Ask yourself: in my marriage, how often do I get trapped into fighting over things that, in the end, don’t really matter? How many marital problems would be solved if couples would simply read the Sermon on the Mount once a month together?
This isn’t to disdain the things of the earth—no need to do that—it’s to exalt the things of heaven. Jonathan Edwards wrote like a poet: “Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.”
All of this means we have to work at keeping our focus, our magnificent obsession; otherwise, we might put all our focus on lesser (but still important) aims—trying to improve our communication, get our finances in order, keep our romance fresh and fun, and so on. We have to remember that these are not the stuff of life, and they are not the end goal. After all, as Edwards reminds us, “
If our lives be not a journey towards heaven, they will be a journey to hell.”If you truly desire to live this out, talk with your spouse and/or a group of good friends on a monthly basis. Ask one another: “How is the hope of heaven influencing the way we love one another, the way we raise our kids, the way we spend our money, and the way we focus our time?”
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:14-21 KJVA)
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20-21 KJVA)
* How are you and your spouse daily living out your hope of heaven? If you were able to keep an eternal mindset, how would this affect your day-to-day life?
I guess I can start by saying there was a point in my life when I was considered ” skinny” I was about 17 and weighed about 135lbs was a size 2-3 I didn’t have any kids, and wasn’t married yet. when I turned 18 I had my first Boy, Got married and started to gain weight. I had my other 2 boys right after the other didn’t give my body enough time to heal between pregnancy, but I don’t count that as an excuse at all. I do have friends that went through the same situation and have 5 kids and went right back to their regular weight and sizes. So being over weight for me is no excuses. It is lack of motivation, and not having the control of eating right. I mean the right things and at the right time.
Something everyone that are over weight or wants to loose weight needs to do. First step is start eating at the right time, the right amount, and the right choice of foods. The heaviest I’ve been was 225 pounds. By this time I couldn’t even look at my self in the mirror with out hatting my self, crying, asking God for help, having hate, and suicidal thoughts. I wanted to die. I hated my self and my body so much I could even have a sexual relationship that I enjoyed with my husband because I would feel so uncomfortable with him. He never judged me, or called me fat, never told me I needed to loose weight, but I would still have those feelings that he didn’t love me anymore or that he would think of someone else while he was with me. Because I was so fat. It’s a horrible situation to be in and very hurtful.
This Picture I was 31 yrs. old –Size 22 — 225 Pounds
In March of 2013 I was diagnose with the blood clotting disorder of Factor II and one of the main reasons was the fact I was overweight. When they told me I was 225 Pounds and that was one of the reasons I almost died, I knew I had to start doing something. After being in the hospital for about 12 days I came home decided to follow along all the things I knew about diet, but I couldn’t follow the exercise anymore. Right there and then I knew I was going to face a big battle. I could no longer go to the gym because of pain, and I had to wait for my DVT and my PE to completely heal. I could no longer eat any greens and a lot of other stuff I can no longer eat because of my clotting disorder. I became discourage.
Thank God I decided to get right back on track. All of a sudden I started to drop weight out of no where, so I started to help my self and cut down my intake, started to drink more water, stopped drinking soda all together , no Diet, No zero , no soda at all. Started drinking my protein shake from Arbonne.com 2x a day some days I only do it 1x its delicious and I add fresh fruits to it.
I make mine with
1 scoop of protein shake, 1 cup of silk vanilla almond milk, 3 strawberries
It’s the best. Makes me full for 4 hours. If you visit the website they have other stuff there like the detox tea, fruit bars… etc. I only like the shake, plus it’s the only thing I’m aloud to have according to my blood disorder even though it’s all vegan and natural.
My results so far have been pretty good…. I don’t go to the gym. All I do is try my best to eat small portions of all the things I like to eat. I don’t cut anything from my diet besides Soda.
because I believe if I do I will end up eating it later in time and gaining the weight all back. So, I’m losing weight very slowly but healthy and I’m not starving myself. 🙂 Bottom photo is most recent from March 13, 2015, still need to lose 50 pounds
Anyone out there doing any diet? workout? That’s working? Care to share?
I would Love to know what you guys are doing 🙂
Suicide among young people is on the rise. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide is now the third leading cause of death for youth between ages 10 and 24. Some states even report it as the leading cause of death in this age group. “It results in approximately 4,600 lives lost each year. The top three methods used in suicides of young people include firearm (45%), suffocation (40%), and poisoning (8%). ” Deaths resulting from suicide are only part of the problem. The CDC states, “More young people survive suicide attempts than actually die. A nationwide survey of youth in grades 9–12 in public and private schools in the United States found that 16 percent of students reported seriously considering suicide, 13 percent reported creating a plan, and 8 percent reported trying to take their own life in the 12 months preceding the survey.”
It’s obvious that suicide is becoming a serious problem with our youth.
The telltale signs
There are usually warning signsthat let you know when your teen is struggling emotionally — the kinds of struggles that lead to suicidal thoughts.
Depression. This is not simply a child having a bad day and feeling down. All children have those from time to time. This is about a child feeling depressed day after day — a feeling of hopelessness. You can’t seem to cheer him or her up.
Other suicides. When a fellow student commits suicide, it puts the thought into the minds of others.
Too much stress. Kids are under a lot of pressure in school and far too many pressures at home.
Involved in drug and alcohol abuse. When these abusive behaviors are present, likelihood of suicide increases.
Bullied at school or on social media. We hear continually about bullied kids being so hurt and ashamed that they finally can’t deal with the hurt anymore.
When these factors are involved, it doesn’t mean your child will commit suicide. It just means you need to pay attention, improve your relationship with your child or consider getting some professional help.
What parents can do
These reports are daunting, and parents may wonder what is to be done to stem this tide. No parent wants his child to die — and most certainly not by suicide. Here’s the good news. There are specific ways parents play a vital role in helping prevent their children from committing or attempting suicide. The following are the most powerful things a parent can do.
Create a strong family environment
This is done several different ways:
Eat meals together as a family at least five times a week. This creates a safe place where family members can talk about what’s going on in their lives, laugh and share their concerns.
Play together. Do fun things. Board games, ball games, bowling, picnics, camping — anything fun and wholesome that brings the family together.
Visit relatives. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins bring a great deal of support and love into a child’s life. Make this happen for your family.
It’s reassuring to know that parents, siblings and loved ones care about you. This happens from continual association with each other in the home — in a congenial atmosphere. This doesn’t mean there won’t be arguing at times. That’s normal. It just means you keep the family activities going, regardless. Remember to tell your kids you love them. That matters. They need to hear it often.
Attend religious services
In a recent article, Greg Hudnall, a suicide prevention trainer, says of the youth, “[R]eligion helps them feel a connectedness, and that connectedness is very powerful.” This same article reports that “the students who reported high levels of religious participation — attending services one time per week or more — were half as likely to have contemplated suicide.”
Hudnall goes on to say, “One thing parents and religious communities can do is help youths deal with disappointment, psychological stress and failure.”
Keep a close eye on your child’s behavior and demeanor. To prevent suicidal thoughts, be diligent in involving your child in family activities and religious experiences. These two traditions have proven to be highly effective in curtailing suicide. If suicidal signs persist, seek professional help. It’s a fact that some suicides will happen even if parents do all they can to be there for their children. When this happens, parents who know they did what they could to save their children can, at least, find a measure of peace.
Together, Gary and Joy Lundberg author books on relationships. For more from the Lundbergs on improving communication, see “I Don’t Have to Make Everything All Better.”
Now this article called my attention. Not only because I’ve been suffering from the depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms and having a difficult time these past couple of years of my life more than others. But because I read in a group yesterday, on a board a mother crying out for help because her daughter is a cutter. The daughter just told her about it and she didn’t know what to do. Her husband didn’t understand and wanted to keep quiet about it just between them. (Normal .. Some people are embarrassed ) not something easy to deal with specially if your family is a family that a lot of people look at as a good, healthy family. For an example; My husband is a Pastor and I’m the messed up wife lol. Is how I see it (OOops Joke about it ). Am I embarrassed? I was at the beginning for a long time, but not anymore. and you might ask me. Why not anymore? Well, I’m the one that needs the help, and I’m the one that knows if I don’t get it, or look for the help now things can get worse and than what? Will being embarrassed help me than? So that’s what I did. Regardless of what people might think or will think of me or my family I’m getting the help I need. I don’t care what others think of me or my family. I’m doing this for us. Not for them. So I think it’s very important for You as parents to talk to your kids and be aware of whats going on with them and not just your kids but your spouse as well. Give them the help they need. Trust me as I say this. If your TEEN comes to you and tells you ” Mom or Dad I’m a cutter I need help.” They NEED help, and YOU will NOT be able to provide that HELP they are seeking unless you have the structure to do it all alone and most of us don’t. GET PROFESSIONAL HELP. If you could provide that help they wouldn’t be doing what they are doing in the first place. They would just come and talk to you and solve the problem. They cut to feel relieve, to release the pain, to feel alive. Depression is not something you can wake up one day and say ” Oh it’s all gone. ” Please use the helpful links and seek help.
It came almost as a warning, and frankly, I needed one at the time. I was a young husband, and during an intense time of prayer, I sensed God telling me very directly that Lisa wasn’t just my wife, but she was also His daughter, and I was to treat her accordingly.
This was a moment of revelation for me, and the force of this insight grew once I had kids of my own. If you want to get on my good side, just be good to one of my kids.
Conversely, if you really want to make me angry, pick on my kids. Be mean to them. My blood pressure will go up if your name is even mentioned because I’d much rather you mess with me and with one of my kids.
So, when I realized, I was married to God’s daughter—and that you, women, were married to God’s sons—everything about how I viewed marriage changed. God feels about my wife—His daughter—in an even holier and more passionate way than I feel about my own daughters. Suddenly, my marriage was no longer about just me and one other person; it was very much a relationship with a passionately interested third partner. I realized one of my primary forms of worship throughout the rest of my life would be honoring God by taking care of a woman who would always be, in His divine mind, “His little girl.”
We often hear pastors contemplate the fatherhood of God, a wonderful and true doctrine. But if you want to change your marriage, extend this analogy and spend some time meditating about God as Father-in-Law. Because when you marry a believer, He is!
1 John 3-1
Galatians 3:26-29
* Have you ever thought of your spouse as the son/daughter of God? How does this change your relationship (both actions and attitudes) with him/her?
(Book Breath Spiritual Passion into your marriage)
The Year Doesn’t Change, you have to change. Nothing will change in your life if you don’t decide for yourself to change. You can’t expect January 1st to come and go and your life to change dramatically from day to night just because it’s a new year. If you don’t get up and do something about your life everything will remain the same. And if you have confidence and believe that God is with you at all times, he is there to help you, to give you strength, to guide you through it all. To help you daily. Slowly. Never be scared of what others can do to us.
We can confidently say, ” The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me? Hebrews 13:6
Yes, I have to lose 40 pounds – let me sit around and wait for January 1st of 2016 maybe I’ll be skinny. yeah ok. of course not. I have to work hard to achieve that goal. If I sit around by that time, I’ll be needing to lose 400 lbs. but if I add to my mind that God start great work in my life and his plan is to finish it, He will.
I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
Don’t let yourself get so into all these resolution promises and forget your life, and your family, and live your happiness. Believe all you can do.
I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13
Yes, make plans, making plans and goals for your life is essential, you need them. Otherwise, you will be confused and disorganized, a complete mess. I love to be organized and clean and have everything in place. That’s just how I am, too bad it doesn’t always work that way. LOL. Don’t let the negativity in life ever bring you down. Always try to smile and be happy. surround yourself with people that will make you smile.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
The people that make you upset or the ones that are around you are talking about others, don’t deserve your friendship, most likely they are doing the same behind your back. If you want to live a good life and have a fantastic year, make and surround, you’re self with people you truly love.
Make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace. Colossians 4: 5-6
Pray for your Family and friends and Have a Wonderful New Year 🙂
But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let, not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-7
We need not exert ourselves and try to force ourselves to believe or try to chase doubt out of our hearts. Both are just as useless. It begins to dawn on us that we can bring everything to Jesus, no matter how difficult it is; and we need not be frightened away by our doubts or our weak faith, but only tell Jesus how weak our faith is. We have let Jesus into our hearts. And He will fulfill our hearts’ desires. ___ O. Hallesby
When we know that God wants our communication it encourages us to pray. But there is an element to prayer that God needs from us before our prayers can be answered and that’s our faith. When we come to God asking for something believing in Him that he can accomplish it having total faith in Him it pleases him. The word of God in John 14 also says that has seen Jesus has seen God because they are one. And whatever we ask in his name he will do so the father may be glorified in the son.
Paul writes in {Ephesians 3:12} in him and through faith in him, we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
{John 14:14} You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
As we do come in Jesus’ name, it is the same as though Jesus prayed. It is the same as though___let I be saying it very softly so it may seem very reverent __ as though Jesus put His arm in yours and took you up to the Father, and said, ” Father, here is a friend of mine; we’re on good terms. Please give him anything he asks, for my sake.” And the father would quickly bend over and graciously say, ” What’ll you have? You may have anything you ask when My Son asks for it.” __S.D. Gordon
Constant faith in God’s ways of answering prayers is essential.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. {James 1: 5-8}
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. {1 John: 13-15}
Believing what God says in His Word is faith. Faith is certainly a critical element of prayer. When you pray to God you have to lay it all down on his hands and forget about it, let him handle it from there, and have faith he is taking care of it for you. Don’t try to help God, Help you. Believe, have faith he will do the best for his child. His coming to this world, dying on the cross to save you was not for nothing.
Suppose one of your friends or relative called you and asked you to come over and care for something that was very dared to them but said, ” There will be a friend of ours here to be with you because I’m afraid you might take something.” What would you think? How would you respond? I believe in a way this is how God is trying to communicate when He says that we must have faith.
A Prayer for faith – David’s Prayer
” I love you, O Lord, my strength.” The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon you Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. {Psalm 18: 1-3}
May we have enough faith to be able to rest in peace and lay all our worries in God’s hands.
Material from the daily devotion book – Bible Study – and The Bible
” Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3
What if God does not demand prayer as much as gives prayer? What if God wants prayer in order to satisfy us? What if prayer is a means of God nourishing, restoring, healing, converting us? Suppose prayer is primarily allowing ourselves to be loved, addressed and claimed by God. What if praying means opening ourselves to the gift of God’s own self and presence? What if our part in prayer is primarily letting God be giver? Suppose prayer is not a duty but the opportunity to experience healing and transforming love? __ Martin Smith
The eternal, majestic God of the universe wants to be intimate with us! He wants us to call, to cry, to sing to Him. He longs to love, to refresh, to encourage us. He wants to answer our call and to tell us great and unsearchable thoughts. God wants us to know that He is always ready to commune; He is always ready to listen. He wants to be so much a part of our lives that we would naturally come to Him at all times. He tells us that we have to freedom to call to Him wherever we are, about anything on our hearts. He delights in being involved with His children, and prayer is His gift and His invitation to intimacy.
“Pray for a desire to respond to God’s call to intimacy. “
To pray is to let Jesus come into our hearts. This teaches us, in the first place, that it is not our prayer which moves the Lord Jesus. It is Jesus who moves us to pray. He knocks. Thereby He makes known His desire to come in to us. Our prayers are always a result of Jesus knocking at our hearts’ doors.
Desiring intimacy with God ought to be the delight of my life and a choice gladly made I think of Daniel it didn’t matter what decrees were or what his schedule was; nothing kept him from his time with God certainly God revealed to Daniel incredible things he did not know I am deeply aware of my need for this remarkable reminder from the Lord about how much He desires to bless me. He invites us, and He waits for us to call.
David’s heartfelt desire was to respond to God’s call to intimacy.
David’s Prayer Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When You said,” seek my face, ” my heart said to you, your face, O Lord, I shall seek. (Psalm 27:7-8)
Thinking Out Cloud 