Moments of Obedience vs. Walking in Obedience

Me & the fam are spending a few days camping at our deer lease, mainly enjoying wide open spaces & each other’s company & I find myself pondering something I read in Isaiah yesterday.

“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist & rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of The Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:19-20

The lessons I took away from this are:

1) If you resist, you are rebelling at the same time.

2) Doing something begrudgingly is NOT obedience.

3) Resisting and obedience are opposite of each other. They cannot simultaneously exist in you.

Learning to walk in obedience is much different than moments of obedience. The moments get us there. They strengthen our faith, as we learn to walk in obedience, but they are moments.

I do believe God rewards moments of obedience. He is helping us to understand the kind of blessings that can come, when we confirm our willingness to being obedient to His work and His plan.

Also, another thought I’ve had on the matter is: maybe what I consider blessings, are actually us living in union with God, how He has always intended. Then, when we revert back to our old ways, access to His peace leaves us and we are resting on what we know, and not God.

These thoughts have also had me pondering several people from testimonies in The Bible.

Paul walked in obedience after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Peter had moments of obedience when he was one of Jesus’s disciples, but his denial of Jesus shows, he was not walking in complete obedience to Jesus. Once Jesus was raised from the dead and visited His disciples is, likely, when Peter began walking in obedience for The Lord.

Elijah walked in obedience, sacrificing his own well-being for God and His plan.

Esther was called to more and reached a place where she made the choice, to walk in obedience with God.

Judas Iscariot may have had moments of obedience, but, surely, did not walk in obedience with God.

John the Baptist understood his assignment and walked in complete obedience to God’s plan.

Noah walked in obedience.

I am certain my experiences, thus far, are the results of moments of obedience. In many cases some major event occurred to encourage these individuals to walk in obedience with Jesus, and transition past moments of obedience.

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! Ponder with Him & talk it out. He wants us too!

Vision Boards - Habakkuk 2:2-3

 

The Lord has really been impressing the importance of getting to know myself....the self He created me to be. So.....for the past two years I have worked really hard to do this. It is a lot harder than one would think, but it also has shown me how little I regarded myself in the past. It has been quite an interesting observation and ADVENTURE!

I have had a lot of really hard things to go through, since starting this journey, but I have also had some real eye opening situations, holy moments, and really.....sweet assurances that He hears me. He sees me. He loves me. AND He has good things planned for me.

I have wanted to create a vision board for years & I finally did last year. I completed it about a year ago. I love analyzing data and progress, so I want to share a few interesting facts with you and encourage you to take the time to CREATE your own vision board. 

I am sharing the above verses, and as you all reflect on them, Habakkuk was a prophet. The Book of Habakkuk has 3 chapters. You could listen to it on audio in about 15 minutes. Habakkuk was having, what I call, a mental wrestling match with God. He could not understand why some people were being treated how they were - when they were dishonoring God. God ultimately tells him, to record his vision, so people from all over can know it and share it, be patient, and wait for it to happen. He also let's Habakkuk know that He sees everything. Why people do the things they do and what is on their hearts. You can listen on audio here: Book of Habakkuk

I am amazed at the results of recording my vision for the year. I truly am. Here is the reality of what God & I accomplished through the recording of my vision. 

I COMPLETED 73% of what I put on my vision board! I did NOT complete 27%, BUT of what I did not complete - 83% are in the works. 

Here are the fruits from our journey:

• Created comfortable spaces at home.
• Made a long-term building decision.
• Now have a porch for fellowship.
• Completed a wave of decluttering.
• The kids regularly assist with chores around the house. 
• Have found new ways to be calmer and reduce stress and anxiety.
• I love being at home. 
• We have CREateD LOTS of things. 
• I have full memories of visiting Waco with my son, mother-in-law & nephew.
• I have full memories of visiting Galveston with all 3 kids & my mom.
• I have super awesome memories with Kyle staying in a tree house in the hill country.
• I practiced and benefited from meditation & shared it with others. 
• I traveled more.
• We organized the outside of our home more.
• We updated some of the rooms inside. 
• I've gotten to know our neighbors better. 

The fruits that are still growing, but not ripe yet are:

• Going on a cruise - but I did book one for the future.
• Attending a concert - Plan to on Kylee's Back to School Shopping Trip in Gruene. 
• Remodel Plan for Bathroom.
• Remodel Plan for Kitchen.
• Mastering our food - have something for us to try. 

Visiting Rockport was the only thing we did not do and I believe it would have happened, if God needed it to. Everything really does happen in His perfect timing. We just have to plant the seeds and allow God to care for them. 

I believe that this success should be attributed to a number of different factors: 

• It was positioned LITERALLY right beside my bed. It is one of the first things I see when I wake up and one of the last things I see before I go to bed. When I come to relax in the bedroom.....it is plainly visible for me to ponder. 
• I created the vision board prayerfully. I put A LOT of thought into it and also allowed creativity to flow with materials that I had available. 
• I LOVED what I saw. I enjoyed looking at it and imagining and planning. 

The intention you have for your life matters. God wants to know them. He wants to help you achieve them. We literally took these thoughts and ideas and grew them together, with me. It really is one of the coolest things to reflect on that I have ever reflected on. It is also one of the most exciting things, to create one for this year, knowing the results of the last. Although I was intentional last year, my intensity has grown for this year, because I was able to witness the power of collaborating with The Holy Trinity. 

I also feel responsible to tell you that your vision is NOT for everyone to know. I feel comfortable sharing this because of the results and the testimony that I can share with others. Guard your visions. The enemy is ALWAYS at work and NOTHING is off limits for him. The enemy works through others, through situations, through every fleshy weakness that he can. DO NOT give him any ammunition.

Yes, God encouraged Habakkuk to record it so people could spread the word and share it. Let them share the fruit. Let them share the accomplishments. Let them share the story....the actual story of what God did in your live with your visions....not before. 

Buck Up Baby & Ride with Jesus! CReAtE that vision board.....that road map for the journey you are about to go on!

OPERATION GET HEALTHY: Day 10 & 11

So I'm just gonna skip right on ahead for ya'll! Today is day 11...the day after the Advocare cleanse. I went to bed last night....kind of exhausted...and a itty bitty bit bummed because I was expecting my typical results from trying to eat a little healthier & exercising....you know lose 3 pounds initially and gain one back....while your husband loses 15.

So I get up this morning....get on the scale...& do a double-take, look back at my initial weight...step off the scale & step back on....DOWN 8 POUNDS....with NO exercise. I'm on the phone with Ashley my coach/long-time friend askin': "When are you comin' to get my measurements?" That scale made me pay attention....Down 8.75 inches....2 in my waist alone. So then I think to myself...I'm pretty happy where I'm at. I can't wait to see what Day 24 looks like, but didn't really think people would be able to notice yet.

I called an auction for the Red HOT Round Top Chili Cook-Off that benefits the Round Top Family Library. I had more people commenting on my appearance than normal: "What are you doing? You look great." "Heather, your always beautiful, but you look really good today." "You are just radiating!" "Have you lost weight?" Yes PEOPLE! YES! All those things because I'm eating healthier and am on the Advocare 24-day challenge! Obviously I had some room for improvement. Apologies for tootin' my own horn a little bit here... It will still be a challenge for me to stick with it, but man..... I mean...I wasn't prepared for all that, but I WILL TAKE IT!! It makes it quite encouraging to keep going!!

Below are my results so far & I'm also sharing the results of 2 other friends that are doing the challenge right now also.

8 lbs. - 8.75 inches down. 

3 lbs - 10 inches down. 

6.4lbs - not sure on inches. 

The Daniel Plan Journal has a 10 day check-in also & then asks you to assess your journey. Here are my responses to their questions:

What Essentials have you been focusing on, and why?: Food - because I was unhealthy eater overall & the Advocare Plan pushes you to change that.

What progress have you made?: (My results listed above).

Is something still standing in your way? If so, what will you do differently to overcome it?: I need to work on better fitness, so I'll do that.

What is something new you have learned about yourself?: I can do this!

Based on what you have learned, what will you change next week?: More exercise

Already achieved your goals? Congratulations! It's time to set some new goals: Lose 20 more pounds.

What is a new Essential(s) to focus on for the next 10 days?: FITNESS

Now set your SMART Goals & share them with a friend!: AT LEAST: 50 jumping jacks a day, 50 sit ups, & arm workouts with weights

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus!! He WILL get you to your better self!! God Bless!