BLOG IS MOVING!!!! PLEASE JOIN ME AT THE NEW BLOG!!

Hello to my faithful readers, or those who have just recently found me. I wanted to tell everyone that I have decided to merge my family and homeschool blog into one! I have been developing another blog, and although it isn't completely done yet...it's done enough to start directing people over there. I will now write all posts about all aspects of life over there!!
I'm praying that anyone who genuinely reads and is blessed by anything I write will come on over and subscribe to my new blog! I tell more about my decision to move on the introductory post of my new blog!
I hope to see you over here at my new blog http://www.principledfamily.wordpress.com/.
Gods Blessings to you all!

Elizabeth :-)

In His Word Wednesday- LOWLINESS OF MIND

Philippians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."

If you really take the time to analyze this verse..it is full of conviction. The key words in this verse (in my opinion) are NOTHING, SELFISH AMBITION, VAIN CONCEIT, and LOWLINESS OF MIND. These are the words that really bring conviction to my life. I think when you grow up in church and in a Christian home, it becomes easy to just gloss over the scriptures, and think..."yep, that's nice", or "I could probably do better on that...starting tomorrow". Something I have been convicted about recently, is serious study and meditation on the scriptures. To really let it sink in to my core. It's a scary thing, because it's when we do this that the genuine conviction occurs, and we KNOW that we need to repent. Repentance isn't fun...our human nature has wired us to not want to admit our mistakes.

So, as I analyze this verse, and look to truly study what God is telling me here....it certainly brings its conviction!

First we look at the premise of SELFISH AMBITION and VAIN CONCEIT. What does that mean exactly. I pull out my trusty Websters 1828 dictionary (the only one I trust for true original meanings), and I see that SELFISH means: "regarding one's own interest chiefly or solely; influenced in actions by a view to private advantage. AMBITION means: to go about or seek by making interest. The word ambition has its origin in the practice of a Roman candidate for office who went about the city to solicit votes. So we see that selfish ambition together means to go around seeking your own interest chiefly or solely, acting out your own private advantage.

VAIN means: empty, worthless, having no substance or value, fruitless, inefectual, proud of pretty things, or of trifiling attainments, elated with a high opinion of ones accomplishments or with things more showy than valuable., unreal , showy, unsatisfying, False. CONCEIT means: That which is conceived, imagined, or formed in the mind, idea thought image. Understanding, power or faculty of conceiving, apprehension. Opinion, notion, fancy, imagination, Pleasant, gayety of imagination. A striking thought; affected or unnatural conception. Favorable or self flattering opinion.

So, VAIN CONCEIT means: Any empty, worthless, fruitless, inefectual, high opinionated of yourself, unreal, showy, or unsatisfying thought formed in your mind, imagination, understanding, apprehension, opinion, notion, or fancy.

Now, God is telling us that we should do NOTHING out of these two things. What does NOTHING mean? Well....it means nothing...not one thing, not anything. That is easy to gloss over, but it really means absolutely nothing. Nothing includes well....anything you can think of. It includes going to church, it includes washing the dishes, it includes buying gifts, giving to others, blogging (ouch right), homeschooling, reading, training our children, watching tv, playing video games, making a sandwhich....etc...etc. I could obviously go on and on about what it means to not do anything with VAIN AMBITION or SELFISH CONCEIT, but I think you get the idea...as did I when I was studying this further.

Now, God doesn't ever leave us hanging with the negative...what does he tell us to do. Do everything with LOWLINESS OF MIND, and esteem others better then ourselves. LOWLINESS means: Freedom from pride, humility, humbleness of mind. Now, I would love to go on with this and share with you the definitions of humility, but I will let you do that on your own. So, HUMILITY OF MIND, a mind FREE from PRIDEFUL thoughts is what God wants us to replace this vain ambition of selfish conceit with.

WOW...this is quite a thing God asks us to do here. EVERYTHING we do should be for His sake, and the sake of others. We should do nothing for our own sake, with our own AMBITION in mind. Our minds should be cleansed from pride and selfishness, as should our actions.

Is this even possible? I think it is! We can do all things through Christ, when He lives in us. It is a daily choice that has to be made, to allow His Spirit to bring this out in us. It's something that I have a long way to go in...but I will definitely be contemplating the ways that I can grow in this area.

I would love to hear any further thoughts on this verse, and how to work towards applying them to our lives.

Join Megan for more In His Word Wednesday, and my prayer request for the day is to be able to more affective in living out this command from my Lord! Help me to be all that you want me to be Lord...not for myself, and my own furtherence, but only for Your Glory...AMEN!!

Welcome to 2010!

Hi all and Happy New Year! First of all, I hope that everyone had a blessed Christmas! As always, the start of a New Year has been a time of reflection for me on what I can do better, and what I can change altogether. I like to make goals for myself every year. I generally put them into categories. Spiritual Goals, Personal Goals, Physical Goals, Parenting Goals, Homeschool Goals. I won't tell you every single one of my goals or "resolutions" as many call them...but I will share some of them.

Spiritual Goals

1) Be closer to God through more regular quiet time with him!

2) Seek to share Christ with more people this year than I did last.

3) Use Philippians 4:8 as a guide to what I do, watch, listen to, etc..

4) Seek to have a meek and quiet spirit.

Personal Goals

1) Look for more ways to serve others this year.

2) Spend time blogging at least 4 times a week.

3) Spend a little time weekly working on relearning my violin.

4) Take a picture every day for my 365 project

5) Look for a way every day to show Rob that I appreciate him.

6) Find a time to do something no matter how little every day one on one with each of my kids.

7) Get and stay organized

Physical Goals

1) Lose at least 25 pounds before I get pregnant again ;-) through exercising at least 5 days a week, and watching my calories more closely.

2) drink more water daily.

3) Be in shape so that I have energy to keep up with everything I need to do.

4) Try to keep myself looking nice daily for my husband instead of looking sloppy.

Parenting Goals/Homeschool Goals (to save a little time I will put these together)

1) Speak more quietly and gently to my older children (no sarcasm)

2) Be consistent with my little ones (stop what I'm doing to correct..even when I don't feel like it)

3) Be consistent with grading and recording their school work (giving them daily feedback on their work)

4) Make sure they see me working and learning as well on a daily basis (don't sit on Facebook while expecting them to be working hard!)

5) Make sure I have everything planned and ready for them to go in the mornings so as not to waste time.

6) NEVER skip time in the Word for the sake of academics...keep priorities straight!

These are the things that I will be working on this New Year. I have verses written out for many of these, to memorize and help me stay on track, but for now as I get ready to go to bed....if you haven't yet thought about what you want to work on this year..let me encourage you that it is never too late! As a Christian I am called to do everything heartily as unto the Lord, and each new year that God gives us is an opportunity to start fresh, to recognize our sins of the previous year, repent and move forward with His Holy Spirit to guide us! If we aim at nothing...we will hit it every time! I hope to be able to come back to you this time next year and tell you that I mastered at least a couple of these goals...for the glory of my Lord! Blessed New Year to all of you, and if you get a chance I would love to hear about what you all are working on for the upcoming year.