Life is hard, but getting better

The truth of the matter is that everyone has problems. You're not the only one: 

-To lose sleep worrying about a friend.  

-To have trouble picking yourself up after someone lets you down.  

-To feel like less than normal because someone didn’t love you enough to stay with you.  

-To be afraid to try something new for fear you’ll fail and face ridicule.  

None of this means you’re dysfunctional, crazy or mentally unstable.  It just means you’re human and that you need a little time to get things together.  You are not alone.  No matter how embarrassed or pathetic you feel about your own situation, there are others out there experiencing the same emotions.  When you hear yourself say, “I am all alone,” it is your mind trying to sell you a lie.

Remember, you still have a lot to be thankful for. Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of brave people like you who are overcoming it.  Sometimes you have to forget what’s happened yesterday, appreciate what still remains, and look forward to what’s coming next. Good or bad truthfully it's better than what most people experience around the world.

Someone said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Even when times are tough, it’s always important to keep things in perspective. It's that perspective that helps you to realize:

-You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. 

-You didn’t go to sleep outside. 

-You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning. 

-You didn’t spend a minute in fear. 

-You have access to clean drinking water. 

-You have access to medical care. 

-You have access to the Internet. 

-You can read. 

To many people around the world you are incredibly wealthy with just what you posess, so remember to be grateful for all the things you do have. Yes life is hard, but by faith it will get better.

7 things I've learned in the last 5 years

Seven Things I've Learned in the Last 5 Years

Nobody gets through life without losing someone they love, someone they need, or something they thought was meant to be.  But it is these losses that make us stronger and eventually move us toward future opportunities for growth and happiness.

Over the past five years Becky and I have dealt with several hardships, including loss of monthly income, great church members to illness, betrayal from people we loved and served, and several unexplained situations.  These experiences have been brutal.  Each of them, naturally, knocked us down and off course for a period of time.  

Yet in each individual circumstance, we pressed forward, stronger, and with a stronger understanding and desire for life.

Here are some lessons we’ve learned along the way:

1. You are not what happened to you in the past. – No matter how chaotic the past has been, the future is a clean, fresh, wide open slate. You are not your past habits. You are not your past failures. You are not how others have at one time treated you. You are only who you think you are right now in this moment. You are only what you do right now in this moment.
2. Focus on what you have, not on what you haven’t. You are who you are and you have what you have, right now.  And it can’t be that bad, because otherwise you wouldn’t be able to read this.  The important thing is simply to find one POSITIVE thought that inspires and helps you move forward.  Hold on to it strongly, and focus on it.  You may feel like you don’t have much, or anything at all, but you have your mind to inspire you.  And that’s really all you need to start moving forward again.  
3. Struggling with problems is a natural part of living. Part of living and growing up is experiencing unexpected troubles in life.  People lose jobs, get sick, and sometimes die unexplained.  When you are younger, and things are going pretty well, this harsh reality can be hard to visualize.  The smartest, and oftentimes hardest, thing we can do in these kinds of situations is to be tempered in our reactions.  You may want to scream obscenities, but be wiser and more disciplined than that.  Holding on to your emotional rage only makes matters worse. Remember that setbacks are rarely as bad as they seem, and even when they are, they give us an opportunity to grow stronger, wiser, and greater in The Lord.
4. It’s okay to fall apart for a little while. You don’t always have to pretend to be strong, and there is no need to constantly prove that everything is going well.  You shouldn’t be concerned with what other people are thinking either. Cry if you need to because it’s healthy to shed your tears.  The sooner you do, the sooner you will be able to smile again.  And a smile doesn’t always mean a person is happy.  Sometimes it simply means they are strong enough to face their problems.
5. Life is fragile, sudden, and shorter than it often seems. There may not be a tomorrow for everyone.  Right now, someone on Earth is planning something for tomorrow without realizing they’re going to die today.  This is sad but true.  So spend your time wisely today and pause long enough to appreciate it.  Every moment you get is a gift.  Don’t waste time by dwelling on unhappy things.  Spend it on things that move you in the direction you want to go.
6. You will fail sometimes. The faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant. You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.  Doing something and getting it wrong is at least ten times more productive than doing nothing.  So get out there and try!  Either you succeed or you learn a vital lesson.  Win – Win.
7. You have the capacity to create your own happiness. Feelings change, people change, and time keeps rolling.  You can hold onto past mistakes or you can creat your own happiness.  A smile is a choice, not a miracle.  Don’t make the mistake of waiting on someone or something to come along and make you happy.  True happiness comes from within.

He Ain't Finished Yet

Apparently, I am not the only one who struggled because of unanswered prayer.

Some of my struggle emerges because I was taught to believe that God is all powerful and that He not only wants me to come to Him like a little child, but also encourages me to ask Him for everything. Hence the struggle when He doesn’t always give us what we want.

This paradox reminds me of a little child at Christmas. They start compiling their gift list in September, and for the next four months, they revise, add to and constantly share it. Yet when Christmas day rolls around, they are filled with dread because experience has shown them that they don’t always get precisely what they requested. Many have said to their parents afterward, “Why bother asking me if you aren’t going to buy me exactly what I want?”

Isn’t this how we feel about our heavenly Father? We tend to have one of two responses when what we asked for is not given in a timely fashion: trying harder or angry blaming.

Let me tell you that trying harder will only get you 4 heart attacks in 4 years. I succeeded only in wearing myself out and spiraling deeper into doubt. None of us can make ourselves worthy of blessings or answers. They can only comes from Jesus.

 

Angry blaming also leads us into a dead-end. Powerlessness is its own form of suffering. When we’ve run out of other options, anger and blame give us the illusion of control. But it really is only an illusion. It didn’t help my faith, and it certainly didn’t help me find the  answers I needed.

What if, rather than interpreting God’s “no” or “not yet” as punishment or indifference, we view it as an invitation to be transformed? For us to avoid these and other unhelpful responses when our prayers aren’t answered the way we’d hoped, we need to zoom out and glimpse the larger story.

Every day, there is warfare being waged for our hearts. The enemy of our soul has an entire arsenal at his disposal, but his most powerful weapon is doubt. Adam and Eve didn’t disobey because they desired the fruit of the tree, but because they fell for the serpent’s lie that God was withholding good things from them. If you ever find yourself doubting God’s love or questioning His character, take a step back and hold to what you know to be true. Expressing gratitude also helps to detour our despair and suffering. Turning our hearts to God in gratitude has the capacity to flip our disappointment upside-down.

Lastly, we must be willing to explore any attachment to entitlement that might contribute to our resentment at how God has answered our prayer. We live in a consumer society and have become accustomed to getting what we want when we want it. Jesus does not promise to give us everything that we want but rather asks us to sacrifice everything—including our own desires for a specific outcome or result. This changes everything when it comes to how we pray.

What if, rather than interpreting God’s “no” or “not yet” as punishment or indifference, we view it as an invitation to be transformed? The possibility that waiting and suffering have the capacity to transform us offers us comfort while crushing our fear of God being fickle. Rather than needing God to answer my accusatory questions of “Why?” I am free to ask, “How can I find You in the midst of this?” This inquiry provides us with the grip and grit we need to move beyond our pain and into the transformation that God has for us.

Traveling Light

One thought brings me comfort. It is the knowledge that when I make my final journey from this world I won’t be taking any thing with me that weighs me down. The only things I will take with me will be what I have packed in the suitcase of my soul. I will be carrying with me every kind thing I ever did, every loving thought I ever shared, and every bit of laughter I ever brought into this world. I will be carrying all the joy I created, all the goodness I gave to others, and all the love I was able to choose and share. These things won’t be weighing me down either. They instead will be lifting me up. In fact, I will be traveling lighter than ever before on the wings of God’s glorious love. 

As you get ready for your own final trip then make sure that you are traveling light. Make sure that the stuff in your home always takes second place to the love in your heart. Make sure that your greatest possession is your own soul. And make sure that when you unpack it in Heaven God and all His angels will smile.

You Can Change The World

You can change the world one person at a time.

-You can fill your life with acts of kindness and God’s love everyday and make significant strides in changing the atmosphere of you existence. 

-You may not be able to end world hunger, but you can donate 50 pounds of food and keep a family from starving for a month. 

-You may not be able to bring peace to the world, but you can bring your peaceful spirit to the people nearest you and let see what Christ can do in their lives.

-You may not be able to drive the hate and darkness from every human heart, but you can forever share the love and light in yours and help someone trapped in darkness.

Yes, you can change the world one person at a time. Will you be brave enough to try?

Just Do It

I don't think it was never put better by anyone than by eighteenth century church reformer John Wesley 

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can,to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

What if we tried to live by the motto:  DO all the good you can?  Now, THAT would be nice.

Speaking Life Over Your Day

John 12:50 "And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak."

This is a list of things you need to speak over your life:

-Nothing is going to happen today that God and I can’t handle.

-I will not walk in fear, but I will walk in faith.

-I am healthy in body, soul and spirit.

-I am debt free in Jesus name and blessings are flowing to me.

-I am not easily offended, but I am mature in Christ.

-I do not harbor offenses, but I practice forgiveness.

-I declare Isaiah 54:13, All of my children will be taught by the Lord.

-I declare that I will experience God’s favor and God’s faithfulness.

-I am smart, I am capable, I am an over comer.

John 12:50 "And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak."