"Encouraging Words for Family & Friends"

DAY #57 - 'A Woman of Faith' Devotional
Verse: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29 NIV

MSG - "Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift."
AMP - "Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it."


As teammates in the 'game of life', we are meant to encourage and pat each other on the back. However, it's been said that some people are patting you on the back, looking for a place to stick the knife. Now that is not a positive approach or an optimistic view, but unfortunately it's true sometimes, and we do have to be honest with ourselves, so that we don't get hurt. Some people in our lives try to place us on a pedestal only to watch us fall. Encouragement helps even the best of us. Encouraging words to build up, not gossip or lies to make it seem good, or really to tear down.

Everyone around us is actually in need of some type of encouragement or uplifting. Uplifting meaning lifting your spirits, or lifting you to a higher level with God. Not lifting you up praising you on a pedestal. It is good to 'praise' people with a simple 'well done' or 'good job' -- but ensure that all glory goes to God. He is the giver of the gifts/talents and He deserves much more praise than you or me. It would be fun to give an encouraging word to everyone we meet, but obviously that is unrealistic, as some people would just ignore us, or discourage us in ways we all know of with cursing, etc. But some people who truly look like they need a 'lift', or Holy Spirit gives you a 'shoulder tap' letting you know which ones -- do it! Encourage a family member, a friend, an enemy, a stranger... and see how it affects your spirit too. There is a chinese proverb I've heard, "Flowers leave their fragrance in the hand that bestows them”. When we give, a piece of the gift remains with us to bring us joy as well.

...to be continued!

BE BLESSED & BE A BLESSING!

 

Spread your wings & fly...

 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

So, because I am playing catch-up on my blogs, I just completed a post here regarding 'Then Sings My Soul Saturdays', a fun blog meme that I joined a while back. I haven't really kept up with it though, so yesterday and today I thought I would. I chose the song, 'COCOON' by Jack Johnson. (You can read the lyrics and hear the song on my other blog site.) So as I was thinking about what to write for the song, a cool devotional came out of it. THANK YOU LORD! So I thought I would share it here too!

This song is really about a tough break-up between a couple, which does seem rather sad. Yet the man (as it is a male-Jack Johnson, that's singing) wants the woman to see him as more of a cocoon than a regret. A cocoon is a place where growth (sometimes undesired) happens, and something great comes out of it in the end. A regret on the other hand is a thing that has happened to you, that you wish didn't happen.


Life is made up of all kinds of choices, and the choice to date is an option facing many people young and old. Not all relationships have fairy-tale endings, whether they be dating or just friendship, accquaintance, co-workers, etc. Every relationship that people are involved in will most likely have some type of conflict come, because we are just that human people. However, we do have the choice also to see our obstacles, problems or conflicts as a time to whine, complain & 'wish it didn't happen' (regret) or a time for growth (cocoon). I have been meditating on this thought, as I have been reminded during Sunday School & Sermon/Teachings at church, as well as living it out in my own life. Paraphrasing a quote from the teachings, and from a status line I have posted on my FB page, 'STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PROBLEMS AS OBSTACLES, LOOK AT THEM AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR GOD TO DO SOMETHING BIG IN YOUR LIFE!'

A cocoon itself, is something that requires 'patience & waiting'.
Caterpillar - a time of growth
Chrysalis - a time of change
Butterfly or Moth - a time of rebirth & flight

Taking another look at this idea, we found a huge green caterpillar (which we were told was a Cecropia Moth Caterpillar) at our daycare on a Friday in August. So we thought it would be cool to keep him inside our aquarium for the weekend, so that we could show our other teachers & friends (who didn't get to see him). I didn't have my camera with me on Friday, so because my daycare is also in my church, I was going to get a picture of him on Sunday. So on Sunday when I went to see him in the aquarium I couldn't find him anywhere. I opened the lid carefully, and there was already a brown cocoon made and attached to the top of the lid. WOW! God is amazing! Since I couldn't get pictures of the caterpillar (and I didn't think to take on of the cocoon) I found some online to post here.

So, because we had studied some info from the internet, my co-worker decided to take our friend home and keep it in cold storage for the winter, and then we will release him in the spring. I am so excited to see the transformation. The kids were all a part of it, so they are excited as well. (Assuming we don't forget all about him) =)

This is what he/she will look like when he/she emerges and spreads her wings...


He/She will be able to take flight and soar after many months 'trapped' in his/her cocoon.
(I will try to remember to post pictures if we can get any, and link them here.)


Anyway, every thing that may come our way, whether positive or a challenge/conflict is a time where we can grow our character. God is busy at work in us, and as with the caterpillar, it's not a one-day event. It takes time for our real character to emerge, and soar beyond our wildest dreams. God wants you to become the M.E. (Maximum Effectiveness) He has created you to be. He wants you to live a life to the MAX!

So I pray that you will receive these words of instruction and encouragement, and let God 'challenge, grow, change & give you wings'! I know I am excited to see the transformation of the Cecropia Moth, but I am even more encouraged and excited about my own transformation, and you should be too (about yours)!

Be blessed & Be a blessing!

HOPE Floats... SETTLING Sinks!

(Editor's Note: This is a devotional message that I spoke at our local 'soup kitchen', and I know the message was for them, for other members of our own team, and it is for YOU! So allow the Holy Spirit to speak to YOU and allow Him to move in your life, and continue to build up your HOPE!)

Today we often settle with what we have and we stop striving, whether out of discouragement or just plain laziness. There is a story that is told of a father and his son...

"A father was late getting to his son's baseball game. As he sat down behind the players' bench he asked one of the boys known as a real leader on the team what the score was. 'We're behind 14 to nothing,' he answered with a smile. 'Really!' the Dad replied. 'I am surprised that you don't look very discouraged.' 'Discouraged?' the boy replied with a puzzled look on his face. "Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet.'"

God doesn't want us to settle with even the 'good', when He desires to give us the 'best'!

Don't give up... press in all the more harder. (Like the baseball team above, [we don't know how the story ends], but if the team went out and didn't try, basically settling with their loss, in the end they probably continued to lose. However if they pressed in hard, and tried to win, then may have just won.) We need to STRIVE for the 'win', and the goal that God desires for us. Don't settle for 2nd best!

For example, say you have a desire for TIMMY's (TIM HORTON'S) Coffee (if you are Canadian), and your thirst calls out for it. If I offer you a simple 'instant coffee', you may 'settle' for it, but you still desire the Timmy's... If however I offer you a McDonald's Coffee (which in some cases people like more than Tim's) you would also 'settle' for it, because you are thirsty and that is what is available... NOW, if you wait until the right time to go for your "TIMs" coffee, and I offer you that, obviously you would choose that decision because Tim's Coffee is what you were desiring to have in your heart all along. But... again you say, well the 'instant' is so quick, so it can fill my thirst momentarily (or temporarily). The McDonald's coffee is still good, and I can afford that right now... but there is such a COST to receive the Timmy's... There is also going to be a COST to striving for the 'best', but the cost is certainly worth it all in the end. Your 'thirst' is satisfied by what your heart/spirit/soul desired in the first place (which should be what God desires for you).

God has BIG plans for your life -- He has created you and designed you to be special -- you are worthy! He desires to see YOU become the M.E. that He created you to be.
M.E. = Maximum Effectiveness (your ultimate potential) -- the 'Best You' = 'Youier You!'

ROMANS 8:19 -- "For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are."

WHO are YOU really?

Are YOU a HOPER or a SETTLER?

Definition of 'SETTLE' -- (according to Webster's Dictionary)
- to become fixed or permanent
- to sink to the bottom of a liquid (as sediment settles)

If we 'SETTLE' we become fixed or permanent (or even hard-hearted), and God cannot change or move us as freely as He wants to. We are not 'willing' to move either. Also we can 'sink' to the bottom, and not do what He desires of us. God wants us to rise above and live the life He has for us.


GENESIS 11:27-32
"This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no children. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran."


Terah, Abraham's father 'settled', he did still live a good life, as he died at 205, yet he died in Haran, he never received the full promise from God (the promised land of Canaan). Abraham however did not follow the steps of his father totally... and in Genesis 13 he separated from his nephew Lot, so basically he 'didn't settle for his Lot in life'...
In Genesis 18:1-15, God promises a son and blessings to Abraham and Sarah. Sarah hears that she is to bear a child and she laughs in disbelief. However, in Genesis 21:1-7 Isaac (the promised son) was born to them when Abraham was 100 years old. Sarah now laughed in delight, for God kept and fulfilled His promise to them. They received the 'best' that God was offering them due to their obedience. But... it didn't all happen so easily, Sarah was beginning to 'settle', and she was tired of waiting, she was getting older, she tried to hurry along the process. (She allowed her hand-maiden to bear a child with her husband whom they named Ishmael) This caused even more pain in the end... but instead of settling for the 'good', they strived to receive the 'best'.


God WANTS to fulfill His promises in YOUR lives! Don't 'settle' with what you have - God still wants YOU to be soooo much more!


God IS faithful to keep His promises... IF we are obedient in doing our part, and waiting for His timing, and His desires to be lived out. The Bible says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4) Our desires will actually become those that He desires, if we are truly living with Him as our guide and source.


Keep the faith! Increase your faith to believe God for sooooo much more!


What is the definition of HOPE... 'desire and expectation of fulfillment' The Bible tells us in Romans 8:24-25, "We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)"


I pray that YOU will become a HOPER... that you will live each day with the desire and expectation of fulfillment of what GOD wants to do in and through you. Don't 'settle' for the good, strive through, press in and receive the 'best'! May your HOPE FLOAT...

In the words of MOTHER TERESA...