For most of us, life is busy and complicated. Amid the rush and crush of the daily grind, it is easy to lose perspective....easy, but wrong. When our world seems to be spinning out of control, we can regain perspective by slowing ourselves down and then turning our thoughts and prayers toward God.
He is a God of possibility, not negativity.
We never get anywhere, nor do our conditions and circumstances change, when we look at the dark side of life. - Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
A pessimist is someone who believes that when her cup runneth over she'll need a mop.- Barbara Johnson
So, on that note, I'll ask you this question....Are you an optimistic, hopeful, enthusiastic believer? You should be! After all, as a believer, you have every reason to be optimistic about life here on earth and life eternal. But sometimes, you may find yourself pulled down by the inevitable demands and worries of life-here-on-earth. If you find yourself discouraged, exhausted, or both, then it's time to take your concerns to God. When you do, He will lift your spirits and renew your strength.
Blessings,
Dalinda
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Freedom Is Not Free At All
On this Memorial Day, we need to remember that freedom is not free at all. Someone must pay...Jesus paid for our spiritual freedom...our military all too often pays for our physical freedom with their own lives.
The American soldier who gave his or her life for U.S. citizens to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness won’t be telling us how to observe the holiday. But I believe they would want us to “think of life, not death”. I believe this would honor the fallen soldier. Their sacrifice follows the example of Jesus Christ laying down His life for our freedom. It's selfless love for others – not so they can mourn forever, but live!
"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters." 1 John 3:16
We are blessed to be living in a free society. May we honor our American soldiers for the liberty we have in this country. May we also give thanks to Almighty God for the freedom we have to spend eternity with Him because of His gift of forgiveness through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8
Happy Memorial Day!
Blessings,
Dalinda
The American soldier who gave his or her life for U.S. citizens to enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness won’t be telling us how to observe the holiday. But I believe they would want us to “think of life, not death”. I believe this would honor the fallen soldier. Their sacrifice follows the example of Jesus Christ laying down His life for our freedom. It's selfless love for others – not so they can mourn forever, but live!
"We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters." 1 John 3:16
We are blessed to be living in a free society. May we honor our American soldiers for the liberty we have in this country. May we also give thanks to Almighty God for the freedom we have to spend eternity with Him because of His gift of forgiveness through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." Romans 5:8
Happy Memorial Day!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Friday, May 25, 2012
Keep Growing
When it comes to your faith, God doesn't intend for you to stand still. He wants you to keep growing as a spiritual being. No matter how "grown-up" you may be, you still have growing to do. And the more you grow the more lovely you become, inside and out....the more you look like Jesus.
Each day you can expect God to teach you something if you pay attention to what He is saying and revealing.
God is concerned about everything that concerns you and His plan is to be intimately involved in every aspect of your life. Knowing and believing this truth has made my walk with Him an adventure rather than a religious obligation...It's all about relationship.
Part of the growing process with Christ is realizing how much farther I have to go. I'm so thankful that God is merciful and deals with me a little at a time. He is patient, loving and kind.
Don't we need to learn? We know so much, and yet we know so little. The age of information is the age of confusion: much know-how, hardly any know-why. We need answers. Jesus offers them.
The longer we live in Him, the greater He becomes in us. It's not that He changes but that we do; we see more of Him and less of us.
So until we take our last breath or until Jesus returns to take us home, we will always need to keep growing. He is not finished with is yet. We are all...His work in progress.
I want to be more like Him and less like me. So, I'm going to keep growing! How about you?
In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda
Each day you can expect God to teach you something if you pay attention to what He is saying and revealing.
God is concerned about everything that concerns you and His plan is to be intimately involved in every aspect of your life. Knowing and believing this truth has made my walk with Him an adventure rather than a religious obligation...It's all about relationship.
Part of the growing process with Christ is realizing how much farther I have to go. I'm so thankful that God is merciful and deals with me a little at a time. He is patient, loving and kind.
Don't we need to learn? We know so much, and yet we know so little. The age of information is the age of confusion: much know-how, hardly any know-why. We need answers. Jesus offers them.
The longer we live in Him, the greater He becomes in us. It's not that He changes but that we do; we see more of Him and less of us.
So until we take our last breath or until Jesus returns to take us home, we will always need to keep growing. He is not finished with is yet. We are all...His work in progress.
I want to be more like Him and less like me. So, I'm going to keep growing! How about you?
In His Mighty Hand,
Dalinda
Thursday, May 24, 2012
My Enemy Is Big....But My God Is Bigger
Have you ever wanted to put you Christianity on a shelf and be as mean to someone as they are being to you? I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the times I have felt this way! This is the exact point where I had to make a choice of whom I wanted to partner with in these situations....God or Satan.
As bad as I wanted to seek revenge, I was reminded that revenge removes God from the equation. Only God assesses accurate judgements. We impose punishments too slight or severe. God dispenses perfect justice. Psalm 103:6 says, "For all who are mistreated, the Lord brings justice." God knows each person's story and will make things right in His perfect time and in His wise and loving ways.
I've come to realize that people on edge must have a lot of stored up misery....and they want to make everyone else miserable too. Their reactions to me probably have a lot less to do with me and a lot more to do with what is going on in their lives. And my job isn't to fix them or set them straight or prove how wrong they were acting....it's God's job.
Remember, the words we speak have power. They can hurt or heal, repel or attract. They also provide a fairly accurate barometer as to what's going on in our hearts.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." - Psalm 19:14
Blessings,
Dalinda
As bad as I wanted to seek revenge, I was reminded that revenge removes God from the equation. Only God assesses accurate judgements. We impose punishments too slight or severe. God dispenses perfect justice. Psalm 103:6 says, "For all who are mistreated, the Lord brings justice." God knows each person's story and will make things right in His perfect time and in His wise and loving ways.
I've come to realize that people on edge must have a lot of stored up misery....and they want to make everyone else miserable too. Their reactions to me probably have a lot less to do with me and a lot more to do with what is going on in their lives. And my job isn't to fix them or set them straight or prove how wrong they were acting....it's God's job.
Remember, the words we speak have power. They can hurt or heal, repel or attract. They also provide a fairly accurate barometer as to what's going on in our hearts.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." - Psalm 19:14
Blessings,
Dalinda
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Take A First Step, But Don't Stumble
You can never arrive at your final destination without taking a first step.
Faith is first a decision, then an exercise in obedience, then a gift from God as it is multiplied.
Faith is a spiritual muscle that needs to be exercised in order to prevent atrophy, which makes our entire spiritual being weak.
I have a steep stairway in my house, and every time I look too far ahead when I walk up or down the steps, I stumble and fall. I don't have any problem when I pay attention to the step I'm on or the one that's just ahead. It's the same for our lives. Looking too far ahead can cause us to stumble.
God is not asking you to be perfect. He is asking you to allow Him to be perfect in you. God is not asking you to have your whole future figured out. He is asking you to trust that He has your future planned. Thinking too much about the future can keep you from fully living the life God has given you now.
Focus on giants...you stumble. Focus on God...your giants tumble.
Whenever we decide NOT to trust God we stumble. Faith is our DAILY decision to trust God. When we exercise our obedience by trusting Him, He meets DAILY needs DAILY and miraculously. And our faith is multiplied...Hence, faith is first decision, then an exercise in obedience, then a gift from God as it is multiplied.
Our big God blesses our small faith.
Faithfully His,
Dalinda
Faith is first a decision, then an exercise in obedience, then a gift from God as it is multiplied.
Faith is a spiritual muscle that needs to be exercised in order to prevent atrophy, which makes our entire spiritual being weak.
I have a steep stairway in my house, and every time I look too far ahead when I walk up or down the steps, I stumble and fall. I don't have any problem when I pay attention to the step I'm on or the one that's just ahead. It's the same for our lives. Looking too far ahead can cause us to stumble.
God is not asking you to be perfect. He is asking you to allow Him to be perfect in you. God is not asking you to have your whole future figured out. He is asking you to trust that He has your future planned. Thinking too much about the future can keep you from fully living the life God has given you now.
Focus on giants...you stumble. Focus on God...your giants tumble.
Whenever we decide NOT to trust God we stumble. Faith is our DAILY decision to trust God. When we exercise our obedience by trusting Him, He meets DAILY needs DAILY and miraculously. And our faith is multiplied...Hence, faith is first decision, then an exercise in obedience, then a gift from God as it is multiplied.
Our big God blesses our small faith.
Faithfully His,
Dalinda
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Fear Corrodes Our Confidence In God's Goodness
Doesn't everyday deserve a chance to be a good day? Want to blow the cloud cover off your gray day? Accept God's direction. Each day emerges from God's drawing board. Including this one.
Even though we may be believers who have been given the assurance of salvation, even though we may be believers who have received the promise of God's love and protection - we find ourselves fretting over the countless details of everyday life.
Fear corrodes our confidence in God's goodness. Fear is a form of spiritual amnesia. It dulls our miracle memory. It makes us forget what Jesus has done and how good God is. When we start the day in fear we are looking at the day from the wrong side....the flesh side. Someday we shall see it from another standpoint, and understand because we will see things from the right side....God's side. God sees all. We see in the moment. He knows our needs far better than we do. We need to learn to trust God, just because He is God.
It's not ours to worry about.
Worries carry responsibilities that belong to God, not to us. Worry does not enable us to escape evil; it makes us unfit to cope with it when it comes. - Corrie ten Boom
Sometimes our focus is so concentrated on the destination that we lose sight of the One leading us there. Maybe the destination is God Himself.
What are you focusing on....His plan or your problems?
Our anxiety fades as our memory of God's goodness doesn't. As we meditate on Christ's life, we find strength for our own.
We will have days it may feel like three steps forward and two steps back. But we have to keep our eyes on Jesus and know that if He is our Lord and Savior, then we will have the ultimate victory. Trust in ultimate victory gives ultimate courage.
Remember, God is good....all the time!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Even though we may be believers who have been given the assurance of salvation, even though we may be believers who have received the promise of God's love and protection - we find ourselves fretting over the countless details of everyday life.
Fear corrodes our confidence in God's goodness. Fear is a form of spiritual amnesia. It dulls our miracle memory. It makes us forget what Jesus has done and how good God is. When we start the day in fear we are looking at the day from the wrong side....the flesh side. Someday we shall see it from another standpoint, and understand because we will see things from the right side....God's side. God sees all. We see in the moment. He knows our needs far better than we do. We need to learn to trust God, just because He is God.
It's not ours to worry about.
Worries carry responsibilities that belong to God, not to us. Worry does not enable us to escape evil; it makes us unfit to cope with it when it comes. - Corrie ten Boom
Sometimes our focus is so concentrated on the destination that we lose sight of the One leading us there. Maybe the destination is God Himself.
What are you focusing on....His plan or your problems?
Our anxiety fades as our memory of God's goodness doesn't. As we meditate on Christ's life, we find strength for our own.
We will have days it may feel like three steps forward and two steps back. But we have to keep our eyes on Jesus and know that if He is our Lord and Savior, then we will have the ultimate victory. Trust in ultimate victory gives ultimate courage.
Remember, God is good....all the time!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Monday, May 21, 2012
Always Be Joyful. Pray Continually. Give Thanks Whatever Happens.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to live my life in the past lane. I want to find a zillion things to be thankful for today.
Nothing blows the winter out of the day like the Caribbean breeze of thankfulness. Need some trade winds?
What are you thankful for right at this moment! Start today by being grateful for the tiniest things: a moment to rest, the color of a sunset, or a song on the radio.
Every garden will have a few weeds, but there is always something to be thankful for.
What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?
Being thankful is a choice. It's up to us to take the lemons life hands us and make lemonade out of them. We can choose to let circumstances rule us or we an choose to rule the circumstances. God created us with a free-will. Part of that fee-will is the ability to make choices. Are you content letting life hand you lemons? Lemonade is much sweeter and tastier than plain lemons, don't you think?
Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess. Life is full of ordinary moments....but if you take a closer look, they become so much more. Give thanks whatever happens.
We seem to talk more about our bad days than our good ones. Are we glorifying God in this? No! Let's change our focus. Instead of expecting it to be a bad day, let's expect it to be God's day. Focusing on our blessings keeps our heart from becoming bitter.
The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. The optimist deals with reality, the pessimist doesn't. Let go of the what-ifs.
Our thoughts and attitudes determine the emotional reaction we have to any event. Each of us determines the meaning and value of whatever we face in life.
Satan keeps you and me from prayer. He tries to position himself between us and God. But
he scampers like a spooked dog when we move forward. Pray continually.
What a world this would be if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings. Let's decide to be thankful and encourage one another to cultivate grateful hearts. God is so thankful for you. He gave His Son to reclaim your life. He invites you into the joy of salvation. That's an awful lot to be thankful for right there. And something else to be thankful for? The fact that you are here to be thankful!
To share your joy with others, to love others as Jesus loves you, is not only a form of thanksgiving and praise but also a way to cause others to wonder what you are so happy about.
What a blessing for us all to grow older, traveling this earthly pilgrimage, knowing, if we are believers, we will be together with Him (and each other) in eternity.
I am thankful for the security of His presence, even when the earth shakes under my feet.
I am so thankful for chances He has given to allow me to grow and trust Him as never before. Opportunity to let His light shine through me. So thankful!
Remember, your message, your salvation, your body, your struggles, your success - all proclaim God's glory.
Joyfully,
Dalinda
Nothing blows the winter out of the day like the Caribbean breeze of thankfulness. Need some trade winds?
What are you thankful for right at this moment! Start today by being grateful for the tiniest things: a moment to rest, the color of a sunset, or a song on the radio.
Every garden will have a few weeds, but there is always something to be thankful for.
What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?
Being thankful is a choice. It's up to us to take the lemons life hands us and make lemonade out of them. We can choose to let circumstances rule us or we an choose to rule the circumstances. God created us with a free-will. Part of that fee-will is the ability to make choices. Are you content letting life hand you lemons? Lemonade is much sweeter and tastier than plain lemons, don't you think?
Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess. Life is full of ordinary moments....but if you take a closer look, they become so much more. Give thanks whatever happens.
We seem to talk more about our bad days than our good ones. Are we glorifying God in this? No! Let's change our focus. Instead of expecting it to be a bad day, let's expect it to be God's day. Focusing on our blessings keeps our heart from becoming bitter.
The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. The optimist deals with reality, the pessimist doesn't. Let go of the what-ifs.
Our thoughts and attitudes determine the emotional reaction we have to any event. Each of us determines the meaning and value of whatever we face in life.
Satan keeps you and me from prayer. He tries to position himself between us and God. But
he scampers like a spooked dog when we move forward. Pray continually.
What a world this would be if we could forget our troubles as easily as we forget our blessings. Let's decide to be thankful and encourage one another to cultivate grateful hearts. God is so thankful for you. He gave His Son to reclaim your life. He invites you into the joy of salvation. That's an awful lot to be thankful for right there. And something else to be thankful for? The fact that you are here to be thankful!
To share your joy with others, to love others as Jesus loves you, is not only a form of thanksgiving and praise but also a way to cause others to wonder what you are so happy about.
What a blessing for us all to grow older, traveling this earthly pilgrimage, knowing, if we are believers, we will be together with Him (and each other) in eternity.
I am thankful for the security of His presence, even when the earth shakes under my feet.
I am so thankful for chances He has given to allow me to grow and trust Him as never before. Opportunity to let His light shine through me. So thankful!
Remember, your message, your salvation, your body, your struggles, your success - all proclaim God's glory.
Joyfully,
Dalinda
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