Decorator of the Mind

By Elaine James –

 

Stinkin thinkin! I felt like giving up. I had had this back pain for months. Things weren’t getting better. I tried many avenues for healing and nothing had changed. Fear was creeping its ugly head into my brain, and interrupting my peace with the interjecting question, “What if…it is something serious?”

Over twenty years ago I had to address the problem with my thoughts; to think about what I am thinking. My conclusion was that I had to re-train my brain. I went through four steps:  awareness, acceptance, action and available. Those four steps were the technical ways I was led to inner healing.

My fun personality likes to put it this way:

God reached down and did what I love most: decorate and shop! He decorated my mind as I shopped through the Word picking out my favorite verses that help destroy old patterns of thinking and gave me a new sense of freedom and perspective. Not Elaine’s perspective, but God’s perspective. In my newly decorated mind I have this brand new gorgeous shelf now full of thoughts filed neatly with plenty of space for other thoughts. I feel lighter and brighter to shine with the glory of God, awaiting the moment to speak to any audience of overloaded or stressed-out lives to welcome this “God Story.”

My favorite verse that was the catalyst to this process was:

“We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity” (2 Corinthians 10:5-6 MSG).

I can now rejoice that He is enough for me. When I am in pain I remember the powerful God-tools and in my awakened state, I choose the path Jesus taught me and together we walk the road.

PRAYER:  Father in heaven thank You for the powerful God-tools. Thank You for reaching down and clearing my mind obstructions and bringing me to a place of peace. Amen.

 

Smiling at the Future—with or without the Cavities

By Rhonda Rhea –

I hear if you put a Whitman’s Sampler under your pillow, the cavity fairy will bring you…a $200 invoice from your dentist. If you try it, you should know that while the midnight snacking is awesome, there most likely will be some time in the chair in your future. On the other hand, you’ll probably be smiling all the way to the dentist.

Personally, I’ve been trying to come up with new ways to fight tooth decay while also utilizing my time more efficiently. Like this morning I’m putting toothpaste in my breakfast cereal. Gotta love a hearty bowl of dental hygiene in the morning. Four out of five dentists still think it’s a little weird.

There’s nothing wrong with utilizing our time well. But life is not really all about utilizing our time. It’s more about surrendering it. And not just a “sampling.” We’re using time well when we’re loving Him with all of it. And when we’re remembering His love for us. Even when life is cavity-filled or riddled with every other kind of difficulty, it’s good to remember that His love is ever sure and steady.

There’s great strength in a keen awareness of His great love. There’s great strength in loving Him with abandon. Difficulties can cause us to feel weak and fragile. They can make the future look dark and scary. But understanding His love for us and operating in loving surrender to Him gives us a different outlook on the future. We can smile. Whether or not those dentists agree.

The virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31 is a great example: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future” (verse 25 NASB). This woman is strong—she “wears” that strength—and smiles at what’s ahead.

Resting in the love of God, relying on Him, strengthens us to the point we don’t have to fear difficulties. “Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid” (Psalm 112:1, 7-8 ESV).

Ah, there’s that key to a great smile. It’s not in what we do or don’t eat. It’s not in when or how we brush. A heart that’s firmly, steadily trusting in the Lord is one that can smile at the future, even in the face of problems. Those troubles don’t have to fill our lives with fear. Everything truly vital for life is perfectly secure. “The LORD protects you; the LORD is a shelter right by your side” (Psalm 121:5 HCSB).

I’d much rather spend my time relying and resting in the Lord, not fearing and fretting over any old difficulties. It’s true, I can always find a smile there. I can lie down at night, I can sleep peacefully. “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust” (Psalm 4:8 AMP).

Sleeping with a smile. Nevermind any lumps under the pillow. Though you’ll want to keep in mind that sleeping with chocolate under your pillow at night can lead to cavities in the day. And for the record, also ants.

Stop and Smell the Roses

By Cheri Cowell –

 

Some of us are always on the go. We take two things off our to-do list and add six more. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. More than once we’ve said if we could clone ourselves for just an hour we might catch up. But the truth is, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves if we got to the end of the list. We watch other people who seem to relax while the laundry is piled high and the weeds are overtaking the garden, and we wonder how they do it. How can they relax when there is still so much to do?

Perhaps these people have learned the secret of true rest. They realize not one of us is promised another minute of life, and all that striving and labor won’t add a day of living. So it is good to stop and smell the roses, to rest and relax, even when the to-do list is a mile long. Take some time today to smell the roses, to take a walk in the woods, to watch a sunset or sunrise, and thank God for another minute of life.

“One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:6 NASB).

Prayer: Help me to resist the urge to keep going. Instead Lord, help me to stop and rest, and while there to smell the roses.

 

 

Package Deal

By Rhonda Rhea –

Big things come in small packages. I think the person who said that sat beside me in my high school geometry class. Even though I was really bad at geometry, I would never copy off that guy’s paper. Because that would be very wrong, yes. But also because the answer would also likely be very wrong.

Let’s be real. As much as I tried, I could never make myself care what “Y” equaled. Congruently (see what I did there?), I don’t care what size the package is. Just as long as the package is for me. I love it when the delivery truck pulls into my driveway. A friend mentioned the other day that she gets so much more out of sending a package to someone else than she does from receiving a gift herself. I plastered a smile on my face and nodded like I understood but I’m ready to be honest now:  she doesn’t get me at all. And if she ever does get me, I’m convinced she’ll be a little appalled.

I was reminded recently of something even more appalling. Did you know that various studies indicate that 60 to 70% of our twenty-somethings—even those who were very active in church during their growing up years—stop attending church before they hit 30? Not a few of them. Not some of them. Most of them. That’s beyond appalling. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.

When it comes right down to it, we don’t get to choose on behalf of the next generation. It’s not really a “package deal.” Each one will make his own choice to follow Christ or to walk away.

We can’t choose for them. But we can make sure we train them. We can continually speak the Gospel into the lives of the young people we’re around. Without a true saving knowledge of Christ, they take nothing solid into adulthood—nothing real to build their lives on. They need truth.

Training others in how to walk out a solid faith will always build up the church. Paul talked about it in Ephesians 4:12 when he spoke of training saints “in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,” (HCSB). We can tell them with our words and we can show them by our example how to love Jesus and love people in His name, passionately working for the Lord. We’re told that the people who get that will “no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit (vs.14 HCSB).

The truth in love. It’s what every generation needs. “But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ,” (Ephesians 4:15 HCSB). As we give it out and live it out, we’re not only helping others grow, we’re growing in Christ ourselves. It’s better than merely receiving. It’s bigger than just giving. It’s the total package! You can copy my answer on that one.

As for my packages here at home, I’ve come up with my own theorems and formulas on that. Looks like I’ll probably always be at least a little appalling.

Sparkling Clean

By Cheri Cowell –

 

There is something special about a clean house. When the floors are mopped and vacuumed, when the cobwebs are swept away, when the dust layer is removed and everything shines, it feels good. If there were a magic wand that would create this wonderful scene, the stores wouldn’t be able to keep those wands in stock. Unfortunately, someone has to do the work.

Sanctification is the big word used to describe the cleaning God does in our hearts as we submit our lives to Him. The scriptures say God desires to present us blameless before Him. Said another way, He wants us to be made holy from the inside out, clean and pure like a freshly cleaned house.  Our part is to submit to the process of having every area of our lives opened for Him. There is no magic wand, and sometimes God has to scrub really hard to remove layers of dust and grime, but in the end, we will shine and sparkle for Him.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5: 23 NKJV).

Prayer: I want to be pure, holy, and blameless for You so I submit to the cleaning process. Make me sparkle for You.

 

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