Now That You Know...

As I was reading this morning, I came to verse I can honestly say I had never seen before or at least it had not registered with me in the way that it did this morning...

The context is the upper room -the night Jesus was betrayed - he has just taken off his robe and given the disciples an object lesson on servanthood by washing their feet... at the tail end He inserts this simple thought:

" Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them." ~ John 13:17

Jesus is very plainly laying it out for them...blessing comes in doing what we "KNOW" is true and right before the Lord...

How many times do we say, "I know I should, but....(fill in your blank here)"

The simple response to "I know I should..." is DO IT! If you know you should (and I am speaking most loudly to myself) then DO what you know you should!

The "doing"(being obedient) is what activates the "blessings" according to Jesus...and I believe it!

What was in that "blank"___________ -now- go DO IT and be blessed in your obedience!

Who He Is...Encouragement for the Day!

" The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness, His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, ' The Lord is my inheritance, therefore, I will hope in Him!' The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him...

...I called your name, Lord, from deep within the pit. You heard me when I cried, ' Listen to my pleading! Hear my cry for help!' Yes, you came when I called; you told me, 'Do not fear.' Lord, you are my lawyer! Plead my case! For you have redeemed my life."

~ Lamentations 3:22-25 & 55-58

He is absolutely faithful and loves us with a love we have no way of comprehending this side of heaven but, he is true to it no matter what! He will never leave us nor forsake us and he delights in showing us his power and glory and strength on our behalf! Lift your hands and let him dig you out this morning...come into the light -feel his glow on your face and know -without question that you are SOUGHT AFTER!

Educate!

I have been reading a book entitled, "What the Bible Says about Healthy Living." by Rex Russell, MD...excellent read!

It, in concert with Jordan Rubin's "The Maker's Diet" and "Maximized Living Nutrition Plans", has revolutionized my health and nutrition world view and I am more convinced now than ever that if we are to obtain complete wellness and the fullness of the abundant life that the Father promises we have to own our health and choices and EDUCATE OURSELVES (the scripture says, in Hosea 4:6, that we perish for lack of knowledge). From that, we must take action to align our choices - in as much as we have the control- with what the Word says about health, wellness, and nutrition.

These I have mentioned are excellent resources to accomplish this task and they go a step beyond to help us implement the new way we are learning.

The call is to step up, step out and get moving!

Are You Masquerading?

Do you ever wonder how someone can claim to be a believer but, then live a life consistently contrary to what they profess? In essence, masquerading...(whether consciously or not)

The scriptures speak to the root of that behavior. It is a hard word but, relevant and very much applicable to each of us.

Basic deception and unbelief are at the center and a lack of true, heart revelation - the understanding which leads to a life full of righteousness that is evidenced through, not just words, but life and deed...

It is not uncommon in the day and age in which we live to see this pattern of behavior (both in and out of the church) that the scripture addresses... does any of this sound familiar:

"People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power..." ~ Timothy 3:2-5

It is easy to see how the people described in the first part of the verse would set themselves up as separate from God but, the part that got me in this verse was the "having a form of godliness but denying its power" what is that talking about and more importantly whom?

I believe this one phrase is suggesting to us that there are those who claim to know God -have a form of piety/religiousness- but, are not walking in such a way that His power is truly being accessed or displayed in and through their lives -they are making a lot of noise but, true Holy Spirit life is not present within them. They in essentially fulfill what the scripture was speaking of in the following verse:

“‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."~ Matthew 15:8

and again when Paul says,

" Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live." ~Titus 1:15-16a

The minds and hearts of such people are corrupt and full of unbelief. Their eyes have been blinded and are veiled from the truth -they are deceived!

I believe Father God is truly saddened by this reality. He longs that all would come into right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and He desires that none would perish!

The dark reality is that there are those who will chose to remain in their sin and spend eternity apart from God... and even more disheartening is the fact that some of those will be ones who have had knowledge of Him - even called themselves believers - but never truly pursued Him with their whole hearts!

The question is:

Are you masquerading?

It's time to take action and humbly examine our hearts to see if there is any wicked way in us and cry out to the Father in repentance lest we be one of those of whom he speaks these things!

Father would you come in your kindness and turn our hearts towards you -that we could be made right in our thinking and pursuit of you - that we would know the depths and heights of your love and passion for us and truly experience you in our lives in a real and impacting way.

Forever Changed! AMEN!

It's Not About "Me"...

"If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God." ~ Oswald Chambers

Have you ever noticed the real truth in this statement!

If my goals and motives-what's driving me - is "me" consumed, the anxiety level at which I operate is through the roof...a frazzled mess! A proverbial gun half cocked and any little goal blocked can set off a tornado of putridness (Anybody with me?!?!)

We were not created to be "me" centered but, others and God centered. So, when we concentrate solely or "soul-ly" on self, we completely miss our God-given purpose and the end product of that is chaos, complication and a frenzied panic in our minds, bodies and spirits (James 3:16)...not good!

Maybe this is why Paul admonishes us over and over to consider others better than ourselves, to carry each others burdens and to build each other up in what we do and say (Phil. 2:3-4; Eph. 4:29; Gal. 6:2; Heb. 13:16; 1 Ptr. 4:10).

When we do this, we begin to live in Father God's full purpose and potential and in that dwells the simple, calm, relaxed pace Oswald was talking about... and believe me, people recognize and appreciate the difference!

Not only that...when we align ourselves with God's purpose and intention for our lives, we become effective hands and feet for His Kingdom work on this planet and He runs with it! The end result is calmness of Spirit (Prov. 29:11) that sets us apart and makes us a magnetic force -people are drawn to us and want to know "What makes us so different?"

The perfect place -I think!

Psalm 145...

I have been reflecting on the goodness of the Lord in my life...he is always good and everything he does is good but, it has been especially evident in my family's life in the last 11 months and just completely lavish in the last month. The Father's love for me is irrefutable, his care of his children undeniable and his absolute attention to keeping his promises indisputable!

The fabulous thing about it is that I'm not the only one... if you are his then all of this is available to you!

Today I was reminded by a friend of this Psalm so I thought I'd share it with you...blessings!

A psalm of praise. Of David.

¹ I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.

³ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
⁴ One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
⁵ They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.^[b]
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
⁷ They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

⁸ The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.

⁹ The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
¹⁰ All your works praise you, LORD;
your faithful people extol you.
¹¹ They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
¹² so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.

The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.^[c]
14 The LORD upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
¹⁶ You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

¹⁷ The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
¹⁸ The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
²⁰ The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.

I pray that His love for you is magnified in tangible ways that you cannot deny in the coming days and weeks. He is truly our Jehovah-Jireh!

My New Found Way of Life...16 Months in the Making & BEYOND!

My journey into complete health and total wellness began just over 16 months ago. My husband was involved in an auto accident and came to a Chiropractic Clinic for pain. It was with great scepticism and little enthusiasm, I attended the first patient/spouse orientation night -we almost left! But by the end of that meeting, the Spirit said for such a time as this, pay attention -this is what you need to do! For months previous to this point and time, I had been diagnosed with colitis and was experiencing constant upper and lower back pain, as well as several abdominal pain episodes that the doctors had no explanation for. The pain in my lower back was so excruciating that I could not sit for longer than 30-40 minute intervals without having to stand up. Along with that, I was 5’2” and weighed almost 180 lbs. - I was not a healthy person! My family had come through the worst year of sickness ever...countless doctor visits and rounds of antibiotics -the standard way that most folks pursue relief from symptoms and what we would call “health care”- not realizing then that our veiled eyes were soon to be opened to the truth. That very night, my husband and I signed the remaining 4 of us up for initial evaluations for spinal health and our adventure into this new world of true health and healing began.

Very quickly, we knew we had made the right choice! We were all in and I began pursuing a new road...NUTRITION

I am a cajun girl -born and bred and if you know anything about the cajun culture -you know that it’s food is the center piece of it’s way of life and my family was no exception! Needless to say the thought of organic foods and alternative flours weren’t even on my radar and to be honest the thought terrified me!

Determined to be successful, I began diligently and persistently learning what healthy nutrition looked like and how amazing it could taste, too! I replaced all of the old tools in my proverbial toolbox with all the new healthful ones and begin to create - I love to cook as much as I love to eat so, I knew my families success depended on being able to turn out fabulous food that was yummy and good for us! With a strong dose of encouragement from my husband, children and new friends, I took the plunge and began creating amazing food - so much so, that I was constantly wowed and floored as to why this wasn’t the mainstream way of doing things...if folks just knew how delicious healthy food really is and that in reality we weren’t giving up anything we loved just making it in a healthful way and that in doing so we were reprogramming our bodies to function how God intended for them to function- fighting disease, sickness and producing health and wellness without sacrificing taste, flavor and satisfaction...

This thought consumed me and sparked a revolution! It has become my mission - to educate and train others in how to feed their families healthfully! If this cajun girl can do it -anyone can!

Today we are the healthiest we have ever been and it is only going to get better from here! Our bodies are being retrained to function how God intended them to function. Through chiropractic corrective and wellness care, healthy nutrition, eliminating toxins and exercise as well as the continual process of renewing our minds we have revolutionized our life and impacted our family tree for generations to come! Through this journey and as a result of these things working in concert with each other...I have personally lost over 50 lbs and no longer have any pain or colitis. I feel great! I have also seen an amazing difference in how our bodies respond to potential sickness - because we are freeing it to function how God intended it to-we are rarely sick and when we do experience symptoms our bodies fight, restore and recover much more quickly than ever before. This has truly changed our life dynamic forever and we are so thankful for it! We plan to be cruising at 89 and 100...

Look for recipes, tips and meal planning options to come in the near future...You can revolutionize your families way of life and health too!

Go to www.owltreenutrition.blogspot.com OR check out my "Links of Interest" to continue to follow my health and nutrition journey as well as find recipes and links to nutrition and other health information.

Health, Joy & Happy Eating!