Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within (Kindle Location 380). Kindle Edition. When you really learn that He can be trusted then you do want to step out and risk more.   You just don’t want to waste the fact that you are connected to Him. Now there is the other side.   In the gospels in the New Testament there is the story of the two times that Jesus fed great groups of people with just a few pieces of bread and a few fish and even had some left over.   You would think that the disciples would really trust Him to provide food for them but they didn’t and Jesus got after them.   He fed 5,000 then 4,000 with a few loaves and some fish.   What about us?   He has shown us that we can trust Him but we still live with so much worry.   I mean look how He brought us through April but we’re not going to survive in May.   He has shown He can be trusted but we are afraid to risk. ...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, The Barbarian Way: Unleash the Untamed Faith Within (Kindle Location 441). Kindle Edition. Jesus didn’t die to get us all to look or be alike but to be who we were created individually to be.   Now as a parent I understand the desire to do this.   We have two children who are now adults with their own families.   Our son came first and we found some ways to deal with him and his personality but then our red headed daughter came along and what worked with Brett didn’t work with Stefanie.   God made them both unique with different personalities and different needs and different potentials and it was up to us to see that and to enhance that.   We were not to make Stef like Brett.   God created them both as individuals. That is the way God sees us.   His desire is to not conform us to be like everyone else but to transform us into the person He created us to be.   It seems like everyone e...

A thought by Les Parrott, (2012-08-02) from his book, You're Stronger Than You Think: The Power to Do What You Feel You Can't (p. 155). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. I am having a real problem in getting started writing today.   We came over to Las Vegas from Pasadena, California to see our daughter and her family and I am a little distracted.   Now the battle in me to write or not is based on two things, one I’m tired and two is the boldness I have that someone needs what I am going to write so I have to do it no matter what.   As you can tell the second one is the argument that won. Now the key is first finding the right quote and then writing the first sentence.   I did that and now I am writing.   I just had to start. There is something bold that you know you need to do and maybe you are just waiting for that something to inspire you and then you do it.   The key is you start doing and then you will be inspired.   Pret...

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For ? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 32). Zondervan. Kindle Edition . You and I are a creation of love not a mistake .   It is so important to realize that.   It is so easy to get caught up in believing the lies of life that says we are junk, we are a mistake but we aren’t.   Some parents may have made a mistake but you aren’t a mistake.   God out of love created you and He created you the way He wanted you to be. Society sets this standard out there that if we don’t match up to it then something is wrong with us.   And people who matter to us may say that we aren’t smart or we don’t have talent so we believe them.   Because they matter to us then what they say must be true.   But it isn’t necessarily true.   We each matter to God so much that He sent His Son to die for us.   That is real love.   That is real truth. ...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus, (2006-11-14) from his book, Soul Cravings: An Exploration of the Human Spirit (Kindle Location 224). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. Pain is such a horrible thing for so many people.   Now it is something that can be your enemy or your friend.   It is all in how you view it but it is for sure something that you can’t ignore. Pain as an enemy drives people to excessive use of something that will mask it, dull it but as a friend it leads to finding the cause so something can be done about it.   Pain as a friend is a red light that there is a problem.   If we don’t see it as a friend that leads us to the cause then it can potentially lead to death.    Pain in a relationship not dealt with can lead to bitterness which can damage ones potential to love and be loved.   That is what is happening today inside of so many very lonely hurting people.   If they would just stop and seek the cause then they ...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 1534). Kindle Edition. That is one of the main reasons why we don’t risk.   Most of us don’t see failure as a friend but our enemy.   But those who have made it their friend are not afraid to risk. So much of our life is controlled by our perspective.   Take for example our view of failure.   If it is viewed as your enemy you want to stay as far away from it as you can.   Some people have a failed relationship and it hurt them deeply so they are never going to get in another situation where they can be hurt again.   They are going to play it safe and keep from getting close to people.   No way are they going to step out and risk that happening again so they live a lonely safe existence. Another person sees the failed relationship as an opportunity to learn.   They see where they went wrong and they strive to change, to...

A thought by Les Parrott, (2012-08-02) from his book, You're Stronger Than You Think: The Power to Do What You Feel You Can't (p. 144). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition. That is why so many dreams aren’t realized.   It comes down to what we want most, our dream or our comfort?   Most people come down on the comfort side.   But that means they don’t really live.   Have you found that something starts happening to your body when you sit in a comfortable chair too long?   It gets so hard to get out.   Margaret my wife may ask me to get up and do something for her but I don’t want to.   Oh I want to help her but not if I have to get up out of my comfortable chair.   But if I stay something will start happening to my relationship and something will start going wrong in my body.   My body and my relationships were built for action.   The world outside of that chair has real meaning and real potential and it just means that I ...