"Messages of Joy”

Isaiah 61:3 The Message Bible

I have known the following promise for years and I had even put a little faith in it from time to time. A few weeks ago when I was in the middle of some "not-so-great" circumstances, I remembered this scripture and it began to take on new life. All of a sudden these were not just words on a page but they had real meaning. Because it seemed to have my name written all over, I decided to make this promise one of my "Core Beliefs." Core beliefs are those things that we believe in without question--something that we know to be true.

Here's the promise:

 And we know that 

God causes everything 

to work together for the good 

of those who love God and are called 

according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:28 New Living Translation

So now if something happens during my day that brings me disappointment, sadness or sorrow, I run right to this core belief and say, "God, I know that You are causing everything in this situation to work together for my good. I thank You for that!"

Then I just wait to see how God will work everything out. As I wait, I just thank Him that He is a good Father and faithful to His promises. During this time of waiting, my anticipation grows because I have seen Him do some amazing things. God loves nothing more than to show Himself faithful to His kids. (Psalms 18:25)

Each of us is "called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:30) If we choose to love God and walk in His purpose, then He will take every bad situation and bring good out of it--if that is what we believe He will do. I enjoy watching God at work. He is very creative and He's got some great ideas and some phenomenal resources!

I hope you turn this promise into one of your core beliefs--a promise that you know to be true because you have watched it work in your own life.

By the way, I have started a notebook called "My Core Beliefs." If you would like to start your own and need some help, let me know. 

Have a great weekend--

Love, 

Karol

The Summer of 2016

It feels like I am on the top step of a slide, all poised and ready to go down.  Ready....Set.....Go! And in just a few seconds---it's over! To me, this is a picture of summer. We've waited.....its here.....and then it's over.

Today I was thinking of what I wanted my summer to look like. I personally dislike nothing more than being unproductive. Why do that when it feels so good to accomplish things?? So today I asked myself what I want to remember about the "Summer of 2016." Immediately I thought about the books that I wanted to read and the writing that I love to do. And then there is that exercise program. Do I want to wait until fall to restart an exercise program? No....I don't think so! It would be better to keep this one going and even pick up the pace on June 1st.  What about eating?? I decided today to have fresh fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator along with scouting for some new dip recipes.

Our church always has opportunities for outreach, so that's going on my drawing board for consideration. It's always so satisfying to live beyond oneself. Our seven grandkids are super busy during the school year, so this is the time to grab them for some fun activities. It's a great time to make some memories!! Kayaking, biking, grilling out, movie night!

I know that none of the above will happen unless I have an intentional plan. All the good ideas in the world will not have spark unless I ignite that spark. How about you? What are your plans for the summer? There are ten days left before June 1st, so I am designating this as my "Initiation Time." Let's get this party started!! And remember--you can get "there" from here!!  Where??  To a summer filled with memories, productivity and just plain fun!!

Love to hear from you,

Karol

Saturday morning.....the house is quiet, and I am wrapped up in a blanket to ward off the chill in the house. What happened to our 70-degree weather??

This is the time of the morning that I like to fill my tank for the day. I want to share a little bit of what I learned today, in hopes that it will encourage you like it did me. Here's what I wrote in my journal today:

Choose to give God praise in the midst of what you don't understand. Do it quick before your emotions (anger, confusion, jealousy, fear) spin out of control. It will change the trajectory of your situation, the trajectory of your day, and if you do it often enough, it may even change the trajectory of your life!

The other day I was thinking about the scripture in Romans 8:28. I've known this scripture for years but the word "all" jumped out at me this time. 

"And we know that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."   Romans 8:28 (NASB)

What if I really believed that? What if I believed that God would take "all" the things in my life that were wrong and He would make them right? Not only would that bring joy to me but it would also bring joy to God! He designed for things to be right and He desires to restore it to "right."

If God really means what He said in Romans 8:28, then I can be assured that He is working on my stuff. He's changing it from what it is to what it should be. I am so grateful that He cares and that He is able!

Maybe I'll sign off now so I can spend some time telling God how thankful I am!! 

Psalm 118:23-24New American Standard Bible (NASB)

23 This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Have a blessed day everybody! I would enjoy hearing how God is working in your situations--to make all things right. Also, if you would like to be notified when I post again, please subscribe in the right-hand column. I look forward to hearing from you!

The “To Do” List

Proverbs 16:3Amplified Bible (AMP)

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

God promises that our plans will succeed if we commit them totally to Him. When we do this, He promises to give us His thoughts, ideas, and devices to carry out the “work” that needs to be done.

If I truly believe that God will give me ideas to accomplish my tasks, then all of a sudden I become all ears! Now I am no longer in this alone!  God has promised to walk through my day with me, causing my thoughts to be set in order so that everything will work out perfectly.

God Almighty wants to help me accomplish my daily “To Do” list. As I set out to accomplish things, He guides me into time and money saving ideas, so that I have stewarded both of these in a godly way.

Here’s what a daily “To Do” list could look like:

• Stop by the dry cleaners to pick up shirts

• Call my friend Linda back

• Soak the stain out of my new shirt

• Spend quality time with my spouse

• Pick up a few things at the grocery store

• Water the plants

• 30 minutes of rest

• Call and encourage a friend

• Attend the board meeting tonight

Notice the diversity of the list. Nothing is too big or too small.  If it’s important to us, it’s important to God. And here’s the best part, He knows how to make it all come together--establishing our thoughts in an order--so that at the end of our day we have successfully done what needed to be done.

GPS  (Directions from God’s Word)

I Corinthians 2:9-16

Psalms 68:19

Psalms 25:12

Prayer Focus:

Try it!  Make your “To Do” list and pray, “God I commit this list to you. Cause my thoughts to agree with Your will so that my plans and decisions can be set in order and succeed.”

A Hidden Treasure

Proverbs 16:3Amplified Bible (AMP)

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

Simple words, but they are alive and well and have the potential to change our lives. Thirty-three powerful words that can set our lives on course for success—and don’t we all want that?

As we lift Proverbs 16:3 off the page and think about the words, we will see the power in them to change our present circumstances.  As we roll our works—our plans, our ideas, and our intentions—upon the Lord, He promises to cause our thoughts to become agreeable to His will. 

Stop and just consider that for a moment. We give our plans to God. He causes our thoughts to become agreeable with His will. Because we now think like He thinks, we are set on a new course—one leading to success.

We can begin to experience this peace and satisfaction in our daily lives. Our day revolves around our “To Do” list--whether it's just in our head or written out.  In obedience to this scripture, we can expect that God is giving us suggestions and advice and even warnings so that we can end our day satisfied that we have achieved success.

GPS  (Directions From God’s Word)

• Isaiah 26:3

• Matthew 11:28  The Message

• Isaiah 30:21

Prayer Focus: 

If you haven’t already, take a few minutes and determine what time of the day works best for you to have a meeting with God. Every successful company has regular meetings with the CEO in order to get instructions for what he or she wants to see accomplished.  All success was originated from heaven so let’s take these same business strategies and apply them to our spiritual lives and see what happens.

Have A Question?

Proverbs 16:3Amplified Bible (AMP)

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

On my last post we examined the above scriptural promise.  Many of you wrote down a question on your journal page or recorded one on a device.  If we have truly turned our plans over to God, then this promise goes into effect.  He says that He will cause our thoughts to become agreeable to His will. 

You might think, “What if I don’t like His thoughts?”  Here’s how I would answer that:  He gave you a free will and the choice is still yours as to how you want to proceed.  One thing I will say however, is that He is a good God and He wants only good for you. You might want to keep that in mind as you make your decision. 

He’s also the ALL-mighty God.  That means that all wisdom, all power and all ability comes from Him. Seems like it might be a good idea to consider those thoughts that may be crossing your mind!

GPS  (Directions From God’s Word)

• John 16: 24

• Proverbs 4:7

• II Corinthians 9:8   Amplified Bible

Prayer Focus: 

Go back to the question you wrote from the last post (or if you haven’t written one, take a minute to do so.)  Then pray,  “I commit this situation to You.  My eyes are upon You because I know that You have all my answers and I desire to be successful in all things today."

Note:  When I first started this, my thoughts did not change right away.  I had to develop a patience attitude.  While I waited, I thanked God that He was causing my thoughts to agree with His will.  

The 30 Second Prayer

That Changes Everything

Proverbs 16:3Amplified Bible (AMP)

Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

One day as I was reading in Proverbs, I ran across this scriptural promise.  It begins with an instruction—“roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him….] “--and ends with this promise:  “He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will….]”  

Think of that! If we commit our plans to the Lord, He will give us His ideas and His instructions. He promises to change our thoughts so they agree with His best for us. It is then that our plans will be established and we will experience success.  When I spent some time thinking on these words, it became evident to me that there was something that I could do on purpose to experience success in my plans.

We all could probably use more success in our lives and if there is something we could do on purpose to receive it, perhaps we will want to consider the power in this promise.

GPS:  (Directions From God’s Word)

• II Timothy 1: 12b

• I Peter 5:7

• Psalm 55:22

Prayer Focus:

Take some time and think about your plans and what it would take to totally give them to God.  Make a note in a journal of what plan you have committed to Him.  Ask God to cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will concerning those plans.  Be sure to journal any new ideas that enter your thought process.