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.