deep{er} #3: reflections

Hello, friends:)


Welcome back to my reflection posts;) I thought that maybe this time around... it would be easier! LOL! But I'm still thinking all of the questions from before... and MORE!  What do I share? What do I write? Will anyone understand what I'm saying/reflecting on? Is this even a reflection!?!?! Can I reflect on more than one thing?! Will I confuse my friends if I mention more than one thing?! Does this make sense!?!?!?!? 

I'm really praying that this gets easier and that it is something that honors God--- that's one thing I've learned in this recent trial. Another lesson learned is that I need to praise God in the storm. I also learned that I need to bring glory to His name-- and the funny thing that I learned is that I CAN bring glory to God in THIS trial! That really isn't funny, but I never thought once that I would or could bring Him glory from this mess and broken heart... but I CAN and I WILL! 

UPDATE: Ok--- so last week's goals were short and kind of easy due to our vacation!

1. To finish Chapter 5 of When Life Is Hard
2. Continue to pray/read my devotions daily  

I would have to give myself an 80% on these goals! I did read Chapter 5 on the plane headed out to L.A.... and I read my devotions 4 out of the 5 days.... but praying (like I want to-- more on that later) was not as easy! I fell asleep so fast many nights that I don't even think I kissed Trav goodnight half the time! LOL! So... overall, not bad on my goals from last week:) 

REFLECTION: I'm not sure you remember LAST week's post about how I think the Lord is speaking to me about prayer!?!?! Well.... He's doing it again! This week I've heard more sermons on prayers and more podcasts about it. I will get into how I want to change my prayer life and what my prayer book looks like soon... but first I want to complete these studies on it. That's one of my goals for this next week... more on that later:) 

Ok--- back to my reflection... this week I think I will reflect on a couple of different things. On vacation, Trav and I went to Dr. David Jeremiah's church in San Diego {Shadow Mountain Church}, as well as North Coast Church. WOW! That was amazing! If you are ever in San Diego---- check these churches out! 

So I think I will reflect on a couple of lessons I learned from these sermons and from Chapter 5 of When Life Is Hard. 

• Last week I mentioned that I wanted to be a REAL Christian. This is true--- I am tired of feeling like a fake. It's not that I wanted to be fake... it's just that I wasn't taught what a real Christian looked like or did or _____________ {fill in the blank}. At North Coast Church  Pastor Chris Brown talked about walking through life and living a Christian life. He focused on James 4:7-10. WOW! Great sermon! Pastor Chris mentioned a couple of things we need to do based on these verses. The first thing that struck me was verse 7b: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Pastor Chris said this step should be "Resist the desire to go back to our old ways". This trial has made me feel like the Israelites wanting to go back to Egypt thinking it was better there--- I want to go back and sing every other week... I want to use my gifts... but was it really that great? Was I learning? What sin was I entangled in (pride, jealousy, lies, etc)? Going back to the old ways isn't where I need to be. The devil is telling me that I would be happier back there; however, I've been doing a lot of thinking... and I've come to the conclusion that I definitely wouldn't be happy where I was if I went back to the old ways. God wants me to grow. He wants to stretch me. He has a plan and sometimes there's an end to things so He can bring other things to life. That's where I'm at now. I need to resist the devil and my desires and seek the Lord and His ways. 
• The second thing Pastor Chris mentioned that struck me was that in James 4:7-10 there are 10 new commandments. All the verbs become the 10 commandments: submit, resist, come near, wash, purify, grieve, mourn, wail, change, humble. ***I hope you get on North Coast Church website and check out this sermon HERE!!! 
  
• **Picture of Trav and I at Shadow Mountain Church. We actually missed Dr. Jeremiah- he was on vacation! But that's ok! We went to the morning service and heard Tom Thompson preach, and then we went back to hear the comedian/pastor Dennis Swanberg talk after dinner. During the morning service, Pastor Tom talked about being a deep Christian. FUNNY! That's what I want to do--- dig deep! He spoke about David in 1 Sam. 17: 20-36. When David heard that something needed to be done to stop Goliath, he replied, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Your servant will go!?!?!  Uh... I know I wouldn't have said that! Pastor Tom talked about how a deep Christian gets involved and is ALL in, not letting fear intimidate and standing strong on the Lord/His Word. So that made me think about how I need to go ALL in.... I can't let this trial hold me back. I need to get back in the game (side note: Pastor Tom was talking a lot about defense and offense.... I had no clue what he was talking about! But  I did understand that I need to get back in the game! LOL!). Reflecting back on David's courage--- WOW! He went after lion and bear that had his sheep, and when it turned on him... he killed it! Uh.... I run when I'm in danger and in bad situations! David also stood up against a giant.... I usually coward behind someone else when I'm intimidated. I don't want to do that anymore... from now on, I'm living in TRUTH! This battle is the Lord's! I don't want a limited view of God- He's BIG! So big I can't even describe Him! I can't wait for Heaven to come to me... I need to spread the Word and bring Heaven to Earth! 
• And finally, after dinner we heard Dennis Swamberg talk-- he is a comedian with a message! He said that there isn't retirement in the bible. That's SOOOOOOOOOOO true! We need to keep working and keep serving and keep on doing! This got me to thinking about a couple of recent things: #1. About five months ago (maybe longer), I heard a leader from my former church talking about how his wife can't wait until he writes a song that will allow him to retire and be done working. At the time, I didn't think much of that comment. After hearing Denise speak, I realize that our goal shouldn't be to retire. Our goal should be to lead others to Christ until the day I die (and possibly after I die--- through books, songs, whatever!). What a messed up view we have of getting older- all we want to do is retire! But there is NO RETIRING in the Bible! #2. Trav's parents just retired at the beginning of the month. I was thinking about when Trav retires... but after hearing Dennis talk... I'm not sure I want to stop when Trav retires. Dennis said, "spiritual gifts are for life". WOW! So I guess I will be singing until I'm old! LOL! I know that there are other gifts I can use.... but it excites me to know that I'm not going to "retire"--- I'm going to keep working and keep serving and keep on doing. My life purpose- LIVE FOR GOD (glorify HIM!)!! There's no retiring for me! 

I apologize for being so long today! There was just so much goooooooood stuff going on this past week! ***side note: Next week's Reflections will be Ch. 5 of When Life Is Hard and will be scheduled to post on Saturday the 23rd. Due to our lack of internet on vacation, I will not writing about any "new" reflections from the week until I return. 

My goals for this week (this week we are on vacation so my goals are simple):

1. To finish When Life Is Hard
2. Continue to pray/read my devotions daily  
3. Start my "prayer" studies/podcasts/etc.

I pray that this post has blessed you ❤️. 

Remember, if you need prayer, please contact me {savannahland2 at comcast dot net}. 

THANKS so much for stopping by today! Be blessed:}