Day 15

"for he loved him as he loved his own soul" ~ 1 Sam. 20:17

1 Samuel chapter 20 tells the story of the friendship between Jonathan, son of Saul, and David.  In verse 17, it states that Jonathan loved David as much as his own life.  Saul wanted to kill David.  This angered Jonathan insomuch that Jonathan warned David.  Do you have friends like that in your life?  I absolutely adore my husband and he is probably my best friend.  I've mentioned that he is my main supporter in this endeavor.  However, I am privileged to have about three really good, strong, Christian women as friends...that I could count on for almost anything.  It's important to have friends.  AND, what would be more important as a woman that to have other women who are STRONG and of similar faith?  I don't believe anything can compare to that.

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"You believe not, because you are not of my sheep" ~ John 10:26

The above scripture is written in red in my bible...that makes it extremely important as it is the words of Christ Himself.  Here, Jesus was talking about why people could not believe in Him as the Son of God.  This was during the time that he was accused of blasphemy.  One cannot believe in Christ if he/she is not in Christ.  Without getting overly biblical or adding/taking away from the scripture, here's my interpretation.  As Christians, we are judging and holding non-believers to the same Christian standard as we are held accountable for...yet they have yet to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.  I think Christian singer, Mandisa, calls these people "pre-Christians".  God's law applies to all, but one cannot fully understand all of it until they've come to know the Son of God.  Take for example, the great creation debate.  One cannot believe in creationism without believing in the Creator,  Himself; thus, all debate is invalid and useless until those unbelievers come to know Christ.  If you're reading this and you are Christian, I encourage you to show love, instead of judgment.  If you're reading this and you are not a Christian, I encourage you to remember we--yes, we Christians--are not perfect people either.  We're just a bunch of imperfect people, trying to do the right thing.

Be blessed.  If you're interested in salvation, feel free to contact me.

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My exercise routine is moving right along.  This morning I did about 30 minutes of my workout.  Then, when I got home from work, my daughter wanted to "dance" with me, so we did 3 or 4 more Refit songs!  It was fun to share that experience with her!

Food intake is staying on track.   Tonight, I had to make cupcakes for tomorrow.  Let's say this:  It's all about self-control!  Cupcake-0, Julie-1.  Yeah, I got this!