I love to express what I feel called to say. Writing helps me to open up my heart and do that. I hope that what I write helps you in some way. I hope it makes you think, encourages you, or inspires you. If it challenges you or if you disagree, I hope you know that I respect your right to have a different point of view.
“If God wills that it (the Civil War) continues until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword as was said three thousand years ago so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'” –Abraham Lincoln
When you continually think, say, and pursue mood-lifting words, you feel little need for self-medication.Continually align your thoughts, words, and actions with peace and joy. Then your emotions will eventually follow.
Our thoughts, words, and actions produce outcomes. By choosing them, we create positive or negative consequences.
The more we’re unaligned with our conscience, the harder it is to be happy. When we align with our conscience, guilt fades away. “My truth” is often a myth or a mess, but the truth sets me free.
Choose to live in light but have compassion for those who choose darkness. Show them an alternative but don’t live like they do.
God amazed me this morning. I was writing about the omnipresence of the risen Jesus. When I finished, I went to the kitchen sink to get some water and I saw this outside the window–a 2 1/2-inch icicle sticking straight out from the side of the deck railing!
I’ve never seen an icicle hanging horizontally before. There are no footprints or animal tracks. How is this possible? I believe it’s a sign from Jesus.
The second picture is a close up of the “impossible” icicle. It looks like the finger of God.
Jesus isn’t limited to religious ceremonies, pious people or holy places. We can have access to the risen Jesus anytime and anyplace.
The risen Jesus is not just here or there. He’s everywhere! The omnipresent Jesus is always around, even when we ignore Him. Human unawareness has no impact on the omnipresence of the living Jesus.
The omnipresent Jesus isn’t restricted to any place or time. You can’t keep Him locked up in church buildings or in the first century.
Anytime or anywhere, the living Jesus can be sensed by a human heart. If we’re unaware of His presence, He’s not hiding. We are.
When Christianity overlooks the omnipresence of the risen Jesus, it replaces Him with organized religion.Organized religion tends to opt out on the omnipresent Jesus and to substitute planned and orchestrated church services.
The religious doctrine of omnipresence should never be substituted for our continually experiencing the omnipresent Jesus.Since the living Jesus is omnipresent, we can interact with Him directly without going through religious places or ceremonies.
I love meeting people who belong to those unified in God’s Spirit. Because of the omnipresence of Jesus, we experience immediate heart-connection.The Bible tells Christians “to keep the unity of the Spirit.” If we stay united with the Spirit (the omnipresence of Jesus), we’ll be united with each other.
The contemporary idea that freedom is being mentally undisciplined and letting your thoughts, emotions, and desires run loose is a lie. To abandon mental discipline is to accept inner anarchy.
The thoughts that you welcome and allow to remain in your mind mold your emotions and desires into their image.We have the ability to discipline our thinking and to develop a healthy, happy mindset, but not without much focus and effort.
Mental discipline is only developed by hard work. It’s not a skill that we’re born with.
Mental discipline is a vital part of genuine self-care. It involves paying attention to your thoughts and rejecting the harmful ones.
Persistent mental discipline can help restore and repair your brain. The power of a disciplined brain can avoid much inner pain. Still, changing our thinking habits requires much mental discipline.
One reason we don’t want to understand people who see things differently than we do is that it requires much mental discipline. Perhaps that’s the same reason we lack self-understanding.
As humans, many of our problems are caused by an undisciplined mind. An undisciplined mind isn’t a place of freedom. It’s awash with unruly thoughts. To neglect to discipline your mind is to surrender it to chaos.
Happiness depends on mental discipline and mental discipline is like a muscle. The more you use it the stronger it gets.Mental discipline involves learning to bring your thoughts, feelings, and desires under your control.
I believe my mind was designed to create inner peace and happiness. If it’s not, it’s because I’m letting it be undisciplined. Self-love, without mental discipline, is fake.
Mental disciple doesn’t just happen. It requires your active, ongoing focus and effort.We can try to numb our inner pain, or we can let it motivate us to focus on and work on mental discipline.
Developing mental discipline can overcome much of our internal dysfunction. It gives us the ability to resist and reject harmful thoughts. Mental discipline is essential to mental health. It gives us the ability to make our mind behave in healthy ways.
Harmful thought patterns need to be taken seriously. They tend to become habitual and to cause much pain and dysfunction.
Life-deforming ideas seldom lead to happiness. For instance, malice makes much misery but caring creates friendly, cheerful connections. An unhealthy, unstable society results from unhealthy, unstable individuals.
Too many people confuse how they think and behave, with who they are. We choose our thoughts and behaviors. They aren’t who we are.
We know that flossing and brushing can help our teeth and gums, but we overlook the fact that cleaning up our thoughts can help our mind. If we don’t learn to filter out negative thoughts, they will continually flow into … Continue reading →
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 