Category Archives: positive

affirmation, Blogroll, emotions, Enlightenment, faith, God, Gratitude, Growing, Healing, journey, mindfulness, personal growth, positive, scripture, self help

Gratitude Changed My Life!

Have you ever noticed how we often look at others and envy them because they seem to have it all together? As I think back on my life, I can remember observing certain individuals and thinking: “Man, they’ve got it made!”, but as I lived my life and grew closer to some of these folks, I realized that way too often ”looks” can be very deceiving. I have discovered in my own living and learning that most all of us that are living on this great big spinning ball of blue and green have challenges, frustrations and struggles. I have also discovered that everyone of us have a choice about how we will respond to the things that happen to us, in us and through us.

Often times, when people see me, they think that guy sure is lucky, but they have no idea the roller coaster ride that life has taken this ole boy on. I don’t think I am lucky, but I know I am blessed. Most people look at my life today and think: “This dude is one lucky dog!”, but they don’t know that there was a time that I pretty much lost everything and had to start over from scratch. A lot of folks see my relationship with a beautiful wife of almost thirty years and think: “He certainly out punted his coverage!” And they are right, but most do not realize how many times we wanted to throw up our hands and give up on each other. Looking at the life I live, a lot of people might be tempted to get jealous or envious, thinking that I have it all together, but the truth is: Everyday is a battle, learning experience and often a struggle.

I say all of that to say this: I am not better than anyone else. I am not smarter than anyone else, I am not more blessed than anyone else. If anything, I am just learning how to get out of my own way. I am learning how to let God be God and His will become the guiding force and purpose of my life.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:4-7

One day as I was thinking about how my life got headed in this right direction, it hit me that it was small, consistent changes in my attitude and thinking. As I spent time with God and thought about all that I had been through and was still standing, then I could not help but to be grateful. As I looked back on all the things in my life that should have killed me, but instead made me stronger, I could not help, but to be grateful. The more grateful I became, the more I focused on the reason for my gratitude and the reason was and is God. He loves me and has a plan for my life. He does not get rid of the bad, but He does use it every time to take me some where that I could never take myself, God is growing me at whatever pace I choose and am comfortable with and that makes me very grateful for it all.

Gratitude Changed My Life! Gratitude is a spiritual practice of seeing and celebrating the good in the world around you, regardless of how bad, challenging or tough things may be. One day I realized that worry was doing me no good and decided to replace it with faith in God and His promised plan for blessing. This simple change made me grateful and started me down a path of learning and growth that has changed my life for the better in every way you could ever dream or imagine…

If there is one discipline that I could recommend that would help to get your life headed in the direction it was created for, then it would be to start practicing being grateful. When you want to get good at something, you have to practice, so here are a few ideas to help you get started:

1.) Start A Gratitude List! Take some time to start writing down and thinking about all the things that you are grateful for. Big, small and in between. Actually think about how you feel and why???

2.) Write Down Three Things You Are Grateful For Everyday In Your Journal! In my personal journal, the very first thing I write down at the top of the page is today’s date. I then write out my Scripture verse or verses for the day and then right under that Scripture, I write out 1, 2 and 3. “Thank You for _____________!

3.) Remember This: Perspective Changes Everything – Good Or Bad = The Choice Is Yours??? You are the only person that can change your perspective! The world can mess it up, but you’ve got the power to fix it and making and taking the time to make sure that it is right will change your life.

God loves you and God made you, because He wants to bless you, because you really are something special…

appreciation, Blogroll, choices, Enlightenment, Fellowship, Growing, Healing, journey, mindfulness, Nobility, positive, self help, self improvement, spiritual enlightenment, Spititual Development, Values, vision

The Lost Art Of Nobility!

I love watching movies about Kings, Queens, Knights and Explorers. The grand castles, elaborate feasts and adventure of running a kingdom has always been fascinating to me. Another reason that I love these movies is because they paint such a clear picture of good versus evil. A good and noble King or Queen know that they are serving God by serving people and do not take their special position of nobility lightly.

William Shakespeare has King Richard IV Part 2 in act 3, scene 1 speak the following words: “And in the visitation of the winds, who take the ruffian billows by the top, curling their monstrous heads and hanging them with deafening clamour in the slippery clouds, that, with the hurly, death itself awakes? Canst thou, O partial sleep, give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude, And in the calmest and most stillest night,
with all appliances and means to boot, deny it to a king? Then happy low, lie down! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

The sad reality is that most of us have lost this idea of nobility, of being grateful for our blessings and using our blessings to be a blessing to others. We have allowed ourselves to get caught up in a “dog eat dog” world, where we believe that the ends justify the means, even if the means goes against everything we believe in. And the greatest tragedy in all of this is that people are not happier or more fulfilled and certainly not satisfied.

We have become so full of ourselves that we have become empty of anything meaningful. We have allowed the enemy to convince us that we are competing against one another for blessing and this is simply just not true. There is plenty of blessing for everyone of us and the way to blessing is not to get it all for yourself, but to take what you have been blessed with and be a blessing to others.

Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5:1-12 “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

These “Beatitudes” are the attitudes that will help us to live the life we were created for, so that we might experience the flow of blessing into and through our life and living. The only person that you need to try and be better than is the person you were yesterday! Put this into practice and you will discover that life is a gift that keeps on giving and begin to understand that not all who wander are lost…

affirmation, Blogroll, life, Ministry, personal growth, positive, present, Uncategorized, vision

The Ministry Of Presence!

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” -Galatians 5:13

Some times the greatest gift that we have to give to someone else is simply the gift our our presence with nothing added and nothing taken away. I’m not sure if you are like me or not, but I am one of those people that often thinks “I’ve got to fix it!”, but the Spirit is teaching me that I don’t have to fix it and there are going to be times that I can’t fix it, but I can almost always be present and my presence is more than enough.

My wife used to come home from school and she would start telling me about her day and the challenges that she faced and I would immediately start telling her what she should and should not have done. One day while we were having this very traditional back and forth, she just put her hand up and said: “I don’t need you to be my preacher, pastor or friend, I just need you to listen and let me get it out.” And from that day on, I learned the value of a sore tongue, because I have almost bitten a hole in my tongue while biting it to try and keep my mouth shut.

One of my teachers in middle school used to say: “God gave you two ears and one mouth, so you should do twice as much listening as you do talking.” There are times when we worry ourselves ragged trying to figure out what to say or what to do to help someone else, when honestly all they need is our presence. Just to know that someone cares is often more than enough to get a person through what they are doing their best to get through.

I ran into the above little poem about ministry and it reminded me that each and every one of us have the opportunity to minister to others.

We can minister to others by taking the time to listen. We can minister to others by looking for and accentuating the joy. We can minister to others by helping someone else, even when we feel like we are the ones that needs the help. We can minister to others by asking God to use us to share His love and blessing with others. We can minister to others by putting our arm around someone’s shoulders, giving them a hug around the neck or maybe a pat on the back. We can minister to others by encouraging them by finding the positive that has to be in there somewhere. We can minister to others by praying for them and with them. We can minister to others by serving them and meeting whatever need we can. We can minister others by comforting them with our words and actions.

Ministry at it’s best is about our presence. Some time, most of the time, just being there is more than enough…