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Happy Meditation Monday! Today we will focus on Titus 3:4-7.
Joy When a Sinner Repents
“I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” -Jesus (Luke 15:10)
Do you feel lost? Do you feel far from God? Is there anything in your life that is bounding your heart and suffocating your soul? Jesus says to come to Him–rest your burdens, your sin, your guilt on Him. Repent and sin no more. Confess with your mouth that He is Lord. Be baptized so that Jesus’s blood can wash away each of those sins and rise with a new life in Christ, clean and free, a Child of God. Your Heavenly Father will throw a celebration in heaven for you and say, “For this my child was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ (Matthew 11:28-30; Luke 13:5; John 3:5; Matthew 28:18-20; Romans 6:3-4; John 8:36; 1 John 3:9; Hebrews 10:22; Luke 15:24)
For those of us who are are already in Christ, let us not remain bound by anger and resentment when our spouse, children, or friends wrong us. Forgive them, give it to God, and let it go. Let us be quicker to celebrate when they ask for forgiveness than we are to point out their faults. Let us celebrate with God each time someone repents and turns to him. For now they too get to share in all of God’s rich blessings. Stay Free! (Matthew 6:14; Luke 15:11-32, Galatians 5:1)
Failed Pose
As I was practicing functional therapeutic movement this morning, meditating on the Word, my mind wandered to a picture that captured me in a difficult yoga pose. Even though I only held the pose for a few seconds, it looked really amazing frozen in a photo. I thought of posting it to show my yoga progress and to be honest, look impressive. I let that thought go and returned to thinking about the Word.
After I finished my practice, I sat down to read, and the words of Jesus in Luke 14:11 rang true to me about that thought from earlier.
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” – Luke 14:11
I realized that Jesus wants me to shine my light to direct others to Him with my failures as well as my successes. Shining a light on my failures is a humbling and frightening task for this recovering perfectionist. So instead of posting a highlight pic, I decided to recover a deleted “fail” pic and post that instead.
Sharing this picture was a very humbling experience for me. My wife has been able to stand in tree pose for years without any problem. For me, on the other hand, tree pose is hit or miss, depending on the day. Trying to do double tree pose as partners brings in another level of difficulty. Tree pose requires core strength and a lot of balance and. With a partner, it requires all this on top of counterbalancing.
Marriage is very similar to double tree pose in that it is balancing act to keep each other rooted down and standing tall. We all have our strengths and weaknesses; and thankfully, my wife and I balance each other out, most of the time.
On that day (and many others), I didn’t have the balance. My lack of balance required my wife to do more counterbalancing to compensate. A similar thing often happens in marriage–one spouse might have to help hold the other up during difficult situations. When both partners are able to root down on a solid foundation, it is easier to stand firm. When a couple’s faith is rooted in the love of Jesus, they will have the strength to stand tall during hard times.
Even though I was messing up the pose and the pictures, my sweet wife never expressed her frustration with me; she only gave words of encouragement. A marriage characterized by building each other up during trials will come out stronger and closer to God.
Today I want to share my failed pose as a reminder of my humbling experience and my gratitude that I have a wonderful partner in both yoga and life to help me when I struggle.
Meditation Monday: Episode 5 – Romans 8:16-17
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Happy Meditation Monday! Today we will focus on Romans 8:16-17.
Meditation Monday: Episode 4 – Isaiah 9:6-7
Stay Free
Happy Freedom Friday! Its the day where we like to remind ourselves and you that WE ARE FREE!
During this crazy busy season when the world tells you to do more, buy more, and hustle more, we want to remind you that Christ has set you FREE to simply BE in Him. SPEND some time today with the ONE who loves you most, and then let that love bubble up and overflow to your spouse and the world around you!
Embrace freedom friend, it belongs to you if you belong to Him!
God’s Love Is…
God’s love is… (God is love. -1 John 4:8)
First – “We love because He FIRST loved us. “-1 John 4:19
Faithful- “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” -Deuteronomy 7:9
Forever – “Love never ends.” -1 Corinthians 13:8
For You – “for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” -John 16:27
God.Loves.YOU.”For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”-Romans 8:38-39. When we are secure in God’s love, we allow our lights to shine and that love to flow freely in our marriages, families, and friendships.
Meditation Monday: Episode 3 – John 14:27
God Loves You!
It’s Freedom Friday!
“Eve picked the fruit and ate some. And Adam ate some, too. And a terrible lie came into the world. It would never leave. It would live on in every human heart, whispering to every one of God’s children: ‘God doesn’t love me.’ (from Jesus Storybook Bible)
We read this as part of our Advent devotional with our kids last night, and I have to admit that it cut me to my heart. Isn’t this so true? So many of us (even if we don’t say it out loud) feel like this more often than not. It shows up in the not enough, the do mores, the try harders, the move fasters, and the get mores of life.
Here’s the truth, friend. God loves you! He loves you and me and him and her. “You see, no matter what, in spite of everything, God would love his children–with a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.”
God loves you, and He wants to BE with you. He wants you to BE whole, and He wants you to BE ONE integrated BEing that loves Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.
In light of this, God has placed a ministry in our hearts. My husband and I have JUST launched a new ministry that is focused on cultivating wholeness for Christian families. We have seen what the Always and Forever Love of God can do to change people, to change marriages, and to change families. We want to share that with others, with you.
I almost didn’t write this post. The devil was whispering “God doesn’t love you–
you’re not equipped to do this” over and over in my ear. But I AM FREE in Christ, so I’m doing it anyway. I believe God’s TRUTH. Please go and “like” our page so that you can keep up with all the good stuff that God is going to use this ministry to do. We are also on instagram @thebeonelife if that’s more your thing.
I love you all! Happy Freedom Friday! www.facebook.com/thebeonelife
Meditation Monday: Episode 2 – Philippians 4:6-7
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Happy Meditation Monday! Today, let’s focus on Philippians 4:6-7.