Kettle Club :: Resolve 01/26/2010
 {click to visit more Kettle Club posts on resolve} I've never been too into making resolutions...call me a rebel. Okay, call me lazy, that's pretty much the real reason I can't think of a single New Year's resolution I've kept. I have never taken them seriously enough to even be able to name one I've made. We'll guess they were the usual suspects...read more, move more, weigh less...all great goals if you need 'em. Truly great goals if you plan to keep after them. I suppose I just know myself well enough to know that I'd never really try. As 2009 came to a close, I found myself wanting to join in the resolution fun. Naturally, I didn't have to look far to find some...read more, move more, weigh less, study more, pray more, write more, homeschool better, clean more, cook more, order out less, more patience, less wasted time...the list didn't stop. Then I remembered why it was I had given up on resolutions. They bum me out and I let myself down. I was content to go into the new year with all those same goals that filled 2009, keeping me in jammies on those days I felt defeated beneath the ever-growing list. I was content. God, however, had a plan for my new year. Go figure. God began to whisper to me that I didn't need to make a list, I needed to make a commitment. I needed resolve. Over the past several weeks, I've been seeing that when I resolve to do a thing, it gets done. Right away. I see said task, I acknowledge that it isn't going anywhere on its own, and I handle it. Resolutions just didn't have that effect on me, I think they seemed like something I had 365 days to work on and I'd get to them eventually. Simply deciding to do what needs doing each time it arises has somehow set me free. Bit by bit, I'm finding it easier to deal with the task at hand instead of putting it off until it becomes an obstacle. Could it be that my procrastinating days are over? Probably not. They are numbered, though, and that's something I'm thrilled about in this new year! {the Kettle Club is a group to encourage Christian women who love blogging to put devotional time with God before their desire to post each day--join us here} Slowly Fasting 01/06/2010
Okay, it's official. I'm doing the Daniel fast. God has placed a nameless yearning in my spirit that I cannot discern. As my friend, Leigh, put things, I've felt like I'm spinning wheels in every area of life. Desiring to follow the Lord often leads to these little road blocks. Not knowing which direction to step out in means never taking that first step. I write for a lot of reasons, but the reason I am a writer stems directly from my desire to be understood. In truth, that desire has its own root in the gift our Father placed in me. He wants me to want to be understood in ways that bring Him glory, and that requires that I understand what brings Him glory. Without that, I'm stuck...and stuck is just where I've been for a few months now, it seems. Sure, stuck started out innocently enough. Nothing ever stays compartmentalized. What had been a quick re-post here or there soon turned into a total loss of interest in devotional pieces. I had begun to feel as if my learning was halted and therefore I had no business trying to encourage someone else in the way they should go. The flaw with my logic lies in the fact that I learn more from sharing with you than I ever do while going it alone. You are my conviction on many days. I think that's part of why writer's block has hit so hard this time around. God alone wants to be my conviction. Duh. When the thought to fast first hit, I shooed it away quite promptly. It came back. And again. And then, I began to pay attention. A tad. In a cute little way that didn't really consider it as much as consider it a cute little notion. The fact I knew it to be a powerful tool in our Father's hands, never occurred. I honestly hadn't stopped to consider His huge hands in my big hurry to "feel better". Finally, I spoke the idea into actuality today. On twitter. Okay, I typed it. Anyway, I hadn't given it a chance to grow into a full-blown idea yet and once I it was out there, it was real. Leigh reached out about sharing the same need and then the idea was a decision...to think about it seriously, aka PRAY about it. So after some prayer, God reminded me that I was wrapping up my time in Beth Moore's study of Daniel and I had known at the start that I would do the Daniel fast when I was finished studying and ready to begin writing the chapter on Daniel's friendships, in the book I'm working on. As the months wore on, that eagerness faded into guilt and dust on the cover but no ink on the pages. So, when I heard God whispering "resolve" as my word for the year ahead, I applied it to my study of the book and am nearly through with its lessons. What a ride that's been! Once I finally put two and two together, I saw that it was time to decide--to resolve--to take on the Daniel fast and all that God plans to do with it! With me! Okay, I had to add two plus two on a calculator...or google, actually. I hopped onto google in search for information on "the Daniel fast Beth Moore" and found this in the results. It is a writing of Beth Moore's that can't be missed. In it I found so many treasures; affirmation that He will prepare me in all things, a verse I just quoted in a column I'm writing on obedience, and not a thing about the Daniel fast. Not a thing I would have noticed had I not been looking. God is so good. Merciful. Faithful. Holy. Moly. God is good. Have you accepted the average life? 01/06/2010
 If you've accepted Christ as your Savior, then you have received the gift of eternal life, but His gift to us doesn't begin the day we die. His gift begins here on Earth, as it transforms our very way of living. In 2 Peter 1:3, we learn that His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. Everything we need to make that move from merely surviving life to actually living for God has been provided for us. It seems that far too many of us allow earthly life to take center stage, and our spiritual life with Christ becomes something to look forward to only after death. In Philippians 3:8, Paul encourages us to consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus. When we make Christ the central part of our day, we say goodbye to stale Christian belief and step into a wonderfully alive way of following our Lord, Jesus Christ. We need to step out of the believing-in-theory realm and into the practicing-what-He-preached world. We should be building our lives around our love for Christ instead of fitting Christ into our worldly schedules.  Don't accept the average, run of the mill life! God has so much more in store for you, if you'll meet with Him in this life. Daily visits with our Dearest Friend, Jesus, can make all the difference. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is" (Romans 12:2, NLT). Lord, Your divine power has given us everything that we need for life and godliness, we need only accept this gift in order to have a new life in You. God, we pray that You will help us to overcome our unbelief, and instead, rest our faith solely on You. Christ Jesus, please guide us to Your truth, and Your life, and Your way, so that we may be transformed into Your likeness during our time on this earth. In Your all powerful name we pray, Amen. Calling All Kettles! 01/05/2010
 Kettle Club Questions coming January 19th and our Discussion will be on the 26th Each month, at Exemplify, I meet with other women who desire to spend time with the Lord before the morning and its blogging begins. Really, the Kettle Club is about encouraging one another to give our first fruits to our Father as we tune into His desires for our day. After all, isn't that the only way to have a truly fruitful day? Just when you thought you had heard, read, and said everything there is to say about resolutions, I show up inviting you to spend another month on the subject. Don’t click away from me just yet—we’ve got an amazing opportunity to encourage one another here. I’m not talking about pats on the back for each workout or chapter written or closet sorted. Nor am I referring to lovingly lifting each other up when we come short of our goals…which we humans tend to do from time to time. Don’t get me wrong, we’re going to do those things too, because we’re sisters and that’s what we do. I love that about us. Still, don’t you need something a little more internal keeping you on track? Something eternal? I know I do! Head over to the Devotional Channel to read more about this month's Kettle Club focus! |  {make what's old, news again}   Loading
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