Tag Archives: victory

appreciation, Blogroll, Evangelism, faith, Family, Fellowship, Friendship, God, grace, Gratitude

Sunday Evening Rewind!

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. -1 Peter 3:15

Today has been another wonderful Sunday in my life and in the life of the congregation that I am blessed with being a shepherd to. I really do love Sundays. I love getting up, getting ready, putting on my “Sunday Best”, going to church, singing the songs, praying the prayers, getting into the Scriptures and enjoying the smiles, hugs, loves and fellowship.

We began our service this morning with Baptism, which is always a very special time of remembering just what it means to be in relationship with God through Jesus. Our sins are forgiven, washed away and we are cleansed from all unrighteousness. What made it even more special this morning was that it was a Mom and her Son.

We then had a great time of worship and let me just say that I really enjoyed myself preaching this morning. I was so excited and fired up in a good way. I was a little discouraged at the end of the service to realize that we are still having sound issues with our videos, but I’m learning I’ve got to do what I can and then let that go.

One of the things that I have been missing on Sundays is getting to eat lunch and have some fellowship with our extended family. We have all gotten too busy, sick or just distracted from making that a priority. I like when our whole family is able to worship together, enjoy a meal together and just let Sunday be Sunday. The older I get, the more I appreciate the small things and realize they were big things.

This evening I had a great time at our Saluda Baptist Association Annual Meeting and got to spend some time before our worship time visiting with some of the ministry leaders from all across the upstate. It was great visiting with some ole friends and getting to make some new ones. The worship was inspirational and the message was challenging.

This morning we talked about BEING AN ON PURPOSE CHRISTIAN/CHURCH and how ENCOURAGING EVANGELISM is the first step in the right direction. To practice encouraging evangelism, we need to always be ready to give an answer to every person that might ask us about the hope that is in us. This week, I will try to bring us some challenge via video, blog and social media to help us to grow in this area of our life and living.

Thanks so much for being my family and my friends. I love you guys and pray that something I say or do is a blessing and encouragement to you! 👣

Blogroll, faith, Gratitude, Growing, life, mindfulness, self help, spiritual enlightenment

Life Is Yours For The Taking!

“If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” -Lao Tzu

That sounds like an amazing way to live life, doesn’t it. How incredible it is that there is nothing lacking and the whole world does belong to us, once we come to that realization. The question is: How do we get to that place of realization? Realization being, not just that it sounds good, but that we believe it and live it.

I believe we get there through GRATITUDE. When we here the word gratitude, we think about being thankful and that is a part of it, but it is much more than just being thankful. Gratitude is the realization that I already have everything I need. There is nothing that needs to be added and nothing that needs to be taken away. The recipe for our blessing, growth and success is complete.

This does not mean that life does not come without challenges. Life is tough, but it’s not impossible. The truth is that the tough challenges are part of the process that moves us from where we are to where we need to be so we can become. The best way to get there is by focusing on what is right over what is wrong, this is when the real magic happens.

I’ve lived life long enough to notice something truly remarkable: Happy people are grateful and grateful people are happy. I’ve notice that happy people come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. I’ve also noticed that happy people still have challenges, struggles and difficulties. So why are they happy? Because, somewhere along the way they learned to be grateful, regardless of the circumstances.

You see, this whole human experience, the good, the bad and the ugly serves a greater purpose than most of us realize. This whole human experience is offering our Spirit the opportunity to grow our soul. This is just one of the many amazing gifts that our Creator gives us that allows us to follow in His footsteps.

My challenge is to practice gratitude everyday of my life and in as many moments as possible, because it is the practice of gratitude that helps me to take advantage of the room for improvement that I have in my life and offers me the opportunity to experience the magic of the Spirit at work on me, in me and through me.

Stop focusing on what you don’t have or what’s not working the way you want it to and instead practice being grateful for what you do have and what is working. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life and living…

Blogroll, Control, Creativity, emotions, Enlightenment, faith, God, Growing, mindfulness

Transition Is About Transformation!

Here I come back to this page to share a little bit of the mystery of life, I am continuing to unravel as I live and breathe. Life is a funny thing, just when we finally seem to get it where we want it, when we seem to be happy and satisfied, when change is the last thing we have on our minds, it seems that out of nowhere, life presents us with the gift of transition.

Transition is about change and like it or not, change is a part of life. We may be able to dely it or redirect it temporarily, but we cannot stop it. The best thing to do, is to learn to embrace it and grow through it, because it is ultimatley about taking us to a better place in life. Life lived in the right direction is an incredible journey that takes us to amazing destinations.

Life is stressful, but it does not have to be as stressful as we often make it. A lot of life is about having and keeping the right mind set. Some times transitions are predictiable and at other times they are toally random. Either way, if we can learn to roll with it, then life will be a lot less stressful.

Looking back on life, we can see where we have gone through transitions we thought were going to kill us, but we survived and in many cases, we actually thrived. We can learn so much from our past about transitions, if we will take the time to pay attention and remember what really matters.

I currently find myself in the midst of many different transitions and I am learning to embrace them and enjoy the journey. Transitions hold a special place in our lives and often mark very special before and after moments. The older we get, the more we can see the benefits of transtions and so, it actually becomes a little bit easier pill to swallow.

Transitions can be stressful if we look at them the wrong way, but if we learn to look at them in the right way, they can serve as motivational and actually challenge us to rise above by spreading our wings to fly.

The truth is, life would be very boring without the transitions. Transitions keep us from becoming stagnant, they help to heal us from our becoming sick and and keep us from dying, so that we might live to fight another day. Transitions help us to stay focused on what really matters and encourage us to stay fresh and ready for whatever???

I have also found that transitions are great for reflection. They make me think about where I have been and where I am going. They make me think about what has worked and what is not working. They cause me not only reflect, but often to re-evaluate what is really important in the grand scheme of life.

In almost every transition we face in life, there will be positives and negatives. We have to learn from them both, while not allowing the negatives to distract us from what really matters.

Transition is not just a part of life, it is life, so open yourself to wherever and whatever your next transition is taking you to and enjoy the gift of life that keeps on giving, because at the end of the day, it is really about your transformation into the something better and more beautiful that your Creator has created you to be…