Good Mood Food

By Elaine James –

“You’re right.” This was my daughter’s quick response when I asked, “I guess you don’t want to be in a good mood, then?”

My 17-year-old daughter had just gotten home from school when this conversation took place.  Prior to her coming home, I happened to drive by an Arby’s and its sign out front said “Try our new cinnamon bites, The Good Mood Food.” I found out that in February, Arby’s launched a Good Mood Food advertisement. The new Outside-in Cinnamon Bites; try them for $1.00. My mind created its own sing-a-long jingle to help decide if I should indeed “try them.”

It is three o’clock
I can’t block
the monster in my brain
I feel insane
cause my tummy
is a bit rumbly
I am falling
For this calling
I have to have a bite
of that sugary delight.
It was a sign
I will be fine
I won’t whine
Isn’t this worth the fight
For the Good Food Mood, right?
THE END

Then, I attempted to bring my daughter down with me by asking the question, “Don’t you want to try some Good Mood Food?”

“It looks like a Totino Pizza Roll,” she said.

The ad says “Light and flaky bite size pastry with warm cinnamon cream cheese filling all on the inside,” I replied.

All she could say was, “Gross!”

After laughing together, I tasted it and decided that I did not like the cinnamon bite.

I heard a whisper inside me saying, “God is the true good mood food.”

Americans can get caught up thinking about food too much. Marketing campaigns like this one know this all to well. They market the food at a great price, with the most desirable ingredients, using fancy playful words all with the intent of making money, not really concerned about you and your health.

Little did Arby’s know that the Good Mood Food marketing ploy would prompt me to write a jingle at the 3 o’clock hunger hour and then be reminded of what truly satisfies me—God.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, so many choices today; help me to put You first. You alone can give me a good mood. Thank you, Father, for providing and help with daily needs.

“I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you” (Psalm 63:5 NIV).

Recovering Couch Potato

By Elaine James –

As I plopped on the couch, my mind raced with the disappointments of the day. I asked myself, “What do I do now? I feel like giving up!”

Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you have asked yourself this same question: “What’s the point of going on?”

It took me a moment, but I stopped. I prayed, “God teach me what to do with this disappointment.”

My next thought was, “You have been reading through the Bible. Continue right where you left off.”

I got my Bible and returned to the couch, opening to the book of Job. My heart almost stopped when I read how Job suffered, yet he said these words, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. After my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh, I shall see God” (Job 17:25-26 NKJV).

I leapt off the couch to jot down the glorious anthem, that was then playing in my head:
My Redeemer lives, He lives!
I spoke with Him this morning
And He lives
The tomb is empty.

I need to remember Job’s words when I feel sick, afraid, frustrated, disappointed and numb. Those words helped Job put things back into perspective, and they can do the same for me. My priority is to remember who God is, what He did for me on the cross and that He still lives for me today. This was my gentle reminder of why I am here and how life’s circumstances can either take me away from God or bring me closer to Him.

Give God a chance. He is here for you. Don’t plop down on a couch and give up! Maybe today you need to be reassured. Job’s skin was being destroyed. Have you ever felt that way? What seems to be destroying you? Maybe you heard news about a friend making bad decisions, you were turned down for a job, or even worse.

I am here to reassure you that you can become worry/anxiety-free by trusting God and waiting as He, step by step, leads you. If you believe in Jesus, you will see Him face to face one day.

PRAYER:  Lord, I lift up ______________ (Tell God specifically what is going on in your life.) I give this to you.  I am reassured that I shall see you. Knowing this gives me peace. Thank you, thank you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV).

Devo Spiritual Growth-Rubik’s Cube

By Elaine James –

Rubik’s cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor Erno Rubik. Although it is widely reported that the Cube was built as a teaching tool to help his students understand 3D objects, his actual purpose was solving the structural problem of moving the parts independently without the entire mechanism falling apart.

As a professor of architecture, Erno Rubik invented the little toy for his purpose of teaching and it ended up going all over the world and has sold over 350 million to date.

In the Scriptures, David spoke these words to his son, “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever” (1 Chronicles 28:9, emphasis mine).

Reading this verse, I could not help but notice the words “willing mind.” What does it take to have a willing mind and wholehearted devotion? It is a committed choice that the focus of our mind will be on the Father.

These words bring to mind a Rubik’s cube, because to complete the puzzle, and get all the colors in order, one must deeply focus. Think about it. When you do any sort of mind puzzle, you must focus 100%, taking all the distractions of life out of your mind to concentrate on the puzzle.

David was commissioning Solomon to build the Lord’s temple. He used the same words that God says to each of us; the work He has in mind for us will require a willing mind.  He then asks us to cooperate with Him.

If you notice negative thoughts creeping into your mind, what do you choose to with those thoughts? Do you just follow wherever they lead, or do you choose to focus on God and invite Him into the situation. By praying prayers of thanksgiving, rejoicing, praising and petitions you allow God to renew your mind. This is your spiritual act of worship.

Rubik’s cube can give you a temporary reprieve from your thoughts, but God can give you everlasting relief and peace that renews your mind.

PRAYER:  Today I praise you and thank you. I choose to focus on you and give these thoughts to you. Thank you for peace. I wait on you. In Jesus name.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (Romans 12: 1 – 2 MSG).

Dash Days

By Elaine James –

My mother’s tombstone reads, “August 4, 1936 – June 13, 2009.”
The birth date and death date are important to remember, but what about the dash days? The dash is the mark between the two dates. Jesus was born and died and those dates are celebrated, but his dash days are very important for us to examine.

We know that God is watching us all the time. He sees all of our dash days. Let your mind grasp the reality of that. Say this statement with me: “All our days are numbered and written in His book” (Psalm 139:16 NIV). If God offered to provide for you, in advance, the day you were going to die, would you want to know that date? Maybe your response to God would be, “No, but I would like to live out my days with your guidance.” Maybe your response would be yes, in which case would you upgrade your availability for your loved ones? Perhaps you would take control of your life and if you choose that, then Christ died in vain.

I had an aunt who faced many challenges in life dealing with a severely retarded son and the loss of her husband at a very young age. Her faith helped her to realize that being happy didn’t mean she wouldn’t have problems. It just meant that she chose to be happy anyway. My memory of her singing, joking and always smiling is forever written in my heart. The absence of good destroys us, yet God promises good will come out of things for those who love Him.

The key to fighting for these dash days is summed up in one little word: rest. Think about it. If your children are hungry, sleep deprived or on overload, what is their response to life like? My kids can get pretty ornery.
When Jesus says that he wants to give us rest for our souls, he also states in Matthew 11:29 to “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart.”

When someone suggests that you get some rest, try to take Jesus’ advice for rest which is “learn from me.” Jesus taught with the attribute of being gentle and humble in heart. Attributes are our evidence of abiding with Christ.

Don’t dash through your life or it will become a blur. Rest, slow down and enjoy your dash days.

PRAYER: Father in heaven you are gentle and humble in heart I want to learn from you. Give me the fight to learn and rest. Thank you for all my dash days.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV).

Hairy Situations

By Elaine James –

“She was flicking her hair in my face and it bothered me, so I cut it.” This was my five-year-old son’s logical, nonchalant response when asked why he cut off an eight-inch lock of Sarah’s hair at school. What a way to start the school year with my son! I found myself dealing with a hysterical mother, a teacher who discovered the evidence in the classroom garbage and a classmate with long blonde hair who had no idea how her hair got cut off. Who really is to blame in the situation? My husband and I sat my son down at the beginning of the school year and had given him the dos and don’ts of school etiquette. I guess we left out the “don’t cut a girl’s hair when she keeps flicking it into your face and it’s bothering you” part!

Dealing with my son was difficult because he was so sincere and honest about what he had done. The furious mom actually asked me how I planned to discipline my son. I was taught to let the punishment fit the crime. My son’s hair was already very short and so I could not cut it off, but he was guilty and needed punished. We did have a good talk with him, and the teacher separated their attached desks and put him on the other side of the room.

This experience reminds me of the story where Mary takes about a pint of expensive perfume; she pours it on Jesus’ feet and wipes His feet with her hair. Judas finds out and asks, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “You will always have the poor among you but you will not always have Me.” Jesus suggests in this passage to first spend time with Him and then you will know where to use your gifts and money wisely. We can be serving in so many good ways.

Whenever I read this I think of the lesson: good, better, best. We want to give Jesus our best. You would think giving to the poor would be our best. Jesus clearly is teaching the importance of being led by the Spirit.

My son had a “hairy” situation and did not choose wisely but Mary did.

PRAYER:  Lord there is so much in life that I want to do. What do You want me to do with my time? Help me to be strong and learn from You.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29 NIV).

« Previous Page — Next Page »