How To Become a Christian

To receive Christ as your Savior:

ADMIT to God that you are a sinner.
BELIEVE that Jesus is God's Son and that God sent Jesus to save people from their sin.
COMMIT your life to Jesus. Trust Him to be your Savior and Lord. Repent and turn away from your sin and live for Him!

Romans 3:23, 6:23, 5:8, 10:13. 1 John 1:9. Acts 3:19, 4:12, 16:31. John 3:16, 14:16. 1 Peter 3:18. Matthew 16:24. Luke 9:23.

#Christ #Jesus #Christian #Saved

Food List for the Daniel Fast

Foods Allowed on the Daniel Fast

All fruits. These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Fruits include but are not limited to apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, figs, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, oranges, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, raspberries, strawberries, tangelos, tangerines, watermelon

All vegetables. These can be fresh, frozen, dried, juiced or canned. Vegetables include but are not limited to artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, collard greens, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, ginger root, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, mustard greens, okra, onions, parsley, potatoes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, spinach, sprouts, squashes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, turnips, watercress, yams, zucchini, veggie burgers are an option if you are not allergic to soy.

All whole grains, including but not limited to whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats, barley, grits, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat tortillas, rice cakes and popcorn.

All nuts and seeds, including but not limited to sunflower seeds, cashews, peanuts, sesame. Also nut butters including peanut butter.

All legumes. These can be canned or dried. Legumes include but are not limited to dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, cannellini beans, white beans

All quality oils including but not limited to olive, canola, grape seed, peanut, and sesame.

Beverages: spring water, distilled water or other pure waters.

Other: tofu, soy products, vinegar, seasonings, salt, herbs and spices.

Foods to avoid on the Daniel Fast

All meat and animal products including but not limited to beef, lamb, pork, poultry, and fish.
All dairy products including but not limited to milk, cheese, cream, butter, and eggs.
All sweetenersincluding but not limited to sugar, raw sugar, honey, syrups, molasses, and cane juice.
All leavened bread including Ezekiel Bread (it contains yeast and honey) and baked goods.
All refined and processed food products including but not limited to artificial flavorings, food additives, chemicals, white rice, white flour, and foods that contain artificial preservatives.
All deep fried foods including but not limited to potato chips, French fries, corn chips.
All solid fats including shortening, margarine, lard and foods high in fat.
Beverages including but not limited to coffee, tea, herbal teas, carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and alcohol.
~from the Daniel Fast

Becoming Healthy Spiritually, Physically, and Emotionally: We Need All Three

In my quest to seek the Lord in exactly what He wants me to do to serve Him (I think there are several areas) and in my quest to become physically healthy again, I have decided to follow the example of a great man of God in the Scriptures. Daniel served God for 70 years and living in a land that was hostile to God, Daniel never lost his faith, he persevered in prayer, and he was not interested in power for his personal glory. Like Daniel, when we seek to serve the Lord, we must put pride completely to the side and seek to bring glory and honor to God and not to ourselves. This is why the Lord blessed Daniel as He did. I don't know about you, but I want God's favor on my life and on HIS ministry that He's using me to carry out. Our hearts need to be in the right place for the right reason and that is to lift His Name on high!

WHAT IS THE DANIEL FAST?

The Daniel Fast is a biblically based partial fast. It is a method of fasting that men, women and young people all over the world are using as they enter into the spiritual discipline of prayer and fasting.

There are two anchoring scriptures for the Daniel Fast. In Daniel 1 the Prophet ate only vegetables (that would have included fruits) and drank only water. So from these scriptures we get two of the guidelines for the fast:

•Only fruits and vegetables
•Only water for a beverage

Then in Daniel 10 we read that the Prophet ate no meat nor any precious breads or foods and he drank no wine for 21 days. So from this scripture, we get a third guideline:

•No sweeteners and no breads

Another important guideline is drawn from Jewish fasting principles, where no leaven is used during the fast. So that’s why yeast, baking powder and the like are not allowed on the Daniel Fast.
Finally, with all the above puzzle pieces, we conclude that no artificial or processed foods nor any chemicals are allowed on the Daniel Fast.

THE DANIEL FAST FOR THE BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT

The Bible teaches us that we are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. The Daniel Fast affects all three parts of us as we enter into a period of time for focused prayer and fasting.
THE BODY
Certainly our bodies are effected as our diet is changed, for some in very dramatic ways, during the Daniel Fast. Many men and women experience detoxing from caffeine, chemicals and sugar. The symptoms are most often headaches, leg cramps, fatigue and malaise.

THE SOUL
Frequently referred to as “the flesh” in the Bible, the soul is also greatly impacted during the Daniel Fast. The soul is the seat of our emotions, intellect, personality and will. It is in the “soulish realm” where we experience cravings, frustration, anger . . . and even happiness.
During the Daniel Fast, your soul may very well rebel against the dramatic change in your diet. Experiencing and winning this battle over the flesh is often one of the most powerful lessons of the Daniel Fast.

THE SPIRIT
Our spirit is that born-again part of us that surrenders to God and then abides with the Father and the Son. Our spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit when we yield to Him. During the Daniel Fast, we want to put our spirit in charge of the other two parts of us. When our flesh is acting out with a craving, we take control of it with our spirit (just as a parent takes control of a rebellious child).

Fasting is always coupled with a spiritual goal. So during this time of fasting, you will want to focus on prayer, study and meditation. ~ from The Daniel Fast

To Bring Glory and Honor to God

Well, it's been a while.

As I was helping a friend set up her blog today, I came here and was quite embarrassed to find that it's been almost three years since I started my blog with only two posts. Where does the time go? Life happens, and we become sidetracked when children marry, parents become ill, and roles change.

Still through it all, in this journey of life, my desire is to have a clean mind and a pure heart to serve God.

This morning our pastor talked about the self-righteous and how important our motives are. WHY do I want a ministry? WHY do I want to serve God? My primary purpose is not to bring attention to myself but rather to bring glory and honor to God. I must first and foremost focus on Jesus and then focus on encouraging and helping others.

Women's ministry has been a passion of mine for several years, and I pray that God will keep me focused on Him in all that I do as I seek to serve. I don't want any part of a ministry where ego is involved and where focus is placed on an organization or a person other than our Lord. There is simply no place for that in serving Jesus.



Lord Jesus, please give me a clean mind and a pure heart as I serve You. Please help me stay focused and seek your will in all that I do. Lord, I ask you to please open doors where you want me to serve, and please bless my efforts with your favor. I love you, Lord, and I give you praise and glory today. In Jesus' name. Amen

Lenten Season

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday!
Did anyone think about it?
Are you giving up anything for Lent?

I love facebook because it's such a great way to keep up with friends and let others know what's going on with my family and me. After thinking about it for a couple of weeks, I've decided to give up facebook for the next 6 weeks in my quest to focus more on Him and less on me.

Lent is a forty-day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday. We skip Sundays when we count the forty days because Sundays commemorate the Resurrection. Lent begins on 9 March 2011 and ends on 23 April 2011 which is the day before Easter (Collins).

Lent is a time of reflection, soul searching, repentance, and drawing close to the Lord which leads to the most holy days of the year for the Christian, Jesus' crucifixion and death to save us from our sins and His resurrection on Easter Sunday so that we who believe in Him can spend eternity in heaven with Him after our earthly life is over.

I'm so happy and thankful that I have a Savior who loves me enough to die on the cross to save me! "I may not be perfect, but Jesus thinks I'm to die for!" He really does! He loves us that much!

Welcome to Koinonia with Kathy!

Good Morning and Welcome to My Blog

Grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair for fellowship in faith and friendship as we share with each other matters of the heart.

Some of you probably understand how it is to think of doing something for a while and you keep putting it off for one reason or another whether it's lack of time, insecurity, or reaching beyond your comfort zone. This is true of me because for the last year I've considered blogging and finally decided in January to create my blog.

After giving some thought about what to share first, this morning I simply decided to talk about koinonia. Koinonia is a Greek word meaning fellowship or communion with God or with fellow Christians, a close intimate relationship with each other because of our relationship with Christ.

Christian koinonia is established first by our relationship with our Lord Jesus. Our Christian friendships and relationships deepen because we share Him and because we share the Word of God. 

To have the relationships, the friendships, the fellowships that the Lord wants us to have, we must return to our first Love. To Christ. To deepen our relationship with Him!  We cannot love our husbands, our wives, our children, or anyone as we should love them if our relationship with the Lord Jesus is lacking.

First John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us."  Let's make sure that our relationship with Jesus is first in our lives. Then we will receive God's favor and our earthly relationships will thrive!

Lord Jesus, help us not to put anyone or anything else before You. Help us to love You and cherish our relationship with You first of all. Lord, it is because You loved us first that we can love anyone. Heavenly Father, help us return to You, our First Love.

Love to each of you, my friends.