Walking in God's Counsel

Psalm 1:1, 3-4 ((ESV))

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

How Can I apply that to myself? Where do I walk? From whom do seek my counsel?

I walk in shadows not hiding in the dark. I find that I compartmentalize my faith. I protect it, keep it huddled in the corner. Not because I am ashamed but because I am afraid. Afraid of those who will mock me. Afraid of those who will judge me. And yes afraid of those who will find my faith lacking. 

  So I walk not in the counsel of the Lord but rather in the counsel of the wicked. Those whom I have given power to knock me down. 

  But there is more to this verse it also says "nor sits in the seat of scoffers" think about that. When you sit at the seat of scoffers you become a scoffer. You can't help it your are surrounded by people making mockery of others. The unjust, the wicked... if you don't walk in God's word - gird your self for battle, using all the tools available you walk in Shadows.

  Shadows are not the light! So you can say you don't walk in darkness but you deceive yourself. I know... I do.

3. He is like a tree planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
4. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

   So basically, when you walk with God your talents grow, expand bear fruit. You live a fulfilled life. But when you walk with the wicked, your talents are scattered your focus is lost. You remain afloat with no comfort. 

  Interesting isn't it how you can open your Bible and find a solution to your prayers? 

  I have been searching, seeking, looking for a way to use my talents. I know I have been blessed with them but constantly get distracted, blown in the wind. 

  Why? Because I have not been walking with God. Rather with teh wicked, my goals got twisted. Now it's time to stop living in the shadows and walk in the light.

Shauni

Bear with me on my thoughts and interpretations . I am not learned in the word.. just a simple woman who seeks God's guidance and has this need to voice those thoughts.. feel free to share your opinions..

Psalms

Have you ever noticed that when you are searching for a verse, be it on anger, strength, love, faith, fear, rejection, redemption or just about anything.. There is a verse in Psalms that meets your needs? One has to wonder why.. well, we know why, it was a written by David about his emotions and relationship with God.. So he felt all of those things..

While I am not David, nor am I a learned person, I will be spending the next few weeks just reviewing and meditating upon the Psalms. I feel a need for the uplifting power of Psalms. To be shown just how unbreakable our relationship with God is. 

For the next little while I will be discussing what I discovered in my daily devotions.. Not whatever thought pops into my head. 

A Little bit different tack for me but hey, thought I would give it a try!! 

So bear with me, my friends if my interpretation of something is different than yours.. I will be as always speaking from my heart

Shauni

Broken Pieces

Lately, I have been dealing with the fact that my entire life seems to be completely broken. For years I have shoved down my feelings, hurts, dreams, everything and just got along. Of course I totally failed at that. I mean we, as humans are supposed to grow, not stagnate..

Anyway, I have been dealing with it all.. a little late in the game, but you know the saying "Better Late than Never". Because I am dealing with it, I have good days and bad days. Days where I think, hey I am getting better.. and days where, well not so much. 

Today I was feeling a bit broken and went looking for pictures to use in my posts.. (I am doing a three blog series sort of). What I found amongst all of those pictures of broken things was a lot of great art using broken items. That got me to thinking.. Isn't that what God can do for me? I mean yes I am broken but isn't there a lot of "art" that I can still be used for? Can I not still be a vessel for Christ? 

Oh sure we all know that in our heads, from our teachings, but when the epiphany hits.. it's truly powerful. 

I am not a "good" Christian.. Sometimes I think I am a mockery of what a Christian can be.. and yet.. I firmly believe and always will that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God and that I should always want to be more like Him. 

Since at best I can only be a reflection of what He is.. I have to accept that the broken pieces can reflect just as well as the whole ones. That my plans are just that plans.. but God's plans, well there is greatness in those.

1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Now there's a thought.. instead of feeling broken and battered rejoice in the fact that you can be restored not by yourself.. but by God.. 

Shauni

Burdens

Life is full of burdens, everyday ones, big ones, little ones.. some we don't even see as burdens and yet they are.. 

We as humans have a tendency to shoulder our burdens and move on. Afte rall God would never give us more than we can handle, right? (btw, Hate that expression) I think by stating that we are making a mockery of some of what God has done for us. 

The very nature of Christianity is to lift your burdens to God and let Him help us carry it. To share the weight, so to speak. 

Psalm 55:22
Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved .

If this is the case, why do we constantly try to carry our burdens alone. A shared burden is an easy burden.. and when we have God Himself to share our burdens with, why would we even want to carry them alone? 

Sheesh, we (and by we, I mean me) aren't too bright are we? 

I have this tendency to carry the weight of the world.. not only being accountable for my mistakes, sins, flaws.. but others as well. So double whammy on me. It isn't always pride that keeps me from asking God for help, in fact it rarely is. Most of the time it's shame.. Why did I let this burden get so heavy? How can I ask God to help me now, when I don't go to him when the burdens were small and manageable? What kind of Child of Christ am I...

So of course I allow the burdens to get heavier and heavier.. until finally I collapse. This time, my collapse was colossal and I am a wreck, physically, spiritually, mentally.. you name it.. total and complete collapse. Is this what it takes for me to turn to God? 

Scary isn't it that even now, I tend to "take care" of things.. and not lean on the one Being that could ease my burden. Not take it away.. no, this is the path I am on, but ease the burden so I won't be so weary on my journey.. 

I have so much still to learn

Shauni

Be Strong?

Have I not commanded you? 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

So this is supposed to be my blog about my faith and what is going on in my spiritual life. The thing is because it can be so deeply personal, I often ignore this blog. .. There is also the fact that I tend to act like I have a clue.. and face it, I wrote the book on cluelessness.. Or at least one of them. 

I often feel like a pretender on this blog. Like I am acting like I have this great relationship with God and yet it totally sucks. Mostly because I doubt. I doubt everything.. and I get so envious of those who seem to be able to stand up for their faith. To say this is who I am.. I am who I am because I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

It's hard to explain my ability to compartmentalize. Sometimes that has served me well in life... but it is a double edge sword because I can compartmentalize my faith. Keep it hidden, keep it safe.. Protect it. And yet by doing that I diminish it. The flame grows ever weaker.. the promise ever farther away..

Faith, like love, grows in power when we share it. I believe.. and I will BELIEVE more if I share my belief with others. Does that make sense? Faith is not a crutch, although many still insist that it is. It is hard to live a Christ Like life.. incredibly hard. Christ was perfect.. do we understand what that means?? It means he didn't make a single solitary mistake.. EVER.. he didn't lie to the bill collector.. he didn't manipulate his friends. He always stood accountable for his actions.. Shoot, he stood accountable for ours. And yet, society insists on saying Christianity is a crutch.. Lumping Christianity in with all the coo coo religions out there (and yes I differentiate, Christianity is NOT a religion)

Today there is no rhyme nor reason.. nor overall theme to my post. Just my rambling thoughts. I want to just believe.. I want to ease my doubts.. I want, I want.. maybe a little less I want and a little more God Wants in my life would do me some good.. 

Shauni

Live Like You Were Living..

This morning I was on Facebook and saw a post where one of my friend's hosues was Tp'd. That got me thinking about another friend, Diane. My partner in crime for those wonderful middle school years. 

Diane died of breast cancer a few years ago (or so I have been told, I seriously hope I am not passing out misinformation). Today's Tping post made me think.. Of Diane but it also made me think of the friends and family who have left us. Then I got to seriously thinking..

One of the things that always makes me guilty is this desire to not die...yet. I think about going home to Jesus and that is absolutely awesome.. but in a way it's still in concept form. I understand it, in theory but I haven't lived it yet. On the other hand I have lived life here on earth. 

I want to see my children grow, get married, have families.. you know have that long, rich and fulfilled life. But should I want that? Shouldn't I want to go home to Jesus? 

Of course that is a tricky one.. I mean we are supposed to rejoice in what we have.. give thanks for our day to day life. That means we can enjoy what we have here on earth. Honestly, if we were supposed to only live to die.. then what good would we be? 

Anyway.. as I was pondering all of this I found this verse..

Philippians 1:23-24 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.

Funny how God does that. Seriously, I don't ever remember this verse.. and today when I am questioning things it just pops up? Hmmmm. 

I guess the goal in life is not to Live Like You Were Dying but rather to Live Like You Were Living.. A Rich, Full, Complete life in Jesus and when it's time. When Jesus calls us home, we can finally discover the wonder that is heaven.

Shauni

I Woke Up Today

I have this long standing saying.. Whenever I am having an especially bad day and want to remain positive.. When someone asks me how's your day going? Or how are you today? I respond with "I woke up today, so I am ahead of the game"

Honestly, I am not trying to be funny, rude or snarky. I am stating my honest opinion. Sure today is not going so well but God granted me one more day where I woke up.. So, it is in fact going rather well. 

My mom is even funnier cuz she will say, "well I woke up and checked for toe tags and didn't find one, so all is well". yes I come by it honestly. 

The thing is whenever I say this I get a smile.. it seems to make everyone give one of those startled half laughs.. and give you a huh, never thought of that look. 

The thing I try to remember, especially on those especially dark days.. is 

Psalm 118:24  

 This is the day which the LORD hath made ; we will rejoice and be in it! 

(Admit it, you started singing didn't you). It was made into a song for a reason! Yet another way to rejoice in the day God has given you!!

Shauni