Ten PracticalTips

These are just ten practical tips for success that I received in an email at work.  I thought I would share it with you.

Ten Tips

1. Be yourself: cultivate desirable qualities.

2. Be alert: look for opportunities to express yourself.

3. Be positive: determine your goal and the route to it.

4. Be systematic: take one step at a time.

5. Be persistent: hold to your course.

6. Be a worker: work your brain more than your body.

7. Be a student: know your job.

8. Be fair: treat the other man as you would be treated.

9. Be temperate: avoid excess in anything.

10. Be confident: have faith that cannot be weakened.

It's time for you to take control. . . of your emotions!

This post was inspired by a Facebook post by one of my favorite teenagers.  He posted, "No one can drive you crazy.  . . unless you give them the keys."  So true, Shaun!!!  It reminded me of my favorite quote by Eleanor Roosevelt, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  This quote along with the Bible changed how I view myself.  For years, I allowed people to control how I felt about myself!  My new favorite quote is "A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."  I work in catering and a lot of times business executives will call me at the last minute and ask me to cater an event that they forgot to do.  This used to really stress me out, but I no longer allow it.  Don't get me wrong, I will still do my best to get them what they need because they are good customers, but they or anyone else will not be allowed to stress me out.  My point?? You have control over your own emotions.  No one can "push your buttons" if you don't let them.   They are called YOUR emotions for a reason.  They belong to you. 

From this point on, don't allow people to put you down, make you angry, stress you out, or depress you.  Choose to believe what the Word of God says about you, your life, and your circumstances!  Make a choice today as to whether you are going to be emotion-led or Spirit-led.  Our own emotions will lie to us, but the Spirit of God will never steer us wrong!

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I just read a post on a popular Christian facebook page that saddens me.  First, a guy posted the salvation plan.  That's great. What disturbed me was the comment by the administrator of the page.  He said if you read that salvation plan that you will have eternal life.  That is a lie from the pits of hell.  Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we can simply read something and go to heaven.  This made me think of another lie that is circulating around about salvation.  Many are teaching that if you simply believe Jesus was raised from the dead that you will go to heaven.  I hate to break it to you, but Satan believes that and I promise you that Satan is not saved!! 

James 2:18-20 says this "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?  So what exactly does this mean? If we give to the poor and try to live a life as a "good person" then we are going to heaven.  Absolutely not.  The works that James is talking about here is described in Acts chapter 2.  It is not saying you have to "work" you way into heaven, but you do have to do the requirements that have been outlined in the Bible. Acts 2:38 "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. "

Prior to this verse, the people were convicted and asked Peter what they should do.  Be clear on this.  The Bible says if you do not complete these steps, you are not saved.  1.  Believe.  These people were in a believing state when they asked Peter what to do.  2.  Confess.  Romans 10:9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  Notice it says, "SHALL BE" or will be.  This is the beginning step. You must keep going.  3. Repent (turn away from your sins.) In other words, don't keep living a life of sin, but stop! 4.  Be baptized.  Many people argue against this.  Jesus did and the Bible clearly states for us to do it.  I don't .really understand what the problem is.  5.  Be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Romans 8:9 says, " Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

I pray that whoever reads this heeds these words. You are not saved by simply believing or even going to church.  Every step is required.  Many people leave out repentance.  If you are still living a life of sin, you are not saved.

 

 

 

You Can't Handle the Truth

That is my absolute favorite line from any movie when Jack Nicholson tells Tom Cruise, “you can't handle the truth” in a Few Good Men. That describes so many people today! We have been such a feeling-oriented society to where we would rather someone lie to us than tell us what's wrong so we an change it. The bible says, “To accept correction is wise, to reject it is stupid." (CEV) according to Proverbs 12:1. Did you see that? The Bible says this certain behavior is stupid. Can you imagine the reaction we would get if we tell a person that their behavior is stupid? They would probably say “you are bringing me down”. “You hurt my feelings.” When in actuality, when you tell a person the truth, you are giving them the chance to come up. I am seen many women get upset when a family member tells them they have gained weight. My question is, “Did you yell at the mirror when it told you the same thing?” You know your pants have gotten hard to button! The Bible says “the Truth shall set you free”. That is the Truth that you know and accept. In order for you to know it, someone has to tell you or you have to read it. Why do so many people get mad at preachers who preach against certain sins? They are simply quoting the Bible. When the Bible says certain sins are an abomination, that's exactly what it means. There is no symbolism to abomination. It means exactly what it says. My Pastor's wife said the other day that people don't get mad when a doctor tells you to quit smoking, but when a preacher does they call it judging. So true! You mean to tell me that you are mad that someone is trying to help you live longer! That is why the Bible calls the behavior of a person that doesn't accept correction STUPID. The Bible tells us to examine ourselves. Please do so. Do you get mad when a person tells you something about yourself that is true? Do you get mad at the pastor when he calls out your certain sin? If so, then change immediately. You will never go higher in life, naturally or spiritually, if you don't change this.

Watch your Mouth

Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 

We, as Christians, are quick to correct someone when they cuss in front of you. We tell them that offends us.  When, in reality, many times we are offending God.  The word “cuss” is actually slang for “curse” and that is what offends God.  I am not just talking about “4 letter words” or those words that we don’t allow our kids to say.  According to the Bible, cursing is speaking negatively against something or someone or speaking destruction or lack onto something or someone.

In Numbers chapter 13, God told Moses to send out 12 spies to spy the land of Canaan “which I am giving to the children of Israel. .  “  Ten of those spies came back afraid and complaining how big the enemies were.  In verse 32, the Bible called this an evil report.  Now they weren’t lying.  What that they was really true.  What made it an evil report was that they were in fear when God had already promised them the land.  God knew there were giants there when He promised it to them.  They developed fear which is faith in the negative things rather than faith in what God had promised them.  Without faith, it is absolutely impossible to please God. 

There were two men that came back with a faith-filled report.  Caleb:  (verse 30)  “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” and Joshua: (Chapter 14 verse 7-9)  “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.”

Notice Joshua said if the Lord delighted in them, he would take them into the land.  How does the Lord delight in us?  FAITH.  I repeat, WITHOUT FAITH IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD!!!  It happened just as Joshua said,  all the people that were complaining and in fear did not go into the promise land.  Only Joshua and Caleb made it in. 

Just remember when you speak your circumstances rather than the promises of God, you are giving an evil report!  Every day, when you wake up, tell yourself,  “Watch your mouth” and do so throughout the day.  Make sure you are only speaking faith-filled words which is the Word of God and watch your life be filled with the promises of God.

Don't Be Afraid of Shadows

Since I started studying photography, I am constantly looking for photo opportunities, my favorite being trees. Today I was looking at a tree beside a building and I notice that the shadow, like most shadows, was way larger than the tree and distorted. Immediately the 23rd Psalm popped in my head, the part in verse 4 where is says “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. ” ll these years of hearing that scripture, I thought he was walking through the valley of death, but he was the valley of the SHADOW of death. Then after that part of the scripture, it says “I will fear no evil.” When we walk through the shadow of death, we aren’t actually in danger. We are walking in fear!!! It made me think of the cartoon where the person sees the big scary shadow and gets really afraid and then when they go around the corner, it is a little bitty mouse. I know I have been walking at night and seen a big shadow in front of me and thought someone was behind me and it was actually my own shadow. That is where they get the saying “afraid of your own shadow.”

In the book of Job, many people love to quote the scripture where Job says,
“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” Job is talking about God in this passage saying that God was the one that did those things to him. When in actually, it is obvious in chapter 1 of Job that Satan did that to him. Job was in error when he made that statement and actually repented of it later in Job 42:3-6. Job admitted that he didn’t understand what he was saying. Although it was Satan that did those things to Job, it was his own fear that allowed it to happen. Job 3:25 says “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”

All throughout the Bible, God is telling us to “Fear not”. Fear is the opposite of faith. Jesus said in Matthew 8:26 “ Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.” Also, in Hebrews it says “without faith, it is impossible to please God.” Why is that? God knows that our lives are formed by either our fear or our faith and he loves us and wants the best for us, that is why it pleases Him for us to have faith

A shadow is defined as a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light. God is light and we see shadows when we allow something to come between us and God.

A shadow is defined as shelter or protection. Psalm 91 says “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” So we have a choice to allow ourselves to be in the shadow of something in between God and us and allowing fear to come into our lives or to live in the shadow of God’s wings where there is protection and safety.

A shadow is usually magnified or bigger than the actual object. David said in Psalms 34:3 “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.” By magnifying the Lord, we don’t make Him any bigger. We only make him bigger in our eyes. When we magnify God, we are simply focusing on Him rather than our circumstances.

So, I want you to ask yourself “Am I going to let that thing that you fear come upon me?” or “Am I going to live by faith and speak to storms and move mountains out of my life and live in God’s shadow of protection and safety and be more than a conqueror?”

I Must Confess

Confession, or speaking the Word of God out loud has a very important role in the life of the Believer. Unfortunately, the majority of Christians are not consistently confessing God's Word into their lives.
The basic definition of faith is believing that the Word of God is true and acting on it. II Corinthians 4:13 says, "We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;" If you truly believe something, then you are going to be speaking it. Matthew 12:34 of the New Living Translation says, "For whatever is in your heart determines what you say." So if you believe what the Word of God says, then what you say is going to line up with it. If you always say, "I can't win for losing," then you are not believing the Bible when it tells you that you always triumph in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 2:14). Romans 10:10 says, "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The Greek word for salvation, soteria, in this verse not only means the saving of our soul from hell, but it also includes deliverance, healing, well being, peace, and prosperity. So our prosperity, healing, well being, etc. is tied to us speaking what the Word of God says about these things. Of course, you have to know what the Word says about these things in order to speak it. Proverbs 18:21 says that our words have the power to bring death or life to us. So please stop saying, "This job is killing me!"
In the beginning, God created the world by speaking and he created us in his image. We create our world by what we are speaking. If you don't like your life, then check out what you have been saying. Choose life today. Choose to speak the Word of God not your negative circumstances. You might say, "I don't want to lie." You are not lying when you speak God's Word. His Word is truth. In Romans 4:17, it says that Abraham spoke of nonexistent things as if they already existed. He wasn't lying, he was speaking what God had already promised him. Now this is not a magic formula where you can say something and it pops up. You must believe in your heart what you are saying (Mark 11:23) and your actions must line up with what you are saying (James 2:20). In the next post, I will explain how confession works.