How to tell if a desire of your heart is of God or of your own nature

I did a little research on Bible Gateway and typed in desires... There were 48 different references for "Desires" in that search. 40 of those 48 searches had to do with sinful desires... only 8 specified a desire from God. This tells me that most of the desires we have are of a sinful nature. So how do we discern whether our desire for something is good or bad? This scripture spells it out loud and clear...

Romans 8:5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. How do we live in accordance with the Spirit?

We can start by learning the right way to live by following the specifications of "Holy Living" found in Leviticus Chapter 19. If you read this chapter, it pretty much spells out what God considers right and wrong. If you are doing the right things in accordance to what the Word of God says, and if you are praying and seeking God's face before you make decisions, and if you are earnestly waiting on God for the answers... you can be assured that the desires in your heart are of God.

Now what happens if you read this chapter, which is just one of many that teaches us what God thinks about things, and you recognize right off the bat that you aren't living out these attributes? What do you do then? If you continue in the act that is clearly spelled out as being wrong then you are living in complete disobedience to the Lord. God does not reward disobedience...

But, God is full of grace and mercy to forgive us as soon as we call out to him in confession and repentence.

Deuteronomy 28:1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

It doesn't matter what you've done, or how far you strayed... All you have to do is TURN from those acts and follow after the commands of the Lord. God's word is not a book of rules that keep us from having any fun in our lives or tells us "we're doing it wrong". It is a loving guidebook that tells us about blessings and curses...Life and Death... We get to choose how we live... Either in the blessing or the curse...Or life, abundant and ever-flowing... or death...

So back to the desires and knowing without a doubt if the desire in your heart is of God or your own fleshly desires... Are you following the commands of God? Is your heart earnestly seeking God? Are you obeying the laws of right and wrong in accordance to the Word of God? If you are... then follow the desires of your heart.

Proverbs 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Knowing the will of God in our lives starts with knowing what we want. Truly knowing what we want... Then trust that God will direct your paths to that want. He wants to give us the desires of our hearts because when we are seeking him, he places them there for us to instill hope.

Romans 5:1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by
faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

I hope this helps someone who is seeking to know the will of God in their lives.
I love you!
Lea Anne

Worked the Young at Heart EXPO

I might have betrayed blogger by joining facebook. But I did. I already have 127 friends on facebook, but I won't neglect you friends on blogger. I'll keep posting especially since I haven't figured out how to type more than a couple of lines on facebook. You know that I can only speak in a hundred words or more...
Just kidding... but not really...

I find that this is a place where I can just lay it all out there. I'd like to think that I might help someone else by what I have to say, but it's mostly just a part of my random thought processing...

Today was a good day. We served the community with about 2000 people coming to the Young at Heart EXPO and it just reminds me of how thankful I am to be able to work for this great company. I love the people I work with as well. I've posted the 2009 photo booth photo for you to see. I haven't changed much in the last year. In fact, we are in a health challenge at work, and I haven't moved more than a couple of ounces in both directions since this same time about 5 years ago... I really need to change as I'd like to lose a little weight. I have to resolve in my mind that I will before I do... and basically I just haven't made that resolution...

I just wanted to say hi and I have a lot of thoughts I need to organize before I post anything worthy of reading... That will come soon...
I lOve you!
Lea Anne

A walk in the right direction...

I have been meditating on a specific foundational belief of the Christian faith lately. That is the belief that God is in Control and He actually directs our steps as we walk along in life.

How do you feel about that?

Do you believe that God directs us and speaks a clear word to us, or not?

I believe He does.

I was reading the prophet Isaiah this past week and this scripture spoke volumes to me...

Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

And further on in Isaiah...

Isaiah 30:21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

So why do so many people struggle with knowing God's will in their lives? Do you struggle with knowing what path to take, which direction to go, which job to persue? Do you wonder if there really is a God that can speak to you and tell you which way to go? Have you ever thought, "Does he even care about me?" Maybe you are like the Israelites in this passage of scripture... Isaiah 30

1 “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,” says the Lord. “You make plans that are contrary to mine. You make alliances not directed by my Spirit, thus piling up your sins. 2 For without consulting me, you have gone down to Egypt for help. You have put your trust in Pharaoh’s protection. You have tried to hide in his shade. 3 But by trusting Pharaoh, you will be humiliated, and by depending on him, you will be disgraced. 4 For though his power extends to Zoan and his officials have arrived in Hanes, 5 all who trust in him will be ashamed. He will not help you. Instead, he will disgrace you.”

Are you putting your trust in other people to help you make your decisions?

Another foundational belief of a Christian, is that God's word is true... Either you believe it in its entirety or you don't. You can't pick apart the Bible and get to choose the things you want to believe is true and discard the things you think can't possibly be true. You take it as a whole... And that is a lot of the reasons why so many people struggle with their decisions, because they don't believe that God can speak to them through His Word...

Have you even consulted the Bible to see if JUST MAYBE God's word is true... For here it says this in Hebrews 4...

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

Okay, enough preaching... How do you actively apply the scripture to your current situation and then know that God is directing you down the path he wants you to walk on? I'll share with you what I am currently praying for and seeking an answer about...

I have my house for sale... (the whole story of this is on the home page if you want to read how it came to be.) I also have a houseguest that needs to find a place to stay. I have been praying that I can handle this in the right way with sensitivity. I was reading the Psalms and I read this...

Psalm 91:9 If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, 10 no evil will conquer you; no
plague will come near your home. 11 For he will order his
angels to protect you wherever you go.

Now this might not mean anything to you, but it brought me peace to know that God will protect my houseguest wherever she goes. I don't have to be responsible for her wellbeing... She does love God and serves Him, but I don't know how strong her faith and trust is in how He provides for those who trust in Him. However, my faith is strong enough to know that He will provide the right place, at the right time for the right amount of money. I do have to be proactive in that I have to look for that opportunity... I have to do what I am able to do and then trust God for what I can't do... But we have to start somewhere, and I choose to start with trust in God. I have a peace that I wouldn't have if I were stewing about the situation. God gives us a choice as to whether we subject our will to Him or not. We make that decision every day. Will we Seek His Will?

Will we ask Him for Wisdom?

Will we do what He says?

God's will is the way we CHOOSE to live each day of our lives.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord.

Here's the ending of this thought for today... God keeps in perfect peace, those whose thoughts are steadfast in HIM. If you aren't seeking God, you probably aren't walking in His will.... So I ask you again, have you studied the scriptures to see what God says about what you are doing?

I love you!!
Lea Anne

Just waiting...

I find myself in another season of waiting... Waiting is not easy... You would think that waiting around would be easy... I mean all you have to do is wait, right? But waiting on God is not the same thing as waiting in line, or waiting for the doctor, or waiting on your kids to get ready to go somewhere... When you wait on God, it's because He is trying to teach you something. He's trying to show you something... He's trying to bring you to another level of trust... He's working things out in other people's lives that will align themselves up to what He wants to do in your life. This kind of waiting takes a special kind of discipline that only the Holy Spirit can develop in you. This kind of patience... It is a fruit of the spirit...

So as I wait on all those other things to line up in order for God's plan for me to be laid out for me to walk on, I involve myself in knowing God better. I'm starting to read the Gospels in my quiet time...

I read a blog entry the other day that talked about going at the speed of God. You know that feeling when you are in a car and you are speeding down the road at 60 mph and all the things you pass by are just a blur? The trees, the signs, the buildings you pass are not in focus, and you can't see details? But then another car comes up along side you and is going at the same speed as you are, you can look across and see everything about it... The people in it, what they are doing, if there is a television on, you can tell what movie it is? All the details are in focus and clear, yet you are driving along at 60 mph? That is how it is when we are going the same speed as God. If we are behind him or ahead of Him or not even on the same highway as Him, we are always playing catch up and don't notice anything around us... Life is all a blur... but when we are going at the same speed as God, then everything comes into focus... Even the waiting on God... He's not standing still, he may be going 60 mph down the road, but when we are at the same speed as him, we are moving forward even if it feels like we're standing still... Does that make sense to you? It was very clear to me as I have been waiting on God... I'm not sitting still, I'm being moved forward to the next thing that God has for me... I just can't exit the highway before God does, or pass Him up because I think He's going too slow. I have to follow Him closely and at the same speed as He is... It's recognizing when God decides to switch lanes or exit, that I have to focus on... Not knowing where the exits are...

I hope this resonates with someone today. You don't have to know where you're going, you just have to trust and follow the guidance of the Lord...

I love you,
Lea Anne

Had our first showing of the house...

We had a call within the first few hours of putting the sign in the yard. The guy called and wanted to see the house at 1pm yesterday. Of course I said yes. I knew when I put the sign in the yard, that someone would call and I hadn't cleaned the house yet. (Well my idea of clean!)

So I already had an appointment with the kids dentist set for 10:30 and I had to wait til that was through before I went home to clean... I didn't get home until almost noon. While I was at the dentist, Dana called and said the termite guy was coming to do an inspection around the perimeter of the house and would be digging some of the dirt away for inspection purposes... When I drove up, I wish I had a picture of the mess that he made, but I was in too much of a hurry to clean the inside... Oh my goodness, it looked like a gopher had dug out the entire dirt surrounding the house and left mounds of grass piled up at each turn... Oh, well, a prospective buyer should be impressed that we care about termites, right? I didn't let that deter me.

So I did a mad superwoman vacuum queen thing and amazed myself with the amount of cleaning one person can get done in 30 minutes.

Back to the couple that called to look at it. He called me at 12 and said He wanted to bring his girlfriend at 12:30 and his wife at 1pm? Would I have a problem with that? I just said to make sure he brought the one with all the kids. Seriously, he told me that he had a friend that lived in the neighborhood that he wanted to see it also and it just so happened that I knew her. So she came in and walked around and he came in and walked around while he was waiting on his wife and then the wife came in and walked around too. They have 5 kids... 10, 8, 6, 4, and 1 and are currently living in a 2400 sq ft house with all of them. So they are definitely in the "Must Have" category... They didn't seem overly excited, but this isn't about what we seem. It's what we need and God knows what we need. So I'll let him worry about that...

However, the girl that I knew brought her husband by at 6pm last night so he could give his opinion to the friends... This husband, just so happens to have been my anesthesiologist when I had Keelea... Great, nothing like a visitor who has seen ALL OF YOUR PRIVATE PARTS WHILE IN THE MIDDLE OF LABOR... So what's a little dirt in the bathroom going to hurt? Right..

Day one of our adventure turned out to be a little wild and fun... We'll see what day 2 holds.
Talk to you soon,
Lea Anne

Putting up the "For Sale" sign today

This picture represents a little early morning misting and at the same time, I'm feeling a little misty eyed by putting the "For Sale" sign in the yard this morning. I am completely trusting that the Lord's will for us will reveal itself in the way the next few things transpire...

If you are familiar with the story of the Israelites as they left the wilderness to enter into the promise land, they had to cross the Jordan River... It was at its flood time in the early spring, and it was a raging river. God told Joshua to have the priests put their feet in the water, while they carried the Ark, in to the river. This point is missed by most people, but was very evident in my heart as I read this that God will do the impossible, but we have to do the possible first... And that is trust Him completely... We have to put our feet in the raging river of life, of decisions, of actions, and then God will perform the miracle of rolling back the sea so we can cross on dry land...

He does that for us if we seek Him with our whole heart. He knows the heart above all else, and He will direct you down the path of His best for you, when you give up the control to Him completely...

I don't have to know where I'm going from here... I just have to take the first step of obedience... That is trusting God...

So don't cry for me, Argentina... (I love that show in case you haven't seen it, Evita) I will be okay. God will direct us to the next thing... He will take care of us.

I love you!
Lea Anne