With the events over the past few weeks, I don't know, but it looks like I need to change my focus. I'm in a transition where I think one part of my life has to end before a new one can begin. I've been looking forward to this but, none the less, it's still kind of scary and I'm tempted to worry. I wished my boat would have been a little closer to the dock before I had to jump, but it is what it is and I'm trusting that God has a plan.
It's kind of exciting not knowing what God has next. I've been out of work before, but never like this. Really, I've been praying about this new and better life for at least a year now. Yet, sometimes my thinking can go negative. I've been in the process of trying to change the way I think for a couple of years, so I know what to do when my thinking is negative. I've been envisioning a new and better life for the last couple of years. I don't know exactly what that is going to look like but I do know that for sure I was never going to be able to see it from where I was at. Sometimes we need a little push out of the nest to take the next step.
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Red or Orange?
I'm trying to decide on the cover for my new book and would appreciate some feedback.
Red?
Red?
or orange?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Living in the Unknown
Well, I don't know what to write about. First, I want to apologize that I haven't written a blog for a couple of weeks. We went on a family vacation and then I was in an accident at work. Now I've been thinking about the unknowns. I have a lot of unknowns in my life right now.
3) I don't know if the woman that I hit is okay or not
4) I don't know if I want to know
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
1) I don't know if I will be able to go back to work
2) I don't know if I want to3) I don't know if the woman that I hit is okay or not
4) I don't know if I want to know
I'm doing okay under the circumstances. I haven't worried about what's going on very much. I've really had to practice what I've been preaching lately. And I'm glad to tell you that it has been working. I know that God is in control and I have had a lot of peace, no matter what happens.
I've been suspended from work while they investigate and that has given me time to process through a lot of things. I've been doing all that I can do and that is all I can do. I have to let God do the rest. Whether I have a job or not does not matter to me. I just pray that the lady is okay. Pray for her right now please. That is all that really matters. Everything else is replaceable.
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
The Little Foxes
Solomon said in Song of Solomon 2:15, “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.” What was he talking about? I think that he was telling us to watch out for the little things. Be persistent in living a life of excellence in all areas of our lives.
It is easy to slip back into mediocrity. Am I doing the best that I can? Can I do better? Persistence is sometimes hard to muster. I have found that if I do things with excellence in one area of my life, it rubs off into other areas. This also works the other way around. If I slack off in one area of my life it affects the others.That is why it is important to practice excellence in small unseen ways, so that these little foxes don’t creep in and ruin my efforts. It seems like I wasted parts of my life by having big breakthroughs only to mess them up again. By not being persistent in my actions, and slipping backwards, I had to make another trip around the mountain. If I persist in what I learn, and don’t fall back, then I’m free to learn something new instead of having to learn the same thing over and over again. Have you ever had that Groundhog Day feeling? You don’t have to have that. Practice excellence in the little things. Ask yourself, can I do better here? Then do it.
Being diligent in the little things will have a payback. Check out Matthew 25:29. The New Living translation says “to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given.” It has to do with sowing with excellence and reaping what you’ve sown.
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, July 23, 2011
God LOVES us!
Since worry is a habitual coping mechanism, I believe now that it can be changed. Here I was a Christian and believed in God, but I didn't, way down deep in my heart, believe that he could or would or does love me. I don't know why, but for some reason, I really had a hard time with that. This is the real cure for worry; just really believing that God loves me. It gives me peace and joy and eliminates worry.
So, what kept me from believing that God loves me and how did I change this habit? The way I have been able to do this is by changing the way I think and therefore changing my belief. About the only thing that I really have any true control over is my thoughts. One of the questions I ask myself is: does this thought bring glory to God? Or; how does this thought bring glory to God? If it doesn't then I have to jump off that train. I believe that every thought I have either moves me closer to God or farther away.
Pray. Ask God to help you to recognize these thought patterns and pray also for Him to show you just how much he loves you. I think that these are key to mustering the willingness needed to change the way you think.
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Change Challenge
No wonder it's so hard to change. If you truly reap what you sow, and you keep sowing the same thoughts over & over, different results are impossible and how then can there be any change at all? You reap what you sow. Thank God he is patient with me because for years and years I was never intentional about my thought life. If you want to change, if you want to quit worrying, if you want to get rid of anxiety, you have to change the things you think about.
To begin with, I would like to challenge anyone who wants to change, starting right now, go 30 days with no news. If you listen to the radio or watch TV, when the news comes on, shut it off. If you listen to political talk radio, shut it off. Trust me, the world won't end if you don't know what is going on in it for thirty days. If you absolutely can't go thirty days without listening to something, try some good audio books or listen to a good podcast. You could listen to Dave Ramsey or Dr. Laura, but put something good into your head and pay attention to what is going on inside it.
Pray that you would be hypersensitive and aware about the thoughts you think, subconscious thoughts especially. Be aware of some of the negative comments that come out of your brain, that spew out of your mouth. You can't hide what's going on inside your head. It will ultimately come out. Do you hear yourself say things that are negative or condescending; either out loud or, worse yet, inside your head? Planning revenge or condemning someone else? Even simple things like "you idiot" whether focused on you or someone else? Watch for self talk or verbal talk that doesn't edify you or others.
Ask yourself: does what I'm thinking about bring glory to God?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, July 16, 2011
New Life
This Christian life seems hard sometimes. I fail constantly. I don't always treat people right. I judge, condemn, and ridicule them. I know that God wants me to treat them the way I want to be treated, but old habits are easy to fall back into. I must forgive them for what they do to me and I also must forgive myself for how I treat them. I need to change the way I treat them. To begin with, I used to think that just not hurting anyone today was good enough. From where I've come from that was a monumental feat.
Now I'm trying to be different and I'm sowing seeds for a new life that I want tomorrow, so it's not good enough to just not hurt someone today. Now I want to see how I can help someone today; to listen to them, to really care about them.
This is a big change for me to actually care about someone else and their concerns. I used to just worry about myself and my concerns all the time and not care about others. I'm glad for this new life and, even though it seems hard sometimes, it's a lot easier than the life I used to live. So, I will plant seeds of peace and sow a harvest of righteousness. (See James 3:18.)
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Killing Time
One of the reasons that I think I used to worry so much was because of lazyness and apathy. If I worried and prayed then that was good enough. If I quit worrying, pray, then get off my lazy butt and make a plan of action, I have just turned worry into concern. I don't have to sit around and worry, I can work on the plan of action or I can focus my energy somewhere else. I have spent a lot of time sitting around worrying instead of taking productive action.
Do what you are able to do. Don't be afraid to ask for help for that which you are not able to do and leave the rest of it up to God. In the long run, I get more peace and feel more energetic than if I sit around and worry. Apathy breeds apathy.
Pressing on with Excellence,
Dr. Worry
Friday, July 1, 2011
Persistence
Persistence. That's the thought that keeps coming up in my head. I've heard it said that persistence is faith. I think persistence is faith in action.
I have set out on a quest to see what my life would look like if I change the way I think. See, I've had enough of worry and anxiety and fear. You reap what you sow. So I've been intentional about what kinds of thoughts I've been sowing. But it's not harvest time yet and that's where persistence comes in; continuing to press on and grow and cultivate and irrigate, reading, listening, and putting good stuff into my head, eating right and watching who I hang out with. These things I work on to see what I will harvest.
I see new life coming on and plants growing. But it's still not harvest time yet. Oh, when will it be harvest time? This is when I need to be persistent and have faith that it will be worth it all. My life is so much better already. The rows are straight and most of the weeds are gone, but I still have some growing to do and some maturing before the harvest time.
This crop has to be bountiful because I haven't sown like this before. I can't wait much longer. This is going to be awesome.
Pushing on towards Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Honor
What is honor? The Bible tells us to honor God, also to honor our mother and father. It also tells me to teach my kids to honor and obey God.
I read somewhere that honor is a combination of three things. 1) Doing more than what is expected, 2) treating people as special, and 3) having a good attitude. The combination of doing those three things, and making them a daily habit, is a good habit to get into.
I’ve been teaching this to my kids, but, before I could teach them, I had to do some learning myself. It’s hard to do more than what’s expected if I have a bad attitude. It’s also hard to treat people as special when you have a bad attitude. I have found that if I do it anyway (treat people as special and do more than what’s expected), regardless of how I feel, that doing those things can and often does change my attitude. This is once again one of those weird paradoxes that I have found to be most helpful. It also helps me drop worry, anxiety and frustration and allows me to have peace and joy in my life.
Sometimes you have to go through the motion and the emotion will follow.
Have you ever tried this?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
I read somewhere that honor is a combination of three things. 1) Doing more than what is expected, 2) treating people as special, and 3) having a good attitude. The combination of doing those three things, and making them a daily habit, is a good habit to get into.
I’ve been teaching this to my kids, but, before I could teach them, I had to do some learning myself. It’s hard to do more than what’s expected if I have a bad attitude. It’s also hard to treat people as special when you have a bad attitude. I have found that if I do it anyway (treat people as special and do more than what’s expected), regardless of how I feel, that doing those things can and often does change my attitude. This is once again one of those weird paradoxes that I have found to be most helpful. It also helps me drop worry, anxiety and frustration and allows me to have peace and joy in my life.
Sometimes you have to go through the motion and the emotion will follow.
Have you ever tried this?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
HONOR
What is honor? The Bible tells us to honor God, also to honor our mother and father. It also tells me to teach my kids to honor and obey God.
I read somewhere that honor is a combination of three things. 1) Doing more than what is expected, 2) treating people as special, and 3) having a good attitude. The combination of doing those three things, and making them a daily habit, is a good habit to get into.
I've been teaching this to my kids, but, before I could teach them, I had to do some learning myself. It's hard to do more than what's expected if I have a bad attitude. It's also hard to treat people as special when you have a bad attitude. I have found that if I do it anyway (treat people as special and do more than what's expected), regardless of how I feel, that doing those things can and often does change my attitude. This is once again one of those weird paradoxes that I have found to be most helpful. It also helps me drop worry, anxiety and frustration and allows me to have peace and joy in my life.
Sometimes you have to go through the motion and the emotion will follow.
Have you ever tried this?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
I read somewhere that honor is a combination of three things. 1) Doing more than what is expected, 2) treating people as special, and 3) having a good attitude. The combination of doing those three things, and making them a daily habit, is a good habit to get into.
I've been teaching this to my kids, but, before I could teach them, I had to do some learning myself. It's hard to do more than what's expected if I have a bad attitude. It's also hard to treat people as special when you have a bad attitude. I have found that if I do it anyway (treat people as special and do more than what's expected), regardless of how I feel, that doing those things can and often does change my attitude. This is once again one of those weird paradoxes that I have found to be most helpful. It also helps me drop worry, anxiety and frustration and allows me to have peace and joy in my life.
Sometimes you have to go through the motion and the emotion will follow.
Have you ever tried this?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Balance
It really amazes me how much all areas of my life affect one another. For instance, if I don't get enough sleep throughout the week then my relationships suffer. My attitude starts going downhill and I don't feel like giving my all. If I'm not spiritually on track, meaning I don't invest enough time in prayer, meditation, and reading the Bible or other devotional material, that also will have an affect on my relationships, my attitude towards work, or even my physical life. Is there such a thing as balance in one's life?
I know that I need 6 or 7 hours of sleep each night or I get cranky. So, that's 49 hours per week of sleep that I need. I also believe that I need to invest time with my work. I've been averaging about 53 hours per week, so that leaves me 66 hours per week out of 168 to divide up between physical activity, family, relational, and spiritual. I tithe with my money, so why not tithe with my time? Give God 2.4 hours of every day and that still leaves me 49.2 hours to invest into working out, family, and getting my to-do list done. 49.2 hours seems like a lot of time, but my kids are still begging for time with me. And do I really invest 2.4 hours every day with God?
Where is my time really going? Do you know? Do you have balance?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
I know that I need 6 or 7 hours of sleep each night or I get cranky. So, that's 49 hours per week of sleep that I need. I also believe that I need to invest time with my work. I've been averaging about 53 hours per week, so that leaves me 66 hours per week out of 168 to divide up between physical activity, family, relational, and spiritual. I tithe with my money, so why not tithe with my time? Give God 2.4 hours of every day and that still leaves me 49.2 hours to invest into working out, family, and getting my to-do list done. 49.2 hours seems like a lot of time, but my kids are still begging for time with me. And do I really invest 2.4 hours every day with God?
Where is my time really going? Do you know? Do you have balance?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Friday, June 10, 2011
Break Down the Walls
Do you have walls up in your life? For a long time in my life I did have walls up. I did not even see them as walls. What I mean by that is, I had a lot of fear, worry, anxiety, and bitterness in my life. These were my walls. They kept me from really accomplishing anything. They kept me down and produced a cycle of gloom and impending doom. That, in itself, is a wall that blocks me from becoming what God wants me to be. I think that distractions like this are what Satan fed me to keep me from being effective. My pastor talked about the power of the Holy Spirit inside us, and how the Holy Spirit has the power to change us. But I believe that I get distracted by emotions or circumstances. These walls render me ineffective. This is what Satan wants. There's nothing better for Satan than a Christian that is tossed about like a sailor at sea in a big storm of emotions and circumstances, rendering him useless. How can I break through these walls?
The Holy Spirit has the power to do all good and great things. For me the wall that probably blocked me the most was the wall of unbelief. I didn't really believe that God would give me the power of the Holy Spirit. I thought I had to do these things on my own.
It takes time and a decision that I can't live this way anymore, and it takes mental discipline and a new way of thinking to break down the walls. Are you on this road yet? What are you waiting for? Are you making a difference in this world? Does the way you think and the way you act bring glory to God? Are you ready to break down some walls?
Pressing on with Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Share Abundance
What do you need to succeed? This is going to sound weird, but I believe that in some situations a person needs to give himself permission to succeed.
If I have a scarcity mindset, then I may think that someone won't be able to succeed if I do, or that if someone succeeds, then I won't. This is also a self-centered or self-focused mindset. I'll give you an example...say that there's a nice pond that I know of and I see someone bowfishing on that pond. I watch him for a while and realize that he's not seeing any fish. With bowfishing you have to be able to see them. He doesn't know where they hang out, but I do and I don't tell him. Let's go one step further. Say I don't even have the fishing equipment to go bowfishing, so there's no way that I can be successful anyway, but I still don't tell him where the fish are. How selfish is that? How do I even know that if I help him, maybe he's got some extra equipment and can help me get set up? How will I ever succeed at anything if I'm not willing to give a helping hand or share some things I know? If I'm
willing to help someone out, I can share in their success. I also believe that everything you do comes back to you sooner or later, good or bad. You can't succeed with a scarcity mindset.
Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.
Tell him where the fish are, have a friend for life.
Pressing On with Excellence,
Keith
If I have a scarcity mindset, then I may think that someone won't be able to succeed if I do, or that if someone succeeds, then I won't. This is also a self-centered or self-focused mindset. I'll give you an example...say that there's a nice pond that I know of and I see someone bowfishing on that pond. I watch him for a while and realize that he's not seeing any fish. With bowfishing you have to be able to see them. He doesn't know where they hang out, but I do and I don't tell him. Let's go one step further. Say I don't even have the fishing equipment to go bowfishing, so there's no way that I can be successful anyway, but I still don't tell him where the fish are. How selfish is that? How do I even know that if I help him, maybe he's got some extra equipment and can help me get set up? How will I ever succeed at anything if I'm not willing to give a helping hand or share some things I know? If I'm
willing to help someone out, I can share in their success. I also believe that everything you do comes back to you sooner or later, good or bad. You can't succeed with a scarcity mindset.
Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.
Tell him where the fish are, have a friend for life.
Pressing On with Excellence,
Keith
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Captive Thoughts
Sorry I didn't get a blog out last week. I went on a little family vacation and I also went to a 2-day seminar on Coaching and how to build a coaching business.
This got me to thinking about what I am really good at or what would I be able to coach others on. What is the one thing that I know really well? If you have been following my blogs, it is all about changing the way you think. I've heard it said in AA that I didn't have a drinking problem, I had a thinking problem. This is true.
I've written blogs about fear and worry and such, but I believe it all comes back to my thought life. I have spent a lot of time
worrying about stupid things that never happened. That was wasted time that I will never get back, but over the last 19 years I have learned some good lessons. Probably one of the biggest is how to control what I think about. It's a stewardship thing. I've heard it said that you are what you eat. I don't believe that. I eat salad, but I'm not a rabbit! I believe that you are what you think. That is maybe the only thing that God gives us complete control of. I did not have control over my thought life for a long time. I was washed here and there by feelings and circumstances. The Bible talks about a double-minded man being tossed to and fro like a sailor. Also it talks about taking counsel from the wicked. The way that I talked to myself, I was taking counsel from the wicked.
I have learned how to talk to myself differently and have learned to think differently and it has revolutionized my life. So I think that I will focus on helping others to change their thinking and to have good stewardship practice on what you allow into your head. Paul talks about taking every thought captive to Christ and Proverbs says "as a man thinks so he is." I believe that this should be the foundation that I have been working on for so long.
It's time to launch.
Pushing towards Excellence,
Keith
This got me to thinking about what I am really good at or what would I be able to coach others on. What is the one thing that I know really well? If you have been following my blogs, it is all about changing the way you think. I've heard it said in AA that I didn't have a drinking problem, I had a thinking problem. This is true.
I've written blogs about fear and worry and such, but I believe it all comes back to my thought life. I have spent a lot of time
worrying about stupid things that never happened. That was wasted time that I will never get back, but over the last 19 years I have learned some good lessons. Probably one of the biggest is how to control what I think about. It's a stewardship thing. I've heard it said that you are what you eat. I don't believe that. I eat salad, but I'm not a rabbit! I believe that you are what you think. That is maybe the only thing that God gives us complete control of. I did not have control over my thought life for a long time. I was washed here and there by feelings and circumstances. The Bible talks about a double-minded man being tossed to and fro like a sailor. Also it talks about taking counsel from the wicked. The way that I talked to myself, I was taking counsel from the wicked.
I have learned how to talk to myself differently and have learned to think differently and it has revolutionized my life. So I think that I will focus on helping others to change their thinking and to have good stewardship practice on what you allow into your head. Paul talks about taking every thought captive to Christ and Proverbs says "as a man thinks so he is." I believe that this should be the foundation that I have been working on for so long.
It's time to launch.
Pushing towards Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Where'd your "want to" go to?
I haven't received very much feedback on blogs, but if you read this and have any ideas on this, I would appreciate your feedback.
Why are people apathetic to change? Most people, if you ask them if there's anything in their life that they would like to change, they would say, yes, and then give you a list. They might even give you 20 reasons why they should change. Such as, I would like to change my eating habits because I have or am close to being diabetic and I know that if I don't get this under control, I'm going to die. They might change their ways for a while, but sooner or later, they give in and go back to not eating right. It's even more subtle in behaviors like gossip, negative talk, or talking to yourself negatively.
What keeps people doing this? I believe one of the things is desire, a "want to." How do you keep that "want to" going? How do you develop a steadfastness that will not fail? Is it just "mental laziness?" I know I get that way about exercise once in a while, but then I see the effects and get motivated again. I need to make a decision, then follow through. I have been given self-control through the Holy Spirit and, when I practice it, the self control gets stronger and stronger until I develop a habit that I refuse to give up.
Also, I would like to add, if I'm out of balance in one area of my life, it seems to have an effect on other areas of my life. Such as, if I'm not getting enough sleep, then I tend to get cranky or I don't feel like exercising. I don't want to exercise self-control and I let my guard down on other behaviors I'm trying to change.
Pushing with Excellence,
Keith
Why are people apathetic to change? Most people, if you ask them if there's anything in their life that they would like to change, they would say, yes, and then give you a list. They might even give you 20 reasons why they should change. Such as, I would like to change my eating habits because I have or am close to being diabetic and I know that if I don't get this under control, I'm going to die. They might change their ways for a while, but sooner or later, they give in and go back to not eating right. It's even more subtle in behaviors like gossip, negative talk, or talking to yourself negatively.
What keeps people doing this? I believe one of the things is desire, a "want to." How do you keep that "want to" going? How do you develop a steadfastness that will not fail? Is it just "mental laziness?" I know I get that way about exercise once in a while, but then I see the effects and get motivated again. I need to make a decision, then follow through. I have been given self-control through the Holy Spirit and, when I practice it, the self control gets stronger and stronger until I develop a habit that I refuse to give up.
Also, I would like to add, if I'm out of balance in one area of my life, it seems to have an effect on other areas of my life. Such as, if I'm not getting enough sleep, then I tend to get cranky or I don't feel like exercising. I don't want to exercise self-control and I let my guard down on other behaviors I'm trying to change.
Pushing with Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Digging Ditches
Hope deferred makes the heart sick. I've been doing some self evaluating and have discovered some things about myself that I've been wanting to pursue but have not been able to, to the extent that I wanted to. I've been feeling like I wasn't going anywhere. Ever felt that way? Sometimes I need to take a break from what I'm doing and look at where I am. Sometimes I find myself further along than I thought. I'm a long way from where I was 19 years ago. For that matter, I'm a long way from where I was 4 years ago and even 2 years ago. Little by little, God is working on me, helping me to become more and more like him. I believe that he's been working on my patience lately and though I didn't feel like I was making much progress, things are in reality moving quickly toward where I want and believe that God is leading.
When you believe that God is going to give you what you ask for, then you need to start digging the ditch. What does that mean? There's a story in the Bible that is told about Elijah. He had the Israelites dig a ditch around the altar and poured water over the sacrifice until the ditch was full. Then he prayed for fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice and believed that God was going to answer that prayer. Not only did fire fall from heaven and consume the sacrifice, but it dried up all the water in the ditch as well. All this to say that for the last few months, I've been digging the ditch because I believe that God is going to answer my prayer and there were some things that I had to do to prepare myself for what is going to come. Also along the way, he's been teaching me to be patient as a bonus gift, I guess. But I'm pretty sure that what I've been hoping for will come to fruition.
Pushing Towards Excellence,
Keith
When you believe that God is going to give you what you ask for, then you need to start digging the ditch. What does that mean? There's a story in the Bible that is told about Elijah. He had the Israelites dig a ditch around the altar and poured water over the sacrifice until the ditch was full. Then he prayed for fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice and believed that God was going to answer that prayer. Not only did fire fall from heaven and consume the sacrifice, but it dried up all the water in the ditch as well. All this to say that for the last few months, I've been digging the ditch because I believe that God is going to answer my prayer and there were some things that I had to do to prepare myself for what is going to come. Also along the way, he's been teaching me to be patient as a bonus gift, I guess. But I'm pretty sure that what I've been hoping for will come to fruition.
Pushing Towards Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Help me, Lord!
Help me, Lord. Help me to be the person that you want me to be and to know who and what that person is. Help me to be a blessing to others and to care about others as you do. Help me to know you more, to really know you Lord. Help me to hear you and to know what you're saying to me. Help me to love the way that you do. Help me to see you in others and to treat others with compassion. Help me to treat myself as you would treat me. Help me to listen to others and care about what they care about. Help me to forget myself. Lord, help me to think like you think. Lord, help it to be second nature to know your thoughts. Help me to be like Christ.
The stars in the sky, the awesome sunrise, is nothing compared to your masterpiece creation. Your masterpiece is people and your work is wonderful. Help me to see your masterpiece the way you do.
Help me, Lord to act on my belief and to trust you for the outcome. In times of doubt and despair, help me to know that you really care. Help me to be, Lord, all that I can be, a blessing from you to all who will receive it. I surrender to you, Lord, and give you permission right here and now to change anything about me that you want. I know that without you I'm nothing and I'm not able to change anything on my own. Help me to hear your still small voice and in all of my ways bring glory to you. Help me to pass on what you've taught me, oh Lord, to my kids, family, and all that are yours. So that when I get to see you, I hear you say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come here to stay."
Dear Lord, I ask that you will bless everyone that reads this today in a very special way, that they would feel as if you reached down and scooped them up and gave them a great, big bear hug.
Pushing With Excellence,
Keith
The stars in the sky, the awesome sunrise, is nothing compared to your masterpiece creation. Your masterpiece is people and your work is wonderful. Help me to see your masterpiece the way you do.
Help me, Lord to act on my belief and to trust you for the outcome. In times of doubt and despair, help me to know that you really care. Help me to be, Lord, all that I can be, a blessing from you to all who will receive it. I surrender to you, Lord, and give you permission right here and now to change anything about me that you want. I know that without you I'm nothing and I'm not able to change anything on my own. Help me to hear your still small voice and in all of my ways bring glory to you. Help me to pass on what you've taught me, oh Lord, to my kids, family, and all that are yours. So that when I get to see you, I hear you say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Come here to stay."
Dear Lord, I ask that you will bless everyone that reads this today in a very special way, that they would feel as if you reached down and scooped them up and gave them a great, big bear hug.
Pushing With Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, April 9, 2011
What Motivates You?
Last week I blogged about stewardship in my life. I have been thinking a lot about what motivates me to be a good steward in all areas of my life. The first thing that I looked at was the end result. What do I want to be known for? As a Christian I have a two-fold goal to be Christ-like and to bring glory to God. Those are the two main things I'm shooting or striving for. These are why I want to do better and better. Being a good steward is the "how to". If these are my ultimate goals, then I should have plenty of motivation to do better and since I'll never be perfect I'll always have room for improvement in every area of my life.
Romans 14:5-8 talks about doing things as unto the Lord. This also should help me to become more motivated in every little detail of my life. If I'm working as unto the Lord, then, no matter if I like my job or not, my attitude should be good. If I'm eating as unto the Lord, then I probably shouldn't be stuffing my face with a bunch of unhealthy stuff. What about negative thinking? Can I do this as unto the Lord? I highly doubt it. They just don't go together. How can I be Christ-like and bring glory to God unless I do things as unto the Lord? So ask yourself, "am I doing the absolute best as unto the Lord? Is this how I would act if he were standing by me right now?" He is.
Pushing towards Excellence,
Keith
Romans 14:5-8 talks about doing things as unto the Lord. This also should help me to become more motivated in every little detail of my life. If I'm working as unto the Lord, then, no matter if I like my job or not, my attitude should be good. If I'm eating as unto the Lord, then I probably shouldn't be stuffing my face with a bunch of unhealthy stuff. What about negative thinking? Can I do this as unto the Lord? I highly doubt it. They just don't go together. How can I be Christ-like and bring glory to God unless I do things as unto the Lord? So ask yourself, "am I doing the absolute best as unto the Lord? Is this how I would act if he were standing by me right now?" He is.
Pushing towards Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, April 2, 2011
What Motivates you to Excellence?
I want to write about stewardship a little bit. Not just in the sense that its generally talked about, which is traditionally money, but how stewardship should play a vital role in all aspects of my life. Yours also, if you dare to go there.
How does stewardship look in other areas of my life? It goes back to what Jesus says in Luke 6:38. "Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." What does that mean to me? It means you truly do reap what you sow and how you sow you get to receive it back. How does that relate to stewardship? It means if I strive toward excellence in my life, I will get back the same. If I put good effort into my marriage, it will come back. If I put good effort into watching what I eat, I can be slim. If I push myself physically, I get to be fit. If I put time into relationship building I get friends and I get a great return for the effort and excellence that I put in.
What would happen if I put time and effort into my relationship with my kids? What would happen if I put time and effort into my relationship with God? What kind of rewards would I receive? This is worth trying just to see. What if I put energy into learning about all the areas of my life? What if I put time and energy into refining what I do know and started doing the things that I do know better and better? Would that pay? I believe that it will.
"The enemy of good stewardship is mediocrity. The beginning of mediocrity is pride."
Pushing towards Excellence,
Keith
How does stewardship look in other areas of my life? It goes back to what Jesus says in Luke 6:38. "Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." What does that mean to me? It means you truly do reap what you sow and how you sow you get to receive it back. How does that relate to stewardship? It means if I strive toward excellence in my life, I will get back the same. If I put good effort into my marriage, it will come back. If I put good effort into watching what I eat, I can be slim. If I push myself physically, I get to be fit. If I put time into relationship building I get friends and I get a great return for the effort and excellence that I put in.
What would happen if I put time and effort into my relationship with my kids? What would happen if I put time and effort into my relationship with God? What kind of rewards would I receive? This is worth trying just to see. What if I put energy into learning about all the areas of my life? What if I put time and energy into refining what I do know and started doing the things that I do know better and better? Would that pay? I believe that it will.
"The enemy of good stewardship is mediocrity. The beginning of mediocrity is pride."
Pushing towards Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Fake it till you make it
Now that I had a sponsor or mentor and a written inventory, I
was entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character. After sharing
my liabilities and assets with God and someone else, I saw some patterns in my
thinking which caused me to act a certain way.
My beliefs about things, whether true or not, decided the
action I would take which could either be good or bad depending on the
situation. One thing I found out was that I couldn't change anything by myself.
It was similar to when I realized that I was powerless. It was as if I had no
power no matter how much I wished I did. I could quit doing some things, but I couldn't do it all. Here I was supposed to be entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character. I had asked him to, but he didn't and I kept doing the
same things over and over again wishing that I wouldn't. Some days it seemed
that God would indeed remove them. But other days, I failed miserably. God
could remove them but was there something I could do? I believe there is.
The only way to have real lasting change is to change your
thinking. I could act as if God had already answered my prayers. Isn't that
real faith? Fake it till you make it. Act as if that defect of character has
been removed by concentrating on doing the opposite. For example, if I believe
that God has removed fear then I will practice trust. If I struggle with
selfishness then I will practice thinking of others. If I struggle with pride,
then I will practice unconditional love.
"Fake it till you make it" is faith in action.
Pushing towards excellence.
Keith
was entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character. After sharing
my liabilities and assets with God and someone else, I saw some patterns in my
thinking which caused me to act a certain way.
My beliefs about things, whether true or not, decided the
action I would take which could either be good or bad depending on the
situation. One thing I found out was that I couldn't change anything by myself.
It was similar to when I realized that I was powerless. It was as if I had no
power no matter how much I wished I did. I could quit doing some things, but I couldn't do it all. Here I was supposed to be entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character. I had asked him to, but he didn't and I kept doing the
same things over and over again wishing that I wouldn't. Some days it seemed
that God would indeed remove them. But other days, I failed miserably. God
could remove them but was there something I could do? I believe there is.
The only way to have real lasting change is to change your
thinking. I could act as if God had already answered my prayers. Isn't that
real faith? Fake it till you make it. Act as if that defect of character has
been removed by concentrating on doing the opposite. For example, if I believe
that God has removed fear then I will practice trust. If I struggle with
selfishness then I will practice thinking of others. If I struggle with pride,
then I will practice unconditional love.
"Fake it till you make it" is faith in action.
Pushing towards excellence.
Keith
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Scariest Place to Be
My mind is a dangerous neighborhood, I shouldn't go in there alone.
Step 5 in AA is admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. For this step we will need a sponsor or a spiritual advisor to talk to. When it comes to revealing yourself totally to someone else that can seem pretty frightening. It was for me, but I knew if I didn't do it I would drink again. The thing is, if I would have let myself off the hook, I believe I would have suffered the consequences of half-hearted efforts. You truly reap what you sow and this way is difficult sometimes. But I believe it to be the easier, softer way when you compare it to the way I was living before.
Pushing Towards Excellence
Keith
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Weird But Wise
How do you pick someone to be a sponsor, discipler, or mentor? First, I would say you want to pick someone you want to be like and someone that is more spiritually mature than you. When I first got sober I picked a guy that laughed a lot because I wanted to have fun. I didn't think I could be sober and have fun at the same time. Over time, distance, from moving, forced me to find someone else. That is good though, because it stretches you even further. One person can only take you so far so you need others to come into your life and push you to greater and greater things.
My sponsor used to say weird things to me. One time when I was having a problem with a co-worker he told me, Keith, I want you to go out of your way to be nice to her and help her out. Another time he told me, Keith, for one month nobody's wrong; even if they're wrong, they're not wrong. He also told me things like, you can't think your way into right living. You have to act your way into right thinking. Action, action, action. Go through the motion, the emotion will follow. He also told me happiness is a by-product of good living.
Weird but wise.
Keith
Pushing Toward Excellence
P.S. Pray for the tsunami victims and for Japan.
My sponsor used to say weird things to me. One time when I was having a problem with a co-worker he told me, Keith, I want you to go out of your way to be nice to her and help her out. Another time he told me, Keith, for one month nobody's wrong; even if they're wrong, they're not wrong. He also told me things like, you can't think your way into right living. You have to act your way into right thinking. Action, action, action. Go through the motion, the emotion will follow. He also told me happiness is a by-product of good living.
Weird but wise.
Keith
Pushing Toward Excellence
P.S. Pray for the tsunami victims and for Japan.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Sharpening
I would like to write about accountability. Why is it important? There was a study done on horses. One horse by himself could pull 2,500 pounds. They repeated the test with two horses and together they were able to pull 12,500 pounds. That’s five times as much as by themselves. I think the same holds true for people. Not by strapping them to a weight, but by strapping them together by accountability.
I know if I talk to someone about a problem I’m having, for some reason I’m able to think a little clearer. Especially when that problem rises again. It is easier to let go and not do the wrong thing if I know I’m going to have to tell someone about it.
What if you knew a person was going to specifically ask you about a character defect or ask how you were doing on being kind, loving, and generous? Don’t you think that has the possibility to change the way you act? Proverbs 27:17 says that as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. This is true. Although it might seem scary to share some or all of your innermost thoughts with someone, it will help you to become the man or woman that God wants you to be and it happens a lot faster than trying to do it on your own. A problem shared is a problem cut in half.
Pushing towards excellence.
Keith
I know if I talk to someone about a problem I’m having, for some reason I’m able to think a little clearer. Especially when that problem rises again. It is easier to let go and not do the wrong thing if I know I’m going to have to tell someone about it.
What if you knew a person was going to specifically ask you about a character defect or ask how you were doing on being kind, loving, and generous? Don’t you think that has the possibility to change the way you act? Proverbs 27:17 says that as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. This is true. Although it might seem scary to share some or all of your innermost thoughts with someone, it will help you to become the man or woman that God wants you to be and it happens a lot faster than trying to do it on your own. A problem shared is a problem cut in half.
Pushing towards excellence.
Keith
Saturday, February 19, 2011
WILL LIGHTNING STRIKE?
“Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the Light,
even though for the moment you do not see.” –Bill W.
even though for the moment you do not see.” –Bill W.
I became a Christian when I was 10 or so. I gave my life to Christ. I did what most Christian kids do like go to camp and Sunday School. But for some reason I never was taught to turn my will over to God. Some things happened to me when I was a kid that should never happen to any kid and it affected my perception of myself. I grew to believe that I was not good enough to be a Christian and thought that I was going to go to hell. I also thought that I might as well enjoy the ride there.
Flash forward 14 years. Reaching the bottom of my alcohol and drug addiction, I’m faced once again with the question of God. I believed in God. I believed that I had to change my perception of God or I would drink again. It’s hard to turn your life and will over to a God you think is going to strike you with lightning. So I changed my thinking. What if God were all loving and all forgiving? Would that idea of God work for me? I would try it and find out. Sometimes I forget and break out the guilt club. Then I remember that my God is all loving and all forgiving. What is your perception of God? Does it need to be changed?
Keith
Pressing On With Excellence
Saturday, February 12, 2011
THE LONELIEST PLACE TO BE
In the parable of the prodigal son, the son found himself longing to eat the pods that the hogs were eating. When he realized this, I believe he came to the end of himself. I have been there.
My thoughts were: “if this is life I’m sick of it and I don’t want this anymore.” This is the loneliest place to be. You don’t want to be here long. Still I think I needed to be there long enough to figure out that what I was doing wasn’t working anymore and that there has to be something better than this. Someone told me around that time that my best thinking had gotten me there. That was a hard pill to swallow, but it was true. And I couldn’t go any further until I truly admitted this. I was on my own, truly powerless.
Do you find yourself here? If you do, it is a bittersweet place to be. But, it can be a great place to start over. It’s never too late for a do-over. If you’re truly powerless then you need power. And you’re at the place where you’re willing to accept that power. That power is the Father, run to Him now. Be free and change your life for good. God wants to have a relationship with you. That is his greatest desire. Then, you won’t be at the loneliest place any more.
Keith
Pressing On with Excellence
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Perpetual Forgiveness Machines
Why are Christians so judgmental? I know I fall into it. Not really on purpose, I just have a slant towards measuring others critically. Not all the time and I’m far better than I used to be about this. The Bible says “Judge not, lest you be judged.” [Matthew 7:1] Jesus himself said, “Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us.” [Matthew 6:12] That AS implies that with the same measure that we use, it will be given back to us. Still it seems for me that I forget where I was, or rather how I was, when I found Jesus. I was at the bottom and capable of anything. I think that I sometimes forget what I’m capable of and that plus a little insecurity of my own is why I judge others.
So what’s the tool I can use to stop being so judgmental? How about what Jesus said: forgiveness. Forgiveness towards others stops me in my tracks for judging. I cannot be critical and forgiving at the same time. Also, if I forgive myself I won’t have insecurity in the first place. God-esteem is far better than self-esteem. Do you have trouble with this or am I the only one? We need to become perpetual forgiveness machines.
Keith
Pressing On With Excellence
So what’s the tool I can use to stop being so judgmental? How about what Jesus said: forgiveness. Forgiveness towards others stops me in my tracks for judging. I cannot be critical and forgiving at the same time. Also, if I forgive myself I won’t have insecurity in the first place. God-esteem is far better than self-esteem. Do you have trouble with this or am I the only one? We need to become perpetual forgiveness machines.
Keith
Pressing On With Excellence
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Negative Spirals
Low pressure system over Iceland. Image from NASA, taken on 2003-09-04. http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=6204
I want to write about negative spirals because I seem to have little or no control of my thought process at the time. The endless cycle would go something like this: Sin, then self condemnation, to discouragement, to unforgiveness, then back to sin. What if I could change this? What if I didn’t do this any more? Was this even possible and what would that look like?
This whole process can be short circuited or stopped. It would look more like this: Sin, ask forgiveness, forgive myself, and move on. I suppose this is the way it goes if you are a normal human being, but for me, for years I would go through these negative cycles. I don’t believe that this is God’s will for anyone. How can this bring glory to God? It can’t and doesn’t. How do you stop this?
First, I would say that you should pray and ask God for help recognizing this. Second, when you realize what you’re doing, stop and ask yourself: does this kind of thinking bring glory to God? Third, I used Tommy Newberry’s Five Questions to help me learn how to think differently.
These questions are based on Philippians 4:8. A 4:8 question is any question which extracts a positive answer. Examples are: Who are Five people who love you the most? What are Five things you’re good at? What are Five things you’re looking forward to in the next week? What are Five things you’re grateful for right now? What are Five of your strengths or positive traits? Any question which gets you thinking about what is true, good, and right; things that are pure and lovely, and good things in others; and anything you can praise God for and be glad about is a 4:8 question.
Keith
Pressing On With Excellence
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Spiritual Brillo® pads
Let’s talk about relationships. We all have them. The way I see it there is three types of relationships that I have; with God, others, and myself.
I have a relationship with God. That’s what the tools are all about. They are designed to remove blockages and to grow my relationship with God.
I have a relationship with others. If that relationship is stressed then my relationship with God is blocked. God is present in others and one way he speaks is through others. If I’m mad or judgmental or criticizing or complaining about someone then I’m effectively putting up a wall between myself and God. I sometimes think God puts people in my life that are like a spiritual Brillo® Pad. They just rub me wrong or we just don’t see eye to eye. Anyway, God uses these people, Christian or not, to help me to become a better person. I used to sit around and complain about these people until I realized that God was using them to shine me up for him.
The third relationship is with myself. This is really not often looked at. Yes, I do have a relationship with myself. I believe we all do. I talk to myself all day long and I have found that if my relationship with myself is messed up, it too will have a tremendous effect on the others. For instance; if I have unforgiveness towards myself I become bitter toward others. I may be easily offended, or become angry when they don’t perform the way I think they should. This is really a pride issue, but I think it also stems from unforgiveness. But it causes me to be judgmental and insecure. (If someone makes me mad there’s a pretty good chance that there is something in that person that reminds me of myself.) And if I’m not right in any of these relationships. It will mess with both of the others.
What’s the tool to use to fix this. Well, here’s what I did. For example: I would be driving down the road and someone would merge and cut me off. I would be mad. And it would go something like this: I would call them some name. Then I might even make a gesture. Then, I would realize that this is not the person that I want to be so I would ask God to forgive that person for being an idiot and I would ask God to forgive me for judging that person. Then I would say out loud to myself, “Keith, I forgive you.” It took around six months of this before I realized that when someone would do that it didn’t hardly bother me any more.
Self forgiveness is one of the biggest tools that I can use to improve both my relationship with others and God. How are you doing at forgiving yourself? Do you think about your relationship with yourself? Do you have your own tools for forgiving yourself that you could share with me?
Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith
I have a relationship with God. That’s what the tools are all about. They are designed to remove blockages and to grow my relationship with God.
I have a relationship with others. If that relationship is stressed then my relationship with God is blocked. God is present in others and one way he speaks is through others. If I’m mad or judgmental or criticizing or complaining about someone then I’m effectively putting up a wall between myself and God. I sometimes think God puts people in my life that are like a spiritual Brillo® Pad. They just rub me wrong or we just don’t see eye to eye. Anyway, God uses these people, Christian or not, to help me to become a better person. I used to sit around and complain about these people until I realized that God was using them to shine me up for him.
The third relationship is with myself. This is really not often looked at. Yes, I do have a relationship with myself. I believe we all do. I talk to myself all day long and I have found that if my relationship with myself is messed up, it too will have a tremendous effect on the others. For instance; if I have unforgiveness towards myself I become bitter toward others. I may be easily offended, or become angry when they don’t perform the way I think they should. This is really a pride issue, but I think it also stems from unforgiveness. But it causes me to be judgmental and insecure. (If someone makes me mad there’s a pretty good chance that there is something in that person that reminds me of myself.) And if I’m not right in any of these relationships. It will mess with both of the others.
What’s the tool to use to fix this. Well, here’s what I did. For example: I would be driving down the road and someone would merge and cut me off. I would be mad. And it would go something like this: I would call them some name. Then I might even make a gesture. Then, I would realize that this is not the person that I want to be so I would ask God to forgive that person for being an idiot and I would ask God to forgive me for judging that person. Then I would say out loud to myself, “Keith, I forgive you.” It took around six months of this before I realized that when someone would do that it didn’t hardly bother me any more.
Self forgiveness is one of the biggest tools that I can use to improve both my relationship with others and God. How are you doing at forgiving yourself? Do you think about your relationship with yourself? Do you have your own tools for forgiving yourself that you could share with me?
Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A Look Back
This has been the hardest blog for me to write because I want to stay positive, but I know that there has been a lot of people that have gone through some rough times this year.
Well now that we’ve talked about staying in the moment in the last post, and because it is coming upon a new year, I want to look back a little at the past year. Maybe it didn’t turn out the way you thought it would.
But I also know if you look hard enough you can find good. Pain can be good sometimes. God uses it to draw us to himself. Have you gone through some pain this past year? Did you take that pain to the Great Physician? He wants to heal your pain and bandage your wounds.
I had an over all good year this year. I was able to meet some goals that I had made at the end of last year. I pushed myself further than I thought I could go. I took up a new hobby that I never thought I would. I was able to get in the best physical condition of my life as an adult. And I paid off some debts.
After that I injured my back and was off work for 2 months. So, I had a little of both good and bad. I believe the good has outweighed the bad. I’m sure that I know God better now than I ever have in the past.
I sometimes think that God wants to be involved in the good in our lives. It’s easy to run to God during the bad times, but do you include him in the good times as well? Thank Him for all that he does. Have you ever praised God in the bad times? It’s hard to do and seems counterintuitive, but I believe that God wants us to. For me it seems weird, but if I trust and praise him in the bad times I don’t have to stay in the pain as long. God is God and he allows us to experience pain. When we learn to run to God in our pain, it helps us to have empathy for others and to grow closer to God.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Keep watching, God has good things ahead.
Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith
Well now that we’ve talked about staying in the moment in the last post, and because it is coming upon a new year, I want to look back a little at the past year. Maybe it didn’t turn out the way you thought it would.
But I also know if you look hard enough you can find good. Pain can be good sometimes. God uses it to draw us to himself. Have you gone through some pain this past year? Did you take that pain to the Great Physician? He wants to heal your pain and bandage your wounds.
I had an over all good year this year. I was able to meet some goals that I had made at the end of last year. I pushed myself further than I thought I could go. I took up a new hobby that I never thought I would. I was able to get in the best physical condition of my life as an adult. And I paid off some debts.
After that I injured my back and was off work for 2 months. So, I had a little of both good and bad. I believe the good has outweighed the bad. I’m sure that I know God better now than I ever have in the past.
I sometimes think that God wants to be involved in the good in our lives. It’s easy to run to God during the bad times, but do you include him in the good times as well? Thank Him for all that he does. Have you ever praised God in the bad times? It’s hard to do and seems counterintuitive, but I believe that God wants us to. For me it seems weird, but if I trust and praise him in the bad times I don’t have to stay in the pain as long. God is God and he allows us to experience pain. When we learn to run to God in our pain, it helps us to have empathy for others and to grow closer to God.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Keep watching, God has good things ahead.
Pressing On With Excellence,
Keith
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