Jan 8, 2026 – Transform
After posting the blog yesterday, I turned on the TV in the kitchen to keep me company while I had a late breakfast. The cooking, decorating, and Hallmark channels didn’t hold my interest so I checked TBN which I’d sort of forgotten about over the holidays. Joyce Meyer was just getting started and, as usual, her message was very meaningful to me.
She was talking about caring for her body and mind and how, if she hadn’t started being more intentional 20 years ago (around the age I am now), she wouldn’t be in the good shape she’s in now in her 80s. She said, “Age is a number. Old is a mindset” and “If you want to get happy, get yourself off your mind.”
I think most of us who don’t exercise and “work out” think that those who do must love it until people like Joyce point out that it does take determination and commitment to follow through and stick with a plan. Her trainer told her something about exercise that applies to just about everything we do. He basically said that if you stay focused on the muscle you are working on, rather than everything else (i.e. the big picture of getting through the workout and on with your day), you’ll get more benefits and better results. We should stay focused on what we are doing at the time because “right now” is the most important moment.
In case you’re interested, here’s the link (I hope) to the episode. Look for the title: “Is Your Mind Normal, Part 2” if the link doesn’t take you straight to it.
JA – “Refuse to let adversity keep you from enjoying Me. In My Presence deep sorrow can coexist with even deeper Joy. Your life with Me is an adventure, and there are always some dangers involved in adventurous journeys. Ask Me to give you courage so that you can face your troubles boldly.”
JC – Young’s interpretation of God speaking to us makes me think of how a good trainer works with a new client. “Softly I announce My Presence…. Though I have all Power in heaven and on earth, I am infinitely tender with you. The weaker you are, the more gently I approach you…. Whenever you feel inadequate, remember that I am your ever-present Help…. Hope is like a golden cord connecting you to heaven. The more you cling to this cord, the more I bear the weight of your burdens; thus, you are lightened.”
Power – Joyce writes, “As you take steps of faith to be obedient to God, you will experience His faithfulness, and your faith will become strong. Don’t let fear stop you because God will never leave you or forsake you.”
Streams – Cowman shares from George Matheson, “You, O Lord, can transform my thorn into a flower. And I do want my thorn transformed into a flower. [perhaps transformed on the outside, via exercise, as well as on the inside, via faith]. Job received sunshine after the rain, but was the rain all wasted?… I will only triumph in You once I have learned the radiance of the rain.” Rain, exercise, hard work, enduring trials in life….
Utmost – Chambers uses the example of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son to point out that God is not wanting the sacrifice of death but the “sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, viz., sacrifice our lives…. We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! God purified Abraham from this blunder, and the same discipline goes on in our lives. God nowhere tells us to give up things for the sake of given them up. He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, viz., life with Himself….He wants you to be a ‘living sacrifice’….”
Prevail #8 – Larson uses Genesis 31: 6-7 to tell about Laban’s unfair ways towards Jacob, “But God observed everything, and He refused to let Laban stand in the way of His promise to Jacob….Let Jacob’s story encourage you today…. when you are in Christ, there’s no enemy scheme or man-made manipulation that can keep you from all God has for you. Christians experience only temporary setbacks. God’s purposes will ultimately prevail. Take some time to reset your perspective if necessary…. Rejoice today that no man can hinder what God has appointed.”
