January 21: Tired of Excuses?

Affirmation: I am connected to God, myself and others.

We are created for connection, community, compassion and courage.  Today I will reach out to God and someone else. And take time for myself.

~~~~~~~Ponder: Again read the verse several times and begin memorizing it. I like to make a chart of the descriptors used to identify this wisdom from heaven:

Pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy & good fruit, impartial & sincere 

James 3:17 NIV

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

https://bible.com/bible/111/jas.3.17.NI

~~~~~~~

Catching Whimsy, 365 Days of Possibility 

By Bob Goff

                       Jan 21

Tired of Excuses? Put Them On Notice And Fly Freely

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Romans, 12:6.
Excuses are like ears; everybody has a couple of them except (Van Gogh,) but you know what I mean.You might be saying to yourself, “I’ve got a few big ambitions. I just don’t have the resources or the time or the creativity to take the next step.” I get it. These may feel like the realities, but these excuses don’t need to continue to be impediments for you.

Make an inventory of what you already have available to you, including your unique interest and abilities: Do you take joy and serving people? Are you pretty good at teaching? Perhaps you are an awesome encourager (keep it up,) or you leak generosity, or you are a natural leader.

Once you have identified your gifts, consider connections and opportunities. You have where you could express those gifts. Start with these statements as you take your inventory: -Here are the people with knowledge and expertise in my life.   -Here are some people who are awesome at encouraging me. -Here are some opportunities that are in front of me; an interview, an address, a phone call. Do you see what I’m getting at? You probably have a lot more than you thought you did.

Now, list a handful of ambitions you have been installed on. Overlay on top of these ambitions the opportunities you have just identified and the relationships and knowledge you have in your back pocket, but perhaps have not accessed yet. Now, go back and identify the factors you have believed are limiting you from pulling off your big ideas And call them out. Put these limiting beliefs on notice that they no longer have control over you.  Don’t limit what God can do, in and through you with your magnificent, once-in-history combination of gifts and abilities. And don’t worry about having it all figured out in advance, you’ll connect the dots as you go. We’re going to build this plane while we’re flying it.

Keep your eyes open, make a plan, and then get busy, executing it.

~~~~~~

Praying the Message of Jesus: A Year of Thoughts and Prayers

by Eugene Peterson

In the Desert ... Preaching

While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called "the Baptizer," was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here." John and his message were authorized by Isaiah's prophecy: "Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road smooth and straight!" 

MATTHEW 3:1-3 

The ancient Judean desert was the site ofJohn's Messiah-readiness preach­ing. Everything is stark in the desert: the life-and-death contrasts, the vividness of minute details, the absence of the superfluous, the emptiness. "Shall we never permit our hands to be empty so we may grasp what only empty hands can grasp?"

What does "at hand" mean? 

In this moment of silence and emptiness, 0 God, I wait and listen. Purge my spirit of sloth and train it in alert, messianic expectation. "In the deserts of the heart let the healing fountains start." Amen.