The Real Problem

Romans 8:6 says, "the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace." (NIV) This was our life. Before we became Christ followers, we were dead to God and his ways and what he wanted to do in our lives for us and others. Now, we need to get into the habit of allowing the Holy Spirit to control our mind. The Holy Spirit is God and, if we allow him to control our mind, then we will have what we have been searching for all along; life and peace. When we have this we gain so much more than just peace. Because when you have this peace, then you treat others differently. You care more than you used to about them and their feelings and where they're at in life. You have less amends to make because if the Holy Spirit is controlling your mind then by default He's controlling your thoughts. If He's controlling your thoughts then He's controlling your actions and you will act differently and treat others differently. This Romans 8:6 has become my life verse. When I think that I have a problem, the problem that I have is not really the problem at all. The real problem is that I haven’t allowed the Holy Spirit to control my mind.
Pressing on with excellence!
Keith Smith

Friends

  Since we moved down here in GA in February I have met several people. I’ve met people at church and other venues here in Georgia. But meeting people and making friends are two different things. We have made some real friends while we’ve been here so far. Friends that help you out and watch out for you. We have had some financial difficulties and friends have helped out. Gone above and beyond what I would call the call of duty as a friend. What is the call and duty of a friend? Well let me tell you what some of my friends have been doing. When my daughters 13^th birthday came around and I didn’t have any extra money for a great 13^th celebration our friends took our whole family out to eat. They didn’t stop there they took us over to the bowling ally and covered two games for all of us. They didn’t stop there they also bought a DQ ice cream cake for us. They didn’t stop there they bought gifts for my daughter. Above and beyond. Since I’ve been looking for work I have a friend that has hand delivered my resume to the Human Resource Dept. He didn’t just do that he’s been hounding his boss to take a look at me. He didn’t stop there He has defended me when there was questions about my last job. Above and beyond. Do you have any friends like these? Are you a friend like this? I want to send out a very special thanks to all of my friends. I am so blessed to have you as my friends thanks so much may God greatly bless you all.

Pressing on with excellence!

Keith   

Can't Compartmentalize

One thing I believe is that if you do not have a relationship with God, then by default you’re against him. What I mean is; it is no wonder why our defects of character, our relationships with others, and our lives are messed up. We were running opposite of God, getting further and further away from what we were really meant to be, ideally.

  It may not be intentional, but without His help it is impossible to continue to become better and better. Therefore you stagnate and are never able to progress further in any area of your life. Each area of your life affects one another. For example if you have a resentment against one person, then it will effect other relationships in your life. You may be intolerant to your wife or kids. It is impossible to compartmentalize different areas of your life from each other. One thing that is cool is, when you, with God’s help, start improving in one area of your life, it affects all the other areas of your life. For example, if you start improving in physical fitness it may effect how you feel about yourself and your self esteem. If your self esteem improves, you may be more tolerant with others. One of the most revolutionizing things in my own life, that held me back for so long, was unforgiveness of myself. I don’t think I realized that I had a resentment against myself (you know you have a resentment against yourself when you use the guilt club on yourself.) Anyway, when I started forgiving myself, I found that my relationships with others improved. I was able to overlook others wrongs and I drew closer to God which gave me more peace. 

Pressing on with excellence!

Keith

The Present of Fellowship

In December of 2010, I wrote about the present of the present: The gift of the moment and how staying in the present helps us to have peace. Currently, I’m thinking about another present that God gives us: Fellowship and how it is that I can be feeling down and spend some time with others and feel completely renewed. I’m not sure what it is that causes me to be pulled out of the blah’s, but something about being around others gives me a new outlook.

I remember, early in sobriety, feeling like I was about ready to give up. Then I would go to an A.A. meeting and come out pumped up, with a renewed sense of purpose in my life. I also can get that way when I help someone or just spend time with others. I think it has to do with getting out of myself. I can isolate easily and I don’t think that is good for me psychologically or spiritually. I’m really a people person and if I isolate and feel lonely it messes with my head. So I believe God gives me the present of fellowship to draw me out of myself and isolation. That refreshes my spirit and gives me direction in my life. It really is a gift.

Pressing on with excellence!

Keith

The In-Between

What do you do when you think something is going to happen and it seems to be taking longer than you think? I’m in that position right now. I’m almost stumped about what to do next. I don’t want to give up, and I won’t, but I guess I will have to wait awhile to see my answer. I may have to wait but I won’t lose heart because I know the one who has the play book. When the timing is right it will happen or God will show me something else he wants me to do. It is easy to become frustrated or impatient but it will not help the situation. It is easy to worry or fret but I will not do that anymore. I am done with that kind of thinking. I have already wasted too much of my life doing that. It is not productive. It will not help the situation. It won’t even make time go any faster. I am going to do what is right in front of me right now. I will not procrastinate I will just do the next right thing.

What do you do in the between?

Pressing on with excellence!

Keith 

Perspective

I think perspective is one thing that is amazing. Every one of us has a different perspective which causes us to act one way or another. When you hear one side of a story you may think a certain way, until you hear the other side. Then you might think entirely differently. If you are close minded, you may be blocking yourself from really knowing the whole truth. It is sometimes easy to act when you hear one side, only to find out that you were wrong. Sometimes that is a hard pill to swallow. I can’t count the number of times that this has happened to me. Then I have to suffer the consequence of my action, which is usually embarrassment. Because I didn’t know the whole story I said something that I shouldn’t have. 

I have learned, over time, to slow down, and to try to get all of the facts before I rush to judgment. The Bible says we should be slow to anger, but quick to forgive. But do we really do this? This is one thing I try to keep in mind when it comes to my perspective of things. Patient responses would be the best for me, but I’m not always as patient as I should be. This seems to affect all areas of my life; from settling a dispute between my kids, to conversations with my boss, or even in a leadership position at church. It is best to withhold judgment and get the whole perspective. Proverbs says one who keeps his mouth shut appears to be wise until he opens it and proves otherwise (Keith’s paraphrased version). My opinion is only my perspective and may be wrong depending on the facts.

Pressing on with excellence!

Keith

Expectations

Life was interesting in how others reacted to this past period of unemployment. My mother told me I need to get a job and I think “just over broke”. I wasn't looking for just any job any more. I can get any job but that’s not the point. I wanted to find work that has meaning, something that I love. It’s not like I was just sitting around not doing anything or not looking for work. I was just being a little pickier than I used to be. My brother said that I was lazy. He thinks since I didn’t have a job that whatever I’m doing is not productive or important. I think they don’t understand. That just because what I’m looking for doesn’t fall into their idea of normal, that it’s not right for me. They thought their expectations for me to get a job, for me to be normal, were high. But, for me, it seems that if I settle for just a normal job their expectations are too low and don’t have my best interest in mind. It’s sad really, because I think that if I had listened to them then I might never have found out what God really has for me. To me, it’s more important to find out what God has for me and do that, than to settle for normal. Does that make sense? I’ve begun a new chapter in my life and I will not settle for mediocrity any longer. This life is not like the past and it looks completely different. So I wrote this to say that sometimes we need to ignore some of the closest people around us. Not to spite them, but for our own good. Their expectations may not help us to get where we want and need to go or where God wants us to be.

Pressing on with excellence!

Keith Smith