Over and over in the Scriptures, we are encouraged to pray and fast. But what does that mean, exactly? Is fasting just starving yourself? That's certainly what I thought throughout my years as a young Believer. Recently though, I was discussing fasting with a group of friends and my eyes were opened to a whole new idea of what fasting truly is.
Because of sin, we are not controlled by to Holy Spirit, but rather we are controlled by the sinful nature. When we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, the Holy Spirit inhabits us, but we still have to choose to be controlled by the Spirit, rather than by the sinful nature. Romans 8 discusses this topic in length. Verse 8 puts it this way, "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." So how do we change our lives from being sin-nature controlled to being Spirit controlled? Fasting is a big part of gaining control over the sinful nature.
Fasting is not simply starving oneself, fasting is saying to your human(sinful) nature, "No, not now." While fasting, when you body cries out for something that you are choosing not to indulge in, you say to it[your body] "No, not now. I have control." It is taking control over that human nature, because if we are a slave to that human nature, we cannot be fully devoted to Christ. Fasting helps us tap into the strength that we are given through the Holy Spirit and take control over our human nature.
Fasting is by no means easy, but that is why I think it makes such a huge impact in our lives. We are often at a place where we have to rely on God for the strength to get through this period of fasting and that allows us to take the control from our human nature and instead letting ourselves be controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Fasting is something that I've really been thinking about lately and reflecting upon. What are you thoughts on fasting? Please share!
Hannah
Monday, April 18, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
I always did love the story of Noah's Ark....
On Wednesday afternoon I pulled a muscle in my leg(no idea how this happened) and had to call off of work for a few days...because I coolant, ya know, stand or anything. I finally got some movement back into my leg yesterday morning and decided that since I was home and couldn't go anywhere I would try tackle my laundry pile-it was getting a little(read:i had no clean clothes) out of hand.
I went into the laundry room and was rather surprised when I found my feet....wet? I looked down and was even more surprised to find about an inch of water standing in the laundry room floor.
Our water heater(which was in the laundry room) had started leaking and flooded the laundry room. Thankfully my Uncle is a plumber so he was quickly called and came out.
The water heater was quickly replaced, as well as the kitchen faucet...but the laundry still needs to be done.
Did you have any surprises this week?
Hannah
I went into the laundry room and was rather surprised when I found my feet....wet? I looked down and was even more surprised to find about an inch of water standing in the laundry room floor.
Our water heater(which was in the laundry room) had started leaking and flooded the laundry room. Thankfully my Uncle is a plumber so he was quickly called and came out.
The water heater was quickly replaced, as well as the kitchen faucet...but the laundry still needs to be done.
Did you have any surprises this week?
Hannah
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Try not to kill our dog, kthanks.
Last week I had the pleasure of house sitting for a couple at my church. They were going out of town for the week and wanted someone to be at home with their elderly dog. Lucy is 14 years old(about 90 in human years) and is no longer able to go to a boarding house because of some minor health issue. So I got to spend the week with Lucy.
Before Tim and Donna went out of town I met with them to get to know Lucy a little better, pick up keys, ect. They did me a huge favor by typing out a paper with directions on when and how to administer Lucy's medication, how and when she is fed, who to contact in an emergency, ect.
At the bottom of the typed paper I saw this lovely little line:
"Please remember that Lucy is very old. You are here as a comfort to her. Please do not feel bad if she does die while we are away."
Um, excuse me. If I am watching your dog, and she dies, no matter how old or ill....I AM GOING TO FEEL BAD! I do, however, appreciate that they are realistic that Lucy is in the last years of her life.
Thankfully, Lucy and I made it through the week with our lives in tact, and we became good buddies to boot.
Hannah
Before Tim and Donna went out of town I met with them to get to know Lucy a little better, pick up keys, ect. They did me a huge favor by typing out a paper with directions on when and how to administer Lucy's medication, how and when she is fed, who to contact in an emergency, ect.
At the bottom of the typed paper I saw this lovely little line:
"Please remember that Lucy is very old. You are here as a comfort to her. Please do not feel bad if she does die while we are away."
Um, excuse me. If I am watching your dog, and she dies, no matter how old or ill....I AM GOING TO FEEL BAD! I do, however, appreciate that they are realistic that Lucy is in the last years of her life.
Thankfully, Lucy and I made it through the week with our lives in tact, and we became good buddies to boot.
Hannah
Thursday, March 24, 2011
I'm not dead
Hi *waving* remember me? Once upon a time I use to blog here, but then spring break came...and my ability to function went away. I spent all of last week studying for and then taking finals. This week I have just been...exhausted. My friend Jenni put it this way, "Its like, when you finally get to take a rest thats all your body wants to do." Amen. So that's what I've been doing, resting and visiting with people I love. Its been fantastic. I'm planning to get my blogging behind in gear next week, but today I thought I would share a few of the blog posts that I've enjoyed reading this week. Enjoy!
~Emily shares a really fun way to spruce up plain rubber gloves. I'm thinking these would be an adorable shower gift for a bride to be!
~ Beth Moore(yes THE Beth Moore) talks about the ups and downs in this walk.
~Amy Beth reminds us that sometimes, God doesn't our circumstances-He changes us.
~ One of Kristen's readers opened my eyes about Adoption and Assumptions.
~ Have you ever gotten a Shellac manicure? They're fantastic, but a pain in the neck to remove. The Pioneer woman shares her technigue for removing Shellac polish. So helpful!
~ I love just about everything Lindsey writes. Here she talks about her Life as a Journeyer.
Thank you for your patience while I recover from the last quarter!
Hannah.
~Emily shares a really fun way to spruce up plain rubber gloves. I'm thinking these would be an adorable shower gift for a bride to be!
~ Beth Moore(yes THE Beth Moore) talks about the ups and downs in this walk.
~Amy Beth reminds us that sometimes, God doesn't our circumstances-He changes us.
~ One of Kristen's readers opened my eyes about Adoption and Assumptions.
~ Have you ever gotten a Shellac manicure? They're fantastic, but a pain in the neck to remove. The Pioneer woman shares her technigue for removing Shellac polish. So helpful!
~ I love just about everything Lindsey writes. Here she talks about her Life as a Journeyer.
Thank you for your patience while I recover from the last quarter!
Hannah.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Beauty in the Ashes
Please know there is no pride in the following statement: God has given me a heart that easily forgives. Perhaps it is because I myself have been forgiven so very much, but I can honestly sit here and say(or rather type) that there is no unforgiveness toward another in my heart. While forgiving others is not difficult for me, understanding and accepting the forgiveness Jesus has shown me another thing entirely.
For the longest time I would sin, ask for forgiveness, know that I was forgiven-but still feel incredible and guilt and separation from God. I always thought that when I stumbled and then asked for forgiveness I had to start back at square one with God and start our relationship all over again. Not true.
Right now I am reading what could possibly be the best book I have ever read. "Deep unto Deep" by Dana Candler takes the reader on a journey into a more int imitate relationship with their Beloved. A few days ago, Dana discussed the topic of forgiveness and completely changed my view of God's grace to His bride.
"I am set free by the blood of Jesus, and I can bring nothing to the table to motivate the heart of God into the response of forgiveness. He desires my by His own self-replenishing love that exists within Himself, unaltered by my response(pg.96)." Let me rephrase, God forgives me because of the blood that was shed by His Son on the cross, not because of my guilt or shame or even because I asked Him too. His forgiveness is based completely in the love He has for me, not in anything I do.
How selfish have I been?! Thinking all this time that I had to do something to earn forgiveness.
This next part is the statement that shook my heart to the core: "In these crises experiences we so often allow ourselves the legal position of salvation yet deny ourselves intimacy with Him. Intimacy seems to pleasurable for what we deserve(pg. 96)." "Though we know the cross is about forgiveness of sin, we neglect its provision for Christ's intimacy with believers who still struggle with sin(pg.97)." In essence, just because I have sinned does not mean that once I repent I must start all over again in my relationship with Jesus. He desires intimacy with me, even though I still struggle. It is in my struggle that His strength is made perfect within me.
Think of the prophet Jonah. He was called to a task by God, but decided he didn't want to do it. So he ran. He chartered a ship and God caused a great storm to occur. Jonah realized this was a consequence of his sin and wanting to save the rest of the crew, he had them throw him overboard where he was promptly swallowed by a giant fish where he stayed for three days. It was within the belly of that fish that he cried out to God. His prayer is outlined in Jonah chapter 2:
For the longest time I would sin, ask for forgiveness, know that I was forgiven-but still feel incredible and guilt and separation from God. I always thought that when I stumbled and then asked for forgiveness I had to start back at square one with God and start our relationship all over again. Not true.
Right now I am reading what could possibly be the best book I have ever read. "Deep unto Deep" by Dana Candler takes the reader on a journey into a more int imitate relationship with their Beloved. A few days ago, Dana discussed the topic of forgiveness and completely changed my view of God's grace to His bride.
"I am set free by the blood of Jesus, and I can bring nothing to the table to motivate the heart of God into the response of forgiveness. He desires my by His own self-replenishing love that exists within Himself, unaltered by my response(pg.96)." Let me rephrase, God forgives me because of the blood that was shed by His Son on the cross, not because of my guilt or shame or even because I asked Him too. His forgiveness is based completely in the love He has for me, not in anything I do.
How selfish have I been?! Thinking all this time that I had to do something to earn forgiveness.
This next part is the statement that shook my heart to the core: "In these crises experiences we so often allow ourselves the legal position of salvation yet deny ourselves intimacy with Him. Intimacy seems to pleasurable for what we deserve(pg. 96)." "Though we know the cross is about forgiveness of sin, we neglect its provision for Christ's intimacy with believers who still struggle with sin(pg.97)." In essence, just because I have sinned does not mean that once I repent I must start all over again in my relationship with Jesus. He desires intimacy with me, even though I still struggle. It is in my struggle that His strength is made perfect within me.
Think of the prophet Jonah. He was called to a task by God, but decided he didn't want to do it. So he ran. He chartered a ship and God caused a great storm to occur. Jonah realized this was a consequence of his sin and wanting to save the rest of the crew, he had them throw him overboard where he was promptly swallowed by a giant fish where he stayed for three days. It was within the belly of that fish that he cried out to God. His prayer is outlined in Jonah chapter 2:
“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry.
3 You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.
4 I said, ‘I have been banished
from your sight;
yet I will look again
toward your holy temple.’
5 The engulfing waters threatened me,[b]
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, LORD my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
7 “When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.
8 “Those who cling to worthless idols
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’”
turn away from God’s love for them.
9 But I, with shouts of grateful praise,
will sacrifice to you.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the LORD.’”
Jonah understood that even when we are in the depth of the pit of our sin, God still desires intimacy with us.
Candler goes on to say in her book that keeping ourselves distant from God is not only unnecessary, it is a sin and a tool of Satan. The longer that the evil one can keep us from God, the longer he has to corrupt us and keep us digging deeper into our pit of sin. Candler says, "When we do this(keep ourselves from intimacy) we agree with the lie that our weakness is greater than Jesus' work of redemption, and we stand in the way of God Himself by counting our own evaluation of our hearts higher than His(pg.97)."
I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago and we both remarked how we just wanted to 'get there' in our Christian walks. Wherever 'there' is. We wanted it. We wanted to learn all of the lessons, understand all of the truths, get rid of all of our perfection. Basically, we wanted Heaven on earth.
Dear friend, Jesus is not waiting for us to get 'there' before we come to Him. He is simply waiting for us to come. Stop reaching for your own perfection and reach for Perfection Himself.
Hannah
* All quotes are courtesy of "Deep unto Deep" by Dana Candler.
* Jonah 2 verses courtesy of Bible Gateway.com and the NIV Bible.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Ewww
A few weeks ago I took a teeny tiny road trip to visit my cousin Melissa and attend a book signing for one of my favorite bloggers, The Pioneer Woman. My cousin is a fantastic mom to a beautiful little girl, Mia. She adopted Mia about four years ago and could not love her more. She has such a heart for adoption(me too!) and is also a foster parent. About a week before the book signing, Melissa received a new foster daughter, we will call her baby B.
I knew that she was bring both babies to the book signing so I went to Target and put together little gift boxes for them so that they would have something to do while waiting in line. Baby B seemed to take to me quite quickly. She never wanted to be put down! Coincidentally , I took to her as well, so I had no problem holding the little cutie the whole night.
After the signing Melissa and I each picked up a baby and headed across the shopping center to Starbucks. We grabbed some coffee for us and milk boxes for the babies and sat down for a nice long chat. The girls were fantastic. I had worn a lot of bracelets that day and the girls had some much fun playing with them and just climbing all over Melissa and I.
Eventually though, poor Baby B just got tuckered out and climbed up in my lap where she promptly fell asleep. I wrapped her up in my favorite black sweater that I had worn that night and she just snuggled in for a nap.
About 30 minutes into her nap, Baby B woke up and look around for a minute...and promptly started puking. All.Over. She must have thrown up for a good minute. Ewww
Now, Emma, bless her heart, has puked, pooped, peed, ect. on me more times than I can count so I wasn't too freaked out by Baby B's puke. Poor Melissa though, was blessed with a child who just doesn't puke like this. We rushed to the bathroom where we got Baby B and myself cleaned up(sorta) and then headed out to the cars.
Thankfully, Melissa only had about a 15 minute drive. I, on the other hand, had about an hour drive. Ewww I remembered that I had a bag of Goodwill bound clothes in my backseat so I grabbed a sweater and did a quick change in my car.
Baby B is doing much better now and I think Melissa has recovered as well[Love you Melissa! ;)]. Kid's have the best timing don't they?
Hannah
I knew that she was bring both babies to the book signing so I went to Target and put together little gift boxes for them so that they would have something to do while waiting in line. Baby B seemed to take to me quite quickly. She never wanted to be put down! Coincidentally , I took to her as well, so I had no problem holding the little cutie the whole night.
After the signing Melissa and I each picked up a baby and headed across the shopping center to Starbucks. We grabbed some coffee for us and milk boxes for the babies and sat down for a nice long chat. The girls were fantastic. I had worn a lot of bracelets that day and the girls had some much fun playing with them and just climbing all over Melissa and I.
Eventually though, poor Baby B just got tuckered out and climbed up in my lap where she promptly fell asleep. I wrapped her up in my favorite black sweater that I had worn that night and she just snuggled in for a nap.
About 30 minutes into her nap, Baby B woke up and look around for a minute...and promptly started puking. All.Over. She must have thrown up for a good minute. Ewww
Now, Emma, bless her heart, has puked, pooped, peed, ect. on me more times than I can count so I wasn't too freaked out by Baby B's puke. Poor Melissa though, was blessed with a child who just doesn't puke like this. We rushed to the bathroom where we got Baby B and myself cleaned up(sorta) and then headed out to the cars.
Thankfully, Melissa only had about a 15 minute drive. I, on the other hand, had about an hour drive. Ewww I remembered that I had a bag of Goodwill bound clothes in my backseat so I grabbed a sweater and did a quick change in my car.
Baby B is doing much better now and I think Melissa has recovered as well[Love you Melissa! ;)]. Kid's have the best timing don't they?
Hannah
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
A Tuesday morning list...
1. This past weekend I spent the weekend in upstate New York with the youth group I work with at Snow Camp.
2. Upstate New York is very far away.
3. They also get lots of snow. Lots and lots.
4. A few weeks ago I cut my hair very short. Its finally getting long enough to leave it curly, rather than straightening it everyday. Yay!
5. #4 was pretty pointless.
6. I have a five page paper due tomorrow. I have yet to start it.
7. Spring break is just two weeks away. Why is it the last few weeks before spring/Christmas/summer break are always the busiest???
8. I desperately need a pedicure. Seriously, my poor neglected toes....
9. I still think that October is the craziest month of the year, but I have to admit that March is giving October a run for its money.
10. I'm making a list today, because I just don't have the energy to construct an actual blog post, sorry. Thanks for reading my list!
11. Sara Evans' new album comes out today. I am a HUGE Sara Evans fan. Its a good day....
2. Upstate New York is very far away.
3. They also get lots of snow. Lots and lots.
4. A few weeks ago I cut my hair very short. Its finally getting long enough to leave it curly, rather than straightening it everyday. Yay!
5. #4 was pretty pointless.
6. I have a five page paper due tomorrow. I have yet to start it.
7. Spring break is just two weeks away. Why is it the last few weeks before spring/Christmas/summer break are always the busiest???
8. I desperately need a pedicure. Seriously, my poor neglected toes....
9. I still think that October is the craziest month of the year, but I have to admit that March is giving October a run for its money.
10. I'm making a list today, because I just don't have the energy to construct an actual blog post, sorry. Thanks for reading my list!
11. Sara Evans' new album comes out today. I am a HUGE Sara Evans fan. Its a good day....
12. I got some great news the other day... I was accepted to Liberty University! I had received an email telling me this about a week ago, but there's something about getting the letter in the mail, I may or may not have cried... ;)
13. I am almost out of coffee, this is a tragedy.
14. #13 was pointless, but it's my blog so I can post pointless things.
15. I really love that you took the time to read this randomness. Thank you!
Happy Tuesday,
Hannah.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)