Trust Him

Trust is the key to adventure (Alex Rover, Nims Island), so it is with our relationship with God. When we trust him fully we can have confidence in the unknown. Confidence that all will be alright and that we can do what he wants us to do when we are in His will. Then we are in for an adventure of a lifetime where we need not worry, but trust and see what he does next. If you put your trust in to a 401k or a job or on a credit card or people, you're not living to the fullness of life that God has for you. I'm not saying those things are bad, just where is your trust really? Things and stuff and people come and go. There is only one that won't fail you, only one that deserves your full trust. That one is God may you find him now. So what is your confidence in? See, God wants to help us, he want us to succeed. But it will not happen if we don’t accept his help. If we don’t trust that he will help us why should he bother? Does that make sense? Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ, I can do nothing of any lasting value without Him. It may be a radical thought but it is biblical. So take a spiritual adventure and see what you've been missing. Put your trust in Him and enjoy the ride of a lifetime.
Taking it to the street. 1.) Ask the Lord to help you to trust Him daily maybe even hourly.
                                     2.) Ask yourself if you're putting too much trust in other things beside God.

Pressing on with Excellence!!
Keith

Realize

I had been a Christian for at least 15 years, yet there was clearly a disconnect between myself and God, almost a split personality of sorts. If I knew you were a Christian, I could mostly act like I thought a Christian should act. If I knew you were not a Christ follower, you probably would not know that I was a Christian. Some of the things that would come out of my mouth would make a sailor blush. I want to make it clear, I was a Christian. I believed in God and I had a heart for a closer relationship with him. I would read my Bible every day in the morning and that did help, but I had very little fruit in my life, meaning the fruits of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22 &23 says, "but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control." I believe it is possible to limit God's power in our lives. 1st Corinthians 13:11 says, "when I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." So maybe part of my being unfruitful could be blamed on spiritual immaturity. But I still believe there are ways to spur spiritual growth so that we may become spiritually mature quicker and stop wasting our lives. That is what this blog is all about!
Taking it to the street. 1.) Do an inventory of fruits of the Spirit in your life this week. (Are you lacking?)
                              2.) Ask someone to hold you accountable about the changes you want to see in your life.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Thanksgiving

'Tis the season and I have been thinking about the different things that I am thankful for. There are so many things that I take for granted. Like my kids wanting to spend time with me. I know that there will be a day when I want to spend time with them and they won't be around. So, for now I will take advantage of that. Another is my wife. I am thankful for all she does. Like the proverbs 31 woman, she takes care of us well. The things that I'm most thankful for are not things but people and relationships. I am thankful for our small group and my friends at church and at work.I'm thankful for old friends and even most of my relatives. But the thing I'm most thankful for is not a thing. It is God's love and mercy and the hope that I have because of Him. Because when it all comes down to it; if you know, I mean really, really know, how much God loves you, it changes everything! When you know that, you change; you can't help but change. It is truly amazing the change that happens, especially in how you treat yourself and others. So that's what I'm most thankful for; just knowing that God is merciful and he loves me.
Taking it to the street 1.) Pray and ask God to help you to realize how great His love is for you personally.
                                 2.) Surrender control of your thinking to Him every morning for one month.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith    

Friend

There many names given to Christ. You know the list: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of peace, just to name a few. There is one that I'm especially thankful for. One that if it were not true, I personally would be finished. Many others would be too if it were not so. That name is Jesus, Friend Of Sinners. If He is a friend of sinners then I am in good company. I can trust that he loves me and forgives me and wants me to be his friend no matter what. Some friends write you off if you hurt them. Not Jesus; He would still have gone to the cross even if I was the only person in the world. Talk about hurting someone, my sin sent him to the cross yet he still wants to be my friend. What is a friend? A friend is someone who you can talk to about anything; a friend knows what makes you laugh or cry. A close friend may even be able to finish a sentence for you. A real friend will listen when you're down, help to lift you back up, and encourage you to keep going even when you think you can't take anymore. A friend knows your weakness and your strengths, your good and overlooks the bad. A friend knows your potential. John 15:15 says, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you." Jesus is my friend and he can be yours too! He is a true friend and will never let you down. As the old hymn goes, what a friend we have in Jesus.
Taking it to the street: 1.) Identify some things you can do to become a better friend.
                                 2.) Look for chances to implement those ideas and become a better friend.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Listen

With the last post being about prayer, I thought it might be fitting that I share some of my struggles with prayer. One of the hardest things for me is to do is to take the time to listen. I'm not sure why. Deep down I want to know what God has to say to me, but I hardly give him the chance to speak to me. I think that is one of the reasons I enjoy hunting so much. It gives me the chance to get alone and be quiet with God. Those are two things you need to hear His still small voice. Even when I'm alone and quiet I can still become distracted. I really have to focus my thoughts, push them out of my head and just listen. He doesn't speak to me every time I pray, but if I can get alone, quiet, and focus my thoughts on Him, I have a real good chance to hear Him. On my way to work in the morning is also potentially a good time to practice listening. Once again I'm alone and quiet, although I often get distracted. Wherever you are it doesn't really matter. What matters is making it a priority to listen.
Taking it to the street:
      1.)  Plan a time when you can get alone, quiet, and focused with God. (Jesus did it in the morning.) Check this out: Mark 1:35, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed". I figure if Jesus needed to do this, so do I.
      2.) Develop a habit of focused listening during this time of prayer. This takes practice. Don't give up before the miracle happens.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Prayer

Last week I wrote about beliefs. This week I realized that if my belief in God is real, then why don't I take more things to him in prayer? Why do I try to do so many things alone? Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to pray continually; Do you pray continually? I know I don't. But when it comes to having the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, belief and prayer go hand in hand. It is pointless to pray if you don't believe that God is going to do something. I think that a lot of our prayers are hindered by unbelief. Why? What makes me pray, then believe that God is not going to do anything? I struggle with that. I hear myself say that He wouldn't do that for me because I don't deserve it. Thanks be to God that I don't get everything I deserve because I wouldn't be here right now. What's the point I'm trying to make? The point is that the way I talk to myself is, in a way, almost a prayer because God knows what I'm thinking. He can tell by my innermost thoughts whether I believe He will answer my prayer or not. We can also listen to our own thoughts and tell if we believe or not. I think we sabotage our own prayers by our negative thoughts and words.
Taking it to the street:
1.) Think about what you're thinking about. Is it negative or God honoring?
2.) Practice continual prayer.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Beliefs

  I have come to realize how important your beliefs are. I used to think that I had to act a certain way based on my emotions. This is not true. What I have found  is that what I believe about a situation controls what I will do. If I believe that someone is hurt bad, I may call 911. If I believe that their injury isn't so bad, I may give them a ride to the urgent care, or take care of it myself with a band-aid. This is true in our spiritual lives as well. If I believe that God is not going to help me with a specific problem, I may try to take care of it myself. Usually it is something small that I think I can fix on my own. The big stuff I tend to give to God because I have learned that I don't have any control over those situations. But the truth is, if I would believe that he would help me in the small things, I could save myself a bunch of trouble. James 1:6-8 says, "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;  8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." My problem was not that I did not ask, my problem was I did not really believe that he cared enough for me to help me with the small things. I think it kind of offends God when we do that. He wants to be totally involved in our lives.
Taking it to the street:
1.) Ask God to help you to sort out false beliefs in your thinking.
2.) Invest some time in His word each day this week.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Spirit led

It's funny, last week I blogged about focus and this week I lost mine. I could give you plenty of excuses but I won't. I made a decision to not write last Saturday, mostly because I was tired both physically and mentally.  I was listening to our pastor the other day, he said that there are 64,000 unchurched  people living in our county. He also said that if each one in our church would lead 32 people to Christ we could have a huge affect on our county. So, I want to do my part and I was wondering how to go about it. Is it realistic to have a goal to lead 32 people for Christ in a year? See, the thing is, I can set a goal of that, and I might even be able to have a plan of action of some sort, but I think that if it was left up to me alone there would be no one lead to Christ. I believe that the whole process has to be Spirit led. I can set a goal of 32 people in a year, but the Holy Spirit has to do the work in their heart. He would have to lead them to me. He would have to give me the right words to say. He would also have to help me to want to. So, do I just give up? I don't think so. I think I can set a goal of 32 people in a year. My job is to be led by the Spirit to abide in Him, and to be so in tune with him that I don't hesitate when I hear him. I will have to be aware of my surroundings and what people are talking about. I would have to be sensitive to others' emotions and where they're at and with what's going on in their lives. That's a tall order for anyone, no matter where you are in your spiritual walk.
Taking it to the street. 1.) Ask God for a heart  for people.
                                  2.) Practice listening to the Holy Spirit.
Pressing on with excellence!! Keith        

Focus

I have decided that if I want to try some new things I may need to give up some things to do that. It is very easy to spread yourself too thin. So instead I try to figure out what God is speaking to me about and focus on that. It's okay to drop some things from your life and try something new, it may not even be a permanent thing. But sometimes we need to just let some things go temporarily to get where we need to be, where God wants us to be, and where he can better use us. It might even be a good thing that we have to give up. For example, I serve as security at our church, and I want to take a Christian counseling course at church. I decided that I would have to give up the security position for now so that I could better concentrate my efforts on counseling. There is quite a bit of material to cover and I need to make time to read it. Plus the security position sometimes runs at the same time as the class. While security is a good way to serve others and a good thing to do, I need to let go of that so that I can better focus on what God wants me to do. Life is full of choices and when we lose our focus then we are wasting precious time.

Taking it to the street: 1) Is there something in your life that is distracting you from giving your full attention to what is most important? 2) Ask God to help you to see if there is.

Pressing On With Excellence!!
Keith

My Biggest Sin

I filled out an application for church leadership to be a small group leader at our church recently. One of the questions got me to thinking. The question was, do you have any recurring sin in your life? I wanted to answer this honestly, but I also want to lead a small group. I don't want to be disqualified by answering the wrong way. So, I decided to answer the question honestly and let the chips fall where they may. My answer was that I have a tendency to use profanity when I'm not allowing the Holy Spirit to control my mind. You can ask my kids; they have, I'm ashamed to say, heard some terrible things come out of my mouth. Especially when I'm working on a car. I don't know why that is. I used to think that you could judge how hard  a job was by how many swear words came out, not how many hours it took. I still struggle sometimes with that although not as much as I used to.
My biggest sin is living a life of mediocrity. Slipping back into old habits is more of what Satan would want me to do than what God wants for me and my life. I wasted too much of my life living in mediocrity; no more. I will not let my fire for Him go out. I want more than ever to be effective for Him. To see others come to know Him. To be in a position to see God at work in their lives. I have a passion for Him and His ways. I know that if I let up, I will soon be going backwards. So never, never, never, give up.

Taking it to the street: 1.) Bring glory to God with what comes out of your mouth this week.                  
                                  2.) Practice excellence is the small mundane things you do this week.
Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith        

Subtle Influence

So, I have been writing  lately about the Holy Spirit's power in our lives and how we can tap into that power. What I want to point out is that the Holy Spirit's job is to transform us into the likeness of Christ. 2Co 3:18, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (NIV) Are you reflecting the Lord's glory? I know that is a tough question; my answer is sometimes more than other times. Even though I'm far better than I used to be, I still have a long way to go. So, once again this week, I noticed that what you allow into your head affects you and your closeness to reflecting the Lord's glory. I was driving the company truck and I usually change the station, but I didn't Thursday morning. It was on a classic rock station and I allowed myself to listen to some music from the past. I got a song stuck into my head and caught myself singing it the rest of the day; Elton John's, The Piano Man. I remembered most of the words, but I didn't think too much of it. But I did notice that I had a hard time controlling my mouth. But today I listened to the radio and got  the Christian song: Lord, I Need You by Matt Maher stuck in my head and had a much easier going day. I felt more at peace and had noticeably more self control over what words came out of my mouth. I'm reminded again that what you put into your head does affect you good or bad.
Taking it to the street 1.) Be careful of what you allow yourself to listen to or to watch.
                                 2.) Ask the Holy Spirit to control your mind.
Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith

What's Most Important?

When we look at Jesus's life we can see things that need to be transformed in our own so that we may become more like him. One thing we know is that God is love. 1 John 4:16, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." (NIV) Whoever lives in love lives in God. This means love is an action in our daily lives. This is most important I believe. Love makes it possible to get out of ourselves long enough to make a difference in someone's life. Without love we would not care at all. How many times do we take the easy way out and not help others when we see a need? I'm guilty of that. Love is taking time or money out of our lives for others. To many times I'm more focused on what it is going to cost me rather than just doing. Too many times I'm to focused on my own little agenda to even notice someone else is having a problem. Too many times I look the other way when I drive past someone who is trying to collect money for a charity or is homeless. Sometimes I may even think that this man is just trying to get free money and so, by doing that, I judge him. Love does have a price. It will cost you your own self-centeredness. That is one thing that I can do with less of. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. That's what we really need to be transformed.

Taking it to the street 1.)Ask God to put someone in your life this week that you can show them his love.

                                 2.) Listen to people around you and do something to help them with their problem.

Pressing on with Excellence!!

Keith

Time Management

Our pastor brought up a point about Jesus and his day planner. Jesus made a daily habit of spending time with God. I have thought about that before. We have all heard about tithing our money where you give  ten percent to God. What if you were to give ten percent of your time to God? Do you think that would make a difference in your life. That would be 2.4 hours a day or 16.8 hours a week. Time is the great equalizer, what I mean is that rich or poor, skinny or fat, short or tall, smart or stupid, we all get 24 hours a day and it is what we do with that time that will make a difference in your life or others. What would your life look like if you got into the habit of investing some time with God. In prayer, in studying his word, in praising him,and in helping others.
Taking it to the street: 1) Take an inventory of where your time is going and put it down on paper.
                                    2) See where you can make adjustments to invest more of your time with Him
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

New Season

It's coming up on fall and the beginning of a new season. This is my favorite time of year. There are also new seasons in one's life. I believe I am beginning a new season with new responsibilities and new opportunities. We have decided to lead a small group at church. We are also a attending counselor training course at our church. I have been thinking about starting a new book and yesterday put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard on it.The title of this book is going to be On Solid Ground. It will be a book where I use my life as an illustration of how I have been able to change the way I think, how that came about and how it has affected my life. How my relationship with God, others, and myself have changed. Oh, there is one other thing that I'm working on right now. I'm starting a handyman business. So, if you know anyone who needs anything fixed let me know. I'm excited about where I am in life in this new season. God is good.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith  

Words Have Power

So, last night the pastor was talking about the words we speak and how they can effect us good or bad. This is so true. Our words can hinder our own spiritual growth. James 1:26 says, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." Two things that the pastor gave us to help us to put this into practice was to think before you speak; Proverbs 15:28, "The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil." Speak less; Proverbs 10:19, "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." It was a great message. I would add, to not allow yourself to get into a debate when you are physically tired, because I have noticed it is easier to let your guard down about what you say or how you say it if you are tired. Sometimes it is better to not speak at all if the words you're about to say does not bring honor to God.
Taking it to the street: Try listening more than you speak.
                                 Ask God to help you to think before you speak.
                                 Ask God to help you to hear what words you are saying to yourself.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Actions have consequences

As some people know around here there was an elderly woman who came up missing. After much searching and many prayers she was finally found after four days. She has survived, praise God. But that is not altogether what this blog post is about. It seems while searchers were looking for her they discovered a still and some marijuana growing behind someone's house. Evidently the person that was doing this thought that this was a good idea. I may sit here and think he is stupid and laugh. He thought he could get away with it and for all we know he has for a long time. This man made a decision based on self which put him in a position to be hurt. Don't we do the same things, maybe not as blatantly illegal? But we make selfish decisions and they come back to bite us. Paul says in Php 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Eph 5:17 "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." In Ga 5:16  "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Someone once told me; Keith, God's will is not your will so try doing what is not your will and you will be a lot closer to doing God's will. When it comes to making decisions based on self, he was right on.
Taking it to the street: Ask yourself am I making a decision based on self?
                                 Practice giving the Holy Spirit control of your thinking.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Everything

So I was sitting in church tonight and we started singing a song that talks about God being everything. How we give everything for him and that nothing else matters but Him. I wondered if we, who were singing, really believed this. What if we really did believe this? What would our life look like if we really did believe this? I would like to think that nothing gets between myself and God. I must be A.D.D. because for myself it seems that there are lot of things that come between me and God. Even though I may not want them to. I get distracted by the little things and seem to lose my focus often. It's a good song, but I found it hard to sing because I know that it isn't true for me all of the time. I know that I'm far better than I used to be but it challenged me. Thank God for his grace while we wander. Over time though, I do realize that God is much more real and closer than He used to be to me. The more I surrender everything to Him the more I see Him at work.

Action step: Try giving every little thing to God and see what happens.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

The Pruning

Sometimes while we are on our spiritual journey God points out things in us that need to change. John 15:1 says "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." So if we are in Christ and bearing fruit he will prune us. Which I translate "points out things in our life that need to change." This can be a painful process at times. I think we can bypass a lot of that pain if we truly surrender and don't delay. I don't know if it was because of denial or selfishness, but most of the things that God has pruned from me I tried to hang on to for far too long, causing myself and others around me pain. What if I would have just surrendered and not wasted so much time, and dropped the thing God asked me to drop, and got on with living. Wouldn't I have saved myself so much trouble and pain? God is persistent and if there is something he wants me to change he will keep running me through the same trials over and over until I get it. So, I might as well save myself some pain, and surrender to what he wants anyway. The pruning process can be painful but the fruit that comes from it is well worth it. God loves us so much he won't allow us to keep on living the way we have been living.
Action step: Ask God to point out things in your life that need to change,
then surrender them quickly.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Service

This week I have had a change of pace at work. Our Driver was on vacation and that has given me the opportunity to drive our residents around all week. It was a nice change of pace. One thing I was able to do was to go out of my way to help others. Toting in groceries, opening doors, I even helped a man through the store to get some bed sheets. Nothing real spectacular but even so I was amazed at how good it made me feel doing it. So what's my point? It is that when we help others we help ourselves. I believe there is a reason for this; when we help others it is love in action. When we love, we are doing what we were made to do. God is love and, when we show others love, He gets a chance to shine through us. Acts of service are a tangible way to show someone your love for them. It's easy to say I love you. It's not always easy to put it into action. It's hard sometimes to take the time to help others but, when you do, it's well worth it.

Action step for the week- Try going out of your way this week to help someone out. Let me know how that makes you feel.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Trust

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is instant when we accept Christ as our savior, but I think for some there is a period of time before we learn how to be controlled by the Spirit; before we believe that we can become controlled or before we realize the need to be controlled by the Spirit. Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (NIV). Do you have joy and peace? Do you see that little word as? That little word implies that, to the same degree that we trust in him, we will have joy and peace. I used to say I believed in God and wanted to do his will, but really I wanted to do my will. That was when the trouble would start. See, I did believe in God, but I still did not really trust him. Because I did not trust him I thought that I had to control things and that is when I would lose my peace. Just because things don't work out the way you thought they should have, does not mean that God is not in control. God's will is going to be done regardless. So we might as well get on board with him and trust that he will take care of us and he will. My kids trust that I will take care of them, so why should it be any different with me and my Heavenly Father? Is there anything you're having trouble trusting God with? What's holding you back?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Selfless

In the last few blogs we have been looking at what blocks us from receiving the Holy Spirit. I want to take a different look at this subject. I want to look at things that we can do to be controlled by the Spirit. My life verse, Romans 8:6, says, "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." All of my life I have been longing to have peace even though I did not know what name to give it. I knew what it felt like, but the peace I was receiving was fleeting. But I have found it and it is here most of the time. The only time now that I lose my peace is when I get into self and forget about being controlled by the Spirit. Selfishness and self-centeredness is my biggest block from seeing the Holy Spirit's power in my life. So, if I'm selfless and others focused, then I eliminate my biggest block; ME. So, the next few blogs will be about what we can do to have our minds controlled by The Holy Spirit.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Wait

Since we have been looking at Acts:8 and how we can have part in the power of the Spirit, I wanted to take a look at Acts 1. Here is, I think, one more key to accessing his power in our lives. The disciples are told to wait for the Holy Spirit's indwelling. During this time they prayed and waited. Why would Jesus tell them to wait? I cannot answer this. I do know time after time in my life God has asked me to wait and it has helped me to grow spiritually. It has taught me patience and how to trust Him, and to seek Him and His will for my life. Waiting teaches me to get me out of myself, and has taught me to not worry or fear. To just be still and know He is God and that He loves me. Waiting is not easy; it can wear you down, but it does seem to produce good results. During the waiting I get to experience the now, which is the only time I can really experience Him. Have you waited on God? What have you learned during this time?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Pray

One of the last things that I see in the Acts 8 story that we have been studying is the relationship between prayer and the Holy Spirit. Though the people believed and were baptized they still hadn't received the spirit.Then, Peter and John showed up and prayed that they might receive the spirit (vs 15). Later on Peter tells Simon to pray and repent. I wonder if Simon ever did  pray and repent and receive the Holy Spirit. I also wonder how many Christian's there are who are like Simon. They believe and are baptized and still don't have part in the spirit. I think I was one for a while. I also believe that God's grace is sufficient until I figure out what is blocking me from His Spirit and become willing to have him remove that from me. I do know that if you pray and ask God to help you to see what is blocking you from Him, He will show you. It may seem difficult at times, it may seem impossible, but through prayer we invite the Holy Spirit in to help us to change those things that block us from Him. Things that we would be powerless to change on our own.
Pressing on with Excellence!!
Keith

Repentance

Let us review of some of the things that we have found that block us from the Holy Spirit's power in our lives. Things such as pride, bitterness, and focus. Acts 2:38 says, "Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'" (NIV) He say's it again in Acts 8:22. So here's another one we can add to the list of things that block us from the Spirit.To repent means to feel sorry or to have regret for a past action. I believe this is a great first step. We need to realize our mistakes and humble ourselves. This may have been another reason that the people in Acts 8 did not receive the spirit right away. I have been inventorying my own life and I've been pursuing the wrong things. I've been trying to become great in the name of God rather than pursuing his greatness. I wanted to see God do great things through me instead of just allowing him to be great. I've been seeking to become greater. He must become more, I must become less. Forgive me, Lord, for my self-centeredness.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Change your world III

So, going along with the same scripture we looked at in the last blog; Acts 8:9-24, and remembering our quest to have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, we saw that Simon had pride and bitterness in his life that blocked him from the receiving the Holy Spirit. Why do you suppose the others didn't receive the Spirit? I'm not a theologian and I probably have more questions than answers so bear with me. Does this mean that, in order to receive the Spirit, I need to have someone lay hands on me to receive the Spirit? I don't find this to be biblical. When the Spirit first came nobody laid hands on anyone. Here's what I'm thinking; these people believed in Jesus but they were still following Simon. He had built up a following. Look at vs. 10 and 11 again. I think they were distracted by Simon. Just him being there took their focus off where it should have been. They placed their trust in a man, not in God. Translation; when we put our trust in anything other than God we have effectively shut the door on the Holy Spirit to work in our life. So what is your focus on? Are you being distracted? If so by what? What is it that you are focusing on whether intentionally or not?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Pray for Moore, OK

I want to take some time to send up some prayers for the folks in Moore, OK. This tornado was devastating to a lot of people and I think they could use as many prayers as possible. Especially for the families that have lost loved ones, and the relief effort, and the workers that are there helping, and those that will be going out to help them. I can't imagine what it would be like. Nature may have had her fury, but this didn't take God by surprise.  He is more powerful and we can trust that he is. Psalm 46:1 says "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." God Bless you all, Moore, OK. We will be praying for you.
Pressing on with Excellence!!
 Keith

Change your world II

Do you think it is possible to believe in Christ and be baptized and still not have the power of the Holy Spirit in your life?  I do, I also think it is biblical. Take a look at Acts 8: 9-24. What I want to look at here is what blocked these people from receiving the Spirit. Remember our quest was to find things that we can do to have the power of the Spirit in us. I think for Simon His first issue was pride. My version reads, "Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great." Verse 10, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power" (NIV); the Great Power. I think it could have even been his fault that they all didn't receive the Spirit right then. Later, in vs 23, Peter says, "For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." (NIV) These two things, pride and bitterness, will keep you captive to sin. Also, I think they will block you from the power of the Holy Spirit. So here are two things that could, and potentially do, block us off from the Spirit. Do you have pride or bitterness?  Ask God to show you if have these. The first part of change is realizing that you need to change. 
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

    

Change Your World

 I've been trying to figure out what the key is to drawing upon the power of the Holy Spirit, because I'm convinced that if the power of the Holy Spirit was in our lives it would change our world. So, for the next few blogs we will explore this issue. I've written before about the fruit of the Spirit and I believe that these fruit are the what of the power; meaning, that if we have the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, and self control, that is how the power is manifested in our lives. So, what would your life look like if no matter what happened you had the fruit of patience. Can you imagine having peace most of the time? Or being kind and loving? How would your life look if you had goodness and gentleness, faithfulness, not to mention self control. See, if Christ followers had this power, and we do, it stands to reason that we are wasting our lives if we don't utilize it. This is not self help, this is a God intervention that allows us to be different from the world. So, we will explore what it takes to tap into His power. Are there things that we can do? Romans 8:6 is my life verse and I think it is the answer. But how do we do this? That is what I will be writing about over the next few weeks.
Pressing on with Excellence!!
Keith

Others

Do you ever wonder if you are having an affect on others? I know that if you want to, that it starts with a relationship. People are more apt to take your advice if you show you really care. I met a lady where I work about four months ago and she is a sweet lady. She had a physical problem and had started to let herself go down hill. They moved her from independent living to assisted living and she developed some resentment. I had been in to do some work for her and had given her a few rides to get her hair done and had developed a friendship with her trying to encourage her through this time. She had been eating alone and not cooperating with the care givers and kind of bitter. Last week I took her to get her hair done and on the way back she asked me if I thought she should go to physical therapy. I told her that she should go every chance that she got. Since then, only because I told her to, she has been going and all of a sudden she is starting to eat meals at the dining room instead of in her own room. She is having better days and is more cheerful. I believe God works through us to affect others. Most of the time we don't even know it, but once in a while he gives us a little glimpse and it
has an affect on us also. What relationships are you investing in?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith
   

Passing it on

 I wanted to comment about what we talked about in the last post. One of the things that I learned over the years is that, left to my own devices, I cannot change anything on my own. No matter how much I wished I could change, I could not do it myself; the power wasn't there. I have learned to allow  the Holy Spirit to control my mind. When the Holy Spirit controls my mind, then I act differently, almost without trying. It just happens. So when it comes to my kids I teach them to do this to the best of my ability. I only have them for a little while. I teach them how to make good choices to the best of my ability. What I'm trying to do is to prepare them because I know someday they are going to be put in a position to choose for themselves. I pray they will make the right decision, but, ultimately, it is their decision to make. To do that they will also need to learn to trust Him. If you know that God loves you, and is with you, and cares about you. Then you can have confidence that what is happening to you is for His glory and good. The best I think we can do is to prepare them for that day. If they screw up they will at least know where they can turn. If they learn how to allow the Holy Spirit to control their mind and are guided by the Spirit then they are in good hands and I don't have to worry about their future. Are you passing it on if so how?
Passing it on with excellence !!
Keith 

The Gifts Of The Spirit

I had been a Christian for a good 16 years before I really accepted Christ's forgiveness, When I finally did, I grew more spiritually in the next four years than I did in the sixteen years prior. I found myself asking why or how that happened. I think it is because of the influx of the Holy Spirit and with it the fruits of the spirit. The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I could not produce these on my own, I tried and tried and failed. It also seemed that the harder I tried, the more I failed. I knew what I needed to do but I couldn't do it on my own. The spirit produces these in me as I turn my will over to him. When this does happen, things change rapidly. You actually give a rip about others, you care. You let others go in front of you. You know instinctively when to shut up. You are quick to forgive and fast to straighten out situations when you were wrong. You are able to say no to yourself. These are how the fruits of the spirit showed up in my life. How about you? Do you have the gifts of the Spirit? Is life different for you? Do you want it to be?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Forgiven

I don't know why I struggled so long with God's forgiveness for me. I, for some reason, couldn't wrap my head around how he could forgive me for all of the sins I committed. Look at that statement. There are two things that stick out to me in that. One is pride, the other is unbelief. Pride, because God is love and, when you truly love, forgiveness is a given. I don't think God can help himself. He has to forgive us because it's part of his nature. That is why he sent Jesus to die for us. So, when I don't accept his forgiveness, it is prideful. Because if he can forgive me but I cannot forgive me then that is the same as saying that I'm better than God. This is where the unbelief comes in. Unbelief costs us more than we will ever know. I wonder how many blessings I missed out on because I did not believe. Certainly, I have missed out on much peace that comes from knowing that I've been forgiven. God knows every sin I ever committed and those that are yet to come. I'm so glad to be forgiven are you?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith 

No Price Too High

So, its Easter weekend and its got me thinking about what Jesus went through his last few hours. Think about it, they put a crown of thorns on his head, then they beat him on the head. then he was flogged. All that then they hung him on a cross and killed him. You can read through it pretty quickly in the bible and not feel really what he went through. I try to slow down when I come to those scriptures and allow myself to be put in his position. Can you imagine what it must have felt like? Whew I can't really, only a little. Like I know what it feels like to get hit in the head, but not over and over again and again. I can't say what it would be like to be flogged. Then to be crucified the most painful way; to die slowly. I have heard that when you are crucified  you have to push up with your legs just to get a breath. Can you imagine the pain? I can't in reality. I can't wrap my head around it. Yet God chose this on purpose, why? because you are worth it. He paid this great price for you because of his love for you. I can't wrap my head around that either. Only to say that His love for us drove him to pay the price for our sin. Because of His love for us no price was too high.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Self

I read a good book which had a quote in it that said " We made a decision based on self which put us into a position to be hurt." Talking about recovery from alcoholism. But doesn't that cover pretty much every decision that I make based on self or selfish concerns.What I mean is I see something that I want and manipulate people or things to get it and hurt others and myself in the process. I have noticed that most of the time that when I make a decision based on self that those decisions are fear based. IE I'm afraid that I'm not going to get something  that I want. Or I will lose something that I already have. It is a constant battle to stay out of self. Then I have that sinking feeling you get when you have done something wrong and you wish you could rewind and have a do over. Then I end up having to make amends for what I have done.One thing I do know is when I make a decision based on self it takes me farther than I wanted to go. It keeps me there longer than I wanted to be there, and It costs me more than I wanted to pay. What if I could learn how to not make decisions based on self. Wouldn't that save me a lot of trouble, it would and does. How did I learn to do that? Through Love If I can learn how to love correctly I can over time learn how to care for others. I can really care about others. When I really care others I can filter some of those self based decisions and save myself so much trouble.

Pressing on with excellence!
 Keith

Leading

  What makes someone a leader? What makes someone want to lead? What makes a good leader, and why? When it comes to leadership I wonder these things. Why did I choose not to lead? But yet I’m in a leadership role at home. I think that I put off doing some of that because I mostly was self-centered, Self focused and just plain indifferent. For so long before I came to Christ I lived a self-centered life. Even after I came to Christ I still was so self-focused. I had learned different ways to manipulate others. To get people to see things my way so that I could get what I wanted. I learned to pit people against each other to get my own way (my parents for example). I learned several different ways of conning people and these things became very habitual because I thought I needed them to survive as an alcoholic. These character defects were ingrained into me as a survival mechanism. Because really when you turn your back on God you have to take care of the things that He would normally handle. These attributes are not what you want to have when it comes to leading. A good leader is going to be self-less, and compassionate, and honest. A person that is concerned about others. These attributes will serve you better as a leader.
Pressing on with excellence!
Keith  

Home Sweet Home

Over the past few months we have been shopping for a house. Actually we made an offer on a house back in November. Anyway its been quite a process getting through financing. But last Friday we finally closed and moved in on Saturday. Though this time has been exhausting and sometimes frustrating I knew that this was the house for us. There were times when we wondered if we were even going to get it or not. I seen too many things not to believe that we would be here. One of the best things this house has done for me is to give me the confidence that we are really where God wants us to be. When you up root your family and move far away from home it's easy to question whether or not you made the right decision. Especially if you have been struggling financially as we have. I wouldn't have thought that moving was so stressful or that buying a house would be so stressful. I have been very tired lately and the kids have been crabby. I believe that it was caused by stress. In fact when we found out we for sure were getting this house the kids attitude has changed dramatically. I'm sure all of our attitudes have changed. I'm grateful that God has given us this home and look forward to our future here. I'm also grateful for the many new friends the I have made here!
Pressing on with excellence!

 Keith  

Loving Others

  I heard a great message today at church by pastor Randy Gravitt. Talking about how we need to take inventory of how we are doing at loving others. One thing he mentioned was that it takes more energy to be self-centered than it does to love others. That I believe is true we spend a lot of time and energy thinking about ourselves. It is impossible to be self-focused and and loving at the same time. I think that if we are others focused than we are closer to the ideal person that God wants us to be. God is love and and he wants us to imitate him. So here are three things that can help us to get out of our selves and think of others more.
1.) Treat people as special. This takes some effort but the payoff is well worth it.
2.) Do more than what's expected. These are little things that often go unnoticed but God knows and you will know.
3.) Having a good attitude. After all none of these things will matter if you do them grudgingly.
 But I would add even if you do them with a bad attitude do them anyway. Action action action go through the the motion and the emotion will follow. Your attitude will change over time as you learn how to be less self-centered and how to love like God does.
Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith  

new year new life

I have been thinking lately about how I can serve God this year. I feel like I squandered some of the last fifteen years of my life. I don't want to do the same thing the next fifteen years. I really want to make a difference for God. I'm not exactly sure what that looks like. But I do know one thing. I have been trying to go it alone before. But not this time I'm going to ask for help this time I need an adviser. Two is surely better than one and I believe will be much better than just myself.  I am In need of a coach. One who can look at my assets and guide me in the right direction to be of maximum usefulness of others. This is the year I am ready! No more time to waste! Let's Roll!
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith