Eyes & Ears

     I'm a visual and auditory learner - seeing and hearing at the same time is the best way for me to learn and remember stuff. When I was in school, I memorized facts and formulas through music; when I need to remember something at work, I write it down and put the sticky note somewhere I can see it.

     Why am I telling you this? How do we apply this to growing in the Lord? Visuals speak more than words do. "A picture is worth a thousands words" right? A lot of times, I remember Bible verses by hearing or reading them, then writing them down. I have Scriptures all over the place - the walls of my room, my desk at home, my desk at work, hanging in my car, my phone background, the fridge in our kitchen, etc. Seeing them repeatedly reminds me of them and what I see and hear is what I remember. Seeing something and then hearing it is better, so when I see one of the Scriptures, I read it out loud. It's what stays in my head.

"Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.

- Deuteronomy 11:18-21

     God knew a good way for the children of Israel to remember things. He told them to literally put the law in and on their houses, on their clothes and skin, and to talk about them constantly. Does that mean that the Israelites talked about the law of the Lord and nothing else? No... they were humans so I'm pretty sure they talked about other things too. But it was meant to become such an integral part of them, like an essential part of their daily lives.

     So what is in front of your eyes and streaming into your ears? What's influencing you and you might not even realize it? What goes in, comes out. If light and joy and peace and the love of God and the Scriptures are pouring into you, that's what is going to come out of you

~ Abby

Not of fear.

     We as a human race have a problem. We worry. We fear. We worry about finances, jobs, school, family, friends, appearances, etc. We fear the future, changes, decisions. This fear and worry causes us to react a certain way, to treat others and ourselves a certain way. It makes for a world full of anxious, angry, and constantly stressed people... even Christians.
     Alright, why did I write those last two words? Because we do it too: we worry about things just as much as an unbeliever because we're human too. I'll admit it: I can be very fearful, anxious, worried, agitated, nervous, etc. I get this way so easily, but I always have an excuse: "I'm not feeling good." or "It's just my anxiety, leave me alone." These feelings cause me to be unkind or plain mean to people and eventually I realize what I said or did and try to make up for it.
     I worry about money, about the future, about not having something I should (or feel I should) have, about how I look, about my family, about my friends, about people, about our world, our society and culture, the church as a whole, etc.
     I over think little things that do not matter, or analyze a person or action or word so much that it leads to obsession. "This person said this, but what if they didn't mean this, they meant that. How will I figure out which definition of this word they meant? What about their tone of voice or facial expressions? Did I look stupid while they were saying this? What if I made it weird?" I know. Almost worthy of a a slap across my face to get me thinking straight again.

But then God reminded me of something...

I have been given a beautiful and wonderful gift. 

That spirit of fear and anxiety and worry is not a part of me anymore.

I belong to my beloved Jesus.

My Father is making me righteous...

(slowly, but surely)...

which means I can be bold... courageous... fearless.

"I'm no longer a slave to fear,

I am a child of God. (2x)

I am surrounded

By the arms of the Father.

I am surrounded

By songs of deliverance.

We've been liberated

From our bondage.

We're the sons and the daughters

Let us sing our freedom.

You split the sea

So I could walk right through it.

My fears are drowned in perfect love.

You rescued me

And I will stand and sing:

I am a child of God."
(No Longer Slaves, Bethel Music)
   

     Because I am a child of God, I can be bold and strong and determined and confidant and brave and loving and kind and peaceful and joyful and everything else! The Spirit of God is living in me and enabling me to be those things, leading me to a life full of control of my human self, and freedom in Jesus. Wow. Paul wrote to Timothy and said: "...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." (2 Timothy 1:6-7, ESV).

     So here are three steps I am starting to take in my life and I hope you will be encouraged to do them yourselves:

1. Recognize that those negative things in your life are real. They are a part of your human state and they are genuine. Jesus knew that we would struggle with worry and fear and He told us what to do about it: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." When we understand and acknowledge that those things are real and are a piece of us, then we can learn to take them to Jesus. (Matthew 11:25-30). Ignoring them or pushing them aside does not help anyone, especially yourself.

2. Take them to Jesus and leave them there. Understand that this is where they need to stay; do not try to take them back and handle it yourself. (This is the hardest part.) Build your foundation on the fact that those things are in God's hands now and not your own. He is with you and is replacing those feelings of worry and fear with ones of courage and Christ-likeness (I don't think that's a word, but you get it.)

"Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed,

for I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand."

(How Firm a Foundation)

3. Embrace the spirit of power and love and grace and self-control and boldness that He gives us instead! Take those things He has given you and utilize them! Use your gifts and talents! Speak out for Him. Do something you have never been brave enough to do! Be bold! Be Spirit-filled and led! Be awesome! Be beautiful! Be incredible! Be who God made you to be!

One of my favorite verses.

     One last thought... He is faithful. He is right there. He gets it. Your Heavenly Father is going to keep His promises to you. It might not be an overnight thing. It might take a long time. It's not something you can just learn and move on. Trust is a continual thing. Letting go can take a long time. Replacing fear and worry and anxiety with courage and peace and joy can take a long time, but hold on. Hold on to the promise of God's faithfulness. 

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering,

for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:23

Remember Who you belong to... Be a child of the everlasting, almighty King today!

~ Abby

New year - here we go!

   Dear readers, I'm not dead. I thought I had scheduled this post, but it turns out, I had only saved it in drafts. Please don't hate me. I love you all. Abby

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     Happy New Year readers! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season. This new year is going to be full of wonderful, new, challenging, and exciting things so jump in head first! Let God give you something new, a dream, an idea, and follow it wholeheartedly!

     It’s a new year. Wohoo! Party time! I am not really the person to make resolutions in the traditional sense, but I did have a few goals that I wanted to accomplish in 2018:

• Be kinder – I have a tendency to let whatever is going on in my life or head to get the better of me and affect the way I treat people. So I’m working on being a nicer, kinder human being: smile more at people, say “please,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome” more, check in with people, listen to comprehend, not to just respond, etc. 

• Study my Bible (not just read it) – I have a tendency to just read something in my Bible or on my Bible app and move on. But this year I want to actually study it. I decided to go through some of the books of the Bible I don’t always read and really study them – I’ve started with Exodus and wow! So much good stuff in there! Maybe I’ll do a post on some of the things I’ve been learning. 

• Drink more water – This one is practical but I’ve been doing pretty good with it and I’m honestly feeling better. It’s kind of weird how just a few more glasses of water a day can have that much of an impact on you, but it’s true. My skin is also clearing up a little so that's a bonus.

• Get more sleep – Who doesn’t need more sleep? I honestly think I’m still catching up from college on my lack of sleep. Okay, I’m probably exaggerating here but sleeping more than 5 hours a night, I feel so much better. I’m averaging 6.5-7.5 hours which might be a little too much, but again, I’m feeling better, not getting as many headaches or migraines, etc. so yay!

• Take my vitamins – Another super practical one and I love it. I take a couple different vitamins for specific things as well as a multi vitamin, and again, I can tell the difference. I take a magnesium supplement a few times a week (I know I should take it every day, but I sometimes forget.), and that has been helping with a lot of the little headaches I get. 

• Journal, read, & write more – This one is in in connection with finishing school: I did a lot of reading and writing as a student but most of it was because I had and it was often something I did not want to read or cared about or a format I had to follow for writing a paper/thesis/etc. This year, I want to read genres I normally would not think about or authors I’ve never heard of and I’ve set a pretty high goal of 100 books in a year… so far I’ve started 3, finished 1. That’s okay too because I also decided that I wasn’t going to make myself finish a book if I didn’t enjoy it, since this is supposed to be enjoyable and not forced. I did enough of that in school (amiright college students?) The writing and journal-ing part is just to get better at expressing myself both in written and spoken format. Plus writing out all your feelings/emotions/reactions is good for the soul. 

• Eat better to be healthy – Okay, this was a reality check for me. I wanted to lose weight because who doesn’t? But I didn’t want that to be the reason I started to eat better because I knew it wouldn’t last. So instead, it became a lifestyle choice. Already eating gluten free, I decided a few months ago to try paleo. I like it. Well, some of it. Some of it was easy and some of it wasn’t. So I’ve compromised and I eat probably 60-70% paleo. I still put half & half or milk in my coffee and I still cook with certain oils or vinegars and I eat certain gluten free things like pasta or an occasional desert. And I still go out with people, but for me, it’s about making conscious decisions about what I’m eating and questioning how that food will make me feel. It’s sometimes hard, but good in the end. And I feel better in general. 

• Keep Christ first. Always. – This one is self- explanatory. Christ first. Always. No matter how hard. No matter what the cost. No matter the sacrifices. No matter who or what I gain or lose. Him first. 

     These a couple of the really practical ones I’m working on, as well as some other more personal and private ones, but what are you going to change this year? What are you doing to improve yourself? What dream has God given you to follow? How are you working on your relationship with Christ and others? What awesome things are you going to do in 2018?!

Abby

JOY

     Happy Christmas Season everyone!

     I keep being reminded to choose joy: from the Tuesday afternoon kids program at church, to my devotions, to my planner, to the decorations at my job... to constantly choose to be joyful, even in the midst of this insane thing called life.

     This is a crazy time of year, but honestly, it is my favorite. I love everything about the holiday season. But it is so easy to get hung up on the "holiday season" - shopping, traffic, nasty people, addressing cards, endless hours of running around, wrapping gifts, gatherings and parties, exhaustion, the credit card bills to follow, the weight gain from all the times you said "Well, just one."

     We get so stuck on all the stuff we dislike that we forget to enjoy it all, even the things that drive us crazy. Sitting in traffic gives you time to listen to more Christmas music; the more cards you address, the more people you can call friends and family; the endless gifts you have to wrap are ways to show people you care about them; all the parties and gatherings, and everything that goes with it, are reminders of how many wonderful people you love and have around you.

     Enjoy this beautiful season. It does not last very long. Appreciate every bit of this holiday time, even the parts you hate. Cherish those special times because the memories will last when those people or traditions are not around anymore.

     At the heart of the season is Jesus. "Jesus is the reason for the season!" The center of Christmas is Christ: the Son of God came down to be a Son of man. To live here and love and save us. Remember that this Christmas season.

     And choose joy.

Here's a question: do you read your Bible every day?

     Do you stand on the Word of God in your life? Is what the Lord says the standard by how you live daily? Here's a basic Sunday school type question: do you read your Bible every day?

     God's been working on me in this way & I have attempted to put in extra effort to actually doing it. Do I read the Word every day? Do I think about what it means and how to apply it? Do I remember it throughout the day? Do I truly believe what the Bible says is true and will not fail? Do I live with the faith that the Word of the Lord is perfect and cannot die?

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

Matthew 24:35

Forever, O Lord,

Your word is settled in heaven.

Your faithfulness endures to all generations;

You established the earth, and it abides.

They continue this day according to Your ordinances,

For all are Your servants.

Unless Your law had been my delight,

I would then have perished in my affliction.

I will never forget Your precepts,

For by them You have given me life.

I am Yours, save me;

For I have sought Your precepts.

The wicked wait for me to destroy me,

But I will consider Your testimonies.

I have seen the consummation of all perfection,

But Your commandment is exceedingly broad.

Psalm 119:89-96

The voice said, “Cry out!”

And he said, “What shall I cry?”

“All flesh is grass,

And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 40:6-8

Do I live this way? If not, how can I?

~ Abby