I love paintball! I love the excitement of heading out into the woods with my team and not having any idea when the enemy is going to poke out from behind a tree and scare the crap of me. Not to mention "Lite me up with paintballs". I love how my team comes up with a plan and we all commit to do whatever it takes to win. If it means running full speed across the battlefield to grab the flag, then we'll do that. I mean paintball is brutal and when you play you play to win. No one wants to lose! When I play paintball I'm in the middle of a fight.
Thinking about this has made me think of the Desperation song "I'm counting on God". In that song it says:
"I'm in a fight not physical, I'm in a war, but not with this world".
We need to start realizing we are in a war. Just like when I go out and play paintball I know I'm in a war. We need to know that we live in a war. It's not physical, it's spiritual.
SO WHAT?
The Bible says in Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Today when you come up against evil, when the devil tries to throw something in your face... Remember that you are in a battle. Stand up and fight! Turn some worship music on and start praying. If the devil attacks us with things that are spiritual, then we need to fight back with the things God has given us. Do it today. Realize you are in a BATTLE and fight, do good and watch how you are able to overcome it.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Can I Really Do That?
Lately, I've been struggling like crazy to trust God for the things in my life that are really important.
I feel that it's easy for me to trust God with feeding the children in Africa and it's easy to trust God to love me, but when it comes to what I'm suppose to do today I get confused. Everyday we make so many decisions and they all impact our lives in huge ways. Choices we make in our relationships with our parents and friends can change the quality of our lives. If we make the right decisions then we will live a great life, or if we make the wrong choices our lives are going to take a nose dive. I had been getting so caught up in trying to make sure I didn't make a stupid move that I was driving myself crazy. Then I found this verse:
Proverbs 3: 5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
I realized after reading this verse that I don't need to be freaked about every choice I make. I need to trust God to lead me.
SO WHAT?
God will only lead us if we stop trying to run our own lives. If you are tired of spending most of your time wondering if you are making the right choices, then just STOP! Stop trying to make your own life happen and start trusting God. Lean not on what you think you should do. Take time to let God speak to you and make sure you take time to listen.
I feel that it's easy for me to trust God with feeding the children in Africa and it's easy to trust God to love me, but when it comes to what I'm suppose to do today I get confused. Everyday we make so many decisions and they all impact our lives in huge ways. Choices we make in our relationships with our parents and friends can change the quality of our lives. If we make the right decisions then we will live a great life, or if we make the wrong choices our lives are going to take a nose dive. I had been getting so caught up in trying to make sure I didn't make a stupid move that I was driving myself crazy. Then I found this verse:
Proverbs 3: 5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
I realized after reading this verse that I don't need to be freaked about every choice I make. I need to trust God to lead me.
SO WHAT?
God will only lead us if we stop trying to run our own lives. If you are tired of spending most of your time wondering if you are making the right choices, then just STOP! Stop trying to make your own life happen and start trusting God. Lean not on what you think you should do. Take time to let God speak to you and make sure you take time to listen.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Captivating-For the Girls
FOR the GIRLS!
Over the years we’ve come to see that the only thing more tragic than the things that have happened to us is what we have done with them.
Words were said; painful words. Things were done; awful things. And it shaped us. Something inside of us shifted. We embraced the messages of our wounds. We accepted a view of ourselves. And from that we chose a way of relating to our world. We made a vow never to be in that place again. We adopted strategies to protect ourselves from being hurt again. A woman that is living out of a broken, wounded heart is a woman who is living a self-protective life. She may not be aware of it but it is true. It’s our way of trying to “save ourselves.”
And, we also developed ways of trying to get something of the love our hearts cried out for. The ache is there. Our desperate need for love and affirmation, our thirst for some taste of romance and adventure and something to be wanted for is there. So we turned to boys or to food or to romance novels, we lost ourselves in our work or at church or in some sort of service. All this adds up to the woman we are today. Much of what we call our “personalities” is actually the mosaic of our choices for self-protection plus our plan to get something of the love we were created for.
The problem is, our plan has nothing to do with God.
The wounds we received and the messages they brought form a sort of unholy alliance with our fallen nature as women. From Eve we received a deep mistrust in the heart of God towards us. Clearly, he’s holding out on us. We’ll just have to arrange for the life we want. We will control our world. But there is also an ache deep within, an ache for intimacy and for life. We’ll have to find a way to fill it.
(Captivating, 74-75) Eldredge
So What?
God is here to captivate your heart! Find your love and significance in the God that desires to have a relationship with you!
Take a look at your heart today and see what hurts have shaped you into the woman you are today. Write those down and start to give those hurts to God! Allow God to come in and give you freedom.
Over the years we’ve come to see that the only thing more tragic than the things that have happened to us is what we have done with them.
Words were said; painful words. Things were done; awful things. And it shaped us. Something inside of us shifted. We embraced the messages of our wounds. We accepted a view of ourselves. And from that we chose a way of relating to our world. We made a vow never to be in that place again. We adopted strategies to protect ourselves from being hurt again. A woman that is living out of a broken, wounded heart is a woman who is living a self-protective life. She may not be aware of it but it is true. It’s our way of trying to “save ourselves.”
And, we also developed ways of trying to get something of the love our hearts cried out for. The ache is there. Our desperate need for love and affirmation, our thirst for some taste of romance and adventure and something to be wanted for is there. So we turned to boys or to food or to romance novels, we lost ourselves in our work or at church or in some sort of service. All this adds up to the woman we are today. Much of what we call our “personalities” is actually the mosaic of our choices for self-protection plus our plan to get something of the love we were created for.
The problem is, our plan has nothing to do with God.
The wounds we received and the messages they brought form a sort of unholy alliance with our fallen nature as women. From Eve we received a deep mistrust in the heart of God towards us. Clearly, he’s holding out on us. We’ll just have to arrange for the life we want. We will control our world. But there is also an ache deep within, an ache for intimacy and for life. We’ll have to find a way to fill it.
(Captivating, 74-75) Eldredge
So What?
God is here to captivate your heart! Find your love and significance in the God that desires to have a relationship with you!
Take a look at your heart today and see what hurts have shaped you into the woman you are today. Write those down and start to give those hurts to God! Allow God to come in and give you freedom.
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