April 27^th a very special date in my life.

 

6 years sober today with God’s Grace and Mercy.

 

April 3^rd was one year of wonderful wedded bliss with the most amazing man. 

 

I have an amazing 21 year old daughter whom I’m very close to and she’s about to graduate this summer with her AA Degree- Honor Roll.

 

I’m 20 pounds lighter due to a fitness and eating program.

 

This year ends 23 years of teaching and I’m getting into another career field which will be in medical assisting.  I’ve been accepted into Rasmussen College and I’m getting an Associates in Science Degree in Medical Assisting. I’m taking one class now and then I will start full-time over the summer.

 

I’m thankful for all my years of sobriety for it’s a gift and it brings peace, happiness and serenity.  The promises do come true.  With GOD, All Things Are Possible!

 

Tina Fimbel

My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. 1 John 4:4 (MSG)

"Jesus' goal is not to condemn us for our distrust; rather, it is to expose our faulty beliefs so we will abandon them and move deeper into our relationship with him."

Our lives in Christ are meant to be extraordinary, incredible, meaningful and purposeful but never trouble-free. God keeps you in the pressure-cooker of life so others can see how a life connected to Jesus confronts problems in a very different way than a life that is disconnected from Jesus.

We are empowered by the Holy Spirit and that gives us the ability to respond to hardship like people from the kingdom of heaven -- not like people seemingly abandoned by God or in rebellion to God or unaware of God or unrepentant before God.

When we think God is not involved in our circumstances, we respond with problems with defensiveness, blame, shame, anger, hatred, pride, fear and self-centeredness. Anybody can do that. Anybody not connected to Jesus.

Jesus will have none of that and so he pushes us to a choice: Do you trust that I am involved in your circumstances or not?

When we respond from our human nature, instead of submitting to the divine nature working within us, we expose a deep, inner distrust of Jesus. Our actions show we believe him incapable of understanding the stress and danger of life (a bold belief considering Jesus died hanging on the cross).

On the other hand, when we respond from the truth that we are connected to Jesus, we prove that we believe he that is within us is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Jesus’ goal is not to condemn us for our distrust; rather, it is to expose our faulty beliefs so we will abandon them and move deeper into our relationship with him.

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This devotional is by Jon Walker, editor of the Daily Hope Devotionals and author of Costly Grace. Rick Warren says, “I believe Costly Grace may be one of the most important books published during this time of economic uncertainty and world turmoil.”

To learn how Jesus responded to difficult people, consider Tom Holladay’s teaching in The Relationship Principles of Jesus.

“Everything in the heavens and earth is yours, O Lord … we adore you as being in control of everything.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 (LB)

"Why do we worry? Because we try to do what only God can do. We try to control the uncontrollable, explain the unexplainable, do the undoable, stop the unstoppable, fix the unfixable, bear the unbearable; and then we wonder why we are messed up."

When Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves in Matthew 8 the disciples were amazed and asked each other, “Who is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:27 LB).

In that moment, they acknowledged God’s control. They realized there was no reason to worry because the God who commands galaxies with a word and holds molecules together with his power was right there in their boat.

Why do we worry? Because we try to do what only God can do. We try to control the uncontrollable, explain the unexplainable, do the undoable, stop the unstoppable, fix the unfixable, bear the unbearable; and then we wonder why we are messed up.

Only God is in control. That may leave you wondering, “If God is in control, why doesn’t he change this, or do that, or make this thing better?” Honestly, I don’t know.  But I do know that I trust him. And I have found time and again that he is trustworthy. This world is not all there is. There is an eternity to come where everything will be made right and just.

God has allowed evil for a time, but it will not be forever. So I’m going to put my trust in him because he is the only one in control.

In the meantime, what should you do? Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow, too. Live one day at a time” (Matthew 6:34 LB).

This doesn’t mean you don’t plan for the future. You should continue to set goals; in fact the Bible says it’s wise to set goals. But once you set those goals that might guide your direction, then you live one day at a time. If you decide to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow, you’ll miss out on what God wants you to do today.

Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7 (GWT)

Surrendering your life means:

• Following God's lead without knowing where he's sending you;

• Waiting for God's timing without knowing when it will come;

• Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide;

• Trusting God's purpose without understanding the circumstances.

You know you're surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don't have to always be in charge. Instead of trying harder, you trust more.

You also know you're surrendered when you don't react to criticism and rush to defend yourself.

Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You are not self-serving, you don't edge others out, and you don't demand your rights.

The most difficult thing for many people to surrender is their money. Many have thought, "I want to live for God but I also want to earn enough money to live comfortably and retire someday."

Retirement is not the goal of a surrender life, because it competes with God for the primary attention of our lives. Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and money," (Matthew 6:24 NIV) and "Wherever your treasure is, your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21 NIV). 

The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus. The night before his crucifixion Jesus surrendered himself to God's plan. He prayed, "Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine" (Mark 14:36 NLT).

Jesus surrendered himself to God's will. He prayed, "God, if it is in your best interest to remove this suffering, please do so. But if it fulfills your purpose, that's what I want, too."

Genuine surrender says, "Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another's life, please don't take it away!" 

This level of maturity doesn't come easy. In Jesus' case, he agonized so much over God's plan that he sweated drops of blood. Surrender is hard work. In our case, it requires intense warfare against our self-centered nature.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.” Hebrews 10:36-37 (NIV)

"You may be going through difficult times right now. You’re discouraged because the situation you face seems unbearable and you’re saying, ‘God, I can’t take it anymore.’ But you can!"

If you’re discouraged because of God’s delay in answering your prayers, understand the delay is NOT a denial. Just because the answer or the miracle hasn’t come – yet – that doesn’t mean God isn’t going to answer, or that he’s forgotten you, or that he doesn’t care about you. It simply means “not yet!”

Spiritual maturity is knowing the difference between “No” and “Not yet,” between a denial and a delay. The Bible tells us, “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37 NIV).

The delay may be a test of your patience. Anybody can be patient once. And, anybody can be patient twice. And, just about anybody can be patient three times. So God tests your patience over and over and over.

Why? To see how patient you are?

No, he does it so that you can see how patient you are. So you’ll know what’s inside of you, and you’ll be able to know your level of commitment. God tests you so that you can know he is faithful, even if the answers you seek are delayed.

If you’re discouraged, turn it around by remembering God teaches you patience during delay. Ask him to transform your discouragement into patience.

You may be going through difficult times right now and feel like dropping off the planet. You’re discouraged because the situation you face seems unmanageable, unreasonable, or unfair.

It may seem unbearable and inside you’re basically saying, “God, I can’t take it anymore. I just can’t take it anymore!”

But you can.

You can stay with it longer because God is with you. He’ll enable you to press on. Remember, you are never a failure until you quit.

Don’t quit. Resist discouragement and finish the race God has set before you.

Then the people of Judah said, "The work crews are worn out, and there is too much rubble. We can't continue to rebuild the wall." Nehemiah 4:10 (GWT)

"When you don't reach a goal on time, just set a new goal. Don't give up."

Discouragement is curable. Whenever I get discouraged, I head straight to Nehemiah. This great leader of ancient Israel understood there were four reasons for discouragement.

First, you get fatigued -- You simply get tired as the laborers did in Nehemiah 4:10. We're human beings and we wear out. You cannot burn the candle at both ends. So if you're discouraged, it may be you don't have to change anything. You just need a vacation! Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed.

Second, you get frustrated -- Nehemiah says there was rubble all around, so much that it was getting in the way of rebuilding the wall. Do you have rubble in your life? Have you noticed that anytime you start doing something new, the trash starts piling up?

If you don't clean it out periodically, it's going to stop your progress. You can't avoid it, so you need to learn to recognize it and dispose of it quickly so you don't lose focus on your original intention.

What is the rubble in your life? I think rubble is the trivial things that waste your time and energy and prevent you from accomplishing what God has called you to do.

Third, you think you've failed -- Nehemiah's people were unable to finish their task as quickly as originally planned and, as a result, their confidence collapsed. They were thinking, "We were stupid to think we could ever rebuild this wall."

But you know what I do when I don't reach a goal on time? I just set a new goal. I don't give up. Everybody fails. Everybody does foolish things. So the issue is not that you failed - it's how you respond to your failure.

Do you give in to self-pity? Do you start blaming other people? Do you start complaining that it's impossible? Or, do you refocus on God's intentions and start moving again?

Finally, when you give in to fear, you get discouraged -- Nehemiah 4 suggests the people most affected by fear are those who hang around negative people. If you're going to control the negative thoughts in your life, you've got to get away from negative people as much as you can.

Maybe you're discouraged because of fear. You're dealing with fears like, "I can't handle this. It's too much responsibility." Maybe it's the fear that you don't deserve it. It's the fear of criticism. Fear will destroy your life if you let it. But you can choose to resist the discouragement. Say, "God help me get my eyes off the problem - off the circumstance - and keep my eyes on you."

I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me.  I'm ready for anything and I'm equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me.  That is, I am self sufficient in Christ's sufficiency. Philippians 4:13 (Amp)

"Who are you going to believe? What other people say about you or what God says about you."

When God puts his Spirit in our lives, it gives us confidence. Not the phony, baloney, boot-strap, self-help psychology that the world talks about - "I'm okay, you're okay." When I look around I want to say, "I'm not okay and you're not so hot either!" But the fact is God says, "You are okay." And if God says you're okay, then you are okay!

I've met all sorts of people who are considered highly successful according to the standards of the world. And yet a lot of them feel incompetent, insecure, and incapable.

How about you? Perhaps you look at your life and think it's working.  Sure, you have your problems, but compared to others, you're probably considered successful. Yet, inside there is still a gnawing, inner insecurity and a lack of confidence and a feeling of incompetence.  Why is that? 

It's because you're still listening to old tapes from your past. You're replaying them in your mind over and over. You are acting on the basis of things that people said to you twenty, thirty, forty years ago and they were no more true then than they are now. Old tapes that say things like, "You don't matter." God says, 'Yes, you do!' "You're a loser!" God say, 'No, you're not!' "You'll never amount to anything." God says, 'You are important to me!' 

You need to quit believing those lies and start believing God.  Quit looking in a distorted mirror of what peers and partners and parents have said to you. Start repeating what God says about you: "I am acceptable, I am lovable, I am valuable, I am forgivable, and I am capable." 

Who are you going to believe? What other people say about you or what God says about you.