Girlfriends!! Happy Monday! Never say "O no, it's Monday!" When you take that approach, you invite a less than excellent day and lose 24 hours from your week! Monday ROCKS! :)
Excellence = Distinction. It denotes doing, going and being above average. I don't know about you but I don't like words like normal, average, typical...I believe God gives to each of us special talents, gifts, and abilities so that we will utilize them in an excellent way. Don't confuse excellence with perfection, which only brings disappointment and frustration. As leading fitness expert Tony Horton says, "Do your best and forget the rest!"
Whatever our hands find to do, today, let's do it with excellence. Go the second mile. Do more than is expected and that doesn't necessarily mean working harder - it means to pay attention to the need at hand and think outside the box for the best results - it could mean taking more time for some-ONE today rather than some THING or slowing down to do a few things well rather than trying to cram in 1,000 things with mediocre results...as we journey along, let's take along a small bag with a great can-do-think-the-best-of-others attitude, a willingness to give up some personal comfort and time to encourage someone else and a prayer on our lips to recognize the opportunities we encounter to affect the world around us in word and deed!
May God be honored as we seek to practice excellence in his name, today.
Still Climbing,
Cher
Monday
"Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly." John 7:24
Religion. Jesus hates it. No, REALLY! He told the religious leaders of his day that they were hypocrites, white washed tombstones that looked clean on the surface but inside were full of dead men's bones....he chided them to wash the inside for cleanliness rather than focusing on ceremonial washing. A radical thought then and now! It's easier to follow a set of rules than to give ourselves to developing a relationship and millions of people do it every day, around the globe. Are you a rule follower or a relationship builder? Which am I?
Here's the down low. Religion is all about the outside and how to clean it up nice and pretty so it looks good. Do this and don't dare do that! Go here but don't go there! Make friends with these people but avoid those at all costs and on the list of rules goes. Lean in friends.....grasp with me, once again, that God is interested in relationship....not rules!
The one who is forgiven of much loves much, Jesus said. As we learn to know God and realize the grace he freely offers us, through his Son's atoning death on a cruel cross, our devotion should grow and we will want to love him more in our comings, goings and doings...not so as to follow a set of rules but from a heart of gratitude and devotion to the One who loved us and gave himself up for us. I want to love him more!
Follow after relationship, friends, not rules. A good reminder for my own heart today as it is prone to follow a set of rules and wander from the joy of relationship.
Still Climbing,
Cher
Here's the down low. Religion is all about the outside and how to clean it up nice and pretty so it looks good. Do this and don't dare do that! Go here but don't go there! Make friends with these people but avoid those at all costs and on the list of rules goes. Lean in friends.....grasp with me, once again, that God is interested in relationship....not rules!
The one who is forgiven of much loves much, Jesus said. As we learn to know God and realize the grace he freely offers us, through his Son's atoning death on a cruel cross, our devotion should grow and we will want to love him more in our comings, goings and doings...not so as to follow a set of rules but from a heart of gratitude and devotion to the One who loved us and gave himself up for us. I want to love him more!
Follow after relationship, friends, not rules. A good reminder for my own heart today as it is prone to follow a set of rules and wander from the joy of relationship.
Still Climbing,
Cher
Saturday
My Need His Grace
As I was taking my power walk this morning, I was reminded of my need and God's grace in my life and I began to talk to my Heavanly Father about the people I love. As I poured my heart out to God for this one and then another, I began to ask that "Sammy" would see his need...his need to know the God who created and loves him and that, as he sees his need, God would reveal and extend his amazing grace to meet that need.
We know that in order for Sammy to make any genuine change, he must first feel a need to do so and once he feels the need, he must see some way to make the change.
The problem is, In Sammy's world, little to no time is taken for quiet reflection but every waking moment is filled with noise and distraction and this makes it highly unlikely Sammy will recognize his need unless something happens to get his attention.
Still, there is power in "standing in" for Sammy who hasn't yet seen his need. The One who created him knows how best to speak to his need for rescue, for redemption, for a restored relationship with his Creator. It may be at 3:15 AM in that quiet hour where "the knowing place" inside Sammy is alert for a brief window of opportunity or it could be in an encounter with a stranger that shows him something of his need. Whatever the situation, our place is to pray for the need to be recognized and met.
Talk to God about the ones you love, today. Ask him to reveal to your "Sammy" his/her need - and if you know some of the specifics of the particular need in that person, share your heart with God and ask for the grace of our loving God to meet the need. Then walk in faith knowing the God "who desires all men to be saved" will create opportunities and whisper in those quiet moments an offer of amazing grace.
We know that in order for Sammy to make any genuine change, he must first feel a need to do so and once he feels the need, he must see some way to make the change.
The problem is, In Sammy's world, little to no time is taken for quiet reflection but every waking moment is filled with noise and distraction and this makes it highly unlikely Sammy will recognize his need unless something happens to get his attention.
Still, there is power in "standing in" for Sammy who hasn't yet seen his need. The One who created him knows how best to speak to his need for rescue, for redemption, for a restored relationship with his Creator. It may be at 3:15 AM in that quiet hour where "the knowing place" inside Sammy is alert for a brief window of opportunity or it could be in an encounter with a stranger that shows him something of his need. Whatever the situation, our place is to pray for the need to be recognized and met.
Talk to God about the ones you love, today. Ask him to reveal to your "Sammy" his/her need - and if you know some of the specifics of the particular need in that person, share your heart with God and ask for the grace of our loving God to meet the need. Then walk in faith knowing the God "who desires all men to be saved" will create opportunities and whisper in those quiet moments an offer of amazing grace.
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