Summer is quickly approaching and with it comes the carefree desires to trade in my ankle booties for a pair of sassy sandals, to untie my tennies and replace them with flip flops, and even to run barefoot through the soft green grass or the ocean sands!

Summer brings more sunlight, longer daylight hours, and greater opportunity to be outdoors. However, it can also bring discouragement as we realize our well meaning goals or “New Year’s Resolutions” we made, we have not achieved. 

I believe that with each new season God offers us a fresh opportunity to set our minds on Him and step forward with renewed strength and commitment.

So I am introducing a Seasonal Challenge to form Healthy Habits, ‘Summer Steps to Daily Disciplines.’

We committed last week to ‘Changing Our Lives By The Disciplines Of Our Day’ because taking it one day at a time is the way to create a habit!  

We began by remembering that,

“Healthy Habits Form When I Commit Each Day To Prayer And Doing What Is Right In The Eyes Of God!”

I started my First Healthy Habit and committed to following through on it for 7 days, all week long.

My first Healthy Habit was:

#1) Prayer and Acknowledgement Of My Need For God Today!

I was successful at praying these words to God each day last week, but I have to admit that there were a couple of days where I found myself saying them as I crawled into bed instead of when I was getting out of bed that morning!

Creating Healthy Habits takes commitment but it also takes staying power. This is more commonly known as PERSEVERANCE! That is why I have made the commitment to PERSEVERE through the Summer and take the Steps needed to form healthy habits and change my life by the disciplines of my day! AKA: SUMMER STEPS TO DAILY DISCIPLINE!

To quote the words from one of my favorite oldie but goodie worship songs by Stephen Curtis Chapman…”I’m diving in, I’m going deep, in over my head I want to be. Caught in the flood, lost in the flow, in over my head I want to go. The Rivers deep, the Rivers wide, the Rivers water is alive, SO SINK OR SWIM I’M DIVING IN!”

Will you dive in with me as we make this a Summer to Remember?

 A Summer when we PERSEVERED even when it got difficult. When we stayed the course even when we vered to the left or to the right and had to straighten ourselves out again. When we trusted God over all the other voices in our lives and formed Healthy Habits and made our spiritual lives stronger!

Afterall, the River we are jumping into is ALIVE! Jesus is our living water and He will fill us up, quench our thirst, and sustain us as we go!

TRUTH BOMB

JESUS IS THE LIVING WATER THAT WILL SUSTAIN, REFRESH AND QUENCH ANY THIRST WE HAVE!

My second healthy habit,

#2) READING GOD’S WORD!

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling THE WORD OF TRUTH(AKA: The Bible!)!”  2 Timothy 2:15

Reading the Bible every day can be intimidating, but it does not have to be. We can be in God’s Word every single day if we just begin one step at a time!

Choose a book of the Bible that you have been meaning to study or that you have always been interested in. Whisper a prayer and ask God to direct you to the book.

If reading is a challenge for you, select a Bible app and listen as the word of God is read to you!

Regardless of how you do it, putting God’s Truth into your head and heart every single day will change your life!

What is God telling you to implement as your next Daily Discipline? 

I would love for you to share it with me in the comments! I pray we can encourage each other along this journey through the Summer to grow closer to God as we form Healthy Daily Disciplines!

I’m Jumping In!

I hope you will too!

Speak Truth Love

“One Day At A Time,” wasn’t that the name of an old T.V. sitcom?  I can hear the theme song playing in my head as I write this. Isn’t it interesting how things stick with us?

I can recall songs to my favorite cartoons I watched as a kid. I can sing ‘Little Red Caboose,’ as clearly as I could sitting cross legged on my kindergarten rug at school all those years ago. Why? Because my Kindergarten teacher understood the principle of repetition. The practice of doing something over and over and over again until it becomes ingrained in us. 

I was reminded this weekend by my favorite pastor, just how important daily habits are! They form us, they shape us, and they set our emotional tone!

Think about it…

When you get up with an agenda and you complete it, what is your emotional state of mind? Do you feel satisfied, confident, successful, and more sure of yourself?  

Now think about it in reverse…

If you get up with an agenda and do not complete it, what is your emotional state of mind? Do you feel discouraged, frustrated, overwhelmed, and maybe even a bit depressed?

Considering what a beating our emotional health takes on a daily basis as we are bombarded with both the knowns and the unknowns, I believe it would be wise for us to begin forming healthy habits to maintain and sustain our emotional health and well being.  I also firmly believe that the only habits worth forming are those connected to our spiritual health and well being. 

So here goes! As spring seems to quickly be coming to an end, and summer is approaching, I am challenging myself to begin healthy daily habits that will strengthen my emotional health and build an even stronger spiritual health in me.

I can glance down the aisle at the supermarket and see 12 magazines promising “A New Me,” in 28 days.  I can scroll down my social media and pass Ad after Ad for 30 days to change my life for the better. I can walk down the self-help aisle at the bookstore or scroll down my computer screen on Amazon books and find numerous ways to improve myself.

IT IS OVERWHELMING!

Simply trying to “improve myself,” can become the outward bombardment that leads to that emotional failure I spoke about initially!

SO WHAT IS A GIRL TO DO?

She has to look to the only source that is constant and TRUE. She has to realize it is a spiritual habit in her life that will lead to the emotional health she desires. She has to look to God and His Word of Truth!

“For the eyes of The Lord watch over those who do right, and His ears are open to their prayer.”  
  I Peter 3:12a

 Truth Bomb

Healthy habits form when I commit each day to prayer and doing what is right in the eyes of God!

Where does a girl or guy start when they are seeking emotional health? They look to the Lord, do what is RIGHT and PRAY!

Research has shown that a habit is formed by repeating it over and over and over again. 

I am challenging myself to take on a healthy spiritual daily habit one week at a time, repeat it for seven days in a row and be held accountable by all of you!

I will state my “HEALTHY HABIT,” here each week on my blog, repeat it for 7 days and then share with all of you how my 7 days went the following Tuesday.

I am praying that with accountability, repetition, and strength from the Lord that I will have strong healthy habits in my life at the end of the Summer.

Are you ready to “jump into the deep end of the pool with me?” You knew I had to have a Summer joke in here somewhere!

MY FIRST HEALTHY DAILY HABIT

 #1) PRAYER AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF MY NEED FOR GOD TODAY!

BEFORE MY FEET EVEN HIT THE GROUND GETTING UP IN THE MORNING, I WILL ASK GOD TO BE MY SOURCE ALL DAY LONG!

As my feet hit the ground I will say to God, “This is the Day The Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!” (That is a daily healthy Habit my grandma taught me!)

Friends, nothing is “EASY,” in this life! We are thrown curve balls around every corner. We are, like I said above, bombarded by this world inside and out on a continuous basis. The only way to keep our heads held up is to look up!

We must look up to Jesus and form those healthy habits that will keep us walking with Him, not just when we are desperate, but on the DAILY!

I look forward to a SUMMER OF BUILDING THOSE HEALTHY HABITS ALONGSIDE YOU!

Will you take the plunge with me? Haha, there’s another one! Can’t promise it will be the last. But I do promise to be here for you each week as we commit to FORMING HEALTHY HABITS!

Speak Truth Love

Week 4, 23rd Psalm

Who says, when asked what animal they would like to be or see themselves as, “I want to be a sheep.”  I am not sure anyone, ever on the planet has had that response?

“I want to be a Lion!”

“I want to be a Tiger!”

“I want to be a Leopard!”

“I want to be a Bear!”

Some may even declare, “I want to be an Elephant or a Gorilla.” 

However I doubt most of us would say, “I want to be a sheep!”

We may even stretch our imaginations far enough and want to be a cuddly, soft little lamb, but not a SHEEP!

Sheep are vulnerable, they need care and they are prone to stray. These are not the top 10 characteristics of ourselves that we would love to share, post or brag about.

The TRUTH is, they are however, the traits that we possess. 

How can I say that with confidence? Because the One who knows us best, inside and out, down to our innermost parts, says it!

“All of us are like sheep who have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way…”    

Isaiah 53:6

And when we do wander, forget our way, and get lost, what do we tend to do? Just like David the shepherd, we cry out to our Good Shepherd to come rescue us!

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments.”   Psalm 119:176

God knows us better than anyone. God knows us inside and out. He created us and he knows our tendencies. When we are hurting, when we are sad, when we are frightened, when we are confused and frustrated and do not know which way to turn, we are like sheep! God knew that what we needed was a GOOD SHEPHERD! And because He loves us so much, HE GAVE US ONE!

JESUS IS OUR GOOD SHEPHERD BECAUSE AND WE ARE HIS SHEEP!

There is no place for guilt in this! There is no place for shame in this! God did not tell us to be a lion, or a bear, or an elephant, or an alligator. God knows that we are sheep! And that is not a put down, it should give us comfort in knowing and understanding how God understands us!

And because He understands us and knows us like none other, He sent us not just a shepherd, but THE GOOD SHEPHERD!

Think about it?

What is your tendency when life gets tough? When it throws you for a loop or knocks you off your feet. Or even sometimes, flat on your back!

My go to is to become a lion! I don’t even think about it, it is just my natural tendency. I have done too many personality tests to count. And regardless of the labeling… Numbers, letters, or even animals, I come out as a lion!

Before you go into a thought process that this is in anyway bragging or a strength, it is not! Doubt it? Let me show you!

I have shared with you before that I am currently facing one of, if not the hardest life challenges I have ever faced. My mom has Alzheimer’s and grieving the loss of her through it and finding the best care for her has been nothing less than excruciating. My tendency to be the lion, to protect and rescue all those I love has landed me not just off my feet but flat on my face before our Good Shepherd! 

Being the lion has brought feelings of failure, guilt and letting down those I love most of all. Only when I realized that I truly am a sheep and that I can cast my cares on my Good Shepherd, did I realize that only He can care for me and the other sheep that I love desperately!

He is our Good Shepherd! 

I am valuable to the Good Shepherd! He sees me as worthy, so worthy that he will leave the ninety-nine to come after me! 

Friends, there is nothing too horrible that we can do, and nothing too awful that we’ve done to keep the Good Shepherd from coming after us!

He will search high and low to find us. His desire is to bring us back to a place of security and safety! 

The question is, do we want to be found?

Are you willing to be vulnerable enough to be a sheep? 

Ask yourself that question and then pause for a moment. 

Listen to your hearts answer. 

Until we are vulnerable enough to be a sheep, we will not experience all that the Lord, the Good Shepherd, can be for us and wants to be for us!

Read 1 Peter 5:7

“Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you.”

TRUTH BOMB

WHETHER YOU SEE YOURSELF AS A LION, TIGER OR BEAR, THE TRUTH IS WE ARE ALL SHEEP WHO NEED TO CAST OUR CARES ON OUR GOOD SHEPHERD!

We then need to act on 1 Peter and do what it says!

Number One: BELIEVE WHAT IT SAYS!

He cares for you!-Believe it!

He cares for you as an individual, not just part of a flock or group! -Believe it!

Number Two: DO WHAT IT SAYS!

If you are still trying to be the lion, the one that can handle it all, then you have not learned to be a sheep, trust the Good Shepherd, and give Him your cares! 

Believe me, it takes practice. It is natural for us to want to be strong and take care of ourselves and others! But we must first humble ourselves and be like sheep. Realizing, that it is God‘s strength that makes us strong! He will make us lions when we need to be lions.

It does take practice. We can practice taking one care at a time and giving it to our Good Shepherd! See what He will do with it. You will be amazed!

Number Three: Pray It!

Speak it out loud or write it out! Send a prayer to your Good Shepherd speaking it out loud or writing it out. Ask Him to show you how He cares for you!

My friends, it is good to be a sheep, because we have a GOOD GOOD SHEPHERD!

He knows our needs, wants, desires, strengths and weaknesses, and He cares for us!

Speak Truth Love

Understanding the Character of a Shepherd: The 23rd Psalm , Week 3

It is so easy to say, “I just don’t relate to him/her, they are just different than I am.”

Or, “I have never been a…I can not relate to them.”
Or even, “I just don’t understand where that person is coming from, that is not my personality.” 

I may have this issue in my life making it difficult to truly understand and relate to others. You may have this issue as well.

Jesus however, does not have this problem. He never struggles to understand a personality, quirk, flaw, strength, weakness or character! 

He is our Good Shepherd and He relates to every part of our character.

The Good Shepherd that David is writing about here in the 23rd Psalm is something that he clearly understands himself. David had been a Shepherd. He had stayed out watching over his sheep through the long nights, cold weather, and scorching heat. He had killed a lion and a bear to protect his sheep. David protected his sheep even at the risk of his own life! 

David knew what it took to be a “good Shepherd.” David got up early to open up the sheep pen and led the flock out from the fold, even when he would have preferred to sleep in. He put their best interest first as he led them past the not so great grass, to the lush green pastures where they could eat their fill. He spent all day watching over them, regardless of the weather or surroundings instead of reading a book, taking a nap or scrolling up and down on his social media. His eyes would have been intently focused on his sheep to ensure that no sheep wandered off and that each sheep was safe and secure!

Then through the pouring rain or the blistering sun, he would lead his sheep to water. And interestingly, he would lead them to “still waters!” Sound familiar?

Every good Shepherd knows that sheep will not drink from waters that move too fast!

GOD IS SO AMAZING, isn’t He?

Friends, this shouts loudly to us that Jesus, as our Good Shepherd, knows exactly what we need and He leads us to it, if we follow Him!

Just like the sheep must follow the shepherd to still waters to get a needed drink of fresh water, so too must we as God’s sheep, follow Him where He leads us! We must trust our Good Shepherd, as the sheep trust their good shepherd, to lead us to what is good for us.

Too much of the time we waste time and energy fighting for our own way, when that only leads to rancid waters that distract, discourage and disappoint! 

JESUS, our Good Shepherd is beckoning us to follow Him. He will lead us to good places.

TRUTH BOMB

Following our Good Shepherd will always refresh, replenish and restore!

At night, when the sheep are fully fed and hydrated, the shepherd leads his sheep safely home. He carefully counts each one and makes sure they are safe and sound back in the sheepfold. 

Psalm 23:2-3

“He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul.”

As you read the comforting words of Psalm 23 today, remind yourself that you are reading the words about a shepherd, written by a shepherd.

HE GETS IT!

He knows what it takes to be a GOOD SHEPHERD!

I love the passage in John 10:1-15 that makes it crystal clear that Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

Read John 10:1-15 out loud this week along with reading Psalm 23. Let the TRUTH of it sink into your heart and soul!

YOU ARE KNOWN AND LOVED BY THE GOOD SHEPHERD HIMSELF, JESUS!

“….The sheep hear His voice and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes before them, and the sheep FOLLOW Him for they know His voice.”

“I Am The Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

John 10:3,4 and 11

The Good Shepherd names us, leads us, protects us, knows us and above all, gives His life for us!

Friends, we are the sheep of the Good Shepherd, Jesus! Jesus loves us like none other! He leads you, provides for you, protects you, and ultimately gives His life for you!

Rest and be comforted in this incredible truth today my friend.

Speak Truth Love