Thank You God for Your Word !!!!!

Does anyone get the Proverbs 31 Ministries Devotional? I didn't read yesterday's until this morning and I believe it was God's doing. He placed a working over me this morning! You have to read the devotional dated June 25th "The Adventures of Obedience". One of the verses shared at the bottom was Deut 28:2. I felt prompted to go read the verses surrounding this verse. WOW!!!! Read them. They are below. I know I have read them before but they were fresh to me this morning. Bare with me on this post.................

Is it an oxy-moron to say I'll be semi-transparent?! :) Please understand I do not share all and what I do share is not easy. Over the past 4 months or so I have had various mental/emotional struggles and I have felt I am in strong spiritual warfare every day; so strong that some days I have told God, I'm tired...I don't want these battles. One day I'm happy. The next day I cry uncontrollably. Tired of pretending all is A-OK. But sometimes I DO feel everything is A-OK. It seems like it is a balancing act. However at the same time, I feel God has placed me on this path for a reason. One being to grow me and to see how I react. Will I give God true honest glory in the midst of all this craziness? At the same time I know I asked for God's plan and that is what I want. I just wish parts of HIS plan were a little closer to mine. :) But when you ask for HIS plan you must be willing to accept HIS plan. And I knew that when I asked HIM to have solely HIS plan in our lives.

These struggles/battles/frustrations do not stem solely from not being able to conceive a child of our own. However that accounts for a HUGE portion and that usually starts each battle off!! I have had situations at church, in my family, and just in the world that have thrown me for a loop!! I have been lied to and misled. I have been talked about behind my back by family. I have and still battle anger, asking why me, asking why not me, jealousy, envy, revenge, sorrow and aching. My mind seems to be constantly distracted! The harder I try to do right, the worse I do!!! UGGGHHH!! My problem......OBEDIENCE. I knew it immediately when I read Deut 28. I must surrender my self, my mind, my time in its entirety to GOD. I've been sensing that but I have not followed through completely. I do not give God 100%!! I may at times give him 96.678945% but not myself and my mind in its entirety, but oh how hard that is.

I am so thankful God makes His word new EVERY DAY! I noticed some specific blessings that come from obedience and thus the reason why I wanted to share.

And this my friends is what stuck out to me in BOLD......Even though it is impossible for us to conceive a child of our own within me physically, the FRUIT OF MY WOMB WILL BE BLESSED. We will have children some day and they will be blessed. My children may come through adoption, it may mean opening our home to cousins or family. Who knows where our children will come from but I am confident today, I will have a child someday. BE OBEDIENT JULIE!!!!!!

My enemies come in various forms (people and also thoughts and attacks from Satan). According to Deut 28, THE LORD WILL CAUSE MY ENEMIES TO FLEE!!! BE OBEDIENT JULIE!!!!! At the beginning of our new journey in February 2008 we began to place a significant amount in our savings each month for adoption. The past 2 1/2 months we paid for our DC trip, bought a new grill, and bought a new camera. Not so much has gone toward adoption and our savign account. Save toward adoption Julie!!! BE OBEDIENT IN SAVING JULIE!!!! According to Deut 28, YOU WILL LEND TO MANY NATIONS BUT BORROW FROM NONE. I realize this is talking on a national level but it just spoke to me on finances, debt, wants vs needs, borrowing, and lending. GOD WILL PROVIDE! I MUST BE A GOOD STEWARD!!

I just noticed how often I used the word "solely."

Blessings for Obedience
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14