Backwards World

Do you ever feel like you are an alien or something? I do. Sometimes I feel like I live in a backwards world. I think if you feel this way, then you're probably right on track. The world has their earthly way of thinking. Which runs contrary to how God thinks as well as to how we are supposed to think as a Christ follower. It may take a while, but if you are growing in Christ you will find that you live in a backwards world, too. It is interesting to see how people react to life when they have no God. Running around screaming to be tolerant or open minded. It's because I am open minded that I was able to start a relationship with God.  It wasn't that I had a huge amount of faith. It was because I became willing to believe that there might just be a God out there. That is where it started; not much faith at all. As I have grown in my faith and my walk with Him  I have changed, so much so that it sometimes feels like I'm in a backwards world. Jesus said in John 17:14, "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world." Now you can see why it seems like a backwards world. But, while the world is out of control, I can have peace in Christ.

Taking it to the street:

1.) If you don't know God, try being open minded and seek Him.You will find Him
2.) Daily read the Bible and pray.

Pressing on with Excellence!!
Keith

The little things

I wonder why I struggle so much with the little things? I think it's a pride issue. I will give you an example: Say someone I know has gotten into a car accident. They are seriously injured. I may go to the hospital and visit them and feel sorry for them and even pray with them and for them. I may even feel their pain, but really I can't do much for them. I will pray continuously for them because I ultimately know that their welfare is up to God. But I am powerless to do anything for them. I know that and I am content with leaving them in the hands of the Creator. But, say something small comes up, something simple and I don't go to God in prayer. I say I got this and fail miserably, it usually happens with small, insignificant things. I really think that God wants to be the Lord of our lives and wants to be involved in the small things. He loves us and wants so much to be involved in our lives; every aspect of our lives, especially the small things. This is where we can get an intimate glimpse of God and how much he knows about us and wants to show it. But my pride often blocks me off from this intimate time with God. God won't step in if we don't want him to. He will let us try on our own until we have a Dr.Phil moment and ask ourselves "how's that working for you?" For me it doesn't always. I'm far better if I invite him into helping me with the small things as well.

The Trick To Loving Others

 Matthew 22:36-39 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NIV) Jesus said to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and to love others as you love yourself. One thing I have experienced in my own life is that, if you learn how to love God with all of your heart, soul and mind, loving your neighbor is almost a by product of that. I say almost because some people really make it difficult to love them. This is not an option, we have to love them, but how do we do that? This is where prayer and the greatest commandment comes in. If we love God with ALL our heart, soul and mind. He makes it possible to love others and yes, even forgive them, for what they do to us. After all He created them too. Who am I to condemn them? They were made in his image as well. I have to make a decision to love them. It might mean walking on eggshells around them to try to keep from offending them. That is a difficult task at times but God will give us the grace to do whatever it takes to learn to love them.

Taking it to the street: 1) Praise God for every good thing he has done in your life.
                                 2) Ask him to teach you how to love like he loves.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Judge Not

I was reading in James this week and he has gotten me to thinking about judging others. The verse I'm referring to is the one that talks about having a log in your eye and pointing out the speck in others. I've noticed that in my own life. I did my share of pointing out others mistakes or deficiencies. All without noticing the log in my own eye. As a matter of fact, I think the bigger your log is the more that you see others' deficiencies. It is so easy to sit back and judge others. I think it may be because the more I look at them and their faults the less I have to look at myself and see the log in my own eye. Our own insecurities and selfish desires drive us to do so many things. If we find ourselves judging and condemning others, we can be sure that there is something about ourselves that we are seeing in others, something that really bugs us about ourselves. Matthew 7:2 says, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Sounds scary to me.

Taking it to the street: 1) Ask God to convict you when you judge others.
                                 2) Take an inventory of yourself and see if you can see what it is that needs to change in you.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Quit Chasing Rabbits

One of the things I would like to do is to focus more on the important things in life instead of wasting my time on things that don't really matter. Nice thought, but where do you start? I think you need to look at some things and decide what's really important. Goals are nice but if they don't lead you to what's really important then they're just a list of accomplishments. Or things that you want to accomplish. I'm not saying that goals are bad, they just may be a distraction from what is really important. What does God have for you? Trying to figure out what God's will for your life can sometimes be difficult. But if you don't figure that out and pursue it, then you're just chasing rabbits.
It says in 1 Corinthians 13:1, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." I sometimes wonder if I complicate it too much. I have said that I may not know what God's will is for my life, but I sure know when I'm not doing his will. His will is not complicated. His will is to be like Him and to love others since he is love. His will is to, wherever you are in life,
bring glory to him through all that you think, say, and do. Your relationship with God is most important. To love people is what his will for all of us is. The biggest problem I have with that is self.
Taking it to the street:1) Ask God to help you to realize his love for you.
                                2) Ask God to point out to you thoughts that are not glorifying to Him.
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

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        

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        

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

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

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

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