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Building A Dream Life

Forgiveness is More for the Forgiver Than the Forgivee

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Anger, Resentment and Hatred Hurts the Carrier the Most

We have all known someone who has been wronged and will not forgive. This eats away at them both mentally and physically. They carry this anger around, locked away, waiting to be given to someone and never finding anyone worthy.

Forgiveness is the most powerful weapon we have and one of the least used.

I listened to a Marie Forleo podcast earlier this week in which she interviewed Dr. Edith Eger, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor.

“In 1944 she was just a teenager when she experienced one of the worst evils the human race has ever known. As a Jew living in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, she and her family were sent to Auschwitz, the heinous death camp. Her parents were sent to the gas chambers, but Edith’s bravery kept her and her sister alive.  Toward the end of the war Edith and other prisoners had been moved to Austria. On May 4, 1945 a young American soldier noticed her hand moving slightly amongst a number of dead bodies.”

“Though I could have remained a permanent victim –scarred by what was beyond my control– I made the choice to heal. Early on, I realized that true freedom can only be found by forgiving, letting go, and moving on.”

If Edith can forgive the people who did these horrible things to her and her family, there should be no reason we can’t also forgive. We have been forgiven by God. We should do the same for others.

Andy Andrews does a great job of explaining forgiveness in Decision #7 the “Compassionate Decision” in his book The Seven Decisions. He points out that too much of the time we expect other to ask for forgiveness and they may not even know that they wronged us.

He also brings up the importance of forgiving ourselves. Often, we are our own biggest critics. We expect one thing and when we don’t achieve that we beat ourselves up.

Remember to forgive yourself.

We can accomplish so much more and we will be much happier and healthier if we will forgive.

Building Your Life on a Solid Foundation

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Core Values Are the Building Blocks of That Foundation

We’re currently working on designing a process for grading or scoring our production teams. We’ve been considering this for years.

One of the parameters that we’re looking to base this system on is our companies core values. As we were discussing those core values, I realized that I hadn’t finished sharing our core values with you. (I got busy fighting hot fires.)

Important things become less urgent when we get sidetracked fighting a hotter fire.

In January of 2017 I wrote about using core values as a life filter. In that post I defined what core values are and shared ours. Core values are a combination of things you are good at and come naturally. They also consist of things that you aren’t so good at but deep down you know you should be.

CORE is – the central or most important part of something. This is the most inner part of who you are. This is like your conscience. The deep down, on the inside, who God made you to be.

VALUES are – the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something; a person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life. This is the part that you choose. How you want to be, how you will treat others, etc. This doesn’t mean they have to be good. Some people’s values may be selfish or greedy.

You can choose what values you will live by.

Here are the foundation blocks that I am building my life and business on.

1 – Honor God in all that I do

2 – Pay attention to detail

3 – Spend time wisely, there is a limited amount

4 – Never be satisfied with mediocrity

5 – Find and maintain the balance in everything

6 – Move the mountain one shovel full at a time (Sharing the shovels)

7 – Remember that I have two ears and one mouth

8 – Take off the blinders, be more observant

9 – Intentional action (the importance of intentionality)

10 – Avoid drama

11 – Be accountable

12 – Make all I can, Save all I can, Give all I can

Like building a building…you can choose the foundation your life is built on.

Like I said earlier I neglected to finish sharing our core values with you so…I’m holding myself accountable (#11) and going to share the last three over the next few weeks.

People Will Never Agree on Everything

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What Matters Is – How We Do It

Anywhere there is more than one person there is going to be conflict. This goes back as far as Cain and Abel. Cain had a disagreement with God and took it out on Abel.

Too often we act out our disagreements on people who had nothing to do with it.

We are humans we are not perfect. The Church is no different than any other organization in this. The difference is that as Christians we’re supposed to handle disagreement differently. Too often as the Church we forget this.

We have forgotten how to be in relationships with other people. We expect everyone to see everything “the same way I do”. We have become separated and distant. This isn’t going to change if we don’t do something about it.

In Matthew 18:15-20, we are given an example of how to deal with disagreements. Disagreement isn’t to ignore. Disagreement isn’t to be mean. Part of a healthy relationship is civil disagreement.

We’ve forgotten how to disagree.

Harvard has done a 75-year study showing the importance of relationships. This study shows that a healthy relationship increases your chance of survival by 50%.

“Social relationships, or the relative lack thereof, constitute a major risk factor for health — rivaling the effect of well established health risk factors such as cigarette smoking, blood pressure, blood lipids, obesity and physical activity”

A healthy relationship requires participation from everyone that is beneficial to everyone. The more separated we are the less likely we are to improve relationships. A virtual relationship is nice but not a complete relationship.

If we have a relationship with God first, all of our other relationships will improve.

Learn from the Past – Look to the Future – Live in the Present

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Be Persistent in Pushing Toward the Goal

We all have specific gifts and talents that were given to us by God. These skills allow us to accomplish the results that God wants for us and from us. We can choose what we do with these God given abilities. We can use them for good or bad.

In Philippians 3:4-14, Paul refers to where he came from and looking forward to the goal that he has not yet reached. He learned from his mistakes and is focused on his future. It’s good to have a plan, but it does no good if you don’t do something today to move you in that direction.

No matter where you are it’s not where you were meant to be.

If we are still alive, we have control over our actions. In everything we have a choice. We can choose where we want to go and what we want to do. The important thing is to discuss these decisions with God first. Things go much better when we align our plans with His.

Matthew tells us not worry, but to seek what God wants for us and for His kingdom and all our needs will be met. Tomorrow has enough trouble of it’s own…be fully committed to the present.

Life is a journey full of obstacles, but God has given you what you need for them…it’s up to you to use them.

People Are the Foundation of the Church

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Jesus Is Building “It” On Believers

In Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus asks those following Him, “Who do people say that I am?” Peter’s answer was “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Who do you say that He is?

Jesus tells Peter, “You are the rock on which I will build my church.”. This is the first time that “church” is used in the Bible. Too often, people think of a building when they hear the word church.

Jesus was not talking about a building when He spoke about the church. He was talking about believers. People who believe that He is the Son of God. Too many people think of church as a building.

Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.

C. S. Lewis said in his book, Mere Christianity that…

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse….”

Believing that Jesus is the Son of God makes you one of the foundation stones.

There is a responsibility that goes with being part of this foundation. The weight of the church rests on it. The more blocks that are in the foundation the lighter the load is on each block.

The load appears lighter to those who choose not to be a part of the foundation, in reality, the load we carry alone is much heavier. The load is lighter when it’s shared.

If we choose to be a foundation rock, we have a responsibility to the other rocks. To share the load with the other foundation stones while showing those who aren’t yet, how to be one.

We have a responsibility to be the best foundation that we can. It’s our fault if the building falls down.

Faith is Not for the Weak of Heart

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You Have to be Intentional and Use It

Once again, this past Sunday technology wasn’t playing nice. The internet at the church did not want to cooperate. Life is full of things not going as we plan.

This morning my truck decided to be unagreeable and was not accelerating properly. My mechanic is only a few miles away, so I turned around and went to see him. When I got there, I found that he was closed. With a little checking I found that his family was headed to a wedding in Wyoming and won’t be back until Monday.

I have things to do, places to go, people to see.

This changed everything. At this point I had some decisions to make and I made them. First was to give this situation to God and believe that He would take care of this. Then, I went back home, made the necessary changes to my schedule, got some other transportation and continued moving forward. Then, as I was driving to town, I looked at the fuel gauge and it was on E. It was another faith moment…God this is in Your hands. I made it to the gas station before running out.

No this isn’t what I had planned for today, but most days don’t turn out like we plan. Life is full of unseen situations. Like the woman in Matthew 15:21-28, she was dealing with a daughter who was suffering. She was faced with choices just like us. She could live with it or she could be brave and take it to Jesus. This was not an easy thing for her because she was a Canaanite not a Jew.  

Her courage and faith made the difference.

Her daughter was made well. We can choose to put our trust in tools, equipment, technology, other people, etc. These things will let us down. We need to trust in God and believe that He will do what He says.

Have a brave heart and put your faith in God!

What Does It Mean to Have Faith?

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It Means the Willingness to Step Out of the Boat

Faith is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. This is much easier to say than to do. Saying it doesn’t require the level of commitment that doing does.

In Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus’ followers are alone in a boat in the middle of the night and there’s a storm. They see something on the water and think it’s a ghost, but it’s Jesus. Peter says, “…if it’s really you, then command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “Come.”, and Peter gets out of the boat and walks to Jesus. Then Peter gets scared and starts to sink. Jesus reaches out and catches Peter and says, “Your faith is small.”

How big is your faith?

I think this story of Peter getting out of the boat is a great example of our humanness. Faith is easier in the beginning when you’re still close to the solid comfort of the known. The real test is when you get out in the middle. The goal still looks far away, and we begin to doubt ourselves and our decision.

It requires faith to step out.

Imagine standing on the edge of a wide and deep canyon. It is scary, standing there you can’t see the bottom or the other side. You know that on the other side is something important. It could be a person, a business, a home, the life of your dreams.

The only way to get there is to go across a swinging rope walkway. Some of the boards on the walk are missing and some are broken. The rope is frayed and looks to be unwinding. You can’t even see the whole bridge, so you have no idea what condition the part you can’t see is in. This fear is what keeps most people stuck in the mediocrity. It’s too scary to step out there on the bridge.

What if the thing on the other side is the thing that God wants for you? To have it you just need to have faith and go get it.

We want to have faith. We start to have faith. Then we quit.

The loss of our faith gradually happens as we mature. As we go through life, we become more and more cynical. We witness discouragement and heartache and we lose our faith. In Matthew 18:3 and Mark 10:15 we are told to enter the Kingdom of God; we need to be more like children.

Andy Andrews talks about a childlike faith in his book The Traveler’s Gift. In the Persistent Decision, one of the seven life principles in the book, he speaks to faith. He says, “How long must a child try to walk before he actually does so? A child would never ask the question, for the answer does not matter. By persisting without exception, my outcome – my success – is assured.” A child would not think twice about running out on that bridge over the canyon.

We need to have the faith of a child.

Faith requires that we put our complete trust and confidence in Someone other than ourselves. If we ask God to walk on the water and He says, “Do it”, we can be sure that it’s safe to step out of the boat.

My Hope Is in God…Not in the World

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This Includes Technology 😊

The world around us is amazing. The things we can do with computers and smart phones today was the things of imagination fifty years ago. But these things are limited, like every other worldly thing.

If we put our faith in worldly things, we will be disappointed.

This past week’s church service had some “technical difficulties”. This left some gaps in the message, which I think speaks directly to the message. We so often put our faith in the things rather than God.

This doesn’t mean that we should let the difficulties of the world get us down. This pain we go through is like the pain of childbirth. The reward on the other side of the pain, makes the pain worth it. Romans 8:12-25

We can choose whether our focus will be on despair or hope.

There was a family that had a father and son both working in a coal mine. There was an explosion, the father was killed, and the son maimed. The family choose to focus on hope rather than despair. They were so serious about this that they changed their last name to Sperondeo, which means, “my hope is in God”. The son went on to do amazing things with his life.

Faith in God is more than blind hope. It is trusting in something bigger than yourself. It is the act of believing and trusting God. This kind of hope is like breath is to life. As long as we have hope, life is worth living. We are not alone. Hope in Christ is the secret ingredient to life

Put your hope in God…not in the world!

What Would You Pay to Have Lunch with God?

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And What Would That Be Worth?

People have paid over $4,000,000.00 to have lunch with Warren Buffet. This money goes to a charity in San Francisco to help the poor, homeless and people struggling with substance abuse. The winning bidder and seven friends get to eat a meal with Mr. Buffet at what time he will discuss anything with them apart from his next investments.

How much would you pay to have lunch with God?

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. One day a man found the treasure, and then he hid it in the field again. He was so happy that he went and sold everything he owned to buy that field.” Matthew 13:44-46

What would the Kingdom of Heaven be worth to you?

We get so entrenched in the daily routine of living our lives that too often we forget to step back and take stock of what we’re investing in. Life will take over if we let it. We think we can do everything ourselves.

A lady in an accident was trapped in her car precariously hanging over the edge of a bridge. As the rescuers tried to stabilize the vehicle and get her out, she kept yelling, “I’ll do it myself.”

Isn’t this how we approach our lives most of the time?

Where we put the most value is where our hearts are. Luke 12:34

Author Catherine Marshall spent years in bed after contracting tuberculosis in 1940. As she struggled with the illness, she couldn’t understand how God would let something like this happen. She longed for a better relationship with God and decided to give God complete control. She made a promise to God to …“do whatever You tell me.” She got well and lived her life well.

We need to constantly step back and take an inventory of our lives.

What would it be worth to you to have lunch with God every day?

Weeds Have a Big Impact on the Harvest

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It’s Best if They’re Pulled Before They Get Too Big

Last week we talked about the importance of the seed and the ground on which it’s planted. This week is another farming analogy. This time it’s about weeds and the damage they do. Jesus tells a story of weeds growing in wheat in Matthew 13:24-30.

In this story a man had a field of wheat planted and his enemy snuck in and planted weeds. By the time the weeds were noticed they were too big to pull without damaging the crop. The farmer told his help to wait until harvest time and then they would separate the weeds from the wheat.

This reminds me of a story when I was young. Dad had a field of soybeans that had some wild cane growing in amongst the crop. The problem was that by the time the cane was discovered both the crop and the weeds were too big to spray. So, we took some corn knives (a big machete) and started chopping. Thankfully the field was only 25 or 30 acres, but it took days and days of Dad, Grandpa, my younger brother and me, walking down each row and cutting weeds out of the beans.

Removing weeds is a painful process.

We all have weeds sprout up in our lives. The important thing to do is pay attention and remove them early. We have an internal weed sensor called a conscience. This allows us to sense the weed when it’s still a seed. It’s much better if we get rid of those weeds before they get big.

When weeds get big enough to recognize it’s too late to pull them.

 Don’t wait too long to clean the weeds from your life.