Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2015-10-06) from his book, Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters (p. 178). Center Street. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) This thought by John caught my attention.   He says, “I thought, if you believe it, you can achieve it . But that’s not always true. A dream requires a partner: commitment.” But I thought that if I had a dream, an exciting dream then it would pull me a long then I would fulfill it.   That is the power of a dream, isn’t that true? John goes on to say, “Dreams are free.”   Ok, I got that. “However, the journey to fulfill them isn’t. You have to work for your dream. Your dream doesn’t work for you. You have to work with the dream and for the dream.   The dream is a promise of what you can be, but commitment is the reality of what you will become. What starts as a promise ends as a commitment.” It’s like a wedding ceremony.   All of those love songs m

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2015-10-06) from his book, Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters (p. 176). Center Street. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Now we are pretty good at judging whether other people are loving and serving us well but that’s not up to us.   We have no control over others but we do have control over us.   That is what we need to be judging. John says, “If you’re wondering, Why aren’t others serving me? it becomes a source of discontent. And if you’re a leader, you forfeit your leadership effectiveness.” Leading up to this thought He said, “I believe most people who try to make a difference start out with the right motives and attitudes. As a result, the people they help gain a tremendous amount from them. But what often starts to occur is a shift in thinking, from I want to help people to I want people to help me. This is especially destructive when this shift occurs in the leaders.

A thought by John C. Maxwell (2015-10-06) from his book, Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters (p. 172). Center Street. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title of the book to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Do you know what is on the other side of fear?   It is faith. John says, “The lesson I teach most often on faith is this: feed your faith and starve your fear. To do that you must give your faith more energy than your fear. You can’t reduce fear by thinking about it. You reduce it by taking action away from it. How? By moving toward faith.” He goes on, “Most people ask God for knowledge first, and then move. God wants us to move first and then He gives us knowledge. God asked Moses to go back to Egypt. Moses didn’t understand why. And he didn’t want to go. But after he did go back to Egypt, he understood what God was doing. The biggest mistake people of faith make is feeling God owes them an explanation. God owes us nothing.” John quotes Philip Yancey w