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Take It Easy!

We know what it is like for life to become toss and tumble. We can find ourselves in a very uncomfortable spot, before we even realize what it really going on. And often times, we are the very ones that put ourself in these challenging and frustrating places.

There is a favorite song by the Eagles that sums up how we can be our own worst enemy and then with the chorus reminds us of what really matters by encouraging us to ’take it easy!”

“Take It Easy” By The Eagles!

“Well, I’m running down the road tryin’ to loosen my load.I’ve got seven women on my mind. Four that wanna own me, two that wanna stone me. One says she’s a friend of mine.”

“Take It easy, take it easy. Don’t let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy. Lighten up while you still can. Don’t even try to understand. Just find a place to make your stand and take it easy…”

The Scriptures teach us that we have the power and the control, if we are willing to use it. And when we use it, we are on our way to living our best life.

“5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” -Philippians 4:5

You have to know your gentleness, before others can! You cannot give to anyone else what you do not posses for yourself. Before you can give any good gift to others that you love and care about, you must first obtain that gift for yourself. Our Creator is gentle with us and when we open our heart and life to receive gentleness/taking it easy from Him, then we have a great gift to share with others.

The gentle life doesn’t force anything, it simply allows, learns and grows… The things I can’t change will either change me for the better or the worse – it really is my choice!

Here Are A Few Keys To Living Gently:

1.) Allow! Let be whatever is going to be. Don’t fight it, instead embrace it and get from it whatever it is coming into your life to teach you. We waste so much every fighting fights that are a complete waste of energy and time. Stop wasting and learn to simply let life unfold like the beautiful flower that it is.

2.) Learn! I really believe that this human experience is all about learning who and what we are, so that we can enjoy and get the most out of eternity. The ups, downs and sideways come into my life to teach me, grow me and help me to become an even better version of myself, so that I can benefit from all the amazing blessings that God wants to flow to and through my life and living.

3.) Grow! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: The longer I live this thing called life, the more I realize that every moment of every day is about becoming and growing into the amazing and beautiful creation of God that gives Him glory and everyone blessing. I know that I am getting this life right, when this life is causing God and others to smile.

We don’t have to have everything figured out, we just need to learn to take it easy and enjoy the journey, because God will get us to where we need to be. Our challenge is to not get in the way.

Take it easy friends!

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The Gift Of Choice!

The reality that I am created in the image of God still blows me away. And if I am honest, most days, I don’t even come close to even come close to getting what that reality really means. What I do know is that it means that God loves me BIG and has given me this human experience as a gift to grow in my relationship and understanding of Him.

When we actually take the time to step away from the busyness of life, we can’t help but to think about all the gifts God has given us to be thankful for. I encourage you to take time everyday to think about some of the great blessings God has blessed you with and take the time to show some gratitude by saying thank you.

Out of all the great gifts that God has given, one that amazes me to my core is the gift of choice. God has given each one of us the gift of being able to choose for ourselves the life we will experience and live. When we stop and think about it, that gives us great reason to rejoice and be happy, because with that choice comes great power to decide and determine the direction of our life and living.

The thought of this great gifts makes me think of the tremendous responsibility we have been given to be the “master of our fate and captain of our soul” as talked about by William Ernest Henley in his classic poem “Invictus”.

Invictus

“Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”

So what are we to do with this great gift of choice? We are to choose wisely to live the life of blessing we were created for and we would do well to learn as quickly as possible that our choice do indeed have consequences. So, let’s start off with an extra positive choice:

“4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” -Philippians 4:4

Once again, we see the tremendous power we have at our disposal. We have the ability to choose who or what is going to be the focus of our lives. Others do not get to decide this for us, unless we give our power of choice away to them. It is our power and our choice – what we will focus on. I want to encourage you to focus on the God Who made you and His amazing plan for you to live a life of blessing made up of living, learning, laughing and loving.

You’ve got the power – will you use it? That’s the BIG QUESTION isn’t it. We have the power, but most of us never ever get around to using it. We might every now and then tap into it, but for the most part, we tend to wander around aimlessly, just getting by. You have the amazing power to choose the life you will live – choose wisely!

It is interesting to me that Philippians 4:4 tells us to “Rejoice in the Lord” two times, almost as if there is some understanding that we are not really going to get it the first time. When it comes to choice, we can be happy or sad, mad or glad – the choice is ours. I choose to rejoice in the God, Who gave me the power to choose for myself and look forward to growing in the blessing of that incredible power that changes everything…

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What We Feed Grows!

We have been given an amazing gift – the gift of choice. Each one of us get to choose what will be the focus of our life and living. We have the power of choice and make no mistake about it, the choices we make have the power to determine the life we will live.

I love stories and one of my favorite stories is: The Story Of The Two Wolves!

The story goes that there was an old Cherokee Indian chief, who was was teaching his grandson about life. The old Chief told his young Grandson: “A fight is going on inside me, a fight between two wolves – a dark wolf and a light wolf.”

The Dark one is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The Light Wolf is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The old Chief told his young Grandson: “The same fight is going on inside you grandson…and inside of every other person on the face of this earth.”

The young Grandson ponders this for a moment and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee Chief smiled and simply said, “The one you feed”.

This is true in our lives as well. The attitude, emotion or feeling that we feed will grow and take up leadership in our life and help determine it’s direction. Feed the positive and the positive will grow. Feed the negative and the negative will grow. The choice is yours and you do have the power. The real question is: Will you use it wisely?

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

Another way to think about it is like growing a muscle. My Grandmother used to say: “If you don’t use it, you will lose it!” If we don’t exercise our muscles, they will atrophy and die, but if we use them, they will grow and become stronger. To grow a muscle, we have to exercise it!

To overcome anxiousness and worry, we have to exercise our faith muscle by trusting that God loves us and has an amazing plan for our life. We have to believe that God uses even the bad for the good of those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes.

Make sure that you are feeding the right wolf and growing the right attitudes, actions, thoughts and responses in your life. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your everyday living and the blessings that flow to you and through you!