Keeping Sane in an Insane World

I just saw this sign on the side of the road yesterday and it dawned on me what it was saying. Stay Sane Inside Insanity. With all that is going on in this world today and in our minds it is hard to stay focused and sane. All the bad news that is reported these days and all the bad things that we ourselves are seeing day to day is e0heads every single moment is enough to drive us insane.

We have the choice to let all this  get to us and constantly dwell on these bad happenings and bad thoughts or we can choose to keep our focus on God and constantly stay in prayer and keep looking up to God for our guidance.

God tells us in His Word in Phillipians 4:8,  “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” All the things mentioned here are good things not bad. Let’s look at some other verses.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

John 15:5

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!...”

 Psalm 136:1

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

 I John 4:8

In conclusion of these four verses mentioned above, we are to think on good things; God is to abide in us; God is good; and God is love.  All four of these things mention nothing about bad but right the opposite.  If we are thinking on all these good things; constantly remembering that God is good then we will have no room for the bad thoughts and bad happenings to drag us down.

 God can abide in us and constantly growing stronger inside us when we study His Word, pray, and meditate on His Word.  Also as we think on His goodness and the good things of this world the bad thoughts and happenings tend to take a backseat in our lives.  We have the strength to push those negative and bad thoughts out of our minds and to rid our hearts of those bad feelings because we know where to find the goodness and love that needs to be shared in this world today.

We just cannot overlook all the bad things happening in this world today by ignoring them but we can pray and ask God if there is some way we can help change this world.  We cannot change this world all by ourselves but we can be a part of the change. This world can be changed for the better one person at a time.

I have mentioned before the “domino effect”. You can smile at a person and that tends to cheer up their day and they will smile at another person and it will continue to pass on through the day to those each one meets. You can see someone needing an extra hand, whether it is a mom with children and her arms full or an elderly that needs a door opened for them.  You can offer your assistance in so many little ways.  It doesn’t take big steps to start changing the world it only takes small steps and one step at a time.

There are so many things that we can do to encourage or help someone if only we will keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to see those opportunities. Yes, there is much insanity in this world today, so many bad and unbelievable things going on in this world but we can turn it around.  Do not concentrate on the bad things but counteract those bad things with complimenting the good, noticing the good, finding the good in everyone.  Everyone has something good you can find in them, you just may have to look harder in some than others.

One small step at a time and one day at a time let’s try to change this world for the better by committing to do one good deed for someone every day; to pass a smile on to a person every day; to find something good in every person we meet.  I can hear you now saying that one is almost impossible to do. No, it is not impossible, but it may be difficult.  There is good inside everyone because God created all of us. Yes, many have and are making the wrong choices but they are still God’s creations and God still loves them.

We have to find good in this world and magnify it and give God all the honor and praise for the good and love that we do see shared in this world today in order to keep sanity.  This will take a total turnabout for many of us or insanity because we have dwelled and only saw the bad in this world and now we are going to look only for the good and we are going to talk about the good; share the good; share the love; and live out God’s purpose for our lives which is to encourage one another and to bring God all honor and glory.

You Just Have To Seek God

Joel Osteen said yesterday that we do not have to FIND God to be rewarded. He just wants us seeking Him continually.   This really got me to thinking on this subject and wondered how many out there really did not realize they only had to attempt, try, put forth an effort or seek God.

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 

What does seek mean?  

•  To make an attempt  
•  look for
• to go in search of
• to try to discover.

Hebrews 11:6, “….He (God)  rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

What is the result of seeking God?  As in Matthew 6:33, “…and all these things will be given to you as well.” And in Hebrews 11:6, “He (God)  rewards those….”.

How do you seek? 

John 15:7, “But if  you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!” 

How do we do this?  We meditate on His promises and we read His promises in the Bible and claim them daily, or even more by the minute. We pray without ceasing asking God to direct our paths and our decisions in everything.  Notice, I didn’t say in the big stuff I said in everything.  Even the little stuff that you feel isn’t big enough to bother Jesus with?  Yes, even the little stuff.  He wants to be Lord over ALL of our life.

I Thessalonians 5:17, ~~“Never stop praying.”

” Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, (The Message)

So this is very easy to understand.  No matter what is going on in your life, PRAY! Pray for others, you can always find things to pray for.  God wants us to pray to him in the tiny things.  For example, I use coupons and love to find deals and sales. So it is not wrong for me to ask God to direct me to these good deals and sales. Ask God what He wants you to do today whether you are working at home or at public work. 

God will richly bless you when you seek Him.  When you don’t feel like reading your Bible, reading your daily devotion, praying to God, going to church, teaching that Sunday School, visiting the sick, visiting the lonely, giving your offerings, - should I go on?- just do it anyway.  God will bless you for your attempting to do these things.  If you have noticed that during those times you didn’t feel like doing any of the mentioned above, how you were blessed and felt so much better after you did them. Just keep keeping on! Don’t give up!  Keep on going and trying to learn more about Jesus, He will richly reward your efforts.

How will God reward you?  Oh my, in too many ways to mention.  As I have said so many times, YOU CANNOT OUT GIVE GOD! No matter what you give to God, whether it is your time, talent, money, love, food, etc. God will bless you abundantly.  He never ceases to amaze me in how He give back way more than I ever could have given just because we “seek” and “try” to do His work. We may not do a job like we think we should but if we attempt or try to do it God will take it and “run” with it and make those seeds grow!  All we have to do is plant those seeks and God will water and cause to grow. So don’t worry if you feel inadequate in reading the Bible, understanding the Bible, teaching that class, sharing the Gospel, sitting with a lonely person, visiting a sick person, or whatever it is, just make the effort to do it and God will bless!

Ahhhh! My Mind is More at Peace

Why do you do the things that you do? Do you do them because they are what God would want you to do or do you do them to please people? Do you find yourself doing things and expecting a “thank you”, “good job”, “great job”, “you are doing a great job” or any other compliment?  Let’s be honest about this.

Doesn’t it make you feel good when someone compliments something you are doing? When someone notices what you are doing and comments on it, doesn’t it give you a boost?  Yes, it does and God teaches us to encourage one another.

“So encourage each other and build each other up,

 just as you are already doing.”~~I Thessalonians 5:11

This is so true but it is our job to compliment and notice the good things others do and tell them.  In other words, “give them their roses before they die”. We are not to compliment ourselves or brag about what we are doing it is the other person’s job.

We are not to expect this encouragement and compliments from others.  Yes, the Bible tells us in the above verse to encourage one another but we cannot do things for that reason to get the compliments.  Our motive to do good things for God is ONLY to be because it is to give God all the honor and glory. Leave it at that.  That is enough to do it for God’s honor and glory.  How God can bless us and take care of us for what we do for Him is more than any compliment or recognition could mean to our lives.

You have to be careful to keep God in the center of your life and keep your eyes on Him.

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~~ I Corinthians 10:31

Please read that verse again.  It says to do it ALL for the glory of God! Not for your glory or for the glory from another person.  We can easily fall into that awful pit of expecting someone to notice what we are saying or doing and if they don’t we get all down in the dumps and say, “Nobody appreciates anything that I do.”  Well, to be blunt, it doesn’t matter what other people think.  If we are constantly expecting others to compliment us then we are not able to be at peace because our insides will be all in turmoil. We will be fretting because no one is seeing what we are doing and no one cares about what we are doing. We are pulling ourselves down and causing depression, anger, bitterness, dissention to build inside us. This will cause more of these negative feelings to build inside each time you thing about no one noticing what you are doing. Therefore, your peace of mind is destroyed because you are depending on people to do what only God can do. All that matters is that we are doing it from the heart; with a love for Jesus; for the honor and glory of God; to show others the love of God; and to point others to Jesus.

If we get our eyes off of God and start looking at what we are doing then we are not pointing to Jesus; but saying “Look what I am doing or saying!” Our focus has been taken off of God and being put on ourselves leading to our work being done in vain.

Let’s don’t waste our lives living for other people and trying to please other people. If we do this we have not lived out our purpose in life that God intended for us to live.  Our purpose in life is to bring God honor and glory and make him happy and proud he made us. We are to point other to Jesus and let them see Jesus in our lives and we can do that by be careful to do everything we do for God’s honor and glory.

Another Stress Reliever

There are many ways to relieve ourselves of stress. I have covered one about forgive and forget in a previous article. Another way to cut back on stress is to stop taking things people say and do personally. Have you ever heard anyone make the comment while driving that it is other people’s driving they worry about not their own because they know what they are going to do? That is true to life also. Each person is responsible for their own thoughts, responses and actions. That is enough to keep us busy. We cannot make others have our opinions, thoughts, responses and actions; they are the ones responsible for those.

We all have our own feelings, opinions, personality, etc. We all are “fearfully and wonderfully made” according to Psalm 139:14. God made each one of us unique so we are going to be different in thoughts and actions. Each one of us has the responsibility to choose the right and Godly actions, thoughts, motives, etc.

God has given us the freedom of choice so therefore we have our own thoughts, opinions, responses, and actions; whether they are right or wrong it is our own personal decision to make.

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, 

or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” 

–Romans 6:16

Did you catch this in the verse above, “whatever you choose to obey”? Another instance is in John 14:15.

"If you love Me, keep My commandments”

There again “if” giving the meaning that you have a choice to love God or not to love God. Because God gave us “free will” we have the responsibility to make the right choices; have the right responses, opinions and thoughts. It is our choices to make. We cannot make these decisions and choices for others only ourselves.

Therefore if someone is rude, mean, doesn’t agree with you, or in any way hurts or offends you it is only their opinion and response. It is not personally aimed at you usually.

Consider our lives as a book we are writing day by day. Each one of us lives our own lives and writes our own book of our lives. We are the star or main character. As a book is centered around the main character so is our book totally focused on us. We are writing our own book with our life so we do not have to let others influence our lives with negative, mean, rude, offensive actions or words. That is what they are writing in their book. We want to fill our book (our life) with positive, love, faith, hope, encouragement, etc.

So we need to remember that we cannot take things that everyone does personally. It is a burden on us if we allow this to bring us down. We have to overlook it – which is not going to be easy at first; but it will gradually become a way of life to accept what they did as their actions and their responsibilities and not take it personally. Just make sure that you respond to these rude, mean and hurtful things are the way a Christian should – in love. Sometimes it may even require NOT saying or doing anything in response. This will be very hard but some of these bad and negative actions do not even deserve a response at all. It is better to just avoid any response and ignore them totally.

Yes, these negative, rude, and mean thoughts, actions, words, etc are deadly darts aimed at us if we allow them to penetrate our heart and minds because they will eat us up inside if we dwell on them and give them life inside of us. So it is our responsibility not to take any of this personally but to let it run off our lives as water runs off a duck’s back. We have to let it go and LOVE and give ourselves another way to relieve stress.

Contentment Means What?

“Not that I was ever in need,

for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.“

Philippians 4:11

There is a lot more to the word “content” than a lot us have ever thought. Content is defined in the online dictionary as not to desire more than one has or is; to be satisfied; and not to want more of anything. We are familiar with all these definitions but the rest of the definitions are sort of an eye-opener. The rest of the definitions are willing; and ready to accept or acquiesce (agree to do something). That puts a little more emphasis on “content.” Not only are we to be content and satisfied with whatever condition or circumstances we are in but we have to be willing to do and in agreement to do or accept whatever God sends our way.

This verse means we are not only to be satisfied with what we have but also not desiring to be more than the person God has created us to be. Believe me, that is enough to work on rather than desiring to be more. In other words, if we are satisfied with what we have and are then we are going to stay busy just doing the best we can with what we have and are.

Being content with what we have means making the best of each thing we have and have been granted from God. We are not to be wishing for better or more but asking God to help us use what we have for His best.

I know each one of us has room for improvement in the area of God creating us. We are who we are, in other words; but God doesn’t mean for us to stop trying to be a better person just to not wish we were someone we are not. We are who God created us to be.

“…for I am fearfully and wonderfully made… “–Psalm 139:14

God made each one of us unique and He made NO junk. Always remember God made each one of us as He wanted us to be. It is not our responsibility to become a different person but to become the best person that we can with what God has given us and how God has made us. There is lots of room for improvement in each one of our lives to make us the person that God made us to be but we will not reach that perfection until the day we stand face to face with God in Heaven.

Until then we need to be content with what we have and how God has made us and accept it and be willing to work with that and make it the best we can for God’s honor and glory.

Remember, no matter what circumstances we are in; what we have; how we look; or where we are, God wants us to make the best of it. When we learn to be content or make the best of the situation we are in at the present, God is richly going to bless our lives and those around us. There is so much peace and comfort in one’s walk with God if they can accept this and take it in stride and do their best. That is all God asks of each one of us.

Speak to the Mountain Verses Lord, Don’t Move that Mountain

What happens when you speak to the mountain and God’s doesn’t see fit to move it? That is a very good question and could be considered contradictory.  I have written two articles which deal with both sides of this question.  Speak to the Mountain and then Lord, Don’t Move This Mountain. It is not contradictory but may be a little bit hard to understand.

^{Psalm 135: 5} I know the greatness of the Lord—

that our Lord is greater than any other god.

⁶ The Lord does whatever pleases him

throughout all heaven and earth,

and on the seas and in their depths.

⁷ He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth.

He sends the lightning with the rain

and releases the wind from his storehouses.

God is in control. He knows what is going to happen. He knows our every choice before we make it even though He gives us the free will of choice.

When we are in the right heart and mind we will pray and want the things that God wants.  That is why we ask God’s will be done at the end of every prayer.  We do not have the wisdom nor the ability to handle everything that we truly thing we want, notice I didn’t say need.  That also can go for some things that we think we need that God doesn’t seem to think we need or that we do not need them as of yet.

God does answer every one of our prayers.  He may answer it “yes”, “no” or “wait patiently;” but he does answer them all. We may think we have the faith to move a mountain but then it may not be moved for the reason God wants us to climb it to become stronger and learn more life lessons from the climb.  Sometimes moving a mountain would be the easy way out and we would not learn the lesson that we needed to learn to help us with the next challenge in our life.

I can hear you right now saying, but your one article says “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seem, you can tell this mountain to move and it will move immediately.” Are you taking the easy way out by saying it is not God’s will to move this mountain? Well, it is difficult to understand if you are not mature in the Lord and it is still a mystery at times.  God knows the best for us and if we are praying for God’s will then the best may be to climb the mountain and see what lesson God is teaching us through this climb. God may have others watching us as we face this mountain and they are learning from our way of handling this mountain. As I have said many times, “Our lives may be the only Bible some people will ever read.” Be sure someone is watching you and how you handle yourself when facing these mountains.

This is no “cop out” of any sort.  This is totally giving ourselves to God and allowing God to do a work in our lives.  As Jesus prayed when He was at the Garden of Gethsemane, He said in Mark 14:32-42, “…..Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt…..” See even Jesus prayed for that mountain to be moved and God did not see fit but Jesus was willing to accept it and climb that mountain if it was in God’s will.  Yes, it was God’s will for Jesus to be faced with this mountain because Jesus did this and died for everyone of our sins.  So it is very evident if Jesus had to face a mountain like that that it is very much evident that we will face many mountains in our lifetime with God right by our side. We are not climbing these mountains by ourselves but yet are becoming better Christians because of them when God doesn’t see fit to move those mountains.

When we speak to these mountains we are telling them that they are not bigger than our God. We are telling them God is bigger than any mountain that we could face.  The outcomes may not be what we want or the mountain may not be moved but we are facing them with God by our side and knowing that Jesus has already faced these mountains before us.

So go ahead and speak to these mountains with the faith to move them!  You can move them by making them smaller because our God is so BIG! You can make the mountains seem to be moved because by allowing God to handle the situation and carry us to the top of the mountain that mountain seems like a molehill. Better yet, an anthill and you can stomp it with the love of God and the mercy and grace of God! 

So, yes, speak to those mountains and tell them they are nothing but molehills or anthills and then stomp them with the mercy and grace of God and say, My God is an Awesome God! My God is bigger than your god(satan)! Praise the Lord!

God, Don't Move That Mountain!

Trisha Yearwood, You Don't Have To Move That Mountain Lyrics

CHORUS: You don't have to move that mountain
Just help me Lord to climb it
You don't have to move that stumblin' block
Just show me the way around it

We must climb a great high mountain
To reach God's gracious kingdom
In His words you'll find the strength
If you will just believe them

Well, the way is filled with pitfalls
And sometimes we may falter
You can have His grace, my friend
On your knees down at the altar

This is great to hold on to when God’s will is not to move that mountain in your life. We certainly can grow from these mountains if we allow God to climb with us. We always have to remember God is in control and no matter if our mountain is moved or if we have to climb it. God is with us guiding us all the way.

Even Jesus climbing the mountain of being crucified on the cross and he was willing to do so if it was God’s will but it did not stop Jesus from asking God to remove the cup or mountain but still God’s will be done.

"Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will'" 

(Matthew 26:39) 

and  

"He went away a second time and prayed, 'My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done'" 

(Matt. 26:42)

This is not saying our faith is wavering but that we are totally in God’s hands and willing to do whatever God see best in our lives. Our faith is what gets us from one mountain to another even if they cannot be moved. Each one of these mountains we encounter has a mountain top. Just imagine yourself climbing a huge mountain. Each step gets harder and harder but you have God to guide you and even when you feel you cannot go any further He will be there to carry you. Just as in this poem. “Footprints in the Sand.”

FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND

One night a man had a dream.
He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.

For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand.
One belonged to him, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life, there was only one set of footprints.
He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it.:

"Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when I needed you the most you would leave me."

The Lord replied,
"My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then I carried you."

~Author Unknown~

Even though we feel we are climbing the mountain alone we are NOT. God is there every step of the way. Just as in the poem, He is carrying us when we get to the point that we feel we cannot go any further.

Now imagine you have climbed that mountain. You are on the mountain top. How do you feel? GREAT! You have made it up another mountain and you have become much stronger in your faith and spiritual life. It takes these challenges of climbing the mountains that God chooses not to remove from our lives to appreciate the mountain tops and know that once again God is going to get us through. He has proved Himself over and over. Not that He has to prove Himself but He wants to in order to encourage us and convince us to depend on Him more and more.

A Great Stress Reliever - Forgive & Forget

Everyone is looking for ways to de-stress their lives these days.  Why? because we have brought the stress on ourselves. How?  by over committing ourselves. When? It seems every single day of our lives. We are the only ones that can take care of this stress.  There are some things that you say “no” to and cut back on the stress of responsibilities but there are other things that we can do “inwardly” that will cut back tremendously on stress.

The main way I want to discuss in this article is FORGIVE AND FORGET. I can hear you right now saying, Well, I can forgive but I can’t forget!” Yes, you can if you want to bad enough.

“When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.  Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’ And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.”

Luke 23:33-34

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  

Matthew 6:14-15

These two verses are starters to show us we have to forgive.  No matter what anyone does to us it is not more than was done to Jesus Christ!  He was able to forgive so if He can forgive then it is definite that we can if we will allow ourselves to do so. Did you catch that last statement,” If we allow ourselves to forgive”?
We have the option to forgive and forget. I have learned over the years that the only one you are hurting if you do not forgive it YOURSELF! You are harboring that unforgiveness inside of you. You are constantly thinking on what the person said or did to you or did not do to you.  You are dwelling on it. You constantly think about it and with each thought you are building a brick wall that is higher and higher.  With every brick or unforgiven thought you are making it harder and harder to forgive and forget.

Don’t let anyone convince you that you can forgive and not forget. You can forget.  It is not going to be easy and it won’t happen overnight but you can do it.

“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, 

which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” 

Colossians 3:12-14

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. t is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails…...” 

I Corinthians 13:4-8a

Think about this.  We are to clothe ourselves with LOVE and LOVE keeps no records of wrongs. So how can you forgive if you are not forgetting?  If you are not forgetting you are keeping records of those wrongs.  Now, how do we forget? by asking God to help us forgive and forget.  We may have to bring this matter before God many times in a day or in an hour but each and every time these thoughts are brought up in our heads we have to ask God to please help us forgive and forget these things. 

We cannot do it on our own.  Our human nature and satan will not allow us to do it on our own. Satan will bring up these things that we are trying to forgive and forget just to get our feathers ruffled once again.  We have to stop and “…. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7. We have to make the devil run. You can do this by “Submitting yourself to God…” James 4:7.  So this may happen many times through the day because Satan is not going to stop at one time, he knows when and where to hit you and he will kick you when you are down so do not hesitate to start asking God to help you forgive and forget as soon as you feel the first thought coming to your mind.

Can you imagine how much stress you are cutting out of your life and mind by throwing that burden of harboring unforgiveness and not forgetting?  You will be very amazed at how much more peace you will receive when you can finally say I do forgive and forget that certain situation. Lay it at the foot of the cross and let God have more room in your heart to do His work.