Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday, keep interacting, it makes it so much more interesting to hear how God is moving in people’s lives!!!

Today’s Dare: Pay Attention to God’s Lead

Yesterday my husband and I started The Faith Dare together. It was his idea, cute, right? We got in the car early to head out for Monterey to go to Spirit West Coast. We were excited to spend the day there and it was extra special because our youngest son’s band, Jaymes Reunion, was performing on the main stage! Yay! That was so cool, because we remember taking our kids there as young pre-teens and them listening to all the bands on that stage.

As we drove, we read Day 1 out loud and discussed it. The main thing that both of us came away with is how our hearts can get fragmented, and how the distractions of life ( for him) and problems in life ( for me) can get us divided in our focus. Being the heart is the center, the core…pretty important to pay attention, right?

Many times throughout the day I returned to the dare. Ask God for a New Heart. And, many times I quietly prayed, ” Lord, give me an undivided heart, that I might follow your ways.” Psa 86

Late in the day it struck me, Heart Disease is the #1 killer in women. I know this, as I have heart disease and have read up on it. I also know mine was indeed silent! That is the physical human heart, and today as I thought of the spiritual heart, I realized that spiritual heart disease is often silent, sneaking up on us, and we don’t even realize that we are divided and fragmented until we have a “spiritual heart attack” so to speak.

And, that looks like…losing it! Losing our way! Losing our Hope! Losing our Faith! Losing our Focus and our the spiritual edge we once knew. And, this happens as we allow thing to fragment our heart, dividing our focus. For me, this happens through, fear, worry, self-consumption, or insecurity buttons being pushed and old hurts being refreshed.

So, today, I began with the same prayer. Lord, give me an undivided heart today. Refresh my heart Lord. Make it fresh for today’s service…and then dare 2. Following Him! Paying Attention! Laying Down the Nets!

OK, I realize that I penned this Faith Dare book, and that it might seem funny that now I am getting so much out of it myself. But, I did and I am. Why? Because God’s Word is God’s Word, and as I continually set my gaze at challenging myself with small bits of truth, it ignites something within me.

What is ignitied in me this morning is that, I sometimes continue along a cycle, a path, of no change. I co the same things over and over again, no change. How stupid is that? Pretty stupid! But, if I will lay it down and ask God what He would have me to do, and pay attention to His voice and lead, things will change. What might seem simplistic, will turn out to be a huge change in me.

Women do this with diets all the time. We try the latest, greatest, craze. But, God made our bodies, did it ever occur to us to go to Jesus and ask His to lead us into the path of eating that is specifically right for us as an individual? Many of us would not want to follow that lead, right?

I have a friend who was instructed by the Lord to stay away from starch foods. She has. And, she has had victory with her weight for years! Years! Before that, not so much victory, diet after diet. Should she write a book and start a following? Well, she would make money LOL! But, the point is, her way might not be what God is leading you to do, and the main point I am making here, is that we all need to Go to the Lord and lay down the net, in the area that we keep repeating these crazy cycles in. We need to lay down our way and ask Him to show us His way.  I used dieting as a practical example, but this carries over into all areas.

Today’s dare asks us to spend 10 min alone asking God His will and how to follow it. Do it! He will speak to you. If you don’t have 10, take 5, it’s not the amount of minutes, it’s that you went before the Lord and asked Him how to follow in the area that you keep struggling with.

He is a people mover! He is a difference maker. And, I will quote from page 53 ” Their listening ears, inspired obedient hearts.” Have to say, dont’ know who wrote that ( smile) but it sure ministers to me this very 2nd day of the dare.

Oh Lord, give me a listening ear, and an obedient heart!

Living Up and Daring you to join me today! Tell a friend. We all need Jesus to be the change maker in our lives.

May God refresh your heart today,

Debbie