2012 - Path to Wisdom

 Last year I started my year out reading "Made to Crave" by Lysa Terkeurst. As I've been pondering what My OneWord for 2012 is going to be, I decided to start my year off, much in the same way I did last year. Seeking God, His wisdom, and His plans for me. I am reading through Proverbs this month, but since I've already read 3/4 of it, I will probably add Ecclesiastes to it. I am seeking wisdom from God's Word as I start off 2012. I also started a 21-Day Fast on Sunday Jan 8th. I am doing the KLove challenge again - even though the music I listen to is 90% Christian, I will make that 100% for the time being

I am going back and reading my Made To Crave Diary of Blogs from last year. I hope you do the same. As you ponder your OneWord for 2012, seek God's plan for your New Year. When you choose your OneWord - comment and let me know what it is. I will reveal mine soon!! As I end this post, I am pasteing my 1st blog from last year on my "Made To Crave" Journey. I hope it encourages you as much as it did me.

Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship!

Freely Give

Don't you love the word FREE? Especially at Christmas Time? I've decided to give away - (yes, FREE), my book "Holy Spirit Made Me Do It". Last Sunday, Pastor John Wood of Christ Chapel preached a sermon about "giving freely what you've been given freely". You can't give what you don't have, but you can give what you DO have. The question was presented - "What do you have?" My answer -  I have a book!  Next question - "Who gave it to you?"  God. He gave me the knowledge, the resources, the favor to get this book published. He FREELY gave that to me so I, in turn, freely give it to you.

The Art of Listening

Listen!  This is an action word! To listen, you must actively make a point of inclining your ear towards the object you are listening to. You can hear something but not listen to it.  Just ask any parent! How many times do you say to your child, “Listen to me”? What we mean when we say that is “pay attention – actively listen to what I am saying!”

How many times do we resist our own advice? We ask God for direction but yet we fail to “listen”. We whine and complain that God doesn’t speak to us. We call out to God, “Where are you?” We constantly pray and ask, pray and ask, yet…

God is faithful to speak but we must be faithful to listen. Listening takes practice. We hear sometimes but not actually listen to what is being said. Right now, I hear a multitude of noises. Music from the radio, the AC fighting the GA heat, the hum of the refrigerator, the sound of me typing on the keyboard… But I am not actively listening to those sounds. I don’t know what song is playing right now. I don’t know how long the air has been running (probably constantly) because I am not actively paying attention.  If I focus I can hear that “Waiting Here For You” is playing on K-Love. but I had to incline my ear towards the door to my office so that I could hear it well enough to make out the words.

This is what we do with God. We allow all of the noises of life to drown out his voice. We could hear if only we tried. We don’t “listen” for His voice. There are many examples in the Bible of those who actively positioned themselves to hear what God had to say. They were listening!

 

The First Step

Why is it the first step is always the hardest?  At least, that's what everyone says. Whenever you have a new direction you want to go, it seems the first step is almost impossible. Oh sure, we are quick to give others advice, “come on, you can do it.  With God all things are possible.  It’s the right thing to do.  You can do it.  Geez, what’s the big deal?  Just do it!”

But when it comes to our turn, we quickly forget all of that encouragement. Suddenly, it’s “I can’t do that.  The step is too big. The gap is too wide. It is impossible. How can God expect me to do that. After all, I’m just little ole ordinary me.  Nooo way, no00 how! Besides, have you heard what God wants me to do?”

Really? Is that what the devil told you? Why is it we are so quick to listen to what the devil has to say and so quick to dismiss what God has to say? Maybe we should listen to our own advice.  

Moving Fast or Going Somewhere?

I read a quote a couple of weeks ago that has stuck with me.  ”Moving fast is not necessarily the same thing as going somewhere”.  You’ve been there before…spinning your wheels but not moving!  Sometimes it seems like life overwhelms you and you  are just spinning your wheels.  Not necessarily accomplishing anything but nonetheless “moving fast”.

When that happens, we need to stop moving and assess the needs. What needs to be accomplished today?  Then work on that one issue until it is accomplished. Then move to the next.  I know what you’re thinking – “Yeah, right!” I’ve been there more times than I could count.  Everything happens at once, everything needs to be taken care of at the same time, I need to be in 2 places at once, etc. But at the same time I know the Bible  says “Be anxious for nothing”. “Can you add an inch to your stature by worrying?” God knows what needs to be accomplished.  He also knows what you can handle and what you can’t.

This next month  is going to be a busy one for my family.  One daughter, Katie will be finishing up her first year at College, finals, and moving out of the dorm back home (until August).  The other, Lindsay, will be starting Grad school and needs to be moved from home to an apartment in another city. Looking for apartments and Easter this weekend, Relay For Life the next! I have a speaking engagement one weekend, SLSM Graduation the next. All exciting things but happening all at once is a little overwhelming.

What can I do about it? Step back and take one thing at a time. I will cover each weeks activities as they come. I am determined not to stress over them but to approach each one with purpose, knowing that God has it all under control anyway!

God is interested in every little detail of your life. If you don’t believe it, ask my daughter! She just had an incredible testimony as to just how much God cares about each individuals life. 

Living an Intentional Life

 Do you live intentionally?  Meaning, does life just happen and you flow along or do you purposefully guide your life in the direction you want it to go?  Just today, I read something that made me ask myself that question?  Am I steering the boat that is my life or am I allowing it to just float along on the current of life?

I don’t want to just float along mindlessly and end up in a destination that is not my choice.  That is what happens when you float with no paddles – you are at the mercy of the currents and you go where they take you.  But if you have a paddle, you can direct your boat anywhere you want it to go.  Have you ever gone rafting?  With paddles and effort you can paddle upstream, against the current.  But if you pull in the paddles and just rest, you turn right back around and head in the direction the current takes you. Sometimes you even go through some rough currents but if guided correctly with your paddles, you make it through safely.  You may wind up wet and tired but nonetheless safe!

WebSite Issues

 At the current time I am in process of changing hosting companies (since mine closed the doors with no warning).  So my site might not be updated for a short time.  To access  my blogs go to  http://webblaurie.wordpress.com/    You can still purchase books from my site at the present time but if no response email me at webblaurie@bellsouth.net.  I am sorry for the inconvenience but I had no control over this. Hopefully I will soon be back to business as usual with a new and better hosting company.  Thanks for your patience.

"Praise God regardless of the menial circumstances of life"

FOCUS - to concentrate my attention on one area

FOCUS - TO CONCENTRATE MY ATTENTION ON ONE AREA.

Focus - being my OneWord for 2011 - renders itself quite powerful.   If indeed, I “focus” on one area, it will produce a clear image.  If I focus on “purpose”, I indeed will gain clarity about my purpose.  If I focus on relationships, surely those will become more clearly defined.  The question is “what am I going to focus on?” 

I have started my year focusing on relationship with God.  I have done that by spending more time in prayer and fellowship with Him.  I am reading His Word on a daily basis.  I am focusing my spirit on “the Word of the Lord, today”.

I hope by doing so, I will bring more clarity to my spirit man about “who” I am in Christ Jesus, “what” He has purposed me to do on a daily basis, and “where” I am to focus my efforts.  I don’t want to flounder around just doing things.  I want to do only those things that He has led me to do.  By only doing what I feel Him leading me to do - my results will be Godly results.  When I do what “I” think is a good idea - I get (wo)manly results.  There is a big difference in His results and my results! When you have focused efforts, there are powerful results. 

My One Word 2011

Okay so it’s well into February and we need to unveil our OneWord for the Year. 

As most of you know, last year my My One Word was purpose!  I will not discard Purpose because it is last years word, I will build on it.  I would love to say that I fulfilled my life’s purpose in 2010 but then that wouldn’t be my “life’s” purpose would it?  You will have purpose until the day you die!  The goal was to become aware of God’s purposes for my life and to begin to pursue them.  I also became very aware of my life’s ambition and determination to achieve all that God leads me to do.  In this way, I “purposed” to follow the leading of Holy Spirit on a daily basis.  Did I always do that?  No!  But I’ve certainly become more aware of being continually in fellowship with Him so that I can better follow Him.

I must admit by the end of the year, I felt like a failure because the things that I thought would happen in 2010 did not! But as I started off 2011 in a 21 Day Journey to Relationship with God, I discovered that 2010 was not a failure because it awoke something in me that now gives me purpose to continue on in my journey.  I realized that it’s not about being busy all the time, it’s about “what” you are busy doing!  Is it things of eternal value or things that just keep you busy so that you have no time for relationship with God! 

In todays world, there are so many time-wasters available.  You can kill a day on the internet, there is enough published junk that would keep you bogged down for a lieftime, there are enough social networks that actually enable you to never have a personal relationship with another human but yet have thousands of unknown “friends” to interact with without ever seeing them, there is online shopping that enables the shopaholic to spend their grocery money on the next new gadget  and etc….

And the whole time we are spending our day doing “stuff”, God is gently waiting for you to speak to Him.  He has the answers to all of life’s problems, yet we don’t bother to ask Him, instead we google it! 

Have you discovered your purpose yet?  If not, why don’t you spend some time with God and ask Him to reveal it?  If you have, are you allowing Holy Spirit to lead you into it?  Have you “purposed” in your heart to fellowship with God continually?  Are you walking in the promises and blessings of God?  Do you understand what it means to be in “covenant” with the all powerful, merciful, loving God?  It takes time to establish intimacy!  It takes time to really know someone.  It takes time to build trust.  Time…how do you spend yours?

I know many of you probably thought My One Word for 2011 would be relationship!  To be honest, it was definitely the top of the list until another word kept popping up.  I then looked up the words in the dictionary and decided on the word I am about to share!

Week Three in Review - Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship - The Finish Line

Day 15 – Monday, Monday

“This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it” Ps 118:24

We should rejoice in every day we wake up!  Every day is a gift from God.  If the Lord made it, He had purpose in it!

My question to self “did I fulfill the purpose of this day?”  How about you?

We often dread Mondays – but yet it is 1/7 of our life!  Why dread 1/7 of life?  We should be as ready for Monday as every other day but yet, we don’t because it is generally the day we go back to work after the weekend!  God gave us the 7th day to rest, so we will be ready to give 100% on Monday!  The Bible says we are to do all (job) as unto Him.  Would we drag in before God and only give half hearted effort or would we joyfully anticipate going before Him and giving our all?

I am just as guilty as everyone else!  I whine on Sunday night when I have to set my clock for Monday morning.  But I have lately made an effort to rejoice in Monday just as in Saturday!  After all, Psalm says THIS is the day that the Lord has made!!  So my response should be “I WILL rejoice and be GLAD in it!!”

 God, I thank you for this day - help me to fulfill today’s purpose!  I don’t want to wish away 1/7 of my life, nor do I want to be ungrateful.  I thank you for every day you’ve given me!  I thank you in advance for tomorrow.  Help me to awake rejoicing in your goodness!

**********************************************************

  Day 16 – In honor of the “State of the Union” Address – I will give my “State of the Journey” Address!

                                                       So far – So Good! 

Part Three - Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship

So, now I'm on the home stretch - the last week of my journey!  I've had a good trip thus far!  Reading a lot!  I'm reading in the book of Joshua now!  Finished two book reviews and about to start reading "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Power" by Jon Eckhardt.

I've had a couple of tough days - where everything and everyone irritated me, got some unnerving news, was tired and cranky...  You know, the usual...  But, I didn't think that everything was going to go wonderfully, anyway.  I knew Satan would try to get my mind off of my mission during this 21 Days.

As many of us are focusing more on relationship with God at this time, I must admit for me and probably for you, that my issues were not with not knowing how or what to do but rather with the motivation to actually do it.

Lysa TerKeurst states in her book, "Made to Cave" that it's usually not the "how to" we're missing but the "want to"! 

Week Two in Review - "Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship"

Day 8 – The start of week 2! 

 All is well today – went to work and then came home to a wonderful meal cooked by my oldest, Lindsay! YUM!

 As week 2 begins, I’ve been reading in Exodus about Moses bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.  Ever been there?  Once they were out of Egypt, Moses commands the people to remember what God had done for them.  They are to celebrate Passover every year, they are to tell their children what God had done, they were to remember and tell the story over and over.  Why?  So they would remember what God delivered them from and that God remembered His covenant with Abraham and kept all of His promises.

 When you are facing the next battle, it is good to remember how God delivered you from your past battles.  Remembering builds your faith level so that you can, again, believe that God can and will do what He has promised.  Not only should you remember, but give thanks for all He has done. 

 Knowing that God is a good God and remembering all of the good things He has done for you, prompts you to seek more of Him and causes you to hunger after Him as never before.  Seek God first and life will fall into place.  God knows what we have need of and is faithful to deliver! 

Spend the day remembering…  Remembering what God has done in the past, how He has delivered you, time and time again; How He has supplied your needs, how He has healed you, made straight the crooked paths, spoken a Word in due season…

 Remember the goodness of God and Praise Him for it! I don’t know a better way to start the week than by praising God!

 ***************************************************************

  Day 9 -  Okay, a little break from the serious, Bible discussion, relationship seeking journey. 

 Today, I went for a Mammogram!  Yes, that torturous xray that surely was designed by a man with a sunken chest!  The diagnostic test that all women dread but feel it necessary to endure!  I have put myself on the 2 year plan – meaning I only get one every 2 years because it takes me that long to forget how much it hurts!  I’m not sure if it hurts me so bad because I don’t have an abundance of Mammo or if it hurts everyone equally because they smash you like a pancake!  Either way, bad thoughts go through your head as you are enduring this procedure.  Like…the first man who says, “It can’t be that bad”, I have a suggestion as to what we can smash so that you get the idea of how uncomfortable it is!  Or picturing the inventor of this device in the contraption they compact cars in for the scrap heap!  Yes, I know…real Christian like of me, right?

 I’m not sure which part is more uncomfortable – the smashing of your body parts or the handling of your body parts by another woman!  Neither part makes me want to return next year!  But at least it is over for now!

 Technology is a great thing but sometimes you wonder…

 Now on to the spiritual lesson…sometimes we must endure a little pain and discomfort for our own good!  Sometimes there is a lesson to be learned or a character trait that needs to be removed, or growth that needs to take place!  So we must endure for a little while, knowing that joy comes in the morning (or in this case, in about 15 minutes when you put your clothes back on and leave the premises!)  If we hang on, this too shall pass and there is a testimony to be shared!  Sometimes the examination is worse than the findings!  In that, we should be thankful!

 This 21 Day Journey is an examination in itself!  I am allowing God to examine me for things that are not beneficial to my spiritual health.  If He discovers something, I then have the opportunity to allow the Great Physician to remove it!  Spiritual surgery is painful but necessary for growth!

 So the next time, you endure the dreaded Mammogram or other equally unpleasant procedure, remember, this too shall pass!  A few minutes of unpleasantness, for the long-term good of the participant! 

Examine me Lord and make known your findings!

 Now if you will excuse me, I need to reshape my sore, reddened Mammos.......... ……………………………………………………………………..  OUCH!

Part Two - "Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship"

I’m well on my way through my 21 day journey.  The first week was awesome.  I’ve been reading, (not studying) the Bible. As a teacher, I have a hard time not studying. But I’ve rediscovered the pure joy of just reading the Word of God. For you novel readers, there is enough stories here to keep you interested. Nothing is more interesting than the real-life accounts of Adam & Eve, Noah, Joseph, Abraham, Moses, etc. Fiction authors just wish they could come up with a storyline so intriguing!

My focus on this journey is not on the things I’ve decided to “fast” – which are few – but in my pursuit of closer, more intimate relationship with God.  My focus is putting Him first.

I have only listened to Christian music ,which is not a big change for me; I’ve had no desserts; I have greatly reduced my on-line time (and have found that all of that extra time was rather unnecessary); and, this week, I’ve added no fried foods to the short list.

I added this because several times during the last week, I’ve preferred to eat something fried – shrimp, chips, wings…, but decided to deny myself and get something else. Just a personal decision. Again, no legalistic approach here.  If I find I ate something accidentally that was fried or had sugar in it – I’m not fretting over it. That’s not my focus!

I’m drinking tea sweetened with stevia. I’ve eaten things that had sugar or sugar substitute in the ingredients – but again, Not My Focus! I’m only including things I consider a treat – cookies, candy bars, brownie, cheesecake, …etc.

In the past when I’ve done a 21 day Daniel fast, I’ve spent a great deal of time focusing on what I could  or could not eat. the mere fact of doing away with your usual and eating “unpleasant” food requires time and planning. Time, I’ve decided, this year, to spend on pursuit of relationship.

Week One - "Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship"

Day 1 – I started my journey a little early and last night read the first 14 chapters of Genesis. I found somethng interesting in chap 5 & 6. Gen 5:22, 24, says that Enoch walked with God thus God took him (not through death but actually translated to Heaven) and in Gen 6:8 says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and in v 24, it tells us why – Noah was a just man and Noah walked with God. I would love for my obituary to say “and Laurie walked with God.” What does it take to be considered “walking with God?” I plan to find out during this 21 Day journey! Won’t you come along with me? You can start right now!

 ***************************************************************

 Day 2 – More reading! I was reading in Genesis about Abram, when God came to him in a vision (Gen 15) and said “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” What does it mean to you for God to be your shield? for God to say He is your shield, He is telling you, “I will be your protection. I will prevent the arrows of Satan from piercing you. I am you covering.” But a shield is only good if you utilize it. Several times throughout this story, it says “and Abram called on the name of the Lord”. I believe this is how Abram utilized his shield. A simple inquiring of the Lord.

After God visited Abram in a vision, Gen 15:6 says “And he believed in the Lord and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” God added up everything that Abraham’s belief meant to Him and determined that it was equal to righteousness. After all, Abraham believed some pretty far-fetched things! But he believed them because God said them!

If we simply believed because God said, I believe He would account it to us as righteousness!

When we will learn to take God at His Word? To simply believe?

Made to Crave - 21 Days to Relationship!

This past week, I heard Lysa Terkeurst on K-Love talking about her book “Made To Crave”. While her issue was food and her unhealthy relationship with it, I saw many correlations in her issue with food and other issues we may have that takes our focus off of our relationship with God. There are so many things that claim first place in our minds and actions. These things actually knock our relationship with God on down the list until there is no time left to pursue Him.

Vision - Get One! (Rerun)

I am replaying some of my favorite articles from 2010.  I believe this article hit home for a lot of people simply because, we all need and want vision!  Vision is the basic building block of purpose.  God gives us vision - to see what He sees.  He wants us to visualize our purpose before we ever move towards it.  Vision gives us a goal to work towards.

When we are able to see what God sees - we are able to achieve what God purposes.  How do you see yourself? 

As we revisit this blog article from 2010, let's renew our Vision, set new goals, and take action to fulfill them!  I know you have great things inside of you, let's set them free and see what happens!

***************************************

Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”  Vision gives people purpose.  A purpose to move forward.  A purpose to act.  A purpose to unify.  Vision:  Do you have one?

There must be personal vision as well as corporate vision.  An individual needs a personal vision of what God has called them to do in order to move towards that purpose.  When God gives you a vision; write it down.  Writing your vision down makes it concrete.  It gives it life.  You can now see it with your very eyes, written for your benefit.  Habakkuk 2:2 says to “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets that he may run who reads it.”  Writing your vision motivates you to run with it. 

Reflections of 2010

As most of you know, last year at this time, I challenged you to choose One Word to focus your life on for the year 2010.  My One Word was “Purpose”.  I wrote about my One Word as I actively began pursuing Purpose.  I heard from several of you when you chose your One Word! 

Some chose “confidence”,  “follow”, “know”, “free”, “humility”, and “wisdom”!  All  awesome words!

What were your outcomes?  How did you fulfill those words this past year?  Or did you?  What prevented you from achieving it?

I must be honest – right now I don’t feel any closer to fulfilling my Purpose than I did a year ago!  I’ve actively pursued it.  I’ve set goals, I’ve prayed about it, but yet at this very moment – I’m discouraged and frustrated!  I know, I know – all in God’s timing!  Believe me, I know!  I teach it!  I preach it!  I write about it!  But, hey what can I say – I’m human!  (Yeah, I know – I was shocked to realize it, too!) 

I am reviewing my blog articles from last year and will post some replays!  I thought I would review my One Word for last year while deciding on “My One Word” for 2011.  I will reveal My One Word soon!  While we do a little rewind and replay of last years articles – begin to contemplate what your “One Word” for 2011 will be!

If you are unsure of what “My One Word” is, go to  www.myoneword.org  and read up on it. Meanwhile I will quote from the website.

What's So "Merry" About Christmas? (Rerun)

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of Christmas season, do you ever stop and ask yourself, “What’s so Merry about Christmas?” 

The other shoppers certainly don’t seem so merry nor do the employees at the local department store. 

Why they don’t even say “Merry Christmas”, only “Happy Holidays” anymore! 

The frowns grow as the day grows closer, as the buying and wrapping makes the season even grosser.

Maybe we’ve forgotten the Holiday’s reason, as we’ve commercialized even the bestest of seasons.

God gave His Son as a gift to me and you, so we can, in turn, share the gift with other’s too!

He came to die for all those who’ve sinned, and for those lives that’s torn and needs Him to mend 

Why, maybe Christmas is Merry after all, when we remember the real gift that was given to all!

Thank You Jesus for coming to Earth, through your Servant Mary, your life she did birth!

The gifts and the trees don’t seem so important to me now, as I remember  the real Gift, and before Him I bow!

Have a Merry Christmas as we make Jesus the Reason for the Season!!!

Who are "they" anyway?

Have you ever wondered why the body of Christ has diminished power?  What do we need to do in order to regain it?

I truly believe that one reason is that we are so concerned about what others think.  We are so consumed with being “politically correct” or being the popular choice that we fail to inquire of the Lord about what we are to be doing.  We make sure we are “user-friendly” so as not to scare off the people.  After all, if we can’t keep them in the house, we can’t convert them right?  We must water down the gospel in order to be accepted by the masses.

That is precisely what is wrong with the church today.  We are so concerned with what “they” think that we fail to worry about what “HE” thinks!  Who are we supposed to be pleasing, anyway?  We can’t achieve our purposes if we don’t make it our first priority to please God.  After all, it is He who we claim to be working for.  We claim to be ambassadors for Christ, yet we fail to ask Him what He wants us to do and to say.

If those of us who claim to be Christians would make pleasing God our #1 priority, we wouldn’t have to worry about the results.  Do you want to be a man-pleaser or a God-pleaser?

Have you ever considered that those that we are afraid of offending with the Gospel are actually seeking someone who will speak truth no matter what.  Maybe, just maybe, they are seeking...

The Secret Life of Be's!

What does your “Be” say about you?  All of us have a tendency to put forth a “happy” face at times, or a “spiritual” face at other times.  We all know how to “act”, right?  The saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words”.  So it is safe to say, that what we say is not as important as what we do.  But I believe that what we do is not as important as what we “BE”!

What makes up our “Be”?  Our “be” comes from our innermost heart condition.  What our intents and motives are.  It is the real “Me”.  My “be” comes from what I believe – truly believe deep down in my spirit.  It comes from what I am full of.  The spiritual DNA that is my makeup.

We are all capable of putting on the proper mask for the present interaction.  We know the right things to say and the right things to do in order to make a proper impression.  After all, I’m the Minister, the Evangelist, the Teacher, the Mother, the Spiritually Mature One…I know how to say and do the right things.  My actions speak louder than words so I must make sure I am careful to act appropriately when in public.  But what about when I am alone – just me and God?