HOW TO MAINTAIN THE SIMPLICITY OF LIFE

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• HOW TO MAINTAIN THE SIMPLICITY OF LIFE

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• Papa Ramadas Simplicity is the nature of great
  souls.
• Richard Halloway Simplicity, clarity,
  singleness these are the attributes that give
  our lives power and vividness and joy.
• Hans Hofman The ability to simplify means to
  eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary
  may speak.
• Albert Einstein Everything should be as simple
  as possible, but not simpler.
• Anonymous I believe that a simple and unassuming
  manner of life is best for everyone, best both
  for the body and the mind.

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• Ann Marrow Lindbergh I have learned by some
  experience, by many examples and by the writings
  of countless others before me, also occupied in
  the search, that certain environments, certain
  modes of life, certain rules of conducts are more
  conducive to inner and outer harmony than others.
  There are, in fact, certain roads that one may
  follow. Simplification of life is one of them.
• Charles Mingus Making the simple complicated is
  commonplace making the complicated simple,
  awesomely simple, thats creativity.

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• Henri Frederic Amiel A man must be able to cut
  a knot, for everything cannot be untied, he must
  know how to disengage what is essential from the
  detail in which it is unwrapped, for everything
  cannot be equally considered, in a word, he must
  be able to simplify his duties, his business and
  his life.
• Thomas a Kempis Purity and simplicity are the
  two wings with which man soars above earth and
  all temporary nature.

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1. Crowded, Empty Lives

• Isaiah 58 Woe to those who add house to house
  and join field to field, until there is no more
  room, so that you have to live alone in the midst
  of the land!
• In other words your life is full of activities,
  but those activities no longer breathe life, and
  the chest cavity that used to contain a warm
  beating heart is now cold and hollow.

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• Isaiah 59, 10 - In my ears the Lord of hosts
  has sworn, surely, many houses shall become
  desolate, even great and fine ones, without
  occupants. For ten acres of vine yard will yield
  only one bath (a little bit) of wine.
• God further explained that 10 acres of energy
  expended will produce very little. All the
  busyness of activities will produce hardly any
  fruit at all.

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The Beatles wrote Eleanor Rigby with these
words ..

• Ah look at all the lonely people

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A common question asked by many, one of them
Elvis Presley.

• Are you lonesome tonight?

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• Have you seen the old man
• In the closed down market
• Kicking up the papers with his worn out shoes
• In his eyes you see no pride
• And held loosely at his side
• Yesterdays paper, telling yesterday news.

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• So how can you tell me that youre lonely
• And say for you that the sun dont shine
• Let me take you by the hand
• And lead you through the streets of London
• Ill show you something
• To make you change your mind

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• Have you seen the old girl
• Who walks the streets of London
• Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags
• Shes no time for talking
• She just keeps right on walking
• Carrying her home in two carrier bags

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• So how can you tell me youre lonely
• And say for you that the sun dont shine
• Let me take you by the hand
• And lead you through the streets of London
• Ill show you something
• To make you change your mind
• ( Song STREETS OF LONDON)

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2. Gods Warning

• a. When Close Relationships Begin To Suffer
• People are very busy doing different things.
• No amount of success in the marketplace will ever
  make up for the failure at home
• The darkest place of a lighthouse is at its own
  base.
• One early warning signal of a complicated life is
  when close relationships flicker and the home
  fires die down. Granted, we live in a society
  that is fast on, fast-forward, a dog eat dog
  world. And we live on a street where everyone is
  keeping up with the Joneses.

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• Romans 122 (Phillips) Do not let the world
  around you squeeze you into its own mould, but
  let God re-make you so that your whole attitude
  of mind is changed. Thus you will prove in
  practice that the will of God is good, acceptable
  to Him and perfect.
• Barbara Bush The health of this great nation
  will not primarily determined by what happens in
  the White House, but rather by what happens at
  your house.

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b. When There Is Diminished Joy

• Nehemiah 810 - The joy of the Lord is my
  strength.
• Joy is like a barometer indicating how strong we
  fare in any situation.
• Psalms 5112 - Restore to me the joy of your
  salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
• The devil will try to steal your joy so that you
  will defeat yourself.

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• The devil cannot steal your marriage as he has no
  authority. Instead, he steals the joy of your
  marriage and then hopes that you will bail out on
  your marriage by yourself.
• The devil cannot steal your gifts, so he will
  steal your joy of using your gifts, and you
  disqualify yourself.
• The devil has no authority to steal your
  ministry, so he steals the joy of your ministry,
  and you bail out on it yourself.
• The devil practices subterfuge and sabotage.

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• Psalms 5112 Restore to me the joy of your
  salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.
• 1 Cor. 924 Run your race to win
• Rev. 1210 The devil is the accuser of our
  brethren.
• John 844 The devil is the father of lies.

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c. When acquiring your dream requires compromise.

• Everything in life needs to have Gods seal of
  approval absolutely.
• Proverbs 1022 The blessing of the Lord brings
  wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
• If you want Bible blessings, do it the Bible way.
  Gods blessing come with no sorrow.
• Many things are worse than defeat, and compromise
  with evil is one of them. - Anonymous

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3. The Principle of Margin

• Isaiah 58 Woe to you who add house to house and
  join field to field till no space is left and you
  live alone in the land.
• One reason you may live in such complexity is
  because you are living a marginless life.
• One of the most important truths about margin is
  that friendship and acts of kindness are only
  built in the margins.
• Peter Marshall The choice before us is plain
  Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise,
  discipline or integration.

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4. The Principle of Pruning

• Psalms 328, 9 I will instruct you and teach you
  in the way you should go I will counsel you and
  watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the
  mule, which have no understanding but must be
  controlled by bit and bridle or they will not
  come to you.
• Question Who is going to instruct and teach you?

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a. Prune to Gods Image

• Jeremiah 2911 For I know the plans that I have
  for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper
  you and not to harm you, plan to give you hope
  and a future.
• Genesis 126 Then God said, Let us make man in
  Our image, according to Our likeness .
• Psalms 13923, 24 Search me, O God, and know my
  heart test me and know my anxious thoughts. See
  if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me
  in the way everlasting.

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b. Get Real With God

• We must ruthlessly root out any pretense, strip
  off any masks and be as honest as I can about my
  relationship with God. If we are the people of
  God, we need to have a minimal amount of
  pretending in our lives.
• I wonder how many times we come to church wearing
  rented Christian costumes.
• Sir Walter Scott Oh what a tangled web we
  weave, When first we practice to deceive!

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c. Let God Prune While You Cooperate

• In so many words, God says, I created you in my
  image, and anything that is not My image, we will
  need to remove. I will point out those areas for
  you. I will sound the alarm when something
  foreign is beginning to become acceptable and
  normal. I will instruct you and teach you, but in
  order for you to receive My instruction, I will
  need your partnership.
• No pressure, no diamond Mary Case

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THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SABBATH

• Exodus 208-10 Remember the Sabbath by keeping
  it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your
  work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
  Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work,
  neither you, nor your son, or daughter, nor your
  manservant or maid servant, nor your animals, not
  the alien within your gates. For in six days the
  Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and
  all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh
  day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day
  and made it holy.

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• Hebrews 1025 Let us not give up meeting
  together, as some are in the habit of doing, but
  let us encourage one another and all the more
  as you see the Day approaching.
• Luke 416 He went to Nazareth, where he had been
  brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into
  the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up
  to read

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What does Sabbath mean to you?

• The Lord is saying to us take one day out of the
  seven and make it holy by not letting
  distractions cause you to violate it.
• The Sabbath is not an excuse for carnal laziness.
  
• The Sabbath is holy.
• The Sabbath is time set aside to worship God.
• The Sabbath is taking time to be still before God
  and vital to restore simplicity in our lives.

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Three Reasons Why You Need To Take Sabbath Moment
Daily

• 1. It restores your faith Psalms 231-3
• 2. It restores your focus Hebrews 122
• Only one thing has to change for us to know
  happiness in our lives where we focus our
  attention. Greg Anderson
• 3. It restores your flame Sabbath moments have
  the power to warn your heart and rekindle your
  first love for Jesus. Why? Because we tend to
  leave our first love.
• Only love makes me remember, it alone stirs my
  heart. Leonardo Da Vinci

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Statue of Abraham Lincoln

• You know, I really did not sculpt Mr. Lincoln. I
  simply chipped away whatever wasnt Mr. Lincoln.