One by One

Last night as I prepared for class church, I was just a bit disappointed at the number in attendance.  With five minutes until starting time, only five people sat, waiting, chatting.    Please do not get me wrong...I firmly believe that where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is with us (Matthew 18:20).  Truly, it is not about the number but about the Holy Spirit that is there.  But still...we usually average 15 or so.

Then, they began to arrive.  One. Two. Three at at time.  My last count = 23.  (Plus, we were missing several that are normally there.)  I wish you could have been there!  Some of my final words:  "I so love this sweet spirit I feel here.  I sure hope you can feel it, too."  From their expressions, they were feeling it, too! The Lord met us during our concluding study on the three of the ancient disciplines in the Bible:  meditating, fasting, and having quiet time.  Blessed we were.  Blessed we are.

I shared earlier that our theme song for this unit has been Casting Crown's song "Spirit Wind," and that as the song encourages, God is raising an army in our church.  I believe it...and I plan to testify about it right here...so please keeping visiting me as I share our growth.

These past two months have been about each member and God...getting closer, being selfish.  Now, we begin a study of The Controversial Jesus.  As I shared with the group last night, the Lord has a plan, I believe, to activate.  This may have already started...for before our class, several gathered to write notes to church members who need to hear from us.  Seven ladies doing a work for the Lord...with such a sweet, sweet spirit.

God is good...all the time, and all the time, God is good.  How is God blessing you?  Please leave a comment.  I would so appreciate hearing your testimonies!

Craving Fish Oil?

Our weekly study and previewing of the Made to Crave video series continued last Wednesday night (just had short thirty minute meetings due to business meeting and WMU nights).  One focused discussion on the video was the very many benefits of fish oil.

As I prepared the night before for this class, I became motivated...so the next morning following breakfast, I swallowed two vitamins and a fish oil capsule.  Ugh...yes, that's right...ugh!  Within an hour, I was so nauseated!  Thanks to the input from a student-teacher observer in my classroom, I soon learned that fish oil pills should be taken at night, for the often cause indigestion.  Oh, my! 


Learned a few lessons:

 

1. One cannot get fit in three pills. I was disgustingly reminded how quickly medicine can also make me sick!  Double ugh!
2. Moderation is the key.  Steady is the pace.
3. I wish I had this same "get-it-done-right-now" attitude in all areas of my life.  (Yes, that includes dusting that furniture that this morning's sunlight is proudly displaying!  Praying, meditating on the Lord...in so many areas!)

Now, unfortunately, I have still have yet to recover from my day spent with the Fish Oil Capsule and have yet to take another one.  Tonight, I will.  I think I can.  I think I can...for the benefits of this supplement are tremendous (my husband does not like fish; therefore, I will never cook enough to not need this supplement.)

The oil in certain kinds of fish is highly enriched with cardio-protective and anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats.  This is one instance when consuming large amounts of fat is equated to dramatic benefits in health.

Unless you're going to eat a serving of oily fish every day, or a lot of oily fish every other day, you probably need a supplement.   It's very difficult to eat a Western diet - like we have in North America - and get enough omega-3s from food alone.

If every American consumed sufficient omega-3s, the research indicates we would cut the rate of cardiovascular disease by about 40%.

I want to be a part of that 40%!  Heart disease is so prevalent in my family.  This is definitely one of the messages that God wants me to take from this week's study.  Take fish oil; just remember, though, that all things good for me are not always pleasant to the spiritual palette.

Staying healthy, getting healthy, maintaining a healthy state of being takes work and a committed frame of mind, just as staying spiritually healthy also demands such stamina.  Reading the Bible.  Praying.  Listening to the Lord.

The scripture from this week's book study of Made to Crave (chapter 9, page 91, "But Exercise Makes Me Want to Cry") comes from 1 Corinthians 6:19:  "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body."

Oh, my!  Much too often I do not measure up to this ideal, this expectation, this request.  My body...Tammy's body...is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  I am blessed that God placed this study of Made to Crave in my life, for it has been much too long since I meditated on what a "temple of the Holy Spirit" means to me, what it means to this physical body of mine.  This humbles me, to that state of being where I should always stay.

If fish oil helps me take care of this temple, then I will take it...at night, though!

I encourage you to roam around Lysa TerKeurst's website, watch her video clips.  You will be blessed...and inspired.

The Walk Continues

With the encouragement of the hubby, I am again walking the walk...down the drive, up a very steep hill, and down the road and back.  We both need this for the cardio, our health.  This evening for the first time, I finally began to enjoy this endeavor to exercise.  I just do not enjoy sweating, pushing muscles to their max.  Yes, I would rather be blogging, reading!

As I type this, though, I am reminding myself of the another reason I began this walk (thus, this blog) last summer...to pray, to meditate, to have time with my Lord.  Even though I am walking with the hubby, time still abounds for that...during all that time when I am breathing, quite quickly breathing.  I am amazed at how many people, homes, families that God has placed right here on this walk...just for me to pray for!

I encourage you...yes, YOU...to walk and pray.  The Lord will place those who need your prayers in your walk. Try it out!

Concerning another walk...

I am attempting to read the Bible through this year (three days behind...my mother eased into Heaven last week...just got behind during her final days and the following few days).

As I read this year, I am praying, asking the Lord to speak to me directly through His word.  What is it that I need to internalize for myself?

• I appreciate Joseph's 20/20 vision when he can honestly, spiritually say to his brothers when he reveals his true identity to them:  "And now, do not  be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you...So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God." - Genesis 45:5, 8
• Now, let's slow these events down...into slow-motion:  Joseph probably did not have this perfect vision, this perfect understanding of God's will while in the cistern, when sold for twenty shekels, then sold to Potiphar, when falsely accused by Potiphar's wife, then later when he spent years in jail...all that time without his family.  I suspect he had many "human" days, don't you?  Yet the revelation came.  All this happened because God allowed it to happen so that Joseph would be in just the right place, so that Joseph would be placed in charge of Egypt to save all these people during the years of famine to come.
• Personal Insight:  When things do not go the way  I want them to (all those unanswered prayers...), yes, that is God saying, "Tammy, all these circumstances are not the fault of you or others.  I am delaying because the time is not right."  
• That's right, I should not get mad or disappointed in others or discouraged, mad, sad, depressed with myself when my career does not progress as I had planned and worked so hard to obtain.  God has a plan.
• I also appreciate Moses' faith and his continued verbal support of the children of Israel when they were terrified as Pharaoh and Egyptians gained on them.  Listen to these words:  "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." - Exodus 14:14.
• Beautiful words...especially the first part. "The Lord will fight for you." They had just witnessed all the plagues that God brought upon Pharaoh and his people.
• Hard-to-accomplish words...the last part.  "...you need only be still."  The enemy was coming!
• Personal Insight:  Being still is soooo hard, especially for a hard-headed, very verbal red-head (myself!).  That lesson took me nearly six years to learn!  I really thought I was more intelligent than that, but obviously not.  This year, I am trying to sit still.  I still fail at this, but I am trying.

I encourage you to take this walk also...read your Bible and ask the Lord to speak to you through His own words.  Get ready to listen...the Lord is ready to speak.

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BTW:  Richard Paul Evan's next installment in his The Walk series (The Walk, Miles to Go, and now The Road to Grace) will be released on May 8, 2012.  Awesome series...awesome!    Get started!  You have three months to read the first two novels...you will be blessed!