Author: femmefuel

We're modern women just like you, loving Jesus, and sharing our stories in an honest, personal and meaningful way. FemmeFuel aims to inspire, empower and provide you with the fuel you need to live out your purpose in Christ.

Choosing Joy in the Morning

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by JMathis, November 2011 (Thankfulness)Leave a comment

By JMathis

Each morning, I groggily open my eyes, not knowing where I am or who I am. I am in the haze, where I simply have no context of the problems that are about to crash in over me. All I can think about in this sleep-wake limbo is how refreshing more sleep would feel in my warm, soft cocoon.

But within minutes, thoughts of this new day’s problems knock ferociously on the door of my consciousness. The stress of deadlines pulls me hastily out of my toasty bed. The demands and pressures of the day soon choke me fully into the cold world of wakefulness.

Another day, another dollar. Another day, more problems.

What a depressing way to wake up every morning. Have I always been such a Debbie Downer?

Lord, show me answers. Father, remind me of how to start my mornings right.

James 1:2-4  “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Lord, I thank You that Your Word promises me opportunities to experience great joy.

Lord, I thank You that in this season of testing, that in this season of hardship, You are building me up and stretching me. You are pushing me to be more like You. You are challenging me to see joy–even in the desert.

Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. “

Lord, I thank You that if I keep my gaze on You, You promise to trade my cross for joy. Thank You, Lord, that You died so that I could experience joy–joy at work, joy in my marriage, joy in my parenting, joy in my friendships. Joy in every realm of my experience.   

Lamentations 3:22-23 “Because of the LORD’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Lord, I thank You that Love Never Fails. That it is Your love that consumes me every morning, and not my problems. That each morning, You are there, waiting to flood my day with mercy, grace, compassion, faithfulness…and joy.

Lord, thank You for my promise of joy. Thank You for this new day of experiencing even more joy.

Lord, thank You for my cocoon of unspeakable, unsurpassed, unimaginable joy, where I can stay, surrounded by Your love. Safe from problems, free from fears, delivered of worries.

Lord, this morning, I choose joy.

This morning, I choose You.

Thanking God for Our Problems

On By femmefuelIn FemmeFeatures by Bindu Adai-Mathew, November 2011 (Thankfulness)Leave a comment

By Bindu Adai-Mathew

Thankfulness. This Thanksgiving we will each gather around our family dining room table and give thanks for God’s blessing. We will thank Him for our family. We will thank Him for our health. We will thank Him for blessings. We will thank Him for our problems.

Say whaaat? Nope, that was not a typo. Thank him for our problems? Aren’t we supposed to detest our problems and issues? Typically that is our reaction, isn’t it?  It definitely is mine. As soon as I face an issue, I shift to the “woe is me” mentality. The victim. The persecuted.

Often I get discouraged with life because after one problem seems to be over or overcome, another problem seems to take its place. When will I get a break, Lord? Is there something wrong with me? Is life ever going to get easier?

But what if we saw our problems as not just the enemy, the very thing we rally against?  But what if we see our problems in life as the means by which we develop a closer walk with God?

Like Paul with his thorn in his flesh, we, too, have thorns in our flesh. Thorns that keep us humble. Thorns that keep us on our knees. Thorns that keep us continually in the throne room, in His presence.

Often when we see our problems in a different light…in a positive light…they often lose their power over us.  We are no longer as overwhelmed, exhausted, defeated by our problems…or their continual presence in our lives.

Instead, we have to see them as necessary. Like muscle is built with the resistance of weight, so is our faith built with the presence of our problems. Each life issue we face exercises different muscles. Sometimes it’s our patience that gets built. Sometimes it’s our forgiveness. Often times it’s our trust muscles.

Challenge: Think of a problem you are struggling with today. How is it helping you exercise your spiritual muscles? How can you view your struggle differently so that you no longer see it solely in a negative light? What “good” can you see coming out of this problem?  How has it strengthened your character and your resolve?

Remember that God promises not to test us beyond what we can endure. And He promises us that everything in our lives can be used for our good…even our problems.

 

Now Go and Do Likewise

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by JMathis, November 2011 (Thankfulness)Leave a comment

By JMathis

Being thankful is about remembering.

Remembering that life is not meant for you to travel alone.

Remembering that others have contributed to the beautiful mosaic that is uniquely you.

Remembering that your journey is intertwined with those who walked before you, and those who come to follow you.

Remembering that living a life of thankfulness is about living a life of acknowledgment.

Acknowledgment that someone paved the way for your successes.

Acknowledgement that someone cared enough about you to feed and clothe you.

Acknowledgment that someone sacrificed pieces of herself so that you would blossom.

Remember and acknowledge that since the moment of your birth, people have come in and out of your life, in spurts and stretches, to ensure that you have breath, comfort and support.

Whether they existed generations before you or now sojourn right alongside you, remember and acknowledge that you are part of them, and they are part of you.

Remember and acknowledge that God has commissioned others to safeguard you.

Now go and do likewise.

Remember and acknowledge that God has allowed others to pour good into you.

Now go and do likewise.

Remember and acknowledge that God has brought others in to be anchors for you in the storm.

Now go and do likewise.

Give, sacrifice and embrace, as others have done for you.

Give, sacrifice and embrace, as others should have done for you.

Give, sacrifice and embrace, as God has done for you, and continues to do for you.

Now go and do likewise, all the while remembering and acknowledging that your life is just not yours alone.

Now go and do likewise.

Getting from “Me Vs. Him” to “Us”

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by Bindu Adai-Mathew, October 2011 (Devotions)Leave a comment

By Bindu Adai-Mathew

If you had asked me years ago the primary ingredients for a successful relationship/marriage, I would have immediately replied love and chemistry.

Fastforward a few months after I got married, and my response would have been forgiveness, kindness, and compromise.

Yesterday Jmathis challenged us to analyze some of our relationships to see how we responded during times of tension and conflict. My biggest challenge during times of tension is to check my ego and selfishness in at the door. When I’m angry or hurt, it’s all about what he did wrong. What he said to offend me or how he acted so selfishly. It’s all about my needs and how they are unmet.

 Often the way I respond to times of conflict has nothing to do with “us.” Because when I think of us, it’s no longer just about me…it’s about how we both need to change or improve. It’s not about me being right…it’s about what both of us need to do to make this partnership successful and meaningful.

There is a reason why God described marriage as “two becoming one.” But isn’t it ironic that while we vow to uphold that tenant in marriage, it’s often the first one we break when we are hurt or upset?

Challenge yourself to look at your conflict in terms of the partnership that it really is rather than a scene out of a spaghetti Western. Rather than addressing your conflict with guns blazing like you’re at the Okay Corral, look at it terms of the way God intended marriage to be:

“The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” for she was taken out of man.’ For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” Genesis 2:23-24

 

Delving Into Relationship

On By femmefuelIn FemmeFeatures by JMathis, October 2011 (Devotions)Leave a comment

By JMathis

We live in a web of interconnected relationships.

Relationships with significant others. Relationships with co-workers. Relationships with friends. Relationships with family.

In the unavoidability of relationships, there is conflict.

Conflict with significant others. Conflict with co-workers. Conflict with friends. Conflict with family.

With conflict comes tension, and tension demands a response.

The problem is, our tendency is to either run from giving a response (“What’s the point of working this out with him? I’m just going to shut up–again–and bury it deep down inside.”), or run too quickly to respond (“I just can’t wait to give her a piece of my mind! She is such an idiot!”).

In both cases, we fall short.

In the world’s way of responding to tension and conflict in our relationships (defensiveness, passive-aggressiveness, self-righteousness, anger and blame), we inflict upon ourselves a slow death by a million paper-cuts.

Paper cuts from significant others. Paper cuts from co-workers. Paper cuts from friends. Paper cuts from family.

If all of this bleeding is inevitable, why even bother with relationships? After all, isn’t life too short? Too short to be jabbed time and again by a million paper-cuts?

Because in relationships, there is life.

Because in relationships, there is love.

Because in relationships, there is growth.

Because in relationships, there is God.

In God’s way of responding to tension and conflict in our relationships, you still have to confront and respond to tension and conflict. After all, tension and conflict are natural by-products of living in earthly relationships.

But in God’s way of responding to tension and conflict, you confront and respond:

• without condemning

• with love and respect

• through the eyes of faith

The eyes of faith can’t see the other’s faults and weaknesses. The eyes of faith can only see what God sees. And all God sees is a child of God, worthy of love and respect, brimming with all of God’s potential and righteousness.

Delve into relationships. Delve into the tension. Delve into the conflict.

But in all things, delve in with God.

For where there is God, there is life, love and growth. For where there is God, there is relationship.

Delve in. Paper cuts and all.

Questions:

When you last confronted tension and conflict in your relationship, how did you respond? In anger and blame? Or, love and respect? When you last responded to tension and conflict, was it in sorrow and repentance, or defensiveness and passive-aggressiveness? Are too many of your relationships simmering in past regrets, rather than restoration and healing? What could you have done differently in your last experience with tension and conflict?

2 Corinthians 7: 2-16 (The Message):

…Don’t think I’m finding fault with you. I told you earlier that I’m with you all the way, no matter what. I have, in fact, the greatest confidence in you. If only you knew how proud I am of you! I am overwhelmed with joy despite all our troubles…

I know I distressed you greatly with my letter. Although I felt awful at the time, I don’t feel at all bad now that I see how it turned out…Now I’m glad—not that you were upset, but that you were jarred into turning things around. You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss. Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain. But those who let distress drive them away from God are full of regrets, end up on a deathbed of regrets.

And now, isn’t it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You’re more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you’ve come out of this with purity of heart. And that is what I was hoping for in the first place when I wrote the letter. My primary concern was not for the one who did the wrong or even the one wronged, but for you—that you would realize and act upon the deep, deep ties between us before God. That’s what happened—and we felt just great…

Titus saw for himself that everything I had said about you was true. He can’t quit talking about it, going over again and again the story of your prompt obedience, and the dignity and sensitivity of your hospitality. He was quite overwhelmed by it all! And I couldn’t be more pleased—I’m so confident and proud of you…

During Times of Uncertainty

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by Bindu Adai-Mathew, October 2011 (Devotions)Leave a comment

By Bindu Adai-Mathew

So how many of you are worried about our economy? How many of you are worried about your personal economic situation? Do you worry about retirement?  If you have children, do you worry about how you’ll send them to college? Or how you’ll afford to pay for their wedding?

I’ll admit that those are concerns of mine. Heck, I’m even bothered by the prediction that China is going to overtake the U.S. as the #1 economic power in the coming years. Why? Well, there’s the obvious…we’re the U.S. and haven’t we been #1 since…like…forever? Or for at least for my entire life. And then there’s the question as to how China will choose to wield its power and influence.

 Yes, we are undoubtedly in uncertain economic times.

 In Bible times, they didn’t call it “uncertain economic” times, nor did they call it a “depression.” They called it a famine. If the weather was bad or they had no rain or too much rain, it ruined the crops, which meant they didn’t have food to eat or food to give to their animals. Famine.

 But to them and to us, God reminds us in Jeremiah 17: 7-8 that despite our worries or our current economic climate, He can and will provide for us.

 7“But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

8He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Bear fruit in times of famine and drought? Does God not know the unemployment rate right now?  Yes, but God is still promising us that those who trust in Him will continue to be able to provide for their families.  The economy may affect us, but it doesn’t affect God. He is able to bless us despite…and in some cases…because of the economy. Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Well, that is the God we serve. Jehovah Jireh. God Our Provider.

 

 

 

The Notebook

On By femmefuelIn FemmeBytes by Bindu Adai-Mathew, October 2011 (Devotions)Leave a comment

By Bindu Adai-Mathew

One of my favorite love stories is The Notebook. Okay, all you anti-chick flick chicks can now cringe, but even you must admit, rare is it that you read and/or see a book or movie where love is deeper than that initial romantic love/chemistry connection level. Most love stories these days are solely about that initial passion, chemistry, and I, a former fan of romance novels, am all for passion and chemistry…but what about love when the skin ages and age spots set in? What about love when you aren’t so love-able by the world’s standards?

 As I watched The Notebook years ago, I was reminded of what true love is. I was reminded of 1 Corinthians 13.

 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

 We’ve all heard this passage recited at weddings. We may have even memorized it for Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. Or maybe it resides on a plaque in your home. But today, as you get annoyed or angry with a family member, a close friend, your spouse or significant other, meditate on that passage.

 Love is patient.

Love does not envy.

Love is not proud.

Love is not rude.

Love is not self-seeking.

Love is not easily angered. (gulp!)

Love keeps no record of wrongs. (double gulp!)

Love rejoices in truth.

Love always protects…always trusts…always perseveres.

 While this standard of love may be hard to live up to, remember that is exactly how God loves us.