Together is better

We had a sermon on prayer tonight. Our pastor talked about the first church and how they prayed. That got me to thinking about the people in Belize that we met. First of all, we walked this village to pray with people and they were very poor. But there wasn't any prayer requests for any kind of material things, only for relationships and physical healing for others. Not one kind of material thing at all. No trying to manipulate God for this or that. Here are people so needy, yet they were not; they really knew what mattered most.
The second thing I thought about was the Spanish church service that I visited in Belize; where the first thing everyone did when they came into church was to go up front to the alter and pray. Can you imagine what would happen if all of God's children did that? It was a powerful service. I never thought of it before, but if God loves to hear his Children calling out, how does he feel when we do it unified together? I bet He really enjoys it. I'll bet it is like a concert to Him.
Taking it to the street:
1.) Pray
2.) Pray with others.

Pressing On with Excellence!!
Keith

Momentum

We all get off track once in a while. One of the things I do to get back on track is to practice excellence in the little things. Do more than what's expected, dig a little deeper and see what you can do to improve a situation. Do it without condemning others though, just because they are not practicing excellence. Most people don't and it is easy to slip into prideful thinking. Do the best you can and leave the consequences to God. In Mt 25:21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" I think this applies to us as well. When I get off track spiritually I have noticed that I slack off in the little things and slip back into mediocrity. One of the quickest ways to get back on track is to practice excellence in the small things. Like when you empty a roll of toilet paper, put on a new one. Or, if you see some trash on the floor pick it up. Or putting the shopping cart back in the buggy parking space instead of leaving it in the parking lot. It is funny how doing this helps you to get back on track and stay on track spiritually. I think it has something to do with thinking about others first.
Taking it to the street:
1.) Ask God to help you to see the things where you are practicing mediocrity.
2.) Think of something you can do above and beyond the normal, then do it.
Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith    

Temptation

 We all are tempted. Even Jesus was tempted, so that is not new. But the question remains, how do you overcome temptation? Staying away from triggers can help, but I don't think that is the answer. It is good to think ahead and have a plan as to what you're going to do when you are tempted. Jesus overcame temptation by using verses from the Bible. That does work.The only problem with that is most people don't invest enough time in the Bible to have memorized it. So this can be a part of a pre-temptation plan; call it defense. The old football adage is: a good defense is the best offense. So, if we invest some time in God's word, it will give us something different to think about. If we memorize it, we build a strong defense by having it in the top of our minds. I'll give you an example. Lately, I myself have noticed a verse coming up while I've been reading the bible and again in a church service and again in a devotional. The verse was Ephesians 4:29, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen". So, I decided to memorize this verse and I've noticed some things that I've been saying that are not very wholesome. Also, I've been able to stop saying them before the words come out. So I may be tempted to say it but be able to hold my tongue. Ask God to help you overcome then take action by memorization.
Taking it to the street:
1.)  Invest some time in reading the bible.
2.) Memorize verses that God speaks
to you about.

Pressing on with Excellence!!
Keith                              

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.