Posts

,

When You Just Don’t Want To

A hymnal? When was the last time you opened a hymnal? Well I opened one on Sunday evening and on the opposing page was the following hymn:

Trust and Obey
When we walk with the Lord in the light of his Word what a glory he sheds on our way! While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way. To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but his smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, But our toil he doth richly repay; Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor he shows, and the joy he bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet, or we will walk by his side in the way; What he says we will do, where he sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Seems like this obey thing follows me everywhere.

This hymn, written by John H. Sammis in 1887, was inspired by a young man who stated during testimony service at church, “I’m not quite sure. But I’m going to trust, and I’m going to obey.”

As a disciple you’ve been called to OBEY God.

Not to just obey in the easy things.

Not to just obey in the comfortable things.

Not to just obey in the things you like or want to do.

But the true measure of your obedience is to OBEY in the difficult things.

To obey when you get a life threatening medical diagnosis

To obey when you’re told to give away something you treasure

To obey when asked to go into unfamiliar territory

To obey when a loved one betrays you

To obey and trust God when your spouse makes a decision you don’t agree with

To obey and trust God with your children

Did you read it in the lyrics above? NOT A DOUBT OR A FEAR…CAN ABIDE WHILE WE TRUST AND OBEY.

God is looking for your radical “YES I WILL” obedience; your delightful, lavish and immediate obedience.

Obedience is more than just taking action. It’s also the position of your heart. God wants you to obey Him not grudgingly nor of necessity but cheerfully.

In Genesis 12 we see God give Abram a directive and as soon as the Lord finishes speaking, Abram obeyed. God said GO and when He was finished talking the scriptures say, “So Abram departed” (Genesis 12:4). God is calling us to obey even if it doesn’t make sense to us.

I’ve had my share of having to obey in what didn’t make much sense to me.

Join this church. OBEY

Get involved in this ministry. OBEY

Leave a job I love. OBEY

Give how much money away? OBEY

Have as many children as the Lord says. OBEY

Submit to my husband. OBEY

Serve and serve and serve again without complaining. OBEY

And the list goes on and on. Come close. Let me let you in on a little secret. I didn’t always want to. I didn’t always feel like obeying. In fact I may have had a temper tantrum or two. But as a true disciple, I made a commitment to the Lord and took up my cross daily and followed Him. Thus I’ve purposed in my heart to obey. And I know the above lyrics to be true. Yet even today as I type this post to encourage you I need to remind myself because obeying isn’t always easy.

So what has God been calling you to do that you just don’t want to? Would you be bold enough, courageous enough to take that step of obedience today? Come on. I know you can do it. And if you’re willing, please share below so that I can join you in prayer.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

/6 Comments/by
,

The Secret of Doing Better

So the old saying goes…”When you know better, you do better”.

 

Well, I don’t know if I fully concur with that statement. I would venture to say most of us “know” plenty. I don’t think we have a knowledge problem but more of an application problem. There is another saying. “Knowledge is Power”.

 

Well yeah, knowledge is power but only if it’s put to use. Where I live, in the Mid-Atlantic it’s starting to get cold in the evenings. Now my furnace itself is in great condition and functioning well. My natural gas supplier has sent the gas to my home. But if I don’t go to the thermostat and turn it on to begin the heating cycle I will remain cold. So what good is the power if it isn’t accessed and applied?

 

It’s Wellness Wednesday here on the blog and it is my goal to inspire you to honor your temple through proper nourishment, rest and exercise. This truth is one of the three pillars on which I’ve built Inspired Life. But guess what? There are times, even with the vast encyclopedias worth of knowledge I have in my head that I just don’t want to do what I know is right. Half the time I don’t want to exercise. I want to in my head, but making that happen with a 3 school age children, preschooler, a toddler, 2 loads of laundry, cooking for 8 people, and walls to wipe down, and floors to sweep and bank runs to make and on and on all in one day. Whew! You see there went my motivation to workout.

 

The same can be said for eating right. Well, most days I do want to eat right. But after my hands get raw and cracked from having them in water so much from all the produce I handle daily and the cooking and chopping, and cooking some more and washing and peeling, man I would really like the luxury to just throw a frozen family sized entrée in the oven. Some days I would like to just eat 4 slices of pizza. When I am in the grocery store and I look into the cart of the person behind me and hers is filled with soda, frozen dinners, chips, Lunchables, Rice-A-Roni and more, I think “Why can’t I just do like that instead of reading every food label, and picking, picking, and picking over produce and worrying about GMO (Genetically Modified Organism). ”

 

BUT…then I am reminded of this.

 

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. James 4:17

 

I don’t now about you, but I don’t desire to willfully disobey God. As such, since I know better, I MUST do better. And by the power that works in me, I am capable of doing better. As it relates to honoring my temple, I cannot feign ignorance to the knowledge God has made known.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

 

So what does it take to do better?

 

DISCIPLINE!

 

So I guess the secret of doing better isn’t a secret at all. It’s just a matter of being disciplined enough to make the best choice. The spirit at work in us enables us to choose well. And choosing well doesn’t necessarily mean exercising everyday or else you’ll be morbidly obese. Nor does it mean eat healthy every day or else you’ll die of heart disease, that’s being legalistic. But it does mean that I purpose I will choose well. It means I will be self-disciplined. Instead of 4 slices of pizza, maybe I’ll eat one or even a half because all I want to do is satisfy that initial hot, salty, cheesy longing. It means that occasionally my family will eat dinner from the Chinese restaurant. It means that even if I don’t feel like exercising because everything else is competing for my attention, I will give my body back 30 minutes of exercise for the 1440 minutes God has given me today.

 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

 

What will you do today to be disciplined?

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

/4 Comments/by

Bulking Up

Why do they call it getting ripped?

When you are working to increase muscle mass, you literally have to go through the process of TEARING the flesh.  Muscle building does not occur without first tearing down muscle fibers, the main element of muscle tissue. The increase in muscle mass then occurs when the body repairs the torn muscle fibers. Resistance training and weight training are two ways to initiate the tearing down and building up cycle.

When bulking, up you eat more of the right food at the right time such as protein and carbs before workout.
When bulking up you also want to lift heavier weight.

The same can be said for bulking up spiritually. When I bulk up spiritually I need to feast on more of God’s word; the right word at the right time.  I know I need to sacrifice and wake up earlier to give Him the 1st of my day.  I may need to even turn off Christian radio and tv programming so that I allow Him to speak to me directly from His word.

For my spiritual bulking up I also need to lift heavier weight.  I need to feast not only on the word that is familiar or comfortable but dare myself to dig into scriptures that have challenged me.  When lifting heavier weight I may also need a spotter.  Who is your spiritual spotter?  Who is there to hold you accountable? Who is there to challenge you to do just.one.more.rep; to believe God just one more time? And when you get weary and can long longer hold that weight, who is there to help you lift it?  Moses had Aaron and Hur.  Where are your Aaron and Hur?

So what will grow bigger; your fear or your faith? Whichever you feed and use will grow.  I have purposed in my heart to exercise my faith muscle. I won’t suffer from analysis paralysis. I will start before I’m ready, because truthfully I’ll never be ready. The Lord told Abram go to a place I will show you. And Abram swiftly, obediently went.

I will move from comfort zone to STRETCH zone.

Will you join me today in living in the STRETCH zone?

Your reading of this blog post is evidence of me exercising my faith muscle.  I had lots of fears in bring this blog to fruition. It has actually been 3+ years in the making.  How many lives could I have impacted if fear hadn’t gotten the best of me?  Since I embrace the now moment, I won’t dwell on that but will press ahead in faith.

I made a decision.

Do it afraid.

And guess what?  Even though it is unnerving not knowing what’s coming next, I know whatever “it” is, it will be good because I’m moving in obedience. I am spiritually bulking up.  I’m hitting those weight.  I feel stronger each day.

Singer Stephen Hurd says in his song Through the Eyes of Faith, “You’ve gotta activate your faith”.

What will you do today to activate and exercise your faith muscle?

/1 Comment/by
,

OBEY

You’ve probably seen items from the OBEY clothing line.  This line while rooted in pop culture considers itself quite counter culture.

That reminds me of Jesus…a sensitivity to the issues of the day yet taught the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

The call to OBEY doesn’t come from a clothing line but comes directly from The Lord himself.

Walking the straight and narrow line of obedience accelerates our growth and maturity. Psalm 84:11 tells us “For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.” Your Father in heaven is looking to accelerate your personal, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical well being but He needs you to work in concert with him, closely following him and being swift to obediently carry out his commands.

In order to do this, we must be strong and courageous. But no need to fear. He’s taken care of that too. Joshua 1:7-8 promises “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

God’s desire is to give YOU His absolute best, but He needs YOU to do your part; to cheerfully, swiftly obey Him.

In my obedience to God I have surrender material possessions, my job, my womb, my husband, my children, my emotions and on and on.

So tell me, what will you do today to delightfully, cheerfully, obey God?  This is not a rhetorical question.  I want to hear from you.

/4 Comments/by