Diligence is the Name of the Game

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. — Galatians 6:9

The Bible talks an awful lot about being diligent. In today’s fast paced, “I want it right now” society, that’s not always what we want to hear. Often, whether we are talking about relationships or business, we want the easiest way and the shortcut to success.

God’s Word doesn’t change, and regardless of the “now” society, the secret to true success in anything is diligence.

Diligence Brings Success

Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks, or months, when you have prayed, you’ve done your best, you’ve believed that a situation would turn around, and instead of getting better, things just keep getting worse?

If so, I have wonderful news for you. Read more

Happy Valentine’s Day: The World Will Know Us By Our Love

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, and it is one of the largest spending holidays on the retail shopping calendar. According to the National Retail Federation’s predictions for 2011, Americans will spend an average of $115 on expressing their love for their sweetheart this year. Although the economy has been down, this average is up over ten percent from last year’s figures. In total, we will spend over $15 billion on candy, jewelry, dinners, and Valentine’s Day cards.

Although those figures are a great boost for the economy, how long will the afterglow of this national holiday last? If you play your cards right, you can use Valentine’s Day (or any day) to turn your life into a consistent walk of love. Read more

Newsflash! God’s Plan for You is Prosperity…

Is this a prosperity message? Absolutely…

Too many individuals today (Christians included) get all squirmy when it comes to talking about prosperity. I’ve got news for you. It’s not that big of a deal.

Does God want us, as His children, to prosper? Yes, He does. If you read the Word to any extent, it’s pretty plainly written.

In Jeremiah 29:11, God tells us this, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

In 2 Corinthians 9:8, He declares, “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.”

God’s desire is never to have His people limping around or living in lack. If you think this somehow brings pleasure or glory to your Creator, think again. Now, as with anything that we are given, there certainly is a level of responsibility. But it’s really not too difficult to understand that part either. God wants us to prosper not only financially, but in all areas of our life. He wants us to have healthy relationships, stable emotions, wisdom, and to live in health. That is His ultimate desire for us. Do we all live in that kind of abundance? No, we don’t. But, just because we aren’t experiencing it, doesn’t make it untrue. Read more

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?

I have one quick, possibly life changing question for you this morning. Are you your own worst enemy? Before you answer, let me qualify this question with a quick story from the Word, along with a few more heart-seeking questions.

The Story of Martha and Mary

Most of us are well acquainted with the Biblical story of Martha, Mary, and Jesus. If you are not, here’s the quick overview:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” — Luke 10:38-42

The story seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Martha was a doer, and basically a good person. Nothing wrong with that, right? Read more

How to Simplify Your Christianity

“Mankind, left free, instinctively complicates life.” — Katherine Gerould (1879 – 1944)

If you’ve been keeping up to date with the latest trends, I’m sure you’ve noticed the move toward simplifying our lives. Countless websites and magazine articles teach on the art of decluttering our homes, downsizing, and living sustainable, manageable lives that are not filled with “things to take care of,” and “things to maintain.”

The act of decluttering our physical lives is an important one that can remove a huge amount of unnecessary stress and remind us of the things that are truly important. As a country, we were moving so quickly for so long at acquiring more stuff, more toys, and more gadgets that we hardly had time to live our lives. Now, in an attempt to regroup and create balance, we see a renewal of the desire to simplify.

As believers, we can also take this wave of interest one step further by simplifying our Christianity. Read more

Your Children: Are You Raising Leaders?

After you fall into the habit of accepting what other people tell you to think, you lose the power to think for yourself.  –John Taylor Gatto, A Different Teacher, 2002

Sometimes, in all of life’s busyness and running our children from scheduled practices and sporting events to making sure their homework is complete, we can lose forget to teach our children to think for themselves. Raising Godly leaders is a task that takes a purposeful approach, but how is it accomplished? I’m glad you asked. It’s not as difficult as you may think. Read more

Connecting with the Right People

Before we came to have a relationship with God, we chose our friends for a variety of personal reasons. Some of us even had different categories of friendships, to cover our different interests. Let’s take a look at our possible friendship roster:

• We may have had the Friday night partying friends who were always there to share one too many drinks and a night on the town.
• We had the business friends, those who could help us to achieve the level of success we wanted, because they knew all the important people (or so we thought).
• Some of us even had a friend or two who we considered “laid back”. Our so-called laid back friends were the ones who were perfectly content to listen to us gossip, watch us get ourselves into terrible relationships without saying a word, and agree with us when we complained about our situations, our spouse, our employer…you get the idea.

That Was Then…This is Now Read more

Are You Feeding Weeds Today?

The wonderful thing about operating according to spiritual principles is the absolute simplicity of them. Sure, we can take the simple principles of God’s kingdom and twist them all up until they seem completely impossible, but that’s not what God desires for us.

One thing that God has been speaking to me about lately, involves taking a good look at what I am watering and nurturing in my life.

God compares His Word to seed. Any farmer or gardener knows that if you plant a seed in the ground and do absolutely nothing to nurture it, reaping a healthy harvest is highly unlikely.

If you take the time to read Matthew chapter 13, you’ll learn what God has to say about planting, watering, and nurturing the seed (or the Word of God) in your life. The chapter also explains the different types of soil that a seed can be sown into and what the results will be. In this chapter, the soil represents our heart.

Planting a seed into a stony or hard, unbending heart isn’t going to produce a positive harvest, neither is planting a seed into ground that is ridden with weeds. Weeds will choke the life potential out of even the finest seeds.

What does that mean to us as believers? Read more

Patient Endurance Will Finish the Race: Do You Lack Endurance?

What kind of goals have you set for yourself lately? Whether you’ve got  long term goals, like becoming debt free by 2015, or short term goals; losing 5 pounds in the next 30 days, they both have one thing in common….they require endurance.

Endurance, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is the ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially : the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity. It is the ability to undergo a task without giving in.

Whether your goals are long term or relatively short, you will still need a certain amount of endurance to reach each one.

If you are anything like the average person, endurance may not be your strongest character trait. This is evident just by taking note of the majority of advertising and television commercials today. As a generation, we want it fast and we want it now. We are constantly bombarded by “quick weight loss” programs, and even pills that promise to allow us to consume any food we want, without the consequence of gaining weight.

We want “fast career training,” instead of 4 or 7 year degrees. We are even willing to pay extra at amusement parks in order to be the proud holder of a “fast pass” which will allow us to cut in front of the rest of the line. Almost anything we can think of involves some sort of quick alternative. Fortunately for us, God doesn’t change. He’s not moved or concerned by our ever increasing impatience. He still desires to develop and build a strong, enduring character in us. Possessing the ability to “endure” will get us through the important things in life. Here’s what God has to say about patient endurance. Read more

You’ll Have to Pay Extra if You Want to Check Your Baggage

If you’ve ever traveled on an airline, you’re quite aware that packing light is the smartest choice. Airlines are demanding beefy fees for heavy baggage. If your bag weighs over 50 pounds, you could find yourself paying anywhere from $90-$300 per piece according to the rules of Delta and Continental Airlines.

Bottom line? If you want to bring your baggage along, you’re going to have to pay.

The same is true with Christians. If you’re determined to carry around emotional and spiritual baggage, you’ll be paying the price. That’s why the Word tells us in Hebrews 12:1 to “throw off everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us.”

If a plane is carrying too much baggage, it can crash. The same is true with us. We can’t run with perseverance when we try to strap a heavy load to our backs. Anger, bitterness, jealousy, hurt, rejection…You can label all of these “heavy baggage.” Hanging onto them will weigh us down, at best, and completely cripple us emotionally and spiritually, at worst. Read more

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