Quote from C.S. Lewis

40,000 Thoughts

"Your reactions break you loose from your social inhibitions and manifest who you really are inside and what you really believe at your core level. We lose our carefully preserved 'front' when we are pressed beyond calculated thinking. Then, who we really are is made manifest.

You can control your future reactions considerably by changing the way you thinke before you are pressed into a response. The way you think every day determines the way you feel, and it will determine how you will react in stressful situations.

Researchers have determined that the average person thinks over 40,000 thoughts each day. The heart is filled with thoughts, and it is out of that reservoir of thoughts that the mouth speaks words of praise or bitterness. When the pressure is on, and the dam of reservation breaks loose, you cannot control what you say, because you will speak from the abundance of your heart-from the 40,000 thoughts you had that day, and all the days before.

'A good man out of the treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man of the of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45). 
If you, as a wife, are going to change the way you have been speaking it is not a matter of willpower; it is a matter of thought power."

~Debi Pearl, Created To Be His Helpmeet

A Book In Quotes--The Noticer

My husband read the book The Noticer awhile back and loved it. I have since read it and can say the same thing. It's a wonderful book! I jotted down in my journal some of the most profound quotes I read in the book...

• "Think with me here...everybody wants to be on the mountaintop, but if you'll remember, mountaintops are rocky and cold. There is no growth on the top of a mountain. Sure, the view is great, but what's a view for? A view just gives us a glimpse of our next destination-our next target. But to hit that target, we must come off the mountain, go through the valley, and begin to climb the next slope. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life's next peak."

• "Remember, young man, experience is not the best teacher. Other people's experience is the best teacher. By reading about the lives of great people, you can unlock the secrets to what made them great."

• "Remember, whatever you focus upon increases."

• "When a person is negative, complaining, and disagreeable, other people stay away. And that person receives less encouragement and fewer opportunities-because no one wants to be around him."

• "Ask yourself this question everyday: 'What is it about me that other people would change if they could?' "

• "...all people-all lives-are either in a crisis, coming out of a crisis, or headed for crisis."

• "Unfortunately," he said, "the way we feel loved is usually the same way we express love."

• "It's time to stop letting history control your destiny."

• "Well, that's why smart people get tripped up with worry and fear. Worry...fear...is just a misuse of the creative imagination that has been placed in each of us. Because we are smart and creative, we imagine all the things that could happen, that might happen, that will happen if this or that happens."'

• "From this point forward, you will focus on what can be controlled. And, you will no longer be sad or worried. You will be grateful! After all, the seeds of depression cannot take root in a grateful heart."

• "One way to define wisdom is the ability to see into the future the consequences of your choices in the present."

• "Likewise, there is no difference in the person who intends to do things differently and the one who never thinks about it in the first place. Have you ever considered how often we judge ourselves by our intentions while we judge others by their actions? Yet intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you."

• "If you have changed," Jones said, "show evidence of it."

• "Forgiveness is about the past. Trust and respect are about the future. Forgiveness will be in the hands of others and can be given to you, but trust and respect are in your own hands...and must be earned."

• "See, if you ever want folks to believe in you, then it really helps if they like you."

Growing a Healthy Church

God's Garden

In growing a healthy, fruit-bearing church, try this plan:

Plant three rows of squash:

*Squash gossip.

*Squash criticism.

*Squash indifference.

Plant seven rows of peas:

*Prayer

*Promptness

*Perseverance

*Preparedness

*Purity

*Patience

Plant seven heads of lettuce:

*Let us be unselfish and loyal.

*Let us be faithful to duty.

*Let us search the Scriptures.

*Let us not be weary in well-doing.

*Let us be truthful.

*Let us love one another.

~As quoted in The Power of a Woman's Words by Sharon Jaynes

Quote from John Edmund Haggai

"You cannot think fear and act courageously. Conversely, you cannot think courage and act fearfully. You cannot think hatred and act kindly. Conversely, you cannot think kindly and act hatefully. Your feelings inevitably correspond to your dominant thoughts and actions. Is this scriptural? Absolutely! God's Word says, 'For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he' (Proverbs 23:7)."

~John Edmund Haggai

More Roadside Church Signs

    Need to laugh a little?

Need to be inspired?

Need to be stirred in your thinking?

      I don't know about you, but I love to read the signs outside of church buildings. They are usually such clever, witty, and wise words about God, Christianity, and life. These church signs are not that big, so the sayings have to be short and powerful. I have to admit that in my life there have been a few times I have been going through a struggle and I'm surprised as I've driven by a church and read their sign. It spoke right to my heart about the issue at hand. God will use what He needs to in order to speak to me!

     So, as I was shopping one day I found this little book, More Roadside Church Signs Across America by Mary Compton and David Compton and had to buy it. It's a perfect little coffee table book or bedtime reading. It's filled with short honest truths. Here are some I wanted to share with you:

"Morality, like art, consists in drawing a line somewhere."

"GRACE: God's Riches At Christ's Expense."

"Practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice."

"Life is like tennis: Serve well and you seldom lose."

"A hypocrite is a person who's not himself on Sunday."

"Why don't you stop trying to figure God out and start 

trying to figure Him in?"

"Christianity is a pilgrimage, not a sightseeing tour."

"You can give without loving but you cannot love without giving."

"Be the soul provider for your children."

"ASAP-Always Say A Prayer."

"The best vitamin for a Christian is B1."

I love these little sayings.

Leave a comment-I'd love to hear which one has spoken to your heart today?"