“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” Romans 12:1
I Ain’t Got Time For This!
We know what we should do, but doing it is often the real challenge. We know what we should not do, but keeping ourselves from doing it is the really hard thing to do. I have noticed that most of the battles that take place in my physical life, take place in my mind before they manifest themselves in reality.
Learning to fight and win the battle in the mind, will save us a lot of heartache, time and trouble in the long run. What we give to God, God can take and use in amazing ways to move us to a place of blessing and fulfillment. The beautiful thing is that this allows us to give to God glory, which He is due and it allows God to give us blessing, which allows us to give Him even greater glory.
Take some time today to think about the battles you are fighting in your mind. Fight those battles and win – you will be glad you did!
My Grandfather loved his land. He bought it from his Dad and had worked it for the major part of his life. We used to walk the property lines every Sunday and he would tell me stories of things that had taken place on this sacred piece of earth.
He knew that bounty was not something that you kept in a bank, nor was it a job that you worked nine to five. Real bounty was the gifts and blessings that flowed into your life through the generosity of the ground under your feet.
The green hills provided a place of shelter, a place to belong and call home. The fertile soil with the smell of life gave fruits and vegetables. The thick forest offered retreat and comfort, while the wide open plains offered opportunity for adventure.
The land, as my Pa called it, has already provided us with all that we need to live a life of peace and joy. Our Creator, created the Heaven and the earth and they are perfect creations, doing everything that they are supposed to do. From the Heaven comes wind, rain and the bright sunlight of day. While the earth gives us a place to live, nourishment for our body, minerals for our growth, jewels for our decoration and somewhere to go and something to do.
Everything that we need is either just above our heads or right under our feet. Stop looking past the horizon, when what you need is within your grasp. Bend down, pick up some dirt and think about the significance of what you are holding. Now think about what you are walking on, claim what you have been blessed with and be careful not to miss what your Creator has given you!
I am one week into my evolving plan to live a higher life. I thought I would take just a moment to share a big idea that seems to have come through from what I am learning every day. The big idea for this week is: You Have A Choice!
You get to make a choice about how you are going to respond to life. You can respond in a negative or positive way – it is totally up to you about how you respond. Once you get focused on the reality of this truth, there are some things that you can do, to unleash its power in your moment by moment living.
Here are three ideas worth considering:
1.) Take Negatives Out! There are people and places that you do not need to be around and that you do not need around you. This will pull you down, before you pull it up, so take some time to step away, so that you can get yourself strong and then when you have yourself in a good place and are ready, you can try to help others. Remember: What you allow to come into your life has influence. The question that should determine if it is allowed in or not is simply this: Is this adding more than it’s taking away. If the answer is no, then you know the tough decision you have to make.
Use your five senses to apply this: Don’t allow your sight to focus on anything that is not adding value. Don’t allow your hearing to listen to anything that is not adding value. Don’t allow your touch to feel anything that is not adding value. Don’t allow yourself to taste to cause you to eat anything that is not adding value. Don’t allow your smell to lead you into a bad indulgence that is not adding value.
2.) Put Positives In! You will find that when you start to get rid of negatives, that you will need to replace them with something. If we fail to replace them with good and productive positives, then other negatives will find a way to fill the void.
Look for positive relationships that build you and allow you to build others. Listen to encouraging and upbeat stuff. Get in touch with your feelings and learn to allow them to provide direction support for where you need to go and what you need to do. Taste that life is good and take some time to stop and smell the roses, that you most of the time rush by without even realizing that they are there.
3.) Build A System! None of this happens by accident, so make sure that you are taking a little time everyday to build a system. Get a journal and pen and begin to record what you are learning and the insights that this different way of living is providing. Take time to write down at least five new things that you are thankful for everyday. Make plans for your dreams to become reality by putting pen to paper.
Your Creator has amazing things in store for you – don’t miss it! Thanks so much for taking time to let me share with you and I would love it, if you would share back with me. Leave me a comment or send me an email. I hope you have a great weekend and until the next time we meet – live blessed!
Michael Joe Harvell 