BE HAPPY

"Happy are the people who are in such a state; happy are the people whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 144:15)

Today I will live in the now! I will live in the now because I have a right to be happy, and I have been given the power to create happiness! I will not waste the opportunities presented in this day with continual references to tragedies from the past. I will not miss the beauty of living in the moment by bemoaning all the hard times in the present. And I will not let myself become dangerously distracted from prophetically planning my future by predicting calamities ahead!



Today I will rejoice that my sins are forgiven, that God knows me and cares about what happens to me today, and that things are getting better for me as I go from glory to glory. I will make the choice to be unaffected by negative forces or bad news.


Today I will laugh at my mistakes and problems, not letting them dominate my mind, or make me feel inadequate or overwhelmed. I will not take things too seriously today, choosing Jesus' easy burden and light yoke for my life, instead of the pressure, stress, and oppression that comes from being too hard on myself, or too anxious about my current state of affairs.


Today I will celebrate the goodness of the Lord, counting my blessings and remembering to be thankful for them all. I will not forget His benefits – how He forgives all of my iniquities and heals all of my diseases.


Today I will sing a song of victory even before the battle is over. The joy of the Lord will strengthen me to defeat every foe, give me supernatural energy and cause me to get stronger with every fight!



Today I will enjoy the company of happy people, and if I can't find any, I will try to make some unhappy people feel better about their situations. And if I can't make anybody else happy, I will enjoy being happy alone, because I have that much to be happy about!


Today I will make it a point to smile . . . to laugh . . . to think positive thoughts . . . to praise the Lord . . . to cheer up someone . . . to pray for the happiness of others . . . to avoid things that depress me . . . to avoid music or images that darken my mood . . . to speak words of edification to those that I care for . . . to be a blessing . . . to sing . . . to worship God in spirit and in truth . . . to do something positive for the Kingdom. Today will be a day of happiness for me, regardless of the circumstances, and today I will live in the now!



Father, help me do things that make You happy today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
(Taken from the devotional "A Year In The Now" by Jim Swilley.)
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I needed to post this today. One reason is that I honestly have been struggling with some of these issues lately, and these words greatly helped to lift me up. Hopefully it will help others out of heaviness, too. God bless you all and thanks for visiting, come back soon!

RENEW!

Embrace the earth today. Put your arms around it, and love it!
Pray for it. Renew it. The whole earth may groan but it is also filled with God's glory!



There is always something to do that can help build, renew or refresh the earth around us if we search for it.
What's been in my mind recently include the words REVIVE, REFRESH, and STRENGTHEN!
Renewal also comes to mind...and transformations that come by the renewing of our mind.
"...those who wait and trust in the Lord will RENEW their strength."

"...let your KINGDOM come ON EARTH, as it is in heaven. May the Father show us how to see the world through HIS window, for He pours out His Spirit on ALL flesh, and nations.



This is our Father's world and I say that it is revived! I will search for what I can do to RENEW the earth around me.

I say that you choose to be happy, NOW...while working to make things better.
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...and whatever you think about others/celebrities this week, don't judge...for who are we?..there are no nailprints in our hands.
Pray for their families instead. God bless!






Goodbye Michael and goodbye Farrah.
(hey, check out the shining cross image on her lapel)

Don't Give Up!

I just wanted to touch base quickly before I go out with my wife tonight (yeahhh).

This was a word for me today and I feel that you or someone out there simply needs to hear the words "don't give up", "do NOT quit!".





Stay in the race, keep facing forward even if you don't feel like you're going anywhere. Your future will come from seeing ahead of you and looking forward.

I will try and write more on this later tonight or early morning.
"DON'T LOSE HEART!"
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3:oo am-ok I'm back...tired but wanted to write a little something extra.

I believe when we work for the good of ALL people and not just ourselves, it becomes easier to not give up or "throw in the towel."
Your sowing of positive action strengthens everyone, including yourself. If a part of your body decided to quit and give up, what effect would that have on the rest of your body? Similarly, I believe that we are ALL connected.

There might be other words that you use to say the same thing, such as...persevere...hang in there...shake it off. Whatever connects with you, go with that. It is your decision and your will to say "I WILL not quit!"

So, don't get tired of doing good...you will reap at the proper time if you don't give up.
Galatians 6:9

Ch..ch..ch..ch..Changes!

Don't cry when it's over, SMILE that it happened.





Change is a constant...to everything there is a season...things come and then they go, they "come to pass".
I've been going through LOTS of changes this past year and I'm trying to see things in this better light. To see things as not "the end of the world" but the beginnings of new chapters in my life.
Change happens to all of us, so you might as well go with the flow, like a willow tree.
Difficult sometimes, yes, but so is birth.

The decisions you make today can create events and change circumstances.
Listen...think...meditate...pray...your destiny is a matter of choice. Today's decisions are tomorrow's realities.



Express your desires and dreams by your decisions and dedicate yourself to the discipline of being diligent enough to dare to make them come true.

You will also decide and decree a thing and it will be established for you; and the light of God's favor will shine upon your ways. (Job 22:28)

BREAK OUT!

So, what was your favorite part of yesterday or this past weekend?


BREAK OUT!....leap, run into your new day!

Don't let anyone limit your progress or diminish your gifts or talents.
Don't let anyone prohibit you from realizing all of your possibilities.




Don't let anyone put you in a box by their words, opinions or beliefs about you.

You are who God says you are, and I agree with Him that anything is possible, and I say that faith is increased in you, that nothing deters your progress, delays your promotion or defeats your purpose!

I say that we all get a bigger picture in our heads of who we are and what we're supposed to do, than what we've settled for up to this point. Let's all live a bigger life...and BREAK OUT!!!

(some of the above inspired by/adapted from A Year In The Now by Bishop Jim Swilley)
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On a funny note my son said last night, "it's good to have sugar around, then you can be as fast as me!

...and words of love he had for me when going to bed..."Happy Father's Night!...and when midnight comes it won't be Father's Day anymore but you'll always be the best daddy ever!"
(melt)

***just after posting this the song 'Eye of the Tiger' came on the playlist which I thought was pretty appropriate about going the distance and breaking out, so some of you might want to listen to that while/after reading the post, you might need to click on the pop-out player possibly to see the full list. God bless!

Happy Father's day!

I just put up a new post called Honoring Dad, but somehow it is inserted AFTER my recent post titled ITS ALL GOOD...so please SCROLL DOWN until after that post and you'll find what I put up for today, especially you dad. There is also a slide show on the right when you scroll down.
I'm still learning how to work this blog so thanks for your understanding.

It's ALL good.

There is a time for everything and I can't seem to get the thought of cycles or patterns out of my mind.
I've heard of several people that have passed away this week and was thinking how do you balance "a time to mourn and a time to dance", on the same platform, being saddened yet in other places being happy?

We have the saying "history REPEATS itself", and "whatever is , has already been, and whatever will be, ALREADY IS. God repeats what has passed.(from Ecclesiastes 3)




I thought of a timeline, then I thought if something comes AROUND again then that would make our timeLINE a CIRCLE. If you join the ends of a line you have a CIRCLE, also a symbol for that which is ETERNAL.

Mourn...dance...mourn...dance...
Weep...laugh...weep...laugh...
Though there is a point in our earth time for everything, it ultimately exists in the eternal.




What we put out there is put on a circular track(like the top photo);
like reaping and sowing, what goes around comes around. We put so much attention on our EARTH(flesh time) "what's left" existence when God puts ETERNITY in our hearts, so we shouldn't have to struggle with the thoughts like; I should feel sad, I feel guilty to be happy, or I should feel glad...you can feel it all and have it all. You can weep one moment and be ecstatic the next...it's OK.

I think Jesus Christ gave us perfect examples of this, because his thinking was ETERNAL yet He fully lived in every moment. He savored life.
That's why he could jump from rejoicing at a dinner then cry over Jerusalem, then say at his LAST supper "with JOY I've longed to eat this passover with you".


Be filled with the mind of Christ, be filled with eternal thinking and ENJOY the life that God has given you. Don't worry about the days or length of your life, let God keep you occupied with the JOY in your heart! It's ALL good.
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I will be planning to post a Father's Day post either tonight or tomorrow morning and probably keep it on through Monday, maybe Tuesday. Keep blogging with your Father's Day comments, activities, thoughts and feelings. Love ya'