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Live In The Moment

Yesterday my family and I spent the day in a small, quaint town. While there we walked the streets, window-shopped, admired old brick buildings, and read on the town’s engagement in the Civil War. We stopped in a teashop, a local coffeehouse and walked the canal.

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The whole while my 11 year old talked and talked and talked. She went on and on about how she was going to enjoy this trip to this town. She went on about how she would see sights and visit shops. This narration was taking place right as we were DOING the very things she was mentioning. But she was so engrossed in her future planning of what we would do that she was missing THE opportunity to bask in the PRESENT moment of us DOING IT. I reminded her to LIVE in the moment.

 

But that’s where most people live in their minds. They’ve hitched a ride with Marty McFly and jumped into the DeLorean. Most have gone into the future and have stayed there. Or they’ve taken a trip to the past and have gotten comfortable there. All the while missing all that abounds in THIS PRESENT MOMENT.

 

Oh the JOY that is available to us here in this present moment. Neither future nor past are greater than NOW. Be present to live in the moment.

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Now is reality. The past is a memory and the future an imagination, but the present is where LIFE happens.

 

While there are benefits to reflecting on the past in that it can fill us with warm memories and allow us to learn from our experiences, there is danger in living the bulk of our present existence in a time that doesn’t currently exist.

 

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Let him who would enjoy a good future waste none of his present. ~Roger Babson

 

While it is good to forecast into the future, to hope, anticipate, plan, dream, wonder and visualize, we need to ACT and action happens in the present.

 

After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live. Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

 

Life is too precious to take for granted. Every inhalation and exhalation is a reason to rejoice and give thanks. By engaging our senses and focusing our attention, we can train ourselves to be present live in the moment.

 

Do you remember being a young child, sitting at your desk in school? At the start of the day your teacher would begin to take roll. When your name was called, you affirmed that indeed you were there by saying “Here” or “Present”. Friends God is taking attendance and He wants to know if you are here. When your name is called, how will you respond? Will you be marked absent because your attention is consumed with the past or the future?

 

As I sat on the bench with my family looking out onto the water, I listened to my children’s laughter, I felt the sun radiating on my skin, I admired the colors of the flowers and smiled in amazement at God’s creativity. I gave thanks for all the beauty, majesty and splendor abounding in THAT MOMENT.

 

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This moment is all I have

 

 This moment is divinely appointed

 

 This moment is especially blessed

 

 This is the NOW moment

 

 BE PRESENT

 

Live in the moment

 

 God is here!

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!
Happy to connect with these friends sharing the good news #WordsWithWinter, Purposeful Faith, #LifeGivingLinkup, Dance With Jesus, Grace & Truth

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Embrace

Jesus makes it very clear that it would do us good to focus our time, energy and efforts on this present moment.

He says in Matthew 6:25-34 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?“ So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

We would be wise to follow his instructions in this.

SLOW DOWN

Bask in the beauty, majesty and splendor that abounds at this very second. The wonderous way your body was made. Feel your heart beating within your chest. Inhale. Exhale. Breath in the breathe of life.

What sounds do you hear? What beauty lies before your eyes?

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This moment; NOW, is all we have. The past is gone and the future isn’t here yet. Embrace THIS moment now. Be encouraged, empowered and equipped to be present for His presence by embracing Him in this moment.

Challenge: Examine where you spend most of your thought life?  Are you dwelling on the past?  Are you concerned and anxious about what’s to come?  Be intentional about embracing this moment called now; the now moment.

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