Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book,  One at a Time  (p. 71). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)  Was that true for you? Kyle continues, "Before meals and at bedtime, of course, and praying at church was also a thing. Also heaving up a desperate Hail Mary prayer before a test you didn’t study for was deemed appropriate." He says, "But Jesus’s disciples were 'constantly' united in prayer, and we are encouraged to 'pray without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17 ESV) and to 'pray at all times' (Eph. 6:18 CSB)." "There is a right time to pray—and it is now . "Prayer is an expression of our dependence on Jesus, and we’re always dependent on Jesus, so we always need to be praying. It’s a constant connection where we are continually available." He goes on, "I was also taught there was a right way to pray: head bowed and eyes closed. In fact, in our family, if your head

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book,  One at a Time  (p. 68). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is a good question. Kyle continues, "Depending on the research you look at, there are anywhere from six to thirty-four thousand emotions you can experience. I won’t list all thirty-four thousand here. You probably don’t need a list to narrow down how you feel most of the time, anyway. If you’re not sure about your emotional state, ask a few of the people you do life with. If they look at you like they’re afraid to answer, then irritable or temperamental may be the diagnosis." He goes on, "I decided to read through the Gospels to try to determine if there was a primary emotion Jesus felt. He is described as experiencing exhaustion, joy, anger, frustration, disgust, grief, loneliness, rejection, and dread. But the one emotion attributed to Jesus more than any other is compassion . "Most of our em

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book,  One at a Time  (p. 65). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is so true. Kyle said, "For instance, you wouldn’t run into a burning house. Why? It’s a risk, and your fear of taking that risk would be too great. But you would run into a burning house if your child was inside it. Why? It’s the same risk and would induce the same fear, but you’d do it because the potential return—saving your child—is worth it." He continues, "Too often we avoid getting close to someone far from God and stay away from draining, difficult, and different people because there is risk. We might be rejected. We could look stupid. We may not be able to answer their questions. "When we stare at the risk, we are stopped by our fear. But we can stare down the risk by staring at the potential return." He goes on, "Each person we find ourselves in close proximity with is a child

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book,  One at a Time  (p. 38). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Mother Teresa understood what this is all about. Kyle says, "Mother Teresa spent most of her life ministering to the poor and suffering in the slums of Calcutta. I’ve heard dozens of Mother Teresa stories over the years, and she seemed to always see the person in need and know what to do to meet that need." He continues, "I recently read a story in which Mother Teresa was in Australia and came across an elderly Aborigine man who lived in absolute squalor. Mother Teresa wrote, 'I can assure you that you have never seen a situation as difficult as that poor old man’s.' 1 "I imagine myself in that situation, and I’m pretty sure I would feel incapable of helping. But Mother Teresa? She told the man she was going to clean his house, wash his clothes, and make his bed. He said no, but her insistence

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book,  One at a Time  (p. 36). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) That is true, isn't it? Kyle continues, "We feel compelled to make a difference—but how? "After enough moments of feeling like we should do something but not knowing what to do, we learn to silence that voice. I need to do something gets replaced with Somebody should do something . It’s not that we don’t want to do something, it’s just that we don’t know what to do." He goes on, "For a long time when I felt compelled to do something, I would pray, God, what do you want to do through me? "What I have learned along the way is that often my first prayer should be, God, what do you want to do in me? "Because the work God does in you will lead to the work God wants to do through you. This radically changes our approach to being difference-makers. As much as I might want to skip the in an

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book,  One at a Time  (p. 25). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Kyle continues, "When someone stood in front of Jesus, time stopped. Everything else in his life—all his concerns, his agenda, his goals—blurred and disappeared. He was always fully present. "One at a time is the Jesus way of changing the world." Kyle goes on, "If you took a course in psychology, you’ve probably seen the 'Spot the Gorilla' video. Six people stand in a circle. Three are in white shirts, three in black. Two hold basketballs. You’re asked to watch a one-minute video and keep track of how many times the basketball is passed by the people in white shirts. The six people start moving about and passing the balls. In the middle of the video, a gorilla walks into the crowd of six people, faces the camera, thumps his chest, then steps off screen. The gorilla is in the video for nine seco

A thought by Kyle Idleman, from his book, One at a Time (p. 12). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) I know that a lot of people really want to make a difference and maybe you are one of them. Kyle says, "We’re drowning in content that tells us how to make an impact with our lives. I’ve read the books, researched the articles, listened to the podcasts, and attended the conferences. I’ve taken notes as I’ve studied the autobiographies of difference-makers, trying to understand how they did it. What were their routines? Their habits? Their best practices? "We’ve never had more access to inspiring and helpful content to help us become people with greater impact and influence, and yet it seems that more people than ever feel like that’s not happening in their lives." And that is so true. He continues, "Maybe there’s another way to make a difference, and we’re just missing it. "I wrote this book becaus