A Key to Success

Good morning! During my devotional time this more I was given an important key to weight lose for that matter really to any problem you may be facing. For me personally it is weight lose. As you know I set a goal to lose 50 pounds by age 50. I have lost 30 pounds and still have 20 pounds to go, but  I have been on a plateau for a while. It has been discouraging but I continue on. But this morning I have found what I think is a secret to success.

I am currently reading Morris Venden's book, How To Know God's Will In Your Life. This ninety-five page book goes over 8 important steps to knowing God's will in making decisions. Today's lesson comes from step 7.

The secret to weight lose (or really every problem- maybe to life in general) is that it comes down to us realizing that it is "God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" Philippians 2:12-13.  Chapter Seven goes on to say " No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate one the one, and love the other,; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." Matthew 6:24.  "Choose... Whom you will serve" another way of saying it might be, "Choose whose servant you will become." Pg 79  "It is impossible to surrender one's power of choice to more than one authority at a time." Pg.80

In order to have God as the one who guides us we need to surrender to Him, otherwise we will find that by not choosing God as our master, that Satan is then in control of us. All we have to do is look at a couple of key Bible verses to see that it is a bad idea to have Satan as our master.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." 1 Peter5:8

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10

Here we see the two choices again. And it's obvious what is the better choice~ the one that leads to an abundant life.

So to summarize ~ We have to make a choice of whom we will serve. We know that if we do not choose to serve God is that the default is us serving Satan. And we know that all he wants to do is destroy us. I think "life and to have it more abundantly" sounds like a much better choice. When we choose to serve God and allow Him "to will and to do of His good pleasure" in our lives we will have the strength to make up the better choices that we face each day. And the very best choice we can make is to serve God. This choice is a daily choice. Choose to serve Him today.

I will end this with part of a song that is also shared in this chapter of the book. The song is "Have Thine Own Way, Lord"

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!

A Great Sermon

Today I wanted to share an excellent sermon that I heard last week. I meant to share it sooner- I just didn't get a chance to get on here and get it set up. This is a sermon by Carlton Byrd called "He Hurt Me to Help Me" this sermon is only 30 minutes long and well worth your time to watch.

Beloved Names of God...series "Power of the Highest"

"Power of the Highest"

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:35 KJV

 

• Name of God the Holy Spirit
• The Holy Spirit is referred to as the "Power of the Highest" once in the KJV.
• The Holy Spirit is the invisible, but no less powerful, aspect of God the Father.
• In this verse, an angel is telling a surprised young woman that she will bear the child of God.

If God the Father appeared to you, well, you would probably notice Him. Moses certainly did! If Jesus came to visit, you would surely recognize Him. But the Holy Spirit? What would that look like?

 

When you think of electricity, you might think of power lines, appliances, plugs, and sockets. But these tools simply channel a power that is impossible to see. Nuclear power conjures images of weapons, submarines, and massive power plants; but again, these images merely imply how the energy is distributed- not the energy itself.

 

Both these energy sources are a part of creation, put in place for our benefit, but they can't be seen. We only become aware of them through their results. Those results have changed our world. So how much more impressive, how much more world- changing then, would the power of the One who created creation be?  

 

We never see the Holy Spirit, but, like electrical and nuclear powers, the Power of the Highest is visible through its results. And, in the instance that angel was preparing Mary for, those results were wonderful indeed!
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Next week we will look at "Refiner's Fire" See you then. Hopefully I will be able to get a few more posts put up between now and then. :O)

Just noticed that it's been quite a while since I have posted. I really had intended to get some blog posts written up today but found out some unsettling info about our insurance that caused me a lot of stress. I decided that even though I had worked out with Rise Up video and a high intencity work out at that, that it would do me a lot of good to get out into the fresh air and sunshine and get a good walk in. I challenged myself to walk 3 miles and in just under an hour I accomplished it! I am sure I will sleep good tonight.

Taking care of my chicks seems to be a full time job. They are doing so well. I will try to get more photos. It's hard to get good ones since we use red heat lamps to keep them warm. It takes checking on them through out the day to make adjustments. With how many lights and the placements of said lights. They are doing very well. We think we have 23 - I will try to get a good count soon. It is challenging as, right in the middle of me trying to count them they run and play. Lol

My husband has several medical tests coming up. Please pray he gets some answers and that he will feel better soon. Thank you so much.

I'll post more soon. :0)

The Good News of God's Grace

Since time on earth began, the message of the "grace of God that brings salvation" has been given to us to provide the motivating "hope of eternal lie" (Titus 2:11; 3:7). From the tree of life in the center of the Garden of Eden to the dry ground in the middle of the Jordan River, from the jubilant worship in Solomon's temple to the quiet reflections in Paul's prison cell, the "precious truth" has been set before us. The good news of God's grace (Acts 20:24) is the theme into which the prophets "searched intently and with the greatest care" (1 Peter 1:!0) and was the favorite subject of Christ's teaching here on earth. "So surely as there never was a time when God was not, so surely there never was a moment when it was not the delight of the eternal mind to manifest His grace to humanity."

Here is the matchless truth, expressed in one book of the Bible, but with an abundance of creative pictures: God has put all our sins behind His back *(Isaiah 38:17). He has graven us on the palms of His hands *(49:16). He has clothed us with garments of salvation *(61:10). Our sin is atoned for *(6:7). We are ransomed* (35:10). Healed* (53:5). Chosen* (49:7). Redeemed* (63:9). Forgiven* (33:24).

"Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned." (Steps to Christ, pg. 62)

This is the gospel of our salvation (Ephesians 1:13), the Bible truth about how we are saved- by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. There are no exceptions. "We are saved by grace through faith in the Saviour's merit, or we are not saved at all." (quote from Helmut Ott, in his book Another Look at Valuegenesis

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Sorry I don't have time to have all the verses posted that are referred to in this post - but I did do the ones in the paragraph that has the stars next to the references.

       Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.    

Isaiah 38:17

 

See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your walls are continually before Me.       

Isaiah 49:16

 

                                   I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 

Isaiah 61:10

 

With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Isaiah 6:7

 

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away. 

Isaiah 35:10

 

 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 

Isaiah 53:5

 

                                 Thus says the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel, their Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, To the Servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise, Princes also shall worship, Because of the Lord who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You."

Isaiah 49:7

 

In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the Angel of His Presence saved them; In His love and in His pity He redeemed them; And He bore them and carried them All the days of old.

Isaiah 63:9

 

     And the inhabitant will not say, "I am sick";

The people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity.

Isaiah 33:24

 

 

Not For The Faint Of Heart

This isn't our first rodeo. And when I say rodeo- I mean this isn't our first time ordering baby chicks. But the emotional turmoil of the last week has taught me that this will probably be our last rodeo. We will be doing what we can to protect these chickens that we have and hope they live a long life.

It has been an emotional roller coaster. We lost a tiny little chicken the first day - she was half the size of the rest of the chicks we got. Can't quite figure out how that would be since they ship shortly after they hatch. Then the next day we lost one - probably from the stress of shipment. On Sabbath we were lucky and did not lose any chicks; however Sunday we were not so lucky. My husband got home from the pathfinder camporee and went out to check on the chicks and he found one of his favorites dead. He had ordered two chickens that have feathered legs, Blue Cochins.

I think I had already shared with you all that we got a little chickie that was blind. We gave her water and tried to get her to eat and drink - but she just wouldn't. The chick that we lost Friday we had thought was the blind girl. It was a relief since I was afraid she would not make it. But on Sabbath we realized that it was not the blind chick after all.

"Blindy" as our sweet granddaughter named her - lasted till Monday evening. After my husband got home from work we went out to check on the chicks and I could have sworn she was already dead the way she was laying there. My husband picked her up. She was still alive but not doing well. We brought her in the house and I put her in the box that the chicks were shipped in. I did not want her to be out there and get picked on by the other chicks during her last few hours. She lasted several more hours. Poor girl. It broke my heart. I am glad she is no longer suffering. And I pray that she was the last chicken to lose.

Today I made a phone call to McMurray - the place that we ordered the chicks from to lodge a complaint. I realized that there was a chance that we could lose some chicks, but I felt it was wrong of the company to send out the tiny chick and the blind one. Thankfully they heard my complaint and say they would pass info on. They also gave us a refund on the 4 chickens that we have lost. She asked if I wanted it left on the account there at McMurray or refunded the way it was paid - I told her a refund would be great since I did not think I could order baby chicks again. The emotional roller coaster over the last week has been too rough for me.

I love our little chickies and I know I will enjoy them. I am sad that when you get chicks there is always the possibility of losing some of them. I talked to some ladies at a local TSC. They said oh they are just life stock- that stuff happens. They must not be as sensitive as I am. I hate to see any of God's creatures suffer.

Come back tomorrow as I will have a post on "Grace" to share with you. :O)

Beloved Names of God..."Jesus of Nazareth" need to finish....

 

 

"Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him,

of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazerath, the son of Joseph."

John 1:45



• Name of God the Son
• Jesus is referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth" seventeen times in the KJV.
• Nazareth is the hometown of Jesus. The meaning of the name is disputed, but it may derive from ne'tser, meaning "branch," in accordance with the prophecy of Isaiah.
• In this verse, Jesus was gathering His disciples around Him. Nathanael doubted that anything good could come from such a small, unimpressive town, which lends to the reality of how humble Jesus' origins really were.  

What's the name of that little town along the road? The place where they're less sophisticated, less cultured, a little...unrefined? Imagine you heard that someone from that vicinity claimed to be the savior of mankind. Would you bother going to see them, or would you dismiss them as crazy right then and there?
Nathanael took the second option, but moments after meeting Jesus, he changed his mind! May we be as open-minded when we meet Him.

 

 

A Contrast Between Two Kinds of Love

“A contrast is then pointed out between two distinct kinds of love: The highest form of fallen human love versus divine love. The first is revealed when, on rare occasions, one human being will willingly die for another human being he perceives as good, someone thought to be worthy of such a sacrifice. “But God,” Paul proclaims to emphasize the contrast, “ demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8) In other word...s, God‘s love is of such a quality and depth that it is unaltered by the fact that we are not good. We are sinners, in fact, completely undeserving of even His tolerance, let alone His love. He does not love us more when we do right, nor does He love us less when we do wrong. Such is the amazing nature of the love which continually pulsates in the heart of the infinite One.”
~Ty Gibson in his book “Shades of Grace” pg.69-70