Jesus did not come to compete with an old way of life, He created with a purpose that we may have life and have it abundantly; and he pushed forward by changing old ways and thoughts and giving us a new way to think and act…
The majority of people’s opinions will always be from the outside looking in. But every word God speaks about who you are, is defined from the inside out. This is why His voice, His spirit and His presence in your life should always represent the majority. Remember this…
…the goal is not to be “un-busy”, the goal must be for our “busyness” to have a purpose, to have a mark! See without a purpose or a mark, we are not making the most of our time! You could say it this way, “your life shines when you live with an uncompromising devotion to pressing towards what really matters”.
Vacation isn’t just a destination or the booking of flights, vacation is a state of living. I believe that an element of the abundant life that Jesus came to give us is the fact that we are to live in a place of rest, not just while we’re “on vacation”, but in our everyday lives.
God carves His best platforms out of our lives. See the results of living the abundant life certainly include being promoted to positions of power and success, but the truth is that you can build a godly platform before you ever get the position of influence!
…if we’re not careful, our perspectives could end up being driven by what we’ve experienced, but not necessarily by what is true. But a God perspective works differently, a God perspective doesn’t look at what you might be, it doesn’t look at what you might have lost, but it looks directly at what you have, now!
Even though he had done some pretty horrible things, David recognized that the “new”ness his life required had nothing to do with him or his own ability, but completely depended on God’s creative power. Can I tell you today that the “new” that you’re yearning for, solely rests in God’s power.
Choosing the Lord’s joy on a daily basis is one of the best ways to “take heart” in your life. I believe that choosing joy and taking heart is the best pre-emptive measure we can take against what I believe to be one of the enemies most subtle yet most effective tactics against us, that is, feeling overwhelmed.
Jesus states the human condition very simply, “you will have trouble”, I think we can all attest to the trouble that life can bring us right? But look at his next statement, “But, take heart”. Did you ever realize that heart is something you could take, and conversely, lose?
Several times when Jesus healed people, he said “Be of good cheer”, which essentially means, take heart! He told the paralyzed man in Matthew 9 to take heart, he told the woman with the issue of blood to take heart. See when Jesus is in the picture of our lives, we always have something to be passionate and enthusiastic about, with Jesus in the picture, we can all be of good cheer!