Celebrate To Motivate

It's Thursday, February 17, 2011.  My how time flies...whether you're having fun or not!  It's beautiful outside.  The sun is shinning.  I'm just finishing my morning cup of cappuccino and wondering how to get motivated for the day.  Have you noticed:  there's always more to do than we can possibly accomplish in one day.  We work 'till we drop and the next day there's just as much on our 'to-do' list.  FYI:  You will never get it all done.  Each day has it's demands.  The real daily issue is motivation.

MOTIVATE
I read (somewhere) that if you read positive motivational quotes to encourage and empower yourself. You will start feeling better of yourself.  Obviously, if you feel better about yourself you will get it done, pull it off, nail it....you will achieve ...achieve  means 'to bring to a successful conclusion'  and accomplish  means 'to perform fully'. 

Your energy level rises as your outlook on life increases.  That's a fact.  If you feel defeated, sluggish, or unhappy with life, raise/improve the mental image of who you are and what you can do. 

Jim Rohn - The guy says, "When you work where I work, by the time you get home, it's late. You've got to have a bite to eat, watch a little TV, relax and get to bed. You can't sit up half the night planning, planning, planning." And he's the same guy who is behind on his car payment!

John Lubbock - A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.

Dale Carnegie - Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.

Denis Waitley - The results you achieve will be in direct proportion to the effort you apply.

David wrote in Psalm 42:5  "Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God— soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God.

You must have a sense of success at the end of the day. 

CELEBRATE

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." This portion from the message Bible reads: This is the very day God acted—let's celebrate and be festive! Salvation now, God. Salvation now! Oh yes, God - a free and full life!

Celebrating increases motivation. You will never celebrate if you wait until you feel like it.  Choose to celebrate!   The Lord made this day and...because He gave me life on this day that He made...I have the right to celebrate! If God acted on this day - I should act, too!

Celebrate: to observe a day or commemorate an event

with ceremonies or festivities -

glorify, honor, applaud, commend. 

The Lord created the day - but it's up to us to rejoice in the day.  Wrap your mind around the fact that you have the choice to rejoice.  Celebrate on purpose. Celebrate something, even if it is small!   Allow yourself to live!  Give yourself permission to have a good life.  The more you exert control over the day - the more reason you find to live.  Celebrate...and you will discover more reason to celebrate.

We have this motivational thing backward!  Publications and qualified speakers inspire us to be motivated in order to accomplish.  They are accomplished motivators!  But...when the session is concluded, the class disbanded, you are home, and life returns to 'normal' - motivation ceases.  Why?  Because there's no action on your part to determine the day.  External motivation alone is short-lived.   God made the day - He acted.  We have a day - we should act. Your action is faith in motion.  That's power.  Rejoice.  Celebrate.

Celebration leads to Motivation!  God is right, as usual.

Celebrate...to Motivate
.

Story of a Sage and a Prince

Boredom launched my online search for funny stories.  I stumbled on a web site for children.  I wanted to share this one.  It's a children's story with a great lesson for all ages.  I think you will like it.

THREE SMALL DOLLS

A sage presented a prince with a set of three small dolls. The prince was not amused.

"Am I a girl that you give me dolls?" he asked.
"This is a gift for a future king," said the man. "If you look carefully, you'll see a hole in the ear of each doll."
"So?"

The sage handed him a piece of string.
"Pass it through each doll," he said.
Intrigued, the prince picked up the first doll and put the string into the ear.
It came out from the other ear.
"This is one type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him, comes out from the other ear. He doesn't retain anything."

The prince put the string into the second doll. It came out from the mouth.
"This is the second type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him, he tells everybody else."
The prince picked up the third doll and repeated the process. The string did not reappear from anywhere else.

"This is the third type of person," said the man. "Whatever you tell him is locked up within him. It never comes out."

"What is the best type of person?" asked the prince.

The man handed him a fourth doll, in answer.
When the prince put the string into the doll, it came out from the other ear.
"Do it again," said the sage. The prince repeated the process. This time the string came out from the mouth. When he put the string in a third time, it did not come out at all.

"This is the best type of person," said the sage. "To be trustworthy, a man must know when not to listen, when to remain silent and when to speak out."

THE 7th MAN !

Never underestimate the presence, power, or purpose of Jesus Christ.  To be honest, I am thrilled to tell you that Jesus cannot be restrained by our religious legalism or finite perceptions of Who He is - What He can do or Where He can go.  I am excited to tell you that Jesus can and will do that which He has resolved to do.  He does not ask for my permission as He connects with humanity, calling the least likely, anointing the unlovable, showing up when we least expect it...He just IS and WILL be in control.   I am grateful beyond measure that there is a 'just' God in Heaven! 

The Word tells of encounters between Jesus and people...when they least expected it.  One of my favorites is the woman at the well, found in John 4.  Jesus told his disciples: I need to go through Samaria.   They arrived at a well.  Jesus sat there while He sent the disciples into town to buy food.  A woman came to draw water from that same well.  She didn't know Jesus.  She wasn't expecting a face-to-face conversation with the Son of God!  She was a Samaritan. Jesus asked her for a cup of water.  Now, Jews didn't share a cup with a Samaritan! Especially with a woman whose life had little value.  She was despised, had an abusive past, a rejected person, a person at her wit's end...and even worse, she was a woman scorned by society...and to think, Jesus was waiting for her! 

This is what I'm trying to relate about Jesus!  He makes appointments with rejected, hurting people and He doesn't wait for an RSVP.  Knowing everything about this woman's life...Jesus deliberately traveled to the exact location...at the exact time, knowing she would be there.  And...He arrived ahead of her!  This unnamed woman didn't know how to be spiritual...she only perceived the natural world.  She didn't know how to make this spiritual moment happen!  She was just doing what she did every day.  Just doing life.  Nothing more. 

Another point:  He sent the men away for food.  She would not have been comfortable around them, after all, they were Jewish.  She would have been less approachable had they remained.  That which could not have happened in the presence of several...did happen in the presence of the One.  Jesus will clear the room, if necessary, in order to have a private talk with you.  He protected her. He knew she was fragile.  Oh, that we could see the frail, thin thread holding a life together, rather than focusing on the external marks of sin.  He didn't slam her with condemnation for her past nor did he look down on her.  He spoke to her as a loving father.

In the middle east when you ask for something, you've just lowered yourself.  Jesus lowered Himself... as with the woman caught in adultery...He stooped.  You can't 'stoop' and appear self-righteous at the same time.  Jesus is all about life-change.  It is Kingly...to place the need in a life above the pride of who we are...or...who we think we are!  The conversation at the well provided Jesus opportunity to transform a fleshly focused woman.  Through spiritual enlightenment she gained a revelation of the identity of the Son of God!

I so appreciate the extreme love shown by Jesus for humanity.   When I don't understand / He explains.  When I am not spiritual / He doesn't avoid me.  When I have pain / He heals.  When I don't have a clue about how to meet him / He just arranges an appointment and waits for me to show up.  When I don't know what to say / He initiates the conversation.

Conclusion:  Jesus told the woman at the well that she'd had five husbands...and the man she was living with was not her husband. Do the math.  Her life became whole, transformed, enlightened, and her shame turned to boldness, after a conversation, a face-to-face meeting (which she didn't arrange) with the Son of God - - -
     SHE MET THE 7th MAN AND SHE WAS NEVER THE SAME.

Oh, by the way,  "7" is God's Number of Completion! 

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
.

Buzzard Food

...not a vulture...NOON, 2/5/11

The two of us were enjoying the pool's warm water and soaking in the sun's rays.  A few other people were there.  One lady was stretched out in a lounge located in the opposite corner of the pool area, sunbathing.  Suddenly, vultures or buzzards flew overhead.  At least three birds continued to cruise...circling the air space above our heads.  Not good.  Big birds.  Not good.  They resembled the vultures or buzzards portrayed in western movies...those you see circling above a carcass. 

We watched.  And kept watching.  I was a little bothered!   I'd always heard there was something dead nearby whenever buzzards kept circling - and they were getting ready to enjoy dinner.  I find it strange that while flying so far up in the air they can still spot something not moving on the ground.   Their eyesight must be incredible.  Two or three of these big black birds were hanging around a little too long for comfort...my comfort! 

I saw no reason for these birds to do their thing at the pool...we were alive and moving!  Only the lady in the lounge chair at the far end was not moving.  I named her "The Still Lady."  By this time I made a wise decision: keep moving.  Look alive!   I read that vultures usually don't kill their prey and they seldom attack healthy animals, but they will often kill the wounded or sick.  I couldn't help but relate this to something spiritual.

Titus 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Here's a gross fact (as though you needed to know): Vultures urinate straight down their legs; the uric acid kills bacteria accumulated from walking through carcasses. I told you it was gross !! How disgusting is the enemy! The enemy of our soul is beyond disgusting! He is putrid. He is repugnant. Disgusting.

Spiritual inactivity results in a lifeless condition.  It's dangerous to appear as road kill.  Road kill invites vultures.  Prolonged hopelessness, guilt...can eat away at a healthy Christian until they become spiritually sick.  Alive, but paralyzed.  The enemy walks (or flys in this case) to and fro, seeking whom he may devour...his eyes lock on the sickness...he flys to the atmosphere of helplessness...circles overhead, watching and waiting for the disease of dispair to weaken his prey...patiently soaring, knowing his moment to move in and devour (1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:).  John 10:10 tells us that the thief comes to where we are with the purpose to destroy us.  He has no other interest.

HE IS NOT: 

- a little man in a red suit with horns/pitchfork. 
- your friend.
- providing a people party in hell, complete with trays of treats. 

Jesus came to give abundant life - the kind of life which shows the world that we are alive while living. Maybe you need to become active - move - go forward - let your speech be positive - look alive! You deserve to live and you have a right to love living. Jesus is for you. He wants you to renew your strength and soar like an eagle. Look Alive! Could it be that you've become lethargic...and the enemy is soaring above you...waiting for you to weaken?


John 10:10  "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  As the Message Bible says:  I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

Remember:  You are not road kill.  You are valuable to God.  You may have problems, but you are still 'alive' and you can defeat the enemy and continually rejoice in the knowledge of who you are in Christ.  Jesus overcame the world.  Victory awaits you.  If life has made it impossible for you to pursue your profession - then you can began to pursue your dream.  You must not lie down in defeat.  God will make a way when and where there seems to be no way!

Sometime later (at the pool) I looked for "The Still Lady" at the other end of the pool and she was gone.  All of a sudden a huge buzzard flew close overhead.  I figured it was time to leave.  And I did.  After all, I have things to do!!

.....

People. We need them.

For over a month now I've visited friends, family...covering many miles.  It's been good. It all started just before Christmas.  I remember how cold the weather was as I drove to NW Arkansas on the way to my grandson's house for Christmas Eve.  I stopped at the store to pick up items needed for making a huge pot of chicken and dumplings.  Oh my, it was cold!  Chilling...cold.  But we had such a great time.  I have 2 children and several grands....all totaling eleven if I include those connected by marriage.  We drove from different states just to enjoy that one evening together.  Since that night, I've taken time to be with friends and family. 

Life is fast paced.  Seldom do we have time to just visit.  Families no longer live close in one community, as in years past.  We are scattered from state to state.  Fortunately, technology allows us to maintain contact easily.   Facebook is a great tool for social contact.  It's allowed me to reconnected with friends from the past and touch base with relatives that I seldom see.  Now I can keep up with folks through their posts and pictures.  I feel that they are a part of my life again. 

I enjoyed visiting, but now it's coming to an end.  It's time to settle down - work at being productive.  I've learned that staying busy is not the same as being productive.  Most of all, I desire to be productive for the Kingdom of God.  Thankfully, our life can glorify Him as we live out each day.  Even writing this blog can be a source of service for my Lord.

I thank the Lord that we have each other.  We can't live without friends and family.  I don't have brothers or sisters...so every church family became like relatives to me.  People are a God's gift to us.  Oh, that we would take the time to enlarge our list of contacts - build new relationships - and keep each other encouraged.

Maybe this can be your new resolution this year.  Determine to enrich your own life by reaching out to someone you've had little or no contact with for some time...or to a person in need.  Isolation and loneliness easily drains the joy of living for many folks - you can make such a difference in their life.  I have a feeling it's a lot easier to do than we realize.  You are creative.  You have a lot of love to give. Never underestimate who you are and what you have to give to others.  As you share love - you increase satisfaction and fulfillment in your own life.  

I challenge you to reach out - overcome timidity - touch a life - because one day...that person will reach out to you...and probably at the time you need it most.

Thank God for people.   There are plenty of them out there for us..and they are valuable.

Be blessed...
.............................................

What Do You Want To Do Next?

I opened a new tab on my computer - and those words appeared at the top of the page, printed in blue slightly darker than the background, subdued, yet with just enough color to catch my attention. 

What do you want to do next?

This is an interesting question...What do you want to do next?  The question implies that I have already done something and now it's time to do something different.  What do I want to do next?   What do you want to do next?

The first of the year seems to be our opportunity to launch a new beginning - steer the course of our life in a different direction - fulfill the dreams which have loomed before us for years - make life count.  Your answer to this question might be different than mine...yet we still want to do something "Next" - the question is ...what...and how...
  

Most of us don't have a clear map in front of us saying "go here" - "do this" - yet we all long for a life that's filled with purpose, provision and in the right place.  God put inside of us a longing to be and to do more than we have already become and done.  This is what drives us.  It keeps us from being satisfied with mediocre living.  If you aren't satisfied with the "same" -  that can be a good thing. It means you are searching and longing for what you want to do next...

The new tab also displayed options below the question "What do you want to do next?"....and there are options in your life as well.  A person who knows Jesus Christ as Savior is never boxed in.  Our Creator makes a way when there seems to be no way.  That means that our life is not over. There are options we've not yet discovered.  There are doors not yet opened.

 

The starting point for "What's Next" doesn't begin with us.  Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life gives great insight: 
...we typically begin at the wrong starting point—ourselves. We ask self-centered questions like, “What do  I want to be? What should I do with my life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future?”  But focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.

The Bible says, “It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his power.”

Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminars tell you, you won't discover your life’s meaning by looking within yourself.  You’ve probably tried that already.  You didn’t create yourself, so there is no way you can tell yourself what you were created for!  If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn’t know its purpose and the invention itself  wouldn't be able to tell you either.  Only the creator or the owner's manual could reveal its purpose.

So, What's Next?  What's next is simple.  Obviously, it is seeking the Creator.  What's next ... could be nothing more than building a strong relationship with the Lord.  Getting to know Him...spending time with Him.   He provides the manual for our lives.  I can trust Him.  He has quite a reputation for parting the sea, walking on water, closing the mouths of hungry lions, raising the dead, and confusing the enemy. 


While I'm soaking in His presence and allowing Him to lavish His love on me  -  probably...the "What's Next" will appear.  It will be accurate, fulfilling...complete with purpose, provision, place and total fulfillment.  Sigh a sigh of satisfaction...What God does in me and for me and with me... will be right.  It will work.


"I love my life" ... "I love living" appears frequently on facebook posts...not all of us can honestly say that because there's still a vacancy in our purpose department.  God meant for us to love being alive and love living.  It's a waste to be alive and not love living.  Jesus came so that we could have life abundantly.  Most of us just need to seek the Kingdom ....  Revelation is better than Speculation.  We can stop speculating when we receive a revelation from God.

Andrei Bitov, a Russian novelist, grew up under a government that

denied the existence of God.  But God got his attention one dreary day.

He recalls, "In my twenty-seventh year, while riding the metro

in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) I was overcome with a despair

so great that life seemed to stop at once, preempting the future entirely,

let alone any meaning.  Suddenly, all by itself, a phrase appeared:

"Without God life makes no sense."

Repeating it in astonishment, I rode the phrase up like a moving

staircase, got out of the metro and walked into God's light.

If life without God makes no sense - then life with God makes perfect sense.  I'm looking for "What's Next" and only my Creator has the answer.  He has an answer for your "What's Next" as well.  Don't give up.  Go for it.  The year awaits.

What do you want to do next?

.............

Celebrate Christmas? Yes.

 Isaiah 9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

Luke 1 and 2  relates Christ's conception and birth. Vs 35 says: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luke 2:11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Is it okay to celebrate Christmas? 

What about the origin of Christmas?  

Christmas was originally a very pagan holiday.  SATURNALIA: The ancient Roman seven-day festival of Saturn, which began on December 17.    2)  (used with a sing. verb) A celebration marked by unrestrained revelry and often licentiousness; an orgy. - The Saturnalia celebrated Saturn as a harvest god.  Wreaths, feasts, and the lighting of candles all continue the Saturnalia of the ancient Romans, although the modern reasons are far removed from the Pagans of the Classical World.

Excerpts from Skip Moen's daily email (Today's Word) explains how the once pagan holiday turned into what we now know as Christmas:

"The Romans celebrated it as Saturnalia, a week of lawless disorder in efforts to appease the gods, culminating in the death of an innocent victim.  The Greeks observed the same sort of holiday complete with sexual immorality and torture.  The Church adopted this holiday by converting it into a Christian celebration during the 4th Century, a time when large numbers of pagans entered the fold of the official Church.  Unfortunately, the pagan masses continued to celebrate in the old way, with drunkenness, sexual license and other abuses.  There is historical evidence that some of these practices continued into the Middle Ages, aimed at humiliating Jews as the enemies of the Church.  As late at 1881, anti-Semitic brutality was still associated with “Christmas” in some areas in Europe. 

Historically, the reason for the season was an excuse to do whatever human lust demanded without repercussions.  Today we have been Christianized.  If Christmas was still observed in the manner of Saturnalia, no true Christian would participate.  In fact, Christians would protest.  Furthermore, for the vast majority of our culture, Christmas isn’t really about the Christ either.  It’s about presents, parties and good cheer.

Should Christians stop celebrating Christmas?  If we know the history, and we disavow any connection to the pagan origins, can we still observe such a date as a “sacred” celebration?  Or are we required to remove Christmas from our lives because it has such a terrible history behind it?  Can’t we simply take the opportunity to be with our families, enjoy giving, celebrate God’s goodness, fellowship and grace without endorsing the pagan origins?

Frankly, I’m not quite sure.  But I do recognize some interesting precedents.  Genesis is replete with pagan cultural symbols that have been “converted” by God into acceptable patterns of righteousness.  Circumcision was practiced in ancient cultures long before it became a sign of the covenant.  It was originally a rite of passage associated with sexuality.  God made it His sign by changing its context.  The pagan mythology of the creation of the world was altered by God in the Genesis account.  God adapts culture to His purposes when necessary.

 I don’t want to endorse paganism but I am not yet convinced that contemporary Christmas is now anything more than a worldwide sales campaign.  "

Much of our society has moved the celebration of Christmas far from the announcement of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God.  Could this be the reason we are miserable while celebrating?  Perhaps this is why some pounce upon paganism as a reason not to celebrate Christmas.  Our materialistic view may have provided the opposition a platform for defaming Christmas.  There's nothing wrong with gathering for the purpose of exchanging gifts or enjoying a family feast - but it would be good to recognize fully why we are participating in these activities. 

By the way: If you lack the resources to distribute a hefty bag of gifts to your loved ones... It doesn't mean you are a failure.  It only means you aren't measuring up to the expectations of retailers as they reach for their most profitable sales period of the year.  You have much love to give your family.  Give that.  That's what they need and want most.  After all, it resembles the love expressed on that first Christmas. 

I Want to Wish You a Merry Christmas! 

It Only Takes a Minute

"It only takes a minute."  I made this statement in conversation with my daughter this morning.  The phrase hung around in my thoughts a bit longer and I realized how true the statement is.  It actually does take only a minute.  Just a minute of your time, your attention, or your focus. 

People are hungry for attention.  They need the touch of a hand on their shoulder.  A kind word.  It doesn't take much for us to be encouraged.  It doesn't take a million dollars to make us feel loved (although that would help a lot...just sayin'....).

God placed us on this earth as social beings and we need each other. 

There's someone in your life waiting for you to give them a minute.  They aren't asking for the moon, they are only asking for 'a minute'...  

...a smile can be expressed in a minute
...it only takes a minute to open a door for someone
...it requires a minute of your time to listen to a comment
...it takes just a minute to give a big bear hug
...it takes less than a minute to wink at your spouse
...it uses less than a minute of your time to say, "I love you"
...it only takes a minute for you to pause and pat someone on the back
...it only takes a minute to wish someone a "Merry Christmas"

It only takes a minute. 

People are usually happy with 'a minute' of your attention.  They don't ask for a lot of your time, but they do need a minute...given here and there throughout the day or week.  You can encourage a child - express love to your spouse - show kindness to a clerk...all in only a minute.

Hey, have you got a minute?  Sure you do.  Now go do something good with that minute.

.....I'll be back....in a minute !    Just joking.

Old Man in the Doll house

RETARDED GRANDPARENTS:  This was just handed to me for reading.  It's one of those email stories that circles the globe every year, probably.  I'll have to admit, this one is incredibly funny.  A "must read" as they say.  It's a shame the author's name isn't listed for he/she deserves credit for this one.  Read on:

"After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school.  One child wrote the following: 

We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.  They used to live in a big brick house but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Arizona.  Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.  They ride around on their bicycles and wear name tags because they don't know who they are anymore.

They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.  There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.  At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it.  He watches all day so nobody can escape.  Sometimes they sneak out and go cruising in their golf carts.

Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.  And, they eat the same thing every night -- early birds.  Some of the people can't get out...past the man in the doll house.  The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.

My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday, too.  When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house.  Then, I will let people out so they can visit their grandchildren.

But...It's Cheap!

I’m wrestling with a major decision of whether or not to keep a sale item. A hoodie that is lightweight and warm. Not a perfect fit, but it was a bargain. How can you return a less than perfect fit when it is so cheap? After all, the perfect fit could cost seven times that much. Now, I’m smart enough to know that this cute little top would be a perfect fit on a taller, slimmer body (and we won’t say much about that!)…and I’m smart enough to know that a hoodie from a higher end shop will probably fit better. But, here’s the dilemma: I like the price. I like the fact that it only cost $7. I don’t want to pay more.

Am I willing to sacrifice a slightly imperfect fit so that I don’t have to put more into the purchase? Because it cost me little, will I settle for less than perfect? Do I care enough to put ‘more’ into the purchase in order to have ‘more’…hmmmm?

We can ask the same questions regarding our spiritual walk with the Lord. Most of us like the cheap way out. My flesh says, "Don’t die out to self because it will cost too much". Crucifying the flesh sounds easy for the apostle Paul, but, he doesn’t realize how hard that is to do in my day!

What does it cost to have excellence in your sprit-life?
1.  A desire to have more…to become more...is required.
2.  A willingness to pay more.

It’s easy to settle for little from the Lord and function as though we have attained all He has to offer. It’s easy to give little of ourselves and appear anointed. We know how to make the inexpensive look good.  Decorate any simple item of clothing with stunning jewlery and we've made the inexpensive look good.  Added to our confession of Christ is a little religious jargon, a belt of bling, and a colorful shield of faith.   But when push comes to shove we are as the disciples in the boat...in the storm...and scolded by Jesus for having little faith.

When we settle for less we have little power and our prayers don’t reach beyond the ceiling. We believe in Jesus.  We believe the Word.   But we’ve taken the cheap route in our relationship with God.

I can make the choice to pay less – but I won’t have the best fit. Not in the physical realm; not in the spiritual realm. It just won’t happen. God is not cheap. He gave His only Son to come to this earth and die on the cross for my sins…Salvation was not cheap. In fact, we can’t afford to purchase salvation – not ever. God knew that. So, He made it affordable. It is free.

The quality of my Christian life depends on whether or not I am willing to pay more for that which is freely given. I pay more by giving up the things of the flesh, the world, and by practicing the things of the spirit. It’s my choice.

You know, I can afford to settle for imperfect and cheap when it comes to a hoddie…but I cannot afford to settle for imperfection in my relationship with Jesus Christ. There’s just too much at stake. Eternity is a long time and since it (eternal life with Jesus) is freely given…it would be foolish not to pay the price.

So very foolish.