Celebrating the Easter holiday, playing back the story of the Cross and the resurrection of Jesus, The Christ, always serves as a time of reflection for me. It is a time in which perspective on life–how I’ve lived it (the past), my current approach to everyday life (the present), what needs to ‘die’; what needs to be resurged; what needs to be resurrected; what needs to start anew (the future). I, like most of us, give intense thought to how I’m handling what is so precious to me, Life. I take time to appreciate the gift of and the blessing to simply breathe….
The birth of The Cherry Vine was pretty much finally delivered as a result of the “No Meat Monday” challenge, as a late start to Lent in 2016. During that time, participants were given weekly snippets of inspiration to stay focused and committed to the challenge. The challenge ended with this excerpt from a Facebook post:
“Today’s devotion, “Seek God All The Time”, is so relevant to our challenge that ends tomorrow, as it is my prayer that during this challenge of Faith and Focus that each of us has had some revelation or message from the Creator…that we’ve learned something new about ourselves and our “walk.” We really can do All things through Christ! Let’s make our last day of this challenge a day of truly seeking God for his Divine direction and purpose! I’ve enjoyed the journey with you! More challenges to come. 🙂”
….Then this one on Easter Sunday 2016:
“Happy Resurrection Sunday, FB fam! As we celebrate the beautiful resurrection story, the Risen Christ, let’s give some thought on resurrecting ourselves! Bring life to lifelessness. Make an effort to leave old baggage–drama, distrust, anger, fear, resentment, disappointment, any and all strongholds behind! Make a commitment to yourself to become a new creature, a different being, in Christ. Focus on what God may be calling you to do. I’m working on it!”
Well, it’s now two years later, and I’ve given quite a bit of thought to my pitiful procrastination, and possibly others, in making commitments to take better care of the package God delivered to us—to house our hearts, our minds, our spirits, our physical and spiritual being—It’s our body, but it’s God’s temple. It is such an important gift, so why do we handle it recklessly? I certainly do! There’s no time better than now to fix this, so let’s participate together in making a CHOICE to treat our temples like the gems that they are. In doing so, let’s continue to pray for God’s guidance to do better, to be better, and to live better. Let’s use the guide below as one of our motivations to do so. Let’s stay focused in order to create/maintain a physical space for God to clearly speak divine purpose into our lives or further enhance and direct purpose that has already been realized. Let’s position our dwelling place to properly receive it. Start now …
Take time to study the Word through Bible reading and/or daily devotion Eat for health, not solely for taste Make a commitment to improve your overall well-being–physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually Pray specifically for reasonable pace in Temple Challenges (below), but also for obedience and commitment to the cause Live this lifestyle change Exercise (any form) at least 30 minutes each day, with a goal to get fit, to feel better, to sleep better, and to live better
Give one or more or all of these Temple Challenges a try. Share comments, questions, progress, and inspiration by commenting on this blog post. Start soon . . .
Meatless Monday
Turn-The-Bread-Down Tuesday
Wipe-Out-Caffeine Wednesday
Til-Lunchtime-Fast Thursday
Fried-Free Friday
Sweet-less Saturday
Savor-The-Flavor-Sunday …Enjoy the fellowship of good food and family, celebrating Faith and Focus
Expanding on 2016’s tagline, we are: #inFaithandFocusWithFamilyFriendsandFollowersofTCV
Peace and Blessings,
Lisa B