Are you a half-full or half-empty?

"I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."- Martha Washington

How true is that quote from Martha Washington! If someone were to describe you today, would they say you were positive or negative? Hmmm....I hope that made you think. What about your friends...would you say some of them are positive people--finding good or opportunity in things we may consider "bad" or are they negative---putting people down or even themselves! Now don't get me wrong, there are some things we should have a negative attitude against (sin), but what I mean here is that you are always the Debbie Downer---grumpy!

My grandmother used to always say to me that a bad apple always spoils the bunch. That applies here too! When you surround yourself with those who possess negative attitudes, what do you think is going to happen to you? What if you are the problem? Do you think people want to be around that? SAY NO TO DRAMA!!

Sunday night Wilson pierced my heart with the words he spoke to us. I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed to hear that. He brought us back to Numbers 13 and 14 with two very positive men: Joshua and Caleb. Moses and Aaron had brought the children of Israel to a great land--one that flows with milk and honey (13:27). But there was a problem--the people whom dwelled the land were STRONG and LARGE! The men that had spied out the land complained to Moses and Aaron because they didn't think they could overtake the giants! They even stated: "Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt (14:3)?"

YES, YOU DID READ THIS RIGHT! THEY WANTED TO GO BACK TO EGYPT! They weren't seeing the opportunity that God laid in front of them. They weren't relying on God to get them through this...except for Joshua and Caleb.

But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of their land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them." (14:6-9)
The Lord is with us....how true is that! Did the children of Israel think that? No! So, they ended up being attacked by the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in the mountains pushing them back as far as Horman (14:45) all because of their negative attitudes!

Is that true for us today? You bet! What about when your parents ask you to do your chores? Or what about doing something for the older generation? Or what about even going to church? What is your attitude like? Do you see everything as half-full or half-empty?

As I close these thoughts, I have a passage I would love for you to read each day this week. What better thoughts than to know who is for us and who will never leave us!

Romans 8:31-29
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us form the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long: We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To think, Paul...a man who was put in prison, beaten, persecuted....wrote those inspired words. As much as he struggled with and he still looked at the positive side!

Little Red Box

This week Cason Lane is holding our VBS. I LOVE VBS! I love hearing the little children sing their simple songs that teach amazing lessons and seeing the excitement they have all because they are there to learn more about God's Word. What I can learn from their enthusiasm!

One of my all time favorite VBS songs happens to be "Little Red Box." Look at the lessons we can learn all from this simple song!

If I had a little red box to put my good friends in,
I'd take them out and play with them and put them back again.
Look at the advice we get from God's word dealing with friends or friendship:

• Make no friendship with a man given to anger,nor go with a wrathful man,or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.Proverbs 22:24-25
• Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up.Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
• This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:12-15
• A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.Prov 17:17

I didn't even begin to touch what is in God's Word about friends/friendship. Does it matter who your friends are? Do they make good choices? Are they rubbing off on you for the good or for the "not so good." Look again at John 15: 12-15. Are you friends with the best friend you could have in the WHOLE WORLD??

If I had a little red box to put my enemies in,
I'd take them out and pray for them and put them back again.
Look at Stephen (Acts 6:8-15, 7:1-60)..this is one of the stories we are studying just this week!
Here is a man that was full of faith and power and did great wonders and signs among the people so that they would know this was of God (v. 8) but ended up being accused of blaspheme. He continued to teach...staying steadfast in his faith...even though he knew he was facing a "tough" crowd that eventually stones him to death. But you know, the story doesn't stop here. As they were stoning him , he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." (Acts 7:60) WOW! Do you do that for your enemies? Do you pray for them? Do you ask God to forgive them? It is HARD to! Someone crosses you, you don't want anything to do with them, right? But is that what we are taught? No, and we had an even greater example of this when Jesus died on the cross because what did he say? "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34)

If I had a little red box to put the devil in,
I'd take him out and beat him up and put him back again.
Peter warns us in 1 Peter 5:8 about the devil. "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
Read what I mentioned before in the Shield post:
WOW! Is God your shield? Everyday we are faced with temptation. I recently read in a book that the devil has over 27 names in the New Testament. Does that not scare you? That sure doesn't sit well with me. We are up against an enemy who is always lurking over our shoulder. Jesus even calls him the wicked one (Matthew 13:19), the enemy (Matthew 13:39), Beelzebub (Mark 3:22), strong one Luke 11:22), murderer (John 8:44), father of lies (John 8:44), and prince of this world (John 12:31).

If I had a little red box to put my Jesus in,
I'd take him out and never put Him back, and never put Him back again.
Have you put on Christ? Look at Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:6, 26-40. An angel speaks to Philip telling him to go to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza and he did without arguing. There he finds a eunuch in a chariot reading from the book of Isaiah (53:7) and he asks him who Isaiah was talking about. Philip begins to teach him about Jesus. The eunuch knew from Philip's teaching that he needed to be baptized so as they came upon a body of water, he asked to be! Philip then said to him, "If you believe with all your heart you may," and what did the eunuch say? I BELIEVE THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD and he was then baptized!


All these lessons we learn from one simple song...I have a challenge for you this week. Take the song "This Little Light of Mine" and see how they apply to your life, much like "Little Red Box."

This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine, let it shine all the time let it shine.

Don't let Satan (blow) it out, I'm going to let it shine. Don't let Satan (blow) it out, I'm going to let it shine, let it shine all the time let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, NO! I'm going to let it shine. Hide it under a bushel, NO! I"m going to let it shine, let it shine all the time let it shine.

Perseverance-The Story of Mordecai

Have you ever had just one of those weeks where:

• Nothing seems to go right
• You don't feel like you are accomplishing anything
• You are just "down in the dumps"

I had a word jump out at me while studying for a bible lesson this past week: PERSEVERANCE.

Dictionary.com defines it as steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

One of the characters in the book of Esther had to persevere through many challenges. Look at Mordecai. He overcame so many difficult times in his life.

1. He had to raise his cousin's daughter (Esther 2:7).
2. He had to watch Esther being taken to the women's quarters so she could get "beauty preparations" so that she "might" become queen (Esther 2). I would be nervous about this...a household...full of women wanting to become queen...no telling what could happen in there!
3. Mordecai discovered a plot in which two of eunuch's at the gate wanted to lay hands on the king. He had Esther inform the king in his name and wasn't given anything for it! Talk about a blow to your ego! But, did he let that bother him? (2:17-23)
4. Mordecai wouldn't pay homage to Haman, which made Haman mad! So, Haman was filled with wrath and decided to destroy all the Jews! Read 4:1-4 in Esther! This upset Mordecai so much that he tore his clothes and put on the sackcloth and cried out in the midst of the city! I think he was under some distress...but did he stop here? NO! He had a plan....Read on in Chapter 4 to find out what it was!

Mordecai never stopped persevering! Troubles came his way, but did he ever stop loving the Lord? Did he ever stop believing in what the Lord could do for him such as saving his people? Mordecai ends up getting the king's signet ring and appointed over the house of Haman since Haman was hanged for plotting against the Jews. (8:2). Keep on keepin' on just as Mordecai did!

In the Sermon on the Mount we learn about the virtue of persevering. In Matthew 7:7-11, we are taught to Keep on Asking...Keep on Seeking....Keep on Finding!

Jesus teaches also teaches us about persistance in a couple of parables.

• Parable of the Persistant Friend (Luke 11:5-8)
• Parable of the Persistant Widow (Luke18:1-8)

Read over those this week...when you are thinking that you can't go on, remember, you aren't alone in this! Make God your life and not part of your life! He wants control!

When Life Hands You Lemons...Make Lemonade

Last week I shared with you some thoughts of King Xerxes and Queen Vashti from the book of Esther. We found out that Queen Vashti didn't do as King Xerxes wanted and now we no longer have a Queen...
UNTIL Chapter 2 of Esther.
Here is a summary (Read in Chapter 2:1-4)

• beautiful young women are to be brought into the women's quarters under the custody of Hegai the king's eunuch
• BEAUTY preparations are to be given to them--you know like what we might buy at a store--facials, ect.
• The young woman who pleases the king will be queen instead of Vashti

Sounds simple, right? Umm...that sounds like a place full of CHAOS to me! The show "The Bachelor" isn't anything new is it? That plot happened years AGO!!

So how does Esther fit into the picture? Read verse 7 of Chapter 2 and you will find out a TON of background knowledge on her. "And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter."

She is an a beautiful young woman whose parents have passed away and she has been raised by her cousin...Sounds like she has been thrown a LOT of lemons in her life hasn't she? Have you ever had something happen to you that has changed your entire life--loss of family member or friend, a move, divorce, an illness, break-up of boyfriend or you and a friend having a falling out? How do you deal with it? Were you as easy-going as Esther was?

Esther gained favor in the eunuch's eyes (verse 9) as she lived in the women's quarters. Did it say how...no, but do you imagine it was just with how she looked? Probably not. If someone gains "favor" in your eyes it probably isn't just with the outward beauty, but also the inward! The eunuch gave her "extra" beauty preparations and the best place in the house!

**Verse 10 we see something...Esther had not revealed her people or family because Mordecai didn't want her to..What does that mean? Well, she was a Jew. REMEMBER THAT BECAUSE IT WILL BE VERY IMPORTANT LATER ON IN THE BOOK! Tuck it in the back of your memory!!**

We see in Verse 11 that Mordecai loved her as his own daughter! He was pacing back in front of the court of the women's quarters to learn what was happening to her. I think if I was Esther's guardian I would be doing the same thing! She is living in a place with a TON of girls getting beauty preparations for over a year so that they can be presented to the King and gain favor in his eyes so the next queen can be named...You know what happens in a place where a bunch of females are---you know there are more than likely going to be problems!

So, here comes Esther's turn to be presented to King Xerxes...Do you think she was nervous? I imagine she was! But, she went into the king and requested nothing except what the eunuch had advised and she obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. Not only them, but who else loved her more than all the other women? The KING!! And the crown was placed upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti! (2:15-19)

Esther had already dealt with a lot in her young lifetime---more than most of us could even imagine....but did she "hate" the world due to the circumstances that surrounded her? NO! It sounds like she took the lemons and made lemonade with them. She relied on God through everything...and we will see that even more as we continue through and see what other lemons were handed her way.

Remember Isaiah 41:10: Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous Hand!

No matter what you are dealing with, God is with you! He will never leave you! Trust Him! Turn the "bad" things in your life to something that is GOOD! Maybe you can help someone else who is dealing with something that has troubled you!