Tag Archive | mind

In All Honesty……

Nov15

I’ve been told most of my Christ following life that I needed to memorize scripture.

All of my Christ following life I have tried.

In all honesty …… I’ve failed miserably.

Every trick, every hack, every equation I have accessed to do it has failed.

As a result, in all of my Christ following life,

In all honesty …… I have carried a tremendous amount of guilt for that failure.

I’ve grown in my Christ following life, to know how exactly I’ve been created,

and how different my peers and I thought that I should be.

In all honesty ….. I’m a feeler and a thinker, but lean more to the feeling side.

Pink Bible

I said all that to say this;

This morning I listened to the audio version of the Bible, Romans chapter 12, on line -cool British accent – Four times, not MEMORIZING much. I know what it says, I’ve been reading it for years, but to say it exactly – not so much.

Here for your perusal, is the “Deb Version” if you will, each verse, translated for ease of reading and understanding;

I think it came out well, and are really words I can live by.

v. 1 Present your body

v. 2 Renew your mind, transform it

v. 3 Think of yourself as God does

v.4 You do you. Your own calling.

v.5 Together we make a complete body, we need each other

v.6 Prophesy (In your own measure)

v.7 Serve. Teach.

v.8 Exhort. Contribute. Lead. Show mercy.

v.9 Love well. Hate evil.

v.10 Show honor (Out do each other in this)

v.11 Don’t be lazy. Serve enthusiastically.

v.12 Rejoice and pray, no matter what

v.13 Give and be kind

v.14 Bless the mean ones

v.15 YooHoo with those that YooHoo, and BooHoo with those that BooHoo

v.16 Live peacefully. Be nice to everyone.

v.17 Let God sort it out – You Be Nice!

v.18 Do what you can to be at peace

v.19 God’s got this.

v.20 Feed your enemy. Give him a drink. He’ll wonder what you’re up to.

v.21 Don’t let evil take over – Use the authority inside you to overcome

Simple enough? Yep.

In all honesty …… If you are at all like me, you won’t memorize this either, but you will remember some of the concepts better than the actual verses.

Now, if you are not at all like me, and need things straight up, linear, and the way they should/must/ought to be; I’ve placed the original script at the end of this post.

I hope this has been helpful.

Go with how you are created! Be happy just doing you – No body does you better!

 

Romans 12 King James Version (KJV)

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

King James Version (KJV)Public Domain

Books That Changed My Life #7

Oct30

Ultimate Journey Phase 1 (231x223)The Ultimate Journey – Phase 1 (Link)

“The Ultimate Journey” is not a book as in , sitting down and reading a book. I was going to do that, but found in the very first chapter, that this would be a deep dig.

What I thought I would need a teaspoon for, needed a back hoe instead!

A little of the back story;

When I was growing up, some phrases were used with/to/about me consistently. The ones that go with THIS story, were as follows;

  • You should use your head for something besides a hat rack
  • You’ll learn more by listening
  • You’ll learn more by asking questions
  • Why do you ask so many stupid questions
  • To make people LIKE YOU as questions (Like me?)

See the conflict?

Well as a result, I just stopped asking questions. To my young brain, I got the same if I asked or if I didn’t. It was less painful not to ask.

Back story #2;

As an adult, I discovered my love for learning. The curiosity that was stifled as a child, began to come alive after I married and had children.

Questions arose, but no one slammed me for wanting to know.

Google did not exist, but the public library was a glorious place! All of my learning came for free, the only cost was the time it took to learn.

I had mentioned my learning, from reading the previously mentioned books to a friend, one who actually paid big bucks for her education, and she instantly recognized the next step I needed to take.

She loaned me a book from one of her classes. The book I was going to read and give back, turned out taking me three months and over 75 pages in my journal. Hours in my quiet chair with my thoughts. Digging. Digging. Excavating old wounds and hurts that until then, I had no vocabulary for.

Unpacking Self Deception.  The title on the first page will either make you run, or cause you to dig in your heals and get to work. Inventorying your beliefs, behaviors, your wounds. Things you needed growing up, and things you didn’t need. Why are you stuck? Why are you suffering?

I could go on, but I will just tell you that between all the questions, charts, assignments and other items in this work, the healing began to flow along with the understanding and the clarity.

Even with the help of the book, I had to decide over and over again that I indeed wanted to be healed.

It was long and arduous, but was well worth the steps I took. Alone. In my chair. With my God. Sorting, sorting, sorting questions I never knew to ask.

I did not go on to Phase 2 when I was finished with Phase 1. I had a sense of what was needed next, and have been progressing steadily ever since.

In closing, I will tell you the most important statement in this entire post;

For the first time ever in my life, I am…… Totally Free.

Worth it all?

You bet.

 

Books That Changed My Life #6

Oct26

For any of you who may be familiar with my blog, my Facebook page or my YouTube channel, you know that I place a high value on quiet time. Quiescence. Quietude I call it.Whitespace

There was so much trauma and drama in my previous life. So much feeling guilty and selfish about spending so much time on myself. So much wondering WHY I was the way I was.

In one book. In one space. By one author. Stepping out of her hiding place, and being real, Bonnie helped me to see not only that it was a healthy thing, my self examination, but also that I was really not alone. One voice, can help multitudes.

Bonnie talks about her trauma, and how trauma can be trapped in time, and how “A person, an event, stress, or a change – even a hope or a dream – can unravel that trauma.” This unraveling can take us to places we didn’t remember, places we need to re-visit, and places we never wanted to go again.

It is a tedious journey, but for our health, and to be able to become that voice for others, it is a journey that must be taken.

When we choose to take this journey with Jesus, then we truly do not travel alone.

I used my copy of Bonnie’s book like a manual, like a workbook. Notes all the way through. The questions she asked, for me at least, demanded to be answered. (In my next and final book post, I’ll talk to you more about questions.)

This book helped to make those quiet times in my over-stuffed chair by the window, much more productive. Making freedom from my past more real as the time went by.