Speak Life

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

"The tongue has the power of life and death..."

(Proverbs 18:21, NIV)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria

God has given us amazing power through the use of our words. God created the world with the words He spoke, and we also have creative power with the words that we speak. Maybe you aren't where you want to be in life today. Could it be because of the words you've spoken in your past? Have you spoken words of death by saying things like, "I'll never rise any higher; I've gone as far as I can go?" Or maybe you've said, "I'll never break this addiction. I've had it too long; it's too hard." Now, you are eating the fruit of those words - you're still in the same place. If you are ready to change your situation, then it's time to change what you say about your situation. If you want a different harvest, you have to change the seeds you are sowing. Today, choose to speak life over your future. Let your attitude be, "This may be the way it's been in the past, but this is not the way it's staying. I'm coming up higher. I may feel weak, but my declaration is that I am strong." Speak life, choose life, and move forward in His victory and blessing.

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, I repent for speaking words of death and sowing defeat in my own life. I ask that You uproot any negative crop from the past and help me speak words of faith so that I can walk in victory in every area of my life in Jesus' name. Amen.

- Joel & Victoria Osteen

From the Readings of Edgar Casey

Think on This...
. . . that contentment that can only come with the knowledge of His peace abiding ever with thee; for with His peace there comes contentment, no matter what may be the vicissitudes of life, whether in trials as of the mental surroundings, whether in the trials as of material conditions or positions, there can come--with that peace--that contentment of heart and mind, that He is in His holy temple and all is well with those who have made Him the ideal . . .

Reading 451-2

Just Agree with God!

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE

"As it is written: 'I have made you a father of many nations.' He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed - the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not"
(Romans 4:17, NIV)

TODAY'S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Twenty years before Abraham ever had a child, God said to him, "Abraham, I have made you a father of many nations." Notice God spoke to him like it had already happened, in the past tense. I'm sure Abraham thought, "God, you must have made a mistake. I'm not a father. I don't even have one child. Abraham could have talked himself out of it; but instead, he chose to believe.

Today, you may be thinking, "I'm not blessed. I'm not confident. I'm not healthy. I'm not favored." But when God says you're blessed, don't try to figure it out. Just agree with God and say, "I am blessed." When God calls you prosperous, don't go check your bank account. Don't go look at the stock report. Just agree with God and say, "I am prosperous." Things may look impossible. That's all right. That's the way things looked for Abraham. But sure enough, God's promises came to pass, and he became the father of many nations.

Remember, when you agree with God, you are positioning yourself for a miracle. You are activating His truth in your life. When things look difficult, don't agree with your circumstances, agree with His promises because He is faithful, and He will complete what He's started in your life!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Heavenly Father, I bless You and thank You for Your goodness and faithfulness in my life. I receive Your promises as truth, no matter what is going on around me. Fill me with joy and peace as I hold fast to Your promises for me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

- Joel & Victoria Osteen

Forgiveness Is Primarily For YOU

02/15/2011

You change yourself for yourself.

All the years you have waited for them to "make it up to you" and all the energy you expended trying to make them change (or make them pay) kept the old wounds from healing and gave pain from the past free rein to shape and even damage your life.
And still they may not have changed.
Nothing you have done has made them change.
Indeed, they may never change. Inner peace is found by changing yourself, not the people who hurt you.
And you change yourself for yourself, for the joy, serenity, peace of mind, understanding, compassion, laughter, and bright future that you get."
Sidney and Suzanne Simon
Grudges take up brain capacity and prevent us from performing at our very best. What we focus our minds upon grows; this is true of hatred too. Therefore, it is impossible to truly achieve great things for ourselves when we have a lot of our energetic capacity tied up in negativity.

Remember that forgiveness is primarily for YOU. It free up your energy tremendously. So forgive all grudges, no matter how old they may be, and seek reconciliation. If you find this hard, begin with the easiest ones first. Then gradually work up to the harder ones.

As the Beatles said: “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”

As the Beatles said: “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”

What are you giving out to the universe, and thus, what are you attracting? Remember that you can’t give away what you don’t have, but you can change your life by changing what’s going on inside.
Low energy attracts low energy. Low energy thoughts, such as anger, hate, shame, guilt, and fear, weaken you. And they attract more of the same. By changing your inner thoughts to the higher frequencies of love, harmony, kindness, peace, and joy, you’ll attract more of the same, and you’ll have those higher energies to give away.
To begin to change what’s inside you, become more loving toward yourself. In your thoughts, cultivate an inner voice and attitude that’s 100 percent on your team. Imagine an inner self that only supports and loves you. You might schedule a certain time of day when that’s the only thought that you allow yourself to pay attention to. Gradually this loving attitude will extend to other people. You’ll begin to receive this energy back and ultimately be able to send thoughts of love and joy to everyone and everything in your world.
Make a pact to remind yourself often of this secret of not being able to give away anything that you don’t have. Then work on your personal program of self-love, self-respect, and self-empowerment, and create a huge inventory of what you wish to give away. If what you give is self-respect and self-love, the universe will return the love and respect you’ve been radiating. It’s really so simple. As the Beatles said: “The love you take is equal to the love you make.”Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE

Matthew 6:25-34
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SINFULNESS AWARENESS

  There was one great master, a Buddhist master, Nagarjuna.  A thief came to him.  The thief had fallen in love with the master because he had never seen such a beautiful person, such infinite grace.  He asked Nagarjuna, "Is there some possibility of my growth also?  But one thing I must make clear to you: I am a thief.  And another thing: I cannot leave it, so please don't make it a condition.  I will do whatsoever you say, but I cannot stop being a thief.  That I have tried many times--it never works, so I have left the whole sport.  I have accepted my destiny, that I am going to be a thief and remain a thief, so don't talk about it.  From the very beginning let it be clear."  Nagarjuna said, "Why are you afraid?  Who is going to talk about your being a thief? The thief said,  "But whenever I go to a monk, to a religious priest, or to a religious saint, they always say, 'First stop stealing.'"

  Nagarjuna laughed and said, "Then you must have gone to thieves; otherwise, why? Why should they be concerned? I am not concerned!"

  The thief was very happy.  He said, "Then it is okay.  It seems that now I can become a disciple.  You are the right master."

  Nagarjuna accepted him and said, "Now you can go and do whatsoever you like.  Only one condition has to be followed: be aware!  Go, break into houses, enter, take things, steal; do whatsoever you like, that is of no concern to me, I am not a thief--but do it with full awareness."  The thief couldn't understand that he was falling into the trap.  He said, "Then everything is okay. I will try."

  After three weeks he came back and said, "You are tricky--because if I become aware, I cannot steal.  If I steal, awareness disappears. I am in a fix."

  Nagarjuna said, "No more talk about your being a thief and stealing. I am not concerned;  I am not a thief. Now, you decide! If you want awareness, then you decide. If you don't want it, then too you decide."

    The man said, "But now it is difficult.  I have tasted it a little, and it is so beautiful--I will leave anything, whatsoever you say.  Just the other night for the first time I was able to enter the palace of the king.  I opened the treasure.  I could have become the richest man in the world--but you were following me and I had to be aware.  When I became aware, diamonds looked just like stones, ordinary stones.  When I lost awareness, the treasure was there.  And I waited and did this many times.  I would become aware and I became like a Buddha, and I could not even touch it because the whole thing looked foolish, stupid--just stones, what am I doing?  Losing myself over stones?  But then I would lose awareness; they would become again beautiful, the whole illusion.  But finally I decided that they were not worth it."

 

The Eye of God
Hubble Space Station Photo

From Awareness The Key to Living In Balance: by Osho.

Thanks for sending this story Eric!