I am so thankful for all of the friends that I have been blessed with!  God has blessed me with people that are always there for me.  Some are there for me everyday and some just seem to be there just when I need them!  I don’t think that I could do life without my friends and I don’t really want to have to try and find out.

Proverbs 17:17 says “A friend loves at all times!”  That is the great thing about a real friend – it does not matter if you are having a good or bad day, they are there for you.  A real friend loves you in all of life’s circumstances!  A real friend loves you on the mountain tops and through the valleys!  Jesus is the greatest friend that we have had or will ever have.  

To all of my friends:  Thank you for being there for me and please know that I am here for you!

I am a little late writing today, because I have had a killer headache!  I am now going through what I call the after-effects!  Your head does not hurt, but it does not feel normal either!  I know – some of you are thinking:  “Does your head ever feel normal?”  And believe it or not, yes I do have my moments – where even I feel normal!  Even though I am walking through the “after-effects”, I did not want to let the day pass without sharing a few words and thoughts.

First, I want to thank all of you that read, leave comments and send messages!  It is great to know that there are people out there that I can encourage and I want you to know what a blessing it is for me to be able to be an encouragement to others!  This motivates me to take the time to come to this page and write!

Second I want to share a few thoughts on the message that I am going to share at the Northwood Campus tonight!  We are currently walking through 1st Samuel and are in the last part of the second chapter!  Eli has grown old and in many ways ineffective as the Spiritual leader of God’s people!  And everyone has more than their fair share of problems!

Do you ever have problems?  I mean really serious, “don’t know what I am going to do next” problems?  As we get older – life should teach and equip us to have less problems, but it would seem to me that the problems often get bigger and harder to handle.  If we are honest with ourselves and those around us, we would have to admit that we have problems.  Pretending that they don’t exist, does not make them go away, it actually tends to make them bigger!  The time to face our problems is now!

As the Spirit of God moves in our lives, we need to make sure that we are learning to listen and follow what it is that we are hearing from Him.  It is God’s desire for each one of us to grow.  And as we grow, God is always faithful to bless our growth!

Here are three quick suggestions for getting into the growth that God has for you:

1.) Stop denying God and His presence in your life!  God is real and God is relevant.  He is all around you and pretending that He does not exists of that He does not matter, does not take away from the powerful truth that God is real, powerful and involved in your life regardless of what you feel, think or want!

2.) Yield to God and be amazed at the growth and blessing that you will experience and share!  When you and I get out of God’s way – He will come through in amazing ways to use us, grow us, bless us and allow us to be a blessing to others!

3.) Make the choice and make it now!  We all have a choice to make!  You will follow God and His plans or you will try and make something happen yourself!  Get in God’s way and we will mess it up every time.  Get out of God’s way and He will do in, to and through us what only He can do!

Don’t be a headache and don’t give yourself a headache by fighting against God and His amazing plan for your life!

James 3:9  “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.”  We have a decision to make right now!  Our tongue can be a destructive weapon for tearing down or a powerful tool for building up!  I cannot control your tongue!  The truth is:  I have a big enough battle with my own!  And if we are all honest, we would have to admit that we all have a very big battle that we need to engage in with our own tongue!

Be careful how you use you tongue!  Take some time today to listen to the conversations that are going on all around you.  Are the people that are talking – using their tongues to build up or tear down?  Don’t judge other people or their conversations – this is not your focus today!

Now take some time today to listen to your own conversations:  Is your tongue building up or tearing down?  Try to discipline your tongue to build up!  You will become a much more popular person – other people will actually want to listen to what you have to say.  God will be glorified and He deserves to be with our speech and actions.  And you will be blessed – more than you realize!