Resist!

Have you ever noticed how the flesh wants to hold on to pain? Whether it be emotional or physical, the flesh just wants to hang on and nurse it. If we let it, the flesh will be a hindrance to us. The enemy would like nothing more than for us to give into the flesh. Instead of giving in, we should resist such things James 4:7.

This week, I have been resisting a "cold" and negative thoughts. It's a challenge to resist these things. While sick I "felt" like just lying around and being "poor old Amanda." While doing daily tasks such as washing dishes, I have found my mind wondering to past events where I felt I was done wrong, or to things that I may have done wrong. However, I would not give my flesh the satisfaction. Instead of lying around, feeling sorry for myself, I got up and exercised, and went about my daily activities. Instead of harboring negative thoughts/feelings, I simply reminded myself all was forgiven, and let it go. Since I am talking about emotional pain, I will like to say that unforgiveness hurts. If we have unforgiveness in our hearts, it hurts. We are reminded of this and that that happened to us and refuse to let it go. If we don't forgive someone, it is only hurting ourselves, not the person that hurt us. Harboring unforgiveness will keep you from progressing both spiritually and in life. The person(s) that hurt us are not thinking one minute about how they hurt you. They either don't care that it hurt you or they didn't even know to begin with that you were hurt by their actions. Holding onto it is pointless. It is imperative that we forgive and give it to God. Yes those hurt feelings will be there for a while, but if you let God help you, He will. We should forgive freely because we are forgiven freely though Jesus Acts 13:38, Matthew 6:14. Throughout life we will have to push past things that hurt us. We should give it all to God and trust Him to take care of it. When physcial pain comes up we should speak 1 Peter 2:24, By His stripes I WAS healed. When emotional pain comes up we should speak 1 Peter 5:7, Cast ALL your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. I give God all the glory for helping me push past these things this week. If it were not for His strength, I would have been on the couch being angry and feeling sorry for myself. Let's push past the flesh and thank you Jesus for being the Author and Finisher of our Faith Hebrews 12:2.

*I would like to give a big shoutout to my friend Alicia who designed my lovely header for this blog!*

Studying for Life's Test(s)

Throughout high school and college I was not a big studier. I made decent grades, but could have made better grades if I really would have applied myself. When it came to studying for the big test I would usually study the night before, trying to cram in a whole two or three chapters of material. On test day, I would go in the classroom flustered, vowing that I would not do that again. Upon receiving my test, I would answer a few questions with confidence. However on other questions, panic would set in because I did not remember the answer. When the test would get back, I would barely scrape by, or do fair, but could have done better. Instead of a B, I would get a C. Other times, I may not have passed the test at all.

As a Christian I have found myself in similar situations. Due to my lack of studying(the Word), when a test would come my way(from the enemy, James 1:13) panic would start to set in, because I didn't have the word in my heart. I hadn't studied enough. So here, I am scrambling to look up the word and get it into my spirit, and at the same time I am being attacked by my circumstance(s). It's harder to learn when you are being attacked, wouldn't you agree? Since I have realized what the Word has in it, I have had to make a real conscious effort to study it. I won't lie, it has been tough. As I sit down and open the Bible, my mind wonders, and I begin thinking about other things, like what to cook for dinner. It has gotten easier, but sometimes I find myself very distracted and I have to tell myself to focus(yes, I say it aloud). However, when I gain victory in an area of my life, and I know that it was because of the Power of God's Word, I feel temendous! Occasionally in high school/college, I would be prepared for a test, and boy did it feel good to pass that test with flying colors. That's what I want to do, I want to pass life's test(s) with flying colors. I want to be prepared, and not barely get by. Though it may take some discipline on our part, in the end we will be thankful.

Stand Up for Your Conviction(s)

Do you remember that song, Stand By Your Man? I know those who are reading either have no idea or that song is playing in your head right now. Okay, enough singing, pay attention. :) Perhaps, there should be a sequel to that song, called Stand Up for Your Convictions. What do you think? When thinking of standing up for one's conviction, a story from the college years come to mind. Picture it..., wait wrong beginning (I've watched way too many Golden Girls episodes). Back in junior college I had several dorm-mates that I hung around the dorm with at night. All of them smoked, so we always hung out outside, for obvious reasons. One particular incident comes to mind when thinking of standing up for my conviction(s). I recall one night one of the young ladies made a statement to the effect that I would probably start smoking too, because I hung around them. I remember at least thinking "no I am not." I don't recall if I said it aloud or not. Now, before I go any further, I would like to take the opportunity to say I am not condemning anyone who has or does smoke, that's not the point here. On the other hand, I am not condoning smoking either(don't worry, this is not a say no to drugs speech). I stayed true to my conviction to not smoke. I could have just as easily said "Okay, pass me one now, I'll get started." However, I made a choice to refrain, and it wasn't really a hard choice(I've never been a "smoker," although, my parents smoked and I did once put a cigarette to my mouth to blow on to light a firecracker). I said all that to say this, we can do the same against the enemy when it comes to our health, finances, relationships, etc. We can stand up for our conviction(s) and say No! I am not going to give in to this circumstance, I am going to resist. I am claiming God's Word over this and standing on it!(Of course it helps if you have the Word in your spirit.) I said no to smoking, because I knew what it could do to me(we won't get into all the second hand smoke I probably inhaled, unintentionally of course. That's beside the point). How many times have we sat back and allowed the enemy to take over, forgetting that he is already defeated and is under our feet(Ephesians 1:22)? We can't sit idly by and watch, we have to stand firm on God's promises. After all, He has good plans for us!(Jeremiah 29:11) I would much rather have God's plan than the alternative!

Sign me up for AAA

My name is Amanda and I'm an Approval Addict. For as long as I can remember, I have been an approval addict. This is the part where I am supposed to say how long I have been "clean" but I am not, it is a daily struggle. I so bad want to please others, and certainly don't want someone to be mad or think ill of me! *Gasp* Oh this is a dirty little secret. Even now my mind is thinking: "Oh what will they think?" "How will they view me now?" However, in my journey to be more transparent, I feel it is necessary to share with everyone this deep dark secret(a little dramatic? Maybe...). I'm Not Perfect. There I said it. Yes I am a big time people pleaser and find it extremely hard to say no. When I do occasionally say no, I am plagued with guilt. I over analyze EVERYTHING. This blog has been a while in the making, I've been pushing it back and pushing it back, but I know God knows better than I. Now it is out in the open and I feel exposed. However, in order to overcome an addiction, one has to admit he/she has the problem. In typing this I am holding myself accountable. I will overcome this entirely. I am not in total despair, I have found some help through reading Joyce Meyer's book on Approval Addiction. I have overcame some of this addiction. In my quest to be free, I am going to sit down and read it again. Obviously, I didn't absorb it well enough when I read it the first time. Sometimes one just has to read something over and over to get it to sink into his/her spirit, especially scripture(Romans 10:17). When it comes to growing spiritually, I am a slow learner, and a bit, okay a lot resistive. I do know that I can do all things through Christ(Philippians 4:13), and there is no condemnation in Christ(Romans 8:1)! These are a couple of the scriptures, that I am going to really meditate on, along with Joyce's book(which is full of scripture references). If there are others out there that are overcoming this/or have already overcame this addiction, please post a comment or email me via facebook. It's a journey, and we can all make it to the finish line together triumphantly.

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Letting go of the leaves

Every year as the trees share their leaves with the world, we begin to see their bare essentials. Not only do we see the strength or weakness of every limb, but we see every bump, curve, hole, and knot. I could take a lesson from the old tree. It's so hard to let people see those "bumps" or "bruises" I am not so proud of. I have decided(through the Lord's urging) that I should start showing more of myself, to become more transparent and vulnerable to those around me. This is a start of a new era for me. I so bad want to hide behind my leaves and cover up my ugly bruises from life's trials, and my errors. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of issues. I am constantly working through them. Through this journey, I am going to push myself beyond my comfort zone and let go of my leaves because I am more than a conqueror(Romans 8:37) and there is no condemnation in Christ(Romans 8:1). As I endeavour to become more transparent to all, I pray that I am helpful to everyone who reads. Thanks for reading and God Bless!