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Empower & Encourage

29 08, 2014

Content – Contented – Contentment

Been thinking a lot about contentment lately. And, interrelated words, including contention, the opposite of contentment.

I implore a greater understanding and mindset of contentment.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

BE Cheerful. In the midst of any circumstance, as much as is possible.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

Gratitude and Satisfaction with where you are in the here and now, is the present.

“All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.”
Proverbs 15:15

Abundance flows out of a cheerful heart.

“A heart at peace gives LIFE to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30

So please, consider this, above all else, GUARD YOUR HEART. [...]

25 08, 2014

Perfect Character, Perfect Bliss

“These seven descriptions make up a perfect character, and the seven blessings appended when combined constitute perfect bliss.”

“The whole seven rise one above another like the steps of a ladder of light, and the blessings appropriate to each grow out of the virtues described.”

“At the close of the seven BEatitudes of character comes an eighth and double benediction bestowed on the persecuted condition as a result of holiness. The whole makeup a celestial octave of benediction.”
– C. H. Spurgeon

I love the richness and depth of Spurgeon’s writings!

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was one of Jesus’ first teachings to the masses. In Matthew 5…Blessed are the poor in spirit; for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. (The first step of the ladder is low, and the more readily reached. Those who know their spiritual poverty are the only ones who by faith can lay hold on the true riches of grace.)

Blessed are they that mourn: for they will be comforted. (To their sense of need is now added holy sorrow for sin; this leads them to Jesus, [...]

30 03, 2014

Identity ….. I D E N T I T Y ….. a word

Identity ….. I D E N T I T Y ….. a word we take for granted. Yet the bases by which we make life’s decisions are often based on how we see ourselves….our identity!

Your ID lists your name, age, where you’re from, height, weight (oh joy!), eye & hair color. Those are facts people can easily identify you with, but is that who you are?

Your true identity? Those variables can actually be changed or modified in various ways. But what I’m talking about it, your IDENTITY is your natural giftings, your personality type, your core values, your IQ, your EQ (Emotional Quotient – found to be more important for life success than your IQ).

Being aware and operating in your uniquely designed and created self, by our Creator God, is vital. Self-awareness and self-acceptance are vital. Our Loving Creator God created you for LOVE, for good plans and a good purpose! http://ow.ly/i/54z1y

3 words are rattling around (well actual

3 words are rattling around (well actually more!) but 3 that are intertwined and relevant in a number of conversations I have had with various people the last couple of weeks…actually ever since Independence Day. Independence…Interdependence…Codependence.
Let’s start with defining the core word in each…DEPENDENCE. Just fyi, I will be using the American Dictionary of the English Language – Noah Webster 1828. “Reliance; confidence; trust; a resting on. A state of being subject to the will of an intelligent cause, power or operation. Connection by which one thing is sustained by another, in its place, operations, or is affected by it. Inability to sustain itself without the aid of.”
Okay….so foundationally there we are. Now, INDEPENDENCE…
“A state in which a person does not rely on others for subsistence; ability to support one’s self. A state of being not dependent; complete exemption from control, or the power of others. A state of mind in which a person acts without bias or influence from others.”
Interestingly enough, the words INTERDEPENDENCE and CODEPENDENCE were not in the 1828 Noah Webster’s Dictionary.
So, I went to my iPhone app dictionary.
Interdependence…”of two or more people or things dependent on each other.”
Codependence…”excessive emotional or psychological reliance on a partner, typically a partner who requires support due to an illness or addiction.”
It has been interesting how many times these words have come up in random conversations this month. I think partially because we just celebrated America’s Independence Day on July 4th.
But, in the greater scope of things that fact that we are created for relationship. We may have temperaments that are more [...]