My Teachers Bribed Me

As a child, I remember memorizing many scripture verses. We were "bribed" by our Sunday School teachers to learn and quote them by heart. If we did, we'd receive prizes and rewards. Right or wrong, it worked for me, because I know those scriptures from memory and I live by them still today. For any crisis, concern or fear, one will pop to my mind and I will be comforted.

Years ago, I was asked to be a public “Reader”/“Lector” at my church. Joshua 1:8 says “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” I am speaking, meditating and living God’s holy words. I promise you – God’s words have valuable rewards for us. My Sunday School teachers really weren’t bribing us, though the candy and treats were awe-inspiring. They were teaching us Joshua 1:8 and its merits.

Today is Ascension Sunday -- the day we celebrate Jesus' ascension to heaven after He had risen from the dead and appeared to His disciples many times. I’ll be reading various scriptures from Hebrews 9 & 10 at my church. I take it seriously. I rehearse my readings many times. By the time I read publicly, I have become intimately familiar with the words. The more I've read them, the more I understood the message of the Apostle Paul. I was impressed to write this blog because of some of the scriptures I'll be reading today.

In Hebrews 9:24, because of His ascension to heaven, we hear that “Christ intercedes for us in the very presence of God.” How comforting to know that Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father – interceding for us! Isn’t that reassuring? He takes our problems, our heartaches, and our everyday concerns to Dad.

And in Hebrews 9:26, we read about the high priests who used blood from an animal to make a sacrifice for our sins. But now, Christ’s one perfect sacrifice of Himself requires no repetition. Jesus paid the ultimate price. He paid a debt He didn’t owe – once and for all! “Whoever believes….will not perish but have everlasting life!” (John 3:16) Thanks be to God! You can tell I’m totally amped up about proclaiming these words today!

The last lines of the reading, Hebrews 10:23, shows us how to live it out: “Let us hold unwaveringly (I like that word) to our confession that gives us hope, for He Who made the promise is trustworthy.” The icing on the cake. I won't be timid as I read those words because they are words that have sustained me, given me hope for today and tomorrow. He is a promise-keeper and so am I. I promise to serve He Who gave His all for me and live my faith outside and in my heart all the days of my life.

I’ve made these scriptures my prayer for days. Now I pray the words I read from God’s Holy Word today will open the ears of those who will hear me reading. I pray for the strength to put aside my own ego and for the Spirit to speak through me. I pray that as you listen to your pastor, priest, lectors, and readers of God’s Holy Word that your ears and heart are wide open to receive what God is saying to you today, too!

Worry FREE - Guarantee!

How is it possible to NOT WORRY in these days and times?
"Don't Worry???" You may be saying "That's easy for you to say -- you're not facing what I'm facing today." Perhaps not the exact challenge or situation, but I've known troubles and I've had plenty of reasons to worry. And, out of those times, I survived -- so much so, that I sincerely desire to "help comfort others with the same comfort that I was comforted with". (2 Corinthians 1:4). A young mother messaged me when she was facing some tremendous challenges. Her mind was bombarded with the worst thoughts. Her imagination was getting the best of her. She was expressing so much worry, fear and concern. I replied with these words, and in case you are in a place of fear and worry, I share them with you, too!

"Sweet Friend, I want to put my arms around you and help you through this time, and the best way I can do that is to give you a "Worry-FREE Guarantee". I am completely convinced that "If God said it, I believe it and that settles it -- no ifs, ands, or buts. It's a done deal!" That has been our anchor and mode of operation for many years. Plain and simple -- God's Word (the Bible) is the key to overcoming fear, sickness, discouragement, etc. There's an answer for everything in God's Word. God gave Joshua the key to success. "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then YOU will make your way prosperous, and then YOU will have good success." (Joshua 1:8) Wow! There's the key. We always think that it's up to God to take care of this and do that. But, very clearly, God is saying that if WE do OUR part (not letting His Word depart out of our hearts and mouths -- thinking/meditating on His Word) that WE WILL be successful.

Here are some of those words to take to heart:
~ Proverbs 23:7 "For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Obviously, this means we want to do our best to stop thinking the negative thoughts. How do we get a handle on our thoughts? A shortcut to is to THINK the things that we feel good about, and avoid thinking about what we don't feel good about."
~ Philippians 8:4 "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of a good report, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."
~ Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You."

It is a matter of disciplining ourselves to put a halt to negative thinking. It's like changing the channel on the TV. A negative thought comes in....quickly change the channel to the positive thought. Let this prayer be your prayer:

"Heavenly Father, I commit to living worry-free. I cast all my cares, all my anxieties, all my worries, all my concerns -- once and for all, on You. You passionately care for my family and me. I cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of You. I lay aside every worry. I think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and deserving of praise. I will not let my heart be troubled. I abide in Your Word, and Your Word abides in me. Thank You, Father, for helping me to be care-free. I walk in that peace that passes all understanding, in Jesus' name! Amen."

Perhaps you, my dear FB friends, needed this "word" today. I urge you to take this "word" like medicine.....DAILY. Put it in your heart and mind. You will come through with flying colors......just like the gal that I wrote this original letter to. VICTORY was and is hers, Victory is yours, too!

It's Not Broken -- Just Wrong Programming

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the fitness center in my community to run on the treadmill. As I ran, I watched the Dallas Cowboys game and they got off to a great start but, apparently they were "out of order" because they lost to Atlanta 7 to 27. On the same note, occasionally, you’ll see a sign on one of the treadmills in my fitness center that says “temporarily out of order”. I heard about one gal who was running on a treadmill and it started picking up speed -- a lot of speed -- and she nearly fell before she could get it to stop. But, it wasn’t about the equipment malfunctioning – it was because she "entered" a program she wasn’t capable of handling. It was “user error” and wrong programming. Now I know why they have some treadmills with a sign on them that says “This treadmill is for those members who prefer a slower pace.” So far, I’ve stayed clear of those machines!

Here’s my point for today’s post. We could be going about our daily routines -- coasting along -- business as usual. When, all of a sudden, our world feels like it's out of control and can't seem to stop the all-too-fast pace we are keeping. We realize we're about to lose it.....and we know we MUST push the STOP button, or we'll crash and burn. When we stop, we realize something is wrong -- is it my circumstances or is it ME that is out of order or I need reprogramming?

God created us as powerful, fully equipped "machines" that have everything we need to perform at full capacity, but occasionally "stuff" happens that causes our programming to become dysfunctional. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I was hit with an "issue" and I needed to go see my doctor as sson as possible. After tests were run, while giving the diagnosis, my doctor asked “How much water are you drinking?” I was caught by my doctor AND my body. I was drinking mostly tea and coffee and NOT drinking enough water, so my body AND my “programming” malfunctioned.

If we desire to be victorious, strong, confident, and faith-filled, always ready to run our race with vigor and vitality, we must keep up with maintenance checks -- to be sure we're programmed for efficiency. If that programming starts malfunctioning -- i.e., our physical bodies start breaking down, or we allow negative thoughts to bombard our minds – thoughts of fear, lack of self esteem, quitting thoughts, inferiority – it’s time to update our programming and get a tune-up -- from the neck up. Our thinking probably needs to be reprogrammed.
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Our Master Technician's instruction manual (The Bible) has all the operating standards we need to run at best performance. And, it gives us all the basics we need to "Troubleshoot", "Reboot" and "Reprogram". Once we apply this technique -- we'll be guaranteed to continue to run with efficiency and success. Here's one of the BEST peak performance tips:

Joshua 1:8 "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

It's Not Broken -- Just Wrong Programming

Day 305 of Photo Inspirations -- It's Not Broken -- Just Wrong Programming
One of the women in my community was running on the clubhouse treadmill and it started picking up speed -- a lot of speed -- and she nearly fell before she could get it to stop.   About the same time, someone else said another one of the treadmills had an "issue" also.   So we put "Out of Order" signs on them and called the Nordic Track technician to come out to repair them.  He took a look at both of them -- and found that neither were broken, but both had "wrong" programming.  He said the users had done some pretty crazy programming on them, thus our resident's almost-accident..

That incident gave me inspiration for today's post.

We could be going about our daily routines -- coasting along -- business as usual.  When, all of a sudden, our world feels like it's out of control and can't seem to stop the all-too-fast pace we are keeping.  We realize we're about to lose it.....and we know we MUST push the STOP button, or we'll crash and burn.   When we stop, we realize something was wrong, and perhaps like our treadmills......something went haywire with our programming.

God created us as powerful, fully equipped, state-of-the-art "machines" that have everything we need to perform at full capacity, but occasionally "stuff" happens that causes our programming to become dysfunctional.   If we desire to be victorious, strong, confident, faith-filled, optimistic and always ready to run our race with vigor and vitality, we have to keep up with maintenance checks -- to be sure we're programmed for efficiency.  If that programming starts malfunctioning -- eg. negative thoughts  like inadequacy, weakness, lack of self esteem, stinkin' thinkin', poverty mentality, failing or quitting thoughts, inferiority -- time to update our programming and have a tune-up....from the neck up.   Our thinking probably needs to be reprogrammed.  .

Our Master Technician's instruction manual (The Bible) has great standards for us to operate at best performance.  And, it gives us all the basics we need to "Troubleshoot", "Reboot" and  "Reprogram".  Once we apply this technique -- we'll be guaranteed to continue to run with full out efficiency and success.  Here's one of the BEST peak performance tips:

Joshua 1:8 "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Worry FREE Guarantee

Day 181 of Photo Inspirations – Worry FREE - Guarantee!
"Don't Worry???"  You may be saying "That's easy for you to say -- you're not facing what I'm facing today."  Perhaps not the exact challenge or situation, but I've known troubles and I've had reasons to worry.  And, out of those times, I survived -- so much so, that I sincerely desire to help comfort others with the same comfort that I was comforted with.  (2 Corinthians 1:4).  A while ago, a young mother contacted me when she was facing some tremendous challenges.  Her mind was bombarded with the worst thoughts.  Her imagination was getting the best of her.  She was expressing so much worry, fear and concern.  These are the words that I gave her.

"Sweet Friend, I want to put my arms around you and help you through this time. Mostly, I want to give you a "Worry-FREE Guarantee".  As you know, I am a huge believer in "If God said it, I believe it and that settles it -- no ifs, ands, or buts.  It's a done deal!"    That has been our anchor and our mode of operation for many years.  Plain and simple......God's Word (the Bible) is the key to overcoming fear, sickness, discouragement, etc.  There's an answer for everything in God's Word.   In Joshua 1:8, God gave a "key" to success when He told Joshua:  "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; FOR THEN you will make your way prosperous, and THEN you will have good success."

Wow, there's the key -- we always think that it's up to God to take care of this and do that.  But, very clearly, God is saying that if we do our part (not letting His Word depart out of our hearts -- thinking/meditating on His Word) that we will be successful.

Proverbs 23:7  "For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he......"    Obviously, this means you want to do your best to stop thinking the negative thoughts.  How do you get a handle on your thoughts?   A shortcut to this is to THINK the things that you feel good about, and avoid thinking about what you don't feel good about."

Philippians 8:4   "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of a good report, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."

Isaiah 26:3  "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."  

It is a matter of absolutely disciplining ourselves to put a halt to negative thinking. It's like "changing the channel on the TV".  A negative thought comes in....quickly change the channel to the positive thought. Let this prayer be your prayer:

Father, I commit to live free from worry.  I cast the whole of my cares -- all my anxieties, all my worries, all my concerns -- once and for all on You.  You care for my family and me affectionately. You sustain me.  I cast down imaginations and everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of You.  I lay aside every worry.  I think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and deserving of praise.  I will not let my heart be troubled.  I abide in Your Word, and Your Word abides in me.  Thank You, Father, for helping me to be care-free.  I walk in that peace that passes all understanding, in Jesus' name!  Amen.

Stay tenacious in your faith.  Don't give up.  I love you and please don't hesitate to call, e-mail or ask us to come over for a "faith pow-wow" anytime.  You are so precious and you are going to make it!"

Perhaps you, my sweet FB friends, needed this "word" today.   I urge you to take this "word" like medicine.....DAILY.  Put it in your heart and mind.  You will come through with flying colors......just like the gal that I wrote this original letter to.  VICTORY was and is hers,  Victory is yours, too!