God's work lately

I have been in sort of a spiritual fog this week. Have you ever had one of those times where it feels like your just going through the motions, not really producing any kind of fruit, and like your line with God got disconnected? My quiet time seems to get over run with a flood of distracting thoughts, my prayers seem repetitive and not heart felt, and my soul just seems jammed up.

Times like these can really be frustrating and exhausting at the same time. It's situations like these when we need to refocus our spiritual lenses and adjust the settings of our heart. How do we do that?.....Through PRAYER. Ask God to help you get it into gear!

God helped me get it in gear this morning when I read a verse from Proverbs 15. It says ,  " Better is a little with the fear of God than treasure and trouble with it". Wow.. There is was plain as day what was causing this fog I was in... Treasure. I was filling my mind with treasure of this world instead of the fear of God. God revealed to me that He was there and He was working, sadly I just wasn't listening... And that's when the trouble comes.

John 15:5 says, " I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do NOTHING". Focusing my thoughts on worldly things caused me to separate myself from God. I wasn't pouring into my heart what it needs daily in order to bear God's fruit.

My cure: God's word and A LOT of prayer! Get rid of all the "gunk" that distracts my mind away from the one TRUE thing that matters. Read encouraging & Godly blog posts. Be open and honest with God about how your struggle is making you feel (it takes a load off and makes you feel so much better!)...after all He already knows!

Once you feel the conviction of your jammed up-foggy-fruitlessness (say that 10 times ;P ) repent, pray, and FEEL the beauty of God's grace. Boy am I so thankful that his mercies are NEW EVERYDAY!! I hope this can encourage you if you are having one of these times...you are not alone. God is ready & waiting with open arms.

God Bless
-Haleigh

Treasures of the heart

What is the very first thing you think of when you wake up in my morning? Often for me, I am woken up by my toddler calling for mama over the monitor. When I am woken up by that sweet little voice, it's hard not to let that be the first thing I think of. But on those nice, blissful mornings when my little one decides to sleep in, the first thing I think of is give me Jesus and my coffee ( hence the name of my blog ).

The first thing you think of in the mornings can pretty much tell you what is a treasure in your heart. A treasure is something that is precious and important to you. Treasures can be material, relational, or emotional. The bible tells us in Matthew 6:21 " Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also".

It is very important that we prioritize the treasures we have. It is very easy to put our kids, spouse, job, house, or material possessions before God. I am guilty of this more than I would like to admit. We can get so caught up in our daily lives that our priorities can get all out of whack. In all reality God is the only treasure we NEED!

Our actions reflect what is in our heart, and we should be a reflection of God. We should radiate his presence. When we let other treasures things get in the way of God in our hearts, it makes his light shining through us dimer and dimer. This should not be. So in order to keep God the number one treasure in our hearts we need to renew our hearts daily through God's word, and we need to be prayerful about everything. Sharing what is on our hearts with God makes our relationship with him even stronger.

The treasures we have here on earth will be nothing compared to the treasures that God has stored up in heaven for us. We need to keep ours hearts rooted & built up in God, strengthened in faith, and overflowing with thankfulness (Colossians 2:6-7).

Colossians 3:2 tells us to " Set our minds on things above, not on earthly things". Our minds control our hearts and vice versa. In order to keep God first in our hearts, we need to keep him first in our thoughts also. I encourage you to pray the scriptures above daily, and ask God to help you keep him the #1 treasure in your heart!

God bless!
-Haleigh

Being a Cheerful Giver

" But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:6,7

Giving may not be something that just comes natural. Truth be told our hearts are actually very selfish, and most of the time we would rather just keep things for ourselves. It isn't until we actually let go of our selfishness, that we can experience the blessings of giving. The bible tells us in 2 Corinthians " He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. But he who sows bountifully, also reaps bountifully". Putting it in simple terms, we can either give a little and get a little, or we can give a lot and get a lot.

Getting a lot may sound good, but we must not have an attitude of selfishness when giving. We must make sure we do not have the wrong motives when giving. We should give with a cheerful heart, making our goal to bring God glory. We need to invest in His kingdom....and it just so happens that in doing so blessing follow!

The best way to give is to PRAY about it first. When we pray God will lay on our hearts the amount he wants us to give. The bible gives us a starting point when the word "tithe" is used. The word " tithe" means tenth. Giving 10% of your income is a great way to start. If God lays more on your heart then go for it... I promise you can NEVER out give God!

Be consistent in your giving. Always give on time...even if you think you may not be able to afford it one week, give anyway. God has a very funny way of ALWAYS providing for you when you are giving with a cheerful heart. A big part of giving is trusting in God, and having faith that he will supply your every need. He always does, and it is usually more than you could have ever thought or imagined (Ephesians 3:20).

Not only should you give your God's money ( it's all his anyway, we "own" nothing!), but we should also give our hearts and lives to God. After all God gave his sons LIFE for us sinners. He never thought twice about it, he just did it out of the love he had for us in his heart. We need to share the love that God has for us with others. We need to pour into each others lives all of the blessings that God has given us.

Your giving shows a lot about what kingdom your heart is interested in. We are either giving keeping for the "self kingdom", or we are giving to the kingdom of our heavenly father. I don't know about you, but I would much rather be giving to the one who gave his life for me! Someone once said that you can tell where your heart is by taking a look through your checkbook. Just take a look at Matthew 6:21 ( future post on that later).

So let us pray for a heart that is ready to give cheerfully. Let us give our lives FIRST to God, and trust him with everything he has given us. Let us be a blessing to others as we share God's word and the hope of new life that God gives!

** Fun Fact **

• Money is mentioned about 2,000 times in the bible ( Google bible verses about money...I dare you (: )
• Jesus spoke about money more than any other subject.
• In the New testament, money is mentioned more than heaven and hell combined.

Let me leave you with a few scriptures to ponder on...

• Leviticus 27:30
• Deuteronomy 12:10-11
• Deuteronomy 4:28-29
• Matthew 6:19-21,33...13:44-46
• Luke 6:38
• Luke 19:8
• Proverbs 3:9 
• Philippians 4:19
• Malachi 3:8-10
• 2 Corinthians 8:1-5..9:6-7, 10-12
• Psalms 24:1 
• 2 Corinthians 29:11-13
• 1 Corinthians 4:7, 6:19-20

God Bless!

-Haleigh

Valentines Day: Definition of true love

Happy Valentines day! Valentines day is a day full of love. What better way to celebrate this day of love than by reminding ourselves of who loved us first ( 1 John 4:19 )!

I was reading a blog post on Proverbs31.org this morning and something really tugged at my heart. The writer said " True love is not in the shape of a diamond, but in the shape of a cross". WOW...can you say powerful! Those words have been stuck in my head all day long. It really got me thinking about the things in life that have my heart/love the most. Am I really loving God the way I should be? Does God's love shine through me as I talk to others throughout the day? Am I loving others they way God has commanded me? I know that my heart wants to love God and show the love of God, but all too often I fall into the " love of diamonds" category. Maybe not literal diamonds, but definitely worldly things.

Despite the "love of diamonds" that I may fall into, God's love for me never fails (praise God)! In 1 John 4:9-10 it tells us that God loved us SO MUCH that he sent his son that we may live through him. Living through God is a daily decision. We can either focus on the things this world has to offer, or we can turn from the world and cling to the cross. God's ways are ALWAYS best. So when the temptation of this world falls upon us, let us choose to show God's love and put Him above anything else.

God loved us before we ever existed on this earth.Yes, He loved still loves sinners like you and I. The awesome truth about God's love is that we really don't deserve it, yet he loves us more than we could ever understand... no matter how sinful we may be (Romans 5:8). He actually went as far as to give his sons life as a sacrifice for our sins so that we may have everlasting life with him! Now THAT my friends is the definition of TRUE LOVE!

So today lets celebrate by sharing and shining the love of God. Lets rejoice and be so thankful for the LIFE that his great love has given us!

God bless!

-Haleigh

Contenment

The word contentment has been weighing heavy on my heart. This world has SO many things to offer, making it very easy to get distracted from all the God given blessings around us. To be content means to be in a state of happiness and satisfaction. The bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6:6-7 that " Godliness with contentment is a great gain". 

For me being content has been something I struggle with. In my own experience discontentment traces back to comparing. Both are very ugly traits. I tend to see pictures or read blog posts and compare my life, family, or child to someone else, and almost always my life seems to not "measure up". Yikes... Big NO NO! It is then that I have to take a step back, look around, and realize how much God has truly blessed me ( Beyond measure!). I have a wonderful husband, an awesome healthy toddler, good jobs, a roof over our head, food on the table and clothes on our backs....That is a lot more than some people could say. But most of all I have JESUS, whose mercies are new everyday, and whose love NEVER FAILS! If that alone is not enough for me then I have some problems serious issues!

They key to being content is realizing that God is all we need. Because with God ALL things are possible (Matthew 19:26). God will supply our every need, all we have to do is trust in Him. We need to cling to Jesus, soak our hearts in his word, PRAY, and remember all of His promises. When our hearts are so full of thankfulness, we have no room for discontentment.

Being content may be a something I struggle with right now, but I am going to choose to have a mind that is full of thankfulness, and vow to turn my greedy heart to Jesus and pray for contentment! Through this season of life I am going to turn to the one who knows my heart better than I do and ask Him to guide my thoughts and actions. I want to strive to live a life that is pleasing and glorifying to God, because He is true contentment!

Some verses that have been helpful to me:

• Matthew 6:25-26
• Matthew 6:32-33
• Philippians 4:12-13
• Hebrews 13:5
• 1 Timothy 6:6-7
• Luke 12:15
• Psalms 37:3-4
• Proverbs 16:8
• 1 Timothy 6:10-11

Have a blessed day!

-Haleigh