by | Faith Lived Out
I was so excited to take myself on a date. I’d had an incredibly full week full of training. My brain was full and my mind was ready to focus on absolutely nothing. I was reminded in my training how important self-care is, especially in my line of work. I pour into others constantly, which means my cup can quickly become empty if I’m not careful. So, I’m working hard to remind myself that self-care is not a suggestion, but a requirement.
I did a little Saturday house cleaning, washed the car, payed some bills, then got dressed for my big date. I was going to take myself out to dinner and some shopping, followed by a comedy I’d been looking forward to seeing. I was ready for a laugh.
I settled into the theater seat with my pretzel and cheese and Pepsi and mentally noted I needed to watch a couple of the movies they’d shown in the previews. Side note: I should never mentally note anything. I have no idea what the movies were, but man they looked good.
Show time.
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by | Faith Lived Out
I was going through my morning devotion on the Abide app, which I absolutely love by the way, and we were covering Matthew 22:37-38. The shortened Sundi Jo version – love God with every part of you.
One of the ways I hear from God most is through journaling. I ask questions. I wait for Him to answer. Then I write them down. Sometimes I don’t shut up long enough for Him to give me answers, so I find myself doing more talking. This particular morning I was actually quiet enough to hear Him.
As I was meditating on loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, He brought the five senses to mind: smell, touch, hearing, taste and sight. And with each sense, He gave me a Scripture to match up. Sometimes I’m just amazed at His goodness and how He always shows up at just the right time.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is fourth and final part of a series I’m teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. You can read
Part One here. Read
Part Two here. Read
Part Three here. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
We live in the most fast-paced culture in history. We have everything we need and want at our fingertips and still sometimes it’s not enough. There’s a fast food restaurant I drive by a few times a week that expects their team members to get their drive-thru done in 2:30. That’s from the time the order starts until the time the customer drives off. And they expect the order to be perfect. But what they don’t take into consideration is the traffic. The restaurant is right along the busy highway and you often have to wait to pull out due to traffic. So what happens? Cars get backed up in the drive-thru line, even though their orders have already been fulfilled. However, until they drive over a specific point in the line and the timer resets, the clock is still ticking.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is part three of a series I’ll be teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. You can read
Part One here. Read
Part Two here. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
We can also be ignorant to sins we’ve committed because we simply didn’t know. Perhaps you’re thinking, “But everyone knows right from wrong, so how could we do something and not know it?” The answer is simple. Because we were ignorant to the knowledge.
Known as one of the most influential preachers of all time, Charles Spurgeon translates the word “ignorance” to “inadvertence” in his November 25, 1877 sermon on the sins of ignorance.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is part two of a series I’ll be teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. You can read
Part One here. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
Ignorance isn’t just a lack of knowledge in understanding something. It’s more than that. Ignorance can also be defined as the want of knowledge.
When I first became a Christian, I had no idea spiritual warfare existed. I knew there were “spirits” because I’d watched enough ghost stories to entertain me. I didn’t know then that I’d need to be set free from those open doors in my life. (More on that later.) I believed the devil was real because I’d heard about him on occassion. However, I had no idea just how real he was. I assumed he walked around in red yoga pants with a pitchfork. Beyond knowing there was a battle between good and evil, I truly had no idea just how real that battle was. I was just beginning to drink the spiritual milk Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians.
Though I’ve seen people come to Christ and be radically delivered, I’m not sure that’s the norm when it comes to becoming a Christian. Most of us start out drinking spiritual milk, unlike Paul who was knocked off a donkey and had a pretty radical transformation. But God knew that was just about the only way He was going to change Paul’s heart. Doing an altar call on a Sunday morning just wasn’t going to work for him.
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by | Faith Lived Out, Spiritual Warfare
This is part one of a series I’ll be teaching on the Sin of Ignorance. I hope you’ll join me for the whole series and walk away with the tools necessary to be set free.
Do you remember that old saying, “Ignorance is bliss?” Eighteenth-century poet, Thomas Gray wrote those words in his poem “On a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” right before he finished the last line with “’Tis folly to be wise.’” It is foolish to be wise? Really? Gray wrote the piece using first-person point of view, through the eyes of a former Eton alumni. This former student realized that life gets pretty real after college and he encouraged the current students to focus on the now, have fun, don’t take life too seriously, and remain oblivious to the trials they will face.
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