Rules for Life - #1

I mentioned in  an earlier post that I wanted to take the seven Cardinal Rules of Life and search out scriptures for them. Today, I will focus on the first one:

1. Make peace with your past so it won't disturb your present
   
   
   Isaiah 43:18 (NIV)
   Forget the former things;do not dwell on the past. 
   
   John 14:27
   Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
   
   John 16:33 (NIV) I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
   
   Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
     
   Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

   
   Colossians 3:15 (NIV) 
   Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

   
   

   2 Timothy 2:22 (NIV) 

   Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 

   
   

   Romans 8:6 (NIV)
   
   

   The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 

   
   

   
   

   2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV) 
   
   

   Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.
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   My thoughts:
   Dwelling on your past brings you down as you think about life before accepting Christ as your savior. Once you become into the blood of Christ, your former life is no more, it has been washed clean and God remembers it no more. I love the scripture in Psalms 103:12 that says, "As far as the east is to the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Folks, the east and west never meet! This means your sins are no more. If you continue to dwell on that sinful life and all the wrongs you committed; you are not trusting in God's word and His power of forgiveness. May you spend time on God's grace and mercy, thanking Him for bringing you peace as you live daily for Him.

7 Cardinal Rules for Life

Rules of life that I try to always follow! pic.twitter.com/w5rZbvNfjK
— Sima Levy (@SimaMAW) February 25, 2014

It is my plan to take these 7 cardinals rules and put scripture (book, chapter, & verse) to them. Maybe someone out there in the blog-o-sphere can beat me to it. I'd love that. Please visit Sima's Twitter feed and/or website! She is such a lovely person that I just met online on Twitter. Mothers Art World (MAW) was created by her and their mission is to give students all over the world access to Art education! I think I had a deficiency in this area. What she is doing is inspiring and I commend her. I cannot wait to share her with the world. Make sure to visit her site and check out her books.

Stinkin' Thinkin'

What I like about the new year is that it brings about reflection. Hopefully, most of us are reflecting on ways to improve ourselves, improve our lives, and improve our relationships. I have been reading and studying a book by Jennifer Rothschild called, "Me, Myself, and Lies". It has made me think more about my self-talk (sometime called Soul Talk) and how powerful it can be if they are negative ones. I want to admit that my thoughts are not always pleasing to me or God (He counts most). I have a problem with Stinkin' Thinkin'! It is something I plan to change in 2015. Have you ever told yourself that "You can't do something?" or "You're not important"? "You're too fat, ugly, stupid, dumb, fill-in-the-blank with your choice of word(s). Our thoughts need to be acceptable and pleasing to God. Our theme memory verse is taken from Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the mediation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (KJV). If you are one whose thoughts hurt more than help, replace them with God's truth. It is helpful to memorize scripture and erase negative thoughts with God's loving words. I love this acronym for MIND. These are the kind of thoughts I want and that should fill our SELF TALK. Join me this year and don't let Satan keep you down this year. He wants us to fail, to think we aren't capable of achieving His purpose in our lives. Together, we can fill our thoughts with things that are pleasing and acceptable to God, our Father and creator. Enjoy the journey!

Wisdom Speaks for Itself

This image really spoke to me when I studied it during my quiet time with God. It attacks the prideful man, one who wants publicity for his good works as if to say, "Look what I do to help others" There are many who love to see their name on billboards and the like; but God wants us to be humble and silent about helping others. It brings me to the verse in Matthew 6:2 where it tells us how to be silent in our giving of our talents, no matter what they are.
Instruction about Giving

1"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2"So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3"But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,…

Love that Does Not Return

They say that if you love someone, you should let them go. But they never say what to do when they don't come back.
— Greatest Quotes (@GreatestQuots) November 23, 2014 

God and the Geese

There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays.    His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments. One snowy Eve, his wife was taking their children to service in the farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus' birth. She asked him to come, but he refused. "That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!"  So she and the children left, and he stayed home.

A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a  blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been beating on his window. 

In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed. 

The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked  over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. 

But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on. 

Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in every direction except toward the barn.  Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.  "Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm?" 

He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild geese. 

He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn -- and one-by-one, the other geese followed it to safety. He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!" 

Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the way and save us. 

As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer:

"Thank You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"

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This was shared with me on email. What a wonderful story!

Lessons from Alexander the Great

On his deathbed Alexander the Great summoned his generals and told them his three ultimate wishes:

The best doctors should carry his coffin;

The wealth he had accumulated (money, gold, precious stones) should be scattered along the way to his burial; and

His hands should be left hanging outside the coffin for all to see.

Surprised by these unusual requests, one of his generals asked Alexander to explain.

Here is what he said:

"I want the best doctors to carry my coffin to demonstrate that in the face of death; even the best doctors in the world have no power to heal;

"I want the road to be covered with my treasure so that everybody sees that the wealth acquired on earth, stays on earth.

"I want my hands to swing in the wind so that people understand that we come to this world empty-handed and we leave empty-handed after the most precious treasure of all is exhausted....time."

Time is our most precious treasure because it is limited. We can produce more wealth, but we cannot produce more time.

When we give someone our time, we actually give a portion of our life that we will never take back. Our time is our life!

The best present you can give your family and friends is your time.

May we all have the wisdom to give it.