1, 2, 3 JUMP!!

It has been a little more then 5 years since my husband and I took our "leap." It has been very similar to what I imagine (because I have never done it) it would be like to bungee jump.

First, you make the tough decision to make the jump. Then you prepare by climbing and then getting all your strapping and such ready. Once you are all strapped in and ready to go you ease over to the edge, take a deep breath and leap. Woo Hoooooo! You are flying high now! Oh.... now we are falling. Man, that ground is approaching FAST! Wow. I'm slowing down. Maybe I won't plow face first into the ground! Sweet! We are climbing again... I'm on top of the world again. Uh... I'm falling again... Will this up and down ever end?

You know... the up and down thing doesn't really end. It becomes more gentle as life goes on, but make no mistake. After you take the leap, it isn't going to only be high flying from that point on. If you look at the picture I have included you see that at the point this photo was taken... this guy was just kind of hanging there. He made the leap and he is probably pretty confident still... Once the fall starts and that ground is coming at him fast and hard, I bet the fear starts to creep in. His saving grace??? The bungee cord. When you make the leap and the fall starts... What is your saving grace? Is God your life bungee cord?

If He is, you can make the leap and be totally confident when the fall comes that you have the life saving hand of God holding you during the entire fall. God has been there the whole time of our ups and downs. It hasn't been easy... in fact this was the hardest thing we have ever done. Have I ever regretted the leap? No. Not once. Even in the lowest points, we are in a much better place for our family then we were ever in before. I know my up and down moments aren't over, but I'm not scared, concerned, worried, stressed or anything else. Why? Because of God. I know He is there and that is all I need.

Suprise... It is not all about YOU!

Philippians 2:3... Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

When thinking about this passage of scripture it brought to mind an episode of Friends where the group challenged Phoebe. They told her it was impossible to do something good for someone without getting something out of it for yourself. Of course she was bound and determined to prove them wrong. It was a pretty funny episode of Phoebe trying all kinds of things only to find out that when you help someone somehow you always benefit in the end.

The group was right... you always get something out of it... even if it is just a good feeling in your heart. What I want to know is did you do it just to get something out of it for yourself? I think our intentions at the onset of a "good deed" are what matters the most. We need to do all things for the glory of God, not the glory of me! If you are expecting a pat on the back or some sort of recognition then you have done this good thing for the wrong reasons.

So I challenge you... Put Christ first then look at others through His eyes and put their concerns in front of your own and do it ALL for the glory of God!

Is Your Enemy Close Enough to Kiss You?

Mark 14:43-46
Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him.

I attended a conference a couple of years ago where Bishop TD Jakes spoke. It was a message for church leaders. He told us the story of Judas and reminded us that our enemy would always be close enough to kiss us. That is a little unsettling don't you think? But think about it... Satan is always at work in your life. You may not see him directly, but he is working to put obstacles in your way... the wrong people in your life. While these people in our lives may not be as obviously deceitful as Judas, the wrong people in your life can lead you down a path not chosen for you by God.

What happens when you find yourself surrounded by the wrong people? How do you even know they are the wrong people? Unfortunately we don't have humanly wisdom equal to the Divine wisdom Jesus had in Mark 14:18 but we do have the power of prayer. God calls us to walk on the path of righteousness (Proverbs 2:20) and to do that we must fully rely on Him, His Word and His Wisdom. Bathe your life in prayer. Ask the Lord to show you His way, His people, His path.

If you find yourself struggling spiritually, pray for the Lord to surround you with His friends so there is no room for the enemy to get close enough to kiss you!

And we are walking...

I had lunch with a good friend last week. She has been going through a difficult season in her life. You know... you can always tell the true character of a person when they are going through hard times in life. It was (and always has been) very clear to me that my friend fully relies on the strength of the Lord every moment of every day. She was telling me about a devotion she had read recently and when she brought it up it reminded me that I too had seen this before and had forgotten about it. I hope she doesn't mind, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since our conversation and well... I feel like this is something I need to write about.

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

The devotion my friend read was Joel Osteen's. He is a great man of God and a much better writer then I am so bear with me as I give you my take.

Let's focus on the action word in this scripture... WALK. If I am in the valley of the shadow of death, I'm certainly not going to just hang out there and set up camp. I can promise you I am moving on as quickly as I can. But that isn't what a lot of us do. When we are in the valley, we just sit there and expect someone to come along and pick us up and get us out of there. Not happening my friends! You have to get up and get moving. God will help you get through the valley, but you have to put one foot in front of the other and start walking. This very same verse says that we will fear no evil because God will comfort us. So... What fear is keeping you in the valley? What has you so afraid that you can't even start walking? I can promise you this... It isn't anything the Lord can't help you overcome.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm not sure that someone didn't secretly poured excessive amounts of Miracle Grow on our garden while my husband and I were gone on our anniversary trip. When we came home we were over run with Zucchini and we were only gone a couple of days.

Not that I am against good garden production but it did get me to thinking... What happens to our spiritual health when we leave it unattended? If you ignore it, Satan can get into your "garden" and over run it with weeds. Our spiritual health is an every day kind of thing. We cannot give it a little care here and there. We have to be in our "garden" nurturing, educating, growing and tending EVERY single day.

What are you doing to maintain and grow your own spiritual health? Are you reading God's Word every day? What else are you reading? Are you going to classes? Are you in a small group? Let me know. I would love to talk about what is going on in your lives.