Know the Drill

For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. (Hebrews 5:13-14, NLT)

My girls have been traveling since they were three months old. Currently, they are eight and ten years old. When they were younger, I had to instruct them how to maneuver through airports. I taught them how to stay hydrated, take advantage of every bathroom location, keep an eye on the monitors for flight changes, locate departure gates, and how to successfully get through security screenings.

On one occasion while in the Kauai airport, my scuba dive computer (which also serves as my watch) caused me to alert TSA and experience a pat down. I cannot define the joy of the experience as Mikea loudly protested with all the drama she could muster up, "She's innocent, she is innocent!" Although I found her antics quite amusing, the TSA agent did not. Thankfully, now Mikea understands there is a time and place for everything. (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Through training, she now now skilled to know what to do…and what not to do, when dealing with TSA.

Helpful hint: TSA pat down is not the time for joking.

Traveling with an eight and ten year old is a whole lot easier than it was back when I had my baby in the front pack, while wearing a back pack full of baby supplies, and pushing my toddler in a stroller. I no longer have to instruct my girls step by step on airport travel. Through training, experience, and maturity they know the drill. Much in the same way, as we study God's Word, we grow from "milk to solid food" every day bringing us closer to knowing the drill (spiritual maturity). 

Traveling with an infant may be difficult, but that never kept me grounded. While my girls were infants, I front packed one, carried what they needed in my backpack, and pushed the other one in her stroller. Thankfully, I am not currently front packing an eight year old, they no longer need a backpack full of diapers, and I'm not pushing a ten year old in a stroller. But I didn't expect them to get out of the front pack, diapers, or stroller before the time had come. On the other side of that coin, I certainly taught them when and how to get out of the front pack, diapers, and stroller as they matured. 

It is through training that spiritual infants gain the skill  to know the difference between right and wrong. Spiritual infants must be taught how to stay well hydrated (John 4:14, John 7:37--38), take advantage of every bathroom location to dump what needs to be dumped…no pun intended, (Matthew 6:14, Luke 17:1), keep an eye on the monitors for flight changes, (Matthew 24:4), locate the gate (John 14:6), and how to easily get through security screenings (Matthew 24:42).

Lord God, thank You for calling us out of darkness into Your marvelous Light! Thank You for being forever faithful toward us and never slack! Thank You for surrounding us with favor as a shield! And thank You so much for placing the spiritual mature in our path to give us milk and then solid food at Your appointed time. And thank You for teaching us to not only hear but do what as Your Word instructs us. I pray for every reader right now, both the believers on milk and solid food. May the ones on milk rise up and receive training becoming skilled. May the ones on solid food be strong in You and the power of Your might! And may we all walk in everything You have called us to walk in, and never grow weary in doing good. I pray all these things in Your Son's name and I thank You for all things You are working right now together for our good!

1 Peter 2:9

2 Peter 3:9

James 5:16

Ephesians 6:10

Galatians 6:9

Romans 8:28

Heavenly Perspective

For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6, NLT)

A while back, I read a devotion by Dr. Bill Hanshew entitled, "Standing in the Shadow of a Man of God." You may find the link below.

http://www.billhanshewministries.org/Devotion--079.html

Everyone should read the devotion because it is excellent training. Everyone should keep it close and re-read it to maintain that training. 

There are many great aspects of the devotion; however, the one that I have been meditating on is the overall chord running through the devotion (as well as Dr. Hanshew and this ministry) and that is, Heavenly Perspective.

No matter what storms may rage, above the storm we find, Heavenly perspective. Look through the dark clouds to Heavenly perspective. Every storm that rages in our lives can be fought through Heavenly perspective.

Heavenly Perspective = God's Perspective = God's Word (The Bible)

Offense…Matthew 18:15

Infertility… Deuteronomy 28:4

Marriage…Ephesians 5:22-33

Unruly children…Proverbs 22:6

Unbelief…1 John 5:14

Finances...Luke 6:38

Health...Isaiah 54:5

Battles…Ephesians 6:12

Manipulation...Matthew 24:4, Galatians 5:1, 

Gossip...Proverbs 29:19

"I don't know what to do."...Jeremiah 29:11 so 1 Peter 5:7

'I don't know what to say."…Ephesians 5:1 

"I can't, this is so hard."...Galatians 6:9

We could do this all day!

Our God, our Heavenly Father, the Creator of Heaven and earth, the Owner of everything on earth, the Giver of all good gifts has given us everything we need for life and godliness in and through His Holy...life giving…life changing Word! (Psalm 18:2, 1 John 3:1, Psalm 146:6, Psalm 50:12, James 1:17, 2 Peter 1:3, Hebrews 4:12)

And He is The One who's love will never be separated from us!

(Romans 8:38) 

Does that mean there won't be storms? Absolutely not. But that does mean, we keep our eyes and hearts beyond the dark clouds, above the storm, through to Heavenly Perspective, we rise above the storm and walk in Heavenly Perspective!

For every storm that rages, find your answer in the Bible, and keep Heavenly Perspective!

Father, thank You for teaching us how to find and to keep Your perspective. When the black clouds roll in and the battle rages, we know that we know that we know, we are seated with You. Thank You for uniting us with Christ Jesus! I pray for every reader right now, as well as myself, in the name of Jesus I decree and declare we are not deterred, discouraged, or distracted by dark clouds but we see through the dark clouds to Your perspective. We walk in Your perspective in the name of Jesus! 

I Just Felt Like Running

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1, NLT)

Due to it's language and content, this is in no way an endorsement for the movie but there is a movie entitled, Forrest Gump. At one point in the movie, after experiencing many trials, the main character started running. When asked why he was running, he said, "I just felt like running." This past week, I can say, I understand why he "just felt like running".

Thankfully, about a month ago, I started training for running. I was set to run a 5k last Saturday but wasn't able to go because we had to unexpectedly make a trip back to my hometown on the mainland. Although I've been physically active with things like scuba, stand up paddle boarding, and biking, I chose to train for running because running has always been a challenge for me. It was time I rise to the challenge. 

I researched and found good training that would be successful for me and I stayed faithful to it. It has not been easy, but it has been completely worth it. The training has been immeasurably helpful this last week. 

Another "training" that has been immeasurably helpful this last week is my bible training. I've always been thankful for the pastors and teachers God has placed before me but I've been especially thankful this past week. God has used them to "train" me to "run" through a very difficult week. The training they have offered me has allowed me to run with endurance.

Father, thank you for placing people in the life of faith in my path who have used Your Word and trained me to run this race with endurance. Thank You that in really hard times, I can count on that training to keep me running. Thank You for reminding me, although life is not always easy, it is always completely worth it. I pray a 100 fold return blessing on each and every one of their lives in the name of Jesus, bless them immeasurably!

Retraining

“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. (Deuteronomy 11:18 NLT)

Our dog Bo, spent the last couple of weeks with family. He's back with us now and we've discovered some areas where he has to be retrained.

For example, he has been trained to walk on our right side. Which may not seem like a big deal, until he (with all of his 90+ pounds) decides to cut to the left right in front of us on a whim without prior warning. Can you say, screeching halt?

Another example, he has been trained to leave slack in the leash during our walks. Again, which may not seem like a big deal until he (with all of his 90+ pounds) has been pulling on my shoulder for over an hour. Can you say, where is the bio freeze?

When he does something that needs correction, I gently tug at his leash and give the correct word (command). We repeat this process for the desired result.

Today, as I was retraining him, I was reminded of God's Word. He gently tugs at us through His Word and shows us areas of correction when needed and gives us guidance. He leads us in a straight path! (Psalm 27:11)

My prayer for every reader today is to wholeheartedly commit to His life giving, life changing Word! And for us to continually be led by His gentle tugging. Thank You for guiding us Jesus!

Going for the Gold!

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6, NKJV)

While watching the 2012 Olympics, I started thinking about how critical training is. Especially training for living life. If we want to live a life surrounded by gold (life in excessive abundance) we must continually engage in training. The sooner we engage, the sooner we can go for the gold!

Today, my nine year old told me about a bible lesson she was taught when she was four years old. She went into very intricate detail about how her teacher used a pumpkin and the significance of the lesson. She also had vivid detail of her teacher and the church we were in at the time. Most significantly, she elaborated on how much her Sunday school teacher loved her. 

I'm not sure what sparked the memory of this particular Sunday school teacher or this lesson. But I certainly enjoyed the look on my child's face and enjoyed listening to every word as she recalled this loving memory. 

Every week, Sunday school teachers prepare lessons, teach the Bible, and love our children. Their ministry is a direct call from God. The impact they are making impacts lives now and for eternity. Not only for children but for families as well. 

Sunday school teachers, keep walking in God's call! Thank you to each and every one of you for helping parents train up our children in the way they should go so they can go for the gold!

My Children's Chazown

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6, NKJV)

This past weekend I attended The Chazown Experience at www.legacykona.com. Please see prior blog post for more information.

In the class, I committed to use the Chazown Experience website (www.chazown.com) on an ongoing consistent basis in order to keep my priorities in line with what I learned in class. 

The Chazown Experience doesn’t focus on just one area of my life. It focuses on major key points keeping me aligned in order to fulfill the desired end result...the reason God created me.

This morning, as I was working on the website, I had a thought. 

What if, I had  the Chazown Experience when:

• I graduated college, or 

• graduated high school, or 

• before I entered college or high school? 

Then I went a step further, what if I had been given the Chazown Experience when I was a child?

Unfortunately, until I was in my late twenties, I had very little focus. For the most part, for almost thirty years, I lived day to day with little regard for my future. Thirty years is a long time.

Then I thought of my girls. God has given me the awesome privilege of training them up in the way they should go, insuring when they are old they will not depart from it.

Then my spirit leaped! I can walk my girls through the Chazown Experience now! So we started today! We are walking through our Chazown together! I am determined that this Fulton O’Hana will end up somewhere on purpose!

You are going to end up somewhere. The question is, will you end up somewhere on purpose?