Archive for August, 2011
Personal Tune-Ups Are Critical
Posted by: | CommentsWhen living the Christian life, it’s easy to focus all our time, effort, and attention on other people around us. Although these are great traits to have, we often end up neglecting ourselves.
There are times when we’ll have to perform self-assessments. We’ll have to do a run-down checklist on ourselves and make sure everything is in proper working condition. We have to see to it that we’re performing at our maximum capabilities.
Just like a car needs a tune-up every so often, we need a spiritual tune-up as well. If we neglect to do this, we’ll run the risk of having our car put us down.
The same applies for our spirit man. Sometimes we grow tired of doing the things that we used to do: such as having a good prayer life or meditating on the Word of God. We may not get the right amount of sleep or exercise. We may not be eating the right foods. We even have a tendency to work extra long hours and run ourselves into the ground.
I think about the light that comes on inside the dashboard of the car. It can Read More→
Believing is Seeing
Posted by: | CommentsWe live in a world that has coined a saying, “seeing is believing.” In the natural, I can totally understand where this stems from.
For most people, confidence comes with seeing results. We’re naturally wired to believe what we’ve seen. If someone walks up to you and says,” I’ve seen a UFO,” you’ll more than likely believe it only if you see it. If someone says, “I just saw an elephant flying and it wasn’t in a movie,” you’ll more than likely point and laugh.
Well I’ve got some news, friends. God is moved, not when you operate on what you see, but when you trust in what you don’t see. In the supernatural, you have everything you need. And even though these are extreme examples, know that God has unbelievable miraculous promises in store for you.
Hebrew 11:1 tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And 2 Corinthians 5:7 confirms that “we walk by faith and not by sight.”
If you’ll learn to walk in faith, God will cause you to see your hopes come to pass. He will cause your dreams to be fulfilled. He’ll grant you the desires of your heart.
It may sound funny but I always say believing is seeing. In other words, when you believe God ahead of time for the things you can’t see, He will manifest them in Read More→
ShareGratitude in Advance
Posted by: | CommentsDo you find yourself celebrating promotions, good news and big accomplishments after they become manifested? It’s good to celebrate but I believe that God is also moved when you to celebrate in advance.
Many times we go about it the wrong way. When we come face to face with struggles in life, we complain, get bitter, hold resentment and become impatient. We look at the dark lining in every difficult situation. However, when the breakthrough comes, we celebrate. We throw a party with friends to mark the occasion and show our gratitude.
Showing gratitude in advance works two fold: (One) When you show gratitude even in the midst of trials, you’ll find that a thankful heart always helps to ease the situation. (Two) When you show gratitude ahead of time, you’re showing God that you trust He’s in control. You’re trusting that He’s got the end result worked out in your favor. You’re showing that even though you don’t see a way, God has the way.
The scripture says that He who is faithful over a few things, the Lord will make him ruler over many. Instead, of complaining that you don’t have more, be Read More→
ShareThe Last Straw Won’t Get You
Posted by: | CommentsWe’ve all got a threshold of what we’re willing to take in life. We’ve got that line drawn in the sand of how far we’re able to go before we break.
The world has even coined a familiar saying: “The straw that broke the camel’s back.” In other words, you’re on your last leg. The burden is piling up on your back. And we’ll say things like “If one more person does this…” or “if this happens one more time…” and we usually follow it up with a consequence or a plan of action.
Well my friend, I’m here to tell you that you’ve got more stamina than you think. I always heard it said, that you can bend but don’t break. No matter what’s coming at you, that deadline, that last minute inconvenience or that obstacle that keeps you from performing your best, God has a second wind in store for you.
Instead of getting all down in the dumps and focusing on the burden, or how much more you can take, focus on 2 Corinthians 12:9. Here Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness.”
It’s like that button they give you in the hospital to page the nurse. When you’re on that last stretch, and the enemy is firing doubt, fatigue, unbelief and all sorts of negative thoughts into your mind, all you have to do is hit that button and God comes to your aid. He takes up the slack.
He’s not going to allow you to crumble. He won’t allow the straw to Read More→
ShareDon’t Take Yourself too Seriously
Posted by: | CommentsWe live in a world today where we hear a lot of doom and gloom. When we turn on the news, we hear a negative story. When talking to a neighbor we get bad news. Or when we visit the doctor we may get a bad report.
And in the interim, it’s easy to lose our sense of self. When trying to process negative information and meet deadlines, it’s easy to take ourselves too seriously.
As a result, we lose our sense of humor. We forget to live in the moment. We overlook the little precious things because we’re so stressed about things in which we have no control.
Don’t allow a negative story to cause you to miss out on the good things in life. Don’t let a bad report force you to neglect the small things that really matter. Instead, take a moment to quote- “enjoy the roses.”
Laugh at a good joke. Enjoy a good show. Go to the park and walk around the track or even swing on the swing.
You see, one thing that we lose as we mature in life is that inner child within us. We get to a point where we lose that innocence. We take on so many cares in life that we forget about the things that truly give us joy.
I was with some friends the other day and one of my friends pulled out some bubbles and started blowing them. At first I remember thinking– ‘seriously, a Read More→
ShareGod Has The Right-of-Way
Posted by: | CommentsSometimes we grow impatient and demand our own way while waiting on the Lord to manifest His promises in our lives. Instead of seeking God for direction and waiting patiently, we have a tendency to seek our own knowledge and wisdom.
But know today that it’s better to wait on God’s timing. Even when it seems like there’s no end, God is working behind the scenes to meet you at the point of your need.
The truth is, when we grow impatient and take matters into our own hands, we mess up the flow of God. There is a process for everything in Life. God has a natural step by step progression planned out for you. And when you try to put the end result before it’s proper time, things can actually turn out against your favor.
The other day I was driving in traffic on a very busy stretch. And I came to a point where I was merging into the left turning lane to cross the median. Normally, this is a very busy stretch and it can be difficult to get across the road when yielding to the oncoming traffic. But eventually, when it comes time for the traffic lights to turn red, you can merge across the highway with no problem.
It turns out, the person in car ahead of me grew impatient and decided to “make their own way.” They eased out into the oncoming traffic, causing them to Read More→
ShareDon’t Limit Yourself
Posted by: | CommentsThere are times when we end up shortchanging ourselves. Too often, we judge our strengths and abilities based on past experiences.
We forget that everyday is a new day. Today we’re stronger than we were yesterday. We’re wiser and better than we were yesterday. And when we place limits on ourselves we limit our growth. We end up falling into a rut.
I want to encourage you not to place limits on yourself. Don’t measure today’s strength by yesterday’s strength. Don’t judge the talents of today based on past abilities.
Today I was at the gym and I was doing an incline bench press. Normally I do less weight on an incline bench press than I do on a flat bench press because the incline press is harder. But this week I unintentionally put the same amount of weight on the incline press that I put on my flat bench press. And it turns out that I was able to bench the same amount of weight on the incline press than I can on the flat press.
The lesson I learned was that I was limiting myself. I assumed that just because the inclined press was harder than the flat press that I would need less Read More→
SharePut God First
Posted by: | CommentsThe way that you start your morning off will determine the course of your day. If you wake up with a good attitude and expect that something good is going to happen to you then you’re setting yourself up for God’s favor to pour down on you.
The moment you wake up, Satan goes to work on your mind. He immediately starts feeding you negative and defeating thoughts. He’ll remind you of what’s going wrong in your life. He’ll inject your mind with thoughts of worry, defeat, fear, failure, depression and doubt.
That’s why it’s important to wake up on a good note. Decide to take control of your thoughts early in the morning. Don’t focus on the negative, instead, start the day off with a good prayer. Take out sometime in the morning and read an encouraging passage of scripture.
When you do this, you’re fighting the enemy with what the Word of God says about you. The last thing the adversary wants you to do is pray to God first thing in the morning.
In the natural, one of the first things we do in the morning is get coffee. We’ll do whatever is necessary to get our physical body prepped for the day. But too often we neglect the spiritual. This reminds me of a question I heard a very wise person ask. They asked, Read More→
ShareDon’t Wait too Long
Posted by: | CommentsMany people have a tendency to procrastinate in one way or another. We all have excuses that cause us to delay our goals for another day.
When you continue to make excuses or wait until the right circumstances are in place, you run the risk of never achieving your dreams. There comes a point in time when you have to override the excuses and take action.
I want to encourage you to take action as soon as possible. Don’t wait too long before charging after your destiny. Everything doesn’t have to be in place before starting. No, sometimes you have to take a step out on faith.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.”
I always say life if full of twists and turns. Even if the conditions are favorable in the beginning, whose to say that they will stay that way? Whose to say that the adversary won’t throw a curb ball your way?
I’d encourage you to do like the scripture says. Don’t wait for the perfect weather. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect, no, you must be diligent. You have to charge after your dreams even when things around you aren’t looking favorable. A curb ball may get thrown but continue Read More→
ShareStay On The Straight and Narrow
Posted by: | CommentsThe only way to overcome a setback, is to simply go through it. You can’t dodge the problem or take a shortcut. You must face the problem head on.
I’ve heard it said over and over that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. However, many times we find ourselves defying this rule.
The truth is, when we take shortcuts, we’re doing more harm than good. Sure we’ll encounter obstacles along the way. We’ll encounter road bumps that will throw us off, but the key is to get back on the main road of life.
Issues in life can’t be fixed by dodging the problem. In fact by hiding the root cause, we only end up suppressing the issue. The only way to overcome something is to face it head on.
Don’t be afraid, worried or anxious. No, be bold and courageous! Stare your issue in the face and make a declaration that it’s not going to conquer you. You’re going to conquer it.
I believe God wants us to brave it out and endure the race. He doesn’t want us to try to take matters in our own hands. He doesn’t want us to seek our Read More→
Share
