Thankfulness.
It's a powerful tool - something that causes an effect whether it's on or off. What does that mean?
If your thankfulness is on it's powerful & on the flip side, if your thankfulness is off...well that's powerful too.
Thankfulness increases your heart, it re-aligns your vision, it brings you back into reality & it causes your faith to grow.
When it's "off" life tends to take over. You begin to feel like your missing out, you get critical & you stop wanting to help others because you want to help yourself.
So like I said, it's powerful whether it's on or off. & guess what? Just like most other things in life, it's our choice!
The Bible tells us that a cheerful heart does you good like medicine. (Proverbs 17:22) What does medicine do? It heals an ailment. If you have the ailment of stress, being unsatisfied or being critical, the remedy is thankfulness.
So many times the trick of the devil is to get our eyes off of what we do have & on what we don't have. When the actual reality is that we are blessed with so much. This isn't even a faith statement, this is an actual tangible fact. No matter what you've gone through, are going through or what you do or don't have there is so much to be thankful for.
Do yourself a favor & make a list. Why do you think God wrote the Bible down for us? Because it helps us to see things on black & white (& sometimes red 😉 ). Write down the first 5 things that come to your mind that you are thankful for. Everyone has got 5 things! You do too, even if it doesn't feel like it.
Here's mine:
1. God
2. My Husband
3. Family
4. Church
5. Friends
Once I started there were so many other things that popped into my brain that I was thankful for - I mean just life itself, being alive, healthy, breathing, walking, talking, seeing...seriously! Or you can go with things like clothes, house, car, furniture, etc! It might seem like a small thing to be grateful for, but it makes a big impact. Just like faith as big as a mustard seed can move mountains, so thankfulness - even for small things - can change your thinking! & isn't that what it's all about, renewing our mind to think like Jesus?!
So my friends, what are you thankful for?
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Saturday, April 8, 2017
lay it down
WOW!
Well, I've been walloped by the truth & challenged to make some changes. So I thought I'd share my revelation with you!
Here's the deal! We need to stop living from our own standard. We don't get to have our own opinions, truths or decisions because we've been saved from all that. Don't get me wrong, we're not robots, but if you take 2 seconds to stop & look at how the world has deteriorated because everyone wants their own way, you won't have a problem giving up your (my) finite opinions/desires. We serve the God of the impossible, from Whom every good & perfect gift comes. He holds the perfect standard & has called us to it & equipped us for it. When you remember this, it's not a scary thing to give up the idea of "making sure you get yours!"
What am I talking about? I'm talking about being commanded to forgive someone who's wronged you whether or not they ever try to apologize because releasing those feelings (as real as they are) releases you! I'm talking about giving into the Kingdom of God - your time, your money, your abilities - because God has set up the system of sowing & reaping and He wants to meet your every need according to HIS riches in glory. I'm talking about laying aside your ideals & goals to submit yourself to the Pastor of your church so that the vision God has for your community can be accomplished. God hand-picked your man of God, gave Him the call & put you in that church - so lets remember who's plan this all really is! Fight against the Pastor & I'll give you one guess Who's plan you're really fighting against. I'm talking about loving people & doing something about it. Jesus loved till it hurt. Do we? I'm talking about denying ourselves, taking up our crosses & completing our missions.
We all get to have different personalities, we all have different ways of seeing things & then we get to bring it all before God & say "what do You say about this?" We don't get to walk around as an island basing our decisions on what we think. Ask anyone who lives on an island - it's expensive. Living life as an island - as someone who can't be told anything or corrected about anything, as someone who makes it all about you, as someone who thinks they are always right, as someone who refuses to serve, forgive, love, or submit - will cost you & it will be expensive. It's truly a prideful person who never stops to ask God if what they're thinking is right. WOW! What a challenge. I know I'm definitely convicted to make sure that the way I think about my life lines up with what the Bible tells me to do!
It's time to stop pursing the American dream & start living the God dream - you know, the one where He says that if you seek Him & His kingdom first all the earthly things you need will be given to you. Oh & the one where He says that He'll give you the desires of your heart .... Wait don't forget the one where He said that He's given us everything pertaining to life & godliness. When did the American dream ever promise us that?
So don't be an island, Don't be consumed with yourself & "getting yours." Trust God that as you put Him first, He'll take care of you & cause your life to be more than your could ever dream or think. Being a Christian doesn't mean you have to forgo all the stuff you want to have or experience, it means that you trust your Lord enough to satisfy you. His plan all along was to bless you, so walk by faith, don't forget in the hard times, don't get lazy in the good times & see what God does!
Well, I've been walloped by the truth & challenged to make some changes. So I thought I'd share my revelation with you!
Here's the deal! We need to stop living from our own standard. We don't get to have our own opinions, truths or decisions because we've been saved from all that. Don't get me wrong, we're not robots, but if you take 2 seconds to stop & look at how the world has deteriorated because everyone wants their own way, you won't have a problem giving up your (my) finite opinions/desires. We serve the God of the impossible, from Whom every good & perfect gift comes. He holds the perfect standard & has called us to it & equipped us for it. When you remember this, it's not a scary thing to give up the idea of "making sure you get yours!"
What am I talking about? I'm talking about being commanded to forgive someone who's wronged you whether or not they ever try to apologize because releasing those feelings (as real as they are) releases you! I'm talking about giving into the Kingdom of God - your time, your money, your abilities - because God has set up the system of sowing & reaping and He wants to meet your every need according to HIS riches in glory. I'm talking about laying aside your ideals & goals to submit yourself to the Pastor of your church so that the vision God has for your community can be accomplished. God hand-picked your man of God, gave Him the call & put you in that church - so lets remember who's plan this all really is! Fight against the Pastor & I'll give you one guess Who's plan you're really fighting against. I'm talking about loving people & doing something about it. Jesus loved till it hurt. Do we? I'm talking about denying ourselves, taking up our crosses & completing our missions.
We all get to have different personalities, we all have different ways of seeing things & then we get to bring it all before God & say "what do You say about this?" We don't get to walk around as an island basing our decisions on what we think. Ask anyone who lives on an island - it's expensive. Living life as an island - as someone who can't be told anything or corrected about anything, as someone who makes it all about you, as someone who thinks they are always right, as someone who refuses to serve, forgive, love, or submit - will cost you & it will be expensive. It's truly a prideful person who never stops to ask God if what they're thinking is right. WOW! What a challenge. I know I'm definitely convicted to make sure that the way I think about my life lines up with what the Bible tells me to do!
It's time to stop pursing the American dream & start living the God dream - you know, the one where He says that if you seek Him & His kingdom first all the earthly things you need will be given to you. Oh & the one where He says that He'll give you the desires of your heart .... Wait don't forget the one where He said that He's given us everything pertaining to life & godliness. When did the American dream ever promise us that?
So don't be an island, Don't be consumed with yourself & "getting yours." Trust God that as you put Him first, He'll take care of you & cause your life to be more than your could ever dream or think. Being a Christian doesn't mean you have to forgo all the stuff you want to have or experience, it means that you trust your Lord enough to satisfy you. His plan all along was to bless you, so walk by faith, don't forget in the hard times, don't get lazy in the good times & see what God does!
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