Faith

There is a book entitled, " If you want to walk on water You've Got to get out of the Boat" by John Ortberg. I am in the process of reading this book. and I have been so enlightened by the emphasis on obedience and faith. Directly and indirectly.

Sometimes in life you have got to realize that many of us are not even close to success because of fear of stepping out of the boat. That boat could be anything, it could be your friends, situations, jobs, or even our own mindset.

In a lot of cases,  your friends are the reason you  haven't decided to make the decision to do something different in order achieve the results and the success you desire. You may share your success desires with your friends and because of their mentality, they shoot you down telling you that you can't do it or you're not smart enough, or you don't have what it takes.  You can't always tell people what your personal desires are because they are so common with you that it is easy for them to plant a seed of doubt in your heart.

Situations that you may have experienced can cause you not to pursue your dream. People have been programmed by their past to believe that getting ahead is not for them.  They may have grown up around people who were always broke or always giving up and it became a part of their lives, so they put up a brick wall which prevents them from stepping out of that boat; stepping out of that comfort zone.

Some people get so caught up on the deadend job that they have that they are afraid to pursue anything else.  But yet they sit there and complain that they don't make enough money.

Stepping out of the boat requires obedience and faith. The obedience to do what God has told you in your heart, and the faith to believe God will see you through it.

You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength -- Philippians 4 :19

If you'd like to get a copy of this book click below.

--Ruth

Being More Appreciative

Have you ever been around someone who constantly complained about everything? Someone who had something negative to say about everything no matter what is was and if it was something that they did or didn’t do , they complained that someone else should have taken care of it?

People who are always complaining will never be happy. Self-centered people will always have something to complain about.

I experienced a dream last night of myself trying to help someone that I know. They had somehow fallen over a cliff. I had to make a choice to forget about myself and risk my life to help save theirs or just let them fall. I made the choice to save their life. I had found a long thick rope and handed it to her. Immediately before she even grabbed the rope she started complaining that the rope was too big that she wouldn’t be able to grab hold of it.  But it was the only rope available. Her next complaint was “why are you not pulling me up?”  Well actually I was pulling her up but she was so focused on herself that she didn’t realize it.

In the dream, I continued to pull her up and in the process nearly going over the cliff my self. The skin on my hands had peeled off and they were bleeding profusely; but she continued to complain. When I finally pulled her to safety, she had no thank you’s but complained that I pulled her up to hard and her wrists were hurting.

Many people today are just like the girl in the dream; unappreciative, complainers, whiners, unthankful, ungrateful. But how do you deal with such folk? For me it’s hard to say because I enjoy helping others and seeing them overcome whatever it is whether they are thankful or not.

The best thing to do is represent Christ in your dealings with them. Jude 22-23 tells us that it is important to exercise our faith serving others, even when there maybe danger involved. We are to demonstrate God’s love for the fallen and share the gospel with the lost.

I have had personal experiences with making sacrifices to help people and all they did was complain: “this is not pulled together” “that’s not on right” “put this like that” “this is not cleaned right”, the list goes on and on.  In reality if people don’t like how you do a thing for them, they should do it themselves.  I have also come to realize that you can’t make everyone happy no matter how well you do something or no matter what sacrifices you make to help them.  These kind of people are usually self-centered and only care about their own happiness.  They will never find true happiness unless they come to Christ.  But nevertheless, we must strive to live the Christ example and be a light in spite of.

Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV) ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

The Consequences Of Decisions

Deciding what to wear, or what to eat, or evening what time to go to bed are not all that hard to do. But there are decisions that require more thought; life-changing decisions, those that may cause you to struggle if you are not careful.  Many unwise choices are made because we more too quickly, or because of our emotions.

When facing a big decision sometimes we need to listen to that inner gut; in a lot a cases this will hint at us and let us know that we may need to rethink before we give ourselves a green flag.
The best way to really determine the basis for making a good decision is to do it through the wisdom of God.  This wisdom is acquired through God's Word, and allowing His spirit to lead you.

We must consistently keep our minds renewed through prayer and God's word. Good wisdom also comes through people of God as He uses them to help those who desire His wisdom.

Esau made a decision to give up his birthright to Jacob because he was so hungry.  He didn't think about the life long effect it would have throughout his life. He hastily made this decision out of a need. (Genesis25:29-34)

Every decision we make in life should be taken seriously because what we decide to do can have major consequences in our lives.

Through disobedience, Adam and Eve decided to partake of the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden and what happen?  They were banished from the garden and their decision affected everyone.

Moses made the decision to chose God and became the leader of a great nation.  Paul chose to repent and he became the Apostle to the Gentiles.

So you've made some decision that have had some dramatic affects on you and your family. There is still hope. God is a God of hope and He does forgive; however, in some cases we still have to deal with the consequences of our decisions. But from this point forward better decisions are to be made. Focus on God and His promises and not on the problems and circumstances.

If I knew then what I know now there are some decisions I would have chosen differently, wouldn't you?

We Need A Resolution

Times are not like they used to be.  I remember as a child my friends and I would fight one day and be friends again before the sun went down or at least by the next day and our parents never had to get involved.  I also remember that sometimes we would take out anger out on each other by dancing or racing down the street, and whoever won, well they just won.

In today’s society our young people fight with weapons and parents also get involved and want to fight other children as I have seen several news reports about parents jumping kids after school and on school buses.

It has become very challenging for parents to deal with many of our youth today because society has come up with so many rules of what parents can or cannot do to their children.  Prayer was taken out of schools, and then parents aren’t allowed to spank their kids.  What’s next?

I am reminded of a story of a young girl who had been threatened by some other kids who wanted to fight her.  This young girl (we’ll call her Shelley), had obviously become very upset by this.  Another young girl (we’ll call her Carla) who had no idea what was going on and had nothing to do with the incident,  as Carla past by her, she saw that she was upset and attempted to console her.  “Are you okay?” Carla asked.  Shelley, still mad jumps up and began to curse at Carla and threatened her.  Carla, stepped back, apologized for being concerned, and walked away.  Several minutes later Shelley’s mom and brother had arrived. Shelley pointed at Carla as one of the girls who had threatened to fight her; Carla was astounded. She had no idea what had just happened.  Shelley’s mom had threatened Carla and told her that they could settle the matter outside in the parking lot.  “I’m not sure what is going on” Carla stated to Shelley’s mom, “I saw her upset, and asked her if she was okay”. At this point Carla found out what really happened and so did Shelley’s mom.  Other adults got involved and the issue was resolved. 

The reaction of Shelley’s mom is clearly one of the reasons our youth are involved in so much violent activity.  Sometimes the parents are to blame.  Now I am not saying that all negative acts of children are the parents fault but in this situation the parent was clearly ready to fight a child; and for what? Shelley’s mom is a prime example of how parents are lacking in parental guidance and education.  She obviously did not think about the fact that if she had harmed this child she would have gone to jail, her children would have been displaced, she most likely would have lost her job, and she would now have a criminal record.  It is obvious that Shelley is not use to someone looking out for her and consoling her when she feels bad. It seems that she has been taught that when you’re angry, take it out on everyone.

Parents need to instill better conflict resolutions in their children.

Let’s teach our children more respect not only for others but for themselves. If they don’t respect themselves, no one else will.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Ephesians 6:4  “. . .provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord”

Fragile! Handle With Care!

We must always think before we speak. You never know what kind of challenges people are going through in their minds. For some it is a struggle to understand what the average person comprehends.

I am reminded of a situation where a young boy (Jared) came to church I once attended with his aunt Haley. She keeps him some times. Jared had just turned fourteen. I had the liberty to sit in the youth Sunday school class that day and it just happens to be that Aunt Haley was substituting. Aunt Haley was a bit mean at times especially to her nephew but I never thought she would be as mean as she was on this day.

As class began Aunt Haley asked the class who had given their life to Christ? Everyone raised their hands except Jared. This displeased Aunt Haley and she scorned him in front of his peers. Jared didn’t understand salvation as he stated. Well, Aunt Haley didn’t set a very good example for the class as she continued to call him out embarrassing him in front of the class. Jared never returned to that church with Aunt Haley.
I expressed to Ms Haley that she made a bad choice in how she dealt with her nephew, because now he doesn’t like going to church (especially with Aunt Haley). She didn’t care because she felt that because he was family, she could do whatever she felt.

Some of the other children in the class comforted him afterwards but he still decided not to return to that church. Ms Haley didn’t substitute again either.

I felt that Ms. Haley should have took the time to teach Jared what being a christian is all about, then allowed him to make an informed decision. What do you think? How do you think Ms Haley should have dealt with the situation?

We must be careful how we deal with others, especially our youth. We cannot embarrass them or make them feel inadequate because they don’t fit the mold that we feel they should. If we are going to teach our children we must do so in a manner of love, forgiveness, understand
ing, and patience.

It is our job to take care of, protect our children, and raise them in love and guidance.

Happy Child Guide -How To Get Any Child To Stop Misbehavior & Listen

> Luke 18:16 (NIV) “But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and   do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
> Prov. 22:6 (NIV) “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
> Ephesians 6:4 (NLT) “. . . do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

The "N" Word

I'm inspired by this young man who has no problem speaking how he feels about what many of our young African Americans call themselves.  I often wonder why is it that it's okay for African Americans to call each other the "N" word but when someone of another culture does it; it is taken as derogatory?  The word is derogatory no matter who uses it.  In the same sense the world B**ch is used in relation to women.  I've seen women who applaud being called that. The original word means "a female dog" but today's society has turned it into a slang word and given it a new meaning - (a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person). The word is still in my opinion derogatory. Listen below as young Jonathan McCoy gives his take on the "N" word.

Expectancy Never Yields To Failure

I recently read a story about a young man who failed at everything he seemed to attempt and he couldn’t keep a job. No matter how hard he tried at anything, nothing seemed to work for him.

Then one day in church this young man discovered a powerful secret which turned his whole life around. Once he learned this and applied it to his life he saw and experienced a drastic change in everything he did.

This powerful secret was based on Mark 9:23 says“. . . If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” This scripture opened up a whole new world for him . . . “expecting and believing”. He realized that if he expected the best he would get the best. This young man got in the habit of expecting the best, he changed his mental habits, and he taught himself to believe in the positive instead of the negative.

When we put ourselves and our shortcomings in God’s hands, and believe and expect the best, we will see more positive results in our lives.

Matthew 9:29 “. . .according to your faith, be it unto you”
Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”