My God My Everything

I was feeling pretty good about myself and excited for the adventure ahead to overcome wrong thoughts with a clean and right heart when the enemy decided to show me that he was not as pleased with my decision. From out of nowhere came some very powerful wrong thoughts and just as quickly my mind was racing with so many that I felt like I was caught in a whirlwind. I was trying to battle one thought by speaking truth to it and I would be hit with another one. It was quite frightening how battered and bombarded I felt. No matter how hard I tried to fight back I…

The day after I had been encouraged to clean up my heart and mind with the divine power of God I was looking through my bookshelf to pick out a bible study to begin. Two or three caught my attention and I took them off the shelf and began looking through them. In my head I kept hearing, “what are you struggling to overcome?” My answer was, “my thoughts.” The question was repeated as I continued to look through books and then I heard, “It’s a battlefield for your mind. The enemy of your soul wants to manipulate your thoughts. Stop allowing him too. Learn to fight back.” On my…

For quite some time I have had wrong thoughts. I think of things that are not God honoring and later find myself feeling condemned and frustrated because I keep having trouble in this area and I don’t seem to be able to overcome it. Many times I have tried to think of something else or even justify my thoughts through rationalization. It often feels like a recurring cycle that I cannot seem to break. Then I read Luke 6:45 which reads, “for out of the abundance of the heart a man speaks.” I’ve heard this verse before, but today it had new meaning. My issue with thoughts is not something…

Once our cups are full our responsibility is to pour them out to others and we do that through fellowship. This is where we share Jesus. God gave us the gift of fellowship clear back in the Garden of Eden. We were designed for relationship and fellowship simply means to pursue a shared interest. That interest would be our Savior, Jesus Christ. Fellowship is meant to be a way that we can encourage each other in this journey of life. When we encourage others we will usually find that we also are encouraged. Speaking words of hope, courage and joy to others fills us with the same. In the bible…

One of my favorite ways to Fill My Cup is to read His Word. Reading God’s word is where we get to know Him. We learn about His character and His promises and it’s through His word that we are transformed. Acts 4:13 reads, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” Being with Jesus, listening to Him and learning from Him changed the character of Peter and John and reading His word will do the same for us. Like these men, we can be transformed from unschooled and ordinary…

How long can you listen to a really good song before you are tapping your fingers or toes or jumping in and singing along? The rhythm catches you and you begin singing word for word the lyrics that make your heart sing. That’s worship. Worship is where we can lift our voices in praise to the One and Only worthy of those praises, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if you can carry a tune or not, He hears your heart and you can lift your arm up high as you reach out to your audience of One. Worship is where we can abandon whatever holds us…

Continuing with the theme of Fill My Cup one of things that can aid in the filling is prayer. It is our life line to God in this crazy world. In prayer we can pour out our hearts to God and be known by Him. We’ve all had those moments that we cannot find the right words to explain what we are feeling or experiencing and even if we could, would the person we are telling be able to understand? God can. Not only does He completely understand, but His Holy Spirit will also give us the words when we don’t know what to pray. Talking to God through prayer…

I was asked to share at a women’s retreat later this month and after praying about it I accepted. The theme of the retreat is Fill My Cup. One of the most exciting things about this is that I get to spend extra time with God preparing. That means there will be more time in His word, more Godly field trips and more life application experiences. As I began to prepare I was given the words “Be Intentional.” Being intentional about something means to be done on purpose or deliberately. Not only did He want me to be intentional about preparing for this opportunity, but in the months leading up…

As my 40 days of Intimacy with God draws to a close I can sense that the spirit is changing from one of rest and restoration to one of motivation and action. Just like the seasons change, I feel like I am moving from a dormant winter season to a new beginning that comes with spring. This has been a year of change for everyone and God is doing a new work, calling us back to Him and to a renewed focus on His work and purpose. I feel an excitement in my soul that I haven’t felt for a long time and I’m ready to move forward in whatever…

Yesterday I was in a crowded grocery store. It seemed like all the aisles had been re-arranged and items were no longer where they used to be. Often I found myself looking up at the aisle signs for direction. As I finished my shopping and headed towards the cashiers I noticed many other people – looking up! It reminded me of Psalm 121 which reads, “Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord maker of heaven and earth.” God’s message to me today: Look Up! In these troubling times with so many changes and different ways of doing things where do we go for direction? Where…