cynthia sullivan

"Keep me as the apple of Your eye;
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings."
Psalm 17:8

Did you know, did you realize, that God Almighty only ever thinks about YOU? His Word tells us He only thinks loving, kind, respectful, cherishing, exquisitely lovely, good, purposeful thoughts about you constantly. His thoughts of you in any given moment outnumber the grains of sand on the seashore.

You are the apple of His eye. Quite literally, you are the pupil of His eye. You know, the black dot in the middle? In other words, He only sees you as a lover only sees the object of His affection.

If you have cause to doubt this ageless truth in this moment, well, it is time to get back to His Word. His unfailing, Truth-filled Word. It is time to carve a niche of your life to be alone with King Jesus the Living Word. He wants to remind you that you are everything to Him.

Because you, dear one, are all He sees.
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Please leave a "yes" if you read today's short Devotional. If you have a moment, please share how it impacted your heart...

?And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye when you have a log in your own??
Matthew 7:3

The devil loves to keep us busy, mentally judging the faults of others. That way, we never see or deal with what is wrong with us!

We cannot change others, only God can. We cannot change ourselves either, but we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to do the work. Step One to any freedom is to face the truth the Lord is trying to show us about ourselves.

One pastor I know states that when he hears that another person has spoken an unkind thing about him, he asks the question, ?Are they sowing, or am I reaping?? Many times we are reaping in our lives what we have previously sown into the life of another by being critical. Ouch, ouch, ouch!

If you want the life of Jesus to flow into you and from you, guard your heart and mind. Certain types of thoughts are unthinkable for a believer ? make judgment and criticism among them. Now let?s add suspicion which can cripple and destroy relationships. When we are truly trusting the Lord, we can rest in the fact that He will take care of us, even when others aren?t looking out for our best interests.

Our thoughts are silent words that only we and the Lord hear, but those words affect our inner man, our health, our joy, and our attitude. The things we think on often come out of our mouth. Remember that judgement, criticism, and suspicion never bring joy. Begin to operate in the mind of Christ and you will step into a whole new realm of living.
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Please leave a ?yes? if you read today?s lesson. If you have a moment?

Think about your day today. Were you critical, even if it was only in your thoughts? If you read this lesson in the morning, try to set your mind to have a ?critical fast? day! In other words, don?t allow any critical thoughts to take hold ? feel your joy level rise.

We will look at Chapter

?Judge not, that you be not judged.? Matthew 7:1

Much torment comes to people?s lives because of judgmental attitudes, criticism, and suspicion. Multitudes of relationships are destroyed by judgmental and critical thoughts and when they are turned into words, they can keep a person very isolated and lonely. Once again, the mind is the battlefield.

One definition of judgement is ?a decision passed on the faults of others.? God is the only One Who has the right to condemn or judge, therefore, when we pass judgement on another, we are, in a sense, setting ourselves up as God in his life.

Some personalities are more given to this fault than others. However, we must realize that each of us have our own way of seeing things. We like to tell people what we think, and that is exactly the point ? what I think may be right for me, but not necessarily right for you and vice versa.

This type of continual thinking can poison our thoughts ? and our lives. The root of this thinking may reveal a deeper problem ? pride. When the ?I? in us is bigger than it should be, it will always cause the kinds of problems we are discussing.
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Please leave a ?yes" if you read today?s lesson and once again, tell us where you are from! If you have a moment?

Share your thoughts about this chapter and how it spoke to your heart.

We will remain in this Chapter 13 tomorrow

Hi Everyone! I decided to ?stay? one more day in Chapter 12 from Friday about an Anxious/Worried Mind.

?So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today.?
Matthew 6:34

I like to describe worry or anxiety as spending today trying to figure out tomorrow. Let?s learn to use the time God has given us for what He intended.

Life is to be lived ? here and now!

Sadly, very few people know how to live each day to the fullest. But you can be one of them. Jesus said that satan, the enemy, comes to steal your life (John 10:10). Don?t allow him to do it any longer! God?s grace is on you to handle whatever you need for today, but tomorrow?s grace will not come until tomorrow comes ? so don?t waste today.

When worry or anxiety come, I highly recommend speaking the Word of God out of your mouth. It is the two-edged sword that must be wielded against the enemy. A sword in its sheath won?t do any good during an attack. God has given us His Word, use it! Learn Scriptures like Phil. 4:6, 2 Cor. 10:5. Learn to walk in God?s presence and peace (John 14:27). Remember that peace is not the absence of strife or difficult circumstances ? it is the presence of Christ.

?For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.?
2 Timothy 1:7

When the thoughts being offered to you do not agree with God?s Word, the best way to shut the devil up is to speak the Word. The Word in your mouth, with the faith to back it up, is the single most effective weapon that can be used to win the war against worry and anxiety.

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Please leave a ?yes? if you read today?s lesson and share with us one lovely, fun, or blessed thing that happened to you this past weekend. If you have a moment?

How does this lesson encourage and challenge you? 

Do you have another story to share when God?s Word defeated fear and worry in your life?

Comment please 

Tomorrow we will look at Chapter #13