Category Archives: Christian

Step into the Unfamiliar


 

Dear God,

Thank you for loving us enough to call us into the unfamiliar, reminding us of Godly character  and strength we too often lock up in the face of fear, doubt and worry. The unfamiliar reminds us of the person you call us to be in this world: faith-filled with a mission to make you recognizable.

 

Q. When in your life, perhaps it’s now, has God called you into the unfamiliar? A few examples:

  1. Abraham & Sarah: Having a baby at 90
  2. Moses in the Desert for 40 Years: Comes up on the “promise land” filled with Giants.
  3. Noah Building the Ark on Dry Land
  4. Lazarus Called Back from Death
  5. Peter Called to Walk on Water

 

Enjoy the Replay from our Recent Edge God In Virtual Bible Study:

CLICK HERE

Join us for our next virtual live Edge God In Bible Study Feb 8th at 7:15 am MST:  CLICK HERE to sign up.

Because of His Life,

Lauren <><

A Prayer at The Break of Dawn


 


Dear God, thank you for the gift of a new day of life to explore growing in the ways of loving and being loved…You, myself and those around me.

 

Once again I release my grip on my need to know why things happen as they do along with my need to know how things will turn out. You are in control and that is enough for me. I give you full permission to have your way with me in spite of myself, for I have learned on this short journey of life that as I have surrendered all to you, I am never left empty handed.

 

Continue to release the shadows that distract me from living out the purpose for which I was created: to love and beloved. Protect me from the need to own, control, possess, analyze, interpret, conclude; from attachments, assumptions, expectations and all sense of entitlement along with the antics of comparison, jealousy and envy… for nothing thrives in a state of war. The only thing I am entitled to know is that you love me completely just as I am and that you will never leave me or forsake me, because of this all things are possible for me. Move me this day to step away from the 3 fuels of discontent and inner turmoil: popularity; position and possessions. For what will I gain if I gain the whole world yet forfeit my soul?

 

Grant me a spirit of joy and laughter that I may light up from the inside out and may all those who come into this light feel refreshed and inspired. Use my life and my death for the sake of salvation of souls. Use this gift of teaching you have blessed me with to guide people back to themselves as connected to you, so that they may experience their fullest potential of being on earth. You have revealed to me through my own dark night of the soul experience that you do your greatest work in the eye of the storm, through this knowledge resurrect within me a courage that far outweighs the momentary distractions of fear, doubt and worry. For you have brought about a greater good in spite of the darkness than had my personal trials never occurred.

 

Move me to lean into the mystical experience captured within one of your most masterful creations: the beautiful fragrant rose that emerges in the midst of the thorns. You have me, and I have you…I tremble with eager expectation as to the beauty we will create together as I step into another gift of life today.

 

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

What the Bible tells us about Mindfulness


There are many scriptures in the bible that give us examples of how we should be mindful in our thoughts, actions, and deeds.  They also tell us how we as Christians  should  fill our minds with the knowledge and things of Christ.

To be mindful is to be present and to have focused thoughts.  But what should we be mindful of?

Col 3:2  says “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on this earth”.

With all the chaos in the world,  we have the peace in knowing that the things of this world  or only  a moment,  but the one promised to us is eternal. ~Dr. stella

 

Shiny Objects Distracting You?


“And others are they that are sown among the thorns; these are

they that have heard the word, and the cares of the world, and

the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things 

entering in, choke the word & it becomes unfruitful.” 

Jesus: Mark 4:18-19

 

This is a very popular parable that has circulated

around the globe evoking a sense of curiosity around what kind

of “seed” you happen to be in this world and where have

you been sown?  We have all heard at one point the

common saying, “you reap what you sow.”

So what kind of seed are you? and what have you

given power over to that is cutting off the life

source that enables you to bloom where you are planted?

 

Do you follow shiny objects resulting in

a very shallow root system so when the opinions of

other people and circumstances do not show up

in your favor your inner motivation and inspiration

become flat lined & unfruitful?

 

Or do you withstand the dark moments, with no sign

of light, having full confidence that your God given ability

to break through the dirt of life & bloom in the midst of it

all will override the momentary discomfort

of the growth process?

 

The choice for a deep reliable root system along

with the ability to bloom where you are planted is yours

and will make all the difference in the outcomes

you will experience on this journey of life.

 

I remember when my oncologist said, “it is our goal to

try to get you to 5 years.” In spite of that dirt

surrounding me I chose God and all of the healing and

love that flow from that choice with the gift of each new

day.  Live to bloom no matter what surrounds you.

Now Pause Breathe in the Holy Spirit and Exhale any tension in your body,

Today

Dear God,

 

As is the case with a beautiful garden, there is a

season when the blooms fade and the vibrant colors 

are replaced with dull, life less surroundings.  Yet, in

spite of the lack of life that is captured by the human eye,

there is the process of growth and strength

that is occurring beneath the dark, cold dirt.

As the essential life giving elements flow from 

your hand into the soil and seeds that lie beneath 

the surface, new life, growth and abundance

return once again to the faithful seeds that

don’t doubt their God given ability to bloom once

again…with more strength & expansion than

the previous season. May it be the same for me this

season. Remind me of my capability to bloom and live

a fruitful life no matter what surrounds me.

 

Because of His Love <><

Lauren

When you love someone, but you’re not compatible, you have a choice to make

IMG_5811When you love someone, even though you’re clearly not compatible, you have a choice to make.

1. You can choose to love them in spite of the fact they seem to break everything – especially your heart
– or –
2. You can eventually go your separate ways because of incompatibility

This wonderful choice began the day you were born…

Males and females were created incompatibly different from birth. If you believe the story of creation then you know man was made from the dust of the earth, and woman was formed from Adam’s rib, according to scripture. We know that dust of the earth, and ribs from a human being are also made up of completely different cells and particles. One could even say, they’re incompatible, right?

Jon and I have loved one another since our teen years, but admittedly the choice to love has sometimes been more than difficult over the course of our 33 year marriage. (BTW….my husband thought it was important for me to tell you that he read and approved this message. He was concerned I would be judged harshly if you didn’t know that ahead of time. Presh, right?)

Continuing on…

Being a male, Jon often sees things competitively – as in winning or losing, as in right or wrong. That means whether we’re in an important discussion, or carrying heavy things, or even grocery shopping, it all somehow becomes a game of winning or losing.

Being female, and an entrepreneur, I often see things as a collaborative adventure. I love discussing important matters, taking my time shopping to get the healthiest ingredients for my family, and though I don’t take myself too seriously, I view life as a series of moments. Evey moment is another opportunity to impact others in a positive, non-competitve way.

Being male, he often sees hunting for the right bargain or gathering the best wood to work on his next project – often enjoying time alone in his man cave. For most men, communication is not a favorite past time but they don’t mind being in the same room together.IMG_5837

Being female, I decide if something is in alignment with my spirit or not. I don’t mind making a healthy investment if so. I love working together because I thrive on problem solving, learning new skills and growing in relationship together. I also view healthy communication as vitally important to all relationships.

We were created to be different

I think you might agree that my husband and I come from two completely different perspectives. Although I believe that the influences we choose to put into our brains usually impact our lifestyle tremendously, I also believe that God made us different for a good reason. SO DIFFERENT in fact, that it often requires us to dig deep into our soul to choose forgiveness and love, which takes an act of unselfishness.

But here’s the thing…we need each other to live, love and learn. Jon and I together discovered an incredible secret to love that needs to be shared in a significant way. This is one reason for my article.

UNITY saves marriages

Did you know that unity is achievable even when we’re not compatible? Check this out.

“COMPATIBILITY is the state of existence or occurrence without problems or conflict.”

“UNITY is the state of being united or joined as a whole.”

Did you catch that last word?? WHOLE!

So being compatible is existing – while being united produces wholeness.

While you may think this is just symantec’s, I can assure you its definitely not. When we unite on important matters because they’re important, we find harmony and peace.

Jon and I didn’t understand that there was an actual strategy to marriage. It wasn’t until we were good and ready to walk away from each other that God allowed me to see it. That’s when I shared it with him, and we both finally agreed to get started to achieve unity the way Jesus wanted us to.

Unity doesn’t even glance at incompatibility

Discussions of unity turn up everywhere long before you’re married. If you think back to your dating life you might be able to see how you actually achieved outstanding unity over and over again.

You: “Do you want to go dancing?”

Date: “Sure. Do you?”

You: “Sure! Where do you want to go?”

Date: “How about trying out the new dance club downtown?

You: ” Okay! Lets go shake a leg!”

And off you went, leg shaking your way to a unified outcome. Then came discussions of growing old together, what your first house would look like, what type of trips you wanted to take together, how many kids you wanted to have. There were many unifying factors that started your relationship off. Some people call them goals or dreams to attain, but whatever you call them, your relationship has never been about simple existing.

Can you imagine what that might sound like?

You: “Do you want to go dancing?”

Date: “Huh? Do you?”

You: “Maybe. Where do you want to go?”

Date: “I’m not sure. There’s a new dance club downtown?

You: “Yeah I heard that too.”

And there you sit. No leg shaking, no more thought of dancing, planning or achieving some form of unity.

Unity produces an outcome of WHOLENESS the moment you say, “I do”. IMG_5839

The day you took your vows was like hearing “POW!” inside your head. I remember looking at the ring on my finger saying to my little sister, “Oh my gosh, I’ve just become Mrs. Frazier. Can you believe it?!”

Little did I know how utterly incompatible we were at that moment, or how utterly beautiful unifying would be had I only known the proper strategy for it back then.

Oddly enough, divorcing because you are incompatible is actually pretty lame because you’re just stating a fact without realizing that it has nothing to do with being married.

Lets take a look at two of the major excuses for break up’s for instance.

FINANCES: You may not like spread sheets and yet he may not be able to do life without them. You try to get him to use a normal check book and he insists on using spread sheets. You may have been fighting for so long about the spreadsheet issue that you’ve neglected to stay focused on the unifying factors of how much you both wanted to give, invest, save, spend, etc. Working toward unity allows you to come back to the goals you initially had together and find a way to support one another. This brings peace into your home, not to mention a few good snuggles.

SEX: You want more intimacy. He wants more sex. He doesn’t know that intimacy is something that can be accomplished in simple ways that would give him all the sex he wants. Working toward being emotionally connected is working toward unity. When he emotionally connects to you, you finally feel loved, cherished and ready to respond to his every need.

My husband and I have changed many aspects in our marriage in strategic ways, similar to those I just mentioned. We’ve learned to love each other differently, unifying on every level that is important to us to achieve success and stay joyfully married. We’ve learned to find the best in each other so we can enjoy our time together. In fact, we just celebrated our 33rd year as husband and wife, while accepting that we are unapologetically IMG_5845incompatible. We are also 100% certain that the trajectory of our marriage has changed permanently thanks to God’s amazing grace.

As I continue to share God’s original plan to UNITE us to WHOLENESS again, I’m very grateful that you, my dear reader, have a willingness to see the difference and apply it to your own life. If you found value in this article feel free to share it and leave your thoughts below. The more couples we can make aware of unity, the more marriages we can save.

Always Love,

Screen Shot 2014-01-21 at 12.20.52 PM

God or Man? Flip Your Authority

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI5i-7cCHl4

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

 

Too often we give more authority to circumstance than we do to

our God given ability to overcome, learn from and move 

through perceived challenges in life. This week remember

that GREATER IS THE ONE who lives in YOU than 

the one or thing in the world.

 

Your experience of rising and 

falling depending upon how the world judges you is in 

direct proportion to the power YOU give to the outside

circumstance to define your worth, value and capability. 

If God is for you…who or what can be against you? Flip

your authority today: Give more authority to the strength of God

within you than you give to the opinions of people around you and

or specific outcomes. Failure is just a label we place on an

undesirable outcome.  Think about this for a moment, if

you truly believe that God has plans to prosper you and not to

harm you, to give you hope and a future then whatever pops

up before you can be flipped into positive forward momentum.

What if you take a moment this week before any potential threat

to your sense of safety and ability to overcome and you remember

this simple thought: God has overcome all that I feel has overcome

(or potentially overcome) me in my life…He sees all and is more

than capable of doing more than I can ever ask or imagine for

my ultimate good in this world, I am safe and connected to the

One that is greater than circumstance.

 

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

Edge God In Podcast 1: The Religion of Evolution


Edge God In Podcast 1: The Religion of Evolution

Dear Lord,

Give us the gift of understanding as we approach the very controversial topic of our existence. This is a hard topic to explain so give us the revelation of knowledge to understand that which you would have for us. We know that the Bible gives us answers to all our questions and needs and ask that you open up the answers in this area. Let us also take this knowledge to grow our kingdom and fulfill our purpose here in this life.

EdgeGodIn.com

Scriptures to Explore

  • Genesis 1:1,2
  • Numbers 6:24-26
  • Ecclesiastes 1:9

Healing Exists Beyond Time


Before a healing took place Jesus would often inquire about the time and intensity of their condition. Perhaps to remind us all that healing is not restricted by the longevity or intensity of the condition…when God says, “It is finished”.

Nature resonates with this truth. Don’t forget you have the same God given ability to bloom no matter what conditions surround you!

As I paused for a moment under a magnificent tree this morning I asked, “So who told you when to bloom and when to remain dormant?” God’s divine intelligence woven throughout all of nature speak to this truth:

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

There are no challenges in life only situations that invite us to remember our God given ability to come up with creative solutions…and move mountains.

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

True Freedom in Christ


 

“It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set you free, stand firm then and do not allow yourself to be burdened by the yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1

Dear God,

Thank you that my greatest source and fuel for happiness in this life occurs behind closed doors, when no one is watching…the prayers, dances, songs and free expressions of who I am before you alone.

I am willing to consider the freedom that Jesus Christ of Nazareth had when he walked the earth.  Known as the Prince of Peace, he was not concerned about status or the opinions of other people.

This week I will explore letting go of my need to be seen, acknowledged and recognized in order to feel successful, loved and enough.

Fill me with an expansive Spirit of joy and laughter so that a levity around all things begins to emerge in all that I do and say.

I am grateful for another day to practice letting go of the non-essentials and nurture what I value most in this life.

Have your way with me in spite of myself…your way has never left me empty handed in this life.

“Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.” 
Mark 12:14

“A man is enslaved to whatever has mastered him.” 2 Peter 1:19

As you reflect on your own relationship with the world, what has mastered you in your life? Is it your environment? Opinions and reactions of other people? The need to be seen, acknowledged, and recognized?

Is it your behavior? My clients, who are seeking freedom from compulsive behavior, will often say, “I just can’t help myself.” This reveals a type of personal enslavement due to allowing some food, substance, situation, or person to master them over time, which in some cases results in a biological addiction.

The stress hormone is linked directly to your emotional state of mind and heart. Extended emotional stress often leads to personal enslavement, which usually walks hand in hand with unhealthy outlets. The key to freedom in situations like this lies in your ability to accept where you are at, accompanied with a desire for positive personal transformation and a choice to take a step in that direction.

Dear God, I choose this week to align my thoughts, words and deeds with my highest good and the good of all concerned. Through the power of the Holy Spirit I ignite my ability to choose my responses to life remembering that I hold the key to victimization and empowerment AND what I chose to think about sets in motion my reality. 

All things are possible for me, shrinking back and allowing myself to be burdened by the yoke of slavery to unhealthy masters is not how you created me to show up in this life. I choose you and all things good, right, true, beautiful and praise worthy. #faithwalk #freedominChrist #biblestudy 

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><