Grateful for the FIRE!!!

Fire Pic

In life we will inevitably go through difficult times like a divorce, loss of a loved one, loss of a job, sickness, legal issues, tough time during marriage, infertility and so many other trials we could name. However, as we go through those trying times, or what we are calling the FIRE, you are being refined. It is a preparation for the greater that is to come. Those impurities of self doubt, broken hearts, fear, brokenness…are being burned away. Just like like the refinement of gold process. The metal goes through the FIRE to remove impurities to come out GOLD….this gold after its refinement process is worth a LOT! The purer, the more refined the gold is the greater the worth! Glory!!!

Every trial, every negative situation, not only does God mean it for your good, you are coming out better, stronger, wiser…purer and more refined! Your value increases and you are better prepared for your GREATER!

So today, and every day, don’t forget to Bless God for the FIRE! It will be difficult and it isn’t always easy to think about your increased value and how much better you will be after you go through. However, do your best to be intentional in writing down what impurities will be burned away as you go through! Because in the end your value will increase and you will come out GOLD!!!

5 Keys to Focus on #LivingLifeGratefully

Living Life GratefulHave you ever been working on a project, reading a book, writing, etc and then all of sudden mess up something? It is in that moment you’ve lost your focus…you became distracted. Either social media, phone calls, or thoughts, something has pulled your focus away and while you may still be doing what you were distracted from, your mind isn’t focused on it…therefore a mistake may occur.

While on this journey of #LivingLifeGratefully, you must focus on all the positive things in your daily life. Bad things will happen, people will say awful things to you or make you feel bad…sometimes that person that makes you feel bad is you. Those negative thoughts that have been planted may raise its ugly head reminding you of some mistake or imperfection. It is during those times we suggest you do the following:

1) Have a scripture that feeds your spirit positively. ex: Psalms 139:14  –  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well or 1 John 4:4b because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

2) Create and keep near post it notes with positive feedback or quotes. We call them #gratefulnotes

3) Call upon those positive friends/family members that never fail to give you an encouraging word.

4) Focus on all of the great things that are in your life and in every situation.

5) Pray and spend time with God.

For some of us it is easy to focus on the aforementioned items and/or any positive things in our lives. But for others it is a fight. We want to encourage you to fight on.  We are right along side you…fighting with you! This journey of #LivingLifeGratefully isn’t easy, but it is so worth it. God wants us to have a life filled with His Peace and His Joy. He told us in His Word that this wouldn’t be easy, but that His yoke is easy and His burdens are light. We are to trust Him to deal with the negative things in our lives. But we must also be actively focusing on the positive things in our lives to achieve the goal of #LivingLifeGratefully! You deserve a life filled with unspeakable joy and it is our hope that you believe that you deserve it!

There are so many more items we could have shared, but we want to hear from our Team Grateful community! What are some of the things you do to focus on the positive? Or, let us know if you need prayer and/or help in this area. We will pray with and for you.  We are believing God for His very best for you and know that you have the tools to handle it…for you are Fearfully and Wonderfully made by God!

#RidiculousFaith – The Woman w/The Issue of Blood!

Ridiculous Faith

One of the things I’ve learned on this journey of #LivingLifeGratefully is that allowing God to have His way brings peace and excitement all rolled up beautifully together!  So, when He spoke to my spirit and nudged me to share and remind us of the woman with the issue of blood and her  #RidiculousFaith , I obediently said oh yes!

Every time I think about the woman with the issue of blood, my heart is overwhelmed with empathetic pain and joy!  It’s an interesting mix of feelings, however the thought she lived with continuous bleeding and no doctor could help, brings so much sadness to me.  She was desperate for help and no longer wanted to live in shame, isolation or sadness.  But when she heard about Jesus {GLORY, I had to shout!}, even though she had been secluded because of her issue, even though she knew large crowds would be there and they would likely ridicule and shame her because of her issue, her faith told her that if she put aside those feelings and could just get to Jesus, He could heal her and her misery would be over!  My God!!!

She arrives to the area where Jesus is and there is indeed a HUGE crowd.  All trying to get something from Him. My holy imagination shares with me that I’m sure she was mocked as she made her way to Jesus by all of those that saw her.  The crowd was so overwhelmingly large, but her faith would not let her be denied her healing.  So she pressed her way. Crawled on the ground through the crowd.  She was at everyone’s feet, beneath people but she kept her eyes on Jesus.  I can imagine her saying “if I can just get to Jesus” as she pressed her way.  Then it hit her, since the crowd was so large, she may not get to ask Jesus for her healing, but her #ridiculousfaith told her that if I could just touch Him, his clothes or anything touching Him, I WILL BE HEALED!

How crazy did she look crawling on the ground to get a healing that I’m sure others didn’t think she could get or deserve?! But her faith told her that Jesus can do it, if she could get to Him.  In fact, her faith said He didn’t even have to acknowledge or see her, but that if she touched Him and believed in His healing power and that He is the Son of God she will be healed! She didn’t care what others said about her. She didn’t care if folks stepped on her. She didn’t care at all how she looked! She just wanted to get to Jesus, touch Him and be Healed! My God, that’s #RidiculousFaith

On your faith journey, Do you care what people think about you? Your issues? How has your #RidiculousFaith brought about blessings from God and simultaneously ridicule from others?

#LivingLifeGratefully is about not allowing what others think about you dictate what you think of yourself.

Appreciate the Little Things

Yesterday morning I woke up with an overflowing grateful heart determined to focus on the little things, or better the “little” blessings.  As I’m writing this, I am laughing to myself that I have the audacity to size up any blessings that God bestows upon me.  However, I recognize that is how the world operates, we measure things.  More on that in another post.

At any rate, I excitedly posted to Facebook with the proclamation of God’s goodness and how He blessed me with clarity of mind.  The ability to see what I need to accomplish that day as it relates to my consulting business and my personal brand.  I raved about about those crucial, yet “little” steps that helped me accomplish the goal I had set for the day.

And then, someone posted in the comments, Congratulations!  Wow!  I know you are thinking, what’s the big deal.  Well in that instance, right after I proclaimed the goodness of God for clarity of mind, I also thought why is this person congratulating me for the small steps that I just posted.  The it hit me. I was too focused on what I consider the bigger blessing, clarity of my mind, and not recognizing that each step that was revealed to me and the fact that I completed each one of them, is worth a congratulatory recognition or better an opportunity to praise God.

The steps (little things, little blessings) that were revealed to me through clarity of mind (big blessing) were just as important to give God glory.  In life’s journey, we should take time to appreciate the little things because they make the big things possible or are a result of the bigger blessing that God has for you.  When we appreciate the little things, it is much easier to live life gratefully.  And if we are ever challenged or reach a stumbling block, those little blessings can be a greater blessing to help you overcome anything that is thrown your way.  #TeamGrateful

Originally posted April 9, 2015 on www.druealons.com.