Living On E

Happy New Year everyone! Can I just say, thank the LORD for a new year?! I really appreciate the turning of the calendar year as a fresh start. I don’t generally make resolutions, but, especially this year waking up to a fresh blanketing of snow yesterday and listening to the first GYC message on Wednesday night, I feel hope for what is to come–I pray that God will take me, mold me, and fill me and use me to fulfil His will where He has placed me this year, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” –Philippians 1:6 NKJV

I’ve been working for some months now and as difficult of a job as it is I have truly been enjoying it. But, God knows, true to form, I’m getting antsy to move on to the next thing. I trust Him, though, to keep me grounded in my walk with Him, moving forward at His pace–by His grace, doing what is placed in front of me to do and see what doors open and acknowledging, with thankfulness, those that do not. I trust that God will always be there for me, continuing to be my friend–honest (never) to a fault, pushing me beyond my comfort zone, and protecting the deepest recesses of my heart & soul. What more could I ask for?

When I am not aligned with God’s will and other people speak like that I tend to find it grates on the nerves… but when God’s peace fills my heart it seems to sing the same tune. It is a wonder….

Some days ago, I was actually having a winter blues/ holiday low point and God seemed to point me to the GYC website. I was browsing through previous GYC seminars and accidentally downloaded one called Living On E to my new phone. OK, I accidentally downloaded it three times! (Ah, technology et moi!) Anyway, I saved one of the downloads, but I wasn’t ready to listen just then.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and was reminded that it was there waiting for me. I listened. And I was so moved I wanted to share it with you. It is a bit long, but I think worth the time. It’s good to be reminded that moving into the new year without a plan is OK. That it’s OK to not have a full grasp on our hopes and dreams, that they are actually safer in God’s hands even if it is scary to trust Him completely. Living on E so He can fill me.

I rely on God to put the trust of Jesus Christ into my heart, I rely on God to help me to understand in my mind–not just feel, that what I know to be true will not change because He doesn’t change.  I rely on God to remind me that He will not leave me or forsake me as I put my life in His hands in this new year. With Him all things are possible, anything could happen. I can’t wait!

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. –Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV

Again, the link is: https://www.audioverse.org/english/sermons/recordings/4702/living-on-e.html

How Many Meals?! And A New Job.

http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-meals-per-day/

The article at the above link relates in a simple format what I believe to be true when it comes to meal consumption and fasting. And, my brain is too tired right now to go into more detail, but I had to share it just the same!

I’m exhausted because I now I have work. I’m so unbelievably grateful to GOD to have been given the gift of a job, and one close to home, too, working as a behavioral interventionist at a high school. Today was rather long with no air conditioning and very high humidity, plus long hours standing and walking. However, now I’m relaxing at home to the sounds of a long delicious storm, just being grateful for my abundant blessings through the many hardships of life. 

I’m still ill sometimes, but I’ve been managing fairly well. I sometimes have pain in my foot, but I am able to walk and stand. I’m exhausted at the end of the day, but happily so, and I know being consistently active I will probably drop extra weight more quickly~ha-ha. I also have to say, I am really enjoying most of the classes my students have. I get to learn things–I’m being paid to listen in on and assist in classes I’d never be able to afford any other way. I will even get to go on Ag-Science field trips later in the year, traipsing through the woods to identify trees, learn about sugaring, etc. I am so excited. For tomorrow I was even told to switch from the one class that has given me a headache (H.S. band!) to assist with another class I know I will love, learning more about the stars! 

Anywho~ El Shaddai Jehovah Jireh. Everyone around me seemed to doubt, but I knew GOD would come through in His time. Even the surrounding circumstances of my receiving this job seemed miraculous. He is my everything. The only one who has never let me down, despite my innumerable failings. He is worthy to be praised.

 

 

I Shall Not Want: Audrey Assad

God Will Never Waste The Pain

Over Jordan

Happy Morning

Depression. It Is Written with John Bradshaw and Dr. Neil Nedley

For more information and resources please visit:

https://www.nedleyhealthsolutions.com/

http://www.ccef.org/

If you are suffering from depression please see your physician, a local counselor, or pastor and learn what options are available to you.

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:7-8 NASB

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm 91:1-4 NASB 

(See Psalm 51)

God’s Limitless Love

Check out this lovely piece of writing:

http://www.seannebblett.com/2014/07/the-cost-of-fidelity.html

God loves us without limits. His love surpasses the furthest, darkest reaches of the universe. That does not mean we can do anything we want without regard to consequence, but we can always be certain of His love. His capacity for forgiveness is great. His arms are always waiting to lift us up, even if we don’t know how much we need Him.

This past Sabbath, as beautiful as the day was–and as joyful as it ended up being, I had a bit of a breakdown. My life has certainly not been easy, and sometimes the pain is great. Sometimes I forget that I am not alone, and try to carry unbearable burdens. But, when we cannot face what is right in front of us, God sends his foot soldiers to meet us where we are at… pushes us to loosen our tongues and rely on people we might not think could possibly understand. But, we all live such closed off lives we don’t know what someone else may have been through–just as, if not more difficult than oneself.

Why do we keep saying church is for the sick, but not one wants to admit this truth? That we are all sick? We literally paint on faces, smiles that mean little, concealer to cover dark under-eye circles, drops to brighten reddened eyes.

But God see’s. He wants us to come to Him, He wants to forgive us, love us, fill us with purpose, and speak to each other. Lift each other up. Not hide ourselves off in impenetrable bubbles where no one else can hurt us… But, we only hurt ourselves.

It is a lesson in progress. To be true to our journey with God. To be honest that we all fight the great battle against sin with God as our Defender and Redeemer. Not that we must confess the things that should be only for God’s heart to bear, but that we can stand up and call sin by its rightful name and bear with each other. Let’s point each other to the hope that is in Christ Jesus, and not stand apart with plastered smiles, crying inside in our aloneness.

 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:14-21 NASB

My Wife Has Tattoos: Marriage, New Birth, and the Gospel

Unspoken

Photo credit: Todd Balsley

by Spencer Harmon

Today is the day of my wedding.  And I am not marrying the girl of my dreams.

If you would have told me when I was a teenager that my wife would have seven tattoos, a history in drugs, alcohol, and attending heavy metal concerts, I would have laughed at you, given you one of my courtship books, and told you to take a hike.  My plans were much different, much more nuanced with careful planning, much more clean-cut, and much more, well, about me.

You see, it wasn’t my dream to marry a girl that was complicated.  I never dreamed that I would sit on a couch with my future wife in pre-marital counseling listening to her cry and tell stories of drunken nights, listing the drugs she used, confessing mistakes made in past relationships.

This isn’t my dream – it’s better.

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Discouragement and Darkness

Laying Foundations

“We may not feel today the peace and joy which we felt yesterday; but we should by faith grasp the hand of Christ, and trust Him as fully in the darkness as in the light.” – Messages to Young People p. 112

Life is complicated and difficult.  We do experience beautiful things and happy moments, but these do not stretch to all of our waking moments.  We can experience, relationship problems, work problems, health problems, inner problems, and sin problems.  It is easy sometimes to focus on these situations and become discouraged and lose site of the sun in our lives.

What can be most difficult is when we feel far from God.  When we feel that our own shortcomings are cutting us off from the Savior, it can feel like a negative spiral of hopelessness.  We have separated ourselves from the holy by our actions, and it seems that…

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