“The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” Psalm 92:12

One of my tenants buys me an amaryllis every year for Christmas. He knows how much I love flowers. There is something about the intricate beauty of flowers that reminds me of Him, my Father in heaven. There is something special about an amaryllis. There is an anticipation when you plant them of how fast they will go and how many blossoms you will end up getting. It is always a surprise. Once you start watering the planted bulb, it will reach a certain point and will grow 2 inches in a 24-hour period. I need to feed (water) the bulb for it to grow. 

I am reminded in my own personal life that whatever I feed it will grow. If there is something that I need out of my life then I need to starve it. If I want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self self-control in me then that is what I need to feed myself. These are all the fruits of the Spirit. I want these attributes. To have that I need to feed myself with a positive attitude like thankfulness at all times. Even if I don’t feel like it or want to, I do it anyway. Part of being thankful is always looking for the good in everything. That will feed my heart, mind and soul to grow righteousness in my life. The end result being an abundant life.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there’s any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of Peace shall be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

In order to maintain and preserve that abundant life, I must starve out anything that is the opposite. When fear, anxiety, anger or pressure start coming at me, I can choose to go the opposite way, starve it. I try very hard to do it immediately. I take a stand and say “No. I am not going there. I will not accept that.” If I ponder long at all on the negative situation, I am immediately sucked into it. It is much easier to say no immediately than to allow it to come in and say no later when I am deep in the muck. 

I refuse to be offended, angered, or go into fear or anxiety. Instead, I choose to try to immediately feed myself with thoughts that line up with the Spirit. This is a constant effort on my part to choose to feed myself well to continue to live an abundant life. It is my choice which can be very hard but once I make the right choice He is there to do the rest. He will not force me to feed or starve things out. He knows that I cannot do this alone or by myself. That is why once I make the right choice He is immediately there to give me all that I need to stay in that right choice. If I make the wrong choice and feed what is not good for me. I am on my own.

I cannot say it strongly enough. Everyday I get to choose what I’m going to feed or starve to bring about blessings or curses in my life.

        What are you feeding in your life to bring about abundant blessings!

                 “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.”  Galatians 5:9