Fear of Exercise?

“The Spirit God gave us does not make us afraid. His Spirit is a source of power and love and self-control.”
2 Timothy 1:7 ERV

As I am writing this post, I am taking Ibuprofen and alternating ice and a heating pad on my legs. I feel like I am a 100 years old! I missed two weeks of Body Pump(extremely rare for me to miss). When I returned on Monday to work out, I was faced with the consequences of missing for two weeks...sore muscles. 

But then I read this verse. God does not give me a spirit of fear. He is a "source of power." He will provide the power that I lack to move about and play with my grandsons and help me to rapel on a school trip and think about riding bikes when I am old. He gives the power and courage! Let me be totally honest. I do not like to hurt like this. I want to give up exercise forever. So the power that I am experiencing is from Him, not me. 

The verse also mentions that He gives "self-control." The definition of self control is to "control one's emotions and behavior in the face of impulses and temptations Self control is necessary to achieve goals and regulate our behavior." We need to ask boldly and often for a spirit of self control. Our own control is pathetic. We choose the wrong path most of the time. 

If you are facing fear about starting an exercise program for any reason...age, years of inactivity, physical limitations- read this verse. Ask God to remind you of His part. Quit focusing on your part. Start today and let God get the glory when others see you displaying courage in your exercise program.

Why did this happen to me?

“Some were laughed at and beaten. Others were tied up and put in prison. They were killed with stones. They were cut in half. They were killed with swords. The only clothes some of them had were sheepskins or goatskins. They were poor, persecuted, and treated badly by others. The world was not good enough for these great people. They had to wander in deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground.”
Hebrews 11:36-38 ERV

Our pastor is about 6 months into the book of Hebrews. This was a verse from Sunday that may be the most important thought I have had lately. I had written about it yesterday morning and the IPad deleted it when I finished it. I always think that this is the enemy trying to delete a powerful message so I will try again. 

These verses were written about faithful saints...not the wicked. Let that thought sink in. This was taken from the "faith" chapter. How many times have you thought "why is this happening to me?" How often have you thought that the suffering that you are experiencing is unfair because you are a follower of Christ? We have this erroneous thinking that God owes us blessings because we are living right. On the contrary, with Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father, there are decisions made in heaven that confound us but should never cause us to lose our faith in the wisdom of God. 

The power of these verses is wrapped around this truth...heaven is NOT here on earth. These saints believed that their extreme joy was waiting for them in heaven and not on earth. A death, an illness, a divorce, a job loss, a wayward child are not a cause to doubt the love of a Heavenly Father. God has the best plan for us. You can't always understand it but you can trust him. His promises are ultimately seen and experienced in heaven. 

“God was pleased with all of them because of their faith. But not one of them received God’s great promise. God planned something better for us. He wanted to make us perfect."
Hebrews 11:39-40a ERV

Trust Him in the Storm

“A very bad wind came up on the lake. The waves were coming over the sides and into the boat, and it was almost full of water. Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!” Jesus stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and the lake became calm. He said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?””
Mark 4:37-40 ERV

When will we ever understand what Jesus is saying here? When will I ever stop being afraid? When will I start completely trusting in him, even in the middle of storm? Jesus slept during the storm! That is how peaceful he was in the middle of life-threatening situation.

Lord, I want to trust you in the middle of a financial storm, a health storm, a family storm, a marriage storm, a "I'm exhausted but I have too much left to do" storm. Like it or, the storm will become calm. It will end. I want to trust him right in the middle of the storm before I see how it turns out.

Wide path or narrow path to losing weight

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. — Matthew 7:13–14

I could not help but smile when I read this verse. The majority of Americans choose the wide and broad gate on the road to their health choices. I know that most of us have a goal to lose a few pounds. The problem is that we want to choose the easy way to lose weight. The way that does not involve any sufferings or pain.

But the small gate will lead to abundant life. Let our prayer be to embrace the narrow way...in every area of our life. 

Is food controlling you?

““I am allowed to do anything,” you say. My answer to this is that not all things are good. Even if it is true that “I am allowed to do anything,” I will not let anything control me like a slave.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 ERV

Ouch! Is food controlling your body like a slave? I suspect it is if you are like most Americans. This was predicted in the Bible as a sign of the end times.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—”
2 Timothy 3:1-4 NIV

I don't want to be a lover of myself and allow food to make me happy.
if if you haven't already set a few goals, take time this weekend and tie your health goals together with your spritual goals.

Diet Tips

“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT

What a great promise to us when we try lose weight or begin an exercise program. When we attempt to eat healthy because we are strong or disciplined, it only lasts for a period of time. Then temptation strikes and we eat a trigger food and fall back into old old ways.

But if we rely on the Lord and hold his hand throughout the day, he will show us a way to escape the temptation. The secret is to rely on him and trust his promise to show us a way to escape. God is faithful. He wants us to live in victory. He cares what we eat. He gave us our bodies in the first place!

Praying for each of you to walk close to him today and experience his grace and mercy.

Success in Losing Weight

“So, my brothers and sisters, we must not be ruled by our sinful selves. We must not live the way our sinful selves want. If you use your lives to do what your sinful selves want, you will die spiritually. But if you use the Spirit’s help to stop doing the wrong things you do with your body, you will have true life.”
Romans 8:12-13 ERV

I don't know about you, but yesterday I compared every bit of food to "red stew." Read previous post. When I was tempted to make an unhealthy food choice, I compared it to giving up my birthright. I had to decide if giving up my birthright was worth that delicious snack(and we had a lot of delicious snacks at our faculty meeting yesterday). None seemed more important than keeping my eyes on being at a healthy weight.

I love what it says in Romans. "If you use the Spirit's help to stop doing the wrong things you do, you will have true life." I really want true life! I don't want to settle for an overweight, out of shape, sit on the couch and watch tv every night life.

At age 60, my family can tell you that I have lost and gained weight so many times. However, for the past three years I have kept off the weight and exercised! What is making the difference? I am seeing that the answers are in God's word and not a diet plan. A diet plan can come after reading God's word. But my success can't come from a human plan. The success can't be a once and for all magic formula. It will be from a consistent searching and seeking of the Lord.

I want wide open spacious!

“Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”
2 Corinthians 6:11-13 MSG

This is what I feel like when I am walking in obedience...living expansively and openly. When we let everything be about us and always want to be "comfortable" and eat what WE want because we feel IIke it, we feel small and fenced in. Because when we eat a bowlful of chips or bag of cookies or three slices of pizza, we will have put ourselves in the small, cramped space.

A spacious life comes when we are willing to deny ourselves certain things for our own good. There is no wrong food. We all realize that. But for our own good, there are healthier choices. Taking the healthy choice is a means to enter a wide-open, spacious life. For me, today doesn't need to include 3 spoonfuls of peanut butter:).

Power comes from the Lord

““Joseph is like a wild donkey, like a young donkey by a spring, like colts grazing in a pasture. People attacked him and made life hard for him. Men with arrows became his enemies. But he won the fight with his mighty bow and his skillful arms. He gets power from the Mighty One of Jacob, from the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,”
Genesis 49:22-24 ERV

i am mesmerized by the book of Genesis. I start every year off by reading through the Bible. I am always a little sad when I reach the end of Joseph's life in chapter 50.

We can learn a lot from Joseph's life. It says, "people attacked him and made life hard for him." His life was REALLY hard. Reread Genesis if you need a reminder. But he "gets his power from the Mighty One." It's okay if we whine a little and say that life is hard. Job spent 40 chapters whining about his life and he gets a book in the Bible wriiten about his life:):):).

But don't miss the key...Joseph drew his strength from the Lord, from the Shepherd, from the Rock. We would do well to follow that example in our lives today.

Lose some stuff before you lose weight

Steven Furtick: "There’s always a tradeoff. Before God can bring his promises to pass in your life, he has to strip away all the stuff that keeps you from trusting him wholeheartedly. And that stuff is on the inside. God’s invisible work in you prepares you for his visible works through you."

What does God need to strip away on the inside of my life? I worry a lot about the outside appearance. But the outside won't change until I allow God to work on the inside. The enemy wants us to only focus appearance, doesn't he? If I want to lose some weight, there is some inside stuff that I need to lose first.

Need Christ's power and not willpower

“I begged the Lord three times to take this problem away from me."
2 Corinthians 12:8a

I had to smile when I read this verse and thought, "Yep, I have asked you more than three times to help me with my weight problem(or my "you fill in the blank" problem). What area of your life do you continue to come to the Lord and ask for help and he seems to be silent and not help you?

Well, the best part of the verse is so comforting.
But the Lord said, “My grace is all you need. Only when you are weak can everything be done completely by my power.” So I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. Then Christ’s power can stay in me.”
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 ERV

I will gladly boast about my weaknesses. I lack the discipline I need most days! But that's the good news. Only when I admit that to myself and to the Lord, can I be the receipt of his profound, unmatched grace! He says that "when I am humble, he gives grace."

Today i I will remember that I need Christ's power and not my "willpower."

Disobedient?

“Moses said to Pharaoh, “I will pray for you, your people, and your officials. Then the frogs will leave you and your houses. They will remain only in the river. When do you want the frogs to go away?” Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses said, “It will happen as you say. In this way you will know that there is no god like the Lord our God.”
Exodus 8:9-10 ERV

As you can tell, I am deep into Exodus with my Bible reading. I get so mad when I see the stubbornness of Pharaoh! God knew his heart and he sent plague after plague to cause him to agree to let the people of Israel go. Moses and Aaron continued to warn him of the terrible thing that was about to happen...water turned into blood, frogs appeared everywhere, darkness descended on the land, hailstorm destroyed their crops, etc.

Listen to the stubbornness of Pharaoh when Moses asked him when he wanted the frogs to leave. "Tomorrow," Really!!! That is a rebellious heart. I would have begged that God would end the plague right then and there. However, the Pharaoh wanted the last word on his relief. That is a hard heart!

i know that the reason God made this verse jump off the page to me today. He is pointing out to me that many times, he has warned me of the consequences of my sin. He has clearly told me what would happen if I continue in that path. My response would be, "I will change tomorrow."

Is is there an area of your life where God has clearly warned you of the things that will happen if you continue in the path you are on? For example, not reading the word, not having a quiet time, eating too much junk, sleeping late on Sunday morning, not cherishing and forgiving your spouse, ...the list goes on and on. Is your response, "Tomorrow. Not today because I enjoy my disobedience too much? "

Need to Delegate?

“But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “This isn’t the right way to do this. It is too much work for you to do alone. You cannot do this job by yourself. It wears you out. And it makes the people tired too.”
Exodus 18:17-18 ERV

Do you have the attitude that you are in charge and you have to do everything? I certainly do:). When I have the "martyr syndrome" I wear myself out and the people around me, as well. My sisters will tell you that we got this honest from our mom and we did not like the "I've got to do everything and don't try to help me."

Have a a discerning heart today and ask yourself honestly what can be delegated or dropped all together. While you are at this, examine your motives. Are you continuing to do everything from pride so that you will get the glory? Ouch!

We can't be the whole body of Christ. We can only be the small part that God created us to do. We will be happier and the people around us will be too.

Way To Riches

“Devotion to God is, in fact, a way for people to be very rich, but only if it makes them satisfied with what they have. When we came into the world, we brought nothing. And when we die, we can take nothing out. So, if we have food and clothes, we will be satisfied with that.”
1 Timothy 6:6-8 ERV

Many things happen when life is a beat down. We forget that "our troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory." But something else happens-comparison with someone else that doesn't have that problem!

If you are like me, you will begin to compare your life with some one else's every time. Say you have worked hard on your eating and exercise and you gain two pounds. You look around and find women that don't seem to struggle with weight issues and you start comparing. Maybe you are choking with busyness and stress at work(me). You look around and find women that have an easy job or no job. The list could go on and on.

This verse has an antidote. Be content with what we have. "Devotion to God is a way to be very rich." It is a vicious cycle when we take our eyes off the Lord. Good days, bad days will always be there and we will envy the lives of others. i want to get my eyes on him and not others. That is the only way to break out of that cycle.

Never Give Up

“That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal glory. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-17 ERV

If we flip this verse around, "If we give up as our physical bodies become older, our spirit is not going to be strengthened.

If we long to be stronger, in every way...physically, spiritually, emotionally...we must endure suffering. Obviously, if I want to increase my muscles I must exercise, which is a form of suffering for my body.

if I want to grow in emotional maturity, I must put myself in second place. I must humble myself. I won't grow emotionally if I stay in selfish mode.

But most of all, to grow spiritually, I must accept the trouble and suffering as a form of training that God allows In my life to grow from it. Delayed gratification...the eternal glory is so much greater than my temporary troubles.

Love to Your Fellow Believers

I was reading a great article that my sweet friend, Michelle Myers wrote about how we are quick to criticize our sisters in Christ. I have been thinking about this and this morning I read this verse.

“One of the Pharisees asked him over for a meal. He went to the Pharisee’s house and sat down at the dinner table. Just then a woman of the village, the town harlot, having learned that Jesus was a guest in the home of the Pharisee, came with a bottle of very expensive perfume and stood at his feet, weeping, raining tears on his feet. Letting down her hair, she dried his feet, kissed them, and anointed them with the perfume. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him.””
Luke 7:36-39 MSG

The Pharisees were quick to accuse Jesus and one had the nerve to say, "if he was the prophet I thought he was." I thought about how I am quick to find a fault in my fellow sisters in Christ. I judge them quicker than I do a non-Christian and I bet you do too.

Today i am going to give more grace and love to my fellow believers. Think about it...you are going to spend eternity with them:):):).

Is God Taking Too Long to Act?

“When the people realized that Moses was taking forever in coming down off the mountain, they rallied around Aaron and said, “Do something. Make gods for us who will lead us. That Moses, the man who got us out of Egypt—who knows what’s happened to him?””
Exodus 32:1 MSG

Have you ever thought God was taking too long to do something in your life and you took matters in your own hands? The children of Israel are not any different from us. God had never once disappointed them. In fact, he had done miracle after miracle. But when he paused, they lost their trust and "made other gods."

Next time you realize that God seems silent, don't be tempted in any way to form another god to help you out. Wait. Trust. The golden calf you are substituting is just that...a man-made god. That god will disappoint you every time. The real God will never ever ever disappoint you. He is worth waiting for.

Kindness to People Who Serve Us

“When you come across a bird’s nest alongside the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, don’t take the mother with the young. You may take the babies, but let the mother go so that you will live a good and long life.”
Deuteronomy 22:6-7 MSG

I have been stressing over these two verses for a long time. I couldn't figure out what they meant. If you haven't figured this out yet, the book of Deuteronomy is full of ways to understand the 10 commandments.

Actually when you read a verse, anywhere in the Bible, there is a principal behind that verse. It helps you understand something. I would encourage you to sit on that verse and try to see the principal behind the verse. Ask yourself,"Why was this verse written?"

Sometimes we just ignore the verse because we think it only applies to the people living a long time ago. That is a dangerous assumption. If we do that, we will pick and choose only the verses that we think are important.

Back to this commandment about the birds.Taking the mother bird means that you are harming the mother. Letting the mother bird go means you are allowing them to live and actually valuing even a bird. Perhaps this is why it is written in the Bible.

There are a lot of people that I meet that I call "service people." They fix my appliances, they work at the desk at the YMCA, they take up tickets at the stadium, they clean my board at school and empty the trash, etc. The service or "eggs" is the part I am after and the provider or "mother bird" is disposable to me.

Actually to some people, I am the service person. I teach their kids and to them the kids are all that matters and I am "disposable." How does that make you feel when the person takes what you provide but they discard you?

That is like getting the eggs from the bird and eating the eggs but throwing away the mother bird. Gracious! Today as I run my errands, I want to make the provider more important that the provision.

Try Again

Wow! I read a great devotional by Max Lucado this morning. Here's part of it.

The Bible says that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). Thousands upon thousands of saved saints are looking down on us. Abraham. Peter. David. Paul... and Joshua. Your grandma, uncle, neighbor, coach. They’ve seen God’s great grace, and they are all pulling for you.

Press your ear against the curtain of eternity and listen. Do you hear them? They are chanting your name. They are pulling for you to keep going.

“Don’t quit!”

“It’s worth it!”

“Try again!”

After reading this, it reminded me of how many times I have failed at something and wanted to quit forever. Maybe you have done the same thing. 

Maybe you set goals about trying to implement a quiet time and it lasted a week. Or maybe you set a goal to lose weight or exercise and you were eating brownies by the second day. Perhaps your goal is to really be patient with your coworkers and show Christ to them but after a really stressful day, you found yourself acting like an unsaved person. I hate when I do that.

I have the very best intentions and set wonderful goals about what I want to accomplish. I want to write this blog everyday and I can't seem to do it. But the enemy wants to kill, steal and destroy. He genuinely wants us to fail. And he knows what triggers to push. When he makes me stumble, I want to give up say, "I am not equipped to do this."

This verse was a much needed reminder that "we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses" who are cheering us on. What a smile this brings to my face. Moses is cheering me on and I will thank him one day when we meet. Abraham and Joshua and Joseph and some of my other favorites want me to be "fit" and they are cheering me on. They are cheering you on, as well. So pick up the pieces and get busy!

Face your Enemies

““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.”
Joshua 7:13 MSG

If you feel any calling at all towards leadership, devour the book of Joshua. You will not be disappointed. My reading today had so many things I could write about that it was hard to decide. But this verse stuck out more than any other.

I will NOT be able to face my enemies until I get rid of these cursed things. I actually wrote a blog yesterday about getting rid of the idols I worship but I never posted it. When I read these verses this morning, I realized I was on the right track.

First of all, identify your idols. I made the word plural because if you worship one idol, there is bound to be others. To worship an idol means you have a heart issue, a trust issue. How to tell if you have an idol...the habits that "bite back if you poke at them." Is food your idol? Is it money? Relationships? Is it "likes" on Facebook?

See there are good habits that only bring you joy and peace like reading the Bible or praying about everything. Those habits will never harm you but they will strengthen you.

When you figure out the cursed idol that you have allowed in your camp, it says simply, "Get rid of it." You can't defeat the enemy until you remove the cursed thing. It may take a stick of dynamite to remove it instead of just a small nudge. We just want to stare at the idol or put it away until another day or ignore it.

If it is a food issue, you may have to say goodbye to some foods forever like cheesecake or fried foods or candy bars. I don't know what your idol is. If it is a possesions issue, give half of it away:):):). Joshua woke up at the crack of dawn and dealt with the issue. The next battle was a resounding victory because they had dealt with the stolen idols. I want some victories in my life. God is telling me plainly how to have those victories!

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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

“The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn’t ask GOD about it.”
Joshua 9:14 MSG

If you don't remember the story, I will remind you. Joshua's fame spread through the countries that God had promised the Israelites. There was a justified fear. "Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing.”
Joshua 9:24 ESV

The Gibeonites deceived them into thinking that they were a far away country. The children of Israel bought the story and made peace with them. They were bound to carry this group around forever. They took on dead weight that they did not need.

I have done that many times. I have made decisions without seeking the Lord guidance. I bought the story that the salesman told me about how much I needed the item he was selling. For years I would have to carry that purchase and clean it and repair it and maintain it. It could have been avoided if I had sought the Lord's guidance before I bought the lie.

God cares about every decision that I make, whether it is big or small. He never fusses at me for asking for wisdom.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5 NIV

Get Started

“All the Israelites gathered together at Shiloh where they set up the Meeting Tent. The Israelites controlled that country. They had defeated all the enemies in that land. But at this time there were still seven tribes of Israel that had not yet received their land. So Joshua said to the Israelites, “Why do you wait so long to take your land? The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given this land to you.”
Joshua 18:1-3 ERV

This is another one of those verses that I forget is in the Bible:). Maybe only a teacher can see the similarity to her students and the children of Israel. Joshua is a little surprised that the promised land is conquered and yet still undivided. The next verses in the Bible are a list from Joshua of what needs to be done to divide the land.

It made me smile because it really sounds like an email I got last night from a student. He just can't take any steps without me to get ready for a test we are having today. Joshua is probably feeling the same way with the children of Israel.

Just like my student and just like the Israelites, they don't seem to want to think for themselves. But wait...am I like that sometimes? There are some obvious steps that I can take to "become fit for his glory." I just seem to want to wait until someone kicks me to make me get started. I already know what to do-maybe today is a good day to start.

Place of Refuge

“Then GOD spoke to Joshua: “Tell the People of Israel: Designate the asylum-cities, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally—that is, unintentionally—may flee there as a safe place of asylum from the avenger of blood.

“A person shall escape for refuge to one of these cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate, and lay out his case before the city’s leaders. The leaders must then take him into the city among them and give him a place to live with them. “If the avenger of blood chases after him, they must not give him up—he didn’t intend to kill the person; there was no history of ill-feeling. He may stay in that city until he has stood trial before the congregation and until the death of the current high priest. Then he may go back to his own home in his hometown from which he fled.””
Joshua 20:1-6 MSG

if you ever have read through the Old Testament, these verse were probably some that you skipped:):):). God commanded them to create cities that provided a place of protection if someone killed someone by accident.

I was thinking about the principal behind this verse this morning and a comforting thought came to me. As Christians, we need people who provide a place of refugee when we really mess up unintentionally. I have done this many times. Maybe I was so tired, I said something without thinking that hurt someone's feeling. Perhaps I did not know all the facts and I made a terrible choice. Last month at school, I walked out at 4:00 and totally forgot the faculty meeting. Totally forgot!

When that happened, it is nice to know that there may be a friend, family member or co-worker who will defend my innocence and not crucify me with gossip.

Works both ways-I can be a place of refugee to someone. I can be a person they will run to and I can help until their innocence is declared. I can stop the gossip mill by not adding to the accusations.

Lord, thank you for providing places of refuge when I need it. My sisters, friends and co-workers are a gift to me. Remind me to be that for them when they need it.

Deal With Your Anger

Ephesians 4:26-27 ERV

“When you are angry, don’t let that anger make you sin,” and don’t stay angry all day. Don’t give the devil a way to defeat you.”God understands that we will get angry. We can get really angry. We can be disappointed. We can believe that life is unfair. But for our own good, we have to work through our anger and disappointment. There must be an end to the anger. Allow God to bring his perspective to our situation. Plead for his help in dealing with the anger.

Because if we don't...the devil will defeat us. We must realize that the enemy wants us to stay angry, to think that life is unfair, to think that God can not take care of us. The more we allow the anger and resentment to reside in our hearts, the more we allow a bigger foothold for the enemy.

I am thankful that God says in his word that "when you angry." I am always relieved that the book of Job is in the Bible. Job whined for about 40 chapters. But there was an end to it. There must be an end to our anger and bad attitudes-for our own good.

What does your soil look like today?

"Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams. (Mark 4:3 MSG)

One of my favorite things to do is to plant flowers! I love when it is time to go and buy some old favorites and try a couple of new kinds of plants, as well. I am saying the obvious when I state that the soil needs to be dark and rich and loose. You just know when you plant that flower in that rich soil,  that as long as you supply the water, it will be amazing.

God is continuing to throw out seeds(his word) to us. We read the Bible, we listen to podcasts, we buy books, we read devotionals, we hear great wisdom from friends...you name it. The problem is not  that the word is weak and powerless, but the soil is not the best. Sometimes I read the most amazing scripture in the morning and as soon as I read it, I do not even remember what I read. Other times, I read it and I am excited but my heart is gravelly because of complacency in my walk with the Lord and my lack of character. So it never puts down a root, when a difficulty arrives.

I especially saddened by the soil cast in weeds.

“but their lives become full of other things: the worries of this life, the love of money, and everything else they want. This keeps the teaching from growing, and it does not produce a crop in their lives.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭4:19‬ ‭ERV‬‬

I want to have the kind of soil that when I hear the word, and the word will be perfect and powerful and just and true, I want to embrace the truth and produce a harvest beyond my wildest dreams. The problem will not be with the seed but with my soil.