Let It Go - 13 Things to Let Go of Going Into 2014

Life isn't always fair nor is it always easy. Many times in life we encounter situations that are not of our choosing. From the hurtful words of a hater, the loss of a job, a sickness in your body, a divorce you didn’t expect, to unfulfilled promises, and a litany of other experiences, life can be tough.

The key is to not allow the negative experiences you have encountered to make you bitter, but rather, motivate you to become better. The tendency of most people is to allow the circumstances of their lives dictate their feelings, thoughts, words, and actions. It is easy to have a pity party when things fall apart in your life. However, as I heard Joyce Meyer say, “You can’t be pitiful and powerful at the same time.”
When life deals you a bad hand you must determine to not let it get the best of you, steal your dreams, or break your focus.

Scripture teaches us that God is able to take what is meant for your harm and turn it into your advantage. What you view as a disadvantage in your life, God can turn into an asset. He can take what the enemy means to destroy you and turn it into what promotes you. As so many others have said, “God will turn your test into a testimony and your messes into a message, and your setbacks into a comeback,” if you refuse to quit!

As Dr Dave Martin so aptly says, God wants “The rest of your life to be the best of your life!” He desires for you to overcome the obstacles in your path, to accomplish what you have been created to accomplish, to be healed and healthy in your body, to have all your needs supplied and have an abundance so you can be a blessing to others, for your relationships to be strong, and for you to fulfill your purpose in life. In other words, God wants you to win in all areas of your life.

In order to walk in the best God has for you in 2014 you must let go of all the things that make you stop. You must let go of the baggage from your past that is weighing you down and keeping you from the best life God has for you. No wonder the writer of Hebrews penned these words, “Seeing we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” There are some things you don’t overcome; you simply have to let them go!

For 2014 to be the best year we have ever had, we must:

1. Let go of the need to always be right, because it is impossible to always be right!

2. Let go of your need to be in total control of everything and everyone around you.

3. Let go of playing the blame game, take responsibility for your actions.

4. Let go of negative self-talk, quit beating yourself up mentally.

5. Let go of up your limiting beliefs; the beliefs that are holding you back.

6. Let go of complaining, it doesn't change anything, and no one wants to hear it!

7. Let go of trying to impress everyone around you.

8. Let go of trying to live up to the expectations of others in order to feel acceptance.

9. Let go of your fear of and resistance of change; change is inevitable.

10. Let go of your fears: fear of failure, fear of the unknown, fear of success, fear of what others think about you, etc...

11. Let go of your past mistakes and failures, learn from them, don't repeat them, move on.

12. Let go of past hurts, what others have said or done to you that offended you.

13 Let go of your excuses, nobody believes them, not even you!

Happy New Year!

Love Is An Act

God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

(Romans 5:8)

Everywhere you go you hear people talking about love.  You hear about it in songs, see it on greeting cards, and from people you encounter.  Unfortunately, most people have the idea that love is a feeling or a sentiment.  Certainly, you've heard people use such terms as "falling in love, or falling out of love,” which gives an indication of their feelings.

While love may involve feelings or sentiments, in reality love is neither of these; love is an "act."  It's easy to say "I love you" but it's much harder to demonstrate it through our actions.  As the old adage goes, "Actions speak louder than words."  I like it when someone tells me they love me but I am really moved when they demonstrate their love for me through their actions.

The message of Christmas is the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known.  God didn't just say to the world, “I love you", He demonstrated it through sending Jesus to pay the price for our sins and to give us a new life.  Notice the scripture I shared at the beginning of this post, "God demonstrate His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) 

Action step:  During this Christmas season, let love be more than mere words, instead demonstrate your love through your actions.  Find a way you can demonstrate your love, as well as God's love, to others.  It might be buying presents for those less fortunate than you, buying groceries for a needy family, paying someone's utilities, or anything else. The point is, be a person that demonstrates their love through what do not just what they say!

Merry Christmas

photo credit: elod beregszaszi via photopin cc

Seize the Day - Living With No Regrets

Imagine living a life without regrets. Sounds good doesn't it?

We all have done or said things that we regret. Unfortunately, for many people regret is a way of life.

I heard Author/Teacher, Brendon Buchard, share a story of a time when he almost died in a car accident and how out of that experience he developed three questions that he now asks himself every night before he goes to bed. They are: Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?

These are great questions that at some point in our life we must answer. Rather than waiting until the end of our lives to ask these questions, why not start asking ourselves these questions everyday?

I read an article recently about the regrets people have at the end of their lives (something we will all face). It was most enlightening and gave me much to think about.

They were such things as:

Not living the their own life instead of following the pack (peer and societal pressure).

Not discovering their purpose earlier in life.

Not taking more risks for the results they desired.

Not taking better care of themselves.

Not loving others the way they should be loved.

Not touching more lives and inspiring others.

Not being a better partner or parent.

Interestingly, none of the regrets people have when facing their mortality have anything to do with making more money, working more hours, or having more things, which unfortunately is what most people focus on during their lifetimes.

It is so easy to get caught up in making a living, impressing others, fitting in, having all the latest gadgets and gizmos, that we never truly live the life we were created to live. Whether we want to admit it or not, we were created to live a life of purpose, where we use our passions, talents, gifts, strengths, dreams, and skills, to make a positive difference in our world and the lives of others we come in contact with.

So how do we go about living a life of no regrets?

1. Take risks. Go for the dream in your heart. Taking risks involve dong something. Do everything in your power, trusting God to assist you, to see the dreams He has given you become a reality. Remember, there are no rewards or results without risk.

2. Don't be afraid of failure. Failure is not a bad thing. Every great accomplishment resulted from much trial and error. Just ask Edison. He did thousands of experiments before he discovered the filament for the light bulb. His view of all his failed attempts was that he had simply found thousands of things that didn't work.

3. Know yourself. What is the one BIG thing you feel compelled to accomplish? What do you feel assigned to do? What problem do you see that you feel you can solve? The answers to these questions are indicators of the purpose God created you to fulfill.

4. Be who God made you to be. Don't compromise your values and dreams by trying to fit in with the in-crowd. Your fulfillment in life comes from being and doing what you are created for. Others will try to force you into the life they think or want you to live, if you allow them to. You don't have to live the dream someone else has for you, you have what it takes to be who you were made to be!

5. Start today taking better care of your health. Learn to eat right, get enough exercise, rest and recharge, let the stresses of life go, break addictions that are detrimental to your health; all of which are important if you are going to live a healthy life.

6. Be an encourager of others. Touch and inspire others with your words and your actions. Life though that are down. Inspire others to live on purpose.

7. Determine to be a better partner and parent. This requires work and discipline, but in the end it is worth it! Love more. Give more. Here's a key that has helped me immensely, treat your spouse or children the way you want to be treated.

As it has been said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." How are you going to live it?

Someone once said to me, "Live each day so you will have no regrets tomorrow." That is a great philophy and principle to live by.

Do something today - SEIZE THE DAY - that will be meaningful and beneficial to the world around you and to those that really matter in your life!

When Prayer Isn't Enough

Let me say from the start, I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER.  Perhaps you’ve heard it said, “Prayer changes things and people too.”  This is a true statement.  I have seen the power of prayer manifested in my life too many times to count.  I have seen miracles, signs, and wonders, in my own life, as a result of prayer.

The Bible is full of instructions as to the power of prayer.  We are taught to pray in faith, pray without ceasing, pray in the Name of Jesus, pray in the Spirit, pray about everything (all our decisions, all our actions, all our plans, etc..), pray for one another, and pray with humility.  Prayer is, in my estimation, is the primary key to living the abundant life for the follower of Jesus.

While I fully appreciate and practice the power of prayer, there are times when prayer alone isn’t enough.  If you spend all your time praying without acting on the word of God you will never see the fullness of all God has for you in life. 

I believe you should pray, act on the word, and pray while you are acting on the word.  Scripture teaches, “Faith without works is dead being alone.”  In other words, prayer without action is not enough.  We are to be doer’s of the word and not hearers only.  Action is putting legs to our prayers.

We will never experience all God has promised in His word if we don’t act.  One thing I have always found interesting is that almost all the promises recorded in the Bible are accompanied with an action step.  It’s kind of like, you do your part and God will do His part.  Our actions are signs of our faith and obedience to God’s instructions for our lives.

I have met many people in my life that spend vast amounts of time praying yet they never see the fullness of all God has promised because they never accompany their prayers with actions.  You can pray until you are blue in the face, but if you don’t act on the word you will never see the results you could see.

Jesus is a prime example of this.  He didn’t just pray, He acted.  Think about the feeding of the 5,000 as recorded in Matthew chapter 14.  Scripture teaches us He took a young boys lunch, blessed it (prayed) and then began to break it.  As He did it began to multiply and as he continued to break it, it multiplied, so there was enough to feed every one present with 12 baskets full left over.  If prayer was enough, in this case, Jesus would have simply prayed and it would have multiplied on its own.  But it wasn’t.  It was as He added the action of breaking the bread, to his prayer that the loaves and fishes were multiplied.

I don’t know what it is you are praying and believing for, but my question for you today is, “Are you adding action to your prayers?”  Is there something you know you should be doing but aren’t?  What instruction or principle in the Bible could you act on that would demonstrate your faith in what God has promised?

Here’s a recent example of what I am talking about.  My wife, Holly, and myself, desired to do something special for people less fortunate than us on Thanksgiving Day.  Our older children had several friends that didn’t have any place to go for Thanksgiving Day.  Our desire was to invite them to our house and throw a BIG Thanksgiving feast for them.  The only problem was we didn’t have the resources to do it.  Holly prayed about it and then she went to work doing something about it.  She shared her desire with some friends, and on Facebook, and the next thing you know people began to contact us and share their desire to be a part of it.  Before long, we had enough food to feed around 12 young people with enough leftover’ to make up 10 extra plates that Holly, Chelsea and Diana took and found some homeless people that hadn’t had a Thanksgiving meal, and fed them.  I am convinced that if we had simply prayed for the young people that had no place to go, and the homeless people that had no food to eat, nothing would have happened.  But our prayers, accompanied by action, allowed us to have everything we needed to meet the needs of these people.

Today I want to challenge fellow believers to not just pray about their situations, but rather ask God what they are supposed to do, and then do it.  Couple action with your prayers and you will be amazed at what happens. 

Blessings

G Samuel Verret