Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfullness

II Timothy 3:1-5, the apostle Paul describes the spirit of people at the end of the age:
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: "For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"

I start my post this week with a verse from Timothy. I found this verse to be very true when talking about faithfullness. Faithfullness to me means following what you believe in, staying true to yourself, and always being dependable. As I was doing my research for this weeks post I was reading a few articles online about faitfullness and what it means.

We have a tendency to be faithful to what we think is truly important, be it a family name, spouse, friendship, employer, school, athletic team or even certain things like a make of automobile. In my life I find faithfullness to be one of the most important things in a relationship. I expect my husband to stay faithfull to me and our family, I expect my friends to stay faithfull to me by not talking badly or doing things that would hurt me. Faithfullness is a very important part of my life and truly believe it can make or break many areas of our lives.

But Faithfullness also has a different meaning, a meaning I tend to not think about or find important. The Faithfullness to God our Lord, our Creator, our life. Why is it so easy to stay faithfull to our flesh life but not our spiritual life? I think it is easier to find faith in our flesh life because it is here and now. We can physically see, touch, smell, and hear everything right now. There are constant reminders daily to stay faithfull. But, our spiritual life and God are the most important to stay faithfull too. God is faithfull to us NO MATTER WHAT! He loves us no matter what, forgives us, and someday we will be with him.

So, how can we remain faithfull to God and not as faithfull to our everyday life? By praying, reading His word, and showing love and caring to all of the people in our life.

Have a Blessed Day!

Be sure to check out Katie's blog on Faithfullness. And join us next week for the final Fruit of the Spirit Self Control.

Word Filled Wednesday

Enjoy and have a blessed day!

Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

Goodness sakes, oh my goodness, goodness gracious...these are all phrases I have used in my lifetime. I have heard my Mother, Grandmother, Brother, Father and many others in my life use these phrases. It was not until I started doing my Fruit of Spirit study that I realized what Goodness really means or is. As an online dictionary told me....

Goodness is the quality or state of being good; also is a euphamism for God.

Woah! I had no idea Goodness was used as another word for God. So does that mean every time I use goodness in phrase I am breaking one of the ten commandments. Using God's name in vein?! I would like to think not and here is why. Goodness to me is like it's definition states the quality or state of being good. So if I am using the word goodness in my daily life then I must be in the state of being good! How is that dishonoring our God?! I feel I use most of these phrases when I am shocked by something, or happy about something, or angry about something. I use these phrases like a prayer and in a sense of praise for our Lord. I am asking Him for good in my life when I am down, I am thanking Him for good in my life when things are going well.

Now as I stated before Goodness is also a euphamism for God. So now I need to evaluate how I use these phrases and this word sometimes. If I am truly angry and having a hard time I may shout FOR GOODNESS SAKE...little did I know that I may actually be using the Lord's name in vein!! This was a shocker for me. This week has definitely opened my eyes to 1. the difference between goodness and kindness and 2. the true definition of goodness.

I know from now on I am going to really pay attention about using these phrases and make sure in my life I am not dishonoring our Lord who in the end is the one who brings goodness to all of us.

Have a blessed day!

Remember to check out Katie's blog and see her thoughts on Goodness.

Fruit of the Spirit - Kindness

My great partner in this journey through the Fruit of the Spirit, Katie, and I were discussing last night now kindness was going to be hard. Not that we don't know what kindness is or how to show kindness, but because we are going to have a hard time differentiating between kindness and goodness. So I am going to start the next to posts with definitions.

Kindness: fundamental nature or quality

Hmmm...that does not really answer my question as to what is kindness. Here is my definition of kindness showing caring and love to one another and to the earth. Easy enough for me to understand. But when we talk about kindness in a spiritual stand point what does that mean?
Luke shows us

Luke 6:27-31 - "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you."

I have blogged about forgivness and loving our enemies before and I hate to repeat the same things but this is some thing that I struggle with daily. If we look at this verse closely kindness is being described as loving our enemies, not getting even with those who hurt us, sharing what we have, and doing to others as we would like done to us. I know for a fact that I show kindness everyday to many people throughout the day. BUT, am I showing kindness the way our Lord wants me to show kindness or the way he shows us kindness?! Not a chance. I have a very hard time showing love towards my enemies and those who have hurt me. I always feel that I am deservent of many things and if something of mine is taken I always want it back. With that I have decided I am going to try, notice I said "try", to live the way God wants us to live and love my enemies, wow that was harder to say then I thought, and to share my gifts and life with others.

I ask everyone to join me in this. I think if we walk with Christ and show kindness where we really need to show it we will have a better world around us.

Have a blessed day.

Remember please check out Katies blog to read her thoughts on kindness as well.

Word Filled Wednesday!!

"My bretheren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience" James 1:2-3

"But let patience haver her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."

James 1:4


Have a blessed and patient day!

Fruit of the Spirit - Patience

Patience by definition is

Bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint

Ha ha very funny so basically you are saying that I need to keep quiet and calm during times of stress, pain, and worry?! Are you kidding?! Patience is a virtue or so I have been told. There are many times a day that I am impatient. How about when my husband says "I will clean the bathroom don't worry about" and I am sitting there following him around until he does, or when my boss says "we need to discuss this immediatly" then she gets a phone call or an email or has to run to make a copy, and I am sitting there waiting for her to come back. These are all impatients in my life right now.

What about impaitence in my spiritual life? Where do I even begin!! I am impatient when praying because I always want an answer right away. I am impatient spiritually because I want to get through the book of Romans in the Bible but keep getting stuck or held back. I am impatient because there is a place I want to be in my spiritual life that, for some reason I am having a hard time getting to. God tells us this:

Psalm 37:7-9 "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper—it only leads to harm. For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land."

God shows us patience everyday by waiting for us to figure things out. Waiting for us to ask for forgiveness and waiting for us to worship him. Why do we have such a hard time waiting for the Lord or waiting for anything for that matter?

My thoughts this week are to take a step back and realize that maybe right now I am not supposed to have that meeting maybe the time it took my boss to get ready I should have been praying. Maybe my husband has not cleaned the bathroom right away because he is working on something else to better our lives. I am hoping and praying that I find patience in my flesh life and in my spiritual life.

Remember to visit Katies blog and read her thoughts on Patiences. Also join us next week for kindness. If you have missed the previous Fruit of Spirit Posts you can find them here Love, Joy, Peace

Have a blessed and patient day!!

AVON!!

Hello All!! I just wanted to let everyone know that I am now selling AVON! I am trying to start a business where I can control things!! I know most of you who visit my blog are not from Albuquerque nor know me but, there is a new way you can buy AVON from me without even meeting or talking to me!!

I have started selling through erepresentative. I am your online rep! All you need to do is go to www.youravon.com/ckulifay you can search products and order products. Everything you order can be paid by credit card online and will be shipped directly to you!!

I hope you or someone you know can benefit from the the products AVON has to offer. Let me know if you have any questions!!

Have a blessed day!!

Menu Plan Monday

My goodness it has been a few weeks since I have posted my MPM!! I am hoping to get back on routine and make our lives easier!! Here is our plan this week...

Monday - My brother in-laws birthday so we are having dinner at the in-laws house

Tuesday - Spaghetti

Wednesday - Enchilada casserole

Thursday - Chicken on the grill, potatos, and veggies

Friday - Frozen Pizza!!

Saturday - Husband is camping dinner on my own not sure yet

Sunday - Husband still camping dinner at my folks house

For more menu plan monday visit orgjunkie.com

WFW

"Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee"

Job 22:21

Following my Fruit of the Spirit post on Peace I thought this was a great verse to share. Remember to follow the Lord and he will grant you peace.

Have a blessed day and peace be with you!

For more Word Filled Wednesday visit the Extravagant Grace this week HERE.

Fruit of the Spirit - Peace

2 Thessalonians 3:16
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

I am so glad to be back with the Fruit of the Spirit posts! It was a good break for reflection and study I am so excited to share with you Peace. Remember to also visit my great friend Katies page as well for her take on Peace.

Peace to me is quiet time, no fighting, happy thoughts, and a good nights sleep. As the verse above tells us the Lord gives us peace at all times in every way. This is very true but, how come we don't feel peaceful or feel the peace of the Lord at all times? In todays world we rely so much on ourselves and others to find peace that more often then not we never reach a state of peace. We expect peace to come from our boss at work to make our days better, we expect peace from our spouses so we can enjoy our evening, we expect peace from our children so we may think without interruption, and we expect peace from our parents and family so we may live our life on our own accord. We expect peace from EVERYONE in our life but why do we not expect peace from the One who has given us peace at all times and in every way?

This study has really opened my eyes to a new way of finding peace. We need to ask the Lord for peace and have him grant us his peace. We need to rely on his word and his will to make our lives peaceful and peacful for others. The following prayer is one I found that I hope we can all pray together and remember we need to have peace in our lives through our Lord.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who said to Your Apostles: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you," regard not my sins but the faith of Your Church, and deign to give her peace and unity according to Your Will: Who live and reign, God, world without end. Amen.

Have a blessed day and peace be with you!

Become who you are

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAQ50hrFevg

So it seems that I'm alone 'cuz you said that I would never want for anything again
But my eyes are set low and I'm holding
To the things that I know I can't keep

I keep on chasing the wrong things
And coming up empty
This isn't who I'm s'pposed to beI keep on running the hard way
From every mistakeAnd I'm finding each time that you fall
You're just becoming who you are

So it seems that I'm alone 'cuz I keep on
Searching for the answers that I don't need
I know I don't need

I keep on chasing the wrong things
And coming up empty
This isn't who I'm s'pposed to beI keep on running the hard way
From every mistake
And I'm finding each time that you fall
You're just becoming who you are

This song is one of my favorite songs. It is such a true reminder that sometimes we fall and chase the wrong things away from the lord and away from what we believe. I know I need this reminder every once in a while that I need to Become who I am and follow what is right. My focus starting today is staying positive. Lately I have struggled with negativity and I need to get away from that and be happy with the life I am dealt and follow the Lord and trust in the Lord in every day. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do!

Have a blessed day!!