New Blog!

Hi Everyone!! As much as I like this website, I am going to use a different blog website. If you want to follow me or see it , please comment and I will give you the link via email. Thanks!!

Mental Diet: Getting rid of the Junk and Thinking Healthy Thoughts

Philippians 4:8

New International Version (NIV)

 ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Just for today, no matter where I am going, or what I am doing, or who I am doing it with, it is my intention to focus on the positive. Lucy MacDonald

Don't be so hard on yourself. Don't ever give up trying to live out your faith because of your weakness. I give you grace when you've gone the wrong way. I am here waiting to make all your wrongs right and to heal all your hurts. I love you no matter what you've done or said. Now walk in freedom from the past and open my gift of a new start

A healthy mind produces joy like a healthy body produces energy - Tom Newberry

Good Morning! On September 6, 2011. I have started something new- a personal mission to discipline my thoughts and my thinking. It all starts with my mind. God created us with a mind where He gives us the free will to interpret what we see. It's not about how the environment can have negative influence on us, it's about how we perceive our environment. It's about what we choose to think. God gave us control over our thoughts.

"I know in life there will be setbacks, sickness, disappointments, heartaches--it's a given. What is not a given is the way you choose to get through it all."(Facebook, via V.P)

Think about it, wherever you go, negative news and information follows you. Negative doesn't give us any satisfaction or happiness. So why do we accept it and allow it become our culture? Why is it so easy for us to be comfortable with negativity?

Let's go back to why God created us. He created us for His glory. Sometimes we get so busy with our lives and we let it overwhelm us that we forget the real reason why were are here and why we are designed to be who we are on Earth. God created good and evil to get the true love and true glory from his creations. If God created everyone in  Heaven where everything was perfect, how would He know that we truly love Him? And that it's not a robotlike command? On Earth we are tempted to do evil things and we are being affected by evil things, it's human nature. It's also human nature to look for pleasure. We like to do things that make us happy as a human being on Earth but not as God's Child. That's where we need to change our thinking first.

If you thought of yourself as a child of Adolf Hitler, who will you see yourself as? You will think that evil DNA is wired inside of you and you are led to think that you're the child of evil. But, really it's not how God had us in mind. There is no evil in it. We should not allow ourselves to think that the environment makes us who we are. It's up to us on how we respond to life. Humans reproduce through God's grace and power. It's a miracle that a woman can create a human being with a soul. It's amazing. We are all are God's children and that's who we are. Once we understand and accept this ---we will think like that and own it. 

My Heavenly Father is full of grace, love and passion and He wants us to find joy in all things. We are blessed if we suffer, because we will find joy through our sufferings. Sometimes God intervenes and stops evil things but if He keeps doing that, then the creation of Earth would have lost it's purpose. So that's why evil is still present to show that we can find glory in all things. 

 As soon I realized that I am a child of God and not just the daughter of my mom and dad, my mentality changed. I realized that it was all mental. All of sudden, I felt that through Christ, all things were possible, even the little things that I take for granted.

I wanted to change my daily routine so I can become a stronger person and be the person that God desires for me to be. In the mornings, I don't allow myself become intimidated by what the day will bring me. Often, I would feel nervous about not being strong enough to handle any surprises or challenges that will come my way. Finally, I wake up with a wonderful feeling that no matter what happens today, God will be there and I will enjoy every beautiful moment He gives me.

So ever since September 6th, I would wake up up at 5:30 am and get to work early. And for those who know me, you know that is very RARE for me to show up early at work. I'm always late and always feel guilty about it. Once that has changed, I no longer felt guilty and then I realized I had even more energy than before!! I had no idea that beating myself up all day from not arriving to work on time and not doing the things I wanted to do drained me! I was left with so much energy that I have decided to go back to the gym and be in physical shape. How fun is this? Using my energy to create more energy by being physically strong and healthy for my soul to grow. 

I paid very very close attention to my thoughts. I remember saying this to myself, I don't need to work out, I'm not overweight and my blood results tells me that my fat/cholesterol is below the normal range. I have learned to be very blessed about my health and then I changed my thinking to- appreciate my body and treat it well. I do not want to take it for granted and eventually have my health deteriorate over time because I didn't *think* I needed to take care of it. Also, I find myself doing more things because I have more energy from my body. It's a wonderful feeling. Small things like this can make me feel good. Small things can build up to bigger and better things later on :)

It all starts in your mind. Think about what you can do and then your body will follow your mind. Why allow your body dwell the things that you can't do? It won't know what we can do. We have to train our mind to think the best of us just like God thinks of us.Think of all the things that are working well in your life, do good deeds for others, do more, that you will be overwhelmed with the good things that you won't even notice the negativity anymore.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Imagine this, you give yourself 100% to your family, friends and coworkers and if you get 80%, that's a lot and you won't even notice the 20% missing. If we show respect, we will get respect in return. If we show love, we will get love in return. For those who doesn't return it, will reap what they harvest.

We surround ourselves to be in an positive and engaging environment that will help our soul to grow. We have to remember that God does not have a human body, He does not have anything that restrict His love and glory in this World. But for us, as humans, it's hard to be free with mind and spirit in our body. We need to focus on the positive message that the Holy Spirit sends us and get rid of the junk that our human thoughts produce. Positive thoughts are food for our soul. We also have to focus on the positive spirit of others. And learn to love them, they are God's children too. We have the same Father & Creator as our family, friends, neighbors, people on the street, etc. We are all brothers and sisters on Earth.

Unfortunately, not many of us have grown up to learn this way. The World have taught us to be selfish and greedy. So if we are faced with someone who are negative, we need to forgive, love and teach by acting positive towards them-and hope for the best.  Positive attitude is what draws me closer to people and negative attitude is what turns me away. You do not want their thinking to change the way you think of yourself.

Turn from evil; seek peace and pursue it Psalms 34:14.

Imagine if everyone here thought this way, the world would be a better place? I also like this blog from Jon  Bloom (Pleasure is the Measure of YourTreasure) . Let's think about how special it feels to be God's child and the treasure He has us waiting for in Heaven.

Don't be fooled by what I have, my Treasure is in Heaven.   :)

P.S. Tommy Newberry books are highly recommended.

http://www.the8daychallenge.com/

You don't think excellent thoughts and then uncontrollably speak with gloom, doom, and disapproval. And you also don't think mediocre thoughts and then impulsively lift up others with positive, encouraging words. Remind yourself that the words you speak indicate the aggregate character of your thought life at the particular moment. Your words matter.

Discipline = Self-Commitment

Anybody can be a mother, father, daughter, son, wife, husband, friend, employee, etc. but it takes a commitment to be a Christian wife, daughter, friend, employee, etc. It requires discipline. I have noticed that if we are not careful and if we don't establish positive routines, it can affect us in the long run. We don't realize it until its too late to go back and change.

I feel that because of my job, I am becoming more lazy and I'm losing energy even on the days when I'm  busy. I feel like a different person from when I started. When I started, I was confident and was motivated to learn new things. I wish I learned in college on how to be motivated when others are not. It's hard because I am in my office more than I am at home with my family and friends. It has already affected me at home. It's up to me to decide if I want to change that. Although, I have to say this, I am extremely grateful for my friends at work. If it wasn't for them, I would have to change jobs and that's hard to do in this economy. Sometimes it's a good idea to change jobs especially if you're in a very hostile environment and that can affect your mental and physical health from stress. I don't have that type of stress but I am not in an engaging environment where I feel like I can grow. So this is something I need to work on my part to change that feeling.

It's the same thing as being a Christian, we live in a world and in an environment where everyone has different beliefs and ideas on how to live on Earth. The hardest thing is to be yourself in this world. So I feel like I need to carefully pay attention to my environment before it slowly eats me away. Last weekend, a pastor at McLean Bible Church talked about the Potter and the Clay, since I was home, I watched it online with captions so I was able to save his quotes...

"We live in a culture of do it yourself religion. No longer do we live in a world 
where people adhere to a system of belief that they see as external to 
them. That they embrace. No, no, no. We live in a world of designer 
religion. Where people mix and match various systems of thought and 
beliefs, never mind the glaring incongruities that are involved in this 
process. And they develop a system of belief that entirely reflects 
them. 

Truth becomes what I make it. What I believe is that which doesn't 
inconvenience me or require anything of me. And now God is made in my 
image rather than the reverse. 

Have you ever heard anybody say: Well, you know, I believe in God, I 
just don't believe in organized religion? 
Translation: Living in a world that has trained me to be the center 
of my own life, I cannot tolerate a belief system that includes 
anything that requires something of me or inconveniences me. 
How about this one? 
I just can't believe that a loving God would -- fill in the blank.

Even Jesus said I did not come to do my will:but the will of him who 
sent me. How much more should those who claim Christ recognize that 
it's about him and his grace and His mercy

God is the potter. We are the clay. And we live in an environment 
that doesn't help us to believe and embrace that." Jim Supp

It's true, we don't live in an environment that embraces God's will for us. Who are we really? Do we only think of ourselves as a daughter or a wife or a friend? Do we see ourselves as God's child? A Christian? It should matter how we perceive ourselves. Once we have establish our identity as a Christian, then we should learn how to live in an environment that allows to be ourselves no matter what circumstances we are in. It takes commitment and discipline - God wants us to be " faithful for 30 years and conquer every attack of discouragement with God’s word." - John Piper 

I know he said "30" years but what he really meant was that you should be faithful to the Lord as soon you accept Jesus Christ in your life and conquer every attack of discouragement with God's word.  Easier said than Done!! That's why God doesn't allow us to see the future, he only wants us to focus on today and take one day at a time with our commitment. Basically, if I feel that my job is changing who I am, then I need to make sure nobody is changing me who I am as a Christian either.

I have been looking at my past blogs to see what I have been writing over the time. I have to admit, I am surprised at the stuff that I wrote. It feels like the holy spirit was with me helping me get my message across. Or, maybe help get God's message's across?


I felt that I was learning from my blogs again even though I wrote it! I think it's a good habit to read the blogs that we have wrote before we write a new one. Most of them was are about God and his love for us. How God has sent his son to save us and show forgiveness to others.  How we love God for who He is. There's a lot of stuff that I wrote and I have learned that because as humans we are not perfect, we are constantly renewing ourselves. It will continue to the day we die. I do feel like I have a lot to learn before I can have children and pass on life lessons to them. And children will also pass on life lessons to us and continue to transform us. 

So I have been reading Tom Newberry's blogs/articles 

Good Habits vs. Bad Friends

Do your words build up or tear down?

And I am going to prepare myself to start doing daily EMSR

Tom Newberry's EMSR: Early Morning Success Ritual

This will help me focus one day at a time. I also liked his suggestion of waking up early to be with God and learn about him and review what I have already learned before starting my day. That helps too.  First, I need to pray and mentally prepare myself to get up early and break that bad habit of mine!!! :)

God's Glory

What Does It Mean to Serve God? by John Piper


The difference is that God has told us not to serve him as though he needed anything..

“He is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25).
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).


God is seen as glorious when all our serving is moment-by-moment receiving from God’s supply.
We receive this supply by faith. That is, we trust moment-by-moment that what we need, in serving him, he will supply (“life, breath, and everything”). This is the opposite of being anxious. Such serving is happy. And it makes God look no less authoritative, but infinitely more desirable. This is the glory he means to have. The giver gets the glory.

I enjoyed this post about Serving God and his Glory. Life is a beautiful gift and He enjoys giving it to us if we trust His gift and we can thank him by living it. I can enjoy every moment in His presence, because He has always has taken care of us -whether we asked for it or not. He shows us the purpose and if we pay attention, we will know what it is. I can understand this because, think about it, this is why people enjoy volunteering and doing charity work. It makes us feel good knowing that we can help others when they can't help themselves. When we see that they are successful because we helped them get started, it makes us proud but at the same time we don't want to ask for credit for it. The only way they can thank us is to use our gift and do the same for others. Why do you think there are so many poor people in this world, they are here for a reason, we can help them for God's glory.

I also read this blog about this woman's conversation with God. She talks about how God was trying to ask her this question - "Why do you love Me?" and she responded " I love you because of all the things you've done for us and thank you for all the gifts you have given us." She could feel God ask her again "But why do you love ME?" Do you love God for God's sake and for who He is?      or for what He has done for us?

That was a great question. I thought about it myself. I love God because not only because of all the things He has done for me. I love for what He represents. There's no better feelings than feeling love, trust, pure happiness, confidence, satisfied, generous, forgiving, etc. I want to live in a world like that. That's why this Bible verse is my favorite "Turn from evil, do good. Seek peace and pursue it" (34:14). Peace is where I want to be and follow, because that's where God's glory is.

 

Isn't she beautiful? Peaceful? I just love her picture.  She's a good friend of mine and she has the most beautiful and radiant soul. There are a few out there that are like that. I'm very blessed to know them. My husband is definitely one of them, he has God's forgiving quality. My mom has the unconditional love. We are His children and I love seeing God's qualities in everyone I meet and it touches me.

As you can see, she's about 8 or 9 months pregnant in the photo. She has an adorable baby and she's a wonderful mother to him. I have another friend who is also a wonderful mother to her daughter, she works so hard and expects nothing in return. I read a blog about motherhood and how it's not a "job" it's a calling.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/motherhood-is-a-calling-and-where-your-children-rank

It's very interesting and very true. I do believe that it's the children that teach us what life is about. Children teaches us sacrifices, just like Jesus sacrificed His life for us. We would do the same for our children. Children teaches us unconditional love just like God has unconditional love for us.  Having children gives us an "idea" of what kind of love that God has for us. So if we love our children this much, can you imagine how much He loves US?

Check out this cute story...

“Ossie and I have made arrangements (for after our death). Cremation after a public ceremony, and then, into the urn. A special urn, large enough and comfortable enough to hold both our ashes. Whoever goes first will wait inside for the other. When we are reunited at last, we want the family to say good-bye and seal the urn forever. Then on the side, in letters not too bold—but not too modest either—we want the following inscription:
“RUBY AND OSSIE—IN THIS THING TOGETHER.”

Psychiatrist Thomas Hora defines this profound truth for us: “The love of being loving is the desire to manifest or reflect the goodness of God unconditionally and non-personally.” We are not here to ruin ourselves but to love the way God loves (John 13:34), without desire for reward or regard for person. We are all images and likenesses of Love, and are in this thing called love as one, like ashes in an urn.
Excitement is such fun, and such misery. Learning to love is so hard. The love of being loving—being God-like—brings peace and assurance. Why is it that we look for excitement first?  (Michael Leach)

Enjoy today. Think about all the beautiful things you have and...... stay in that moment.

You learn things over time...

Today, I was driving back home from Upstate --visiting my family. During the time I was driving, I realized how time is very important and how we manage our time on Earth.

First, I want to start with this--Gil and I saw two cars in Myrtle Beach each car had a Bible verse. One car had "Psalm 3" and the other car had "Act 1". I told myself to look it up when I get home but didn't get around to it so on the way home today, I wanted to look it up and I loved what I found. 

I knew it wasn't a coincidence that I saw these Bible verses because that was God's way of communicating with me. He has taught me a lesson today and it took me a while to get it. I have been resenting a couple of people that I know and I have already forgave them but I still felt there was something missing. Then I realized that I was supposed to forgive myself too. Sometimes when I get mad or get annoyed with something, I have a habit of letting that person get the best of me and then I regret for letting that happen. Because over time, I would get over it. There's no reason to complain about it when it's going to go away later. So I know I can't take back the words that have already been said but I can forgive myself and move on. 

It's actually easier to forgive others than ourselves. We try very hard not to fall into our weakness and when we do, it makes me feel defeated. Then God reminded me that we are never defeated with Jesus Christ in our hearts. That's when I became so happy and free---I forgave myself. What a difference it makes!!! I stopped wasting time and start making plans. Then God also reminded me that I am going to be tempted again and how important it is to keep making time for God to keep us from sinning again.

So Psalms 3 talks about David's son Absalom, led a rebellion against David, forcing the king to flee from Jerusalem. 

I liked what the last verse said (Psalm 3:8) 

Salvation belongs to the Lord: your blessing be on your people! 

It is the Lord's decision and not of the enemies to make us feel ashamed or punish us for what we did. We should only care about what the Lord thinks of us. We should be wishing well even for the people who opposes us and bless them anyway. 

I take mistakes very personally because I want to honor Jesus for saving our souls. God sent his Jesus so we could be with Him. It's a precious and loving gift from God and the last thing I want to do is to let Him down. So when I make a mistake sometimes I feel like I am not worthy of anybody's forgiveness, including myself. But, then I have to remember that God made us who He designed us to be and gave His son to save us. For that, I will be forever grateful for Him.

Over the weekend, we were all talking about our families and how hard it is to get along with them and even with our friends too. We love and care about them but it's hard to keep peace if someone is so negative and bitter. One of my dad's cousins said this - "Who knows, there may not be a tomorrow, why waste the whole day feeling miserable with regrets"  and after she said that, a lightbulb went off in my head. I have heard this before but this time it had more meaning to me. It is important to use our time to connect with God and mediate with Him so we won't have regrets and just enjoy the day and life. God will guide us and tell us what we need to do in our life to remain in peace and harmony. He doesn't always answer questions right away, it is important to give Him time. I remember Lon Solomon talked about God's timing and that it's always perfect and that we should trust him guide us in the right direction- when he wants us to.

It was one of the best weekends ever, I was surrounded by family who maintained a positive environment and everyone was so honest with each other. It was so wonderful and refreshing. 

I also learned that cousin - is my Grandma's Goddaughter. And she has the same name as my Grandma too - Philomena. I have never met my Grandma Philomena since she died before I was born and I have always wanted to get to know more about her. I learned new things about her this weekend and it meant the world to me. I guess over time , I would get to know my Grandma in many different ways. 

In Act 1:7 it says...

He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Time will teach us a lesson, time will force us to depend on God for the uncertainties and live our life to the fullest. 

One Nation Under God

America is so diverse. It represents God's children. He made all of us different and unique, if you remember what I wrote in my other blog ...

"That's why government and major corporations value diversity because all of us together can meet so many different needs in this world. A world with diverse people is a complete picture for God.  That shows you that God meets all of our needs. Also, it teaches us to step outside of the box and come up with new ideas for our products/services. Along the way, we figure things out a lot faster if we know there might be another shortcut if we use different way of thinking.This helps us to show and learn respect for each other. That creates Harmony in this world."

 Living in a diverse country shows us how to love and respect unconditionally because you have no choice but to do that. You basically have to surrender to God and love everyone as they are because he designed them to be this way just like he designed us to be this way. Acceptance is very important as a Christian. We may not understand individuals or their culture but we can choose to accept them or not.

I am so grateful that we live in a country where we can attend to any Churches we want and most of all, we can praise God in however we want and not be punished for it. People don't realize how important it is to have Churches in our country...

"When the church was rebuilt, a famous sculptor offered to make new hands; but, after considering the matter, the members decided to let it stand as it was—without hands. “For,” they said, “Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work on earth. If we don’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, entertain the stranger, visit the imprisoned, and clothe the naked, who will?” Christ is depending on us to do the very things which He did while upon earth. My friend, if the gospel we preach does not have a social application, if it will not work effectively in the work-a-day world, then it is not the Gospel of Christ." - Billy Graham.

It's true, if people won't take care of others, who will? That's why Jesus created the Church to take care of those who are in need no matter who they are. In other countries, they don't have a choice. It's their way or the highway.


Remember, we are one nation under God, we can't be too busy to take care of our souls....


"Prayer is a two-way conversation; it is our talking to God, and His talking to us. As a Christian, you have a heavenly Father who hears and answers prayer. Jesus said, “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Every man or woman whose life has counted for the church and the Kingdom of God has been a person of prayer. You cannot afford to be too busy to pray. A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian. Jesus Christ spent many hours in prayer. Sometimes He spent the night on a mountaintop in solitary communion with God the Father. If He felt that He had to pray, how much more do we need to pray!" -- Billy Graham

America is a fast paced society and we shouldn't let it interfere with our relationship with God. America represents free will. We live in a country where there is good and evil and it is up to us to decide which direction we want to go in...

"The way of life that God desires for us is the way of life we desire.  “What do I really want?” is a simple question.  But simple doesn’t mean easy.  Usually this question is quite difficult to answer.  Our deepest desires are confused by pride, fears, ambitions, and attachments to money, honor, security, and a host of other things.  The process of getting a clear vision of who we really are  is essentially a process of stripping away these false desires and finding the desires at the core of our selves." - Jim Manney

God blessed us with this country, let's honor it and praise Him for it.

Happy 4th of July, I am proud to be a Christian and an American. I want to thank the troops for sacrificing their lives for us to keep us safe from evil and defend our freedom to choose between good and evil.

Love never fails.

Today I opened up three cards from our family and friends to wish us happy anniversary. I loved the cards they sent us, they were so sweet and still were so excited to be part of our wedding day. I really liked my mom's card to us and this is what it said:

For a special Daughter and "Son"     Today in the midst of your busy life, take at least one moment to sit back and relax-- when you don't have to do anything or be anywhere in particular. Take a moment to reflect on all you've accomplished in the past year, and all you have to look forward to in the year ahead...

But most of all, remember what a gift your life is- not just to you, but to everyone who knows you and how wonderful it is to have you for a daughter and "son."

Thank you mom, I love you. Thank you for being my best friend and a great mother-in-law to Gil.

When I look at Gil, it is not hard to see why God has chosen him to be my husband. Being married to my best friend is a blessing. I will never forget the day I married him. I felt everything. There was a feeling of romance, love, excitement, and glory. We felt complete.  We can't wait to grow together and expand our family and love.

Every year for our anniversary, we always make the effort to go away on a vacation and do something special. We always appreciate each other and try our best to spend time with each other but life can get in the way. That's why anniversary trips are so special. We look back and see how much we have grown together as one. I love how that whenever a problem or issues arise, it brings us closer and our bond grows stronger.  We have always found God's glory.

I love when Gil is so random and says the sweetest things to me because I know it's coming from his heart and he means it. He said to me that he rather be with me than with anybody else and that I would be his first choice over anything. That meant a lot to me since I thought golf would be his first choice!! He said no and pointed at me. I was like awww. It's hard for me to believe because I never thought I would have a husband as wonderful as him and loves me the way he does.

Then the other night, he said this to me while watching the academy awards for soap opera --"Amanda you should be there getting an award for being the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."  What a compliment :)

We both agreed that only with each other alone, we feel at peace and completely centered. He makes me feel like I can be myself and he only brings the best out of me. When I'm at faults or when my flaws shows, he shows unconditional love to me and makes me feel silly for being hard on myself for when I make a mistake. He embraces love and pursues it. I love that about him- he is so forgiving and so loveable.

Having Gil on my side since the first day I met him has been a wonderful joy, I wanted to take the time to Thank God for one of life's greatest gift....my husband.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

The Bible

1 Corinthians 13. 4-8