18 | Be Positive

So we've settled down in gratitude. We've quieted ourselves in contentment. Hopefully these past few days of being still have brought you to a warm and fuzzy positive place.

Is a moment of stillness dedicated to being positive redundant?  Overkill?  Just when I started second guessing my plan to write about being positive today, God plopped this in my email inbox.

Harness the Power of Positivity in Social Media

The power of positivity. It's not just a nice thing, a good thing. It's a powerful thing. Positive actions carry God's power: his love, his grace, his righteousness.  When we are positive, we are proclaiming the good news of the gospel through our words and actions. 

And in then, in that same emailed post I found this quote: 

I shall pass this way but once; any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. -- Dale Carnegie

The author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, wrote that. But it sounds an awful lot like something Jesus would say. It sounds exactly like the way Jesus lived his life. 

When God plants these messages square in front of my face, when he leads my thought process in this manner, it's pretty clear what he wants us to focus on in this sweet, still moment today. 

Be Positive. 

So let's dedicate a quiet moment to putting positivity in our hearts and minds, for now and for the rest of the day. 

Lord,

As I breathe deep and slow down in stillness, I invite you to transform this quiet time into a positive time.  Help me to look up at your goodness, instead of getting dragged down in the dust and debris of this world.  Help me to turn my eyes to you and your glorious ways, rather than the negatives and frustrations that are of this world.  And be in my thoughts, my words, and the meditations of my heart, filling them up with your light and your grace to the point where I overflow with positivity for everyone in my midst.

Everything that is good comes from you.  And everything that you are is good.  Bring me back to your word when I forget this, Lord.  Remind me of your pervasive, positive nature.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever.  Psalm 136:1

When I look to you with hope, I grow strong and resilient in your strength.  In this moment and in this day I want to hold fast to you and all things that are good.  I want to remain focused on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.  I want to reflect your positive and loving nature, so that when others see me, they see your glory and goodness shining through me.  I want to be a living exhibit of your grace.

I want to voice your good news.  In my conversations with loved ones, friends, and strangers, help me to lift them up, to be kind and patient and positive, so that they feel embraced by your unconditional love as well as my own.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  

Ephesians 4:29

I want to let my light shine in my corner of the world today, Lord.  Help me to fill up with the quiet and satisfying stillness of your positive nature now.  Help me to carry it with me throughout the rest of my day.  Be with me as I walk in my "positive pants," and lead me to the people and places who most need a healthy dose of your goodness and grace.

Amen

13 | Be Love

What happens when we fill up on God's love?

We overflow.

Thankfully, it's not the toilet-running-over, QUICK-run-for-the-PLUNGER!! overflow. Nor is it the #coffeegroundsinmycuppajoe #couldthismondaygetanyworse variety.  

When God's love fills us up to overflowing, it's a radiant, let-your-light-shine feeling of fine and dandy.  It's bursting with sunbeams and fuzzy puppies and squeezy hugs.

cakeandcotton.blogspot.com

It's a "This God-given life is so good I've got to share it" kind of kindness contagion.

When we make time to drink up God's love, when we soak up all the goodness tucked into the corners of our days, we can become God's love in the world.

Hopefully after yesterday's post (a love letter from God) you are sensing God's love.

Maybe it feels a bit like this...

spokojnastudio via Flickr.com

...or this...

Looking for Love by IrenaS on Flickr

...or even this?

blerica.tumbler.com

And now that you're thinking about God's love, feeling all tingly and radiant, hopefully you are ready to go out into the world and spread it.

lovelindseyblog.com

Wait a minute!  This is supposed to be a time to sit and be still, not run (or walk) out and do stuff.

Oh, yes.  That's right.  

So... Let's be still and ask God to establish in us a mindset that will empower us to be God's love in the world as we go about our daily business.

Lord, 

You have filled me up to the point of overflowing with your love.  As I spill your gentleness forth on those people you have placed in my midst, I trust in the amazing truth that your love never runs dry.  Thank you for this endless supply of your love. Help me to be generous in sharing that love with others.

I confess that sometimes I am reluctant to extend love.  I might feel threadbare and used up.  I might be holding a grudge or harboring anger.  I might have suspicions and doubts about how loving others makes me vulnerable.  Where I feel reluctance, please reveal my hangups.  Where I am slow to love, please speed up your healing in my heart.  Make me an instrument of your peace and a bearer of your blessings.

Sometimes I turn being your love in the world into a list of "To Do"s.  Lord, please throw a big ol' stop sign in my path when that happens.  Help me to make a U-turn. Guide me toward the mindset that being your love — serving as your hands and feet and eyes and ears and heart — is a privilege, not a chore.

29blackstreet via Etsy.com

Sometimes times I look far and wide for difficult, challenging cases that need your care.  I forget that you specifically put people in my daily path to receive and return my love.  As I quiet my voice, help me to see who needs my love today.  Write their names on my heart.  Write their needs into my prayers.

theredsojourner.tumblr.com

Lord, help me to see where my passions and talents meet other peoples' needs. Show me how I can use the gifts you have granted me in a way that blesses others. And as I joyfully do the things I love, help me to focus on glorifying you and sharing your love with the world.

As I pour out your love, I am in awe of how caring for others helps me to see them through your eyes, and how it brings me to a better understanding of how you love. I rejoice in the knowledge that loving others brings me closer to you.

TriciaGoyer.com

Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit working in me, leading me in your loving kindness.  Thank you for encouraging and sustaining me in this time of stillness, so that I can go forth and be myself, be your love, and simply be.

Amen

Inspired to spread some love?  I'm loooooooving these ideas.

  

thehowtomommy.com

justbesplendid.tumblr.com

recipebyphoto.com

GoodHousekeeping.com

15 | Working for Goodness' Sake

 Photo: Alfred Eisenstaedt

Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Jan 01, 1959

TGIF!  (Yeah, I'm cheating a little by posting twice today and getting a jump start on Saturday.)  The end of the work week.  The start of an indulgent weekend, which for this lady means a sewing bonanza with my sister and our friend while Mr. and the kiddos are out of town.  Wheeeeee!  (See why I wanted to work ahead?  More time to sew and socialize!  Yippeeeeee!!!)

As we unwind from our typical weekday work, let's pray about the wondrous work God has in mind for us.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

Lord, you have put me here on earth, in this family, in this corner of the world, to do some good.  I trust in your plan, though I don't see it clearly.

God, this world is littered with messages, ads, bulletins...  I'm trying to tune into your channel, to focus on your message.  Grant me your benevolent perspective.  Help me to see the needs of others before I see my own.  Show me how I can administer to the needs of others — how I can be your hands, your heart, your words.  I want to empty myself of my limitations and mistakes, and open myself to being a reflection of your peace, joy, and love.  But I cannot do this on my own.  Lead me with your Spirit, and show me the good works I can do to glorify you today.

I'm slowly realizing that your good works aren't always BIG works, but little things done with your super-sized love.  

Sometimes the works you have prepared for me seem menial, mundane.  Tending the home fires, the dishes, the laundry.  I am trying abandon my habit of doing these things in a grumbling, resentful fashion.  When I am in faithful frame of mind I count the blessings of active, creative children as witnessed in grass-stained jeans and paint-splattered shirts.  I praise you for the bounty of good food we eat as I scrape dishes and scrub pans.  I pray as I vacuum and dust and declutter, grateful for the comfortable home you have entrusted to us.

Sometimes the works you have in mind for me look and sound more like interruptions.  A daughter who NEEDS!!!!! some fabric scraps for her latest creation (and a little Mom Time & Attention in the crafty corner).  A son whose angry meltdown is a cry for some snuggly love that he's afraid he might be outgrowing.  A friend whose phone call is more than a social check in, but a plea for a accepting, listening ear.  Help me to see these interruptions as your nudge to do loving work in my family and among my friends.

Sometimes the works you have planned for me seem big, intimidating, even scary.  Like your call to pray publicly for 31 Days.  Your direction pointing me to teach in an inner-city school for six years. And then your redirection for me to be a stay-at-home mom.  Each time you supply the means and the encouragement right along with the mission.  I hear you in the positive comments from new and old friends who check out this blog.  I hear you in the mentors you have wisely placed along every daunting journey.  I hear you in my friends' nodding-bobble-head commiseration of I-too-understand-the-dark-and-frustrating-days-of-motherhood.

Thank you for the good works you have prepared for me to do.  I feel blessed that you have created a specific plan for me to share your light and your love in my corner of the world.  And I am grateful for all the help you provide along the way.  Make me an enthusiastic and successful executor of your good works.

Amen.

"We have not been saved by our works—we have been saved for His works!"

Beth Moore, Living Beyond Yourself

I hope you delight in doing God's good work today!

9 | Nurture Thy Self

I love that this topic falls on a Sunday, on our day of rest.  Today—every day—I need God's help to be still, to listen to my heart, and to feed my soul.  Join me in this prayer and this effort to nurture our individual selves so that each of us may be the person God intended us to be, and to share that self abundantly with those in our midst.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

 

Dear Lord, 

You know my needs before I even speak them.  You know my heart like no one else.  You know what you, in your omniscience and omnipotence, have in mind for me on this earthly journey.  I matter to you.  I have weight, importance, and significance in your eyes.

As I write this, tears well up in my eyes.  Why do I forget that I hold value?  Why do I put everyone else above me when I prioritize?  Why do I let my cup run dry when I am so frantic to fill the cups of everyone else?  This is so clearly NOT what you have in mind for me.

Forgive me for forgetting myself.  As I nurture my faith in you, as I nurture my husband, my children, and all those you have lovingly placed in my midst, remind me to nurture my self.  I know in my head that there must be good currency in the Bank of Liz before I can invest in others.  Help me to live out this truth.

Help me to make regular deposits love, rest, exercise, positive people, and satisfying activities that make my heart sing.  And when the necessary routine of life depletes my personal holdings — when the laundry and dishes and schedules and work wear me down — help me to re-frame my responsibilities and see how they can add joy and contentment to my life.

Help me to maintain that important balance of nurturing myself and sharing myself with others.  When I tip too far toward my own needs, give me that craving to serve others.  When I tilt too far toward giving my all to others, urge me to find my own slice of wilderness and retreat with you. Show me how to do the things I love in accordance with your higher love.

My best days are those when my soul is full, my heart holds joy, and I am doing your good works.  Nurture me with contentment and peace so that I may always be ready, able, and eager to follow your will and your way.

Amen.

"These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full."

John 15:11 (NASB) 

I pray that you are overflowing with the love and joy that comes from nurturing yourself with God's goodness.  How can you invest in yourself today?