Run Your Race

Last week our Bible study group started the study Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst. It's basically a study about how we give food a place of honor in our lives that is only meant for God. We run to food in times of stress, anxiety, joy, etc instead of running to God. This may not necessarily be true for you but I know that it is true for me! And let's face it, if you are a woman in America, it is probably true for you too, to some degree.

Well, this afternoon I was reading in Hebrews 12 and I really felt like part of what the writer of Hebrew was saying fits into my decision to make healthier food choices and put God first in my life. And as I was reading the notes for Hebrews 12, it lead me to a place in 1 Corinthians 9. These two passages really go together and they really spoke to me today.

 Hebrew 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Run with Endurance

Do Not Quit

Keep My Eyes Focused on Christ

 

Run to get the prize

What is the prize?

The prize is the JOY SET BEFORE ME - it is God's pleasure in me for doing His will.

I will only achieve this prize by keeping my eyes fixed on Christ.

 

I discipline my body to make it my slave -

My body does not discipline me -

I discipline my body.

An undisciplined body (or spirit) cannot run with endurance

 

I set aside the sin that entangles me and prevents me from running well.

I set aside the sin that trips me up so that I can run with Endurance.

 

What trips me up this year may not trip me next year - I need to keep evaluating my race.

 

What is preventing me from running well?

What is preventing me from worshiping God the way I should?

 

What is the race that God has set before you? What is preventing you from running well?

 

Endure, dear friends! We have a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on! And whatever we are facing, it is nothing compared to what Christ went through - Keep your eyes fixed on Him and you Can run your race Well!

 

May God bless you all as you seek to know Him better ~ Shannon

Musical Monday: Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Hillsong United

I LOVE this song!

 

I especially love the line that says 'Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders'. Wow!

 

Would we dare to invite the Spirit to lead us to a place where our trust is without borders?

 

How do I get to a place where my trust in God is so BIG that it literally has No borders?

 

I suppose it only happens by handing over my life to Him (surrender) and placing my trust in Him. Perhaps it is babysteps. I start by saying 'I will increase my financial giving' and then I do it and trust that He will provide for my needs. Perhaps I reach out to people who are different from me without fear, or despite fear. I give up my own life in order to live for His glory. I think it involves sacrifice and leaving my comfort zone. When I continue to only do what is comfortable, then I have no need of a Big trust or a Big God. By remaining in my comfort zone, I am essentially putting my trust in God inside a box and putting a lid on it.

 

I am done putting the lid on what God can do in my life.

 

Yes, today I am asking

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders!

I'm back!

Well, I haven't posted on the blog for a while (almost 2 years! Gasp!) but I'm back now! I spent some time last night reading through the blog and it really blessed me to see how strong my faith was back then. I'm not sure I would say it's that strong today. But God usually speaks to me as I journal or write in conjunction with my Scripture reading. So back to writing it is :)

God has really been doing a work in me lately and I'm excited to have a place to share it. (Like why I packed up my entire closet -ouch!)

If you're still here and reading, drop in and say Hi! I'd love to know your still with me <3 p="">May God bless you all as you seek to know Him better ~Shannon

Sufficiency

It's funny how God will lay a little thing on your heart, a whisper, perhaps and if you are careful to listen, you may just get to watch Him in action as, right before your eyes, He will take that little thing and expand it into something more. This could be an idea that He is growing or a ministry even but as it happened in my case, it was a personal command.

Last week, probably about 10 days ago now, I was sitting in a Tuesday evening Beth Moore Bible study. I don't even remember what it was that Beth was saying on the video, but something sparked me to write at the top of my page "Is God calling me to a season of aloneness with Him?" How could I have know how my life would change from seeking out the answer to that one question. And now that I feel that I have gotten my answer (I will expand on that in a minute), I am looking back, reflecting and wondering, what if I had not listenend? What if I had not been attentive to His whisper? How much time and imtimacy with Him would I have forfeited while He was seeking out other ways to get my attention??

Well, imagine my surprise when a large part of Beth's lesson that night was about our time alone with the Lord and our intimacy with Him out of that time! I really felt like that was confirmation that He was indeed calling me into a season of aloneness with Him. And ever since then, several things have come my way to continue to point me into this time with Him.

So what does a season of aloneness with God really look like? Does it really mean to be alone? Well, first off, He has called me to clean all of the commitments off my schedule, except for one. I feel like He has been saying that my focus is to be on Him and ONLY on Him. Our family has had several trying weeks this winter and honestly, I think that a part of the reason that I am so busy is for the distraction that it provides. But once He started to call me into this season of aloneness, the devil just jumped on it and has given me a desire to be totally alone. Yes, I desire isolation right now, but since God never calls us into isolation, I know that it is not from Him. That is one reason why I am keeping the one commitment - to prevent myself from being isolated.  He has also been laying on my heart the theme of idols. He is revealing to me that my friendships with my closest girlfriends are an idol in my life and that those relationships are coming between me and Him. I feel like yesterday He literally said to me, "When you need advice, you come to me. When you're lonely, you come to me. When you have something that you need to talk about, you come to me. When you're having a bad day and you feel like it's all falling apart, you come to me. Don't you go to your girlfriends. Yes, you call them and you absolutley ask them to pray for you, but don't you share your details with them and you are not to go to them seeking comfort, council or reassurance. You come to me to meet ALL of your needs AND I WILL BE YOUR SUFFICIENCY!!"

As if that wasn't powerful enough, this morning He spoke to me again. I happened to be looking up a verse in Mark. The page was full of paragraphs in black type except for one sentence that was in red and because of that, it caught my eye. It was Mark 6:31 which says "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." WOW! I even felt like He was saying it with my name in front of it, "Shannon, let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest for awhile." I felt like He was saying, "I know your needs Sweetheart, so come over here to be alone with me and I will meet ALL of your needs and you can rest awhile." In the midst of my trials, He is offering to draw me deeper into His arms, meet every need that I have AND give me rest!! How could I NOT go? How could anything else even seem attractive in comparison to that?

So, what season is God calling you into? What has He been whispering to you? Have you been listening? Are you willing to go?

I pray dear friends that He would bless you richly in your time with Him!!

What is your 'Egypt'?

I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. Leviticus 11:45

Over and over again in the Old Testament, God is pointing the Isrealites back to the Exodus out of Egypt. He is continually calling them to remember what He has done for them. As we approach Thanksgiving here in the United States, many people are pausing to reflect on what they are Thaknkful for in their lives. So, I am wondering --

What is it that God has done for you in your past?

What is your 'Egypt'?

What has He redeemed and rescued you from?

Addiction? Stress? Pride? Bitterness? Anger? Depression? Self-centeredness? Feelings of worthlessness? Shame? Guilt? Fear?

God has rescured you from those things to give you FREEDOM and a life of ABUNDANCE! Are you claiming that? Are you living fully in that? In Leviticus 11:45 God tells the Israelites that He brought them out of a life of bondage in order to be their God. He saves us because He desires a relationship with us!! Not because we deserve it but because He loves us! Are you Thankful for that this November? Thankful that you don't have to live in bondage but rather that we can live in His GRACE and His LOVE? YOU are someone of great worth and significance to God!! Please take a few minutes to pause today and reflect on what He has done for you. Please let go of your junk and embrace Him!