run back to you...

run back to You. I will run back to Jesus. If I've fallen away from my faith, my trust and my hope in you Jesus - there's no time like the present to run back to you.

As I'm reminded in a favorite song...

You told me you could keep me, but I've turned You away.
I've failed You so much now, I don't know what to say.
Using that same excuse that I am just a man,
You tell me You've been there and hold Your nail scared hands.
I have taken advantage of your love and grace, forgive me Lord, and take me home.

So, for today I will run back to Jesus. I will not procrastinate, make excuses or plan to do it tomorrow. I will open my heart, confess my sins, and accept His love and forgiveness. I will run into His wonderful saving arms and changed forever.

remember where my blessings come from...

remember where my blessings come from. This should be easy, but we forget so quickly.

We all call upon the Lord in times of trouble. We pray, beg and cry for strength, peace, love and happiness. When God blesses us and guides us through our storms, we so quickly and easily forget about Him. We may say "thank you" once, but then we go along our merry way and live our lives as we want. Somehow He isn't as important as He was when we "needed" Him. His plans and hopes and guidance for us are a little easier to ignore once we've gotten what we want. We promise the world and try very hard to listen to Him and do the right things when we are bargaining....but that falls to the side once He provides. For today, let's try to keep Him on the front burner during the good times and remember that He's blessings are abundant and we may be cutting Him off just when He was about to give us more than we dreamed of.

So, for today I will remember where my blessings come from. I will stop "forgetting" about Him when times are good enough and I will actually strive to acknowledge Him and His ways so that He can abundantly bless me. I will not block future blessings by ignoring Him today.

say, "I love you."

say, "I love you!"

Simple words that are sometimes forgotten. Do you say I love you often? Today is the perfect day. Don't waste another minute. Tell someone - tell everyone - in your life that you love them. Say, "I love you" and watch how it changes the demeanor of that person instantly. Make someone else feel especially good today by spreading your love. Then watch as the spark from "I love you" expands.

So, for today I will say, "I love you!" It will be heartfelt. It will be honest. I will spread my love today to the people around me. And hopefully they will continue the wave of love to those around them.

shake it off...

shake it off. When things go wrong one of my favorite sayings is, "shake it off, rub some dirt on it!"

We get bumped and bruised, we stumble, we fall...sometimes we even run straight into walls. The best thing we can do for ourselves when this happens is to "shake it off." You do have the option of wallowing in your downfall. You can waste time wishing it hadn't happened, wondering what you could have down to control the world so that it wouldn't have happened, or you can "shake it off" and start again. You need to remember that each moment you're here is another chance, another opportunity, another new gift from God for you to keep moving forward. So where do you want to be? Stuck in the past, stuck in the "what ifs" or shaking off the dust and moving on with your life. Today choose the latter and have a new perspective focused on the blessings of the next new moment.

So, for today I will shake it off! I'll rub some dirt on it and keep rolling. I will remember to try, try, try again. I will be excited that while I'm here I get to have a new moment, a new opportunity with undiscovered possibilities. For today, instead of drowning in the mistakes, bumps and bruises of what has been, I will shake it off and look forward to what comes next.

stop bragging...

stop bragging. Have you accomplished a lot in your life? You've got success, money, power, a good marriage, wonderful friends, blossoming and responsible children....and you think you've done it all on your own.

Well, for today stop bragging. You can be proud of yourself, that's not a problem.  We can talk endlessly about how much we've done, how hard it was, and how glad we are that we persevered. But for today I want us all to add some additional words and feelings to those conversations. Try saying (and meaning it) - "with God's help I got that done," "by the grace of God I had the strength to finish that," or "only with God's love and power could that have ever happened." Let's put credit where credit is due.  His grace provides for us so that we can work hard, earn rewards, have great relationships, and overcome obstacles. Can you imagine for one second that you could have done everything in your life to this point without His protection, love, or power? 

So, for today I will stop bragging. I will give credit where credit is due and proclaim that all my victories come with and from His grace. I will brag about God's hard work, His perseverance, His dedication, His love and His strength. And I will be grateful that He bestows all of those things and more on me.

adore You...

adore You. The "You" is God. I want us all to adore Him today and I want us to do that by adoring the people we love.

We all know how to be kind and loving to the important people in our lives, but how often do we adore them? Adoration - the act of paying honor, fervent and devoted love, to regard with the utmost esteem. How often to we make them feel like they are the most important person on earth? How often do we let them know that in our eyes the sun rises and sets by them? We cherish and value absolutely everything about that person and we revel in merely being in their presence. That's the way I picture being face to face with God. I will revel in His presence. I will be absolutely awestruck. That's a love that cannot be measured. I adore Him. And I want today to show the adoration I have for Him by adoring the people on this earth that He has blessed me with. The most important thing God wants us to do is to love others as He loves us. So today I will show absolute adoration for the people I love. I will abound in the blessed glory they have brought to my life and I will make sure they know and feel it. So who do you adore? When was the last time you showed them that you're feelings ran so deep? Don't delay any longer. Adore them.

So, for today I will adore You. I will pay honor and respect to You by covering those I love in a blanket of fervent and devoted love.

get out of my own way...

get out of my own way. I have found that the biggest obstacle to overcome in my life is ME. I think a lot of us are like that. We make choices out of fear instead of faith.

We don't really trust that God has even better things planned for us. We don't trust Him that life could really be more blessed, more sublime, more perfect. If we're in a bad situation, we stay because we're afraid of the unknown. If we're in a good situation, we rationalize away any challenges or issues that might "mess" up a good thing. We don't concern ourselves with His plans and we refuse to acknowledge that we are rejecting His path and His rules. We block our own blessings, and often times the blessings of those around us. We are huge obstacles to our own growth, our own victories and the glory He has planned for us.

So, for today I will get out of my own way. I will acknowledge my arrogance and accept the fact that HE does know more than me. I will submit to His path and His ways and stop rationalizing it all away because I don't want to change. I will get out of my way and prepare myself for a much more fulfilling and blessed life.