Your Love oh Lord is Perfect

"Your love, oh Lord
Reaches to the heavens,
Your faithfulness stretches to the sky.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains.
Your justice flows like the ocean's tide
I will lift my voice
To worship You, my King
I will find my strength
In the shadow of your wings"

Third Day "Your Love Oh Lord"

Sometimes i find song lryics so refreshing! I love how in the hardest times, there always seems to be a song that causes you to lift your eyes on Jesus and receive His strength.

At the moment I am on one of my last pracs before completing my primary school teaching degree. I tell you what, I am being torn andn stretched from every which angle. But i know that this is only for a time and a season and when I come through it, i will "be an overcomer by the word of my testimony"...and boy i cannot wait for that day!

The Greatest Beauty Treatment

I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philipians 3:14 (NLT)

Well, I have just finished my first week of my second last prac before I finish my education degree. I cannot tell you how much work is involved because I am sure words would not give it justice! I have been up late every night and right now I am fully exhausted. Each night I have wanted to post a blog containing little trials and challenges I have gone through (and overcome!) BUT there have simply been too many other things to do. I have been collecting a whole list of things I would like to blog about and overtime I hopefully will. God is doing such an amazing work in my life right now that I am so excited about and cannot wait to share with anyone. Anyway, before I add any more length to this blog I will end it here. The following is a blog that I began writing during the middle of the week but have only just got about it finishing and editing it tonight. Hopefully it inspires you to push on towards the prize!

Preserving our Skin

The other night as I was working away meticulously at the computer, trying desperately to keep up with all my prac work such as reflections, lesson plans, observations etc. I became very tired. It was roughly around 12/1ish in the morning and my eyes were so sore that I could hardly keep them open. Every now and then I would fade off, my eyes would shut and I would fall asleep. However, for some strange reason, I still had this urge in my spirit to press on. To keep on going until I got everything finished.

Often times in the past if I have become too tired to work, I have gone to bed without having everything completed for the next day. The problem with this is however, as a teacher in training – this just doesn’t work! As soon as I would wake up, my mind would be immediately running on overload. I would not even have one moment to stop and ease myself into the day. As soon as I would wake up, my mind would dart back to all the tasks that I still had to complete from the night before and my mind would be running on overload first thing in the morning. I’d have to think about tasks that I have to get finished right away, still have to catch up on tasks from yesterday as well as what I ad planned for that day and for the whole day I would be playing catch up.

Last night was different however. Even though I was so tired, I knew that this time was different to every other time. I really didn’t have that much more to complete, I needed to push myself and make sure that I got everything finished. So, I put all my thoughts of bed aside and said to God – ok, if I must stay up, you give me the strength and energy I need”. As soon as I said this, for some reason (I’ll let you work out the connection) I felt like going and doing 20 sit ups and 30 tummy crunches and 10 star jumps. Now, that’s an odd thing to feel like doing at 1 in the morning – but the directive was so strong that I would not ignore it. So, off I go and do the exercises, feeling quite silly doing these activities at this time of the morning. While I was doing the exercise I felt a sudden surge of energy gravitate up my spine and immediately I realised that God had just answered my prayer. He had given me the strength that I needed to complete the tasks that needed to be completed.

Needless to say, I was able to complete the tasks that needed to be completed for the morning as well as clean up my desk, do my nightly cleansing and face washing routine, have time with God as well as have my devotion. And, even though it was quite late (or should I say early – like 3 in the morning!) as soon as my head finally hit the pillow I slept like a baby…in fact, better than a baby! I had the most wonderful night sleep and woke up fully refreshed in the morning. The difference was, I didn’t have to go to bed still worrying about the things I had to do in the morning, wondering if I would wake up and be able to complete everything in time for (seeing I have to be at school before 8:00am). The other factor that contributed to my good nights sleep was my time with God before I went to sleep. Because I had surrendered all control over to God and spent time just sitting in his presence my spirit was at peace and I was able to truly rest. I find that when I do this, all the stress from the world (such as deadlines, overdue tasks, worries), is released from my mind and body and i don’t have the physical weight of it hanging over my head when I sleep. Now I am sure this must be one of the biggest beauty tips in the book! How much better our bodies would cope – and how much less wrinkled our skin would be if we did this all the time!

An important note thought: When God gives you His strength it doesn’t mean he makes the task easier for you to handle. It will still hurt our flesh and we will still have to push beyond our restrictions and determine in out hearts to do it and the temptation to give up with still be there. But, His strength gives us the ability to overcome the task, if we so chose! It was still hard to stay up and compete the tasks. I remember wanting to give up and go to bed so many times even after God gave me the strength for the task. In fact, I’m not sure just how many times I was almost tempted to go to bed. But I persevered, I pressed on toward that prize, and boy am I glad that I did it!

Now, no one can tell me that God doesn’t exist! His strength is so real!

The Most Important Decison

Tonight I was sitting at my computer completing my preparations for my first day of prac tomorrow when I was asked by a friend of mine to look up a particular song on the internet. As I quickly perused various songs I stumbled across Casting Crowns song “Slow Fade”. Now, I have heard this song many times before, but tonight as I sat here, I listened carefully to the lyrics. I could not believe what I was hearing. I have not long come home from Church where a visiting pastor spoke about “The Most Important Decision”. He said that the most important decision is, the very next decision that we make – not, as most Christians think, our decision to accept Christ. Because, we can accept Christ, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we are living a victorious Christian life does it?

As I listened to the words of the song (which are posted below), I was amazed at how much the sermon linked with the song – and just how relevant both of these messages are to my life at the moment.

I wont speak too much about it tonight as I still have lots of planning to do, but I just couldn’t keep this revelation to myself. I just had to share it with the world in hope that someone else might be just as encouraged as I have been. In particular, the phrases
“choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade” stood out to me.

I am very much aware that the decisions I make right now will determine the person I become in one year, two years and so forth. I want to make sure that I am a victorious Christian. I certainly do not want to be going around the same mountain again and again – like I have been up until this point. I want to break loose from this cycle. And how do I do this? By becoming conscious of all the small decisions that I make!

CASTING CROWNS LYRICS

"Slow Fade"

Be careful little eyes what you see

It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings

Be careful little feet where you go

For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear

When flattery leads to compromise,

the end is always near

Be careful little lips what you say

For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself away

People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands

Is shorter than you're thinking

Be careful if you think you stand

You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away

It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray

Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid

When you give yourself awayPeople never crumble in a day

Daddies never crumble in a day

Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what see

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

For the Father up above is looking down in love

Oh be careful little eyes what you see

Tea For Two

After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Recab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, "Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?"

"I am," Jehonadab answered.

"If so," said Jehu, "give me your hand." So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot.

~2 Kings 10:15~

Today has been a wonderful day! I had my beautiful friend Natalie come up from Gladstone (or should I say, Happy Rock!) to visit. We began the day with morning tea at our local Shopping Centre, shopped until we dropped and then came back to my place for a cuppa. Here Nat shared with me all her wonderful ideas for her Teacher Portfolio. For so long I had fretted about this massive portfolio that I would have to create, but once I saw Natalie’s and how she had done hers, all my fears were put to rest. Even though it is still a lot of work, I don’t believe it will be too big of a task for me to handle.

Isn’t it just absolutely amazing how God works! I had been asking God to show me how I should construct my portfolio in a way that would best reflect my creative talents, display my knowledge and exhibit my personal philosophy of teaching appropriately. I wanted it to be just right, but not require too much effort – as I also have lots of other prac planning and assignments to do. And, sure enough, God gave me clear direction! When I had a look at what Natalie had done for her portfolio, connections started going off like fireworks in my mind. I suddenly got all of these amazing ideas – that won’t take too much effort, but I believe will display exactly what I need to display!

Not only did I have an amazing day with a wonderful friend, but God used it to profit my studies. You see, God really does want us to enjoy EVERY moment in our lives (and not always be working!!)

Thank-you God, for such an amazing friend!!

Lesson for the Day: God cares for the small things – especially when they are going to Honour Him!

Taming our Deliciously Tempting, Tangling, Tumultuous Thoughts!!!

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

Romans 7:15

I want to turn EVERYTHING around for good. To please and Honour my Father in Heaven.

At the moment I feel that I am living in a period of spiritual freedom. My life is great and I absolutely love it. I know that I have many challenges ahead of me, being my last year of uni, but with the strength of the Lord inside me, I know I can accomplish it and come out on top.

However, I still have to deal with my sinful nature – as this is something we can never be free from. Even the greatest Christians who ever lived have not been able to completely conquer their sinful nature (although they may have come very close). And so, day by day, it is my goal to become more and more in control of my thoughts and actions so that they inevitably Glorify and honour God.

Today is a good example of the little things that continuously cause us to get down on ourselves and ultimately feel bad about who we are. I have written down exactly what has happened and the thoughts associated with it. Hopefully they might bring comfort to you, knowing that we all encounter similar thoughts – but that we can overcome these if we take the offer of God’s strength. Just to fill you in, for a large portion of my life I have dealt with issues surrounding my body image and weight. I have fought off bulimia and the depressive thoughts that go along with it. And even though I am living free for all of that, I still have to work at living free and making right choices. At any time I could let myself fumble back down into it all again by making a series of negative choices, but I Choose not to. I have tasted freedom and I am loving it!

My Day

6:00am the alarm went off. As usual, I put it on snooze and kept on pressing snooze another 10 times before actually getting up. The day was beautiful and bright and I could feel the breeze dwindle through my windows as I dutifully went about my morning stretches. All this week I have been a good girl. Because I tore the ligament in my ankle a month ago I haven’t been able to go to the gym and so am trying to remain fit by doing a range of exercise each morning.
I then went on to read my daily devotional – word for the day and had my prayer time.

By 7:00am I was ready to venture out of the doors of my bedroom to big wide world of my family home! Mum was, as usual, sitting at the breaky table having her traditional bowl of cereal. I was tempted to give in and join her, but I had made a commitment to God this week to fast each mornings breaky – expecting breakthrough in my family and I was determined to honour Him. I remember thinking “Oh, I was good yesterday, just one day won’t matter”. But, luckily I had just had my morning devotion and had been reminded of the fact that I had to “LIVE LIFE WITHOUT COMPROMISE” because as soon as this ran through my mind, I decided to maintain my position on the attacking side of the field and be faithful to my Father in Heaven.

At 8:00am I finally started my study session – which I had planned out the night before when I was scheduling my week. If I am not vigorous about my study sessions I am not able to complete all my uni tasks on time.

By 9:00am I felt the stomach leading the way again and considered having a coffee – but, not just any kind of coffee, a Nestle Skinny Latte! They smell almost like caramel and make my tummy rumble…mummmmm!
Once upon a time I had relied on a cup of coffee to get me through my study sessions – but through the mind of Christ and sheer will power, I was able to overcome my addiction and realise that my strength was in Him! So, once again I reminded my self “No Karine, you do not need anything to help you study! Just call upon the name of the Lord and He will help you” which I did. And, as I had predicted by faith, it worked! In no time at all, I was back on a roll and moving through my readings with no hassle at all.

10:15am – the alarm on Microsoft outlook reminded me to get ready for my Doctors appointment at 10:30 and so I trotted off from the computer to get ready.

11:30am – my doctors appointment had finished and mum and I were walking back to the car. It wasn’t long before my stomach had picked up the sweet smelling aroma waffling from the Subway store that our car was conveniently parked directly outside of. My stomach began to say, “ It is near lunchtime, what about an early lunch???” – but, once again, luckily for the mind of Christ living in me, I told it “Excuse me, you do not need to be fed at every interval in the day – so BE QUIET!!!”, and, guess what, it listened!

12:45pm I looked up from the computer and my stomach immediately responds – “Time 4 LUNCH!!!” and so, I finally give in and feed it with some beautiful fresh home made scones with banana (instead of cream!) – but, making sure I don’t have too many! After all, I do have on the mind of Christ and want to make sure that I honour him in ALL the decisions that I make.

3:45am my stomach once again reminds me that it’s there – by notioning to me it’s time for a coffee break…so what do I give it? A WHOPPING BIG GLASS OF WATER and barley max – and just to be a really good girl – a glass of carrot juice! After all, it doesn’t know this, but that’s exactly what it was asking for!

DUN DA DA DUUUUUN…THE FALL!

4:00pm Greg arrives home and after being so good all day, my surrender comes. He asked me to get him something to eat – and so, I told him there were chocolate brownies that mum had cooked on the counter. Typical brother though, he answers, “I cant find them! Where are they again?”
And so, trapped by the duties of the sister, I walk over to show him where they are. And guess what? I’m absolutely 100% sure that those brownies jumped right out of the container and into my mouth! Yes, that is absolutely 100% correct….
…ok, I may be exaggerating just a little bit…
…actually, ok, I give in, quite a lot! While I was opening the container for Greg, hunger pains, suddenly hit me. Sadly though, I cannot deny that God gave me the strength I need to stand up to those brownies right there and then. But do you think I took it? Of course not! My sinful nature took over and I had 2 brownies. On its own, that would have been bad enough! But, it gets worse!...
...because I compromised once, it led the way for another compromise. After two bowls of apple crumble with custard later and looking for what other nice things I could find, I finally came to the conclusion that I had to stop this. After all, I want to live for Him. I want to make consistent right decisions that honour Him and bring Glory to Him and this was certainly not doing that.

Lesson for the Day: We have an array of different thoughts, but we must choose the right one, regardless of how we might feel. Consistently make right decisions for the Lord. Have a simply love for Him. Honour Him in the decisions that you make.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog space!

For a long while I have kept a journal of my thoughts and feelings, hidden from the world to see. But, overtime as I have walked planet earth I have seen many people undergo very similiar trials and challenges to the ones that have already paced and have realised one thing - even though we are all unique, we are also similiar in many ways. In fact, that is the way God made us - so that we can help each other out. And that is what I have decided to do in creating this blog account. I hope that by sharring my thoughts, feelings and experiences with the world, others will be helped. My bestfriend Natalie taught me this after she started her own blogg so she could share her poetry with the world - and already they have impacted me in so many ways!

My greatest passion in life is to see people live fulfilled, passionate, overcoming, victorious lives in Christ. I pray that these entries will help those going through similiar trials and challenges and lighten up those dry moments with a fresh word from heaven!

Yours in Christ,

Karine