Losing ME

By Jarrod Spencer –

We live in a world full of “ME.” Under someone’s facebook links was a cartoon that was supposed to say “America” at the top. All the letters were on the bottom of the cartoon except for M & E. My thought is that America is becoming more and more like that. ME is the most important person in the country. One of the issues with that is there are millions of MEs. With losing a few pounds a common New Year’s goal, why not try to lose a different kind of weight, the ME weight?

Losing excess pounds will help make your life healthier. Losing excess ME pounds will make your life healthier, too. If ME is weighing you down, causing you to be less healthy, you are probably being prevented from doing some really amazing things!

As a way of shedding the ME pounds, think about these suggestions to having a healthier life.

One: Examine what areas are preventing you from accomplishing your goals. Make a list of these obstacles. Look at what ME areas are the biggest obstacles and seek a way to lose them.

Two: Refrain from “I can’t.” When you are thinking about accomplishing a goal do you tend to look at the negatives so much that you say “I can’t”? That phrase has the potential to keep you from great things. This may be one of the weights you must remove in order to have a healthier future.

Three: Take a step. Think about stepping forward to start accomplishing your goals. Losing the ME will help you be on the path of accomplishment. Is there something that you could use your talents in, but aren’t sure how? Take a step and see how God uses the opportunity. Have you wanted to meet that neighbor that you frequently drive by? Take a step and go out the door to shake hands and simply say, “Welcome to the neighborhood!”

Your ME may be preventing you from seeing what you can do with life. Shedding the ME weight may not be an easy process, but what weight loss ever is?

PRAYER: Father, help me to remove myself from Your plans for me. Help me to be submissive and attentive to what You would seek me to be involved in, who to be involved with, and how to be the most useful servant in Your Kingdom.

“Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:21-22 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Jarrod Spencer. He is a seeker of God’s surprises in everyday life, looking for ways to be used by God with anyone he comes in contact with. He has a passion for encouraging people through the written word and exercises that passion with blogging and sending out a weekly text of encouragement. You can read more of his writings at http://jarrodspencer.blogspot.com and his church’s website is http://www.colbychurch.com.

Statistics to Believe In

By Hally Franz –

There are twenty-five varieties of warblers…

As 2010 is ended and a new year begins, there’s a time for summing up the good, bad and ugly numbers connected with the closing year. Some statistics relate to the financial condition of our country. Retailers will calculate holiday sales for 2010, selling us theories about spending and consumer faith or fear. And, we’ll be worked over by the most recent government-provided data on our country’s ever-growing national debt and rates of unemployment.

There will be frightening facts about health in the United States, and year-end evaluations will no-doubt alert us to rising rates of diabetes, heart disease and obesity, figures we can live without.

Some of the hardest numbers to absorb are those having to do with our humanity and morals as a society. We get pummeled by crime rates of communities around the country, the growing problem of internet pornography, and stories of violence and abuse.

When we strive to start a new year with hopeful resolutions, we often are bombarded with news that’s far from encouraging. Those funneling the numerical news to the masses sometimes have ulterior motives and may be just as easily spouting fuzzy math and facts.

I had the opportunity to visit one of our state parks recently. In this state park in my back yard, there are 158 species of birds, and twenty-five of those are warblers. Tennessee, Magnolia, Worm-eating, Red-eyed, and Yellow-rumped are five of them. I know nothing about warblers, but they sound like some interesting creature-characters.

There are 3,675 state parks in the U.S.A. and approximately 195 countries in the world. If I do any kind of math, that adds up to lots of crazy and kooky birds, not to mention horses, dogs, snakes, tigers and apes, to name a few.

When I’m striving to move beyond the post-holiday blues to set goals for 2011, I need to hear state park numbers as much as state-of-the-union numbers. While we must face our country’s financial, health and societal challenges, we also need to be uplifted by the God numbers. We humans cause debt, sickness, and sin, but our Heavenly Father created our vast and beautiful world before all those things came about. He gave it to us, and He loves us even when we make messes of things. And, He’s on our side when we start each year trying to do a little better.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, while the world presents discouraging news and numbers, enable us to see the magnitude and magnificence of your creation. Replace frustration with hope as we begin a new year in Your service.

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis1:20-21 KJV).

Today’s devotion is by Hally Franz. Hally is a former teacher and high school guidance counselor, turned homemaker. She enjoys volunteering at her children’s school, teaching Bible classes at her church, leading projects in 4-H, writing, reading, scrapbooking, and rousing (though, sometimes, not pretty) zumba classes.

Make 2011 a Masterpiece

By Jarrod Spencer –

Many areas in life are made up of people using creativity to make something out of very little. We tend to be a “meat and potato” country. You can go to restaurant after restaurant and see some variation of the “meat and potato.” These variations make it seem like there are much more options, but if you narrow it down, there are only about three to four meats and one potato, just with different variances between each one.

You are just you. What you do with that you is up to you. You can say “I’m bored” or you can say, “What can I use today for to make a difference in someone’s life?”  Both are really a choice based on the state of mind you are in at the time. How you use the things we have brings to mind a quote I really like by Jim Rohn, “There are only 3 colors, 10 digits, and 7 notes; it’s what we do with them that’s important.”

Three colors make up everything you see in color form. As a husband who has a wife who likes OPI Nail Polish, I have noticed that there are a lot of colors in the OPI line. There isn’t just one red—probably hundreds of variations of red! Ten digits compose numbers that are infinite, literally. Seven notes that have helped compose songs that draw people close to God, pump people up, or even bring people down. Notes have an unlimited amount of placements and arrangements throughout a song.

In the coming year, how will you use colors, digits, and notes to make 2011 a fun year for you? What will you “paint” in 2011? What “song” will you compose in 2011?

Ask yourself, “What can I use today for to make a difference in someone’s life?”

PRAYER: Father, You are the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me. May I be flexible and moldable to what You are developing in me. Soften my heart to remember that Your ways are not my ways. Use me mightily in the upcoming year!

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:10-11 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Jarrod Spencer. He is a seeker of God’s surprises in everyday life, looking for ways to be used by God with anyone he comes in contact with. He has a passion for encouraging people through the written word and exercises that passion with blogging and sending out a weekly text of encouragement. You can read more of his writings at http://jarrodspencer.blogspot.com and his church’s website is http://www.colbychurch.com.

Dousing Anger

By Rosemary Flaaten –

“I can’t believe what she did to me. She swooped in and sweet-talked the boss into letting her have the big project—the one that was slated for me, and then she went on to brag about it. When I confronted her, she started ranting and slashing my character right in front of our coworkers.  I felt so humiliated.  I am never going to forgive her for what she did to me. You know what, she better watch her back because I’m not letting go of this.”

Does anything in this story sound familiar? Someone upsets us and we hold onto the anger that surfaces, perhaps even choosing to retaliate. And as we coddle this anger, its tentacles go deeper and deeper into our soul, strangling any chance of moving past the injustice, let alone having good come of it. Anger, when nursed, becomes a roaring fire within us.

So what do we need to do to douse the fire and stop the destructive nature of anger? Choosing to step away from any opportunity with which we are presented or may pursue to even the score, is always the first step.

The second step is to let go of the hurt by choosing to forgive. We may think that if we have to forgive the same person over and over again, then at some point it will be understandable for our goodwill to expire. This was the Apostle Peter’s mentality when he asked Jesus to affirm that forgiving seven times was more than sufficient (Matthew 18:21). The Jewish law considered it presumptuous and unnecessary to forgive more than three times. Jesus’ response to Peter’s self-congratulatory statement was to forgive as He would: seventy times seven.

Most often, this is as far as we take the topic of forgiveness. Don’t retaliate, forgive and let go. But I believe the biblical story of Joseph adds one final piece to the picture. Joseph chose to show kindness and goodness to the very brothers who had wronged him (Genesis 50:19-21). When we choose to do good to someone, even if it is just kind thoughts toward them, the stranglehold of anger loses its power within us.

Forgiveness diffuses anger.  Kindness douses it completely.

PRAYER: As this new year begins, may I choose a new path that enables me to pursue ways to show kindness to those who have wronged me.

“Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life” (Ephesians 4:26-27 The Message).

Today’s Devotional is by Rosemary Flaaten. Her successful book, A Woman and Her Relationships helps women process their outside-of-work relationships, so now she’s delving into these 9-5 relationships in A Woman and Her Workplace. Her Relationships book won The Word Guild Award, which is Canada’s top Christian literary honor. A dynamic speaker—Rosemary challenges women of all professions to view their work as a calling and their workplaces as opportunities to live out Christ’s love. Rosemary lives with her husband and three children in Calgary, Canada.

Resolving to Forgive

By Bruce Hebel –

Every year at this time people all over the world are taking life assessments and looking for ways to improve themselves in the coming year. We call this “making a New Year’s resolution.” A New Year’s resolution is a commitment an individual makes to a lifestyle change for the better. It often involves breaking a bad habit or starting a good one. Every Top 10 List of resolutions includes losing weight. Pay attention over the next few days to the morning shows and magazines at the checkout. Everywhere you look you will see people claiming to have a surefire way to help you lose weight and keep it off. It just makes sense. After Thanksgiving, the Christmas parties, cookie exchanges and all those Christmas goodies at Grandma’s, most of us have mid-sections that bear more resemblance to a barrel than a six-pack.

Let me suggest that there’s different type of weight we need to lose which doesn’t show up in larger belt sizes or groaning scales. I’m talking about the weight of old wounds we have not forgiven. Unforgiveness weighs us down and wears us out. This type of heaviness is much more harmful to us than the kind we get from that second helping of Blue Bell ice cream. Unforgiveness, according to Matthew 18, leads to the heavy burden of torment. Forgiveness takes the weight off.

Recently I helped a lady walk through the protocols of forgiveness toward her ex-husband who had cheated on her and abandoned her many years before. After she chose to forgive and sealed her forgiveness by praying a blessing over him, she said to me “I feel like I can exhale for the first time in years. My heart is so much lighter. I can feel it relaxing.” We have helped hundreds of people make the choice to forgive wounds, which in some cases, were almost unbearable. Every time someone has made a commitment to forgive, they have proclaimed that their heart is lighter and they can breathe again.

So let me recommend a New Year’s resolution for you. Ask God if there is someone you need to forgive and for what. Then choose to forgive them. When you do, you will experience the quickest weight-loss of your life.

AUTHOR QUOTE: God expects forgiven people to forgive others!

“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25 NIV).

Today’s devotional is by Bruce Hebel, President of Regenerating Life Ministries (forgiving forward.com) and Adjunct Professor at Carver Bible College. Bruce is the author of the seminar and soon to be published book Forgiving Forward: Unleashing the Forgiveness Revolution. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and, along with his wife Toni, has served in church ministry for over 35 years.

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