Are you seeking the Lord?

Psalms 143:8 "Cause me to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning: for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee."

A few weeks ago I was talking with someone about the way I was feeling and trying to sort things out, and she made a statement that really hit home. Basically what she said to me was get back to your Bible morning and evening. At first I was hurt, but over the past week I realized she wasn't trying to hurt me, she was being the person she should be and telling me like it was. We have a Bible that was written by our heavenly Father and we need to use it!

If she is reading this I want to say thank you!

Well, then I hear a sermon and if you're on Facebook you may have seen my question this morning. "Are you applying the preaching of God's word to your life?" I knew that what my dear, dear friend said to me and then the sermon that was preached was saying ok your down, your struggling, your going through a healing process but God's hasn't gone anywhere! His word hasn't changed one bit! So what are you waiting for?!

Then this morning I read Ps 143:8 WOW!! He's waiting to show us the way, his loving kindness is new every morning, we just need to lift up our souls to him! What a great way to start your morning.

This is just a little nugget from God's word I wanted to share with you.
 

Mark 16:15

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

Are you sharing the gospel with others? Part of living on the bright side is sharing the gospel so that others also may know the Love of God and have eternal life.

 

Jeremiah 33:3

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

Have a need? Do as Jeremiah 33:3 says and call upon the Lord.

Nehemiah 8:10

"Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength."


Always remember God is your strength no matter what the day may bring.

Isaiah 26:4

"Trust ye in the Lord for ever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength:"

Hebrews 13:1

 "Let brotherly love continue."

 

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light...."

1. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Saviour, And life more abundant and free!

Chorus:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

As I was reading this morning I came across Acts 26:18 and this song came to mind. Then I looked in our hymn book and that verse was at the top of this song. No matter your trial you can turn your eyes upon Jesus.

3. His word shall not fail you He promised; Believe Him, and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying, His perfect salvation to tell!

This is so very true God's promises never fail! We may not always see them as we should at first but Praise the Lord they don't fail.



 

Children - Living on the Bright Side of Life

Can you believe we're in Feb already?! Where did January go??
You children are wonderful people doesn't matter if they are infants, toddlers, children, teens, young adults or adults. They are YOUR children they are loaned to you for a reason, for a purpose, for us to lead, guide and show the way. In the end it is up to each child how they go but prayerfully they will not depart from their teaching and training.

We have 5 children as many of you know. Praise the Lord thus far each of our children have followed their training. What can you do to help your children Live on the bright side of life and cont to live that way even after they are on their own.

1. Be an example - If you live for God on Sunday and live like the world Monday through Saturday. You aren't being a good example. The Bible tells us "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8

We are too live as God would live - be Christ like. Live for God not 1, not 2, not 4, BUT 7 days a week!! When your children see you living on the bright side of life they will be more likely to do the same.

2. Faithfulness - Do your children see you being faithful or do they see you being hit and miss. Faithful to what you ask? Your Bible reading, Your Prayer life, Your ministry, Your church, Your wife/husband, your children. Yes we need to faithful in ALL areas of life. In I Corinthians 4:17 we are told, "For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which in Christ...."

Are you faithful? Faithfulness is a sure fire way of living on the bright side of life.

Friend it doesn't matter if you are single parent, divorced, separated, or married YOU as a parent can teach YOUR children to be and to live on the bright side of life. We need to be their instructor. We need to as parents be their illustration. If you aren't sure how to do this, go to the Word of God, go to your Pastor, Youth Pastor etc. You can raise children who live on the bright side of life.

You will receive the strength you need to help these dear precious children grow in the Lord.
Colossians 1:10 - 11 "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;"

Lets do all we can to Live on the bright side and be the example, be faithful, be their instructor to the best of our ability.

Honoring others

Ephesians 6:2 "Honour thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise."

In honoring our parents we can make their lives a little Brighter. When one stops and thinks of all the things Dad and mom does for them from the time they find out they are expecting, or getting from an adoption agency thy begin to plan and think of all that they will do for that baby.

They begin preparing and planning, decorating, purchasing the items you will need. They made life for you as Bright and enjoyable as thy possibly could. Many cases you were trained to obey, you were taken to church weekly, maybe you were a bus kid, maybe someone knocked on your door and invited you to church. No matter how you were raised, no matter how you were cared for God was there and you were given the opportunity to Live on the Bright Side of Life.  I realize that there are those who never did, haven't, and may not get the blessing of such  life. However, as we, the children who are now grown and have children of our own go about life. We not only do all we can to make things bright and cheerful for our children but need to NOT forget those who had a GREAT part in our lives when we were growing up.

Today, Monday, Jan 26th is my mom's Birthday (a recent picture of my parents)  

 and many others whom I know have birthday's today. The One though that I think of most today is my Mom! I love mom very much and I'm very thankful to still have her around and to be able to Honor her, on her day. I don't get to see her, but I do get to talk to her on the phone, and send her things. I don't just do these things on her birthday or mothers day, but year around because I want to make her life a little brighter even when we can't just drive across town and visit each other.

So may I ask, "Who could you Honor and bring a ray sunshine into their life today?" 
My prayer is that this will help to remind someone that you do have special people in your life. That they as well as you need to have a little sunshine from someone who wanted to Brighten up your life.

Sunshine - Bright Side Living

Do you bring a Ray of Sunshine into people's lives? Whenever you are going through life, doing your shopping, going to church, going to school, even going to work do people say something like "Here comes Sunshine" or Well, here comes the gloom of the day.....

If we decide daily to live on the Bright side and bring a ray of sunshine into others lives when you walk into room or crowd of people they will be happy to see you. Not because you're the life of the Party but because you are Positive and uplifting and a joy to be around.

I had this as a opener for one of my monthly ladies meeting I was to have this year. It's more of a challenge to be a Positive person and encourage those who will become a Ray of Sunshine. Can you live on the bright side of life and share a little of that sunshine as you go through life?!

Learnig to live on the Bright Side of Life

What can we do to learn to live on the the bright side?

First off is knowing you are saved. The Bible tells us in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

See friend, God loved the world so much that he gave his Only Son! Not a son, but his only SON. How many of us love the lost of this world that much? Sad to say none of us love that much. Do we strive to, I would hope so.

God took my sin, your sin, the WHOLE WORLDS SIN on himself. That's a powerful, amazing love. Why? So you an i, the whole world can have a home in Heaven.

Will you accept that free Gift? Once you have accepted Christ into your heart you can then start living on the bright side.

Next would be to forgive those who have wronged you. This isn't always easy to do. I will say, this particular point is for me as well as the one reading. As we go through life people will hurt us, and we to will hurt people but as has been said, we hurt those we love the most. Do we mean to hurt them? Usually not when there are times the who purpose is to ruin them or hurt them. As Christians though we are forgive 70 x 7!

Matthew 18:21-22 "...how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."

Once you can forgive living on the bright side of life will be easier. Let not the son go down upon they wrath.

Lastly, living on the Bright side of life we are to follow the Lords will! Has the Lord laid something upon your heart that you are to do? Have you given your all to do this His will. As a 13 yr old I surrendered to what I believe is what the Lord would have me do. I have done as he wanted, at this time we are in waiting period but my husband and I believe the Lord has something for us. The road maybe rough and we may not understand all that is happening but Praise the Lord he will use us as we want to be in God's Will and not ours.

We are now in the middle of Jan 2015 what are you doing to make your life bright and to live on the bright side of life?

What will keep you from seeing the Bright Side of Life?

Will you allow sickness? Will you allow a job situation? maybe a water problem in your home? I know, having only 1 car not able to make to church all the time, or to church events? Better yet, How about not seeing the bright side of life because you just think no one loves you and everyone in the world is against you.

I know some of these are crazy right? Some of these though people actually do allow those things to dim the light of their life by complaining, getting depressed, listening to gossip, maybe you are the one spreading the gossip.....

Phil 4:13 tells us, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

You can see the bright side of life no matter what the struggle, heartache, trouble. I know it may take more to actually see it, but you know what I decided November 27th of last year that yes, Satan may think he's getting our family and that he's going to bring down yet another, BUT with Christ this lady is going to cont. to pray and keep her family before the Lord and with HIS help I'll be strengthened because of what's happened and I can through all things see the bright side of life.

Do I get discouraged? YES!! In the last 2 months I've had days where I was extremely discouraged, I didn't know which was up, I felt as though I was running in circles with no way out. I didn't allow myself to stay that way though. See, I have the Lord, my husband, my children, my (new) Pastor his wonderful wife and Godly friends, to help not only myself but my family through.

So, I say to you, "What are you going to allow you, Not to see the Bright Side of Life?" OR "Are you going to go on through Christ and though dim at times you'll see the Bright Side of Life?"

The choice is yours friend, but may I recommend Phil 4:13 be your way of seeing the bright side of life and cont. to serve, work, and depend on God as though everything was just right.

Is the Lord enough, for Living on the Bright Side in 2015?

Is God enough for you?  I need my relation ship with God right each day in order to grow and be closer to Him. One of the ways I'm going to do that is by following Him II Timothy 2:15  "Study to shew thyself approved unto God...."

Today I was talking with someone and she said to me, "...but you relying on God's strength = Enough!" You know even when I feel I can't go any further, or I can't do any better, God is there to give the strength needed and therefore that is Enough! Just as she said!

Then I have a book I've been reading where the author speaks about God being enough. Now let me ask you, "Is God really enough for you this year?"

Is God your rock? Do you depend on him for your defense? When things happen in our lives that we don't understand and our path is changed in such a way that we are questioning what is going on..... Is God enough? Do you allow Him to be your rock! 
Psalms 62:2 "He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved."

This year 2015 I want to make sure that I allow the Lord to be what I need not only for me and my family but for our defense! He knows the truth and he alone can take care of us.

So as you look at your life, Is God enough?

 

How can you live on the Bright Side in 2015?

One of the things I want to make this year even better and live on the Bright Side is through my relationships.

1. With the Lord - I need my relation ship with God right each day in order to grow and be closer to Him.  "Study to shew thyself approved unto God...." II Timothy 2:15

2. With my Husband - If have the right relationship with the Lord I'll be able to have the right relationship with my husband.  "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Ephesians 5:22

3. With your children - If you have the HEART of your children you will have them.

4. With your friends - "A man who hath friends mush shew himself friendly, and there is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother."  Proverbs 18:24

These are just a few ways you can live on the bright side with your relationships.
What will you choose?

I know personally that I have area's of my relationships that I can work on. My goal is, in 2015 to build these and have a relationship in many area's 100% better than in 2014. Who will join me in this endeavor to grow our relationships?

Just a few thoughts on this 2nd day of January, 2015.

Happy New Year - 2015

Can you believe it Jan 1, 2015?! Well, I'm looking forward to this year. Before things happened back in November, I had some plans for a theme, well I've decided to use this them right here! So this year ALL my post will be tagged "Living on the Bright Side" and unless the Lord leads differently I will be posting on things about Living on the Bright Side.

Hope you have a GREAT New Year!!