Life: The 8 Second Ride

From time to time, we host a guest and invite them to write a blog post. My husband, Mike, the love of my life and God's gift to me straight from Heaven wrote today's post. Enjoy!

Life is like an 8 second bull ride! (James 4:14)

You have to ride like there's no tomorrow! (Psalm 90:12)

You have to hang on for all you've got! (Matthew 6:33)

You have to live for the moment! (Philippians 4:6, 7)

And don't wait around to hear the buzzer! (2 Corinthians 5:8)

Father, in the name of Jesus, we pray for every reader today. We understand our life is compared to a vapor, we holdfast to You and Your law of love. Continue to teach us to number our days, our heart's desire is to have a heart of wisdom. We commit to seek You and Your kingdom first in the name of Jesus! We are bold and strong! We are not anxious for or about anything, but in everything we make our requests known to You with prayer, supplication, and thanksgiving! Thank You for peace! Your peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! 

Lighting

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life. (John 8:12, NLT)

Lighting. It's critical to many things, one of which, putting on makeup.

Putting on makeup in a dimly lit room will yield completely different results than putting on make up in a perfectly lit room.

Putting on make-up in a dimly lit room yields:

Missing foundation/eye shadow, etc. In a spot, or two...or three.
Too much blush here and there.
Eyeliner not exactly where it's supposed to be.

Putting on makeup outside on our lanai where the sun shines yields totally different results because I can see more clearly and apply what needs to go where.

The same is true in every day life. When we operate in a life that is dimly lit (void of The Light, Jesus) spots in our lives are missed, we get too much of something or the other, and our lives are just not exactly where they are supposed to be.

When we spend time with Jesus and allow the Son to shine on us, our daily life yields much greater results!

• love
• joy
• peace
• forbearance
• kindness
• goodness
• faithfulness
• gentleness
• self-control

(Galatians 5:22 & 23)

What's your "lighting" like today?

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus, our Light! We follow Him in every circumstance and thank You for The Light that leads to life in excessive abundance!


(John 10:10)

Retail Therapy!

But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:20, AMP)

Last week, I went shopping in Honolulu. I was in my favorite city, shopping at my favorite mall, sharing the whole day with some of my favorite peeps!

I am fully aware of how hard my husband works to provide for us so I paid special attention to purchases, being a good steward of what I was given. I also made sure each purchase was correct; for example, a salesperson accidentally put brown mascara in my bag, I use black. So I asked her to exchange it. I kept an eye on my bags when I walked about, tried on clothes, ate lunch, etc. Since I was in a large city, I paid special attention to my surroundings and made sure my purse and bags were secure.

All that set me to thinking….do I guard my full redemption package (that which will not pass away) as closely as I’ve kept an eye on these bags all day (the things that will pass away)? Would I purchase a full bag of items but leave the store with only one third of the items I paid for?

Then I made an inventory of my full redemption package:

Most Christians would agree, Jesus came to save us, (1 Timothy 1:15) but what else does our "package" include?

Health!

“who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24)

Prosperity!

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers. (3 John 1:2, AMP)

Life!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

In other words, everything good and perfect! (James 1:17)

How do we protect our full redemption package?

• Receive it by faith (Hebrews 11:6)
• Believe without wavering (James 1:6)
• Have confidence in Him (1 John 5:14, 15)
• Hold fast (Hebrews 10:23)
• Give thanks (Ephesians 5:20)

Mahalo Nui Loa!

We would like to take a moment to thank you all who continue to send emails, texts, share Key Tov Blog, retweets, etc. in your support of Key Tov Blog ministering His love, grace and light!

Your encouragement is a blessing! It is such a great honor to be blessed with you in running this race alongside us!

We also want to take this time to encourage you to step up and step out in His call for your life. He has a divine purpose for you! He called you and He is faithful! (1 Corinthians 1:9)

Some of you have expressed to me that you cannot be used because of past mistakes, current struggles, etc. Your time is now! He delivers you! (Psalm 34:19)

Please hear me now! So…you recognize you have weaknesses and struggles…big woo. File all weaknesses and struggles in the, “Big Woo Department” and forget what lies behind and press on to what lies ahead! (Philippians 3:13)

Thank you Dr. Larry Ollison for teaching me the powerful message of, “Big Woo”!

In celebration of our upcoming one year anniversary, and because of your overwhelming encouragement, we want to give something back to you, our phenomenal supporters!

Every time you mention Key Tov Blog on social media from now until 12:00 p.m. our time on August 30^th, 2012, we will add your name in a free drawing for your choice of “Breaking the Cycle of Offense” by Dr. Larry Ollison or “Streams of Living Color: The Light of His Glory” by Pastor Melissa Harris. As an added bonus, I will see what I can do in order to get you a signed copy if possible.

I’ve read both books and God has used the authors to change the course of my life in a power filled way.

But wait! There’s more! We will also include a Visa gift card! The amount to be announced at the time of the drawing! Drawing to be held on August 31^st, 2012.

For more information on Breaking the Cycle of Offense, please use this link.

http://www.walkonthewaterbooks.com/wowbooks/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2

For more information on “Streams of Living Color: The Light of His Glory” please use this link.

http://www.millerhopecenter.org/

To insure each of your mention(s) are in the drawing, please go to our Facebook page and “like” it. We will be acknowledging all mentions on our Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whatsoever-things-are-of-good-report/123471901011836

Drawing Rules:

To insure each of your mentions are included in the drawing, we will acknowledge every mention(s). If at any point we do not acknowledge your mention(s) within 24 hours, please contact us via our Facebook wall so that we may insure your mention(s) are included. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us via our Facebook wall.

Mahalo Nui Loa from the depths of our hearts for your love, encouragement, and support. We are eternally grateful to God for placing in your our lives! And we take to heart every encouraging word, prayer request, and words of life spoken into Key Tov Blog!

The Beautiful Swan

During reading time with my girls, I chose The Ugly Duckling. This is very uncommon because I generally always choose something new to read that they haven't read before. I really sensed a leading from the Holy Spirit to choose this story.

The book explains how the ducks were very mean to the duckling. They pecked the duckling (physical abuse) and said mean things (verbal abuse). They bombarded the duckling from all sides. Then came the geese and herons which were also very mean, saying ugly things and subjecting the duckling to more pecking (abuse/neglect).

Then the duckling got away from the mean ducks, geese and the heron. The book says, "The duckling went off to himself and the duckling grew." Once the duckling relocated itself, it grew. To further elaborate, once the duckling removed itself from exterior pressure, it grew. The book means physically, but I believe we grow spiritually when we get away from exterior pressure. When we remove ourselves from all the "noise" and commune with Him, we lay aside everything that hinders us and we run with perseverance because there is no excess baggage to meditate on. Mediating on the wonderful goodness of God brings light to any situation. 

Then one day, a fellow swan swam over and spoke to the "ugly duckling"...that...had...grown. Even though the duckling had changed, even though it grew, it still saw itself as it was prior to the growth. But the fellow swan saw the "ugly duckling" for what it actually was! A beautiful swan!

Sometimes, we feel like we have been pecked and chipped away at from all sides; parents, spouse, children, work, car problems, bills, medical issues, loneliness, societal "norms" attempting to tell us we don't stack up. All those things are not absolute truth. 

Brother Terry Mize taught me, "I know God is good and I know His Word is Truth. Truth always trumps true. What may be true today, may not be true tomorrow." 


Please allow me to elaborate. Your mother/father/siblings/spouse/children (In other words, anyone who isn't speaking God's Truth which is His Word.) may have said mean things to you to make you believe you are an ugly duckling. But you are not an ugly duckling. You are a child of God. (John 1:12)  He calls you His friend. (John 15:15) You belong to Him. (1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20) 

Ask Him for a verse that reconciles with your spirit. Make that verse yours. You don't need a hundred verses. I believe it was Kenneth Copeland who said, "One word from God can change your life forever". Be faithful in replacing all other "noise" with your scripture. You can trump true with Absolute Truth! (Hebrews 4:12)

You can make the decision to take the Word of God and literally rewire your brain and rewrite your future to align with absolute Truth. Truth trumps true. Choose to take everything that has been said to you and trump it with, "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is mine through Christ, who loves me."

Overwhelming victory is ours!

Take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). Your thoughts are in your head so you control them. Joy must come. (Psalm 30:5)

Therefore if anyone is in Christ...who is in Christ? YOU are in Christ! You are a new creature! All this newness is from God! It doesn't matter what anyone has said to you as a child, or what people say about you now if they gang up on you! Because, if what they say doesn't line up with the Word of God, it is a lie, how exciting! And since that is truth, you don't have to think on it! (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Consider this, perhaps others have said things to you not based on what how they see you but through filters they view themselves through. Perhaps they have more issues with themselves than they do with you but they have used you for their fall guy. 

And 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 that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

What are you going to think of yourself? What are you going to say about yourself? 

Are you going to base your thoughts and words in light of what others have thought and said? Or according to His marvelous light and dependent on what He thinks and according to what He has said? 

This choice is not only about you. It is also about your descendants.
This is truly your choice, so always, always, choose life! (Deuteronomy 30:19)