Receive Goodness Freely...

I'm on the precipice of something great and if I'm not careful, I'll talk myself out of it.  I have to remind myself of God's promises.  I think sometimes we are so accustomed to receiving the short end of the stick, until when the blessings begin to flow - we become anxious.

We must learn to receive God's goodness freely; especially when you know you're living right before The Lord!

Proverbs 10:22 (NIV)...The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it.

Deuteronomy 30:15-16 (NIV)... See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

2 Corinthians 2:20 (MSG)... Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus.

Follow the Leader….

As kids, we played a game called Follow the Leader and whatever the leader did, we did.  If the leader ran around in a circle, we ran around in a circle; if the leader stood on one leg in a corner, we stood on one leg in a corner; if the leader jumped off the highest limb in the tree, we jumped off the highest limb in the tree, and so on….

As we grew older, some of us realized that following the leader wasn’t always right the thing to do.  That didn’t mean that what the leader did was wrong; it just wasn’t the path that we were to travel.   We began to see more clearly that everything the leader did didn’t make sense as to what our lives called for.  The leader symbolically can represent friends, trends, family, etc.  As I rode into work this morning, I was listening to a message by T.D. Jakes and he said that because we don’t truly know who we are and recognize our own value that we begin to define our worth by dressing in certain designer clothing and following suit with whatever comes, because that is a sign of status.  BUT – who are you?

As kids playing follow the leader, we obtained the same outcome as the leader, unless we weren’t strong enough to accomplish some of the same feats or if we did accomplish that feat, we may not have been strong enough to handle the consequences of the actions.  Well, it’s the same way if you play follow the leader as an adult.  You may not be able to stomach what I can stomach and you not be able to handle the consequences (good or bad) by following my actions.

While it is okay to have a degree of like mindedness and to associate with people who hold the same values, morals, work ethics, etc. as you do – you do not have to do exactly what they do.  Hear God for yourself; do what is best for you; live the life that God has designed specifically for you.

“We must be able to trust God’s choices for our lives.”

– Michelle McKinney Hammond

Thought For The Day...

God's word is my psychotherapy...

Thought For The Day...

Some people will always throw stones in your path.

It depends on you what you make with them.

                Wall or Bridge?

Remember you are the architect of your life.

Thought Provoking

What preparations are you making for your expectations?!

SoSerene

The Cost of Inspiration…

Believe it or not, there is a cost associated with being an inspiration to others.  I sent the following thought to my staff today:
 

"Let your life mean something. Become an inspiration to others so that they may try to do more and to become more than they are today."

~Thomas D. Willhite

 

When you inspire people, you influence them; this may be in their way of thinking or in their behavior and that is a great responsibility.  When you talk about being an inspiration to others, there comes a degree of transparency regarding areas where you may have failed or did not make the best decisions or where you may not have exhibited the best behavior.  Are you willing to share that kind of information?  Are you willing to open yourself up to possibly being rejected and scrutinized by others?  Count up the cost!
 
When we as Christians look for inspiration, ultimately we look to the Bible for scriptures on how to handle and resolve situations in life.  Sometimes being an inspiration means denying yourself the opportunity to be irresponsible and to make rash decisions because you know there are eyes on you.  Being an inspiration as a Christian is being a representation of Christ!  Are you representing Him well?! 

Matthew 5:16…“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Titus 2:7 (NLT)…“And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.”

Matthew 16:24-25…Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. 

Count up the cost and be honest with yourself!  I have found that in being an inspiration to others, I have become a better person.

Encouragement Sharing

Today I was reading through some old e-mails and this was just a snippet of encouragement that was passed along to me, that I'd now like to pass on to you...

I remind myself that God's favor is on my life, and that when I am promoted, He is glorified.  I simultaneously remind myself that when I keep Him tucked away, He gets little or minimum exposure in my life.  The higher I rise, the louder I testify of His awesome power. 

I've come to finally understand that God has properly prepared me for everything that I will face, good or bad; and I cling to that.  Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." 

Be blessed and walk in God's peace my friends...