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Need a fast, fun and inspiring devotional (don't look at me as if I am not deep - only a handful of Christians have daily devotions - this could be just the next step for you!)
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Psalm 1:2&3
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
When I was young, my family had a tree that was as much a fixture of my childhood as the house I grew up in.
The pine was huge and lush, and the background for the most important pictures of my life. Whenever there was a holiday, graduation or some other important milestone, my brother and I were lined up against the tree where my dad would snap the picture to commemorate the occasion.
Several years after moving out of my parent’s home, the faithful tree was still standing tall, providing much needed shelter in the barren back yard.
That is until one winter when the rain came.
It wasn’t even a big storm, but without any warning, this giant of a tree fell to the ground, nearly missing my parent’s bedroom as well as the next door neighbor’s.
Upon further inspection, it was determined that while the tree continued to look healthy on the outside, the root system had been shut down for some time. The tree was dying from the inside out.
Are you staying connected to the Source? How are your daily times of prayer and Bible reading? You can go on for days, or even weeks missing your time with God and no one being the wiser. You may even miss a Sunday or two. Problem is, eventually, it starts to affect your health, your life.
What are three ways that you can be “connected to the source” this week?
We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:10
If we are to be the best reflection of Jesus to our culture, will it be by organizing marches, preaching on street corners, or by putting our best foot forward? Most likely it will be by taking our broken, imperfect shells out into the world and letting the love of Jesus shine through them.
Look at how Mother Teresa prayed as she asked Christ to be reflected in her.
Dear Jesus,
Help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrated and possess our whole being so utterly
That our lives may only be a radiance of yours…
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best
By shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching
Not by words, but by our example,
By the catching force,
The sympathetic influence of what we do,
The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
How can you “preach without preaching”?
Sorry I missed all of you yesterday - we all had a slight touch of the flu around here. and that is when I realized that I am a drug addict.
Yep - for some reason, I hoard medicine. I had some that was prescribed for my son's ear infection - in 1994.
Take a moment and throw out all the old meds. Be sure to dispose of them safely - down the garbage disposal instead of just in the garbage can (don't want any curious kiddos or Fidos finding the stash.)
Just one more thing off your plate so you can travel light and go for your goals!
"If a man hasn't discovered something that he would die for, he isn't fit to live."
"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:26-28).
“Scoot over closer. I’ll keep you warm.”
“Uh huh,” my husband mumbles, “Thanks for the sacrifice – you are such a giver,” he says with a knowing smile.
Yep – my hubby is onto me.
Whenever we are sitting together at our son’s hockey game and I start to shiver, I offer to “help” my husband out by snuggling up close. Yep – he gets the benefit, but so do I.
It is almost always the same in serving others. While others may benefit, we are the ones who receive the true reward.
However we are called to serve, we have an opportunity to impact other people’s lives. It doesn’t matter if your missions field is the garbage cities of Mexico Africa
But, in the process, God wants to do life changing ministry in you. It is impossible to answer the call of Christ on your life and serve Him without changing yourself – becoming a little more like Christ as you serve.
God has great things in store for His kids who are willing to be used by Him.
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
I have been freed.
No, not from my addiction to Baby Ruths (we are going to need a major Jesus moment for that to happen.) Nope - it is from my addiction to feedback.
As a professional speaker - just like anyone else who is reaching for their God-appointed goals, I knew I needed to get feedback in order to improve. When I spoke at groups, I would hand out feedback forms so that I could have evaluations.
No more.
While usually 95-100% of the comments are positive at any engagement, there were sometimes one or two that would say things like "not biblical enough" or "told too many stories".
Can you guess which ones stuck with me - the 95% - or the one or two? Yep - being human and all, it was the one or two.
I felt like a less-than speaker (and Christian, at that). Shouldn't I welcome all feedback and let it change me into a better speaker.
And then I read about Steven Furtick. He is a pastor of a church that is growing crazy fast in Charlotte NC. He too was addicted to feedback and would listen to everything, but mostly let the negative comments "stick to his soul". I totally get that. I won't tell you everything he said, but if you are interested in how to handle criticism, go read his post:
http://technorati.com/wtf/steven-furtick
I tell you it was life changing for me. I acknowledged that I do ask for feedback - from my ministry partners, my accountability group, my mentors, and from Roger, who I know has my best interest in heart to not only keep from wounding me, but will also kick my butt towards being an excellent representative of Christ. I think we all have got it covered.
I thank God for the people He has surrounded me with who tell the truth in love. I am way blessed.
Yes, we are going to go there.
How mangy is the bottom of your purse? Are you at the point that you don't want to dig for fear of what may be down there?
For several months I just ignored that there was something leaving a dark ooze on everything I pulled out. I figured it had to dry up at some point - right?
This is no way to live people.
It is the perfect time of year to be doing it - trade in your heavy leather bag for something light and springy. Rog and I were just at Target tonight and let me tell you, the cute floral and orange bags are enough for you to go grab a pair of espadrilles and sit on the back porch sipping lemonade.
I have found that there is only one way to clean out a purse - the dump and sort method. This is where you dump everything on a non-porous surface (remember the leaking pen) sort through everything that has no earthly reason to be carried around everyday (can anyone say sermon notes?) and get yourself down to the bare minimum. For me this includes:
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Chicken Tortilla Soup
So this is going to be a crazy week - followed by a crazy week. I need to spend some time cooking ahead so that the troops around here can eat. Trying to find recipes that will fill everyone up (three teenagers with the appetites roughly equivalent to those of professional football players.)
Chicken Tortilla Soup
1 can Tomato soup
1 can Chicken broth
4 cups Water
1 package Taco seasoning
4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can Corn
1. Prepare: Cook and shred chicken breasts.
2. Assemble: Mix together tomato soup, chicken broth, water, taco seasoning, chicken and corn. Simmer for 20 minutes. Let cool and freeze in gallon storage bags.
3. Serve: Defrost soup in refrigerator overnight. Warm and serve with jack or cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, and sliced green onions.
Servings: 4
We serve this with corn quesadillas and vegetarian refried beans.
