THREE TIPS TO JUMP START YOUR DAY

How many of my fellow readers wake up most mornings stressed out after another restless night of anxiety? You roll out of bed, grab a quick cup of coffee and mindlessly check the internet (again), looking to find a solution for your multitude of problems. Then, in a fog like trance, you come back to reality realizing you are late for work and  have just enough time to throw on some clothes before rushing out the door to begin another hectic day. On and on we go, day after day, running on the same burned-out emotions, getting nowhere.

 Stop! 

I have good news and a few tips to change your emotional chaos into supernatural strength.

First.  Change the way you do mornings. Just coffee, and your Bible. Jesus invites us to sit and have coffee with him. He says, "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends." (Revelation 3: 20 NLT)  Spending mornings with Jesus is an invitation, not an obligation.The Creator of the Universe is asking you to take a few minutes from your hectic life to center yourself on him. In exchange for your chaos, He offers you peace. If you need less drama in your life, and who doesn't, talk to Jesus.

Second.  God doesn't just want a surface "hi and goodbye", and you're out the church door Sunday mornings. He wants a relationship where you get comfortable, everyday, speaking to him and confiding in him like you would a trusted friend. As I found out when I started having coffee with Jesus, he actually wants to help us with difficult decisions. "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives it generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you."( James 1:5)  Maybe you feel lost and need guidance or direction for your life. Jesus promises to help you navigate the choppy waters of everyday living in the 21 st century. "I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)

Third.  Spending time to center you thoughts in the word of God will help you anchor yourself in God's truth and the things that really matter. We become less stressed when we connect with God so we can refill our mugs and recharge our focus.  If you are tired of being strung out...have coffee with Jesus. He is the answer you need. I could go on and on. There are literally 7,487 promises in the Bible written for you. That equals one promise a day for the next 20 years of your life. If you open the door of your heart to Jesus and believe he wants you to have an abundant, blessed life, He will provide all you need.

FAKE NEWS

"Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."(Matthew 7:15)

Remember as kids we were told little white lies were no big deal? If you think back to those days, maybe you thought your "fibs" were not that bad. However, in time you might have gotten comfortable fabricating the truth, first to your parents in order to stay our of trouble, then as you grew up the white lies grew in size too, until you were comfortable with fudging your resume to get your dream job or telling an outright lie to your spouse as to why you got home from work so late. Lies, like all other sin grows and mutates and can become habitual when left unchecked reeking havoc in our relationships and lives. No wonder Satan is called the father of lies.

Deception is not confined to our own private lives, it is an invasive intruder, and over the years has crept into the very fabric of society eroding our trust at all levels including our marriages, parenting, national government and our source of information...the news media. The information we ingest has conditioned us to accept the broadcasters word as gospel although many times we are being fed propaganda making it almost impossible to tell truth from lies. To further complicate matters we now have AI altering the images we see for the purpose of  controlling the narrative. Why you might wonder would our leaders and journalists want to deliberately give us false information that manipulates our thoughts? Simply put...the wolf is in the sheep pen.

How are we to discern the signs of the times if we are constantly being gaslighted? How can we keep our families safe when our leadership does not have our best interest at heart? There is only one source of ABSOLUTE truth. Jesus said to those who believed Him "If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE." (John 8:31-32)

God is saying when we accept His teaching, and obey the gospel message we will understand the truth and that wisdom will free us from error. If you have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, don't become discouraged by the evil that is surrounding us in the world. Get connected with a Bible believing church and allow God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, the source of all truth. 

The good news is...its never too late to get ourselves right with God. "If we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead we will be saved." Romans 10:9

WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSED ON

 Our thoughts have incredible power. We think our minds are our own private space but whatever is going on in our heads eventually comes out in our words and actions exposing the demons we are trying to hide. 

If you have been focused on anger, bitterness or hatred at the way someone spoke to you or treated you and keep playing it over and over in your mind those feelings will take root, like an invasive weed in a flower garden, until it is almost impossible to pull out. There are countless other scenario's and you probably know first hand how these emotions lock you into a self made prison cell within your mind. 

So how do we get our negative thoughts, feelings and emotions to line up with positive action. 

The Bible calls it the Renewing of your Mind.  Simply put, we choose to let go of the offensive words and forgive the offender instead of holding onto it. Let it go. Think about how many things the Lord has forgiven you for and forgive on purpose. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Hebrews 9:11 

Your bad attitude won't just magically disappear. It will raise it's ugly head over and over again but each time it does say a little prayer for the person who hurt you. When we take that small step of obedience, God takes care of the rest. When we focus on what God says in the Bible our lives find positive reinforcement. After all...It's easier to pick flowers than it is to pull weeds.