Tag Archives: mental challenge

affirmation, Blogroll, God, Growing, life, love

Sunday Rewind! (By, In And For Love…)

This morning I spent a little bit of time at Eureka talking about how we are not meant to do life by ourselves. I talked about how we were created by love, in love and for love. This is one of those things that I have known for quiet some time, but as I grow older, I seem to get it more and more and I can very clearly see it’s relevance to our everyday life and living.

We Were Created By Love! In the very first book of the Bible Genesis 1:26-28 we read: “26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

This reminds us that we are made in the image of God and given dominion over every living thing. It also explains that God male and female and blessed them with the command to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it. This is not something we do by ourselves, but something we do TOGETHER.

Often times, we tend to think of God as some cruel judge in the sky, just waiting to catch us doing something wrong, so He can fling a lightening bolt, but that is not God at all. Our God is a loving and patient Creator, who want the absolute best for His creation. The Bible teaches us that God is LOVE. God is everything we know as good and so much more…

We Were Created In Love! Thomas Merton said: “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone – we find it with one another. I heard a story about an experiment with rats. The researches put a rat in a cage and gave it a choice between pure water and drug laced water. Most of the rats chose the drug laced water and often continued drinking it until they over dosed and died. The researchers concluded that if given a choice, the majority of people will use drugs.

This was the prevailing opinion, until another researcher came a long and re-designed the experiment. This time rather than having the rat all alone in a cage, the researcher allowed the rats to live together in what he called a “RAT PARK”, where they could socialize, eat good meals together, exercise, mate and live a fulfilling life. Under these conditions, the researcher found that the majority of rats chose the pure water.

It wasn’t the drug that determined if a person would use drugs or not, but rather their emotional state and their environment that would help decide. Social isolation is not good for any of us and a lack of stimulation that comes from always being alone is not natural and can lead to hopelessness and unhealthy coping strategies. The bottom line: We were created for relationship, friendship and connection.

We Were Created For Love! There is more to this life than just me and my life. There is you and your life and them and their life and all of us we created to do this thing called life together. Before we can offer love to anyone else, we must first receive it for ourselves and give it to ourselves, because when we get this right, then we are ready to share love and acceptance with others.

To get church right, then we must come together on a regular basis to do life together in a better way than we ever could a part or separate from the place and people of church. When I was growing up, it was not just the people my own age that blessed me at church, it was people of all ages and from all walks of life.

Love is the beautiful gift of God that keeps on giving to us and through us. I challenge you to get it right by receiving it and then sharing it with everybody, everywhere in every way you can…

Blogroll, choices, Control, emotions, Expectation, Growing, journey, life

The Power Of Choice!

I usually get pretty reflective during the weekends and I’m not really sure why? Maybe it’s because I have a block of unfocused time and I feel compelled to try and do something useful with it. Whatever the reason, I usually find myself looking back on my life and the lessons that I’ve learned and that I am learning.

Today, I have been thinking about choices and how we are blessed with the opportunity to make them every day. Right now, if you are reading this, it is because you made a choice to check out what this ole boy is up to. If you are not reading this, then we are talking about you and you have no idea. (HAHA)

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” -Proverbs 19:21

In the very same way that you made a choice to click on over to my blog, we also have the ability to make a choice to be HAPPY. The really amazing and beautiful choice is that every day of our lives is filled with opportunities for us to choose to experience happiness.

In the moments of our lives, we have opportunities to do very simple things that enhance our lives and bless others, if we will just make the choice to pay attention and not miss it. God has blessed each one of us with a future of hope, success and blessing. All we have to do is start stacking up right choices on top of each other.

In the morning, when we make the choice to get up, we get to make a choice about how we are going to get up. Our attitude will determine our altitude for the day, so we should choose carefully. If we choose to, we can find so many different things in our life to rejoice and be happy about. There is available to us, a continual stream of reminders about the faithfulness of God to those who He loves and and who love Him back.

One of the things I am learning about this human experience is that it is supposed to be enjoyed. I really believe that God created us to walk through this life with a smile on our face that says to the rest of the world: “I AM BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED!” Take time to start living your life on purpose as you chase after the purpose you were created for. Look for and find the goodness and blessing in each and every day. Before you know it, you will be super wealthy with happiness, joy and you will find yourself living the amazing life you chose to live…

Blogroll, Control, emotions, faith, Gratitude, life, mindfulness, self help, self improvement

Stress Busters!

In my line of work as a Minister, master Life Coach and Mentor, I often find myself with a plate full of my own stuff and then add to that all the other people that I work with and their stuff and you can only imagine that the stress level can get very high. Folks often ask me: “How do you manage it all with a smile on your face and a positive attitude?“ To which I respond: “I don’t always manage it all. I’m not always smiling and sometimes my attitude needs adjusting.”

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” -Proverbs 12:25

I have however, learned a few tricks that help me to usually keep the wagon between the ditches and as long as I am keeping a check on these seven areas and making the necessary adjustments, they usually aid me in living life from a good place.

1.) QUIET TIME! There is way too much noise in this world and the majority of it is a waste, just mindless filler. We were created for quietness. In fact, God says to be still, be quiet and listen for His gentle whisper. Make time for quiet time, where you just sit in quietness of go for a walk with nothing but the sounds of nature. It is amazing what this does for us physically, mentally and spiritually.

2.) BREATE! I know what you’re thinking: If I don’t breath, then I would die and the truth is that is exactly what a lot of folks are doing – dying a slow death. Take time to breathe and notice your breath. Every now and then stop what you’re doing and take three deep breaths in and out and thank God for the gift of air.

3.) THINK GOOD THOUGHTS! Everything that is, was once a thought. In other words: Thoughts are things! We need to be monitoring our thoughts to make sure our thoughts are positive and not negative. If we are having negative thoughts, then we need to get rid of them as quickly as possible and replace them with positive thoughts, because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

4.) HYDRATE! Water is important, we cannot survive without it and we will not thrive is we don’t make sure that we are giving our body a regular supply. The common wisdom says we should drink at least 8 glasses a day. Water is the very best medicine we can take and works to benefit every part of our life and living.

5.) PRACTICE GRATITUDE! We have much to be thankful for, but we are usually too busy and preoccupied to take the time to think about it. Make sure that you are making time to to think about your blessings and taking time to say thank you for it all.

6.) STRETCH! We learn this in Primary School Gym Class. It is important to stretch our muscles before we work out and just living life in this world is a work out, so we should be stretching everyday, a few times a day. It’s amazing how much better it makes you feel, so make it a priority, you will be glad you did.

7.) MANAGE EXPECTATIONS! You can’t do everything, so be realistic with yourself and with others about what you can and can’t do. Be honest about what you will and won’t do. You don’t have to do everything and if you try to do it all, then you are sure to fail. Focus on what really matters, let the rest work itself out and you will be a much happier person…