Christmas Verse Writing Challenge...the last 3 days :)

I took a break from the internet for the weekend :) Here are the last 3 days (Saturday to Today)


Saturday 12/5
Isaiah 11:6-10New International Version (NIV)

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together;
    and a little child will lead them.
⁷ The cow will feed with the bear,
    their young will lie down together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
    and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

 

Sunday 12/6

Jeremiah 33:14-16New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

¹⁵ “‘In those days and at that time
    I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
    he will do what is just and right in the land.
¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved
    and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it^[a] will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

 

 

 

Monday 12/7

Psalm 72:1-7New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

¹ Endow the king with your justice, O God,
    the royal son with your righteousness.
² May he judge your people in righteousness,
    your afflicted ones with justice.

³ May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,
    the hills the fruit of righteousness.
⁴ May he defend the afflicted among the people
    and save the children of the needy;
    may he crush the oppressor.
⁵ May he endure^[a] as long as the sun,
    as long as the moon, through all generations.
⁶ May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
    like showers watering the earth.
⁷ In his days may the righteous flourish
    and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

 

 

Christmas 31 Day Scripture writing Day 4, Isaiah 52:7-10

Isaiah 52:7-10New Life Version (NLV)
⁷ How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who tells of peace and brings good news of happiness, who tells of saving power, and says to Zion, “Your God rules!” ⁸ Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices. They call out together for joy, for they will see with their own eyes the return of the Lord to Zion. ⁹ Break out together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord has comforted His people. He has saved Jerusalem. ¹⁰ The Lord has shown His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, that all the ends of the earth may see that our God saves.

Take a little time this morning to really reflect on the goodness of God. As this year draws to a close, think of what He has done.

Christmas 31 Day scripture writing Day 3 :) Isaiah 11:1-5

Isaiah 11:1-5New Life Version (NLV)

Peace through the One from the Family of Jesse

11 Then One will come from the family of Jesse. A branch will grow out of his roots. ² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of wise words and strength, the spirit of much learning and the fear of the Lord. ³ He will be glad in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what His eyes see, or decide by what His ears hear. ⁴ But He will judge the poor in a right and good way. He will be fair in what He decides for the people of the earth who have much trouble. He will punish the earth with His powerful mouth, and kill the sinful with the breath of His lips. ⁵ He will wear a belt of what is right and good and faithful around His body.

 

Challenge yourself you write out the verses each day and spend just a few minutes listening....that's the key ;)

Christmas 31 day scripture writing challenge, day 1&2

Hello Lovelies!

I was challenged to expand on my daily Bible reading by following a plan of verses that points us to the true meaning of the season by a dear friend on Instagram (@strongforapurpose).
The challenge is simple: read the verses each day AND copy them into your journal. This has been proven to help with verses stick and give them a bit of an anchor in your heart. I'm taking it a step further by copying them here as well :)
So, get a pen and journal ready and let's enter into the Lord's presence with expectancy!

Day 1:
Isaiah 7:14-17New Life Version (NLV)
¹⁴ So the Lord Himself will give you a special thing to see: A young woman, who has never had a man, will give birth to a son. She will give Him the name Immanuel. ¹⁵ He will eat milk and honey when He knows enough to have nothing to do with wrong-doing and chooses good. ¹⁶ For before the boy knows to turn away from what is bad and choose good, the land whose two kings you are afraid of will be left empty.” ¹⁷ The Lord will bring upon you and your people and your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim was divided from Judah. He is going to bring the king of Assyria on you.

Day 2:

Isaiah 9:6-7New Life Version (NLV)
⁶ For to us a Child will be born. To us a Son will be given. And the rule of the nations will be on His shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Teacher, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace. ⁷ There will be no end to His rule and His peace, upon the throne of David and over his nation. He will build it to last and keep it strong with what is right and fair and good from that time and forever. The work of the Lord of All will do this.


My own personal goal this coming year is to live more audaciously than ever before and drink fully of God's great grace. All too often I find myself saying "when" as He pours into me because it requires change. This coming year, I embrace the fullness of God and say "YES!" with enthusiasm.

What have we become?

James 2: 14-26 from The Message

^14-17 Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

¹⁸ I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, “Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I’ll handle the works department.”
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
^19-20 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That’s just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
^21-24 Wasn’t our ancestor Abraham “made right with God by works” when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn’t it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are “works of faith”? The full meaning of “believe” in the Scripture sentence, “Abraham believed God and was set right with God,” includes his action. It’s that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named “God’s friend.” Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
^25-26 The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

I was once asked a very pointed question: "If you Christians always fight against each other, what else do you have time for?"

This was from an unsaved friend who was kind enough to give me a birds eye view of what Christians have become. A friend who admitted to not wanting to believe because most of the Christians he knew put down other Christians and cursed like sailors....but hid behind the blanket of grace to be able to say and do as they please.

This is what we look like to outsiders.

I find myself bombarded with the reminder of this question every day here lately. Christians will use social media platforms to berate and tear down other Christians. Recently I came across a quote that said,

We tell women to be stronger, yet wish they would be quiet.

I have often talked to my small group girls about purpose and faith. Actually LIVING out faith, not just mooching off grace. I can love Jesus till the cows come home, but the Bible clearly states that zero action is intolerable to God. I need to do more than love, I need to live it out.

I am inspired by the bold faith of some of the youth I have had the pleasure to meet. They will tell anybody who will listen (and even those who won't) about the gospel. Often times, those older Christians will cringe at the excitement of younger ones and hope that they settle down and conform at some point.....I mean, they're making us look bad to the public.

Over the past few days I have watched many scenarios unfold which has pitted Christian against Christian. Many are quick to virtually (because we dare not actually have human contact) yell their opinion about cups, Christmas traditions, and politics, yet I do not see much yelling of what is really means to be a Christian...saved by grace and allowing God to work through me.

Is it bad for a Christian to be passionate? Goodness, no....but we are often passionate about the wrong things. Some common words I have seen spewed over the internet are about the fact that instead of worrying about the color of a coffee cup we should worry about the poor and destitute (not in those words). In actuality, that is exactly what we should be thinking about:

James 1: 26-27 says,
^26-27 Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

But here is my question for those posing this argument: Is that what we are thinking about?

I am going to be very honest here...NO, that is not what we are thinking about. We simply want OUR opinion to be heard and validated. So we jump on band wagons and choose sides, virtually berating each other....and all the while the orphan and widow wait.

It would be easy to say that I know the people who have made these comments and I do watch their lives, but the truth is that I am as guilty as the next. If I dealt better with my own need for approval and based all my decision on the Word of God, this world would be far different. If I fanned the flames of the fire in my heart, this world could change. If I commit to teach my children that the world does, in fact, NOT revolve around them, this world could be healed.

A Christian living in and by the Word understands grace far better than those who simply feed freely from grace. All of us have sinned and all of us will continue to sin because our free will often gets distracted. We can block a lot of our sinful tendencies by reading God's Word and studying its application to our lives. It is a daily process to die to self. It takes discipline to hold your tongue and keep your opinion to yourself. It is overcoming a fear of the truth....that the world, indeed, does not revolve around me. I will not cease to exist if I do not take part; however, I must not confuse meekness with weakness. I must not always strive to be politically correct, but to be correct in the Word that governs all.

It is my prayer that Christians would regain their boldness. Make Satan have to work a little harder people! Right now, we have made his job about as easy as it gets. We have become weakened to the point where we argue over petty things and survive from day to day in this fashion. We were made to THRIVE and live fully in life.

So, the next time you feel the need  to hop on a band wagon, I encourage us all (ME TOO!) to first PRAY and seek guidance. Then, examine our own lives. Are we truly living what we're spewing into the world? Then, thrive by doing what the Word says.

In true grace,
Michelle

SERVE where you are....

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Over the past few months, I have found myself falling deeper into the trap of trying to direct my own life. We can all fall into this from time to time since it is only human nature to want to control as many degrees of life as possible. The problem happens when we start to try and twist God's will for our lives to suit our own desires...

Purpose can be confusing for many Christians, both new and old. As I share with my small group ladies, we really ALL have the same purpose: we are called to live as Christ lived so we can share His good news with others. Period. Our careers, hobbies and passions enable us to this on a different playing field.

My problem came when I began to think that I would serve my purpose much better by speaking in churches and venues. You see, I love speaking and yes, it's also a gift; however, God gave me several gifts to glorify Him...not myself.

I became increasingly distraught when offers to speak and write did not come pouring in. Often times I thought that perhaps I would best fulfill my purpose by freeing up time (i.e. helping God out a bit), so I decided not to train so many clients or run as many classes. I figured this would certainly allow more opportunities to do what I was sure God was calling me to do. Still, silence.

This circle of doing nothing went on for a few months. In those months I began to have several physical issues that needed medical attention. With the medical attention came prescriptions for rest and ultimately some downtime due to some nasty head colds. This leads us up to this past week and my eye opening moment with God.

God knows me better than I know myself. He also knows the best way to get me to really listen is to render me physically unable to do much: forced rest. So, as a sat in actual quiet time last week with no agenda but to listen, a few key things were brought to light.

For starters, of course I want to speak in churches! Let me be clear, I do not for one second think our church staff has an easy job ok? But hear my heart. I want to speak the Good News in churches because people who are sitting in church are already wondering what the Good News is. The planting and watering is done. The uncomfortable conversations have been had and the fruit is ripe for the picking people. THAT is what I desired....to harvest what I had not worked for. I'm just being honest here.

I mean, I love speaking at women's events and touching lives and I hope to continue that until the day I am called home, but my WORK is supposed to be different. I can't just wait for unsaved people to be placed in my lap. I cannot sit idly by and wait for people who need hope to be pointed my way.

That leads us here, to serving where we are. God has given me another gift: I love to teach. Now, I don't like to teach small children, but there are many ways to teach. I love working in the fitness industry and teaching people what they can do to be healthy. I am not a cookie cutter trainer, nor have I ever been (by God's design). I teach. When people sign on for sessions or attend camps, they come ready to learn. By serving where I am, God has enabled me to reach people who want to shape up but may have never even dreamed of setting foot in a church setting. My talents are shaped directly for the type of service God requires of me, and my new passion is to hone those talents and reach out to as many people as I can.

This now begs the question: where are you serving?

If you work in the church, are you stepping outside of those walls to pour hope on the hopeless?

If you volunteer at church on the weekend, do you spend your weekdays searching for those who need to hear some Good News in life?

Are you willing to serve right where you are today?

Think about it, and step out in faith knowing that He has already carved the way.

As simple as a cup of coffee.....

I have been drinking coffee since I was a little girl.

It's a bit of a ritual some would say.

I have fond memories of going to my grandparents house and drinking coffee (which was essentially milk, sugar and a splash of the real thing) with my grandpa while he read the paper and I read the comics. I felt sophisticated and all grown up.

I also have the best memories of my mom in the coffee context. When I was old enough, I woke up early on the weekends to make the coffee for the house. In high school, I would pick my mom up from her teaching job and we would head to the local Cracker Barrel for afternoon coffee and dessert. In these moments we talked about life, love and the future. Towards the end of her life these particular coffee dates became more and more important to me.

I meet my girlfriends for coffee to unload the burdens of common life and my dad and I schedule coffee as often as we can spare. Just like those coffee dates with my mom, I cling to these times with my dad as times when I can glean wisdom and life lessons as well as some old memories.

 

I happened to fall head over hells for a non-coffee drinker (how did that happen?!?!?!?), but our kids both enjoy a good cup of joe. Both were thrilled that we went on mission trips to 2 coffee-heavy continents (Africa and Eastern Europe). We have moved from drip coffee to a daily press and have sampled different balances and undertones, much like wine tasters in Napa Valley.

So, what is the point of this? Well, I realized today that coffee itself plays a large role in my daily ritual. First thing in the morning, I share a cup of coffee with God as I dive into His Word and talk to Him through prayer. We keep the coffee flowing on Sunday mornings in small group as we live life together and share our heartaches, triumphs, prayers and praise. A call from a friend in need has resulted, more than once, in an impromptu trip to the local coffee shop for fellowship and encouragement. You see, this simple yet complex drink has played a role in the giving and receiving of many blessings.

Knowing that something so small can be profound in our lives, why not use it to bless others?

Start with using your daily cup as a signal to open the Word. Even if you don't normally have quiet time, or struggle to find the time, try sitting down with God's Word just for a moment. Come into it with an expectant heart and you will not walk away empty handed.

Next, you can take it a step farther and send an encouraging note to a friend. I suggest email as a phone call or text could be a bit too early for some :). You could even send some encouragement to the whole web in the form of a picture on Instagram (this happens to be my favorite way to end quiet time). It can simply be a few verses from your morning reading or a quote you enjoyed. You can even repost encouraging pictures from others pages as well. Just focus on the positive in these pictures to help spread hope and encouragement to others.

Now it's your turn....

Think about the ways that your morning rituals impact your life, then think about how you can impact the lives of others. Maybe coffee isn't your gig and we coffee lovers won't hold that against you! But we all have something to contribute and lend to others each and every day. It is the accumulation of these daily impacts that make up our legacy. What will yours be?

Michelle