Just Continue That Thought...

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“The sting of pain is way overrated.”

A thought by Miles McPherson, (2009-11-01) in his book, DO Something!: Make Your Life Count (Kindle Location 419). Baker Books. Kindle Edition. Miles who played professional football in the NFL tells of the three times he was cut or fired from a team and how it affected him each time. The same action brought three different reactions to him, sad – mad and then glad. The difference with the last one was he had learned to trust that God had a plan. Yesterday we were looking at an impossible situation and the answer came back as no, not at this time. Now when you have prayed, really prayed about something and you don’t get the answer that you wanted there is disappointment and some pain but there is also victory. God could have but He didn’t so you know that He has a better plan. That is where trust comes in. The pain of the first no really hurt but it also brought us to a deeper time of prayer which also brought us to a deeper commitment to H...

“Approach your impossibilities with confident humility.”

A thought by Steven Furtick (2010-09-21) from his book, Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (p. 74). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition . The reason is because if you had the ability to do whatever it is then it would be possible. You wouldn’t need to be humble. You would just take the credit and go on. But the impossible means that you can’t do it. It is impossible. Now humility means you need help and you ask for it. If it is impossible and you aren’t going to ask for help because of pride then it becomes even more impossible. But if you know someone who can make the impossible possible and you ask them for help then that is wisdom and humility. That is trust! There was a very difficult situation in our family that had become impossible. Someone said no and that looked like the end of the possibility. During my walk time on Friday I was praying about the situation and all I could...

“When we allow the life-draining emotions of lingering anger, guilt, anxiety, and fear to be the controlling forces of our emotions, we are giving death and disease power in our life!”

A thought by David Stoop from his book, You Are What You Think (Kindle Locations 402-403). Kindle Edition. Notice the word allow, that shows it is you who can control these negative forces of your emotions. By choosing to continually focus on these life-draining emotions you give death and disease power in your life. We don’t need to give into this power but give our life over to God’s power by letting Him have our anger, guilt, anxiety and fear. Now your thoughts tell you where your faith is, they tell you how healthy you are. Think you’re getting a headache. You’ll get it. Think you’ll get a cold. Here it comes. Think your kids are going to be a problem at grandmas. Get ready. Think you’re going to have a bad day at work. Be prepared. I have read a Psalm from the Old Testament every day for years to help me with my self-talk. Look at what David said in Psalm 103:2-6 (Message), “O my soul, b...

“We have been taught to believe that our feelings and emotions are determined by the events in our lives.”

A thought by David Stoop in his book, You Are What You Think (Kindle Location 217). Kindle Edition. If this is true then why are there so many depressed people in January after all the stuff that they got on Christmas? I mean for so many this is a very downer month. They looked so forward to getting what they asked for but it didn’t have any lasting effect. Now it is so easy to believe that our feelings and emotions are determined by the events in our lives. Some are so excited about being with family at Christmas and their feelings and emotions are so high and then in the middle of their time they start thinking about leaving and their negative emotions take over and they are in deep despair. The reality is our self-talk, our inner thoughts do help or hurt us in our view of life. Let’s say we have come to realize the truth of this and we start thinking about how great it is to be with family but that we are also excited about going back to our hom...

"We wait for people to think like us, act like us, believe like us, and behave like us; and when they do, we are kind to them."

A thought by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, (2011-07-19) from their book, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard About (Kindle Locations 1180-1181). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . We do that because that is how we have been taught at home or even at church. Now I understand that comes from our insecurity. Anyone who is different from us makes us uncomfortable. I understand that. But that is not what Christ did. Let’s say you watch CNN News and you sit at Starbucks with someone who you find out likes Fox News. Do you start up a conversation or do you move? What if you are straight and you find out they are gay, what do you do then? Or you don’t go to church but they do? Or they are pierced all over the place but you aren’t? Or you find out she had an abortion and you just got back from picketing an abortion clinic? Or they believe if you love each other you don’t nee...

“God doesn’t call the qualified; God qualifies the called.”

A thought by Mark Batterson (2011-12-13) from his book Be a Circle Maker: The Solution to 10,000 Problems Kindle Location 255). Zondervan. Kindle Edition . I know some people who didn’t want to take swimming lessons because they didn’t know how to swim. That is the reason why we take swimming lessons so we can learn to swim. The same is true when God calls us to do something for Him. That is where the dependency on Him comes in. If we do it in our own ability then we will get the credit. He wants His power to mold us and qualify us. I was talking this past Sunday at Forefront Church with Ivan a friend of mine who is a sculptor. I really enjoyed hearing his story and hearing about his dreams. He talked about his first sculpture. His teacher had given him a square piece of Styrofoam and Ivan’s assignment was to create something from that bloc. The teacher saw both the potential in the bloc and the potential in Ivan....

“Sometimes it is the destinations that are out of our reach that create the circumstances God uses to remind us that we are never out of his reach.”

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-03-31) in his book, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be (p. 159). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . That is so true. I would have believed three years ago that Margaret and I owning our own home was way out of our reach. I mean it took everything we had to move from Las Vegas to Long Island and property is way too expensive here and we didn’t have enough for a down payment so I had accepted the fact that we would rent and then eventually move in with our kids. I had retired and owning our own home was way out of our reach but it wasn’t out of God’s reach. Margaret and I next month will be putting our furniture in our own condo in Seminole, Florida. It is all because of God’s love and power and graciousness that it has happened. We again realize that we are never out of His reach. He has been working this all out for us starting 18 years ago when we moved to...