Life isn't always easy or fair, but it is within our power to choose our reaction towards each and every situation. Look for something beautiful inside of it.
It is very easy to become discouraged and confused when the pressures of life are screaming louder than reason. But You are in control of YOU!! You have the power to give in under the weight of the situation, or to fight back with all of your might (the power that works within in - Ephesians 6:10), standing tall doing the very best you can, and releasing whatever remains to the power of God who does perfect it all.
Look for the beauty in the moment. This is not to diminish the reality of what is happening, but it is to enhance the clarity of the full picture. Even in rain storms flowers are being watered and nourished. Look for the beauty within your situation, for there is something beautiful there, if even hiding underneath the "rock". Lift the rock as you "lift your eyes to the place where your help comes from" (Psalms 121:1)and witness something beautiful in your life today!! Take a look in the mirror to behold something truly beautiful - a one of a kind masterpiece, the workmanship of God Almighty = YOU!! Simply Beautiful!
Be IN Courage!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
STONE
TWO FRIENDS WERE WALKING THROUGH THE DESERT. DURING SOME POINT OF THE JOURNEY THEY HAD AN ARGUMENT AND ONE FRIEND SLAPPED THE OTHER ONE IN THE FACE. THE ONE WHO GOT SLAPPED WAS HURT, BUT WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING WROTE IN THE SAND, "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE".
THEY KEPT ON WALKING UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS WHERE THEY DECIDED TO TAKE A BATH. THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING, BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM. AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM THE NEAR DROWNING HE WROTE ON A STONE, "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE".
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND ASKED HIM, "AFTER I HURT YOU, YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY"? THE FRIEND REPLIED, "WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY. BUT WHEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING GOOD FOR US, WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE WHERE NO WIND CAN EVER ERASE IT".
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
(author unknown)
Be IN courage!
THEY KEPT ON WALKING UNTIL THEY FOUND AN OASIS WHERE THEY DECIDED TO TAKE A BATH. THE ONE WHO HAD BEEN SLAPPED GOT STUCK IN THE MIRE AND STARTED DROWNING, BUT THE FRIEND SAVED HIM. AFTER HE RECOVERED FROM THE NEAR DROWNING HE WROTE ON A STONE, "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE".
THE FRIEND WHO HAD SLAPPED AND SAVED HIS BEST FRIEND ASKED HIM, "AFTER I HURT YOU, YOU WROTE IN THE SAND AND NOW YOU WRITE ON A STONE, WHY"? THE FRIEND REPLIED, "WHEN SOMEONE HURTS US WE SHOULD WRITE IT DOWN IN SAND, WHERE WINDS OF FORGIVENESS CAN ERASE IT AWAY. BUT WHEN SOMEONE DOES SOMETHING GOOD FOR US, WE MUST ENGRAVE IT IN STONE WHERE NO WIND CAN EVER ERASE IT".
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.
Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
(author unknown)
Be IN courage!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Don't Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
and you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit -
Rest if you must, but don't quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be nearer when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.
~ Author Unknown ~
Be IN courage!
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low, and the debts are high,
and you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit -
Rest if you must, but don't quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be nearer when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things go wrong that you must not quit.
~ Author Unknown ~
Be IN courage!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Fear = False Evidence Appearing Real
The greatest barrier to success is
the fear of failure.
Sven Goran Erikkson
Be IN Courage
the fear of failure.
Sven Goran Erikkson
Be IN Courage
Courage
Courage is the ability to face
danger or difficult situations in life.
A courageous person overcomes
challenges and hardships despite
being fearful. Courage gives us
strength to accomplish tasks and
help us do the right thing even if
we are scared or frightened.
(Author Unknown)
Be IN Courage!!!
danger or difficult situations in life.
A courageous person overcomes
challenges and hardships despite
being fearful. Courage gives us
strength to accomplish tasks and
help us do the right thing even if
we are scared or frightened.
(Author Unknown)
Be IN Courage!!!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Hope Refreshed
"His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor His delight in the legs of a man; the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love." - Psalm 147:10-11
One thing God does not need is our skills and abilities. However, He does give us the privilege to exercise our gifts and abilities for His service. That service may be as a computer technician, a secretary, an ironworker, or even a lawyer. God calls each of us to our vocations to work unto Him. To believe that He needs our skills to accomplish His mission on earth would be to lower our understanding of an all-encompassing and all-powerful God.
The psalmist tells us that His pleasure is not in our strength and ability, but His pleasure is in the attitude of the heart. It is what we find in the heart that helps determine whether ability is translated into availability.
You see God is looking to and fro throughout the earth for a man or woman who is fully committed to Him. A man or woman who is committed to fearing the Lord and placing his hope in His unfailing love is the person God seeks to support. "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9a).
When our agenda becomes His agenda, we can expect God to fully support all that we do.
(This is an excerpt from Os Hillman's Today God Is First Devotion ( 2 May 09/Volume 1 - Ability Verus Availibility - www.TodayGodisFirst.com)
Be In Courage
One thing God does not need is our skills and abilities. However, He does give us the privilege to exercise our gifts and abilities for His service. That service may be as a computer technician, a secretary, an ironworker, or even a lawyer. God calls each of us to our vocations to work unto Him. To believe that He needs our skills to accomplish His mission on earth would be to lower our understanding of an all-encompassing and all-powerful God.
The psalmist tells us that His pleasure is not in our strength and ability, but His pleasure is in the attitude of the heart. It is what we find in the heart that helps determine whether ability is translated into availability.
You see God is looking to and fro throughout the earth for a man or woman who is fully committed to Him. A man or woman who is committed to fearing the Lord and placing his hope in His unfailing love is the person God seeks to support. "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him" (2 Chron. 16:9a).
When our agenda becomes His agenda, we can expect God to fully support all that we do.
(This is an excerpt from Os Hillman's Today God Is First Devotion ( 2 May 09/Volume 1 - Ability Verus Availibility - www.TodayGodisFirst.com)
Be In Courage
Friday, May 1, 2009
The Mountain and the Fog
When I first arrived, I could see a mountain from my hotel window overlooking the San Francisco Bay. As I laid across my bed, processing some stress I was experiencing, I thanked God for allowing me to have this particular room, with this particular view. It reminded me to "...Look to the hills from where my help comes from." The verse actually says, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1)
I knew it was not a coincidence that I was assigned this exact room, with this exact view. I was just here yesterday and many other times over the last few months, and had never been assigned a room on this floor, let alone with this view.
I dozed off for a short nap and when I opened my eyes, I was amazed to see the mountain gone! "It was just there. Where could it have gone to?" Once fully awake, I realized that even though I could not see it, the mountain was still there. It was just on the other side of the fog that had rolled in. I couldn't even see the "fog", for it looked to me just like an overcast day, but I knew the "cast" was caused my the low flowing clouds which formed the fog. Even though I could not "see" the fog I knew it was there. Even though I could no longer "see" the mountain, I knew it was still there.
Even though I could not "see" the answer to how the challenges facing me were to be worked out, I know they already are, and I know the answer is there and will be revealed to me; It is just on the other side of the "fog of anxious thoughts trying to grip my emotions,". I knew the answer is laying in my prayers, trust and hope in the One who has moved "mountains" in my life before. Just like not being able to SEE the mountain behind the fog, but knowing it is still there, even though I don't SEE the answer, I know God is still here - perfecting ALL that concerns me, having "supplied all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). The passage I am reminded of here actually states:
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your Hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right Hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of Your Hand." Psalm 138:7-8.
I can rest knowing "this too shall pass" and I can be sure that the "Sun will come out tomorrow", and my hope and trust and faith will produce a "mountain of blessings" for me, based on another passage I have seen manifest in my life before:
"So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, "If you have faith as a mustard see, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
Hold fast to your hope. Don't let go of your faith. Be IN Courage and know that "weeping may endure for the night, but joy.." (and the sun which burns away the fog) "...will come in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
Be In Courage
I knew it was not a coincidence that I was assigned this exact room, with this exact view. I was just here yesterday and many other times over the last few months, and had never been assigned a room on this floor, let alone with this view.
I dozed off for a short nap and when I opened my eyes, I was amazed to see the mountain gone! "It was just there. Where could it have gone to?" Once fully awake, I realized that even though I could not see it, the mountain was still there. It was just on the other side of the fog that had rolled in. I couldn't even see the "fog", for it looked to me just like an overcast day, but I knew the "cast" was caused my the low flowing clouds which formed the fog. Even though I could not "see" the fog I knew it was there. Even though I could no longer "see" the mountain, I knew it was still there.
Even though I could not "see" the answer to how the challenges facing me were to be worked out, I know they already are, and I know the answer is there and will be revealed to me; It is just on the other side of the "fog of anxious thoughts trying to grip my emotions,". I knew the answer is laying in my prayers, trust and hope in the One who has moved "mountains" in my life before. Just like not being able to SEE the mountain behind the fog, but knowing it is still there, even though I don't SEE the answer, I know God is still here - perfecting ALL that concerns me, having "supplied all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19). The passage I am reminded of here actually states:
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your Hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right Hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of Your Hand." Psalm 138:7-8.
I can rest knowing "this too shall pass" and I can be sure that the "Sun will come out tomorrow", and my hope and trust and faith will produce a "mountain of blessings" for me, based on another passage I have seen manifest in my life before:
"So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, "If you have faith as a mustard see, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
Hold fast to your hope. Don't let go of your faith. Be IN Courage and know that "weeping may endure for the night, but joy.." (and the sun which burns away the fog) "...will come in the morning." (Psalm 30:5)
Be In Courage
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