Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe (p. 147). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book) There are different valleys that come into our lives and there are different responses to them. Larry says, “ God sent me here valleys always call for hanging tough. Wiggling out or running away is never a good option. That's a lesson Jonah learned the hard way when he tried to avoid a dreaded assignment.”   In this Larry says, “Never judge the appropriateness of obedience by the short-term or even lifelong results. Judge it by eternity.”   Keep being obedient no matter what. Then he says, “ I messed up valleys call for a completely different response. They call for a serious change in direction. If a wrong turn got us there, it usually takes some major retracing of our steps to get us back where we need to be.”   He says, “Thankfully, most I messed ...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe (p. 143). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. . (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book The myth that Larry is dealing with in this section is the belief of some good people “that God only leads us to the mountaintop and that long-term valleys always mean a wrong turn.”   He goes on to say, “The problem with assuming that every deep and extended valley must mean a wrong turn is that it ignores so much biblical evidence to the contrary. Sometimes a valley does mean a wrong turn, but just as often (if not more often) it means something altogether different.”   He then says, “Some valleys are God sent me here valleys. Their distinguishing trait is obedience that appears to have backfired. Whenever doing the right thing is what puts us into a valley or keeps us there, it's a good bet that we're right where God wants us to be, even though we'd alm...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-04) from his book, Ten Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe (p. 134). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) My dad was a minister and he used to give out different statements that have stayed with me through out my life.   One of them was, “Too high expectations brings about frustrations.”    And that is so true.   The key words are “Too high.” And in this thought by Larry, the word, “Unrealistic” is the key word. He goes on to say, “Be it a marriage, a purchase, a business partner, a vacation, or our walk with God, unfounded and unrealistic expectations are always a recipe for confusion and disillusionment.”   He then says, “When we assume, imply, or promise that God is supposed to bring us good luck and lots of success, we're set up for deep disappointment and spiritual cynicism. Even worse, we risk turning the King of kings into little more tha...