True Hospitality

Posted on November 18, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

This man in the picture below, has been a friend of the family for a very long time. Three years a go he and his family obeyed God’s call to start a church and be missionaries to PR.

Our kids were ecstatic when they heard we were having a “missionary” over for dinner tonight. When I was thinking…what will I cook, I need to clean the house, what if the dinner taste terrible….thankfully, those thoughts settled as quickly as they rushed in!

Hosting is not about a special dinner or decorations or even a perfectly clean house, it’s about the fellowship! I can read stories to my child about missionaries, but to hear the stories first hand is powerful and life changing.

In this picture they are blocking the door, they are protesting Arnel leaving. Every now and then they will do this when certain family members or friends try to leave. It touches my heart every time I see them do it!

~My prayer is that the “me” never allows negative thinking to hinder fellowship. God help us to keep our doors open, may all that enter feel your love and comfort and leave refreshed. Amen

Remember the Sabbath

Posted on November 2, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

Honor your father and your mother…it’s the fifth commandment and we hold it high in our house. It’s a commandment we remind our children of weekly, maybe even daily. However, remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy…is one we often forget or choose to ignore.

We need breaks from the chaos, to do lists, appointments, and events. God doesn’t ask, but commands us to REST.

If we expect our children to keep the fifth commandment, even more does our Heavenly Father expect us to keep the fourth one.

Will you honor God’s word? Fight the urge and REST…God commands it because he knows we need it.

Do you see others as walking trees?

Posted on October 10, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

Our little ones are growing quicker than we care to realize. Monday through Friday, I teach them about the three R’s, writing, reading, and arithmetic, but I know that is not the purpose of life.

I regretfully admit I have not conquered looking past my own chaos daily, to see others that are suffering. However, God has begun to clear my vision. In Mark it says, Jesus took a blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

At times this is how I view others, as walking trees and not as peers struggling with soul-searching battles. I have allowed the busyness of life to fill my surrounds with pollution, so much that others become like mummies just roaming around me. Instead of viewing them as a life with importance, my actions demonstrate as though they are already dead. My desire is for God to remove the toxic “my-life”, so that I will be an effective tool for God to use and example to my children.

I don’t want to just tell my kids what is right…I want to live it before them. I don’t want to just tell our children how to love…I want to demonstrate it.

God clear my vision I pray. Eliminate all distractions; open my eyes to the big picture, your picture. Help me to see past my own mess, remove self, so I can be full of grace, mercy, encouragement, and most of all LOVE. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Search ME!

Posted on September 23, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23

*Do you consider yourself brave? Well, are you brave enough to ask God to search your heart?

God is longing for a people who seek His word, people who are hungry for Him and for change.

My challenge today is to be brave….brave enough for God’s testing and brave enough to see the ugly that needs to stop….He already knows you, now be brave enough to surrender it to Him!

See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:24

Can You Give God 7 Days?

Posted on September 14, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

Life is busy, kids to take care of, the house needs to be cleaned, dishes are piling up, and don’t even get me started about the laundry. However, God is whispering, “how about me…your creator, giver of peace, strong foundation, loving father.”

I invite you to the #givegod7days challenge! Click, here, to accept this challenge, if you truly want God. It’s your choice, He will never force you.

You will see a place mid-way down the page to submit your name and email address to receive the downloadable in your email. I pray each of you will join us, tomorrow, Sept. 15th.

To PREORDER Lisa’s book, I Want God, CLICK here.

Who’s at your center?

Posted on September 13, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

“Whatever we place at the center of our lives will get the bulk of our care and attention.” -George Muller

To be totally honest and transparent…God at times was put on the back burner. I had a newborn to take care of or two toddlers and a newborn. Then there was my husband, the house, bills, and don’t forget about the mountain of laundry piling up! There was always something, always an excuse!

Thankfully, I realized I needed change. My priorities were wrong and my marriage was feeling it. There would alway be a “to do list”. There would always be something or someone screaming for my attention. I had to choose….God or all these distractions. You also have to make a choice and it’s not a one time affair, but everyday you have to choose…how much do you want God?

Signs that God is Not at your Center:
-weariness
-fatigue
-angry
-short temper
-anxious
-depression
-bitterness
-low self-worth
-tension with your spouse
-lack of self-control
-poor quality of sleep
-problems with critical thinking

Now I ask you…What’s at your center?

(The Message)
Romans 12:1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY

Posted on September 8, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

What does it mean to give your life away? For me, it’s denying yourself, denying your insecurities, denying your flaws, because in all reality, it’s all about Him!

Yesterday, was a true test of just that…”From the Committed Heart” had their first meeting and if I told you doubt and fear didn’t creep in, I would be lying.

See I’m not a speaker, I’m not articulate, and I’m not a front stage person. These same words I spoke to God in my prayer time and he replied, “Don’t tell me what you aren’t, I have called you and equipped you!”

There’s nothing like Father God putting us in our place.

I stood in front of a beautiful group of women, I went out of my comfort zone, and poured my heart out to these hungry souls, denying myself of “me”…because it’s not about me! We are to give our life away, so we can gain life in Him.

What does Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it”, look like for you personally?

*GIVE YOUR LIFE AWAY Shirt is from Mercy Ink. (MERCY iNK, Scripture Prints + Faith Jewelry-Inspiration for your Home + Heart. Thank you for visiting! A portion of all shop sales directly benefit our adoption. We are grateful for your support! Visit http://www.mercyinkblog.com for more inspiration)

How are you positioned?

Posted on August 24, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

“When we want God first and most, we position ourselves differently than we did before.” -Lisa Whittle

Our world needs revival, but before it can come to the world it must come to the church, and before it comes to the church it must begin in us.

“That is the beauty of a relationship with God: It always starts with the personal. God only did corporately what He did first within each of them. It is why we must seek a revival of the soul before we seek a large-scale spiritual awakening. God is about consuming single hearts for Him one at a time and then bringing those hearts together to do something extraordinary. But revival always begins in one.” (Excerpt from I Want God)

How are you positioned?

When the Stirring Doesn’t Stop!

Posted on August 20, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

For the past eight years of my life I have been pregnant or nursing. I have given my full attention to my family. Until a couple of years ago, this was enough. Then all of a sudden, my heart started saying, there is more. I like the way Lisa Whittle explains it in her new book, I Want God, “Even when we ignore it, the God-call inside all of us does not keep quiet. In everyday life, the God-call persists too. So while we may be able to run from service for a time, eventually we won’t be able to. The God-call on our life will simply be too loud and too strong.”

Since I believe a woman’s number one ministry is her family, I continued to pour into each of my family members, all the while my heart was stirring. I eventually started a blog, From the Committed Heart. I thought this blog would be the missing piece of my heart’s call and though it has helped, my heart kept stirring. About mid May, of this year, I felt God say, it’s time. My heart was pounding, tears were flowing, it’s been almost a decade since I lead a ministry! I prayed for God to show me how I would be able to lead a small group without it taking away from my number one ministry, my family.

After throwing around some ideas with a friend, I have received the blessing from my church to start a women’s group called, From the Committed Heart. I will be sharing about the many hats we as women wear and the importance of your relationship with our God the Father first and our husband second.

I’m excited to announce that the first meeting will be Monday, September 8th, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am at Faith Assembly, in the Prayer room. If you are a married woman, living in the Orlando area and are available, I would love for you to join us.

*ATTN: If you are planning to attend Monday, Sept. 8th and need CHILDCARE, please contact 407-275-8790 ext. 1105 or childcare@faithassembly.org by Friday, Sept. 5th

More Than Popularity…

Posted on August 14, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

I have the pleasure of being part of the launch team for Lisa Whittle’s new book, I Want God. Tonight I want to share on the section about “More Than Popularity.”

Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Luke 6:26

“When we give ourselves away to other people, we can never fully give our whole selves to God.” What did these words mean. I thought we were to give ourselves to help others, to serve and invest in others. Yes, this is true, but that is not what Lisa is talking about here. No, she is talking about us getting to a place where we secretly, down deep, hunger for approval, for spotlights, for recognition and when we come to this place, we set God’s words aside and seek out our own agenda. “Popularity never lets life be about simple things because it serves a bigger agenda.”

“God didn’t create people to become other people’s gods. He knows that when we become other people’s gods we will not fight the same, love the same, risk the same. He knows we won’t preach the same. He knows we will settle and become watered down people. He knows it will make us dilute bitter-tasting truth so people can swallow it better. “

“We live in a culture that says Make me popular, while Jesus says Become less. It’s a daily fight to want God more than ourselves.” Talk about putting yourself in check. Whose’s agenda are you seeking?

God help us to see through our own selfish desires. I pray you break our need for attention and approval. I want you! I Want God!

*Click here, to preorder your copy of I Want God by Lisa Whittle

From The Committed Heart

Category Archives: Spiritual