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Meditations from the Hospital Bed - 3

God's Gift of Discipline: For My Spiritual Edification In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives." ~ Hebrews 12:4-6 Spiritual discipline seems to be a long forgotten practice in the evangelical churches of today. Many churches no longer practice church discipline, and in doing so, have invited goats among the sheep [Matthew 25:32-33, 41] to worship the Lord of Hosts, the LORD God Almighty. Naturally, inviting those who are not truly converted disciples of Christ; those who are have not been born again, through repentance and full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, causes us to be guilty of the sin of desecrating our offering of praise to our God if we knowingly bring those we...
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Meditations from the Hospital Bed - 2

God's Gift of Fellowship: Our Church Family Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth...and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what pleases Him. And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another , just as He has commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. ~ 1 John 3:18, 22-24 How can we ever thank God enough for Jesus? How can we ever thank God enough for the fellowship in His Holy Spirit? How can we ever thank God enough for godly husbands, children who walk in truth, brothers and sisters in the Lord who demonstrate every aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? I mean, is it even possible? I don't believe so. God is worthy to be praised, to have His name exalted above all names and He is so exceedingly good to us, I don...
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Meditations from the Hospital Bed - 1

God's Gift of Grace: To Commune with Jesus "let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." ~ Hebrews 10:22 The Lord has been so gracious to me in showing me, that where I am does not define who I am. Since the day of my salvation, I am forever and will only be defined by my relationship with Jesus Christ. The fact that I'm in the hospital and was told last night, "you won't be going home anytime soon" changes nothing about Who resides in my heart and commands my every thought and instills in my heart His every desire. Therefore, I have dedicated this time that I'm in the hospital to write notes to all of you as our merciful Heavenly Father provides me strength and wisdom to share all that He is teaching me during this time. "Communion with God was a great thing; to evangelicals today it is a comparatively small th...
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Live Well Wednesdays - Meekness

Today at "Live Well" Darlene asked a very poignant question: Is Meekness a Weakness? Wow! I can sit on that for a few days! How about you? Darlene also shared some wonderful Scriptures that really pierced my heart, I'd like to share this one: "It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory. A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls." ~ Proverbs 25:27-28 Darlene also shares with us the definition of meekness as opposed to what we often mistakenly take it to be. It reminded me of a time, many years ago when I heard a youth Pastor teach about the Fruit of the Spirit and when he got to gentleness (which is a synonym of the word "meek"), he said, "Most people equate 'gentleness' with a wimp, particularly if you're referring to a man. Or if to a woman or anyone else, it is often misrepresented as 'mousy', 'weak', or even 'stupid'. But the t...
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Live Well - Straining Towards the Goal

I'm taking things a bit slower today and just really rethinking who I am and what matters most. As I was pondering this, I went to go visit my sweet sister, Darlene @ Live Well Wednesdays and was very encouraged! We hit a huge milestone today in our family...our oldest son, Michael just got his driver's permit! We're so excited for him! And we're so proud of the young man of God he's becoming....as so is our youngest son, Kevin! We're blessed beyond measure and we're so grateful to our gracious, merciful and kind Father God for granting us so much joy on this side of Heaven! I'm grateful for every stage of life and choose not to linger in the past, but look expectantly and joyfully to the future: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." ~ Isaiah 43:18-19 Today also ma...
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Live Well Wednesdays - Being Transformed

Today at "Live Well" Darlene encouraged us with the topic of: "Associative Learning" . The first Scripture that comes to mind when I think of that is: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." ~ Romans 12:2 One of the things I try to do is use Scripture to "spur" me "on toward love and good works." ( Hebrews 10:24 ) Which includes taking good care of my body, which truly is NOT my own ( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ), it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. When I remember these verses, I'm not so tempted to fall back into old habits of eating: Getting a "snack" after the kids go to bed Giving myself a "treat" after I feel I've had a hard day Using food to make me feel better when I'm upset with someone or about something Eating, not because I'm hungry, but just because i...
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Live Well - Burning Calories While....

Today at "Live Well Wednesdays" our precious sister Darlene continues to bless us with fabulous, fun and creative ways to lose weight by honoring God first in our lives! I just LOVE that about her! Please be sure to visit her today to read her post as well as others who are participating in "Live Well Wednesdays". Like Darlene, I LOVE to garden! And it is definitely a wonderful way to have some sweet, sweet quiet time with the Lord, as it seems I can hear Him better when I'm in the midst of His beautiful plants and flowers! But as she stated, winters-a-comin' so we gardeners have gotta get goin' out of our gardens and IN some where else to stay fit. Darlene has a fun and creative way to do that....but you'll have to go visit her post to find out what it is! *wink* *wink* For me, well, it may not sound too exciting, but necessary....can I get a drum roll please? It's, it's.......HOUSEWORK!!!! Yes, what you've all been waiting to hear and...
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Live Well Wednesdays - Gaining Christ

Recently I've chosen to start fasting for portions of my day. Actually, I guess, it wasn't really MY idea or choice, but God's. Instead of eating every meal (and adding extra meals along the way), I've chosen to spend more time feasting on God's word rather than food. I wish I was disciplined and spiritually mature enough to decide this for myself, but being only a toddler in Christ, God has graciously stricken me for the past week and I feel sick whenever I eat...especially too much. It's like, he's portioned out my plate for me (like I used to do with my kiddos when they were toddlers). It's really GREAT! I haven't gotten on the scale yet, because I'm sure it's only a little difference, so I will get on the scale when my clothes are feeling much looser! Then when I get on the scale, I can get a really big kick out of what number it lands on! What I love about all this happening is that it's really what Live Well is all about! Focusing o...
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Live Well Wednesdays - Who or What Do You Prefer?

Hello again, dear precious sisters of mine! I'm sorry for getting this out so late, but I've been busy doing what Darlene suggested on her post today. I've had wonderful praise and quiet time, shorter than I'd like, but my time with God is His time with me...and His determination of how long it should be, I'm sure, is far better than mine! Since this is my first post for "Live Well", I'd like to begin with why I love it so much. It's because our sister Darlene has based this wonderful weight loss program on Christ and being fully surrendered to Him first ( Matthew 6:33 ). And I'm so grateful to God for her, because this is what I've always been looking for! I know with this weight loss program, I will not only lose the weight necessary to lead a healthy life, honoring to our gracious Father God, but I will keep it off since it's not founded on me and what I prefer to look like so I can feel better about myself. It's all about Chris...
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