How Small Obedience Leads to BIG Purpose!
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4, NKJV)
Dear Friend,
We finished out the Faithful & Fit 60 Challenge on June 29th, and I’m so proud of all of you! I’ve loved hearing your amazing testimonies and journeying through this challenge together. To finish this week’s Q&A, we are answering questions like, “Erin, what does your daily and weekly routine look like?” and “What do you eat in a day?”
I love these types of questions! If you’d like to hear all my answers, you can watch the full video here! Today, I’ll be sharing my routines with you and how a healthy routine prepared me for God’s purpose.
Here’s an overview of my daily routine! I get up at 4am, and spend time with God by praying, listening to Him, reading the Bible, and journaling. Next, I work on a goal for 45 minutes to an hour like working on my new book, Healthy Habits Made Simple. Then, I devote about 30-45 minutes for cardio, strength training, and stretching. Lastly, I make a protein shake for breakfast, and if I have time, then I’ll make a healthy juice before I get ready to go to work!
My overall weekly routine looks like this:
Monday evening: rest
Tuesday night: Live Bible Study and we find recipes for the week ahead
Wednesday: place a delivery grocery order with Walmart (saves so much time!), and shop for organic produce at Natural Grocers
Thursday: meal prep for the following week
Friday: clean the house
Saturday and Sunday are reserved for rest and fun: spending time with my husband, studying/going deeper in Scripture, church, hiking or trail running, and so forth.
We try to get all of our chores done after work during the week so we can refill, rest, and play on the weekends. For me, spending time outside (especially in the woods) fills me up and gives me an opportunity to tune out the busyness of the week and listen to God. This is one of my favorite hobbies, so I try to make time for this on the weekends.
I encourage you to find a daily and weekly routine that works well for you and your family—and this includes scheduling time to rest and enjoy your favorite hobbies. Remember to be flexible! It’s not about perfection, but about progress, and finding what works best for you and the season you’re in. Ask God to help you create a routine that’s perfect for this season of your life!
I have an entire chapter about routines in my book, Hello, New You! This book is all about living out your new identity in Christ in a practical way, so this chapter discusses routines from a spiritual and practical perspective. It talks about the power of your God-given purpose, turning that purpose into a vision, turning your vision into a plan, then turning your plan into a routine! When you receive guidance from God for your future, then you can incorporate habits and routines to help bring His purpose to pass.
We can rely on God’s strength and our new identity in Christ to accomplish our God-given purpose and destiny. God has a specific plan and purpose for you! Your destiny is unique to you and you alone, and it fits perfectly with your gifts, talents, and abilities.
This is absolutely amazing to me that God loves and cares about us so much that He created us for a specific purpose, and it’s something that we enjoy and we’re good at! But our purpose doesn’t automatically come to pass. We have a part to play.
In my life, healthy habits and routines helped me partner with God to bring about necessary transformation in my life—transformation that would one day help me walk in my God-given purpose.
For example, when God asked me to stop smoking cigarettes, it took me two years to obey God! But once I finally surrendered and asked Him to help me overcome this addiction, He strengthened me and removed every desire I had to smoke! God also helped me create a new healthy habit to replace this addiction with, and I have walked free from that bondage ever since.
Once I obeyed God and created a new, healthy habit, then God gave me His next step for my life. This was the next step towards His calling and purpose for my life.
We may not always understand what God is doing, or why we feel this internal prompting and conviction to be healthier, but God knows why. Only God knows the amazing plans that He has in store for your future, and He knows exactly what needs to happen to get you there.
You may be like me, and maybe you’ve had an internal prompting or conviction for years to get healthier or to remove a bad habit from your life. You may be thinking, why on earth would God care about this!?
I am here to encourage you that God cares. He cares about every little detail in your life, and He is always leading you to something better. God is always leading you so that you can walk in the fullness of His goodness and promises for your life.
Let this also be a reminder to us that our feelings, emotions, and natural tendencies do not have our best interest in mind.
Without the proper training, your body, mind, and emotions want you to sit on the couch and eat Cheetos all day. But with the proper renewal of your mind, and aligning your heart and thoughts with God’s Word, then these natural tendencies can change.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2, NKJV)
We prove the good and perfect will of God in our life when we renew our mind with Scripture. Just like we have to renew our mind to who we are in Christ when we get born again, we must also bring this mind renewal into our actions and lifestyle. This is the truth about who we are—healthy, whole, and full of God’s wisdom!
Bring the strength, love, and power of God into every detail of your life and you will see healing, freedom, and transformation spring forth in every area. My life is a perfect testimony of this—and yours is too! We are all on a journey, and as we yield to God and the promptings in our heart, we will renew our mind to these truths and prove His perfect will in our life—even in our habits and routines.
So, my friend, yield to God. Yield to the convictions in your heart. Every time you feel like God is placing a “next step” in front of you, obey and trust Him (even though you may not understand), and take a step of faith. Always remember how much God loves you because faith works by love (Gal. 5:6). God loves you. He’s on your side. He is always leading you to His perfect will and amazing purpose for your life.
If you enjoyed this teaching and want to learn more about how to live out your new identity in Christ in every detail of your life, then I invite you to join us for a free book study! Starting Tuesday, July 1st at 5:30PM MT, you can join us live on my YouTube channel as we go through my book, Hello, New You! We’d love to have you join us! If you don’t have a copy of my book yet, you can get it at NewYouMinistries.com/store.
Thank you, partners! We continue to receive testimonies of people’s lives who are being changed and transformed because of your faithful donations and partnership. Thank you!
If you’ve been blessed by this ministry, please donate or become a partner with us today! Your financial gifts will help us set more people free with the power of the gospel and the practical application of God’s Word.
*All donations are tax-deductible.
I’m so grateful for you. I’m praying that your routines and habits would be led by God and His loving wisdom in your life. Today, let’s ask God for our “next step” so we can accomplish His perfect will for our life, and glorify His name in every detail.
Love you,
Erin
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