* Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus and Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness

I have not written much as of late as I have been turning my attention elsewhere. Instead of giving all of my thoughts and attention to diet and healing, I have been busy seeking God's Kingdom and His Righteousness. He has been at work in my life and in the life of my family and He is truly transforming our lives by the renewing of our minds. It is wonderful and very cool!

So much is going on these days. I am reading through the Bible in a year (though it will likely take me two), I am working my way through Beth Moore's updated Bible Study called Breaking Free, and I am finding time in the morning to spend with God in prayer.

I am doing all of these things at my own pace and I am letting go of the guilt feelings for missing a day or two (or three) on any of these points. God wants a relationship with me. He wants me to love Him with all of my heart, soul, strength, and mind. He wants me to talk to Him about everything at all times and He wants me to ask Him for help. He is able and willing to do all that He has promised. He is faithful forever.

When I seek Him, yes, when I turn my eyes upon Jesus, when I look full in His wonderful face, the things of earth do indeed grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. I now understand the meaning of the words in this song.

I experienced it in natural labor with my children. When I focused on my body, the feelings were intense and increased in discomfort. When I focused on Jesus and what God was doing in and through me to bring new life into the world, then the pain disappeared and I was filled with joy and excitement like no other. The things of earth grew strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. I was not focused on my body. I was not focused on fear of pain or possible complications. My body was relaxed as I trusted in God to bring my baby forth from the womb. My body was free to work in the way it was designed by my Creator to work without being hindered by fear or negative thoughts. Truly, when I calmly told the nurse that I was pretty sure I was in transition and asked her to call the midwife back (I labored quietly with only my husband in the room), she did not believe me, but when my son was born only minutes later she knew I was right. The nurse and the midwife both commented that they had never seen anything like it. Give all the glory to God! He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how our bodies work. We are made to commune with God. We are made to have an intimate relationship with Him. We, the church, are the bride of Christ! It doesn't get more intimate than that.

I have lately noticed that when my thoughts are negative I experience more pain, discomfort, frustration, anger, and way more stress! I have lately noticed that when my focus is on God and what He is doing in my body and in my heart and in the lives of my children, and when I purpose to think about that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy and to give thanks in all things, then I can take on the world. I can without a doubt do all things through Christ who gives me strength!

I confess that these last few days have been rough. We treated CKS and KES for their allergies using something called Barnett's Sensitivity Elimination Technique and it worked great for about three weeks. Some undesirable behaviors are coming back. Rashes and eczema are back. I was upset about this and other issues. It has weighed heavily on my mind and I turned my focus back on autism, vaccines, and diet. My sleep has been rough. My mood has gotten progressively worse. Today I was very depressed, easily irritated, angry, and on and on. I actually yelled at the 2 year old. I NEVER yell at the two year old. I rarely raise my voice anymore. God is so very good. When I finally had a moment to myself (in the bathroom at WFM), I prayed and confessed my sins and thanked God because, truly, I know exactly what to do to bring sanity back to my household. I may not want to remove any of the foods we just added, but I have that choice. So many others have no answers for helping their children. I met one family this week with a 16 year old autistic boy for whom no diet, therapy, or intervention has made any significant difference in all these years. Anyway, I returned home from grocery shopping and met some sour faces when I walked in the door. I greeted everyone with grace, proceeded through dinner and all of our night time routines, and got all five children happily tucked into bed. I can't remember anymore why I felt so mean and ugly at the start of the day, but I DO know why.

When my focus was on all of the things that were not going the way I wanted, then my pain (physical, mental, spiritual) increased and kept increasing. I kept noticing more and more things that were not as I wanted them to be. When I returned my focus back to God and the good things He has done for us, then I became strong enough and healthy enough in mind, body, and soul to take on the issues that had seemed insurmountable earlier in the day.

So, I find that I am compelled to spend more time with God. There is so much more to all of this, but I will have to say it in another post or two or three (or more).

Seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness! Read His Word! Study His Word! Spend time talking to God about anything and everything! "Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory an grace!"