Magic Words! (Video)
Tag Archives: challenge
When Life Squeezes!
Back when I was working with youth, one of the illustrations I loved to share with them was to take three tubes of tooth paste and challenge three of the teens to have a little race with the tubes of tooth paste, all they had to do was very carefully follow the directions as I gave them and the first one finished with all the tasks would be the winner. Task number one was to sqeeze as much of the tooth paste out of the tube as fast as possible. They immediatly went crazy, squeezing, grabbing, pushing, pulling, rolling, whatever they could come up with to try to gett every bit of the paste out of the tube.
Now for the second part of the challenge and the one that finishes first, will be considered the Grand Champion. Then I would instruct them to put all of the tooth paste back into the tube and immediatly they look at me as if I have lost my mind. Of course I have not lost my mind, I know they cannot put it back easily and that is the point.
I go onto explain that life has a tendency to apply pressure and it will untimately squeeze out of us, whatever we have inside of us and no matter how bad we may want to, it is almost impossible to get it put back inside, out of site and out of mind.
Luke 6:45 teaches us that: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
This is why protecting our heart from evil influence is so important. Life will squeeze you and whatever you have in you is going to come out, so it is best to make sure that we have the right stuff inside of us.
The Bottom Line: When we get our heart right, then we get our life right. A great way to start is by spending time with the Master, learning to think His thoughts and be empowered by His Spirit.
Ask yourself this question and ask God to help you to be honest with yourself and Him abouth the answere: “What’s in your heart???” 🙏🏻
Learning Something New!
It is hard to learn something new, when you think you already know everything. We hear and learn exactly what we want based on our very own values, beliefs, prejudices and personal history. We wonder why we never grow and why we seem to be our own worst enemy? A teachable spirit is an open invitation to a changed life. A changed life is a growing life and and growing life gives glory to the Creator as it shares blessings with all around. You Creator wants you to be happy and healthy, but allows you to make choices for yourself. Life is about learning to make the right choices.
Do you really want to walk closer to your Creator? Do you long to walk close, so that you may hear His chuckles and sighs. Do you want to learn to see and experience the newness of life that only He can bring. Do you know that you must let go of your old tired ways? Do you know this is so hard to do, but not impossible? To know His will, you must know Him, to know Him, you must let go of some things, so that you can grab hold of others.
We must learn to seek His face with an open heart and clear mind, knowing and trusting that as we journey forward with Him that He will bring about the transformation of our lives by the renewing of our minds. The work that we need to have done in our lives, is not a work that we do, it is a work that we invite Him to do, by doing the work of faith that invites Him to come in and do His thing.
I challenge you to step away from the distractions and become totally focused on your Creator and the stuff of His creation. He wants you to understand Him and as you seek to understand Him and His ways, you will live according to the path that He has marked out for you.
Embrace Him and His will and be satisfied with nothing else and you will live blessed!
Michael Joe Harvell 