Maintaining A Good Attitude - Part 1

      A month ago, we attended a conference where I went to a session with this
      title....I had no way of knowing anything about the class..... we picked only
      by title! I am so glad I picked this class though.... and I'd like to share some
      things I learned....I will break it down so the post doesn't get too long....

     The title at the top of the handout says " A Good Attitude In a Bad World"
     The pastor's wife who taught the class used Proverbs 18:14 as the theme verse.
     "The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can
      bear?" She likened the word infirmity to a trial, but when I looked up the
     word in Strong's it means sickness.... in most cases....it can also mean to
     be rubbed or worn, to be weak, as used in Psalm 77:10, but that's for a
     different post!

     She used 3 examples from the Bible; Jochebed ~ Moses's mom, Ruth & Mary.
     Jochebed was forced to make a decision when Pharoah ordered all males
     babies killed. Can you imagine being under that kind of stress and keeping a
     good attitude? Next was Ruth, she chose to leave everything she knew to
     serve the God who was new to her. And then Mary, the Mother of our
     Saviour...she rejoiced in God in her trial. She was already showing when she
     praised God in Luke 1:27!

     Those are some big shoes to fill when you think about it! What trials we face
     in our daily lives are small in comparison to most (not that we do not face big
     trials at times...). The question is... How do we react to them? Are we able to
     maintain a good attitude?

     Remember I Thessalonians 5:18a -" In EVERYTHING give thanks..."
    

     

How to Find Joy in Life's Simple Pleasures

       " A peaceful heart finds joy in life's simple pleasures." 

     If you know me, you know I do not like cold....but I was looking for a picture that 
     looked peaceful.... and how much more peaceful is the quietness of newly fallen 
     snow? It looks beautiful and sounds SO peaceful! Do you know what it sounds 
     like while it is snowing or just after it has snowed? Peaceful.

     So if a peaceful heart finds joy in life's simple pleasures, where does this peace 
     come from?

     Well, the verse that comes to mind is Isaiah 26:3 ~"Thou wilt keep him in perfect 
     peace,whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."  I have heard 
     that the word perfect means peace, so the idea is God (the Thou) will keep you 
     & me (the him)  in "peace, peace".....Ok, that sounds funny but remember when 
     Jesus taught and said something twice it was to drive a point home. So Gods 
     keeps (guards or protects) us in peace~ gives us peace... BUT the verse says 
     "whose mind is stayed on thee..."   It takes action on our part too! How do you 
     "stay" your mind on Him? This word stayed has many meanings....I'll just pick 
     a few that are SO fitting!.... to lean upon, take hold of, establish, rest self, set 
     self.... so think about these....We all know we can lean upon God or take hold 
     of God in times of need, but think of the other definitions.... our mind  needs to 
     establish itself on Him....know Him.....the same can be said for setting our mind
     on Him. Keep our thoughts focused or trained on Him. 

     The verse finishes by saying "because he trusteth in Him." We can fix or 
     establish our mind on Him because HE can be trusted! I'm not going to go into 
     an explanation of that, we know what trust is.... So I hope that you have this 
     "peace, peace" that God can give... so you too can enjoy life's simple pleasures!
    
                                                                      * The above quote was taken from a church sign

The Reason For The Title...

     

 I thought I would start off by telling you why I chose the title for my blog that I did....

 First, I want to give you the definitions for the words simple & pleasure...(I have
 been spending a lot of time looking up what words really mean but that is for a
 different post.....I have a feeling my posts will always be long...)

 I know the Bible definition of simple is not a good one, but that's not why I chose
 the word simple.....I like Webster's definitions ~ plain, unadorned; natural; not
 complex. That fits me.... it's who I am...plain, unadorned, natural.

 The word pleasure has the same meaning in the Bible (at least some places) that
 Webster's has ~ delight... and I'll stop right there.  Pleasure brings great joy (that's
 the definition of delight in Webster's)... I'll stop with definitions now.

 So why the title? Well, for a long time I had been thinking about starting a blog to
 share things I am learning or have learned AND since all three of my daughters have
 a blog AND they mentioned the simple life AND so I kept thinking about this simple
 life...THEN I read two quotes in a magazine & one on a church sign about simple
 pleasures! And so there it was or is? Ma's Simple Pleasures.... just like the pictures
 of the flowers above...just plain, unadorned, natural flowers that bring pleasure ~
 great joy!

 It also reminded me of the verse in Psalm 16... " at thy right hand there are
 PLEASURES FOR EVERMORE ..." Great joy that our God gives!  This in itself
 is an idea for another post.... think about those three words... pleasures for
 evermore!

 So I hope to bring you delight ~ great joy, as I share with you from my heart the
 plain, natural, unadorned....simple things....that bring great pleasure to me in this
 life God has given...