Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

Check yourself before you Wreck yourself……….

I had someone say that to me during one of my low points in life. It made me mad. She was right I needed to check myself because I was wrecking myself and others. I was spewing horrible words of hatred from my mouth. I didn’t care who I hurt because I was hurt. My attitude was poor and I did and said a lot of things I still regret to this day.

Anger and sadness can ruin you if you let them.

When you are angry and you forgive someone, you do it because that’s what God says (Matthew 18:21-22) and holding grudges only hurts yourself. It will make you have a bad attitude and you will harm others as well as yourself.

Sadness can cause depression and a bad attitude. You can be hurt, sad and mad at the same time. It can cause you to have a negative attitude towards life and others. There is a time to mourn and a time to laugh (Ecclesiastes 3:4). You cannot let sorrow and sadness rule your life.

What is an attitude?

According the Merriam-Webster.com, attitude is – the way you think & feel about someone or something; a feeling or way of thinking that affects a person’s behavior.

I’ve met several people and know people who have bad attitudes. It can make even the prettiest woman ugly. It makes you not want to be around them. As Christians we are to be Christ like. Even through suffering, loss, anger and a massive amount of followers He never had a bad/negative/poor attitude.

The past few weeks I have had a bad attitude. I am grumpy and irritable. I have had a “Negative Nancy” outlook on everything. I could barely stand myself. I fell last week on the stairs and injured my foot. I was extremely mad and angry. I hate being laid up and not able to get up and go. I was in extreme pain last week and instead of dealing with it the healthy way I dealt with it the grumpy way. I started thinking about my attitude and how I was representing Christ. It made me feel ashamed. I realized that no matter what you go through or what comes your way you can decide how you are going to feel about it and react to it.

There’s a famous quote that says

“…Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … We are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles Swindoll

God’s word says:

Ephesians 4:1-3 “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

1 Corinthians 15:33 “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.”

Phillippians 2:14-15 “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”

1 Corinthians 16:14 “Let all your things be done with love.”

 

The next time something bad happens and you know you can’t change the situation, change your attitude.

 

When My Heart is Overwhelmed

Psalm 61:1-2 “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heat is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”

 My husband and I have a huge decision before us. We’ve been conflicted in our hearts. The decision isn’t one to take lightly nor is it one to make with haste.

 

 I’ve been praying and diligently seeking an answer. I have prayed a specific way to get an answer. I know God will give us an answer. I am trusting in Him fully. I know he can see things in the future that my mere human eyes cannot.

 

 Sometimes we want things but that doesn’t mean that it what God wants for us. Even when you don’t get the answer you want, still praise God because he has something better or he is keeping you from something that would harm you. He is wonderful, mighty, awesome, all knowing, loving, compassionate, the knower of our hearts desires and the keeper of our lives!

 

I am a clinger… a clinger to God and to specific scriptures in times of trouble. I am clinging to the above scripture. I also have found comfort in the song below.

 

LEAD ME TO THE ROCK – Ricky Skaggs

In seasons of grief,
To my Lord I’ll repair,
When my heart is overwhelmed,
With its sorrows and cares

To the ends of the earth,
To my God I will fly,
Lead me to the rock,
That is higher than I.

Higher than I,
Higher than I,
Lead me to the rock,
That is higher than I.

When Satan the tempter,
Rolls in with a flood,
To drown my poor soul,
From its fountain of good

I will cling to the Savior,
Who humbly did die,
Lead me to the Rock,
That is higher than I.

Higher than I,
Higher than I,
Lead me to the rock,
That is higher than I.

 

Click the link below to hear the song

http://youtu.be/_uIhoQeb6NE

You can’t always have what you want

Matthew 7:7-11 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

 

We don’t always get what we want but God gives us what we need. I haven’t posted anything in a while now. The reason is because I was doing two jobs at once, my current one and assisting in another. There was talk that I would move into this other job. I had been praying for some time that God would open a door for me to be able to have another position or job that would be easier when I have kids. I was excited that God had finally answered my prayer.

 

After some time it was decided that I didn’t have the experience necessary for the job and I agreed. Christmas eve I went back to my old job full time. I was a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t have the skills for the job. I had prayed that God’s will be done. I told God I wanted the job, but I wanted what he wanted for me more. I truly believe that God knows what is best in our lives. God has showed me he is in charge of my life in more ways than one. It gets better.

 

Kyle and I have been looking for houses. We have lived with my parents for 3 years going into the 4^th year. Circumstances have kept us there and we are more than ready to be on our own. We love them but we’ve not really gotten to start our lives together yet and it’s getting old. We found a house that we both loved and wanted to make an offer on it. The day we made the decision I called our realtor and left her message explaining our decision. She called back that night and said that someone else had put an offer on it and it looked like it was going to go through so the house was no longer available. That day Kyle and I both said the same  prayer without knowing it that if God doesn’t want us to buy that house to make it to where we couldn’t. He did exactly that.

 

We are still looking for houses and we are still praying the same prayer. We know God has the perfect place for us, we just have to wait for his timing. You never know where that may be. We have to ask God to point us in the right direction. Let him lead us. Psalms 3:6 “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

 

If you are waiting for God to answer a prayer or you’ve been given an answer you didn’t want, hang in there. God knows what he is doing. He gives us what we need when we need it! I truly believe it.

 

I love the above statements! I think they are so true! Keep trusting in Him!

Beauty From Ashes

 

How can something beautiful and wonderful come from something so ugly, dark, sticks to everything, leaves behind so much dust, goes where the wind blows and what seems nothing? How can you get beauty from ashes?

 

Sometimes things seem so terrible. Our lives can get burnt to the ground in an instant. We suffer death, sickness, pain, divorces, losing a job and many other discouraging things in our lifetimes. Sometimes the pain is bad we feel there is nothing left. Our lives become ugly & dark. The pain covers every other aspect of our lives and clouds our view. It goes with us wherever we go. We try to wipe it away and forget it. Like ashes, sometimes no matter how hard you try to get rid of the pain, some still remains.

 

We have a wood stove to heat our house. All my life I’ve seen my Dad put wood in the stove. I would watch it burn, feel the warmth and sometimes watch it go out. Once it would go out, my dad would clean out the ashes. The remains of what used to be wood, burned by fire. Most of the time, Dad would spill the ashes all over the bricks and the mat in front of the stove. I would try to clean up the ashes with a broom and dust pan. No matter how much I swept some would always remain there. I would even use a Swiffer. Even several swiffer’s and the vacuum could never get up all the ashes. If he opened the door to go outside before I got the ashes cleaned up, the ashes would go everywhere from the wind that would blow in the door. It would be a mess!!!

 

When my Dad took the ashes outside, he poured them on our garden. The ashes helped to make the soil rich and be full of nutrients.

 

Our lives are like this. Sometimes the most terrible things happen to us. Our lives may seem like they are burning to the ground. We don’t understand the pain, suffering or ugliness of life. Life isn’t fair, but we have a God who can take the ugliness, pain and suffering and make is beautiful!

 

My husband has been having terrible headaches for years now. They have recently gotten worse. I know God can heal him but I also know if God chooses not to heal him, he will get the glory in it and it will be beautiful.

 

When I had cancer, life seemed so bleak at first. After the initial shock, I decided that I was going to let God heal me and if he didn’t use me to help others. It turned out he allowed me to go through it so I could grow, become stronger and help others. I got my healing in more ways than one. I’ve never been so thankful for my legs or for the ability to walk. I love to walk!! I love to be active. God gave me a blessing by allowing the tumor in my leg to be benign and allowing me to keep my leg.

 

You may be going through something difficult and it seems like there is no end. Just remember to hold on. God is going to use this hardship to help you grow. We all need more nutrients sometimes so we can become richer and the seeds we plant of Christianity will grow and flourish.

 

I got today’s post after my cousin Emily told me to read Isaiah 61:1-3

 

Isaiah 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

http://youtu.be/M-GPbYcTDbQ   

Beauty From Pain by SuperChick Click on the link above

 

Give Me Your Eyes

Give Me Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one’s forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
That I keep missing

Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach?
Give me Your heart for the one’s forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

 

Have you ever been so wrapped up in yourself and your problems that you forget that others have problems too?

I feel like I’ve been focusing on me so much that I’ve tuned out others and their needs. I can be so selfish sometimes. I could give you a million excuses but I won’t.

I was reading John 7:24, James 2:1-5 and 1 Samuel 16:7 today. It talks about the way God looks at people. I began thinking about if I look at people with God’s eyes or with “man’s” eyes. The majority of the time I think I look at others with “man’s” eyes. I don’t give people a second thought that I pass on the street or that I see pass by in a car. I thought about the song by Brandon Heath, Give Me Your Eyes. I like the verse “Give me Your eyes for just one second, give me Your eyes so I can see…” I know that I need to start seeing others with God’s eyes.

1 Samuel 16:7 says why we need to look with God’s eyes. “…Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”

We do look at others by what they wear. I am bad about that. I see a half-naked girl and automatically think what a hussy! I don’t look at her heart to see that’s what needs to change. I judge others by how they dress. We as a culture and people judge solely on looks. We see someone who is wearing all black, has tattoos and piercings and we think they must be dark and evil. They could be the nicest person you’ve ever met. Looks can be so deceiving. We see someone who is wearing dress clothes, dressed to the nine’s, and think they are successful and nice. They could be the rudest, meanest person you’ve ever met. God doesn’t look on the outward appearance. He looks at our hearts. Sometimes as Christians we can be mean to other Christians based on how they dress. We criticize people for wearing all they have to wear to church. Not everyone has dress clothes and suits. Some people may only be able to afford jeans and T-Shirts. God sees our hearts. He knows our intents and our desires.

John 7:24 “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

James 2:1-5 “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”

After reading those verses I started feeling guilty for thinking the way I do. God has that way of showing us what we should be doing through his word. He helps us to be better people and better vessels for Him. He wants to mold us and shape us so we will be Christ-like and we can be used for His Glory. We have to weed out the bad every day so we can grow and bloom fully in God’s light.

Fruit of Hate?! What a sour bite!

This past week I’ve been struggling with hatred in my heart against someone. I’ve tried to get rid of it but it really hard. This person isn’t a good person or even a decent person. The world would say I have reason and would justify my hatred. Jesus says love your neighbor as yourself. It is hard sometimes to have love for people who have hurt you and people you love. Sometime people are out of your life and then come back like a bad penny. This is what made my hate resurface.

 

It is easier to hate than love. That doesn’t make it right though. The person is someone who lives in sin and influences others to go down their path of self destruction. It’s hard to have compassion for people who act in such ways. As a Christian I can’t feel that their behavior is acceptable. Hate the sin not the sinner. I ended up praying that God would make a way for this person to not be involved in our lives anymore. I prayed that no harm would be done to this person. I just don’t want their influence or power over others around my family.

 

My devotion this morning about the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-25) gently reminded me that I need to cut my fruit of hatred off of my tree. It was making my branches weighed down. Sometimes you have to prune your branches so you can grow and get rid of all the dead things that weigh you down. It is not comfortable but it is necessary in order to grow. You will know a tree by its fruit. What does your fruit say about your tree? Do you need to get out the trimmers or maybe the chain saw (that’s what I need) to get rid of your dead limbs and bad fruit? I challenge you to examine yourself and get rid of the bad and work on producing more of the good. I am working on it! We all need a good pruning sometimes!

 

The fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. What are these qualities that we are supposed to have?

Love – unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another

Joy– : a feeling of great happiness; a source or cause of great happiness ; something or someone that gives joy to someone; a state of happiness or felicity; bliss ; a source or cause of delight

Peace – a state of tranquility or quiet: as; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; harmony in personal relations

 Longsuffering – suffering for a long time without complaining; very patient during difficult times; patiently enduring lasting offense or hardship

 Gentleness – the quality or state of being gentle; especially mildness of manners or disposition

                         Gentle – having or showing a kind and quiet nature: not harsh or violent; not hard or forceful; not strong or harsh in effect or quality; free from harshness, sternness, or violence

Goodness – the quality or state of being good

                        Good – virtuous, right, commendable, kind, benevolent

Faith – : strong belief or trust in someone or something; belief in the existence of God; strong religious feelings or beliefs; firm belief in something for which there is no proof; complete trust

Meekness – having or showing a quiet and gentle nature; not wanting to fight or argue with other people; submissive

Temperance – the practice of always controlling your actions, thoughts, or feelings so that you do not eat or drink too much, become too angry, etc.

 

 What fruit is on your tree? Which fruit of the spirit do you need to work on?

 

Waiting

Today I had a dream that got crushed into a million pieces. I’ve been praying and praying that God would make a way for Kyle and I to move out soon if it was his will. We both struggle with feeling like losers because things happened the way they did and we weren’t able to get a place of our own when we first got married. Things still haven’t moved in that direction and its been 3 years. After finding out that we still aren’t able to get own our own right now, I had a mini break down. I thought about all the recently married couples in our life and how they all have houses or are in the process. It makes me feel worse about our situation. It’s embarrassing and people judge us and think badly of us because we live with my parents. We are blessed and fortunate that they allow us to live where we do. We pay our own bills and buy our own groceries. Despite all of that I still feel like a failure and I don’t feel like an adult.

I went for a run to get out my anger and it helped me a to calm down. I whined to my Mom about it and she reminded me about how I’ve been praying for God’s will to be done. She was right. I have been praying for God’s will to be done. It’s hard to wait sometimes! Especially when you want something so bad. God knows what he is doing and what is in our best interest. I have to keep on holding onto God’s promises and knowing that he knows best and sometimes you have to just wait.

Psalms 62:1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Psalms 62:5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.

Like the verse says my expectation is from him so my soul will wait only upon God. No matter how hard it gets we have to be patient and wait on Gods timing for all things we have asked him for .

I don’t know if anyone else is going through anything similar but I hope these verses help you and give you comfort the way they did me.

Praising God…Even When You Don’t Feel Like It

This week I have not felt like praising God. I have been so tired and mentally exhausted. My plans for this past Monday were to go home, eat dinner and go to bed. I knew we had revival at our church but I didn’t want to go, I wanted to sleep. I needed rest.

 

My husband really wanted to go to revival, so I went. I thought, I’m not going to get anything out of this. I am way too tired to comprehend anything. We sang a few songs and had prayer. During prayer, I literally fell asleep. I really began to think it was a bad idea for me to come to church. Our pastor called the singers up and it was a group my Grandma Wagoner used to sing with, The New Jerusalem. I thought oh great, I am already tired now I’m going to be upset. I love to hear them sing, but it is hard for me when they sing because I don’t see my grandma at the piano anymore. I closed my eyes and decided that even though I didn’t feel like it, I was going to praise God. He has been too good to me and is so worthy of our praise. I got a huge blessing. By the third song I was ready to shout! The message was wonderful as well. I was glad that I went to revival.

 

I am glad I decided to go to church and praise God even when I didn’t feel like it. I can be a doofus sometimes. Instead of thinking about and praising God, I think and do what I want. The last sentence had a lot wrong with it. I think. I want. We should think about and do what God wants. He designed us to praise him and give him glory. He is truly worthy of praise. He is an awesome, mighty, powerful and wonderful God!

 

Hebrews  13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

 

He never changes! He is the same all the time. He is constant and good. We are blessed to have a Heavenly Father who is constant and never changing in an ever changing world.

 

Sacrifice– surrender of something for the sake of something else; something given up or lost; an act of offering to a deity something precious

 

Praise – to express a favorable judgment of; to glorify

 

Towdah is a Hebrew word meaning praising God when it isn’t easy or when you don’t want to.

 

Hebrews 13:15 & 16 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

 

Jeremiah 33:11 “The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord…”

 

Psalms 54:6 “I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O Lord; for it is good.”

We should praise God when we feel like it and when we don’t feel like it. It says in God’s word that God is well pleased with such sacrifices. Sacrifices can be time, money, sleep, work, hobbies and anything else you value precious and dear. I gave up my time to worship and praise God and I was blessed.  Next time you don’t feel like praising God think of the word towdah. Think of how much God will bless you for sacrificing to praise him. Think of how much God sacrificed so that you could have life and salvation. He gave his only son to die for our sins. We can sacrifice time or sleep to give him praise.

 

Love from above,

 

Iva Mae

Change Your Attitude

The past few weeks I’ve been struggling with not feeling good enough. I see all these people younger than me who have homes and kids and it gets me down. It’s hard not to compare myself to others sometimes. I am not where I thought I’d be at 26, but I’m where I am supposed to be. I feel like such a brat sometimes! I have it so good but yet I seem to always want more.

 

I am blessed more than I could imagine. My husband and I both have jobs. We are both physically able to work. We have a wonderful marriage. I have a roof over my head, food to eat and clothes to wear. A lot of people around the world don’t have most of those things. One day my husband and I will be able to afford to live in our own place and we will have kids. It’s just not meant to be right now. Later I’ll understand why. We all have to endure different things. We can get really down on ourselves if we focus on what we don’t have instead of all the things we are blessed to have.

 

I read Proverbs 31 yesterday and I got angry. I have always struggled with Proverbs 31. I have never felt like a Proverbs 31 woman. I feel like I’m constantly trying to keep up with everything. I was thinking about all that I had to do this week and it overwhelmed me. It seems like I’m constantly struggling with wanting to spend time with my husband and trying to tackle to mountain of dishes and laundry. I would rather play video games with my husband or snuggle and watch a movie.

 

Sometimes I think that the Proverbs 31 woman was Wonder Woman. She seemed to work all day, take care of her family, work into the night and never need sleep. Plus, she was strong. She seems like a character in a fairy tale. Women today struggle with so much! We have pressure to be the perfect wife, homemaker, mother, employee, chef, & baker. I look at myself and think well I am not perfect at any of those things. I am not even a mother, homemaker, chef or baker. What if the Proverbs 31 woman status is not attainable for me?

 

I started thinking and I realized God made each of unique in our abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Like the kid’s song says, “I am weak but HE is strong”. I may never be a homemaker, a mother, baker or chef, but I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I can strive to be wise, honest, kind and true. The Proverbs 31 woman clothes herself with strength and honor. She speaks with wisdom and kindness. She is not idle. She is the woman who prays for her husband and her family. She doesn’t gossip or spend hours worrying about what others think about her. She is too busy taking care of the ones she loves and serving God.

 

I may not be able to change the situation I am in, but I can change my attitude and realize that in God’s time my dreams will come true. Until then I need to keep serving him and praising him for what I do have. God has been way too good to me for me to be ungrateful now.

 

Phillipians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God.”

 

God Bless! Hope this helps someone as much as it helped me.

The Heart

Today alone I’ve heard at least 6 or 7 comments from women about not feeling good enough or pretty enough and 2 have been from me.

There is so much pressure on women to look perfect. Turn on any television or get online and you will see adds for make up, hair color, shoes, clothes, breast augmentation, weight loss and self improvement. Every message we see and hear says buy this, wear this or do that and you’ll be beautiful. Some even give the message that unless you wear this make up or wear your hair a certain color you won’t be beautiful.

Anymore I hate watching TV. I like dressing up and wearing make up but I don’t need to wear those things to be beautiful. I was reading today and came across a verse about what defiles a man. It’s what comes out of the mouth because that comes from the heart.
Matthew 15:11 “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which comets out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”

If we would start with our hearts and do things to improve our heart, we would see true beauty. Beauty lies in our hearts and our actions and words. You can put all the make up on and take diet pills and color your hair but if you don’t have a beautiful heart then there is no true beauty. I’ve seen a lo of girls who look beautiful when you first see them, but once you get to know them they are ugly.

We don’t have to let the world’s definition of beauty define our beauty. Let’s smash the lies and start over. Let’s start over where it matters, back at the heart.