In Christ Alone!

HAPPINESS IS THE WAY - / - CONTENTMENT

Hello Friends (or whoever reads this),

I haven't posted for a very long time. I have been busy, and my computer still isn't back up and running. *not going there* I am surprised at how unusually stressed and almost depressed I have been recently. There is no REAL reason to be, so today, I'm happy. And for good reason. Look at all the things I have to be happy about. No more bad attitudes and stressfulness for this girl, oh no!

I am learning to instead of "make time for God, and bring Him into my life" to actually, "live life for God, and thank Him for letting me be a part of His Kingdom!" What a paradiem (sp?) shift. But it's true isn't it? I told that to our Pastor in Sunday School last Sunday, and he incoorperated that statement into his sermon. That was neat, but it's so true.

This past Sunday's sermon was about Contentment. I just wanted to share the notes that I took so you (if you allow yourself to be a part of his Kingdom long enough to read them) can have more contentment in your life too. (And just to clarify, I'm preaching to myself on that one!)

CONTENTMENT

Philippians 4:11

Luke 3:14

Proverbs 15:16 "Better is little with the fear of the Lord..."

Hebrews 13:5-6

1 Timothy 6:6-8 "But godliness with contentment is great gain..."

Proverbs 14:14

Proverbs 16:8 "Better is little with righteousness..."

Ecclesiastes 5:10

CONTENTMENT IS:  Kingdom Based

     Destroyer #1 Believing that "xyz" will make your life complete

     Destroyer #2 Frustrated when others get blessed

~ Kingdom Based, Lordship of Christ, Brought to Pavement of every day life.

~ Long Term View, not Short Term (think about how your actions will impact tomorrow and the rest of your life, good and bad)

~ We don't decide on our feelings. I do decide upon my actions towards them. (this was huge for me)

~ Own the feelings and realize "I am OK" ... I am not my feelings. I am, who I am in Christ. (owning the feelings, *sigh* I have several areas that I need to own my feelings and move on... Pray for me!)

~ YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU FEEL (read that about five more times)

~ You are Kingdom Based--> Goal is Servanthood, to be where he utilizes you.

I hope that helps and encourages you in some way. I think I'll be rereading that all throughout this week.  Anyway, this last thing that I am going to post is something my friend has posted in his house as a daily motivater for himself. I'm glad he shared it, because it seems to fit so appropriately for me this week.

Dance Like No One’s Watching

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.  Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll be more content when they are.  After that we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.  We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, are able to go on a nice vacation, when we retire.  If not now, when?

Your life will always be filled with challenges.  It’s best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.  One of my favorite quotes comes from Alfred D. Souza.  He said, “For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”

This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness.  Happiness is the way.  So, treasure every moment you have.  And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend time with. 

So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you loose ten pounds until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until the kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off, until the spring, until fall, until winter, until the first or the fifteenth, until you’ve had a drink, until you’ve sobered up, until you die - decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy…Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Thought for the day:
Work like you don’t need the money,
Love like you’ve never been hurt,
And dance like no one’s watching.

Author – Crystal Boyd

Neat huh? Ok, I hope I'm not making this too long. Sometimes it's better to post a little each day, and not a lot all at once. But it's whenever ya have time time in my case. *hugs* for everyone.

God Bless~

Stephanie

Untitled Comment

10:01 PM, Feb. 3, 2006 .. Posted by DandelionSeeds

Beautiful post... Found you through random blogging... nice to meet you! Have a great weekend!

Blessings,
Amy