Good morning beloved! Did you know that you are more precious than rubies?
IF is set before us on this beautiful morning. What shall we do with our choice of IF? So many IFs and so little time! It would be so much easier IF someone else would choose for me, yet I control my focus. Shall I sift through the IFS of yesterday? I think not. Though I know the enemy would love to devour my time today. So lets look at one productive yet mundane IF. IF I choose to clean, then I will likely feel more productive. Ah! but what IF I only want to blog today, then my home is one step closer to an episode of hoarders!! The discipline of the IF is all about adulting. Lets ask the Father!
Just cracked open Hebrews, what an awesome book. Definitely discovered an IF. They are everywhere I tell you, who knew!?
Hebrews 12:22 “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For IF the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape IF we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!”
Wow! Ok I am properly motivated to conquer the world and please the Lord as well as brewing some java. Tell me what you think of this IF? Join the conversation in pursuit of living in the power of His promises.
August 27, 2017
I’ve always been a perpetual worrier! What ifs were the number one thoughts that ran through my mind every day and the What IF mentality stood out to me as an acronym for “what I Fear”…I was constantly running through all the wire case what if scenarios in my head. What if my kiddos get hurt at school today? What if I’m not parenting the right way? What if I’m not enough for my husband one day? What if someone doesn’t agree with my opinion? The list goes on forever and can I just tell you that I was so defeated by all of those what ifs!!! Just like it was mentioned above, the enemy preys on that kind of thinking. He would love nothing more than to preoccupy my with my doubts and fears so that I lose sight of my faith in the Lord! A huge turning point for me was when I decided to take control of my health and wellness…I had been struggling with my weight for a long time and I felt trapped in my world of what I fears…what if I fail at my eating plan? What if I waste my time and money? What if it doesn’t work for me?…another long list of negative what ifs…I prayed for discernment and thought long and hard before I committed to a program that has since helped me to lose 50 pounds 52 inches and 6 dress sizes, and I felt God nudging me to change my perspective on my what ifs…He gently spoke to me, “Child, what if you give this to me? What if you succeed? What if you can feel better about yourself so you can care better for your family? What if you’re missing my blessings due to your fears!?” Through my health transformation I have found more confidence in the Lord’s plans for me and have had the opportunity to coach over 500 people to their goals that they were doubting could ever be accomplished. Helping others to realize the blessings and the tools God gives us daily to follow him and be the best we can be has really helped me to “get unstuck”!! Today’s blog post really spoke to me and helped me to reflect on my journey of what i feared and how God turned it into an opportunity for me to understand that if can stand for “I’m faithful”. Faithful to do God’s work and to trust in his divine plan for me! If you know of anyone struggling with try to gain more energy, deal with pain management, trying to lose weight or just looking for overall wellness in their life. Please send them to my page! I’d sure love to help someone who feel hopeless and scared by all of the what ifs in their life and offer them comfort and encouragement in their journeyed! Here’s my link: https://m.facebook.com/carpedmcoaching/
August 27, 2017
Dena you’re insight and victory are so encouraging!! God transforms us from the inside out and it sounds like He has transformed you from the “ifside” out. Physical transformation is wonderful and when it’s paired with the true life change that comes from our living God, it is victorious. You not only allowed Him to shift your focus, you also allowed Him to re-write your thoughts. Those negative what IFs are mental jail cell that we build with our own time and energy. Crazy right!? Yet we spend hours cycling through verbal vomit as if its treasure. As you so aptly point out there are many IFs in God’s word but they rarely line up with the IFs we tell ourselves. You mentioned being a perpetual worrier and of course now you are an overcomer. An overcomer that is now helping others walk in victory with the King. When we look at God’s word He reveals the secret to your success in Phillipians 4:4-9 NLT.
“4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again-rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix you thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Check out all the IFs (maybe not the actual word IF but they are the conditions that our Lord gives us none the less!) that you put into practice!
Be joyful You chose the joy of your salvation over the worry and what IFs of today. This was intentional, way to go!
Be considerate in all This one ALWAYS challenges me. He commands us to be gentle to all and in all. This means that no matter how you were feeling about your weight, about parenting or about being a wife; you chose to put your feelings on the shelf and respond to everyone with gentleness. Can I get an amen? You go girl!
Don’t worry This divine IF is not only challenging but counter culture. Think about it for a moment, even some of our closest friends and family will wear their concerns around as if they are a badge of honor. So if you choose not to worry somehow that means you don’t care! Oh how the enemy loves this device.
Pray Simple yet profound. The prayers of the righteous avail much. You became most powerful Dena when you came to His throne and gave Him every one of your wants, worries, desires and dreams.
Thank Him Gratitude is surely the enemy of despair. The two can’t co-exist. So were you grateful for the circumstances? Of course not!It’s not the situation we’re in that He wants us to be grateful for but rather the relationship with Him.
Fix you thoughts Oh how well you did this one! Each time one of those fake what IFs popped up you annihilated it with His truth. You did not allow any brain real estate for the mortgaging of lies.
Practice Thank you God for reminding us that with our will we can chose to honor your IFs by putting into practice all that we’ve heard and seen from you!
Ok, I counted seven IFs but Lord knows I may have missed some. Now lets look at His promises (the ‘thens’) once we honor His word.
Peace!!! verse 7
Protection from Christ Jesus guarding our hearts and minds!!! verse 7
Presence of God with us!!! verse 9
Thank you again Dena for sharing your struggles and your victories. I hope you will continue to study God’s word here with the “more than a blogger” community of Christians. Spread the Word and together we can cast the net! May God bless your business ventures and guide your IFs!