I’m reading a book by Tommy Newberry entitled – The 4:8 Principle. 4:8 refers to Philippians 4:8 which encourages me (and you) to “fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” Newberry’s book has inspired me to ask the following questions.
- What are five things I am thankful for right now?
- What are five of my strengths or positive traits?
- What are five of my best achievements so far?
- Who are the five people who love me the most?
- What five things am I looking forward to in the next seven days?
I am thrilled to report that answering these questions is helping me to live out Philippians 4:8. The few minutes it takes to answer the questions steers my mind out of an old, familiar rut. Suddenly my mind is brighter, even clearer. The answers remind me that God is and always has been for me.
Newberry says “being joy filled does not mean that your life is perfect. It means that you emphatically trust God and believe that he has great plans for your life, regardless of what is happening right now. Joy is an outward sign of inward faith in the promises of God.”
What about you? What are you thinking? You can steer your thoughts to the truth. The truth that you are blessed. You are loved by God. He is for you!
Mom & Nana with Eggnog
Our Christmas celebrations include at least one family tradition – homemade eggnog. It is so good, I would give up every gift and every other dessert to make sure I get a glass.
Just today mom told the story of being invited into the kitchen of Aunt Marcelite on New Years eve to make eggnog by scratch. She was very young at the time and remembers that the whipping was done with a fork! A fork – not a mixer or even a whisk! Not a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal menu item for sure!
My mom has made the nog for years, and recently my sister in law added the tradition to make sure that everyone gets to enjoy the good stuff! My brother, Travis, made the recipe this time and it was fabulous! I can’t be left out – so I’m planning to make a fresh batch for New Years Day. (My mother in law has requested a cup or two.)
That’s four generations of homemade eggnog. It’s certainly not a necessary element of celebrating the birth of our Messiah. But it does make the celebration sweeter. For us, the nog means we are family, we are celebrated, and we are together. Thanks Mom for carrying the eggnog into our generation! I applaud your selection!
What tradition are you passing down through the generations?
The following is a devotion from one of my favorite writers, Frances J. Roberts. I treasure her book – Come Away My Beloved. Each devotion is written as if God is speaking directly to the reader. God used this devotion to speak directly to the empty places in my heart today. These words satisfy my soul. I pray that they will help you as well.
I Will Bring the Victory
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57
O My child, have I ever failed you? Have I ever turned My back on you, or forsaken you? Have I not been your refuge and strong defense?
I have protected you and kept you in sickness and in health. Yes, I am with you to help you now. Fear not. My purposes will be fulfilled in spite of your weaknesses, if in your need you rely on My strength.
My will shall be done regardless of the flaws in your life, if you count on the power of My righteousness. I do not work only in cases where there are no obstacles; but I glory in overruling the prevailing circumstances, and I take pleasure in bringing victories in those places where no victory is anywhere in sight.
Count on My coming. Know that whenever faith brings Me on the scene, everything is changed. Darkness is turned to light. Grief is turned to joy. Sickness to health. Poverty to My sufficient supply. Doubt to faith. Anxiety to trust.
No negative force can occupy the same place as My Spirit. When My Spirit comes in, all these things must go. Yes, they shall go!
Ask for the victory. I will come and bring it. Don’t look for the victory – look for Me, and you will see the victory that I will bring with me. After I have come, you shall behold the miracles I will do.
A few Loaves & Fishes feed 1000’s (John 21: 4-6, 9-12)
Jesus had compassion on the crowd and wanted to feed them.
He is aware of my needs and looks for ways to help me.
The crowd did not ask for food.
He loves me enough to give me more than what I ask Him for.
The disciples felt the task was impossible.
I am guilty of believing only in what I can see.
Jesus asked for what was available?
What can he do with what I have (house, money, skills, talents, job, friends, car, time, etc.)?
He gave thanks for the small amount he had and gave it away.
Am I thanking Him for what I do have? Am I willing it give it to Him to use for others?
They all ate and were satisfied.
He can do more than I can imagine with what I have.
Satisfaction! He acts on my behalf to satisfy my needs.
There were a lot of left overs.
The servants were not left out. He over-delivered for them as well.
Everyone involved was on the receiving end.
Jesus is a giver! a multiplier! a satisfier!
I pay attention to people who do new things. Shelly Thompson is one of those ladies. I’m featuring her in my blog this week as someone who truly inspires me to Dream Big and Go For It! I want to tap into what motivates her, so I sent her the following 5 questions through facebook. Prepare to be inspired by Shelly.
1. What new things have you tackled in the last 20 years?
I got married and became a parent. I joined the girl scouts and became possibly the worst girl scout leader ever. When my daughter’s pee wee cheerleading team needed a coach, I volunteered and learned how to cheer. I coached cheerleading on and off for the next 9 years. I stopped when they got bigger than me and kept wanting to pick me up in the air.
Kickboxing was fun until I took a good punch to the face and I haven’t done that since. I joined the White River Pageant Association as a volunteer and for a while, was a pageant mom. I quit smoking after 22 years. That was hard. I became a Hair Stylist, something I have wanted to do since I was 18.
Somehow I turned myself into a long distance runner. The first mile I ever ran without stopping was August 1 2008. Since then I have finished the Little Rock half marathon, the River Trail 15k, the spa 10k, and about 12 5k’s. I placed in some of them, but i have yet to win a first place finish in my age group. recently I climbed Pinnicle mtn. It’s harder than it looks.
2. What inspires you to try new careers, hobbies, goals?
The first 20 years of my life I was afraid of making a fool of myself. Now I realize that no one is paying that much attention to me. Also, we only get so much lift to live, better get this stuff in now.
3. What are you afraid to try? What have you wanted to do that you haven’t tried yet?
I have stage fright and I am the worst singer I have ever heard. But, I really want to sing on stage in public. October 13th is my debut, and yes, I’m scared.
4. What’s next on your to try list?
I was planning on running the Little rock FULL marathon, but my training has been side tracked by the flu. That will have to wait till 2011. I am trying to get my 5k time under 30 minutes and November 21 is the race that I’m hoping to accomplish than in. after that: ballroom dancing! I would love to go to one of those competitions!
5. Who inspires you? why?
Shelly: Aretha franklin. She is a woman that does not fit our society’s traditional ideal of beauty, but she did not let that hold her back. She is more beautiful because of it. And she can really sing.
Ashlyn Batson, Miss Arkansas 2008. She was born with a speach problem, she has not only overcome it, but she is becoming a speach theripist to help others. Also, she is the definition of persistance. I watched that girl set a goal for herself to be Miss Arkansas and accomplish it in 5 years. She put a plan in place and worked her bootie off to achieve it. Even when everyone told her to quit, she kept her eye on the prize. She is young, I think 23 now, but I look up to her as a role model because I saw how hard she worked for something she wanted.
Tory Thompson, my daughter. She is not afraid of anything. Period. She has reinvented herself too many times to count in her 18 years.
Two more things off the top of my head that inspire me about Shelly are her boldness to radically change hair color and the fact that she has been married to the same man for twenty years today. Happy Anniversary Shelly and Jeff!
Love is not easy when you are tired. In fact, I think that being tired is a love deterrent because love in action takes energy.
In Brennan Manning’s book, the Ragamuffin Gospel, I learned that you should not make important decisions when you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. These words form the acronym – HALT.
So, I’m noticing that I am more easily frustrated and less forgiving over the last week or so. My will to love those that frustrate me has taken a fall. (I am convinced that real love is a decision rather than a feeling.) I am pinging on at least 2 of the 4 words in HALT.
A battle happens in my mind and it goes something like this:
1. “Who says things like that to people?”, “He/she is unbearable”, and “I have done all of this, and that attitude is the thanks I get?”
2. But I want to honor that person, so I won’t say anything about this.
3. Oops, I just let that negative comment slip anyway. But she brought it up!
4. Oh …. one day I’m going to be brave and say what I think.
5. No … I am going to focus on my own faults and realize they are equally as frustrating to others.
and back to number one again only to repeat the cycle.
When I am not tired, I have more mental energy to choose forgiveness. It takes energy to keep “selfishness” at bay and make the choice to love a person anyway.
Today I am aware that in order to love well, I need to rest well. And for me, resting well includes giving up my role of “helper of the universe”. I am learning that without rest, I do not have the energy to be patient, kind and gentle. Busyness keeps me from acknowledging WHO is the source of my strength, my power and my love.
Thankfully God has an endless supply of energy. Tonight, I want to plug into the source of the love I need for all that tomorrow holds. I am grateful that He is a reliable and sustainable source of energy and love for me.
“…asking is the rule of the Kingdom.” This short quote by Charles H. Spurgeon got my attention. Could it be true? I believe the verses below, but am I living these? Do I ask? Does He answer?
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)
Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. (Jeremiah 33:3)
So I did a word search on biblegateway.com. Wow… There are so many accounts of people asking God for help and God supplying their answer or need. Here are just a few that I found.
Hannah wept bitterly before the Lord asking Him for a son. … And in due time, she gave birth to Samuel. (1 Samuel 1)
David asked the Lord, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?”The Lord replied to David, “Yes, go ahead. I will certainly hand them over to you.” (2 Samuel 5:19)
Check this out. Here are just a few places where God invites people to ask Him and tells them He will answer.
That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” (2 Chronicles 1:7)
Ask the Lord for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds. And he will send showers of rain
so every field becomes a lush pasture. (Zechariah 10:1)
The truth is… I forget to ask. And frankly, that is ridiculous. I don’t forget to use my key to start my car. I don’t forget to use my credit card at the gas pump. These are givens in my life. I don’t forget to ask people to help me accomplish things at work. I need help, so I ask. Then why don’t I automatically ask Him (the creator of the universe, the lover of my soul, the most powerful force) for help?
Here are my top 5 reasons:
1. Pride – do I want to prove that I can figure it out myself? Do I want to prove I can live without what I would ask for?
2. Fear – am I afraid to ask because I might not get the answer I want? Am I afraid of “NO”?
3. Guilt – do I feel like I don’t deserve the blessing? I am afraid that there is unconfessed sin in my life that will keep God from blessing me with the answer. Am I ashamed to admit that I mess up? Am I too afraid to even notice it?
4. Lies – are lies from my enemy blinding me to the truth of who God is and how much He loves me? Has the truth taken a back seat because I have ignored the need to remind myself of the truth about God and His love for me?
5. Absence of accounts of His power in today’s world – am I hearing others tell how He is working in their lives? When I do hear it, am I really listening and connecting the dots to WHO GOD IS?
Lord, please forgive me. I can be so foolish! Thank you for using that small simple quote to get my attention and bring me back to reality.
My reality is…
I asked You to help me submit to you and David, and you did just that. And my life has never been better.
I asked You to help me be the wife David needed and you did just that. I realize I need to keep asking!
I asked You to help me go to work for You, and now I work at Woodland Hills Family Church.
And the list goes on and on.
Thank you for God for giving me good gifts, the best of what you have to offer. Thank you that I can trust that you will give me and all who are yours – more than we can ask or imagine because you are the most powerful and your are love.
Here are a few extras…just to inspire you to ask and wait faithfully for His answer:
….your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! (Matthew 6:8)
Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? (Matthew 26:53)
“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it! (John 14:12-14)
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! (John 15:7)
The word “inexcusable” keeps ringing in my ears. It doesn’t leave me with that warm, fuzzy feeling.
Two things have caused this word to be with me lately. Check them out below:
1. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you. This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life – to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son – how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it means to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says. (Clive Staples) C. S. Lewis, Into The Wardrobe
2. Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. Romans 2: 1
I’m thankful for the power of this word and the change in me that it is bringing. The word seems to mentally STOP me in my tracks. Inexcusable is a word that leaves me with no comeback.
I have no excuses for judging. None!
When I read the Bible, my mind automatically finds ideas for prayer. I can almost hear the words in my head, “That is a great prayer! This is what God desires”.
I am inspired to pray this scripture today:
And as God’s grace reaches more and more people,
there will be great thanksgiving,
and God will receive more and more glory.
2 Corinthians 4:15.
Thank you God for being so loving. This verse shows me that you are giving away your grace – your endless resources to more and more people. I want to witness that and be a part of it. Help me to identify the activities around me in which you are giving away your grace. Use me to point this out to others when I see it.
Inspire me Lord to give away my resources to others so that people can witness who you are in my actions. But please don’t let me get the glory. I want my grace giving it to point to you. Please forgive me for all the times that I have hoarded my resources and spent them on my worldly pleasures. Please forgive me for all the times that I have taken credit or enjoyed the attention when I have given myself or my “stuff” away.
More and More people! I love this idea that you are not through with the scads of people that have not believed in you and your love for them. I agree with you. I want more and more people to know you – to experience all that you are. Show me those people. Help me to love them with you.
Fill my mind and my mouth with a greatfulness to you. Thank you for the gift of gratitude. It is contagious. It is transforming. It is full of hope.
Thank you for sticking this life out with me and for remaining faithful to me even when I don’t deserve it.
This is your day. This is your world. I am happy to be part of what you are doing.
How would you pray this scripture? Or is there another one that leaps off the page and something in you says “Yes, that is what I know in my heart that you want, God, and I agree with you!”
