Faith Friday

Sometimes I need some gentle reminders (ahem, hard shoves), to remind me of the work God can do through me and that I should allow.

Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that I need to be open, and open up, to others. It's difficult because I can be such a recluse. 

God is always working in us. I need to remember that there is a master plan, I don't to always know everything in advance! (Seriously, I look up movie spoilers, I'm THAT person).

I'm sure I do this. I don't take opportunities that I should take and wind up feeling guilty and mad at myself for ignoring the clear vision being given to me. 

God goes through every trial and joy with us. I need to remember that.

Things I'm learning on this Journey

God gives us people for a reason.

We need fellowship.

We need prayer.

We need support, both his and other Christians.

We should be open to new ideas.

We should learn the Bible in our own way, through various interpretations.

We need prayer partners.

We need earthly partners.

We need Him.

We need life.

We need love.

We need hope.

We need light.

We need his mercy.

His grace.

His forgiveness.

Chasing God

"When we spend more of our time searching for assurance than we do acting out of belief, we are chasing God" -Angie Smith, Chasing God

I have read all of Angie Smith's book. I started reading her blog when it only had a few pages and had a different URL. I own three copies of What Women Fear (one was a double order, and it is about to be given out as a gift). The first copy I purchased when I wasn't working but knew I needed to hear what she had to say. I love it. It is dog eared, stained due to an adorable little boy who sometimes knocked things down when he was little, and well loved.

Her latest book, Chasing God was great as well! I own this one in both a physical copy that I pre-ordered, which is how I ended up with the second copy of What Women Fear, and purchased it for Kindle as well. I'm one of those people who isn't big on writing in my books. Blame that on being raised by teachers, so I enjoy Kindle versions of books so that I can highlight things and go back to passages with ease.

This book really hit home in many ways. She's very candid with her life (mentioning embarrassing childhood tales and awkward ways she tried to fit in with what she seemed to believe were the perfect Christian) without sounding fake. I relate so much to a lot of what she says, having grown up around some very Christian people but not always knowing where I fit in. 

A couple of quotes I loved from Chasing God:

"Why does prayer matter so much to God? Because relationship matters to God. Prayer is one of the fundamental ways"

The one below may have been the one that weighed on my heart the most. You always hear people say "God wouldn't give you more than you can handle" and while this may be true, it never states that in His word.

"The notion that our Abba Father would dispense injury based on our ability to “carry it” is injurious to our relationship with Him and casts light wrongly on our human capacity instead of His generous dispensation of grace."

Cleansing

Courtesy of Ann Voskamp

This is something that occurred to me earlier this evening. I'm one of those people who dislikes taking baths. I think it's gross. I am a pretty high strung person and have been told on countless occasions that maybe a bath would help me calm down.

Having been feeling a bit under the weather both physically and mentally, I decided to use this Lush bath bomb I bought a few weeks ago, take a book, and take a bath. Specifically, this one, called Sakura. I filled the tub with almost hot water, dunked the fizz tablet in, and got in with a book.

I put the book away after a few minutes, and started scrubbing with a pumice stone. As I did this, prayers just started coming out in full force. I put the stone down, relaxed into the water, and kept praying, and speaking to God. It was powerful. It was beautiful. It was full of release. I felt like a great weight had been lifted in that feeling of tranquility and vulnerability. It felt like scrubbing away the skin was also scrubbing away my sins as I cried and prayed asked for forgiveness, strength, guidance, love, hope.

A simple act renewed me. It made me feel a sense of peace and release that's hard to explain unless you've experienced it yourself. It feel like being cleaned, purified. I hadn't realized until tonight how much weight I was holding on myself.

borntomakeanimpact.tumblr.com

sugardoodle.net

Sometimes physical, emotional, spiritual cleansing occurring at the same time can be an amazing God given gift that we need. Maybe this works of me and not others, but I feel blessed.

The words repent/repentance, are mentioned over 100 times in the Bible. There are varying definitions of what repentance means, which is why I love the Amplified version that shows what different translations give as the meaning of a certain verse/word.
From the Amplified version: "So repent (change your mind and purpose); turn around and return [to God], that our sins may be erased (blotted out, wiped clean), that times of refreshing (of recovering from the effects of heat, or reviving with fresh air) may com from the presence of the Lord;" Acts 3:19
If we [freely] admint that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action]. 1 John 1:9

Coffee For your Heart-Holley Gerth

I've enjoyed Holley Gerth's books and blog posts immensely. As someone who majored in Psychology, I love her approach to things both from the research/psychology perspective, and Christian oriented drive. These things rarely go together and I adore her for it!

And so begins my first Coffee for your Heart Wednesday post! I'm going to post a few things that help me on my daily journey with my Faith.

First, I am pretty big into fitness and health as well. It seems like most people in the community are either very religious, or very anti-religious. However, one of my favorites, Rachel Flint of FIt like Flint regularly makes shirts with Bible verses on them and I love it! Below is her newest one:

Awesome right? I own the one below:

MudLove bracelets. 20% of the proceeds go to provide clean drinking water to villages in Africa. I own one that says "Pray" because it's always good to have a daily reminder. 

I also keep the Holley Gerth-You're Already Amazing perpetual calendar on my desk at work, right next to my monitor. 

Because, for me, in the rush of every day, of being a parent, partner, friend, daughter, employee, is that every day is a run around game and at various points of the day, we all need a reminder to pray or at least acknowledge the Lord. 

Eucharisteo

Anyone who knows me, is fully aware that I am a total book worm. I would rather sit at home with a glass of tea (or wine...depends on the mood) with a book, some Vitamin String Quartet, and read than go out. I carry a kindle with me everywhere, loaded with varying genres of books and every once in a while, will buy a physical book if it grabs me.

One such book was One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. (There are several others as well, and I will be blogging about each one over the next few weeks). While I haven't finished it, with less than 80 pages left to go, there was something in it that struck me that I wrote it down on a post it and put it above my desk. I also wrote it down in my prayer journal. 

The word "eucharisteo." This hit me, hard, and I can't explain why. Maybe because it hit the nail on the head with one single word encompassing so much. From what I've researched, and from Ann's book, it means to give thanks, thanksgiving, thanks with grace/joy. What is not to love about this? 

From her book "Charis. Grace. 
                            Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving.
                            Chara. Joy.
... 
A threefold cord that might hold a life? Offer a way up into the fullest life? 
Grace, thanksgiving, joy. Eucharisteo."

From Studylight.org

The verb form for "giving thanks" is εὐχαριστὲω (Strong's #2168), which means not only to express thanks and gratitude, but also to return thanks. 

It's a beautiful word and one I plan on incorporating into a piece of jewelry as a simple, yet profound reminder to myself. 



Quote taken from Ann Voskamp book "One Thousand Gifts." 

Sunsets

Sunsets are one of my absolute favorite sights in nature. Sunrises sre equally amazing, but I'm always driving and can't grab pictures of it. Sunsets remind me to reflect, take joy, and praise Him for the wonders that surround me every day. 

And of course, Psalms has some perfect verses to go with it. 

Psalm 113:2 NIV "from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of The Lord is to be praised. 

Psalm 65:8 NIV "the whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy."