Get Moving!

10 When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming toward them, they were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. 11 They said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here in the desert to die? We could have died peacefully in Egypt; there were plenty of graves in Egypt. 12 We told you this would happen! In Egypt we said, ‘Please don’t bother us. Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to stay and be slaves than to come out here and die in the desert.”

13 But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. 14 You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.”

15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you still crying to me? Tell the Israelites to start moving. 
Exodus 14:10-15

You got to love this story.  Moses had led the children of Israel out of Egypt in a miraculous display of strength. They were camping beside the Red Sea and low and behold they saw the Egyptian army following them. They froze in fear. Moses made a promise of astounding faith, "Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you." and then God said…

"Why are you still standing around?"  

"Get moving."

There are times when we should wait and there are times when we should be moving. This blog is not about the times when we should be waiting. This is about the times when we should be moving. 

I recently rode a zip line for the first time.  I was not afraid when I was stepping into the harness and putting on the protective helmet.  I did not mind climbing the stairway up to the top to be buckled in for the jump. . However, I knew that the jump off the platform was going to be the scary part. 

There are a lot of times when God asks me to step out in faith. If I look at the times when I obey, I observe one thing.  I am 100% successful if I step out immediately instead of having long, drawn out arguments in my mind deciding if I should obey. Sometimes I do argue with the Lord and end up being obedient…but it is less likely to occur than when I am instantly obedient. 

A couple of examples come to mind. I was driving to work one morning and saw an elderly woman struggling to keep her umbrella open in the pouring rain. I felt so strongly that God asked me to give her a ride. It went against all logic for me to obey because I was afraid of not knowing where to take her(I am terrible with directions) and I was worried I may not get to work on time. But I was instantly obedient. The experience is a wonderful memory of helping a woman who cleaned for Old Navy and desperately needed a ride to work. I was so thankful I did not miss that opportunity to serve an angel in disguise.

However, last week almost the same exact situation came up.  I had prayed that morning that God would provide me an opportunity to serve someone today. I was driving home and saw a very physically challenged man, struggling to cross the street in the pouring rain. I felt that same tug in my heart to stop and give him a ride to his destination. But instead of immediate obedience as before, I thought of all the reasons that I should not stop. Of course, I talked myself out of it.

Back to the zip line…I came to the top of the stairs and was tightly hooked in to the harness. The  young man explained that he would count to three and we would jump. If we did not jump with in 1 minute, then we would have to climb back down so others could have a turn. I knew that it was an act of faith. Would I trust the harnesses and the ropes to bring me to the ground a million(okay maybe a slight exaggeration)  feet below? I knew it would depend on if I acted instantly, without hesitation. On the count of three, I jumped!!! I would have missed the thrill of a zip line if I had stopped to examine all the ways that it was not a good idea. I hope the next time that God whispers a good idea in my ear, I move without hesitation. 

"Developing "Mental Toughness"

You might spend a lot of time thinking about how to get your body stronger, but have you ever thought about increasing your mental toughness? Think of your brain like a muscle you can strengthen, and you can improve your life. Mental toughness means you won’t fall apart with bad news, or when a challenge or a problem comes your way. With a strong mindset you can set goals, overcome setbacks (without unhealthy behaviors)." ~Chris Freytag

This article was not Christian related but boy can it relate to the Christian life. Here are a few tips about developing "mental toughness." 

First of all, God is our strength.
God said this once and for all; how many times Have I heard it repeated? “Strength comes Straight from God.” (Psalm 62:11 MSG)

So we will never be strong enough on our own to amount to anything.
That being said, I think we need to develop some mental toughness about facing life.
So my tip for the day is start each day with prayer and gratitude! Plank and praise is a really good way to express your joy to the Lord. 

Another idea about developing mental toughness is to keep your promises. I need to back up here for a second. I wrote a vision plan for my own life several years ago. I try to update the goals once a year. I call them "Pat's Priorities." If you feel like your goals are within God's will for you, then your goal is much like a promise that you intend to keep.

"When you do what you say you are going to do (from your workouts to meeting up with a friend for lunch) you are a person who keeps commitments. Whether it’s a silent promise to yourself or a commitment to someone else, keep those promises and you will be strengthening your mindset because you are a person of your word." ~ Chris Freytag

When we commit to ourselves that we will read our Bible on a daily basis or commit to a friend that we will pray for them, we need to keep that promise. Whether we are keeping a promise to a friend or keeping a promise to ourselves, we are developing that mindset that we will not disappoint our friends or ourselves.

If we continually break promises, whether to ourselves or others, life seems more out of control. We will break more easily in a storm. We will be more likely to forget that God ALWAYS keeps his promises…always!

One more tidbit about developing a strong mindset...

Two people are better than one. When two people work together, they get more work done. If one person falls, the other person can reach out to help. But those who are alone when they fall have no one to help them.

An enemy might be able to defeat one person, but two people can stand back-to-back to defend each other. And three people are even stronger. They are like a rope that has three parts wrapped together—it is very hard to break. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 ERV)

Self-discipline doesn’t have to be about how much temptation you resist, it can be about how smart you are about creating an environment that supports you. Do you hang around others who want to grow in their relationship with Christ? Do you have friends and family supporting you and your goals? Do you have an accountability partner or a friend who pushes you a little bit? Each day commit to a little more "mental toughness."

An undisciplined, self-willed life is puny; an obedient, God-willed life is spacious. (Proverbs 15:32 MSG)

So much is said in this short verse. Undisciplined is what I am at times and my life starts closing in. Put the discipline back in and life does seem to be more spacious.

To be obedient to God requires discipline. We don't wait until we feel a rush of emotional desire to spend time drinking in his wisdom, spending time in prayer. To wait for the emotional feeling to be obedient means we are living an undisplined and self-willed life. 

ACE(quote from Mark) acting cures everything. When we begin acting in obedience, the feelings follow.

I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was! Psalm 139:14 ERV

"Working on your body image is a long-term job. Many of us have spent years comparing ourselves to models and Hollywood stars and we're so used to putting ourselves down that it's a difficult habit to break." ~ Paige Waehner

I was reading this article and I thought about how the enemy wants us to feel bad about the way we look. The more he gets us discouraged and depressed about our appearance, the more we take our eyes off the Lord and become frantic to try to look better. Think about this for a minute…would God ever ever look at us in disgust and say "you are so unattractive!" 

Next time you are tempted to compare yourself to someone else, stop right there and retrain your thoughts. Start praising God about the way we are fearfully and wonderfully made. I start thanking the Lord for the way he made my legs really thick:):):). The world will not ever complement me on my legs. But God made me exactly this way and he loves my legs...and I sure can walk around good with these legs!

What Do you Fear About Being More Healthy?

How many people want to lose weight and just cannot begin and take the first step? I am a former couch potato, at one time weighing over 80 pounds my present weight. Actually this is not at all the significant part of this blog. Let me assure you that the significant part is that I am actually keeping it off. That is another story.

But let's assume that the losing part is what you need to do right now. Perhaps you have health problems that are motivating you to lose pounds. Maybe you want to improve your marriage(and it WILL improve your marriage!). Maybe you just want to run around with your kids or grandkids and you are not able to do this with your present weight and fitness. I have been in your shoes!  What I am going to write is not a quick, easy fix to losing weight. But I am going to be tell you some secrets that you need to understand deep in your heart for  you to do this and maintain this weight loss.

Yoda is 100% correct…you must "train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." What I had to do and still have to continue to do is to not have a fear that I will starve or ever feel a hunger pain. Many of us a real fear of getting hungry. The thought of getting a little hungry scares us and we want to eat to get rid of that feeling. People in third world countries deal with a more than a little hunger every day of their short lives. We will not starve! I think that if I had visited India when I was 80 pounds overweight, I would have had such a feeling of remorse over my fixation with food when I saw how little the kids had to eat.

We have way too much food to eat in America. We have a fast food restaurant on every corner. We have grocery  stores full of every known food. But I think that is exactly our problem. We fear that a healthy eating plan will starve us and make us do without the stuffed feeling of overeating. We fear that we may have to do without our favorite food and feel cheated. We fear that we will not have enough variety in our food; that our diet may be plain from now on.

Try this experiment for one week. Write down every single food that you eat or would like to eat if it was available. Now at the end of this week, take every single item that you wrote down and ask yourself,"Is this item of food more important to me than my health, my marriage, my children?" Be honest with yourself. Which food item is worth more than these things? If the answer to every single item on your list is "no, they are not more important than these things," then it is time to face your fears.

Are you afraid to face the idea that you may not need to eat a bag of chips or the amount of cookies that you must have to feel full?  I made a box and put inside this box the food items that I felt like would be good for me to eat. I put things like vegetables, fruit, lean meats, healthy protein shake, yogurt, etc. I left off things like cookies, chips, french fries and even my favorite thing in the world…cheesecake! I had to grieve over the loss of each one but I decided that there were things in life more important than these items of food.

I think someday I will write a blog about naming your "why" that you want to commit to something. But for now, write down your "why" for wanting to lose weight and beginning to exercise. If your "why" is powerful enough, you will get over your fear of becoming more healthy.

Do You Want to Feel New?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (‭II Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ NKJV)

Are you sick and tired of the "old" you? Are you wishing that this verse would miraculously change you into a new person? Are you struggling with how this verse works in your life, with your problems? Let's assume for a moment that you truly know Christ. But you are still stuck in your patterns of your old life. You are probably discouraged because you wonder why this did not work for you. 

The problem is not that this verse isn't true. This verse is truer than any other fact that exists. Just because you doubt it's truth does not change the fact that when you are in Christ you are a new creature. But you are not "moving" into the new house. If you built a new house, you get to move in and not live in the old house anymore. 

I'm sure you are thinking "I would never want to stay in my old, broken-down shack because I have a brand new house." What causes us to live in our "old" houses? 

Well, they are familiar to us. We know how everything works. We don't have to learn anything new. We don't have to change. It takes a lot of faith to believe that this new house will be a better place to live.

Ask yourself the big question...if I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, what is stopping me from moving in to my new living quarters? You have already been given the keys to the house. Our enemy is telling us that it is just easier to stay where we are. That way we don't have to do all the things that are associated with moving...sort through stuff, throw away things, actually take the steps to get familiar with our new surroundings. 

The old neighborhood is always going to look so enticing. That is our security. But the Bible addresses this so well,

"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 learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans12:2(NLT)

So if you keep walking around the old neighborhood, you won't look any different. But if you purpose that you will not be conformed to the world, God WILL transform you into a new creature...and you will like the new you! 

What is Your One Thing?

So the Lord is waiting to show his mercy to you. He wants to rise and comfort you. The Lord is the God who does the right thing, so he will bless everyone who waits for his help. (Isaiah 30:18 ERV)

I think that every woman has this "one thing." It's the one thing that we tell God, "can you just answer this one big thing and I will be happy." We tell him that everybody else has this "one thing" so why can't I? We compare how other people's kids are doing. Are they happier, are they more well-behaved, are they performing better in school, are they running after the Lord? Maybe the "one thing" for some of us is that we have been unable to have kids. 

We compare how other women's husbands rate next to our husband. Are they sweeter, more romantic, stronger, better job, etc? We compare how other women look compared to us. Are they skinnier, better hair, more friends, etc? The "one thing" could certainly be a health issue that God is not intervening with and bringing complete healing.  

The list goes on and on. Then our prayer becomes "Can you fix this one thing, Lord, so I can feel blessed like they are? "

I am no different from any other women in this area. I have my "one thing." God is usually silent on the "one things" that are in my life. He does not explain his reasoning to me. If you asked my mom about this, she would say that I drove her crazy by saying, "Why can't I do this? You have to tell me a reason." She assured me that she did not owe me a reason:):):). 

However, I keep reading that God wants me to WAIT. I hate that word, don't you? So when I read this promise this morning, I realized that God is so wise. He wants me to trust him in his silence. He wants to do things on my inside and not my outside.  He says he will bless me if I WAIT. Because he will do the right thing. Yep, he will do a good thing. And he even helps me when I can't wait.

Romans 8:26-28The Message (MSG)

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

She is energetic and hard-working

Some women mistakenly think that being energetic or strong is a spiritual gift that only some wives possess. We make up excuses to ourselves about why we don't wake up early or why we don't exercise or why we are are too tired to make healthy meals for our family. We point our finger at others and say that if we were in their situation, we could be strong and energetic. 

However, it we are honest with ourselves we discover that this is within our reach. God doesn't put random things in his word to discourage us. He gives us the power to fulfill his word. He gives us the ability to be the kind of wives that our husbands will say,
“There are many good women, but you are the best.” (‭Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭29‬ ERV)

It's Okay to Be Totally, Incredibly, Overwhelmed Sometimes

“I wish my suffering could be weighed and all my trouble be put on the scales. They would be heavier than all the sand of the sea! That is why my words are so crazy. God All-Powerful has shot me with his arrows. My spirit feels their poison! God’s terrible weapons are lined up against me. (Job 6:2-4 ERV)

I have read through the entire Bible for about 40 years. The seasons of my life are marked by what book I am reading. When it is June 1, then that means I am starting the book of Job. Just like if it is October 1, I begin the New Testament...and in June, I am so excited because I read Psalm and Proverbs. Back to the topic...

Of all the verses, why in the world would I pick these for today? Because right after I read these, I always thank God that he allows us to read about a guy that was crushed...and he lets me hear that it is okay to whine and complain for 40 chapters of the Bible!

To be honest, this morning I do not feel crushed or broken like Job. But when life deals a really hard blow, I know that God does NOT expect me to walk around with a smile on my face and a cheery disposition, acting like nothing is wrong. When Job' s friend gave him wrong information about his suffering, it is okay that Job cried out to them and asked them to just be quiet:).

"I wish you would just be quiet. That would be the wisest thing you could do." (Job 13:5 ERV)

God does not expect us to walk around like robots, mimicking the perfect words to others, telling others that we are "fine." We can grieve. We can lay on the floor and cry. We can sob while we are talking to God and tell him how depressed and hopeless we feel. God does not love us any less and he is not disappointed in our lack of understanding of why we are going throughout this suffering. 

However, what Job did was to continue to cry out to the One who does have all the answers. He knew who holds eternity in His hands. And in the midst of his intense pain, he knew that this life on earth is temporary and that there is an eternity and he cries out...

"I know that there is someone to defend me and that he lives! And in the end, he will stand here on earth and defend me. After I leave my body and my skin has been destroyed, I know I will still see God. I will see him with my own eyes. I myself, not someone else, will see God. And I cannot tell you how excited that makes me feel! (Job 19:25-27 ERV)"

Fake Kindness?

When you’re kind to others, you help yourself; when you’re cruel to others, you hurt yourself. (Proverbs 11:17 MSG)

There have been many articles written about being kinder, gentler and a more Christlike. We do this without actually feeling kind on the inside. We know that our "reputation" depends on us being known as kind. No one wants the "mean" girl reputation. We go all day long holding our temper and having patience with people in the checkout line. We smile and say nice things to strangers.

But I think this verse starts with "how do I treat my husband." Am I kind to Mark all the time? Am I kinder to others at work than I am to Mark? Sometimes at the end of a long day my kindness is all "used up." I think I deserve to be a little snappy because I have spent the whole day being kind to others. Wow, if this describes you like it does me…ouch!

Big truth…if I am not kind to Mark, I am only hurting myself. I am damaging my most important relationship. I am not treating Mark as my teammate that God blessed with me. In fact, if the other part of the day was "fake" kindness because I was worried about what others thought, I should have plenty of "real" kindness left over for Mark:). If there is none left over, then there is a problem with my heart. 

Lord, do open heart surgery on my heart so that my kindness is real all day long, but especially to the love of my life, Mark Cooper

How to Handle Our Problems

Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12 NIV)

If you do not spend time in the Old Testament, especially 2 Chronicles, you will miss some powerful truths about how to handle your problems.
Jehoshaphat was facing an impossible situation. The Moabites and the Ammonites were about to destroy them. The entire country came before the Lord to pray. And God answered.

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’ ” (2 Chronicles 20:17 NIV)

Often we wish we could have a prophet to speak truth into our lives like the kings of the Old Testament. If we could hear someone tell us that the battle would be successful, we would stop feeling so panicked about the war we are facing. We would march forward with confidence.

But there are many times when we do hear from someone and they are speaking truth and we just don't want to hear the truth. We want a different game plan. Especially a plan that lets us get a lot of the credit. A plan that involves us being the hero of the story.

And we would miss the result of letting God get the glory.

When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped. So Jehoshaphat and his men went to carry off their plunder, and they found among them a great amount of equipment and clothing and also articles of value—more than they could take away. There was so much plunder that it took three days to collect it. (2 Chronicles 20:24-25 NIV)

Am I Offended With God's Ways?

Matthew 11:6(ERV) Great blessings belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me.”

Think about this statement. How often have we been "offended" by what God allowed to happen to us? We are offended when we do not receive what we expect from God. We expected a perfect marriage. When our spouse revealed his/her character flaws and the marriage led to a divorce or perhaps infidelity, we were mad at God. Some of us never met our Prince Charming and we remained single for our entire life. 

We expected obedient children who turned out just as we had planned for them to be. If our kids rebelled against us, we were shocked that it happened to us and not someone else.  Even after praying for a miracle, that child is still wayward and so we assume that God does not listen to us anyway.

When a loved one died, we were tempted to turn away from God totally. Maybe we outwardly did not turn away but inwardly we decided it was safer to not put our whole trust in him. It could have been the way that our finances turned out to be so much less than we needed and God must have not been powerful enough to rescue us.

 It may be that you lost your job and wonder why God did not prevent that from happening. It is hard not to get offended by God's plans for us when life is tough, really tough. 

There is a great story in Matthew 11:2-6(KJV) 
 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of  his disciples  and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

 Do you grasp what is happening here? John had given his whole life to pave the way for this man. John was thrown in prison and he must have wondered if this was all a bad joke. Why are things turning out this way? I love the language used in The Kings James 
Version,"And blessed is he who is not offended because of me." 

Which brings up the million dollar question…are you offended by God's ways? We put such a premium on our "deserved" happiness that we lose sight of the big picture. God is gracious and kind and can be trusted with our lives. This story reminds me that my happiness should not depend on my circumstances.  Jesus said, "Great blessings belong to those who don’t have a problem accepting me.” 

Want to Achieve Victory in Your Life?

Want to Achieve Victory in Your Life?

8:24-25 When it was all over, Israel had killed everyone in Ai, whether in the fields or in the wilderness where they had chased them. When the killing was complete, the Israelites returned to Ai and completed the devastation. The death toll that day came to twelve thousand men and women—everyone in Ai.

There is an amazing story of Joshua. If you don't remember the story, I will remind you of the short version. Joshua was Moses' successor.  THE Moses, who led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Joshua was the man chosen to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land. The first battle against Jericho was a smashing success. There is a song I heard about it when I was a little girl…

Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
Jericho, Jericho
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
The walls come tumblin' down, Hallelujah

Joshua's leadership was sealed. However, the children of Israel were commanded not to take any spoils from Jericho. Small detail but nonetheless a command. 

At the next battle, Joshua was so incredibly confident that there would be another smashing defeat that he sent a small troop to defeat Ai.

7:3 They returned to Joshua and reported, “Don’t bother sending a lot of people—two or three thousand men are enough to defeat Ai. Don’t wear out the whole army; there aren’t that many people there.”

Look at the result…

7:4-5 So three thousand men went up—and then fled in defeat before the men of Ai! The men of Ai killed thirty-six—chased them from the city gate as far as The Quarries, killing them at the descent. The heart of the people sank, all spirit knocked out of them.

What could have happened? How did this fearless, well-equipped group fail in their second attempt when they smashed the army to smithereens in their first attempt? Joshua was stunned and obviously hit his knees in prayer asking God these same questions. 

7:10-12 God said to Joshua, “Get up. Why are you groveling?…

Have you ever done that…groveled on your knees, asking God why you are so defeated in life? Why can't you get a handle on money? Weight issues? Family Issues? Marriage issues? Why God?

God's response…7:12 "I can’t continue with you if you don’t rid yourselves of the cursed things."

13 “So get started. Purify the people. Tell them: Get ready for tomorrow by purifying yourselves. For this is what God, the God of Israel, says: There are cursed things in the camp. You won’t be able to face your enemies until you have gotten rid of these cursed things.

What is your forbidden thing that God asked you to get rid of? This is when it is helpful to stay in the Word. If God forbids it in His Word, then he expects you to be obedient. No if, ands, or buts…no excuses. Mark and I thought about what things may be "hiding in our camp." We agreed that it was going to be troublesome to decide. But observe how troublesome it was for Joshua to find the hidden items. Keep in mind that there were over 600,000 men alone in the camp, not counting women and children. That is a lot to check:). 

7:16-18 Joshua was up at the crack of dawn and called Israel up tribe by tribe. The tribe of Judah was singled out. Then he called up the clans and singled out the Zerahites. He called up the Zerahite families and singled out the Zabdi family. He called up the family members one by one and singled out Achan son of Carmi, 

Turns out that one guy had kept some of the spoils of the battle with Jericho. Joshua had a choice. He could let it go, reprimand Achan or get tough on the issue. We have the same choice. We can forget about the whole thing after we have spent a lot of time searching for things in our life that keep us from victory. We can deal with it by saying "Well, that is good to know and I will try really hard to get on top of this issue. Or we can blast it with dynamite, like Joshua did. 

7:25-26 Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? God will now trouble you. Today!” And all Israel stoned him—burned him with fire and stoned him with stones. They piled a huge pile of stones over him. 

Joshua did not want to take another step against his enemies until he was certain that he had done everything in his power to be ready to fight. We ask God to empower us to be victorious in our marriages, in our ministries, in our jobs, with our health, in our finances…but how badly do we really want to be victorious? Are we willing to not stop until we have overturned every last stone to find the culprit that is keeping us form victory? Is it pride? Is it selfishness? Is it wanting to live like the world and follow the ways of Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. Nothing inherently wrong with any of these. But if Facebook is causing you to stumble, then delete Facebook. If your selfishness is causing you to not be happy in your marriage, then ask God to do open heart surgery and transform your heart. If certain foods are causing you to stumble with your diet every single time, then don't bring it into your house. 

Jesus did not come so that we could live weak, puny lives. He came to give us abundant lives, full of victory, and full of joy. I don't know about you but I like the way that sounds. It has nothing to do with material things…just an abundance of joy.  I want to live in victory so I am going to search my camp for the things that need to be kicked out, asked to leave, burned out, not inviting them over anymore, …whatever it takes.