Negativity Part 1

Now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8)

*These devotions are out of a book (I'll post the book hopefully today) so the story's that are shared are from the lady's that wrote the book*

On a recent missions trip, Gina (not her real name) was the resident drama queen. She complained when her team didn't have time for a sit-down meal in the airport. Then, she verbalized her stress again and again about how nervous she was about missing the flight. When the team decided to shop for a while, she told everyone they had to go to the gate. On and on and on the negativity went, and the teens hadn't even left the United States yet. She drained the life right out of the team, and no one wanted to spend time with her.

 

There is so much to be positive about, though if we spend to much time focusing on the drama of our circumstances, we might miss this fact. Paul's words are refreshingly positive. As long as something, anything...whatever floats our boat...passes the litmus test of being excellent and worthy of praise when held up to the light of God's truth, Paul exhorts us to think on these things. Not focus on what could go wrong or what is wrong with something, anything.

 

The only time a negative comment is needed is when you are saying passes Paul's test. And here's the test:

• Is what you are saying true?
• Is it honorable?
• Is what you are saying right?
• Are your motives pure?
• Are you acting in a lovely manner?
• Is this criticism admirable?

 By asking yourself if what you're saying passes this test, you'll be more positive. For example, there's no need to complain about missing a flight until you are less than fifteen minutes away from departure nowhere near the gate. Until then, what you are saying isn't true!

Action Plan

Which of the above questions do you need to work on the most? Spend a day thinking about all six, and select one to work on over the next week.

How Do I Achieve Excellence?

They were completely amazed and said again and again, "Everything [Jesus] does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak." (Mark 7:37)


Imagine this: you are at a training session at your job that could potentially result in a promotion, and that boss stands before you holding six ping-pong balls. He tosses the first and you snagged from the air. Before you can blink he makes the next toss...all five remaining balls have been gently lofted in the air at once. Panicked, you immediately try to gather all five and in the process you drop the one you have already caught. Afterward, you meet the newly promoted assistant manager, who had also attended the training session. Wondering how she won the job so quickly you ask her about it. "I was the only one who reached out for just one ball when all five or tossed," she says.

I hope you want to be regarded as living with excellence in this world where most people settle for average. The key to excellence is identify your two ping-pong balls so to speak. That's all you can catch. The areas in which you can excel are endless. You may be a gifted evangelist. Perhaps you have a gift for math are you would like to write. You may love cars, hair design, or dog training. Any of the above can be done to the glory of God's kingdom. Any can be done with the utmost excellence...that is if you're willing to let the other balls drop. 

It is possible to live a life of excellence and today we want to key in on one element of such a life: simplicity. You cannot be good at everything but everything you can be done well. The main thing keeping us from being good at everything we do is that we don't know how to say no!

The Art of Listening

I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you. (Matthew 12:36-37)

What are some of your pet peeves when talking with others? Do any of these ring a bell?

• people who talk with their mouths full
• people who interrupt
• people who never laugh at your jokes
• people whose eyes dart all over the room as you are speaking
• people who are always on their phones

Writer Doug Larson said wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk. Maybe friendship is the reward you get for listening when you really don't feel like it, when you've heard your friend's complaints a hundred times or when no one else will. Want to play a quick game of "Truth Is"? The truth is, most people would really prefer to have their own needs stated before they prefer to listen to someone else's. And the truth is, friendships can only grow when both people are willing to do some sacrificial listening.

Jesus is speaking here of "idle" behavior...words we may not even remember speaking. Times we turned a deaf ear but thought nothing of it. Even in the moments we pay no attention, Jesus is present. We are not saved by works (see Ephesians 2:9), but that is not the heart of Jesus' message. It's not that listeners go to heaven and ignores do not. Jesus' point here is that our words (and in turn our silence), even the idle one, reveal the condition of our hearts. It's impossible to have a heart ready to be a friend if we have lips unwilling to silence themselves long enough to hear someone else out.


Action Step
Practice listening today. Share your opinion only when asked. Ask others a lot of questions, then shut your mouth and listen! 





 

First Impression

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (1 Peter 2:12)

We hear a lot of freethinking mosaics (that's your generation's nickname) declaring they don't care what people think. In fact, we take great pains to paint a picture for others detailing precisely how we wish to be viewed.

There are a couple of ways to secure a good first impression. The first is to be committed to listening. Whispering and goofing off during instruction is not just a high school phenomenon. It has reached almost epidemic proportions accross all ages groups in our culture, and it never fails to communicate one very clear message...I don't care at all about what your saying.

Take time to remember and use names. Names are important to everyone's identity, including your teachers. Remembering, using, and correctly spelling a teacher's name is an indicator of respect...ahem, which they deserve.

*This also goes with co-workers, business owners. Everyone you come to contact with*

Finally, don't talk to much in general! Talking shows off how much we know, which to our embarrassment often turns out to be very little. Listening proves we are willing to become wise.

In today's verse, Peter is exhorting a church often accused of disloyalty to the Roman government that they should be making every effort to prove God's goodness through their behavior. Our good reputation, in other words, belongs also to God if we claim to belong to him. The classroom is a great place to start practicing a life that draws others to the person of Jesus.

25 Flat Belly Sassy Water Recipes

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Sweet-Tart

Stir together 2 cups pineapple chunks, 1 cup pitted and halved fresh cherries, and three cored and thinly sliced granny smith apples. 

Strawberry Basil Blast

Scrunch 8 fresh basil leaves to release their flavor. Combine them with 3 cups halved strawberries, and gently muddle with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Apples And Cinnamon

Combine five cored and thinly sliced apples (your favorite variety) with five whole cinnamon sticks.

Slightly Spicy

Stir together two thinly sliced cucumbers and two seeded and sliced jalapeño peppers.

Grape Melon Medley

Stir together 4 cups cantaloupe chunks and 2 cups halved grapes.

Peach Pie

Gently crush two vanilla beans with a wooden spoon or spatula. Stir them into six pitted and sliced peaches.

Melon-Lime

Muddle three thinly sliced limes. Combine them with 4 cups honeydew melon chunks.

Cherries Jubilee

Combine 2 cups pitted and halved fresh cherries, three thinly sliced lemons, and two vanilla beans. Gently muddle with a wooden spoon or spatula. 

Pear-fect Ginger

Stir together five cored and sliced pears and 10 thin slices fresh ginger.

Mango Mojito

Scrunch six mint sprigs to release their flavor. Combine them with 3 cups cubed mango (fresh or frozen) and two thinly sliced limes; gently muddle with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Vanilla Latte

Gently crush two vanilla beans with a wooden spoon or spatula. Combine them with 2 cups whole coffee beans.

Strawberry Kiwi Cooler

Combine 3 cups halved strawberries, three thinly sliced kiwis, and two thinly sliced lemons. Gently muddle all of the ingredients together.

Citrus Sensation

Combine two thinly sliced lemons, two thinly sliced limes, two thinly sliced grapefruits, and two thinly sliced oranges. Gently muddle with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Raspberry Rosemary Zinger

Scrunch four sprigs rosemary. Combine them with 2 cups raspberries and six thinly sliced lemons, and muddle.

Berry-licious

Combine 2 cups raspberries and 2 cups blackberries. Crush them gently with a wooden spoon or spatula.

Pineapple Potion

Stir together 4 cups pineapple chunks and 10 slices fresh ginger.

Tropical Twist

Stir together 2 cups pineapple chunks, 2 cups mango chunks (fresh or frozen), and one thinly sliced starfruit.

Orangeberry

Gently muddle five thinly sliced oranges and 2 cups raspberries.

Boost your Calorie Burn

To boost your calorie burn, do this 25-minute cardio workout, developed by trainer Tim Adams, up to five days per week. Walk, run, swim or bike. It's your choice. By day 6, you'll look and feel slimmer!

Time	Phase	Perceived level of exertion*
3 minutes	warm up	3
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
2 minutes	recover	3
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
90 seconds	recover	4
30 seconds	sprint	9
5 minutes	cool down	3

*Rate your intensity on a scale of 1 to 10. One is about the effort it takes to raise a glass of wine to your lips. A 10 is a "Whoa, Nelly! I can hardly speak" effort.

Sneetches Are Sneetches

How can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? (James 2:1)

Dr. Seuss was an absolute genius with an eye for both pictures and stories to entertain the youngest of children, while simultaneously teaching those of us who are more mature a deep truth. Take the Sneetches for example. 

That same enterprising man then convinces the original star-bellied Sneetches that stars are so yesterday, and he is able to remove their stars so they can once again establish themselves as the best Sneetches on the beaches. Throughout an entire day, every Sneetch on the beach runs through an endless process of having stars put on and then removed until they can no longer tell who is an original star-bellied Sneetch and who is an original naked-bellied Sneetch. By then it is too late...the man with the marvelous star machine is driving off with all of their money, laughing and proclaiming, "You just can't teach a Sneetch."

Oh yes, girls, we are Sneetches. Our stars are many different things, but somehow we have become convinced others can in fact be less than we are based on completely shallow criteria. Not only are people profiting off of our ignorance (for a fee they will make you believe you look like all the other Sneetches), but we are falling for the lie that those who don't look like us or who can't afford the same things are somehow less than we are.

How then do we justify regarding others as greater or lesser? Do you see the problem? It's not that differences between us do not exist. Some are better athletes than others. Some can sing, and others cannot. Some have the ability to study astrophysics, and others would never have that ability. Yet non of our abilities or attributes makes us greater or lesser in the Kingdom...it's time to kiss the Queen Bee mentality good-bye!