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Thank you thank you thank you for reading what I write.
Loz x
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
get in the sunlight//227
Isaiah 60:1-2 (The Message)
"Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God's bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, but God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you."
The days are dark, the earth is not well, and we have no time to sleep. We must wake up early, put our face in the sunlight of His presence and soak in His glory. The light of His immense goodness and beyond-words-perfect-presence will shine all over you - from the inside out. And His hope and mercy and love in and around you will be the hope of the earth, in Jesus' name.
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"Get out of bed, Jerusalem! Wake up. Put your face in the sunlight. God's bright glory has risen for you. The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sunk in deep darkness, but God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you."
The days are dark, the earth is not well, and we have no time to sleep. We must wake up early, put our face in the sunlight of His presence and soak in His glory. The light of His immense goodness and beyond-words-perfect-presence will shine all over you - from the inside out. And His hope and mercy and love in and around you will be the hope of the earth, in Jesus' name.
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Tuesday, March 15, 2011
don't believe the lies//226
Psalm 25:5 (The Message)
"Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren't you?"
Too many times throughout the day we believe lies. We believe things about ourselves that simply aren't true, and it's these stupid ridiculous lies that give way to our negative thinking, our insecurity, us hurting people, and us hurting God. I think it's a worth while lesson to, as you go about your day, start identifying what is a lie and what is truth... and when those lies come up, knock em out of the park with the mighty strong Word of God.
Don't believe things about yourself that aren't true. For example, your head tells you: "no one likes me..." First step: ask yourself is this a lie or is it truth? Second step: open your Bible to Romans 8:31, "If God is for me, who can be against me?" Third step: identify it as a lie and move on. Fourth step: you are saved from the lies and you are FREE!. Don't waste one more second believing lies that the devil throws your way. Instead, open the precious Word of God and believe that you are powerful and full of authority in the strong name of Jesus. Believe the truth about who you are - perfect, royal, fully accepted and loved and full of power in Jesus name. It sounds so simplistic and in-theory-easy-in-reality-impossible, but at the root of all of our pain, our mistakes, and especially our insecurities is when the wool is pulled over our eyes to the truth of God and who He says we are. Remember, you're a target. The devil hates you and wants you to be a crumbling mess in the corner. Don't allow it. Stand up and fight back.
Pray this prayer that David prayed, and the light of truth will show you the way and save you from the lies.
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"Take me by the hand; Lead me down the path of truth. You are my Savior, aren't you?"
Too many times throughout the day we believe lies. We believe things about ourselves that simply aren't true, and it's these stupid ridiculous lies that give way to our negative thinking, our insecurity, us hurting people, and us hurting God. I think it's a worth while lesson to, as you go about your day, start identifying what is a lie and what is truth... and when those lies come up, knock em out of the park with the mighty strong Word of God.
Don't believe things about yourself that aren't true. For example, your head tells you: "no one likes me..." First step: ask yourself is this a lie or is it truth? Second step: open your Bible to Romans 8:31, "If God is for me, who can be against me?" Third step: identify it as a lie and move on. Fourth step: you are saved from the lies and you are FREE!. Don't waste one more second believing lies that the devil throws your way. Instead, open the precious Word of God and believe that you are powerful and full of authority in the strong name of Jesus. Believe the truth about who you are - perfect, royal, fully accepted and loved and full of power in Jesus name. It sounds so simplistic and in-theory-easy-in-reality-impossible, but at the root of all of our pain, our mistakes, and especially our insecurities is when the wool is pulled over our eyes to the truth of God and who He says we are. Remember, you're a target. The devil hates you and wants you to be a crumbling mess in the corner. Don't allow it. Stand up and fight back.
Pray this prayer that David prayed, and the light of truth will show you the way and save you from the lies.
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Friday, March 11, 2011
225//don't be stupid and rude//
Proverbs 18:13 (The Message)
"Answering before listening is both stupid and rude."
And who says the Bible doesn't have stuff to help us be better people? This is pretty much the all time take-homer, and I think it's so important to be someone who listens listens listens wholeheartedly before talking talking talking, and someone who absorbs and really takes in what the person in front of you is actually saying. It's a simple 101 communication skill, but take it from someone who has so much to say (it's the Italian in me), and often thinks that the other person is done with their sentence prematurely: people need time to say what they need to say, people like being asked questions about their lives, and people, more than anything, want to be truly heard and understood. Having someone who not only listens to the things you've been thinking about and experiencing lately, but chews on it and maybe even responds? This is a very very special thing.
Jesus displayed this little proverb beautifully. It seems as though He wasn't in a rush to say anything, rather, He listened and waited for what they (the goodies and the badies) had to say. Even the ones who had awful things to say... he waited until they finished speaking, thought about what to say and responded with words - perfect words - that cut straight through the fake and phony, into the heart of the matter. That's another bonus of waiting before you speak... the Holy Spirit will tell you how to respond and you will speak the truth in love.
Don't be stupid and rude. Don't interrupt people when they are speaking to you, look people in the eye when you're in conversation with them, and love to listen to people always.
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"Answering before listening is both stupid and rude."
And who says the Bible doesn't have stuff to help us be better people? This is pretty much the all time take-homer, and I think it's so important to be someone who listens listens listens wholeheartedly before talking talking talking, and someone who absorbs and really takes in what the person in front of you is actually saying. It's a simple 101 communication skill, but take it from someone who has so much to say (it's the Italian in me), and often thinks that the other person is done with their sentence prematurely: people need time to say what they need to say, people like being asked questions about their lives, and people, more than anything, want to be truly heard and understood. Having someone who not only listens to the things you've been thinking about and experiencing lately, but chews on it and maybe even responds? This is a very very special thing.
Jesus displayed this little proverb beautifully. It seems as though He wasn't in a rush to say anything, rather, He listened and waited for what they (the goodies and the badies) had to say. Even the ones who had awful things to say... he waited until they finished speaking, thought about what to say and responded with words - perfect words - that cut straight through the fake and phony, into the heart of the matter. That's another bonus of waiting before you speak... the Holy Spirit will tell you how to respond and you will speak the truth in love.
Don't be stupid and rude. Don't interrupt people when they are speaking to you, look people in the eye when you're in conversation with them, and love to listen to people always.
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Thursday, March 3, 2011
224/His plans trump ours//
Proverbs 19:21 (the message)
"We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails."
Ah, gotta love this one. Sometimes I picture God just sitting back and watching us like ants running around in circles, here and there and everywhere, trying to figure out the best possible option for the best possible outcome; trying to over-think and analyze the best possible scenarios that could make things happen the fastest to make us richer to make us more pretty and thin, and to make people like us more. We exhaust ourselves thinking about all the things we could do with what the world/life/God has given to us. And I think that God is maybe trying to get a word in edge ways, but we're too busy trying to sort things out, get our ducks in a row, and make it happen for ourselves (not all bad things, we maybe just need to sit back and let Him take care of the logistics for a minute).
When your heart and spirit is daily, moment by moment seeking His Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you - you know, asking Him throughout your day where you should go, what you should do, and when you should do it - I don't think that you can really go too far wrong. We must seek Him for the best options, and ultimately, in the long run, His wonderful bird's eye view will take you where you need to go... His plan will trump yours.
Get active in seeking Him. Put your energy into believing for good things to happen for you, your family and your friends. Maybe take half the energy you put into investing your heart, time and money into life stuff, and put it into the spirit stuff. Things will happen, things will change, things will fall into place and His plan for your life will win. That's what I think these precious words written by the wisest king (Solomon) who ever lived, are saying to us.
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"We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails."
Ah, gotta love this one. Sometimes I picture God just sitting back and watching us like ants running around in circles, here and there and everywhere, trying to figure out the best possible option for the best possible outcome; trying to over-think and analyze the best possible scenarios that could make things happen the fastest to make us richer to make us more pretty and thin, and to make people like us more. We exhaust ourselves thinking about all the things we could do with what the world/life/God has given to us. And I think that God is maybe trying to get a word in edge ways, but we're too busy trying to sort things out, get our ducks in a row, and make it happen for ourselves (not all bad things, we maybe just need to sit back and let Him take care of the logistics for a minute).
When your heart and spirit is daily, moment by moment seeking His Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you - you know, asking Him throughout your day where you should go, what you should do, and when you should do it - I don't think that you can really go too far wrong. We must seek Him for the best options, and ultimately, in the long run, His wonderful bird's eye view will take you where you need to go... His plan will trump yours.
Get active in seeking Him. Put your energy into believing for good things to happen for you, your family and your friends. Maybe take half the energy you put into investing your heart, time and money into life stuff, and put it into the spirit stuff. Things will happen, things will change, things will fall into place and His plan for your life will win. That's what I think these precious words written by the wisest king (Solomon) who ever lived, are saying to us.
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