FINISH THE RACE

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything, but Happy New Year!! Life is good, and I'm happy to be alive. I apologize for not posting during these last few weeks, but I'm coming out of a 21 day fast, and I stepped away for a while. It was time to recharge, and really listen for God's voice to gain clarity on some things in my life, and I did. This was my first time ACTUALLY fasting and giving up foods that have a special place in my heart for more than a day. I'm a BIG fan, well actually I might be addicted to Qdoba's three cheese vegetarian nachos, along with pizza, and for 21 days, I told myself no in order to get closer to God. I cut out meat (this wasn't hard because I'm a pescetarian), dairy, sweets, bread, fried foods and pasta. Also, I didn't eat until 3 pm each day. Somedays I just ate this homemade organic peanut butter stuff, cashews, fruit, and Oats & Honey KIND bars (these are the bomb.com...see picture). They're gluten free, and are also made with NON-GMO Ingredients. Yay for food that isn't toxic!! You can find them at Kroger.

MMMHHMMM SO GOOD.

 As I reflect during these last few days of this fast, there were a lot of questions that I asked God, along with a lot of things that He showed me. It's so great to be intentional and really make an effort to put aside distractions like social media and tv; open up your bible more, pray more, and sit and listen for God's voice. I got a chance to reflect and ask God to help me get down to root of who I am, along with show me the good, the bad and the ugly that I might not be able to see within myself. 

On the fourth day of my journey, a famous quote popped into my mind after I caved and ate a family sized bag of kettle corn in one sitting...

 "It's not how you start that matters, but how you finish." 

 While I don't believe this applies to everything, I really believe it applies to life. Many people have the idea engraved into their minds that their life is like a 100m dash. If you start poorly in this race, you really don't have time to redeem yourself (unless you're Usain Bolt), and your bad start really weighs heavily on how you finish. 

But life isn't like this at all. Especially when you find Jesus. 

I can laugh at it now, but I felt horrible after I ate that popcorn. Just like we should feel when we sin. But I didn't allow that to trigger more bad behavior. I recognized that I messed up, I repented, and then I finished the journey. I didn't sit there and wallow in the fact that I had made a mistake, but I shifted to what the other 17 days were going to look like. I created goals, and went from there. Yes, you may make mistakes in life, but who doesn't? Get out of the mindset that your life is a 100m dash. We all fall short of God's standard along with the different goals we set for ourselves, but when you mess up, don't lie there and meditate on your mistakes. Get up and finish. If a person trips on the track during a 3200m run on their first lap, they still have 7 more laps to redeem themselves. If they focus on that fall for the rest of the race and allow defeat to creep into their mind, they won't do well. On the other hand, if they focus on getting back up and doing everything they can to recover lost time, they just might do it. So many times we fall down on the track of life and feel defeated. Instead of getting back up, we lie there allowing others to trample over us as they run by. 

 Philippians 4:8 says:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

Notice the scripture doesn't say "if there be any failure, and if there be any mistakes, think on these things," because focusing on our failure will never help us move forward. Once you recognize your slip up, it's important to take action right away. If you've come out of an old habit, or set a goal for yourself, it's necessary to evaluate your behavior and ask yourself if it's pushing you closer to where you want to be. One of my goals for 2014 is to become more disciplined. To get up and do my homework when I have the energy instead of waiting until the last minute when I'm burnt out. Each morning, I do my best to write out a list of goals for myself. Before I go to sleep, I reflect and write down the good things along with the bad. If you don't hold yourself accountable, who will? Goals don't accomplish themselves.

Your mess ups, along with failures, can be a hard thing to deal with, but understand that it's apart of your growing process. Understand that there are people waiting on you to get back up and ask God to help you make a change for the better. No, it won't be instant, and yes, you'll make mistakes, but small steps are better than no steps. Failure is better than not trying at all, and God wants to use all of your mess to help someone else. So when you fall down on this track of life, make sure you don't lie there for too long. Look to God and dwell on the fact that He forgives, and while you may feel unworthy, He still wants to love you with an unconditional love no matter how many times you find yourself coming up short. 

HIDING BEHIND A TITLE

I can’t remember the exact moment that things sparked in my head, and God became really REAL to me, but the journey of a relationship with Him has been life changing. During this past year I’ve grown more into who He's called me to be, and I feel so fulfilled. Life hasn't been all smiles and rainbows through the process, but each part of my life continues to prepare me for the next. If I had to tell you one of the most important things that I’ve learned, it would be that God wants consistency. He wants a REAL authentic relationship with us in which we KNOW Him for ourselves.  Hosea 6:6 says "I want you to show love not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings." 

If I take a look back at my old self, I often said that I loved God, but my actions didn’t prove it. I didn’t spend consistent quality time, nor did I truly know Him for myself. Because of this, my “faith” was just a title. When we tell people that we love them we usually have a strong relationship with them, but when I told God that I loved Him, I'm not sure if my relationship with Him even existed? Did I view God as God, or did I just call on Him in times of desperation? Had I taken the time out to really get to know Him for who He was, or was I just hiding behind a title that had good associated with it? If those of us who say we love God, took our actions from our relationship with Him, and gave that same amount of time, effort and energy to another person in our life, how strong would that relationship be? Would we know much about them? Would they know much about us? Would we even be able to call them a friend, or would we just hear about them from others? It takes a lot more than just talk to build a relationship with God, and if you aren't spending time with Him, how can you expect to know who He is? If you haven't taken the time out to learn His word, and get close to Him, how do you expect to hear His voice? If you aren't feeding your relationship with God, how do you expect it to survive during times of difficulty?

Often times people enter into relationships with the intent to take rather than to give. They expect to enjoy the benefits of a strong relationship without investing anything into it. It doesn't matter how much one person pours into a relationship, if both people aren't making an effort to keep it alive, it will never survive. Many people recognize this as common sense in a natural way, but have never taken the same concept and applied it spiritually. In order to maintain a healthy relationship with God, we have to put in time, effort, and be consistent. We cannot get comfortable with the statement that we love God, and our actions don't follow. We must be intentional in making Him our first priority so that our foundation remains solid. If God is not FIRST in our lives, we'll continue to find ourselves at rock bottom. If we place our trust in people, material things, or anything else that is temporary, we will ALWAYS come up short. Things might seem good at first, but they will eventually fail if God is not our number one priority. 

This time last year, I can look back and remember depending on people for my happiness. There were days that I was down because I allowed people's actions to dictate my feelings. I had gone through a loss of a friendship/unhealthy emotional attachment, and I felt empty on the inside. I had allowed that person to take the place that God was supposed to have in my heart, and I looked to them to feel complete. Instead of God being my God, this person had become my god, and I didn't even realize it. Instead of reading my bible and taking the time to break it down, I would stay up late texting until I fell asleep. I had pushed God to the back of my mind, so that I could make room for the very thing that had pulled me away from Him. One day I was up, and the next I was down, and I think the biggest thing that I was missing out on is that Jesus was/is the ONLY one who can satisfy me. When I built my foundation on people, and they failed me, my steady ground suddenly became an earthquake. Slowly but surely, I found myself at rock bottom. It wasn't until I got on my knees and got honest with God that He turned my life around. It was then that I realized that He wanted something real.

This week, I challenge you to think about your relationship with God. Is it just a title, or are you really striving to know Him? So many people walk around with the label of a Christian on the outside, but are torn apart and broken on the inside. They don't depend on God for all of their needs, and as a result, depression, confusion, addiction, and all of these other things start to take part in their lives. Instead of having a Godly focus, they let the cares of this world overtake them, and as a result, their joy is stolen. They haven't set their minds on things above, and because of this, they become distracted. In order to have a healthy relationship, whether natural or spiritual, you have to put in effort. You have to spend time, communicate, share your likes and dislikes, etc., and it's the same with God. You HAVE TO spend time in prayer. You HAVE TO spend time reading your bible, and not only that, but you HAVE TO process it too. It's not enough just to skim over the pages at the end of your day when you're exhausted (I'm guilty of this), but God wants sincerity. He wants to spend QUALITY time with us, but we have to give it to Him. 

When God sees your effort, especially when you don't "feel" like it, He won't leave you there alone. If you have trouble breaking things down, or find the bible hard to understand, download the bible app and find a version that works for you. Personally, I started with the New Century Version (NCV), and now read from the New International Version (NIV). Make it a goal of yours for the next 21 days to make it a habit to spend time with God daily. Give Him first priority and watch your life start to turn around.