Every year I observe Lent. Weather you agree with it or not, stay with me. I promise you it will be worth it. I do this because I was raised in a church that observed it and it was such a strong part of my upbringing. Now it means more than it did before. Giving up something, or things, now means sacrifice. I "give up" or fast things that I would enjoy on a regular basis. Such as food, tv, social media, or movies. I'm an emotional eater so I made the decision to refrain from eating bread, cakes, pasta, and soda. With slight modifications. This representing Jesus giving His life for me. I know that I will never understand the sacrifice that Christ made for us, but its a good time to reflect.
Sunday at Church we had a guest speaker, Josh Turner, our coach from the SBC. He talked about being Spirit-led. He touched on the importance of obedience and listening to what the Holy Spirit tells us. A few days before his sermon, I was giving a little direction on a part of my calling. I struggled with it. Josh said we should be quick to be obedient to the Holy Spirit. If we felt a calling on our life, we should talk with our Pastor/Mentors to make sure it follows the Word of God.
Tuesday morning I was watching 7@7 with Elevation's church with Holly Furtick. She had a powerful word BUT I want to focus on her final words. Listen to the Holy Spirit this morning about an area in your life that you need to be working on. I immediately heard Obedience. Now you might be thinking what in the world do these 3 paragraphs have to do with anything.
Let me put this in a pretty package for you.
Lent: I have been very strict on myself as far as what I eat and what I don't. It's been hard because I like food and well, it's been a rough week. Since I'm an emotional eater, I have been been very distracted by cakes, desserts, and soda. But I'm proud. What I started my "accountability weight loss group" I weighed in at 295.6. This morning when I weighed, just out of curiosity, I weighed 282.6. That's 13 pounds guys. 2 years ago I was down 10 lbs. That's not the point of Lent, but I have been fighting temptation left and right to keep my word to God.
Holy Spirit Calling: I talked with my Pastor about what I feel I am called to do. Eventually, I will get to the point where it's fulfilled. But, he and his wife know where I feel called now. Which is a load off of my shoulders.
Obedience: I have been trying so hard to be quick to obedience since yesterday. To the point that last night I wanted a second plate because it was sooooo good. But the Holy Spirit told me no. I even tried to get a glass of chocolate milk. Out of obedience I didn't.
Maybe this means nothing to you. But I think what I'm trying to get across is this. When you are obedient and follow Gods commandment, things change for the better. Don't be scared to listen and be obedient to the Holy Spirit. Being in God's will is so much better than being outside of it. Now things are gravy and I am fighting a lot with a thousand different emotions and temptations. It's worth it.
At the end of this whole thing. It's worth it. The fight. The drive. The pain. It's worth it!! What do you feel like God is calling you to do? What's holding you back?
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