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Your Attitude is Your Closest Friend OR Worst Enemy…

stressed out image

 

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Phil 2:5

Your attitude is your closest friend or worst enemy and you get to choose it. It is essential to understand the support we have woven within us when it comes to seeing the presence of God throughout the circumstances of our daily life.  As you read through the gospel of John focus in on the attitude that Jesus had, especially in the midst of conflict.  He was a solution seeker no matter what surrounded Him.

Jesus also avoided getting emotionally spun because of the opinions of people around Him, He lived outside the “Drug of Approval” and maintained a consistent space of wisdom and love…now, He had the “Son of God” thing going for Him which many have said makes showing up with a positive attitude a lot easier, however, we are also told in scipture that we have the same Spirit that rose Jesus Christ from the dead dwelling within us (Romans 8:11) AND we are told we have the very MIND of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), two powerful resources to pull from to help fuel a positive, life giving attitude in life.

“God, I want the very mind of Christ as I go through another gift of life today.

May I see, as he did, You in every face I encounter.

Give me Jesus’ thoughts that were not imprisoned by the yoke of slavery to unbridled ambition for status or the unquenchable desire for approval.

I want to choose love & compassion as Jesus did, over fear & judgment.

I want to think and respond as Jesus did: to love for the sake of love alone, untainted by hidden agendas or crevices of lack & scarcity.

Break my heart over the things that broke yours as you walked the earth.

I want to seek to understand over being understood, free from attachment to certain responses.

To be able to respond to criticism with even more love to make up for the lack of it in those moments.

Jesus existed above compliments & complaints, grounded in the purpose for which his heart beat: to be a missionary of love no matter what…I want that same energy and laser focus today so that my God given ability to create beauty in this world flows without restriction & reflects a focused sense of purpose.

God, I believe this is my natural state of being so as you answer this prayer of mine my joy will be complete & my peace will be profound.”

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

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Fill Up Mind-Space Gaps with God

Jesus Peru

 

Do not worry about anything but pray about everything…this verse from Phil. 4:6 holds some HUGE promise. If we flip it perhaps it would sounds like this: Pray about everything and you won’t worry about anything.

Easier said than done; however I have been doing my own little internal practice with this using a small prayer to fill in the gaps between focused task mind-space (the mind space that occurs between tasks that require focused attention). A christian brother of mine share a simple prayer that I have made my own.  It is a prayer that has been used by many Christian warriors to help take captive each thought and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) through out history:

“I love you Jesus; I pray for the salvation of souls and I turn my will over to you.”

It is in the gaps between tasks when our mind is prone to wander into those thoughts that come from the serpents of fear; doubt and worry.  We are told that the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  We are also told in 1 Peter chapter 5 that when we resist him, standing firm in our faith that he will flee. Our greatest battle occurs between our two ears, this is also the place of our greatest small victories in life that fuel bigger ones.

This week let’s focus on Edging God In to our thought life by choosing a simple small prayer that keeps our mind-focus & thoughts fixed on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.

Edge God In to your thoughts, words, deeds and actions today,

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><

 

 

 

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Edge God In: 2015

Show up to Love not to be Liked Sunset

“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:11

This month we are talking about pruning for growth. Removing those things in our life (reactions; thoughts; perceptions) that result in Edging God Out verses Edging God In.  The world screams and God whispers. How the heck do we hear the voice of God behind us saying, “this is the way walk in it”, when we are captivated by all of the shiny objects screaming for our attention?

We have become imprisoned by the very things that we feel we need in order to experience freedom.  We each have our own shiny object trigger that renders us helpless, at least at the time of the animal planet moment when biologically we become less intelligent.  It is worth our attention to explore those specific things in our day to day life that flip us out of our good intentions to respond to people and life experiences as Jesus did when he walked the earth.

The other day I had a rock star Edge God In quiet time with the Lord only to face plant into reactive negative behavior 3 hours later.  See our weak nature for what it is…a spoiled child that always wants more of those things that are not good, right, true, beautiful, excellent and praise worthy.

The next time you recognize a reaction or thought that is void of Jesus character explore this simple prayer:

Stop! Dear God I choose in this moment to give more authority to your presence in and through me than I do to this thought, situation or reactive behavior that is fueling this EGO moment.  I choose to EDGE YOU INTO every aspect of this situation. Grant me the grace to flee from everything that is void of you.  I love you Jesus, I pray for the salvation of souls and turn my will over to you. 

Give God More Authority than Fear, Doubt & Worry. 

Because of His Love,

Lauren <><