We are now in the second month of a brand new year! Some of us have already made resolutions, promises or goals. Whether you made a resolution or not, in addition to promising to make a change, why not start something new! It might be a new hobby, a new habit, new behavior or new attitude. This Winter 2009 issue of The UP Times Quarterly is devoted to starting something new. I believe God has great things in store for all of us. Even in the midst of a storm, God is able to do above and beyond what we can imagine.
Stepping out of our comfort zones can be challenging and at times overwhelming and intimidating, but oh so rewarding. Trying something new can lead to exciting things that you would never have experienced. Plus, it gives us more opportunities to rely totally on our Heavenly Dad.
So what’s going to be my new thing? I’ve always wanted to try my hand at jewelry making, but always made excuses: I’m too busy, I’m not creative enough. I’ll start by checking out some books at my local library and plan to take a class at my local community college or my city’s recreation center. I’ll report sometime later in the year how I’m doing.
What’s your new thing? Click here to share
Monday, February 23, 2009
Rest from a Busy and Noisy Life
In today’s world, we are constantly busy. Technology has given us nearly-instant communication and transportation. We are always doing something – we have continuous access to entertainment at our fingertips. Our world is also filled with noise. Radios, i-pods, and cd players give us constant access to music, while cell phones ensure that even when we are alone, we always have someone to talk to. We have become a generation of multi-taskers. We spend very little time in silence, whether we are at home chilling or stuck in traffic. We are surrounded by a busy, noisy society that places very little value on peaceful silence and reflection. The more we fill our lives with noise and activity, the fewer opportunities we give ourselves for quiet prayer and reflection.
It is important for us to slow down and take some time to grow closer to God. The more time we spend in silence, the better we are able to hear God. 1 Kings 19:12, says “After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
Read the entire article.
Gwen Smith shares a devotional on resting in the Lord.
It is important for us to slow down and take some time to grow closer to God. The more time we spend in silence, the better we are able to hear God. 1 Kings 19:12, says “After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
Read the entire article.
Gwen Smith shares a devotional on resting in the Lord.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Valentine Gift for Hubby
A valentine gift does not always need to put a dent in your purse. Barbara Rainey shared some ideas on how we can please our wonderful husbands not only at Valentines day, but all during the year.
Read the entire article
Share your favorite gift that you like to give to your valentine
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Change: Are You Due for a Perceptual Paradigm Shift
It’s a new year and we are all evaluating in what areas of our lives God is dealing with us.
“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD”. (Lamentations 3:40)
Many people experience a deep-seated change when they face a life-threatening crisis. They suddenly see their priorities in a different way, their values change, their thinking about themselves change, and their feelings are modified. They may assume a new and different role. Everything changes. Why wait until tragedy or trauma forces you to update your perceptions. Do it now-by conscious choice-and enjoy the results.
To begin a true change in the way you think about yourself, your body, and/or your life, the journey begins with your relationship with the Lord. You must know Him as Lord and Savior. If you have not made that decision yet, click here.
So what is a perceptual paradigm shift anyway? In order to fully understand the concept, let’s look at each term separately. Perceptual is an adjective meaning of or relating to the act of perceiving—perception: insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving. Perception is therefore, all about point of view; your current interpretation based upon your particular reality. The term paradigm shift was coined in 1962 by Thomas Kuhn in his classic book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. A paradigm shift is a dramatic change in methodology or practice—a change in the way things are.
From this perspective then, a perceptual paradigm shift is a change in your believe system, a change in your basic core beliefs—what you grew up believing about yourself. In what areas will God ask you to change this year?
This leg of our journey is all about identifying and committing to changing the way we think or behave toward different aspects of our lives. Perhaps you may want to shift from a reacting nature to a more responsive one. For example, suppose you are someone who tends to become upset and react emotionally to the behavior or language of others. You react to your own emotions by avoiding certain people, becoming bitter or cynical and/or withdrawing all together, placing the blame on others. You are controlled by external events and become judgmental, your perspective narrows, and/or your mind becomes closed.
When you change to a more responding nature, you become aware that you have the freedom to choose how to respond to any given event. You will become more self-controlled and autonomously choose your own actions and behavior. You will step away from the role of victim, become response-able and take full responsibility for the consequences of your choices and actions.
Reflection:
What perceptual paradigms are you willing to identify? Attitudes, thought patterns, habits, behaviors.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts”. (Psalm 139:23)
Action Plan:
Which ones are you willing to challenge or change? Think beyond the box.What techniques are you willing to use to modify your perceptual paradigms?
Share your thoughts with the group.
Click here to go deeper.
References:
Answers.com
Total Life Coaching, Patrick Williams and Lloyd Thomas, 2005, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD”. (Lamentations 3:40)
Many people experience a deep-seated change when they face a life-threatening crisis. They suddenly see their priorities in a different way, their values change, their thinking about themselves change, and their feelings are modified. They may assume a new and different role. Everything changes. Why wait until tragedy or trauma forces you to update your perceptions. Do it now-by conscious choice-and enjoy the results.
To begin a true change in the way you think about yourself, your body, and/or your life, the journey begins with your relationship with the Lord. You must know Him as Lord and Savior. If you have not made that decision yet, click here.
So what is a perceptual paradigm shift anyway? In order to fully understand the concept, let’s look at each term separately. Perceptual is an adjective meaning of or relating to the act of perceiving—perception: insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving. Perception is therefore, all about point of view; your current interpretation based upon your particular reality. The term paradigm shift was coined in 1962 by Thomas Kuhn in his classic book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. A paradigm shift is a dramatic change in methodology or practice—a change in the way things are.
From this perspective then, a perceptual paradigm shift is a change in your believe system, a change in your basic core beliefs—what you grew up believing about yourself. In what areas will God ask you to change this year?
This leg of our journey is all about identifying and committing to changing the way we think or behave toward different aspects of our lives. Perhaps you may want to shift from a reacting nature to a more responsive one. For example, suppose you are someone who tends to become upset and react emotionally to the behavior or language of others. You react to your own emotions by avoiding certain people, becoming bitter or cynical and/or withdrawing all together, placing the blame on others. You are controlled by external events and become judgmental, your perspective narrows, and/or your mind becomes closed.
When you change to a more responding nature, you become aware that you have the freedom to choose how to respond to any given event. You will become more self-controlled and autonomously choose your own actions and behavior. You will step away from the role of victim, become response-able and take full responsibility for the consequences of your choices and actions.
Reflection:
What perceptual paradigms are you willing to identify? Attitudes, thought patterns, habits, behaviors.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts”. (Psalm 139:23)
Action Plan:
Which ones are you willing to challenge or change? Think beyond the box.What techniques are you willing to use to modify your perceptual paradigms?
Share your thoughts with the group.
Click here to go deeper.
References:
Answers.com
Total Life Coaching, Patrick Williams and Lloyd Thomas, 2005, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
What Defines You? How Did You Become Who You Are?
Knowing who God says you are defines who you are. What you believe about yourself defines who you are. Psalm 8
As we finish Thanksgiving and head into Christmas, I’m looking forward to spending lots of time with family. For some, family gatherings can be a joyful and peaceful time, but for others it can be very painful. This reflection is actually a great segway into the next leg of our journey.
What or who defines you?
Does a situation from the past define who you are? Does a specific person define who you are? Does your job or what you do as a career define who you are? In August, we began our journey with looking at who God says we are. Because quite frankly, I don’t think we can successfully evaluate ourselves without knowing who God says we are. We talked about the perceptions and beliefs we have about ourselves. We talked about how many of our core beliefs were formed as children and as we grew into adulthood, we form new beliefs and update old ones. As you studied the scriptures of who God says you are over the past couple of months, did they help you to have a different view of yourself? What changes did you make as a result of the knowledge of how God sees you? Did the scriptures encourage you to do something different than what you were doing before? If so, let us know at http://www.livingstonesinc.org/praisereport.html
We now see how God views us; let’s see who you yourself say you are. Some of our beliefs are healthy ones and some may be non-rational ones. What you believe about yourself defines who you are. Are any of those beliefs non-rational beliefs leftover from childhood? So, what are non-rational beliefs? These are beliefs that we formed as children from what adults told us (what we accepted from our caretakers about ourselves). That childhood self-concept was formed with immature cognitive conclusions and early emotional experiences, and when these childhood beliefs are not updated as we transition into adulthood, they become non-rational beliefs.
We are going to look at some common childhood beliefs which, when you continue to act upon them, can create great amounts of stress. You perhaps at one point held these beliefs and, when received as truth in the present, can create problems, self-defeat, and even illness. Look at each non-rational, stressful belief and decide if the current clues are present in your life. If they are present, that’s okay—it’s simply an indicator of the presence of a non-rational belief that you may want to modify by choosing another belief, and I will also give you some healthy beliefs to try instead.
Non-rational, Stressful Belief No. 1
Having love, recognition and approval from my family, friends, co-workers, and peers is important. If I don’t please people, they may choose to reject, criticize, or abandon me.
Key Clues
• Fears possible rejection or disapproval from others
• Ignores or feels ambivalent about an existing relationship
• Feels a lack of recognition
• Fears blame or criticism
• Jealousy
• Always does “the extras” or feels compelled to do so
• Is afraid to say “no”
• Always wants peace and harmony at any price
• Fears what people will think
• Always obeys without questioning
• Always meets perceived deadlines
• Always tries to be nice
An example for this stressful belief might be that every time you say yes when you really wanted to say no—or if on those rare occasions when you do say no you feel guilty—you are responding irrationally from your non-rational belief system. When this happens, you become stressed and you begin to tolerate this feeling. This is what many call “the disease to please.” A healthy goal might be to focus on self-love, self-appreciation, and believe who God says you are. You will want to recognize that the likelihood of getting love, approval, and recognition from family, friends, and peers all the time is practically zero. People are, at best, irregular and inconsistent with their approval and caring. The most important thing for you to know is that God loves you and because He created you, He wants you to love yourself.
Scriptures to Study
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Psalm 139:1-4 - “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”
John 4:10 – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Click here for more non-rational, stressful beliefs.
Here's a great resource from Beth Moore for getting out of the pit when life gets you down. You can purchase it from the Livingstones Resource Center.
Visit our Resource Center to finish your Christmas shopping list and help Livingstones Ministries help needy families in Gaithersburg and Frederick, Maryland
As we finish Thanksgiving and head into Christmas, I’m looking forward to spending lots of time with family. For some, family gatherings can be a joyful and peaceful time, but for others it can be very painful. This reflection is actually a great segway into the next leg of our journey.
What or who defines you?
Does a situation from the past define who you are? Does a specific person define who you are? Does your job or what you do as a career define who you are? In August, we began our journey with looking at who God says we are. Because quite frankly, I don’t think we can successfully evaluate ourselves without knowing who God says we are. We talked about the perceptions and beliefs we have about ourselves. We talked about how many of our core beliefs were formed as children and as we grew into adulthood, we form new beliefs and update old ones. As you studied the scriptures of who God says you are over the past couple of months, did they help you to have a different view of yourself? What changes did you make as a result of the knowledge of how God sees you? Did the scriptures encourage you to do something different than what you were doing before? If so, let us know at http://www.livingstonesinc.org/praisereport.html
We now see how God views us; let’s see who you yourself say you are. Some of our beliefs are healthy ones and some may be non-rational ones. What you believe about yourself defines who you are. Are any of those beliefs non-rational beliefs leftover from childhood? So, what are non-rational beliefs? These are beliefs that we formed as children from what adults told us (what we accepted from our caretakers about ourselves). That childhood self-concept was formed with immature cognitive conclusions and early emotional experiences, and when these childhood beliefs are not updated as we transition into adulthood, they become non-rational beliefs.
We are going to look at some common childhood beliefs which, when you continue to act upon them, can create great amounts of stress. You perhaps at one point held these beliefs and, when received as truth in the present, can create problems, self-defeat, and even illness. Look at each non-rational, stressful belief and decide if the current clues are present in your life. If they are present, that’s okay—it’s simply an indicator of the presence of a non-rational belief that you may want to modify by choosing another belief, and I will also give you some healthy beliefs to try instead.
Non-rational, Stressful Belief No. 1
Having love, recognition and approval from my family, friends, co-workers, and peers is important. If I don’t please people, they may choose to reject, criticize, or abandon me.
Key Clues
• Fears possible rejection or disapproval from others
• Ignores or feels ambivalent about an existing relationship
• Feels a lack of recognition
• Fears blame or criticism
• Jealousy
• Always does “the extras” or feels compelled to do so
• Is afraid to say “no”
• Always wants peace and harmony at any price
• Fears what people will think
• Always obeys without questioning
• Always meets perceived deadlines
• Always tries to be nice
An example for this stressful belief might be that every time you say yes when you really wanted to say no—or if on those rare occasions when you do say no you feel guilty—you are responding irrationally from your non-rational belief system. When this happens, you become stressed and you begin to tolerate this feeling. This is what many call “the disease to please.” A healthy goal might be to focus on self-love, self-appreciation, and believe who God says you are. You will want to recognize that the likelihood of getting love, approval, and recognition from family, friends, and peers all the time is practically zero. People are, at best, irregular and inconsistent with their approval and caring. The most important thing for you to know is that God loves you and because He created you, He wants you to love yourself.
Scriptures to Study
Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Psalm 139:1-4 - “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.”
John 4:10 – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Click here for more non-rational, stressful beliefs.
Here's a great resource from Beth Moore for getting out of the pit when life gets you down. You can purchase it from the Livingstones Resource Center.
Visit our Resource Center to finish your Christmas shopping list and help Livingstones Ministries help needy families in Gaithersburg and Frederick, Maryland
Monday, August 25, 2008
Welcome to Enrich Your Journey
On the first leg of our journey we will look at who we believe we are; what perceptions we have; what beliefs we have about ourselves. Many of our core beliefs were formed when we were children, and as we grew into adulthood, we formed new beliefs and updated old ones. Some of our beliefs are healthy ones and some may be non-rational ones. I believe though that we cannot fully comprehend who we are until we know who God says we are.
Study these scriptures:
Study these scriptures:
- I am a child of God. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
- I am a friend of Jesus. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me (John 15:15).
- My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in me. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
- I am a new creature in Christ. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun (2 Corinthians 5:17)!
- I have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
- I am chosen, holy, and blameless before God. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes (Ephesians 1:4).
Feel free to post your comments, thoughts and insights.
Do you want a more indept Bible study? Join an Enrich Your Journey small group .
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