When one preps they should also work on prepping their mind and spirit.

For me, that means surrounding myself with God's beauty. It brings me immense joy to see His happy, little plants on my back deck. Soon, the hummingbird feeders will be filled with homemade syrup then hung.

We will return the table and chairs, and table umbrella next month. The picnic table that my kids will sit on while enjoying popsicles will come back out, too.

All these seemingly little things makes the unpleasant, pleasant,

We're also working on getting some supplies for a few different home improvement projects. If the country goes on lockdown again, we plan to be productive.

Of course, as every prepper knows, one must first make sure the Five B's are satisfied (beans, bullion, bullets, band-aids and bible).

If you've tucked away some preps, and God leads you to do so, I would encourage you to work on projects that satisfy the soul. Painting, building, gardening, sewing, crafting, and baking can accomplish something remarkable.

Take care to take care.

Good morning!

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There are some folks in the Bible I am drawn to simply because of their personalities. I get them. Their emotional ups and downs, their knee-jerk reactions, their fiery remarks, their tempers, their passionate responses…

Those who know me well are aware that I am authentic in all I do, all I feel, and that I’m not exactly the “strong, silent” kind of person. If you’re close to me, you know exactly how I feel.

Of course, this type of forthrightness can bring offense so I continue to work on how to deliver truthfulness in a way that pleases God.

This kind of temperament serves me well. Other times, it stirs up trouble, even when I am not the one being the spoon. Sometimes it feels like the madcaps, disrupters and scalawags go out of their way to engage me. Is it me or are they strategically placed so I continuously run into them?

I suspect the latter. I call these encounters sandpaper moments. God is using those frustrating occasions and people to smooth out my rough edges.

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The enemy is quite skillful warping how we perceive ourselves.

He wants us to focus on the flaws. He wants us to question why we, “are who we are,” or blurt out angrily, “why am I like this?”

He wants us to eschew the personality traits God hand chose for us.

He absolutely wants us to forget Whose image we are made in and Who helps us be more Christ-like.

As someone who is outspoken, I have struggled with the enemy distorting who God made me to be, occasionally falling for the lie that I need to completely change my personality.

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Maybe you have, too. Perhaps you have wondered why you can’t be more… quiet, patient, subdued, thoughtful, deliberate, kind, generous –whatever it is you think is most ideal.

If you believe that God knitted you together in the womb then you must believe that He chose your personality strands and wove those to complete your tapestry.

Yes, we have weaknesses because we are sinners. We are going to lose our cool, blurt gibberish, make immature facial expressions, lash out, be ridiculously impatient. We will be duped, cajoled and taunted into unnecessarily acting before we even think on how God would want us to react.

We don’t do this because we have a personality problem; we do it because we have a sin problem. I wish I could offer practical ideas on how best to curb these sinful reactions; the only answer is Jesus. And not one time; all the time. As many times as it takes.

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I am greatly encouraged by the response Jesus gave to Peter when asked how many times we should forgive: “I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!"

For me, this means the Lord is well aware how often we will stumble, how often we need to be forgiven. God didn’t put a cap on it.

This isn’t meant to be taken advantage of; it’s meant to convey that God shows us compassion. He knows us. If He’s made a Way for us to be changed by The One and Only then it stands to reason that only He can take what He made (our personality) and make it better through Christ. He doesn’t want to alter our personality; He wants to utilize it to advance His kingdom.

How will you allow Him to use your characteristics for His glory?

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When it comes to our needs –no matter how great or small– I believe there are two things God wants us to do. I might be stating the obvious, but it’s good to be reminded.

One, He wants us to trust Him. This is not just the believe or hope kind of trust; but the complete surrender to His sovereignty kind of trust. We must recognize and appreciate that He always moves for our benefit (even if it’s not the outcome we imagined for ourselves).

Two, we pray boldly. This is not the false pride or arrogance kind of boldness; this is us exercising our divine rights as His children, as His heirs.

When we approach our Heavenly Father with these two understandings then it shows we get what He says –we get Who He is. It’s a watershed moment in our relationship with Him.

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We face tough situations, unreasonable people and difficult decisions. We need to be warriors, and our faith ought to be fiery, passionate, bold.

When my husband was first hospitalized, I approached my Heavenly Father meekly, quietly, timidly. The Holy Spirit showed me how to approach Him differently.

The Holy Spirit reminded me that my heart was already humbled, and that I was in awe and in love with God. Since my heart was submissive (reconciling my mind to my heart was another process I went through), and because I understood that it’s not unreasonable to ask for the miraculous, I boldly did so.

I thought upon the obvious boldness of Jacob, Joshua, Gideon, David, and Daniel. Then I pondered Hannah, Esther, Nehemiah, and Elijah. These individuals’ natures are quite diverse so we know that boldness is not a personality trait. Boldness is acting upon the Holy Spirit’s prompts. We are empowered with supernatural courage when we boldly trust Him.

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Boldness is not continual. But, it is contingent on us stepping out in faith and expecting that He will provide what we need in that moment, and the moments to come.

Read Ephesians 3:11-12 then hone in on this portion: “…in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access…”

We’ve been granted access to the Most High to make our requests: "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" Hebrews 4:16.

Paul reminds us to be bold: “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:6).

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God doesn’t want us to come before Him with hat in hand and wishy-washy daydreams. As His children, we are to walk in expectation and confidence, even if this boldness is the size of a mustard seed. In His hands, the tiny becomes immense and infinite. He wants us to expect the miraculous.

So we praise Him as one who resides in the peace of His assurance. A praiser is someone who boldly seeks Him in order to express the wonderment they feel for His miraculousnesses.

Be bold, friends, secure in knowing that He moves on our behalf simply because He loves us.

CeCe Winans - Believe For It

Boldness my friends.

This video comes by way of Paula over @CallToBattle 🩵

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