Loving Others

  I heard a great message today at church by pastor Randy Gravitt. Talking about how we need to take inventory of how we are doing at loving others. One thing he mentioned was that it takes more energy to be self-centered than it does to love others. That I believe is true we spend a lot of time and energy thinking about ourselves. It is impossible to be self-focused and and loving at the same time. I think that if we are others focused than we are closer to the ideal person that God wants us to be. God is love and and he wants us to imitate him. So here are three things that can help us to get out of our selves and think of others more.
1.) Treat people as special. This takes some effort but the payoff is well worth it.
2.) Do more than what's expected. These are little things that often go unnoticed but God knows and you will know.
3.) Having a good attitude. After all none of these things will matter if you do them grudgingly.
 But I would add even if you do them with a bad attitude do them anyway. Action action action go through the the motion and the emotion will follow. Your attitude will change over time as you learn how to be less self-centered and how to love like God does.
Pressing on with excellence!!
 Keith  

new year new life

I have been thinking lately about how I can serve God this year. I feel like I squandered some of the last fifteen years of my life. I don't want to do the same thing the next fifteen years. I really want to make a difference for God. I'm not exactly sure what that looks like. But I do know one thing. I have been trying to go it alone before. But not this time I'm going to ask for help this time I need an adviser. Two is surely better than one and I believe will be much better than just myself.  I am In need of a coach. One who can look at my assets and guide me in the right direction to be of maximum usefulness of others. This is the year I am ready! No more time to waste! Let's Roll!
Pressing on with excellence!!
Keith

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