Tuesday, September 25, 2007
How Rich are We????
This morning I woke up thinking about money and how to stretch it..
. it is amazing how sometimes I dont know how we stretch but it just seems to happen.
I really do know how ....it is God's never ending Grace.
If we put it on paper and tried to fig it out.........it would never work....
I read this somewhere recently and it really stuck in my mind ..............that when God gives Grace we get just our daily dose. He does not give tomorrows grace out today. We receive what we need when we need it....we can not store it that does not require faith....
I was invited to a party this week..... not much extra spending money was jingling in my purse.... Something caught my eye for a special person for her birthday. I just knew she would love it. It had her name on it...... I quickly looked it up in the party book and it was way out of my extra spending money range, so a bit sadly, I started looking for something that might work, something else I thought she might like that matched the jingling money in my purse..........and guess what happened?????? The party started and the hostess said. This set right here ,and she pointed to the item I so wanted ,is on sale for the rest of this month only...... and boy did I smile.....(It just matched the jingling spending money in my purse.....
amazing , I wanted to jump up and down. Did you ever see a flake jump up and down????
all so on this day.......... I won a very nice door prize and a drawing for a box of candles for my house.... ....ahhhhhhhhhhh
Thanks for the Blessing today Lord.....
God is so Good ...........all the time.
The following are bits and pieces from Heartlight.... something I wanted to keep so I thought I would put it here. So it is my private notes but you may read it if you like........................
You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT)
True religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn’t bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. Many people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT)
God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. (2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT)
Stop. Think about that question for a moment. Answer it honestly. “Am I rich?”
Now, ask it of God. Wait for the answer. “Heavenly Father, am I rich?”
It’s very important that you answer, because your whole life is very likely being controlled by that answer. Everything you do is colored by it. Every single facet of your life is shaped by it in some way.
In this life there are at least four answers to this question. The first group says, “Of course I’m rich. Look at all the money I have.” But then they go home to empty houses filled with all the finest things in life, but devoid of anything even nearly approximating faith, hope, and love. These are the people who are lost, but don’t know it. They can’t face, or won’t acknowledge how barren their lives really are.
The second group says, “I’m not rich. Look around. I can hardly pay my bills each month. I have no savings, my car just broke down, and I have no idea how I’m ever going to send my kids to college.” These people hold “poverty” up like a badge of honor. In reality, their focus on what is bad keeps them in “perpetual bad” without any hope of getting to the blessings God has poured into their lives.
The third group says, “No, I’m not rich. Even though I have a lot now, something terrible could happen tomorrow, and then where would I be?” These are the people who are just waiting for bad to happen. They can’t enjoy what they have for fear losing it all in the future. No matter how much they have now, fear is their dominant approach to their blessings. This anxiety effectively negates any positive emotions, making them perpetually feel “poor” and effectively keeping them in “perpetual bad.”
And then there is the fourth group.
The first time I read this question, my resounding answer all the way to the bottom of my spirit was, “Yes, of course I’m rich!” However, it wasn’t until a few minutes later, that I really thought about the being rich in terms of having money. I simply looked out to where my children were playing, as I sat on the steps of my home waiting for my husband to come home, and my answer was simple: “Yes!” How could I answer anything but “Yes!”?
A few days later, I asked the question of someone in exactly the same situation. That person’s immediate and resounding response was, “No!”
I was astounded. How could the two of us, basically “in the same boat,” respond so differently? The more I reflected on that paradox, the more I learned about how and why I relate to my world the way I do.
When I was younger, a friend told me, “You know, you are so lucky. Everything always works out for you.”
At the time I said, “Yea, and I work hard to make sure it does.”
In light of asking this question anew, however, I can see why things work out for me. It’s because I believe that they will work out for me. I focus all my energy toward that end. I pray expectantly for them to work out. I trust God to be at work in my life.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 3:13)
Even when things don’t work out like I planned, I often find that they were worked out for me even better than I could plan. Even when they don’t work out, I find that God worked in them for my continued growth as his child. Then, I feel even richer than before.
A well known motivational speaker uses an exercise where first you “hope” something will work out. He says that when you hope, you see two possibilities: the thing working out and the thing not working out. Then he invites you to “expect” that something will work out. Expecting focuses all of your attention, all of your energy, on the goal being accomplished with no thought to it not working out. When you prayerfully expect consistently, your goals, your dreams, and your plans have no choice but to come into being because your thoughts, and your submission to God, help shape your reality.
So back to our original question: “Are you rich?”
When you look at your life do you expect things to work out?
Do you trust that God is in your life working his will for your blessing?
Do you focus all your energy on things working out?
Or do you sit back and hope that somehow they will?
If your answer to the last question is “Yes,” then I’d be willing to bet your answer to the first is “No.” You see, if all you focus upon is how “poor” you are, no matter how great things may actually be in your life, you will find a way to feel “poor” and “bad.”
How could I answer anything but “Yes!”? Sarah Ban Breathnach, best-selling author of Simple Abundance and Something More, suggests keeping a gratitude journal where every day you write down five things for which you are grateful. This is an excellent way to force your mind to focus on answering a resounding, “Yes!” to our question. So to get us started, I asking you take a moment, right now, and list ten things in your life for which you would not take a million dollars.
Yea, I know there are nagging problems with things here and there. We all face those. However, I’m asking you to look at your health, your kids, your family, your spiritual heritage, God’s grace, God’s promises, Jesus’ gift of grace, and a host of other blessings God has lavished upon you.
Now answer the question; “Am I rich?” Then ask yourself, “What do I want to do with the rest of my life?” What is my dream? If I could be anywhere in this life, where would I be? Picture that place in detail. What does it look like? Breathe and fill your lungs with the air of this place. Close your eyes, and see it. Now ask God for his blessing in fulfilling that dream to his glory. If you believe you are rich, if in your soul your answer is a solid, no-questions-asked, resounding “Yes!”, then with God’s help, you can achieve that dream and just about any other dream you focus on. Nothing can stop you.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)
You may be saying to yourself, “But I’m not rich. I’m not blessed. Look at all these bad things that have happened to me.” Then I urge you; start a grateful journal today. Don’t wait another minute. You don’t have a second to waste. God is pouring his blessing into your life and you are missing them. Let this be your warning: Do not tell your brain you are poor simply because you don’t have as much money as someone else. When you allow that attitude to flourish, no amount of riches, monetary or otherwise, will ever be enough to make you feel rich.
Believe you are blessed , feel you are blessed, focus on how you are blessed
every single moment of every single day, and give thanks to God .
For when you feel you are blessed and believe you are blessed, more bleessings will be granted to you.
You will be rich, no matter what your bank account says! You will be rich, no matter how your finances compare to the next person.
So, now, let me ask you once more; “Are you rich?”
(taken from a heartlight article)
. it is amazing how sometimes I dont know how we stretch but it just seems to happen.
I really do know how ....it is God's never ending Grace.
If we put it on paper and tried to fig it out.........it would never work....
I read this somewhere recently and it really stuck in my mind ..............that when God gives Grace we get just our daily dose. He does not give tomorrows grace out today. We receive what we need when we need it....we can not store it that does not require faith....
I was invited to a party this week..... not much extra spending money was jingling in my purse.... Something caught my eye for a special person for her birthday. I just knew she would love it. It had her name on it...... I quickly looked it up in the party book and it was way out of my extra spending money range, so a bit sadly, I started looking for something that might work, something else I thought she might like that matched the jingling money in my purse..........and guess what happened?????? The party started and the hostess said. This set right here ,and she pointed to the item I so wanted ,is on sale for the rest of this month only...... and boy did I smile.....(It just matched the jingling spending money in my purse.....
amazing , I wanted to jump up and down. Did you ever see a flake jump up and down????
all so on this day.......... I won a very nice door prize and a drawing for a box of candles for my house.... ....ahhhhhhhhhhh
Thanks for the Blessing today Lord.....
God is so Good ...........all the time.
The following are bits and pieces from Heartlight.... something I wanted to keep so I thought I would put it here. So it is my private notes but you may read it if you like........................
You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT)
True religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn’t bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. Many people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:6-10 NLT)
God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. (2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT)
Stop. Think about that question for a moment. Answer it honestly. “Am I rich?”
Now, ask it of God. Wait for the answer. “Heavenly Father, am I rich?”
It’s very important that you answer, because your whole life is very likely being controlled by that answer. Everything you do is colored by it. Every single facet of your life is shaped by it in some way.
In this life there are at least four answers to this question. The first group says, “Of course I’m rich. Look at all the money I have.” But then they go home to empty houses filled with all the finest things in life, but devoid of anything even nearly approximating faith, hope, and love. These are the people who are lost, but don’t know it. They can’t face, or won’t acknowledge how barren their lives really are.
The second group says, “I’m not rich. Look around. I can hardly pay my bills each month. I have no savings, my car just broke down, and I have no idea how I’m ever going to send my kids to college.” These people hold “poverty” up like a badge of honor. In reality, their focus on what is bad keeps them in “perpetual bad” without any hope of getting to the blessings God has poured into their lives.
The third group says, “No, I’m not rich. Even though I have a lot now, something terrible could happen tomorrow, and then where would I be?” These are the people who are just waiting for bad to happen. They can’t enjoy what they have for fear losing it all in the future. No matter how much they have now, fear is their dominant approach to their blessings. This anxiety effectively negates any positive emotions, making them perpetually feel “poor” and effectively keeping them in “perpetual bad.”
And then there is the fourth group.
The first time I read this question, my resounding answer all the way to the bottom of my spirit was, “Yes, of course I’m rich!” However, it wasn’t until a few minutes later, that I really thought about the being rich in terms of having money. I simply looked out to where my children were playing, as I sat on the steps of my home waiting for my husband to come home, and my answer was simple: “Yes!” How could I answer anything but “Yes!”?
A few days later, I asked the question of someone in exactly the same situation. That person’s immediate and resounding response was, “No!”
I was astounded. How could the two of us, basically “in the same boat,” respond so differently? The more I reflected on that paradox, the more I learned about how and why I relate to my world the way I do.
When I was younger, a friend told me, “You know, you are so lucky. Everything always works out for you.”
At the time I said, “Yea, and I work hard to make sure it does.”
In light of asking this question anew, however, I can see why things work out for me. It’s because I believe that they will work out for me. I focus all my energy toward that end. I pray expectantly for them to work out. I trust God to be at work in my life.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 3:13)
Even when things don’t work out like I planned, I often find that they were worked out for me even better than I could plan. Even when they don’t work out, I find that God worked in them for my continued growth as his child. Then, I feel even richer than before.
A well known motivational speaker uses an exercise where first you “hope” something will work out. He says that when you hope, you see two possibilities: the thing working out and the thing not working out. Then he invites you to “expect” that something will work out. Expecting focuses all of your attention, all of your energy, on the goal being accomplished with no thought to it not working out. When you prayerfully expect consistently, your goals, your dreams, and your plans have no choice but to come into being because your thoughts, and your submission to God, help shape your reality.
So back to our original question: “Are you rich?”
When you look at your life do you expect things to work out?
Do you trust that God is in your life working his will for your blessing?
Do you focus all your energy on things working out?
Or do you sit back and hope that somehow they will?
If your answer to the last question is “Yes,” then I’d be willing to bet your answer to the first is “No.” You see, if all you focus upon is how “poor” you are, no matter how great things may actually be in your life, you will find a way to feel “poor” and “bad.”
How could I answer anything but “Yes!”? Sarah Ban Breathnach, best-selling author of Simple Abundance and Something More, suggests keeping a gratitude journal where every day you write down five things for which you are grateful. This is an excellent way to force your mind to focus on answering a resounding, “Yes!” to our question. So to get us started, I asking you take a moment, right now, and list ten things in your life for which you would not take a million dollars.
Yea, I know there are nagging problems with things here and there. We all face those. However, I’m asking you to look at your health, your kids, your family, your spiritual heritage, God’s grace, God’s promises, Jesus’ gift of grace, and a host of other blessings God has lavished upon you.
Now answer the question; “Am I rich?” Then ask yourself, “What do I want to do with the rest of my life?” What is my dream? If I could be anywhere in this life, where would I be? Picture that place in detail. What does it look like? Breathe and fill your lungs with the air of this place. Close your eyes, and see it. Now ask God for his blessing in fulfilling that dream to his glory. If you believe you are rich, if in your soul your answer is a solid, no-questions-asked, resounding “Yes!”, then with God’s help, you can achieve that dream and just about any other dream you focus on. Nothing can stop you.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven. (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)
You may be saying to yourself, “But I’m not rich. I’m not blessed. Look at all these bad things that have happened to me.” Then I urge you; start a grateful journal today. Don’t wait another minute. You don’t have a second to waste. God is pouring his blessing into your life and you are missing them. Let this be your warning: Do not tell your brain you are poor simply because you don’t have as much money as someone else. When you allow that attitude to flourish, no amount of riches, monetary or otherwise, will ever be enough to make you feel rich.
Believe you are blessed , feel you are blessed, focus on how you are blessed
every single moment of every single day, and give thanks to God .
For when you feel you are blessed and believe you are blessed, more bleessings will be granted to you.
You will be rich, no matter what your bank account says! You will be rich, no matter how your finances compare to the next person.
So, now, let me ask you once more; “Are you rich?”
(taken from a heartlight article)
Labels: 2007, Thoughts to Ponder
posted by Missy | September 25, 2007
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