And the God of all grace...

Good morning my sisters-

I wrote this passage last week and thought it was important to pass on.  How you think about yourself can and will be used against you.  You must always remember that God thinks your beautiful, your wonderful and your His.  As you read what I wrote, I hope you find one word that you can put into place that is positive and represents how Jesus sees you.  At the end of this journey it doesn't matter what people believed about you, it matters what trials you learned from, what faith you gained in the midst of negativity and in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  I hope you find something in today to be blessed by and find your first word, here's mine.

From last Friday to my trainer:

Words are what knit this world together.  They can be positive or negative with no grey area.  They can inspire or tear down.  They are the center of how people feel.  Whether you are logical or artistic, words paint a picture of the soul.  They define people into categories that often, they cannot break.  Words should be used to build tapestry but instead they are often used to bring about war.

As a little girl, I learned what it meant to be a “bastard, abandoned and unwanted.”  I learned what an ugly duckling was and how librarian, which should have meant something positive, became an absolute negative in my life.  And I learned what fat meant and how fat people were treated and how they thought of themselves.  These were the words that molded a young girl.  And although none of these words are positive, they were all used to make a warrior.

Struggling with body issues, insecurities and not fitting in is where my journey begins.  Where I am today truly started so many years ago.  Women, in general, struggle with many of the same issues I face.  Girls look at movie stars, models and beautifully thin women as their sole role model.  We get desensitized to what we were truly made for and that beauty is only skin deep.  Words somehow penetrated the minds and souls of the innocent to be distorted, ravaged and twisted.  What was started as a solid oak tree ends in sawdust.  But like every strong tree, rooted to the ground, with sunlight and water that tree grows again. It becomes new and learns to weather the toughest storms and in time, becomes stronger and more radiant. Body transformation isn’t just the time you spend in the gym or in your home, it’s the time you take to re-program words that have infiltrated your mind and soul.  Like a great painting the color needs to be layered, swished and infused, with light and dark, to weave a picture of true mastery.

Beginning the journey is the toughest part.  How do I know?  Because I have taken on the challenge at an age when a woman has a hard time losing weight, getting healthy and seeing herself from the inside, out.  As you age, your body begins to show all its wear.  What you have eaten, how much stress you have, what you believe and how you have treated the vessel you were given becomes apparent in blood tests and in how you feel.  You have a choice, just like I do.  You can choose to live in words or you can act and change your course.  You are made for this journey, you just didn’t know it until you got here and either did I.

So today we start with the re-programming of a mind that has been filled with the greatest lies.  These words have penetrated you to your core and part of getting healthy is taking each word, finding different ones and begin living in those words.  The past doesn’t have to define you.  You have a choice to fill your mind with beautiful colors.  It just takes one word to begin to see the truth. 

The word that changed my life happened last year, I chose, “Warrior.”  If an oak tree is 100 years young, isn’t it a warrior? Now, you need to find one word that describes this journey for you and put it into your mind, on your phone, as your saver screen, wherever because it’s about to become part of your journey to healing your mind and body.  As you picture the word, you will begin to push yourself to be the “word” that best describes you today.  We will add on to those words as time goes by but it really starts with the first.

In the end my sisters there is only one true path and where all words come from, our Lord and Savior. Don't believe the lies of the world, look up and find the words that God uses to describe His people.  We are His vines.  We must put on the full armor of God.  We are chosen.  We are His bride.  Do you see any negativity there?  Of course not because we are part of the beautiful tapestry that's been called to spread the word to the nations.  Our inner soul must long for God over words.  We are called to love others, listen to God and to spread the Bible.  Our journey is part of the 100 year vision and somewhere in that you will live and die.  The question is, "What do you want to leave behind?"

I want to leave behind that I fought the good fight and I persevered, just like Paul. Find a Scripture that resonates with you today and find one word that describes your journey with Jesus.

1 Peter 5: 10 NIV

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered for a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To him be the power for ever and ever. AMEN

What if I wake up and I see Jesus....

Good morning my sisters-

This morning I woke up from a disturbing dream.  It took me a minute to realize where I was and that I actually was awake.  It's interesting because I haven't been dreaming that much but I've been in another spiritual battle, so I can only conclude that the dream stems from that.

Whenever we are fighting for good, it seems like something comes in and takes our focus off it.  Do you know what I mean?  All the sudden we are immersed in our own heads thinking about our life, our challenges and our directions.  We become, "I" focused.  Not a good place to be but it just happens and then we sit on it for awhile and it becomes an obsession.  Well, over the last couple of years, I've learned to shake off that kind of thinking.  I'm day by day now and yet, I'm still human so it would be very easy for me to slip into "What about tomorrow?"

Tomorrow always comes, that is, unless you have died and perhaps that truly is the best tomorrow.  While we're here on earth grieving, they are meeting Jesus, where there is no pain, no anxiety, no fear, no disease, no strife, no loss--they're free. So as I woke this morning I went to my daily reading of devotionals and Scripture.  It's become what I call my holy time.  It's me and Jesus, sitting in my office with no distractions.  Oh, and of course,there's coffee too, even if it is decaffeinated with primal greens, its still coffee!  Did I hear an Amen?

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that when I woke today, I didn't meet Jesus face to face.  I didn't get to hear him talk to me about my choices, my sins, my distractions or my journey.  I woke to a confusing dream that drove me to Him, which is the only way I can find Him here and to his non-audible voice, the Bible.  I have to admit, I often worry that I haven't repented for all my sins and how many of those will there be, only He knows.  At the same time, I know He knows my heart and my heart is 100% His. Trials have just been part of my life.  I've lived through them, or maybe, stumbled through them.  And in the end, I have come out of each one a stronger, more faithful Jesus follower.  Maybe I'm like the man that was paralyzed, who had the desire to get into the pool with no one to help him.  That didn't actually hold true though because Jesus came to Him and asked him if he wanted to be well and then healed Him.  Only today will reveal my direction and only today can I pray and walk with the Lord, for tomorrow will bring the next set of challenges.

I'm humble enough to admit that I need Jesus, not just today, but for every hour of today.  I'm needy enough to admit that I want Him to change me and mold me and I'm faithful enough to believe He will do all these things according to His will. So today, I pray for my sisters all over the world that are moving through life with challenges, hurts, strife and horrific circumstances.  I'm praying that our Lord and Savior is walking with them and lifting them up.  I'm praying that the enemy will not destroy the love they have for their God and I'm praying that I am preparing every single day to see Jesus, even if that's 40 years down the road.

A heart is a fickle thing.  It wants what it wants but we can train it to want Jesus.  Take a moment today, whether that's driving your car, taking a shower, going to work, diapering your baby, whatever your doing, ask Jesus to mold your heart and keep you right in today.  We prepare on this earth to be warriors for a world we can't see and our leader is the Son of God the Father.  We are strong and mighty.  Our hope is not on man but on Him who set us free.  Tell your mind and heart that today and God will lead you into the battle prepared and full of His love.  May you see Him as you wake up today for He's waiting to meet you right where you are. 

I pray all these things for you my sisters, be bold and bright and don't let anything squash the light that lives inside you!

Your power is great, and your glory is seen everywhere in heaven and on earth. You are king of the entire world,

1 Chronicles 29:11