Be Still

The coffee has been brewed, I have had my first cup, and it is considerably earlier than I am used to getting up. How do you say no to the big dark brown eyes of baby Z? And her sweet coos? And her smile?! When she decided to get up so early.... I took her to her room to change her and she was talking and smiling and so happy to be awake :) It was like she was telling me all about her dreams. What a little lover! Reminds me a little of myself-- years ago-- when we were first married. Early mornings were my favorite. The second the alarm went off, I sat up and was excited about the day. Funny how lack of sleep and kids and life change all that. Though I still maintain that morning is my favorite time of day-- I can hardly function properly without a decent amount of sleep. So, while she plays on the floor next to me, I decided to start early on my blogging today. Sleep will get me later.

You know, the beauty of accountability and transparency is that once its out there... sin/despair/temptation all loose power. They are brought forth into the light and can no longer tease us with their secret and devious ways. I am so thankful for that today. After posting yesterday, I felt so much better-- even though I knew it wouldn't be read until later in the day-- it was in the fact that the enemy was exposed that I could allow Jesus to fully free me from Satan's disingenuous pull on my heart. "But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible." ~Ephesians 5:13-14 Exposing sin to light makes it unable to hide!! I also read this scripture from 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. [Hmmm. Take that Satan!] We demolish arguments and every [EVERY] pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every [again, EVERY] thought to make [MAKE] it obedient to Christ. [!!!!!!!!!!]" Just like anyone, I sometimes need to be reminded of these things that I know to be true. It happens when the connection between my heart and head gets skewed and though I am logically aligned with the scripture, I am not emotionally aligned. There's a big difference. I am standing firm on the freedom Christ has given me from that thought life and allowing him to align my heart. (Galatians 5:1) Some lessons I wish were easier to learn. I wish that I could just "get it" the first time so I didn't have to go back there ever again. But lets face it. We are all human-- and we will not achieve perfection while on this earth. The amazing thing is the more we dive into God's Word and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us- these times happen less and less often. And when they do happen, we are able to stand firm on the Word and on God's perfect promises-- sin no longer has control-- we are FREE.

I am so so thankful for freedom! And grace. Again, its all about grace. If I can accept God's grace for me, I can extend that grace freely to others. What better witness to a hurting world than grace-minded people who love so deeply because we are loved so deeply?! Praying I will continue to humbly accept God's limitless grace for me and in turn be able to pour out that grace on others.

Jesus, I am further committing today to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.... make your joy complete in me today. Thank you for grace and mercy. And thank you for triumphing over sin so I can enjoy a life of freedom in you.