When Depressed

 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you— even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar.
Psalm 42:5-6, NLT     

Depression is one of the most common emotional ailments. One antidote for depression is to meditate on the record of God’s goodness to his people. This will take your mind off the present situation and give hope that it will improve. It will focus your thoughts on God’s ability to help you rather than on your inability to help yourself.     

When you feel depressed, take advantage of this psalm’s antidepressant. Read the Bible’s accounts of God’s goodness, and meditate on them.

How's Your Vision?

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
Proverbs 29:18 

Robert Fritz wrote, “It is not what a vision is; it’s what a vision does.” What does a vision do? Vision is the ability to see. Helen Keller was asked, “Is there anything worse than being blind?” “Yes,” she replied, “having eyesight but no vision!”

Leaders imagine a preferred future. Vision is the stuff of the future. Vision is the vivid image of the compelling future God wants to create through you. Leaders can stand up and say this is where we are going.

Mike Vance tells of being at Walt Disney World soon after its completion when someone said, “It’s too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this.” Vance replied, “He DID see it—that’s why it’s here.”

What kind of vision do you have?

Myopic vision. Leaders with myopic vision are so terribly nearsighted that they live only for today. Their vision of the future is fuzzy. They can barely see beyond their noses.

Peripheral vision. Leaders with peripheral vision are blindsided by side issues. These visionaries are hampered in moving forward because they catch the threatening images of lurking problems in the corners of their eyes. They are fearful of shadowy difficulties and people lurking on the sidelines who will defeat their efforts. These folks are easily distracted.

Tunnel vision. Leaders with tunnel vision see only what’s dead ahead of them and assume that their slender view of reality reflects the whole world. They don’t see other persons or other issues.

Panoramic vision. Leaders with panoramic vision see the big picture. They see beyond today. They see what is ahead of them. They see what is to their sides. They have a basic understanding of the key ingredients of a healthy organization and know the steps that it will take to get them there.

Vision is perhaps the greatest need of leadership today. As someone said regarding the church but it pertains to any organization, “Our preachers aren’t dreaming. That’s why the church is such a nightmare.”

How’s your vision? Without it your organization will be like an unbridled horse. With it the organization will be focused, moving toward the fulfillment of the dream.

Life's Short

LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.
Psalm 39:4, NLT   

  

Life is short no matter how long we live. If there is something important we want to do, we must not put it off for a better day.    
 

Ask yourself, “If I had only six months to live, what would I do?” Tell someone that you love him or her? Deal with an undisciplined area in your life? Tell someone about Jesus? Because life is short, don’t neglect what is truly important.

Word Among Us - Reading & Meditation for February 19, 2010

Meditation: Isaiah 58:1-9

Come help us, O Lord!

O Lord, open our eyes to the contradictions that are around us and within us. Just as you confronted the Israelites long ago, help us to see our own inconsistencies. You saw through the emptiness of your people’s fasting and called them to take on a fast that would change their hearts—a fast that would lead them to care for the poor, the forgotten, and the weak.

Come, Lord, and do the same for us! Give us a that long not just for your blessings but to do your will as well. Teach us to offer the kind of fast that pleases you, a fast that fills us with compassion for those oppressed by sin or injustice. Free us from our pride over having the truth, and give us hearts that burn with the desire to share your atruth. Give us opportunities to tell people about your kingdom, and help us take advantage of those opportunities.

O Lord, may our fast not just be one day of physical deprivation among many days of comfort! Instead, help us to pray throughout our fast, so that our hearts may become like yours. Purify our faith so that we can see you in our family members, our neighbors, and our co-workers. Ignite our spirits to love the troubled and downtrodden, and to work for justice.

Heavenly Father, send us out in the name of Jesus, your Son, to feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. Show us how to help in practical, not just sentimental, ways. Teach us to live more simply so that we can share our resources with the unfortunate. Embolden us to give not just from our excess but from our substance. Remove the blinders that shield us from the hurt, need, and loneliness all around us. Help us to see all your children as you see them, and to love them as you love them.

Lord, help us! Our skipped meals have no value unless they are coupled with acts of mercy. And our acts of mercy are diminished when we lack prayer. Grant us wisdom to make the sacrifices of time, food, and money that will bless your people and build your kingdom.

“Lord, may I be a blessing to others as I share your truth and your provisions with them.”

Psalm 51:3-6,18-19; Matthew 9:14-15

Joy is an Inside Job

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

Dr. Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, was imprisoned by the Nazis in World War II because he was a Jew. His wife, his children, and his parents were all killed in the Holocaust. The Gestapo stripped him of his clothes. He stood totally naked before them. As they cut off his wedding band, Viktor said to himself, “You can take away my wife, you can take away my children, you can strip me of my clothes and my freedom, but there is one thing no person can ever take away from me--and that is my freedom to choose how I will react to what happens to me!” Even under the most difficult of circumstances, joy is a choice which transforms our tragedies into triumph.

Let’s face it, not everything goes our way. Things don’t always work out as we planned. Some days are disasters. Other days are worse than that.

Happiness comes easily when things go our way. Joy is different. It’s deeper. Joy is an attitude we select. Happiness is external and subject to what happens. Joy is an inside job in which we opt to rejoice regardless of the circumstances.

Don’t confuse happiness with joy. Happiness is a buoyant emotion that results from the momentary plateaus of well-being. Joy is bedrock stuff. Joy is a confidence that operates irrespective of our moods. Joy is the certainty that all is well, however we feel.

Joy is a divine dimension of living that is not shackled by circumstances simply because we have chosen to respond in a positive manner. Paul is saying in Philippians 4:4 that joy is not something that happens to me but rather something I deliberately and consciously select. Circumstances seldom generate lasting smiles and laughter. Joy comes to those who determine to choose it in spite of their circumstances.

Attitude of Gratitude

Many people, even many Christians, find it very difficult to be thankful. Yet, the Bible repeatedly tells us to be thankful in everything. We should live overflowing with thankfulness (Colossians 2:7).

Rather than finding something to complain about, we should find something to be thankful for. There is always something in life for which to thank God; indeed, we should always [be] giving thanks to God the Father for everything (Ephesians 5:20).

Furthermore, Psalm 100:4 tells us: Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Notice that just entering his gates demands that we be thankful.

Being thankful is important to God. Therefore, decide to live with an attitude of gratitude.

The Pastor's Ass

The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race. Again, and it won again.The local paper read:

PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.The next day, the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent.The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10.The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the nun to buy back the Donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild. The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is... Being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery & even shorten your Life. So be yourself and enjoy life... Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and You'll be a lot happier and live longer!