Meditations on Love pt 1

God shows mercy to those who love Him and keep His commandments, God show mercy to me for I love Him and keep His commandments.  (Ex. 20:6) 

God loves me and chooses me; and He brings me out of the world with His presence and with His mighty power. (Deut. 4:37) 

I love the Lord my God with all my hear t, with all my soul and with all my might. I keep his word and His commandments in my heart. (Deut. 6:5, 6) 

The Lord my God circumcises my heart and the heart of my children to love Him with all our hearts and all our souls that we may live. (Deut. 30:6) 

I love the Lord my God and walk in His ways and keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments and I live and multiply; and the Lord my God blesses me in the land, which I go to possess. (Deut. 30:16) 

I love the Lord my God and I obey his voice, and I cling to Him for He is my life and the length of my days. (Deut. 30:20) 

I love the Lord; I am in His hand; I sit at His feet and receive His words. (Deut. 33:3) 

I take diligent heed to myself that I love the Lord my God. (Jos. 23:11) 

I love the Lord and am like the sun when it comes out in full strength.  (Judg. 5: 31) 

I love the Lord and observe His commandments and He keeps His covenant and mercy with me. (Neh. 1:5) 

I love God’s name and am joyful in Him. (Ps. 5:11) 

The Lord is righteous and He loves righteousness. I am righteous in Christ and the Lord loves me. (Ps. 11:7; 2 Cor. 5:21) 

I love the habitation of God’s house and the place where His glory dwells. (Ps. 26:8) 

I will love the Lord who is my strength. (Ps. 18:1) 

I love the Lord for He preserves the faithful. (Ps. 31:23) 

The Lord loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. I love righteousness and justice. (Ps. 33:5) 

I love the Lord’s salvation and say continually, `The Lord be magnified’. (Ps. 40:16; 70:4) 

I love the Lord and hate evil. (Ps. 97:10) 

I delight myself in God’s commandments, which I love. My hands do I lift up to God’s commandments, which I love. I will meditate on His statutes. (Ps. 119:47, 48) 

I love God’s law and it is my meditation all the day. (Ps. 119:97) 

I love God’s law and hate the double –minded. (Ps. 119:113) 

I love God’s commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold.  (Ps. 119:127) 

I love God’s name and God looks up on me and is merciful to me.  (Ps. 119:132) 

God’s word is very pure therefore I love His word. (Ps.119:140) 

Always Have A Plan B

We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance. Because many things don’t go as well as we would like them to, it’s a great idea to have a “Plan B.” Having fallback plans can’t help but make you feel better about the  outcome  of  any  situation,  and  it  is  a  common denominator among very self-confident people.

Anyone  who  has  had  more  than  one  failure  in her  life  can  tell  you  that  having  another  path  to  take probably saved her bacon a time or two. I’m a big one for  contingency  plans.  If  you  are  an  entrepreneur,  in the  arts  or  media,  or  you  have  all  your  eggs  in  one basket, a Plan B is essential.

Knowing that if you lose the farm you have a condo you can go to makes you feel safer in the world. I know a number of people who have motor homes, and one of the reasons they do is, as they jokingly say, it’s their “in case” home. During the last big earthquake here in Los  Angeles,  many  people  who  had  them  were  very grateful—and those of us who didn’t were envious.

With the world economy in turmoil, creating some kind of additional income stream is also a good idea. The jeweler who is also a great designer or builder, the computer  geek  who  can  also  teach  school,  or  the  PR person  who  is  a  closet  novelist  can  all  find  a  way  to thrive even if their current position disappears.

Backup  plans  don’t  have  to  be  new  ideas—I continue  to  use  aspects  of  everything  I’ve  ever  done. My days on stage playing guitar have made me a better public speaker, which makes me a good radio host. The energy  I  put  into  songs  and  poems  has  helped  them become columns and books.

The years I spent running my  own  business  give  me  the  insight  to  help  others streamline theirs. 

And all of my experiences have made me  a  confident  and  successful  therapist.  Every  talent and  ability  you  have  can  be  built  upon  and  also  used again.  Not  that  I’d  ever  again  want  to  be  on  a  tour bus with six smelly guys for eight weeks, but if I had to I could still put food on the table by humming and strumming.

There’s  another  potential  upside  here:  Sometimes your  original  plan  and  your  backup  can  work  at  the same time. I still counsel, consult, write, and speak to groups all over the world. In years when the speaking business  got  very  slow  (such  as  after  9/11  and  then the  financial  crisis),  I  spent  more  time  writing  and counseling.

When  there  was  a  lull  between  books, I  put  more  energy  into  my  radio  show  and  business consulting, and did pro-bono events. Having multiple options gives you the sense that, if any one thing went away, you’d have other gigs that would more than fill the gap.

So get a little creative. Look at your past accomplishments and your current talents. A Plan B is only an idea away. By the way, this Plan B thing works in life, but not in relationships. Having a backup mate is only going to erode your current relationship and cause heartache for everyone involved. Enough said.