Dashing Dish

I heard this song yesterday and KNEW I had to share it! It touched the very core of my soul as I listened to the words….I pray it does the same for you! You are truly beautiful because you are unique, one of a kind, and were created for a purpose that only YOU can fulfill!  You are so very precious to the Lord!!!

This song was written from the perspective of how the Lord views each one of us. I pray God renews your mind to this truth as you meditate on the words to this beautiful song by Nicole Nordeman.

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” ~ Hebrews 10:36

I’ve been wanting to write this devotional post for quite some time. Although I have to admit, that with us moving it got put on the shelf. However, I know that God has put this message on my heart for someone to hear.

God has really been speaking to me about patience lately. Although I believe it applies to many different areas of my life, one of the most common areas that I believe that impatience gets a lot of people (including myself at times), is in the area weight loss or overall health/fitness goals.

We all know that it takes time to put weight on, and it usually happens so slowly that it seems to ‘creep’ up on people. When people get ‘out of shape’ it doesn’t just happen over night, but is most likely a combination of getting too little activity, and poor food choices over time. The problem arises when this behavior forms into ‘habits’ that we don’t even realize have formed.

“Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. Don’t be afraid; there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood.”~ Isaiah 54:4

I love this verse. It is so personal to me, because I spent so many years living in shame for how I treated my body….Which I now see was nothing more than the enemy trying to keep me in bondage to my past. Whether it was a recent binge he tried to bring me back to…or even something I did weeks, months or even years ago- he would constantly try to accuse me of something!

It wasn’t until I learned that one of satan’s names is actually ‘accuser’ (Revelation 12:10), that I realized what was actually taking place when I felt such horrible feelings of guilt and shame. God showed me that when I would allow these feelings to overwhelm me, I essentially ended up pondering and meditating on my sins. Whenever I would do this, I would find myself in such shame that I wouldn’t even want to spend time with Him. Looking back now, I realize that was EXACTLY what satan wanted!

So much of what the enemy tries to do is keep us hung-up on past mistakes, flaws, or setbacks. If the enemy can keep us in shame then he can keep us focused ourself, instead of what Jesus did for us, and finding out who we are IN Him.. If satan can get us caught up in our shameful ways, than he will fulfill his ultimate plan which is to keep us as feeling as far away from the Lord as possible!

The Dashing 30 Day Devotional was something that was on my heart to write for a long time. It all began one day when I was taking a walk, listening to a Christian book on my iPod. I began to think about how God had used books, sermon series, study guides, and devotionals so many times throughout my life to get me rooted in the truth in certain areas.

Suddenly, and idea came to me…I should write out a 30 day devotional using the truths that God has shown me over the years. As I sat down to write, I suddenly became flooded with a desire to go through my journal entries. These were the very truths that have set me free over the years when God was leading to me to a place of freedom in the area of my weight, my eating habits, and most importantly, my complete surrender to Him. As He began to reveal His higher purpose for me during this time in my life, I began to relinquish control, along with my fears, doubts, and anxieties about my weight.

I believe the Lord had me write the 30 day devotional as a way to bring revelation of His love, His freedom, and His victory that He has provided for each one of His daughters in the area of weight and true beauty!

So, if you haven’t already done so…Be sure to download your copy of the Dashing Dish 30 Day Devotional and get started today!

 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” ~Galatians 5:22-23

My husband and I are currently doing Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, which is an awesome Christian based ‘financial makeover’, that is designed to help you budget your money wisely, pay off debt, and save. His approach is opposite of this world’s system in a lot of ways as far as finances go. In fact, his mantra is, “Live today like no one else, so one day you can live like no one else.” Essentially the program teaches you how to apply spiritual truths relating to money, in addition to practical knowledge and self-control.

Starting this program has sparked a lot of conversation with my husband about how taking care of our finances relates so much to how we take care of the bodies God has entrusted to us.

“Don’t Let You’re Hearts be Troubled, Trust in God & Trust Also In Me.” ~ John 14:1

We see in this scripture that Jesus was telling His disciples that He was going away, yet He was instructing them to not let their hearts be troubled, but rather to trust Him. Notice He told them NOT TO LET THEIR HEARTS BE TROUBLED.

This shows us that we have the choice to let our hearts be troubled. If we decide that we are going to truly trust Jesus, then we have to do so…Period. When troubling thoughts or situations are all around us, we must listen to Jesus’s instructions, and make the decision to stop those troubling thoughts in their tracks! You may be thinking that it’s simply impossible to have peace, because your situation is so devastating. I’ve certainly had times like this, and then God painted a picture for me in His Word that made it much easier to ‘shake off’ that discouragement that was trying to come against me.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t ever tempted to compare myself with others. In fact, I truly believe that this is something we are all must deal with at one point or another. I used to think it was only natural to have thoughts such as, “I wish I had her hair, clothes, body, etc.” However, I have found through the Word of God that there are many verses that warn us not to entertain such thoughts.

The reason being is that God created each one of us for a unique purpose, and to fulfill something that only we could. He also created each one of us to look, act, and be unique! Think about it, He gave each one of us a different type of style, hair texture, skin color, and even body type…(take a moment to look around at all of the hundreds of types of bodies He created, it truly is amazing!) When you step back and realize this, you come to realize there is no point in comparing, because we are all so unique! He created each one of us to be different that way so that each one of our strengths, gifts, and abilities would come together to form a strong and healthy ‘body’, (1 Corinthians 12:12).

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. ~Psalm 55:22

My sister Emily and I were on a walk the other day, and we got to talking about the things God was showing us. Emily had quite the profound revelation from the Lord…In fact, it made such an profound impact on me, that I knew I had to share it with all of you!

During her devotional time, God showed my sister Emily that we often times experience unnecessary anxiety and burdens that we were never meant to carry. He showed her that this occurs when we bring something to God through prayer, but we ultimately end up ‘taking it back’.

Valentines Day is just around the corner!!! A day filled with flowers, cards, romance, and spending time with your special someone. While that is wonderful, especially if you have a ‘special someone’, it often times leaves many people feeling lonely if they don’t have someone to share this day with, or even disappointed if your loved one isn’t exactly the ‘romantic type’.

If that sounds familiar, I’ve got great news for you! The very author of love LOVES YOU, and His name is Jesus!

About a year ago I started journaling while reading my bible. I would simply write down whatever came to mind, or whatever I felt God was showing me and/or teaching that day. It didn’t take long before I was able to see a consistent pattern developing in what God was speaking to me, and it was only through journaling that I was able to capture the beautiful portrait that God was creating in my heart.

The only problem that I found with my journaling was that there was no structure to it. When it comes to spending time with God is perfectly alright in many ways. However, I’m certainly a person that craves organization, and the one thing that I found was that it was very hard for me to find ‘certain’ journal entries when I went back to look for them.

If you’ve been following my Daily Dish posts, you know that I recently started going to a new church that just launched called, New Generations! It’s been amazing so far, and I am really growing in so many areas! One of which is in the area of performing for God. I have really struggled with this in my past, instead of just accepting His unconditional love and grace for me.

That being said, one of the best sermons that I’ve heard so far was my pastor’s teaching on self-feeding. He talked about a specific way of journaling called SOAP. He explained that this type of journaling has radically transformed the way he views spending time with God, and that it made him very excited to see what God was going to show him every day.  After seeing some of the benefits journaling has had in my own life, I was instantly intrigued!