Topic Thought: Are you moving with confidence toward a desired goal?
Personal goals: A healthy God-centered relationship, family and marriage; a strong walk with Christ; financial stability and no debt; to move out of California.
God placed desires in my heart that will lead me to my purpose.
Reasons for a "stale" or ordinary life:
People have lost sight of who God made them to be and what He designed them to do.
As a result...
People are not actively, intentionally, and purposefully pursuing what the Father has planned for them.
If you truly want to pursue and reach your full potential, then you must face up to these two truths --
God has placed more within you than you realize.
You likely have settled for the life you have now.
If a person becomes content with what is average, minimally acceptable or satisfactory, she will rarely exert the effort or work toward something that is truly excellent or outstanding.
The longer a person remains satisfied with average in their life, the more they become complacent about life.
Psalm 139
1. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
"Awesomely wonderful" God has made you in a way that is awesome.
The Father made you for good purposes, and He made you with the potential to be perfected by His Spirit.
Jeremiah 29:11
"'For I know the plans I have for you' says the Lord, 'Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.'"
The Lord has a great plan for you and created you to accomplish it in His Name.
2. God knows everything about you.
The Lord has always known what you could be and do, because He is the One who created you.
3. God is the Author and Finisher of your days.
Your purpose on this earth is to develop your God-given gifts, talents and abilities to the best of your ability so you can impact the world around you for Christ.
God has placed you in a time and location that will allow you to maximize your role in establishing His will "on earth as it is in Heaven."
God is bringing into your path people, opportunities, challenges and resources.
He is placing in you dreams, desires and expectations about the challenges that already are winding their way to you.
He is preparing you in every way for the many opportunities that lie ahead.
He is setting within you the anticipation that something purpose-filled and exhilarating is just about to emerge.
When you begin to see the wonderful, prepared future that God is unfolding before you, life will take on greater importance and purpose.
God has more ways for you to feel joy.
God has more ways for you to experience His peace.
God has More ways for you to encounter His beauty.
God has More ideas to share with you.
God has more expressions of love to shower upon you.
God has an infinite supply of new mercies, new blessings, new accomplishments, new insights, and new inspirations to share with you.
There simply is no end to your potential when you serve an infinite God in an eternal Heaven.
We must determine in our hearts and minds to live all our days to the utmost.
The Lord never holds before us an ordinary life.
John 10:10 "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come that you may have life, and have it to the fullest."
Thoughts to ponder:
Am I passionate about life?
Do I deeply desire to experience all God has for me?
Do I really want His best in my finances, my job, my recreation, my hobbies, my relationships, my marriage, my family?
Questions to Ask of God
What do You want to do in my life?
What do You want to do through my life?
What do You still desire for me to experience?
What possibilities lie within me?
What could I become?
What did You have in mind when You created me?
What do You desire for me?
Only God can answer these questions and He will answer them only when asked.
He doesn't force His will on us, but if we aren't following in it, our lives will not be blessed, and we will look back and wonder what went wrong. But when we seek His plan and will in our lives, we look back and can't believe how blessed we have been in our lives.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
New Book, New Outlook
I recently began meeting weekly with a mentor of mine, to regularly discuss life, and the many things God was doing in our lives and hearts. I was skeptic at first to the idea, as we had not spent time together prior to the start of these meetings. She was referred to me by another mentor I have as someone who could help me through some things and someone who could be a great reference when it came time for me to join on to the staff at my church. But after a couple meetings, I began to relax, and we picked our first book to read through and study together. After perusing the local bookstore, and coming up with a long list of books to read as the months went on, we decided on a book by Charles F. Stanley, called How to Reach Your Full Potential for God. So far, I have read through the first five chapters, and I can't seem to take down enough notes... my brain and my heart are just overflowing with motivation and excitement for the dreams God has placed in my heart.
Because of the effect this book has had on me and my life in just a few short days, I have decided to share my notes with all of you. I hope you will be just as blessed as I am.
Chapter 1 - Do You Want God's Best?
If you truly want to reach your full potential, you must have a clean heart, a clear mind, and a balanced schedule.
Truth #1
God has a will, plan and purpose for your life individually and personally.
He has a broad will and plan and purpose for all of mankind.
He has specifically designed you and equipped you to fulfill a portion of that bigger plan.
You are here to accomplish a job that God has assigned to you from eternity.
Truth #2
Your Heavenly Father has already embedded into you all of the gifts, and talents you need to complete the work that He has assigned you.
God has already embedded into you all of the raw material necessary for you to come into a relationship with Him and to develop the character of His Son.
Your job is to discover the talents that God has placed in you, to develop them, and to begin to use them as the Lord brings opportunities for service or ministry.
Truth #3
Nobody can be who you are.
Nobody can replace you.
Nobody else on the earth is capable of fulfilling the Father's plan for you.
Nobody else can do the work He has gifted you to do, know the people He is leading you to know, or offer the praise and prayer that He is giving voice to.
You must be and do what God made you to be and do.
Truth #4
You must establish firm commitments in various areas of your life in order to pursue and begin to reach your God-given potential.
The pursuit of your unique potential and purpose requires you to seek God's help in very specific areas of your life.
Thought Question - Do you want to reach your full potential?
These are my notes on the first chapter. Now, as I read, there were a few things that I felt God laid on my heart for me personally. Questions I need to answer, or things I need to work on.
First, I needed to identify my gifts and talents - those things that I believe God has gifted me with that I will use for His kingdom. These things are, but not limited to -
My musical ability and my passion for music and worship.
My artistic and writing abilities.
My leadership skills.
My mothering spirit.
The dreams I have in this life, both for my own personal life, and for seeing His kingdom accomplished on earth all stem from these gifts.
Second was the idea of needing to establish firm commitments in my life, and to stick to them. These commitments need to be Godly, and be areas God can strengthen me in, in order for me to grow closer to Him and see His work in my life. A few commitments that I am choosing to make that greatly affect my life now are -
I have quit smoking.
I will not have sex again before I am married.
I will not live with a boyfriend again until after I am married.
I will not become drunk.
I will not find myself in debt again.
I will pursue God's lifestyle at all costs.
The chapter ends with the question, "Do you want to reach your full potential?"
My own answer is "yes." But now my own question is, at what cost will I pursue my potential?
Because of the effect this book has had on me and my life in just a few short days, I have decided to share my notes with all of you. I hope you will be just as blessed as I am.
Chapter 1 - Do You Want God's Best?
If you truly want to reach your full potential, you must have a clean heart, a clear mind, and a balanced schedule.
Truth #1
God has a will, plan and purpose for your life individually and personally.
He has a broad will and plan and purpose for all of mankind.
He has specifically designed you and equipped you to fulfill a portion of that bigger plan.
You are here to accomplish a job that God has assigned to you from eternity.
Truth #2
Your Heavenly Father has already embedded into you all of the gifts, and talents you need to complete the work that He has assigned you.
God has already embedded into you all of the raw material necessary for you to come into a relationship with Him and to develop the character of His Son.
Your job is to discover the talents that God has placed in you, to develop them, and to begin to use them as the Lord brings opportunities for service or ministry.
Truth #3
Nobody can be who you are.
Nobody can replace you.
Nobody else on the earth is capable of fulfilling the Father's plan for you.
Nobody else can do the work He has gifted you to do, know the people He is leading you to know, or offer the praise and prayer that He is giving voice to.
You must be and do what God made you to be and do.
Truth #4
You must establish firm commitments in various areas of your life in order to pursue and begin to reach your God-given potential.
The pursuit of your unique potential and purpose requires you to seek God's help in very specific areas of your life.
Thought Question - Do you want to reach your full potential?
These are my notes on the first chapter. Now, as I read, there were a few things that I felt God laid on my heart for me personally. Questions I need to answer, or things I need to work on.
First, I needed to identify my gifts and talents - those things that I believe God has gifted me with that I will use for His kingdom. These things are, but not limited to -
My musical ability and my passion for music and worship.
My artistic and writing abilities.
My leadership skills.
My mothering spirit.
The dreams I have in this life, both for my own personal life, and for seeing His kingdom accomplished on earth all stem from these gifts.
Second was the idea of needing to establish firm commitments in my life, and to stick to them. These commitments need to be Godly, and be areas God can strengthen me in, in order for me to grow closer to Him and see His work in my life. A few commitments that I am choosing to make that greatly affect my life now are -
I have quit smoking.
I will not have sex again before I am married.
I will not live with a boyfriend again until after I am married.
I will not become drunk.
I will not find myself in debt again.
I will pursue God's lifestyle at all costs.
The chapter ends with the question, "Do you want to reach your full potential?"
My own answer is "yes." But now my own question is, at what cost will I pursue my potential?
Writer's Block - Part 2
So I forced myself to continue writing the other night, even though I really thought the task would be done in vain. And although it wasn't entirely productive, I have the beginning of a fantastic piece of work.
He picked up a bottle but it's not the first time.
Most of these days it’s the only peace he finds.
Flooded by his misery, drowning in her dreams,
It's easier for him to stay than fight the current that carries him away.
But when the bottle dries and the numb subsides, he's still sinking.
-
Just for tonight, it's just for tonight.
Tomorrow he'll make it right.
But somewhere between sunset and five a.m.
The pain comes back to claim it's place.
And by five oh one, all he can see,
Is her face and whiskey.
He picked up a bottle but it's not the first time.
Most of these days it’s the only peace he finds.
Flooded by his misery, drowning in her dreams,
It's easier for him to stay than fight the current that carries him away.
But when the bottle dries and the numb subsides, he's still sinking.
-
Just for tonight, it's just for tonight.
Tomorrow he'll make it right.
But somewhere between sunset and five a.m.
The pain comes back to claim it's place.
And by five oh one, all he can see,
Is her face and whiskey.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Writer's Block
It's no surprise that I'm up at one a.m. trying to write, but the surprise is that I cannot seem to write anything that I want to. I blame it on the lack of practice, more than the lack of idea. I have plenty to write about, plenty going on in my head that I need to get out on paper before I go insane. But it doesn't want to come...
For years I wrote on a weekly basis, sometimes more. Notebooks are full of lyrics, song after song full of my memories and my life, neatly organized into carefully phrased lines, ready for music. But tonight, it is all just a jumbled mess of mixed up feelings that cannot seem to even make enough sense to be written down... love, pain, dreams... and I'm lost in the middle of it all. I have not written in so long that I have let it all pile up in my head, and so I guess that was the mistake.
Now, even with the newest and best inspiration I have had in months, it is all still to much of a mess to make out.
The fix? I still do not know. Maybe a vacation to somewhere where life is more at peace, and I can actually hear my heart think, or speak, or cry, or whatever it needs to do.
"He picked up a bottle but it's not the first time.
Most of these days it's the only peace he finds.
Flooded by his misery, drowning in her dreams,
It's easier for him to stay, than fight the current that carries him away.
But when the bottle dries, and the numb subsides,
He's still sinking."
For years I wrote on a weekly basis, sometimes more. Notebooks are full of lyrics, song after song full of my memories and my life, neatly organized into carefully phrased lines, ready for music. But tonight, it is all just a jumbled mess of mixed up feelings that cannot seem to even make enough sense to be written down... love, pain, dreams... and I'm lost in the middle of it all. I have not written in so long that I have let it all pile up in my head, and so I guess that was the mistake.
Now, even with the newest and best inspiration I have had in months, it is all still to much of a mess to make out.
The fix? I still do not know. Maybe a vacation to somewhere where life is more at peace, and I can actually hear my heart think, or speak, or cry, or whatever it needs to do.
"He picked up a bottle but it's not the first time.
Most of these days it's the only peace he finds.
Flooded by his misery, drowning in her dreams,
It's easier for him to stay, than fight the current that carries him away.
But when the bottle dries, and the numb subsides,
He's still sinking."
60 Day Challenge - Day 19
Day 19: A picture of something you are excited for.
I cannot wait to listen to this album.
Somehow I missed the release date... This man is a genius.
I cannot wait to listen to this album.
Somehow I missed the release date... This man is a genius.
60 Day Challenge - Day 17
Day 17: A picture of something that has had a huge impact on your life recently.
David Scott Simmer, and his beautiful little boy, Trenton Lucas.
Even though we have gone our separate ways, this young man and his son have impacted my life in more ways than almost anyone.
Long live all the mountains we moved. I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. One day, we will be remembered.
David Scott Simmer, and his beautiful little boy, Trenton Lucas.
Even though we have gone our separate ways, this young man and his son have impacted my life in more ways than almost anyone.
Long live all the mountains we moved. I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you. One day, we will be remembered.
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