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Welcome to my new series...Simplify...Once and For All! How many times have you promised to clear the clutter and just weeks later you find yourself buried in it again? Or you have vowed to keep your homeschool schedule simple, but next thing you know you are running out the door each day to a commitment, and when the week is over you are wondering what happened to the lesson plans you had created for the week? Or how about making a meal plan for the week, only to discover three weeks after and it's chicken nuggets for dinner again. How does this happen?
For one thing, it is focus. We have good intentions. We start out motivated. We are ready for the long haul. For a while we are working toward our goal of simplifying, and we are on track. Yet too often the distractions of the world creep in and we lose focus.
Our true focus in simplifying should be to fix our eyes on not what is seen but what is unseen. We need to understand that none of the material things we have here will gain us once extra moment in eternity. None of it matters for eternity. What matters is growing in our relationship with the Lord and the fruits that are produced from the relationship. Walking in the Spirit produces love joy, peace, kindness, patience, gentleness, and self-control.
Let's stop for a minute on that last one- self-control. Once we have the Spirit in us, we naturally will produce those fruits that are evidences of our faith. They are an overflow of our heart. Self-control. That is where simplifying comes in.
For many of us, we want to simplify because we have too much stuff. We want to have less. We've become overwhelmed byt this world. Having less stuff actually gives us so much more of what is important!
When our heart is focused on the Lord, we will have self-control because we understand that we do not need to fill up on material things. We do need to have a full schedule in order to fulfilled. We do not need to overindulge in information each day before making decisions.
Self control allows us to be very intentional about our "stuff." We can stop and determine what is a need and what is a want. We can have self-control to not turn the computer on, but to open our Bible. We can have self-control to not say yes to more commitments or activities, and be content with what God has already called us to do.
So this week I would ask you to really think about why you want to simplify. Determine that this is not going to be something you start and do not finish. The Lord wants all of you. Not just part of you. Fix your eyes on Him. Let Him make you complete apart from any worldly thing.
Get ready, because this is the time when you are going to simplify once and for all...it will take some soul searching first and really examining your heart. Pray first of all for guidance, and focus on self control.
Here are some verses to encourage you this week!
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
Romans 1:25
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33
Let's take this journey together...
and together Simply Live...for HIM!
Make sure to subscribe here, I will be posting at least once a week on this series. Don't miss out-the posts can be delivered straight to your inbox! We will discuss practical ways to simplify, and getting to the heart of why we want to simplify!
Pass this along and share with friends-encourage each other to simply live...for Him! Also share in the comments or on the facebook page what YOU are doing to simplify once and for all!
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Looking to keep it simple this year? Are you looking to eliminate clutter?
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4 comments:
My greatest desire is to simply live for him...thank you for this post...blessings
I am going to share a link on my blog so others may be blessed as well :)
Growing up on a farm, must teach us a simply life that so many seek. It was nature for us to live simple because we just did not have a lot and we did not miss it. I still do not have a lot and for the most part I do not miss it. Only when things break down, so we desire more of an income, trying to put aside for such things is not an ability one has living pay check to pay check with two chronically ill women in the home, one with seizures and one with scoliosis, but God is good all the time.
As my grandfather use to say the more you own the more you have to fix. Being rich towards God is the only economy we cannot gather too much of.
I'm definitely on a journey of simplifying my life...God has brought me to a place now where I am actually selling 90% of my contents in my home. My 'collections', my thrift store, yard sale and garbage finds. things that I have accumulated over the years to make my house a home, and cloth our family...and than TLC contacted me to be part of a show about my Crazy Obsession on yard saling. Well God began to show me, yard saling is not the obsession, collecting is..over 150 collections..ok, that's crazy! So now I am being purged (cleansed and purified)..God is showing me these 'treasures' were becoming an idol in my life...we hear the saying bloom where you are planted. The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart many months ago about SOD...how we need this to bloom..s-implify. o-rganize, d-eclutter. Praising our Lord for leading me here this morning..blessings sweet sister.
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