The Daniel Plan

In September of 2017 I stood in my closet and cried. Not because I didn't have a ton of clothes to choose from, but because nothing fit! I was so out of shape and unhealthy I didn't even want to play with our kids. Although my body was unhealthy, my faith was strong. I cried out to God (like the Israelite's) and God answered my plea by sending me The Daniel Plan. I had prayed about eating right and exercising: not to fit into my clothes, but to be able to raise my children, serve in my church, and to encourage others to do the same. After reading the idea behind The Daniel Plan I immediately ordered the chapter book and cookbook. This was exactly what I was looking for! The Daniel Plan is a faith based health program that focuses on Faith, Friends, Food, Fitness, and Focus. I have exercised and tried to cook healthy in the past, but I did it without prayer and failed miserably! This program was different than anything I had ever seen because it was written based on the Bible and God's word. Prayer and depending on God for my health and to show me what to eat were missing in all of my "get fit plans" in the past. God is always faithful to give us what we need to grow closer to Him and to be able to encourage others to do the same. The Daniel Plan has helped me to do both. Through prayer I have been able to learn how to eat to fuel my body and to exercise on a consistent basis. I encourage you to pray about your own health and try reading The Daniel Plan 40 Days to a Healthier You. You can purchase this book for $4.99 from Christianbook.com.

Calm before the storm

We have all heard the saying "the calm before the storm". Earlier today I experienced the calm before and after a rain storm outside. Before the storm everything was very quiet and dark - very peaceful. The peace was interrupted by a ferocious clap of thunder; this the storm began. The rain began very slowly and steadily increased to a downpour. Eventually the rain began to slow and finally stopped. Everything was once again calm. What if we could remain calm even during the storm? Jesus did. Mark gives the account of Jesus sleeping while the disciples were battling a raging storm. The disciples woke Jesus and asked if he cared. He calmed the wind and waves and asked, "Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40) If they should not have been scared when faced with death, why should we? Jesus has overcome EVERYTHING, including the grave. We can remain calm ifvwe do what we know to do: have faith and trust. We can only build trust by growing closer to Jesus. We do this by reading His word, praying, and singing praises. We should do these 3 things daily, but should also meet together to worship the Father with our brothers and sisters. Believers will all sing praises together side by side in Heaven one day, why not practice now. A wise woman called Sunday worship "Heaven Practice". Have you practiced lately?

Seasons

What do you think of when you hear the word season? Many think a season of life and others think hunting season. In 2 Timothy 4:2 Paul says we are to be ready in season and out of season. Just as a hunter prepares all year long for a few weeks, we are to prepare everyday to be ready when called. What does preparing everyday look like and why should we do this? If you have accepted Christ you have the same power in you that rose Jesus from the dead! Colossians 1:11 says we are strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience. To understand this we must find the definitions of steadfastness and patience. Steadfastness means unwavering, unchanging; fixed in place. Patience means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. This is what we are supposed to attain - deal with pain and suffering without getting upset! 2 Timothy 3:12 says, "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." This does not say might be persecuted. Paul goes on to say we are adequately equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:17). We have everything we need to stand firm in the faith. After our faith is firmly established and is growing like a tree planted by the water (Psalm 1:3), what now? The second part of Psalm 1:3 says to yield fruit in its season! There is the word season again. We share training and preparing, but for what? Matthew 28:19-20 sums up our whole purpose: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. The title of this is Seasons and I haven't talked much about seasons. We will all have times when we feel and sense God moving in our lives. We will ALL have seasons where we can't feel or sense God. The hard seasons are the times we will need to do what we know to do - be steadfast and endure because of the promises of God. We are to all keep going and making disciples - even when we don't feel like it.

Thankful for today

Everyone has been posting reasons they have to be thankful. Being thankful is very easy when we have money in the bank, food on the table, and friends and family. Do we choose to sing praises when everything falls apart? I read this morning the story of Paul and Silas being beaten and thrown in prison. They were in severe pain and chained to the floor. They chose to sing praises to God! Do we do the same? We can either worry and fret about next week or we can praise and worship today! We can use our time to ask God to remove our pain or we can do as Paul and Silas and praise Him in the middle of the chaos. Ask Him to give you the faith, strength, or courage to count it all joy when we face trials. True wisdom comes from experiences.

We are Redeemed!

The story of Ruth and Boaz is a simple but very complex story. I am completely overwhelmed with God's grace, mercy, tenderness, faithfulness, gentleness, and His love! God chose Ruth even though she was an idol worshiper. He showered her with love! He saw her as she could be, not as she was. He did not allow her to have children with Mahlon so Boaz could redeem her. The word redeem is one of the most beautiful words in our language. Redeem means: to free from captivity by payment of a ransom to change for the better, to atone for Thank God we are redeemed! God paid our ransom, made atonement for, and changed us for the better through the blood of His son, Jesus! God has redeemed us through Jesus just as Ruth was redeemed through Boaz. Ruth is part of the lineage of Christ, but we are part of the family of Christ! No matter what you have done, you can be redeemed!

Swimming Effortlessly

Fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors move with ease and grace through the water. They also seem to truly enjoy swimming. However, that same beautiful fish will flop and twist and turn uncontrollably out of the water. There is nothing graceful or beautiful about a fish out of water. In fact, it is painful to watch a fish out of water because we know it will eventually die because the life breath has been taken away. Oh, how we are like fish! When we are immersed in God's Word, we move with His grace and radiate His glory. We do not worry or fret over anything because we receive our direction from Him. We are able to forgive and love others because we are covered with His Word. But, when we do not seek Him or spend time in His Word we are just like the pitiful fish out of water. We let worry control us and fear and temptation over come us. Eventually our spiritual life will be like the dead fish, not bearing any fruit. We pull away from God for many reasons, but none are valid. The Bible has much to say about this. Here is a very short list of verses about seeking God and His Word: our adequacy is from God 2Corinthians 3:5 the Spirit gives life 2Corinthians 3:6 the Word of God is living and active Hebrews 4:12 pray without ceasing 1Thessalonians 5:17 rejoice always 1Thessalonians 5:16 be doers of the Word James 1:22 Why wouldn't we want to grasp hold of God's Word and never stop seeking more and more? My prayer is for God to consume us like a fire and fill us with His Holy Spirit! May a day never go by that we do not seek His face, lest we become a fish out of water.

Bible Study

Bible study: What does that mean to you? A class on. Sunday mornings? A class you had on school? It means time spent alone truly studying God's word to me. The verse Psalm 145:13 says, " The Lord is faithful to all His promises." We can't claim this verse without knowing what the promises are. We must study His word to fully open the river of living water He freely gives. Studying and seeking God do not stop after you accept Christ, it just begins! We can't serve Him without knowing His word. Have you put the time into studying the Bible that you did studying for an exam in school? We should all have a great desire to know God's word. The Bible can be intimidating, but tell God and He will make it clear to you.

God is Calling

What is God calling you to do? Is he calling you into a ministry at church or is He calling you to minister to a neighbor? Could it be He is calling you to change careers? What have you done to try and hear what God is calling you to do? Have you felt unhappy in your current situation, but haven’t taken the time to be still and listen to God? I am asking all of the questions to get us all to focus on the real purpose for us being here on earth – not to make money, not to work, not to even raise kids – to serve our wonderful God! The people in the Bible from Adam to the disciples all faced struggles and temptations. Often times they had witnessed God’s awesome power first hand, but chose to ignore His callings and went the complete opposite direction (that got Jonah swallowed)! It is hard to listen to what God is telling us because most of the time it goes against what the world says is the right thing to do. Do you think the people in Bible days thought it was normal for Noah to build that huge boat – of course not! I am sure they teased him relentlessly until they were drowning! I want to encourage you to act on whatever it is that God is calling you to do no matter what anyone else says! Remember God is going to require a lot of faith for us to follow His lead, but when we listen He will make our paths very clear!

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart; lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways follow Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

God is Enough

God is enough is a short, but powerful statement that I have failed to live by the last month. I have slacked off on quiet time and have held my fears and worries on the inside. I have a true want/need to serve God through my home, but have not invited anyone to my house. I know God is in control of everything and He can use anyone for His purpose, but I haven’t been living like that. Instead of asking God to help me rest at night, I stopped doing my quiet time in the mornings because I couldn’t wake up. Instead of asking God for balance with work and home I stopped cleaning all together! I felt I had to have a clean house to invite people over. God started working on me this week and made me realize how wrong I have been! The following sentence is from Proverbs 31 Ministry’s website, “She was filled with such incredible joy not because life was perfect but simply because she had decided to make laughter, peace, and true happiness the hallmark of her life.” I am adopting this as my motto! I am going to praise God in all areas of my life and I will serve Him with all of me – imperfections and all! I am also going to open my home to people no matter how clean it is (neighbors beware)! If you are reading this and are stressed, tired, and confused with crying children and a dirty house, stop what you are doing and sing your favorite praise song. It will ease your mind and get your focus back on what really matters – our Wonderful, Loving, Awesome God!!! God wants us to spend time with Him daily and let Him make all of the pieces of our lives fall into place. Our God is a God of order (saying from a wonderful woman Adrienne Foster) and he will put your life back in order if you let Him! Praise God!

Love,
Carrie

Got questions, ask God

We had Vacation Bible School at our church this week. The motto of the week was "Got questions, ask God". How simple and awesome is this statement? So many times we worry and try to figure everything out on our own instead of praying about it. One of the skits was about someone flipping a coin to decide what they were going to be when they grow up. We may not flip a coin, but have you ever said, "If this happens, it was ment to be?" Instead if saying things like that or relying on fate, pray and put it in the hands of our very real, living God! We also learned the simple truths that God made us, God loves us, and God has a plan for us. Again, simple but very powerful statements. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." If He already knows the plans He has for us, doesn't it make more sense to ask Him to show us?



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Until the Whole World Hears

According to Rick Warren, new Christians are welcomed in China by telling them Jesus now has new eyes to see with, new ears to listen with, new hands to help with, and a new heart to love others with. This analogy really stood out to me and made me think. Have I used my entire body and mind to serve Christ today? Not at all! Have I spoken like Christ, seen with His eyes, or used my heart to love others like He does today? NO! But, I know with His help I can try and use the rest of the day to serve Him in some way. In Mark 16:15, Jesus gives us the commandment to, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Our job in this world is not to earn money, have a big house, advance in our career, get married, or even have children; our main responsibility is to tell everyone about our Savior, Jesus Christ! Why wouldn’t we want to tell everyone about His overflowing love for us! He comforts the sick, gives strength to the weak, and empowers the hopeless! He is calling you today to come to Him! If you have drifted away, He wants you to come back to Him – Just as you are!!! He truly loves us in sickness, in health, and for richer or poorer! He is the only thing we have that will never leave or forsake us! If you don’t know Jesus as your friend, don’t waste another minute! Accept Him today! Cry out to Him and He will answer you!

“I call to you, God, and you answer me.” Psalm 17:6
“Never will I leave you or forsake you” Hebrews 13:5
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8

Red Shoes

A friend of mine was in a 4 car wreck on Goodman Road last weekend. A truck with 6 passengers hit a car, which hit my friend, who hit the car in front of her. The driver of the truck jumped out and started making excuses and complaining about the damage to his truck. Everyone in the other vehicles was fine. A woman passenger in the truck got out and had on beautiful red heels. She was complaining along with the driver and they were both yelling at the kids in the back seat to be quiet and stop crying. After a few minutes, they realized the kids had hit their heads and were crying from pain. The demeanor of the driver and the woman changed completely. The woman also realized she didn’t feel well. When everything was over, 2 passengers from the truck were taken away in ambulances – one being the woman in red heels. The man was left standing in the street dazed, confused, and holding the red shoes. My friend gave him a hug and he held on to her for dear life. This may have been the first time he had ever really realized what is important in life. So many times we get caught up in time, money, and stuff that we forget to stop and look around at what we do have. Instead of getting upset the next time your children are crying, say a quiet prayer to God thanking him for those children! Don’t wait until you are left holding red shoes to be thankful for what you have!



“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Self esteem comes from God. A negative self image comes from straight from Satan. Satan loves when young girls starve themselves to look like the pictures in a magazine or an adult drinks themselves into a coma because they don’t have what the Jones’s have. God says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” and we are “made in His image”. We are his creation that he loves unconditionally. He also says the hairs on our head are numbered. With so many examples in the Bible of his love for us, we should never doubt our self worth! Don’t let the world get you down or make you feel like you don’t matter. God says he “knows the plans he has for us”. The next time you are putting yourself down, sing a hymn or recite a Bible verse and give praise to Him. This will change you whole outlook on your day!

Strength

How strong are you? I heard a story about one woman that is possibly the strongest person I have ever heard of. A coworker of mine is from a communist ruled country near Thailand. When she was 11 her family made the choice to escape. Her father got out first and her mother was in charge of taking 4 girls ages 2-11 out of the country. They had to travel at night and cross the Bangkok River in a leaking boat. They were imprisoned in Thailand, but eventually met up with her father in a refugee camp and later traveled to the US. What would you have done if you were faced with the same situation? I would like to think I could do it, but I don’t like having to take both of my kids to Kroger much less across a dangerous river! I wanted to tell everyone this story to encourage you to continue being strong no matter what you are going through. Seek out others that have been through it and most of all look to Christ and the Bible. If you ask God to help you and give you answers to questions you have, He will. Our problems may seem like mountains to us, but are no more than grains of sand to our Almighty God!
Love,
Carrie
“He will send down help from Heaven to save me because of His love.” Psalm 57:3

Seeds

One of my coworkers plants seeds in little trays and brings them to work to watch them grow. We all love watching the tiny seeds sprout into little plants as well as watching her take care of them. She waters, checks the heat and sunlight, and even talks to the little plants! This reminds me so much of our spiritual life. We have to feed and nurture our walk with Christ in order for us to grow into what He wants us to be – Mature Christians. Not only do we need to nurture our own spiritual walk through daily prayer and Bible reading, we need to nurture our families’ as well. We can encourage our spouses during difficult times, teach our children to pray, and help everyone learn Bible verses. Once we start nurturing ourselves and our families, we will begin to see the “sprouts” coming through the soil! God has a plan for each of us and wants to see us all grow into strong servants for Him, but we all start as small seeds! I encourage each of you to start as a family worshipping and learning about God.

“The sower went forth to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. And other fell on the rock; and as soon as it grew, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other fell amidst the thorns; and the thorns grew with it, and choked it. And other fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:5-8

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. And those by the way side are those that have heard ;the cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among the thorns, these are they that have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. And that in the good ground, these are such as in an ahonest and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience.” Luke 8:11-15

Cloudy Day

While driving into work this morning, I noticed a one break in the clouds in a mostly cloudy sky. The sun was shining through this one break in the clouds. Even though I couldn’t see the sun at first, I knew it was still there shining just as bright. This made me think about Christ and his love for us. He is always there; whether we see Him or not is our choice. Sometimes during difficult situations we get so caught up in what is going on we “cloud” our view of our Savior. If during these difficult times we look up and through the clouds we will see His over powering love shining through!

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

God's Love

What is God’s love to you? To me it is like a solid steady oak tree. It is always there covering us with its shade and offering us peaceful music as the wind blows through the leaves. Since everyone has their own description of God’s love how do we show this to others? Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, and all of your strength. He also says the next greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30-31). The only way to love your neighbor as yourself is to be a servant to them. If we are hungry, we get something to eat. Why wouldn’t we also fix food for the sick and needy? If we need clothes, we go shopping. Why wouldn’t we shop for others too? A servants attitude does not come over night (I really hoped it would). We have to practice and pray every day. It is not natural for us to put our own needs to the side, so serving will feel very odd at first. This is a life long journey to become more like Christ.

Christ is Perfect

Christ was perfect, we are not.
What does this mean to you? Once we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we know this means he was a perfect sacrifice for our sins. He was perfect, but still paid the price for our sins. This means we do not have to do anything other than accept His grace and we will be saved. But what happens after we are saved. Do we continue to act the same or do the same things as before? No. We are to model ourselves after Christ. How do we do this? I struggle with this every day! I have heard for years that we are to die to ourselves every day, but don’t think I truly understood this until a few days ago. Even though I am saved and know that grace alone is what saved me, I thought I could work hard and become this perfect example of a Christian. So many times we try to model ourselves after someone we think is a good Christian, but they are still human and will never be perfect. “Suzie the Sunday school teacher” battles with sin just like everyone else. Our society is so caught up in being perfect and achieving goals that we often find someone that we think is a great example and try to imitate their life. There is only one life we should imitate – Christ. How can we imitate Him? We have to spend time listening to Him and spend time reading about His life. He ate, drank, and slept just like us. He walked on this earth! How awesome is it that our God actually knows exactly what it feels like to be us! The first step to becoming like Christ is realizing we can’t do anything on our own. Our best is still rubbish to God unless we allow Him to use us. We have to give Him all of our sins and failures and ask Him to make us whole and use us every day. We also have to ask Him to show us areas we need to submit to Him. This is a truly never ending process. Once we submit one area to Him, He will reveal more and more areas of our lives that we still try to control. If we ever start to think, “Wow, I did a great job,” (I am guilty of this), God will show us we really haven’t accomplished anything because pride has taken over and we need to start over by submitting our pride to Him. We are works in process until the day we finally see Christ face to face!

"So get rid of your old self, which amde you live as you used to; the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God's likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy." Ephesians 4:22-24

“Without the spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are ships without wind. We are useless.” Charles Spurgeon

God is Calling

What has God called you to do today, tomorrow, or with your entire life? Where and how can you serve Him? If you don’t know the answer to these questions, it is ok. You can answer this by first starting with a relationship with God. When you have a relationship with Him, He will show you where and how to serve Him. It may be as simple as sending a card to a friend in need or something as complex and committing as becoming a missionary, but God has a plan for you. He created us all in our own unique way to serve Him. There may be someone that will never hear of the saving grace of Christ because you chose not to use the gifts He gave you. You have talents that no one else has and will be able to reach people that no one else could. Will you choose to answer when God calls?

“Training your body helps you in some ways, but serving God helps you in every way by bringing you blessings in this life and in the future life too.” 1 Timothy 4:8

Quiet Time

Quiet time, what does that mean to you? Most of my life I have been told we are to have a quiet time with God. I thought this meant to take time each day to read the Bible and pray. While this time can be used for that, the majority of the time should be spent being quiet and waiting to hear from God. I was convicted of not being quiet this weekend. I heard someone on the radio say we should spend our quiet time waiting to hear what God has to say. If we don’t hear Him, we should read the Bible and ask Him to speak to us through His written word! I love to talk, so therefore, I spent my quiet time talking and not listening. My favorite verse is “Be still and know I am God,” but I wasn’t doing that at all! I challenge each of you to find a quiet place and ask God to speak to you and then actually get quiet and still and listen to what He has to say. It may just surprise how clear His voice will be!

“Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10