It's under my feet

Purity of Mind: Day 17 - Sweet Surrender

Psalm 146:3-5
Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.  When they breathe their last, they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them.  But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. 

I am not really sure what I wanted this blog to look like, I don't think its quite there yet, so bare with me.  I think its hard to talk/reflect on what I have read with the blogging community if you aren't reading the book at the same time.  I guess, I also don't want to just regurgitate what I just read coz whats the point in that... so I am not really sure what the plan is, I just thought I would let you know my predicament. 

Anyway, after a my last blog when I was super pumped and hungry, not much has changed, I am still hungry but I haven't really done anything about it...enter new blog (a week later) which suggests that that some of the biggest spiritual warfare weapons facing us today are 'distraction, discouragement and discontent' and I think that this week I have let the devil walk all over me with the first D.  Seriously, that's all it took, this week I have been distracted but lots of little things, but all of them have meant that I haven't been putting God first.  I think I need to wake up a little to the fact that distraction isn't just something that happens, but that it can be actively used against me in my efforts to get closer to the king...So right here and right now I am putting a stop to it.  Distraction is under my feet, and it won't stop me from doing my devotions anymore...

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Hungry

Purity of Mind: Day 16 - Mind Motivation

Psalm 26:2-3
Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me.  Test my motivations and my heart.  For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth.

I think for the last little while I have been in a bit of a spiritual rut.  I have still been going through the motions and learning a few things here and there, but I certainly haven't been moving mountains, so to speak.  At the moment though, I am hungry.  I don't know if its just because its the beginning of the year and the things that has been propping me up previously haven't been on for a while so I have started to notice or whether its because I am actually hungry...but I like it.  I want more, I want to spend more time in God's presence and I want to do more for him in my day to day stuff.  I haven't quite worked out what that will look like yet, but all I know is I am hungry!  I want to know God more intimately, I want to know his plans, his ways, his majesty... I want it all. 

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Who am I feeding?

Purity of Mind: Day 15 - Mind Protection

James 1:21
Get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls

Today's chapter asked me to consider what part of my soul I was feeding more regularly, my flesh or my spirit.  What do I let permeate my brain day to day, are they things that are God pleasing? Or are the things that still remain from my flesh.  The author challenges that the one that gets feed the most frequently grows the most and becomes the strongest.  This concept really made me stop and think about which part of my mind I feed most often and to be honest when I really think about it, I think that there are probably days that my spiritual part doesn't get fed at all, but constantly I choose to spend time in front of the telly feeding my flesh with stuff and making it strong.  How can I ever expect to be who God calls me to be if I don't actively feed into that part of who I am.  I think I need to start purposely spending more time with God, and while this little blog has been helpful and kept me a little more accountable, there still needs to be more, its about more than just a quick devotion at the end of the day...its about the things I watch and the things I read and the things I listen to.  

'The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things' - Philippians 4:7-8  

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He's got it covered

Purity of Mind: Day 14 - Questioning God

Isaiah 55:9-11
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire 
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

How incredible God is, even though sometimes life is a bit pooey, God is in control!  It is times like these, when the earth seems like it is falling apart that I wonder what is happening, what's going on with life, why is all this stuff happening and then I remember that God is in control.  I don't need to know why, just that God has it covered.  It may not look like the way we expect, but I know that my God is doing what he needs to and that when I get to heaven I can ask him.  

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Afraid No More

Purity of Mind: Day 13 – No Fear

1 John 4:17-18
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day - our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life - fear of death, fear of judgment - is one not yet fully formed in love.

Tonight’s devotion hit me pretty hard. I am a really anxious person, maybe even a little paranoid. I worry about lots of things, little things and big things and I worry all the time. Something I know are stupid to worry about and then there are other times that I worry if I am not anxious enough. There have been a number of times that I have been able to hand over the bigger things to God and experienced a real peace about the situation, but its not something that I do daily.

Tonight I realised, even though I think I already knew, that my fear/worry/anxiety is something that I have allowed the devil to have as a really powerful tool in my life and I need to put a stop to it. Earlier this year at my cell we did a study of fear, and the speaker (some American lady on the DVD) taught that the answer to fear is always God…and that there was nothing my God could not be the answer to. She got us to ask our most anxious questions, for example right now mine is What if there is a fire in Castlemaine and the answer is God. Its always what if….then God and I need to start holding on to this a little tighter.

At school I was given a bible verse to help me through my exams and that was Mark 5:36 “Don’t be afraid, just believe” in another translation it says ‘just have faith’. I need to start living this, really living this. I want to be fully formed in love, and fear is stopping me.

So God, break the chains that fear has in my life. I want to be free, I want to just have faith, I want the answer to my ‘what if’s’ to be ‘then God’. For the big things and for the little, everyday things. Do something new in me. Let me know that peace and freedom that goes beyond all understanding.

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Spiritual Weight Issues

Purity of Mind: Day 12 – What do you crave?

Psalm 119:20
My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous! - insatiable for your nourishing commands.

Eating the right things, both physically and spiritually has always been a little tough for me…its just something that I have always struggled with. I really shouldn’t struggle with either, I mean I am a dietitian, so you would hope that I would know what is good for me and what is not when it comes to food, but still I have a problem with my weight. Spiritually I have been blessed with Christian parents and a good spiritual home that is the Salvation Army, yet I still fill my mind with crap and get by with just enough good stuff to tied me over.

I think were I get caught is with the things that I like that I know aren’t good for me, for example, chocolate or ice cream, or gutter jokes, or gossip. Even though I know they aren’t good, especially not in large amounts because part of me enjoys it I do it. I wish so much that I did crave what was good for me all the time, but I am just not there yet, but God reminded me this morning that self-control is a fruit of his spirit, so the closer I get to him, the more of this fruit I will bear, and hopefully I will learn to seek the good food first.

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Free

Purity of Mind: Day 11 - Free Thinking

2 Corinthians 3:17-18
When God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

Just so you know we are back in order again starting today...tomorrow should be day 12...fingers crossed.

Anyway, today's chapter is once again about the meaning of purity (funny that with a title like pure).  And today it focus on the freedom of a pure life.  Now if you have been reading this blog regularly you will know that these are two things I struggle with.  I am still not really down with the word purity, mostly because I don't understand it, but I am getting there.  But the same goes with freedom.  I am a rules kind of person, as much as I don't really like obeying them, I like to know clearly what is right and what is wrong, and often, like so many others, I think, I get caught up but the legalisms in church, the rules so to speak.  The thing is, as I was reminded today, these rules might be there for good reason, but they are not God's expectations, they are ours and when we get caught up in the dos and don'ts we actually miss out on God's freedom.

I think that I need to sit down and let God show me what His expectations are of me and try to live to those rather than the ones I put on myself, or the expectations I allow others to put on me.  Purity is not just about being sexually pure, or even being in tune with God...its also about being 'free from what weakens or pollutes: containing nothing that does not properly belong'.  Its about living in God's freedom from sin and staying like that...it's a challenge, but its a prize worth reaching for...free life.  

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Awe

Purity of Mind: Day 8 - In Awe

Hebrews 12:28-29
Since we are receiving a kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.  For our God is a devouring fire.

It turns out that somewhere along the line I missed day 8, but don't panic because it is here now!  The word Awesome and being in awe of something is a concept I struggle with, and it think its because in todays context something good and wonderful is awesome.  But back in the day when they were using it to describe God it was quite different.  It was all about holy fear, something so incredible that it scares the pants of you.  This is an image of God that I find difficult to comphrend.  I mean I know how massive and incredible God is, but I also know that he is a God of love, justice and grace, so how could he be terrifying?  Just something I am struggling to get my head around...any help would be much appreciated. 

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Mighty to Save

Purity of Mind: Day 10 - Called to worship

Psalm 66:1-4
Shout joyful praises to God, all the earth! Sing about the glory of his name! Tell the world how glorious he is. Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power. Everything on earth will worship you; they will sing your praises, shouting your name in glorious songs."

I find it so easy to get complacent with God, thinking that I have got it as good as it gets, that Jesus loves me sure, but he is more likely to use someone else.  I am often guilty of putting God in a box that fits my world and my view of my self... So when God bursts out of that box, it nearly always takes me by surprise.

Today I found out that a miricle had taken place at my work, someone I had prayed for got the organ they were so desperatly waiting for and it shocked me. It's not that I didn't think God could do it, I just didn't really expect him to. I guess I had limited miricles to someone elses box, despite the fact that I serve the most incredible God. I get sonfristrated with my small and stuborn mind, I mean I have even called this blog "immeasurably more" because the word promises immeasurably more than we would think or imagine, yet here I am still blown away by his hand.

So today I just want to stop and shout his praises, because there is none like him! Nothing compares to him. Nothing is greater, nothing is bigger, nothing is more powerful. There is no one with more grace, no one with more mercy, no one that can love me more than the great I am, the king of all kings, the saviour of all, my God!

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What is my motive?

Purity of Mind: Day 9 - Don't Bargain with God

Matthew 7:7-11

Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?

Here's the thing, after all that talk of another fresh start I still didn't last that long, just a couple of days and then I let my busy life take over once again.... But even so I have come back and just as if it were planned this way the topic of today's chapter is completly perfect for what I need right now. Today's chapter is all about how we bargain with God coz sometimes we don't trust him enough to just leave it all with me. And my initial thoughts after reading the chapter were "well I don't really do that, so I'm pretty good" but then as I reflected a bit more God gently reminded me that I was bargaining with him right now...

See at the moment there are a few crap things happening in my life, all of which I don't really have any control. So trying to be a good Christian I pray about and then because that doesn't feel like enough I deceide that if I fast something I really love that will get God's attention and I will get what I want. And so that's were I am, fasting until God makes it turn out the way I want... and while there is sacrifice in that, there isn't much faith.


Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with fasting until you see answered pray, I guess the problem lies in whether the fast is for an answer or for the answer you want. I think perhaps I need to think a bit more about why I am fasting, what I want to see and whether or not I am looking for God's answer, or my answer.

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