Soul searching... Time for a change

I have been doing some real soul searching in the last few months and came to the conclusion that there are some changes I need to make.  It will  take some time but I want to become who God knows I am.  I'm not there yet. 

 How do I know??? I am not content. 

 There are areas in my life that I am not happy with; my weight, finances, walk with God, time management......  Wow, that seems like quite a list. I am not expecting to accomplish any of that in a short time.  There needs to be strategy and determination.

   

There is a scripture that comes to mind..... " He will keep in perfect peace, those whose mind is stayed on Him and trust in Him." Isaiah 26:3  I haven't had 'perfect peace' in a while and I know that part of the reason is that I am not in the Word enough and I need to prioritize and organize my schedule to fit everything around God, and not try to fit God into everything else. 

I was reading Sarah McFaul's blog and she is spending time with God every morning... going for walks and spending time with Him.  Now that I have time off work, I can begin to focus on developing my relationship with him.  

There is something that Kenneth Copeland says about not feeling like your not hearing from God.  He says to think back to the last thing God said to you  and see if you had done it.  If you hadn't then how can you go forward when you haven't done what he has asked? 

So with that said, I have the day off today and I plan to listen to some worship music, then hear some teaching from Kenneth Copeland  listen to what God has to say to me and continue on my day. 

PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL!!!!

 

Being a Single Mom

Being a single mom is harder than it looks.  

With Tom away with Bethany, I have had to run the household on my own.  It definitely has been a more challenging task than I thought.  Probably for me it would be harder because I have had Tom to rely on (on a usual basis).  Tom and Bethany have only been away 11 days but it sure feels like a lifetime.  

  I have also had to adjust to having another body in the house.  We have an exchange student staying with us.  He just arrived three days before Tom and Bethany left.  He has been easy to care for except for the language barrier.  He understands most things I say but other times he just nods his head to look like he understands me and I do the same to him.  

With all that is happening I have had to rely on God more than I thought I needed.  It is so good to know that He is there no matter what.  I am so thankful for scriptures like: 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'.  It has been nice to know that even when all I want to do is cry He is there.  Whenever I need to vent my frustrations, He is there.  Whenever I need to sit still and just ponder my next step, He is there. 

Be reassured that He is there for you, too.  He desires to be that one person you run to for help. That's the joy in knowing Him.  

I have 6 more days to go before my life gets back to a somewhat normal state and even when that happens I will still need God to be my person to run to, cry to, rest in and rely on.   

Choices, Choices, Choices.....

There is a song that I love by Brian Doerksen .  The song is called, Today I choose.

Today I choose to worship you.

Today I choose to give my yes to you

Today I choose to hear your voice and live.

Today I choose to follow you.

Just those words alone makes me very determined to do my best for Him.  

Everything in our lives is directed by choices.  Whether they are right or wrong choices depends on A) our lifestyle and B) our understanding of knowing right from wrong. 

Even following God is a choice.  We choose to accept Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour.  Because of that choice we need to follow  His plan for our lives which is laid out before us in the Word.  The Bible is full of scripture that says 'if you do...... then I will.....'

God always gives us an option to do things His way or we can do things our own way.  

Deuteronomy 28 is probably THE scripture that displays how we should live our lives.  Living in obedience will bring blessing.  As Deut. 28:1 says, If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all nations on the earth."  If you read on it gives the list of blessings but it also lists the curses (or things that will go wrong) if you disobey.  

One of my favourite verses is Matthew 6:33 were it says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."    Here is how the amplified bible puts it: "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 to you besides."

If we are to strive after His kingdom and His way of doing things and being right then we need to choose to do what the word says.  God's desire is to bless us.  His purpose for our lives is to prosper and live a long and joyful life (John 10:10, Jer. 29:11, Psalm 91:16).  So it would only make sense to live out the best life we can by following Him.  

So, Father, today I choose to worship You and follow You. 

   

Words are Powerful

I had a group of women over Monday night and watched a DVD with Gloria Copeland called " Connecting to God's Master Plan"  and am really enjoying the videos and my time with the ladies. Gloria spoke on the power of words and particularly about how to speak the 'words of God' to help connect to His master plan for your life.  Because He's a God who only wants the best for you He strategically placed scripture in the Bible to let you know what His plan is for you, for example; Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  

Ephesians 1:4-6 says: "For He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestines is to be adopted as his sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." 

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  

Just on those scriptures alone you can see that God wants us to have a good life, a prosperous life.  He planned ahead of time (before the beginning of time) for us to enjoy our lives and have a hope and a future.  

Somehow we seem to fall short of that plan and can't figure out why.  Well, as the title of this blog says: words are powerful.  I have come to the conclusion that what we say about ourselves and listen to what others say about us makes all the difference what path we are on.  If we chose to speak the words that God says about us and surround ourselves with people who will encourage us (and not bring us down) then we have a great chance of fulfilling our plan that God has.  

It begins every morning with a choice to think good thoughts about ourselves and make it a point to give God thanks for his awesome plan, even when we don't understand the plan.  Once we are thankful, it will become more and more apparent where we are supposed to be and what  the next step is.  That's called being faithful.

I purposely am making it my goal to continue to be thankful and us my words to encourage myself and those around me.  If you do the same,  who knows, you may just be part of the plan in someone else's life. 

Be blessed and know that you have been  personally chose by your God to live a fabulous life.

    

     

Just Beginning.....

Here I go on an adventure in blogging.  Being a new experience, I'm sure I will have a lot to learn but why not.  I have read a few other blogs and thought I would give it a try.  

This could be a great way to express my thoughts and actually see if they make any sense. 

Thanks for giving me a chance and hope I can inspire others, just as others have inspired me.