Glorifying God

you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

1 Corinthians 6:20.

Everything I do in the last week, I have had to ask myself... How are you glorifying God in this moment? When I am sitting in the drive thru at Chick-Fil-A, I can't help but ask myself Am I glorifying God right now? Yesterday I was devouring a delicious quesadilla from Salsarita's and I kept feeling ashamed. I wasn't glorifying God in any way by eating that.

"I have the right to do anything," you say - but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right do do anything" - but not everything is constructive.

1 Corinthians 10:23

Every morning I have a traffic filled 45 minute drive to work. I rarely get above 45 mph the entire drive. I have the right to listen to a crappy radio morning show that talks about nothing constructive. I have a right do o that, but it isn't beneficial. I am so thankful that I have seen this 45 minute drive as a blessing. I am growing closer to God in this drive. I am using this drive to its fullest. I am listening to a devotional, praying to God, or just being silent to hear from Him.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that is may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

Today at work, a co-worker called my classroom to complain about something. I didn't even want to hear her complaint because I could easily be roped into complaining. I bit my tongue because there is no way to glorify God through gossip. I should have hung up the phone and not listened to her complaints. It is so hard to work with 15 other woman and not get roped into gossip. I do not want to be a part of it.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:31

So, to you...

Are you glorifying God in all that you do? You get one life on Earth. Do not waste the opportunity that you have here to live out your purpose. God has called you to do something amazing for His kingdom. Are you doing it? Are you serving at your church to glorify God, or to please someone? Make sure all of your motives are right. Make sure you are glorifying God in everything that you do. You don't have time to waste on this Earth.

Favor Fast 5:11

I meant to blog every day about the fast every day. But, after day one I was really tired and crashed every night before I had the opportunity to share my heart with you.

So, I will give you a brief synopsis of what went on for the second through fifth day.

Day Two: I was feeling alright, so I went on to attend boot camp. Boot camp was good. My trainer was on day two of the fast as well, so she knew how I was feeling. She was lenient on me, but I worked as hard as I could. It felt good. I reflected on the favors of my family. I am truly blessed by my family. My parents and I have not always got along, we have come such a long way, I love it! I am so thankful to have the family that I have.

Day Three: I still had the headache. I spent the entire car ride to work praying for the people who were fasting, and praying for revelation in all areas of my life. I love having 45 minutes of forced quiet time, where I have the option of listening to a crappy radio show, or praying to my Father. :-) I went out with a friend, and came home to sleep for 11 straight hours. I was more tired than I thought.

Day Four: I was great on day four. I had slept for eleven hours, how could I not be great? I spent my commute thanking the Lord for his favors in my life concerning the fast. How was I able to tackle working with 9 two year olds, school, and boot camp on only juice and water? Only through favors of the Lord. I attended boot camp. I was able to do less this time, but I still did the best I could. Jumping up and down in any form made me light headed.

Day Five: This was the second hardest day of the fast. I knew that the end was in sight, and just wanted to eat. I had a Valentine's party in my classroom, so I had the opportunity to serve my class some delicious foods, watch them eat it, clean up there mess and not enjoy a bit of it! I was so excited for after work because we had a special event at Blakeney. For the leaders of the church, they pre-screened the documentary This is How We Change the World. It was incredible. I got to church early enough to take a picture with Pastor. A long time ago, he came around and hugged every eTeam member that had arrived, and that was a special moment. It was cool to take a picture with him! :-) I am so honored to be under his leadership. I am so thankful that the core family decided to make that leap of faith and move to Charlotte knowing no one to start a church. Emily, Matt and I went to Amelie's to enjoy a delicious first meal in five days, well for me at least. I am so thankful to have Emily as a friend.

So, reflections on the fast. God is so good to me. I have so much to be thankful for. My life revolves around food way too much. It is sad to think how much my life revolves around food. I hope that this experience opens my eyes and changes that. I realized how little I leaned on God in all areas of my life. I had to depend on His strength in me to complete this fast. It was an amazing feeling to feel as if I had nothing but Him. I hope that I do not go back to my old ways now that I can eat again.

I am so thankful for the challenge from Pastor Steven to fast for five days. I am thankful that I accepted, and was able to experience the challenges of fasting. I am thankful that several of my team members jumped on board with me, as well as my trainer. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to fast alongside Kelly Draddy, Abby Wilson and all of the Matthews campus.

5:11 Favor Fast Day 1

Elevation Church had its fifth anniversary this weekend. It is amazing to look back at the things that have happened to Elevation in five years. God has had His hand on Elevation since before it was Elevation Church. I am so thankful to be a part of this move of God. Pastor Steven felt as if he felt God calling him to fast going into this anniversary. Elevation is calling the fast the 5:11 favor fast. 5 to symbolize five years, 11 to symbolize 2011, as well as 5:11 to symbolize Luke 5:11.

So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him.

Luke 5:11

Pastor Steven is fasting for eleven days. He is an amazing man. He has encouraged all of Elevation to fast for five of the eleven days. Today is day one for me!

Reflection on day one:

Day 1 was very hard. I never realized how much of my day revolved around food. I typically make a Starbucks run at 7:50am, eat breakfast with my class at 8:45, eat lunch with my class at 11:45, go to lunch (Panera/Qdoba/Chick-Fil-A) at 12:30, eat snack with my class at 3:15, munch on something on the way home and eat dinner around 6:30. What a difference today!! I had juice and water today. I drank over 140 ounces of water today and less than 700 calories.

The devil was on attack today. He did not like knowing that this fast was going to pull me closer to God. I spent 15 minutes yelling at my boss about something small and petty, an hour crying because of frustration, hunger and a headache, I complained about my headache constantly, I complained about hunger constantly, and spent a good amount of time being bitter toward a coworker. How terrible? The devil was trying to get me down. I just spent about an hour with my door shut, radio off, computer off and PHONE OFF, alone with God. I am so thankful for God.

I spent today being a terrible person. I was not grateful toward God once. I showed Him no glory in my behavior today. But, He still loves me. I am so undeserving of His love. I am thankful for it, but very undeserving.

I want to take the next five days to evaluate different areas that God has placed favor in my life. Today, I wrote down eleven different favors God has placed in my life through Elevation Church. These are in no particular order.

1. Through Elevation Church I was able to step outside of my shopping addiction and learn how to give back to God what he gave me until it hurts.
2. Through Elevation Church, for the first time in my life, I have had a challenge. I have something to work toward and a reason to strive to be a better person.
3. I have learned how to step out of my comfort zone; how to follow a call God has given me (and have strength in Him even if it doesn't go my way)
4. Through Elevation Church, I have learned (and am continuing to learn) how to be a strong Christian leader in all areas of my life.
5. I have learned the meaning of salvation, Christ's love for me, and how to love others like Christ loves me.
6. Being under the leadership off Kelly Draddy and Abby Wilson. Such an amazing favor. I am so thankful to be lead by them that it brings tears to my eyes. They have so much faith in me. I am so thankful for them.
7. See my brother come to Christ.
8. Learn what it means to be the Church.
9. Having people believe in me and expect me to rise to my full potential.
10. I have been able to step outside of regular attendance and serve others. Serving others is such a glorious thing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to greet first time eKidz families EVERY Saturday.
11. Learn the meaning of audacious faith and believing God for the impossible.

Writing that list brought tears to my eyes, typing that list brought tears to my eyes, and reading that list brings even more tears to my eyes. God has placed so much favor in my life. More favor than I am deserving of. I do not thank God enough for what He has done in my life.

Amazing

Something amazing happened to me this week, and I must give God all the glory for it.

Last April, I moved into a bigger apartment. I was so excited to have more space and not be so cramped. I thought this would help decrease my stress level. Several months after I moved, work cut our hours. I was strapped for money. I continued to tithe, because that is what we are suppose to do. I strongly believe that you can't afford not to tithe. My parents and I looked at my finances, and I should not have been able to pay all of my bills. But, every month everything got paid. It was amazing. Our hours were only suppose to be cut for the summer, but fall rolled around and we never got our hours back. Winter rolled around, and we still had not gotten our hours back. My bills were always paid, but it was stressful to not know how they were going to happen. I began to pray that God would pull me out of that situation. I went to my apartment complex office and told them the situation. They said I could cancel my lease but I would have to give a 60 day notice and pay $817.00. That was not an option for me. I was getting out of my lease because I had no money. I couldn't pull $817.00 out of my behind!! I began to explore the option of subleasing. It took over a month to find someone to sublease.

Finally, I found someone to sublease my apartment. I was able to move into a house with three other girls. Rent and utilities total to about $400. I was paying $545 for just rent before!! This is increadible. I began praying to God about what I could do with this extra money.

Pastor's sermon was right to me. I have always tithed, but it spoke to me in another way. I could give more now!! How exciting!!!! Right after last weeks sermon, I rushed home. I turned on my computer and began to look at where I spend money, how I could better budget my money, how I could increase my regular giving, and how much I could give to the expansion pledge. Anyone who knew me before Elevation, knows how this is a sign of true change.

When evaluating my money, I decided to tithe off of an 80 hour check, not the random hours I've been getting with cut hours. This was going to be my way of showing God I still had faith in Him in this situation. I wanted to show God that I still believed that He had a job for me that would be more stable, more emotionally, spiritually and intellectually and fulfilling.

Keep in mind, as you read on. This was last weekend. I got paid yesterday. So all the budgeting I did was for February. I had not actually tithed off of an 80 hour check.

Guess what happened this week? We got word that we would be getting our hours back. Everyone is back to a 40 hour week. How amazing is that? All I had to do was put it on paper and show God that I had faith in Him. I have given God all of the praise for this. I take no credit. He is an awesome God.

This story applies to everyone. Are you giving God all you can give Him? Keep in mind that He gave it all to you to begin with. Have faith that you will get a job. Have faith that your dream job will hire you. Have faith that the Lord is with you. Never let your faith slip away. Lean on God, no matter how hard this situation is. God is always good. He will always be with you, you just have to let Him be there.

Encouragement

I know that in some way or another, everyone will be able to relate to what I am dealing with.

I have talked about this several times. I am very unhappy in my work situation. My boss is inconsiderate and rude to the staff, my children are bored in my classroom (and there is nothing I can do about that), my co-workers are not the best influence on me, and I am not spritually, mentally or emotionally fufilled in my position.

I was emailing my eGroup leader about this. I was asking her for prayers. Her response has kept me thinking.

I have found that often in my walk that God doesn't take me to the next place until He's found me faithful in the first place. I am not saying you aren't being faithful but this may be a stretch of your character right now.

I am continually asking myself what I need to do to show God that I am faithful in my situation. I feel as if I am being faithful. I have yet to loose faith that He will bring me a job that I will be spritiually, mentally and emotionally fufilled. I have yet to doubt that God will pull me out of this. I continue to go into work every day with hope that something will be different.

I am praying that God show me what I need to be doing differently in this situation, as well as give me strength to do what I need to do!! I know God is with me in this. I have no doubt there!!

So, to you... you are unhappy in an area of your life. What is that area? What do you think you need to do differently to show God that you are faithful where you are? God can't take you somewhere else until you have finished doing what God has called you to do where you are at.

Love you!