When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul.
Psalm 94:19
Monday, March 31, 2014
Helping without judgement
I was listening to Dr. Brene Brown last night and she absolutely challenged me to to do some life work on myself. One of the powerful statements that she made was:
"When you cannot ask for help with self-judgement, then you never really help others without judgement of that person."
Wow! That sat me back in my seat to think about this. In Mark 12:31 it says: "The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." I thought I had an understanding of this verse, but when I think about applying this principle to myself it looks like this: I am in need and I refuse to ask for help because I am too proud to let anyone know I am struggling. I care more about my self-image and the standard of perfection I am attempting to maintain. One day, my neighbor comes over and tells me that they are struggling and cannot keep their house due to financial difficulties. In keeping with how I treat myself, I look down on my neighbor for reaching out. They should be able to figure it out without telling everyone are my secret thoughts and judgement upon them. I may smile on the outside and appear to listen, but because of the prideful standard I think I am adhering to, I don't really show up for my neighbor's pain nor do I give them an authentic picture of who I am or who God is!
So back to Mark 12:31: Love your neighbor as yourself. When you are in need, when you are struggling emotionally, sinking in a tragedy, overwhelmed by a parenting situation, or anything else.....BE COURAGEOUS and reach out! Asking for and getting help is not a sign of weakness, but rather of incredible strength! After all, how in the world can you show up for someone Else's pain, when you are too proud to even deal with your own!
Please take a moment to go to Dr. Brene Brown's website. She has a real way with powerful statements and much of her work is worth reading! Thank you Brene! You made a real difference in my life!
http://brenebrown.com/
"When you cannot ask for help with self-judgement, then you never really help others without judgement of that person."
Wow! That sat me back in my seat to think about this. In Mark 12:31 it says: "The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." I thought I had an understanding of this verse, but when I think about applying this principle to myself it looks like this: I am in need and I refuse to ask for help because I am too proud to let anyone know I am struggling. I care more about my self-image and the standard of perfection I am attempting to maintain. One day, my neighbor comes over and tells me that they are struggling and cannot keep their house due to financial difficulties. In keeping with how I treat myself, I look down on my neighbor for reaching out. They should be able to figure it out without telling everyone are my secret thoughts and judgement upon them. I may smile on the outside and appear to listen, but because of the prideful standard I think I am adhering to, I don't really show up for my neighbor's pain nor do I give them an authentic picture of who I am or who God is!
So back to Mark 12:31: Love your neighbor as yourself. When you are in need, when you are struggling emotionally, sinking in a tragedy, overwhelmed by a parenting situation, or anything else.....BE COURAGEOUS and reach out! Asking for and getting help is not a sign of weakness, but rather of incredible strength! After all, how in the world can you show up for someone Else's pain, when you are too proud to even deal with your own!
Please take a moment to go to Dr. Brene Brown's website. She has a real way with powerful statements and much of her work is worth reading! Thank you Brene! You made a real difference in my life!
http://brenebrown.com/
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Extravagant Dimensions
I love my two sons! Being their mom has been one of my greatest joys in my life! There is not anything that I wouldn't do for them. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not thinking about them. There isn't a night that goes by that I am not fervently praying for them and asking God to bless them more than anything and with everything! Today, I made the happy connection between my love for my boys and God's love for me, as His child. Ephesians 3:17-19 is a tremendous prayer that Paul prayed for those he cared about. It is truly should be the prayer we have for ourselves and for those we love as well: "That Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite Him in. And I ask Him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all Christians the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God." Now that is love! Extravagant Love! The dimensions are never-ending! I love my sons and I feel like I love them extravagantly, but compared to the love of God it falls short of His far-reaching dimensions! My prayer today is that I can remember that God loves me so much that He thinks of me all day long and wants what is best for me. He wants to bless me beyond measure and wants to see me come to know Him in a way that I begin to be an example of His love to others! So, to my two awesome sons, today I dedicate this blog entry to you and I pray that you may get to know the extravagant love of a God who can and will always love you more than I can! EXTRAVAGANT LOVE...................
.....what a wonderful God we have, indeed!
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
How do we help those that are broken?
Today's thoughts come together in Isaiah 61:1. When we are faced with the question, "HOW can I help someone who is in pain, grieving, or broken?" The answer comes so simply in these words: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me (you); because the LORD has anointed me (you) to preach good tidings to the meek; He has sent me (you) to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." Aren't these words just awesome?! I often wonder how I can help someone trapped in self-medicating behaviors or someone who has just faced an overwhelming tragedy. Rule #1: Don't try to fix someone! Instead bind them up with tender love and care, share the freedom found in knowing God, and to those who are bound by life and all of its cares.....well we should be sharing the victory that Christ gives when we release ourselves to Him! Sounds simple, but in reality IT IS! Have a extravagant day in the love of God for you!
Friday, March 21, 2014
The heart of the matter
Those of us in the field of helping other people know one thing always rings true: Problems and the origins seem to all be universal. Divorce, unemployment, financial issues, in-law problems, etc. all seem to be the same for everyone who experiences them. Recently, I was observing leaves. I noticed all the different types of leaves that we have in our yard. Leaves are not all universal! They are original and unique in and of themselves! As I noticed this, I realized that this parallels with the originality of each person God created. People are all unique and individual in and of themselves. Yes, problems that people have all have similarities, but people are not equal to their problems! Rather each of us is unique in the perspectives that we have! The heart of the matter is this: Those of us serving in the various capacities that help others must realize that once we begin to see people equal to those problems we have lost COMPASSION! Compassion is the ability to see beyond a problem that person has and be in awe of each individual's uniqueness and originality! We must never lose sight of how God views a person! If we have, we need to go and collect some leaves today! Ask God to reveal to you just how special each leave is that He has created! He will restore to you a compassion for those people who are even more special to Him than all the leaves in the world!
Thursday, March 20, 2014
The God Whisperer
Good morning! Today I was contemplating the Whispers of God. We all know the TV show "The Dog Whisperer". The host of the show does an amazing job re-training dogs who display behaviors that the owners cannot seem to change. With the sound of a whisper, the host begins to work with a dog in an effort to re-train that animal and learn a new, and better behavior. I have seen many episodes where a very aggressive, unmanageable dog is re-born into a well-behaved pet and all with the simple, quite whisper of the trainer! We can have a similar experience with the God of the universe! He whispers in the still of the night, or in the busy times of the day. He whispers assurance, admonition, calls to action and once we train ourselves to hear those whispers and respond we are then re-born into a better way of thinking and behaving. If your life has become unmanageable, overwhelming, filled to the brim with unnecessary chaos, then perhaps you need a session with our God and His Divine Whispers! Take a moment today to be still and listen. God talks, but it is up to us to listen! He will transform you and renew your mind, but it won't be through yelling or talking over what you already are hearing now. It will be in the silence that you will clearly hear that whisper from God and if you take the time to listen, you will be radically changed into a person who will reflect new and better behavior! Time to go...I have to be still now and listen for my Whisperer. Have a extravagant day in the Love of God!
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
The Withered Fig Tree
Greetings! Today is a new beginning....one of starting a new blog and one of sending and receiving many blessings from this blog. Sit back, relax, and enjoy....and when it is all said and done please post your thoughts so that I can do the same! Awesome!
Today, I am going to sign in with a parable of the Withered Fig Tree. Have you ever thought of yourself as a withered fig tree? I know this isn't a very flattering picture. Well, Jesus has a few words to say about us being like a withered fig tree. In Matthew 21:18-22 the story begins with Jesus walking back from Jerusalem with His disciples when He notices a fig tree covered with leaves, but did not have any fruit. Now, I don't know about you, but if a tree has leaves and is providing shade I would have determined that it was a pretty decent tree doing the job of a tree, right? Not, Jesus! He pronouced judgement on the tree and said, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you!" I would say that seems pretty harsh. After all, if you have ever seen a fig tree they are quite beautiful and their leaves are broad and shady even if there is no fruit! The gospel of Mark tells us that it was not even the season for figs! My next question is: "WHY Lord, would you curse something that wasn't producing even when it wasn't the time for it to produce?!" This is where the beauty of the story comes into play. The fig tress in Israel are unique in that theproduce small, green figs in the spring around the Passover. These "early figs" drop off as the summer fig is formed. Are you seeing the whole picture now? The absence of these early figs meant an absence of the summer crop which was the productive phase of the fig tree.
Let's make this applicable to you and me: The absence of the small, green "figs" on a leafy fig tree is a picture of unbelieving Israel who was professing fruitfulness to a God who already saw the true harvest of their works. They had no spring figs, therefore there could be no summer harvest!
We can be as pretentious as we want to while we strut around our broad, green, shady fig leaves boasting productiveness and fruitful works. Our green leaves can make us look good and promising, but without the early fig crops we are doing nothing more than deceiving ourselves and living as hypocrites!
I challenge each of you today to check and see how your "spring figs" are doing! Is there an abundance of life right now on your fig tree or are you growing only leaves at this point? You can change that easily by asking our wonderful Gardener of Life to convict you of those pretensions and cause you to have a productive and authentic fig tree! Withering figs trees are not an option!
Today, I am going to sign in with a parable of the Withered Fig Tree. Have you ever thought of yourself as a withered fig tree? I know this isn't a very flattering picture. Well, Jesus has a few words to say about us being like a withered fig tree. In Matthew 21:18-22 the story begins with Jesus walking back from Jerusalem with His disciples when He notices a fig tree covered with leaves, but did not have any fruit. Now, I don't know about you, but if a tree has leaves and is providing shade I would have determined that it was a pretty decent tree doing the job of a tree, right? Not, Jesus! He pronouced judgement on the tree and said, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you!" I would say that seems pretty harsh. After all, if you have ever seen a fig tree they are quite beautiful and their leaves are broad and shady even if there is no fruit! The gospel of Mark tells us that it was not even the season for figs! My next question is: "WHY Lord, would you curse something that wasn't producing even when it wasn't the time for it to produce?!" This is where the beauty of the story comes into play. The fig tress in Israel are unique in that theproduce small, green figs in the spring around the Passover. These "early figs" drop off as the summer fig is formed. Are you seeing the whole picture now? The absence of these early figs meant an absence of the summer crop which was the productive phase of the fig tree.
Let's make this applicable to you and me: The absence of the small, green "figs" on a leafy fig tree is a picture of unbelieving Israel who was professing fruitfulness to a God who already saw the true harvest of their works. They had no spring figs, therefore there could be no summer harvest!
We can be as pretentious as we want to while we strut around our broad, green, shady fig leaves boasting productiveness and fruitful works. Our green leaves can make us look good and promising, but without the early fig crops we are doing nothing more than deceiving ourselves and living as hypocrites!
I challenge each of you today to check and see how your "spring figs" are doing! Is there an abundance of life right now on your fig tree or are you growing only leaves at this point? You can change that easily by asking our wonderful Gardener of Life to convict you of those pretensions and cause you to have a productive and authentic fig tree! Withering figs trees are not an option!
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