God made you exactly like He wants you! Amazing how many us want to undo or redo gifts He wants us to use. Spend time seeking Him about how, when and where to invest the rest of your life.

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit your works to the Lord and your ways will be established"

Beginning Again!

I'm getting back to this, checking to see if I'm still able to post. I'm a horse and buggy guy in a space travel world.

If I see this on the web I'll write some thoughts soon.

God bless you spirit, soul and body!

Legacy

We are leaving a legacy to our family and friends! We are either deliberately working to leave a positive impact or we are leaving a void because we are not taking serious our responsibility. Legacy means leaving something of value either material and or a way of living to those coming after us. Don't get caught just existing, watching weeks, then months fly by. Ask God to show you what He has created you to do. Begin obeying the thoughts that come to your mind that line up with His Word. Don't worry when you make a mistake, yes do your best to correct it but don't stop trying because you made one. Everyone makes mistakes; spouses make mistakes, parents make mistakes, children make mistakes, boses make mistakes, etc. Spend a few minutes everyday (5 or 6 minutes to begin with) being quiet and say "God do you want to say anything to me"? Pay attention to the thoughts that come to your mind after that prayer. Don't think anything is too big or too little to do. God is a good parent, He won't ask us to do some big thing when we have never done anything, He will give us a simple instruction and see if we will obey it; just like a parent tells their child to pick up their toys. Once we prove we will obey the small commands He will give us some larger ones to follow but just because we have been given some bigger instructions, we never outgrow the need to stay obedient to the simple ones. The enemy wants us to believe we don't matter, we are not good enough, not consistent enough or not "holy" enough. Trust God to tell you what to do, when He wants you to it and follow through even when you feel insecure or have more questions than answers. This guarantees we will not take credit for things He does through us or the legacy we leave for those coming after us! God bless as you begin building your legacy today!

Oh Really

Certain pockets of Christianity have turned this life into a giant Christmas Season! It's all about the gifts we crave and the pleasure we get from all the blessings we can accumulate. After the latest round of "new things" we begin to think of other things we want. I believe God wants to bless us, does bless us and will keep blessing us our entire lives but some of what we think of as trials are blessings. If you knew how your trial would affect your family, friends and testimony it might be easier to trust God during the storm because everything is not designed for our pleasure, never has been, never will be.

The Apostle Paul told the Church at Corinth "I wanted to talk to you like mature adults but you were not able to receive my words." (I Cor. 3:2) This world needs followers of Jesus Christ who don't have to be babied and catered too. I encourage us to grow up into Christ, become mature believers who are willing to trust God's plan for our lives more than our own.

Serious words to be thought about seriously!

God is faithful!

My encouragement today is something we already know. God never makes a mistake! The issue is "we don't understand" what He is doing or "why is He allowing this" and then our mind begins to race with questions that don't have a satisfactory answer. Beginning today, decide that you will "take those thought captives" (II Corinthians 10:5). Instead of allowing your mind to run possibilities, read God's Word; check His record, depend on His heart. Much of life has no rhyme or reason "today". Don't allow yourself to make a judgement based on a time frame that only lasts decades; God deals with eternity. Something you might not understand today may have an effect years from now that you will never see on earth. God has already proven His love for us; we can trust He will not waste any situation that we can't explain.
Again, we all know this. The test everyday is putting this in practice, Make the wise decision, never allow the assumption that God is allowing something hurtful or useless. God has plans for us that are filled with hope, for our welfare and good; especially when we can't see or explain them.Trust His heart especially when you cannot see His hand!

One Month to Live

I've just finished a book entitled "One Month to Live" written by Kerry Shook. It encourages readers to ask themselves this question "how can you live daily so that at the end of your life, you will not have any regrets"! It gives great perspective to what matters and what how we act and re-act to life's daily circumstances. It also encourages us to "do what we love doing" now, don't put off your passions to live a boring life. Another encouragement is to "ask for and give forgiveness to people" today, at the end of your life you will not want to wish I would have done this a long time ago. Lastly, it encourages you to "spend time with the people that really matter".

It's not morbid to think about how your life will end, the fact is everyone's life ends, be mature enough to plan for and prepare for the time it does. Make the people you care about aware of your wishes about how to handle end of life issues. Have a will, inform family and your attorney and or accountant where the will will be, make Funeral wishes known, have someone who you trust to handle these details at the appropriate time.

Here's the good news, most of us have much more than 30 days left to live, the challenge is to really live, not just exist. Start living today, not just breathing, really living because one day you really will only have 30 more days to live.

All Things are Possible

We are well into 2012. You have had chances to start the year with momentum and give up because of adversity. Almost everyday we face ups and downs. Ask the Lord to lead you (He does that as you read His Word, as you seek Him in prayer, listen to sermons and worship music); follow His direction and trust His timing. Just because things may not look promising at the moment does not mean that they will remain that way. What did the Lord say would occur during this year? If He said it, don't stop trusting Him because they look impossible; remind yourself how He has turned things around for you in the past. Remember a 90 year old woman got pregnant. The Red Sea split in half so God's children could walk through it on dry ground. Joseph lived in prison for 10 years before being delivered in one moment. David killed a giant with a sling shot. Daniel survived a lions den over night. Jesus turned water into wine, He fed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread. Remembering those things, keep walking in obedience to God's call on your life and watch as He moves obstacles out of your way so you can follow through on what you committed to accomplish in His Name in 2012. This is going to be a good year for His Kingdom in your life. Believe what He has promised and watch it come to pass!