Unwrinkled Linen is almost an oxy moron. God talks about linen in the Bible. Jesus was wrapped in linen when he died, when angels visited the earth they were wearing linen and in Revelation the warrior angels are also wearing linen. Did you know research shows that linen keeps you about 10 degrees cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter? Only God could create a fabric that knows when to heat and when to cool.
Linen is a beautiful material and looks rich when you’re wearing it; the problem is as soon as you move it wrinkles. It’s almost futile ironing it because as soon as you sit down it wrinkles. If you even fold it nicely it will wrinkle.
I have found that people are a lot like linen. We are beautiful and rich individuals who look great until life moves us. I was visiting my parents for a few days trying to help them in some personal matters. Anyone who has had to help with aging parents can understand the frustration involved. My dad is deaf so you have to YELL at him so he can barely hear you. It is not natural to scream at a parent so that right there is uncomfortable. He is also a bit paranoid so he accuses me of trying to steal from him. My mother has beginning stages of alzheimers so it is not uncommon for us to have the same conversation 5 or 6 times during the day. She too has some paranoia and if I am talking to someone else she accuses me of talking about her and trying to make people think she’s crazy. The very people I am trying to help are doing everything they can not to help. I can’t get mad (I have to keep telling myself that) because they really are not doing it on purpose.
To make matters worse I have to deal with the Veterans Administration for doctors along with mortgage companies that don’t actually answer a phone or call back. I have been trying to get my dad teeth for over 9 months. His last trip to the VA Hospital they lost them. They say it’s my word against there’s so up until now have refused to replace them. So here is my 86 year old father losing weight rapidly because he cannot eat properly and we can’t afford new teeth! My mother’s doctor has informed us that she does not want to care for her any longer because in her opinion my mother needs to be in an assisted living facility. This of course also cost money. My dad will not leave the home and my mom won’t leave my dad. I will spare you the rest but the bottom line is this is some pretty wrinkled linen I’m working with.
I was at Wal-Mart trying to get my mother’s glasses that she had been waiting for over a week. When we finally get them they were not made right and she still could not see. The lady working with us was getting agitated as if we had done something wrong. She explains the situation to her manager that says in an aggravated huff “just fix it at no cost”. I was grateful but annoyed at the same time. Why were they acting like they were doing us a favor when they were the ones who screwed up. At this point I was over people who were over old people.
In comes my sweet Jesus. The Holy Spirit told me to go over to the manager who was now talking to another co-worker and I could tell by her body language and face she was complaining. The Spirit told me to thank her for being willing to help us and for her dedication to a job that is difficult because she is working with the public. That I understood her frustration with people not taking pride in their jobs and the people that are just plain hard to work with. I walked up to the women who stopped talking when I stood in front of them. The lady helping my mother also stopped what she was doing and watched me. I excused myself for interrupting her conversation and did what the Spirit told me. I confessed to her that I too was frustrated and could not tell her how much I appreciated her helping us. That she was the first person in three days that we actually got to speak to and agreed to help us. She looked up at me and almost started to cry. She confessed that she was just complaining to her co-worker and she was sorry for that. She told me how much she needed a word of encouragement and how much it helped her. I thanked both the other ladies too and their whole demeanor changed. Their linen had been ironed out by the Holy Spirit and they looked beautiful.
Some people are just jerks and some people are just overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed and so were they. That’s when the Holy Spirit stared showing me the analogy of linen and people. If we do nothing but stay still when we are in linen (the beautiful body God created for us) we won’t get wrinkled. But life is not about not getting involved or helping each other out. We were designed to get wrinkled but if we don’t take time with Jesus and let the Holy Spirit continually wash us we end up not being wearable. Unfortunately we have become a people who have tired of helping each other out especially when the one needing the help is deaf or confused. It was a good reminder to me to just take a deep breath, listen to the Spirit and move forward in love. God did other great things while I was at my parents, things I could not have done with out Him. I’m thankful that He is always in control and that His linen never wrinkles.
Gena’s Jewels
Gena's Jewels Keeper of The Testimony available on Amazon
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sinking Sand
“The deeper you search into God, the more you find out about you”. That’s a quote from Cathy Ann Tittle and a very profound statement.
I have been experiencing this very thing in my own life. Some of what I’m learning about myself I like and some not so much. The deeper you go the more intense it gets and you can say “when” at any point, it won’t change anything in your relationship with the Lord concerning how much He loves you or your place in eternity. As for me I have not been able to say “when” yet.
I have a new appreciation for the story in the Bible where some of the followers of Jesus decided they had enough and were turning back. Jesus asks His disciples if they are going to leave Him too and they reply, and go where, where would we go?
Every time I ask the Lord to show me more about Him and our walk together it’s a new experience. The best way to describe the feeling is to give you a visual.
I’m a bit scared of the water so when I go to the beach I’m not one of those people that just runs into the ocean. I proceed with caution to say the least. You know when you’re standing in the ocean maybe up to your calf and the tide goes out and in, the sand starts to move and your feet start getting buried in it. At first you feel like your losing your footing as the earth moves under your feet. When a wave hits you have to stand strong so you don’t fall over but after a few minutes you get your balance and you begin to stand firm. It’s not until you move to another spot that the process starts over again. That’s what it’s like for me in my journey. Each new place the Lord brings me I have to get my footing all over again. Each new place we stop I get a bit nervous like I’m going to fall, my heart quickens and I have to get my bearings. The sand starts sinking. I’m on unfamiliar ground and I have to remind myself the foundation is still the same.
It’s a weird sensation as part of me wants to stay put when I get comfortable and part of me thinks, well you made it this far why not try a little deeper. Every step requires more faith. Will I fall over? What if the water covers me how long can I stay under? Are there sharks out here? Will someone see me if I start to drown? When I look back and see the beach I realize I have conquered that part and made it into the water. I don’t want to go back to just standing at the shoreline I want to get in.
Sometimes the sand gets so hot you have to get in the water. I believe sometimes the Lord allows our circumstances to get “hot” so we will move.
Daniel understood this experience, not that I’m comparing myself to Daniel just the explanation. In Daniel 10:5-7 Daniel is describing an angel that appears before him and his friends but only he saw it. The verses tell us that his friends were so overcome with terror they ran and hid.
This shows us that there are times when the Lord shows you something that your friends don’t see. I wonder what his friends did see or feel that scared them so bad they took off running and hid. Sometimes our lives scare the people around us and they distance themselves from us. The circumstances don’t change the reality just how we go through it, with people or alone. Why did God pick Daniel? The reason is found in verse 12: do not be afraid Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
You see Daniel asked God for more understanding, he asked to go deeper and God was answering his call. Don’t you think as his feet were going into this new “sand” he was freaking out a bit. The Bible tells us he fainted!
Daniel asked for more understanding and apparently his friends didn’t so only he had the experience. The angel goes onto give him an extraordinary vision about the future.
I’m sure there were only two groups of people in Daniels life, those that believed him and those that didn’t. That hasn’t’ changed through out the ages.
The bottom line is if you’re asking God for new revelations and are willing to stand in the sand of uncertainty for a while God will answer your call too. They key of course is to stay humble. Just because God is showing you something doesn’t mean He’s showing everyone the same thing, we all have our own beach.
I have found in my own personal walk the deeper you go the less people are swimming in your ocean. Just like at the beach when the life guard starts blowing his whistle that someone is out too far it’s usually just one person he’s waving in. Who decides what’s too far? The person that has to save you does and the beauty about our life guard is there is no too far.
I’m not trying to sound like some super Christian here cause I’m not. I still wanna faint each time we go deeper and I don’t always get things right the first time but I wouldn’t give up the swim for anything. I’m going to the beach with Jesus and I’m going keep stepping on His foundation cause all other ground is sinking sand
Gena’s Jewels
I have been experiencing this very thing in my own life. Some of what I’m learning about myself I like and some not so much. The deeper you go the more intense it gets and you can say “when” at any point, it won’t change anything in your relationship with the Lord concerning how much He loves you or your place in eternity. As for me I have not been able to say “when” yet.
I have a new appreciation for the story in the Bible where some of the followers of Jesus decided they had enough and were turning back. Jesus asks His disciples if they are going to leave Him too and they reply, and go where, where would we go?
Every time I ask the Lord to show me more about Him and our walk together it’s a new experience. The best way to describe the feeling is to give you a visual.
I’m a bit scared of the water so when I go to the beach I’m not one of those people that just runs into the ocean. I proceed with caution to say the least. You know when you’re standing in the ocean maybe up to your calf and the tide goes out and in, the sand starts to move and your feet start getting buried in it. At first you feel like your losing your footing as the earth moves under your feet. When a wave hits you have to stand strong so you don’t fall over but after a few minutes you get your balance and you begin to stand firm. It’s not until you move to another spot that the process starts over again. That’s what it’s like for me in my journey. Each new place the Lord brings me I have to get my footing all over again. Each new place we stop I get a bit nervous like I’m going to fall, my heart quickens and I have to get my bearings. The sand starts sinking. I’m on unfamiliar ground and I have to remind myself the foundation is still the same.
It’s a weird sensation as part of me wants to stay put when I get comfortable and part of me thinks, well you made it this far why not try a little deeper. Every step requires more faith. Will I fall over? What if the water covers me how long can I stay under? Are there sharks out here? Will someone see me if I start to drown? When I look back and see the beach I realize I have conquered that part and made it into the water. I don’t want to go back to just standing at the shoreline I want to get in.
Sometimes the sand gets so hot you have to get in the water. I believe sometimes the Lord allows our circumstances to get “hot” so we will move.
Daniel understood this experience, not that I’m comparing myself to Daniel just the explanation. In Daniel 10:5-7 Daniel is describing an angel that appears before him and his friends but only he saw it. The verses tell us that his friends were so overcome with terror they ran and hid.
This shows us that there are times when the Lord shows you something that your friends don’t see. I wonder what his friends did see or feel that scared them so bad they took off running and hid. Sometimes our lives scare the people around us and they distance themselves from us. The circumstances don’t change the reality just how we go through it, with people or alone. Why did God pick Daniel? The reason is found in verse 12: do not be afraid Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.
You see Daniel asked God for more understanding, he asked to go deeper and God was answering his call. Don’t you think as his feet were going into this new “sand” he was freaking out a bit. The Bible tells us he fainted!
Daniel asked for more understanding and apparently his friends didn’t so only he had the experience. The angel goes onto give him an extraordinary vision about the future.
I’m sure there were only two groups of people in Daniels life, those that believed him and those that didn’t. That hasn’t’ changed through out the ages.
The bottom line is if you’re asking God for new revelations and are willing to stand in the sand of uncertainty for a while God will answer your call too. They key of course is to stay humble. Just because God is showing you something doesn’t mean He’s showing everyone the same thing, we all have our own beach.
I have found in my own personal walk the deeper you go the less people are swimming in your ocean. Just like at the beach when the life guard starts blowing his whistle that someone is out too far it’s usually just one person he’s waving in. Who decides what’s too far? The person that has to save you does and the beauty about our life guard is there is no too far.
I’m not trying to sound like some super Christian here cause I’m not. I still wanna faint each time we go deeper and I don’t always get things right the first time but I wouldn’t give up the swim for anything. I’m going to the beach with Jesus and I’m going keep stepping on His foundation cause all other ground is sinking sand
Gena’s Jewels
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Image Consultant
I was out running one morning and as I came around the corner of a building I saw a woman walking to her car that caught my attention. She was pretty plain looking and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was wearing old shorts and a T-shirt. She had on sneakers and she was a bit over weight.
It’s funny all the things you notice in just a few seconds. I didn’t know why I noticed any of it until a few minutes later.
Before I tell you what happened next I want to describe to you what I looked like so you don’t think I’m making fun of this woman. As I said I was running so first off I had NO makeup on except the left over mascara under my eyes from the night before. I was wearing my daughter’s faded soccer T-shirt that was a size to big. My knobby knees were aching from the run so I was limping a bit. To top off my beauty my frizzy hair was not in a pony tail but lose and flowing free.
Now let me explain something to you about people with frizzy hair. When it’s damp outside, and we all know how damp it’s been, frizzy hair grows out not down. To give you a visual, if my hair was any bigger I would have had to widen my front door to get in the house.
With that said I turned the corner and kept running. A few minutes later the woman drove by me in an old beat up car. As she passed I saw writing on her back window advertising her company. It said in big bold letters Image Consultant. I started laughing as I saw what the car looked like and remembered what she looked like. I thought to myself if that’s the image she’s selling I’ll pass.
As always the Holy Spirit, being more mature than me pointed out what He wanted me to see. He said “you’re right, if you were going to hire an image consultant you would expect a more sophisticated looking person. Someone you think looks better than you, especially if you’re out running, or at least appeared they had it all together. An image consultant that didn’t drive a Pinto or an El Comino, but maybe something a bit nicer. “
I started thinking about Christians, if we dressed real nice all the time and always looked like we had it all together would we be able to reach people? What would make a Christian “look” like a Jesus Consultant?
About a week later I was sitting on a bench on the street corner in the small town where I live. It was late and I was there with some friends, we had just left a restaurant where we were doing praise and worship and praying for each other. We were now just sitting together talking and listening to one of the guys playing his guitar. It was about 1:00 a.m. and we were across the street from the local bar. A woman came out of the bar and walked over to where we were sitting and sat in the flower planter at the end of the bench I was sitting on. This of course got our attention and we started talking to her.
A few minutes later she passed me a joint. After I realized what it was, it’s been a while, I said no thanks. I told her I didn’t party anymore and she asked me an interesting question. She said “if you don’t party anymore than what catches you when you fall?” I looked her straight in the eye and said “Jesus”.
This opened the door to our conversation with her and her male friend that joined us. We invited them up to the restaurant and got to know each other a little better.
She later told us that she heard us talking about Jesus and decided to test us by handing me the joint. She figured we would be rude or blow her off and she was surprised that we accepted her right where she was. We had an awesome time with our new friend and as she left she said “I hope to see you lingering on this corner next Friday night too”.
I realized it didn’t matter what I looked like but rather what I sounded like that touched this woman. I could have been in a beautiful dress or in the old jeans I was wearing. What mattered was what came out of my mouth. Was I going to accept her?
More importantly was I going portray the “image” of God and His love that she heard us talking about.
Genesis 1:27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”.
John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”
It was a powerful test and I’m glad we passed that night.
I pray in the future no matter what we’re wearing or where we are that we will advertise an Image Consultant the Lord would be happy to hire.
Gena’s Jewels
It’s funny all the things you notice in just a few seconds. I didn’t know why I noticed any of it until a few minutes later.
Before I tell you what happened next I want to describe to you what I looked like so you don’t think I’m making fun of this woman. As I said I was running so first off I had NO makeup on except the left over mascara under my eyes from the night before. I was wearing my daughter’s faded soccer T-shirt that was a size to big. My knobby knees were aching from the run so I was limping a bit. To top off my beauty my frizzy hair was not in a pony tail but lose and flowing free.
Now let me explain something to you about people with frizzy hair. When it’s damp outside, and we all know how damp it’s been, frizzy hair grows out not down. To give you a visual, if my hair was any bigger I would have had to widen my front door to get in the house.
With that said I turned the corner and kept running. A few minutes later the woman drove by me in an old beat up car. As she passed I saw writing on her back window advertising her company. It said in big bold letters Image Consultant. I started laughing as I saw what the car looked like and remembered what she looked like. I thought to myself if that’s the image she’s selling I’ll pass.
As always the Holy Spirit, being more mature than me pointed out what He wanted me to see. He said “you’re right, if you were going to hire an image consultant you would expect a more sophisticated looking person. Someone you think looks better than you, especially if you’re out running, or at least appeared they had it all together. An image consultant that didn’t drive a Pinto or an El Comino, but maybe something a bit nicer. “
I started thinking about Christians, if we dressed real nice all the time and always looked like we had it all together would we be able to reach people? What would make a Christian “look” like a Jesus Consultant?
About a week later I was sitting on a bench on the street corner in the small town where I live. It was late and I was there with some friends, we had just left a restaurant where we were doing praise and worship and praying for each other. We were now just sitting together talking and listening to one of the guys playing his guitar. It was about 1:00 a.m. and we were across the street from the local bar. A woman came out of the bar and walked over to where we were sitting and sat in the flower planter at the end of the bench I was sitting on. This of course got our attention and we started talking to her.
A few minutes later she passed me a joint. After I realized what it was, it’s been a while, I said no thanks. I told her I didn’t party anymore and she asked me an interesting question. She said “if you don’t party anymore than what catches you when you fall?” I looked her straight in the eye and said “Jesus”.
This opened the door to our conversation with her and her male friend that joined us. We invited them up to the restaurant and got to know each other a little better.
She later told us that she heard us talking about Jesus and decided to test us by handing me the joint. She figured we would be rude or blow her off and she was surprised that we accepted her right where she was. We had an awesome time with our new friend and as she left she said “I hope to see you lingering on this corner next Friday night too”.
I realized it didn’t matter what I looked like but rather what I sounded like that touched this woman. I could have been in a beautiful dress or in the old jeans I was wearing. What mattered was what came out of my mouth. Was I going to accept her?
More importantly was I going portray the “image” of God and His love that she heard us talking about.
Genesis 1:27 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”.
John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”
It was a powerful test and I’m glad we passed that night.
I pray in the future no matter what we’re wearing or where we are that we will advertise an Image Consultant the Lord would be happy to hire.
Gena’s Jewels
Monday, June 1, 2009
#1 Emotional Killer
#1 Emotional Killer
In my opinion the number one emotional killer is our thoughts. I don’t think we realize how truly powerful they are as we don’t share the worst ones with our friends or family. Why is that? For me it’s probably embarrassment or fear of being locked up. The thoughts that come out of no where and take you on a mental tangent, having conversations with people that never happened and probably never will. How much time do we waste having these imaginary journeys? How many conversation have you had in your mind that never transpired or worse yet how many bad scenarios have you played out in your mind that never happened? I know I’m going out on a limb here, again, sharing some of my thoughts but I can’t imagine I’m alone on this.
For example last night the kids and I were driving home and it was a beautiful night so I opened the sun roof. Out of no where this thought pops in my head, what if a space ship flew over us and sucked me out of my seat and replaced me with someone who looked like me but didn’t have my memory. That sent my thinking to, could a family who lost a loved one be happy with someone who looked just like the person that died but didn’t have any of their memories? Where do these thoughts come from? Those thoughts weren’t particularly harmful, a bit weird yes but not harmful. I have had other thoughts like, no one really cares about me, I’m never going to have a partner, I’m not going to have anywhere to live, what if I get sick, am I loveable? These are definitely in the harmful category. I’m just being real here, you have your own list of unhappy thoughts you ponder on. If we stay with this thought pattern our mind can kill our happiness and rob us of our joy. It can mess with our self-esteem and form false opinions. We start to isolate ourselves and lose trust in people who really do care about us. We can get depressed or angry or worse yet have physical or mental problems if we make this place our reality.
We hear more and more that stress kills people. More people are taking medication for their emotional well being, I’m not knocking medication I’m just saying let’s start with taking over our thoughts.
As you know I’m a very visual person and there have been many times I will see a big bird flying around and hear a small bird squawking away. That little bird will be flying after that bigger bird, dive bombing and actually hitting that big bird. I think to myself what guts this little bird has it’s messing with a bird twice its size. This little bird is tenacious, it’s not backing down and it’s making all kinds of noise. I figure it must be talking “bird trash” to that big bird. Does this bird know how little he is compared to the other one? Obviously the bigger bird is messing with the little birds nest or something that means a lot to him because he’s going crazy up there and the funny thing is I have never scene the little bird lose. The big bird always ends up flying away and I’m always amazed and encouraged by that little bird.
The Holy Spirit showed me that’s how we have to handle negative thoughts, no matter how big or real they appear in our minds we have to attack them till they go away. God knew we would deal with this issue and talked about it in the Bible.
2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Notice He doesn’t say some He says every thought that doesn’t come from Jesus. Just like that little bird every time a big bird/unhealthy thought enters our minds we have to squawk like that little bird, speak out loud and make that thing fly away. Fight for what’s important to you, your mind, will and emotions. This is one of those battles that only you can fight because you’re the only one who knows what you’re thinking (besides Jesus).
How do we combat these thoughts? You have to counter the first thought by replacing it with another one. You have to let the bad thought know it’s a lie by telling yourself the truth.
Philippians 4:8 Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, I will think on and weigh and take account of these things (fix my mind on them).
Message Bible: Summing it all up, friend, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God who makes everything work together will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
2 Timothy 1:7 God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound.
I know our thoughts are powerful I just want to remind you that YOU have power over them. Take control of them, every one of them and replace the ones that try to harm you with the things that God says. Trust someone with how you’re feeling, chances are they have had a similar thought. Together let’s start taking captive every thought and replacing them with healthy thoughts of who we are in Christ. Be as tenacious as that little bird at protecting your nest, your mind.
I think of Tinker Bell when she’s teaching kids to fly she yells “happy thoughts, happy thoughts” and soon they are up in the air. We don’t need fairy dust, we have God’s word. Let’s turn the #1 emotional killer into the #1 life saver and take captive every thought and fly like that little bird!
Gena’s Jewels
In my opinion the number one emotional killer is our thoughts. I don’t think we realize how truly powerful they are as we don’t share the worst ones with our friends or family. Why is that? For me it’s probably embarrassment or fear of being locked up. The thoughts that come out of no where and take you on a mental tangent, having conversations with people that never happened and probably never will. How much time do we waste having these imaginary journeys? How many conversation have you had in your mind that never transpired or worse yet how many bad scenarios have you played out in your mind that never happened? I know I’m going out on a limb here, again, sharing some of my thoughts but I can’t imagine I’m alone on this.
For example last night the kids and I were driving home and it was a beautiful night so I opened the sun roof. Out of no where this thought pops in my head, what if a space ship flew over us and sucked me out of my seat and replaced me with someone who looked like me but didn’t have my memory. That sent my thinking to, could a family who lost a loved one be happy with someone who looked just like the person that died but didn’t have any of their memories? Where do these thoughts come from? Those thoughts weren’t particularly harmful, a bit weird yes but not harmful. I have had other thoughts like, no one really cares about me, I’m never going to have a partner, I’m not going to have anywhere to live, what if I get sick, am I loveable? These are definitely in the harmful category. I’m just being real here, you have your own list of unhappy thoughts you ponder on. If we stay with this thought pattern our mind can kill our happiness and rob us of our joy. It can mess with our self-esteem and form false opinions. We start to isolate ourselves and lose trust in people who really do care about us. We can get depressed or angry or worse yet have physical or mental problems if we make this place our reality.
We hear more and more that stress kills people. More people are taking medication for their emotional well being, I’m not knocking medication I’m just saying let’s start with taking over our thoughts.
As you know I’m a very visual person and there have been many times I will see a big bird flying around and hear a small bird squawking away. That little bird will be flying after that bigger bird, dive bombing and actually hitting that big bird. I think to myself what guts this little bird has it’s messing with a bird twice its size. This little bird is tenacious, it’s not backing down and it’s making all kinds of noise. I figure it must be talking “bird trash” to that big bird. Does this bird know how little he is compared to the other one? Obviously the bigger bird is messing with the little birds nest or something that means a lot to him because he’s going crazy up there and the funny thing is I have never scene the little bird lose. The big bird always ends up flying away and I’m always amazed and encouraged by that little bird.
The Holy Spirit showed me that’s how we have to handle negative thoughts, no matter how big or real they appear in our minds we have to attack them till they go away. God knew we would deal with this issue and talked about it in the Bible.
2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Notice He doesn’t say some He says every thought that doesn’t come from Jesus. Just like that little bird every time a big bird/unhealthy thought enters our minds we have to squawk like that little bird, speak out loud and make that thing fly away. Fight for what’s important to you, your mind, will and emotions. This is one of those battles that only you can fight because you’re the only one who knows what you’re thinking (besides Jesus).
How do we combat these thoughts? You have to counter the first thought by replacing it with another one. You have to let the bad thought know it’s a lie by telling yourself the truth.
Philippians 4:8 Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, I will think on and weigh and take account of these things (fix my mind on them).
Message Bible: Summing it all up, friend, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God who makes everything work together will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
2 Timothy 1:7 God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound.
I know our thoughts are powerful I just want to remind you that YOU have power over them. Take control of them, every one of them and replace the ones that try to harm you with the things that God says. Trust someone with how you’re feeling, chances are they have had a similar thought. Together let’s start taking captive every thought and replacing them with healthy thoughts of who we are in Christ. Be as tenacious as that little bird at protecting your nest, your mind.
I think of Tinker Bell when she’s teaching kids to fly she yells “happy thoughts, happy thoughts” and soon they are up in the air. We don’t need fairy dust, we have God’s word. Let’s turn the #1 emotional killer into the #1 life saver and take captive every thought and fly like that little bird!
Gena’s Jewels