Watch Your Mouth

"He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction."
Proverbs 13:3 NKJV

At some point in our lives we've all been told to watch out mouths. As a parent, I find myself saying it to my children more often than not. No, they aren't cursing, however I'm trying to teach them that the power of life and death is in their tongues. One of the lessons we're working on is silence can be more powerful than all the words in the world.

My cousin, who happens to be a life coach, said to me the other day: "Your subconscious does not have a sense of humor. It takes everything that you say literally." So when you say I'm stupid, that's what your subconscious begins to believe; and when you say things like I can do this, I am powerful, I am strong, it takes that literally as well.

We should focus more on inward speaking and less on talking just to hear ourselves or for the entertainment for others. "Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking...don't they?" Scarecrow - Wizard of Oz  

For the remainder of this week, let's try reading more inspirational sayings/quotes and speaking more positively to ourselves. Let's speak life if we must speak at all.

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Joy Comes in the Mourning

Yesterday at work I did something I'd never done before. I got up and walked out of a "mandatory" meeting. Feeling the urge to walk out is nothing  new, but it's for reasons far different from my reason yesterday.

I was working, minding my business, when I found out there had been a(nother) innocent person killed by the police. My freshly repaired heart had been shattered again. My stomach began flipping and my mind began racing. "Lord, am I hearing an old story?" I wondered if new information was being released about a news story that had already been covered. That was not the case.

Moments later, I heard my colleagues yelling, "Meeting...meeting. Everybody in the conference room." "Wait, I can't go in there; I'm in mourning..." I thought to myself. I reluctantly went and couldn't focus. So instead of breaking into tears and wailing for brother-stranger, I left. Without going into too many details, my supervisors were not happy.

I went outside and began to walk and pray. I heard, Weeping may endure for a night BUT JOY...

Joy came through my mourning (yes, I know it's "joy comes in the morning").

No, I'm not happy, but I do remember that the joy of the Lord is my strength. I said all of that to encourage you to keep joy. Joy doesn't necessarily mean we're happy; it means we're triumphant and that we're still winning. We still have strength even in our weakness, mourning, pain and darkness.
I needed that moment to change my thoughts into those that would bring me back to a place of strength. I love you all and please pray with me for (all) the victim's families.

 Change Your Mind, Change Your Life 

The MINDfield

Most of our personal battles begin in our mind. Just as in maneuvering through an actual minefield, we must use extreme caution when navigating through our thoughts. If we're not careful, one seemingly simple thought can blow up right in our faces.
 

How many times have we created issues by letting our imaginations run wild?
 

There's a difference in giving our creativity free reign and entertaining potentially hazardous thoughts. We start, have and win arguments with people who don't even know we're upset with them, all in our minds. We over think problems that are out of our control and super-size thoughts that are intended to cause more action and less processing.

It's been said that, an idle mind is the devil's workshop or playground. It's a lot easier to get ourselves in "trouble" when we don't control our thoughts.  Although it is important to keep our minds occupied  (even through prayer and meditation), we must be careful to not let our thoughts control us.

Psalm 13:2 says, "How long must I wrestle with my thoughts...?" I believe if we spend more time in prayer and preparation, the battle in the mind-field won't seem so daunting. We'll be more aware of what kind of thoughts we're having and become better equipped to deal with them.

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

God is Faithful

Over the past few months, I've really been wanting to blog again. I kept thinking, "Man, I really miss doing my blog, but have I waited too long to continue where I left off?" I had a fear that people would see the gap in time from my last post and wonder what I've been doing. This has been going on for weeks - the constant "mind-field" battle. It wasn't until today that I literally had to laugh at myself. I sat at my computer, with an empty page and a blinking cursor. I exhaled and let my eyes wander to the title of my blog, "Change Your Mind, Change Your Life." Wow! And there you have it, Lisa. All you have to do is change your mind and get back in the game.

With that being said, welcome back, faithful followers and nice to meet you, new readers! I pray that we are all encouraged, blessed and uplifted.

All thanks, praise and glory to God for this gift - He is faithful. Let's go!!!

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Who's Your Daddy?

I started reading the story of Moses last night. I found that the very beginning of his life (before the basket in the Nile) carried a huge message. Exodus 2, "Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son." Who was Moses' father? Most stories in the Bible give you a little lineage or family history, which generally includes the names of the fathers; but this one was different. Neither of his parents' names were given.

 

Some of us feel like we'll never be able to reach our highest potential because of who our parents are or were. Alcoholics, drug-addicts, prostitutes, thieves, drop-outs, liars, unemployed, underemployed...the list goes on. We may have been embarrassed by or disappointed in our earthly parents, but who they are does not dictate who you are or can be.

 

In the very next chapter, (Exodus 3:10) God, our Heavenly Father, tells Moses, "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” God can use us no matter where/who we came from! What's more important is that we make ourselves available to be used.

 

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!

Lisa B.

Pray For Yourself

We all need prayer. Period. Sometimes we go through things and our first instinct is to say, "pray for me." We call our Pastors, Elders, Deacons, friends and family members, for their powerful prayers. Our circumstances make us feel powerless, at times, like we are incapable of praying for ourselves. It's great to be able to call on people to pray for us, but we have to pray for ourselves, too.

We might say, well, I'm just a man. But James 5:17-18 says, "Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.  Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

Since we will probably still pick up the phone to ask for help, let's change our requests; let's say, "will you pray with me or in agreement with me...?" instead of just leaving the ball in their court. Because truth be told, they may forget to pray for you. Not because your request isn't important, but because they're human, too. Pray for yourself.

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!

Lisa B.

It's Simple

Simplicity: the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do.

Wouldn't it be great if we lived a life of simplicity? Nowadays, things seem so complicated; but are they really? Do we make things harder than they need to be?

Deuteronomy 5:33 says, "Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days...."

Once we understand the simple equation of Faith + Obedience = Prosperity, our lives will become more abundant in every area. God comes to multiply and add to us, but the enemy comes to divide and subtract.

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!!

Lisa B.

Let Your Dreams Live

Dreams are one of the best things we can have in this life. They encourage us to keep going. A reason to live and the motivation to succeed are rooted in our dreams. However, when we start to tell people our dreams (like Joseph with his family in Gensis 37), it seems like the world slowly begins to turn away from us. Some will support you from the beginning, but many, even with a smile, will doubt you and may go as far as to disown you.

So now what? We're all alone; just us and our dreams. Luke 17:37 says, "...He replied, 'Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.'" We should much rather keep our dreams alive and temporarily walk alone, than to kill something inside of us just to have people (vultures) around us for company.

Once our dream and/or vision has been fulfilled, we will be surrounded by the right people at the right time. So, let's hold on. Let's be okay when the wrong people drop off or don't support our dreams. Your dream needs to come to pass!

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!

Lisa B.

It's Not My Fault

From the beginning of time, we have been playing the "Blame Game."
Genesis 3:12-13 (NIV) The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

How often do we find ourselves searching for an excuse? When we find ourselves in unpleasant circumstances or make mistakes, we tend to try to turn the attention on someone else. Having the focus on us can be very uncomfortable.

Learning to take ownership for our faults is a huge sign of growth and maturity. If we aren't making mistakes somewhere along the line, that means we aren't learning or trying something new. From now on, we will admit when we're wrong or have fallen short and work towards making corrections. In the end, we will be better people for taking those actions.

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!

Lisa B.

You're So Childish

Take your mind back to when you were a child. Adorable, innocent, humble and free. You depended on your parents/caregivers to help you and you didn't have a problem asking for what you wanted/needed.

 

Now let's think about who we are today. We're always on the go. Some of us are super independent. Others walk around stone-faced. The rest of us are too proud to ask for anything. When did we become this person? This person who has it all and doesn't need anything from anybody? Maybe that doesn't quite pertain to you, but are you humble? Are you approachable?

 

It's wonderful to pat ourselves on the back and receive praise for our accomplishments! But let's not forget who helped us. We have to let down our guards every now and then and just smile. Offer a word of encouragement to people who may need it. Ask for help when you need it. Be real...be child-like, in a mature way.

 

Matthew 18:3, "And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'" This scripture is not telling us to just run around and disregard our responsibilities, but it is encouraging us to be humble and go to God the way a child would go to his parents.

 

Change Your Mind, Change Your Life!

Lisa B.