Feeling Full Until...

2 Corinthians 6:12

"We are full of sorrow and yet we are always happy.  We are poor and yet we make many people rich.  We have nothing and yet we have everything."

Philippians 1:6

"I am sure that God who began the good work in you will keep on working in youuntil the day Jesus Christ comes again." 

Romans 15:4

“…By not giving up, God’s Word gives us strength and hope.”

2 Timothy 4:7  

"I have fought a good fight.  I have finished the work I was to do.  I have kept the faith." 

I am going to start todays’ Thoughtful Thursday off with a story, as a teacher we all like stories.  

One day in Kindergarten, my teacher gave us a project of glueing Fruit Loops to a paper in a pattern.  I was so excited about putting those fruit loops on my page and slipping few into my mouth.  As we lined up for dismissal, my teacher took one look at my paper and saw that it was a blank blue piece of construction paper with a remanence of glue and pieces of the fruit loops.  What happened to them?  Well, of course, I ate them.  Complete satisfaction…until I got home and wanted more.  

Ok, so how does this all tie in with what God has been speaking to my heart this week?  We look for pure filling and fullness.  By nature, we are always looking for the next best thing to satisfy something that is empty inside of us.  We all have bumps and bruises.  We all have been broken in life in some sort of fashion.  What do we look for to fill that emptiness that fills us in those moments?  Do we look for the fruit loops or do we look for HOPE through Him?  

In the midst of the sadness that is going on in the world today, and around us, we need hope.  God’s hope only comes from Him.  We have everything we need in Him.  Let him work in and through you and the situations you are in.  Keep faith and know that He gives us PURE HOPE to hang on to.  Keep fighting the good fight!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0M3X3_pFD4

Side note…my mom didn’t allow us to have sugar cereals in our home.  Hence my addiction to Fruit Loops in my Kindergarten class.  (FYI…she knew what she was doing with her daughter who had a sweet tooth) :)

Focus on the Step Ahead

Deuteronomy 31:8  “The Lord is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you.  He will be faithful to you and will not leave you alone.  Do not be afraid or troubled.”

Romans 8:28 “We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him, and are chosen to be part of His plan.”

Last year I did my first 5K.  I AM NOT A RUNNER, I WALK REALLY FAST WHEN SOMEONE SAYS TO RUN.  However, I did RUN the whole 5K.  In that moment, I kept my head down, not wanting to look up to see how much further I had to go.  That is the moment I discovered that when I focus too much on the distance ahead of me, I feel like falling down and giving up.  I needed to just focus on the step in front of me, taking it, and then charging forward.  

God really put that into perspective for me a few weeks back.  I was in a moment of frustration one Sunday afternoon.  I grabbed my headphones, tied my laces, and took off running.  As I was running I started to look ahead.  I got overwhelmed with the distance.  Then I felt something fall on my neck.  I reached down and it was my necklace with a cross.  “I have this,” is what I heard Him say in that moment.  Don’t focus on the mile ahead, or the 100 feet ahead, focus on the step ahead.  

Our lives can be so overwhelming when we think about situations and how they are going to work themselves out.  I’m currently in a study called “Seamless” by Angie Smith.  I am going to quote a few things from my study this week, “We can all stand to be reminded that when the Lord has promised us something, we HOLD FAST to it regardless of circumstance and perceived ability.”  

Take a moment and look back on your journey.  What seasons have you been through or going through at the moment?  How did God, or how is God, working in and through you in those seasons?  “The disappointments that straggle us today will soon be forgotten…”  So keep your head down and focused on the moment you are in, because He has the future planned out perfectly for us.  HE HAS GOT THIS!