POWERLESS

I had a thought about step 1. Step one is we admitted we were powerless and that our lives have become unmanageable. First powerlessness in and of my self I am powerless over people, places, and things. The Bible tells me that when I became a Christ follower that the Holy spirit is in me. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. That is power! Imagine Jesus beaten three days dead. You seen Him hanging on the cross then taken down and placed in a grave. Then Imagine him coming back to life here is someone breathing in person standing right in front of you. You know without a doubt he was dead. Now here he is standing talking alive. Imagine being there with Him. You want to be with Him. You are with Him and its real He is alive. He is and He says all the power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. You don't want to be away from Him. Yet when we are powerless we are denying Him. We turn our back on Him and deny His power in our life to change us. So really we are not so much powerless as we are without Him. So to Have this power we need I need to be with Him not without Him. I think I can do it on my own then I am stuck in a rut of powerlessness and wonder why I cannot change what I am powerless over. I will continue in this state until I turn humbly to Him and be with Him then the power will come rushing in and I can overcome my powerlessness! He will let me continue in my mess until I realize I am without Him. Therefore producing the unmanageablty. Won't you turn to Him and be with Him and overcome your powerlessness!!
In Him Keith

All In

When I was first getting sober, I would have a problem and I would speak with my sponsor about it. He would say, "Keith, the problem you are having right now isn't the real problem." But then he might not say what the real problem was. He would allow me to come to my own conclusion of what the real problem was. If he had told me, I might not have bought into the solution to fix it. Most of the time I thought the problem was self-centeredness, which most definitely was part of the problem. But that stemmed from not going all in. You see, if you are not all in then you have reservations about all different kinds of things, most of them self focused. For example, what will they think or how can I get...    If you're all in then a lot of those issues don't exist, leaving you to feel God's peace. When I went all in I didn't even think those things, freeing my mind to focus on other stuff. Also, until I went all in I was consumed by these other self focused thoughts. When you are consumed by self focused thoughts it puts you at odds with God and others and invites many problems. So, 27 years later I finally get it. So, burn the ships. No going back. Go all in. No regrets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUc86gfzToU 


All in Him,
Keith

Imagine

Have you ever practice the presence of Jesus. While your praying or as your going through your day. Imagining Jesus is right there with you will change your life. It changes how you think about things it changes you attitude about things and helps you to be confident in your faith. He is there with you but sometimes I act like he not. What would happen if I acted like he is right there with me throughout the day. One way I practice this is by talking with Him acknowledging His Presence. Asking Him what He thinks I should do when a situation comes up. When I pray sometimes I reach out and try to touch the edge of his cloak like the lady in the story in Luke 8:43. It helps me to feel His closeness and makes my prayer more meaningful. When you know He is right there with you you don't have to worry at all. Just the fact that He is there with you overshadows problems and makes them disappear. I dare you to try it for 90 days and see if it doesn't change you whole outlook.
Pressing on into Him
Keith

THE MARRIAGE PARADOX

I've been thinking about the marriage paradox. I'm convinced that God loves paradoxes. “The last shall be first.” “Whoever wants to save his life must lose it.” “The meek shall inherit the earth.” And the marriage paradox seems to be one of the greatest of all. God said in Genesis that “the two shall become one.” When I married my husband, I stopped being an individual and became part of a whole. My identity is no longer in myself, it is in the union of the two of us. In fact, as a believer, I have two identities: I am a child of God and I am a wife to Keith. Neither of those are roles, they identify me. Yes, I have roles within those identities, but they don't change the fact that they define who I am.

We live in a world that would say I need to stop identifying as a wife and focus on my individuality. I have heard people talk about “losing themselves” in the midst of their marriage and motherhood. But by the very act of focusing on my individuality, I am actually losing my identity.

Here's the paradox. When I married my husband, we became one. That means that whatever affects him, affects me. And whatever affects me, affects him. If I spend my time criticizing him, tearing him down, and complaining about him all the time, I am, in fact, directly hurting myself. If I spend my time focused on building him up, encouraging his strengths, and praising the things he does, I am, by the very nature of our oneness, doing those things for myself. If I focus on the union rather than my individuality, I am actually strengthening who I am as an individual because the stronger he is, the stronger our union is, and the stronger I become. If I focus on myself and not him or our marriage, I am actually tearing down and destroying myself.

It's actually the same when it comes to my identity as a child of God. If I focus on God and my relationship with him, I become stronger. If I focus on myself instead of God I become weaker.

I once heard that the best definition of humility is not to consider yourself less, but to not consider yourself at all. That is my goal; to stop considering myself at all and instead focus on God, on my husband and children, and on others. I don't need to “work on me,” God will take care of that. I need to work on my relationships with God and others and forget about me altogether.

We are being seriously deceived by our society in this area and it is affecting our marriages and our relationships, especially our relationship with God. I challenge you (and myself) to spend a month focusing on your spouse, if you have one, and your other relationships and practice not thinking of yourself at all. Then see if it doesn't change your life.
Keep pressing on !!
Susan

The Marriage Paradox

                                               

I've been thinking about the marriage paradox. I'm convinced that God loves paradoxes. “The last shall be first.” “Whoever wants to save his life must lose it.” “The meek shall inherit the earth.” And the marriage paradox seems to be one of the greatest of all. God said in Genesis that “the two shall become one.” When I married my husband, I stopped being an individual and became part of a whole. My identity is no longer in myself, it is in the union of the two of us. In fact, as a believer, I have two identities: I am a child of God and I am a wife to Keith. Neither of those are roles, they identify me. Yes, I have roles within those identities, but they don't change the fact that they define who I am.

We live in a world that would say I need to stop identifying as a wife and focus on my individuality. I have heard people talk about “losing themselves” in the midst of their marriage and motherhood. But by the very act of focusing on my individuality, I am actually losing my identity.

Here's the paradox. When I married my husband, we became one. That means that whatever affects him, affects me. And whatever affects me, affects him. If I spend my time criticizing him, tearing him down, and complaining about him all the time, I am, in fact, directly hurting myself. If I spend my time focused on building him up, encouraging his strengths, and praising the things he does, I am, by the very nature of our oneness, doing those things for myself. If I focus on the union rather than my individuality, I am actually strengthening who I am as an individual because the stronger he is, the stronger our union is, and the stronger I become. If I focus on myself and not him or our marriage, I am actually tearing down and destroying myself.

It's actually the same when it comes to my identity as a child of God. If I focus on God and my relationship with him, I become stronger. If I focus on myself instead of God I become weaker.

I once heard that the best definition of humility is not to consider yourself less, but to not consider yourself at all. That is my goal; to stop considering myself at all and instead focus on God, on my husband and children, and on others. I don't need to “work on me,” God will take care of that. I need to work on my relationships with God and others and forget about me altogether.

We are being seriously deceived by our society in this area and it is affecting our marriages and our relationships, especially our relationship with God. I challenge you (and myself) to spend a month focusing on your spouse, if you have one, and your other relationships and practice not thinking of yourself at all. Then see if it doesn't change your life.
Keep pressing on !!
Susan

                                     

The Chase

Some people may see this post and think I may be talking Nascar, tis the season. But when I think of The Chase I think about the drive I had when I was in my other life chasing the buzz. I was consumed by it and every choice I made revolved around it. Everything from who my friends were to where I lived and where I worked and every thing in between. All had a focus and a motive behind it; the buzz. Nothing stood in my way, no cost was too great. I mean think about it, you want me to give you my money, okay... how about my family, okay... how about... fill in the blank, I would give it all for the buzz. Now I'm not using and what got me sober is my relationship with God: a daily reprieve contingent on my spiritual condition. So the further I get away from my last buzz, the less is my drive for what got me sober in the first place. MY FRIENDS THIS SHOULDN'T BE! And can't be if I want to stay sober. I need to chase God like I chased the buzz. Does every decision I make revolve around God and how I can draw closer to Him? No. What if it did? What would my life look like? Can I ever know everything about the God that created this universe? I doubt it. Can I ever fully understand the dept of His love for me? I don't think so. I think I could chase God as hard as I chased the buzz and could not come to His end. So why do I back off?  How do I let myself become complacent? Am I so fulfilled that I don't seek or so content that I forget what got me here in the first place? Or am I so proud that he pulled away from me and I didn't notice because I backed off of the chase? I'm not sure. But I do know it's not to late to start the chase again. I encourage you to do the same. But really, this is for me!! Keep pressing on!!
Keith   

Unconditional Love

Not much is needed to start a relationship with God. A simple belief can change your world. I used to think that I had to clean myself up to come to God. You know, stop smoking and swearing, and that I had to be perfect for God to love me. The fact is God loves you right where you are. Those things that you think you have to change for Him to love you are not in the way. If you had to change all that before you came to God, that would be called conditional love. God loves unconditionally, meaning He couldn't love you more than He does right now. Whether you clean yourself up or not, He still loves you. It took me a long time to wrap my head around that. I still cannot grasp the fullness of His love for me. But I will tell you this, I'm glad for his ability to love unconditionally because I would have never come to know Him like I do without it.

Taking it to the street:
1) Ask God to show you how much He loves you,
2) every day for the next thirty days.

Pressing on!!
Keith

Where To Start

So my last blog was about how having a relationship with God is most important. My next question was, how do I start a relationship with God? Since I don't know where any readers of this blog are spiritually, I thought it good to begin with what you have to have to start. First thing you need is belief, or faith as it were; a simple belief, not much really. How much you ask? Well I'm glad you asked. You need to believe that just maybe there is an outside chance that there is a God out there and that maybe, just maybe, He wants a relationship with you. If you can muster that much faith, I assure you that God will prove Himself to you. Jesus said in Luke 17:6, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you." Here Jesus is talking about moving a tree, how much more does He wish to have a relationship with you? I dare say that if you have a microscopic faith He wants a relationship with you, that He would beyond a doubt make Himself known to you. I really believe that He wants nothing more than just that.

Into Action:
1) Tell God that you believe in Him.
2) Ask God to make known to you how much He he loves you daily.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Its a relationship

I have been talking with some coworkers this week; talking about religious traditions. While I like some of the different traditions, what is most important to me is a relationship with God. Without a relationship with God my religion is nothing. I cannot change anything in my life without His power. I cannot gain His power without a relationship with Him. God wants a relationship with us more than anything. He made us for that reason. Not to be a robot that is programmed to love Him, but to freely choose him, freely choose to love Him. When we do, this life takes on a whole new meaning. Change is a result of choosing to love Him. This is the only way to lasting change in your life. Everything else revolves around this. Romans 8:6 says the mind of sinful man is death but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. How can your mind be controlled by the Spirit if there is no relationship?  How can you trust enough to allow your mind to be controlled by the Spirit without a relationship?Why would you even want this without a relationship?

Taking it to the street:
1) Ask yourself if you really want a relationship with God?
2) Ask Him to show you how much He wants a relationship with you.

Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith

I got This?

Would your life change if you completely surrendered your life to Christ? I dare say it would. I have seen people changed drastically when they do. I've also seen people that change a little over time. I believe it's about how willing we are to have God change us. If I want to hang on to a certain area of my life God will let me do that and He will use that area to draw me to him. The problem is that I like to compartmentalize my life. God wants all of me not just certain areas. So, any area of our lives that we don't allow God to have, blocks us off from Him. My own self-centeredness or pride in that area creates a stumbling block for my relationship with Him. So when I choose to not allow Him into a portion of my life I'm choosing to separate myself from Him. Essentially I'm saying, "I got this. I don't need your help here God." Usually when I here someone say that their headed for trouble.

Taking it to the street:
1.) Whats one area that you need to surrender to God?
2.)Think of an area that you have surrendered and thank God for it.


 Pressing on with excellence!! Keith


   

Denial

When I first got sober my denial was thick. I can remember thinking, yes I have a problem with alcohol, but I don't have a problem with pot. Or, I know I can't stop smoking pot but I'm able to stop drinking. Truth be told I was completely controlled by both. But the back and forth in my head on whether there was actually a problem with either was the thick part. I probably spent more time thinking about whether or not I had a problem than I did focusing on the solution. That is where my brain was at the time. However, that was 25 years ago, and what I called denial then and what I call it now are almost two different things. Now, I still have a denial problem but it looks a little different. I deny the power of the Holy Spirit in my life, which in my mind is worse. When I became a Christ follower, the instant I asked Jesus to come into my life the power of the Holy Spirit was there. What wasn't there was my willingness to surrender certain things to Him. I thought I could control these things, but really I discovered I had virtually no control over people, places, and things. Over the past 25 years I have learned to surrender my thoughts to Christ. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it reads, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." [NIV] When we apply this to our life and surrender our thoughts to Christ we receive His power in our lives and can overcome things that we once thought impossible. It is when I quit denying God's power in any area of my life that change comes.

Taking it to the street;
1.) Ask God to control your thoughts.
2.) Make a list of areas in your life where you need God's power.

Pressing on with excellence!!  Keith

Surrender To Win

Wow! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Throughout it I have been thinking about how powerless I am in certain situations. When someone passes away you are completely powerless in that, no matter what, you can't bring that person back. It has been a reminder of just how precious and fragile life is. But the powerlessness of it reminds me of other struggles in life. When I realize that in some situations I have no control, I also have to remember that there is One that has all power; that one is God. I don't need to take on added stress. I need to turn it over to God  and allow Him to have control. If I give Him control and I trust and believe that His will is perfect for Me, even though it may hurt, I can have His peace in my life. Peace that passes all understanding even in the rough times. I can't, He can, I think I will let Him.

Taking it to the street: 1) Surrender your powerlessness to God.
                                    2) Bask in His peace when you do.

Pressing on with excellence!! Keith

Kevin

I don't know if I can even write this one. My brother Kevin died Aug 31, 2015. He will be greatly missed! We had a lot in common like NASCAR and outdoor activities. I found out over the weekend one thing that I did not know about my brother. He was a generous person. He helped people in their need. It was good for me to find that out. The big take away from last week was to make your time with the ones you love special. You never know when they will be gone. I was able to spend some time with my brother about a month before he died. We went up to MI for a week at the lake. We had one weekend together and I sure am glad Kevin decided to make some time for me. We all got together at my Mom's house and spent the day there. That was the last time I saw him alive. I thank my wife for thinking to get this picture. After that he called me from Michigan International Speedway when he was at a  NASCAR race. He held his phone out so I could hear the cars go by. That was the last time I talked to him. He made his last time with me special, whether he realized it or not. We don't have any guarantees in life, so make the moments you have count.

Taking it to the street:

1) Call and talk to someone you Love.
2) Better yet go and visit them and spend some time with them.

I miss you Brother
Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith
  

Un-ending Grace

Have you heard the song Drops In The Ocean by Hawk Nelson?     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZH13wFGffg This song is exactly what I have been needing. For some reason I forget how great is my need for forgiveness. How many times has God forgiven you? I think of how many drops are in a glass of water or a 5 gallon bucket. I suppose you could spend some time and figure that out, but you would never be able to count how many drops there are in the ocean! That is just like we would never be able to figure out how many times we need forgiveness. So many inadvertent sins. I cry when I hear this song because it reminds me of how great my need is for His forgiveness and How great His love is for me and not just me, you too!

Taking it to the street:
    1) Take some time to think about how much God really loves you!
    2) Reflect on how great God's Grace is for you!

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Unlimited

We have been studying in 2 Corinthians at church lately and how, with God, we can be unlimited. This is true. We really don't need anything. Believe it or not, God can and will provide everything we need to accomplish His will. There are two things, I think, that block us from seeing ourselves as limitless. One has to do with where your heart is; if you are all in with Him.  This is all about him and, when we try to impose our will, we may not think He is providing like we think He should. The other is faith. If our faith is lacking and we don't believe that he will do something, then there is a good chance that He won't. Why should He? To me, it seems audacious to think that he can do something, but that He wouldn't do it for me. God knows exactly what and when we need something. His timing may be different, but when our heart is right, and we believe, He knows it and loves to intercede in our lives. When you find yourself so far out on a limb that only he can help you, not  knowing how or when He's going to show up, that is one of the things that is so exciting about being a Christian.

Taking it to the street:
1.) Start your day with Bible reading and Prayer.
2.) Be careful it is easy to say something negative that blocks your belief.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

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

Controlled by the Spirit

More and more it occurs to me how important it is to be controlled by the Spirit. When we allow the Holy Spirit to control our mind, we can have life and peace. Romans 8 vs 6 says that this is the real secret to life. Being controlled by the Spirit frees us to think of others, to care for them, and to trust that God will take care of us. When we know He cares for us, then we are free to care for others and help them without thinking of the cost to us. I believe that there are Christ followers that for some reason don't have the desire to seek this type of relationship with the Holy Spirit or God. This kind of relationship is what being a Christian is all about. To continually seek to grow in our relationship with God is what God deserves. After all, He did die for our Sins and make it possible for us to even have a relationship with a Holy God. Isn't it our duty to push ourselves to know Him better and to submit to him more and more? Then we will have a greater understanding of what He wants us to do. The best part is, we receive a gift for our pursuit. We get the real life and the real peace; the peace that passes all understanding.
Taking it to the street:
1.) Ask yourself if there are areas of your life that are not submitted to God.
                               
2.) Ask the Holy Spirit to control your mind.

Pressing on with Excellence!!
Keith

 

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