Thankful for YOU

A friend should be one in whose understanding and virtue we can equally confide, and whose opinion we can value at once for its justness and its sincerity.

~Robert Hall

I am so thankful for the friends God has placed in my life.
Not just people- but the TRUE friends who are there to laugh with me, to cry with me, to encourage me, to pray with me, to care for my family in my absence, to jump in and lend a hand when they see its needed and not necessarily asked for. Give honest opinions, tell you the truth, even when it may hurt but not do it to hurt you but to help you.

 Friends~My Friends.  

Ones whom God has chooses to place around me during different seasons on my life.  


I find it fascinating that He, God, Creator of everything, even little ol' me, for- knew my life, my circumstances and the different paths I would choose, taking great care,He placed special ones for me to share life with and encourage along the road, unique ones, some of whom I would have not chosen myself and others would have been the first selected out of a line up.  

Dear friends, I want to thank you for sharing in my daily life, for loving me, accepting me and encouraging me to be my Best , the one God created me to be, and for helping to propel me forward, whether its through your kind words, a loving smile or a meal made possibly even telling me that truth I needed to hear, in Love.  
You mean so much to me and I will not specifically name who you are but if you are thinking "could she be talking about me"  then YES I am.  You are a blessing to me and I pray that in some way I am able to be that same friend to you.     

YOU

 God knit you together, called you and appointed Y-O-U!   Who you are, Where you are, and what you are....  

His choice of you was based on a deep intimate knowledge of who you are

and ultimately who He knew who you would become.    So if you are pretending to be someone or something you're not,  you are going against how God created you.   You are not be Truthfully and Honestly  You!  Yes, You,  with all your silly little quirks and mannerisms are original, hand crafted by the Creator Himself.  

Why would you want to be anything different? Anyone different?  Do you think You know better than God?

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. 

C. S. Lewis 

Compliments

Most people are relational.   And as being such the like to talk ad be talked to.  We need to learn to give honest, encouraging affirmations to one another.  

Our self worth should not be based on how much or how often we get positive feedback from others but it certainly does help our self image, One nice thing said helps us carry our head a little higher.  Everyone likes genuine commendation, especially when they know there are NO strings attached.  People seem to let their guard down when a complement about their hair, the way they are dressed or more important, when one of their positive character traits is picked up by someone else and considerate complimented.  The act of simply stating one thing about another person does a powerful thing, it diminishes the need for competition.  

Think of someone you have hesitated to give a compliment to, of one reason or another.  Ask your self why.  They too need affirmation on their unique value, whether we “love” it or not it is worthy of mention.

See we have to be comfortable with who we are and the  uniqueness God has placed in us so that we can offer the same to those around us. 

Everyone wants to be loved, accepted and admired.  

Who can you compliment today?

Make it a way of life, making others feel good about themselves.  Find something you can appreciate about people you run into in your daily life and tell them, they need to hear it, and you, You’ll be built up as well because you are enhancing someone else's life and value.  Through your security in knowing you are fearfully and wonderfully made with all your wonderful and quirky attributes, in return you are helping them to understand that too...just one complement at a time.  

Unity of Prayer

The unity of prayer of an intrigal part of how my church was built.

  When like minded believers in Christ Jesus come together and speak the very oracles that have been spoken in heaven, things happen, the place you stand on changes dramatically.

  When Jesus spoke Our father who art in Heaven hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...this is it.  

As you are praying what I say through My spirit in you~ you speak out those things I want to accomplish in your midst.  

 YOU have been placed here for such a time as this,.  You and only you can accomplish the path I have laid out before you.   

Loving

Joyce Meyer Ministries

Loving God, Yourself & Others

by Joyce Meyer

Love requires action. It's not a thing we try to get for ourselves, but instead is an action we express to others through sharing and serving.

Because love is an action, I believe there are three different forms of love God has instructed us to demonstrate, or "live out." Each one needs to be in balance so they can work together. As you read on, consider whether each one is well-balanced in your life or needs some adjustments.

#1 Loving God

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might. In the New Testament, Jesus repeats this command and even points it out as the most important commandment of all (as well as loving your neighbor as yourself).

So, how do you express love for God? By telling God, "I love You"? Singing praises to Him? These are good things, but they only scratch the surface.

We show God we love Him through obediencebecause actions definitely speak louder than words. I believe our level of obedience grows as we get to know and experience His love, goodness and faithfulness in our lives. Our desire to follow and obey the Lord's commandments increases as we increase our love of God.

#2 Loving Yourself

When Jesus talked about the greatest commandment of all, He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and said we are to love God with all our heart. But He also added the second greatest commandment: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (See Mark 12:31.)

There's something important here that I think people often miss: You cannot give away something you don't have in you. How can someone love another person if they don't love themselves?

“ "You cannot give away something you don't have in you." ”

We all need to accept ourselves, embrace our personalities and even our imperfections, knowing that although we are not where we need to be, we are making progress. Jesus died for us because we have weaknesses and imperfections, and we don't have to reject ourselves because of them. God wants us to love ourselves and enjoy how He's made us!

#3 Loving Others

We know that we have passed over out of death into Life by the fact that we love the brethren (our fellow Christians). He who does not love abides (remains, is held and kept continually) in [spiritual] death (1 John 3:14).

Life, in this verse, is the life of God or "life as God has it." I don't want to be one of what I call "the walking dead"─someone who lives and breathes but never truly lives as God desires.

Loving others is the only way to keep the God-kind of life flowing through you. God's love is a gift to us; it's in us, but we need to release it to others through words and actions. Left dormant, it will stagnate like a pool of water with no outlet.

The act of loving others is one of the most exhilarating things I have experienced. I feel excitement stirring in my spirit and soul when I plan to do something to make someone else feel loved and cared for.

You can experience the same exhilaration just by "loving out loud." Here's a challenge: Think of three people you know who could really use a gesture of God's love. Then think of creative ways you can express His love to these people, and do it. I guarantee you will feel a wonderful sense of fulfillment and joy afterward.

How You Can Continue to Grow in Love

If you will devote yourself to developing your love walk in these three areas, you will experience a huge amount of blessings in your life.

I encourage you to seek God about this and ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in your love toward Jesus, yourself and others. He will help you overcome anything that might hinder you in the process. Remember, God is love. And He loves you. 

The Choice is Yours

Deuteronomy 4: 9

 Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, 10 especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb, when the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’

Are we teaching/telling the what God has done in our life so that the next generation will know?

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It is our responsibility to teach, to tell, to speak of the goodness of God.  

Otherwise how will they know?

YOU have a choice to make it different in the lives of those you love for the next generation. Will YOU declare them if not who are you expecting to?

Look Beyond Your Limits

February 2012Article taken from: VictoriaOsteen.com

One Sunday, a woman came to me for prayer during the prayer time in one of our church services. She told me that she had made some wrong decisions in her relationship with her adult daughter, and they were in strife and not talking to each other. The woman was so distraught. It looked like there wasn't any hope for the situation in the natural. There seemed to be a mountain in between her and her daughter.

As I listened to her story, I honestly didn't know what to pray, but as I started, I heard myself say something that I don't think I had ever said before. I said, "God, it looks like her hands are tied. There's nothing else she can do." Then something just rose up out of my spirit and I said, "But God, even though her hands are tied, I know Your hands are not tied." As soon as those words passed my lips, something leaped inside of me and a light of hope shone on the woman's face. She immediately changed her focus and was filled with faith. She knew she didn't have all the answers, but she was able to look past her limits and open her heart to what God could do in her life.

Today, you may be facing a situation and feel like your hands are tied. Maybe the negative voices are constantly playing over and over, reminding you that it's not going to work out, or how impossible things seem. It may be true that your hands are tied in the natural, but always know that God's hands are never tied. With Him, all things are possible. He can do whatever is necessary to bring you through. His power is unlimited! Nothing is too difficult for Him!

Not only are His hands free to help you today, they are stretched out toward you, inviting you to come and find rest for your soul. It doesn't matter what you've done; it doesn't matter how you ended up in the situation you're in, God's love knows no limits. He is ready, willing and able to help you when you submit yourself to Him.

Today, I want to challenge you to look beyond your limits and consider what God can do in your life. You may not see a way, but God can make a way. No matter what may come against you, face it in faith and don't back down. His hands are never tied, and He is more than able to do the impossible in your life!

"Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear…" (Isaiah 59:1, NKJV).

FAITHFUL

The Lord woke me up today with the word FAITHFUL.  

faith·full

adjective

1.strict or thorough in the performance of duty: a faithful worker.

2.true to one's word, promises, vows, etc.

3.steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant: faithful friends.

4.reliable, trusted, or believed.

5.adhering or true to fact, a standard, or an original; accurate: a faithful account; a faithful copy.

Deuteronomy 7:9
“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1Cor 1:9

When God says something or has a plan - it WILL come to pass.  Just because we waiver in our little human minds, typically our thoughts are based on our circumstances and emotions, this does not change the fact that God has said something.   We are not keeping in perspective the BIG picture, the whole of eternity as God does.  

 Isaiah 14:24

The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
“Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:

Numbers 23:19

“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 

Why can we not just take HIS Word for what it says...literally?  Yet

when we get a note from someone or talk to them, do we not literally take what it says and believe it?

  If Aunt Sally wrote to you and said she was coming for Christmas, we would all expect to see her at Christmas...Right?

So why is it so different with the Word of God? The one who GAVE His ONLY Son, to die for us, thats YOU and

me, how shall he not also freely give us all things?

Our disbelief toward the Word of God for our life today; It ought not be this way. 

My encouragement for you (and myself) today is this...get in your knower, so that you know that you know, in your heat of hearts ~ GOD IS FAITHFUL!  

If He has said something to you, if He has placed a desire in you, IT WILL BE!  

Take heart, Jesus overcame this natural garbage you and I deal with, and is now seated beside God in Heaven

John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

We will too!

Chosen~Set Apart~Appointed

Our true lasting value and self worth must be based on our love and acceptance of our Heavenly Father

He choose us, He set us apart and appointed us for the place we are in right now. 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew [and] approved of you [as My chosen instrument], and before you were born I separated and set you apart, consecrating you; [and] I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah 1:5 AMP

Now you may not chosen be a prophet, but the message is still the same, and it is still for us today. 

Before you were even formed, thought of by your parents, He knew you and approved of you, before you were born, while you were being formed in the womb He set you apart for such a time as this; Appointed for your situation, for your life right now, as it is.  He preferred YOU over anyone else to be mother, father, sister, brother, friend, employee, spouse, neighbor, Y-O-U!  With all your talents, abilities, relationships, problems, issues, lack, quirks.  HE saw you as FIT for the situations and people you would encounter in this life right now; That person, handpicked by God Himself.

This was not a halfhearted decision on Gods part, it was methodical, calculated and full of wisdom.   He knew what He had put in you, He knows your full potential, even in you haven’t realized it yet.  The personalized talents and abilities that are hidden somewhere in there, HE placed them in you as little seeds so that one day, when the timing is perfect you are were faced with a situation, you could reach down on the inside and harvest what you need.  It’s all in there we just need to look for it.  We need to take the time to discover what’s in there and ask Him how he wants us to use it. 

 Many years ago a friend of my gave me a little plaque that say “bloom where your planted”.   I still have it hanging in my home and each time I look at it, it makes me think, am I truly blooming where I am planted by God, or am I wanting to transplant myself somewhere else?  Thinking I know better than God…..

One last scripture to think on in John 15:16 it says

 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you” 

Do we trust that God choose us and appointed us for our lives and situations right now, or are we thinking we know better than Him, where we should be, what we should be doing and with whom we should be doing it with? Are we waiting for Him to do something, or are we moving by faith trusting that He has it all lined out al we must do is take the first step.   

Tapistry

Our lives are like a tapestry woven together over time, not quite seeing the whole of the picture until one day we see fully and discover what the image is.  It is beautiful, but we must let each thread be woven into place to see the full majestic outcome, even when we don’t understand why certain colors and stitches  are used, we must trust that the weaver of the fabric of our life knows what He is doing.

Decision to make a Decision.

Each of us has a decision to make a decision.   

Every day we are faced with the fact that we must choose whom we will serve.  Will we serve self and what we want to do say and be, or will we submit to Gods plan for our lives? 

There are many, many people walking around today with a victims mentality, OH poor me, this person did me wrong, I got dealt a bad “hand” in life, if only I could have this or that, then….  Sound familiar?  It could be you or someone you know.

Well, here is the truth, everyone has had their own set of circumstances they have had to “deal” with in life.  They may look different on the outside but on the inside it is the same battle; what kind of decision did they make to “deal” with their circumstances.  We cannot blame others for where we are, sure there may have been some pretty rough patches but ultimately what kind of choices are you making to shape your life.  Are you choosing to be bitter and live with the bad choices someone else has made, are you living off of someone else’s good  choices   taking a free ride?

Hebrews 4:13 says And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

We must all give an account for our time here on earth.  Whether you know Gods plan for your life or not, it is not based on social economical status, geography, color, weight, male or female, God’s plan for each person is individual and WE have a choice to make. 

The apostle Paul for example, he was a highly educated, wealthy ,raised in a strict Jewish home, and major persecutor of the Christians of his time. A martyr, witnessing the execution of Christians.  His life was the law, the temple and the traditions of his people, anything against that deserved to be challenged.  One day when he was about 30 years old he was on his way to another city when God knocked him off his ride, appeared as a bright light, and as Paul describes it in Galatians 1:16 “was pleased to reveal His Son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles”. 

Paul had a decision to make at that point , God himself talked to him and showed him Jesus , now,was he going to believe what had really happened to him and serve God , walk into the plan God had for him rather than the traditions of his family? But his family traditions was all he had known, in fact he spent years studying traditions and the law so he could me more advanced, top of his class if you will.  And now, this.  He had a choice to make. 

You may not have had a “visit” from God like Paul, but the choice is still the same.  It shouldn’t take a major event  or dramatic situation to get us to realize God, who is the same yesterday today and forever, wants to have a real relationship with you. He has a plan for your life that is far above anything you could ever imagine.  But based on the decisions we make or choose not to make that is how far we will go with the plan he has laid out for us. 

Lucky for us Paul choose to serve God and go against his beloved education, the reasoning he was brought up with, and he choose Gods plan for his life.  It changed history forever.  You can too. 

You can change the history of your family, your friends, and your neighbors by the decisions you make on a daily basis.  I know for me it is sometimes a moment by moment basis.  But the things we choose to do or not do, people to talk to or not talk to that is history in the making whether we think so or not. 

Gods plan is divine and He will bring people, situation, things into your life to make it work, its not up to you to make it work out all we must do is decide.

So now is your time.   You have a decision to make a decision.  What or whom will you choose? You may not have to answer right now for your choices, but one day we will all have to give account to our Heavenly Father, What did we do with the time He entrusted to us here on this earth?   Did we take advantage of the things, resources and people He brought our way or did we ignore and squander it?