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Thoughts & Images
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.” Philippians 4:8 NKJV
MEDITATE ON WHAT IS GOOD
Where your focus goes, you go and your energy goes too. Make no mistake, your thoughts change your body chemistry. You can make yourself physically ill by focusing on negative thoughts and images. Heart only the things that you want to manifest in your life and release all things that do not serve you. If your thoughts (or your words) are not noble, or virtuous and of good report, then move away from them. Command them to leave.
NEXT!
Somiari Demm, clinical psychologist, says to release them, say “next!” and move on to a good thought. I spoke that aloud the other day. My thought was self defeating and I refused to allow it to take hold in my mind. I startled the lady sitting near me as I laughed out loud. She got up and moved away.
Sacred scripture says “do these, and the God of peace will be with you.” These good things are my focus for me and for all of you, today and always.
Mrs. C
Focus Forward
It is a time to relinquish any notions of lack, and a time to embrace abundance, and a re-birthing of gifts, and a renewal of faith in God and in ourselves.
HAPPY NEWNESS IN YOUR YEAR!
We are at the dawn of a new year…a time to reflect on the past, and shift toward newness in our lives. You know, out with the old and in with the new.
Maya Angelou said, “Take a day to heal from the lies that you’ve told yourself and the ones that have been told to you.” My family, my friends, today is the day that you begin to heal from all the untruths in your life. You are a powerful force. Focus forward, not backward. Look up, not down.
FROM MY HEART TO YOURS
May you step out of the darkness into the light; May you find joy and peace as you commit to live on purpose…step out on faith…and know that God has your back.
This year and forever more, may you profess only the truth of who you really are!
Declare silently in your heart and loudly to your world: I am love. I am a child of the Most High God. I am whole. I am healthy and prosperous. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am capable. I am forgiving and therefore I am forgiven.
I am the peace, the joy, and the blessings that I have been waiting and praying for. God loves me just as I am, and so do I.
Happy Newness to you in 2014 from my heart to yours!
Mrs. C
A Tribute
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
WE THANK YOU
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, anti-apartheid icon, Nobel Prize winner, lawyer, philanthropist, and South Africa’s first black president, passed away at his home in Johannesburg.
President Mandela we are grateful for your life. Thank you for showing us how to navigate “the long road to freedom”. Your strength, your courage, your compassion, and your love are beacons for the world. We will continue on the journey guided by your light.
My Gratitude List
Soon after I rise, I journal at least seven blessings that I am grateful for. I share my gratitude list with you:
I AM GRATEFUL FOR…
- I am grateful that God loves me just as I am. It is because of His mercy and grace that I stand here at this time. I thank Him for His Holy Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
- I am grateful for the love of my life, Roosevelt and the bond that we share. I trust him with my life and I thank God for 48 years of growth and refinement in our marriage. I dare not imagine a life without him.
- I am grateful for my incredible children and children-in-law, Leonard and Stacey, Clifton and Carmen, and Jason and Steffany. They are marvelous parents, they love the Lord and I love them more than they can ever know.
- I am grateful that I have lived long enough to know and love beautiful, talented, grandchildren, Brittany, Justin, Tyler, Lesley, Kyle, Eboni, Jai, Nia, and Jason, Jr. and great grandchildren, Emerson, and Kyle, Jr, who God is knitting together in his mother’s womb. They are the apples of my eye.
- I am grateful for my brothers, brothers-in-law, sisters and sisters-in-law, Gayle and Bill, Paul, Lloyd and Aleta, Michael and Brenda, Charlene, George and Marilyn, Marcia and Richard, and Jeanette. A close family is a true gift. I love them deeply.
- I am grateful for my family of dear friends, Jeanie, Jackee, Pat, Andrea, Betty, Marie, Jacqui and Mrs. Wilkins; For the unconditional love they offer me and the love I offer them. They add richness to my life.
- I am deeply grateful for this new season in my life, and the awakening that it introduced. This time has ushered in restoration and transformation. I am grateful that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom (Luke 12:32), and that no good thing will be withheld from me if I walk uprightly (Psalms 84:11).
I thank God for you reading this now and that you trust me to whisper to you my inner thoughts. Know that I circle you in prayer.
I invite you to comment and share your gratitude list with me.
Mrs. C
I Speak
I Stir
I AM
48th Wedding Anniversary!
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife.” Mark 10:7
…and he left them and asked me to be his wife and I said “yes” 48 years ago today; And so it is! We have earned each other’s love and respect. We did the work and we stand solid as a rock. Roosevelt I trust you with my life and I love you deeply.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!
Love always,
Leslie
On Waiting: A Social Commentary
We wait to become 16 and then wait to graduate from high school and college. We wait for our own place…freedom from the oversight of parents. After all, life begins at 21!
AS WE WAIT…
We wait to be grown and marry and have babies, and then wait for these babies to get out on their own (we think that day will never come, and when it does, we miss them deeply).
We wait to retire, then wait to die (yes, we do that when we choose to live dying and not die living). We wait to be grateful because we feel we don’t have enough to be grateful for.
We wait to accept Jesus (after all we have time right?) In a state of anxiety we even wait our breath (don’t do that…breathe!)
As we wait, we waste precious time/precious life. We miss out on holy days and holy encounters…waiting. What are we waiting for? This is it. This is life. We are living it now, abundantly!
Why can’t we just “be”, and live every moment as though it were our last…as someday it will be. Wait on the Lord. Nothing else!
On Pride: A Social Commentary
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” (St. Augustine)
A HEALTHY DOSE
As we recognize and celebrate our gifts and accomplishments, we must remain humble in order for God to use us. There is a vast difference between a healthy dose of self-confidence and any portion of diseased pride.
We must never fail to honor our Creator for everything. No one is self-made; we do nothing on our own. When we feel the urge to boast, let us choose humility over arrogance.
Whatever we feed will grow, so let us feed the spirit with praise and worship, and starve false perceptions of ourselves. If we keep our ears tuned to the still, small voice within and listen for the tugs on our hearts, we will humble the ego and become as angels.
A Prayer of Gratitude
Heavenly Father, although shadows rise in my life today, I celebrate.
IN PRAISE & THANKSGIVING
I thank you for all of my experiences today. This is the day that you have made. In praise and thanksgiving, I offer my words, my thoughts, my deeds to you. I will not complain about anything, because you have been too good to me. I know that you are in control and working things out for my good. I can’t see into tomorrow, but I know that you can and I trust you to handle it all.
HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT
Gratitude pours from my heart for the wonderful gift of life, and the gifts of family and friends. I feel your perpetual love hovering over me, thank you. I know that your grace is sufficient for me to defeat all sickness or feelings of anxiety or lack of any kind, and I thank you as I receive gifts of peace, joy, mercy, and grace.
CELEBRATORY WATERS
Father, as I soak in celebratory waters, the lens of my heart is wiped clean, and I see Your healing light and love in me and all around me. Oh, how happy I am that you are my shade at my right side. Thank you for the revelation that this worship brings.
Lord, in Deuteronomy 26:11, your sacred word says, “You shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you”, and today I celebrate and thank you for my blessings.
I pray in the Matchless, Magnificent Name of Jesus…Amen
Faithful Friends – Naomi & Ruth
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back, where you go I will go, your people will be my people and your God my God…only death can separate us”. Ruth 1:16
WHERE YOU GO I WILL GO
I attended a dynamic prayer breakfast in Champaign, Illinois last October. Dr. Rosalyn Nichols spoke on the book of Ruth, and how it relates to us today.
Dr. Nichols reminded us that Naomi tried to get her daughters-in-law to leave after the death of her husband and sons. Oprah tearfully left, but Ruth clung to Naomi. Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back, where you go I will go, your people will be my people and your God my God…only death can separate us.” Naomi discovered that she didn’t have to make it alone because Ruth refused to desert her. WOW, that’s loyalty!
GRIEF & BITTERNESS
Naomi became so bitter that she changed her name; she said “don’t call me Naomi, call me Moira, which means bitterness. Naomi was determined to stay stuck in her sadness and grief. Isn’t that how it is with us sometimes? It’s just easier to immerse ourselves in the grief and pain rather than take a step forward.
Dr. Nichols spoke to the friendship of the two women, and how she and Ruth’s relationship relates to friendships today. She said that we would go through some tough times. We lose people in our lives through death, divorce, and even friendships, and things like jobs, but we don’t have to walk alone. We have God and if we petition Him, He will send someone to help us through the storms.
FAITHFUL FRIENDS
Sometimes we don’t want to ask for what we need, but we must. We have to walk through things, and find our way, and write a new script for our lives. We need faithful friends who will listen, and help us on our journey. If you are walking through a valley right now, and you don’t have a “Ruth” in your life, I encourage you to find a “stirring sister” who will pray with you and for you. Find one who will take you by the hand and say “come, my sister, with God, anything is possible. “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back, where you go I will go, your people will be my people and your God my God…only death can separate us”.
AN AFFIRMATION
I will write a new script for my life. With God by my side, I have the power to do that! Will you affirm that with me today?
A Declaration for Fall 2013
What’s on my mind? Way too much! I am reminded this morning that fall is upon us, but I am not FALL-ing on the Lord.
SHUTTING IT DOWN
I’m trying to control way too much. So, I surrender. I let go and I let God. Right now, not tomorrow. I shut the to-do list down. I speak to myself each time a fear thought arises. I decree that I will smack it down with God’s Word. I demand that it flee. I will not allow it to take root. I say, “No, you will not plant your seed in this garden, and if you drop it, I will not nurture it..I will let it die! You will not lurk in the shadows of my mind”.
I shout, “Fear, anxiety, perception of lack, dis-ease, you are not the lord of my life. My God is. He is my light and my salvation, more powerful than you ever could be. So, guess what? None of you are of God. So hit the road!”.
SOLID AS A ROCK
Thank you Jesus for the blood, it covers everything and everybody. Church, I know I’m preaching to the choir, and that you are all solid as a rock. If you know someone who could use some encouragement today, please call them and remind them of who they are through Jesus Christ. Tell them that the power to overcome is theirs for the asking. It only needs to be downloaded.
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