Too much.  Over the top.  I did it again!!

I come to the end of way too many days thinking I ate too much, thinking I spent too much money, second-guessing myself and my decisions that I made throughout the day, and feeling like I’ve failed to depend on God again.

Why is it so hard to break this cycle I often find myself in?  How can I repeatedly begin each day with the best of intentions and come to the end feeling like I failed again, and then do it all over the next day too?

Well, maybe it is because I have been acting in my weakness instead of my strength!  My weaknesses….there they are….right in front of me each and every day….stopping me from the things I want most to conquer and accomplish.  My flesh rises up and too often I let it rule and reign.  My flesh is weak, very, very weak!

So, why don’t I act in my strength instead?    2 Samuel 22:33 states, “It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.”

In those moments when the familiar wants to take over in my eating, my spending, my self-talk, I need to turn to the One who lives inside me and ask Him to take over and help me act in my strength instead of my weakness, for in Him I am strong!

He promises in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Wow!  When I am tempted to act in my weakness, that is when His power, His strength, His might is made perfect!!

Lord, help me depend on you to be my strength so that I can act in that strength instead of in weakness!!  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

I love you, O Lord, my strength.  Psalm 18:1

Wow, the summer is slipping away and Autumn will soon be setting in.  Personally, I just love summer and I never like to see it go.  I love wearing sleeveless tops and sandals.  I love the summer breeze, and I love the water, at the beach or on the boat.

One thing good about September though is that it is the start of lots of activities that gear up this time of year and continue through until Christmas.  Oh, don’t we all love Christmas??  I know, not yet, not yet!!  Summer is still here for a little while longer.

Really though, this time of year just seems to bring some order into what sometimes has been a crazy, chaotic summer.  You know, those lazy, hazy days of just kicking back and doing the fun stuff, the outdoor stuff, the beach stuff, vacations and the like.

I am personally getting ready to begin two bible studies, one with Proverbs 31 Ministries and one face-to-face bible study in my local area.  Both have tremendous value to me, and I so look forward to each one and the rich study they will bring to my life and my walk with God.  I am also looking forward to the Beyond Women’s Conference in October!

How about you?  Will you be finding yourself digging into God’s word this Autumn?  I hope so!  God’s word is rich with truth, wisdom, insight, grace and love, love, and more love!  Go ahead, dig in!  He is ready and waiting to meet you between the pages!

I went with a friend this past Friday for the opening debut of the movie War Room.  What a wonderful movie about the power of prayer!!

One of the measures of our faith is prayer!

If I find it hard to pray, that means I don’t expect God to answer.

We need to pray with the belief and expectation that something is going to happen, something good!

We need to ask God for whatever it is we are lacking.

We need to forgive.

We need to let go.

We need to love.

If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly recommend it!

There was a time in my life, at the ripe old age of 18, that I became a prodigal daughter.  This may not have been one of the proudest moments of my life, but it was life-changing all the same.

Nearing my high school graduation, with my whole life ahead of me, I chose to run away from home to marry a boy I thought I loved. He was a boy my parents would not approve of me marrying, and one I had “dated” secretly behind their backs. Of course I thought I knew more about life than my parents! My dad had once said to me that if I ever left home that I better take all my things with me because I wouldn’t be coming back, so I had cleaned out my room, taken what would fit in my car and disposed of the rest, and off I went!

Let’s look into the Word of God and relate my experience to the story of the prodigal son and his earthly father (who really was an example of our Heavenly Father.) Think about it, here was this son demanding his inheritance so he could go off and live life however he wanted to, and his father granted his wish.

Luke 15 tells the story this way: 13“And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. 14“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished.

The thing that impresses me most is that when this prodigal son “came to his senses,” he decided to return to his father. Did he know his father would take him back? Did he know his father still loved him?  I think he was pretty desperate at that point and knew his father was the only one who could help him, and I think he realized that whatever consequences awaited him would be better than the state he found himself in.

The bible says in Luke 15:20, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. This father loved his son and welcomed him back, even held a feast in his honor to celebrate. …for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.~Luke 15:24

So how does this relate to my story of running away? Well, even though I may have taken my dad’s comments to “take everything with me” in the literal sense, they apparently did not reveal his true heart and love for me. My dad and my brother came after me to bring me back home!! If I ever questioned my dad’s love for me, it was solidified that day.  Yes, my dad really did love me and he welcomed me back!  There was no feast or fattened calf, not even a party, but there was love, love and more love, that’s for sure!

Now think about our Heavenly Father and the example Jesus gave in the story of this younger son who demanded his inheritance and went and squandered it all, then came running back to his father for provision and sustenance since he had nothing left in himself!  I am certain that had my dad not intercepted me that day when I ran away from home, I most definitely would have suffered some serious and regrettable consequences and likely would have returned home to my dad asking for mercy just like the prodigal son of the bible!

Aren’t we just like that sometimes? We have to come to the end of ourselves, hungry, lonely, feeling defeated, destitute, broken, and then our Heavenly Father picks us up and loves on us, provides for us, and gives us victory over our defeat. Glorious, glorious love our Father hath lavished on us!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for your unconditional love for us.  Thank you that no matter what crazy thing we might do, You still love us and welcome us back with open arms when we return to you.  Thank you Father for not allowing us to stray beyond your reach.   There is nowhere we can go, nothing we can do, that is too far from your love, mercy and grace, to keep us from returning to your loving arms!

Not again! I just logged out of my email and realized I didn’t do what I logged in to do! Once there, that In-box distracted me yet again. All those new emails staring at me, blaring their subject lines, screaming “Open me first.” Next thing I know, 15-20 minutes have passed and I’ve long since forgotten why I logged into my email in the first place.

Got me thinking about spending time with God. Even with the best of intentions, daily distractions pull and tug at us, luring us away from the One who can help make everything work out right in our day. Proverbs 16:3 says to commit to the Lord whatever we do and our plans will succeed. And in Exodus 14:14 we read these words, The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Be still….now that’s a difficult thing to do!

When I think about this, I realize that I can get so busy being busy, so lost in everything around where I’m going that I never get there, so absorbed in the immediate things in front of me that I lose sight of the important things I intended to do. So often when I want to spend time with God and in the Word, my mind wanders off to all the other things that need to be done. Sometimes that to-do list looms over me so much that I just lose track of what is most important.

Lord, help me to always put You first in my day. Draw me to Yourself and help me to focus on the important and not let the immediate overtake me!