Day 5: Seeing Life from God's View

Day five has probably been my favorite day so far!!

First off, it discussed this quote "The way you see your life shapes your life." I could go on and on about the importance of this quote and what it made me realize.

The main two concepts were:
- Life is a test.
- Life is a trust.

God allows you to go through certain things to test you and your faith and most importantly, to help you grow, both in character and your walk with God. LIFE IS A TEST

God has given us so many things as a "trust" in our name that God owns. We are entrusted to take care of very important things on earth, and the way we handle what we trusted with allows God to see how you should be rewarded. Matt 25:21 LIFE IS A TRUST

Questions to Consider were great!! Think about these in your own life:

What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God? What are the greatest matters God has entrusted to me?

CHALLENGE

CHALLENGE: Pray for the opportunity and the boldness to share your faith and email me about your experiences.

Day 4: This World is Not Our Home

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)
Yet God…has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

This life is not all there is… it’s just a preparation for eternity. It’s like preschool before grade school, try-outs before making the team, practice before the big game, a warm-up lap before the race. Get the picture?

This reminded me of what my roommate in college, Jen, use to always remind me when we had hard days or felt discouraged…

“The world is not our home.”

Day four discusses that very idea. That this time on earth is such an insignificant time in our lives when you look at the whole picture of our purpose.

“The closer you live to God, the smaller the worldly things appear.”

“When you live in light of eternity, your values change.”

I love those two quotes from our Bible study because it puts my mind on what my real perspective, as a Christian, should be.

The question to ponder on was this: Since I was made to last forever, what is one thing I should stop doing and what is one thing I should start doing?

My biggest change that I should start doing is boldly sharing my faith without worrying about who I might offend or annoy. I want people to know the Way, the Truth and the Life. I want others to have an eternity in Heaven and have all the blessings I have opened my eyes to seeing in my own life.

Hebrews 13:14 (LB)

”This world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in Heaven.”

Day 3: What Drives Your Life?

"Day 3: What drives your life?" was really good. Honestly, it wasn't one that really made me think more deeply about my life, but it was more factual and informative.

People are driven by the following:
- Guilt
- Resentment/Anger
- Fear
- Materalism
- Need for Approval

Knowing your purpose gives:
- Meaning to your life
- Simplifies your life
- Focuses your life
- Motivates your life
- Prepares you for eternity

This was neat to read because I could think of people I know that are controlled by one of those five drives and the description of their lifestyles were dead-on.

Although I can't say I know my purpose completely, I definitely feel the desire to have what purpose gives. One thing I liked was the 'simplified life'.

I love what Dr. Laura always says to stressed moms... "Stop taking them to their friend's houses, baseball games, etc. Stay home and have a family night. I have not had one person come to me for counseling that said, 'My life was terrible because my parents made me stay home and spend time with them'. Doing things for your kids is great, but when your life becomes so busy with things that aren't as important as your family, in this instance, that is when simplifing your life is important. Being the best mom you can be (without the stress) is more important than a kids' baseball game.

This past year has been a great time where I've simplified my life. I have stopped worrying about people who don't bring me up and focus on the true friends that have. In the instance of our Bible study, Nathaniel and I are trying to turn off our television to stop wasting time and to make time for what's really important - our time with God.

I would say that brings up the topic that purpose gives us FOCUS.

I love the verse Ephesians 5:17.
"Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants."

I want my focus to always be trying to understand what God wants from me.

At the end of this chapter, Rick Warren presented two crucial questions God will ask you on judgment day.

Question One: What did you do with my son, Jesus Christ? God won't ask about your religious background or doctrinal views. (I love that!) The one thing that will matter is, did you accept what Jesus did for you (dying on the cross to give us salvation) and did you learn to love and trust him?

Question Two: What did you do with what I gave you? What did you do with your life - all the gifts, talents, opportunities, energy, relationships, and resources God gave you? Did you spend them on yourself or did you use them for the purposes God made for you?

What would your friends and family say is your 'driving force' and what do you want them to say?

Day 2: A Couple of Show-Offs

Our reading last night was “Day 2: You are not an Accident”. It had some good stuff in it and I will share two things:

FIRST:
“God prescribed every single detail of your body (Thanks for those love handles, Lord!). He custom-made your body just the way he wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality.”

SECOND:
God’s motive for creating you and me was His Love.

Ephesians 1:4a (Msg)
“Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love…”

The question to ponder on was this: Out of everything God created you to be, what personality trait, background, or appearance do you still struggle to accept?

If anyone knows Nathaniel, you know that he is a musical genius. He can simply pick up any instrument and immediately sound like he’s been playing it for years. And he can create the most beautiful songs you have ever heard in literally minutes. But the one thing he struggles to accept is that God did not create him to sing.

In my case, I love clothes and fashion. Not obsessively like Nathaniel loves music, but I have fun with it just the same. But I have long ago had to accept the fact that I wasn’t built like those tall, skinny models (or my beautiful best friend, Britt!) who, at least in pictures, look great in everything they put on. When I go shopping, I have to stop and think, “Does this make me look short and stubby? Does this bring out my good qualities or the ones I prefer to hide?” Come on, ladies, you all know what I’m talking about!

Nathaniel and I decided the reason God didn’t provide us what we wish we had was because we are a pair of SHOW-OFFS!

After Nathaniel and I talked about those two issues, we decided if Nathaniel had the gift of singing, he would be a rock star by now who only depended on himself (and I think he would have probably found one of those models I was referring to back in the paragraph above and have married her at the age of 19). :) We decided if God had made me tall and super skinny, I would probably not dress as modestly as I do, and I would have moved to California and permanently worn bikinis every day of my life.

We laughed a lot about how different our lives would have been, but in all seriousness, if Nathaniel and I had these “gifts” we both think we want, our lives would be completely different. I know Nate and I compliment each other perfectly, and it’s crazy to think that because of those two minor things, we could have easily not been each others ‘type’ or ever had the chance to look in each others’ direction.

So here is what I learned:

It’s incredible to realize God’s perfect plan for us is so detailed... right down to our vocal chords and height/weight. Reading this really made me thankful I am how I am.

I hope you can see those ‘flaws’ that you see in your own lives and realize they are actually blessings.

And just for fun, here are two pictures of Nathaniel and me doing the things we love. ENJOY! :)

What a pair!!

Day 1: It all starts with God

I have an older sister named Stacy (pictured to your right). Growing up, we sure knew how to fight! Stacy and I were great at fighting because we knew how to push each other’s 'hot buttons'. We would push and push those buttons until one of us would blow up and look really bad in front of our mom! Haha. (I’m sorry to say, I was usually the one with the short fuse.) But my ‘hot button’ was always my dear sister calling me ‘selfish’. I could go on and on about why I hated being called that particular word, but I will spare you the whiney details. (You can thank me later!)

But I will tell you the first sentence in Nathaniel and my new Bible study The Purpose Drive Life was “It’s not about you.”

Not again.

It’s not about me? My purpose is not about me? What?!

So I read on.

“It’s far greater than your family, your career or even your wildest dreams and ambitions (Uh, do I ever consider things outside these three categories? Rarely!). If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.”

Colossians 1:16 (Msg)
“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible… everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.”

Here is an analogy the book used: If you were given a new invention without talking with the creator or reading the owner’s manual, you wouldn’t know what the invention was for.

That made me think how much time and effort a creator has to put into his creation.

For example, I love to read. But when I read a book, I never think, “Man, this author sure does love me.” Now that I am writing my own book, however, I think so often about the teen girls I hope to bless through my writing. And honestly, I've come to love my readers already because of the time I have invested in them through my book.

That made me realize there is a lot of purpose going into my Creator since He worked so hard to create me. And I want to live for His purpose and not my own.

1 Corinthians 2:7 (Msg)
“God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.”

Ephesians 1:11 (Msg)
“It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.”


Okay, okay. It’s not about me. (I got it, Stacy!) :)

2 Chronicles 7:14

Saturday night, I started reading this new book I checked out from the library. My favorite author, Robin Jones Gunn, writes "Sisterchick" books about women in their 40's and 50's who go on some kind of trip together and bond through wild adventures and great times with God. Well, after reading the first chapter on "Sisterchicks in Gondillas", I started thinking about how I don’t want to wake up when I’m 45-50 and wonder if I’m doing what God called me to do or if He has a bigger plan for me. I want to walk in that plan now!!

So Nathaniel, being the wonderful husband and partner that he is, came in and talked with me about the kind of things that keep us from being our best for God. We decided one major change we could make was to stop praying “Lord, help me do this or help me do that...” but pray more things like, “Lord, direct people to come into my life who I can benefit and share your love with. Guide me to do your will.” etc. It was a real time of spiritual bonding for Nathaniel and me… and then Sunday’s sermon confirmed everything we talked about. The sermon was about this verse:

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Pastor Garcia talked about the specifics in the verse - what it means to “humble ourselves”, “pray”, “seek God’s face” and “turn from our wicked ways”. The part about prayer was exactly what we discussed the night before – about praying for God’s will in our lives and that our lives would be meaningful to Christ. It was one of those sermons where Nathaniel would squeeze my hand as if to say, "we just talked about that" or "God is really up to something, isn't He?" :)

Well, while sitting in church, I had a genius idea. I planned to get up early, make breakfast and then Nathaniel and I could start the mornings with a little prayer time… but then I remembered turkey season started this morning, so my idea will just have to wait!

But for now, I am thankful that God teaches us the importance of praying HIS WILL and not our own... and for speaking to our hearts at home when we are alone and at church when we are surrounded by believers. God is good!