My Journey as a Single Woman

Verse of the Week:

 "[It is] better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Psalms 118:8

My Journey as a Single Woman

Brian and I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to attend a wedding.  It was a beautiful  Arkansas outdoor wedding by a pond painted with evergreens, oaks, and greens of all colors.  What a special time it was to see two people in love dedicating themselves to each other for the rest of their lives in the presence of God. It is always so special to see couples join together and become one.  Seeing the wedding, however, brought back memories of the days when I was single and wondered if I would ever get married. 

 I remembered that I was just dying to meet a man and have him "complete me" as I heard so many couples say in the TV show, The Wedding Story.  If I could only have a man, then I would truly be content.  

If only I could have someone complete me, then I would be content

However, as I continued on that journey of looking for "the one," I learned a few things.  First, if I wasn't content now, what made me think that I would be content when I married?  Many couples go through so many relationships and come out bitterly disappointed.  They keep looking for that person to make them happy, but I learned something as a single woman.  Humans cannot make other people happy and content, only God can.  Psalms 118:8 says, "[It is] better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." For awhile, I thought a man would make me happy and would make my life complete, until one night.... I remember sitting under the Texas stars in the backyard of my parent's home praying for a man, when God said something to me in the depths of my soul..."Am I not enough for you?"  I broke down into tears and said, "Yes, Lord, you are enough!"  Jesus was the one that completed me, not a spouse. From then I started to focus on God and his love and delighting in all that he did and was doing for me and serving Him with all my heart.  What a beautiful time for me.

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4

Even though I was delighting in the Lord, I still had that desire for a man, but I was no longer obsessed about finding one to complete me.  I found that by delighting in God, His desires became my desires!   I was content in Christ and was enjoying being single.

But then, I began to go to the other extremes. I decided that I didn't need a man, that a man would hurt my relationship with God. Paul had talked about how remaining single had its advantages. 

32 I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

(1 Corinthians 7:32-35)

I loved my relationship with God and didn't want my attention divided. I thought I needed to sacrifice my dreams of marriage, because a man could only hurt my relationship with Christ. I thought that my desire to be married was wrong and revealed lack of contentment on my part. I would soon realize that God loves me so much and had beautiful plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11).  I learned that my desire to have a spouse wasn't wrong, but that God places desires in us.  I wrote this poem for mine and Brian's first year anniversary.

Union 

2010

This poem is dedicated to the love of my life, Brian, who constantly challenges me in my walk with Christ. Thank you, Lord, for Brian.

One night in tears I prayed to you.

   Lord, don't send a man to me.

I'm afraid I will forget my Savior

  And the man will change my behavior

Instead of focusing on you with all my heart

  My eyes will follow an idol, a work of art

I would begin to depend on man for strength

  And hold you at arm's length

So please, Lord, don't send a man to me

   I always want to belong to you.

Like a child I clung to my Father's hand

   To be separated, I couldn't stand

Then in a gentle whisper my Lord said to me

   Child, don't you know the plans I have for you?

I will provide for you every need.

  I am going to give you a man indeed!

Not one who will turn you from your Lord.

  But one who will make sure I am adored.

He will draw you closer to me

   And through him, I will reveal my love for you.

You see my child, there will be no separation from me

   But a union between all of us three.

I realized that God loves me so much and would never leave me nor forsake me.  I thought that a man would separate me from Him,  but I soon realized that NOTHING can separate me from God's love.  I also learned that He can provide me with a man who will love me with Christ's love.  I learned that a man after God's own heart does indeed exist.

For all you singles out there, be patient.  Don't try to take things into your own hands,  you will only mess it up.  Instead, trust the Creator of the world, the God who loves you so much to bring that man/woman into your life.  Meanwhile, delight in God and enjoy his love and faithfulness.  He is the one that completes us! Even after you are married, Jesus is our source of contentment.  No human on earth can complete or give us that contentment like Jesus!

I Can't Do Anything but...Pray

Verse of the Week:

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I Can't Do Anything but...Pray

Any of these sound familiar?

Everything in my life is falling apart.

When I try to fix it, it gets worse.

There is nothing I can do to make it better.

Everything is hopeless and I don't see a silver lining.
     
I cannot change people.

I cannot go in the past and change mistakes I made.
     
I cannot look in the future and figure out how to make it better.

I am watching my loved ones suffer and there is nothing I can do to help them.

A storm has entered my life and I am drowning.

I cannot do it alone.
      
I can do nothing but....

Pray....

 Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Prayer allows you to surrender the situation to God. Prayer allows you to trust in God.  Prayer can move mountains. Prayer allows God to take the broken pieces and turn it into a masterpiece.

There are some situations in your life when you really cannot do anything but pray.

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. (Colossians 4:2)

Pray with thanksgiving, and watch God take charge.

Christ-like Love in the Family

Verse of the Week:

1 John 4:11 "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

Christ-like Love in the Family 

Brian and I had the wonderful opportunity to dedicate our sweet baby boy, Brayden, to the Lord this past Sunday.  What pure joy it was to let people know that Brayden has and always will be in God's hands.  From the time he was conceived to now and forever, he was given to God by Brian and I, and I thank God each day for the opportunity to be his caretaker and teach him about our Savior. He was never mine and always God's.  What a huge job it is to teach Brayden about Jesus.  Most parents find the job overwhelming, but with Christ's help, it is possible to raise a child to love Jesus so much.  Once their children enter the world, many parents make their children number one in their lives.  Their children become the most important aspect of their lives, and parents strive to do all they can to raise them the best way possible.  While I know most parents intentions are good and pure, I feel that they create the possibility of hurting their families when they put their children first.   Who should be first?  I have always believed it should be in this order.
1. Love Christ 
2. Love your Spouse
3. Love your Children

Loving Christ is number one.  Christ is the glue to keeping families together.  If Christ is out of the picture, then the world's ideas take the place of His ideas. Christ himself said that the most important command is to love the Lord. Luke 10:27 says, 'He answered, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" '  By loving and focusing on our relationship with Christ, it allows us act and do things the way Christ would want us to act.  We start to love our family with Christ-like love which is unselfish, patient, kind, forgiving, holding no grudges, not prideful, or easily angered (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).  When we pray and seek Christ first on how to deal with our children and spouse, it allows us to already start focusing on Him and seeking to do things and see things from His perspective as oppose to the world's perspective.  By allowing Christ to work in our lives, He allows us to grow in Him, and He molds us into the person He desires us to be, a reflection of Himself.  Focusing on our relationship with Christ allows our children to see a Christ-like example in their home.

1. Love Christ

Many couples tend to put their spouses last when children come into the picture.  They get caught up in taking care of their children, disciplining them, driving them to their activities, helping them with their homework, etc. that they neglect their spouse.  Here is something important. Children see God's love through how their parents love each other.  Actions speak louder than words. If you and your spouse have allowed anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, lack of self control, selfishness to enter your marriage, you are teaching your children that all of those things are permissible in whatever relationships they have  or will have whether it is with friends, spouses, or co-workers!  If we truly understand God's Grace and love and if Christ truly lives inside of us, there cannot be room in our spirit to hate our spouse. 1 John 4:19-20 says,  ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,cannot love God, whom they have not seen. God's love is amazing.***  Your children see Christ's love through how you love them and each other. You children have never seen God; so how are they going to learn of God's love?  1 John 4:11-12 says,   ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.  Your children learn of God's love through your marriage. You and your spouse's marriage is a reflection of Christ's marriage to the church or Christians.   22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; (Ephesians 5:22-25)

2. Love your Spouse

Last but not least, love your children. Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)  Discipline your children because you love them; encourage your children because you love them (1 Thessalonians 5:11), love Christ because you love them, love your spouse because you love them.  Love with the love of Christ. 

3. Love your Children

*** To learn more about Christ's love, read my blog entries called, "Going Crazy with the Law", "The Heart of God," or "Forgiveness."

*I will not be submitting a blog next week.  Feel free to look for a new blog entry in two more weeks! 

Trust God: Sounds easy, right?

Verse of the Week:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust God: Sounds easy, right?

Decisions, decisions, so many decisions.  What job should I apply for?  Should I even get a new job? How are we going to make it financially?  How am I going to find that person to marry?  Should I take my loved one off of life support or not?  Should I home school my children?  Should I put my child in a new school?  Should I separate or possibly divorce this person?  How am I going to pay for all of these bills?  What house should we buy?  Should we move to a new town/city or stay where we are?  Should we have children?   My child is struggling with drugs, what should I do to help him/her?  Life can be so tough.  We have so many decisions that we have to make that are very important and life changing, and oftentimes, we feel completely lost.  What should I do?  We pull out our hair, analyze every possible alternative, and spend sleepless nights trying to figure out what we should do.  Here is the thing, sometimes God wants us to just STOP and trust in Him.

Jesus himself said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14:1)  Think about it:  Do you want to trust in yourself, a person who has messed up over and over, who is unreliable, who is a human who makes mistakes; or do you want to trust in the one who has made the universe, who knows each star by name, who knows the number of hairs on your head, who knows exactly what you are thinking, who aligns the planets in such a way that they rotate around the sun perfectly, who is perfect in every way, and who loves you more than anyone else ever could love you?  MMMMM....doesn't seem like a hard decision, right?  Yet, I know that so many times I have prayed to God telling him that I trust in Him, and then right after I pray to Him, I go right back to worrying about the situation and fret over what decision to make.  

Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Brian and I have some difficult decisions coming in the next few months and even years, and we have a choice.  Trust in God or lean on our own understanding and have a panic attack!  We can sit here and keep analyzing and figuring out what to do with upcoming situations that we can do nothing about since decisions on those situations cannot be made for another few months, or we can trust in God who can take situations and completely do something neither one of us thought of and amaze us with His awesomeness.  Right after verse 5 in Proverbs 3 it says, In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:6).  Look to Him in the decision making, acknowledge him and seek his direction all while trusting in Him.  He says that He will direct your path!  I trust that when the decision has to be made even at the very last millisecond, God will help us to know what to do.  We are not alone, and He is there every step of the way.  

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....What do I do? STOP! Trust in Jesus and rest in His arms.

***Many thanks to our dear sweet Brother and Sisters in Christ for reminding me of this!  Brian and I love you guys!

Studying the Scriptures

Verse of the Week:

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.  For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.
Romans 16:17-18

Studying the Scriptures

I remember being so excited about the Women's Spring Banquet that was coming up.  The speaker was supposed to be good, and I was open and ready to learn whatever God revealed to me.  I arrived with my pen and Bible and was all ready to go.  As I was signing in, one of the ladies in the sign up booth smiled at me and said, "Oh, how sweet, you brought your Bible." I remember responding to her comment and smiling, while at the same time, it seemed strange that she would notice that I had my Bible with me.  After all, it was a Christian banquet and the speaker was to talk about the Bible.  As I sat down at my table, I started looking around at the other tables to see if other women had bought their Bibles. Not a Bible in sight; maybe their Bibles were hidden in their purses or maybe most women were going to read their Bible electronically with their i phones or tablets, etc.  After all, I was still living in the dark ages when it comes to technology.  I still liked the feel of the book in my hands rather than reading it electronically.


Back to the story.  As the banquet continued, I grew excited when the speaker came up and started to give her message.  As she got into her message and started quoting scripture, I noticed that as I checked the scripture in my Bible that she was misusing portions of the scripture.   Sadly enough, some of the scripture had nothing to do with her message.  I came away disappointed about the message because I felt that some parts were not scripturally based.  But more importantly, I was sad because hardly anyone else was checking the scriptures on their phone or in their Bible to see if what she was saying was accurate.  I felt like I was in a room full of misguided people who were taking information to heart that simply was not correct. They assumed that what she was saying was Bibically based and therefore took it as the solid truth.

It grieves me that people go to church in today's world, and many of them never open their Bible.  They depend on their pastors and teachers to share with them all the information they need to know about the Lord whether the information is truthful or not.  The scriptures are clear that we need to be aware of teachers who might be giving us false information. Romans 16:17-18 says,  ^"I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.  For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." Paul warns the Romans to be aware of teachings that were contrary to what they had learned.  How do we learn what God truly says?  By reading and studying the scriptures for ourselves, and by checking the scriptures in the word that teachers might be using in their messages and sermons. Even the Bereans, who listened to Paul preach, checked the scriptures to make sure that Paul was preaching the word.  "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)

We sometimes forget that humans are not perfect, and therefore teachers of the Word do mess up at times when they preach.  We need to be careful to not put pastors, Sunday school teachers, and leaders on a pedestal and expect them to share ideas from the Bible perfectly. 

What could happen if we fail to study the scriptures ourselves? Here is an example...

Adolf Hitler claimed to be a Christian and grew up Catholic.  However, when he came to power, his goal was to eliminate the Jews.  Prior to World War II, Hitler tried to "Nazify" Christianity by suppressing the old Testament teachings. He had pastors and teachers sign agreements to only teach what he wanted them to teach, and had schools that taught children exactly what he wanted them to learn.  People were deceived by Hitler's teachings. As a result, 6 million Jews were killed in World War II. ***

Are you studying and checking the scriptures?

For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Romans 16:18

***Source: Hitler, God, The Bible- by Ray Comfort

The Heart of God

Verse of the Week:

Jonah 4:2b  "I knew that you are a GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE, A GOD WHO RELENTS FROM SENDING CALAMITY."

The Heart of God

My heart breaks over the tragedies that have taken place the past few months with the Boston Marathon bombing, Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, and even the Colorado movie theater shooting. People's bright futures were taken away from them through death, and other people's lives were changed dramatically due to the violence of four men.  Shame on these evil men for causing so much pain, fear, and heart-ache.  What were they thinking?  God will judge them for what they have done!  They do not deserve mercy! Right?.....

Every day I see something bad plastered on facebook about Obama, our politicians, liberals, homosexuals, abortionists, etc.  Those people deserve put downs because of all the things they do that are against the Bible. God has no place in their immoral lives! Right?.....

I talk to friends all the time about the hurt and  pain their family or back-stabbing friends have brought them. "I am never going to forgive them for how they treated me!" "If they don't treat me right, then I won't treat them right!"  "They have caused me too much pain, they don't deserve to be happy after they way they treated me!" Right?....

What does God think?  

Lets look at a common Bible story that most of us heard growing up...the story of Jonah.  God had ask Jonah to go to Nineveh  a Gentile city, to preach because the city was growing very wicked.  You have to understand, Jews during those days, NEVER associated with the Gentiles, it simply wasn't done!  The Gentiles were considered an unclean race, and Jews by law were required not to associate with them. So Jonah decided to flee by boat so that he wouldn't have to go to Nineveh and associate with unclean people. However, God, caring so much for the people in Nineveh, sent a great storm on the boat to bring Jonah back.  Jonah was dumped overboard, and a great big fish swallowed him and spit him back up on shore.  

After much resistance, Jonah finally went to Nineveh to preach.  While he was there, he began to proclaim that God was going to destroy Nineveh in 40 days.  The Ninevites heard the message and began to fast and call upon God while giving up their evil ways.  God, seeing that the Ninevites were turning from their evil ways and were asking Him for mercy, had compassion and did not destroy them. This angered Jonah.  Jonah 4: 2 says this, "He prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee Tarshish.  I knew that you are a GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE, A GOD WHO RELENTS FROM SENDING CALAMITY." Jonah knew God's motive wasn't to destroy Nineveh but to give them mercy and love.  God doesn't want anyone to perish.  In 2 Peter 3:9 we hear of God's desire of wanting everyone to be saved, not condemned. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God doesn't want anyone to perish or condemned. Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it.  ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17

God has a heart for sinners.... 

Ninevah was a very wicked city.  In fact, God said that they "cannot tell their right hand from their left..." (Jonah 4:11) In other words, they didn't even understand their wickedness, yet God wanted them saved.  

Lets look at the human heart...

In Chapter 4, Jonah made a place for himself outside of the city of Nineveh to see if God would still destroy the city.  He is so happy when God grew a vine to provide shade and protect him from the scorching heat of the desert sun. However, later, God allowed a worm to destroy the vine, and this angered Jonah.  Lets see what God said in response to Jonah's attitude.  

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
(Jonah 4:10-11)

Jonah cared more about a plant than the souls of 120,000 people. WOW!  He cared more about his own comfort than the destruction of 120,000 people.  

People can be very selfish.  We are quick to accept God's grace and forgiveness, but slow to forgive others.  We put down other sinners  and place judgment on them.  If anyone hurts us, we refuse to be merciful because they caused us pain.  We are kind and loving to those who are kind and loving to us, but hateful and mean to those who hurt others or ourselves.
Sometimes we want God to place judgement on people who hurt us or people we think are just plain bad, but God loves sinners and wants all of them to come to know Him.  

I feel so bad for the victims who lost their lives in the Boston Marathon bombing, the Sandy Hook shooting, and the Colorado shooting, but there are 4 other victims in those events that people never think about. One of these men has sadly passed away, but may the three other men learn of God's great love and forgiveness.


God has a heart for sinners, if He didn't, then we would never know of His grace and love. If we truly understand God's heart, we will want what He wants and that is for others to come to know of his love, grace, and forgiveness. If we truly understand God's love, we will stop judging others, and love them.  Every politician, homosexual, murderer, abortionist, and terrorist need our prayers and love, not our judgement.  Every person who had caused us pain and sorrow needs our forgiveness, not our punishment.  Lets be quick to love, and slow to judge.

God has a heart for sinners....



This blog is based off of an amazing sermon I heard from Pastor Andrew Herbert of Taylor Memorial Baptist in Hobbs NM.  To hear his sermons about God and his Grace, go to: http://taylormemorial.com/sermons 

What are you putting in your Mind?

Verse of the Week:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1

What are you putting in your Mind? 

I love healthy food.  I am constantly trying out new healthy recipes with my husband to see if they taste good.  My husband and I try to eat something called a plant based diet; noticed I said plant-BASED!  I am by no means a vegetarian, and my favorite food will always be my Dad's yummy rib eye steak fresh off the grill. However, 80% of mine and Brian's diet consists of fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, rice and other grains.  The rest is sugar, oils, dairy products, and meat.  Even though I love eating healthy food, I will be the first one to admit that I am a sweet freak!  Give me some of those yummy chocolate M and M's  or Reese Peanut butter cups, and they will be gone within the hour.  I bought some Cadbury Eggs over Easter, and I am sorry to say that I ate all six, ok five of them (I did manage to part with one and give it to my husband) within 2 days.  I notice that the more sweets I eat, the harder it is for me to get away from them.  Now that the Easter holidays are over, I am constantly looking around our apartment to find something sweet because my body craves it!  Because I didn't buy any sweets at Walmart, I have gotten desperate and have searched in every crack and cranny in my kitchen to find something sweet to eat. My body is similar to a metal detector, only I call it my sweet detector. The moment I come near something sweet, the alarm goes off in my brain, beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeeep!!!! Lately my sweet detector discovered that we have corn syrup in the pantry, and I am now mixing it up with peanut butter. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I am desperate for my sweets.

But there have also been times in my life when I am not desperate for sweets, I will have gone weeks without very many sweets.  As a result, my body craves the healthy foods like my fruits and veggies.

Here is the point I am trying to make, whatever I put into my body is what my body is going to crave. If I put sweets in my body, it will crave sweets.  If I put fruits and veggies in my body, it will crave fruits and veggies.  We can apply the same thing with our mind.  Whatever we fill our mind with is what our mind is going to crave.

When we accept Jesus into our hearts we are a new creation.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"  We have a brand new spirit in us, the Spirit of Christ!  Our inner new man is no longer bound by the law and no longer sins but has been made perfect.  So why do we keep on messing up?  One of the reasons is our minds. 

While we are transformed inside, our mind and body has not been transformed.  Our mind is going to respond to situations in life based on what we put into it. That is why Paul in the book of Romans talks about how we must constantly renew our minds. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1)  We renew our minds by focusing on Christ, reading His word, praying, discussions with fellow Christians, etc.  

Paul also talks about walking in the Spirit.  Galatians 5:16-22 says,  "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness  revelries."

When we walk in the Spirit and fill out minds with the things of God, we do not have desire to fulfill the desires of the flesh.  So when Paul lists off the works of the flesh in Galatians 5 (adultery, fornication, sorcery, hatred, jealousy, selfish ambitions, etc.), he is saying that if you walk in the flesh  and fill your mind with the things of the flesh, you are prone to doing the things of the flesh.  But what happens if we fill our minds up with the things of the spirit inside of us?  Here is what Christ's spirit inside us has...

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering  kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.  Against such things, there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

 If you fill your mind up with the things of the spirit, you tend to display the fruits shown in the above verse. So lets renew our minds and walk in the Spirit!  We do this by focusing our minds on Christ. It is like driving a car; when we drive, we focus on staying on the road.  The moment we stop focusing on the road, and start doing other things like texting on our cell phone or looking at a crying baby in the back seat (yep...I am guilty of that one!) or falling asleep, you start to veer off the road and eventually you can find yourself crashing.  So how do we focus on Christ so that we don't crash?  Well, in John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Christ is the word. Lets fill ourselves up with His Word. I found out from a friend of mine that she renews her mind by focusing  on who she is in Christ.  You see, In Christ, I am loving. In Christ, I am joyful.  In Christ, I am peaceful. In Christ, I am kind.  In Christ, I am good.  In Christ, I am faithful. In Christ, I am gentle. In Christ, I have self- control. Christ displays those traits and is living inside of me. But you can move beyond the verse in Galatians and look in the Bible at other ways you are with Christ living inside of you.  In Christ, I am a Saint.  In Christ, I am righteous.  In Christ, I am loved.  In Christ, I am forgiven.  In Christ, I trust in God. The list goes on and on.  

What are you filling your minds with today? Are you filling it with who you are in Christ?  Or are you filling it with the things of the flesh?

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.  Ephesians 4:22-24