Taking Control

"Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?"
Martyn Lloyd-Jones Spiritual Depression


And what do we say to ourselves? Start with scripture - speak truth to yourself - affirm your dependence on God, your need for God and your confidence in God.

Lamentations 3:39 - Why should any living man or any mortal offer complaint in view of his sins?

Find your way at the foot of the cross of Christ - every day, every day.

Charing Cross in London is one of twelve crosses erected in the year 1291 along the burial route of Queen Eleanor en route to Westminster Abby. The procession stopped and rested at each cross. The original cross became dilapidated and in 1865 was replaced and erected at nearby Charing Cross Station. The original site of the cross was at the exact center of London. All distances were measured from the Charing Cross.

Years ago, a little boy, lost in London, was asked by a cabbie, "Do you know where you live?" The boy said, "No." The cabbie asked, "Do you know where you live from Charing Cross?" and the little boy said, "Yes. If you take me to the cross, I can find my way from there."

We can all find our way back from where ever we've wandered by starting at the cross.

Lion Taming Strategies

What to do when encountering an angry or difficult person . . .

Remember that you can only have one attitude at a time and so you have to choose between love and fear - that's the big goal - to choose love over fear, so here goes:

1. Slow down. Breath deeply and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the words and attitudes you need.

2. Separate the person from their behavior, remember that they are frightened or irrational and you can only choose one: fear or love

3. Resist the temptation to defend yourself especially if you've done nothing wrong - be creative and try new tactics (loving ones) i.e. go the extra mile to solve the persons problem.

4. Separate your reaction from yourself - I'm angry because of things I haven't dealt with in my own life (fear) not because this person has any power over me.

5. Stretch your comfort zone: go the extra mile to be kind and helpful; apologize; override your hesitation to express love or regret.

6. Be patient with yourself. Remember you're a beginner just learning and developing a new skill set.

7. Imagine the worst and create and practice your positive response to it.

8. Don't characterize others as 'difficult' in the first place.

9. Allow fear a place in your comfort zone by re-naming the feeling (physical) like: muscle courage, bravery, growth, stretching or progress. Make friends with conflict before you meet it.

10. When we characterize someone in our mind as difficult, we have frozen an incomplete picture in our minds of that person and we automatically filter out everything that doesn't fit into what we've already decided that person is, so when we're with them we only see the negative and stop there. Sometimes we even urge others to apply to a person the same label we have applied, which is gossip/slander.

So we have 'characterized' them - which is a negative judgement plus fear.

Remember: People irritate us because because they are acting just like us. We see in them the same characteristic that we can't accept about ourselves.

So the goal is to move from reaction (fear) to empathizing (love).

Henry Drummond says that love can take you anywhere and prepare you for any situation. SO true.

Hope the tips are helpful! :)

S. Rutherford

"Why should I start at the plough of my Lord,

that maketh deep furrows on my soul?

I know he is no idle husbandman,

he purposeth a crop."

Samuel Rutherford

The Meaning of Christmas

From Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus by editor Nancy Guthrie

"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you, through His poverty might become rich." (2 Cor. 8:9) "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 2)"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free." (Ps. 119:32)

I've been working on wrapping my mind and heart around "the Word became flesh" - or more on just what it means that Jesus is "The Word" and what all that means. I think I'll understand in a thousand years or so, but I'll keep working on it...

REPOSE

(As the holidays fast approach, I want to keep my plans, expectations, attitude in control and have a really nice season. This Puritan prayer called "Repose" was a wonderful encouragement in how to keep my heart in the right place. Enjoy)

"Heavenly Father,
My faith is in thee,
My expectation is from thee
My love goes out toward thee.
I believe thee,
accept thy Word,
acquiesce in thy will,
rely on thy promises,
trust thy providence.
I bless thee that the court of conscience
proves me to be thine.
I do not need signs and wonders to believe,
for thy Word is sure truth.
I have cast my anchor in the port of peace,
knowing that present and future are in nail-pierced hands.
Thou art so good, wise, just, holy,
that no mistake is possible to thee.
Thou art fountain and source of all law;
what thou commandest is mine to obey.
I yield to thy sovereignty all that I am and have;
do thou with me as thou wilt.
Thou hast given me silence in my heart
in place of murmurings and complaints.
Keep my wishes from growing into willings,
my willings from becoming fault-finding with thy providences,
and have mercy on me.
If I sin and am rebellious, help me to repent;
then take away my mourning and give me music;
remove my sackcloth and adorn me with beauty;
take away my sighs and fill my mouth with songs;
and when I am restored and rest in thee
give me summer weather in my heart."

Where do you stand on "Halloween"

Where do you stand on the "Halloween question"?

I was looking up 'hallow' in the Shorter Oxford, here's what it says: Make holy; sanctify, purify. Consecrate or set apart to be sacred. Dedicate to a sacred or religious purpose; bless. Of shrines and relics of saints. Halloween: the eve of All Saints.

Just from that it seems that Satan has hi-jacked the whole holiday! So it will benefit us to keep in mind what it is and what it means these days and who celebrates it and with what...

"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated need but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace." Alexander Pope

This quote always reminds me to BE CAREFUL where I go - remembering I am taking Christ with me - and what I have in and around my home - Is it honoring to my Lord? This should be a day (or season) that is easy to be seen as set apart to God, but sometimes it's easy not to be, you know? "Keep on the alert!"

For more information there are a couple of informative websites:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/halloween.html

http://www.eliyah.com/hallween.html

Stranger Danger

A Stranger In Our House

A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger? He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to her room and read her books. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home ... not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long-time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... and NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.
Still, if you were to walk into my parents' den today you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?
We just call him TV.

(I'd love to be able to attribute this to the author..but I don't know who it is... not me.)