Smoke = Fire

If there is smoke, there is a fire. If there is trouble, there is a root. I do not believe in karma or luck or coincidence. I believe in a Sovereign God Who is actively involved in the affairs of men and that “things” don’t just happen. There is a cause and a purpose behind it. 

How I try to play this out in my life is when difficulties come, I seek to know what I can learn from these challenges. Or if it is something that is “on repeat” (i.e. I continually have to apologize for doing the same thing over and over,) I dig a little deeper to try and find the hurt, wound or lie that I am believing that is causing me to respond as I do. 

Unfortunately, there are times that instead of doing the deep work to get to the cause, I will just cover up the symptoms with food or sleep or busyness. (I am so grateful that heroin is not my drug of choice.) In the end, this only hurts myself.

May we be willing to do the hard work and find those causes and come out victorious on the other side.

Still Working Out...

And we know that in the end all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. If it is not worked out, it is not the end.

Integrity Lived Out

One of the highest compliments I ever received was by spiritual mentor who said I was a person of integrity. My definition of integrity includes not only doing the right thing but your yes being a yes and your no being a no. Has this made me “poorer”? For sure. 

Things like being way undercharged for a map book because the rookie cashier (nor I) could not find the price but when I found it later at home, going back and paying the difference. Financial costs. Making plans to help someone and then getting invited to something that would be more fun and not cancelling on them. Social cost. Saying you will have a project done by Friday and meeting deadlines. Time cost. 

But I would rather be poor in these areas and have integrity then be a fool and rich. May I always take the “high” road and not the cheap one. 

What about you? Does your talk match your walk? 

Impossible, Possible

Take those reasons and find someone who has overcome them. Learn from that person and make the impossible, possible.

Marriage Advise from A Single Lady

People have asked me, “You have never married, how can you offer marriage advise?” My usual answer is, “Because I have read the Bible.” The advice the Bible gives is not easy, but it can be trusted to be fruitful and effective.

A wife can be a source of blessing and honor for her husband or misery all the way down into his bones. The saying, “If mama ain’t happy, no one is happy” is a cliché but in many cases, it is true. The “temperature” of the home is often controlled by the woman of the house and I am not talking about the AC thermostat. Ladies, will you be a blessing to your husband or freeze everyone out because you don’t get your way? You have the choice.

Never Too Old

And the dream is never too old as well.

Watch Your Lips

One of the first counsels I received from a mentor was to be discreet. I was more than happy to take this counsel and apply it but had no idea what it meant. So, heading over to my favorite dictionary, Webster’s 1828 version, I learned that discreet means: prudent; wise in avoiding errors or evil, and in selecting the best means to accomplish a purpose; circumspect; cautious; wary; not rash.

Well, at the time of this counsel, none of these adjectives would be applied to me. But like the verse says, I needed to start being discreet so that I could maintain discretion. I did this by being slow to speak, seeking godly advice before making decisions, choosing what is right over what I want to do and looking for win-win solutions. Today, over a decade later, I am at the least still pursuing discretion and at times maintain it. How about you? Do you take the wise counsel of the writer of Proverbs and maintain discretion? 

What Else are You Going to Do?

Anger Management

It seems to me that the world is sooooo angry. Just recently in three different cities, two strangers have started arguing in a parking lot and in all three cases, while yelling at one another, someone pulls out a gun and shots the other one. And the person dies.  This is the ultimate of fully venting one’s anger. 

Anger in itself is not a sin…Jesus got angry and He was without sin. It becomes a sin when we do not hold that anger in check…when we vent it on those around us. True maturity is demonstrated when one, despite the justified situation, is meek rather than wrathful. 

110% All the Time

Only may succeed on hustle alone but there are few people who are success without it. Go lay it all on the line!

Good Name

This was the cornerstone verse for Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. He said in an interview with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, “I am always conscious of keeping my name in good order. Doing that, I believe, has been paying dividends for me even now, because in the restaurant business we have to do things right each and every time, not just sometimes.”

This is a challenging thought…doing the right thing every time. But we know it to be true…whether it is college football coaches or leaders in the church or ourselves…one indiscretion can ruin everything. You may still have the finances but family is torn apart, life purpose is destroyed and respect is lost. May we make the right choices today to keep a good name.

Tackle the Impossible

Prove your doubts wrong by tackling the impossible today.

Someone is Watching

I take it that since the year 1984 came and went over 2 decades ago, George Orwell’s classic is no longer a required reading in high school. But the phrase “Big Brother is watching” is still a part of our culture. Big Brother was Orwell’s fictional leader in Oceania and was watching every citizen all the time for “their own good.” Of course, he was watching for Oceania’s good not the citizens.

However, we do have Someone watching us all the time in every place and He truly is looking out for our good. And since He is all knowing and Sovereign, we do not need to fear His watching but rather trust His watchful care over us.

Life is an Adventure

Life is fluid….tragedy can strike and life totally changes. Trust in the Lord, submit to Him and He will direct your path.

Treasure Chest for You

If you knew there was a treasure chest full of silver, gold and jewels buried in your backyard, would you be quick to call the back-hoe rental place and start digging? Would you ignore sleepiness, bad weather or the season premiere of The Bachelor to get in the yard and start digging? Would you even be willing to dig with your shovels and picks if a back hoe was not available? Well, probably in your home is this type of chest and it is the Bible. In these 66 books, written over 1,000s of years ago by 35 scripts is a treasure trove of instruction, knowledge and wisdom that is better silver, gold and jewels. For many years, I was too pride to dig into it and at times now still too lazy to do it. But when I do…oh my!! I find gems and nuggets left and right. Praying that you take time this week to find yourself some nuggets.

What is in Your Head?

Your thoughts and your attitudes will make all the difference.

How’s Your Fuse?

It was just after 630 in the evening and I was driving to church to teach a Tuesday evening class. As I approached an intersection, a white vehicle blows around a red vehicle and crosses the intersection without stopping at the stop sign. The red vehicle then accelerates and passes the white one on a hill and then promptly slams on brakes.

Of course, by now I am just coasting down the road and being super mindful of what is going on. As the red vehicle goes over the hill, the white one makes a hard left and u-turns and almost blows my doors off going past me the opposite direction. As I crest the hill, I see the red vehicle fish tailing straight towards me in my lane. I hit the brakes and he was able to correct before blowing past me towards the white one.

What in the world?!?! What caused these men to take a 2.5+ ton weapon and swing it around carelessly? What set them off? Was one guy going too slow for the other or not responding quick enough in the intersection? Or was there something deeper – a fight that started earlier in the day, a girlfriend that has been going out on the other? Regardless, was that craziness worth whatever the “issue” that prompted it?

Then, I thought about some of my own reactions to things. I might not be doing a 180 in the middle of the street but how often do I get frustrated because I have to wait an extra 30 seconds or even 5 minutes? Or when people don’t know how to drive as well as me (at least in my opinion), do I turn to others or even myself and complain? Seriously, what good does that do?

As I saw it, these guys must have short fuses…may I work on having a longer fuse and practice the fruit of the Spirit, peace, patience, kindness. How about you? What makes your fuse go off? Do you need a longer one?

Step #1: Fear the Lord

Leaders are lifelong learners. The easiest and most effective way to learn more is to read (or listen to) more books. In 2014, the Pew Institute found that over 25% of American adults had not read a single book in 2013. This was triple what the number was in 1978. Don’t be like the crowd.

Are you in business? Read business books. Are you a parent? Read parenting books. Are you a spouse? Read marriage books. Are you a leader? Read leadership books. Do you relax? Read novels. Why not challenge yourself to read a book a month (or a week)? It will be life changing.

Don’t Let Fear Stop You

Courage is doing it afraid. Start moving towards your fears and they will fade.

Golden Words

A word spoken at the right time can change one’s life. How do I know? Because my life was changed. The word was choose. I was in a place in my life that because of my own choices and decisions, in a nutshell, was a disaster – emotionally, spiritually, financially, physically. But I was slowly crawling out of it through the Word of God, a great counselor and friends. However, it was HARD work.

Early one morning when the alarm went off and I didn’t want to get up to read my Bible let alone go to work, the song that played was I Choose Joy by Larnell Harris. (Check out this OLD music video of the song.) The word that jumped out to me was choose. It was empowering! I could choose to stay in bed and even skip work but what good would that do? All I had to do was look around me and know that my choosing the lazy way or the unhealthy things were leading me to places I never wanted to go back to. However, I could choose to flip the covers back, step onto that floor and start choosing the better way.

To this day, the power to choose right or wrong, good or better, better or best is still empowering me to move forward and not slide backwards. How about you? Do you have a word that was fitly spoken that is changing your life?