November 23 Everybody’s Invited …
Affirmation: I find balance between giving and receiving.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
“Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. Bring them here to me,” he said. (Matthew 14:16-18)
Such a simple command, and that is all He asks of us. Do this, and let God do His part.
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Ponder, Personalize, Practice: Today focus on practicing Matthew 6:27. Jesus asks what is the value of worrying? Instead of worry, practice talking to God about your concerns and worries. Put them all in Jesus’s hands. It is much more productive.
“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27)
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Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown
Guidepost 7: Cultivating Play and Rest, Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as Self-Worth
Start practicing:
Create regular time for unstructured play. Get physical. Dance. Play games. Throw a ball. Be with others, and let your inner child free! (Recommended reading: Play it Away by Charlie Hoehn.)
Practice bringing a playful mindset to the activities of each day. Ask: “How would I approach this if I were having fun?” Or “What would I do next if this were just a big game?”
Notice when the thought that “play and rest are luxuries” shows up in your mind. That’s like a warning sign that you’re in need of rejuvenation. Use it as an opportunity to recommit to your top self-care practices
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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews
The Active Decision
3. I AM A PERSON OF ACTION. I am Resilient.
I will create a new future by creating a new me. I inspire others with my activity. I am a leader. I will create a habit of lively behavior.
I will walk with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. My activity will create a wave of success for the people who follow me. As a leader, I have the ability to encourage and inspire others to greatness. I do not fear failure, because failure exists only for the person who quits.
I do not quit. I am courageous. I am a leader. I seize the moment. I choose now. I am resilient.
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Reading for Today
Walk in Grace. Live in Love. by Bob Goff
November 23
Everybody’s Invited to Move to the Kids’ Table, Where Jesus Is.
“Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”Matthew 18:3
A holiday can hold a lot of conflicted feelings. It is a time of warmth and celebration, but sometimes the experience doesn’t match the hope. We bring out the china that has gathered dust in our cabinets since last year‘s holiday gathering, and we cook old family recipes that make us nostalgic for a time when things seemed simpler than they do now. Sometimes, however, they can be just as complicated as they have always been.
While we are stressing out at the adult table about that weird relative, or family dynamic, have you noticed there’s no tension over at the kids’ table where they have paper cups for lemonade and plastic forks for mac & cheese? No one there wishes things were different, because cousins and apple pie are close by. Kids always bring an innocence to the party. They show us how to look past the mistakes people made this morning so we can have fun together in the afternoon.
If Jesus were at our holiday celebrations, I bet He would be at the kids’ table. When He was asked complicated questions, He would pick up a child and place them on His lap. Then tell everyone to have faith like them. It’s how He responded to questions about heaven, and how He responded to a fight about who was the greatest. He always pointed to the kids to lead the way.
We are all invited to move over from some of our big arguments to the kids’ table, where Jesus is. We can choose to look past the rules we make up as we grow up. We can go past the surface conversations. We can say we are sorry, if that’s needed. Do whatever it takes to get there. There is a small chair waiting for you.
How can you act more simply like a child today?
A holiday can hold a lot of conflicted feelings. It is a time of warmth and celebration, but sometimes the experience doesn’t match the hope. We bring out the china that has gathered dust in our cabinets since last year‘s holiday gathering, and we cook old family recipes that make us nostalgic for a time when things seemed simpler than they do now. Sometimes, however, they can be just as complicated as they have always been.
While we are stressing out at the adult table about that weird relative, or family dynamic, have you noticed there’s no tension over at the kids’ table where they have paper cups for lemonade and plastic forks for mac & cheese? No one there wishes things were different, because cousins and apple pie are close by. Kids always bring an innocence to the party. They show us how to look past the mistakes people made this morning so we can have fun together in the afternoon.
If Jesus were at our holiday celebrations, I bet He would be at the kids’ table. When He was asked complicated questions, He would pick up a child and place them on His lap. Then tell everyone to have faith like them. It’s how He responded to questions about heaven, and how He responded to a fight about who was the greatest. He always pointed to the kids to lead the way.
We are all invited to move over from some of our big arguments to the kids’ table, where Jesus is. We can choose to look past the rules we make up as we grow up. We can go past the surface conversations. We can say we are sorry, if that’s needed. Do whatever it takes to get there. There is a small chair waiting for you.
How can you act more simply like a child today?
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