Finding the Gold in Others Rather than the Dirt

Ever notice how quick we are to judge people and pick at their scabs?  We may smile on the outside, but often times we are searching for the dirt - the uglies.

I think we are all guilty of this at times.  

Recently, someone told me a story about some people.  The person was telling me some facts, but there were definite judgments attached.  For the next couple of days, I couldn't stop thinking about the story. The more I thought about it, the more my heart broke for the people involved.  

The more I pondered it, the more I wondered why it was so attached to my heart.  The Lord began to show me how often we {me included} see the dirt rather than finding the gold.  He began convicting my heart over situations and discussions I have been involved in.

We all have dirt because we are all human.  We are sinful creatures who can create quite the dirt piles.  We, more than anyone else, know how dirty we are and can become.  We are fully aware of the imperfections and sins that plaque us.  

Do we focus on other's dirt to avoid seeing our own sometimes?  Does focusing on other's dirt take the spotlight off of our own messiness?

Yep-I think that's it.  We focus on the dirt other's wear so our dirt doesn't appear to be so brown.

Aren't we suppose to be building each other up and encouraging one another to live life better?  We can't really do that if we are focusing on the messy, even if just in our minds.

Our family visited Colorado a few summers ago.  We decided we would go on an adventure and search for gold.  We grabbed our tin bowls and began sifting through the water in search of the sparkly stuff.  It didn't take long for our kids {and me} to get bored.  All we seemed to find were dirty rocks covered in mud.  After about 15 minutes we set our bowls aside and began running around in search of instant fun.  

We never found any gold - we didn't look long enough.

We can be that way in our interactions with people.  Sometimes we don't look long and hard enough for the sparkle.  We notice the dirt and quickly walk away.  

Everyone has sparkle inside of them.  We can find some people's fairly quickly.  But some people have hidden it so well that it takes quite a while to find it.  When there is a glimmer of sparkle in those people, however, it is the most beautiful shine.  Not only are you recognizing it, but the person may be too.  They may not even be aware that any kind of glimmer exists in their broken, messy hearts.  

What if we stopped looking at the dirt and searched for the gold?  

What if when we see even a hint of a glimmer, we focus on that rather than the mess?  

Can you imagine the shine that will sparkle when we do?  

Imagine showing someone their gold when they had no idea any existed.

Be the one who finds the gold, my friend.  Oh what we can do for God's Kingdom if we only look hard enough.

Loving you with a golden heart-

Marci

How To Pray Throughout the Day

Prayer is a game changer.  When done consistently, our hearts learn to lean towards Jesus in all areas of our lives.  The abundant life that He speaks of in John 10:10 becomes a reality.  This is not to say there will never be trials, heartache, tears, and anger.  These things are a given when living in a broken world.  However, cultivating an active prayer life will change the way we deal with these things and create an overall sense of peace and calmness amidst the storms.  Fears will still come, but they won't pull us under the roaring sea.  When prayer is part of your day and part of your life, your life truly will change.

Sounds great, right?  But how does one pray continually?  We have so much going on in life and so many things to think about, plan, and execute.  I remember on numerous mornings telling myself I was going to pray throughout the day only to crawl in my bed that night and realize I didn't utter one prayer.  I would get discouraged and frustrated with myself.

I began to really think about how I could pray continually throughout the day.  I realized (God probably actually smacked me with this reality!) that prayer is not a wordy, impersonal act.  Prayer is literally just talking to Jesus.  Prayer is our direct line to Him.

Think about it...we talk to ourselves all day long.  Instead of just speaking to ourselves, we can train our minds to speak to the Holy Spirit more than we speak to ourselves.  And that, my friend, is prayer!  Nothing fancy.  Nothing showy.  Just pure, honest talk.

So how do we train our minds?  With lots of practice.  Anytime we begin something new, it takes effort.  We create habits over a series of days and weeks, not minutes.  The practice of continual prayer is not meant to frustrate us, it is meant to encourage us and enrich our lives.

There are many ways to train our minds.  We are all different and, therefore, some things work for some while other things work for others.  I'm going to share how I was able to train my mind.  You can use it all, you can use bits and pieces, or you can throw it all out the window.  Do what works for you.

How I trained my mind to have an active and consistent prayer life:

1.  I begin my day with Jesus.  Before doing anything else, I grab my prayer journal and write out what I am thankful for, personal prayers, and prayers for others.  Prior to beginning, I ask Jesus to show me sins I need to confess and people I need to forgive.  This clears my heart and prepares me to focus on Jesus.  By waking and going to Jesus first thing, I center my thoughts around Him rather than around me.  It has made a HUGE difference in my life.

2.  I committed to reading Scripture daily.  This is often done mid morning or early afternoon.  I have found that this has helped me so much.  If my mind wanders away from the will of Jesus, reading Scripture always brings me back to Him.  This can be five minutes or thirty minutes.  It is dependent upon my day.  However, I generally always stick to it because it has made such a difference in my mindset and heart.

3.  I like to focus on a verse each day.  When I wake in the morning and have something on my heart, I will look for a verse during my prayer time that I know will help center me.  For example, if I am in what if mode, I will think upon Philippians 4:6-8.  If I do not have the verse committed to memory, I will write it down on a small index card and keep it with me.

These practices have been so helpful in training my mind to think upon Jesus throughout the day.  My prayers are short - often one to two sentences - but they are consistent.  For example, if I am outside with my puppy and hear a bird, I will tell Jesus what a beautiful sound He created and thank Him for allowing me to hear it.

Praying consistently has made such an impact on my life.  I feel so very connected to Jesus.  I recognize His presence so often and feel Him speaking to me.  There truly is a peace that surpasses all of my understanding and I know, without a doubt, that it comes from having an active prayer life.

My mom recently said something that was a golden nugget.  I grabbed it and tucked it away for safe keeping hoping to never forget it.  She said, "As I'm praying throughout the day, I don't say Amen.  I keep my heart open so that my prayers are flowing all day."  I love that!  Let your prayers flow all day and feel the transforming effects of a consistent and active prayer life.

Rooting for you and your prayer life,
Marci 💗

Don't Fall for It

 Proverbs 16:18

Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

Good 'ol pride brought Satan down. Funny, he uses pride to bring us down, too. Satan whispers in our ear that our choices to honor our ourselves won't hurt anyone. In fact, if we are happy, the enemy tells us, then everyone around us will be happy too. We hear the "I am" statements and believe them.

I am unhappy with my husband, he's not fun anymore.

I am tired of pleasing everyone else. It's time to focus on me for a change.

I am important, therefore, I can do whatever makes me feel good.

I am overweight, so I choose to starve myself.

I am a good person, so it is okay to make this choice.

We must never forget that there is only one I AM and that is Jesus Christ. Proverbs 16:18 tells us that when we are prideful and arrogant, we will surely have destruction. Who on earth plans to fall?

We do when we allow pride and arrogance to enter our hearts. May we boast in our Lord and Savior and never in ourselves. May our eyes ever be on our Redeemer.

What causes pride to rear its ugly head in your heart? How do you usually respond to it?

Choose well,

Marci💗

The Desperate Plea of a Woman

Are we all tired yet? The fighting. The yelling. The disagreeing that boils down to pride, self promotion, and pure hate.  What really is being accomplished?

The assassination of Charlie Kirk has shaken me to the core. This isn't because I was a die hard fan. It's due to the fact that we are now killing because we feel it is our right as humans to eliminate those we don't agree with. Extremism to its core. 

It is appalling to read all of the posts celebrating the killing of a human being. Celebrating! This is very disturbing, to say the least. Where has the moral compass gone? It has been replaced with a self centered belief that we are the god of ourselves. If it's not pleasing, it's not worth dealing with. People have decided that if someone disagrees with them, they are disposable. While not everyone is out taking the life of those they disagree with, they are certainly, and often, killing them. They kill reputations. They kill with slander and lies. It has become a disgusting war of words. People hide behind screens and blast out nasty insults for their own pleasure. Somehow we have lost basic human respect and kindness. 

What happened to good 'ol fashioned debating? It used to be okay, and actually quite well received, to have healthy debates. People of differing views were able to have civilized disagreements without ruining relationships, spewing hate, and ultimately celebrating their opponent's death. It made the debaters stronger. And sometimes minds were actually changed because people listened to one another and were able to rationally look at ideas critically without pride.

Very rarely is this seen in our country anymore. We have elected officials screaming at each other and verbally attacking one another while standing in positions our tax dollars actually pay them to stand in. It has become such a joke. 

If you are a conservative, you are labeled racist, intolerant, hateful, a fascist, a Nazi, etc. When conservatives call on God in prayer, we are told we are wasting our time. And there lies the problem. People have abandoned the Word of God for the word of the enemy. The story is as old as time. Think back to the serpent asking Eve, "Did God really say...". And the question continues to be posed every single day.

I know a woman whose son was offered an interview at Fox News. The young man refused the interview because he said he would be hung in the public forum if it came out that he was a conservative who loved God. What has happened to moral courage? That topic will be saved for another post, but definitely worth asking yourself and those around you. 

If you are a breathing human being, you should be appalled that a person was killed for his beliefs and words. This shouldn't be a party affiliation outrage. It should be an everybody outrage. If even for a moment you celebrated, you should check your heart. Find the evil that has crept in and do everything to remove it. Celebration for this is a sure sign that the enemy has his stake in you. This should scare you like nothing else. 

In 1991, Rodney King was severely and violently beaten by Los Angeles police officers. The beating was captured on video and released to a news station. It was absolutely horrifying! The officers were brought to trial and subsequentially acquitted. Riots broke out for 6 straight days. Businesses were burned. People lost their lives. It was pure terror for those caught up in the violence. 

Rodney King made a public statement concerning the riots. His remarks should be revisited by all Americans. 

I just want to say – you know – can we, can we all get along? Can we, can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids? And ... I mean we've got enough smog in Los Angeles let alone to deal with setting these fires and things ... It's just not right. It's not right, and it's not going to change anything. We'll get our justice. They've won the battle, but they haven't won the war. We'll get our day in court, and that's all we want. And, just, uh, I love – I'm neutral. I love every – I love people of color. I'm not like they're making me out to be. We've got to quit. We've got to quit; I mean, after all, I could understand the first – upset for the first two hours after the verdict, but to go on, to keep going on like this and to see the security guard shot on the ground – it's just not right. It's just not right, because those people will never go home to their families again. And uh, I mean, please, we can, we can get along here. We all can get along. We just gotta. We gotta. I mean, we're all stuck here for a while. Let's, you know, let's try to work it out. Let's try to beat it, you know. Let's try to work it out.

What is it going to take for our country to come together and respect one another? The last time I truly witnessed such a thing was after 9/11. Let's hope and pray it doesn't take such tragedy for people to lay aside their swords and find common ground and disagree respectfully.

Notice how the different flowers compliment each. What beauty can be had!

Marci

Steadfast Wins the Race

Let’s be honest, we live in a world where we are told that we should look out for number one. To be truly happy, we should be our top priority. We have been conditioned to believe that the purpose of living is to be happy, no matter the cost. 

Life is all about us, right? Wrong! In fact, if you take an inventory of your life, I bet you’ll discover that your happiest moments, most joyous times, are when you are not focused on yourself at all. A bit of upside down thinking in our world.

Jesus has called us to love others and to look at them as more important than ourselves. Our work on this earth is to glorify Him by loving Him best and pouring His love into others. This isn’t always easy. In fact, it sometimes feels downright impossible to love others. Let’s be clear, Jesus never calls us to be a doormat. We are never to condone abuse or bullying of ourselves. That is not love for ourselves or the other person. 

So how can we be steadfast and firm in doing the work of the Lord? We can hold our tongues rather than lashing out. We can be charitable with our time and talents. We can help a neighbor in need. We can put down our phones and have real conversations. We can forgive.

What is something you can do today for the Lord? Whatever it is, be steadfast and firm. Your heart will be glad.

1 Corinthians 15:58 - Be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Go deeper with these corresponding verses:

Galatians 6:9 and Colossians 3:23-24