2. LOVE OTHERS UNCONDITIONALLY – Yes, that means no matter what they do, you continue to love. It’s easy to love those who love you but when you can love others who do not yet know LOVE that takes great patience, strength, and humbleness. Turning the other cheek is not a sign of weakness but shows more strength than any fist could deliver (think about how much strength and self control it takes to turn the other cheek when someone is mistreating you – that speaks volumes about who you really are).

3. HAVE FAITH THAT NOTHING WILL SHAKE – When we have faith and believe, truly all things are possible – ALL things.

4. PRAY, PRAY, AND PRAY SOME MORE – The power of prayer is so incredibly powerful especially when done in numbers so be quick to offer a prayer to someone and just as quick to ask for one.

5. LISTEN TO THE TUGS ON YOUR HEART – The tugs where you know you need to check on someone or you know you shouldn’t do something. Many call this intuition or a gut feeling but it is God guiding you. When you learn to hear His voice clearly and listen to the guidance, you will be able to make decisions in your life that are going to bring abundant blessings to you and anyone who crosses your path.

6. BE KIND TO EVERYONE – a stranger, a friend, and your FAMILY.

7. LOOK FOR THE GOOD IN ALL THINGS – When we focus on the bad, that becomes all that we are capable of seeing but yet are confused as to why we seem to be surrounded by nothing good. When we look for the good then all we see is good and that is when we can truly find joy in all.

8. FORGIVE AND KEEP FORGIVING – we are to always forgive and that means over and over again. Remember you cannot change someone, only God can change someone so forgive them and pray that God will start to change their hearts. Only He can change us from the inside out.

9. SEEK PEACE – do everything you can to live a peaceful life and promote a peaceful life. Peace means freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, and anxiety – when you find peace, you want to help others find it because there’s nothing like it.

10. BE HAPPY – only you can decide how you will react to a situation, no one else can decide that for you. So don’t let life overwhelm you but instead focus on having joy and clear your mind of anything that doesn’t.

11. HELP OTHERS, DON’T JUST SAY YOU WANT TO … ACTUALLY DO IT! – give unselfishly of yourself. The world needs it. When you go out of your way to help someone whether it is a simple act of kindness like leaving change in the pop machine for the next person, letting someone cut in front of you in line at the grocery store, or you go on a missions trip – the gift you receive in/for giving unselfishly could not be purchased with all of the money in the world. I guarantee this is one thing that no matter what you are facing in life, it will help restore your soul. It just feels good! Don’t make excuses like I am focusing on my family right now – when we make time to help others, think of the incredible example we are to our children without saying a single word.

12. IF A SENTENCE EVER STARTS WITH “Please don’t tell anyone …” THEN IT IS BETTER LEFT UNSAID.

13. LET YOUR YES BE YES AND YOUR NO BE NO – never allow yourself in a situation where you need to make up an excuse, or tell a lie – again, let your Yes be Yes and your No be No.

14. BE COMPASSIONATE AND EMPATHETIC – when we can truly put ourselves in another’s shoes, our heart becomes merciful and our actions kind.

15. KEEP YOUR WORD – if you say something MEAN IT and DO IT, that means you must be mindful of all that you say, words cannot be taken back. A person’s word should count for something so make yours count.

16. DO NOT JUDGE OTHERS – you do not know what they are facing in life or if they have even been taught love. What if you are the only love God has sent into their path so they can learn from you but instead you judge them and turn away?

17. SAY YOU’RE SORRY AND MEAN IT – when you make a mistake, apologize from your heart and mean it. Do not expect anything in return (another words do not take away your apology even if someone doesn’t offer you their’s).

18. RESPECT OTHERS – when you respect another person, your actions tell them you care about them as a person and that they are worth something – remember God loves ALL His children.

19. THINK BEFORE YOU DO – if something is going to cause you to lose sleep, bring harm/hurt to yourself or others then NO amount of pleasure or fun in the world is worth it and I don’t care how good it feels/satisfies at the moment. It will just leave you feeling empty and it IS poison to your soul.

20. WHEN YOU FACE TROUBLES PUSH THRU THEM – it is our tendency to turn and try to run from difficult situations but if we are facing them, there is a REASON we are facing them. I have learned those difficult times are meant to teach us an important lesson that we need to be taught. The next time you face a difficult time, ask God to show you what it is He is teaching you – is it unconditional love? Patience? Forgiveness? Faith? …

21. SEEK WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE – pray for wisdom and knowledge, it is so important. God is waiting for us to ask Him to show us His way, to allow us to see things thru His eyes. So ask … when we ask for wisdom He will give it. Imagine having God’s Wisdom? Very powerful!!

22. DO GOOD – it’s a choice and again only we can make it, be eager to do good in this world. “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” 1 Peter 3:13

23. DO NOT SEEK REVENGE – if someone wrongs you, forgive them immediately. Two wrongs do NOT make a right – so when you find yourself in a situation where you want to teach someone a lesson, give it to God instead otherwise evil becomes contagious and will spread destroying everything in its path. “Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath for it is written, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.’” Romans 12:19

24. RENEWAL OF THE MIND IS CRITICAL – anything that does not promote love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, peacefulness, gentleness or self control is not from God and should be pushed out of our mind as fast as it enters. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23

25. UNDERSTAND AND LIVE A LIFE OF INTEGRITY – I love dictionary.com’s definition of integrity. It is “adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character, honesty.” When we renew our mind to living a life that represents integrity, we find a peace that is beyond our understanding. And although the world tries to convince us it is not possible to have peace in this life, we soon discover it obtainable and not so far outside of our reach after all. “…for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:16

26. WE LIVE LIFE TRYING TO FILL THE EMPTINESS IN OUR HEARTS WITH EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE ONE THING THAT WILL COMPLETE US AND THAT IS GOD.

I felt guided to share 26 things life taught me (versus any other number) because of the biblical significance of that number. In my last blog (titled 26 :) God led me to research the biblical importance of numbers. At the time, I had no idea that the Hebrew and Greek language (which are the two languages the original text of scripture was written in) are different from the English language in that each letter of the alphabet has a numeric equivalent. It is actually where 666 being equal to the anti-christ comes from – interesting, huh? Anyway, the number 26 represents the personal name of God. His name is stamped on everything including our hearts and minds. Once we open our hearts and minds to Him, He is able to begin teaching us His language. The parable in my last blog was this … 26 letters form thousands of words – literally infinite possibilities of creation once you know the language. So, 26 representing the name of God opens up infinite possibilities available to us once we learn His language – that is powerful!

I’m sorry for not getting this posted sooner, life has been so busy but in a GREAT way. I have had multiple radio interviews and am very excited that I have been invited to be a guest speaker for the Count It All Joy Women’s Retreat in Freemont, IN on 03/14/09. Following that I am booked to be on Celebration with Marcus & Joni Lamb on DayStar TV (www.daystar.com) out of Dallas, TX on 04/14/09. You can check my upcoming events on the Upcoming Events tab from my website www.blessingstoogood.com. I’m putting together multiple seminars and workshops as well to help others have a blessed life now – it is so exciting!

God never ceases to amaze me at all that He will do for us. The blessings that are waiting for us once we open our hearts and minds to Him (and learning His language) are unending and better than we could EVER imagine!! I’m pretty confident that most could use a few blessings in life right now so may you open your hearts and minds, seeking Him more than you ever did before so He can begin to pour His love and blessings into your life.

Love to you all!

Sandi Rauwolf
Author, Blessings Too Good

We have the feeling like when we were a young child and just learning the alphabet – A, B, C, D, E, … we couldn’t imagine ourselves being any happier than we were the first time we could proudly recite our ABCs – all without missing a single letter! Remember that? Everywhere we would go our parents would proudly say, “He/she learned his/her ABCs. Go ahead honey sing them.” How exciting! We were so happy but our parents, well – they were REALLY happy! Then we are taught that the letters formed together make words. “Wow, is this great!” We think as we learn to read “mom”, “dad” and “ball”. We can’t imagine it getting any better than this! Then we are taught that the words, when combined properly, form sentences. “Sentences? No way – it gets better?” we think as we smile at our accomplishments of being able to read an entire sentence! As we practice reading a single sentence and master that skill, we move up to the next reading level – paragraphs! “Oh my, this is awesome!” we think as we proudly show others we can read a whole paragraph! Next after we master paragraphs we are able to read a book a REAL book – page after page of paragraphs all formed together to make a beautiful story. “This is incredible!” we think as we look back at how much we have learned. Our parents are ecstatic at how well we have learned the language because they know that it is the very key to opening up a whole new meaning to the world. Wow to think that all of this started by learning 26 letters. Who would think that 26 letters are the basis of all communication in a given language … I mean, 26 letters to form thousands of words? hundreds of thousands of words?

Imagine how tragic it would be if we stopped at the alphabet but yet spiritually don’t many of us do exactly that? We know there is “something bigger”. We know there is a hole in our heart that nothing in the world has been able to fill but we shrug our shoulders and leave it at that – well, often until something tragic happens in our life. Then we seek with a desire that is far more torrid than anything we have experienced. At that time, we yearn to learn words, then sentences, then paragraphs and finally the book – the BIG book.

Some pick up the BIG book when they have just learned the letters so they cannot understand why it doesn’t make sense. Then others who have just learned to read a sentence may get a small idea of what it says. And yet others who are reading paragraphs might see bigger parts of it but not the big picture. What’s missing? What do we need to understand what is written in this BIG book? It’s very simple that is an open mind and heart to that “something bigger”. He has already written the words right on our hearts and minds.

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 31:33-34

That verse tells us a lot and actually is the beginning of understanding the only language that could satisfy our soul. When the majority of the world’s population admits to believing in “something bigger”, what are the chances that billions and billions of people acknowledge that feeling – the SAME feeling, the SAME yearning? Yet there is so much controversy, so much division! Read the beginning of the third sentence of that verse again, “No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, Know the Lord …” Isn’t this the very reason why people are turning away from this “something bigger” concept? Aren’t we letting the “in your face”, “Bible thumping” approach build walls between us when the two most important commandments are to Love God and Love each other?

God put something pretty big on my heart this evening and I want to share it with all of you. It is the significance of 26. Our language, English, which happens to be the biggest language out of all of the languages was created from 26 letters. He led me to research what the number 26 represents biblically. Could it possibly be linked to that secret language written on each of our hearts? The language that crosses all denominations? Nahh, could it be? Well I sat in awe and tears in my eyes as the results painted on my page. Are you ready for this???

The number 26 represents the personal name of God.

Here is a passage taken from www.biblewheel.com:

“The Holy Name (YHVH) is integrated with Elohim (God, 86) and Ho Pater (The Father) in the Unity Holograph. It is the personal Name of God that carries the connotation of he who is. It is based on the verb hayah – meaning to be. It is closely related to God’s memorial name I AM THAT I AM (543).”

Yes, there is only ONE God. We all may call Him different names but there is only ONE. We so quickly lose sight of our one God, the same God who wants us to LOVE Him and others. So Love and Unity – aren’t these the very answers? To take it a step further, I researched the meaning of Unity Holograph and the bottom line is this – 26 comes from:

The Lord (26) = 2 x 13 (Love + Unity)

For years – actually thousands of years, have we not been looking past the importance of Love and Unity by focusing on the laws FIRST? Making our personal religion a God (more important than all else)? Could it be that the very thing that is written on our hearts has been ignored because we stopped at learning the alphabet? When God is encouraging us to OPEN our hearts and minds to loving Him and others so that He can teach us the language? A language that is the biggest of ANY language? A language that only HE could give us by writing it directly on each of our hearts and minds and then confirming it in one BIG book?

I know it is a lot to think about but I encourage you to open your hearts and minds. Pray about it and ask God to teach you the language that only HE can teach. For He has already written it on our hearts/minds and has given us one BIG book to confirm it – all we need to do is open our hearts and minds to Him. May He guide you on this wonderful journey towards the blessed life He has planned for all of His children once we BELIEVE in Him.

“My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them.” Proverbs 4:20-22

Love to all!

Sandi Rauwolf
Author, Blessings Too Good