I don't know about you, but my family has had some drama in it. Always some sort of issues. Money, lifestyle, choices, whatever. Seems like things can be going good for a while and then something happens, or someone says something, or someone does something and things are in upheaval again. Family gatherings are strange because one of the family members is considered the black sheep, and it may change from holiday to holiday.
I've been taking a lot of "people type" courses in the last four months, and beyond that, God has really put into me a "rash type" reaction to negativity. Let me give you a little background on that. When I refer to being negative, to me, doesn't mean that you have a need to vent to someone. Being negative, to me, means that something happens and you keep beating that situation up, over and over and over. It means that when someone walks in and says "hi" your natural response is a frown. It means that when you listen to your own self talk, that, "in your head", silent talk you have with yourself that no one else can hear. It's full of hate words, or cut down words, or lashing out words. For instance, I can get very negative when I think about a couple of situations in my past, if I'm not careful I can open up a negativity door that spits fire, and sometimes I do.
Just in the last week or so, God spoke into my spirit and He said "enough". "It's time to mend bridges with the Black Sheep." I knew in my heart this meant not only myself, but the reaction I habitually have with family members that tends to cause disruption in the family. So I did a lot of those "personality tests" with my family members, I had been studying personality traits and needs, and I thought, I'm going to put them into practice. I'm no longer going to contribute to, cause, or stand for disharmony in my family.
IT'S TIME TO MEND BRIDGES WITH BLACK SHEEP....
It's been a beautiful feeling to reconnect with my family. My eyes have truly been open to some amazing people, who I viewed before through hurt eyes, I view now through God's eyes. What does that mean exactly? It means that when I looked at certain people I saw the hurt that was caused because of actions that came between us. Want to know the secret?
I was listening to that song "Counting Stars" by One Republic and it goes something like:
I feel something so right
By doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
By doing the right thing
I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive
Immediately, I thought, how true is that. In this life, everything we shouldn't do we do, and those things that we ought to do we don't. In the Bible, Paul (who wrote most of the new testament) also stated he felt like this, he explained it like this in Romans 7:18-20:
I know there is nothing good in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I can’t. I don’t do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don’t want to do. I do what I don’t want to do. But I am not really the one who is doing it. It is sin living in me.
SO WHAT CREATES MIRACLES?
When God speaks something into your heart, it means, that if you take action, amazing things happen. They are the miracles of life that we overlook. You have to be willing to go against what your natural tells you to do, and actually just trust that God knows how to mend bridges with black sheep.
For this situation, I determined that I was not going to allow myself to "react" or "get hurt" over situations, that I was going to instead seek out what God would want and then implement this in my behavior. I simply decided that "enough was enough" I would instead allow people to be who God created them to be, learn to "spot" negative behaviors that cause broken relationships and edify my family. They are worth it, and the relationships that are mended are far beyond miracles that you could even ask or think of. Something happens when you stop seeing people through hurt eyes and instead see them through God eyes.
I hope you'll think about mending bridges with black sheep too.
Have a great Memorial Day, honor it by remembering those that fought so hard to give us the freedom we live in.
~Love each other,
Ang
I've been taking a lot of "people type" courses in the last four months, and beyond that, God has really put into me a "rash type" reaction to negativity. Let me give you a little background on that. When I refer to being negative, to me, doesn't mean that you have a need to vent to someone. Being negative, to me, means that something happens and you keep beating that situation up, over and over and over. It means that when someone walks in and says "hi" your natural response is a frown. It means that when you listen to your own self talk, that, "in your head", silent talk you have with yourself that no one else can hear. It's full of hate words, or cut down words, or lashing out words. For instance, I can get very negative when I think about a couple of situations in my past, if I'm not careful I can open up a negativity door that spits fire, and sometimes I do.
Just in the last week or so, God spoke into my spirit and He said "enough". "It's time to mend bridges with the Black Sheep." I knew in my heart this meant not only myself, but the reaction I habitually have with family members that tends to cause disruption in the family. So I did a lot of those "personality tests" with my family members, I had been studying personality traits and needs, and I thought, I'm going to put them into practice. I'm no longer going to contribute to, cause, or stand for disharmony in my family.
IT'S TIME TO MEND BRIDGES WITH BLACK SHEEP....
It's been a beautiful feeling to reconnect with my family. My eyes have truly been open to some amazing people, who I viewed before through hurt eyes, I view now through God's eyes. What does that mean exactly? It means that when I looked at certain people I saw the hurt that was caused because of actions that came between us. Want to know the secret?
I was listening to that song "Counting Stars" by One Republic and it goes something like:
I feel something so right
By doing the wrong thing
And I feel something so wrong
By doing the right thing
I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive
Immediately, I thought, how true is that. In this life, everything we shouldn't do we do, and those things that we ought to do we don't. In the Bible, Paul (who wrote most of the new testament) also stated he felt like this, he explained it like this in Romans 7:18-20:
I know there is nothing good in my sinful nature. I want to do what is good, but I can’t. I don’t do the good things I want to do. I keep on doing the evil things I don’t want to do. I do what I don’t want to do. But I am not really the one who is doing it. It is sin living in me.
SO WHAT CREATES MIRACLES?
When God speaks something into your heart, it means, that if you take action, amazing things happen. They are the miracles of life that we overlook. You have to be willing to go against what your natural tells you to do, and actually just trust that God knows how to mend bridges with black sheep.
For this situation, I determined that I was not going to allow myself to "react" or "get hurt" over situations, that I was going to instead seek out what God would want and then implement this in my behavior. I simply decided that "enough was enough" I would instead allow people to be who God created them to be, learn to "spot" negative behaviors that cause broken relationships and edify my family. They are worth it, and the relationships that are mended are far beyond miracles that you could even ask or think of. Something happens when you stop seeing people through hurt eyes and instead see them through God eyes.
I hope you'll think about mending bridges with black sheep too.
Have a great Memorial Day, honor it by remembering those that fought so hard to give us the freedom we live in.
~Love each other,
Ang
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