Are You Missing Your Life?

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.
David Russell

Are You Missing Your Life?
Whitney Hopler
Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

Are you missing your own life? If you’re too busy to savor the moments that can become memories to treasure, you’re missing out on the life God wants you to enjoy.
But if you capture the moments of your life, you can use the memories of them as springboards to living to the fullest. Recognizing God at work in your life will give you the freedom you need to enjoy new experiences that will create even more cherished memories.

Here’s how you can mine your memories to find valuable freedom:

Ask God to illuminate your memories. Reflect on the memories that stand out in your mind from your life so far – from happy childhood experiences to traumatic events. Pray about them, asking God to help you learn what He would like to teach you through them.

Wake up. Don’t let the busy pace of your life cause you to zone out so you can’t fully absorb your experiences. Whenever something serious happens to you (such as losing your job or having a loved one pass away), don’t just carry on with your life as usual; stop to deal with it emotionally. Do the same whenever something particularly exciting happens to you (such as having a baby or getting a promotion). Whether you need to cry and scream or give thanks and celebrate, take time to do so. Wake up to the value of each moment you’re living, since it will never come again.

Listen to your friends. Recall the times you’ve spent with close friends and reflect on what they’ve revealed to you about who you are as a person. What qualities have they most admired and enjoyed about you? What ways have they challenged you to grow? How have they encouraged you to serve God and other people, to use your gifts and talents to help make the world a better place? What can you and your current friends do together to help each other fulfill God’s purposes for your lives?

Find the humor. Be willing to laugh at yourself when you remember your mistakes and failures from the past. Aim to create new memories of times when you enjoy laughing with others. Don’t overbook your schedule; plan time to take regular breaks from your responsibilities to have fun. Give yourself permission to play. Get enough sleep each night. Avoid negative people as much as possible and surround yourself with positive people. Set boundaries with people so they don’t deplete your time and energy. Even if your family doesn’t usually laugh much, learn how to enjoy humor yourself. Limit the amount of bad news you take in from the media each day. Let go of bitterness that prevents you from enjoying life by following God’s command to forgive people who have hurt or offended you; trust Him to help you through the process.

Question your assumptions. Since mistaken assumptions based on inaccurate facts create fear in your life, always question your assumptions when you’re reflecting on your memories. Think and pray before reaching conclusions.

Get over it. If you’re reliving certain negative experiences from your past that have long been over because you’re getting attention for doing so, make up your mind to move on with your life. Stop complaining and lean into the goodness that’s a part of your life right now.

Take a break. You can’t learn from your memories if you’re too burned out to reflect on them coherently. So let other people who care about you help you take a time-out from some of your responsibilities to refresh your mind. Get some childcare, delegate house hold chores and errands, and do whatever else you need to do to take a break.

Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Stop negative thinking that keeps you stuck focused on your shortcomings when you reflect on your life. Instead, ask God to help you turn each negative thought about yourself into a positive thought that emphasizes your opportunities to grow as a person. Rather than wasting your energy lamenting your past, trust God and cooperate with Him as He transforms you so you can look forward to a better future.

Ask hard questions. When reflecting on your troubling and challenging memories, don’t hesitate to ask God hard questions that will help you deal with the issues involved. God can handle whatever you need to ask Him about – from doubt to anger. Trust God to reach out to you with grace and mercy as you approach Him with hard questions.

Awaken your senses. Notice what’s around you through your senses (looking, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling) and find some touchstones to your past – items that can serve as tangible reminders of memories you treasure. Then say a prayer of thanks for each memory represented by those touchstones.

Take a leap of faith. Don’t let your memories of past failures stop you from taking more risks in your life from now on. Learn from your failures and keep moving forward toward achieving your goals. When you encounter new opportunities (a possible business venture, a way to meet a potential mate, a vacation that offers adventure, etc.), pray for the faith you need to overcome your fear and follow your dreams.

Imagine new possibilities. As you pray about your memories, invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you through your imagination about how they can spur you on to explore new possibilities in your life. Approach changing circumstances with curiosity and faith, looking forward to what God will teach you as you go through them. Imagine yourself fulfilling God’s purposes for your life in exciting ways.

Expect the unexpected. Don’t despair when you recall situations that haven’t gone as you expected. Roll with the punches in life and seek to learn all you can from unexpected circumstances.

Fight for what’s worth fighting for and let the rest go. When your memories reveal parts of your life that you wish you could change, pray for the ability to discern what you can do something about and what is out of your control. Stop wasting time and energy fighting against what you can’t change. Turn those situations over to God and trust Him to do what’s best. Let your gratitude for how God has forgiven you motivate you to forgive others who have hurt or offended you rather than trying to fight them.

Be still. Whether you’re grieving or celebrating a particular memory, be still and know that God is in ultimate control of your life. Let that knowledge comfort you.

Become like a reed. Let your memories of God’s faithfulness to you inspire you to become like a reed – available to God completely, inviting Him to blow through you with His breath of life to empower you to serve Him and help make the world a better place.
August 11, 2009

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Adapted from Don’t Miss Your Life! An Uncommon Guide to Living with Freedom, Laugher, and Grace, copyright 2009 by Charlene Ann Baumbich. Published by Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, West Monroe, La., http://www.christian.simonandschuster.com/.
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Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen. Read more!

Issue # 46 - Surviving your fight (pt. 2)

Last week we started this article on “Surviving your fight”. We ended on the matter if you stick with God you can survive in any fight you enter. Glad to have you back again for the continuation.

Before we go any further, what does it mean to survive? Survive- to remain alive or in existence; outlive; persevere:

Anytime you hear about a fight or a war you also hear about casualties. It’s time now for God’s people to stop becoming casualties, P.O.W. and victims to Victors. I am not asking you if you like to fight, you better fight if you want to survive.

How did we get here? “7And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” . Revelation 12:7-12 (KJV)

From then to now we were in a war zone. Take a look at a number of the movies, TV shows, cartoons, songs and the likes, they generally fall along these lines of good vs. evil. This leaves you with the choice who’s side will you be on?

Are you fit for this fight? There is always help available if you need it. “Blessed be the LORD my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:” Psalm 144:1 (KJV)

You have an assignment in this battle and you need to know what it is or you’ll be out of place. When you are out of place you can be responsible for causing trouble in the camp. You can also make it hard for everyone else.

You must also be aware that in every army you have traitors, betrayers., people who sell out to the enemy setting you up for the kill. Not all of the attacks come from the outside, many come from friendly fire. When you taught you were safe, now you need eyes in the back of your head cause you don’t know who to trust.

To survive this fight you need to:

1. Know your enemy - (I Peter 5:8) Your adversary is the devil and you must treat him like that.

2. Communicate with the chief - (2 Chronicles 20:3;Ephesians 6:18) You have to stay in connection (pray)with headquarters.

3. Hear & follow instructions - (2 Chronicles 20:15-20) the instructions that are handed down are the plans and strategy of the chief. What chief doesn’t plan his attack or retaliation?(Luke 14:31) When you rebel you jeopardize your life and others.

4. Believe - (2 Chronicles 20:20) You will have a hard time if you don’t believe in the chief and his appointed officers. Other people who don’t believe will always try to stop you from going forward. Faith takes you forward.

Finally, I do encourage you to have enduring faith that will give you the edge over the enemy.


Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen. Read more!

Issue # 45 - Surviving your fight

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with the understanding that if there is a good fight, then you better believe that there is a bad one. God knew that somehow there would be some people who already made up in their mind that they are going to fight dirty.

It doesn’t matter how much you go over the rules and stress them, some people are determined to break them. Every opportunity they get they will try to hit you below the belt and throw an illegal blow whenever they can get away with it. But I want to remind you that the judge of this fight is a fair one.

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it“
Margaret Thatcher

So when the devil attacks you and follows through with a cheap shot don’t quit but keep fighting. This judge sees every time the devil cheat, every cheap shot, low blow, illegal move. “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”. Psalm 121:4 (KJV)

If God could have kept Israel and is still keeping Israel why you think he is not watching over you? The thing about it is that God is not only watching but marking down every dirty move that the devil makes.

The devil has to fight dirty, that’s his job function- dirty devil or Satan the serpent. On the other hand, Christians fight clean, fight the good fight. Christians are people that have been cleansed, now see clear, so it is easier to become conquerors who stands as champions. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”. 1 Corinthians 15:57 (KJV)

What is a fight? A conflict, dispute between individuals, groups, family, nation etc. Fights can turn deadly or turn to an all out war. Fight can last seconds, minutes, or hours, and on the war side days, weeks, months, years, down to centuries.

Caused by- jealousy, evil speaking, over man or woman, possessions, hatred and the list goes on. You don’t always have to do something to end up in one. Fights are picked by people who choose to bother you. Naturally we have learned to fight fist vs. fist, gun vs. gun, you hate me vs. I hate you, you speak evil of me vs. I speak evil of you, you kill my dog vs. I kill your cat and so on.

You grew up with this mentality and the bible tells us to do the opposite because only heathens fight this way. Yea I know how it is at times when you feel like if God could close his eyes or turn away for one minute so you could really let them have it.

Hold it right there, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31 (KJV)

If your enemy is 9ft or 19 ft he can be cut down to nothing. Whatever your enemies size, God is Bigger. So if God is with you and people are coming against you, then they are coming against God.

Don’t sweat it my friend just remember if you stick with God you can survive in any fight you enter. I’ll let you digest what I have said in this article so far and we will continue on this matter next week.


Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Issue # 43 - You’ll score big if…

When was the last time you scored in life? I just want to let you know that another celebration is coming your way, but there is something important that you must do.

If you only knew how close you are to your next breakthrough you will begin to shout now. Let’s see if we can know how close. Well, more distractions are coming at you now more than ever. How about the pressure that is trying to cause you to give in is increasing?

Then there is news of so many going their separate ways when we really should be coming together. Many people are trying to get you to live life having one good time after another to get you to forget about your purpose and destiny.

To feel that one has a place in life solves half the problems of contentment.
George Woodberry

Well all this and more is a plan of the enemy to get you out of place. Place and timing is important to God. Imagine making all the sacrifices through sowing, then harvest time comes and you are out of place. You face the possibility of someone else eating your crops.

As in the game of football, when the quarterback calls a play he sets it up for the wide receiver to be in a certain spot or zone to catch the ball when he releases it. It doesn’t matter what tries to distract the wide receiver his duty is to get to that zone. Therefore like the wide receiver, you need to be where God wants you to be. Cause he’s getting ready to release something to you.

When you are feeling weary and discouraged still get to the zone. Nobody encouraging you, get to the zone. People making mockery of you and your God get to the zone. When it doesn’t make sense get to the zone.

God is setting you up to be his next ambassador. Once you do what needs to be done, the doors will swing wide open because of the spectacular performance God will do with you. Imagine being given the opportunity to say something for God to be glorified. Remember outstanding performances will always happen for people to see. Like I said earlier you can shout now cause your getting ready for a big score.

You’ll score big if….you stay in place.



Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come
short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

Products

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Issue # 14 - Let‘s go down ‘E’ street.

From A - Z… the series continues, letter ‘E’

Thinking about the journey on this road is never easy. Many people forget so often that this road exist. Especially when you are all excited about today. What are you living for? Yes that’s what I said. What are you living for? Let me put it like this then, are you living only for now or later.

You are enjoying life and having a good time. All that you have desired is beginning to happen. You’re reflecting on a good weekend you just had. The next few years of your life you don’t see anything but good results. Here’s to a bright future that you’re all excited about right?

Suddenly your life is interrupted by an accident on Monday morning as you are heading to work. You are pinned in your seat by the impact and barely able to move.

This can’t happen now. What is going on? I have too much ahead of me. What am I going to do about my plans for next week? I have waited so long for this. How could they be so blind? Didn’t they see that stop sign? All these thought race through your mind as your life is now making a sudden change. You are able to reach your cell phone and make contact with the police. In the twinkling of an eye you…

As you know your story can take many turns from this moment forward. I’ll leave it up to you. If you come up with a best selling novel remember me though. Today I’m bringing your attention to the letter ‘E’. he wants to remind us about ‘eternity’ .

Eternity:

1.Time without beginning or end; infinite time.
2.The state or quality of being eternal.
3.

a.The timeless state following death.
b.The afterlife; immortality.

A word I believe we should be conscious of everyday. Tomorrow is promised to none of us. It is truly by the grace of God you see another day.

"We don't have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here".
Susan Taylor

Let’s look at your present status. Is your vehicle ready to ride down this road. Let me back up a bit here though. There are two potential destinations when you cross over into eternity. Eternal life and eternal death. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it". Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

Because of our nature of being born in sin, eternal death is our default destination. The good news is that we can change that by one powerful decision.

With all the trials and difficulties you are faced with here I’m sure you want to go to a better place. On E- street you have vehicle going up and down. you need to be sure that you are heading up. I must warn you that there are some people on an assignment to get you to go down. They come as road blocks and detours to get you to go off course.

They will be attractive, beautiful, exciting, fascinating, seductive and more. Remember when you saw that vehicle what really caught your attention through it’s appearance. Only to be surprised when you took a closer look it was a lemon in disguise. Watch out for the lemons on E-street.

Enough about those guys. There are some vehicles on E- street that gives you joy to know that you’re heading up. They help to motivate you as you as you do your best to move along. Especially with the price of gas today.

You need people to encourage you cause when you pay for your gas you want to know that the journey is worth it. Wouldn’t it be sad to have spent all that money on fuel and end up at the wrong destination. Please help to promote this message to bring awareness to the unprepared on this matter.

May your journey on E- street lead you to an everlasting celebration. God wants to spend eternity WITH you.

You Are Connected with Eternity:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8754625932083014461&q=eternity&ei=Z4k2SLaRBo2g4AKWmoThAw&hl=en

Devotional reading
John 3:16
Rom 6:23
I John 5:10-11


Coming next week: The series continues…letter ‘F’

Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen. Read more!

Issue # 12 - Let’s… ‘C’ about it?

From A - Z… the series continues, letter ‘C’

Suddenly you are bombarded by a few brief calls on a rainy Saturday morning. Your first call is a friend that wants to have a party cause their birthday is fast approaching. Another friend calls and tells you they are getting married in a few months and they need your help.

“My son is graduating from college next month and I want you to help me put together a party” says Sheila on the other end.

That’s not it there’s more, you can hear the excitement in the next call as your cousin tells you of receiving the answer to something that they were praying about for many years.

Well I’m sure your getting the hang of this by now. Well it’s time to pull out our next word in this series. The letter ‘C’ tells us it’s time celebrate.

celebrate:
1. To honor a victory or the memory of something in some special way.
2. To observe (a day or event) with ceremonies of respect, festivity, or rejoicing.
3. To engage in festivities

Another NBA team is about to celebrate this year. It could be the current champions or it could be a new one. Each of these remaining teams is faced with the challenge to “win or go home”. A celebration awaits but who will be the one to stay in until the end? Nobody wants to go home before it’s all over. All losers will have to go back to the drawing board and wait until next year to start all over again.

“Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it every day” .
Anonymous

By the way when was the last time you had a good celebration? Let me remind you that you have to go through some opponents before you can truly celebrate. The enemy doesn’t want to see you rejoice at all. And he is on an assignment to stop you.

But the good news is God has given you the necessary skills to win the prize. He has the supplies set aside for your celebration, but you have to go out and play the game. Only those who are in the game has a chance to win.

In celebration of you

Maybe you have watched other people lives and you see them celebrating. And you begin to wonder what the celebration was all about. Sometimes you find out the reason and begin to wish it was you or why can’t you have that experience one day. I want you to be reminded that God is not a respecter of persons and he doesn’t love them anymore than you.

So why don’t you think you can celebrate? There is a celebration for you to.

The first person to celebrate you is God because he formed and created you. God is excited about everything he made. You were made in his image and likeness and that’s a reason for you to celebrate.

When he made you, he made you for a purpose. That means you are that important to him cause you are a part of his plan. Don’t you know that every part of the plan is important. That’s another a reason for you to celebrate. “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare”. Psalm 40:5 (NIV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. John 3:16 (KJV) Well aren’t you a part of the world? Which means that he loves you right? So why are you going around like nobody loves you? Not only now but forever he loves you with “…an everlasting love…” Jeremiah 31:3 (KJV) That’s another a reason for you to celebrate.

Now go ahead and celebrate with the other reasons that you know about.


Who’s your pick to win the NBA finals?

1.Boston 2.Cleveland 3.Detroit 4.LA Lakers

5.New Orleans 6.Orlando 7.San Antonio 8.Utah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpXop7DqSfE

Coming next week: The series continues…letter ‘D’

5 days to Mothers Day

Don’t forget to celebrate your mother

Take care until…......and God Bless ya
http://jamesedgecombe2.blogspot.com/

Are you ready to face eternity? If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life and desire to make that commitment now please repeat the following prayer:

Lord Jesus be merciful to me a sinner. I realize that I have sinned against you and come short of your glory. I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and I believe in my heart that God has raised him from the dead. I pray for your forgiveness and ask that you save me now and accept me into your kingdom. Give me eternal life today.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

Read more!