Angel's Reflections

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38 NIV)

Yesterday, a friend of mine called me to check on me. Wanted to see if I was o.k. since I sent my daughter to her first day of kindergarten. (More details and pics. on that later.)
I said I was fine, not many tears. However, I poured some things on her about other things in my life. We both shared about what God is doing in us, and the struggles we are facing at the same time. Although, yet again, I felt as if I was the one that got the most ministering to. She encouraged me and spoke so much life into my circumstances, then showed up on my door step with flowers, among other things, God bless her!

Lately I have felt like so many have been pouring into me. When she showed up on my doorstep I cried, and told her how I didn’t expect all that she did for me. She said “I knew you were going to say that. You know how to give, now you need to receive.” (I must say I think none of us realize how much we struggle with receiving until we have to receive) Then another friend called me last night. She wanted to cry on me, and share her struggles, which I was more than happy to oblige. I was specifically chosen since she knew I was in the same boat with her. I turned around and gave back to her all that had been poured into me that morning. Only I couldn’t take her flowers because we are states away. After feeling better about her situation she went on to feel bad for “dumping” on me. I told her that was not necessary. I was able to release what I had received. Then I said “if you want to feel better about it, go tomorrow and find someone to share this with”.

There is something about sharing your faith that actually stirs it up. Speaking out what you know to be true, even when your feelings dictate otherwise, somehow breaks off the depression and breathes life right back into you!

It reminded me of a former post I had written:

Joyce Meyers wrote in “The Confident Woman” of two seas that the Jordan River flows into. The first is life-giving; children play and swim there, and it is full of fish, and life, and trees grow by its shore. The second has none of those things. It has no life, no fish, no trees. The water is so full of salt that you would float if you tried to swim in it. The first one is the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus taught and could often be found. The second, I am sure you have guessed, is the Dead Sea. One has life, the other death. Why? They both form from the same river. Yet only one both receives and gives freely, and breeds life. The other takes in, gives nothing of itself, is isolated, and death is all that is there. I have even recently heard reports on the news that the Dead Sea is slowly disappearing, half of what it was, and no one knows why.

Think about that for a moment … the difference between life and death is giving of what you have and receiving from others what you don’t.

There are a lot of answers to this question. According to Paul in Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” I have heard this verse all my life. I know that in essence faith sees and knows what the human eye does not. Because I have grown up in faith it is something I have a hard time explaining in simple terms, honestly I have a hard time understanding it in simple terms. It sort of takes faith to understand faith.

I know it may seem I am not making sense, today. But that is sort of my point. It is hard to know if you are walking in faith when struggling through a circumstance. The thoughts of doubt. The voices of “reason” both externally and internally all scream at you. Then you become frustrated that you are now doubting again. Oh what a game that is played. I am not even sure how much of the game involves the attack of the enemy, and how much is our own doing. Still battling that one out as well.

This past week, a conversation turned into counseling between me and two other ladies. All three of us facing our own struggles and walking out even trying to understand the “whys” of our circumstances. You know “Why does God do it this way?”, “Why does God allow this to happen?”. The “whys” that catapult us into a spiral of more questions unanswered, and even more frustrated than before. Then one of them, Dr. Beth, made a profound statement. (I must say she made many, but this one really stuck with me) She said “Faith is not believing God for something, it is believing God through something”

It is not about never having a thought of doubt. See I may wonder why I have not had the breakthrough in my life. I may have doubts about the “whens” and “hows” and “whys”, but I never doubt the “who”. Faith is that no matter what my circumstances are God is still who He says He is. He is still the God of more than enough, He is still my provider, He is still the God of healing, He is still the God of life and life more abundantly, He is still the God who fulfills His promises, He is still all that I need, no matter what my circumstances tell me. Now apply this to Hebrews 11:1, Faith believes in God even when circumstances tell us otherwise.

I am currently reading Joyce Meyer’s book “Battlefield of the Mind”. Today, I simply want to share an excerpt from this book. It has already shown me so much about my thought life. I hope this helps you, and possibly encourages you to go get the book.

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” Proverbs 23:7
Positive minds produce positive lives. Negative minds produce negative lives. Positive thoughts are always full of faith and hope. Negative thoughts are always full of fear and doubt… Many years ago, I was extremely negative. I always say that if I thought two positive thoughts in a row my mind would get in a cramp. My whole philosophy on life was this: “If you don’t expect anything good to happen, then you won’t be disappointed when it doesn’t.”

When I really began to study the Word and to trust God to restore me, one of the first things I realized was that the negativism had to go. In Matthew 8:13 Jesus tells us that it will be done for us as we have believed. The king James version says, “…as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee…” Everything I believed was negative, so naturally many negative things happened to me.

This doesn’t mean that you and I can get whatever we want by just thinking about it. God has a perfect plan for each of us, and we can’t control Him with our thoughts and words. But, we must think and speak in agreement with His will and plan for us.

If you don’t have any idea what God’s will is for you at this point, at least begin by thinking, “Well, I don’t know God’s plan, but I know He loves me. Whatever He does will be good, and I’ll be blessed.”

Begin to think positively about your life. Practice being positive in every situation that arises. Even if whatever is taking place in your life at the moment is not so good, expect God to bring good out of it, as He promised in His word. (Romans 8:28)

Even a person who is really positive won’t have everything work out the way he would like it to all the time. But the positive person can go ahead and decide to enjoy himself no matter what happens. The negative person never enjoys anything.