Clouded Vision

I made this analogy last night when talking to someone that I love dearly. Many times in a Christian's born again lifetime, we will "back slide." We get too comfortable with status quo, or we don't challenge our faith anymore. In other words, we become stagnant. I believe that God desires nothing more from us, HIS children, then to have an unending thirst for HIS word and guidance. As time goes by without this, it creates a sort of film over our eyes, making worldly things not look quite as dangerous as they once did. This, I imagine, is how life looks for people suffering from cataracts. We must be careful to avoid this "clouded" vision of life.
I love this passage, because it just confirms that keeping our eyes and thoughts focused on HIS word will prevent "wandering" eyes.

Proverbs 17:24 "Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth." (NLT)

May you be filled and blessed....

~Ali

New Devotional Blog

To all you out there in blog land, I, along with a few other lovely ladies in Christ, are proud to announce that we have a new blog completely for devotional purpose only. I have so enjoyed this creative side of my walk, and look forward to expanding on that. The idea is that we each have our specific day or days that we write a devotion, as God lays it on our hearts to do. It's a great way to see and study further into the many little "God stop" moments we all have during our day to day lives.Won't you come and check out Let the Son Shine?

Pickin' and Choosin'

I find myself, as a Christian in today's society, sometimes picking and chosing what fits my lifestyle in regards to how I should live my life for Him. The flat truth is that it is not up to me at all. We all have means to the most perfect "guidebook" for life right at our fingertips. It's not rocket science....it's there. It's all there.


2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

As I posted in my previous post, God desires nothing more from us then our time and our utmost obedience. It is ONLY by giving Him these things that we grow in our faith and our relationships with Him. To think about it, I say to myself, "duh," but day after day, my flesh gets in the way and I find the day is at an end, and I haven't given near the amount of time to Him as He so deserves. Tomorrow is another day....


Leviticus 27:30
" 'A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

The fact is both the Old and New Testaments reinforce that God expects us to tithe a tenth of our income. It’s not negotiable. The problem is that we get so bogged down in the legalism of tithing that we miss the whole point. Tithing is not something that we have to do. The born-again Christian should want to tithe.

We need to remember that God is not as concerned about the till as he is about our hearts when it comes to tithing. He’s much more interested in our attitude towards tithing than how much we put in the plate. Sure he expects us to tithe because tithing is an outward and visible sign of our acknowledgment that it really belonged to him all along. The whole purpose of tithing is to teach us that God wants to enjoy first priority in our lives which is why the word, first fruits, is often used synonymously with tithes.

The Lord expects nothing less than the best from us when it comes to tithing, and he wants us to do with an attitude of joy. If we do, God says, "…and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." (Malachi 3:10) My father-in-law says it another way, "You can’t out give God."

Is it hard not to think about the things you could have done with the money that you tithe, donate or give as an offertory; sure. So many times, especially around tax time, when I sit down and calculate the years givings I have to take a moment and make a conceince effort not to think about that sort of thing. The fact remains....it is not negotiable. These "first fruits" are His to begin with. Period.



1 Corinthians 6:19
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;"


Our bodies are the "house" of the Holy Spirit,and we are to honor God with our bodies. It takes conscious effort and attention to take care of our body and to truly honor God with it. Better eating habits are a way of bringing health so we may have times of enjoyment. Yes, good food is a blessing and the Lord DOES want us to eat, drink and enjoy (Ecc 8:5) However, if we eat, drink and enjoy all the time without any self-control, without taking time to "repair", we will find our "house" (body) falling down, sagging around us. How much work (time, effort) will it take to rebuild? Let God be your master carpenter as you spend time with Him and He shows you how to make little repairs daily on your house....... every one of us requires different things at different times and only God knows our bodies intimately (Psalm 139:13-16), He knows our needs before they are spoken on our lips (Psalm 139:4), so let the Lord guide you. He may press upon your heart to eat a nourishing meal, take a brisk walk, have a time of refreshment, or to be still and "rest" in Him. These times of obeying the Lord and taking time daily to care for your "house" will "seal" up that leak in your house that can cause deterioration to your body. Even though our bodies may age, have pains and problems at times, when we seek God first and keep our spirits "healthy", God will give us the strength, knowledge and desire to care for our earthly homes as they need it and live a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life in our "castles" (temples).

Standing in my own way

I'm on this dang computer to much. I've decided to fast from the computer. (thanks Lauren for the idea) Too many times I find myself being "sucked in" and without any purpose. I'm not reading God's word, I'm not blogging spiritually, I'm simply wasting time when I could be doing far better things with my time. How can I expect to grow in my walk with God when I am not selfless with my time. He REQUIRES our obedience and I am being stubborn. Over what? A computer....a worldly possession. I confess Lord that I have not given YOU the time you so deserve. Nothing can take the place of that. I do pray and ask that you forgive me and let me show you more. I can do so much better....with your help and ultimate guidance. How can I do ANYTHING right in my life and in the lives of others without YOU? Thank you LORD for never giving up on me.

The Biggest Loser

This devotional came to me in my email the other day. As I myself am on a journey of weight loss, and I also enjoy watching this show, it hit home pretty hard. I need to be concerned more with sheding other frivolous things in my life rather then shedding pounds. HE is so worth it, and more! After all, my prize winnings will be eternal! AMEN!



“He must become greater; I must become less.”—John 3:30

The Biggest Loser is a reality show on NBC that each season brings overweight contestants together to see who can, in essence, become the biggest loser – lose the most weight. The contestants are monitored by professionals as they diet, exercise and compete to shed the most pounds. The person at the end who has lost the most weight is not only crowned the biggest loser, but takes home a $250,000 prize.

As John was baptizing followers in the Jordan River, some of his disciples approached him jealously reporting that many were going to Jesus instead of John to be baptized. John understood something they didn’t. John knew his role was to prepare the way for the Messiah. John was not jealous of what Jesus was doing; he was filled with joy. John knew that as Jesus became greater and greater, he would ultimately become less. That is how it is supposed to be…for all of us.

There is no one greater than Jesus. Like John, we are to strive to be a reflection of Jesus in our lives. It is Jesus who saves, it is Jesus who brings change, it is Jesus who is greater than all. When is comes to our Christian faith, we all need to become the biggest loser. I’m not talking about shedding pounds, but there are things in our lives that we must shed in order for us to become less and for Jesus to be more.

Have you been giving yourself all the credit and glory for the blessings and work the Lord has been doing in your life? Perhaps you need to shed pride. Or maybe you are carrying an extra few pounds of selfishness. Perhaps you need to focus on putting others before yourself. If not, those extra loads of greed, gluttony, dishonesty, anger, control, fear, guilt and so on can weigh you down, keeping you from becoming all that God intends.

It’s time to start shedding these pounds. One way to do this is to call out to the Lord and ask for help. Don’t be weighed down another year by holding on to areas that are not of the Lord. As you become less, make sure to point to Him who becomes more. The more you have of Jesus, the harder it is to hang on to that extra weight.