love July 11, 2009

I went to a wedding today where 1 Corinthians 13:4-9 was read, but I really liked the translation it was in:

love is patient, love is kind.

love is not envious, not boastful, not arrogant or rude

love does not insist on its own way

love is not irritable or resentful

love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth

love bears all things, love believes all things,

love hopes all things, love endures all things.

love never ends.

I am so overjoyed when I think of God’s definition of love.

a love that seeks the betterment of the other..to bring out the other person’s best…

a love where in a marriage both people are seen as a TEAM…

to be so much more effective for God’s kingdom more together..

than on their own.

a love that says “i assume best out of you and want the best for you” even though we are imperfect..

a love that always points us towards Jesus… to fall more in love with Our Savior.. Our Creator.. Our Lover..

the very One who put us together.

what God put together, let no man separate!

May we all rejoice and live out a love that never fails.

Managing Your Emotions July 2, 2009

Who’s the Boss, You or Your Emotions?

by Joyce Meyer

The daily ups and downs of our emotions are one of the major struggles we have with our relationships. Instead of riding the emotional roller coaster, we need to become stable, solid, steadfast, persevering and determined people. If we continue to let our emotions rule over us, there’s no way we’ll ever be the person we were meant to be. Of course, none of us will ever be totally rid of emotions, but we must learn to manage and control them—not let them control us.

Life is no fun when we are controlled by feelings. Feelings change from day to day, hour to hour, even moment to moment. Not only do they change, they lie. For example, you may be in a crowd of people and feel that everybody is talking about you, but that doesn’t mean they are. You may feel that nobody understands you, but that doesn’t mean they don’t. You may feel you are misunderstood, unappreciated or even mistreated, but that doesn’t mean it is true. If we want to be mature, disciplined people, we must be determined not to walk according to what we feel.

People often ask me, “How can I know for sure whether I’m walking in the truth or walking according to my feelings and emotions?” I believe the answer is found in patience. Emotions urge us toward haste, telling us that we must do something and do it right now! But godly wisdom tells us to wait until we have a clear picture of what it is we are to do and when we are to do it. We need to be able to back off and view our situation from God’s perspective. We need to make decisions based on what we know rather than on what we feel.

July 1, 2009

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

Forever in the next.

Amen.

–Reinhold Niebuhr

excerpt from henri nouwen June 22, 2009

“If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we’re going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We’ll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: “I’m so lonely, and you’re so lonely.” It’s solitude grabbing onto solitude: “I am the beloved; you are the beloved; together we can build a home.” Sometimes you are close, and that’s wonderful. Sometimes you don’t feel much love, and that’s hard. But we can be faithful. We can build a home together and create space for God and for the children of God.

We all have wounds. We all are in so much pain. It’s precisely this feeling of loneliness that lurks behind all our successes, that feeling of uselessness that hides under all the praise, that feeling of meaninglessness even when people say we are fantastic—that is what makes us sometimes grab onto people and expect from them an affection and love they cannot give.

If we want other people to give us something that only God can give, we become a demon. We say, “Love me!” and before you know it we become violent and demanding and manipulative. It’s so important that we keep forgiving one another—not once in a while, but every moment of life. Before you have had your breakfast, you have already had at least three opportunities to forgive people, because your mind is already wondering, What will they think about me? What will he or she do? How will they use me?

This is where celebration, the second discipline of community, comes in. If you can forgive that another person cannot give you what only God can give, then you can celebrate that person’s gift. Then you can see the love that person is giving you as a reflection of God’s great unconditional love. “Love one another because I have loved you first.” When we have known that first love, we can see the love that comes to us from people as the reflection of that. We can celebrate that and say, “Wow, that’s beautiful!”

To celebrate each other’s gifts means to accept each other’s humanity.

What counts in your life and mine is not successes but fruits. The fruits of your life you might not see yourself. The fruits of your life are born often in your pain and in your vulnerability and in your losses. The fruits of your life come only after the plow has carved through your land. God wants you to be fruitful! The question is not, “How much can I still do in the years that are left to me?” The question is, “How can I prepare myself for total surrender so my life can be fruitful?”

have the mind of christ! June 21, 2009

I am a strong advocate for believing that 80% of your life is lived in your mind.

the way you think shapes everything else in your life:  emotions, words you say, actions you take

The battlefield is in the mind!

The best part is that we actually have a choice!  God has made it to where he wants us to CHOOSE to have right  thoughts that align with God’s thoughts.

In Philippians 4:8, God says we can choose to think on…

whatever is TRUE,

NOBLE

RIGHT AND PURE

if it is LOVELY, ADMIRABLE, or EXCELLENT

think on these things

Keep on having a positive mindset because we serve a positive God!

Do not worry :) June 17, 2009

“there is no such thing as entering the rest of God without opposition

I once heard a story involving two artists who were asked to paint pictures of peace as they perceived it.

One painted a quiet, still lake, far back in the mountains.

The other painted a raging, rushing waterfall which had a bird resting in a nest on one of the branches.

which one truly depicts peace?

the second one does because there is no such thing as peace without opposition.  the first painting represents stagnation.  Jesus said “Peace I leave with you My peace I now give to you.  Not as the world gives (John 14:27)

His peace is a spiritual peace.  His rest is one that operates in the midst of the storm — not in its absence.  Jesus did not come to remove all opposition from our lives, but rather to give us a different approach to the storms of life.

We are to take His yoke and learn of Him (matt 11:29) That means that we are to learn His ways, to approach life the same way He did!

~ excerpt from Joyce Meyers’ “Battlefield of the Mind”

just picture a bird resting in a nest on one of these branches

June 8, 2009

keep your mind alert and renewed June 3, 2009

” i keep asking that the God may give you the Spirit of

wisdom and revelation

so that you may know him better. 

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his people and his incomparably great power for us who believe”

 

If your mind is too busy, it will miss what the Lord is attempting to reveal to him through his spirit!  Satan knows this fact, so he attacks your mind, waging war against you on the battlefield of your mind.  He wants to overload and overwork your mind by filling it with every kind of wrong thought so it cannot be free and available to the holy spirit working through your own human spirit.

keep your mind renewed by God’s word and free from noise and busyness so God can continue to reveal himself and his ways to you!

for Him May 27, 2009

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it`s burning bright for You
It`s everything that I desire
Can I be the one You use?

I, I am small but
You, You are big enough
I, I am weak but
You, You are strong enough to
Take my dreams
Come and give them wings
Lord with You
There`s nothing I can not do
Nothing I cannot do

I wanna feed the hungry children
And reach across the farthest land
And tell the broken there is healing
And mercy in the Father`s hands

My hands my feet
My everything
My life, my love
Lord, use me

I wanna set the world on fire
I wanna set the world on fire, yeah

I`m gonna set the world on fire
Set the world on fire

choose life. May 14, 2009

do not give up.   when God is calling you to live for Him, to abide by the Spirit daily.  do not give up!

we REAP what we SOW.  If we want LIFE, then we must continue living in God’s SPIRIT, in our thoughts, in our words, in our actions.  constantly surrendering our lives, for the life to the full that God has for us.

you have a choice.  CHOOSE LIFE.

“do not be deceived.  God cannot be mocked.  People reap what they sow”

those who sow from the sinful nature will reap destruction,

those who sow from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest,

if we do not give up.”

————————————————-

“everyone is known for something

what’s it going to be for you?”

~JJ Heller “Only You”