Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 13). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We all make mistakes.  But the key is what we do with them.  Do we keep making the same ones or do we grow.  John found these Rules for Being Human. He said, “I think the list describes well the state we're in as people: Rule #1: You will learn lessons. Rule #2: There are no mistakes— only lessons. Rule #3: A lesson is repeated until it is learned. Rule #4: If you don't learn the easy lessons, they get harder. (Pain is one way the universe gets your attention.) Rule #5: You'll know you've learned a lesson when your actions change.” We’re all going to make mistakes, we’re all going to fail but do we learn from it and change.  That is up to us.  John also says, “Every person's life is filled with errors and negative experiences. But know ...

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 15). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. I read this book back in 2008 when it came out and found it very beneficial and practical then picked it up again and found it to be the same in 2015.  Mistakes can be enemies for us in so many ways but they also can be very close friends.  It is all in our perspective and response to them. John says, “You are the only person who can really label what you do a failure.”  And that makes the difference in whether it is your friend or your enemy.  John says, “According to Tulane University business professor Lisa Amos, the average for entrepreneurs is 3.8 failures before they finally make it in business. They are not deterred by problems, mistakes, or errors. Why? Because they don't see setbacks as failures. They recognize that three steps forward and two steps back still equals one step forward. And as a r...

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: PuttingOn the Character of Christ (p. 122). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) And so many in this day have let our feeling be our masters.  What do I feel like eating?  What do I feel like doing?  I feel like they slighted me.  I don’t feel like going to church today.  I don’t feel like doing what is right.  I just don’t feel like it.  Our feelings too many times have become our masters and that can be disastrous. This is so important to realize.  Dallas says, “In a situation such as today, by contrast, where people constantly have— or think they have— to decide what to do, they will almost invariably be governed by feelings. Often they cannot distinguish between their feelings and their will, and in their confusion they also quite commonly take feelings to be reasons. And they will in general lack any sign...

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: PuttingOn the Character of Christ (p. 111). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This is such an important principle for us to come to really understand. Dallas says, “Our present American culture boasts of complete freedom in what one sees, says, and hears. Many professing Christians are paralyzed or even destroyed by adopting this ‘freedom’ as a lifestyle. For they allow images into their mind that eventually overwhelm them. If we allow everything access to our mind, we are simply asking to be kept in a state of mental turmoil or bondage. For nothing enters the mind without having an effect for good or evil. You may say, ‘I want to be open to think of anything, imagine anything, have all feelings, see everything. What do you think freedom of thought is all about? This is America!’ Well, then you must take the consequences.” It is imperative t...

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: PuttingOn the Character of Chris t (p. 103). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) There are many different reasons why I believe God has given me the opportunity and challenge to write this particular blog.  One of them is to expose you to information from difference sources to help you learn and grow in your life.  As the writer of Proverbs says in chapter 11 verse 14 (Msg), “Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances.” Of course the Bible is the place we start, but then there are other writers who give us so much to learn from.  I want to expose you to them. As Dallas says, “Lack of information results in everything from unpleasant burdens to stark tragedies, across the entire range of human life. Not knowing about resources at a public library or on the Internet m...

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: PuttingOn the Character of Christ (p. 100). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Does that make sense to you?  Here is what Dallas says, “The image one has of oneself, for example, can override everything else and cause one to act in ways contrary to all reality and good sense. Those who have been rejected or abused as children or have lived with addicted or ‘cold’ parents, have distorted images of themselves and of ‘reality.’” He then goes on and says, “Individuals who suffer from a poor image of themselves are caught up in self-rejection and have no defenses against group pressures. They do not see themselves as the objects of God’s love, and they have no place to make a stand.” He then quotes, Henri Nouwen who noted, “Success, popularity and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the wa...

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: PuttingOn the Character of Christ (p. 96). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I had put down on my Facebook this morning this thought, “Here it is, another new day, new week, new adventure with new challenges and new posts to write. I've never lived this week but I face it with confidence and enthusiasm. I can face it because God is out ahead preparing the way.”  But there are so many realists out there who face their week with fear and discouragement instead of confidence and excitement.  And both of those ideas start as thoughts within our mind. Dallas says, “A will that runs ahead depends, of course, upon our abilities to think; and what we think, imagine, believe, or guess sets boundaries to what we can will or choose, and therefore to what we can create.” Now what boundaries have you set for your week?  So many negative thi...