Feeding the dog

Which dog are you feeding today? I was thinking about this today and decided to try it out as a thought in the back of my mind while going through my day.

Last night at my small group meeting my friend Mary brought up an old saying that I had forgotten. It has to do with a white dog and a black dog. The black dog represents the bad things you do to yourself and wrong or sins you do. The white dog is the good things you do in your life and represents your relationship with God.

So my question to myself on the way home from group last night made me think of which dog I was feeding. In the end the dog with the most food wins the fight for my peace and growth.

So today I took an intentional approach to see a picture of who I was feeding to see how the day went. It is amazing how evident your trials and little things you need to go through in a day can become when you acknowledge them. It seems like that old saying just keeps being true that when you bring things that you struggle with to the light they die there so you can move quickly to the blessing of growing from those little trials in everyday life.

So here is to feeding the White dog who has your best interest at heart. He is a sweet puppy with boundless energy and health ready to blaze the trail. Feeding him most today really just made my day. I fed him today by spending time with God reading His word eating healthy and going to the gym for my physical self. If only I could do it everyday.

Fruit: Joy

Song in my head: If I were a... (kids song I cant remember the name of)

Verse: Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

On top of the clouds

Looking up at the grey clouds above me on my drive home from work today I couldn’t help but wonder. It felt like the day had brought these dark clouds in that went on forever. The sky so dark had made the day dreary and long. It felt like I was stuck under this big sky of dark clouds that went on forever without a break.

Driving down the road on my way from Tacoma to Olympia Washington I started to see a little part in between the darkness. It started as a little beam of light peeking through so I could see a sweet little taste of the sun on the other side of those dark clouds hiding the light. It slowly opened just a bit wider and yet a bit more to reveal a glimpse of the glory of a beautiful blue sky with light all around.

I could tell that the sun was always shining on the other side of those clouds. But when my eyes could only see those dark clouds on a glance I had stopped looking up believing I wouldn’t see the light all day. Seeing that opening up in the sky made me think of how I would love to fly up there and dance around on top of the clouds for a bit. It would be great to be free to fly up there and feel the sun on my face. Maybe then I could feel the Son.

Have you ever felt like you were on the wrong side of the clouds on a dreary day? Have you ever felt like you were stuck there? I felt like this today. Then as I saw the sun peeking through and theblue sky it made me remember that the sun is always shining on the other side.

God’s love is like the Sun. It’s always there shining bright on the other side that I can’t always see from where I am at. I just have to look past those dark clouds all around and realize it is always there for me. I just have to keep doing that next right thing to see it.

If I do that and open my eyes and yet close them at the same time I can see His love is here and now always there for me shining His light so I can dance free in it. So even when I can’t see it I can believe it is there. CS lewis wrote “I believe in Christianity just as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I can see it but because by it I see everything else”.

Fruit: Peace
Song in my head: Everlasting God – Lincoln Brewster

Verse: Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.

Perfect Love casts out all fear

“He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.”- Proverbs 17:9

The grace of God is like an ocean so vast and deep that it can not be imagined. I can try to think it through but there is absolutely no sense to it. I was thinking about grace today. Most likely this is because, the Lord knows I truely need it

There are so many ways we can fail God and not live up to the expectations we have for ourselves to be the best version of ourselves in a Christian life yet we are clean and forgiven

I think it is sometimes harder for us to have grace for ourselves and to let God give us His grace. It's like we have a need to punish ourselves because we can not fathom a loving forgiving God. It is amazing that He is everywhere seeing all of our failures yet is giving us grace and not loving us less for even one second.

He grace is showing us how to love and not to fear it. His perfect love casts out all fear and doubt. Even when we are not strong enough or think we are not good enough we can trust. He knows we can't do it alone and is by our side. We just have try to do the next right thing everyday.

Fruit:Love

Song in my head: Only grace - Matthew West

Verse: 2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.