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