Thoughts for Tuesday. Post 2 Green onions

Green onions.

What could I possibly have to say about green onions?

I am so glad you asked. 

Last week I used some green onions for dinner and saved the ends with the plans to put them in my garden and grow my own. 

I set them in a small, empty flower pot and left them. 

I added about 1 tsp of water so they would not dry out until the next day. 

A few days go by and I forget about the green onions ( off to the corner, busy week...you get the picture) 

Saturday night I see them again and they are growing 

Now overall that is pretty cool. I can still plant them and have my onions...BUT...

It got me thinking of an anology. Of course it did, I see everything in pictures and anologies :) 

I thought about our lives and sin. I thought about how as we are growing in areas and wanting change we remove some stuff in our lives that are not helping us get to that goal. 

It might not even be related to sinful things, it could simple be you wanted to get healthier or to focus more on your family, or even learn more with your career. We set goals and then we change things up or remove them all together to help us get to that goal. 

The original thought was how important it is to remove all sin from our lives. The growing of the green onions with just a drop of water was the perfect example of how things can still grow if not completely removed. 

When we choose to better our lives by removing the things that hinder us, we need to FULLY remove them. 

You can't struggle with over spending of money you don't have and plan on keeping that one secret credit card....just in case. 

You can't struggle with infidelity and keep that one last hook up ....just because you are now only friends...,and it is just on Facebook. 

You can't struggle with porn and plan on keep that one site unlocked....because you don't go there anymore

You can't struggle with anger and plan on reserving that one out break for that one time someone does ......(fill in the blank). 

When things left untouched like that and are not fully removed from our lives they grow just like those stinky green onions did. 

You may wonder how the heck do you fully remove the things hindering you from your life. You may want full freedom and may even have victory for a while only to find out it was secretly still there and you can't seem to shake that temptation. 

Accountability 

Being accountable to friends, leaders, and mentors will help you see all those hidden spots. There will be things you didn't even realize was a problem but someone else might see it. And I mean fully accountable. Not just "i am good" but you are not telling them about the hidden credit cards just in case, that one friend on Facebook that you still send msg to...so you can catch up, the one inappropriate site not locked...because you never go to that. 

You have to be open and allow friends to see you..truly see you. 

Back to the green onions. 

They were pushed to the side. 

They were not causing any harm. 

They went un-noticed and grew. 

I have 7 people in my family but no one was helping me "look" for things out of place. It is totally ok to have friends that are just there and don't know all your secrets but make sure that you have friends who see all the dark corners and can ask questions like " hey did you mean to leave this here, did you want this to be growing" 

The only reason to not have friends like that is if you are not really ready for change. 

Find friends, pray about finding mentors, who have your back and can help you up-root anything that might hinder you from growing into a stronger you! 

You are so worth it. If you feel like no one will understand the junk you need to remove then the enemy is doing exactly what he wants to with you. He is tricking you. You are not alone!! Holy cow my story alone is full of thousands of secrets that I felt I couldn't tell. Now that I have victory and can openingly talk about those hidden areas...I have found so many people who went though or are going through the same things. 

You are not alone and you most definitely are not the first person to struggle with whatever the heck you are struggling with. There have been others and if you allow God to work, he will bring people into you life who can help. 

Update: I wrote this Saturday night and here it is Tuesday. The green onions still sit on my counter and have grown another inch or so. The roots are getting intertwined with the base of the flower pot and I have made the decision to just go ahead and add dirt to the roots so they can grow there.  

This is also very similar to how we do things in our lives. We have sin in our lives that we don't fully get rid up and then the roots start growing. The longer we go without addressing the issue the longer the roots have time to go deep. Eventually we just except the roots. Eventually we just except the sin. We give  them a place in our lives and accept that it is just the way I am. I have been like this for so long. I don't remember not having these roots ( this sin) as part of my life. I must just be an over spending. I must just not be one who can be faithful to my spouse...I mean I am only human. 

This is a lie. Sin never needs to have a permit place in our lives. It is true, we are all human. We live in a fallen world and we have all sinned but it does NOT have to take root. Jesus died for you. He died for me. He is the Son of God  His death and resurrection has ALL power to uproot anything that has a strong hold on you or in you. 

This is only possible though knowing that and a believing that and accountability to others. 

Thoughts for Tuesday : post 1 needing others around you to help set the pace

A while back I was driving at night to pick Gabi up from church. I was happily driving with hardly any other people on the road. After some time a car passed me going very fast...or so it seemed. I checked my speed only to find I was going 7 miles below the speed limit.

I ,of course, quickened my speed to "catch up" to the normal range.  I found this humorous and quickly thought of how this anology apples to our actual lives. When we go though life it is important to be aware of who we are spending time with. We seem to naturally fall into a pace of those around us. For me, I personally applied this to my walk with God. For others it could be applied to their jobs or talents. If we are spending most of our time with someone who is not where we want to be then we may need to reevaluate the amount of time we spend with them. 

I am not saying to chuck all your friends out the window who aren't making the income you want to make or drive the car you want to drive. I am saying that if they are lazy and maybe have the "I couldn't give a crap" attitude then maybe spend less time with them. 

If you are wanting to grow deeper in your walk with God and you are spending a huge portion of time with people who are comfortable where they are then remember you will naturally fall into a  pace that the majority of the group is going. If you want to change your pace then pray about changing your majority. 

Seek out friends, leaders, and people to guide you.. who are where you want to be. 

When left on our own we tend to do like I did driving.....feel like you were right on track only to find out you were off when someone sipped passed you. 

Having a group you are part of keeps you accountable and helps you stay at a safe pace that allows you to grow and move forward. 

When good things distract.

I had a very eye opening moment the other day. It caused me to re-evaluate how I pray about many things.
On Thursday I had terrible pain in my ear and I prayed about it. I again had terrible pain and prayed about it...and this went on about 5 more times. I prayed every time there was pain and I thanked God for my healing. It took about 7 times but I was healed. No more pain. The next day I thought hmmm, I will just do the same thing for my arms and legs where the eczema is. I will thank God for my healing every time I thought about it.  So I did. I prayed about it...and my back starting hurting..so I added that to the prayer.
Friday afternoon I was driving home and a guy ran a red light and I hit him as I went through the green light.
No one was injured but throughout the rest of the day I could feel my back starting to hurt more and more. I knew I wasnt hurt but was confused on the pain. I then realized it was because I slammed on brakes so hard and kept my foot there for so long that the muscle were just very tensed.
Saturday morning I get up and my back felt a little better but was still so stinking sore at the hip.
I pray for my back, my hips, and healing in with my eczema. I told my self "The devil wont win, I will thank God for my healing all day"
I felt that the enemy was distracting me from my healing with eczema by trying to have other things flair up.
As I spent only a little while praying and thanking God for my healing I got a huge revelation. The enemy did not distract me with one injury to keep my from another, he was distracting me by allowing me to focus on ME.
It had only been a few moments but I had already set my mind to thank God all day for MY healing. I had made the resolve to...no matter what...thank God for what he has done for ME, what God is doing for ME, and what He will do for ME when it comes to MY healing and MY health.

Monday nights we have a church wide women's bible study. We are doing the Beth Moore -Daniel- bible study.
She has been talking about how our culture now days still has the Babylonia mentality. We have the "I am, and there is no one beside me" like it says in Isaiah 47: 8,10

King Nebuchadnezzar built a huge statue for others to bow down to. He had the "I am, and there is no one beside me" mentality.

Now days, we have that same thought pattern. We go though life and it is all about MY job, MY money, MY family, MY home, MY car.

Here was the tricky part and it almost got me. We are to thank God for our healing. We are to thank him for the things he has, is, and will do in our lives. We are supposed to let our full lives glorify him and the words out of mouth glorify him.

I was doing it all right

except

it was all wrong.

I was having a "I am, and there is no one beside me" I wasn't praying for anyone else. I was utilizing all my words on my self and not a single word on praying for someone else to be healed, to be held by God's grace and love. I wasn't praying for marriages to be saved or for children to grow strong.
I was only praying for me and what I want.

So I changed my resolve. I decided to beat the devil at his game.
I still thank God for my healing throughout the full day.
But, I changed it up.
I thanked God and then on purpose...prayed for someone else's healing.
I thanked God again when I thought about it (which was about every 2 mins b/c my arms itched or my back hurt) and then I prayed for another person to be healed.

I did this all day Saturday and I am continuing this from here on out. I will always double up my prayers and thankfulness for my self with another prayer and thankfulness for someone else.
So far I have prayed for a ton of people that I would have not of been praying for and guess what....
my back pain, hip pain, and ear pain are 100% gone.
I am still walking out healing for the eczema but in the mean time I will being pairing it up with other people's prayers. 


Are there things in your life that may be all right but still wrong? Are there things that the enemy has done such a crafty job and tricked you into having a "I am, and there is no one beside me" mentality?