Three Little Words

A person might have to suffer even when it is unfair,
but if he thinks of God and stands the pain, God is pleased.
If you are beaten for doing wrong, there is no reason
to praise you for being patient in your punishment.
But if you suffer for doing good, and you are patient,
then God is pleased. This is what you were called to
do, because Christ suffered for you and gave you
an example to follow. So you should do as he did.
1 Peter 2:19-21

There are some very important concepts we do not
hear spoken of very much anymore. I wonder why
we ever stopped? Could it be the media, the movies,
the magazines, the powers that be, have been
reprogramming our thinking little by little?

Could it be we have gotten away from some very
important ideas about life choices? Is our
thinking is not based on thoughts of love
for others, but merely on our own mindset and desires?
Have we become a selfish, self-focused generation?

I do believe things have changed,because everyplace I look today,
I see unresolved anger, unforgiveness, and cold hearts, and wounded spirits.
People have closed themselves off because of past
pain, and this has ruled their lives in far more ways
than they can imagine. People are ruled by emotions,
battered by depression, longing for satisfying relationships,
yet feeling unfulfilled and lonely.

Shame
People have lost their conscience. A sense of shame
that comes when they know they have done something
wrong. They justify it in every conceivable way.
It is my right to feel this way, it is someone else's fault,
it is OK if I do what I want to do, it is my life.
People base their decisions on selfish motives,
without consider the eternal consequences,
Whatever we do in this life returns to us.
Whatever we sow in the lives of others is what we get back.

If we sow strife, that is what we will get back.

If we sow kindness we will get kindness back.

If we sow anger we will get that back.

What you sow... you reap.

Be kind to people even when you don't think they
deserve it. Kindness is from the heart of God,
how can we do less than our best?

What if that dear person you love, but are fighting
with was gone tomorrow? How would you feel about
how you have talked to them? Would you change
anything? Are you allowing that still small voice
to speak to you. Or are you reacting to what people
say with a defensive posture that says my feelings
come first. Does this reflect Jesus?

Compassion
Compassion is to feel sympathy,
or empathy for what someone else is going through.
We feel it to the point, we wish to help in any way we can,
whether through prayer or some other means of
support. This is so important. Sometimes we get
so caught up in our own woes, troubles, sorrows,
that we don't have any resources left to help anyone
else. This is directly in controversy to the Bible,
who tells us we are not only to cast our burdens on him,
but to go out and minister to others. It is no witness
at all to be defeated all the time, it is no different from
someone in the world. We have to follow the concepts
that Jesus taught to be overcomers, and not carry
these burdens, nor the past with us.

Care about what others are going through.
We were put on this earth, not as an island,
but a community, reach out and love each other
while there is time.

Forgiveness
This is a rarity anymore. Seems like
if you do something wrong once, then people write you off
as if you didn't exist. Perhaps because of their own
past hurts, it makes them more defensive. But this
is one of the most powerful tools satan has because
it divides Christians, and families, and friends.
Keeps us from fellowshipping, encouraging each other.
It is a tool to wedge apart people so they cannot agree
in prayer, or join together to minister to a larger degree.

It is one of the greatest tools satan uses in the modern
day church, the spirit of offense and unforgiveness.

Forgive people even if they don't ask, even if they do
not deserve it. Because Jesus forgives us. How can
we do less? Are we better than God?

This wrong thinking has to stop.
Because all of these things are totally
changing the churches in this country, and definitely
the families. Everyone is so disconnected and selfish.
Everyone has a history they carry around with them
like a prize. They treat it as if carrying past issues
around were a vital function. It is not. Jesus said
the past was the past. That we shouldn't worry
about tomorrow. Sufficient unto today are the problems
thereof.

Three little words, shame, compassion, forgiveness.
Why don't we hear these anymore?
They are vital to the survival of human relationships.

Search your heart, and see what changes you
need to make, and ask the Lord Jesus to help you make them.
If you want to succeed in life, have a victorious mind,
and enjoy your life, you must allow these traits to be
part of you. BE willing to tell yourself the truth, and set
goals to make positive changes in your thinking and relationships.

You must surrender selfish motives, and seek
the high road, through Jesus Christ. This gives a life
of joy and satisfaction, knowing we are making seasoned, wise
and loving choices.

Not my will, but thine be done, should be the cry of our heart.

Jesus, how precious the name.
He gave His life for you and me.
How can we give less, than all of ourselves.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works and glorify your Father whom
is in heaven.

Do they see light in you?

Let your life be a reflection of Jesus in You,
working in you, transforming you, making you
a new life, with new thinking and a new heart
because of your surrender and focus on Jesus Christ.

remember

Only one life will soon be past
Only what is done for Christ will last

Provision

Even Lions get weak and hungry, but those who look to the Lord
will have every good thing.
Psalm 34:10

As I watch the news each day the predictions are a lot of gloom,
and doom. We see economies around the world in jeopardy,
and we see bids for power, and corruption in high places.
Our budgets are stretched as far as we can take them,
and IF we allowed ourselves to dwell in worry and self pity
soon life would seem bleak and hopeless. And many
are doing just that, living in fear and dread.

I am reminded of so many people in this life who suffered
great tragedy and loss yet somehow managed to forge
ahead with courage and resolve and rise above those
great losses and make sense of life. Often they found
purpose in life in doing for others rather than seeking
to fulfill themselves. It took their mind off their
own problems and made them feel a sense of purpose
and accomplishment to know they made a difference
in the lives of others.

I see people who after car accidents or serious illness
who have lost use of their legs or arms, or even
have trouble breathing and yet they manage to have
full productive lives. How do they do this? Look
at Christopher Reeves, who after a fall off a horse
became a quadraplegic and was put on a machine
to help him breathe. Yet he found even more purpose
in life and lived it to the fullest until he passed from this life.
How can we make sense of becoming a quadraplegic?
How can people find purpose when their own body won't work
and move? Because they make a conscious decision
not to feel sorry for themselves but to set short term
and long term goals and rise above their circumstances
and make the best of whatever life they have.

I have a dear friend whose life was a testimony to being
a servant to others. Her husband left her for another
man. She was a Godly woman and that was such a difficult
time for her to make sense of. Years later she remarried
a wonderful Christian man, and eventually she had a beautiful son.
She was very happy in this new life. One day she got a call
that her husband who was on a construction job
had been buried alive and was dead. Somehow she managed
to live through that time and forge ahead and build her life
around Christ and her son. One day as her son was
playing outside a neighbor shot a gun and accidentally killed
her 12 year old boy. Suddenly her life had been stripped of
everything she ever loved. I watched this woman then
turn her life around by spending her time teaching children
and serving others. Never thinking of herself, but of
what she could do to make life happier and easier and
more fulfilling. She gave her life and past to God,
and asked him to give her hands work to do. And He did.

Dear friends, all of us can make this choice. My own
life has become very complicated. I have a number of
physical problems that often feel like chains binding me.
I want to do this or that, but my body won't cooperate.
Often it seems unbearable. But if I allowed myself to
become depressed, life would be unbearable! So instead
I get up each morning and seek the good in the day.
I try to focus on positive things, to pray often, to seek
inspiration in God's word and in my relationships and to
forge ahead. To spend time singing and worshipping God.

Looking to God first, who is my provision, my strength,
my hope, my inspiration, my guide, my courage, my counselor,
, my peace, my Father.

Dear friends, you do not control a lot in your own life, but you
can control your thoughts. And you can lay them at the feet
of Christ and say God these are too much for me. I don't know
how to change them or overcome them, but I know that
you can show me the path to take, and help me walk on it.
I know you can make me rise early and find joy in the new
day, to focus on my blessings and the things I DO have,
and not to dwell on what I don't have or what seems to be going wrong.

This is not easy, but anyone can do it, by choosing to.
God is your provider. God will take care of you. I was young
and now I am getting old and yet I have never seen
God fail me even through the most horrific times in my life
when it seemed my world was imploding, God was there
in the midst of that storm, calming my spirit and making
a way where there seemed no way.

I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live
when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being
happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have
enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I
need and when I do not have enough. I can do ALL things
through Christ, who STRENGTHENS ME. Philippians 4:12-13

Why spend your money on something that is not real food? Why
work for something that doesn't really satisfy you? Listen
closely to me, and you will eat what is good; your soul
will enjoy the rich food that satisfies.
Isaiah 55:2

If your soul is not satisfied your mind and heart are
not satisfied. And only God can satisfy the soul. You have
choices today. Are you making ones that prosper you
or make you sad? Are you spending your money on things
to make you happy and they are not? Rise to the call of
God on your life, and seek Him first, everything else will fall
into place and give you peace and internal satisfaction.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33

Only one life will soon be past
Only what is done for Christ will last.

Abide With Me

I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is
at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory (inner self)
rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in
safety and hope.
Psalm 16:7-9

Dearest Friends,

As you wake up and face this new day, how much
hope are you feeling?

If any of you spend a lot of time watching the news, my
guess is that your hope meter runs lower because of it.
And if any of you are focusing on and worry about your
finances, or your personal problems and feeling consumed
by them, my guess is your hope is draining away.

How can hope be restored? Absolutely!

There are many ways. But the most important?
Is to recognize God is in control. We focus on everything
but that. We focus on our leaders expecting them to "fix"
everything. We focus on our friends and family to help "fix" us
when we are down. And we allow money to bring us a false
sense of security. Sometimes spending it when we don't have
it to feel better because life is so hard.

It is no wonder with this false sense of what we can
be secure in, we often feel let down and disappointed and
lose hope! We are looking at things and people who cannot
live up to the demand of restoring our hope. It isn't their job!

My dear friends, what we put into our spirit is what helps
it thrive or become ill.

We must find hope in God's word every day. It restores
our soul. I find the Psalms to be a great source of hope and
restoration to me. David was man acquainted with mistakes,
flaws and failures, heartache and grief.
He disobeyed God many times, yet
God says David was a man after his own heart. Why?
Because David always repented and sought God. He sought
Him when he knew he was doing wrong, He sought God morning
and night, and he sought God when he knew he was right before
God. David had a heart seeking God!

David sought hope and restoration through God everyday!

David wrote this:

The Lord is my shepherd
(to feed, guide and shield me);
I shall not lack.
He makes me lie down in (fresh, tender) green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and restful waters.
He refreshes and restores my life --
my self; He leads me in the paths of righteousness
(uprightness and right standing with Him -- not for
my earning it, but) for His names sake.
Psalm 23:1-3

Are you feeling restored?
Do you feel rested as if you laid in a bed of
soft meadow grass, comforted by the presence of God?
Do you feel right before God?

These things are vital. You cannot do without them
and expect to have inner peace if you cannot cry out to
God in all situations and rely on, cling to, trust in,
find hope in, and stand strong in God and his precious
promises and powerful abilities, far beyond our
thinking or imagination.

Now unto Him Who is ABLE to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us.
Ephesians 3:20

Who is that power within us? God!
This power works in us according to our level of
surrender to Him. He is the only one that can
bring the restorative hope you need to face the
day with courage and a rested heart.

But you have to spend time with Him.

Hope deferred (put off) makes the heart sick,
but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
Whoever despises the Word of God brings
destruction upon himself, but He who
reverently fears and respects the commandments
of God shall be rewarded.
Proverbs 13:12-12

We can count on God. Everyone else comes and
goes from our life. No one is on this earth that
will not let us down, and we will let people down.
But Jesus never fails.

Hope looks forward with constant expectation.
Despair robs hope from our very soul.Time away
from God uninterrupted, breaks that stream of hope
we all so desperately need.

Choose hope! Abide in God

love always
millie

´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·°°´·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°`·.,¸¸,.·´°

Abide With Me

author: Henry F. Lyte 1793-1847
musician: William H. Monk 1823-1889

Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see:
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.