Saturday, January 9, 2010

REJOICE TODAY!

Hey bloggers...

I'm posting from A YEAR IN THE NOW again today...thanks for the good reports from those of you who started going through it again on January 1...it really is blessed...

I don't keep the AYITN blog current (www.ayearinthenow.wordpress.com), but the daily entrees are still posted on the CITN site every day...it's still preferable to have your own copy of the book, though...I haven't heard a weather report for tomorrow, but every time it gets really cold, or it snows a little, people start asking if we're going to have church...so before any of you even think of going there, let me say once again that the answer to that question is always YES! We will have both the 9 and 11 servces tomorrow, and they will both be awesome...so put your thermal underwear on and get here for one or both...good things are happening at CITN, but your visible and manifested support is needed just as much as ever...remember, we didn't get a miracle because we didn't need a miracle...we need you...you are the miracle! See you tomorrow...





"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)



Today I will live in the now! I will live in the now because I understand and appreciate the energizing power of rejoicing in the now. Today I joyfully celebrate the present, and all of the possibilities that it presents. I exercise my will — I WILL rejoice, and I WILL be glad in this day! Today I choose to wear the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. I choose happiness! I choose joy!


Today I will resist the temptation to whine, complain, murmur, grumble, mourn, lament, moan and groan, be depressed, feel sorry for myself, feel down and out, feel dejected, feel discontented, feel oppressed, be sad, or even be in a bad mood. Instead, my merry heart will do me good like a medicine . . . I will glory in my infirmities (for when I am weak, then I am strong) . . . I will count it all joy when I fall into various trials . . . I will leap for joy at persecution . . . the joy of the Lord will be my strength!

Today I will laugh, finding the humor in my current situations. I will recognize what is funny, and I will not hesitate to enjoy it. I will not waste today by living in regret, but with joy I will draw water out of the wells of salvation. I will even find the proper way to appreciate the absurd and the ridiculous. I will let God use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise around me.


Today I will enter the Kingdom by becoming like a little child . . . laughing . . . playing . . . having fun . . . not taking life too seriously. I will make the effort to enjoy my day. I will smile at people. I will be a pleasure to be with. People will enjoy my company today because my joy will be both attractive and infectious. I will be a blessing to others.


Today, for the joy that is set before me, I will endure my cross.
I will know the reality of the resurrection and, therefore, will see no situation as hopeless.
Life will always triumph over death. I will celebrate my life. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will live big in me today!


Today I will be optimistic. I will see the glass half-full. I will think positively. I will think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report. I will walk in the Mind of Christ. I will be proactive in dealing with the people around me, and with all of their issues. My joyful mind will cause me to think like a winner!


Today I will be thankful to God, and grateful for my life. I will make melody in my heart to the Lord in an attitude of praise and worship. I will be renewed by the refreshing laughter of Christ in my spirit. This is my day that the Lord has made — I will rejoice and be glad in it and, today, I will live in the now!


Father, help me to remember to rejoice today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Teresa Mason said...

I'm reading this daily! Great book!

Anonymous said...

Teresa Mason said...

my cover doesn't look like the one in the pic though.

Anonymous said...

Began reading AYITN Day 1 of 2010.
A friend of mine said one morning she woke up in the middle of the night because she could not sleep so she opened up AYITN to "Wake Up" on Jan 7. God woke her up and she has had a totally new attitude and revelation.


Phillipians 1:9-10
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

Look forward to being ITB tomorrow

Rejoicing...
P Nancy

Anonymous said...

Darlene Runner said...

Thank you Bishop. I needed your posting while I'm at work. I appreciate you! >>>>(and I DO mean exclamation mark, 100 fold)

Anonymous said...

Linda M Curtis said...

That was one of the two books of yours I gave out as Christmas gifts that made people VERY pleased, indeed. The gift that keeps on giving all year in a BIG way ~

River said...

Rejoicing just because I can. Happy to be a part of a great group of people who care for one another. That makes life all the better.

Anonymous said...

Berita Mooneyhan said...

so easy to judge others who are disabled...calling them whiners and complainers...A lot of people really DO want to work, but cannot. We don't understand the depth of pain others feel, nor do we understand what causes a person to hurt so much emotionally. Oh God...if only Jesus was manifested in HIS people, we would not hear comments like these which hurt so much. No wonder so many hurting people choose suicide rather than live in this world with people with no compassion, or very little.

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Uhhh...hey, Berita...did I miss something? Not really sure what you're talking about...the post is just about rejoicing rather than complaining in general...I went back and read it, along with the posted comments...can't find anything about judging the disabled...sorry for whatever is hurtful enough to cause a suicide...certainly wasn't meant to be...the phrase about glorying in infirmities is just a direct Scripture reference, and the word only means "weaknesses"...

Anonymous said...

Berita Mooneyhan said...

guess it was under the wrong post on your blog. Sorry. It was supposed to be under a post which mentioned they work with the disabled and called them whiners and complainers. I know your word to them was meant for encouragment, whatever day that was under, but to think that is what people feel about disabled people who they are working with is disheartening. No offense taken from you Bishop. Just a touchy subject right now.

Anonymous said...

Berita Mooneyhan said...

feel free to delete my comment.

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

No...it's fine to leave it...I'll have to go back and look for what you're talking about...we're all looking through our own windows, and it's always a challenge to be empathetic...in fact, it's impossible to be completely empathetic...only our Great High Priest can be really touched with the feeling of our infirmities (weaknesses)...I don't know what the situation is with your back, but I'm sure it's hard...truth be told, I posted this today for me...I have to hold myself accountable for the things I've written for others, even when I don't want to...let not your heart be troubled...it's all good...

Anonymous said...

Berita Mooneyhan said...

Just received a gift from the "unknown"...a picture of the death reaper with a sickle! Can you believe it?

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Shake it off...God is greater...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

And, Teresa, the pic of the cover of AYITN that is posted is the one that is on the current (4th) edition...

P. Avery said...

Had a productive outside day today, staying out of the shade as much as possible. One project included chains and a truck to remove the root portions of a many-stemmed vine that over the years had wound itself around a large native, berry-filled holly tree. Kept thinking of your Albert Camus tweet, Bishop: "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer".

It's not a direct parallel to the truth of that quote but I did notice how much easier it was to remove the strangling vine in the depth of winter. The holly of course is evergreen but the vine's leaves are gone and it is weaker. It was still work but the vine snapped before the holly branches did, and now all that is left is to unwrap the parts that are disconnected from the root but too high to reach. That's work for another day. A few branches of holly did snap but they were small and didn't change the shape of the tree.

So, I rejoiced for winter today because what could have been a tough job in summer, though colder in winter, was easier and done with less damage. And hopefully, the new shoots growing on our invincible (evergreen) holly will grow more freely this spring.

Somehow, it seemed that "selah" belonged at the end of that project. So I did. And when I found your post, it seemed like a good place to share.

Blessings to ALL.

PS: the "temptations to" list in paragraph 2 makes me laugh. If I was thinking of renaming whining so I could deceive myself and indulge, you've covered ALL the bases! Durn it :)