Thought Watching…

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Proverbs 23:7

Part of getting my act together this year has me really taking control of the thoughts and even the words that I speak. I have read Proverbs 23:7 more than my fair share of times and still really didn’t get what the scripture was trying to teach me. I agreed with what it said, but had yet to put into practice what it meant. Consequently, I have spent a great deal of time experiencing defeat when I should’ve been experiencing victory.

For instance, off and on throughout the years since I first came home to take care of my kids on a full time basis, I would attempt to look for a job. I simply wanted something part-time that would allow me to do a few things for me or that would increase my homeschooling budget with the money that I earned. I have been home for 7 years and not once have I actually had a job. Why? It’s not that I was never qualified or even that I marketed myself in the right manner. However employers would simply look over me. I realized what it was recently in the midst of all of my “clearing the clutter away”. I thought they wouldn’t hire me. One rejection led me to believe that my time out of the workforce would keep me from me getting a job that I wanted.

Once again, here, I decided to the do the same thing so that I would have a second stream of income to pour into the business that I am trying to build. In one day I have had more than 8 job offers. I went on a couple of job interviews and was offered both of those jobs as well. The difference—I simply refused to believe that anyone wouldn’t hire me. I told you a couple of weeks ago that I was reading “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale. It’s a fantastic book! One of his chapters is called “I don’t believe in defeat”. I adapted that as my motto. If victorious living was what Jesus came to give, then that’s what I want. Anything short of that is unacceptable to me. When I said this was going to be my year, I meant it this time!

Now, I allowed G-d to change my thinking on some things this year. Simply said, last year I must have passed over that book a hundred times in the library. I would not read it because of what some other preachers—not mine—had to say about the author. They acted as if he was preaching something contrary to the scriptures. I ordered the book on what I figured to be a whim (as if there is such a thing). And I have been blessed by it. So much so, that I decided to read almost all of his books. The bible says that repetition provides safety (Philippians 3:1) I realized after waiting to read it so long that I was not being teachable. I shouldn’t have assumed that what the book could teach me could be found in the bible and that was where I should get it from. The fact is, all of it was there and I still hadn’t made the connection enough to change anything! Funny thing is, when I was just visiting my home church, what’s written in the book was preached in the second message I had heard there. I commenced to listening to the tape, but allowed someone else to sway me from concentrating on it. I should have followed my first thought to listen to it until I needed to buy a new one!

Scripture says that we have to renew our minds (Ephesians 4:23). What we believe is what we think and ultimately what we say. We are creators with the thoughts that we think, and the words we speak and even those things that we agree with out of other people’s mouths. Whatever we are truly convinced of has to at some point show up in our lives. It’s spiritual law. That’s why it is so important to be careful of who we pay attention to because they shape our beliefs. Nothing happens to us without belief.

As far as our words go, I’ve learned to be careful of them because they too create events in my life as well as those around me. My mother-in-law had a stroke some years ago after all of her sisters and aunts kept telling her that if she didn’t slow down all the working that she was doing she would have one. She can recall now believing what they said and she had a stroke that she is still recovering from. Ever hear people on the news being interviewed after something negative and they say they always feared or thought something like that happening? They thought about that event over and over—meditation-until it finally showed up in there lives. Parents do it all the time. Instead of telling our kids to simply stay out of the street, we tell them that if they don’t they will get hit by a car. That doesn't have to happen. Just tell them you're going to whip their butt! We say that because we were told that and we now believe that. I could go on and on—this subject is inexhaustible for me because I look back over my life and see my error in this area. I said a lot of dumb stuff and thought a lot of dumb stuff and it showed up. I thought I was all prophetic about it when I was simply creating those events! And there is no comedy in the spiritual realm. So saying things like my head is killing me or those kids are driving me crazy—if you really believed that you would be dead or crazy. You can’t say things like that. I admonish you—watch your thoughts and your words. About you and others. Start using them to create what you really want to see, positively and not what you don’t.

Be Blessed. Chosen.

Unspoken Messages…

I am really learning to appreciate being me. That’s a big thing for me. I tend to be really hard on myself, but I am relaxing. I am not striving for perfection, for everyone to like me or to be understood by everyone. I am just me. And it's wonderful. Someone once said that when they read my blog it didn't seem real or personable. Too much bible, etc, etc. What I got was that I didn't spill enough of my business. You know juicy stuff. I figure they just need to stop reading cause' they don't get me anyway. I'm not going to change. I like me. I relate everything to the word because I realize here is an element of me in every story in there. If I was to pick a chapter that I was living right now, It would definitely be EXODUS. Right dab in chapter 3. But I digress...

Now, after making the decision to really do what it’s going to take to accomplish my goals this year, Number one on the list was to get physically fit. I lost some weight when I got here, but I failed to neither maintain it nor even tone it all up. I want the full package-fit, toned, and physically fit. I never considered myself overweight, just not in shape like I once was. Now, with old mindset, I would’ve said that I got too busy taking care of everyone else to take care of me. That’s not it to me though; somewhere along the line I stopped loving me.

I have to accept responsibility for the fact that I put others before me in the grand scheme of things. G-d had to tell me one day that you can tell how much a person loves them self by the care in which they are willing to take of themselves. Hmmm—that hurt-but it was true. So, since getting that little tidbit, I have been faithfully working out to get me in the best shape I can possibly be. The plus side is that I am no longer sending that unspoken message to my children that it’s okay to forget about you. I never said that, but failing to make the healthiest eating choices and by not exercising, that’s essentially what I have been saying silently.

I was once concerned about us not going to church in this season was going to have some kind of negative affect on them. I explained to them when we arived that G-d has given to every man a place, and ours was not here. I wondered if they understood that. They do. I’ve noticed that they know when my broadcast is on and they respect those times during the week. I hadn’t realized how much they noticed things like that I continue to pray everyday and I still read my bible. But I’ve noticed that the boys have theirs in the bed next to them when I go to check on them at night before I go to sleep. They are reading theirs at night too. Though I never said it, they are learning that relationship with G-d is personal and not related to the church at all. That has given me great peace about them. If they get that now, they’ll never be caught up in the church game of obligation later on.

In retrospect I get that my actions as a parent will speak louder and clearer than what I say out of my mouth and those will be the lessons that they remember. Words come a dime a dozen. I remember the first time I realized that my parents were being what is considered to be hypocritical. Telling me not to do things that they themselves were clearly doing. It angered me to the point where I no longer believed anything that they said. Parental trust is the one thing a child should be able to count on. I am always aware that in whatever I do, I am always teaching them something. Spoken or unspoken. I may not always get it right the first time, but I will continue to try until I do.

There are a couple of other things in my life that need major renovations so that the wrong message is not conveyed. This is why I must learn to transfer all areas of trust back to G-d so that I can do whatever I need to do at all time.

The great thing about G-d is that he gave us this power to change and to create. If I don’t like who I am or the direction that I am going, I can simply start over and create a new experience. That power is limitless. And it knows no preference—so I can create good or bad things. I choose to create what I want to see and nothing less than what I actually want. I told you, in this season I am working first on my thinking. There is no need to change my behavior without renovation there first. Until next time...

Be Blessed.

Chosen.