Spiritual Anorexia

By Janet Morris Grimes –

For some reason we take it all for granted. We find a few choice verses from the Bible and use them as a moniker for our lives, a slogan of sorts. We pray for guidance and hope that it brings with it a continual shower of blessings. We attend church, yearning to be fed, motivated and fired up to make a difference in the lives of others.

But no sooner do we walk out of the church building do we realize that something is missing. We are.

You can’t expect to unleash the power of God in your daily life by showing up once a week. He created us to need more than this. There will always be a void in our lives until we learn to seek Him continually. Daily. Moment by moment.

Imagine a husband-wife relationship where they elected to spend time together once a week, but then went on about their business as if they were single until their next appointed time to be together. There is no way this relationship could work without the commitment of time, energy and an investment into each other.

Imagine a parent-child relationship where the parent met on Sundays with the child and attempted to provide everything they would need for the following week. Food, clothing, safety instructions, hygiene, love and help with homework. None of this can be accomplished in advance. The journey is constant; and the needs are fresh each day.

The same is true for our relationship with God, and the problem is that spiritually, we are starving ourselves.

We would never consider going a week without food. On the contrary, we train ourselves to eat at predetermined times; sometimes even eating before we are actually hungry because we have grown accustomed to eating, no matter what.

The same should be true for our spiritual journeys. God had a new message for us each and every day. If we allow Him to do so, He will give us enough meat to chew on for that particular day, using it to propel us down the path carved out for us. He is always ready to listen to us, but we rarely take the time to return the favor.

He intended for us to eat daily. Not weekly, monthly or on special occasions. He created our thirst and hunger, both spiritually and physically, and we will never be satisfied or reach our full potential until we recognize that hunger, filling it with the perfect love that only He can provide.

When the Israelites were following Moses throughout the wilderness, on their journey to the Promised Land, God proved his desire to feed them daily by sending manna. In Numbers 11:9 – it says, “when the dew settled on the camp at night, the manna also came down.”

However, manna was only good for that particular day. If the people tried to save it for later, other than on the day of Sabbath, it rotted and turned disgusting.

God taught His people to feed themselves daily, and to seek Him in the process. Moment by moment, in a beautiful blend of dependence and discipline.

What we have to realize, as Christians, is that Satan will do everything in his power to keep our Bibles closed.

You see, he loves it when we starve ourselves.

Luke 11:3 – “Give us each day our daily bread.”

Stealing the Romance

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Sometimes I feel almost guilty for it.

Shouldn’t the promise of heaven be enough to satisfy me? After all, I know how my love story ends: with me riding into the sunset with my Prince, dancing over the hidden threshold into happily ever after. Read more

Beauty

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Beauty. Magazine covers scream its requirements from shallow pages, taunting us with the latest version of retouched perfection. The images offer a million different ways to chase the unattainable, oversimplifying the five simple steps to longer, fuller, lighter, whiter, and smoother.

Thankfully, I never belonged in that world. Disappointed with the lack of any true freckle remover as I grew up, my naked face and overweight eyebrows approached life as-is, with occasional tweaking for special occasions. If true beauty required hours of prep work, we were less than interested.

For this reason, I doubt I will ever be what the world considers “beautiful.”

Sigh.

I gladly relinquish that title, and the responsibility that goes with it.
For what I do know is that the moments I have felt the most beautiful are those where mirrors do not exist.

Sitting in silence on a beach as the sun whispers “good night,” offering one last wink and a kiss before bedtime, I feel beautiful.

Sleeping upright on the couch with my infant son asleep on my chest and running my fingers through his curly hair, I feel beautiful. To him at least.

Covered in a moving cloud of flour from head to toe while preparing a meal for those I love the most, I feel beautiful.

Taking communion while kneeling at the cross, as if Jesus and I are the only ones in the room, I feel beautiful.

Walking hand in hand with my daughters as they reveal their concerns about life in a maddening pace of words, I feel beautiful, and pray that they do the same.

Hearing my sister’s far away voice say before she hangs up the phone,
“Hurry home. I’m not me without you.” I feel beautiful.

Finding a way to give a surprise gift to others, especially when they do not realize it is from me, I feel beautiful.

Splashing and dancing in the rain with my husband, I feel beautiful.
Digging deep enough to write words that make others cry, I feel beautiful.
I guess true beauty, for me, has much more to do with what boils over on the inside than what you see on the outside.

And if I had to choose between the two?

Feeling beautiful is much more rewarding than chasing down fleeting images through a distorted hall of mirrors, for mirrors never reveal what truly matters most.

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall?

Stay right where you are.

My search for beauty leads elsewhere.

I Peter 3:3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

So What’s the Big Deal About Going to Church?

By Janet Morris Grimes –

Church has always been a huge part of my life. As a young child, I remember the smell of the hymnals as I sat next to my Granny, watching her hold the book close and sing as if she and God were the only ones in the room. I drew imaginary pictures on the back of her thin hands. I loved the rattling of the pages of the Bible that sounded like rain as everyone followed wherever the preacher was taking them. Even back then, though I sometimes found it boring, there was no place that I would rather be.

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Logistics

By Janet Morris Grimes –

God has a universe at His fingertips.

I never really stopped to think about it in those terms. The world is so big. So busy. So diverse. Sometimes I think it has too many people with too many opposing beliefs. How can He possibly pay attention to all of us at one time?

But He doesn’t see it that way. It’s all part of the creation that He so adores. He knows us by name, and I think He thrilled when He gets the chance to prove it to us by using His own created universe to touch our lives.

God has a way of working through the details of our lives—details that He has lovingly worked out in advance because in His world, all things truly do work together for good, for those called according to His purpose.

All things work together for good.

For us.

In my own life, I’ve seen it happen numerous times. My current job is a position opened up for me at just the right time, after a period of years where I applied for countless positions in three different states.

When our daughter was a baby, money was extremely tight. I desperately wanted to buy a coat with a matching hat for her, but it was too costly. I said nothing to anyone about it, but prayed and hoped to find it later on a clearance rack at the end of the season. A week later, my mother-in-law handed me a bag in it with that exact coat and hat.

The gift meant much more because we could not afford it on our own.

When our youngest daughter was only two weeks old, a wicked ice storm caused power outages all over Nashville that lasted as long as three weeks. Our house was the only house on the street that maintained power throughout, something that even our electric company could not explain.

Logistics. What you need. When you need it.

God is the master of this. He is immeasurable. His universe, vast.

He adores you. And if you allow Him to do so, He will prove it to you in the most intricate and personal of ways.

PRAYER: Dear God, You are almighty. We are not. Thank You.

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