the sun is coming up here in lovely kansas city, and i have gotten up with it, to catch the joyce meyer broadcast. i never thought i would watch a tv evangelist because i grew up pentecostal and have had my fill of that kind of teacher. but joyce speaks the truth. there's no way around her words. you can't wiggle yourself free from them. they stick with you all day and you find yourself shaking your head and chuckling to yourself, thinking, "how did she know i needed to hear that?"
we all need to hear something that empowers us. what i love so much about her ministry ~ it is based on NO EXCUSES. here are some "nuggets" i learned this morning that spoke to me:
procrastination ~ i am not only a member of that club, but the founder and president. i procrastinate brushing my teeth at night, agonizing over the effort it will take. sure, i've gotten a masters in music, have lived abroad, managed to start a whole new life in a matter of weeks. but when it comes to everyday crap, i am the world's worst. joyce said this morning that "procrastination is the great thief, because it allows us to say we're GOING to do what's right. but in all honesty, we're waiting for a time when it is most comfortable...when there is less of a sacrifice."
wow. she hit me like a bullet right between the eyes. i have no idea how to make a sacrifice. i don't think i've ever had to sacrifice anything. maybe that's not true, but i've had such an easy life in every way.
here's another nugget that i just loved: "anything you don't feed ~ dies." joyce's example was that she would always have this broken record in her thought process ~ "what about me? what about me?" and she was feeding herself that thought all the time. if you just can't get past a thought or an emotion that keeps hanging on in your life, stop feeding it and even allowing it to be in your brain and your heart. did you now that you really can do that? that you really can control your thoughts? sounds too easy to work, right? i've tried it and oh my gosh, it works. you can literally change your thoughts, therefore change your heart. do what's right, and then eventually, your heart will follow suit.
i'm going to apply this theory to my little procrastination problem and see what happens!
4 comments:
excellent blog. i totally relate. just now i came up here with the same sentiment in my head that is always running like a hampster wheel there. i feel trapped with it. and, here is your blog. telling me i can change. thank you.
i just got the book about peace by joyce, and i am loving it. i am finding that it is a lot about acceptance. sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers, and yet, we still have to trust. we often think of God like a parent who just isn't cooperating with all of our immediate requests. yet, maybe there is something better just around the corner, that we can't see and that is much better for us.
more post please!!!
operamama, it is incredible to watch you discover the freedom of "mind control". just this morning, as i was laying in bed, i had a thought creep in that had to do with eric and wondering if he is dating someone in paris. my heart got tight in my chest and the infamous lump formed in my throat that i felt so often while we were together. right there before it took over me, i thought, "no, you are not going to think about that because you are so happy and content and you're going to stay that way. thank you God for helping me with that." and then my ADD artist brain went off on another tangent with my prayers. i lay there physically feeling the lumps and knots going away inside me. i have NEVER had the power over those before, simply because i thought those came from my heart. they come from my brain and my brain can be washed!!!!! rock on!
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