The difference between Resolutions and Decisions

It’s a New Year and many of us make New Year’s Resolutions. I have made many in the past and so few have ever come to fruition.  I finally learned what was missing from my resolutions…ACTION! My best Resolutions that I have seen come true are from my daily actions surrounding my chosen goal.

 I learned in 12 Step that actions must follow DECISIONS not RESOLUTIONS!  Step 3 states that “We made a DECISION to turn our will and our lives over the care of God as we understand Him.”  It doesn’t say we made a resolution, it states that we made a decision.

Stop the Insanity!
“and we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:10

In the movie Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays a character living the same day over and over again.  At first he thinks he's going crazy, but in time he decides to identify his shortcomings, address his faults, and make better choices.

The movie's moral is basically this: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, all-the-while expecting different results.  And if you'll accept that working definition of insanity, then you'd probably admit that, from time to time, we're all a bit off kilter.  I know I am!

Everyone has areas of their life in need of change.  When you recognize a problem and sincerely desire better for your life, that's a good start. However, genuine change requires more, and that can be intimidating.

You can stop the insanity of your own Groundhog Day, and live differently and better. Ask God to help you stop the insanity, then take the first step to do so.

I decided to change my life and be free of alcohol and drugs.  I decided to be the best husband and father that I can be. I decided to get my weight under control and change my eating and sedentary habits. All of these require DAILY DECISIONS and ACTIONS!

 “A New year: 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes–a time to consider directions, goals, and actions. I must make some plans to live a normal life, but also I must live emotionally within a twenty-four hour frame, for if I do, I don’t have to make New Year’s resolutions! I can make every day a New Year’s day! I can decide, “Today I will do this . . . Today I will do that.” Each day I can measure my life by trying to a little better, by deciding to follow God’s will and making an effort to put the principles of our A.A. program into action.

The idea of “twenty-four-hour” living applies primarily to the emotional life of the individual. Emotionally speaking, we must not live in yesterday, nor in tomorrow.” As Bill Sees It, p. 284

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.” Benjamin Franklin

Have a blessed and prosperous New Year!

Inspiring Others

This is an excellent guide on how we can inspire others and ourselves!

Enjoy!

Ten Ways To Inspire Others To Be Their Best by Michael Angier

We all know people who are inspiring.  But just how does one inspire others?  Here are ten simple ways you can inspire people to be their best:

1.  Be a good example.  People watch what you do more than they listen to what you say.  Be someone worth emulating.

2.  Care about others.  People don't care about how much you know until they know how much you care.  Ask questions.  Take a genuine interest in people.

3.  Encouragement.  Everyone goes through tough times.  When you support people and encourage them through these times, you'll be inspiring them to see the best in themselves and in the situation.

4.  Be inspired yourself.  Look for people, ideas, environments and knowledge that you find inspiring and motivating.

5. Share from your own experience.  You have more to share than you realize.  Mine the rich experiences of your life and share your wisdom from your unique point of view.  You may be the only one who can touch someone with your inspiring message. Share your experience, strength and hope!

6.  Be vulnerable. Be willing to share your failures as well as your successes.  Others will relate to you.  They'll understand that they're not the only ones with challenges.

7.  Tell stories.  Facts tell and stories sell.  They inspire, too.  We learn best from parables and we all need to develop our own inspiring stories.

8.  Be a good communicator.  Increasing your ability to communicate effectively is a critical element for you to inspire others.  Watch how you speak and what you say.  Invest in your communication skills.

9.  Challenge people.  Many of us have had teachers who at times seemed more like tormentors than mentors.  They challenged us to do our best, and we were better for it.  Practice "carefrontation"--the careful and caring confrontation of others.

10.  Read.  It may not follow that all readers are leaders, but certainly all leaders are readers.  Stay informed. Share what you read with others.  Tell people about books that have inspired you. Share the knowledge.

Copyright Success Networks International

"Christmas Presence”

"Christmas Presence”

It's Christmas again. Since October, we have seen stores put up their special displays and begin their Christmas specials beginning with the day after Thanksgiving sales. This year, as in other years, we have seen prices slashed to absolute rock bottom with stores offering 10, 20, 30, 40 and even 50% discounts. We are encouraged, cajoled, gilded, and goaded to buy, buy, and buy at every turn. Our children have to have the latest electronic gadgets and adults the biggest television sets and the latest DVDs. If we want something our cultural norms tell us, we just go out and buy it. Our lives seem to be on a treadmill of rush, rush, rush and buy, buy, buy! We don't seem to have time for conversation, meals with the family in our dining rooms, or just plain relaxing.

Emotionally, too, it seems to me that many people place all their hopes on this one holiday. Some have in their minds an idealized version of a "perfect" family and "perfect" relationships. We are lulled into thinking that this one holiday can make our lives so much happier!!! No wonder it's so disappointing when we don't feel the wonder and we don't see the Light.

 "Jesus is the reason for the season" and in my humble opinion, our society focuses on the wrong things like material things, possessions, designer clothes. Hopefully my Christian friends have been preparing themselves and their loved ones for this night through reflection, truth, prayer, and preparation for the Christ Child.

Isaiah 9:2-4 promises, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”  What brought on the light in darkness? The answer is in the scripture: For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given.

If we place all our hope in material things and fairy tale visions of a perfect Christmas without Jesus, we will be let down miserably and more importantly, the Prince of Peace, we will be disappointed.

To me, this is the true meaning of Christmas  Luke 2: 1-20 "Do not be afraid, for see I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people, to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is the Messiah, the Lord."

Christ's birth is a mystery but God became a human being. He took on human flesh that night so he would live as one of us, be crucified and rise from the dead to save us from our sins.

Christ is the Light of the World! Is he your Light? Do you reflect his light and love in your lives?

The true meaning of Christmas is that Christ came into the world for you and me! Whether you come to church frequently or not and especially if you only come on Christmas, please pray for faith tonight. Pray that the Christ Child may come into your heart, transform it and give you a new life in Him. Pray for his Light to fill you with peace. Pray for his Light to have you reconcile yourself with estranged relatives, friends and neighbors.

Pray for this Light to heal whatever ails you. Pray for His grace and strength to do whatever He has called you to do. Pray this week that you may bring Christ's light and love into other peoples' lives, that you may reconcile with those you have had differences, that you may help someone through a difficult period in their lives or that you may be a "non anxious" presence for those who worry constantly or are distressed.

Whatever your Christmas is like, Jesus understands it and you fill it with His presence. There is no joy so great that Christ cannot raise it to greater heights, there is no disappointment so bitter or sorry so profound that he cannot come into it with his love right now and the true hope he offers of eternal life and joy beyond all description. This is Christmas, the celebration of the birth of hope and joy in the Savior who is come and no one and nothing can stop. You are seeing and experiencing a great light tonight--let it shine in your heart and free your passion to be a Christian in a very broken world.

Merry or not at Christmas we always get a present: Christ's presence where we really are, and our hope of being where he is. God Bless you and Merry Christmas to you and your families!

Its not all about me!

 Beautiful lyrics to the song AWARE by the artist Salvador

It reminds me that it is not all about me!!

Please read the words and reflect!

“Even in the little things
That never seem too big to me
And the things that I thought
Didn’t matter much at all

As simple as my daily bread
To the strength I need to get out of bed
When I fly, when I’m about to Fall

It’s you in me
That I fail to see

Make me aware, make me see
Everything I am is not all about me
Take my world, turn it around
So that the obvious can finally be found

Make me aware, make me aware

When my life is hanging from a thread
And I think about the things you said
In this moment seems so far away

Help me see the guarantees
That first brought me to believe
So I can make it through another day

Oh, it’s you in me
That helps me to breathe

Make me aware, make me see

Everything I am is not all about me
Take my world, turn it around
So that the obvious can finally be found

Make me aware
I have been missing so much
Not recognizing your touch
All acknowledging you’re the reason I’m even here

I have been missing so much
Not recognizing your touch

Make me aware, make me aware

Help me see, Everything I am is not all about me
Take my world, turn it around
So that the obvious can finally be found
Make me aware, make me aware”

THE CAPTAIN IS ON THE BRIDGE

As we head towards Christmas day, I am sure you can think of a few people going through some rough times. My family and I get to be of service this week as we deliver gifts anonymously for the Angel Tree project.

I wanted to share this writing from Emmet Fox.  His “Sermon on the Mount” is an excellent read for those seeking to know about Jesus. 

I think these words are just as timely now as they were 70 years ago.

THE CAPTAIN IS ON THE BRIDGE by Emmet Fox

"The world is not going to the dogs. The human race is not doomed. Civilization is not going to crash. The captain is on the bridge.

Humanity is going through a difficult time, but humanity has gone through difficulties many times before in its long history, and has always come through, strengthened and purified. Do not worry yourself about the universe collapsing. It is not going to collapse, and anyway that question is none of your business. The captain is on the bridge.

If the survival of humanity depended upon you or me, it would be a poor lookout for the Great Enterprise, would it not? The captain is on the bridge.

God is still in business. All that you have to do is to realize the Presence of God where the trouble seems to be, to do your nearest duty to the very best of your ability; and to keep an even mind until the storm is over."

A final note: When Dr Fox wrote this Hitler was on the rise in Europe, the Great Depression was at hand and the "black blizzard" was displacing millions and turning America’s heartland into a dust bowl.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

How do you know when you're serving God from your heart?

In one of her great books, Marianne Williamson stated “Do what you love and the Money will follow!”

 I would like to share this from Pastor Rick Warren! Please enjoy this and hear his words!.

The Bible says to "serve the Lord with all your heart." God wants you to serve him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don't enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve him and others.

The first sign is enthusiasm. When you're doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you, or challenge you, or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. You don't need rewards, or applause, or to be paid, because you love serving in this way.

The opposite is also true: When you don't have a heart for what you're doing, you're easily discouraged.

One characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness: whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you don't care about a task, it is unlikely that you'll excel at it.

On the other hand, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.

We've all heard people say, "I took a job I hate in order to make a lot of money, so someday I can quit and do what I love to do." That's a big mistake. Don't waste your life in a job that doesn't express your heart.

Remember, the greatest things in life are not things. Meaning is far more important than money. The richest man in the world once said, "A simple life in the fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches" Proverbs 15:16.

Don't settle for achieving "the good life," because the good life is not good enough. Ultimately, it doesn't satisfy. You can have a lot to live on, and still have nothing to live for. Aim instead for "the better life" - serving God in a way that expresses your heart.

Figure out what you love to do - that which God gave you a heart for - and then do it for his glory!

                

WE SERVE GOD BY SERVING OTHERS

Many people have the misconception that being “called” by God is something only missionaries, pastors, and other church leaders experience. The truth is that the Bible says everyone is called to serve God by serving others.

 We are not saved by serving, but we are saved for serving.

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Galatians 5:13

“Our real purpose is to fit ourselves to be of maximum service to God and the people about us.” AA Big Book pg 77

 The Apostle Paul gives three thoughts related to this:

 First, the basis for serving others is salvation. Paul says in the verse above, “You were called to be free.” We cannot serve God until we have been set free by Jesus. It’s the prerequisite for serving. Until we experience the transforming power of God’s grace in our life, we are too enslaved by our own hurts, habits, and hang-ups to think much about helping others. Without the freedom of forgiveness, we will end up serving for the wrong motives: trying to earn the approval of others, trying to run away from our pain, trying to remedy our guilt, trying to impress God. Service motivated by these false reasons is bound to leave us burned out and bitter in the end.

Second, the barrier to serving others is selfishness. Paul warns, “Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature.” The main reason we don’t have the time or energy to serve others is that we’re preoccupied with our own agendas, dreams, and pleasures. Not many of us truly use our lives to serve others, but Jesus said, “If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.” Mark 8:35

This is a tough one to swallow whole. I try to serve daily, one day at a time. I now know why I have my special license plate on my car. My wife and daughter got it for me several years ago. Being a long term 12 Stepper, they got me the plate to celebrate my walk one day at a time. My special plate reads DAY B DAY, not only does it show my 12 step walk, but also my service to God and others!

Third, the motive for serving is love. Paul says, “Serve one another in love.” This is an important key to building relations both personal and in community: 1 Corinthians 13:3 “No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” 

God is far more interested in why we serve others than in how well we serve them! He’s always looking at our hearts, hoping to see us serving willingly and eagerly out of love for Jesus and gratitude for all he’s done for us.

We are most like Jesus when we are serving others. After washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” John 13:14–15

What now?

Its Christmas time and there is need all around us. Please look in your hearts and ask God to show you how you can serve this week and bring hope to someone not as fortunate as we are right now

- How can you help? — Consider your response to this Scripture verse: “Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, ‘How can I help?’” Romans 15:2

- Who will you serve this week? Ask God to place someone on your heart that you should serve this week, and ask Him what you should do for that person. Then do it!

-Who will you serve this week?