Expectations

What does God expect of us?  Are His expectations high?  Are they unattainable?  The answer my preacher gave today is the same answer that is written in today's devotional...to worship Him, to seek His face. He is the goal of all of our searching.  When you seek Him, you will find Him, and then you will be satisfied.  When other things capture our attention, He slowly fades into the background.  He is still there however, just watching and waiting for you to seek Him again.  Let nothing dampen our search for Him.

Psalm 27:8; Philippians 4:7, Jeremiah 29:13

God really convicted me today during the sermon.  I like involving myself in everything our Church offers because I feel like I am doing the right thing.  By getting involved, I can somehow win God's favor right?!  But God reminds me that true worship is not about "doing" Church, but about loving God.  I need that reminder on a daily basis.  I need to be reminded of that when I am going to ladies bible study to see friends or make new friends.  Now there is nothing wrong with that, but it's not a social convention; it's a group of women there to worship and adore God.  I need to be reminded of that when I feel a song move me, and I want to raise my hands in worship, but too self-conscious to do it; I should be there to worship Him at all costs.  I need to be reminded of that when I am taking notes in my journal during the sermon, and my OCD self does not allow me to continue onto a fresh page just for a sentence or two; God is teaching me life lessons and I need to get them ALL down.  See, worship of self and worship of the Savior cannot co-exist.  I need to get over myself to truly worship Him.

This morning my husband got up unusually early and watched Charles Stanley preach on tv.  He preached on forgiveness.  He used himself as an example.  He said throughout his life, his mother's job took the majority of her time.  As a baby, he went to daycare, and then eventually had a maid.  During his critical years, his maid was there for Him.  He went on to say that she saved his life; not physically, but emotionally and mentally.  I listened to the whole sermon while cooking breakfast for the family.  I felt convicted...all this time I worried about not financially contributing, not having a job, not having purpose in my life.  Then to hear the great Charles Stanley say that he wished his mother was there for Him; how he felt so alone during those times, really hit me hard.  I never want my children to feel that way.  Then today's devotional really solidified what God was saying to me this morning.  God's nature is to bless.  My nature is to receive with thanksgiving.  Glorify Him by receiving His blessings gratefully.  I will glorify God by receiving His blessings with gratitude, and not wasting it with worries.  To live each day to the best of my ability.

When I started my weight loss journey, my weigh-in day was going to be Mondays.  However, I got impatient and changed the weigh-in days to Saturday.  The result...DOWN 4 LBS!!  BOO YAH!!  I now officially weigh 130, and what's even cooler about that number is that for once in my life, I weigh less than my sister!!!  BAM!!