This has ministered to me on so many levels in the last week. I pray it will bless you.

On April 22, I wrote a blog post here titled “Under the Shadow of Your Wings.”  This post was spurred by these darling new chicks that we’d recently purchased, and it turned into a post giving thanks to God for caring for us as our daughter has some scary medical conditions going on.

That evening, we once again read from our Dinner Table Devotions book.  That night’s devotion’s first scripture passage was from Psalm 63 – the very Psalm I had just quoted in my blog post!  I love the Lord so much!

As though, that was not incredible enough, Psalm 63:5 reads

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.

which has become a precious verse to me as I continue to pursue being satisfied in Jesus, rather than in junk food.

May I encourage us all to flee from idolatry, from anything that tries to take Jesus’ place in our life.  There is nothing that can quench our thirst, or satisfy our hunger, like the Lord and His Word.  I fear that sometimes we’re so busy chasing after the fleeting pleasures of this life, that we have no time or energy left for Jesus.

Where to begin???  I am a story teller at heart, and I can’t tell the end of the story without telling you some of the beginning.

My husband, Bill, has had difficulties swallowing as far back as he can remember.  In fact, on our very first date, he got a piece of rice stuck in his throat!  So, when he was diagnosed with a condition called Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE) last fall, I was not surprised.  EE is caused by an allergic response in your throat that can cause difficult swallowing amongst other things.  In researching EE, I came across many suggestions to eliminate the six most common allergens: gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, seafood and soy.  At this point, Bill is choosing to manage his EE with allergy shots and a stomach acid reducer, but has not changed his diet.

In the midst of that, my daughter was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition that causes low thyroid hormone levels (hypothyroid).  In researching Hashimoto’s, I saw consistent encouragement to eliminate gluten from her diet.  We quickly cut gluten from her diet, but didn’t make any other dietary changes for several months when she got the results back from an allergy sensitivity test.  That test revealed that she has sensitivities to peanuts, gluten, dairy, mushrooms and eggs (sound familiar?) and to a lesser degree a variety of other things like bananas, chia seeds, black pepper, and bay leaves.

In the background, I have always struggled with my own eating habits.  I am a foodie.  I live to eat, not eat to live.  I vacation largely as an excuse to consume large quantities of delicacies, preferably sweet and fattening.

So, this spring, when I kept seeing people posting on Facebook and Instagram about Whole30, my interest was piqued.  I went ahead and checked out a book at the library about the program called “It Starts with Food.”  One evening, I was laying on the couch, reading through the book, and feeling how IMPOSSIBLE this diet would be, when Bill said it was time to read our family devotional book, “Dinner Table Devotions.” (which we love, by the way!)  That very day, the first of March, the devotional was titled “Heart Hunger for God.”  The devotional quoted two passages of scripture, Matthew 4:2-4 and Matthew 6:17-18.

And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”  Matthew 4:2-4

But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  Matthew 6:17-18

Incredibly, that day’s devotional included these words,

“…while God gives food for us to enjoy and to keep us healthy, he also expects that we will sometimes choose not to eat or choose not to eat certain foods.  It’s called fasting.  Fasting is when we go without food or certain foods for a period of time, not for the purpose of losing weight but for spiritual reasons – because we want to develop our hunger for God.  We want to connect with God in an intense way by denying ourselves the comfort or distraction of food.”

I could sense in my soul that the Lord was calling me to fast and that He would use this time in a very real, spiritual way in my life to break the stronghold that food held in my life.

And thus began my Whole30 journey.

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

for you have been my help,

and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

Six months ago, my sweet daughter Noelle was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis and we began seeking how to best care and treat that condition.

In the meantime, we have also been moving forward with a scheduled Nuss procedure for a congenital chest condition called Pectus Excavatum which is expected to take place sometime this summer.

Without my faith in Christ, and my firm knowledge that God is truly our good Father and loving Shepherd, I would be lost.

Jesus, by Your love and grace and watchful care, I am sustained. You carry us and care for us. We find mercy under Your loving wings and we sing for joy.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

There is only one God. He is the Lord.

We are to love Him most. Love Him best. We are to cherish Him above all else. He is our everything.

We are to love Him with our WHOLE heart and soul and strength.

And because we love Him so dearly, with all our heart and soul and strength,  we are to keep His words on our heart, and we teach our children to love Him, too.

We will teach His Words to our children moment by moment, day by day, night by night, and year by year. Precept upon precept, we will teach them. We will teach them diligently, when we’re sitting at home, and when we’re out and about; whether we’re all alone or whether people are watching us at the grocery store.

We will teach our children to love Him, like we love Him, because He is so worthy of our love.

This is my prayer for me, and my family, and for you and yours.

At the start of 2016, I began thinking about what I’d like this new year to hold.  My mind immediately turned to all the things that I needed to do, the self-improvement projects I needed to start.

Then, the Spirit grabbed hold of my heart.

Too often, friends, I am captivated by the things I need to do MORE, rather than the things I need to do LESS.

So, this year I’d like to see:

• More praying, Less fretting
• More time used, Less time wasted
• More face time, Less Facebook
• More Jesus, Less me

“And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness–look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”” (John 3:26-30 ESV)

This semester at Renewed Moms (a women’s Bible study I’m a part of) we are inductively studying the book of Daniel. Today, while observing chapter 4, marking up the words for Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar and God, I had another Aha moment confirming what I saw earlier this week.

Look with me at the very last verse of the chapter, verse 37.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (NIV)

This is the very same Nebuchadnezzer, who in verse 30 was bragging about great Babylon, which he had built by his own mighty power and for the glory of his own majesty!  The Lord intervened and humbles him. The Most High took away from him all these things that he had worked so hard for and which gave him such pride, until after seven long years, Nebuchadnezzar “raised [his] eyes toward heaven, and [his] sanity was restored. Then [he] praised the Most High; [he] honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” (v. 34 NIV)

God indeed opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. He exalts those who humble themselves before him. I fear that in my never ending desire to glorify God, I too often end up glorifying myself, and in trying to be “all that I can be,” I forget that I can do no good thing apart from Him.

As Psalm 34:3 says, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

Let us pray together for meek and gentle spirits, for hearts that seek to praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven who does everything right and who is always just and who is faithful to humble the proud.

And, our nation needs prayer.  We need to be praying for the leadership of our country to recognize that God’s dominion is indeed eternal and that His kingdom is the only one that endures forever, from generation to generation.

Please, stop whatever you’re doing right now, and pray.

Over Christmas break, I put together a variety of verses I’ve memorized over the years and put them in order according to where they’re found in the Bible. Then, I put them inside clear page protectors with the front of each page containing shorter passages or single verses and the back being a chapter that I’ve memorized. Then, I filed these pages into my big 3-ring Bible study binder with a nice tab that says “Scripture Memory.”  Oooh.  It felt good.

I love getting organized! (If only I could stick with the grand plans I come up with.)

So, the other day I was walking at the park, carrying one of these pages of verses. As I walked, I was reciting these verses out loud and praying as the Lord was leading. And here are some of the verses that were included on that one page.

“Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV)

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-8a ESV)

And I had one of those awesome “Aha” moments where these random pieces all came together.

Wisdom and might and wealth, speaking in tongues and prophecy and faith, these are all gifts out of His good hand.

But above all these things, the Lord Himself practices love, justice and righteousness. He has all the wisdom, all the might and all the riches of the world. Yet, He delights in these things: love and justice and righteousness. This is what is good. If I have great wisdom and power and wealth and if I have every single spiritual gift known to man, but have not love, I am nothing.

I couldn’t help but see the repeated themes in these passages.  Themes of wisdom and knowledge, themes of wealth and helping the poor, themes of power and might and love.  They are sprinkled through the Old Testament and the New.  This is who our God is.  But there is something over all these things.

He desires a humble heart from me as I receive these precious gifts from His hand to His glory.

Father, forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me for my own pride, for thinking that I am something when I am not. Every good and perfect gift is from You. What do I have that You have not given to me? Bless me, Father, with a humble heart that seeks to follow You in all of Your ways, as I practice steadfast love, justice and righteousness here on earth and may it all be to Your glory. May they see my good deeds and glorify You, my Father in Heaven.

Have YOU had an “Aha” moment this week?  How has God opened your eyes to something you thought you already understood?