Meditate on These Things

Meditate on These Things

by Joyce Meyer - posted August 17, 2015

My mouth shall praise You with joyful lips when I remember
- Psalm 63:5-6
Oh, how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
- Psalm 119:97
Transcendental Meditation. Yoga. New Age. We hear these terms all the time, and they cause many Christians to avoid any reference to meditation. They're afraid of the occult or pagan worship. What they don't realize is how often the Bible urges us to meditate.
We can explain biblical meditation in a number of ways, but the one I find most helpful is to think of it as expressed in the Bible. If we read the verses above (and there are many others), we see three significant things about meditation in the Word.
First, the Scriptures refer to more than a quick reading or pausing for a few brief, reflecting thoughts. The Bible presents meditation as serious pondering. Whenever the Bible refers to meditation, it speaks to serious, committed followers. This isn't a word for quick, pick-me-up Bible verses or Precious Promises. I'm not opposed to those, but this is a call to deeper, more serious concentration.
Second, the biblical contexts show meditation as ongoing and habitual. It is my meditation all the day, says the verse above. In Joshua 1:8, God told Joshua to meditate on the law day and night. We get the impression that the people who spoke of meditating did so seriously and threw their minds fully into the action. Psalm 1:2 says that the godly person meditates on God's law day and night.
Third, meditation has a reward. It's not just to meditate or go through a religious ritual. In most of the biblical passages where the term occurs, the writer goes on to point out the re¬sults. Again in Joshua 1:8: ... For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.
Psalm 1 describes the godly person who meditates day and night on God's law (or Word) and says, ... and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity] (v. 3).
Despite what I've pointed out, we don't talk or teach much about meditation today. It's hard work! It demands time. Meditation also demands undivided attention.
If you want to win the battle for the mind, meditation is a powerful weapon for you to use. You must focus on portions of God's Word. You must read them, perhaps repeat them aloud, and keep them before you. Some people repeat a verse again and again until the meaning fills their mind and becomes part of their thinking. The idea is that you won't put the Word of God in practice physically until you first practice it mentally.
Meditation is a life principle because it ministers life to you, and your behavior ministers life to others through you.
I could go on and on about the subject of meditating on God's Word, because it seems there is no end to what God can show me out of one verse of Scripture. The Word of God is a treasure chest of powerful, life-giving secrets that God wants to reveal to us. I believe these truths are manifested to those who meditate on, ponder, study, think about, practice mentally, and mutter the Word of God. The Lord reveals Himself to us when we diligently meditate on His Word. Throughout the day, as you go about your daily affairs, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of certain scriptures on which you can meditate.
You'll be amazed at how much power will be released into your life from this practice. The more you meditate on God's Word, the more you will be able to draw readily upon its strength in times of trouble.
This is how we can stay filled with the Holy Spirit-stay with the Lord through meditation and through singing and praising. As we spend time in His presence and ponder His Word, we grow, we encourage others, and we win the battles against the enemy of our minds.
Holy Spirit of God, help me to spend time every day meditating on the treasures of Your Word. I thank You for showing me that as I fill my mind with pure and holy thoughts, I will become a stronger and better disciple.

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The Promises of Peace

The Promises of Peace

No matter what is going on in your life right now, the Lord promises that you can have peace. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in the economy, in your relationships or at the office; nothing in this world can take His peace from you. But notice the first part of this verse—we have to do our part. We have to listen to what He tells us to do.
You may be thinking to yourself, “God doesn’t speak to me.” But once you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become His. The Bible says that you are His sheep, and you can hear His voice, and the voice of a stranger you will not follow.

The Lord speaks in many ways. First of all, He speaks through the Word of God. But sometimes, He speaks through the encouragement of a friend, or through a song, or in the beauty of nature. Sometimes it’s a simple “knowing” deep down on the inside of you in your spirit. If you aren’t sure how God speaks to you, ask Him to teach you. Open your heart and be willing to hear His voice. As you take time to be still and listen to Him, He will speak. He will reveal Himself to you and give you peace all the days of your life.
A Prayer for Today
“Father, thank You for Your promise of peace. Today, I open my heart to You and ask that You teach me to hear Your voice clearly. I will listen, I will obey, and I will walk in Your ways in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Words of Encouragement

Victoria Osteen

Follow the example of King David! When things weren't going right, he shook it all off with a dance before the Lord. He worshiped his way to victory!

Les Brown

Today is a brand new day to make a bold move in your life!! Approach this day with courage, faith and a can-do attitude. Decide to make a major move in your health, career, relationship, or overall life that you have been putting off.
If you have a dream that does not require any help, then your dream is not big enough! Seek out partners and support that can help you grow and go to the next level. Work for your own success! You have GREATNESS within you!

Bill Winston Ministries

God wants you to increase in influence. Everyone has built-in genius inside of them. God is the one that helps to bring it out.

Your Mouth Is a Power Tool. Use It Carefully

Your Mouth Is a Power Tool. Use It Carefully

By Rick Warren — August 16, 2015

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“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29 NIV)
God wants us to use our words to build others up. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (NIV).
Sometimes our words are like a sledgehammer. We swing away without thinking, and all of a sudden we look around, and all we’ve got is a pile of relational rubble. When you thoughtlessly sling your words around and tear people down, your relationships are going to suffer.
One of the reasons we’re not constructive with our words is we don’t realize how powerful this tool is—our mouth and the words that God has given to us. We say things without thinking. And people remember them. Certain things people said to you in a careless way—even as far back as grade school or college or when you first started working—you still remember today. That’s how powerful words are. So when it comes to your mouth, you’ve got to think of it as a power tool and be very careful with it.
One time I went into my garage and grabbed a manual for a power saw. As I was reading through the directions, I was struck by how it related to the use of another power tool that God has given us: our mouths. The directions said:

1. Know your power tool.
2. Keep guards in place.
3. Be careful around children.
4. Store idle tools when not in use.
5. Don’t over reach.
6. Never use in an explosive atmosphere.

How can you use your mouth more carefully so you are using it to build relationships and not to tear people down?

1. Stop excusing. Stop saying, “I didn’t really man to say that” or “It’s just that blood sugar dip before lunch.” Realize that what you say impacts everybody around you.
2. Talk less. We often get in trouble because we just don’t know when to shut up. If it’s a power tool, you shouldn’t have to use it as much, right?
3. Listen more. If you listen more, you can better understand people’s needs.
4. Start building. Let your first thoughts be, “What does that person need? How can I use a word of encouragement to build him up? What can I say to make a difference in his life?”

Talk It Over

• Why do we need to be especially careful with our words in an “explosive atmosphere”?
• What is something you can practice doing in your relationships that will help you talk less and listen more?
• What Scripture verses can you memorize that will help you speak truth and encouragement in others’ lives?

The Three Components of an Effective Apology

The Three Components of an Effective Apology

Christine Carter | August 16, 2015 | Living, Loving

People make mistakes all the time. Not just bad people, or weak people. All people. Our mistakes are what make us human. And even when we don’t think that we’ve made a mistake, other people will often find errors in our ways. We human beings are walking offenders.

Here’s the real question: If we’ve done something that offends someone else–whether or not we feel we are to blame–should we apologize?

I believe that it almost always serves our highest good to apologize if we’ve hurt or offended someone else–even if we think the offended person’s anger is unjustified, or if we have a perfectly good excuse for what happened. Or if our intentions were all good.
Often, the impact of our actions is not what we intended. But here’s the thing:

Impact matters more than intention. @RaisingHappines (Click to Tweet!)

Our happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of our social connections–our relationships with friends, family, partners, spouses, neighbors, colleagues–and so broken or fraying connections are usually worth repairing.
We don’t repair a fissure in one of our relationships by ignoring it. (We have a saying in our family: You can sweep sh*t under the rug, but it is still going to smell.) And we don’t repair it by blaming someone else, or defending our actions. We initiate a repair by apologizing.

But all apologies aren’t created equal, of course. (All parents have watched children spit out a forced “SORRY!” and known it was worthless.)

So what makes a good apology? After studying that question extensively, Aaron Lazare developed perhaps the most robust criteria to date for effective apologies. Drawing on Dr. Lazare’s work, I’ve created the following three-step method for making a good apology.
Step 1: Tell them what you feel. (Just the remorseful feelings, please.) Usually, we start by saying “I’m sorry” to express remorse. “I’m sorry” is more effective when we elaborate on our remorseful feelings. For example, “I’m so sorry and saddened to hear that my lack of communication has made you so angry and resentful.” Or, “I’m so sorry and embarrassed and ashamed that my comment caused such an uproar.”
What is not constructive is succumbing to–and sharing–feelings of resentment or defensiveness, like, “I’m sorry… you’re being so petty and critical.”
Step 2: Admit your mistake AND the negative impact it had. This is the hardest part, because it requires admitting responsibility for our actions or behavior. This can feel impossible if we don’t really think we did much wrong, or if our intentions were good.
Ask yourself: How is the other person feeling? What did I do that caused that feeling? Could I have done something differently? Then acknowledge these things. Empathize with the offended person; the most important thing is that you demonstrate that you know how they feel. (Don’t apologize until you truly do understand how they are feeling; if you can’t put yourself in their shoes, your apology will ring untrue.)
For example: “I can see that my comment hurt your feelings, and that you are feeling misunderstood and uncared for.” Or to your partner you might say, “I know that it was wrong of me to call you out in front of the whole family, and that you are angry because I’ve hurt your credibility with the kids. I’m sure that was embarrassing, and it was a mistake for me to do that.”
This is where most of us are tempted to offer an explanation for our behavior. When in doubt, leave the explanation out; trying to explain away our actions can seem like we’re being defensive, or making excuses. (Remember, the point is to repair the relationship, not make the other person see that you were right.)
If you need to shed light on why you did what you did, be careful to continue to take responsibility for the negative impact you had. Saying, “I really didn’t know that you would be offended” is an excuse, not a good explanation. Whining that you didn’t intend for the other person to be hurt doesn’t shed light on anything. More effective would be saying, “It is no excuse for standing you up, but I want you to know that my stepfather had just had a stroke, and I was so frantic to get to the hospital that I forgot to call you.”
If you do offer an explanation, it can help to reiterate your mistake and again acknowledge how the other person feels: “Again, I’m so sorry that I didn’t call you, and that you were stuck there waiting for me for an hour. I can only imagine how upset, worried, and angry you must be.”
Step 3: Make the situation right. Good apologies include a reparation of some kind, either real or symbolic. Maybe you create an opportunity for the person you embarrassed to regain credibility. Or perhaps you admit your mistake to others, too, as a part of the reparation. In many relationships, a hug is a great reparation.

Often, all we need to do is explain what we are going to do differently the next time so that we don’t repeat the offending action or behavior. This helps us rebuild trust and repair the relationship.

If you aren’t sure how to make it right, just ask, “Is there anything I can do to make this up to you?”
Above all, deliver on any promises you make. When we feel guilty or embarrassed, sometimes we over-correct in our attempt to gain forgiveness. If the person is asking for something that you can’t give, say so, and say that you will give some thought to what you can give to make it up to them.
Knowing how to apologize well is at the top of my Sweet Spot Manifesto. It’s a life skill I want my children to practice and master. And it’s one that I’m still working on myself.
Inspire others: When has an apology made all the difference in your life?
Are you wanting one of these apologies? Whenever I talk or write about making apologies, people often respond by wishing that someone else would apologize to them. If this is you, please leave your story in the comments–I will try to address your situation in a future post!

Meditate On This

Meditate On “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord. Isaiah 54:17 Be Righteousness-Conscious If you are familiar with today’s verse, you’ll know that believers usually quote only the first part: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” Now, do you want to know the secret to unleashing this promise of protection, and walking fully in your inheritance in Christ? It is actually right there in the second part of the verse: “‘…every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the Lord.” You see, it’s when you know that your righteousness is from the Lord that no weapon formed against you will prosper, and every tongue of accusation, judgment and condemnation that rises against you will fail! My friend, use your faith every day to believe that you are indeed righteous in Christ, and that this righteousness is of the Lord’s doing, not your own doing. This is how no weapon formed against you shall prosper. This is how you live an overcoming and victorious life!

One Step at a Time

One Step at a Time

by Joyce Meyer - posted August 16, 2015
 
For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).
- 1 Corinthians 13:9-10
This scripture says that as long as you are on this earth, until Jesus comes, there will never be a time in your life when you can say, "I have every answer for my life right now. I know everything about everything that I need to know."
Now you may think you know it all! But you know in part, and that is why trust is still needed no matter how long you have walked with God, or how clearly He speaks to you. He leads you. He doesn't hand you a map and send you on your way without Him. God wants you to keep your eyes on Him, and follow Him one step at a time.