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
Saturday, April 30, 2011
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
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