food for the soul.

TGIF. I am so happy that the weekend is here! Since going part-time two weeks ago, I have devoted my Fridays to Pure Barre, cleaning the condo, and running errands. Above all, I use my day off to spend much needed, intimate time with the Lord. It is my day to be rejuvenated and find rest in Him, putting the week's affairs behind me and focusing on the greatness of our Savior. Each day I try to find time to read Church of The Highlands' "One Year Bible," a guide for those who seek to read the entire Bible in one year. After the daily readings there is an amazing devotional written by Larry Stockstill, the senior pastor at Bethany World Prayer Center in Louisiana. He is a great friend and mentor of our Pastor, Chris Hodges. On Fridays, I dig deeper into the Word by also reading a daily devotional by Oswald Chambers, on the website, "My Upmost for His Highest." If you haven't purchased this book yet, you need to! It contains thought-provoking and life-altering devotions to feed your Spirit. But, the convenience of a website is hard to beat! The Lord really spoke to me while reading today's devotion:

Taking Possession of Our Own Soul

May

20

2011

By your patience possess your souls —Luke 21:19

When a person is born again, there is a period of time when he does not have the same vitality in his thinking or reasoning that he previously had. We must learn to express this new life within us, which comes by forming the mind of Christ (see Philippians 2:5). Luke 21:19 means that we take possession of our souls through patience. But many of us prefer to stay at the entrance to the Christian life, instead of going on to create and build our soul in accordance with the new life God has placed within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way God has made us, and we blame things on the devil that are actually the result of our own undisciplined natures. Just think what we could be when we are awakened to the truth!

There are certain things in life that we need not pray about— moods, for instance. We will never get rid of moodiness by praying, but we will by kicking it out of our lives. Moods nearly always are rooted in some physical circumstance, not in our true inner self. It is a continual struggle not to listen to the moods which arise as a result of our physical condition, but we must never submit to them for a second. We have to pick ourselves up by the back of the neck and shake ourselves; then we will find that we can do what we believed we were unable to do. The problem that most of us are cursed with is simply that we won’t. The Christian life is one of spiritual courage and determination lived out in our flesh.

It is clear, that I am not going to grow in my relationship with God and be able to love others with a selfless heart like Christ if I can't control my own disposition and base my feelings and actions on negative circumstance. When needs are unmet and expectations are unfulfilled, we, as humans, react. In most cases, in a negative manner. Lately, I can see where the enemy has been trying to take over this area of my life. This past week, I was sick for 9 days straight, emotional, eager, and focusing on the negative versus the positive. My gloomy, agitated, tense mood has affected the way that I treat and react to those whom I love the most. I had coffee early Tuesday morning with my friend Megan and she put many things, especially with respect to marriage, into perspective for me. I am so thankful for her counsel and wisdom that she pours into me. Since our time together the wheels have been turning in my mind and after reading this devotion it is finally made clear! Thank you, Lord! First and foremost, I need to have more patience with my husband. He deserves my upmost respect and honor and as Megan put it, during the times that I want to take my current mood out on him, I need to LOVE him even more. Just as the Lord unfailingly loves me. I also need more patience at the workplace, in the car, on the phone, with the fruition of my dreams and desires. I need more patience, PERIOD. So, today, I am kicking my moodiness to the curb and will be praying for patience in every aspect of my life.

Thank you, Lord, for your grace...

I hope that everyone has a great weekend! We are headed down to Orange Beach this evening for a jam-packed weekend spent with John's amazing family! Stay tuned for an update!