The Present of the Present

Well, since it’s Christmas, I thought it only fitting that I should look at another gift that God gives us. That is the gift of the Present. Right now is where we can enjoy the peace that God gives us. Not in the past or in the future, only right now.

Too many times I find myself worrying about what is going to happen in the future or re-hashing what has happened in the past. There is nothing wrong with mulling over what has happened in the past. Especially if it concerns making things right. But I can’t spend all my time there. If I do then I miss out on what God is doing in my life right now. It is also good to think about the future and make goals to give me something to strive for. But if I spend all of my time there, once again I miss out on what God is doing right now.

Sometimes I worry about only having a small amount of money in my wallet till payday. And I’m not grateful that I have money in my wallet right now. I don’t know what the future may bring but right now I’m okay. I need to think about how good it is right now rather than to worry about what it could be. I don’t know what the future holds, but God does.
But at this moment I have food, clothes, money, and a place to live. I have a wonderful wife and 2 great kids. Things are really better than I deserve.

What are you thinking about right now? The Bible says in James 1: 17 that everything that is good and perfect comes from God. Can you see anything good in your life right now? If so then know that God is working in your life right now. The time is now. It is the only place that you can enjoy the Presence of God.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith

The Choice

Once you believe that there is a loving, forgiving God then you have to make a choice. Do I go back to the former life that I was living or do I allow God to set the direction of my life? If you are anything like me and you truly have the gift of desperation there is really only one choice and it’s time to choose. That is it. Just turn your will and life over to God. Here’s the way I look at it. My best choices got me to this point so far and it didn’t work out so well for me. I will make this choice and see what happens. If it goes well, then good. If it doesn’t, then I can always go back. I can get a refund of my misery and I won’t miss out on anything. I really don’t have anything to lose.

How do you know when you have made this choice? You have some peace and serenity. Things don’t bother you as much. This is a process over and over, turning your will over to God. You can and should use these three tools together. Use the desperation to drive you to forgive others, ask forgiveness of yourself from God, and forgive yourself. Then choose to turn your will over to God. Simplified version is:  I can’t, He can and I think I will let him. Every day of our lives we have to do this and the more we do this, the easier it becomes and the more peace you will have. Over time it will become second nature but for now you have to practice it.

Let go and let God.

Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith

The Solution

I would like to write a little about the solution: God. I couldn’t describe God’s character. If I spent the rest of these blogs trying, I wouldn’t be able to.  I do  however like this song by Fredrick M. Lehman:

           The love of God is greater far
           Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
            It goes beyond the highest star,
            And reaches to the lowest hell.

            Could we with ink the ocean fill,
            And were the skies of parchment made;
            Were every stalk on earth a quill,
            And every man a scribe by trade.
            To write the love of God above
            Would drain the ocean dry;
            Nor could the scroll contain the whole
            Though stretched from sky to sky.

            Oh Love of God, How rich and Pure!
            How measureless and strong.
            It shall forever more endure
            The saints and angels song.

This song is right on target. God’s love is amazing! For so long before I got sober I just couldn’t really believe that He could love me. Because the person that I was, was so bad, but God IS love. He can’t help but love you. That’s His nature. He is not limited in his ability to love. What’s more, he knows all of our past, present, and future sins and loves you anyway. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. I think that is because I had a hard time forgiving myself for all the things that happened in my life. And because of my lack of forgiveness of myself, that blocked me from allowing myself to be loved by God and to accept God’s love. So forgiveness will be a good start for our toolbox. Use it early and often. For others and especially for yourself. It is enough to know that God loves you.

Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith

The Gift of Desperation part 2

Desperation all by itself is very dangerous. At least it was for me. Thoughts of suicide were often flowing through my mind. But I had one thing that kept me from pulling the trigger. That was a teeny tiny bit of faith. Faith of a mustard seed is what the Bible calls it. This is what it really was: that there’s an outside chance that there might be, just maybe, a God out there somewhere. And that he might just care for me. Maybe. Though I wouldn’t know why. That is all the faith that I could muster. But when I was able to muster that much faith, that was enough for God to prove himself to me.

The solution to the problem is God. How to find him and develop a relationship with him. This is what my blogs will be about.

Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith

THE GIFT OF DESPERATION

I was given the gift of desperation. Gift you say? Yes, I believe that desperation can be a gift from God. Desperation motivated me  to take action. If you can recall the feelings of desperation that you felt when you realized you had a problem, there is a good chance of not repeating that action again.

Before I was sober, my mother and a lot of others would pray for me that I would realize my powerlessness over alcohol. I believe God answered their prayers with the gift of desperation. I also believe that is why I never went back to drinking. I have a healthy fear of going back to the way it used to be.

I see far too many people who don't have enough willingness to try new things to improve their relationship with God and they go backwards. It's like riding a bike up a hill. You push one pedal down, then another  and you get tired and stop pushing. You may be able to coast for a little bit but pretty soon you stop. Then you start rolling backwards. Have you ever tried to ride a bike backwards down a hill? Crash! The gift of desperation enables us to keep pushing the pedal down.

Desperation with a good healthy fear can be the beginning of a whole new life.

Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith