I Promise

“I Promise.” Do we realize how powerful these two simple words are? How many times has someone spoken them to you or better yet, how many times have you spoken them to someone. If you are honest, probably more times than you can count. Unfortunately, those very same words have basically been rendered ineffective in the times we live in because people have not held up their end of the bargain when they say “I Promise”. The official definitions for the word “promise” are: a statement telling someone that you will definitely do something or that something will definitely happen in the future; an indication of future success or improvement; a reason to expect that something will happen in the future. No matter which definition we use, let’s face it a promise is and should not be taken lightly. Sadly enough, often times our promises are not kept, or if they are they are half fulfilled. Thankfully, that although we obviously struggle with keeping our promises, God takes His promises to us very seriously. He not only means it when He says it, He follows through.

While immersed in worship on Sunday I was reminded of this. We were singing the chorus to a song that said “nothing compares to the promises I have in you” and wow those words penetrated my very being. God had us sing those words over and over. I believe that He wanted us to really “get it”. It was simple, yet profound. He wanted us to understand the value of His promises. If He made a promise, He will keep it. Our part in this is to trust Him regardless of what it looks like, feels like, or what others say. We must expect God to make good on His promise. He’s not like us sometimes keeping our promises and sometimes we don’t.

 I know people who are walking through some rough times in their lives whether they be financial struggles, battles with their health, marital troubles, just struggles in life, but I also know that God is definitely a God of promise. If He said it, He will do it. Remember He said  “I promise.” Be encouraged today!

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For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20

WHY ARE YOU LIVING AN “S” LIFE WHEN YOU WERE CREATED TO LIVE AN ”E” LIFE?

I had a conversation with my 8 year old son last night regarding his behavior in school. It went something like this:

My Son - “Mom will you be upset if I get an “S” this week?

Me - Well, I won’t be upset, but I definitely won’t be happy with it.

My Son – “Why?”

Me - “Because you are capable of an “E” son, that’s what you were born to be”

My Son - “O.K.”

Just to clarify “S” means satisfactory and “E” means excellent. While having this conversation with my son, I couldn’t help but feel as if God was having that same conversation with me, not necessarily about my behavior but about how I live my life in general. “Liz, why are you living an “S” life when I created you to live an “E” life?” Needless to say that really got to me. It hit me like a ton of bricks and then the introspection soon followed.

I believe that there are many of us that have gotten caught in the rut of just getting by in life, status quo, making it, or just treading water. That is equivalent to living an “S” life. Is that the kind of life that the almighty God created His children to live? I don’t think so. I believe He created us to live a life filled with “E” experiences. He created us in His image and there is NOTHING satisfactory about that. We serve an "E"xcellent God and we are His children with access to everything that He is and that He has. So the question is, why are we choosing to live beneath who we were created to be? I can't speak for you, but I want ALL that He has for me to do and to be. I am determined to upgrade my status from an “S” to “E”.  I challenge, urge, and strongly encourage you to do the same!

~ I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10b

CONSISTENT: TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

A friend shared a status yesterday that caused me to spiral into a whirlwind of deep thought. She wrote the following:

“Consistency. A soror over the weekend complimented me for always being consistent. And it touched my heart. However, it got me to thinking. I am very consistent in doing the things I like to do. Unfortunately, I am consistent in not doing the things I should do and that's a trait I'm trying to improve. I'm consistently eating salads more. I’m exercising consistently more. I'm forgiving consistently more. I'm praying more consistently this year than ever before. I really want to live up to than compliment. I'm upping my game. You in???”

Her words struck a nerve, so to speak (in a good way). I thought to myself , “What does it REALLY mean to be consistent?” I used one of my trusty research methods and consulted a dictionary. I looked up the definition and it says to be consistent means “marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity : free from variation or contradiction” (merriamwebsteronline.com).  I immediately began to think of areas where I miss the mark on being consistent (steady continuity) in doing the “good things”. As I thought about my areas of shortcomings, my list was much longer than I care to admit, but instead of being consistent in making excuses (the wrong thing) I made up my mind to do something different, change things for the better. So as of today, I have decided to be consistent “in the good things”. 

I want to be better, do better, live better, because 

that’s what God created me to do and to be. 

I need to be consistent in my prayer life, consistent in my relationships as a wife, mother, sister, friend, co-worker, consistent in taking care of my physical body, and in other areas as well. God is consistent with me regardless of how I am with Him. I figure if He is that way with me, then I can strive to do the same with Him.

So today my journey begins. I have drawn a line in the sand and perhaps it won’t always be smooth sailing and blue skies, but I will stay the course. I believe God will honor my faithfulness. I challenge you to set a goal, but don’t leave it at that, be consistent in doing everything within you to reach it. I believe the God we serve will meet us where we are and give us exactly what we need to be successful. 

                                            Be encouraged today!

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~ Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

IT’S A NEW DAY!

I wish I could tell you that I had some major family crisis or perhaps that I had been stranded in some far away place without access to internet, but the truth is neither of those scenarios have been the case. To be honest, I have really tried to come up with a good reason for why I haven’t written a blog in a while (53 days to be exact) but the fact of the matter is that I just haven’t. I allowed one day to become a week and those weeks to turn into months. The more time I allowed to pass when I didn’t write, the harder it was for me to convince myself to write. And since I am being open and honest, I must say that this reveals one of my many “not-so-proud-of” character flaws. I.AM.INCONSISTENT.

During my “sabbatical”, many asked me “Are you not doing your Blog anymore?” I would respond, “Yes. I am just taking a little break.” Every time I responded to that question I felt a little more of a failure. Once again, I allowed life to hinder me from doing what I knew I was supposed to be doing. I felt as if I let God down. I couldn’t come out of my slump. But I knew that I had to. Just yesterday I was reminded of a simple yet profound truth; His mercies are new every day. I needed that reminder.

I thank God that when I don’t measure up, He is more than enough.

I thank God that though I am inconsistent, He is faithful.

I thank God that though I am impatient and quick tempered, He is longsuffering.

All those things I am not, He is!

In spite of my inconsistencies, He loves me anyway. I am humbled. Today I will begin anew, realizing that He still expects that of me. As I see the sun rising, I am reminded that it's a new day. No more excuses. It’s time to get back on the horse, so to speak. What about you? Do you need to declare a new day in some area of your life? What are you waiting on? Be encouraged today!

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

TALK LESS , PRAY MORE!

“Let’s pray right now!” Those words for some reason took me by surprise. I called her because I needed to vent about a situation I was facing. I needed her to hear me and of course eventually pray about it, but right at that moment I wanted to talk about it. I soon realized God had different plans. My dear friend did what I know show was led to do and that was pray. For me, I needed that as a reminder that I had been spending too much time talking about situations I was facing and not enough time praying about them.

How many times have you faced a difficult situation or found yourself in a low place and you talked about it MORE than you prayed about it? I know it may take some energy to think about it and probably even more to be honest about it. A lot of women, myself included often find it therapeutic to talk about our problems, our issues with at least one other person we feel comfortable with. Yes, we may pray about them some, but the question is do we really pray as much as we talk about them? I think that is a tactic of the enemy because when we spend a great deal of time talking about the problems or issues they seem to magnify. Not only that, but it keeps us from talking to God about them as well. What if we flipped the script? What if we made it our goal to increase our “pray about it” time and decrease our “talk about it” time? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 reminds us of our commitment to pray. It says we should “Pray without ceasing.” So if we are continually praying about it, there doesn’t leave much time for talking, right? The fact of the matter is that trials, tests and tribulations will continue to come our way, so we must “up our game” by increasing our prayer life. 

When we pray and make our requests known to God, that's when we can expect a change to take place. That change may be in our situation, but it may also be in us, our perspective. Make a decision today that if and when you open your mouth about a situation that you are facing, let it be to talk to God about it. That’s my goal and it should be yours too. Be encouraged today.