All Things

I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.

All things, if I really lived like I believe I can do all things my life would look a whole lot different.

I would start running, no matter what the weather was like.
I would stop choosing food over God, no matter how loud that little voice got inside my head.
I would stop getting so angry at my kids and husband and start realizing they make mistakes too.
I would reject that very ugly piece of my heart God has been showing me latley and start filling that hole up with Him, and Him alone.

All things...God's not exagerating here...we really can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. And it's not a hee-man brute strength we're talking about...it's an inner strength that rises up when you're at your weakest saying GO My Child, because I AM inside of you.

What things can you do because Jesus gives you strength?

Continuing with my list, today I'm thankful for

11) Quiet time with my Father, He wakes me up no matter if I go back to sleep after my alarm or not, He knows I need that time with Him and did you know He enjoys our quiet times too...He loves hanging out with His children, do you have daily quiet time's with Him?
12) Baby smiles and even a few giggles from my almost 3 month old nephew
13) Being used daily by an almighty God who doesn't have to use me but wants to use me
14) Work for my husband for today
15) Learning to focus on one day at a time and thanking God for the blessings of the day
16) The inner strength God's word gives me every day to say NO to my flesh ~ even though I mess it up ~ His grace is perfect in my weakness
17) Family dinners, and a lesson in each from God
18) My kids and their prayers before each meal "Thank You Jesus for this food" and their passion to pray on their own
19) A husband that forgives me for my attitude daily
20) Doing hair and nails and playing dress-up and baby dolls with my 3 year old daughter ~ and learning a lesson from God about her heart
21) Having my eyes open to the sunrise when I choose the better option
22) A new Bible Study in Ephesians that I'm learning SOOOOOO much from

Throw off your old sinful ways and former way of life which is corrupted by lust and deception.

Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Eph 4:27,28

All about self control

Self Control. One of the fruits of the Spirit. Sometimes I feel like I didn't receive this fruit, or that I ate it too fast to taste it (smiles)

God is really working on me about self control. My flesh wants to pig out on having the last word in every argument. I crave being right, I crave telling my husband and my kids just how wrong they are.

The ONLY thing we should be "pigging out" on is Him. Personally, there are days when I feel like I can't wait to get through my quiet time to go on with my day. There are other days, when my walk is good that I don't want to stop reading my Bible, I don't want to stop sitting in His presence. There's nothing, NOTHING better than God.

Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My felsh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25,26

I came across this verse in my quiet time this morning, and it REALLY spoke to my heart.

This morning was a good example of self control being used with my mouth. I'm NOT a morning person. Since I was a teenager, I required at least 30 minutes after I woke up before anyone spoke to me or asked me questions. My brain can't process it and I am SO grumpy. I would make this excuse "it's just how I am", but now I think, well why is that just how I am. There's so many reasons to be joyful, why do I need to wake up grumpy.

My son woke up at 5 this morning. I don't know why, my alarm doesn't go off until 6 and he doesn't usualy wake up until after 7. He was laying behind his door singing at the top of his lungs and every once in a while he would call to his sister trying to wake her up. (We have a lock on his door because he has been known to wander through the house when we're sleeping, he's 2) She is SO hard to get back to sleep when she wakes up so I rolled over out of a dead sleep and yelled at him to go back to sleep. Where was my husband in this, well he was downstairs doing who knows what. 30 minutes later, my son woke me up again singing behind his door, yelling for my daughter to wake up (Thank God she was still sound asleep) The mean mommy appeared and I huffed and puffed into his room, put his little butt back to bed, spanked him and slammed his door shut. (Not one of my finer moments I must admit.)

This is a story about self control because I got myself all worked into a hissy fit, marching down the stairs about ready to give my husband a tounge lashing for not stepping in and taking care of HIS son when God so clearly spoke to my heart and said NO. It took me a minute to register what had just happened, it was like someone holding their hand over my mouth (Thank you Jesus, that's what I prayed for in my quiet times the last few weeks). My mind wouldn't stop there though, I was MAD and as I came down the stairs I thought of a different way to say what my tounge really wanted to say, whip my husband up a good one, when God again said NO. Ok Lord, my anger fizzeled and I got downstairs and there my husband was cleaning the kitchen, he never does this anymore so it was a blessing.

Self Control has to be practiced. You don't just get it right the first time, especially when you're not used to using this fruit at all. I've been known to just let my tounge take me where it wanted. Whipping and lashing everyone close to me up one side and down the other. By telling me no, and spiritually putting His hand over my mouth, God was telling me it's time to start practicing this.

We use (are supposed to use) self control for our food choices too, smaller plates = smaller portions. By having smaller portions of food, anger, hurt feelings, self doubt, fear, we gain a bigger knowledge of God and how He is to be used as our portion. The things of this world are unhealthy, they will tear your spirit apart and the penalty is death so why in the world would we want to feed our selves, our families the things of this world. Why would we knowingly submit our loved ones to our attitudes, all the while knowing we are spewing junk into their lives and giving our tounges all the control.

I am by no means an expert on this subject, there are A LOT of things I need to start using self control for, but the point is I'm trying, and if you're trying too God will bless that. Try practicing self control today, start small. Words have more impact on your soul and your family than your food choices do in the long run. God looks at the heart, what shape is your heart in today?