Quote - Freedom

"When Jesus catches us it's to set us free."

~ Beth Moore

Quote - War

"The Islamic State has left no ambiguity about their aims. If you don’t think we are at war it is only because our courageous troops are fighting the battle in a faraway land so that you don’t have to know the very real threat every second of your life here at home (and for that we pray and support our troops in the battle)."

~ Michael A. Milton

Being a veteran I will always support my fellow soldiers.  In the United States, it is "out of sight, out of mind" we are not always aware of what is going on in the world.  Especially with all the crazy things going on right now that gets all the attention.  There are good soldiers all around the world fighting for the side of good.  Praying for their safety and return home to be with their families. 

Quote - Nonbelievers

"Often people avoid God because they see evildoers in the world and hypocrites in the church."  

~ NIV notes


I have heard many reasons why people don't want to become Christians and the two above seem to be at the top of the list.  People often ask why God allows bad things to happen if He is in charge.  John 14:30 says "the prince of this world is coming," Satan is the prince of this world.  I don't have an answer why evil is allowed to roam free except that God allows it.  We don't know why, but we should have faith that God knows exactly what He is doing.  

Hypocrites run rampant in many churches which will do more damage to push out new Christians or people thinking of becoming Christians.  The church is for sinners and we are all sinners.  If people are not acting like Jesus then don't take offense, that just means you are probably doing the right thing because the devil wants to trip you up.  

Remember that the enemy uses Christians all the time when they allow pride to get in between their relationship with God.  Don't let the enemy get a foothold because his roots run deep which you may not even notice until it's too late and they are extremely difficult to get rid of.

Quote - Self-Image

"People never out-perform their self-image."

~ John C. Maxwell

This is so true.  It's like a wall that we erect that we can't get past it. Look past what you think you are then you may be able to see yourself as God sees you.  It is nothing like what you see.  Our tendencies are to put ourselves down while building up others.  Our self image is created from a very early age. 

Do you know anyone who has been changed by a comment that someone made that broken their spirit and they live with that for the rest of their lives?  I have seen so many times people being affected by a hurtful comment made by those who are suppose to love and protect them.  At the time they don't see that the other person had their own issues.  They take in the negative and decide it must be a part of who they are which will be part of every decision they make for the rest of their lives.  Words can wound just like they can build up.  Why do we focus on the negative words and ignore the kind comments? 

The devil knows that if he can get us early in life then there may be a chance that we will remain stuck in our mess and won't be able to work for the Kingdom of God in any way. 

If you are in this position right now I hope you will take some time this year to focus on your thoughts.  Look into what you think and how it makes you feel.  You deserve a good life.  It does not matter what was said to you because God is more than those hateful words.  He loves you right in this very moment.  If you are thinking of all the bad things you have done because of the path you were set on by others, God can forgive that to.  It will be difficult to love others if we don't love ourselves.

Be kind to yourself, you may be the only one to do so.

Quote - Character in Leadership

"It is not wise or even possible to divorce private behavior from public leadership."

~ John C. Maxwell

This came from an email where John was talking about one of the worst president's - Warren G. Harding.  We can learn from the good and bad people from history, both are vital for learning life lessons.  Unfortunately people often repeat patterns from the past and many should stay as history.  Just like in the Bible, we are to learn from the choices people make and apply the lessons to our lives.  Everyone has hundreds of choices to make each day, but over time that is where our patterns develop into who we are as a person.  John also spoke about the people we choose to hang around with, those are the ones we will be more like than anyone else.  Mentors are important unless they are defeating your ability to grow as a person and holding you back.  We all have different levels of leadership (parenting, teachers, business leaders, etc) this applies to everyone not just CEO's.

Who are you choosing to spend your time with?  Do they lift you up and try to make you a better person or do they hold you down, not letting you grow in any way.

Why are you spending time with them?  Is there a need to be included or needed?  I would rather be alone than to be around someone who wants to drag me down.

Where to do you get your self-worth from?  If it's anything other than God then we will be disappointed. 

People will let you down throughout your life, but God is always there for you even if you pick the wrong people to be around.

Unfortunately people often repeat patterns from the past and many should stay as history.

New Year, New Plan

I haven't been on here that much this past year.  I'm not sure what is going on with me.  I am going to try to do better at posting more this year.  I would write in my planner to post on the blog last year and then just never do it.  The past year or so has been rather strange.  I never pretend I have it all together and this past year has really shown me that I am way off from where I should be.  I am trying to work on different areas this year, the most important ones that really matter.  As far as writing goes I want to post more and write a little every day.  I don't worry about starting on January 1st, I am slowly working on organizing my to do list (it's a mess) and making sure that I get things done.  I am one of those people who have a master to do list a mile long, I can write thirty things to do today in a couple of minutes.  The problem is that I don't have a very good system in actually doing the things on my to do list.  Thank you for stopping by even if I haven't been posting that much.  I'm a WIP (work in progress).