Having a Heart in a Sometimes Heartless World
Day 192 – Brain renovation, Part 1
Scripture focus: But I came that they might have, keep, and constantly retain a vitality, gusto, vigor, and zest for living that springs up from deep down inside. I came that they might embrace this unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded and overflowing life to the ultimate maximum!” Rick Renner’s amplified translation of John 10:10
I know – we read this verse, and the choice seems like a no brainer. We wake up in the morning, promising God (and maybe ourselves) that today we will embrace our unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded and overflowing life to the ultimate. Then we climb out of bed. And the toilet overflows. The kitchen is a mess. Two messages appeared on our cell phone overnight. We check our calendars and realize we have nine hours of meetings and seven hours of work – all squeezed in to a ten hour work day. The bread is moldy – so you end up packing twinkies and pudding and chips in your children’s lunch (the chips add fiber). Your spouse reminds you that the bills came in yesterday, and yet again, the family managed to spend more than they made last month. Something’s got to change. Is this the unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded and overflowing life you can embrace? Maybe. But first, we have to retrain our brain so that we can actually recognize the zestful life, even in the midst of messy living. We must let go of the false belief that “I must do well.” Everyone prefers the day when all goes well – but my friend, we don’t HAVE to do well in order to live with gusto. Desperately devoted followers, embracing the two points of yesterday’s devotionals stop evaluating life based on performance, and instead, ask God – what do you want me to do today? A working knowledge of scripture helps inform the answer. He wants us to believe in the one he had sent. He wants us to rest. He commands that we love God and others as we love ourselves.
· The toilet overflows, and the family pitches in and cleans up. Hey, we’ve got other toilets! We shut off the water, and plan on figuring out how to fix this when we have more time.
· The kitchen is messy. But it got that way because teenagers hung out late into the night – watching and playing sports, making cool music, and having some very interesting discussions with the parental units about tough life choices (and the Celtics). These kids definitely could be doing something else – that kitchen could be pristine! But at what cost? Besides, the worst kitchen disaster we ever experienced took thirty minutes to shovel out!
· The four basic food groups are preferred in a school lunch. But kids have survived on sugar and junk food. Besides, in the future they will use these interesting lunches to mock their mom in public – how fun is that?
· It would be nice to have a calm day at work, but when you pause to prepare – you remember you actually love your work. You’ll work diligently, and what doesn’t get finished will wait patiently for you to attend to it on another day.
· Certain months of the year are more expensive than others. How fortunate for us if we have money to pay the big bill without going into debt! And, although this conversation sounds rather repetitive, no longer does it trigger strong emotions and result in an argument.
And then it hits you – you are living the abundant life! More ideas for brain renovation tomorrow.
I want to know God’s thoughts…the rest are details. Einstein
Recommended reading: 1 Chronicles 10 and 11 in the morning; Psalm 3 and 4 in the evening
I know – we read this verse, and the choice seems like a no brainer. We wake up in the morning, promising God (and maybe ourselves) that today we will embrace our unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded and overflowing life to the ultimate. Then we climb out of bed. And the toilet overflows. The kitchen is a mess. Two messages appeared on our cell phone overnight. We check our calendars and realize we have nine hours of meetings and seven hours of work – all squeezed in to a ten hour work day. The bread is moldy – so you end up packing twinkies and pudding and chips in your children’s lunch (the chips add fiber). Your spouse reminds you that the bills came in yesterday, and yet again, the family managed to spend more than they made last month. Something’s got to change. Is this the unrivaled, unequaled, matchless, incomparable, richly loaded and overflowing life you can embrace? Maybe. But first, we have to retrain our brain so that we can actually recognize the zestful life, even in the midst of messy living. We must let go of the false belief that “I must do well.” Everyone prefers the day when all goes well – but my friend, we don’t HAVE to do well in order to live with gusto. Desperately devoted followers, embracing the two points of yesterday’s devotionals stop evaluating life based on performance, and instead, ask God – what do you want me to do today? A working knowledge of scripture helps inform the answer. He wants us to believe in the one he had sent. He wants us to rest. He commands that we love God and others as we love ourselves.
· The toilet overflows, and the family pitches in and cleans up. Hey, we’ve got other toilets! We shut off the water, and plan on figuring out how to fix this when we have more time.
· The kitchen is messy. But it got that way because teenagers hung out late into the night – watching and playing sports, making cool music, and having some very interesting discussions with the parental units about tough life choices (and the Celtics). These kids definitely could be doing something else – that kitchen could be pristine! But at what cost? Besides, the worst kitchen disaster we ever experienced took thirty minutes to shovel out!
· The four basic food groups are preferred in a school lunch. But kids have survived on sugar and junk food. Besides, in the future they will use these interesting lunches to mock their mom in public – how fun is that?
· It would be nice to have a calm day at work, but when you pause to prepare – you remember you actually love your work. You’ll work diligently, and what doesn’t get finished will wait patiently for you to attend to it on another day.
· Certain months of the year are more expensive than others. How fortunate for us if we have money to pay the big bill without going into debt! And, although this conversation sounds rather repetitive, no longer does it trigger strong emotions and result in an argument.
And then it hits you – you are living the abundant life! More ideas for brain renovation tomorrow.
I want to know God’s thoughts…the rest are details. Einstein
Recommended reading: 1 Chronicles 10 and 11 in the morning; Psalm 3 and 4 in the evening
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