Tag Archives: self improvement

affirmation, Blogroll, Growing, ideas, life, self help, vision

Ideas Are Powerful!

I love ideas and being a creative, my mind and life is filled with them. My biggest problem is grabbing hold of them and finding the time to follow through with thinking, planning and implementation. I try to keep a note book, but most of the time I am too scattered to discipline myself to take the time to write, print, post, draw and record, which I know is a down right shame and I have got to do better.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…” -Colossians 3:23

The real power of an idea comes when we capture it, nurture it, bring it to life and share it’s benefits and blessings with others. The problem with ideas is that they are quickly forgotten. So we need to develop a system that allows us to keep them from fluttering away just as quickly as they came into our thoughts.

The First Step To Getting The Most Out Of Our Ideas Is To Capture It! This is best done by finding a way to record the idea and our thoughts about it. We can do this by writing it down, recording via video or audio our idea and thought or even sharing it with someone else, who is better at remembering and holding onto things. The important thing is to develop a capturing system and then practice disciplining yourself to use it regularly. Another great benefit of a journal/notebook to record your ideas in, is that once you write it down, your mind is free to release is and open space for even more creative ideas…

The Second Step To Getting The Most Out Of Our Ideas Is To Nurture It! This means we need to take care of it, feed it, water it and give it whatever it needs to grow and develop. This way the idea can actually grow into something that makes a difference. We need to schedule time to think about our ideas, work on our ideas and grow our ideas. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail and many great ideas get lost, because while someone had the idea, no one was willing to do anything with it…

The Third Step To Getting The Most Out Of Our Ideas Is To Bring It To Life. This means we not only make a plan, but we actually begin executing the steps to help make the plan a reality. The light bulb was an idea, but someone had to fail many times, before it became a reality, but once it became a reality, it changed everyone’s lives and still does to this very day…

The Fourth Step To Getting The Most Out Of Our Ideas Is To Share The Benefits And Blessings With Others. Most of the ideas we have are going to make life or some task in life easier for us and if it does it for us, then it more than likely will do that for others. The real blessing of having an idea is not having it. The real blessing of an idea is not even helping the idea to become a reality. The real blessing of an idea is using it to make life better for others.

Ideas are powerful and God gives us many everyday. Take some time to grab on and help some of them become reality, you will be glad you did…

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…

Blogroll, Church, Enlightenment, Expectation, Gratitude, Growing, Jesus, vision

What’s The Big Deal?

I grew up in Church. In fact, before I was born, I was in church. My family did not believe in going every now and then, they believed in being there every time the doors were open. They sang in the choir, my Mom led teen missions and my Dad drove the bus to pick folks up on Sunday mornings. Church was a part of our life and living and our lives would not be the same without it.

We are so faithful to church, because of our faith. We believe in God and that God is love. We believe that because God loves us, He gave His most precious gift, His Son Jesus, which is God in the flesh making a way for us, where there was no way. It’s really not complicated, it’s very simple and I think that is where a lot of folks get messed up. I think some folks are looking for complicated.

God created us and because He loves us, He gives us the ability to choose the life we are going to live. Our choices have consequences and as we live our life, those consequences usually teach us what we do and do not want, which is why God offers us: Mercy and Grace. Mercy is not getting what we deserve, which is eternal separation from God and whatever punishment our sins bring into our lives, while Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, which is a relationship with God that allows our Spirit (the real us) to grow on with God through all Eternity.

When you read through the the life of Jesus in the Gospels, you do not find Him going on and on about rules, regulations or religion. You find Jesus, over and over again, inviting people into a relationship and it is because of the loving relationship that people want to get it right with rules, regulations and religion.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” -John 1:10-13

The important thing to remember and never forget is that it is all about RELATIONSHIP with the ONE, who brought us to the dance. When we are really connected to God, the our Spirit can see, feel, hear and experience His presence, power, protection and direction. The most important thing we can ever do, is get into a relationship with our Creator. The second most important thing we can do, is grow in that relationships. The Bible, Church and Prayer are the keys that unlock the doors to help make that happen.

I want to encourage you today, if you don’t know God in a personal way, start looking for Him, because He will allow Himself to be found by you. Get into a church that encourages and teaches you how to get into and grow through this personal relationship. And above all, enjoy the amazing journey, because it’s what you were created for…