Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Location 577). Kindle Edition. That is so true.  God has really blessed Margaret and me with a beautiful place to live.  We are right across from the pool, it is bigger than we really need but it also fits our needs.  God has been so good but He also has placed us right where we are for a purpose.  God has used both of us in such a special way to elevate the lives of the people who live close to us.  They have told us that we are an answer to their prayers.  Now what if they had been praying that God would help them?  He would watch out for them. He would protect them; He would be their encouragement and their friend so He sent us to do that.  He blessed us so we could be a blessing but let’s say we would move in and decide that we were not going to make friends, not get involved.  I mean we’re retired.  We have ministered all our lives now it is time for us to rest an

A thought by Andy Stanley from his book, Fields of Gold (Kindle Locations 98-99). Kindle Edition . Fear is always where faith is.  When we had the opportunity to step out in faith and move from Long Island to Florida I had many days of unrest.  It wasn’t so much the moving but the buying of a home.  If you are renting and you don’t like it you just wait out the year and then move.  But I thought owning was so permanent and I had some fear in that.  For many people it takes great faith to risk but for me the fact that I was saying this was it had some anxiety attached to it.  The day the peace came was a day that I was at Jones Beach on Long Island praying my anxieties out to God and He let me know that He wanted me to come to Florida to be near my mother and we stepped out in faith and made the move.  I had been seeing in His word that we as God’s children are to take care of the poor and the widows and God reinforced in me that this was my time to do that with my mother

A thought by Andy Stanley from his book, Fields of Gold (Kindle Locations 99-100). Kindle Edition. There are so many different tools that Satan uses in his desire to get at God through us.  He knows he can keep us from stepping out and risking because of our fear in the unknown.  Now one of the best areas that can open up God’s blessing on our lives is through giving, giving to Him and giving to other people.  But it is also a great area for Satan to use fear and He does it all the time.  He doesn’t want you to be blessed and your faith strengthened by giving so he sets up all these roadblocks of fear that keep you from giving. Giving is something you do out of faith.  And fear is the antithesis of faith.  It is faith’s enemy.  For instance, you believe it is the right thing to give to a person who is in need then everything starts going wrong in your life.  It isn’t just one thing but compounded things.  Satan then in your mind says that if you wouldn’t have given t

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Moment (Kindle Locations 153-154). Kindle Edition. We are really enjoying our move to Florida.  It is so beautiful.  I am sitting right now outside looking at a beautiful park filled with green grass, unbelievable trees and flowering plants. But in this beauty there are many critters that live here.  It is their home.  So in this beauty, you will possibly see snakes, alligators, squirrels, roaches, and lizards, lots and lots of lizards.  I don’t like snakes.  I really don’t.  Well we had one come visit us last week at our backdoor.  He kind of disrupted our beauty.  We each one have those things that mess up the beauty in our lives.  They have a tendency to tempt us to lock the doors and stay inside but there is so much beauty to experience outside. What is it in your life that is striving to keep you from experiencing the beauty that God has for you in your life?  Maybe it i

A thought by Andy Stanley (2009-08-22) from his book, It Came from Within!: The Shocking Truth of What Lurks in the Hear t (p. 55). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition. That is so true isn’t it?   Now how we view the action that brings us that shame has so much to do with how we deal with it. Back when I was in ministry I did something that brought so much shame on my life and I stepped out of ministry.  Margaret and I moved to another town.  I knew that I had blown it and I started selling Insurance.  The shame changed the direction of my life.  That is until I went to a church in that town and God sent a Godly Pastor into my life who took the time and patience to bring me out of my shame.  You see my sin action didn’t make God turn His back on me.  He pursued me and won me back. Now if my shame would have kept me from seeking out God then I would have had scars forever but my shame drew me to God and He in turn through it changed me for all time.  He used my shame to deepen

A thought by Leonard Sweet (2012-03-13) from his book, Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Reviva l (Kindle Location 143). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. Have you ever watched The Voice on NBC on Monday night?  If you haven’t, there are 4 celebrities who have their backs to a person who is singing and if they want that person to be on their team they push a button and then they are turned around to see what the person looks like.  They make their choice just on their voice not on their looks.  You wonder sometimes if they wouldn’t have made their chose if they would have seen what they looked like.  In our need to connect so much is based upon our appearance.  I think that is why in many cases social media has been such a success.  We may have more confidence to connect with someone because they don’t know what we look like.  I know the danger in that but I also know the deep loneliness and to many it is worth the risk. We really do need each other, we

A thought by Erwin Raphael McManus from his book, Chasing Daylight: Seize the Power of Every Momen t (Kindle Locations 671-672). Kindle Edition . It is so true that a lot of the circumstances of our life are out of our control.  I don’t have control over the fact that I am getting older every minute but it is also true that I do have control over my activity, my attitude and my focus. I got on the scale this morning and I had gained some weight.  I got off track yesterday but I had been faithful in my walking.  Now I do not walk because I love to do it, I walk because my health demands it and I have to hold myself steady to do it no matter the results.  I do not have total control over my success but I do have control over my activity and attitudes. Now this whole activity of walking is composed of a lot of different elements that will affect my day.  It is exercise, it is listening to positive thoughts from podcasts and it is a time of meditation and prayer.  So if I do