FILL HER UP!

Ephesians 3:19 (New International Version)

¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Jeremiah 20:12 (New International Version)

¹² LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous
   and probe the heart and mind,
let me see your vengeance on them,
   for to you I have committed my cause.

Psalm 26:2 (New International Version)

² Test me, LORD, and try me,
   examine my heart and my mind;

How diligent are you at examining your life? Not from a crisis standpoint either--its usually only then that we will examine ourselves and usually that's a little late...but, how often do you look over your life to see exactly what is in it--the good, the bad and the ugly? Personally, I like to get silent and in solitude and put my life under a microscope regularly with the Lord. Its not time-consuming nor is it discouraging. Its the best thing I can do for myself. It is a check-point to see the course of my life and encourages me to empty out what's not good for me and fill up with what IS GOOD for me. I've found in my life if I don't spend time doing this I get on auto pilot, taking on a lot of good sacrificing the best, accomplishing things daily but not really moving forward and most of the time forgetting God/our relationship in the process.

When I coach people to perform this simple act self-examination, to get silent and in solitude over the course of a day or a weekend most often they will throw up lack of time, can't get alone and/or they flat out don't think its necessary. They will claim to know what's going on in their life full well. Trust me I tell them, "no, you don't or you wouldn't have these lingering and consistent issues." Truth is silence and solitude terrify most people. The need for noise to drown out reality, distract and entertain ourselves is rampant in society. See, what you won't confront you won't change. Not really. You may temporarily adjust behavior around a crisis but until you empty yourself of the root causes of your behaviors you're doomed to repeat and repeat and repeat. Its of vital importance to ask God to examine you, to probe your life and pull out the root causes of situations and circumstances that are causing your life to stay off track. He will, you know? Sadly, most of us want to keep the people and things in our lives because of comfort or perceived loss (losing what hurts you or isn't for you isn't really loss, its really gain).


As 2010 comes to a close I encourage you to not follow the usual path of new year's resolutions and only looking over your life/goals when there is a crisis. Resist gradualism, be deliberate and sit silently for a minute and make a list of what is going on in your life by issues most important to you. Once you have that list bring it before God, read scriptures, listen and pray. Make decisions and decide how you will manage those decisions. Take action and be proactive in your life so its full of good and empty of that which causes you stress/is bad for you. It won't just happen, you will have to do something! Beloved, I'm praying with and for you.

Please feel free to forward CEENOTES with Cheryl Carr to friends and colleagues, but please forward in its entirety. CEENOTES with Cheryl Carr is written and distributed by Arete1 International.


(c) Copyright 2010 Cheryl Carr and ARETE1 International.