Meditate On This

Meditate On There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. Proverbs 11:24 Be Big-Hearted Like God When God made this world, He made it with more than enough of everything we need. He splurged! He is an extravagant God. He is not going to wake up one day and say, “My goodness, I forgot to put enough oil in the earth!” Let me tell you this: God is never caught off guard. He has more than enough supply for all your needs in this world! I want you to know today that your loving heavenly Father is a big-hearted, generous God of abundance. When you have a revelation of how He is so full of love, power and provision, you won’t live life constantly worried about your needs, or envious of others when you see them blessed. When you know that all of heaven’s resources are yours to enjoy because of the cross of Jesus, you can have a generous heart, a big heart, like your Daddy God. And according to today’s verse, when you have a big heart, you become a candidate for even more that God has. So meditate on God’s abundance toward you and open up your heart today. Be a giver. Be a blessing. Rejoice with others when they are blessed. See yourself blessed and provided for because of Jesus and before long, you will see it on the outside!

Set Your Mind and Keep It Set

Set Your Mind and Keep It Set

by Joyce Meyer - posted August 29, 2015

And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.
- Colossians 3:2
The Bible says we are to set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth. Having been addicted to approval, I know how difficult it is not to think about it when we feel someone is not pleased with us. Thoughts of that person's anger and rejection seem to fill our every waking moment. Instead of trying not to think wrong thoughts, choose right ones. Fill your mind with positive thoughts. Meditate on God's Word and His will for you. Then wrong thoughts will find no place of entry.
We have all had the experience of being terribly worried about something, of having our minds rotating around and around a problem endlessly. If we get involved in something else that interests us, we stop worrying for a period of time. When it is quiet and we are alone, or when we have nothing else to do, we begin to worry again.
I have found that one of the best allies against wrong thinking is to stay busy doing something for someone else. I don't have time to think about "me" when I am occupied with someone else's need. In this way I set my mind on what is above, not on earthly things. I set my mind on God's instruction to me to walk in love (see Ephesians 5:2).

Are You Good at Making Excuses?

Are You Good at Making Excuses?

Gretchen Rubin | August 29, 2015 | Living

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I was laughing as I read this piece from the satire magazine, The Onion: “Personal Trainer Impressed by Man’s Improved Excuses.“
It purports to be an interview with a personal trainer who’s impressed by one of his clients — a guy who has made amazing improvements in the sophistication of the excuses he’s giving for not working out.

“Acknowledging that the progress made in such a short time was remarkable…[the personal trainer said] he is very impressed by the improvement in both the strength and consistency of his client’s excuses…’A few months ago he had really weak pretenses for not sticking to a workout plan, but he’s put in a lot of effort and now he’s sporting much more robust and powerful justifications…After seeing how he struggled early on with a simple excuse about traffic, it’s gratifying to see him push himself and dig deep for rationalizations that more believably exonerate him…[like] tackling a long, grueling story about how construction in his neighborhood aggravated his dust mite allergies.’”

I love this piece, because I love loopholes. Loopholes are so funny. So imaginative, and so ingenious. We’re like cell phones searching for a signal — as we cast about for an appropriate loophole to let us off the hook.

As Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Autobiography, “So convenient a thing is it to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do. ”

When we want to find a loophole, we can always find a reason. @gretchenrubin (Click to Tweet!)

Note: with a loophole, we’re not mindfully making an exception, but looking for a justification that excuses us from sticking to a particular habit.
If we can spot loopholes, we can perhaps resist invoking them, and do a better job of keeping a good habit.
The ten — yes, ten — categories of loopholes are:
1. False choice loophole – “I can’t do this, because I’m so busy doing that” – this is one I often use, myself
2. Moral licensing loophole  — “I’ve been so good, it’s okay for me to do this”
3. Tomorrow loophole — “It’s okay to skip today, because I’m going to do this tomorrow”
4. Lack of control loophole — “I can’t help myself”
5. Planning to fail loophole — formerly known as the “Apparently irrelevant decision loophole”
6. “This doesn’t count” loophole  —“I’m on vacation” “I’m sick” “It’s the weekend”
7. Questionable assumption loophole — “the label says it’s healthy”
8. Concern for others loophole — “I can’t do this because it might make other people uncomfortable”
9. Fake self-actualization loophole – “You only live once! Embrace the moment!”
10. One-coin loophole –“What difference does it make if I break my habit this one time?”
I love that the Onion article highlights the point that even if a person’s workouts aren’t improving, he might be improving his loophole-seeking.
What loophole do you invoke most often? I listed my own favorite as #one, the false choice loophole. But I think that others, such as #four and #six, are more popular.

Joel & Victoria's Blog

A Little at a Time Post by Victoria Osteen on August 28, 2015   If you're like most people, you probably have a "to do" list somewhere nearby. It may not necessarily be written down on paper, but it may be somewhere in the back of your mind. I've found that we can easily get so busy in our minds thinking of all things we have to do that it can overwhelm us and zap our energy. Sometimes, our "to do" list, though full of good intentions, can actually distract us and keep us from God's best. God wants us to live in balance. In life, everything doesn't happen all at once. All of our dreams, desires, and goals aren't fulfilled instantly; it happens a little bit at a time. You grow one step at a time. You increase little by little. You strengthen your marriage a little bit at a time. You lose weight gradually over time. You get healthy one choice at a time. You pay your debt off a little at a time. Scripture tells us that, "With God, all things are possible" but notice that it doesn't say, "With God, everything happens instantaneously." Yes, we do serve a God of miracles. We should look for Him to act on our behalf but we should also do our part to be faithful. Proverbs 12:24 says, "the hand of the diligent will rule." Hebrews 6:12 says that "through faith AND patience, we inherit His promises." Today, focus on living in balance. Learn to rest your mind. Get into the peace of God. The only step you have to focus on in life is the next one. Let Him lead and guide you in the way you should go. You don't have to figure everything out today, you just have to take that next step; you just have to start making that little adjustment. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed but what you know you need to do in life. Just start doing a little bit at a time because before you know it, you will see those dreams and desires come to pass! "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…" (Zechariah 4:10, NLT).

Daily Bible Quotes

Every day is a beautiful day for inspiration and faith from Daily Bible Quotes! It's 8/29 and here is today's scripture: But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.     Matthew 6:33 Don't forget to spread The Word by sharing today's passage with friends. Have a blessed day full of peace, love and happiness. We'll see you tomorrow!

You Can Choose How God Blesses Your Life

You Can Choose How God Will Bless Your Life By Rick Warren — Aug 29, 2015 “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” (Luke 6:38 NLT, second edition) Generosity determines the blessings in your life. Proverbs 22:9 says, “Blessed are those who are generous” (NLT, second edition). I’ve seen that time after time in my own life and in the lives of others. Tom Holladay, a pastor at Saddleback Church, says that the time he and his wife saw most in their married life how God blesses them through generosity was when they lost it all. Years ago a levy near their house broke, and nine feet of water flooded their house. Everything was lost. All they had left was the car they were driving and the clothes on their backs. Tom says: “We had more than tithed all of our lives. I’m a pastor. I wasn’t going to challenge other people to follow Jesus in a way that I wasn’t going to follow Jesus. So why would God let that happen to us? “Over the several months after our house flooded, we saw God bless our lives in ways that we’d never seen before. Even through their own difficulties, people from all over the country came in and rebuilt our house and supplied all the things we had lost. Before I was on staff as a pastor at Saddleback, people from that church took up an offering for me to buy books for my pastor’s library. Now every time I go look in my library, I see the books bought by Saddleback Church because they loved me before I came. That’s a blessing I wouldn’t have had otherwise. God blesses us in the ups and downs of life through our generosity.” Jesus said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full — pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” God’s saying you get to choose. You get to choose how he will bless your life. As you give, you will receive. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over Think of a time in your life when you were in need. Did you think about giving during that time? Why or why not? How have you seen God bless your life because you were generous? What is one way you can be more generous today?

Daily Hope

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Essentials For Living

Can You Worship God More Than Just at Church?

By Rick Warren — Aug 26, 2015

“Sing out your thanks to him; sing praises to our God.” (Psalm 147:7 TLB) You’ve probably noticed that music and love go together, because music comes from the heart. It’s not something you do intellectually. It’s something that comes out of your soul, your emotions. There are many love songs in the world. In fact there are radio stations that are dedicated entirely to the love song format. But did you know that more songs have been written about Jesus Christ than any other topic in the world? Christianity is a singing faith. Why? Because it’s not about religion. It’s about a love affair. It’s about a relationship with God, who loves you so much that he sent his Son to die for you and who wants you to love him back. Psalm 147:7 says, “Sing out your thanks to him; sing praises to our God” (TLB). Nothing will make you more aware of God’s love and presence in your life than singing and praise. You may be thinking, “But you don’t understand. I can’t sing.” The Bible says to make a joyful noise. I know you can do that because probably when you go to a sports game or when somebody’s getting married, you make a joyful noise. So just let it out! You don’t have to hit the right note. You just have to make a joyful noise. Can you worship God more than just at church? Yes, because worship is simply expressing your love to God. That means you can worship in the shower. You can worship in your backyard mowing the lawn. You can worship washing dishes. You can worship driving to work and making a deal or on the golf course. You can express your love to God anywhere and everywhere. And that means you can sing everywhere. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What are you thinking about when you sing during worship at church? Where is your focus? How often do you sing your thanks and love to God? Daily? Regularly? Occasionally? Rarely? What is something in your life you can replace with singing or listening to worship music so that you remember to worship more often?

Today's Word with Joel & Victoria

Today’s Scripture “Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Psalm 103:2, NIV) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Forget Not His Benefits God has given us many benefits today! He’s given us so much to be thankful for. When you meditate on His goodness, faithfulness and blessings in your life, it will change you on the inside. When you focus on the fact that He saved you and set you free, the challenges and obstacles in your life will begin to fade away. Psalm 103 goes on to say that “He crowns you with love and compassion and satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed.” No matter what you may be facing today, forget not His benefits! God wants to satisfy you with good things. If you need healing today, healing is a benefit. If you’ve made mistakes in your life, forgiveness is a benefit. If you feel tired and overwhelmed, strength is a benefit. As you turn your thoughts toward the Father today, He will strengthen and empower you to live as an overcomer in every area of your life! A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for Your blessings and benefits in my life. I choose to focus on Your goodness and believe You have so much more in store for me. I honor You today in all that I do in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Living In Love

by Victoria Osteen   Living in Love Look for the Best in Each Other I once heard about a husband and wife who were so upset after a big argument that they refused to speak to each other. That night, not wanting to be the first to break the awkward silence, the man left a note on his wife’s side of the bed that read, “wake me up at 6 o’clock in the morning.” The next morning, by the time the husband woke up, it was already 8 o’clock. Furious, he roared, “Where is she?” and was about to chew out his wife when he found a note on his side of the bed: “It’s six o’clock; wake up.” If we’re going to live in love, we have to learn to forgive one another. The Bible says, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger, but instead, forgive. And above all things, put on love.”1 That means: Above having your own way...

Chosen and Adopted

Chosen and Adopted

by Joyce Meyer - posted August 26, 2015
 
Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent].
- Ephesians 1:4-5
You understand adoption in the natural sense. You know some children without parents are adopted by people who purposely choose them and raise them as their own. In the same way you have been chosen and brought into the family of God even though you were previously an outsider, unrelated to God in any way.
God in His great mercy redeemed you and purchased you with the blood of His own Son, and He has provided an inheritance that is wonderful beyond understanding. God has many good things in His plan for you so start expecting blessings!

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Choose Peace

Choose Peace

Holiness is so important to God. The Bible says that holiness is the key to seeing the Lord. When you obey the Word of God and allow Him to work in your life, you are pursuing holiness. You will see the Lord working in your life. Notice this verse starts by saying that we should live at peace with the people around us. When we have peace in our lives, our homes and our relationships, it opens the door for God to work. But when we have strife, bitterness, anger or resentment in our relationships, it blocks God’s blessing. Remember, when it comes to disagreements in relationships, it doesn’t always matter who is right, it matters what is right. And choosing peace is right.

Is there someone in your life today that you need to restore peace with? A simple act of kindness, a note or small gift can open the door for restoration in your relationships. Step out today and let peace create a foundation for the blessing God has in store for you!
A Prayer for Today
“Father, today I open my heart to You. I choose Your way of peace. Show me how to live at peace with the people in my life so that I can honor You in everything I do in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Words of Encouragement

Les Brown

You are in the middle of a miracle. Stand still. Do not panic. Keep the faith. Continue to work your plan. Stay focused with a determined vision. Dig in and resolve to yourself...It is not over...until I win!!!

Bishop David G Evans

Don't just pray for what you want. Pray for God to reveal the process. Doubt develops when you don't know the process!

Bishop Clarence E. McClendon·

Declare: Lord, I ask You, help me to make the shift to put You, Your Kingdom and Your agenda first!

Zig Ziglar

Deepening our understanding of the Lord as our shepherd brings us serenity, peace, and joy.

Who Have You Judged Today?

Who Have You Judged Today?

Skylar Liberty Rose | August 26, 2015 | Inspiring, Living

Who do you think the person standing next to you in the coffee line is? Who do you think the teenager that just raced past you in the street is? Who do you think I am?
If you saw me an hour ago you would have seen me giving food to a homeless man. If you’d seen me an hour before that you would have seen me rolling my eyes with barely concealed frustration on the packed subway. An hour before that I was laughing with my husband. Half an hour before that I was arguing with him.
It’s all just snapshots. Fragments of time. Yet, we judge each other because of them.
We can’t take in the entire picture of every single person we know so it stands to reason that we we most certainly can’t for those we don’t know. Instead, we craft a story about what we believe them to be about.

Interestingly, judgement isn’t always about viewing someone in a negative light. Often, it can be fabricating a fantasy around their lives based on snippets of what we see. Or, more accurately, what we think we see.

How many times do we look at social media with an envy of a life that seems so perfect. Smiling faces. Blissful relationships. Endless fun.
Is that your constant reality? It’s definitely not mine.
I have designed a life I love but that doesn’t mean I jump out of bed every day with a beaming smile and then go on to serenely say ‘love and light’ to every person I meet that day.
I may wake feeling joyous. I may wake feeling depressed. Either way, I’m not defined by it.
I’m not ‘good’ and I’m not ‘bad’. I’m just a human with the capacity to feel a whole range of emotions. I don’t want to wear a label.
It’s not realistic to ask ourselves never to judge anyone again. To never create a story around how fabulous/awful/amazing someone is from the thirty second window from which we viewed them. But perhaps we need to keep in mind that it is just a snapshot. And, a subjective one at that. It may even be a series of snapshots. Perhaps a whole album. But it’s unlikely to be the whole story.
The pictures shown in the image above are stills taken from two videos I released on my site and on social media. They are the two most viewed videos on my Facebook page. And they are poles apart.
One video is of me in the midst of a difficult few days. I talk openly about depression and how I manage it. I speak about how it feels to live with depression and I don’t dress it up.
The other video is of me dancing like a lunatic to Uptown Funk which I filmed as part of a themed day where I was documenting and celebrating all the moments I experienced joy.
If you watched only the first video, you may be left with an impression that I live my life battling the shadows, rather than feeling the warmth of the light. If you watched only the second video, you may think I am full of fun and frivolity and that I approach everything with exuberance and passion.
Neither of those opinions would necessarily be wrong. But they definitely wouldn’t be entirely right, either.

Each of our lives is made up of a series of moments, and in any one of those moments we might display any one of the multiple parts of who we are.

Does it mean that we get to behave however we want and never be accountable for our actions? No, definitely not. Does it mean that we are simply here having a human experience and part of that experience is living all of our layers? Absolutely. If we can just drop the labels, if we can stop trying to categorise ourselves (and each other) then we stand a chance of being able to be part of a global community that promotes respect and understanding.

None of us is the perfect person leading the perfect life. Not you. Not me. Not Beyoncé.
@SkylarLiberty (Click to Tweet!)

I mess up all the time. I don’t always get it right, but these days I don’t dwell on it. I look for the lesson and then I move on. I’m not interested in repeatedly punishing myself. How does that serve me? How does self condemnation serve any of us? If we focus on acceptance and tolerance, then we can hope to make a difference. If we focus on criticising and vilifying then we stay stuck and everybody suffers.
I don’t follow a religion. I can’t get to grips with the idea of enlightened individuals that preach about hell. I prefer not to live my entire life in fear that I’m going to be judged at the end of it. I just do the best I can and I’m ok with that. Even when my best isn’t brilliant. Fear and judgment don’t inspire me. Kindness and benevolence do.
Can we express more empathy? Can we cultivate more compassion? Can we just accept that we’re going to screw up sometimes and so is everybody else. Nobody else is better than us. Or worse than us. Different, maybe, but that’s ok.

Let’s stop sewing ourselves into the refined versions of who we think we’re supposed to be.

Let’s be gloriously human.

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Daily Hope with Rick Warren

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Essentials For Living

Is Fear Is Holding You Back?

By Rick Warren — Aug 24, 2015

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV) What keeps you from developing your full potential? Fear. What keeps you from becoming all God wants you to be? Fear. What keeps you from building a legacy that will last into eternity? Fear. There are three kinds of fear that will keep you from developing your talents and accomplishing your purpose. Self-doubt. It keeps people locked in a prison and unable to develop their potential. This is actually the fear of failure. But failure is not fatal! In fact, the fear of failure is far worse than failure itself. Failure is actually a good thing. Failure is how you learn what doesn’t work. And it’s how you grow into a better parent, partner, and professional. Don’t let self-doubt keep you down. I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail than attempt to do nothing and succeed. Self-consciousness. If you worry about what other people think, nothing will ever get done in your life. You just have to do what God tells you to do. That’s all you’re accountable for. You’re not called to be the best in the world. You’re called to be the best that God made you to be. Self-pity. There were two disciples that had spectacular failures. Peter and Judas both denied Jesus in clutch time, but they responded to their failure in very different ways. Judas went out and had a pity party and hung himself. Peter, on the other hand, wept bitterly, grieved about it, repented, asked God to forgive him, picked himself up, and went back to serving God. And 40 days later, Peter spoke to the whole city of Jerusalem on Pentecost, and 3,000 people became believers and the Church was born. Of all the people God could have used to start the church, he used the guy with the biggest failure. That means there’s room for you in the family of God! Instead of living in fear, believe what God says about you in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (NIV). PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over In what part of your life are you concerned about other people’s opinion of you? How has your self-doubt kept you from reaching your potential? Why are we so afraid of failure? What failure in your life has kept you from reaching your potential? What purpose do you think God intended for that failure?