Category: Uncategorized

April 15

Taxed Thinking

There once was a man named Carter,

He lived quite well with just a barter.

Excellent exchange.

No need for change.

Till the fool who said taxes were smarter.

April 14

Double Minded Thinking

There once was a man who was unstable.

Thought the bible was just a fable.

 Till fate,

He ate,

The food of the Word from the Master’s table.

James 1 King James Version (KJV)

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

⁷ For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

⁸ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

⁹ Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

¹⁰ But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

¹¹ For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

¹² Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

¹³ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

¹⁴ But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

¹⁵ Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

¹⁶ Do not err, my beloved brethren.

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

¹⁸ Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

¹⁹ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

²⁰ For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

²¹ Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

²² But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

²³ For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

²⁴ For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

²⁵ But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

²⁶ If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

²⁷ Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

 

April 13

Mirror Image Thinking

There once was a mom who raised two lasses.

She trained them to get up off their asses.

When they could reason,

There was no pleasin”.

Adult children see through their own glasses.

 

Don’t expect others to behave or think as you. If you do, you fall trap to Mirror Imaging. This can be with spouses, friends, workers, children, your business employees and so on.  We can have great conversations and feel we are thinking alike but a situation may arise when suddenly there are very different reactions and behaviors we didn’t count on.

I raised two beautiful young woman who have more than blown me away with the raising of their own children.  Their responses and reactions are downright foreign to me at times.  It has caused arguments, hurt feelings and them feeling disrespected and believing I think they are bad moms.  I know they are great moms and doing the best they can, just as I did.

Today it was revealed that my own fear is clouding my responses.  Even after many years of counseling and time spent with my Lord repenting and asking forgiveness for poor choices I made in raising my children and experiencing my Lord wash me clean of such things I fall trap to rescuing my grandchildren from what I perceive as words or behaviors from my children that may so how damage them for life.  Grandmother’s love I used to think.  And I do love my grandchildren but fear needs to be uprooted. The process may take longer than I desire but I am so glad this truth was revealed.  Oh Lord, help me trust You more.

If I made it through childhood trauma and so did my kids then surely my grandchildren will too!  My Lord is well aware of every word that is spoken over us.  My prayer is to trust Him to give me deeper discernment to be still and only speak when absolutely necessary.

One really great way to have discernment is to place yourself in the other person’s shoes.  Try to see life through their perspective and not your own life experiences.  When you respond based on your experience you unwittingly can make the other person feel not validated.  You are viewing their experience through your eyes.  That is mirror imaging.

Let’s switch to the working world.  If you are a leader or business owner select a team to think like the people you are trying to reach such as shoppers, mothers, children, etc.  Once the team members are thinking alike set up a situation or circumstance that places them in the role of the people they are trying to reach.  Ask them how they would react.  Then ask yourself if you expected them to react in a certain way.  You will see so many more perspectives you may never have thought of. This helps to not use your own experience to decide how another would react.

April 12

Fool’s Thinking

The fool says in his heart, there is no God.1

The WORD says, do not let your heart be hard.2

Open up,

HE will sup.3

The truth comes in, then your heart you must guard.4

1. Psalm 14:1(ESV)
2. Hebrews 3:15(ASV)
3. Revelation 3:2 (KJV)
4. Proverbs 4:23(NLT)

April 11

Strong Thinking

There is a voice that says, “Do not be afraid.”

And another that says, “Always be afraid.”

One is strong,

One is wrong.

But two wrongs don’t make strong, do not be afraid.

 

Exodus 20:20  (NIV)

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

April 10

Command Thinking

Can you give a command, see it obeyed?

No opposition or mental blockade,

Excuse or blame,

Or mindgame.

Commanding yourself without being swayed.

Action is always the result of following your command.

April 9

Thoughtful Thinking

There was a pattern of thoughtful design,

Hoping to draw out unspoken opine.

Deep inside

Where reside

Words waiting to create life, line by line.

April 8

Sucky Thinking

There was a mind that got sucked,

Thinking it was again mucked.

Despairing

Rehearing

A lie that was about to be plucked.

Yes the lie came again, “You are never going to do what you said you would.”  Now the battle begins.  “Oh, yes I am!!”  So what if it takes me longer than I anticipated.  So what if I get a little behind.

Well, I am a little more behind than I want to be.  But I changed the tape in my mind and now it repeats, Do it! Do it now! The next step is to pluck out the lie that now can be stretched out to a day which then becomes two days and suddenly 32 days.

April 7

Loud Thinking

Thinking one day a thought to be silent,

It kept repeating and with no relent.

Good or bad,

Happy or sad,

Thoughts are as loud as words, what’s the intent?

 

I heard it said many years ago that thoughts are as loud as words in heaven.  At some deep level we all may know that someone (for me it is surely GOD) is hearing all of our thoughts.  Or at least in times of despair we are desperately wishing some higher power to hear our pleas. 

When I was married I cried often for someone or something to rescue me.  I can look back now and know God was with me.  That didn’t mean I always made the right choice.  In fact I messed up over and over.  Now over 25 years have gone by and I have learned how vitally important it is to watch my thought life.  Thoughts do carry energy and can instantly change a vibration.  Have you ever gone into a room feeling great? ALIVE! You are ready to tackle any problem,  ready to share something of great value and before you know it your elated feelings have been sucked into the vortex of a negative crowd?  Or even one person who is so wrapped up in negativity you begin to spiral into total self-doubt? 

It takes considerable power to stay in your own vibration.  It all starts in the thought process.  We used to call it getting pumped.  That works for a short time.  To stay deeply committed to your core values takes repetition and many experiences.  My faith has been tested many times to believe in a God who is for me and not against me. My pattern of thinking is almost always the culprit.  I know many more experiences  to continually root out that culprit are coming. The sooner I recognize the “off thought” the better chances I have of staying positive and having better results in all areas of my life.  

For me getting pumped is reading scripture, praying and hanging around with people who I know love me and I can trust them.  It must be a continuous process because life will always be bringing situations and circumstances that demand my thoughts be right for the highest good of all mankind.

I am surely a work in progress.  I know I will fail at times but I also know the failure will eventually bring forth an amazing discovery and success.  I pray the same failure to success will come for you.  Thinking great thoughts towards you!!

Psalm 139:2 World English Bible
You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.