Fear is a liar: Zach Williams devotional part 1

Day 1: Today’s lie: You’re not strong enough. 

The song “Fear Is a Liar” outlines many of the fears and lies that the enemy tells us. One of those lies that we are often told is that we’re not strong enough. We can fill in the blank of that sentence with so many things. 

We’re not strong enough to step up and be the parents our children need.

We’re not strong enough to be vulnerable with our spouse/pastor/counselor.

We’re not strong enough to quit drinking/smoking/taking pills/looking at porn/overeating/cheating.

We’re not strong enough to step back in church after years of distance.

We’re not strong enough to ask for forgiveness from someone we wronged/hurt/ignored/abused/manipulated.

We’re not strong enough to smile in the face of pain. 

We’re not strong enough to believe in a better life. 

We’re not strong enough to seek help. 

We’re not strong enough to stop judging others.

So why even try? 

The list could go on and on. The amazing thing is that over and over in the Bible, God tell us two things, 1. We don’t have to be strong enough on our own because, 2. His strength is what we need to be strong enough. That should feel like a weight has lifted off of your shoulders. It does to me. 

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV)

“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NIV)

The Bible even takes it a step further and encourages us to see our ‘weaknesses’ as things to ‘boast’ about ‘gladly’ because it’s more opportunity to be truly strong with Christ’s power. “My power is made perfect in weakness” as it says in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. This is a difficult concept to grasp but if you think about it, none of us are perfect, we’re all missing a puzzle piece in order to be strong enough to accomplish what we need. God has that missing piece. His power is made perfect in our weakness. 

If you’ve been told you’re not strong enough by someone else or by the enemy, it is a LIE. You are strong enough because you have God’s 

Why God: Austin French

Why God?

So to say my life has been chaotic would be an understatement. But I need to write again, I use to more when I was younger and it helped with whatever I was going through.

So last night my dad had another heart attack. I got a phone call at work that the paramedics were taking him to the hospital and it looked like a heart attack. So Kelsey and I rushed from work to the hospital, we met my mom there and Kaity rode in the Ambo to the hospital.
While driving up there I was just feeling so many different emotions, it's not the first time we've been here  or have gone through this,but it doesn't get any easier. Your heart stops every time and you wonder is this it? And I don't know if it's because I have lost many loved ones already and almost have lost both parents, but I always tend to think more negatively than positively in these moments. And it's very easy to go there with the devil and question God.
Why God is this happening?
Why God are you not hearing me pray?
Why God do we have to go through this over and over again?

And I've heard some say well why would you question God when he's done so much for your family?  and yes that's true God has done so much! And I'm grateful for what God has done. But it doesn't change what you feel in those heart stopping moments.
It doesn't change the trials your going through, it doesn't change the devil that's waiting there to pounce on you.

There's a song called 'why God' by: Austin French
And it talks about questioning God, and not understanding the things we go through, and why things fall apart.  But that through the questioning we understand a little bit more.
Instead of why God is is happening? You understand this is why God I need you.

And it's a lesson I went through this past year, why are we questioning God as if we'd have a right to know what his will is? As if we know better than he does? Why do we focus more on the negative than trying to focus on The positive? Because the negative Is my dad shouldn't be alive, and neither should my mom, but they are. We should be homeless but we're not. I shouldn't have a job, but I do. And The list goes on, and on.

My point is why do we focus on what we don't have, and what prayer God hasn't answered. Rather than what we do have and what God has answered. I heard someone say that when we pray there's two answers to our prayers and that's yes, and yes. It's either a yes down here, or a yes up in heaven.
Because if we believe God, And if we believe the Bible and if we believe theres a heaven, And there's a hell. And we believe that God sent his son to die for us so that we can become a child of God and have a home in heaven for us. Then why wouldn't Gods answer to our prayer by taking  a loved one home be a yes?

So heaven forbid it, but if Gods answer to my prayer is yes, but he takes daddy home to heaven. I'm not going to question that. Because at least I know where he's going, and I know I will see him again someday. Not saying it wouldn't be a hard thing to go through, but I either trust God and have faith in him or I don't.
And when we go though these things you come to the point where you trust God or you don't, you believe him or you don't. You stand on his promises or you don't. And it's in the times where your standing in a hard place where you have to make that decision and walk it out.

Even though the devil wanted me to go there last night I had to stop and go wait. God I do believe you, I do believe your promises, and I believe You can help him more than any doctor ever could. And that's when I felt a peace that passes all understanding, a peace that surpasses all knowledge and I knew that know matter what happened God was with my dad, and that God was with me. And that He wasn’t going to leave us now.

These are just some rambling thoughts I had today while trying to process everything. I will hopefully be posting more, but I say that and then Don’t post for a year! So we will see.

It's Okay, to not be Okay.

I've been reading a devotional By: Sheila Walsh it's called "It's okay, to not be okay."
When life come at you with all sorts of situations and problems, it's easy to brush it off and say your okay when really deep down your not.
Life happens. There's nothing you can do to stop it, or change it.

You may get into an accident, get sick, loose your job, or find out you have cancer.
And no matter what you do you can't change it, you can't fix it, and you can't always be okay.
But what you can do is look to the one who can make it okay.

Jesus will make you more than okay, but only if you'll let him. You can get to the point where you've been pushing it all down trying to get through it, burying it inside until you get to your breaking point, and that's when He's there to catch you.

No matter what you do, or where you go Jesus will always be there to catch you when you fall, to carry you when you've gone to your breaking point. He will be there to say it's okay what your going through, but look to me because I'm the only way your going to make it.

Three- four years ago... I went through a period of time where I reached my breaking point. And I went into deep depression because of it. I keep pushing if off saying I was okay and not dealing with it until it all boiled over and I wasn't okay anymore.
My dad had a massive heart attack and I shut down, that was the final thing to send me over I couldn't handle life anymore. I went down a deep and dark path, I distanced myself from my family I couldn't think anymore I wanted to sleep all the time.... and I didn't know what to do to get out of it.
I wish now that I would have done things differently, that instead of hiding it all away I would have talked about it or done something different. But if I hadn't gone through that I wouldn't be the person i am today.

What I'm trying to say is you don't have to paste on a smile to show your fine, you don't have to act like your life is together when it's not. If you let Jesus in and give him all the hurt and pain you can have a genuine smile despite the trials. And yeah your life may not be together but Jesus can give you a joy and peace you've never known.
In those times that your not okay, let Jesus in for he will carry you through. HE will put your life back together, HE will put a smile on your face, and only HE can give you peace.

So it's okay, to not be okay. But only if you'll let Jesus in when your not okay and HE will take care of the rest. There a scripture in psalms that says If we trust HIM and pour our hearts out to HIM, He's our refuge. And what's a refuge? The definition is being safe or sheltered from danger or trouble.
So if you trust in God and follow him, HE will shelter you from whatever trouble or danger that's in your life.

These are just some late night thoughts.... I hope everyone has a great week!

Psalm 62:8
"Trust in him at all times; yet people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.

This is the day- by: Tim Tebow day 2

Three Words for Today

Life is a gift. Each day is precious—and at times fleeting. We can’t control the path or the magnitude of whatever storms or disasters come our way. We can’t anticipate our losses. And we can’t hold on to the promise of tomorrow. 

So what’s something we can do? We can this day celebrate the ones we love. We can create special moments with them. We can say “I love you.” 

A few years ago, I wrote down five life goals: 

• Show Jesus. 
• Fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. 
• Take care of the people I love with resources, finances, and blessings. 
• Be a protector of people. 
• Pursue my dreams. 

For me, part of what it means to take care of the people I love is to make memories with my family. This really started to hit home recently, especially with my parents getting older. I began to realize that I wasn’t going to have them around forever. 

I’ve always appreciated my family, but I was awakening to how truly precious it is to spend time with Mom and Dad, as well as my siblings and my nieces and nephews. Thing is, unless I strove to make it happen, it wouldn’t. Because let’s be real: life always gets in the way. They’re busy. I’m busy. We’re all busy, right? 

People matter more than schedules, more than lists, and more than tasks. We know this, but what does it really mean? How do we live this out? Showing love to others may mean a simple shift of your priorities. 

Think about what matters most. Choose the more impor­tant things over the lesser ones. Balance busy calendars with meaningful moments. Call a friend and let him know you’re thinking about him. Unplug the phones, gadgets, and devices, and be more present with a spouse, parent, or child. 

Tomorrow is not promised. Make time and show someone you care. Tell a loved one that you are grateful for his support. Encourage a sibling to chase after the dream she’s put on the back burner. Say yes to making memories, even if it means rearranging a carefully planned morning. And whether in word or deed, always choose to say “I love you.” 

What is one way you can show someone love today, even if it means making a sacrifice of time?

Starting to blog again......

so it's been 2 years since I last blogged... wow! I guess life kinda of  took off and before you know it it's been two years!

I miss blogging, so I've decided to try and blog as much as I can... things are crazy right now but when is it not!

So short update with more to come (hopefully!). My dad broke his foot...I guess it's been about a month ago now, so we've been really busy with doctors appointments, and making sure he has meds and everything else that goes with it. I feel so bad for him he's been in so much pain with his foot plus the stuff he deals with on a daily basis. The surgeon for his foot said he has 4! Fractures in his foot, and he has to have surgery but he has to be medically cleared before we can do that because of all his other complicated health problems. So we go this week to his medical doctor and if she gives us the green light then we will go to a cardiologist, and a pulmonologist, then maybe have surgery.
Yeah, I know it's a lot to keep up with.... trust me I get confused sometimes too.

Anyway so we have thAt plus my grandmas surgery that has to be planned and what seems like a million other things going on. But in the midst of this I know God has a plan for all of this..... even when we don't understand I've had to trust Him that He know what He's doing and that He will continue to guide us. It's not easy, especially when your up all night doing the medicine and making sure their comfortable and can rest a little.... then get up for work the next day and run errands and call doctors, it gets tiring. But, God has given me strength and a peace that doesn't make sense... and THATS what keeps me going despite all that.

And don't get me wrong it's a pleasure and honor taking care of my parents... I love them and would doing anything and everything for them. But I am human and God knows that,which is why He gives the strength And grace to make it through each day.
I couldn't make it without God, in spite of everything happening He's turned it around to bless us and give him glory and that's all that matters.

So that's just a little bit of what's going on..... I'll hopefully be posting more soon.
I posted a devotional by Tim Tebow down below that fits perfectly with what's going on.

Despite the injurys, the sickness, the late nights of no sleep, today is the day that God has made! And we need to rejoice regardless of what's going on around us, Rejoice that we are alive and can breathe, and walk,talk, and see. God has placed many things in our life for us to be thankful for, we just have to learn to look for them.

Have you ever noticed that in the middle (which they call they eye) of the storm is calm? It's all peace ful and still.... you can't even tell that the world is falling apart. That's the kinda of peace that we have right now and I feel like that's where we are at.... in the eye of the storm Jesus is holding us steady. So the wind, rain, lightning, and thunder can roll around us but as long as we stand right in the middle we will be alright.

Alright guys I'm signing off till next time!
 -shygurlnphx

This is the day! By:Tim Tebow

Right Now

Imagine waking up tomorrow not slapping the snooze button but awakening—mind, heart, and soul—to possibility. Something better. Something more. She 

You open your eyes, and before your feet hit the ground running, you pause. You choose not to allow what really matters to get swallowed up by the daily grind, and not to ignore what you really want out of life

When I was a kid, my mom would swing my bedroom door wide open each morning and in her sweet voice sing the song based on Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” 

This is the day that God has made. This day. Right now. Whatever moment you are breathing in, God made this day. Even when times are tough, something about this day is good. 

This is the day to live without fear of the unknown, without being chained by failure or what-ifs. This is the day to be willing to change, to be open, to believe, to hope. If we don’t attack each day with this intentionality, it’s almost like telling God, “Thanks, but no thanks.” 

How different would your day be if you lived out the words of Psalm 118:24? 

Is there something you would change?

Is there someone you would reach out to?

Is there something you would need to give?

Is there something you would need to let go of?

I’m not saying putting this into practice is easy. But each day you wake up, you have a chance to get unstuck, to step out of a comfortable routine that may be limiting your potential, and to fight for something that’s important. 

This is the day you can switch off autopilot and begin living with passion. 

This is the day you can overcome a bad habit or a character flaw.

This is the day that can bring you a step closer to your dreams.

This is the day you can fight for what’s right.

This is the day you can change someone’s life for the better.

Life isn’t just about one day. It’s about this day. 

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 HCSB 

God, help me see the changes I need to make in my life, the risks I need to take, the things I need to let go. Thank you for giving each new day as a gift! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.