"Choice"

Well, as most of you know, I decided to end my fast early. My stomach was so ill half the time, that I found myself mostly praying for my health and I was struggling with the concept of it being a fast to pray for greater, more important needs, other than my own health! It became too hard to get the daily things, like teaching my children accomplished. I did enjoy some of my time doing it, and it was a great learning experience.

During my time on the fast, I was reading the book, "Know Why You Believe", by Paul E. Little. It's truly a wonderful book, full of facts on how to prove God to be real and defends the Christian faith. While reading it, there was a part that struck me. It was basically talking about how in this day, we have such great archaeological proof that Jesus walked on this earth, and that the Bible was real and "breathed" by God. As I was reading the book, it was fascinating to find out all the discoveries that have been made over these last few decades! Yet, it seems as if Christianity continues to be viewed by so many as false and the joke of all jokes on television. It basically comes down to choice! As all the evidence lays before us, proving God and the Bible's true existence through the ages, man must choose to believe the evidence. We all seem to believe the many books written about our presidents, the history books of war, and yet, with all this proof, people don't want to "choose" to believe that God is real, the Bible is truly the word of God, and that Jesus really did walk on this earth, die, and appear 3 days later!

As the anniversary of legalizing abortion took place yesterday, I was brought back to this topic of "choice". In this day and age, there is no greater proof that at the beginning of conception there's a little baby in their mommy's tummy. We now have amazing technology where there's ultrasounds in 3D and 4D showing us every little detail from the earliest of stages. God has also given us the technology to save a child from the earliest stages of life like never before! I recently just read that they saved a child who was only 9oz when born! How amazing! Yet, with all this technology proving that there's a little baby in the womb from conception, we have aborted 50,000,000 babies, and it continues to climb! How do we ignore the fact that we can see their little tiny heads and heartbeats; how do we ignore the fact that books of the Bible have been found with more original copies than any other book, proving it's authenticity? We "choose" to ignore it! How sad and ignorant we are as a people that even with the evidence thrown in front of us, we still choose not to believe.

Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."

Daniel Fast - Day 7

Well, I am a week in and I am surprised I lasted. Apparently, I am the only one that is surprised, since I keep asking people if they can believe I'm still doing this, and everyone said, "YES!". According to them, they knew I would continue, since when I say I'm going to do it, I always follow through. I'm not sure if that's integrity, or just my stubbornness that comes through!

I do have to admit, it's been a hard week for me at times. It's not necessarily the foods I miss, it's that my stomach is not always happy! On the "physical" side of this fast, I have lost 8 pounds in these 7 days and my body is slowly adjusting. I have tried to get more creative as each day passes. Stir-fry is my best friend in the food department at this moment. I have found that the lack of sugar sure changes the way things taste. On the other hand, I have made many things that the rest of the family has liked. I alter it some for them by throwing in some ham in the pea soup, or making homemade french fries in the oven with olive oil, and they eat meat with it, but they seem to be also enjoying the extra vegetables around the house.

On the prayer side of things, I have been enjoying my time. I had been talking about reading through Revelations, but as I began to pray, I felt the need to learn more about defending my faith. At TBC, we took a class that used the books, "Know What You Believe", and "Know Why You Believe", by Paul E Little. If you have not read these books, I suggest you pick up a copy! Travis loves these books so much, that if he sees them, he buys an extra one to give to someone who he thinks really needs to understand our faith. Even though I have read this before, it's good to sharpen those swords and prepare for any question thrown at you when it comes to believing in Jesus Christ. I have really been enjoying my time, and take notes of things that really make an impact on my heart. God has also been encouraging me in my music. Yesterday, I was asked to help work on a music project that will stretch me creatively! I am excited to see what God has in store.

I want to encourage those of you who are doing the Daniel Fast, to keep going! It is hard at times, but the rewards will be great! I also want to encourage everyone to pick up a copy of the books I talked about. You will not be sorry, and it answers all the lies that the media and past theories try to prove.

May God bless you all this coming week!

In honor of Tim Tebow, I will share with you John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Daniel Fast - Day 1

Our church has been called to do a "Daniel Fast". What is a "Daniel Fast" you may ask? Well, it's basically a time of prayer and devotion to God while eliminating certain foods from your diet. In Daniel 10:3, the Bible says, "I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks." So, as you see, the fast consists of a strict diet of only fruits, vegetables, seeds, and whole grains. During this time of fast, a person spends time in prayer during the preparations of meals and extra special time in your devotions. Using this time, it allows us to draw closer to God and help you focus on some of the independent issues we may face in our daily Christian walk.

Day 1, "Pop no more". Well, it's Day 1 for me, and of course at this moment, I am only thinking about the things that will be taken away from me today. I will miss my caffeine, meat, and of course sugar!!! I have already bought all the foods I need to help me through this coming week, but as I am the only member of my family doing this, it's going to be hard to watch everyone else eat the things I love!

On the spiritual side, I am ready to start diving in! This last week in devotions, I have reread the book of Daniel, and during my fast will begin studying the book of Revelations. I, of course, try to read my Bible each day, but I tend to avoid Revelations. That book scares me at times! The end, the things to come, the unknown, make me nervous! I am hoping that as I read and fast these next three weeks, God will open up wisdom and remove fear from my heart.

Well, to all my Facebook friends out there that follow my blogs, I will not be on for three weeks. I will update you here, and if you want to contact me, please leave your comments on my blog website. God bless all my friends who are doing this along side me.