Don't Die Wondering What If...

The last I heard our mortality rate is 100%.  I know this sounds morbid, but the fact of the matter is, at some point we all die.  Someone once said, "You don't get out of this life alive."   There are no do-over’s at the end of your life.  This is no dress rehearsal it’s the real deal.

Numerous interviews have been conducted with elderly people who were staring the end of their time on earth as to, “What regrets about how your lived your life?” And, “If you had your life to live over what would you do different?”

The answers are amazing, because almost to a person, their responses are all very similar and memorable.

It is easy to get so caught up in our careers, the daily activity of just surviving, and material possessions, that we lose sight of what is really important in life.  Things such as, developing our relationship with our Creator, fulfilling our purpose in life, spending quality time with our families and our friends, loving others and telling them so with our actions as well as our words, and the list goes on.

A few years ago, Tim McGraw, recorded a song that became a HUGE hit entitled, "Live Like You Were Dying."  I think the reason it became such a big hit is because it resonated with everyone that heard it and because it stopped people in their tracks and forced them to reevaluate how they were living their lives.  I know it did for me.

Our challenge in life is to live each day to its fullest.  I am learning to be present in the moment, engaged in the process, find joy even in the hard times, and to focus on what really matters.  As Brendon Bruchard says, “At the end of everyday you should ask yourself the following questions: Did I Live?  Did I Love?  Did I Matter?”  I have added a fourth question that I ask myself as well, “Did I Laugh?”

Don’t wait until it’s too late to live the life God has created you to live. Regret is a horrible thing.  Don't do anything today that you will regret tomorrow.  Refuse to be among those who face the end of their lives wondering "What if...."  (Don't forget to click read more to read the rest of the article.)

Carrots, Eggs, and Coffee Beans - How Do You Respond to Adversity?

At one time or another we all go through difficult, disappointing, and challenging times.  Times that try our faith and patience.   None of us are immune to the tough times life brings our way.

We shouldn't be surprised when adversity knocks on our door, but I can honestly say (with conviction) when trouble shows up in my life I usually am caught off guard and surprised by it. I shouldn't be but most of the time I am.  After all, Jesus taught us, "In this world you shall have tribulation (another word for trouble and adversity) but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world."

Yes, we but all face difficult, unexpected, tough, and disappointing times in life,  however, I have learned (and am still learning) that it's not what happens that matters, it's how we respond.

How do you respond when facing adversity?  Do you become bitter or better?  Do you become soft or hard?  Do you tuck tail and run?  Do you give up or keep trying?  Or, do you use your faith and positive action to change the circumstances?

You Are Not a Failure...Unless You Believe You Are

Motivational speaker and author Van Crouch says, “You’re not finished when you’re defeated, you’re finished when you quit.” Winners in life understand that failing is part of success. You can’t know victory if you don’t have a battle. There is nothing like the joy of something good happening for you like you do after you've experienced something negative.

The truth is “Bad things happen to good people.” Jesus once said, “In this world you shall have tribulation.” (John 16:33) In other words, you are going to have some bumps on the road to success. Things aren't always going to be rosy. People that see themselves as winners simply pick themselves up after a setback and move on. If you have a dream, and you are actively pursuing it, you are going to fall short from time to time. It’s not what happens to you that is most important; it’s what happens in you!

Failure is not an event, it is an opinion. You are not a failure until you say you are. Every time you fail you simply learn how not to do something! We learn a lot from trial and error. Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show, spends his Sunday evenings going to comedy clubs and practicing his jokes for upcoming monologues. Some go over well and some bomb. But he is not deterred. Just because a joke fails doesn't mean he is a failure. He learns from his mistakes and continues to hone his craft. The result is success when he performs his monologue on a nightly basis.

Winners are not people that never get knocked down; they are people who refuse to stay down. There is something in the heart of a champion that won’t let them give up regardless of what they are going through. We've all witnessed it watching sporting events. Just when you think there is no way a team or an individual has a chance to win, they find a way to win anyways. They understand that they aren't finished as long as they don’t quit. Failure is not in the falling down but in the giving up!

Two of my favorite people from history are Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln. It is reported that Thomas Edison did 10,000 experiments before he found a filament for the light bulb. Someone once said to him, “so you've failed 10,000 times.” His response, “No I found 10,000 things that didn't work!” Abraham Lincoln failed at business and numerous forays into the political arena before he was elected the sixteenth President of the United States of America. He goes down as perhaps the greatest or at least one of the greatest Presidents of all time. The common denominator between both of these great men of history is they never viewed themselves as failures.

Here are some questions to ponder in your pursuit of accomplishment.

• How do you see yourself?
• Do you see yourself as a success or a failure?
• What do you do when what you are attempting doesn't seem to be working?
• Do you give up and quit?
• Or, do you get up and find a way to do it anyways?

My challenge to you today is that you begin to see yourself as the winner God says you are. Refuse to let setbacks hold you back from fulfilling your life purpose and accomplishing what you are capable of. Choose to use failures and setbacks as stepping stones to reaching your goals and enjoying a successful life! Say like the Apostle Paul of old, “I can do all things through Christ which gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

You are not a failure!

10 Things I've Learned About Turning Pain Into Power for Purpose

Life isn't always easy.  One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves, when faced with the uncertainties and difficulties of life, is there must be something wrong with me. 

We all share the fantasy of the ideal life.  A life without struggle, setbacks, pain, and disappointment.  The ideal, or perfect life, is an illusion.   It truly doesn't exist.

Think about this:

Jesus said, "It rains on the just and the unjust alike." (Matthew 5:45)
King David wrote, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous."(Psalm 34:19)
Job declared, "Man's days are short and full of trouble." (Job 14:11)

Short of heaven, there is no such thing as a life without challenges and problems.

However, that doesn't mean we are supposed to give up on life and not pursue turnarounds and breakthroughs and accomplishments in our lives.

Like everyone else I have ever met, my story is one of much sorrow, pain, brokenness, setbacks, and struggle.  While our challenges may be different, the fact is we all struggle.

I heard something years ago that has really helped me during times when it seems as though everything in my world has fallen apart.  "Struggle is the sign you haven't yet been conquored." (Mike Murdock)  This has been one of the biggest reasons I have never quit.

Just because you are struggling it doesn't mean you are finished.  Failure and struggle are events not a person.  You are not defeated and you are not a failure until you say you are.

If any one understood this truth, it was the Apostle Paul.  When you read his story you find that it was one filled with much adversity, trouble and struggles.  Yet he demonstrated the attitude that carried him through all these things, when he penned the words, "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)

King David wrote, "Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning!"

A few days ago I was reflecting on my life and the thought went through my mind, "I am really a broken person."  Followed by a laundry list of supporting facts.  Such as:

Divorce
Financial setbacks
Broken and unfulfilled dreams
Health issues
A ministry on the shelf
Loss of friendships
The death of my son

To be honest, as I sat thinking about these things, I started having a pity party.  I said things like, "No body cares about what I've been through, No one understands my pain, I am a failure, and so on."  And then something happened in my mind.  I began to remind myself of all the victories, breakthroughs, and accomplisments I have experienced.  When I did my whole attitude changed.  I went from pity to praise.

Sometimes, when everything is going wrong, and you feel as though you are finished, you have to do what David did before he faced Goliath.  He recounted and remembered all of the times when he had faced seeminly impossible situations and God had given him the victory.  This gave him the inspiration and courage to face the biggest challenge of his young life.  When he did God showed himself strong on his behalf and the giant was defeated.

If we aren't careful we tend to focus so much on our trials that we forget all of our triumphs.

Yes you will have difficulties in life, but always remember, regardless of what you are facing, God always causes us to triumph! (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Just because you are going through difficult times it doesn't mean there is something wrong with you.  It simply means that you are alive.

So what do you do when you are facing difficulties?  You keep on keeping on.  You keep on believing.  You keep on fighting.  You refuse to quit and give up.

I really believe that God can and wants to your turn your pain into power for purpose.

You can take what you've been through, the lessons you've learned, and how you have survived and overcame them, and use it as a message of hope and encouragement to others faced with seemingly impossible situations.  Like the old preacher said, "God will turn your tests into testimonies, and your messes into messages!

My wife taught me something several years ago that I have never forgotten.  She said that everything I had been through was nothing more than a classroom.  She taught me how to reframe my setbacks and see them from a new perspective.  I learned how to draw out the lessons I had learned, because of the difficulties I had faced in life, and apply them to my life and share them with others facing similar things.

We are able to comfort, encourage, and help others going through difficulties because we ourselves have been comforted, encouraged, and helped when facing the difficulties of life.

Most people are hiding behind a mask.  Apprearing to others as though they have it all together.  Yet on the inside they are frustrated, tormented, and discouraged.  Their fear of rejection and not being accepted by others has led them to a life of faking it instead of being authentic.

I have learned, faking it doesn't work, at least not long-term.  But, when you learn to let your guard down, get real with yourself, and stop trying to be perfect, you find the faith, power, and wisdom, needed to not just survive the struggles of life but to thrive in the midst of them.

Here are 10 things I've learned about turning your pain into power for purpose:

1.  I am not the only one that has gone through or is going through the difficulties I am going through. (1 Corinthians 10:13)
2.  Others have faced similar circumstances, and by faith, have overcome them, so I can as well.  (Read Hebrews 11)
3.  My attitude and mindset when facing painful circumstances determines my outcome. (Proverbs 23:7,Mark 9:23)
4.  What I make happen for others, by helping them in their times of struggle, God will make happen for me. (Ephesians 6:8)
5.  This too shall pass, I will get through this. (Psalm 30:5)
6.  God is for me not against me. (Romans 8:31)
7.  God bring others into my life in my darkest moments to assist or minister to me.
8.  If I learn the lessons struggle teaches me I can teach those lessons to others and either help them avoid the same struggles or how to overcome them. (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)
9.  My pain has become power for fulfilling mu life purpose as I have shared my story and the lessons I have learned with others facing similar situations as I faced.
10. God always turns every situation into triumph if I keep my faith strong and my attitude right. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Questions for today:  What are you doing today to turn your pain into power for purpose? or What personal pain have your turned into power for purpose?  Comment below!

Obstacles to Success

There are many obstacles on the road to success. You will never enjoy progress if you become sidetracked or stopped by them. In order to be a great achiever you must learn to overcome the hindrances in your path.

All great achievers have had to face and overcome many things on their way to success. Perhaps one of the greatest illustrations of this in American history is that of Abraham Lincoln our sixteenth president. While he is known most of all for his war on slavery, had he not been a man of great resolve and persistence, history may have taken a different turn.

From failing in business on numerous occasions to many failed campaigns for public office, he rose to become one of the greatest political leaders of all time. His rise to greatness was the result of his determination to overcome the obstacles in his path.

Obstacles:

Indecision. Not being able to make the necessary decisions can be a hindrance to your personal success. There may be many reasons for this. It could be fear, or a lack of the facts, or procrastination, that keeps you from making the right decisions. Realize that all of life is about the choices you make. There can be no success without you making the decision to do what it takes to win.

Past experiences. Perhaps nothing is more detrimental to forward progress then the memory of past failures. Before you can enjoy accomplishment you must get rid of the negative memories of past events that are holding you back. The Apostle Paul said, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth to those things which are before.” Never forget, the past is just that, past. You can’t do anything to change it. Learn from it and go forward.

The opinions of negative people. It is amazing how many so-called experts show up when you make the decision to follow the God-given vision for your life. They seem to come out of the woodwork. The majority of them have never accomplished a whole lot in their lives, however, they are laden with all kinds of information and advice as to what to do or not to do. For the most part they feel it is their responsibility to talk you out of what you feel you should do. To succeed you must not allow yourself to be swayed by the opinions of such people.

Delayed results. There is no such thing as an overnight success. Anything of value and lasting importance takes time to accomplish. Just because you start the journey to success today does not mean you will arrive at your destination tomorrow. Just because there may be a delay in seeing the fulfillment of your vision does not mean it won’t happen if you don’t quit.

Lack of focus. It is impossible to succeed if you have too many irons in the fire. You can’t go two directions at the same time. Many people are hindered in their efforts because they are double-minded. In other words, they lack focus. They are trying to do too much at one time. Refocus on your primary goals and obstacles. You will soon be back on the path to making positive progress.

Fear. Another great hindrance to success is fear. Denis Waitly says, “Fear is an acronym for False Education Appearing Real.” Fear comes in all shapes and sizes. From fear of failure to fear of success, many well-intentioned people never accomplish all they could because fear holds them back. Fear is simply negative faith. It is believing for the worst instead of the best. Fear is the actual belief that something bad is going to happen to you. Most fears come as the result of bad information or misunderstanding of what’s true. The more accurate information you have on a given subject the less fear you will have concerning it.

Distractions. Many get sidetracked because they allow things to distract them from their goals and objectives. A distraction is anything that takes your focus off of what you are trying to accomplish. They usually come in the form of being something extremely urgent. Many are caught up in what is known as the tyranny of the urgent. This happens when you become distracted by what is seemingly urgent and thereby fail to understand what is really important. To successfully achieve your goals you must “Keep the main thing (your goals) the main thing!”

Trying to fit in. Conformity can be a definite hindrance to progress. High achievers know the value of standing out rather then blending in. What sets you apart from others in your field? Many have failed because they are afraid to take a stand for what they believe in and what they want to accomplish. They allow peer pressure to force them into the conformity mode. “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, it is conformity,” says Psychiatrist Rollo May.

No definite direction. You can’t get where you want to be without proper direction. It is impossible to hit a target you aren’t aiming at. Direction is found in setting and maintaining goals. Goals help you crystallize your thinking. They provide motivation. Staying on track is the result of definite direction.

Lack of people skills. No man is an island. If you are going to be successful you must be able to get along with, and work well with, other people. A lot of people fail not because they don’t have a good idea or good work ethics, but because they lack people skills. Spend time developing your public relations. Learn to communicate, negotiate, compromise, and inspire others.

Taking The Limits Off of God

The Power of Questions: 20 Questions To Ask Yourself As You Begin the New Year

Questions are powerful tools for finding the answers, solutions, and information you need to live the life God created you to live.  The quality of your questions determines the quality of your answers. To not ask questions means to live without the answers you need to live a life or purpose.

Scripture teaches us "The purposes of a mans heart are as a deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out"  (Proverbs 20:5)

I remember as a young man a family in my dad's church that lived in the country and didn't have running water.  Their only source of water was a well behind their home.  It was so deep you couldn't see the bottom of it when you looked down.  The only way to get the water out was to lower a bucket by rope to the bottom and to draw the water out.

This is the picture we see in the above verse.  The purpose for your life is as a deep well, and it has to be drawn out through understanding.  By asking the right questions of yourself you gain understanding of what God has deposited in you for being the best you can be; your personality, your talents, your strengths, your desires and dreams, and your leadership quotient.  Understanding these things leads to you discovering the purpose God has created you to fulfill.

The following video, I found on YouTube, is a great starting point as you begin a new year.  Take out a piece of paper and write out the questions and your answers to them.