Book Review: Afghanistan: Teachable Moments

I am reading Afghanistan: 179 Days of Teachable Moments, a journal of Florence Robyn Smith's deployment. Each day has a title, experience and Scripture, in short segments that you can read in a few minutes. 

The book inspires me for two big reasons...

1. Journaling - Most of us go through life, just trying to keep our head above water, but if we would discipline ourselves, like Ms. Smith, to write down and reflect, we would see how God is working through each day, through each experience. I already keep a journal, but this book makes me want to dig more into my everyday experiences and reflect.

2. Doing -- It is inspirational to see a woman of faith step out to do something challenging. She did not have to sign up to be deployed, but the mission field is wherever you are called, even working for the military in Afghanistan.  

Here is the book's trailer.

I give the book 4 out of 5 stars! Thank you Ms. Smith for your inspiration to do big things for God!

Pray Like A Warrior

courtesy morguefile.com

"I have bestowed strength on a warrior..." Psalm 89:19

God tells me I am a warrior like David. Prayer is a sword that cuts through strongholds that we cannot see. Since we often cannot see the outcome of prayer (or we don't share testimonies), we assume prayer doesn't do much...and that is just what the enemy wants us to think. Don't fall for it! God has given us strength through Jesus, who has already overcome evil! We are warriors! 

Now, let's pray like it!

God Delights In Us

courtesy morguefile.com

"He brought me out into a spacious place;
He rescued me because He delighted in me." Psalm 18:19 (NIV)
 
God "delights" in me. Isn't that amazing?! A friend told me recently that she is God's favorite! Well, I'm his favorite too! And so are you! His heart delights in us, His children.

A Love Letter From God

Photo courtesy of morguefile.com

If God wrote us a love letter, I believe it would read like this:

 

My Dear One,

I am love. Do you know me? I comfort. I heal. I hold. I weep when you weep. There is not a moment that you’re not on my mind. Do you understand who I am?

What I give cannot be bought. It has no strings attached. You can’t work for it, not even a lifetime of good deeds can buy it. My love…I give it freely to anyone who will accept it. Do you know how much I rejoice when one of my children accepts me?

Many stop there. They accept my free give of salvation, My Son, Jesus, as their Savior, but they think that’s it. They don’t know that they can get close to me. They don’t believe they can walk with me like I did with Adam and Eve in the garden. They don’t think they can talk to me face-to-face like Abraham or Moses. I am not a story, stuck in a Holy Book. I am The Living God. I am the same long ago as I am today.

I am a hand reaching out to you today, right now. My love is still the same. It is desperate to draw near to you. Will you come near to Me? Will you dwell in Me?

I long to answer your prayers, to heal your hurts, to deliver you from oppression and addictions, to teach you how to walk in My ways, and to take you deeper. I made you for Me. I give you gifts and so many blessings because I am Your Father. I hunger for you to press in. I made you for so much more than what the world wants you to settle for.

I am all you need. Come to me and let me show you My love. Ask Me, Seek Me, Search Me…I am here, waiting for you, My Child.

Yours Always,

The Father

My New Crown

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."   Isaiah 43:19 

This Scripture is fitting for me right now. God is doing a new work in me... and preparing me for the future that He has for me. 

Last fall, I participated in our local Healthy Eating Adventure and now I am Vegan (except for honey...have to have my honey), eating lots of fruits and veggies. I lost almost 20 pounds too! 

"...who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles." Psalm 103:5

Photo from 2012

And then, God prompted me to go natural in my hair color, which has turned out to be a beautiful gray, silver, and white. So my auburn Nice 'N Easy #111 hair is gone. My best friend blessed me by cutting it and giving me this fun, short style! I'm sending the hair to Locks for Love.

"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness..." 2 Timothy 4:8

God has been teaching me about wearing His garments and crown (spiritually), but it turns out that the spiritual and physical worlds are connected more than we know. Somehow, my healthy eating and losing weight is connected to my spiritual robe and my gray hair to my spiritual crown.

What has God been teaching you? Do you see correlations between the physical and spiritual?