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.

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 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

Defeated Christian

With faith, you can be free. With fear you are defeated. I lived a long time as a defeated Christian. I was saved, but I believed only to a certain point. I had corrupted beliefs that inhibited me from being free in Christ. So, I was right where Satan wanted me; defeated, not making a difference in anyone's life, not being able to change anything in my own life. You would hear me say things like...I can't do this, because I don't have any money. Or, I can't do that because I'm not smart enough or good enough or whatever. The truth is, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:13).  But, with faith you can be free! When you really believe that the God who created the universe really loves you, you don't have to worry about anything. You can know that he will take care of you, that where you are is exactly where you are supposed to be. You can know that, if you're still breathing, God has a mission for you! You don't have to worry about gas prices or whether you going to have enough to eat or really anything. The way you think about life changes. You are free from that old scarcity mind set. The old things have passed away and all things are new. Now that we are Christians, we have to do away with that old way of thinking or we will be right where Satan want us...as a defeated Christian.

Taking it to the street:

1) Ask God to help you to see the truth.
2) Make a list of 10 things that you are thankful for.

Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith
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Belize here we come

Okay, so February 1st was my last blog. It is now the nineteenth and I'm happy to announce that Sunny and I are both fully funded to go to Belize. Is that crazy or what? Two days ago, Sunny was close to half funded and I had nothing. Then, yesterday, a person I know contributed $2000 to our trip. That, plus what Sunny had, put us at 3/4 funded and we needed to have 3/4 by mid-March to get the plane tickets. We were $750 short of being fully funded. Susan had taken this person's check and Sunny's money to the church to turn it in. Before she got home, I was checking my email and found that someone else put $750 towards our trip; making it 100 % funded!
God is so good!! It is hard to put into words how I felt when I received this news. All I can say is that there is no doubt that God wants us to go. I personally want to thank all that contributed and all of the prayers. It is not over yet, so please keep us in your prayers; Sunny and I and the team that we will be going with. Pray for the people we will be ministering to as well. This has been a good lesson for me on the power of prayer. I asked that we would be funded early and we were. What I did not expect is to have it all come in at one time. God still continues to amaze me.
Taking it to the street; 1) Allow God to guide you to try something new.
                                  2) Trust that if he wants you to do whatever it is he will provide.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

Try Something New

I wanted to let people know that Sunny and I have been chosen to go to Belize this summer on a mission trip. We are excited and looking forward to trying something different. I would ask you who read this blog to pray for the team, the leaders, and for the people that we meet; for safety, for wisdom and His provision. Also, pray that He would prepare the way for us all that we would be most effective. This is not a vacation as most people think of when they think of Belize. Where we are going is a unimaginably poor area. This is something that I never dreamed that I would be doing. I'm not exactly sure what I will be doing but I want to see what life is like for others. I think we as Americans take a lot of things for granted. I also know that God has been teaching me to be grateful for all that He has given me. One thing I'm looking forward to is seeing how God is going to work to change me and my daughter's thinking about where we are in life and I know He will! When you put yourself into uncertainty and try something new, God has a way of showing up.

Taking it to the street:
1) Ask God to help you to think of something new that you could do that will stretch your faith in Him.
2) Remember to pray for us!

Pressing on with excellence!!

P.S. If you would like to help in financial support for this trip, contact me at 1handymansmitty@gmail.com    

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

You Only Live Once

YOLO has been the theme of our services for the past few weeks. This is a great way to start your thinking for a new year. Because you only live once, you don't want to have your priorities out of whack. This is easy to slip into, especially in America where everything is about everything except what really matters. Don't believe me? Look at the commercials on TV. You can't be satisfied because you don't have the newest I-phone or the right vitamins or the right suit or whatever. In a world that continuously bombards you with the thought that you can't be satisfied with your life unless (fill in the blank) ______. It can be easy to get your priorities messed up. One thing that can help is to look at the idea that, if you knew you were not going to be here next year or in the next six months, what would matter most? What if you knew that your best friend would not be here next year? What would matter most? We think we can't live without a bunch of stuff, but those things don't matter so much when you are going to lose your life or someone you know loses theirs. What matters most is their salvation or yours! In the light of eternity, where someone spends it could change your priorities.
Taking it to the street 1.) Ask God to help you to discern his priorities for your life.
                                2.) Think about what would be most important if you were not going to be here next year. Because you only live once, make it your best.
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

God Is Good

Well, it's a new year, I hope your last one was as blessed as mine. I've been reflecting and thinking about the many blessings our family has had this past year. We were able to purchase a house and visit with family for a week in Tennessee. My daughter wrote her first book, (proud papa that I am, contact me to find out more.)  My wife and I have become small group leaders in our church. What a true blessing that has been seeing and being a part of others spiritual growth. I know others have not had such a blessed year. I know of three families that have lost loved ones unexpectedly. I have had a personal friend diagnosed with cancer and has been out of work for two months and my prayers go out for all of them. I watched a friend throw his future away for nothing. So life is a mixture of triumph and tragedy. Still, I choose to focus on the good. I will be here to help those who make poor decisions. I will pray for those who are grieving, and I will be here to listen to and walk with him who is suffering. I also will still help others on their spiritual journey. All in all, more good has come this year than bad  and I am grateful to God for all he is doing in and through me. God is Good and I choose to focus on the good!
Taking it to the street 1.) Practice looking for the small, good things in your life every day.
                                 2.) Thank God for those good things every day!
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith
P.S This is my 100th blog!!

Trust Him

Trust is the key to adventure (Alex Rover, Nims Island), so it is with our relationship with God. When we trust him fully we can have confidence in the unknown. Confidence that all will be alright and that we can do what he wants us to do when we are in His will. Then we are in for an adventure of a lifetime where we need not worry, but trust and see what he does next. If you put your trust in to a 401k or a job or on a credit card or people, you're not living to the fullness of life that God has for you. I'm not saying those things are bad, just where is your trust really? Things and stuff and people come and go. There is only one that won't fail you, only one that deserves your full trust. That one is God may you find him now. So what is your confidence in? See, God wants to help us, he want us to succeed. But it will not happen if we don’t accept his help. If we don’t trust that he will help us why should he bother? Does that make sense? Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". (NKJV) I can do all things through Christ, I can do nothing of any lasting value without Him. It may be a radical thought but it is biblical. So take a spiritual adventure and see what you've been missing. Put your trust in Him and enjoy the ride of a lifetime.
Taking it to the street. 1.) Ask the Lord to help you to trust Him daily maybe even hourly.
                                     2.) Ask yourself if you're putting too much trust in other things beside God.

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        

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

Everything

So I was sitting in church tonight and we started singing a song that talks about God being everything. How we give everything for him and that nothing else matters but Him. I wondered if we, who were singing, really believed this. What if we really did believe this? What would our life look like if we really did believe this? I would like to think that nothing gets between myself and God. I must be A.D.D. because for myself it seems that there are lot of things that come between me and God. Even though I may not want them to. I get distracted by the little things and seem to lose my focus often. It's a good song, but I found it hard to sing because I know that it isn't true for me all of the time. I know that I'm far better than I used to be but it challenged me. Thank God for his grace while we wander. Over time though, I do realize that God is much more real and closer than He used to be to me. The more I surrender everything to Him the more I see Him at work.

Action step: Try giving every little thing to God and see what happens.

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

Trust

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is instant when we accept Christ as our savior, but I think for some there is a period of time before we learn how to be controlled by the Spirit; before we believe that we can become controlled or before we realize the need to be controlled by the Spirit. Romans 15:13 says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (NIV). Do you have joy and peace? Do you see that little word as? That little word implies that, to the same degree that we trust in him, we will have joy and peace. I used to say I believed in God and wanted to do his will, but really I wanted to do my will. That was when the trouble would start. See, I did believe in God, but I still did not really trust him. Because I did not trust him I thought that I had to control things and that is when I would lose my peace. Just because things don't work out the way you thought they should have, does not mean that God is not in control. God's will is going to be done regardless. So we might as well get on board with him and trust that he will take care of us and he will. My kids trust that I will take care of them, so why should it be any different with me and my Heavenly Father? Is there anything you're having trouble trusting God with? What's holding you back?
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith