General Audiences – Page 91

Visual: What are you thinking?

Hey Family!

Take a look at the chart below. I saw it on Linked in—I’m not sure who the original author is (if anyone knows, please let me know), but this SPOKE to me!

The Word of God reminds us that we are to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). That’s important because what we think translates into words and they effect our actions. In fact, Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue and you will “eat the fruit of your words”. Every self-depreciating comment, negative affirmation or put-down is like eating rotten, deadly fruit. How many of us would knowingly eat harmful food? If you’ve ever had food poisoning or ANY gastrointestinal trouble after eating a particular food or at a place, you would totally avoid it! We need to incorporate this in our thought and word choices.

Additionally, the result of the rotten fruit not only effects you to the point where you feel like you cannot do anything correctly, it either draws other “flies” to you (fellow bad fruit eaters–that’s another post) and/or can drive away the folks who prefer to speak life. Moreover, it is a like a slap in the face to God, who has made us and not we ourselves (Psalms 100:3).

Bottom line: If it you are reading this, it’s not too late to repent for thinking and speaking in the negative. We all say things on the left side of the list from time to time, myself included—the thing is not to continue practicing this behavior. How different would our lives be if we spoke life into ourselves, children, co-workers, et cetera? In fact, after praying, the Lord blessed me to tell a couple of folks with God’s help, they would be a blessing to all they came in contact with. Do you know they came back with a victory report?! Thank you, Jesus!!! So it’s best to ask God to help us line up our thoughts, words and actions with His Word and enjoy the fruit of the spoken labor. Amen?! Amen!

God bless you and thank you for reading!

Blen

14 Nov 201530 Jan 2016

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Now and later….Where are you in Christ?

Hey Family,

I had another post in mind, but as the news unfolds about the attacks in Paris, I felt it apropos to speak what the Lord laid on my heart.

As much as we don’t want to think about it, our days are numbered. In fact, Psalms 90:10 says, the days of our years are threescore years and ten, (age 70) and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, (age 80) yet it is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off and we fly away. And we well know some people fly away sooner than those ages, according to God’s divine plan, so unless He specifically tells you, we have no idea when our last earthly moment will be, what it will entail and after that, we have to give an account to God (Romans 14:12). With all the things going on in this present world, it is scary to think about dying, yes. What we want to ensure right now is WHERE we live after we die.

As the Giver of Life, all souls belong to the Lord and whether or not we choose salvation along with how we live here determines if we go to Heaven or Hell. No, the Bible does not support places in between, purgatory, praying and paying for souls to come out of Hell. reincarnation, coming back as a worm, or anything other than Heaven or Hell.

Fact: Luke 16:19-31 tells the story of the rich man and poor man Lazarus. The rich man who apparently did not accept Christ lifted up his tormented eyes in hell, and seeing Lazarus and Abraham afar off, (presumably paradise or Heaven) begged for mercy and water (verses 23-24). Abraham spoke up and told the rich man, in part, there was a great gulf fixed and neither of the could leave where they were (verse 26). Think of the regret the rich man was and is living with. “If I only had known, I would have..” That is not how we want to spend eternity.

Bottom line: Let’s be clear, I DO NOT know where the victims of this hideous and cowardly act of terrorism were in their walk with God–that is now between them and Him. As my heart weeps and prayers go out to the families and friends who are directly dealing with this unspeakable grief, fear, anger, disbelief and any other emotions, my prayer for anyone who is reading this to make the decision to repent (being godly sorry for all you’ve ever done to sin against God), be baptized in the name of Jesus (there is no other name under Heaven that we can be saved (Acts 4:12) and be filled with the Holy Ghost (everyone needs the Holy Ghost–see Acts 2). Be advised there is NOTHING you’ve done that JESUS will not pardon! He wants all to come to repentance and be filled with His Spirit! Ask the Lord to help you find a church home that is focused on caring for your soul and teaching you how to live according to what the Bible says. Ensure your place on Heaven today, so you can truly rest in peace when your time comes.

We do not want to live on Earth and reject Jesus NOW only to find out it we need Him for LATER. Give your life to Jesus today!

God bless you and thank for reading!

Blen

14 Nov 201516 Jan 2016

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Sooo…What are wax melts?

Hey Family,

Show of hands–how many of you have heard of grubby wax melts, tarts, sliceable loafs tarts, tart brittle, chunks? Yes, yes, I was unlearned too, until about a month ago and now I’m a semi-pro–well, on my way.

Last year, I was gifted with a wax warmer and a couple of pumpkin wax melts!!! (Ya’ll know I love pumpkin, right?) So rather than lighting a candle, you just pop a container of scented wax in, plug your warmer in, turn it on and in minutes, your home smells wonderful! Depending on your fancy, there are fruity, tart, clean, herbal and bakery smells–and plenty of combinations in between. Are you wondering how you get your hands on some of this goodness?

You can pick up a wax warmer from most any retailer, like Target, Walmart or even a Family Dollar. Besides the one I received, I purchased second one from a Yankee Candle outlet. As far as the wax melts—you can pick them up at the retailers I just mentioned. Or…you can order them online. Why, you say?

Well, while the store ones are just fine, what I’ve found is when you order, you get better quality/variety of wax (paraffin is a harder wax that hold on to the scent longer, especially if you don’t melt your wax often and want to hold on to it, soy (a softer wax that may not be as highly scented/scent may not last as long), or beeswax, (a more “natural wax”). Besides that, the variety of scents and combinations are AMAZING! Below are a few faves– in no particular order.

I HIGHLY recommend Wilmashop.com. Her website it easy to navigate and she has many specials, special offers, and a HUGE variety to choose from–all very reasonable. She also shipped pretty quickly and I want to say I was able to get 3-4 days of good “scentage” before I had to change out my wax (currently, I pour it into a jar. I want to get some wicks and make a candle–hey–why waste it?) Her Baguette melt smells JUST like fresh bread. What I may do is mix in one of her coffee wax melts with it and just inhale the deliciousness!

Next would be FrontPorchcandleco.com. She offers FREE shipping and is constantly updating her fragrance options. Initially, for me, her site was a little overwhelming and took a little time to navigate because she offers her scents based on what’s most popular at the moment. Once she explained that, I was fine. Make no mistake, she has LARGE inventory, ships quickly, offers a discount right off and is a BELIEVER in CHRIST! Every email she sends with the new scents for the week has a Scripture closing out the email. I LOVE that! Her scents are strong and long-lasting–I’d say 2-3 days, depending on which one I use. I’m still working my way through my order, but the Fruity-Loops speaks to me–you hear me?! Smells SO DELICIOUS!

Last, but not least AT ALL is a Facebook find, Kimri Anne’s Wax Group. I’m new to the group, but she’s a custom small business who has a queue for customers to get a custom order. In the meantime she’ll offer chunks of “overpour” wax and various ready to ship items. Recently she had a “flash sale” with ten sliceable 4-5oz sized “funky” wax chunks for a set price. I can tell you that I am melting a Captain Crunch Boo-Berry para-soy chunk and it smells JUST like the cereal we all know and love. In fact, a friend of mine stopped over exclaimed how good it smelled in my living room after barely getting in the door! I think I’m going day three with the same YUMMY chunk of wax melting. I CANNOT wait for my name to come up to custom order!

Bottom line: Now that you are in the know, it’s time to upgrade from the plug-ins we’ve gotten used to and get into the wax melt game. With the holidays coming up, purchase for yourself and some of the folks on your list–you will not be sorry! You are welcome. 🙂

God bless you and thanks for reading!

BCU

7 Nov 201519 Dec 2015

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Do you act like a Christian?

Hey there Family,

Recently, my mom was telling me about someone who was trying to erroneously “get her way” by telling my mom she was not acting like a Christian. Mom quipped, “I’m not supposed to ACT like a Christian, I’m supposed to BE one!” We laughed, but she makes a good point.

Let’s define the meaning of a Christian from the Word of God. People were called Christians or followers of Christ in Antioch after Saul and other assembled together for a year and taught many people (Acts 11:26). Besides the necessity of water baptism in Jesus name and the gift of the Holy Ghost for salvation (Acts 2:38-39), and other important areas, the disciples also lived what Christ taught them–among other things, having a prayer life, using gifts/talents to God’s glory, and how to love and treat others. Notice they LIVED what Christ taught them, rather than ACTING what Christ taught them.

When you act like something or someone, it’s a role. You are the character for a certain amount of time, in certain circumstances, at a convenient time or place, when people are watching or listening. When we act like a Christian, we do things out of fear of the lack of/reaction we will receive. Thus, we risk being an enabler (like always giving money to that able-bodied, non-motivated to work relative or worse—-boy/girlfriend), or you interfere with the law of sowing and reaping. So if Junie keeps getting speeding tickets and you pay them, when will he learn to drive carefully? He needs to learn there is a consequence to bad behavior. HE pays the tickets.

Conversely, when you are/being something, it’s part of who you naturally. So in the case of Jesus living down on the inside via the Holy Ghost, He shows up on the outside consistently. Sure, we will have our days where we are not perfect, but in our desire to please Christ and live more like Him, we will not practice willful sin.

Moreover, while Jesus taught us how to love and treat others, this does not give the general population carte blanche to get whatever-they-want-when-they-want-no-matter-what-and-you-better-like-it-because-that-is-what-Jesus-would-have-you-to do. Seriously? Not so, Family!

In Matthew 4:1-11, the enemy temped Jesus three times, did our Awesome God do what the devil told Him? NO. Jesus did not answer the Pharisees regarding the authority He had, because they demanded it of Him (Matthew 21:23-27). Need an “earthly” example? What about Simon who offered the apostles money in exchange for the being able to lay hands on people for them to be filled with the Holy Ghost? (Acts 8:12-21). Rather than give in to Simon, Peter rebuked him so sharply that Simon requested prayer for protection! (verses 22-24). See what I mean now?

Bottom line: With the help of the Lord, we cannot allow any and everyone to take advantage of our Christ-like nature to “keep the peace” or be “humble”. Now when the Lord tells you to do something, you of course follow His command. But be sure it’s the Lord talking and not guilt or fear–this is where prayer and being in tune with God’s voice will come in—remember HE wants us to make the right choices. This is where we start to BE more like Him.

Thanks for reading and God bless you MUCHO!

BCU

Spiritual PSA: What is in you comes out of you, any act has a limited shelf life, will eventually who you are will surface. It is better to get Jesus down on the inside and let His spirit direct your paths.

24 Oct 201519 Dec 2015

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Can you really detox in 7 days? Read on….

Hey there Family!

So, everyone can use a little detoxing in their lives, right? Yes, even if you “run on” Jesus (we all should be full of Jesus), occasionally we need to purge ourselves in the natural, because sometimes, those things can effect us spiritually.

Take a look at this infographic (courtesy of infographic journal.com) and see what areas may be helpful to you. As you are reading through the info, please note that while all areas may not be applicable to you, just like a restaurant menu, you know what to choose and glance over, right? Right! There really is some good stuff here, folks. Apply liberally.

You are very welcome! 🙂

Much love and God bless,

Blen