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Tag: inspiration
Self-Control
Self-Control is described as restraint exercised over one’s own impulses, emotions or desires.
Galatians 5:23 – “…gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”
Proverbs 5:21-23 – 21) For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. 22) An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. 23) He will die for lack of self-control; he willl be lost because of his great foolishness.”
Proverbs 16:32 -“Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.”
Losing control can cause you to forfeit what you want the most. Losing self-control means your temper or the emotion of anger has taken control. Application of biblical principles moves us from just having knowledge to a life-changing experience.
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. All of us are challenged with the self-control at one point or another. This is not the same as maintaining self-control for the most part. Challenges should not be able to continually overtake you. As a fruit of the Spirit, you should be able to experience the emotion and yet instead of losing control, you are able to maintain self-control. I wanted to present this information from the biblical perspective. There is much material out there on self-control; from a psychological perspective, humane perspective, as well as a self-help perspective.
This choice from the biblical perspective is based on inner transformation because it changes you. It is not focused on behaviors but based on the work of the Spirit of God. This means that you are not working on how you act (behavior). Instead, it is how you respond. Applying biblical principles changes who you are. That said, how you react is based on who you become and not what you do. Self-control is not easy because the flesh wants what the flesh wants. However, that is the significance between changing the inner man from the heart as opposed to changing behaviors.
Psalm 37:8 – “Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper-it only leads to harm.” Everyone involved in any given situation is harmed when anger is not put to bed. Doesn’t mean you don’t feel or you haven’t been hurt. Just means you refuse to let your emotions rule you.
Apparently, the Scriptures have plenty to say about self-control. I have included some Scriptures for you to review and meditate on. I personally do not believe that I can live an abundant life without God. That includes mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. In that vein, it is about making the spiritual man your center. That is the foundation of true self-control.
I listed some other Scriptures for you, the reader, to do your own legwork. Get in there and let God’s word speak to you.
1Timothy 3:2; 1 Timothy 3:11; Titus 2:2; 1 Peter 1:13; 2 Peter 1:6
Be blessed…
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Feed Your Faith
Romans 10:17 (AMP) – “So faith comes from hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the [preaching of the message concerning Christ.”
Today I would like to ask you a question about your faith. What do you do to feed your faith? Are you deliberate in feeding your faith? We certainly are deliberate in feeding the body. Have to be. When the body is not fed, it eventually shuts down. For some, it happens sooner rather than later. If you are wondering about having faith in certain situations, are you feeding your faith for that situation? Do you seek His word daily to encourage yourself? Do you feed your spirit man to trust and rely on God’s word and not your own ability? Are you feeding your spirit with the wisdom of God?
James 1:5 (AMP) – “If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame and it will be given to him.”
There is no rebuke or blame in asking God for wisdom. We certainly don’t have it all on this journey or we wouldn’t even be in a place of need. Why would God ask us to come to Him if He wasn’t going to supply our need?
Jeremiah 33:3 (AMP) – “Call to Me and I will answer you, and tell you [and even show you] great and mighty things [things which have been confined and hidden], which you do not know and understand and cannot distinguish.”
God has even given us instruction for our spiritual needs to be met. I believe we have all heard of the person who gets lost with a map. Why? Because the instructions on the map were not followed. God has already given us the map of instructions. Let’s follow the book of instructions to build our faith in God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.
Be blessed!
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Surrender or Trust, or Both?
Today, I want to talk about surrender. Surrendering to God is difficult, at best for most of us. Most of us don’t surrender until we come face to face with things being totally out of our control. Still surrender is challenging. Then, we realize we need to trust God whether we like it or not. We need to surrender.
Is surrender about trust? Why is it so hard for us to surrender to God? Do you trust Him? Is it because He’s not physically tangible? You can’t reach out and touch Him like you can the person close to you that you love? Doubting Thomas. Remember him?
John 20:25 NLT – He said “I will not believe until I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”
Are the trees, the birds, the sky, the moon, the seasons not enough physical evidence? Even humanity? Why won’t you trust God with your heart? The One who created your heart. Is your resistance to surrender because you want to maintain control?
Trust. What does that word really mean to you? The dictionary says it means a firm belief in the reliability or truth or strength, etc., of a person or a thing. The only real truth standing the test of time is God’s truth, His word. Trust also means a confident expectation. The word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever because it is truth. Truth does not change. Facts do. What other thing can you have a confident (trust) expectation in?
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The Heart
Proverbs 4:23 -“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
This Scripture has come up several times over the past month. It is a reminder to be diligent about what we put in our hearts and minds. I went to the Strong’s Concordance and went to the Hebrew and Aramaic dictionary and looked up “heart.
This dictionary defined “heart” as: “The heart includes not only the motives, the feelings, affections and desires, but also the will, the aims, the principles, the thoughts, and the intellect of man.” The Hebrew and Aramaic word is Leb.
It is taken for granted in our culture that what we expose ourselves to, certain environments (digital, physical, musical), isn’t that big of a deal. It is, my friend. What we allow in our minds on a regular basis does have a huge impact. It’s gradual over time. Looking at the definition above, when you access your feelings, affections and desires, where do they come from? Are they things you truly want to bless you or are they there because of what you have been exposed to recently and regularly?
What’s on your heart? Is your heart in tune with God? I ask this because the Word of God says our hearts are deceptive. When God is not the priority of our hearts, our hearts will deceive us. Jeremiah 17:9: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” God does. In the case of what you expose yourself to, it can be very deceptive. What we take in impacts us beyond just the surface. This affects our thoughts and feelings. It alters our desires.
There are so many Scriptures on the heart in the Word of God. It is a necessary thing to read them and guard your heart.
God’s peace and blessings to you…
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I Write Because…
I write because I love to read. I have been reading books since I can remember and love the stories told or the information given. I didn’t just read fiction. I just loved to read. I enjoyed how authors expressed themselves. I thought I was an introvert when I was younger but as I matured, I realized that I had a lot to say. Although I have not arrived in my writing, and not sure what that really means, it is because I have something to say and I want to encourage others.
I write because I find it easier to express myself. I like to think about what I want to say. Sometimes that is not easy in the moment, however, writing allows me to say what I would like to the way I would like to. Expressing yourself the right way – communicating for understanding – takes practice. While I do accept that others may not agree with me just because they understand, there is a deep satisfaction I get when I say what I need to the way it needs to be said. I write because it empowers me.
I write because when I go back and re-read what I have written it gives me a deeper understanding of myself. Sometimes just saying the first thing that comes to mind is not a good thing. If I am feeling a certain type of way, what I say may be misconstrued. Once words are spoken, you cannot take them back. You can apologize if the words were hurtful and rejoice if they were kind. However, writing allows me to really think about what I want to say and how I want to say it.
I write because in encouraging others, I write words that lift the spirit, dry the tears, motivate or inspire others. This means that I have touched humanity in a way that goes further than the immediate distance or the physical presence. Being able to reach and touch someone for the better in a different state or country is a blessing. Being able to touch someone faraway because you understand them or they understand you is an awesome thing. I find that when I write, and more importantly when I read what others have written, we have more in common than first realized.
I write because I believe it is a gift God gave me to glorify Him. I write because it empowers the spirit within me. When I write about the Lord and spread the Good News this way, I feel like I am in my zone. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. We can speak to so many more people when we have a venue to write. How would we even be able to share the Gospel if it wasn’t for the written word?
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Today’s Thoughts_Monday, May 23rd
It has been over a week since my last post. I am still refining and defining my time management. I now have three driving jobs and need to make sure to keep everything in perspective. I miss my blogging community. I have tried to read and respond as much as possible. Although I will probably keep the three driving jobs as my occupation – need to make the money to pay the bills -I still have my focus on writing and photography intact. My relationship with Christ is a given.
As I was working, I saw some pretty amazing images and have included them here for you to enjoy as well. I noticed that as I release my dreams and goals to the Lord, He makes a way and gives me revelation about myself of which I wasn’t aware. For instance, I actually love driving. Probably the only way you can actually work three driving jobs. Another aspect of driving is that I get to see some pretty amazing images. I can’t capture them all but He has been blessing tremendously in this area. One of the goals is to purchase a Canon DSLR for my images. Later, I will be adding the telephoto lenses as soon as I can. There were some distance shots that I would have loved to capture.
I would like to say that in delivery driving, I actually get a good amount of exercise and I needed to add that to my time management. Since exercise is now included without the gym, I am grateful. The focus right now is saving the finances for the apartment to stay consistent in my other goals. Paul inspires me to be content in whatever state I find myself. Finding the right apartment and the right church are at the top of the list now. I appreciate all the support from those of you following Glorious Impact. Though things have been extremely busy, the Lord is working everything out.
I will be posting the book review for “God’s Gonna Make You Laugh” by Noel Jones in June. I hope you all enjoyed the review on “The Confident Woman.” It surely helped me during the challenges that I recently faced. I have a great deal of hope right now. God is building my strength and my hope in Him is not just for the here and now. I recently had an experience that showed me that we will not be complete until Christ returns and we are transformed. He also reminds me that even though we are working on things here, our focus must always ultimately be on eternity. Paul said that if all we have is the here and now, our faith is futile. It is in vain.
I am so glad the Lord is transforming me daily. I am glad that salvation is a free gift and the rest is in His hands. The work that we actually do is because of our faith. That work is believing and obedience. I will work on posting at least three times a week. In the meantime, I lift all my sisters and brother out there in the blogosphere in Christ. Stay focused on what is important, your relationship with Christ and the rest will follow.
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Seasons
Daily Prompt Response: Seasons
This is a great prompt. Seasons…we can all look at our lives and see the seasons of events. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 describes it best. God created the seasons of life and nature. I thought the Pinterest pin above describes what we really need to do in the various seasons of our lives. I added the Scripture verses for Ecclesiastes 3 after this for your reading pleasure.
Continue reading about the Seasons…!
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Update…
Hello, everyone. It’s been a few days since my last post. Been busy reading and enjoying the blogging community. From the topics of keeping or revealing secrets to providing positive feedback as well as personal journeys, it has been interesting and eye-opening to say the least.
Check out the rest…!
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Liebster Award Post
I received the Liebster Award from Pink Graffiti…thank you so much! I appreciate you.
Following are the rules, my responses to the ten questions, ten random facts about me and my nominees for this award. As well, I have posted my own ten questions for the nominees. Responding to this award has been interesting, insightful and fun!
Continue reading about the Liebster Award…!
