Beauty in your life- change your thoughts for a positive outlook
The Bible talks about gifts of discernment. It is in sight to judge realities, revealing the true nature of people. 1 Corinthians 12:10 mentions this gift from God. I believe I have the gift of discernment when others are around me.
I have natural abilities to tell whether the person is good or not, or if they’re just wearing a mask for deception purposes.
Principles for a healthy soul
I have been thinking about my journey through life, and how I changed my entire life. I went from my life being like a “dumpster fire,” to having a life I could be proud of. I decided I would write down the principles that God led me to heal.
Caring for your soul is a process of getting unstuck by cleaning out old hurts, sins, bitterness, and secrets to make room for joy, peace, freedom and fullness. It is a deliberate deep clean of your inner world.
It’s an ongoing process, like cleaning a house, it requires intention and repeated effort to invite healing and spiritual growth.
The key principles are the following:
It’s gently looking inward, noticing emotions, thoughts, and hidden pains the hold us captive.
Honestly name and turn away from sins or harmful patterns, and confessing our secrets to God.
Released resentment by forgiving those who hurt you and forgiving ourselves for past mistakes.
Allow God to minister to deep-seated hurts and scars from past experiences that create space for emotional release.
Identify and disrupt negative family or personal cycles like fear, anxiety, or addiction, anything that hinders your soul.
Root your worth in God’s love, not your past or performance, for true security.
Overcome fears and spiritual bondage through faith, surrender, and deliverance.
The Christmas season brings festive parties, simple gifts, and food. The last thing I did was go to a party with a few friends. Good friends are about connection and making memories and exchanging small gifts at Christmas time.
Praising God in the storms of life, trusting His plan, and finding strength in His presence can transform hardship into spiritual growth by focusing on His unchanging character rather than circumstances leads to perseverance, deeper faith, and hope.
It’s an active choice to acknowledge His sovereignty, even when He seems distant. It can refine our faith and build endurance.
How can we praise him through the trials of this life?
Instead of dwelling on the problem, focus on God’s nature and promises, acknowledging Him as worthy of praise regardless of our situation.
2. Pray Honestly
Pour out your fears and doubts to God, asking for guidance and strength, trusting that He is present (even though you can feel Him) and has a perfect plan.
3. Praise and Thanksgiving
Actively thank God and sing His praises, remembering past deliverances and trusting His future provision.
4. Meditate on Scripture
I use verses like Psalm 34:1 or Philippians 4:6-7
“I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth” -Psalm 34:1
“In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Messiah Yeshua” -Philippians 4:6-7
5. Cultivate a Habit
Develop a lifestyle of praise, making it a regular practice so it becomes easier during tough times. 
“Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Messiah Yeshua toward you” -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
6. Lean on other believers
Share your struggles and encourage others in corporate praise and fellowship.
Trials test and build, perseverance, character, and hope. It refined faith and draws us closer to God, and proves His faithfulness.
By choosing to worship and praise God, we acknowledge God’s sovereignty, find strength in His presence, and experience His peace that surpasses understanding.
I believe our life right now is a result of what we did a year ago. Life a year from now with be a result of what we do now.
A year ago I had goals that I gave up on due to a lack of discipline or a fear that it took to much work. So, no my life isn’t what I pictured it being. I need to adjust the goals I had last year and work towards them this year.
Why did Jesus Flip the tables at the Jerusalem temple? He cleansed it by driving out merchants selling animals and exchanging money. Overturning the tables was caused by Jesus’s “righteous anger,” over the commercialization of a holy space, declaring it a “house of prayer” defiled into a “den of thieves.
The act, described in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, showed Jesus’s fury at greed, exploitation, and desecration of God’s house.
The Act
Jesus made a whip of cords, drove out sellers of oxen, sheep, and doves, scattered money changers’ coins, and overturned their tables.
The temple courts were specifically the only place for Gentiles (non-Jews) could approach God, and were made a marketplace.
Jesus quotes scripture by saying, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.”
There were reasons for His actions.
There was significance in the act. It was a symbolic cleansing. It was an act to restore the temple, proper function as a place for all people to pray and encounter God.
It was a prophetic act, announcing the end of the old temple system, and declaring Himself the new temple
It revealed Jesus’s authority. It was a demonstration of His divine authority and zeal for God‘s house.
I am most happy when I am content. I have learned to be happy in any circumstance because I have found joy in God rather than things. I enjoy spending time with my adult children, and my husband.
The Apostle Paul described it perfectly in Philippians 4:11-13, “ I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any in every situation, whether we fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. “
Being a child of God means living a Holy and righteous life because we have a Holy and righteous Father (God). While we may struggle each day to live a life set apart for God, it’s not something we should stress about, because God wants to help us.
The Bible says that we are already given what we need to live a godly life in the Holy Spirit. He is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, and if you have been born again in Him, He lives in you. He will also help us and enable us to live a holy and righteous life to the Glory of God.
Living for God is impossible without Him.
1 John 1:5-10 tells us, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.” We can be witnesses, who testify about Jesus’s light, that people might believe through us. While we are not light, we are sent to testify about the light.
Living right for God means aligning our lives with His will through faith, love, and obedience, by focusing on our inner transformation by pursuing righteousness in prayer, and God’s Word rather than just outward actions, to experience peace and reflect Jesus in our daily life. Yes, we will fail at this, because we are human. The key I’d to strive every day to be more like Jesus.
There are a few core principles we can apply to our lives to achieve this. The important thing to remember is we are holy, and worthy because of God, not because of who we are.
Living right for God produces a peace that can withstand anything. The work of living a righteous life brings peace, quietness, and assurance. As a result we can live in Joy.
The thing about grocery stores at least in America is that the companies that fill them are not thinking about the health of the people who unwittingly buy their products. The think about their profit line and maximum production.
We buy their product because they are convenient, and taste good. But they are usually filled with sugar and unhealthy fats, and additives that make us fat and diseased.
I buy minimally processed foods at the grocery stores, and take the time to read labels for nutritional value.
I buy, fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds, and coffee and I usually buy my meat from small local owned stores that buy from local farmers, or from good chop,or butcher box. And a few processed foods, but they are not the bulk of my list. And I tend to not buy things on the ends of the isles or the center. These may look good, and are usually ultra processed .
We all experience a trek through pain and suffering that entrenches us.
Through it all there is a constant daily reminder in scripture that’s important to hold onto as we walk through life.
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you, when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame will not consume you” -Isaiah 43:2
God is in control, He loves us, and He will use our struggles for His glory.
Trusting God in our suffering.
“God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble” -Psalm 46:1
When we are able to trust God in the middle of our pain, we will find refuge. In Psalm 118:5-6 David says this,
“I called to the Lord in distress, the Lord answered me and put in a spacious place. The Lord is for me, I will not be afraid. What can a mere mortal do to me.”
David was in distress, and he called upon the Lord. When God answered him, he knew he could stand securely, knowing that God always remains faithful in the midst of his pain and suffering that he was enduring.
David was not saying that he would not suffer, but that he would not fear suffering because he wholeheartedly trusted that the Lord was for him.
In the mist of our pain, God asks us to trust Him. God asked us not to cling the ways of the world, but to cling to Him, because that’s where our refuge is.  the world would have us to believe that desolation surrounds us. God asked us to trust Him and assures us that He will be with us in all of it.
Even though, when they walk-through troubled times, and uncertainty, God is our peace. It is in the dark places that God reveals Himself in ways we cannot have known otherwise.
There may be times we beg God to avoid a certain trial, or valley, but He can teach us step by step that we just need to trust Him, to call on Him to give us strength we need to instill in us a dependent heart the fully trusts His plan, His path, at His pace as we make our way through life’s journey.
When we trust Him we will fear no evil because we are able to rest in the knowledge of who God is over any circumstance we find ourselves in.
God is our sufficiency in the pain and suffering. God isn’t diminished in desolation. He remains unchanged.
The condition of our circumstances never stop God from being God. Instead it forms an avenue in which we can encounter Him. His presence never departs from us. His Word prepares the way for us to press into the path of His truth.
December has been a test of trial for my family and me. From my Son to my aging in laws it seems like my family has been attacked. Strange work accidents to falls has almost caused me to lose my mind, my stress level has definitely reached a tipping point .
I have had to learn to pray through it, and trust that God is the ultimate authority, and will work all things together for good (even the bad situations), He offers peace in trials, and requires faith and for us to surrender ourselves to Him.
We must trust in His sovereign plan, even when it’s hard to understand. I have learned to find peace even when I don’t understand and find strength and purpose in His guidance.
The lesson learned was even though I didn’t know why we were experiencing tough times. God is still in control, and He turns bad into good. When I stay focused on Him I will find peace and strength to manage any trial that comes my way.
From Pity to Praise