What's Ur focus?

Your focus determines your reality.

What are you focused on?

You or God?

Positive or Negative??

Blessings or Problems??

--Mark Batterson

You are responsible for your focus.
There is only one true Focus, one Truth...
Focus on Jesus and you will find life!

You will keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is set on You,
for he trusts in You.--Isaiah 26:3

Mountains into molehills

Deut. 2:6

You have circled the mountain long enough, now turn North.

I can't tell you how much this verse has meant to me lately. I found it unexpectedly one day- though the Spirit knew right where to direct me....

Found in the depths of Deuteronomy, this verse addresses the Israelites during their journey through the wilderness.

Fearful, self-absorbed, and lost they traveled looking only at there external environment rather than their Internal environment.

The same is true all too often for us.....

We travel around and around the same mountain. Day after day....sometimes it seems like an endless wilderness....



So we need to do one thing...STOP! Look at the mountain - it's much too big for you....

turn North....and give it to the only One who can handle it... the One who loves you more than anything. Give it to God and the mountain will shrink.

How easy it seems yet we take such pride in trying to do it ourselves.... complete the Journey by giving it up. Give up your free will to 'do it yourself' and make your life a whole lot easier....


Make the mountain INTO a mole-hill.

You've circled long enough, look North and the mountain will disappear!


Blessings my sweet sisters....

When less is more

1 John 3:16

Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us:
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

It's so important to help each other out. I can't stop thinking about how much my Christian sisters have helped me in the past. A hug, a card, a sweet prayer...

When we give to others, we give them a piece of Jesus. And that piece grows for Him. It also grows in us. His ways are not our ways.... we lose a piece of Him yet with that loss He grows in us!

God is so good! Only our omnipotent God could make more of Himself out of less of us. In fact, that's the only way it works. It has to be less and less of us each day so we can receive more and more of Him.

If you are living with guilt or depression, try to remember that's of you. The more you are focused on you and your limits the more you are limited. Do not be a slave to your moods or "feelings" but move over and let Him fill you.

Less is always more with God.

Blessings my sweet sisters,
T

Take Up Your Cross

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must
deny themselves and
take up their cross and

follow me.

Mark 8:34

My small group met last night for the first time on the study Made to Crave. It was such a wonderful time....the fellowship, the sharing. I love it when new people show up, they bring a whole new dimension to the group.

Great are God's girls!

Lysa was speaking on denial on feeling empowered rather than deprived with our healthy food choices and included the verse above.

When breaking it down, we see the "deny self" - this commands us to deny our selfish, fleshly desires, pretty straight forward though not always done.

The second part is often misinterpreted. Upon exploration in our Life Application Bible, we learned that the prisoners in Roman times were made to carry their own cross before they were crucified (the death penalty of choice in that period), this time of carrying was to signify their submission to the Roman government as the highest authority.

The final command is to "follow me." One small sentence, buried deep in Mark, gives us the whole plan of salvation:

Deny yourself and fleshly wants
Submit yourself to the highest authority,
and Follow Him.

God makes it sooo simple, don't make it harder than it is!

If you're ready, feel free to hit the big red button....
don't make it hard...
why GIVE UP something for Lent when
you could RECEIVE something so much better!

Many blessings,
E

Just a little more....

I was reading Lysa TerKeurst's post today and was so caught up in her thoughts... She presented a very simple concept of "and then some..."

What if rather than doing "just enough" or getting all caught up in our pride about something.... we decide to do "just a little more"-- or -- "and then some"

-- such a simple concept - but then again that's what Jesus did. He took everything we "work" so hard at and made it simple.

Just like salvation - we make it complicated, not God. What could be easier than accepting a free gift. I'll take it -- thank you. It's that easy!


My small group is starting her study tonight "Made to Crave." It was not my intention to start on Lent but I guess it was God's... I will keep posting on the progress

Many blessings & prayers,
E

Being His body

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Who comforts us in all our tribulation,

that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,

by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

2Corin. 1:3-4

God has created us to be His physical body. We are to love others and show His mercy the only way He can't. One day we will sit at His feet and be able to touch Him! Oh, what a glorious day that will be!

But, for now, we are to be Jesus for Him. To let others see Jesus reflected in us. You may be the only Jesus some ever see. Is knowing you going to turn them away from Him -- or closer to Him??

May your light shine for Him today. Share His love and mercy with others. Comfort with a physical touch, a phone call, a soft word of encouragement....

Jesus gave His body for us---

Make the choice to give your body for Him!

Blessings--

E

Are You Too Old To Sin?

Search me, O God, and know my heart:
try me, and know my thoughts:
and see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting

Psalm 139:23-24

I had to laugh talking to my 98-year-old grandmother. She told me her priest said she didn't have to go to confession anymore because she was too old to sin. I wonder if Methuselah stopped confessing at 969?? I'm guessing not....

My question is: Is there ever a time we stop sinning? Isn't just the thought that you don't sin anymore-- sinful in and of itself?

To say you don't sin is to put yourself equal to Jesus! Isn't that what the evil one did? I'm not going there-- Are you?

If there was ever an age at which we stop sinning on our own, we wouldn't need a Savior and Oh, what a sad day that would be!

As the Psalmist says:

search me, try me, lead me.....

Are you too old to sin?

Sinners change, Sin doesn't?

May God bless you, my dear readers today

Loving prayers,
E

made to crave week 2

Made to Crave has been great. I love the FREE webcasts!

Word of encouragement this week--

Determination!

Thank you, Lysa for giving us so much to look forward to.
For setting realistic goals and helping us achieve them!

Don't miss next week's web cast
Mondays at 8:00 pm EST

www.madetocrave.org

Made to Crave starts tonight!

Hop on over to Lysa TerKeurst's Made to Crave site tonight for the premier web-cast of her new book Made to Crave.
Be there

8:00 EST

Thoughts

Based on Chapter 5 of Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

Thought for the Day: "We were made for more! More than this failure … more than this cycle … more than being ruled by our taste buds, body image, rationalizations, and guilt. We were made for victory. Sometimes we just have to find our way to that truth."

You were made for more too. God loves you and has a plan for you. Find that inner craving and act on it. Crave good, crave God. Crave to glorify Him in all you do.


To those who hurt - you are made for more.

Ephesians 1:18–19 says: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which [God] has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

Craving more Self-control??

Happy New Year!

I can't tell you how much I've learned from Lysa TerKeurst. She has a new book out that is called Made to Crave and it is an amazing new approach to the age old problem of weight loss.

Don't get me wrong this is not a "diet book." This is a new approach to the way you think about your body. Lysa will be blessing us with FREE webcasts on Monday night from 8:00 - 8:45 EST. So, if you're on-line stop by Lysa TerKeurst. I just can wait for this - it's really quite monumental!

I actually held off starting this book because I thought it would be a chore- but it's not. It addresses all our issues in a biblical way! Right from Eve's apple issue to my lack of personal self-control for food.

God has really blessed us with this study - I hope every one will at least give it a look....

Many blessing in the new year!!


You can sign up to receive more information at Lysa's blog or at the Made to Crave site. Give it a try and get involved!

The road to self-control starts here:)