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)

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

Do You Have The Regulator?

Posted on August 3, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

Marriage is made up of two people from different upbringings, personalities, ways of thinking, and maybe even different cultures. With all that going on, you add financial strain, pressures of work, a house to maintain and a couple of kids to raise and you have a pressure cooker ready to pop, unless…you have God at your center.

At the top of a pressure cooker is a regulator. The regulator releases the steam from inside the pot when it has built up. God is our regulator.

A couple of days a go my feelings were hurt by my husband. At that moment I could have exploded, put up a wall or even left the house, but I didn’t. Instead, I went to my closet and cried out to Jesus. I allowed Him to regulate the steam that was built up inside of me. I allowed God to remove the “me” out of the situation.

If ever you think you can handle your marriage on your own, be careful. It will be only a matter of time before you see an explosion! Don’t wait until it’s too late…ask God to be the regulator in your life and your marriage. Allow him to remove the steam and for healing to take place.

Put Your Hope in God

Posted on July 15, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

We are our biggest critic and therefore, we are always adding unnecessary pressures to ourselves. We also pick up the pressures of this world, if we didn’t have enough already.

Today, I encourage you to release the stress you put on yourself, God’s grace is sufficient in all areas of your life. Take a deep breath with me now and put your hope in Him.

“But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.” -Psalm 39:7

B-E-E the best….

Posted on June 17, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

Have you ever thought to yourself, “how does a bee fly?” Its body is too big; its wingspan is too shallow. It really shouldn’t be able to fly, but it does. It does what God has designed it to do!

“You can B-E-E the best.”
Be aware of who you are.
Eliminate the negatives from your mind.
Expect the best from yourself and other people.

These words are from Thelma Wells, founder and president of A Woman of God Ministries, L.L.C.

Thelma explains in the book, A Woman and Her God, about living in the spirit of unity. Rather than expending energy on something we have no control over, rather than disliking somebody because he or she can do something that we can’t do, He wants us to unite our talents as one. God needs you to weave together the people, the plan, the resources, and everything He’s given you, so you can be everything He’s called you to be-living in oneness with your family, oneness with your church.

1 Corinthians 12:26-28, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”

“When we blend all those special abilities together in Christ, the Creator of unity, we get something very special.” -Thelma Wells

Romans 15:5 “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Perfection Can Be Toxic!

Posted on May 29, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

The church community has preached for years to strive for perfection. We are imperfect humans living in an imperfect world, yet we should strive for perfection because God is perfect and we were created out of his image. This image of perfection can be toxic. We will never achieve perfection until we reach heaven, so therefore we are continually setting ourselves up for failure.

If you would have asked me a couple of weeks a go, “Bethany are you a perfectionist?” I would have replied quickly no, are you kidding me. I have four kids running around my house 24/7, how can I do anything perfect, but after spending some time with God…He revealed areas in my life I didn’t want to acknowledge and one of those areas was a hunger to be “perfect”.

I have personally learned that this desire to do everything perfect has added large amounts of anxiety and stress, not only to my life, but to my husband and children’s as well.

We are taught early on, “Practice makes perfect.” Does it really? I’m not sure of that. I like what my daughter’s preschool teacher taught her instead, “Practice makes better!”

Free yourself from this heavy burden! We are human, we will mess up over and over again, and that’s okay. Through our weakness God can be glorified. I say instead of perfection, strive for excellence. Excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good, but not perfect!

Hats…

Posted on April 4, 2014 by fromthecommittedheart

I had a refreshing morning just being Bethany! No hats attached (wife,mom,ect…)! Anyone that knows me, knows I don’t like to leave my little ones, but I believe it’s important to get away just for a bit every once in a while. Wearing hats are a beautiful thing, each one helps me to be a better person. They bring happiness and joy into my life, but I must be careful not to lose myself in the midst of all them.

From The Committed Heart

Category Archives: Women