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“Sometimes God leads us to a place where we have nowhere to turn but Him.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Location 3914). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know where you are today?   I know I have had a struggle finding a thought that really gripped me to write on today.   I was even tempted to not write but I had something that kept prodding me on.   So again I say, I don’t know where you are?   But God does and He may be the one who lead you to where you are today.   There was one thought that Mark gave back a couple of chapters in his book that said, “Never have the odds been more stacked against someone than they were the day Christ was betrayed, arrested, flogged, and crucified.”   Is that the kind of day you feel you are going through?   Oh I know that some of you are possibly going through some very,very tough times and you are very discouraged.  Please remember,

“The truth is, the blessings of God will complicate your life!”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Location 3411). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That doesn’t make sense, does it?   I mean only good will come from a blessing, won’t it? Here is what Mark says about it, “Just as sin complicates our lives in negative ways, the blessings of God complicate our lives in positive ways.” Look at this verse in Deuteronomy 28: 2 NKJV.   It says, “All these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you.” He then says, “Like every promise, this one comes with the conditional clause: if. You have to meet the condition, which in this case is to ‘diligently obey the voice of the LORD.’ (Deuteronomy 28: 1 NKJV) But if you meet the condition, it comes with a what if warranty, and there is no expiration date!” He later says, “When you meet the conditional clause of God’s promise

“You’ll never be ready! If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting till the day you die.”

A thought by Mark Batterson, (2015-10-06) from his book, If: Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities (Kindle Locations 3331-3332). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Mark continues, “And you’ll never be set. Sometimes you need to just go for it.” There are so many examples in life that prove that true… marriage, having kids, retiring.   I know, a lot of you think, retiring should be easy but the truth is there is a major adjustment in making retirement be your friend especially if you are someone who strives to make a difference everyday.   It really was a very difficult decision for me to make and the truth is I wasn't really ready for it. Mark goes on, “Now listen, you certainly need to count the cost. Count twice! But don’t just count the actual cost, count the opportunity cost.” He then says, “Honestly, I think many people operate out of the opposite mentality, thinking,