7 Scripture Based Affirmations – Why Not Confess and Share the Love? It’s a Beautiful Thing!

How to Draw on the Power of the Word to Increase Your Love Walk

Scripture-based affirmations can be a…

powerful influencing force in your life.

They help put you in the scriptures and draw

on the power of the Word in a more focused way.

Making these confessions a regular part of your day will bless you BIG time.

What about love? Well we all know love is a powerful force itself and when abundant in our lives it brings great peace and helps manifest growing prosperity.

What about God? God is love. He is pure, holy, good, and righteous. Every promise in His Word is rooted in knowing and sharing His great love. Take time to meditate the Word of God and get to know His great love.

CONFESS and SHARE the LOVE!

1. I love You, God, because You first loved me. (1 John 4:19)

2. I love You, Lord, with all my heart, all my understanding, and all my strength. And I will love my neighbor more than I love myself. (Mark 12:33)

3. I remain in God’s love and I love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. (John 15:10, Matthew 5:44)

4. The love of God matters most and I imitate my heavenly Father and walk in love toward others daily. I love others deeply because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 1 Peter 4:8)

5. God has given me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Love helps me to rejoice in truth and to always protect, trust, hope, and persevere! (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 2 Timothy 1:7)

6. I am rooted and established in love. I gain power to grasp the abundance of God’s love as I seek to discover how deep and how wide His love is. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

7. God is love and I make my life in Him. God’s great love is being perfected in me day-to-day.  I have a life of love! (1 John 4:16-17)

Let these scripture-based affirmations be only the beginning; a place to start. As you continue to study, meditate, and confess the Word of God, you’ll empower yourself with an increased source of love affirmations to speak daily.

Love is in the Air

As the confessions of your heart and mind overflow with love, that same love will manifest in your life and positively affect the lives of all those around you. Love is the greatest gift that has been given to us and the greatest gift we can give. Let it flow abundantly in you and through you!

Start today: Build your faith in God’s love and His loving way of living by confessing scripture-based affirmations like these.

May you confess and share the love of God and live a life of growing prosperity!

Be blessed to be a blessing -

Love in Christ,
Brenda

How Does Christian Meditation Compare to Other Forms of Meditation?

Traditional Forms of Meditation vs. Christian Meditation

Christian meditation is based on the Word of God.

It is the Word of God that saves, delivers, instructs, and

empowers, believers to live a successful life.

There are some key differences between

traditional forms of meditation and Christian meditation:

Meditation on the Living Word of God

The Bible is the foundation and source of life for every Christian believer. The truths of the scriptures are the object of their meditation. Meditating on God’s Word manifests success. The Word of God is full of living power. (Hebrews 4:12) God’s Words are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63) It is through His words that God spoke creation into existence.

“In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 
– John 1:1

Christian believers focus their meditation on God Most High.

In traditional meditation, the focus is on self. The object of focus may be referred to as the “higher self” or spiritual self. A physical item, such as an idol may be used as a representative object to focus on. Or a word or sound may be the object of focus while practicing traditional meditation.

Meditation Power with the Word of God

Meditation, for the Christian believer, is practiced so that their hearts and minds can be filled with biblical truths. It is a way to renew their minds and be transformed into the image of Christ. It helps them become more like Christ daily.

The Christian meditator fills their thoughts with the promises of God, and the ways of God, by meditating on His Word. Revelation of His truths connects and draws them closer into fellowship with the living God. Then, action taken on revealed biblical truths, manifests success and prosperity in their lives.

The traditional meditator seeks to empty their thoughts by focusing on a simple mantra until they have cleared their consciousness of all thought as much as possible. The goal is to achieve peace and relaxation.

Reaching and tapping into one’s higher self may result in a greater conscious level of peace, awareness, and relaxation. Yet even at the peak of one’s highest level, they are nothing without God.

“In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” 
– Acts 17:28

It is God, the creator of the heavens and earth, who is the source of all; the beginning and the end. The Word of the Lord endures forever. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being. It is with God that all things are possible and it is with God that nothing is impossible.

Now that you know this: Why not open the Word of God and meditate on His promises and allow them to manifest in your life?

God bless you always,
Brenda

P.S. Image credits go to Sias van Schalkwyk

Happy In the Skin I’m In – 3 Things to Consider for a Happier You as the Clock Keeps on a Ticking!

You Can Be Happy In the Skin You Are In!

Happiness shouldn’t be based on physical appearance.

Sure, everybody wants to look good…

but some people let themselves get worked into a frenzy over it.

They soon find they cannot be happy unless they look a certain way.

Are you happy in the skin you’re in?

The condition of the physical body tends to mess with people’s minds way to often; especially in today’s society. But, don’t forget that your spirit, the condition of your heart, should take priority over your flesh.

Have you bought into the lie that you need your body or face to look a certain way in order to be happy? If so, well then no better day than today to flush that lie down the toilet!

Let’s take a look at three things you might want to consider for a happier you – while the clock keeps on a ticking.

The Body Changes – We Are All Aging

The body is constantly changing and aging, that is just a fact of life. And another fact is that we have all been born with a unique set of physical features, which may or may not be considered beautiful by today’s standards.

Sure, you can fight it. You can get fit and strong as possible and that’s great. You can have procedures and surgeries if you want. But I don’t care how good you make that body look, it is only temporary and doesn’t change your internal clock or the condition of your heart.

We are living in a corruptible vessel.

“Let it (our adorning) be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 
– 1 Peter 3:4

If You Need to Shape Up and Clean Out – Then Do it

Now, by all means, take care of yourself and keep your body healthy. Be a good steward with the body you have been given. If you think you need to shape up, tone up, or detox, then go right ahead. 

Do the best with what you have, but don’t beat yourself up over it. Remember, your joy is in the Lord – not in numbers on a scale or lack of wrinkles on your face. God looks at the heart, so go ahead and be happy even when your body is going through changes.

Set Your Affection on Things Above

The world is going to constantly be pointing out your flaws and dragging down your perspective. Don’t let that happen to you. Aim higher for more of God’s presence and let Him clean up your perspective. You’ll find you are a much happier you if you do.

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Why aren’t we to set our affections on earth? Because everything on earth is only temporary and going to pass away.

If we hunger and thirst after righteousness and the things of God, we’ll stop judging ourselves by weight, wrinkles, and facial features. We’ll stop beating ourselves up and in fact, start discovering a contentment that brings true happiness and joy.

Aim higher: Set your sights on God’s truths begin to see yourself the way He sees you. Set your affection on things above and you’ll be blessed with many blessings including contentment, peace, joy, and happiness.

May your heart be beautiful, may you live happy, and enjoy a life of growing prosperity!

God bless you always -

Cheers,
Brenda

Christian Meditation: My Life Is So Busy! How Much Time Should I Spend Meditating?

Find Out How to Fit Meditation into Your Already Busy Schedule!

Christian meditation helps bring peace and richness to life by drawing us closer to God.

Most believers understand it is important to meditate.

Yet at the same time, they can feel overwhelmed with the pressure of life’s demands and the thought of adding one more thing to their schedule.

When the topic of meditation comes up, the question often heard is: “But how can I? I just don’t have time!”

So true! There is no time in your schedule for meditation – until you make it! 

Fitting God Into Your Schedule

We all know there will never come a time when the TV turns itself off, and the kids are quietly playing, and the phone doesn’t ring, and the “to do” list is complete, and our mind has nothing to do but meditate!

Distractions are a part of life and we have to purpose to fit meditation into our schedule. We have to choose to make it a priority.

Keep in mind: The easiest way to fit meditation into your schedule, and make it a daily habit, is to meditate at the same time and in the same place every day. But like I said, other things will always want to intrude.

The important thing is to be flexible, but purpose to make meditation on God’s Word a daily habit.

You might want to try a five minute devotional first thing in the morning to start your day off right and give yourself a positive focus. Then listen to a biblical meditation or Christian affirmation CD while driving, doing chores, or on a break. Another five to ten minutes, of some method of prayer or meditation, before going to sleep will also have a powerful impact.

Power To Change Your Life

Meditation can help bring peace and balance to our lives. One of the main reasons we are currently in a rat race and so busy spinning our wheels, is because our lives are out of line with God’s Word.

Needless to say, the only way to change this situation is to gain a greater understanding of how God would have us to live. We then adjust our lives to this new understanding and trust God to help us and guide us. As a result, things will begin to turn around.

“He will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him.” 
– Isaiah 26:3

I think you get the point. The key is that we have to choose to fit God into our schedule. We have to choose to make the time, and create the opening for meditation.  The Bible tells us to meditate day and night. So we need to be sure and get our minimum daily requirement of the Word! 

The good news is: Time spent in the presence of God empowers us to break free of the rat race and live successful. In fact, you’ll tap into a “hidden power” that has been available to you all along.

Are you ready to fit God into your schedule and create a daily habit of Christian meditation?

God bless you always,
Brenda

Godly Humility – How Can a Humble Heart Put You On the Road to Destination Greatness?

A Life of Humility that Leads to God’s Richest Blessings!

Humility needs to take root in the heart first…

and then it will begin to grow and expand

into every area of life.

Humility has to be taught to us by God

and is not generally something we easily learn. 

“I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility.” 
– John Ruskin

Power to Change

Humility changes the way we see God and helps us submit our heart to Him. It changes the way we view others and gives us a servant’s perspective. Humility is not denial of self, but it is an embracing of God’s Word within us. It allows us to lay aside our personal wants and needs and adopt His desires and goals for our lives.

“Be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” 
– 1 Peter 5:5-6

Humbling ourselves under God’s hand allows Him to raise us up to greatness at the proper time. Keep in mind; greatness from our perspective is different from God’s. God is more interested in our humility than He is of our ‘great’ works.

Do you want to be blessed? Then develop a servant’s heart.

“Whoever, wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.” 
– Jesus Christ (Matthew 20:26)

Destination Greatness

When we humble ourselves before God, we gain new strength and insight. God prepares us for greatness and blessing. He will often allow intense pressures and adversity to humble us and refocus our thoughts so that we begin to think the way He thinks. Pain, embarrassment, and criticism are like safety checks to keep us from becoming proud and arrogant.

When facing challenges, we have a choice. We can either be hardened by our circumstances or humbled by them. If we choose to be humbled, we will gain God’s perspective and quickly discover that He is guiding us to victory (spiritually and physically).

Don’t be fooled though; if we choose to have a hard heart, we open the door to bitterness and close-mindedness. And remember, God resists the proud. Pride and rebellion are the opposite of humility and they separate us from God.

God says He hates a proud look and a proud heart is a sin. (Proverbs  6:17, 21:4) Pride is not only dangerous it is destructive and does not fit who we are in Christ. Humility transforms us into the image of Christ and empowers us to stand strong through the storms of life.

Many people view humility as a sign of weakness, but it is not. It is a sign of strength and spiritual maturity.

How Do We Gain Godly Humility?

It starts with a commitment to study God’s Word and a willingness to submit to Him. Then God will begin to show each of us individually the steps we must take in our lives to gain true humility. God develops humility within us through the power of His Spirit.

Humility is not something we practice in church or to impress others. It must reflect our lifestyle and who we are deep inside.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” 
– Micah 6:8

In our love for God, we must be careful to walk humbly before Him. When we begin to understand the greatness of God’s love, humility will become our first choice. To bring God glory and honor simply because we love Him is at the heart of true humility.

Needless to say: Living a life of humility may not be easy, but it certainly leads to God’s richest blessings.

May you humble yourself and experience all the abundant goodness God has for you and enjoy a life of growing prosperity!

God bless you -

Cheers,
Brenda

Self-Growth – Uncovering the Great Power of Possibilities Within! Part 2 of 2

Self-discovery by Finding the Presence of God Within!

The following are words of wisdom and encouragement,

from Orison Swett Marden.

They are excerpts from chapter 7 “How to Find Oneself”

from the book “How to Get What You Want.” 

Although written back in 1917,

these words still hold great insight and the ability to stir us up and check our current progress in life.

This is part 2 of 2 for men and women who strive to make the most of their lives and never stop growing on their journey through life.

Excerpts from “How to Find Oneself” by Orison Swett Marden:

Self-discovery is simply a question of finding the presence of God within ourselves.

When we become conscious that the kingdom of God is within us it becomes a great self-illuminator, because it takes us back to our source, connects us with infinite life, with the great cosmic heart of the universe. It is a trolley pole which connects us with the mighty current of infinite power, and then our life problems seem easy because we are not pushing our car ourselves. God does that.

Many people had never really met themselves until they became acquainted with the reality of their connection to the Creator. That is, they had never up to that time found the best part of themselves.

They had previously been getting their living by their weak faculties instead of their strong ones. They had been in the position of people living in poverty on a little corner of their vast estate, ignorant that there were great deposits of undiscovered, unmined wealth.

The possibilities of mental expansion, enlargement of vision, quickening of the mental faculties, increasing the efficiency,—in other words, the possibilities of self-discovery are almost unbelievable.

We find ourselves in very different ways. Struggling with difficulties, disappointments, failures, great responsibilities, has been the means of recalling many human beings to themselves.

The greatest of their latent possibilities lies so deep in some natures that it takes the impact of a tremendous emergency, a great life, or national crisis to call it out. Any ordinary event, the easy way of prosperity, will not do it; it must be something which shakes them to the very center of their being and knocks out from under them every support.

They must feel that they have nothing to lean upon but the creative power within—only the God who made them.

So long as there is no supreme call made on the great within of them they never know their own resources. On the other hand the structure of many a divine success has risen out of the ashes of a burned fortune or apparently ruined hopes.

Like the plants which must be crushed before they will reveal their sweetest fragrance, or their beneficent properties, many people never reveal the sweetest thing in them until they are crushed by some great sorrow.

They go through half a life or more unconscious of the richness which lies buried within them, when suddenly some great grief, some overwhelming misfortune reveals a wealth of personality, and of power which not even those who knew them best dreamed they possessed.

Many people pass their fiftieth, even their sixtieth milestone, before they find themselves, before something happens which unlocks a new door in the great within of themselves and reveals new powers, new resources, of which they had never before been conscious.

Then in a few years after their discovery they have redeemed half a lifetime of ineffectiveness.

We often hear men and women who have found themselves tell of the particular things which awakened their ambition; the accident, the sorrow, the emergency, the book, the suggestion, the encouraging friend, which first gave them a glimpse of their own possibilities, uncovered powers which they never before dreamed they possessed.

If all of the people who have done things worthwhile in the world would only give an account of how they were awakened, tell of the things that had aroused their ambition,—the incident, the circumstance, the book, the lecture, the sermon, the advice, or the catastrophe, the failures, the crisis, the emergency, the afflictions, the losses in their lives, what a wonderful help it would be to the strugglers who are conscious that they have locked up within them forces which have not been aroused and which theycannot seem to get hold of.

The man who can write a book that will enable people to discover their unused assets will do an incalculable service to humanity.

“Great masters are they who help you to find yourself, the others simply find you.”
– Dr. Frank Crane

There are a multitude of things which assist our self-discovery. Keeping our minds in a positive, creative condition; keeping ourselves physically at the top of our condition, in perfect health; maintaining mental poise, a cheerful, happy mental attitude, by keeping our minds free from fear and worry and anxiety,—all of these things are great aids to self-discovery.

And there is no secret about any of these things.

Self-confidence is a potent self-discoverer. Distrust, self-depreciation closes the doors to the locked-up potencies and powers within. Faith opens the door and releases them.

Seek every possible experience which seems to open up your nature and release new force.

For instance, great lovers of music after listening to a wonderful voice, or going to an opera, feel something inside of them released, something which had been locked up before, something which they never really knew they possessed until then.

If you would get at your hidden resources, stimulate your growth and your power, you must be continually improving yourself somewhere; increasing your intelligence by closer and keener observation, by the constant study of men and things, the broadening of your mental and spiritual outlook, the getting away from self and the enlarging of your sphere of service and helpfulness.

We are all in a continuous process of development, and, as yet, strangers to the immense possibilities that sleep in the great within of ourselves. Uncovering these possibilities, finding our resources, should be the great object of every human being.

“Know thyself!” This is really the chief business of man—to learn to know himself, to realize the power that is his through his inseparable union with his Creator.

The end of part 2 of 2.

=======

“‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
– Jeremiah 29:11

God bless you and be blessed to be a blessing!

Soar higher in Him,
Brenda

P.S. Image credit thanks go to Billy Alexander

Self-Growth – Uncovering the Great Power of Possibilities Within! Part 1 of 2

The Great Secret the Creator Put in Our Hands at Birth!

Fall is in the air and children are heading back to school.

This is a great time of year to remind all of us,

young and old, in school or out of school,

that men and women who are trying to

make the most of their lives,

never stop growing on their journey through life.

The following are words of wisdom and encouragement from Orison Swett Marden. They are excerpts from chapter 7 “How to Find Oneself” from the book “How to Get What You Want.”  Although written back in 1917, these words still hold great insight and the ability to stir us up and check our current progress in life.

Excerpts from “How to Find Oneself” by Orison Swett Marden:

One of the most difficult things in the world is to get people to realize the extent of their latent powers, to believe in their own bigness, in their own possibilities.

The reason is that they see only a part of themselves, because they have only partially discovered themselves.

“Each of us has resources of which he does not dream.”
– Professor William James

If we could only turn a spiritual X-ray on ourselves most of us would find powers and potencies in the great within of us which may not have gotten even to their germinating stage.

There is probably not a living being who would not be amazed if he could see unfolded in panorama all of the potentialities within him, if he could only glimpse the man he might be.

He would say, “These remarkable success qualities belong to someone who has achieved distinction, not to an unknown person like me.”

What you are actually doing may be a dwarfed thing compared with the giant achievement you are capable of. It is not what you have done, but what you long to do, what you feel capable of doing that will, if you struggle to express your ideal, count most.

Up to this time you may have been seriously hampered or dwarfed in your development. All sorts of things may have happened to the possible man, or the possible woman in you, to limit its growth, to restrict it, to impoverish it.

But it is that superb thing that is possible to you, the thing which the Creator sent you here to do that you must strive to express.

In the great within of yourself there may be vast powers which you have never called out. What masterfulness, what vast reserves of helpfulness, inspiration, and encouragement may still lie uncovered within you!

You doubt that there is anything of the kind? But you do not know.

Many a man has carried locked up within himself for more than half a century the germs of a mighty genius without even guessing at it. There are multitudes of men and women all over the world who are as ignorant of their possibilities, of their hidden success assets.

“Few men find themselves before they die.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many carry with them to their graves undiscovered continents of ability. The great majority die without developing their possible efficiency of hand, or tongue, or of brain; without developing any of the special gifts locked up in the great within of themselves.

Most of us die with the great secret, with the sealed message which the Creator put in our hands at birth, still unread, because we have never learned how to open or how to read it.

How can you be sure that you have not a lot of this ability you long for locked up in yourself?

If you have not tried your strength, how do you know what you may be able to do? You may have more ability slumbering within you than you dream of.

Why waste your precious time thinking about other people’s genius? Why not unlock your own, see what you have, bring it out into the light and develop it?

When we know that even the great majority of men whom we call successful use only a comparatively small part of their ability because they never find all of themselves, why should any of us put a narrow limit to our possibilities, remain paupers in achievement when we might be princes?

We set our own limitations.

There are enough powers, enough resources in the minds of the people in the great failure army today to revolutionize the world if their sleeping potencies could be aroused; if they could only be made to believe in themselves.

If they could only learn how to enter into the secret depths of their nature, to get hold of themselves, to arouse latent qualities and powers, they could do marvelous things. The great problem is to know how to get at the force in the great within of ourselves and to put it to work to the best advantage.

For whether life shall be a success or a failure depends upon the call we make on our resources, the extent to which we develop all our possibilities.

We don’t know what we can do until we try, and unused faculties never grow or strengthen.

Everywhere we see starved, stunted lives, people who have discovered but little bits of themselves, little patches cleared up here and there in the great wilderness of their possibilities. They couldn’t believe in their inherent greatness.

They couldn’t realize that they were born into this world to do a certain work; and that to do that work they would need every bit of power they could develop.

The average youth starting out in life has no means of knowing what his total assets are.

He sees only the assets that lie on the surface, and if he is not instructed how to find those that are deep down below the surface, if he does not get into the right environment, if he does not make a call on the divinity within him, he may never develop the man it is possible for him to be.

The end of part 1 of 2…

=======

“‘For I know the plans I have for you’, declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
– Jeremiah 29:11

Be blessed to be a blessing!

God bless you –
Cheers,
Brenda

P.S. Image credit thanks go to Billy Alexander

How Can Christian Meditation Guide You Into the Secret Place of the Most High God?

Abundant Power is Available when You Meditate on the Living Word of God!

Christian meditation is based on a desire…

to commune with,

to have relationship with, and

to be united in love with God.

Have you ever wondered how some believers manage to dwell in the presence of, in that secret place of, the most High God?

Meditation on God’s Word turns our minds away from the everyday affairs of life and toward Him. Blessed are those who discover and tap into the abundant divine power available in the living Word of God!

Our Place By The Father

There is a place by the Father God for every believer. We need to find our place and live in it. The Word of God tells us who we are, where our place is, and how to live in it. In the presence of God we can be shaped and transformed into His image.

“He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” 
– Psalm 91:1

Through meditation in God’s Word we are able to dwell in the secret place of the most High God.

Christian meditation is at the heart of the Gospel and should also be for every believer. We were created for relationship and love, not only with each other but supremely with God.  As believers we are one with the Lord, just as Jesus said “I and the Father are one.” (John 17:21-23)

“That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You,
that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe
that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me
I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one;
and that the world may know that You have sent Me,
and have loved them, as You have loved Me.”
– John 17: 21-23

A Spiritual Connection to God

Christian meditation is way of experiencing God beyond what the mind can grasp. Meditation allows the nourishing richness and revelation of God’s love to flow into the deep places of our heart. 

“Be still, and know that I am God.”
– Psalm 46:10

Meditation provides a way to connect into the heart of God’s love and acceptance. It is our spiritual connection to the One who is our heart’s true home. When we meditate on the Word of God, we are able to step into the blessings He has provided for us and experience spiritual refreshment and intimacy with Him.

In meditation, our relationship with God deepens.  And as we rest in our relationship, He works His love in our heart, drawing us deeper and closer to Him. As His light shines on us, we become more and more the person we were created to be.

It is no secret: Christian meditation on the Word of God strengthens our relationship with Him and has the power to transform our lives. Begin meditating on God’s Word today, and start strengthening your relationship with Him.

Are you ready to move yourself into the secret place of the most High God through Christian Meditation?

God bless you always,
Brenda