As you wander through this life, you will stumble across many treasures. Some will be found easily and some will require much effort.  Treasures are not placed along life’s path by accident.  Treasures are placed on you path on purpose and for a purpose by our Creator and they are intended for our blessing and growth.

I often wonder how many treasures I have missed out on, because I was not paying attention. I missed out because I was not paying attention, or maybe because the treasure did not look like what I think a treasure is supposed to look like.

When you come upon one of God’s treasures and you know it’s one of His treasures, from the very moment of its discovery, your life begins to change. You develop a different focus, dreams and goals.  Your whole approach to life changes and so does the way that you live!

Treasure is important because it always carries with it the capacity to change our lives. Matthew 13:44 says:  “The Kingdom Of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

One of the greatest treasures that God has given us is the treasure of a Kingdom Relationship. God does not give us this relationship because we deserve it.  God gives us this relationship out of GRACE, in MERCY and through FORGIVENESS!  Because God gives it, the Kingdom Relationship should change our lives.  It should change who we are, how we live, what we do, where we go and the why of everything.

Don’t waste your Kingdom Relationship! Do whatever it takes to protect it, grow it and share it!  Remember:  Your relationship with God is a treasure and a treasure should bring blessing!

When I was younger, I used to play a little football and every now and then someone would come out of nowhere and knock me flat on my behind. I would lay there for a moment or two and try to figure out if I was still alive.  The coach would come over and say:  “He is alright – just got the wind knocked out of him!”

I don’t play football anymore, but there are still plenty of days where someone or something comes out of nowhere and knocks me flat on my behind. I lay there for a moment and realize that I just got the wind knocked out of me.  In football or in life, when you get the wind knocked out of you, you can’t stay down.  You have to get back up and get back into the game.

All of us have problems! In fact, I don’t know of anyone that does not have any problems.  When you get the wind knocked out of you, you have to get back up!  In every problem there is an opportunity!  Find, seize and grow from your opportunities.  Get up!  There is somewhere for you to go and there is something for you to do!  Whatever problem you are facing right now – remember it is really an opportunity for God to help you to get to somewhere that you could never get on your own!

Ever have one of those days? You know the kind of day where everything goes in an opposite direction than what you had planned.  Today has been one of those days.  I did not get to this blog page until the afternoon, but I still wanted to share a little something.  I hope you enjoy and I hope you will find something useful!

Yesterday was a blast and I am not as young as I used to be! We had a great day at both campuses yesterday.  Our services were very worshipful and it really seemed to me that God was trying to communicate some life-challenging and life-changing TRUTH.  I know that God is really working on me right now and I hope that this is true for many of us, because if it is, then it means that God is about to “SOMETHING!”

My sister is going to have a baby! We had her first shower yesterday.  It was a very good shower.  In fact, I am not really sure that she needs another shower, but I guess she gets one anyway.  I figured out why they call them “Showers”, because she really cleaned up!  (HaHa!)  Krystal will always be my little sister, even though she is beginning to look and act a lot more like our Mom – Martha Jo!  I love you Sis and I am so excited for you and Bill.  It was great getting to see and visit with so many people who have had an impact on my life.  I enjoyed the “hometown” fellowship!

There is still a little bit of day left, so I am going to get off of here and see if I can get a few more things accomplished. Thanks to all of you for reading and I appreciate your sharing your encouragement with comments and emails.  Praying that this will be a blessed week for all of us!