A Deeper Life: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

This week has been busy and eventful surprisingly. That's another reason why I love Fall so much (27 days till that glorious season, by the way), because things start back up again and people get busy. I love it. And I have found that when people are busy, they get things done more. For example, this summer, I had all the time in the world to get stuff done, but is my car still filthy? Yes. Did I neglect the dusting in the house? Yes. Is there still a HUGE spot on the wall in desperate need of a big clock or mirror or picture or something? Yes. Basically, what I'm trying to say is when I am busy, I get more stuff done on my free time. Yay for Fall being here in a few weeks. Yay for being busy. Yay for Fall. Wait did I already say that? I must mean it.

I'm Soooo Trendy:
The other day, I was reading a magazine (I know, I know. I need to be reading actual books), and I saw that the latest nail color trend this year is gray. I love weird and dark colors on my nails, so this struck my fancy big time! So what did I do? I went out to Wally World and got me some deep gray nail polish by Sally Hansen and now my toesies are cute and gray and trendified. Oooo buddy, I love it! I feel a little bit posh. A little bit sassy. And definitely a lotta bit trendy! Feel free to be trendy like me and join the gray fad!

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff:

On Tuesday evening, I went to Bellevue for our final "Girl Talk" this summer. Donna Gaines, the Pastor's wife, spoke on not sweating the small stuff. Don't we do that all the time? Don't we act like a bunch of fools sometimes, worrying about silly junk like cleaning, something breaking, making appearances, food, time, how your spouse loads the dish washer :) It's all just silly and at the end of the day, do those silly things matter? No.

However! We DO need to sweat the small stuff when it comes to God. Partial obedience to Christ is not enough, and we need to fully surrender to God, leaving nothing out! Because nothing about God is small.

Here are some of the notes that I took (on a napkin, might I add) from the talk the other night.

These are the "small" things that we need to sweat in our faith:

Reading the Bible (Joshua 1:8, Matthew 5:18-19) Study and meditate on the word
Prayer (Matthew 6:5-8) Be in faithful and repetitious prayer
Let your light shine (Matthew 5:16) If you have the light of Christ inside you, do not keep it in the dark! Shine it so the world may see!
Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44) That's a tough one, but we gotta do it. As my mama always said, "kill 'em with kindness". It's true. Love your enemies and show them the kindness and love of Christ within you.
Humility (Matthew 6:1-4, 1Peter 5:6-8)
Forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15) Forgiving also means forgetting once you forgive.
Do not be anxious (Matthew 6:25-34) This is a tough one for me. I am what you would call a "worry wort" because I worry about everything! I need to learn to give my worries to God and trust in Him fully.
Do not judge (Matthew 7:1-2)
No unwholesome words (Ephesians 4:29) We've talked about this verse a lot. It's an important one to remember and hold closely to your heart.
Love others (Mark 12:31, 1Corinthians 13) Do periodic "love checks" to make sure you are loving others.

Think with a Kingdom perspective. Yes, we are living on the earth, but where will we spend eternity once the good Lord decides to take us? Hopefully Heaven. I hope to see ALL of you there with me. But think of the Kingdom. Get your mind off the world and the worldly perspective. Have a Kingdom perspective.
Refuse. Resist. Replace. If you begin to have an ugly thought, or any thought that does not bring glory to God, refuse that though. Throw it away and don't even let it come through your brain. Resist the temptation that Satan is trying to throw at you. And replace it with scripture. Replace it with God's Word and His ever loving truth
2Corinthians 10:3-5, 2Timothy 1:7
Take charge over your mind.

Daniel Honored the Lord (Daniel 1, 2 and 6)...

By what he ate
Submission to authority
Spoke with wisdom and tact
Prayed
Praised the Lord
Humble

-Daniel faced persecution--He encountered the jealousy of man and the tactics of Satan.

-Are people able to find sinful accusation in you? What trail are you leaving behind you? If you were on the witness stand, would you be accused of being a sinful creature or a follower of and faithful believer in Christ?

-We need to live in such a way that when others examine our lives, they can powerfully see that we are followers of Christ.

Daniels Reputation:

Esteemed by man (Ezekiel 14:14, 20; Ezekiel 28:3)
Esteemed by God (Daniel 10:11, 19)

-What is your reputation on earth with men? What is your reputation in Heaven with God?

*Obviously, this talk was powerful and a very good "check-up" on my life! Am I sweating the small stuff that doesn't matter here on earth? Or am I sweating the small stuff that matters to God? It's something to think about and be cautious of in my life. I encourage you to sweat the small stuff that matters to our Heavenly Father and meditate on those things. Pray, get in the Word, don't judge, be humble, etc. Let's be a little bit more like Daniel who is esteemed by man but also, and more importantly, by God.

Funny Video Friday (Its just a bunch of cat and dog pictures, but who doesn't love those, right?!)