Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Mark Batterson (2016-09-06) from his book, Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It's Too Small (Kindle Location 2295). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is what Mark says, “One of the excuses I’ve confessed countless times is perfectionism. When coupled with procrastination, it’s a dream killer. So when I meet a fellow perfectionist, I often prescribe the same passage of Scripture that cured my condition a decade ago. I prescribe Ecclesiastes 11: 4 once a day for seven days, and it must be taken with meditation. ‘Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks to the clouds will not reap.’” He goes on, “If you’re waiting for perfect conditions to pursue your dream, you’ll be waiting till Christ returns. It doesn’t matter whether a sunny day or a snowy day is forecast. At some point you need to throw caution to the wind. Do it after you’ve done your

A thought by Mark Batterson (2016-09-06) from his book, Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It's Too Small (Kindle Location 2273). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Mark tells a story, “In February of 2001, Thann Bennett felt called to write a book. ‘With some regularity,’ Thann said, ‘a fresh prompting would prick my conscience, and I would again consider toeing the starting line.’ But he would false start every single time. Thann became an expert at excuses: I don’t have that kind of time. The book is outside the scope of my profession. These are the only years my wife and I have without children . ‘I was living in delayed obedience,’ admits Thann. That all changed on April 19, 2015, when Thann heard a sermon I preached titled ‘The Art of the Start.’ Thann made a decision that day to give God one hour a day every day until the book he dreamed of writing was a reality. It took

A thought by Mark Batterson (2016-09-06) from his book, Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It's Too Small (Kindle Locations 2219-2220). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ( Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you found that to be true yet?   It is such an important principle to understand. Mark says, “In fact, what the Enemy intends for evil, God will use for good.” He goes on, “Don’t waste suffering. Don’t waste failure. Don’t waste disappointment. Don’t waste cancer. Don’t waste divorce. God wants to recycle those things for His purposes!” Then he says, “When it comes to difficult circumstances, you have two choices. You can complain about them, or you can make the most of them. Whether those circumstances are self-inflicted or the result of someone else’s actions, lion chasers make the most of them. Sometimes the circumstances we’re trying to change are the very circumstances God is using to cha