When you have a grateful heart, it doesn’t take much to make you happy.
It can be a cool summer breeze or the first snowfall is winter.
It can be a bright spring flower or a golden falling leaf.
It can be a newborn baby’s gentle sigh or an elderly loved one’s hand pat.
It doesn’t take much to bring a smile because the heart is settled within and at rest.
Are you grateful today?
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Isaiah 26:3
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
The English language is so prevalent across the globe, and yet, so many people do not understand each other.
Spoken by 1.452 billion people, I’d say it’s the most popular language in the world. Mandarin Chinese does come in a close second; however, I’d argue that this isn’t for it’s prevalence but rather it’s dense population of people groups in China, Taiwan and Singapore.
But the English language can be just as confusing as a foreign language, even among those who grew up speaking it and conversing with it.
I believe this is for the simple fact that the English language has more lingos, innuendos, and implications than any other language on the planet.
As in the picture I’ve posted, even the spelling and pronunciation of certain words can be confounding.
But if we want to be heard, we must speak to be understood.
Yelling and screaming only reduce to chaos.
Hatred and angry words only reduce to lunacy.
Lies and manipulation only reduce to thievery and destruction.
What are your words saying today?
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8
For some people, there will be no good answer.
For some behavior, there will be no good reason.
For some things, there is no good explanation.
For some are just wrong, just bad, just inexcusable.
Stop trying to justify the evil.
Stop attempting to rationalize the nefarious acts.
In your explication, enablement is all that can be found.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isaiah 5:20-21
What principles define how you live?
Principles to live by… well, that can be a long list, I guess. But to sum it all up, I suppose the principle that all the rest would fall under would be a principle of love. Yet, if I start describing this in detail, it might look a little different than the societal demand for love these days.
In our current culture, there seems to be a demand to show love by accepting a certain opinion as truth. Or the demand might be that if I disagree with you, then, I’m not showing love but hatred.
Or if I’m not giving you what you want, then I’m not showing love. Or maybe if I’m not giving up something I want, or maybe I’m not suffering in a certain way, then I’m not showing the kind of love I’m supposed to be showing.
Pure, unadulterated love is sacrificial, gracious, and compassionate; yet, it is also full of truth, strength and courage.
True, unblemished love is is not one of these without the other. It is both.
If a parent loves his or her child but allows that child to run in the street to play while the truck is barreling down the path, is that really love?
If a spouse declares his love yet leaves and showers everyone else with his affections because he wants more, is that really love?
If a friend promises to share love and friendship yet breaks every confidence because she wants her liberty to share, is that really love?
If a child proclaims his love to his parents yet steals and destroys because he wants his freedom to live as he pleases, is that really love?
True love will rejoice in the truth, will bear all things, will believe all things, will hope all things, and will endure all things. Love never fails.
And love is impossible without abiding in the Only One who gave true love.
So, what principles define how I live? I guess I could begin with 1 Corinthians 13. I certainly don’t live it perfectly, but I strive toward it daily, only by seeking Him first.
Because He loved me first, now only can I begin to truly love.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. … And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13
Weight of the world resting on your shoulders?
Take a walk in nature and look around.
Clouded viewpoints and shadowed vision?
Step out to the oceanside and take a seat for a while.
Muddled hearing and crooked pathway?
Hike up to the summit and breathe deep.
White noise consuming and anxiety rising?
Find the waterfall and sit and soak till the sun sets.
Don’t stop until the spinning stops and the fog clears.
The heavier the load and the wider the time will determine the stretch you need.
But keep seeking. Keep breathing.
Let it all wash over your soul until all is at peace.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
John 16:33
We all have a weight to carry.
No matter where we go, what we do, or who we are.
Some choose to carry more, and others believe they’re not choosing to carry any, which that, in and of itself, is a weight to carry.
Those who choose to carry the weight have the ability to decide what they carry and what they let go.
Those who choose to carry the weight have the right to be confident in the fight; they have the right to be indignant of those who won’t.
Those who believe they’re not choosing by their silence and their apathy are truly choosing to drop the weight onto another.
Those who believe they’re not choosing by their lack and their contrived kindness are simply creating a cadence to condone the wrong.
Some choose to carry the weight with dignity, integrity, and strength, and they give their power to the masses.
And those who don’t only add the weight to the ones who choose.
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
Sometimes, it’s hard to capture the true beauty in the vast horizon.
Just as it’s hard to look ahead to see charm when life is uncertain.
And when the days seem like eternity, the elegance of what could be is surely a fog.
But somewhere in depth of the night, the light will come.
Somewhere in the darkness, the tiny glow of embers will spark.
That’s where you’ll find you can breathe again.
That’s where you’ll find hope.
Never stop simply because the next step is unstable.
Never falter simply because it’s the unknown.
Keep searching in the vast domain.
The morning will come again.
And it will illuminate the immensity of your gaze.
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.
Isaiah 9:2
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in theregion and shadow of death Light has dawned.
Matthew 4:16
Beauty really does come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It all depends on your perspective and angel.
Viewing a brilliant mountain sunset can be all about the incline or all about the glowing orb in the sky. It can be all about the painted sky.
Or it can be about the tiny patch of flowers at your feet that will be trampled if you take another step.
Viewing an enormous crisis can be all about the chaos of sights and sounds or about the multiple dilemmas that have just been added. It can be all about the loss of time, money and energy.
Or it can be about the tiny hand grasping yours that is desperate for reassurance and comfort.
It all depends upon your vantage point.
So, what do you see?
Where is your focus?
Beauty is all around you if you can only open your eyes to see.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Jeremiah 24:6-7
Find the place where your soul can find rest.
Take a stroll along the stream.
Hike to the summit.
Crawl around in the cave.
Bike along the coast.
Sit beside the rushing waterfall.
Where doesn’t matter so long as your soul can breathe.
Too often, we simply push through the hard and forget to let the dust settle.
If your soul can find a calm, it won’t matter if the storms brew, the winds howl, and the chaos rages.
Where the tranquility lies deep, stability will find its level, and grace will thrive.
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Isaiah 26:3
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
So many live out their lives in fear. Reacting to failure. Reacting to pain. Reacting to violence. Reacting to disastrous times.
No precept. No plans. No purpose.
Only reaction upon reaction to circumstance, feelings and desire.
Not enough live their lives by sheer courage. Having courage is choosing to be equipped. Choosing to be intentional. Choosing to be in the moment. Choosing to make the right choices regardless of common ground.
Know preparation. Know purpose. Know peace.
Choosing to respond or not to respond. Speak or not to speak. But always thinking. Always alert. Always deliberate of the choice.
That’s courage.
It’s not having all confidence or even all knowledge. It’s never about being the strongest or having the most.
Courage is the choice to do right and to be right no matter who stands against you. No matter who discourages. No matter who disagrees.
Have courage today. Be different. Make a difference.
And you can change the world.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
John 1:9
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31
Scripture Musings
There was a girl who got through the day with routines, laughter. and some memes...chores, laughs, smiles, and some cats...food, naps, plus coffee too...then yoga for the win... a warm bath, some books, and You Tube📺-hdtj💜
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My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
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