is sure. Someone who follows their heart, who follows truth. Someone who is bold. Someone who moves you to tears. Someone who knows & speaks truth. The WORLD wants the BOLD. I have realized that the WORLD is following and wants to follow those who speak loud. I  am reminded of Lady Gaga. We call her radically saved in Jesus Name! She has almost 5 million followers on Twitter, and just passed President Obama for followers on Facebook. Why? She lives her life BOLDLY! People are attracted to bold. 


Wake-up call. Before this blog began.... I was living my life "Vanilla." I was living my life "not to offend." Everyone likes vanilla. I then, finally couldn't take it anymore! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GIVE ME THE CARMEL, HOT FUDGE, NUTS, MARSHMALLOW'S, CHOCOLATE CHIPS! I AM NOT VANILLA! I think as Christians we often live life "Vanilla." We live life not to offend, while the World is living life BOLDLY... (ie: Lady Gaga- dancing on poles in a cage, whips, chains, scantily dressed, colored language, cutting edge ideas). The world is not "living Vanilla" and the WORLD is getting more followers than MY JESUS! 


Jesus lived a life that was not vanilla. During his life, people were offended. He lived boldly. He knew His purpose for being here. He lived and spoke TRUTH.


That brings me to association. Finding a church that speaks the truth and believes the truth. Comparing it with the Word. Cross-referencing it with the Word. Does what they speak or teach line up with the TRUTH? I'm not so quick to jump on the "ban-wagon" of ministers or churches that appear to be big. I am very CAUTIOUS in the books that I read... the authors... and what "school of teaching" they come from. I steer clear of some that I know I feel don't believe the WHOLE truth. Those who have taken bits of truth, but have disagreed with some parts of the Bible. Last time I checked, the WHOLE BIBLE was true. So, I'm cautious of "what" I put in. 


Personal example: A time back, I was like that about Joel Osteen. I was cautious. I did not know if he was just a "feel-good" minister... or if he just preached "watered-down" sermons... if he really believed how I believed. If he really embraced the whole Bible. Well, I have since read a couple of his books. One of the books I'm reading right now is: It's Your Time. I must say, it is a great read. We don't watch TV at home, so I never watch him on TV... but when I have been at my in-laws, I have seen him on occasion. I don't know how much he teaches on certain subjects...but when I've seen him it has usually been a message of hope. At the time, I thought, "Great, hope is good. Hope is important. But do the people ever go from milk to meat? Are they getting enough Word that they are moving forward. Are they getting the whole package and moving on?" I am definitely not an easy one to just "jump on someones ban wagon." Well.... that brings me to his book, It's Your Time, definitely good stuff. Get ready to get fired up... I'm just going to bullet out some things from it....

• Don't talk about your problems; talk to your problems.
• Speak to those mountains in your path. Declare favor over difficult situations. Too often we talk to God about how big our problems are. We should be talking to our problems about how big our God is!
• With your own words you'd be sealing your fate. You must ask yourself, "Whose report will I believe, the report of victory or the report of defeat?"
• Put a watch over your mouth.
• In due season you will eat the fruit of your words.
• Declare favor every day, all day. Let it flow out your mouth and under your breath. You should be saying, "Father, thank you that Your favor is opening up doors no man can shut. Your favor is bringing supernatural opportunities, divine connections, causing me to be at the right place at the right time."
• I am blessed. I walk in divine health. The favor of God is opening up new doors. I will fulfill my destiny.
• Switch over to the language of victory.
• Our words can bless our future or they can curse it.
• We give life to our faith when we speak out about our dreams.
• He has made you the head and not the tail. (Deut. 28 - One of my, Amy's, personal favorite chapters in the Bible - Talks about blessings and curses. Grab hold of the blessings!!!)
• God does not want you to spend your whole life working for someone else. God wants you to own your own company. 
• When your needs are supplied, keep stretching to bless others.
• Don't allow negative images to play in your mind. Change the channel.
• Turn off negative talk. Fill your mind with thoughts of victory. 
• Great expectations make for great lives.
• When I was tempted to get discouraged, I used the temptation as a reminder to thank God that He was in control and to thank Him that He was fighting my battles for me.
• Dare to dream big and pray boldly, especially - yes, especially - when there is no hope in sight!
• Have you ever dared to ask God to help you OWN YOUR HOME free and clear without monthly payments? "God I'm asking to be debt-free - my home, my car, my business, my credit cards!"
• God expects us to ask. If you are not asking for God's favor, His blessings, His increase, then you are not releasing your faith. 

What a pleasant surprise! Truth. And if you looked back over each one of the blog posts here, you would probably see many of those very subjects talked about. 


So, divine health? Living in abundance? What if I feel sick? What if I HAVE a headache right now? What if I AM broke? What if my checking account does say $0.00... or -$34.89. Apply the TRUTH to your situation! 


Fact -VS- Truth: The fact may be that you have a headache, but the TRUTH trumps the facts. The TRUTH, the Word of God, trumps what the facts say because the WORD says, "By Jesus stripes you ARE healed." (1 Peter 2:24) The facts may be that you have no money in your checking account right now, but the TRUTH says, "My God shall supply ALL my needs according to HIS riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:19) Or the amplified, "My God will LIBERALLY supply (fill to the full) your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." And our God DOES NOT LACK! So take your situation and line it up with the Word. Line it up with the TRUTH. Claim and speak the TRUTH over areas that may feel like defeat now. Say, "Thank you Father, that the facts may say I have NO money, but your WORD says that you LIBERALLY supply all my needs. That I have more than enough. I choose to believe the WORD, the TRUTH over what the facts may be saying. Thank you Father that YOU are Jehovah Jirah, God my Provider, and YOU do not have a lack. And YOU are my Supplier. I am linked up with the ALMIGHTY Source! Thank you for meeting my needs!"


Litmus Test: Do a WORD CHECK. Check your Words. Whatever you say, behind it add, "In Jesus Name." How does that sound? "I have a migraine, in Jesus Name." "I am broke, in Jesus Name." "I have no friends, in Jesus Name." "I'm not good at anything, in Jesus Name." "I'm fat, in Jesus Name." "I'm ugly, in Jesus Name." CHECK YOUR WORDS! Like Joel said, Our words can bless our future or they can curse it. And that is SO true!


Be Bold. Believe truth. Live truth. The only way to live vanilla is to add chocolate, carmel, whip cream and nuts! Live with Flavor. Live with belief! LIVE LOUD!

#18 - Steady Wins the Race

The boy is just being a little "chatty Cathy" up in his bed. It is so funny to hear him. I can hear the jingle of him grabbing a toy now and then and can just tell he is shaking it. :) Then....silence. It's like he plays then takes a quick snooze. So...I guess that's my cue to get to it! :) The clock is a tickin'! :)

Proverbs 17:3 - The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts.

Proverbs 31:25 - Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

Proverbs 17 was filled with nuggets! That is exactly why you can really do this EVERY month, keep going over Proverbs & Proverbs 31, because there is SOOO much good stuff that it's as if you will never be able to dive into it fully.... there is always more. Like the rabbit hole keeps going deeper! Well, this morning we will dive into the rabbit hole and see where it takes us. As always, it will be good because OUR GOD & HIS WORD does not disappoint!


Before beginning, let's look into a bit of the language, the history.... the original Hebrew text and meanings. I believe that will shed further light as we study. The root word for refining pot goes back to the word, tsaraph. Tsaraph means to test, to prove true, to refine, to be refined. And the word furnace come from our root word kuwr. Kuwr means to bore, pierce, dig, hew, smelting furnace or pot. When we look at tries, it is a similar. Pretty interesting.... bachan means to prove, to try, to examine, to test, to scrutinize, to try of gold, to be tried. Strength in the Hebrew refers to: material, physical, personal, social, or political. 


With that foundation...how does this apply to us? What are we called to do here? We see our Proverbs 31 woman. She is strong, in every sense of the word. She is physically strong, she has material possessions that show strength, she is personally strong - mentally & spiritually, she is socially strong - she has ties to the public, to the people, she has rapport because of her steadfastness, because of her character & integrity, and yes, our Proverbs 31 friend is even politically strong, she knows what is going on in politics. She is supportive, she has an opinion which is based off the Word, she is wise in the realm of what is going on with her country. She is not just a "bystander" who knows nothing. She makes herself wise, in "the-know". She knows who to support & why and it all boils down to WHO is following the direction laid out in the Word. 


As we tie the two together I am reminded of the story that we all know of the tortoise & the hare. Who won the race? What is the common phrase? "Slow & steady wins the race." It's not the radical, quick decisions that make someone win, it is the decisions based in strength. It is the good decision backed by good decision that ultimately wins in the end. I am reminded of different people I have seen in life be "RADICAL"... they seemingly came out of no where. They reminded me of the hare. They ran REALLY fast! They sprinted. They seemed radical. But, do you know what happened to them? They also burnt out. They quit the race before it was over. They lost. They are completely off the radar now. They burnt out. In their race to be radical, they missed the STEADY. Our Proverbs 31 woman has not done that. She has built upon herself. She has built quality characteristics. She has built her house upon the rock, not upon the sand. She has become STEADY. Personally, she has become steadfast. The cares of this world are not stripping her away from what is most important. She is not flighty. She is not excited about the Lord one day and then a week later you would have thought she had forgotten. She is steady. And in the end, she wins the race! 


It doesn't take the radical, it takes the steady. 


Let's take the signers of the Declaration of Independence for example. Yes, these men were radical. But they were first of all steady in their beliefs. They knew what they believed and they stood behind it daily. Your steady stand may eventually lead to radical decisions. I believe our Proverbs 31 woman would have been standing amongst people like these men. She would have stood for what she believed & she wouldn't have forgotten her beliefs because of the "car pool line", or "golf lessons". Not that these things are bad, but they are bad when it causes you to forget. When it causes you to allow your time to neglect the most important. I believe she KNEW what the most important thing was and continued to be led because of what was most important. It boiled down to our Proverbs 31 friend knowing who she was in Christ & making a steady, daily decision to follow Him, to seek Him, to know Him. 


In closing... you may never have to make a radical decision like those of our Founding Fathers. But, if you are EVER in a position that you must, it will take the steady standing to even know the answer to the radical decision. To know what side you stand on. Let's take a look at some radicals. Are you steady enough in the Word, in your Walk with Christ to know? These men were tested. They were tried. They were scrutinized. They were some radicals who did indeed change history:

Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence..... Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.....They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot of what happened in the revolutionary war. We didn't just fight the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government! (www.truthorfiction.com) 

Steady wins the race. Steady may lead to radical. As an American, for us, steady led to freedom. 


In what areas to you need to firm up your "steady"? Is it your walk with the Lord? Do you get excited & then get burnt out? Do you start, but don't continue?  If I could make a suggestion.... don't try to set unrealistic expectations on yourself. Start small. Start with something. Start with 5 minutes. Just start. It may be one verse or one chapter. Just start. Begin the journey to spend time with the Lord daily. So when you look back you can say, "Wow...I have been GROWING in my walk with the Lord for 15 years now." You can look and see that it has been a progressive realization. You are daily progressing. Start small, but start. Don't grow to busy that when you crawl into bed at night, exhausted it's then that you realize..."Oh, dang it... the whole day went by and I didn't spend any time with the Lord. I didn't spend any time in the Word. I guess I'll try tomorrow." I plead with you... in 10 years when you look back, don't just look at a life of busyness, a life of minimal or no spiritual growth, a life where you are still a baby drinking milk from the bottle....a life where you haven't graduated to the meat, to the solid food.  


Start today. Commit today. Commit to grow. Slow & steady win the race. The Lord may have radical, exciting things in store for you. Will you be ready? Will you have been steady?