by | Life Application
We’ve all been on a diet at one time or another in our lives. I have certainly done my fair share of riding the diet train. It’s gotten me nowhere. It wasn’t until I began to change my lifestyle that things were different. I started to pay attention to what I was putting in my body. I still try to follow this plan today. (Confession: I ate a piece of cake today that was full of sugar and delicious at the moment. However, my body later told me what a mistake that was.) I am learning to listen to what my body does and does not like.
The same should go for our minds. We see and hear so many things throughout each day that we must be on alert as to what we feed our minds. Tim Sanders, author of Today We are Rich: Harnessing The Power of Total Confidence, says,
“People who maintain purposeful mind diets of positive stimuli think healthy thoughts.
When we think, we act. Our actions create events. Those events shape our lives. Sanders shares seven principles to becoming more confident in your life. Principle number one is Feeding Your Mind Good Stuff.
If I were to come up and ask you today if you were taking advantage of the full confidence available to you, what would you say?
Yes. No. Maybe.
Here are some steps Sanders gives us to Feed Our Minds Good Stuff:
- Keep A Mind Food Journal – For the next two weeks record everything that you do. That includes anything you are reading, listening to, or watching. (Yes.. Facebook counts) Write down how much time you spent on it. This also includes anyone you spend time with. Note the way they acted. Was it positive? Negative? How much time did you spend with them? Then circle all the negative information on your log. Highlight all the positive information. If you have more circles than highlighted items you need to refocus your time. I admit I haven’t done this yet. Honestly, I think it’s because I’ll be afraid of what I learn.
- Filter Out The Negative – Avoid the news. Avoid gossip. Sanders call “gossip an acceptable form of pornography that is hurtful.” Ouch. If you feel you have to read or watch the news, simply glance at the negative things and focus on the positive. The same goes for the Internet. It’s very rare that I even turn the television on anymore. I don’t even want to risk allowing things in my mind that don’t belong. Does that mean watching TV is wrong? No. I just prefer not to.
- Mind Mood From The Vault – What are you thinking about? What are you focusing on? We need to be very aware of our memories and what we’re allowing ourselves to think about. If a bad memory is bringing itself up, spit it out quickly, just as I should have spit that sugar-filled piece of cake out. Tim gives a great tip: “Store the insight: delete the details.” Remember what you learned from it, but not every detail of the bad memory.
- Relaxing Your Mind – Oh how I struggle with this one. I’m getting better though. Move slowly when you wake up. Take your time and don’t be rushed. Oh how I’m writing this to myself. “At the end of your lunch hour, snatch five minutes of positive thought time to review what is going right and what positive things you’ll accomplish before the day’s end.”
Just like we don’t need to go on a diet, we don’t need to put our minds on a diet. We need to make a lifestyle change. Our minds need just as much nutrition as our body’s do. No Twinkies for the body. No negativity for the mind.
Which of these four do you feel like you have progressed in the most? Which of these do you need to improve most on? Comment below…
by | Life Application
Often times we think of the church as a building we visit on Sunday mornings. We gather for coffee, visit with friends in the foyer and catch up on the week. Then we worship in the sanctuary, listen to the pastor preach, shake hands with a few people and head home until next week.
That’s not church.
Church is what I experienced last night..
I sat around the living room with my small group. If you’re not familiar with that, a small group consists of various people, most of the time from the same church, that meet once a week to fellowship, do a Bible study, etc.
We do life..
Something was on my heart and I needed to process. They listened. They nodded. They smiled. They listened. Then they shared. Some of us had different opinions. We talked about religion and no one got mad and stomped off. See.. it is possible. They weren’t just giving feedback to hear themselves talk. They were sharing their opinions and feelings, as well as Scripture because they cared for me.
It was church…
If you aren’t involved yet, here are four reasons why you should be in a small group:
- Building Relationships – I attend church with 1200 other people. There is no way I will get to know everyone. But I have the opportunity to build deeper relationships with those inside my group. Because we grow together, I believe we can do greater things for the Kingdom of God.
- You Can Be Real – As time goes on and you continue to get to know those in your small group, you can be you. Too many times we put on our “Sunday Personalities” when we walk into the church door because people can’t really know we have issues in our life. Not so with a small group. The longer you’re part of the group, the more you come to know about each other.
- You Become Part of a Spiritual Family – I am closer to some of the peeps in my small group than I am my own family. I trust them. I feel free from judgment. I know they would be there for me when I need them.
- You See Scripture Lived Out – We are to be disciples of Christ. We challenge each other to live God’s Word and we have the blessed opportunity to see those truths come to life in each other.
Here’s what my friend Jennifer says about why we should be in a small group:
“So that you can hear how Jesus interacts with other people. To be encouraged that He is real and interacting with people. To help discount the discouragement that the world/enemy throws at us.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
If you’re in a small group, what are some of the other benefits I didn’t mention above? Comment below…
by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
If you’ve been following my blog for a bit then you know I have been talking about making a radical change.
I can’t get away from this verse:
But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. – Acts 20:24 NLT
My comfortable Christian life is quickly fading away and abandoning myself to follow Christ is right in front of my face.
David Platt’s book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, has spoken more truth to me than I wanted to hear. But I’ve heard it. I can’t rewind. I can’t pretend his words didn’t affect me. I can’t act as though God’s not saying, “Get Ready!”
I recently talked about not being tied to my possessions. God smiled I’m sure. But then came the test. Will I really do what I have said? The above picture is a large portion of my possesions that have been setting in a storage shed. Here are just a few things in this pile:
- Books I’ve never read
- An Ebay Dolly Parton collection that I would be too embarrased to tell you the cost of
- A collection of Loretta Lynn coasters from the 1970’s
- A television
- An electric guitar I haven’t touched in two years
Does taking up our cross and following Jesus mean we have to get rid of everything? Not necessarily. I think it depends on where our heart is. But these possessions no longer mean what they once did. Some I have given away. Some I am selling.
I’m preparing to take part in the Radical Experiment, which I will be blogging about soon. I’m hoping you’ll be praying about doing it with me.Let’s get radical! No more waiting.
What do you need to get rid of? Comment below…
by | Life Application
I loved this idea Jennifer White had so much that I decided to steal it.
Here goes it…
What caption would you write for the photo below? When you look at it what do you see?
Next week I will use your comments for a post. Get creative! Keep it clean!
by | Life Application
I was taught as a child that you weren’t supposed to hate. I never got a reason why; that’s just the way it was.
But then…
I learned that God hated things. As a matter of fact, Proverbs 16 tells us there are six thing he hates, seven that are detestable to Him.
- Haughty Eyes
- A Lying Tongue
- Hands That Kill The Innocent
- A Heart That Plots Evil
- Feet That Race To Do Wrong
- A False Witness Who Pours Out Lies
- A Person Who Sows Discord In A Family
Dr. Henry Cloud in the book 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life talks about Hating Well.
Cloud says, “Hating Well seems like an oxymoron to most of us. We try to get over hatred because we have all seen the destruction that it causes. We usually think of hate as a problem to be solved.”
But Cloud tells us that “hate is one of the most important aspects of being human.”
“What we hate says a lot about who we are, what we value, what we care about. And how we hate says much about how we will succeed in love and life.
It’s true.
Let me give you an example from a recent experience I had.
I was surprised to learn that I had been removed from a project without notice. When it comes to things like that, I hate surprises. Being removed from the project wasn’t what bothered me. It was being removed without someone telling me first. Here’s what I would have preferred to happen: The company tells me they are going in a different direction and have other plans. I am not part of that plan. We both walk away with respect for each other and all ends well. Though things didn’t end bitterly, I would have preferred a much different plan.
And that’s ok..
Other things I hate:
- judgment
- child abuse (notice I didn’t say child abusers)
- animal abuse
- injustice
- paying my bills late
I hate evil. Most of us do.
You get the idea.
I want to hate in a way that solves problems instead of creating them.
What do you hate well? Comment below…
by | Faith Lived Out, Life Application
photo credit: gleann ignacio (creative commons)
God has given me a heart for those in sex trafficking. I’m not quite sure what He has up His leave regarding my involvement, but I know He has placed the desire on my heart.
Yesterday I was reading a post from one of my favorite bloggers, Jeff Goins. He caught my attention and called me to action.
Seth Barnes, the director of Adventures in Missions released this statement:
Backed by corrupt government officials, an orphanage we work with in Haiti has been trafficking its orphans. Suspecting foul play, we’ve been investigating for the last year. We’ve not been ready to go to the media until we had the facts.
As a result, the orphanage director is now in jail, but the 75 children left in the orphanage are still in danger.
A worker said, “The kids are in terrible condition — the doctor gave them some prescriptions, but we doubt that the medicine will ever be administered to the children. Instead, the medicine will probably be sold.”
What does this mean?
According to Goins, donated monies aren’t getting to the people in need. Children are missing. An eleven pound five-year old is on the verge of death.
A petition has been created to get the story on the radar of CNN.
Here’s how you can help:
- Pray. Pray. Pray.
- Sign the petition and share it with others
- Tweet this post using hashtags #cnnfreedom #endslavery & #not_for_sale
- Contact any local or national media you know, asking them to run the story. Contact Jeff for more details and documentation.
- Blog about this and encourage your readers to sign the petition.
