Stepping Into The Life God Has Planned For You
Download this free e-book for a rewarding daily devotional.
Each day read the scripture given and answer additional questions for a deeper study.
There is a sample prayer at the end of each devotion. It is not meant to be read verbatim, but instead to be used as a guide. You can begin the prayer given then eventually allow yourself to open up to what God has put on your heart to talk to him about.
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❤️”The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.” -William Booth
❤️”Go straight for souls and go for the worse.” – William Booth
❤️“Not called!’ did you say?
‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say.
Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.” – William Booth
❤️”We must wake ourselves up! Or somebody else will take our place, and bear our cross, and thereby rob us of our crown.” – William Booth
❤️”You must pray with all your might. That does not mean saying your prayers, or sitting gazing about in church or chapel with eyes wide open while someone else says them for you. It means fervent, effectual, untiring wrestling with God. This kind of prayer be sure the devil and the world and your own indolent, unbelieving nature will oppose. They will pour water on this flame.” – William Booth
❤️”The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.” -William Booth
❤️”The chief danger of the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”
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Distractions. It happens to us all.
I’m reading a book called The Chase by Kyle Kupecky, about chasing God. The first question this book presents is ‘who are you chasing?’ For me, I guess the question is ‘what am I chasing?’ Lately, my Bible times have felt like something I check off a list instead of eye-opening, or life-changing like they should be. So I started reading this book and I feel like some life has been breathed back into my times with God. I look back and I see how I’ve been trying to finish writing my book. The problem is that it has taken precedence in my life. I know this book I’m writing is to help people have a closer relationship with God but what good is this finished book if I’m not taking my own advice and putting Him first?
I’m not the only one who runs into this problem. Take a look at Martha in Luke:
Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Martha allowed her daily life to get in the way of her time with Jesus. Think about it, she had Jesus right there in her home and she still let daily life distract her. If Martha can get distracted while Jesus was in front of her, it can happen to anyone. The key is realizing it and correcting it.
This doesn’t mean I have to stop writing my book, but I can’t let my book take the place of my time with God, or shorten my time with Him. He should be my priority. If I put God first, he will bless me with what I need and I’m down with that.
If you haven’t been putting God first, now is the time to start. You can change your situation right now.
Matthew 6:33 reads, “Seek the kingdom of God above all else and He will give you everything you need.” NLT
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Each morning after my Bible time, I work out for about 20 minutes, sometimes I wait until after lunch. I am enjoying the exercise, but I have started something new to help me get healthy faster. I am doing intermittent fasting. I think it is important that you find what works for you. Exercise and portion control alone may not work for everyone. Actually, I think those two things will help me maintain my weight. Since I want to lose weight, I have added intermittent fasting. This means I am fasting 16-18 hours per day. I finish dinner at 6 pm and don’t eat anything else until lunchtime the next day. I drink lots of water and even drink coffee as long as there are no calories in it. (black coffee) I’m not really a breakfast eater so lunch is a perfect time to start eating for me. Normally I only list my husband’s breakfast and lunch in the meal plan because I usually just snack during the day or have a salad for lunch. This meal plan will be different because I will list only my eating habits since I am the one who needs to lose weight.
I have lost 4.4 pounds and I look like I’ve lost weight. My t-shirts don’t cling to my stomach anymore. Actually, you can’t see my stomach, before you could see the outline of my stomach. I just feel better. I will continue to update you. I do believe the intermittent fasting has been the most helpful in losing those few pounds. I used a book by Gabriel Jackson to get the information I needed you can read the review HERE
Here is the Week 10 Meal plan. Remember I stop eating by 7 pm and start eating again at noon or 1 pm.
www.bible.com/111/pro.17.22.niv
Lately, I’ve come across some pretty good books that I feel like I must share with you. If you haven’t happened across my other blog, The Reviewers View you should give it a try for your next read. You can find books by title HERE or there is a list of categories along the right side of the website. The ones of you who know me know my go-to is horror or thriller, but I’ve been venturing out lately with some self-help, spiritual, and even mysteries. On The Reviewers View, I review books mainly but there times I come across a movie or place to stay like a cabin or Bed & Breakfast or even a good TV series that I have to give my opinion on. Some of the books I have come across lately are ones that made an impression on me and are listed below.
The only time I could read this book was at night when I went to bed because during the day, I am so busy it is the only time I can actually sit down or lay down and read. That also made it the perfect time. If I read a scary book, night time is best, a thunderous rainy night would be even better.
I couldn’t stop reading this book. Normally I like to listen to my books but once in a while a book comes along and it doesn’t matter what the format is, I have to read it. That can be said about this little gem.
This book is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Ruthie, who experiences some pretty traumatic events that engulf the entire island and Ruthie is left to explain what happened. This book evoked fear in me I didn’t know I could get from a book, I’ll never forget it and it may be YA, but it didn’t feel like it. I am grown and it was pretty scary to me. Read the full review HERE (Screams You Hear)
This book was a pleasant surprise. I knew what the book jacket said it was going to be about but I wasn’t ready for what actually happened.
This story is about Adam Hanson a stand-up comedian. One knight after “dying” on stage, he had a fight with his live-in girlfriend Jozee at the club in front of all their friends. She left that night without Adam and never came home. Now Adam is left wondering if she actually left him and her entire life behind to start over or if there was foul play.
It seemed as though Adam was the only person looking for Jozee. She didn’t show up for work, was a no-show at her scheduled gigs (she’s a comedian too). It seemed as though she dropped off the face of the earth. What I didn’t expect were the things Adam was willing to go through to find out if she were okay. The title isn’t made to throw you, this is a thriller. I found myself with my hand covering my mouth and shaking my head more than a few times. Be prepared to talk back to this book, (because you will) you may even find yourself trying to convince Adam to keep his mouth shut and just stay home, but what would you do to find the person you love?
You can read the full review HERE (Dying is Easy)
If you’re into nightmares, this will do it. Imagine all kids all over the world under the “teen” age suddenly fall dead. Some are ice skating, playing ball, eating dinner but they all fall. There aren’t enough funeral homes to take them. Can you imagine? They begin to rot, most are buried, many in mass graves until the funeral homes can catch up.
But what if the child you buried dug himself out? What if the only thing that could keep them with you were blood, large amounts of it? What would you do to keep your child awake and with you? Beg? Barter? Steal? Would you kill for your child?
This story is told in the view of the parents. Everything is game, and everything goes. These parents went to extents I would’ve never thought in my wildest dreams, just to keep their kids alive for a little longer, but are they really alive? Or are they changing? What are they becoming? Are the parents going down a road in which they can never return?
Oh my Gosh! This book was great, it is one of my go-to horrors. You can read the full review HERE (Suffer the Children)
This book was intimidating at first because I don’t know if I can fast like this. After reading this book, it is something I have implemented in my daily life.
I have always fasted for spiritual reasons but never thought of it as something that could restart my body and get my health back on track or boost my immune system. Spiritually fasting is when you skip your normal lunch, breakfast or dinner and instead spend that time in prayer petitioning God for what is on your heart. This book, however, talks about fasting for your health and it isn’t about skipping a meal, it is about not eating for so many hours like 16 hours. This sounds like a long time but when you finish dinner at 7 pm on Monday, and go to bed at 11 pm and sleep for 8 hours waking up at 7 am, that is 12 hours without eating. The book is telling you to not eat breakfast until 11 am, that will be 16 hours of fasting. I can do that.
This is not the only fasting method the book walks you through. Read the full review HERE (Intermittent Fasting)
If you need some encouragement in your Christian faith or want to learn how to be closer to God, this book is it.
Ainsley talks about how she grew up in a Christian but realized one day that she wasn’t a true Christian and how she made Jesus Lord of her life. She goes on to talk about how her faith in God and how He has lead her through life. She also talks about how she landed an awesome job where she can share her faith daily.
A truly inspirational memoir, you can read the full review HERE (The Light Within Me)
Have you read any good books lately, any books that have new concepts, books that have scared you, or that have helped you in your daily life, your faith or just a good book? Let me know what you’re reading in the comments below.
This week’s meal plan Week 9 Meal Plan
After getting married two years ago I noticed a slow but steady incline in my weight. Some people call it “happy pounds” because you’re so happy in life an indulge without restrictions, therefore making you gain weight. I think I can safely say this has been me. I’ve gained exactly 10 pounds over the last year.
We have been eating more veggies and less meat, and completely cut out sugar (even condiments) and almost no carbs or very few. Since doing this my husband has lost 10 pounds, I lost a few but slowly gained them back and I know why. Currently, I am writing a book and I also make jewelry so my life is pretty sedentary and my portion sizes when I eat are not what they should be and we haven’t gone to the gym in a few weeks because my husband is working weekends and staying late during the week. We have a membership to Planet Fitness but my husband is the member and I’m the guest. So I can’t go without him. Also, he’s a construction supervisor and builds malls, dealerships and such from the ground up which means he works in the heat and when he comes home he’s very tired. My husband is maintaining the weight loss, so he’s fine, I’m the one having the problem.
Also, let me say, I do cook every day, my house is always clean but again my life is sedentary and I have not incorporated exercise into my daily routine.
I have tried to walk 2,000 steps per day and that is a huge challenge. I know lots of you may be saying right now, “wow I walk 10,000 every day” and I understand that but I do not work outside my home, my kids are grown with their own lives and live in other states. I rarely leave my house.
So…
The other day I decided to look up what a good weight would be for someone my age, height, and gender would be and I was shocked and completely horrified. I thought I was within 10 pounds of where I should be but I was wrong. I’m actually 30 pounds overweight! (I think it’s all in my midsection) I’m 45 years old, 5 foot 7 inches, and my weight is normally 163. I thought my target weight for someone like me was 157ish which means I was only about 5-6 pounds overweight but in reality, I should be closer to 137 pounds. Honestly, I think I’d be fine at 140 or 145. So I’m on a quest.
After finding this information I decided to weigh myself and start losing weight. I felt pretty good but my scales said I was 167, not 163! Another shocker! So I’ve gained even MORE weight! So here are my goals.
1. I’m already cooking healthy meals so my priority is to cut down on food portions and not overeat by listening to my body.
2. Start a daily exercise routine & increase my steps per day
3. Drink more water
4. Count calories and calories burned.
5. I will also post my beginning weight of this journey and that week ending weight and maybe a photo.
We’ll see.
6. TaiChi everyday Youtube video (9 minutes)
7. Intermittent fasting. This will be 16-18 hours of fasting (Including 8 hours of sleep time) to boost my immune system and help me lose more weight. I used this book for information on fasting Intermittent Fasting: Aggressive Fat Loss, Heal Your Body and Enjoy Your Life by Gabriel Jackson
This information will be included in my weekly meal plan. I have not posted in a couple of weeks mainly because we’ve been out of town on vacation and such but I think if I post this information it will help me keep myself accountable. I will also post any YouTube video links that I use for weight loss and photos of my meals.
I have to say, I started this journey the last week in July (2019) so I don’t have photos of those dinners.
Since I am at home all day I can take a walk in my neighborhood (the weather has been 95+, and I don’t do well in the heat) or I can walk and workout in my home and I believe the latter is what I’ll do.
If you have any suggestions of videos that will help me in this journey please let me know in the comments below. I will not be doing high impact or vigorous cardio because I’m not in my 20s anymore haha!
So far I have search youtube for walking videos. The ones I like and are listed below are predominantly walking videos but incorporate other exercises that I can do in my living room to maintain the heart rate of walking. I chose them because they seemed easy to keep up with, yet presented a challenge. I usually only do one video per day but also do other things like walking in place or go up and down the stairs to our basement, jumping jacks, and lunges too. I will say, my favorite workout that I’ve been doing is the 20-minute video listed below.
So far, here are the videos I’ve been watching.
9-minute TaiChi, my husband and I do this daily HERE
15-minute video by Holly Dolke Here
20-minute video by Holly Dolke HERE
Stepping Into The Life 