Do you doubt? Come with me and let's explore the thought together, girlfriends!
Do you believe a child is happier and more secure when he has a routine and, in that routine, he knows there are specific and consistent expectations for the things that are in his realm of responsibility? Do you know a child who has no clear boundaries, no set bedtime, chores, homework requirements, limits on junk food? Need I say more?
We, as adults, are no different! When we live a disciplined lifestyle, we are at our best!
Once again, I will refer to the 4 areas of growth.
Being disciplined, spiritually, means we make time to allow God's spot light to shine into our hearts, revealing what's inside and taking out the trash, day by day! You don't let the trash in your kitchen pile up for weeks (I hope not!) and then try and haul 15-20 bags out at once, do you? The whole house would smell like a sewer by then! :-0 Neither should we neglect our time with God and allowing him to do a clean up in our hearts. If we start our day with him and run to him throughout the day as we face various situations, he will walk with us and keep us in optimum "running condition," spiritually. Take some time for him, today. Make it a disciplined habit to read,to pray, to worship and to commit your day to him. It will pay off in so many ways throughout your day!
Intellectually, are you disciplined in your thought life? What kind of "diet" are you on? T.V., music, books, conversations, thought patterns? All of these things make up the intellectual diet we are feeding our brains. Are you feeding on positive nutrition in these areas? Do your conversations build up others and make you feel strong, mentally, or are you feeding on negativity, gossip and dark thoughts?
Physically, are you eating right and getting enough exercise and sleep? All of these areas affect your...
Emotional health (which) culminates in a disciplined = happy or undiciplined = unhappy life.
It all begins with a dedicated decision, bathed in prayer, to be your personal best. Discipline takes determination. You must make that decision and then put some "clothes" on it or define it by things you will do, on a daily basis, and make yourself accountable to someone for optimal success. Bring your goals into the light to put some weight behind them. You'll be so glad you did!
If you make the decision to be your personal best, set your daily goals for optimal success with smaller goals for living a disciplined, happy, healthy life. When you prepare and those little voices start coming, and they will, telling you that you don't "feel" like having a quiet time or reading something encouraging and helpful for your personal growth instead of a romance novel, or that you want to hear just a l-i-t-t-l-e bit of gossip instead of refusing to be involved in any negative discussions about others or that you don't really need to exercise TODAY, you will have no excuse because you've ALREADY made those decisions back at the beginning! No need to revisit them every day! :-D
Heb. 12:11 "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
A disciplined life = a happy life.
Still Climbing,
Cher
Tuesday
Spirituality
I am a Christian. By this, I mean that I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I have put my faith in him and have accepted his death on the cross as the atonement for my sins. I believe that when he hung, perfect and sinless, on that shameful cross, he hung there, in my place, thereby taking all of my sins upon himself. When I was 15 and heard of his suffering and broken body, battered and bruised for me, my heart was filled with the burden of my sin and the magnitude of his love. He extended his offer of forgiveness and grace to me, in that moment, if I would but place my faith in him and I did so, gladly. An exchange took place that day. My sin-scarred life and the penalty of eternal death and separation from God nailed to his cross in exchange for his sinless life and payment that covered me and granted me eternal life and a new relationship with him! What a day and how I loved him for what he had done for ME! "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see!" I felt, in that moment, that I would surely tell the whole world of my new birth and I was on cloud 9!
Ah.....but then I went back to school and to reality! If I remember right, I carried my Bible around for the next couple of weeks and attempted to talk about my new faith and to do what was right. We didn't attend church, as a family, and I didn't really begin to grow so I did not live a changed life...oh, the exchange had taken place, no doubt. My heart was never the same from that day, but it would be some 10 years later before I came into a dedicated Christian walk with Jesus Christ.
Jumping ahead to where I am, today....I'm thinking of a word...Man, I sound like a game show host! :-D The word is spirituality. Let me go back to my original thought. I am a Christan, today, as I was then, and I have had much opportunity to grow in my faith in Christ through personal Bible study, church attendance, fellowship with Christian friends, seminars, etc. I am not, however, always spiritual. You do realize that is possible, don't you? We can go around with our Christian banner on all day, listening to the Christian radio station, speak Christian"ese" (I sure hope I don't do that!), have little Christian sayings all over our desk, talk about our church activities and, shoot, we can even be working, AT the church, volunteering our time. In other words, we can be all up in the appearance of our Christianity....and miss the boat on spirituality!
You see, true spirituality is all about having a relationship with God, not religious "doings." It's about BEING. I'm not elevating the all too often purported "easy believism" here. Anyone that knows me, well, knows that I don't ascribe to a faith without works as an alive and viable faith. I'm talking about a living faith that walks and talks with God and gets our direction for life, every day, as we go. And me? Well, lemme tell ya, I just have to admit that there are times when I move into the arena of ritual, abandoning true relationship, and at a heavy price!
Ritual will never satisfy the way relationship will. Sometimes even the most seasoned Christians can be lulled to sleep by the counterfeit of ritual or religion, for a time, because it allows us to feel like we are "doing" something - you know, checking off the little boxes...but, friends, it leaves our soul's barren because there is no joy in ritual, only in relationship! That's how God designed it! Ritual or religion is a burden we aren't meant to bear. It really has nothing to do with being a Christian! And THAT is good news!
Jesus said, in Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Version)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
If you find yourself in a dry place, today, a place of doing, without being, come go with me to the cleansing closet and lay that religious burden down. Yep, just take that heavy yoke of ritual and religious "doings" off your shoulders and come before the one who offers you relationship. He's waiting to spend time with you and give you rest. He will refresh your spirit and quench your thirst like a cool rain on the dry desert sand!
Come back, soon, and have some fun enjoying all the moments God has given you, today!
Still Climbing,
Cher
Ah.....but then I went back to school and to reality! If I remember right, I carried my Bible around for the next couple of weeks and attempted to talk about my new faith and to do what was right. We didn't attend church, as a family, and I didn't really begin to grow so I did not live a changed life...oh, the exchange had taken place, no doubt. My heart was never the same from that day, but it would be some 10 years later before I came into a dedicated Christian walk with Jesus Christ.
Jumping ahead to where I am, today....I'm thinking of a word...Man, I sound like a game show host! :-D The word is spirituality. Let me go back to my original thought. I am a Christan, today, as I was then, and I have had much opportunity to grow in my faith in Christ through personal Bible study, church attendance, fellowship with Christian friends, seminars, etc. I am not, however, always spiritual. You do realize that is possible, don't you? We can go around with our Christian banner on all day, listening to the Christian radio station, speak Christian"ese" (I sure hope I don't do that!), have little Christian sayings all over our desk, talk about our church activities and, shoot, we can even be working, AT the church, volunteering our time. In other words, we can be all up in the appearance of our Christianity....and miss the boat on spirituality!
You see, true spirituality is all about having a relationship with God, not religious "doings." It's about BEING. I'm not elevating the all too often purported "easy believism" here. Anyone that knows me, well, knows that I don't ascribe to a faith without works as an alive and viable faith. I'm talking about a living faith that walks and talks with God and gets our direction for life, every day, as we go. And me? Well, lemme tell ya, I just have to admit that there are times when I move into the arena of ritual, abandoning true relationship, and at a heavy price!
Ritual will never satisfy the way relationship will. Sometimes even the most seasoned Christians can be lulled to sleep by the counterfeit of ritual or religion, for a time, because it allows us to feel like we are "doing" something - you know, checking off the little boxes...but, friends, it leaves our soul's barren because there is no joy in ritual, only in relationship! That's how God designed it! Ritual or religion is a burden we aren't meant to bear. It really has nothing to do with being a Christian! And THAT is good news!
Jesus said, in Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Version)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
If you find yourself in a dry place, today, a place of doing, without being, come go with me to the cleansing closet and lay that religious burden down. Yep, just take that heavy yoke of ritual and religious "doings" off your shoulders and come before the one who offers you relationship. He's waiting to spend time with you and give you rest. He will refresh your spirit and quench your thirst like a cool rain on the dry desert sand!
Come back, soon, and have some fun enjoying all the moments God has given you, today!
Still Climbing,
Cher
Monday
Ouch! There's a Thorn in my Flesh and I Can't Get it Out!
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the story, there is a passage in the Bible regarding Paul, one of Jesus top twelve and the writer of most of the New Testament, and it tells us that Paul was given a "thorn in his flesh" for which he sought deliverence three times. For an interesting and thought provoking read or refresher, check it out in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. We are not told what this "messenger of Satan" was that was sent to humble Paul "lest he should be exalted above measure" because of all the revelations he had received from heaven. We are told, however, that when he begged God to take the thorn, God's answer was startling, yet clear, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness." Surprisingly, Paul took this news very well...
I've come to the conclusion that Paul was not alone in having received the gift of a thorn in his flesh. Now, we don't know what the thorn actually was and, although Bible scholars have gone to great lengths discussing what it might have been, I believe there is a reason for this. It's because it could have been any number of things and we are left to fill in the blank with whatever our "thorn" may be. What is significant to catch is the purpose behind it. In this scenario, if we open our spiritual eyes, we can see that being willing to accept our thorn, in weakness or humility, meaning that our total dependence is upon him, creates the perfect opportunity for God to shine!
I lose things. Not occasionally, but repeatedly. I lose my cell phone, my purse, my jacket... I try not to. I really do. My mind just always seems to be focused elsewhere when it's time to gather up these items. Fortunately, my friends, my mom, anyone with whom I spend a significant amount of time, finds themselves taking up the role of caretaker in this area, sad to say, and are like my guardian angels, always going behind me..."Phone? Purse? Jacket? Scarf?" :-/
Two weeks ago, I was at the Toyota Center, here in Houston, for the Get Motivated Seminar. I left my make-up bag on the aisle where we were seated - my purse was heavy and I took it out to lighten the load while I went to the girl's room. You guessed it; I never put it back. Now, we are talking 19,000 seats...kiss that baby goodbye, right? Well let me tell you, someone turned it in and after several phone calls, playing phone tag, a trip over there and an hour wait, I had it back! :-D My friends have marvelled at how I always seem to have my things found by the right people. I've had calls from my cell phone that went something like this, "Um, we found this phone on the ground outside of Cheddar's, in a booth at, in the bathroom stall at...." You get the picture! What's that saying..."God takes care of fools, little children and...Cherrie's???" lol! I call it grace, but, Hey! I'm not pushing it-I'm just grateful!
I also have a poor sense of direction and, when everyone else seems to know just what to do, I will miss it somehow. Let me give an example. Never fear...I always have a recent one!
Yesterday, I was running in the 5K with Habitiat for Humanity for the Women's Build. Piece of cake, right? I got there in plenty of time, got my pink t-shirt, got in line and off I went, all ready for pomp and glory, near the front with the runners! They had watering stations every so often and to tell us where to turn and it was all going great until...about 1/4 mile before the finish line, I was feeling so-so and I was hanging in pretty well (not bad since I'm on a raw food diet right now shedding my winter coat of a few extra pounds and don't have a lot of extra fuel to spare) when I found myself with a different pack - and this one was walking...no, stroooolling would be more accurate, I missed the last turn-off and ended up doing the course almost twice and coming in near the middle/end instead of at the front! :-0
I was walking along thinking to myself, "Why do you DO things like this, Cherrie? Where was your head?" and then I began to pray and I felt like my answer came in the form of having this thorn in my flesh. I've struggled with this all of my 45 years and, needless to say, it has been a humbling experience on numerous occasions and requires me, not only to depend on God, but on my wonderful freinds and family (poor souls!) I've prayed about it many times, to no avail. Sometimes I'm better than others..but it's always there. I know this much. It keeps me humble and, perhaps, without it, I would have an over-inflated opinion of myself. God knows best.
This doesn't take away from the fact that I need to make every effort to slow down, "BE PRESENT" lol - and pay better attention to the task at hand. It simply reminds me that we all have strengths and weaknesses. In our weakness, let's seek that place of humility and allow God's strength to shine in our lives.
What is the thorn in your flesh? Are you blessed to have more than one, like me? :-) Is it something far more debilitating such as a physical limitation or an unsightly scar or birthmark that has caused you to be taunted through life? Do you struggle with a weakness in just talking to people without feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable? Or is it carrying a terrible secret of something that hurt you or someone you hurt, long ago, that weighs your soul down, with a heavy burden, that you aren't meant to bear? I know there are some very serious scars that leave us vulnerable and weak in ways we have no idea how to manage. Will you take the step that leads you away from humiliation by humbling yourself and being transparent before God? Allow him to carry the burden of be your strength. He can, you know. Will you let it make you softer, kinder in the face of other's weaknesses and and to showcase God's strength in your life? I'm praying for you right now.
Still climbing...and losing things....and getting lost....and not getting it...and being loved by God, anyway ;-)
Cher
I've come to the conclusion that Paul was not alone in having received the gift of a thorn in his flesh. Now, we don't know what the thorn actually was and, although Bible scholars have gone to great lengths discussing what it might have been, I believe there is a reason for this. It's because it could have been any number of things and we are left to fill in the blank with whatever our "thorn" may be. What is significant to catch is the purpose behind it. In this scenario, if we open our spiritual eyes, we can see that being willing to accept our thorn, in weakness or humility, meaning that our total dependence is upon him, creates the perfect opportunity for God to shine!
I lose things. Not occasionally, but repeatedly. I lose my cell phone, my purse, my jacket... I try not to. I really do. My mind just always seems to be focused elsewhere when it's time to gather up these items. Fortunately, my friends, my mom, anyone with whom I spend a significant amount of time, finds themselves taking up the role of caretaker in this area, sad to say, and are like my guardian angels, always going behind me..."Phone? Purse? Jacket? Scarf?" :-/
Two weeks ago, I was at the Toyota Center, here in Houston, for the Get Motivated Seminar. I left my make-up bag on the aisle where we were seated - my purse was heavy and I took it out to lighten the load while I went to the girl's room. You guessed it; I never put it back. Now, we are talking 19,000 seats...kiss that baby goodbye, right? Well let me tell you, someone turned it in and after several phone calls, playing phone tag, a trip over there and an hour wait, I had it back! :-D My friends have marvelled at how I always seem to have my things found by the right people. I've had calls from my cell phone that went something like this, "Um, we found this phone on the ground outside of Cheddar's, in a booth at, in the bathroom stall at...." You get the picture! What's that saying..."God takes care of fools, little children and...Cherrie's???" lol! I call it grace, but, Hey! I'm not pushing it-I'm just grateful!
I also have a poor sense of direction and, when everyone else seems to know just what to do, I will miss it somehow. Let me give an example. Never fear...I always have a recent one!
Yesterday, I was running in the 5K with Habitiat for Humanity for the Women's Build. Piece of cake, right? I got there in plenty of time, got my pink t-shirt, got in line and off I went, all ready for pomp and glory, near the front with the runners! They had watering stations every so often and to tell us where to turn and it was all going great until...about 1/4 mile before the finish line, I was feeling so-so and I was hanging in pretty well (not bad since I'm on a raw food diet right now shedding my winter coat of a few extra pounds and don't have a lot of extra fuel to spare) when I found myself with a different pack - and this one was walking...no, stroooolling would be more accurate, I missed the last turn-off and ended up doing the course almost twice and coming in near the middle/end instead of at the front! :-0
I was walking along thinking to myself, "Why do you DO things like this, Cherrie? Where was your head?" and then I began to pray and I felt like my answer came in the form of having this thorn in my flesh. I've struggled with this all of my 45 years and, needless to say, it has been a humbling experience on numerous occasions and requires me, not only to depend on God, but on my wonderful freinds and family (poor souls!) I've prayed about it many times, to no avail. Sometimes I'm better than others..but it's always there. I know this much. It keeps me humble and, perhaps, without it, I would have an over-inflated opinion of myself. God knows best.
This doesn't take away from the fact that I need to make every effort to slow down, "BE PRESENT" lol - and pay better attention to the task at hand. It simply reminds me that we all have strengths and weaknesses. In our weakness, let's seek that place of humility and allow God's strength to shine in our lives.
What is the thorn in your flesh? Are you blessed to have more than one, like me? :-) Is it something far more debilitating such as a physical limitation or an unsightly scar or birthmark that has caused you to be taunted through life? Do you struggle with a weakness in just talking to people without feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable? Or is it carrying a terrible secret of something that hurt you or someone you hurt, long ago, that weighs your soul down, with a heavy burden, that you aren't meant to bear? I know there are some very serious scars that leave us vulnerable and weak in ways we have no idea how to manage. Will you take the step that leads you away from humiliation by humbling yourself and being transparent before God? Allow him to carry the burden of be your strength. He can, you know. Will you let it make you softer, kinder in the face of other's weaknesses and and to showcase God's strength in your life? I'm praying for you right now.
Still climbing...and losing things....and getting lost....and not getting it...and being loved by God, anyway ;-)
Cher
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