Whirlwind

WHIRLWIND

A whirlwind comes together when hot and cold air come together. When hot and cold air collide in the right conditions, a whirlwind is started. Given the opportunity to gain momentum, a whirlwind will grow to become a storm of great force and anything that gets in it’s path will be changed and usually not in a good way. Look at the devasation in a town after a tornado hits. That is what can happen in our minds. Our minds can be like a whirlwind spinning around and tossing thoughts here and there, keeping us hurt, upset, confused, or negative. We become unstable. Nothing is tied down or safe in our minds when it is like this.

We go from one relationship to another, one job to another, one church to another; hot and cold, up and down, always finding something wrong with someone or something. It can all go back to our minds. Our thoughts. If we harbour or dwell on negative or insecure thoughts long enough they will keep us unstable, unsettled, and in constant turmoil.

Stress, worry, tension, anxiety, anger, fear, suspicsion, doubt, bad perception, etc…are all things that our negative thoughts can create and they can affect so many things about our lives, if we do not get them under control. Sometimes we can allow our imaginations to run so wild that we’ve convinced ourselves that certain things are accurate, true, or reliable when they are not. We push people away, avoid people, and run from our problems because of these false or negative thoughts that bounce around in our minds like a whirlwind touching down in an midwestern town.

In a booklet I read by Dr. Donald Shorter entitled “Take Control of Your Thoughts” He gives 5 steps to overcoming these negative thoughts. 1. Receiving. We must be willing to receive positive and accurate thoughts from God. When we are negative thinking, it’s hard to let postive thoughts in or to hear God’s voice. 2. Analyzing. We must be willing to analyze the thoughts that we receive into our mind and decide whether they are good or bad, positive or negative, or from God or not. 3. Accepting or Rejecting. We must then after analyzing a thought decide whether we must accept it as accurate or true or reject it as negative and false. Again God will help us with this is we ask. There is no middle ground, you can’t avoid this, we must accept or reject every thought that comes in our minds. 4. Replacing. By this point hopefully you are casting down some thoughts about yourself, others, or a situation that wasn’t right. Step 4 will help us grow by replacing negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Innacurate thoughts with accurate thoughts. 5. Renewing. The final step in the process is renewing our minds to be more like God’s or be more positive or think more accurately. This can be reading more of God’s word, spending more time focusing on Him, confiding in christian friends, or reading books, etc….

Receiving. Analyzing. Accepting or Rejecting. Replacing. And Renewing. A 5 step process to destroying the whirlwind going on in our minds so that we can healthy relationships with God and others. So that we can have peace and purpose in our lives. Maybe you are like me and struggle with the thoughts in your mind, I think we all can learn, mature, and grow in our thinking so that we can become better people and the people God wants us to be.

“Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to Him and what is perfect.”

Romans 12:2(New Century Version)

Faithfulness

Faithfulness

What does that word mean to you? It could describe what two people expect in their marriage, or what friends should have in a relationship. It could mean what parents are for their children. Faithfulness takes the form of honesty, loyalty, trust, commitment, devotion, and an attitude of standing by or for something or someone no matter what.

Faithfulness is something God wants from us. He is always faithful to us and He wants us to be faithful to Him. He also wants us to model that faithfulness out in our relationships with others, whether that be dating, marriage, parenting, children, friendships, co-workers, employees, etc….Faithfulness is not stealing from your company, not cheating on your spouse, not lying to your friend, loving your children when they fail, and staying steadfast in your faith in God when troubles, trials, and temptations come. Being committed to the relationship no matter what.

I wish I could report I’ve always been faithful to God, but I haven’t. I’ve doubted, walked away, rebelled, and tried my own way. I’ve never cheated on anyone I’ve dated and I feel I’ve always been a loyal friend to my friends, but I have failed in my relationship with God. I don’t want to be the best Christian(there really is no such thing) and I don’t want to be the most spiritual. I want to be faithful. I want to show God my faithfulness. God is faithful no matter what. We just don’t always see it because of our own agenda, pain, sin, problems, or issues. He is and He deserves ours.

The only way we really can have faithfulness to God is to take steps that make that happen. We need to be in His WORD regularly and we need to communicate and pray to God daily and often. We should surround ourselves with other Christians who will encourage us, mentor us, keep us accountable, challenge us, confront us, and support us. We need to always remember that no matter where go, what we do, and who we are with that God is always present. God sees our hidden motives, secret sins, and the reality. We must not let our circumstances or problems dictate our faithfulness to God. Many times we face a problem or obstacle and we blame God or turn away from Him instead of seeking Him out or turning to Him for help, guidance, and support. We must always turn to God and never away no matter what we face or go through.

Maybe you have different coping skills, tools, or things you use in your life to help you remain faithful to God. Church attendance and service are important, reading books, joining bible studies and small groups, listening to sermons, reading articles, etc…these are all great things to help us grow in our faith, but ultimately, our faithfulness will depend on our own willingness and desire to be in a right relationship with God. God knows our hearts, our thoughts, motives, and us better than we know ourselves.

I want to show God faithfulness. I want to show it in my life, attitude, other relationships, commitment, service, and actions. How about you? Remember God is ALWAYS faithful to us.

“For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

Psalm 57:10(NIV)

40 lbs

Well I have reached the 40lb mark. I am at 205 from at least 245lbs in about 5 1/2 months.

BEFORE 245lbs

PRESENT 205lbs

I have a waist again and not a gut

My goal is 5 more lbs to get to 200, we'll see.

Fear This

Fear This

“The Lord is my light and my salvation---whom shall I fear?” Psalm 27:1(NIV)

I heard a sermon this past weekend while visiting a church (thanks Mike Lynn) and in His message on Courage He talked about FEAR. He said that most people respond to their fears with AVOIDANCE and avoidance takes the form of procrastination, denial, or indecisiveness. We avoid things we fear whether that be physical, emotional, or mental things. When we avoid something whether we are putting it off with procrastination, or we are in denial that there is a problem, or we can't decide on how to face it, so we don’t decide, but really not deciding is deciding, deciding not to face it.

Fear is a natural feeling or emotion. We fear things we don’t know, haven’t tried, or haven’t dealt with before. Like snakes, heights, roller coasters, public speaking, or certain foods. We also fear facing certain situations like confronting someone who has wronged us, confronting an employee who is not doing their job, or confronting a friend in love because you notice their destructive behaviors. We also can fear overcoming things like our own struggles, problems, faults, or issues. We don’t want to face the death of a loved one, our divorce, our break-up, our job loss, or our financial situation. We can avoid, make excuses, run, hide, deny, blame, rationalize, justify, run around in circles, or pretend it’s not there, but no fear ever goes away. It is either faced with courage or it rules our lives.

Courage is not the absence of fear, it’s facing and overcoming something despite our fears. As a matter of fact, God reminds us in the Bible we have nothing to fear in this world because He is our light and our salvation. The only fear we should have is a reverent fear of God because of His power and holiness. Our fear of God is out of respect, but also should be out of love as we develop a relationship with Him. Because of that relationship we can have with God, it gives us the courage to face our fears and with God’s help we can face any fear no matter how scared we are, no matter how big the obstacle, no matter how uncomfortable the situation. The beginning of courage is overcoming our human nature to run from our fears.

Whatever your fears today, know that God is with you always if you allow Him to be and that He will supply the wisdom, strength, comfort, guidance, support, and direction you need to overcome any fears in your life, no matter what it is. God will give you the courage you need to work through your fears and overcome them. You cannot do it alone, but with God you can overcome any fear.

Lessons so far

Lessons so far….

I’ve learned many things in my years of preaching and teaching in ministry whether part-time, full-time, or volunteer. Some of the things have been life changing. For instance, you should never teach something that you yourself do not believe in. You should never preach to others about something you yourself are not willing to practice in your own life. When you lead, you lead by example not by instruction only. Being called to ministry doesn’t make you a better Christian, more holy, or closer to God, but it does require you to accept responsibility for your position, take your calling serious, and realize others are looking to you for guidance, support, and help.

Preaching and teaching are serious business. We first and foremost must be obedient to God and honor His calling on our lives by being faithful and trustworthy with His message and our lives. We must guard our lives carefully or we will fall short, fall away, mislead people, lose our influence or credibility, or lose our passion for our calling. We do not work for individuals or even the local church, we work for God through the local church and the people who make up that church.

It can be the most rewarding career in the world to see people come to Christ, to baptize people, to share in their weddings, child births, and celebrations. And also to comfort them during death, heartaches, and difficult times. But being a minister doesn’t exempt you from your own personal struggles, sins, problems, and issues that everyday Christians and church members face. Minister’s face the same problems, because we are the same people, we just happen to be called into full-time or preaching ministry. All Christians are called to serve, but a few of us are called to preach and teach the gospel as a vocation.

Ministry does require those of us called to a higher standard. We must practice what we preach, believe what we teach, and lead by example. We must overcome our struggles, problems, and issues so that we can lead with honesty, integrity, and bring glory to God in the process. We must be real, transparent, and authentic even in the midst of our humanity. We cannot hide behind our pulpits, our title, or our offices. We don’t have to use our position to give every detail of our struggles or failures, but we must use our life experiences to help lead, teach, and minister to the people we come in contact with in our churches. We must be accountable for our actions and behaviors and constantly evaluate our life so that we can continue to grow in our personal faith, our ministry calling, and our influence. I’m still learning and I still got a lot to learn, but with God’s patience, guidance, wisdom, and will I hope to continue to grow into the man and minister God wants me to be. If I can do that God can continue to change me and then use me to change the world.

“In your teaching show integrity.” Titus 2:7a(NIV)

Friendship

Friendship

Jonathan become one in spirit with David, and loved him as his himself.” 1 Samuel 18:1b(NIV)

In the old testament we get a glimpse of what true friendship looks like. King Saul was going to lose His throne to a future king named David. By all rights the throne would have went to Jonathan, but God anointed David to be the next king, yet despite these circumstances and Saul being jealous of David and wanting to kill him, Saul’s son Jonathan had a bond of friendship with David that was bigger than anything, even the throne or His own dad’s anger.

What do you consider the characteristics of a true friend? When you look at your friendships, what makes them your friend? How do you distinguish between a casual friend and a real friend? What is your definition of friendship? I think God’s words give us some hints to what God calls a friend.

1. God is our model for true friendship. (Prov. 18:24-“but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”) We need to model our friendship after God’s relationship with us. God sets the standard of true friendship.

2. A friend’s love must be unconditional. (Prov. 17:17-“a friend loves at all times.”) No matter what the best interest of the friend comes first. You also forgive and accept forgiveness when it comes to a friend.

3. A friend is always honest. (Prov. 27:6-“wounds from a friend can be trusted.”) That means that a real friend will always be honest with you and tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear, even when it’s uncomfortable or they risk making you mad.

4. A friend is loyal and trustworthy. (Prov. 16:28-“a gossip separates close friends.”) The most important thing you can bring to a friendship is loyalty and trust. The biggest mistake you can make is to break that loyalty or lose trust.

5. A true friend is a friend for life. (John 15:13-“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”) Can you say that about your close friends? Would they say that about you? True love is putting someone’s best interests above your own and true friendship I believe is the same way.

The example of Jonathan with David is a great example of a real and true friend. He didn’t care about becoming King, He didn’t care about offending His dad because He valued his friendship with David and honored with his loyalty and love. We all should model our relationships and friendships in this way. How many of us can say we love our close and best friends as we love ourselves and we are one in spirit with them? There is nothing greater than having true friendships. Real friendship. Loving friendships. Loyal friendships. I want to be that type of friend and I want that type of friends. How about you?

More helpful reads

This is a book from the Pastor at Southeast Christian church written back in 2000. He looks at some different areas and shows how they can be both friend and foe in our lives when it comes to our relationship with Jesus Christ.

This book deals with how to manage your emotions: fear, depression, anger, guilt, hatred, envy/jealously, and grief. This was a great read and very helpful. We all have emotions to deal with and sometimes get out of whack.

This is a book I am using as a daily devotional, I almost done with it, but it takes different characters from the Bible who have died and tries to teach us lessons from their lives while they were alive. It's a good devotional resource.

This book is on the life of David and was a great read. Alot of principles, lessons, and insights from the life of David, both his successes and failures. If you like reading and learning about different people in the bible, this is a great read.

This book is geared toward high school students and is about dating, but I found it to be a great read, not only because I work with high school students, but because I am still single. This would be a great book for you to buy for your high school children and even read so you can understand them better. Hayley DiMarco and her husband also wrote a book after this one called "Marriable", which is a great read as well.

Letting Go

Letting Go

It is my personal opinion that those 2 words together is one of the hardest things to do in life. “Let go”. There are different things and different times we need to let go of certain things in lives:

· A loved one who has died or is dying
· The pain of divorce
· A relationship or friendship
· Pain/hurt in our lives cause by someone else or our own doing
· SIN or anything that is coming between us and God or His will or plan for our lives
· Struggles/bad habits/negative behaviors/
· Wrongs/unforgiveness done to us or by us
· Negative or destructive thoughts
· Lies, deceit, greed, or selfishness
· Injustice
· Loss
· Grief
· Guilt
The list can be endless at times of the things in our lives that consume us, bury us, eat us up, or weigh us down. Anything from relational, to spiritual, to school, careers, feelings, or attitudes. Letting go can be one of the most difficult things we have to do. I wish I had answers because I am struggling with letting go of some things in my life right now. I do know that I cannot do it alone and neither can you. We need God and His spirit, strength, guidance, and support to let go. We need accountability and people in my life who love me enough to tell me what I need to hear and not what I want to hear and who don’t put up with my excuses or rationalizations.

You cannot heal a broken heart, a broken trust, a broken relationship without sometimes letting go. You cannot heal the pain of abuse, neglect, or suffering without letting go. You cannot heal the hurt, confusion, miscommunication, or misunderstandings if you are not willing to let go. The old saying is “LET GO and LET GOD”. I think that makes sense because without His wisdom, direction, guidance, love, and forgiveness, we are not able to let go of much anything at least in a healthy and productive way. We can learn to let go one situation at a time, one day at a time, one moment at a time, and one decision at a time. Everything takes time, even letting go. Give it to God we can’t let go of things alone. You want a life of peace, hope, and love? Join in as I strive to “let go”.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6(NIV)

Mistakes

Mistakes

“And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.”

2 Thessalonians 3:13(NIV)

One thing I find interesting is that there are no coincidences when it comes to what God is trying to teach us. It seems here lately that even through reading, preparing lessons, or listening to others teach I seem to hear the same bible stories, scriptures, principles, or characters. Do you ever notice that happening with you? I’ve been doing a lot of reading and teaching on David and Solomon. Both of these men did great things, followed God, and led God’s people, however they both also made mistakes and like most of us sometimes when we make a mistake if we’re not honest, admit it, and learn from it, we do the opposite which is ignore it, deny it, make excuses, blame others, cover it up, rationalize or justify it, pretend it doesn’t exist and it will go away, or hide from it.

David was in God’s own words “a man after my own heart”, Solomon was given wisdom and blessings from God and called “the wisest person to ever live” yet both of these men made mistakes. The man with the same heart as God committed adultery, tried to cover it up, and had someone murdered. Solomon the wise, married many foreign women and allowed them to bring in their “false religions” and have places built in God’s land where people could worship these false God. Both God’s men, both led and blessed by God, both failed God. There are other people in the Bible who God chose, called, and led, yet they decided to follow their own desires. Peter, Mark, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Moses, Noah, and the list goes of people who made mistakes.

I think we can learn a lot from these stories and men in the Bible. First, no matter how close we are to God or how good a Christian we think we are, we are all capable of falling away, making mistakes, and not being in God’s will. Secondly, I think we can also learn the best way to overcome a mistake(s) is to face it, deal with it, and learn from it . Thirdly, we need to repent to God and seek His forgiveness and guidance. Finally, we need to move forward and be better because of it. No one is going to go through life mistake free. We are capable and subject to temptations especially during weak times, tough times, problems and struggles. I will be the first to admit my past has many mistakes in it and I hope in my present I will continue to learn from them so that my future will have less of them.

God is always trying to teach us, lead us, grow us, and keep us in His will. We have so much to lose when we make mistakes and fall short and don’t recognize it, deal with it, accept it, and learn from it. We have everything to gain when we like David and Solomon and many others, become better because of the lessons we learn from our mistakes and accepting responsibility and the consequences, so that God can use us again. I would not be writing this devotional today if my past mistakes were still unresolved and not dealt with and not been washed in God’s grace. Thank you God for erasing our mistakes when we truly repent and seek to honor you. As the scripture teaches us, we must never become tired of doing what is right.

King of Deceit

King of Deceit

I’ve been studying the life of King David, the slayer of the giant Goliath, the greatest King to ever live, the “man after God’s own heart”, and the human. David saw a woman that was not his own, but someone else’s wife. King David could have had any woman he wanted, yet He saw Bathsheba, gave into His own selfish desires, compromised His values, and slept with her. That may have been the end of the story, but then she became pregnant. Her husband Uriah was ironically, out fighting on behalf of King David.

David instead of accepting responsibility for His mistake tried to cover it up and hide it. He sent for Uriah hoping Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife and no one would ever know. Uriah was loyal to his fellow soldiers and refused to go home and sleep at his house or with his wife while others were sleeping in tents and camping in open fields fighting. David was getting desperate so he tried to get Uriah drunk so he’d go home and sleep with his wife, no go. He still didn’t. David made a choice. He sent Uriah back to fight with orders for him to go where the fighting was fiercest and Uriah was killed in battle. David, then took Bathsheba after her mourning period to be His wife and she bore a son. The end of the story. David got away with it. His deceit covered with more deceit. He had covered His tracks, hid His sin, and now He could move on like nothing happened…not so fast my friends.

What David had done, how he handled the situation, displeased the Lord. God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David. Nathan told David a story about a rich man who had many sheep and cattle and a poor man who had only a little ewe lamb. The poor man and his family loved the lamb and treated it and cared for it like family. The rich man had a guest and instead of taking one of his many sheep or cattle to prepare a meal, he came and took the one little lamb from the poor man and his family to eat. David “burned with anger” at this story and told Nathan this man deserves to die and he must pay for taking the lamb four times over. I love Nathan’s words to David: “You are the man!” Nathan reminded David of all the things God had given him, His kingship, the palace, wives, the kingdom of Israel and Judah and God said he would have given him even more if that wasn’t enough, but David despised the Word of God by having an affair with Bathsheba, trying to cover it up, having Uriah killed, and then taking Bathsheba to be your wife.

David is confronted with his sin. What does he do? He accepts responsibility. He confesses his sin. He accepted the consequences. He learned from His mistakes and moved forward.

Being a Christian, a minister, an elder, a SS teacher, a deacon, or follower of God doesn’t keep you from the temptations of sin. It is very easy to cross the line in our morals, values, hearts, and minds when we do not keep our focus on God and His truth. It’s easy to be led astray by the world if we do not maintain our integrity and character and keep them in check. What can we do? How can we avoid this pitfall that David fell in? It’s tough, but we can take steps to avoid mistakes or overcome them:

1. We must always realize we are all capable of committing sinful acts if we do not guard our hearts and minds and maintain our Godly and integrity boundaries. David was a man after God’s own heart, but He was still capable of adultery, lying, deceit, false motives, pride, and murder. Not only was he capable, he was guilty.

2. If we do mess up and sin or make a mistake. Stop there! Don’t lie, don’t try and hide it, minimize it, blame shift, or deny it. Accept responsibility. Let it stop there instead of continuing by trying to cover it up or hide it like David.

3. Seek Forgiveness from God and others if needed. Make amends to those you’ve wronged or hurt. Our sins never only affect us. David confessed His sins to Nathan and God.

4. Accept consequences. The sooner we do this the less the consequences. The more we cover up or don’t admit the bigger the consequences. David lost His son that Bathsheba was pregnant with.

5. Learn from your mistakes. Many people refuse to learn from their mistakes because they live in this cloud of denial, or it’s someone else fault, or they’ve got too much pride to admit they were wrong or messed up. David learned from His mistakes and went on to continue to do great things for God. (check out Psalm 51)

The right thing is always the right thing to do.

mileage marker

I was traveling back to Indiana from WV and before hitting the KY border from WV my car hit the 100,000 mark. What an accomplishment. My car is a Scion made by Toyota so it's practially still new so i can put another 100K or 200K on there

almost a hole in one

Last week I took a kid in my children's ministry golfing, he's in 5th grade and he actually beat me. he shot a 46 and I shot a 48, but on the 6th hole, a par 3 at Ruxer golf course in jasper, I almsot hit a hole in one. It was a 95 yard drive to the hole and I hite the flag and the ball dropped beside the hole literally within 2 inches of the cup. So close, yet so far away.

Integrity

“Uprightness of character; honesty; the condition, quality, or state of being complete or undivided.”-Webster’s Dictionary 1999

In his book “To Own a Dragon”, Donald Miller shares a chapter on integrity. He talks about taking his broken cell phone to the Sprint store and their computer systems were down and they didn’t know whether His phone was still under warranty, it wasn’t, but he told them it was and he got a new cell phone. He told a friend about it who shared with him a story from the movie “Family Man” where Nicolas Cage’s character goes into a convenient store and Don Cheadle plays a guy working at the counter. A girl is buying something for ninety-nine cents in the line in front of Nicolas and gives a dollar to the clerk, but He gives her back $9 like she had given her a $10 instead of a $1. The girls knows she got too much change back, but doesn’t say anything. Don Cheadle gives her a chance to give it back, but she doesn’t say anything and walks out with the extra money. Don’s character looks at Nicolas’ character and says “Did you see that? She was willing to sell her character for $9. $9! Donald Miller goes on to say in his book how he went back to the Sprint store and paid for his new phone and it cost him more than $9, but he got his character back.

Integrity works that way. It’s the part of our character that isn’t willing to compromise. It’s a quality that makes us honest, complete, and undivided when it comes to truth.

We can lose our 401K, our house, our bank account, everything we own in a house fire, but integrity is something no one can take from us, we have to give it away. And we give away our integrity for some really stupid reasons. Usually because of pride, selfishness, greed, or revenge.

Proverbs 11:3 says “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.(NIV) We can be guided by our integrity that comes from our faith in God, or we can be destroyed by our duplicity that divides our character and leads us astray by the evil forces of our sinful nature and the devil. The Devil will corrupt our thoughts, minds, and hearts to convince us that compromising our integrity is ok, or not a big deal, or we deserve it. But really we are trying to live a double-life, live divided, and our duplicity will eventually catch up with us and could destroy our character, our relationships, our trust, our careers, our marriages, our faith, or our lives.

Cherish your integrity. I have compromised mine in the past and it takes a lot longer time to rebuild your character than it does to destroy it. I’ve learned the hard way that if you don’t have integrity, you have nothing. That you can think you’re getting away with it, no one will know, or you are not hurting anyone, but they are all the lies of sin. If anything compromises your integrity it is ALWAYS wrong. Always!

Integrity, honesty, trust, dependable, consistent, trustworthy, loyalty, and faithful these are qualities that God desires. We give up our integrity we lose all these things and more. Integrity keep it!

30 lbs

Before at 245lbs.


so far...215lbs.

My original goal was to lose 30lbs. Well I have achieved that goal. I have went from 245 to 215 in about 4 1/2 months or about 18 weeks. I may go for another 10lbs and get down to 205 if I can! Anything is possible when you make the time, take the time, and keep at it.

More helpful reads

I am currently reading this book and it's a book about growing up without a father(which I didn't) but Donald Miller has a neat way of writing that helps you. This is my third Donald Miller book and I'm enjoying it.

this book uses KJV scriptures and has moments where the language is old fasion, but the ultimate point of the book is good, strategies for winning the battles of the mind.

If you or you have a family member, loved one, or friend who is struggling with OCD behavior this workbook is a great read. I struggle with obsessive thoughts and though they are minor compared to some OCD behaviors, this book was helpful.

This is one of Max Lucado's early books, but I re-read this book recently after reading it about 10 years ago. Max always has a way of writing short little chapters that encourge and inspire you.

I normally would not be a Joyce Meyer fan (no offense to anyone who is), but i have to say that the overall premise of this book helped me alot. It's about one of the things i've become passionate about the past few months as I've tried to change some of my thought patterns and thought behaviors. You might not agree with her doctrine or theology, but the subject and book are really helpful.

This was the I was reading the last blog I wrote about suggesting books. I finished it and am reading it for the 3rd time. I don't think I've ever read a book 2 times back to back, but I'm going through it a 3rd time and highlighting the important sentences and thoughts. This book is one of the most helpful books I've ever read.

Your Mind is Key

Your Mind is Key

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5(NIV)

Apostle Paul makes a great point. He is trying to remind the Christians of His day that we should not think we live by the world’s standards(2 Cor. 10:3) that we live by a different standard and therefore do things differently and should think differently.

The mind is key. Every action, attitude, opinion, behavior, or habit we display or perform is a result of first being a thought. Our Mind is the beginning. When a thought first comes into our mind, we have 2 choices: Embrace it or Reject it. We choose where we take our thoughts. We can dismiss them, stop them, or not give them any time, or we can acknowledge them, dwell on them, mull over them, and allow them to dictate our reactions and responses.

Positive or God thoughts are good to act on, believe in, and trust. Negative, hurtful, or dishonest thoughts have no place in our lives. You see God’s voice (His spirit) dwells in those of us who are Christians. That voice tries to gently, softly, and lovingly show us the right way to think, act, and be. Unfortunately, the other voice (satan, the world, our flesh) sometimes scream a lot louder, because we give our attention to it.

If we are rejecting the voice of God and are embracing the other voice our mind will give time to these harmful thoughts which bring about insecurity, fears, jealousy, ignorance, hurt, anger, irrationality, obsession, and confusion. If we are not careful eventually over time, embracing these negative or harmful thoughts will become part of what we consider normal thoughts.

For example, someone doesn’t speak to us when we speak to them (they could not have heard us or seen us or been daydreaming), but our negative thoughts tell us they are rude, mad at us, or ignoring us intentionally. Or we hear something someone supposedly said about us, and instead of going to that person directly or giving them the benefit of the doubt until you’ve had a chance to talk to them, the negative thoughts convince you they are lying, they are untrustworthy, or they are out to get you. Or maybe you are at school or work and your negative thoughts tell you that you are working hard and you are not being treated fairly or being appreciated so you justify through your negative thoughts that it’s ok to take something that is not yours, or you decide to cheat on a test, or take something from your company because you deserve it or they owe you. Or maybe you don’t feel your significant other appreciates you or takes advantage of you, so your negative thoughts tell you it’s ok to flirt or show attention to someone else who is not your significant other. Or maybe we see someone who we think is an attractive and fun person and they are having relationship troubles and our harmful thoughts tell us that we wouldn’t treat them that way or we’d appreciate them, so we begin to find ways to spend time with them and show them we are better than their significant other. The cycle of scenarios are endless.

The point is, we have a choice to stop those negative or harmful thoughts before they give birth to negative or harmful actions, behaviors, mindsets, or consequences. We can stop the thought by admitting the person we spoke to may not have heard us or not been paying attention. We may stop the negative thoughts about hearing someone said something about us, by going to the person first before we entertain negative thoughts about the person. We can stop the negative attitude at work or school by not giving time to thoughts about cheating on tests or robbing our company of time and letting our integrity and character speak for itself. We can avoid more relationships troubles by not doing or saying anything that would break trust or be inappropriate actions. If we don’t feel appreciated by our significant other we need to talk to them about it or realize we might be part of the problem because we are spending too much time thinking about negative thoughts. Or if we need to not put ourselves in situations that are not ours to be in. If we think someone is not being treated fairly by their spouse or loved one, we can encourage them, but not with impure motives that have came from our focusing on hurtful thoughts.

Our mind is truly a place of warfare and battle. We must be careful the amount of time we give to thoughts and the amount of time we focus on thoughts that are not true, false, selfish, irrational, or not based on facts or reality. We must analyze each thought to see what the source of that thought is and then we must choose to embrace positive, true, and loving thoughts, and we must reject negative, hurtful, harmful, and untrue thoughts. It takes a lot of concentration, effort, and willingness, but we can learn to change our thought patterns and mindsets if we can learn to distinguish between God’s voice and the devil’s. They both sound like our voice.

Blame

Blame

“These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires;” Jude 16(NIV)

Blame. It’s one word that we use to put fault on someone else. As long as we have something or someone to blame, we don’t have to accept responsibility for ourselves, deal with our problems, or change our attitude or behavior.

We blame the referee or coach for our team losing the game. We blame our husband for our unhappiness or our wife for our hostility. We blame our kids for our moods. We blame our parents for not loving us enough. We blame our boss for us not getting promoted or a raise. We blame our employer because we lost our job. You blame the church that your not spiritual enough and you blame God for everything in between.

Blame. It’s a cop-out, an excuse, a justification, it harms our integrity and it robs us of accepting responsibility, admitting our mistakes, or addressing our problems so that we can change, find resolution, or engage in truth.

I would by lying to say I’ve never blamed someone or something else for my problems or situations. I think it’s human nature and a great tool the devil has to mislead us into believing we are always “victims”. We are victims alright, but we are victims of our own choices. We choose to blame instead making things right, or accepting responsibility for our actions, or admitting our fault, or making effort to make things right. Most of all I think we do God a huge injustice when we don’t include Him in the process or as Christians we don’t seek Him out for His guidance, support, and wisdom.

Good people make mistakes. Decent people mess up. Honest people can use blame. I've been guilty. But, blame does nothing but destroy relationships, cause bitterness and resentment, and keeps us from truly healing, changing, or fixing anything. We will never truly heal, mature, grow, or change in the way God desires for us until we stop blaming others for our faults, problems, and behaviors. We all may have things in our past that have caused issues in our lives, but how we choose to handle those issues is our choice.

Maybe you have a bad childhood, an abusive relationship, been stabbed in the back, or had your feelings hurt. Sometimes there is no one to blame, but even if there is don’t.
Blame is not the answer. Forgiveness is. Becoming bitter is not the answer. Healing is. Blaming others is not the answer. Accepting responsibility for yourself is.

Find peace, hope, grace, mercy, comfort, shelter, refuge, and answers in the presence of God. God can turn our blame into reality. Putting our problems in His hands can change our perspective and most of all our hearts and minds. So, that we can heal, move on, be healthy, grow, and have peace.

Freedom in Truth-Part 2

Last time, I focused on the part of this verse on truth. Truth does set us free. When Jesus spoke these words to the jewish people there, He knew if they’d believe the truth about who He was it would set them free. Being free is a good feeling. Ever been a slave, held captive, or in bondage to someone or something? It is such a burden lifted to be free.

I think about a person who gets out of an abusive marriage or a child who is removed from an abusive home. They are free, no longer held captive by fear, torment, or pain. I think about the addict who has overcome their addiction to drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, or prescription drugs. They are no longer a slave to a substance or a habit. The truth has set them free. I think about people around the world who are taken hostage and what it must feel like when they are rescued?

Free. It’s not a big word, but it has so much power. Truth is the key that unlocks the door to freedom. Just as knowing the truth about Jesus can set us free from sin, death, and hell, so can knowing the truth and living the truth can set us free from so many bad habits, negative behaviors, unhealthy relationships, and bad attitudes.

I have been a slave to my thoughts for some time now. I have allowed my negative or obsessive thoughts to play over and over in my mind and dwell on them, like hitting repeat on a CD player and playing the same song over and over. For the longest time I was in denial or didn’t think it was as bad as I thought or to be honest, I thought it was normal and just a part of who I was, but I was wrong. I wasn’t hearing the truth or allowing it to work in my life.

I can’t tell you how free I have felt the past couple months since I began to work on “me”. The truth truly has set me free. I am not 100%. Recovering from something is “one day at a time” or “2 steps forward and 1 step back”. It’s a process, it takes time, but I can’t tell you how free I have felt that I am no longer a slave to my thoughts or held captive by my over-thinking. It takes a long time to develop bad habits, qualities, and behaviors, so it takes time to overcome them and then it takes constant effort and attention to maintain, but there is something so freeing in the process.

The truth has set me free. I can’t control other people only myself. I can’t change other people, only myself. I can’t be responsible for other people and their actions, only my own. And only with God’s help. That is true freedom when you realize that. I choose to think about what I want to think about. We can’t always choose what pops into our minds or thoughts, but we can choose how long they stay there and how much attention we give them. We can make a choice to change and do whatever it takes to change if we are WILLING and SEEK God’s help.

My bondage has been my thoughts and now I’m learning to “let go” of things and think before I speak and not dwell on things and think more positively and not negatively. I am not sure what your struggle is? Maybe you have thought issues like me, or maybe it’s something else? Whatever is holding you hostage, keeping you enslaved, holding you captive, or keeping you in bondage, let the truth set you free. Start today. One day at a time, one step at a time, one issue at a time. Eventually over time if we don’t change those addictions, bad behaviors and habits become “normal” to us and to try and do things different seems weird and that is why it’s so hard and difficult to overcome until we are willing to take the steps to begin breaking free and it begins with the truth. The truth we have a problem, we need help, we can’t do it alone, and we have to begin the process of change and freeing ourselves from whatever struggles, issues, behaviors, attitudes, or actions we have that are controlling us or enslaving us.

Freedom. God sent Jesus to give us freedom. Freedom from death, sin, and hell, but He also came to give us life. That means God wants to give us the best life possible and He doesn’t want us to be a slave to sin or struggles, but He wants us to be FREE in Him. Seek the truth. The truth will set you FREE.

Freedom in Truth-Part 1

There are 2 parts to this verse in John 8:32 one is truth and the other is freedom. Today I want to focus on the truth and next time I’ll focus on freedom.

There is something magical about truth. When we know it, it changes things. We can ignore it, we can twist it, and we can only tell half of it, but truth stands alone-it is what it is, the truth. Truth has a way of changing our perspective, motives, actions, attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors if we are open and most of all willing to hear the truth, accept the truth, share truth, and respond to the truth.

Truth should be our foundation and in our DNA. We should stand on the truth, by the truth, and for the truth. What we say should be true, how we treat others should be based on truth, and how we live our lives should be based on truth. We would have a lot less conflict, relationship issues, personal problems, and turmoil if people would simply practice truth telling and living by the truth and seeking the truth.

If you want to know if something is true, go to the source. We would have a lot less gossip, misunderstandings, confusion, hurt feelings, resentment, and third party involvements if people would simply go to the source before they form an opinion, make a judgment, or base their decisions on what they think they know or what they’ve heard that may or may not be truth. We cannot always believe everything we hear, even if we might trust the person who’s telling it, they may not have all the information and then the endless circle of miscommunication continues if we do not go directly to the source.

If you want to know what God has to say about something, you go to the truth, the Word of God. People have a lot of beliefs, opinions, and convictions in their lives based on tradition, what they’ve grown up being taught, or their own selfish agenda and none of it has to do with God or His Word. If God doesn’t say it in His word, then it’s not our place to add to it or take away from it so that it will fit into our life the way we want it to.

Truth. It is what we should always tell people. Many times we want to hide the truth to protect our own pride and selfish behavior. We might tell half the truth or bits and pieces of the truth so that others think we are telling the whole truth, yet we are not even telling the truth to ourselves. Many times we go to great lengths to minimize our behavior, justify our actions, or reason with ourselves and God that we are telling the truth, but we are simply compromising it and abusing it to save ourselves.

Truth. It will set you free. I have learned a lot about that the past couple months. I’ve learned if I’m honest with myself it changes me. I’ve learned that if I base my life on God’s truth it changes my thoughts, my attitude, and my behaviors. If I live faithfully by the truth of God no matter what happens, what people say about me or to me, or how people treat me, I know in God’s time and God’s way truth always has a way of coming out. That is true freedom to not be burdened by lies, what is false, deception, or misguided half-truths. Truth is true freedom!

Doing Good

DOING GOOD

“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17(NIV)

Sometimes we look at sin (missing the mark/anything that separates us from God) as doing something bad. Like I cussed, or was dishonest, or was rude, etc….but sin is not only something we do, sometimes it can be something we neglect to do. Knowing to do something good and ignoring it or not doing it also causes us to miss the mark and be separated from God or as the bible says, sin.

God obviously wants us to work on the sins in our lives that we commit. He wants His children to be honest, dependable, and loyal followers who work on their character, integrity, and strive to admit their mistakes/sins and learn from them and work hard on the bad habits and qualities so they can be the best Christian they can be. However, I think God also wants His children to DO GOOD because HE IS GOOD!

Doing good can mean helping someone in need, it can mean doing the right thing even when others are doing the wrong thing, it can mean giving of your time to serve God in the local church, it could mean standing up and defending a friend or co-worker who is being wronged, or it could mean saying or doing something that could help someone because it’s the right thing to do.

I read recently we always have 2 voices going on in our minds. One that gives us doubts, fears, or keeps us thinking or being negative. The other is there and is quieter and sometimes gets drowned out by the louder/harmful voice. That quiet voice is God. It’s beckoning us to think positive, to be honest, to have integrity, to be compassionate and loving, and to do good. We must not let the negative thoughts/voice drown out the positive/good voice or it will keep us from being and doing good.

Whatever ways you can find in your lives, circumstances, or walk in life strive to not only be good, but do good. Even when it’s not popular, even when you will not get the credit, or even when your flesh/human nature is telling you to do the opposite. Do good. The more good we do, the better we’ll be, the closer connected to God we’ll feel, and the better we’ll grow our faith and character. We can be good and do good because God is good, and as the saying goes, “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good”!