Women That Are Whittled Away

     There once was a woman, she was still a young girl inside but on the outside had all of the signs of a fully grown mature woman. The woman was a quiet, reserved person that enjoyed nature, music, birds, butterflies, puppies and kittens. She was not comfortable with shallowness, loudness, rudeness or negativity. She loved to bake but didn't have enough energy to do it anymore. The woman had been born the third child of four and as a young girl she tried to please her parents, her teachers, her siblings, her friends and everyone she encountered. As life went on she continued this early habit of trying to please people. Unfortunately this woman had eyes to see things differently than many around her and not only saw them but spoke of them too.
     Seeing things differently and then speaking of them doesn't tend to make people happy, which set her at odds with her life long practice of trying to please.
     This woman had heard the old saying that you can't please all of the people all of the time but she still had a nature to try. She found herself shrinking away as she tried to whittle away the parts that people didn't like.
     She was told she thought too much, she tried to think less, she was told she was too opinionated, she tried to speak her opinions and ideas less, she was too religious, she tried to share less of her God, she wasn't religious enough, she wasn't friendly enough, she didn't do enough of the things that people wanted her to do and did the things they didn't want her to do..the list went on and on...
     As the woman whittled away at herself, trying to be what others wanted her to be there was less and less of herself...
     One day the woman awoke to find herself afraid to step out of her house, afraid to speak....afraid to look in the mirror! Out of her house were the people she couldn't please, if she spoke she would say the wrong thing and everyone would be upset! In the mirror she would see the eyes that accused her of not being true to herself. She would see the sadness of the woman that tried to be what everyone else wanted her to be and not being who she really was.
     The true woman she was meant to be ceased to exist and another woman that was whittled away by life stepped into existence.

Betrayed? Promoted? Prepare For Promotion!

     Where to begin? When God calls you to minister you will be hurt, there is no way to go around it, duck under it or ignore it. You're best hope is to focus on your heavenly Father and soar over it! Even outside of ministry life carries it's own share of hurts.
     We need to remember "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" Ephesians 6:12.             Trust me I know it's easy to say this but hard to realize it. The pain seems to be coming from someone that looks very "flesh and blood"! They are most likely people that you have in your life, maybe it's family, maybe someone you work with or go to church with. Unfortunately the truth is it's probably someone you've allowed into your life, otherwise there wouldn't be pain from their thoughts, words or actions, right?

     Have you read John 2:24-25 "But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart". 

     With these two teachings I believe you need to combine them to get the full idea. Our enemy is not flesh and blood, but because of the weakness in each man's heart, he easily becomes a tool of the enemy. 

     Yes, you'll probably go through a lot of carnal emotions when you feel betrayed or hurt by people, unless you've reached a higher level of sainthood than I have! You will feel betrayed, hurt, rejected, naked and exposed. Some anger may get mixed in too! But unless you want to go through all of these feelings again you really need to grab the lesson and incorporate it into your spirit. Once a lesson is learned you can apply it to your life and not have to go through the learning process over and over! In other words it's in your best interest to learn this! 

     So, first you hurt, then you remember that you're not alone. Jesus was betrayed, beaten and exposed to ridicule and yet He walked the path that God had given Him, He drank from the cup. He prayed for His betrayers, even the one that He had befriended and walked with daily, the one that betrayed Him with a kiss....Even the ones that shouted "Crucify Him!"... Even the ones that drove the stakes through His hands and feet.. Even the one that denied even knowing Him! 

     Can we do that in our own will? No!....but our will can choose to turn to Jesus and He will bring the power to walk His path. He will bring the power for forgiveness, He will bring the power to trust Him in all things. 

     Will you have to do this more than once? Most likely!...probably every morning that you wake up and remember the situation again. You will be faced with a choice, you can choose to focus on the betrayal and wallow in the pain or you can choose to be promoted to walk with Jesus in the victory of forgiveness that He shed on the world and that He will empower in you.

     We encourage you, choose Promotion! 
     

Do Your Thoughts Encourage Others?

     Recently Lane attended a workplace meeting with many other workers for the city. He shared a very interesting thing that the speaker did, at least it was interesting to me!
     Our minds are a powerful tool, for either good or bad, it's our choice. In the meeting the speaker had a young man leave the room and then spoke to the remaining group. The remaining group was instructed that when the man returned they were to think mean, discouraging thoughts directed to him on a given signal. They would be given a sign to think the "bad" thoughts. They were also instructed that they would receive a different signal and then they were to think good and encouraging thoughts directed at the man. They were told to not change their facial expressions, but to simply do this in their minds, so the young man had no knowledge of the test.
     When the young man returned he was given a physical test to perform and then the signal was given to the crowd to send discouraging thoughts to the young man without his seeing it. The young man was not able to perform the test no matter how hard he tried. Then the crowd was given the second signal to think good and encouraging thoughts, the young man was able to perform the test with no problem! The only change was the crowds thoughts! Isn't that amazing? Our thoughts have great power, affecting other's lives!
     Imagine how we can influence other people with encouragement only by directing good and encouraging thoughts towards them! At the same time we need to remember to be very careful with any negative thoughts that we allow to creep into our minds.
     We are instructed to take every thought captive (2 Cor 10:5), this experiment shows the importance of our thought life! I'm sure we'll be held accountable for thoughts we have entertained that are not appropriate for a Christian's life.
     Think how easy to encourage each other, think good thoughts for them, think encouragement! Control negative thoughts, control judgements and criticisms! This is a tool the most lazy of us can use! Sit in your chair and think good things for those around you!

Mystery? Magic!

     I wrote something serious today about God and praise, now I get to be whimsical~ =)


     With that justification stated, I want to tell you that Pecans are magical! We have a pecan tree in our back yard and the neighbors on both sides of us have pecan trees that hang into our yards, front and back! So I do actually have experience with the magic of pecans!


     I have to think the ancestors of our current day pecan trees must have lived in forests with elves, fairies and those little green guys with the buckets of gold! You can walk through your yard, looking and watching for any sign of a pecan on the ground just to see none! Then, as you turn back over the same area where you just passed, surprise! there are three of them laughing at you behind your back! Those little dickens enjoy the fall pecan hunt as much as we do! Maybe even more! It’s the only time they get to practice their magic!

Praise?

     We all know about praise when it comes to receiving it, right? We know we want to be praised for how we look, what we do, what we think, what we say...we want to be praised in all things! Even if you don't recognize that you need praise, trust me, you do! 
     We spend a lot of time in our lives praising things of no value, from cellphones to sports teams to the weather, so we're no stranger to praise.
     As a wife I can tell you that if my husband praises my cooking I'm a lot more likely to cook, or if he praises my appearance in a certain dress I'll probably wear that dress until it's threadbare! 
     In the marketplace I have been a manager and I've worked under managers, and the ones that stood out to me as the best managers were the ones that knew to give their workers praise! The managers that withheld praise and only demanded more were not often appreciated or "praised" by their employees. People, have a need to be recognized for the things they do, they need "praise". The definition of praise is "express warm approval or admiration of", who doesn't want that?!
     And we're made in the image of God right? So maybe God wants praise? Maybe God wants for us to "express warm approval or admiration" of Him? If you have any doubt it's spelled out many times in the scriptures! 

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple; 

  praise him in his mighty heaven. 

Praise him for his strength; 

  praise him for his greatness. 

Praise him with trumpet blasts; 

  praise him with harps and lyres. 

Praise him with tambourines and dancing; 

  praise him with stringed instruments and flutes. Praise him with loud cymbals; 

  praise him with crashing cymbals. 

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
  Praise the Lord!   ~Psalm 150~

     Now, what do we know about praising God? It’s all written out in scripture, but if we don’t take time to read the Bible we may not know as much about praising our Heavenly Father as we should! It doesn't really take a lot of time, there is something to praise God about in so many places! Once you start making a practice of it you can really get involved in reading and praising and the time flies by!
     Psalms talks a lot about praising and the different attributes to praise. When I was first trying to learn how to praise, or what to praise God for I started reading through Psalms and writing down each characteristic or action that I came to that described Him.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, Psalm 1:5 

  Praise suggestion, "Lord, I am Your righteous, You know my way! You know me! You are mindful of me!"

He who sits in the heavens Psalm 2:4

   Praise suggestion, "Father, You sit in the heavens! You are high above us! You are the great Creator!"

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. Psalm 3:3

   Praise suggestion, "Heavenly Father, You are my shield! You are my glory, You are the One who lifts my head! Where am I without You? You are the One that protects me! Thank You Father! You are my Protector! 

I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. Psalm 3:5
   Praise suggestion, "El Shaddai, Father, You are my Protector, my Provider, You sustain me! You are faithful! Even in my sleep, You are there!"

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him. 

Psalm 4:3

   Praise suggestion, "Father, I am Yours and Yours alone! You have set me apart! You are hearing when I call, Thank You Father, You are never failing!"

You have put gladness in my heart, Psalm 4:7

   Praise suggestion, "Lord, the gladness in my heart is from You! You alone are a constant source of gladness!"

     Maybe this gives some ideas of how to build a strong "Praise" life with God? and this was only the first 4 Psalms! there are 146 more! Not to mention all of the other books! Think about Genesis..."In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"...Praise suggestion ~"Father...You created all of this! You are amazing, You are a creative Genius! You are the Alpha and Omega! the beginning and the end! When there was nothing You still existed! You boggle my mind! I can not fully grasp the greatness of You!" ...

     When you think about God it is easy to fall into praise! He is amazing! He sings over you, you would not exist or have any hope without Him! He really is the One to be praised! 

     Let your spirit ring out with praise! 

For the Lord is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100:5