Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John Ortberg (2012-08-07) from his book, Who Is This Man?: TheUnpredictable Impact of the Inescapable Jesus (p. 26). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This thought hit me as I was looking for something to share with you today.  One thing it said to me was that when Jesus looks at an immigrant, a person of a different race, a poor or rich person, one who thinks different from me, one whose sexual orientation is different from mine, he sees the image of God.  As John says, “He saw this in everyone.”  And then John goes on to say, “It caused him to treat each person with dignity.”  Do we need to do that today?  Do we need to treat each person we see with dignity?  And then the thought goes on to say to me that when Jesus looks at me , at you , he sees the image of God. John shares that “novelist George MacDonald delighted in writing about princesses and princes. Someone asked him why he always wrote about princ

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: PuttingOn the Character of Chris t (p. 132). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Here is how Dallas sees these movements, “We are loved by God who is love, and in turn we love him, and others through him, who in turn love us through him. Thus is love made perfect or complete.  And ‘perfect love casts out fear’ (1 John 4: 18).” But we don’t start at the right place and of course don’t finish at the right place.  Now we are loved by God no matter whether we believe it or not.  He shows that love to us in so many ways.  He has given us life, and beauty and the opportunity to love and be loved but because we haven’t in turn loved him then we in turn don’t really love others who in turn really love us through him.  So our love is not made perfect of complete so we live in fear. Such as awesome opportunity we have because he love us.  Just accept th

A thought by Dallas Willard (2014-02-01) from his book, Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ (p. 130). NavPress. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) But if you really loved me you would do such and such.  That is used over and over to get someone to do what someone wants them to do for them.   But that’s not love.  Love strives to do good for the one you love for their own sake but not for yours.  We get this all wrong. I can’t believe they won’t do that for me.  If they really loved me they would.  But that is not love. Dallas says, “Love is not the same thing as desire, for I may desire something without even wishing it well, much less willing its good. I might desire a chocolate ice cream cone, for example. But I do not wish it well; I wish to eat it. This is the difference between lust (mere desire) and love, as between a man and a woman. Desire and love are, of course, compatible when desire is ruled by l

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’m sure all of us have something that we are afraid of and we'd like to conquer it.  For some it might be a snake or a spider and those can be annoying but for the most part that fear doesn’t keep us from living life to its fullest.  You just strive to keep away from them. But others have fears that keep them from living life to the level that God has for them and they want to somehow conquer their fears. For some it might be the fear of their health.  They know they need to exercise or eat right or check their blood sugar.  And as John says,   “ Y ou can't wait for motivation to get you going.” But in doing this John says, “Motivation is not going to strike you like lightning. And motivation is not something that someone else —nurse, doctor, family me

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 27). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now rejection hurts. It really does especially if you did something to cause it.  We have all experienced it but how we deal with it is the key to really living the life God has for us.  John says on this, “People who don't give up keep trying because they don't base their self-worth on their performance. Instead, they have an internally based self-image. Rather than say, ‘I am a failure,’ they say, ‘I missed that one,’ or ‘I made a mistake.’ Psychologist Martin E. Seligman believes we have two choices when we fail: We can internalize or externalize our failure. ‘People who blame themselves when they fail . . . think they are worthless, talentless, unlovable,’ says Seligman. ‘People who blame external events do not lose self-esteem when bad events strike.’  To

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2000-03-08) from his book, Failing Forward: How to Makethe Most of Your Mistakes (p. 18). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Think about this.  John continues, “People don't work hard because, in their conceit, they imagine they'll succeed without ever making an effort. Most people believe that they'll wake up some day and find themselves rich. Actually, they've got it half right, because eventually they wake up.” I had someone yesterday try to get me involved in some get rich scheme.  Some people think that is the way God works.  No, he works through people working.  He gives us abilities and then opportunities.  And then we work hard and smart. Work is God’s plan. But we sit around and wait on God to meet our needs.  And he is waiting on us to do our part.   Now is it easy.   No but it can be exciting and challenging and rewarding.    John then says, “Each of us

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 this