Every Effort

Ah blessed Friday!  As I look back on this week it has been far from perfect. I did not do everything exactly as I have planned it, however I have made porgress. I realize that my concept of diligence has been flawed. It is not all about doing it perfectly, but doing it consistently.

The fundamental principle of diligence is not perfect. Diligence is giving every effort to do the task with excellence.  Putting your best foot forward and realizing that just taking the first and second steps is a big accomplishment in itself. Most don't get passed the first step. You are already ahead of the game.

So I'm on a roll. Feeling high and unstoppable. The next step in diligence is to keep going. Keep refining your processes and get to a higher level of efficiency. Part of this is continuing to affirm your success. Take time to reflect on the journey and verbally affirm yourself.

This leads usnto the next step. Holding fast to your confession. This is your confession to GOD. Confessing He is LORD and your every move is to glorify His name in everything you do. Therefore it should be done with diligence and excellence.  Diligence is giving GOD your every effort.

Making Diligence the goal.

In our lives we have many goals. We make goals for many different things, money, new job, learning. However, we hardly ever make GOD the goal.

But shouldn't it be that way. Is not GOD the reason for living this life? So for the last few weeks my number one goal has been to give time to GOD.

I have noticed a difference already. I feel more confident and at pece as I go through the day. My goals are aligned. Doing it first thing in the morning sets me in the right mood right from the start.

What do in my time with him? I study the words of a good teacher and compare it to what I read in the Bible.  I reflect on the message and ponder how I can apply it to my life. I usually write a prayer as well and ask GOD to help me learn the lesson.

It doesn't have to be a long drawn out session. Any amout of time is better than none.  My sessions last about 20 to 30 minutes. And when I have a light day I devote more time.

So lets make GOD our first priority this year. Can you give some time to GOD?

Sustained Diligence

In learning to be more diligence, we need to be conscious and aware of what we do daily, all day, everyday. Diligence and excellence become a goal. It becomes something we think and consider on all the time. This is important because it is the underlying definition of diligence.

To best put this into practice we must do something everyday toward the goal of being diligence.  Small steps that lead us toward our goal. It can be as small making a plan. Reviewing what we have done in the past and finding ways to be more efficient and practical.

Some of the steps that I will focusing on today is to be more aware and present in my life. I am often on the go go go mode and don't take time to enjoy where I am in life. Today I will watch the sun rise. Am I actually doing something? Yes very much so. Being present and aware of life is fundamental to being diligent.

It seems like a small thing, but it is the small steps that take us through long journey of life. So take a small step today. Then take a small step tomorrow.  Before you realize it you have journeyed far beyond what you thought was possible.

So what is your small step for today? Remeber, I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me?

Let Us Make Every Effort

Diligence is one of the most important aspects of a Christians' race. Sloppy, lazy work is enough to get you kicked out of the kingdom or at least earn you a seat at the barley made it table. Laziness is placed on the list with the most detestable of sins. Striving for excellence then is a must.

As I look into my own life there are a number of things that I have been lazy about or taken for granted. As I go into the second month of this new year, here are some things that I will be working to be more diligent about.

1. Finances
We always seem to have enough. Out of no where GOD grants us favor but in this area we have been resting on our laurels and its starting to show. It is not necessarily about the money but in the administration and utilization of  it. We have not been using it to the best of our abilities and have been frivolous.

Once a task is begun...

One small step: A finance plan and a little bit of self restraint in spending. Also to give a little more. We are far from stingy people but giving more implies that we have more to give. I think that this will help us to further change our thinking about money and move to a more abundant mindset.

2. Community

Leave it not until its done!!!

We can be rather anti-social. Okay well I can be. Some times I feel like people just don't understand and they are so lost in this world it is saddening and I withdraw from their contact. However, it should be just the opposite. I need to go out more into this world and share with people, learn more about them and why they think or act the way they do. Perhaps they have a good reasons. Also if you know anything about me you know that I listen very well. Too well sometimes. So well I barely talk. This will also help me to listen less and talk more.

I have 5 more things on this list but as I write and get close to my ranting time limit, I realize that everything on this list can be two fold. As I become more diligent about these things in life, I learn and grow myself. Perhaps this is the reason it is so important and why GOD looks highly on those who are diligent. It shows that you are putting in every effort to excel at this life he has given you.

Unfortunately, I have hit my time limit for today. Work calls. Oh, I will be publishing my first e-book! I have a tentative deadline but there is still lots of writing and editing to do. I will have more information soon. Until tomorrow...

Proverbs 10:4 (NIV)

Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Diligence

Let us be diligent.  Heb. 4:11

Throughout the Bible we are warned against being lazy. There is no where that says the Christian life will be easy. We are here to work for GOD. We each have a responsibility to Him. But to do our best we need to be diligent.  A worker of excellence.

We need to be diligent about our running our race. Here are the 5 steps that I have come up with for myself to keep diligence.

1. Put in the time. Give GOD time to teach and me to learn. Study the words of the Bible. Constantly be growing in my knowledge of GOD.

2. Find teachers. Listen to different and varied teachings to find new and improved ways of living.  Always be upgrading your life.

3. Talk with other people.  Learn how they live. Do not judge, but mentally analyze their ways. Is there some thing you can learn?

4. Learn learn learn. Let this be your mantra.  Always look for the lesson.  No matter the event or circumstances.  There is always something to be learned.

5. Put it into practice. Once you find the lesson do not just say, oh thats good let me file it away. Practice it. Find a way to integrate it into your life. Many people hear good lessons but fail to actually learn it. Don't waste good knowledge. Use it.

What ways can you think of that will help you to be diligent? Remember, no matter who signs your paycheck, you work for GOD. Be a worker of excellence in all you do.

Spiritual Director

Some of the Spiritual Directors in my life have been my Mom and my sisters. My mom has taught me endurance.  I believe that she is one woman who can find joy even in the midst of sorrow. Hard pressed you will be, to bring her down. I pray GOD continues to give her strength and renewed faith. She is also my example of being involved and being open to recieve people but yet never wavering in her beliefs.

My sisters have also learned and exhibit endurance. If ever I need to look for example of ones who run the race with endurance, it is them. My eldest sister also has shown me the value of wisdom. I pray wisdom will always be her guide.

My 2nd sister, oh that girl!, has taught me a lot about myself and that whatever that is, it's all good. She has proven time and time again, that she knows what it is to be a very opinionated non-judgementalist. She is one of the few people in the world who truly excepts people for who they are and allows them to be.

These things have taken half a lifetime to realize but that is what living life is all about. Finding the golden nuggets of wisdom, patience and undestanding after the dust has settled. These wonderful people have been gifts from GOD to help me when I didn't even know I needed.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, seek, knock - Asking

Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

Ask, Seek, Knock

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Sometimes I often find myself trying to "do" things and use my own understanding of things to bring them to fruition. More often than not I find myself frustrated at my own efforts. But God has a better way of doing things.

Instead of trying to do something on your own, look for the resources that God provides and are available to you. By leaning on our own understanding and our own wisdom we end up in vain, foolish pursuits and wasting our efforts. God says ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.

This says to me that all we have to do is ask. Open your mouth and make your request be known. Speak on it and speak it over you life. Say to the Lord, Please bless me in my efforts to make good grades in all my classes. Open up my mind to learning and growing. Show me the way you want me to go.

We also need to be open to the possibility that what you want, may not be what God wants you to do. He will provide the way for what He wants. Look at the options and possibilities that are open to you. Don't hesitate and go forward. You will see even more things open up to you when you move in faith.

And don't forget to praise Him and thank Him regardless of where the road leads and He will bless you!

Keeping the Change

As I sit today I contemplate the inevitable question of why I believe. I have come up with 2 things. One I will be moved to say nothing. I have learned that sometimes the best way to explain yourself is to say nothing at all. Sometimes it will be unnecessary to say anything and let your actions speak for you.

The second, the change. Out of all the things I could say I think that the most profound is that my life is not the same as it was before.

As the song by Brandon Heath states, I'm not who I was. The change not just in physical things but in what I do, how I do it, my dreams and goals, and most important is the change of my thinking.

While I am far from the perfection that God has envisioned for me my mind has been changed. I worry less and less, I am apt to do more, give more, think about the full consequences of my actions, think about others and look for ways to be more Christ like. I constantly dwell on Him, ask what he thinks, what he wants and how can I be a force for his will.

So while that person may not have known me before, after stating that there has been changed I have a quarter of a life time to reflect to that person on how I was before and how I am now. The differences are stunning and vivid. Things I do now I would not have done before. Things I think now would not have occurred to me before. I have matured (some) and it has made a big difference in my life. Jesus has made a big difference in my life.

I plan on keeping these changes and I look forward to more. The biggest change is that I look forward to the challenges. I look to seek out ways to expand myself, love more and humble myself. Though I still have not gotten the full grasp of that word, it is one of the biggest things on my list of things to change. That is the icing on the pie, I want to change. And I want to change not into things of the world but to cultivate the fruit of the spirit. Those things have become the most important.

The inner fountains

After reading a piece by Teresa of Avila from the inner castle, I realize that I have experienced both the water of joy from the aqueducts, which comes from afar and through must thought, and from the source of right there. The right there source is that inner joy that comes when you feel, see and hear the favor and grace of God upon you.

When you know that you don't deserve but you get anyway. ll you can say is thank you and you are overjoyed. The joy spills over into everything. Filled beyond the brim. You smile like a child who has a inner secret that only she and God knows.

God truly does provide all that I need. I need only ask. How was I even able to prosper this year? I'm not sure, but what I do know is that everything worked out to my good and a path was laid and set. I just need to follow. My how easy God makes it.

Follow the water. Not the one that comes from a far and from the rigors of my fallible mind. No, follow the water that is here and now. Let it lead you. You do not need to think hard to follow. Just pick up your foot and take a step. Do not worry where it leads because if you are following God in deed. To God is where your steps will lead.