Just Continue That Thought...

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 620-621). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition . Do you ever give a gift and then wonder what you are getting in return?  If that is true of you then what you gave was not a gift but an upfront payment for what they are now obligated to give you.  That is not what gift giving is all about. Now to me the wrong spirit of Christmas is not the untold gift-giving that is done but it is the expectation part of what do I want and what so I expect/want to get.  Jesus came to us as a gift and the Wise Men gave gifts to the baby Jesus and both were done with no expectation of getting anything in return. I have found it so interesting that the one main symbol at this time of year in the secular world is a jolly old guy who gives and gives and gives with no expectation of anything in return.  And what do we try to do is burst that

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book,  Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 475-476). Kindle Edition. Have you ever stopped and thought about the fact that God doesn’t want you to be anything else but you”?  Also do you realize that God took just as much interest in putting His stamp on you as He did with anyone else?  You and I are a masterpiece by God.  The truth is we don’t really realize the potential that God built into us.  The only thing that limits our potential is us. I know that we can play the blame game and say because of my parents or where I grew up or what I look like or my lack of education (you get the point) I am limited in my potential.  I can understand that point of view until I look at a Helen Keller which wakes me up to the fact of my unused potential that God has placed within me and you.  That shows me that I am limited by what I am looking at, circumstances or God. Yes, the fact that Helen Keller was li

A thought by Mark Batterson (2011-01-18) from his book, Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny (p. 84). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . I don’t know how you handled wrong and right answers on a test when you were young  or even if they mattered to you.  Maybe all that mattered to you was the grade.  But for me it was those questions that I got wrong.  I would find out which ones they were and then I would search the book or my notes and find out what the right answer was.  The right answers I had gotten right so I didn’t worry about them anymore but those I had gotten wrong I searched to find what was right. Our failures in life can be like that too.  There is always a invaluable lesson to be learned in life no matter what it is.  Now I chose a long time ago to not be controlled by the negatives of life but to change them into a positive.  Somehow in every negative in my life, God has helped me to see it from a positive standpoint.  It has taken a lot of years of every

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t Moment (Kindle Locations 400-401). Kindle Edition . I’m sure that you have found that in the beginning days of your marriage it was so much easier to risk.  I mean you didn’t have kids, you didn’t have a whole lot of stuff and you had a whole lot of enthusiasm.  I mean, you believed you could conquer the world.  Get out of the way here we come.  But the older you got and the more responsibility you had made it a whole lot more difficult to risk.   It maybe made it more difficult to respond to God’s leading in your life. God blesses you with a great house.  You have a nice car or two.  You have finally gotten the furniture you’ve always wanted and of course you have the kids.  God has been so good to you but in the midst of all this He seems to be impressing on you that He has something unbelievable for you to do but it means giving up all the stuff and moving your family.  It

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. 30). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . In my quiet time every morning I read a Psalm.   I have done that for years.  I read the Psalm that corresponds to the date.  I am starting my 4 th cycle of 30 Psalms and today is December 1st so I read the 91 st Psalm so let’s see what Jesus said through the Psalmist today, Jesus is God you know. Verses 2- 4, (msg), Say this: “God, You’re  my refuge .  I trust in You and I’m safe !” That’s right—He rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you— under them you’re perfectly safe ; His arms fend off all harm.     Maybe you are going through some tough times why don’t you claim what it says, personally believe it in your life.  Pray this back to Him.  Make it personal.  Audacious faith takes Him at His word. Here is some more f

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 153-154). Kindle Edition. One of the things Margaret and I do when we live in an area is to do all we can to experience the area.  We have lived on Long Island in New York State now for three years and we have been to more places than most of the people who have lived here all their life.  Life is an adventure to be experienced but if we pull the shades down around us then we will miss so much of it.  Granted life can have some pain attached to it and life has some thorns in it but so does the beautiful rose.  You just need to know how to handle it to enjoy it.  Now for some it will take some help to get you unstuck from what is holding you back.  Take the risk to talk to someone about your fears, about your pain.  I know that they are real but I also know that they can be a foundation for you to stand on to make a difference in other’s lives that have ha

A thought by Mark Batterson (2011-01-18) in his book, Soulprint: Discovering Your Divine Destiny (p. 140). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition . We each one have made them, haven’t we?  I went through what I call my three year jerk time quite a few years back.  I totally put what I wanted first over my family but God bought me out of that time and forgave me.  I am so glad that I am not defined by that time in my life. One way it does define us is when we relive the mistake over and over and never forgive ourselves.  That mistake can hold us emotionally captive but it only does that if we don’t let it go.  There is no do over.  If there is a confession to be made or a restitution to be done then confess and do whatever needs to be done then it is over.  We cannot do any more than that about it except to learn from it.  The key is to not make the same mistake in the present.  If you keep doing it then you will be defined by it but if you learn from your mistake and not do it