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Showing posts from May, 2017

TARGET THINKER

Change isn’t easy. Most everyone wants to change some aspect of their lives or some aspect of who they are. This is naturally a good thing—constantly improving ourselves. Personally, I think if you’re fine with the way you are you’ve set your standards too low. The minute we stop growing, we start dying. So life needs to be a constant process of change. Lasting change doesn’t come easily. You can’t do it on a whim. The challenge is to change and stay with it. Change begins in your mind. It begins with the thoughts that you think. The Bible tells you that if you change what goes on in your mind—thoughts, feelings, will, attitude—you will experience transformation. “Be made new in the attitude of your minds.” (Ephesians 4:23) Change starts right between your ears. Let me encourage you to learn to think about what you think about. Filter your thoughts. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). This is why it is important as a Christ-follower that you spend time daily m

COMPEL SOME

The faith that saves you is a faith that results in corresponding actions. Just like the faith in healthy living that will "save" you is the faith that doesn't merely acknowledge exercise as a good idea, but is a deep enough and profound enough faith to compel you to eat right and exercise. Why does the guy who is irresponsible in so many areas of his life take such good care of his car? Because in this one area he has deep, profound, solid faith in the truth of automobile technology, and he is compelled to act on it. He can't do anything less. Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds." (James 2:18). Please understand your deepest and most profound beliefs inevitably find their way into your behavior. If you have do-nothing faith about something, it won't affect what you do. But if you have real

ENOUGH MOM

The storybook family scenario is one mother and one father married only to each other with children only from that marriage all living together forever and ever in peace and harmony. That's the storybook version. However, only one in six people in America lived in a family like that. The rest live in single parent households or alone or in blended families. Many times, mom, it falls on you to be the glue that holds the family together. Many times, mom, you may be the only one seriously involved with shaping the future of your children. It may seem like an impossible task, but I want you to know that you are enough. I'm not saying that Dad isn't important. Of course he is. I am saying that if you find yourself doing this job alone, you are enough. One of the most significant leaders in the early church was a young man named Timothy. He was Paul's disciple, trained to be a pastor. When Timothy was still new in the ministry, Paul wrote him saying, I ha

TIME OUT

Discouragement is the chief occupational hazard of being a Christian. It is a powerful tool Satan uses against Christ-followers. It is a mistake to think that discouragement hits us only when we don’t have our lives together. Many of the greatest biblical giants of the faith found were found discouraged and depressed at times—Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, David, Peter. When you start feeling that there is no hope you become chained to discouragement and defeat. You can live without money and for a while without food or water, but you cannot really live a day without hope. The sense of hopelessness you experience transfers into a feeling that nothing is ever going to change. Nothing is going to improve. Often hopelessness shifts its focus over to the idea that no one cares. “No one understands what I am going through.” If you don’t deal with it at that point, it merges into anger, resentment, bitterness, and an overall sense of rejection. Does any of this sound familiar? You hav

ZERO HERO

When things get bad, God looks for a person to use.   God often uses the most unlikely person.   You’re thinking, "God could never use me."   Don't bet on it!   God often uses the most unlikely people. Gideon was such a person. He was a Nobody, somewhat of a coward, down in a winepress threshing wheat hiding it from terrorist — the Midianites. Psychologists today would say that Gideon had an inferiority complex. He and his family lived in a cave due to these terrorist. They had lost hope. They felt helpless and were driven to despair. But, “The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” (Judges 6:12) Talk about irony! Gideon is a guy that’s afraid of his own shadow. Yet, he is told that God is with him and he is a “Mighty hero.” Gideon, at first, wasn’t buying what God was selling. God knew Gideon’s potential before Gideon knew it.   God will always jumpstart your life with a word of encouragement. God sees your potential and