Gina's space! yay :D

by, John Bevere...

Is your life anchored?
I can remember when I was a young boy fishing in my rowboat, and I would get so focused on fishing that before long I would look up and not even recognize the shoreline.  Why? Because I was not anchored, thus allowing the boat to drift wherever the current led.
Three times in the book of Hebrews it is written, “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts,” Hebrews 3:7, 3:15, 4:7.  His voice is in His word…His voice is the soft whispers of the Holy Spirit…His voice is available to us all. Whether we are intentionally listening is up to us.  Why is this so important? Because it is the word of God that anchors our lives and keeps us from drifting from the truth.
“Since all this is true, we ought to pay much closer attention than ever to the truths that we have heard, lest in any way we drift past them and slip away.”  Hebrews 2:1 AMP
Drifting away from truth doesn't begin the moment sin is acted out. Rather, it begins long before, when one isn’t intentional with anchoring his or her life daily in the word of God. The drifting occurs without even realizing it.  The enemy does not appear to us blatantly trying to steal, kill and destroy our lives, but rather, he is sneaky and cunning, and his goal is to have us slowly drift from the truth.

How can we be confident?

The word of God needs to be engrafted in our hearts in order for our lives to be anchored.  Hebrews 5:13-14 puts it so well, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word… but solid food belongs to those who by reason of use (consistent reading) have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” 
We must daily be in the Word of God so that we can be confident that our anchor is securely fastened. 
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 NIV

People are often unreasonable, illogical and selfcentered;

Forgive them anyway.

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If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy over night;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happyness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

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Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough;

Give the best you've got anyway.

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You see in the final analysis, it's between you and God. It never was between you and them anyway.

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~"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may realize that they are the big things."~

"The hardest arithmetic to master is
that which enables us to count our blessings."
-Eric Hoffer

According to legend, a young man while roaming the desert came across a spring of delicious crystal-clear water. The water was so sweet he filled his leather canteen so he could bring some back to a tribal elder who had been his teacher. After a four-day journey he presented the water to the old man who took a deep drink, smiled warmly and thanked his student lavishly for the sweet water. The young man returned to his village with a happy heart.

Later, the teacher let another student taste the water. He spat it out, saying it was awful. It apparently had become stale because of the old leather container. The student challenged his teacher: "Master, the water was foul. Why did you pretend to like it?"

The teacher replied, "You only tasted the water. I tasted the gift. The water was simply the container for an act of living-kindness and nothing could be sweeter."

Self-motivation without gratitude is impossible. Our energy is "sapped" when our entire focus is on what's wrong instead of what is right with our lives. One of our greatest challenges is to live and love in spite of pain and disappointment...to find gratitude in the midst of it all.

Reflect for a moment on this beautiful quote from Melody Beattie:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."