From Mountains to MoleHills

Do you ever ask yourself these questions? Why do I act this way? Why does that person bother me so much? Or say to yourself: I should be better than this. Do you ever feel like you’re so far away from God that you wonder if he will take you back? Do you have trouble forgiving people that hurt you?

I would say that most people ask these all the time and they are probably pretty normal thinking patterns. Would you like to get out of this rut? The first thing I had to do was to name and claim my sins; my selfishness, my fear, my envy, dishonesty, laziness, unforgiveness and my pride. These things blocked me from God.

When I started practicing the opposite, I knocked down the mountains that were blocking me from God. I started practicing unselfishness, trust, humility, honesty, diligence, forgiveness, and love. These things I could not do by myself, but I would pray and ask God to help me. As much as I was willing, God helped me.

I think it is vital to sit down and take a look at these things that are blocking me and write them down. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. If I don’t look at what’s making me the way that I am, then I will never be able to change it. I can’t change everything over night. But little by little, one at a time, I can reduce the effect that some of these things have on my life. If I practice the opposite, with God’s help I can turn mountains into mole hills.

Pressing on with excellence!! Keith

You have what it takes to change your thinking and change your life.

Do you struggle with low self-esteem?

http://hissideofthelookingglass.com/self-esteem-scripture-verses/

I bet you will find that people (myself included) who judge and condemn have low self esteem. Low self esteem causes me to be judgmental because if I can point out something in someone else, then I don’t have to look at myself. In other words, because of my own insecurity, I seek to find something wrong with others, to point it out and tear them down to make myself look better.

Poor self esteem is a sin and a lie to myself. How? Because I don’t accept God’s love and forgiveness---if I say to myself I’m fat or I’m stupid, I can’t do anything right or I should be better than this, then that is wallowing in self pity and guilt. If I do this then I’m not accepting God’s love and forgiveness. This is really a pride issue because God says he forgives me. But I can’t forgive myself and that is putting myself above God and I am greater than He.

This is one of the reasons self forgiveness is so important. I believe that Satan uses this guilt and self pity to keep us as Christians from being effective. See the thing is, Satan knows you’re forgiven and if he can keep you from feeling this freedom, then he’s won. Because with this feeling you can’t stop it. It will show. What we need is God esteem because we fail often. But God’s forgiveness is real and refreshed every moment.

Taking it to the street 1.) Ask God to help you to see when your being judgmental with others and to be sensitive to how you talk to yourself. 2.) Practice forgiving your self.

Pressing On With Excellence!!
Keith

What a Waste!

My brother has a 1976 Cosworth Vega he bought about 25 years ago. It is a very rare car and it only has around 30 or 40 thousand miles on it. Every once in a while, on special occasions, maybe a couple of times a year, he would pull it out, wash it, and wax it. Then he would drive it around a little and park it back in the barn. For a while he parked it in my Grandpa’s garage but somehow it got put back into the barn. He put a tarp over it and then it’s almost like he forgot about it. The car has been sitting there for more than fifteen years. The tarp has rotted off. It’s completely covered with bird dirt and dust. Mice have gotten in and built nests on the engine, in the air breather, in the glove box, and who knows where else. The whole car smells like mouse pee. There is even mold growing on the steering wheel.

This is perfect illustration of what can happen when we allow worry and fear to go unchecked in our lives. They don’t just go away, instead they get worse and turn into anxiety and depression. If they’re neglected long enough they become insanity. What a waste. It doesn’t have to be this way. Take action now while the problems are smaller so that you can be the rare and precious person that you were meant to be in the first place. Don’t waste your life. Just like my brother’s Vega, if you neglect working on these things now it will cost you much more to fix later.

Taking it to the street:1.) Write down some things in your life that you are doing that you don't like. 2.) Ask God for forgiveness about these things and for help to practice the opposite.   

Pressing On with Excellence,

Keith

12 Steps to Financial Freedom

What does financial freedom have to do with worry? Everything. Finances are one of the things we worry about the most and, when our finances are in order, much of our worry goes away. So here it is, the 12 Steps to Financial Freedom.

12 STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM

 

1: We admitted we were powerless over stuff and our lives have become unmanageable.

2: Came to believe that stuff had complete control over us and that a power greater than stuff could restore us to sanity.

3: Realizing that it is our will that desired stuff, we turned our will and our lives over to the power greater than stuff.

4: Made a list of all our stuff and became willing to sell it all.

5: Admitted to God, ourselves, and to another human being that our selfish, self-centered, and prideful selves were the main cause of our troubles.

6: Became willing to have God remove all of our stuff if it is necessary to achieve financial freedom.

7: Humbly asked a power greater than stuff to remove our stuff.

8: Took our list of stuff and sold it high or low and used the money to pay off our credit cards.

9: Made direct deposits into a savings account whenever possible.

10: Continued to take inventory of our stuff and when we got too much, took it back or gave some away.

11: Sought, through prayer and meditation, a relationship with this power greater than stuff.

12: Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we carry this message to others still suffering from stuff-i-tous and continue to practice these principles in all our affairs.

What About Worry?

Why do you worry? I think about this. Why do I worry? Is it because I'm selfish or self-centered or greedy? Maybe it's the fear of losing something that I have or fear of not getting something that I want. (I think it goes beyond these character defects.) Maybe it's a lack of faith. Could that be the answer? I have heard it said and have said it myself; If you pray, why worry; if you worry, why pray. I think that it goes deeper than that. I think it has to do with two things; belief and acceptance.

Now, maybe I'm splitting hairs when I separate belief and faith, but, for me, belief is: I know that I know that I know that something is true. What if I believe God loves me? How would that make me feel? Would I really have to worry about anything? If I knew for sure that something was going or not going to happen, or that I was going to get something or have it taken away; if I truly believed that all things good or bad come through the Father's hands before it gets to me, would that change my mind about worry?

If I accept that all things that come to me through the Father's hands are his perfect will for me, then I need to trust him for the outcome. All things work for good for those who love the Lord. He is doing a work in me and I don't have to worry.

To me worry is a waste of time and energy. If I used the same amount of time and energy and devoted that toward something else, I would be much better off .

What do you worry about? Why?

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.

Get into the solution

So I went to a meeting tonight and there was a guy that had gone to a wedding and gotten drunk over the weekend. He had been sober only a month. The discussion took on the usual; things to stay away from, wet places, and how to have a plan of escape. Don't allow yourself to be tempted. The problem is, no matter where you're at you can be tempted with anything. Whether you're an alcoholic or just a regular sinner, temptation comes. So really there is no safe place. The Bible says in 1 Cor.10-13">No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it." (MSG). Even then you still have to have a desire to not give in. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. To the extent that we allow Him to control our mind he will give us the desire to say no. So the solution is to prepare ahead of time by submitting control of our mind to Him over and over again until it almost becomes a habit. Ro. 8:6 says, "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." Think about this: when you're being tempted you are not at peace, in fact you're in turmoil. So you will know when you have overcome temptation because you will have peace. The peace you receive when you overcome temptation is real life and the only real solution. 

 Taking it to the street:
          1.) Identify those areas that are your greatest temptation create a plan of escape.
          2.) Ask the Holy Spirit to control your mind.