Reflection

Photo:  Israel
Taken by Nate Freeman

There comes a time in our lives that we must take personal inventory.  Just as a business manager takes inventory of the items in the store, we need to take an account of how we are spending our time, our words and our money.

Time

Time is one of our greatest commodities.  I have been guilty of saying, “I didn’t have enough time…” Then one day I was reminded that everyone is allotted the same 24 hours in a day.  It doesn’t matter if you live in the U.S. or in the nation of Nepal; there are still only 24 hours in a day.  The success of reaching our goals and desires rests on how we decide to utilize our time.  In the current state of our economy, everyone is looking for a way to increase his or her bottom line.    You are not going to increase your bottom line if you spent more time talking about how bad the economy is, than you are doing something about it.  Get educated.  Find a better job.  Start a business.  Learn new ways of spending less money on the same products you normally buy. 

Words

Our words are important and what we say matters.  Our words are the foundation on which our destiny is built.  I don’t know anyone who complained his or her way to a miracle or blessing.  It often is better to say nothing than it is to open our mouth and curse our future.   How we respond to adversity will determine our success through it.  When pressure is applied to a tube of toothpaste, we expect toothpaste.  What is coming out of your tube when pressure is applied?  The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart our mouth speaks.  The manufacturer puts toothpaste in the tube that is why we expect toothpaste to come out.  When we allow hurt, pain, envy, jealousy and rage to enter our heart, we should not be surprised what come out of our mouth.  Only God can heal those hurts, but we must stand guard.

Money

Money can be like the three states of matter.  As a solid, it is there when you need it.   We put water in the freezer to become ice, so that when we need it it becomes a liquid so we can use it.  It is like putting money in the bank.  We also need money to be liquid so that we can use it to pay bills, buy clothes and live.  As a gas money is there one moment and gone the next.   We need to remain good stewards over our money and remember not to despise our day of small beginnings.

Don't Quit!!!

If you ever feel like quitting, or you don't think you can make it, watch this inspirational video.

At War From the Womb

At War From the Womb

Overcoming the Woe is Me Complex

One of the key components to having victoryin our life is to resist the temptation of thinking we are the only one who hasto weather a storm when we are faced with tough times.  We have to remember that it rains on the justand the unjust. 

When I was 2 years old, my mother was awakenin the middle of the night.  I had beensick throughout the day and the doctor diagnosed me with an upper respiratoryproblem.  My mother was emphatic that itwas more and her and my father rushed me to the hospital where I was laterdiagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  I wasin the early stages of a coma when my parents brought me into the ER.  If I would have slept through the night Iwould be dead.  No blog, no marriage,kids or ministry.

One of the many things my parents instilledin me was to never feel sorry for myself. If I we all look close enough we will see people better off than us andpeople worse.  We have to learn tomake the most of the hand we are dealt.  For every plan the devil has to destroy us andtake us out, God has a bigger and better plan to keep us, restore us and blessus.  Survival is a choice.  It is this mental toughness that helped me toovercome blindness, kidney failure and 38 years of diabetes.  God is not a respecter of people.  If He did it for me, He will do it foryou! 

If this post encouraged you, please share it.  I know that when I faced battles in my lifeit was always nice to hear an encouraging story.