I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls. 2 Corinthians 12:15 I am struck by this verse.  In context the Apostle Paul is talking about his concern for the people of Corinth.  And he is willing to go to any length to see the people of Corinth come to knowledge of Christ and into relationship with Christ.  That's what he's saying in today's quote.   I'm struck because I believe what is written in the word of God is for me to take in as well and live out.  So am I willing to say to whomever comes across my path, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls"?  And how God asks me to spend and be spent will look different, in some ways, than how it did for the Apostle Paul or how it does for Billy Graham or how it does for you or for me.  But am I willing?  I immediately say "yes, of course" but when the rubber meets the road is that really what happens?  Will I, do I, really allow myself to be spent on behalf of someone coming to

Jealousy is when you count someone else's blessings instead of your own.   Unknown Today's quote doesn't really need any "unpacking" or additional thoughts from me.  Pretty straightforward right?  Examine yourself and you'll know that jealousy's definition is today's quote.  What I find ironic about jealousy is that while we are occupied being jealous with other people's blessings someone is occupied being jealous by ours !  And we are so unaware to our own blessings.  Let's all try to get our eyes off of what we think are blessings for others and look instead at what we have been blessed with.  Because we have each been blessed - uniquely and specifically.

In other belief traditions, man must pull himself up by his own bootstraps and get right with God. In Christianity, it is God who reaches downward to make men right. Men are not expected to earn God's favor by demonstrating their worth; instead God seeks to wins mans favor by demonstrating the unfathomable dimensions of His love. Regis Nicoll What a relief.  At least with God I don't have to earn my way into his favor, his good graces, into his "circle".  I do with others.  With anyone in my life, with anyone who has allowed me into their life there was this "earning" I had to do and they had to do with me.  Oh we don't see it that way, we don't even think of it consciously that way but it is what we do.  We require others to earn their way into our "circle", and we are required to do the same.  There has to be a trust and a respect established and proven.   Not so with God.  What a relief.   What a relief that he reaches down to me in

God's plans for your life far exceed the circumstances of your day.   Louie Giglio Gosh, more days than not do I need this reminder!  What is it about *us* that we translate a not-so-good day into our life is ruined?  And more specifically we translate it into our life is without purpose?  We need to quit with the dramatics!  Our days - good or bad - or even seasons of our life - good or bad - do not change what God has planned for each of us.  But what God has planned for us may be different than what's in our head.  What he has planned for us may be what we think it is but it may look different than what we think.  Or it may come at a different time than when we think it should.  And when what we think doesn't happen we let it ruin our days or seasons of life. Today's quote is two-fold in my opinion.  The obvious lesson is to quit with the dramatics and don't translate "one" bad day as your whole life and God's plans for it are ruined.  God's

People rush to complain but pause to compliment.   Letra Davis Ever notice this?  I didn't realize how true it is until I read it put this way! Somewhere along the way of life we were taught to speak in the negative rather than the positive.  It's rare to hear optimism these days, the norm is negativity and if someone chooses to go against the grain and focus on positivity they are labeled "weird" or "annoying".  I know that I annoy some people at my workplace with my cheerfulness.  Not that I am Miss Positive all the time but as the "face of YL" (i.e. the first face guests see when they enter our building) I am cheerful and pleasant more often than not.  And I am that way with our employees as well.  Some of them are bugged big time by it.  It's kinda funny really so with them I am usually extra cheerful. :) (How's that for revenge?!)  The ones bugged by it are the ones who are typical of today's quote - they are the complainers an

See today's challenge as tomorrow's breakthrough: you will thrive.   Mary Anne Radmacher What seems to be the obstacle for today?  Or maybe its not an obstacle but a challenge.  Maybe the challenge lies in getting over the obstacle!  I think those can be two different things.  But regardless, what is it for you today?  It doesn't have to be a "grandiose" challenge, it can be something as small as eating 100 less calories today.  The challenge is yours to conquer and nobody has permission to judge what the obstacles in your life are.  Because we are unique, our challenges will be unique to us and what will help us develop character.   How do you approach challenges?  Do you groan and grunt your way through and just wish for it to be over, not ever looking for what treasure can be gleaned from it?  Or do you groan and grunt your way through (*grin* let's be honest we all groan and grunt our way through a bit) but have the awareness that at the end, at the com

Expectation is the root of all heartache.   William Shakespeare Have you experienced this?  I have.  I have expectations of myself, of others because of myself, of others because of their title or position, on me from others.  And expectations let us down every time.  Why?  Because they are set so high that we fall terribly hard.  Even when we say, "I have no expectations" we usually do, they may be unknown to us at the time but they always make their presence known at some point; usually when they are disappointed.  I don't know about you but expectations disappointed usually do bring me heartache of some sort.  So what to do?  Well the obvious answer is don't have expectations!  :)  But as I said above we usually do even if we don't think we do!  So what to do really?  Recognize when you have an expectation and address it.  Give it a good shot of reality.  Often I have to give myself a reality check when I am aware of an expectation that is about to be disapp

Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.   Unknown What a concept.  Truly!  What if we all did this?  What if we actually gave more attention to what we love than what we hate?  So many examples come to mind - a lot of them controversial so I'm not going to use any of them because I'm not interested in starting a debate.  :)  Suffice it to say that when we stand on "street corners" bashing the thing we hate we aren't telling people what we love.  We are only sending the message of what we hate.  If you've ever been guilty of this then have you noticed how people will "cross the street" to get away from you?  It's not because they are convicted by your bashing, it's because they are disgusted.  Just sayin'.  You've done it too.  You've seen up ahead someone standing on a "street corner" bashing something you love and you've "crossed the street" in disgust.  We all do it.  But what if you a

Do not give up, the beginning is always the hardest.   Unknown Ugh.  Don't I know this.  The beginning is always the hardest.  I wish it weren't.  I wish it were easy.  But it's the hardest.  I think I know why.  It's the hardest in the beginning because that's what we need to fight through.  It's easy to give up when not much is invested yet.  And our tendency as humans is to give up and if we don't have much invested yet then it's easy to give up on it.  But we have to fight through that desire to give up so quickly and we have to dig deep and find the desire to see it through.  This applies to so many things in our lives.  Exercise, addressing clutter in our lives,  fixing a relationship, etc.  And sometimes, for me at least, the re-start is harder that it was when I began!  For example, I've really been struggling to re-start what I know I need to do to be healthy physically.  It's been really tough for me, much tougher than it was when I s

Peace is not the absence of trouble but the presence of Christ.   Sheila Walsh I have great news!  Peace is the presence of God in your life!  And who couldn't use peace?  In this crazy, messy, tumultuous world we live in peace is something we all crave, whether we are aware of it or not.  And we can have peace even in the midst of trouble as Walsh says in today's quote.   "Impossible" , you may mutter under your breath, "I'm in a world of trouble right now due to fill in the blank and I have no peace.  There's no such thing as having peace in the midst of crap."  My counter would be to inquire whether or not you know Jesus.  Because when you know him, I mean really know him, you will have peace and it will astound you and everyone around you.  I can say this because I have life experience that backs it up.  I can say this because  God promises to be peace in our lives and he does not and can not lie so it is true. So often we think that peace e

Your attitude is your choice. It always is. We live in an age that has developed the art of shifting blame to very high levels, and sometimes we get caught up in that same tendency.  "Well, if you had my job you wouldn't be so positive."  "If you had my kids, you wouldn't feel so good."  "If only my boss were different, I could be a positive person."  In other words, "My bad attitude is not my fault!" The truth is, however, your attitude and mine are always our choice. No matter how bad things are, no one can force you to have a bad attitude if you don't want to. Now that should come as really good news because it says our attitudes don't have to be victims of our circumstances or of other people. We choose our responses.   Mary Whelchel I don't need to expound.  How good - and true! - is this statement?!  I don't need to expound but of course I will a little bit.  :)  It all comes down to choice do

If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.   J.K. Rowling Oh gosh is this the truth or what?!  Rowling provides a character litmus test in today's quote.  It is not an accurate way to view someone by how they treat people they think are equal to them on whatever level they are using as that equalizer.  The accuracy of someones character is in how they treat people that don't reach that level of equalizing.  And we all have some level we have created. People that we meet we place into  categories : they meet us on the same level (i.e. we are equal), they don't reach the level or they are above the level.   If we really want to know about OUR true character as well as the character of others then we should step back and observe.   In the case of others don't let them know they are being watched  because  then you might get a show.  Just watch and see what happens.  How do they treat people who don't

Judging a person does not define who they are, it defines who you are.  Unknown Ouch.  Ever since I first read this quote a few months back it keeps haunting me.  Not that I don't know the truth behind it already but the way it is phrased keeps pinging me. I think a lot of times we all speak something about someone and without realizing it we are judging them.  I know I am guilty of this.  It usually hits me about midnight or 2 am, when I'm in a dead sleep.  My eyes pop open and I inwardly groan at the judgement I had passed on someone earlier in the day.  I swear my conscience does this running review all night long while I'm asleep and can't defend or rather justify myself! Where I get stuck is when it is true about the person! No seriously.  There are some people out there that are idiots, for one reason or another.  Or they are jerks, for one reason or another.  Or they are fill in the blank , for one reason or another.  In cases of truth I wonder if it comes

When you have to start compromising yourself or your morals for the people around you, it's probably time to change the people around you.   Unknown 'Nuf said.  *grin* (Ha, you know me better than that!) For years I morphed myself into other people.  Whoever I was with or wanted to please I would morph into their personality and take on their morals (to a certain point).  UGH.  Who wants to be around that?  They didn't even want to be around me when it came right down to it!  Eventually I got a grip and started treating my relationships in healthy ways.  I started drawing some boundaries, learned to say no, figured out that people pleasing dishonored the One who created me, and stood up for myself in right ways.  I am a much better person to be around these days (trust me I am) and I'm still learning!  I'm still figuring out who I need to be careful around and who I can just be with.  For me it's a tightrope walk that is getting easier but every so often I w

May we be consumed with the Creator of all things rather than with things created.   Unknown I've been thinking about this lately.  We see beautiful places (I even have a board on Pinterest called "Beautiful Places" and it is pictures of places I've been or not that are beautiful in this world) or something in nature captivates us, inspires us, moves us.  And we gush about it.  Some of us believe all of this came to be out of basically nothing - like poof!  It all just appeared and formed one day.  Others of us believe there is a Creator behind it all - he fashioned it and put it in its places.  And yet still others of us don't really know what to believe, we just know we appreciate it and are even awed by it. You can probably guess which of the "other of us" I am :)  and here's a simple explanation as to why. Beautiful things can't and don't create themselves.  Inspiring things can't and don't create themselves.  And while I can

Practice sorting through the much to get to the must.   Mary Anne Radmacher I was thinking about how true today's quote is on several levels of life. In material terms it means we sort through all the "much" in our homes (multiple TVs, computers, unused furniture, "collections", paperwork, etc) and we weed out the much to get to the must (do *you* really need multiple TVs, computers, etc?  Why are you hanging on to unused things when others could be using it?  You see what I mean I am sure).  So it benefits our home life when we can make it a practice to sort through the much that accumulates to get to the must.  Sometimes the much we justify as necessary but really evaluate the necessity.  Is it truly a need or merely a want you've tried to make a need? In emotional terms it means we sort through all the "much" in our hearts (toxic relationships, unhealthy behaviors, wrong thinking, etc) and we weed out the much to get to the must (the toxic r

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.   Stephen Covey Listening is one of the most important skills we can I have I think.  And if we can teach ourselves to listen with the intent to understand then we are golden.  But in order to do that I think we have to override the culture in which we live.  In America (I can't speak for other countries) we have been taught (through non-verbals but modeling) to listen to reply/react.  We haven't been shown how to listen for understanding.  Oh we may say we are trying to but really we aren't.  How do I know?  What makes me so confident?  Try this.  The next time someone is talking check yourself.  Are you thinking of rebuttals, replies, defenses, comments, etc that you can make when it is your turn to talk?  It's okay.  Be honest, nobody but you knows your answer but we all know the answer because 99% of us have to same one.  So now that you see it try this.  The next time

"For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry."   Pretty much every human living has said this at least once, on purpose or not Nope.  No can do.  And for whatever it's worth, it (the "apology") isn't worth anything.  Someone said this to me recently and I got all riled.  Why do we say today's quote?  I'm wondering why because when I hear that kind of apology I think a couple of things: 1)  You are NOT sorry, you are just trying to appease or diffuse a situation.  In fact, do you even know what you are sorry for?   2)  What do you think your fake "I'm sorry" is worth?  Would it be worth something to you if you  heard  it from me?  The person who said it to me also was assuming I was upset and so they were trying to apologize for something they imagined they had done...or said...but weren't sure.  Kind of like covering their bases.  That gets me riled also.   Don't  apologize for imaginary things or to cover your bases.  Don&#

Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.   Francis Chan I love the way this is put.  Failure means at the very least that you went for it.  And that you went for it hard and that it mattered.  Success, or what appears to be success, as you go along the way in the little things that don't truly matter is the cowards way out.  Ouch.  That kind of hurts doesn't it?  Can you think of something that doesn't matter but people strive to succeed at? One that comes to mind immediately is the struggle for power/control.  One might argue with me that it does matter and I would respond with two things:  one, it really doesn't matter in the big picture and two, you have proven to me and others that in your attempts to convince us that power/control does matter you strive to succeed in it.  Oddly enough the people who strive to succeed at power/control are usually very afraid of failure and they use the need for

A well-known pastor, he was was once asked what was his most profound regret in life? “Being in a hurry.” That is what he said. “Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry.” “But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing.…Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.”   Mark Buchanan Being in a hurry puts us in the mindset of busy.  And we glorify busy, for that matter we also glorify being in a hurry.  Why do we do that?  Why do we teach, most of the time unknowingly, that being in a hurry and therefore busy is good?  Preferred even?  Because if we slowed down long enough to quiet ourselves and our busy minds we would see with the eyes of our hearts that being in a hurry and busy is not preferred.  It causes us to miss some of the most important moments of our lives

Lean forward into your life.  Begin each day as if it were on purpose.   Mary Anne Radmacher Is this day on purpose for you?  Are you looking at this day with anticipation of what can and will be?  If not then you've got a long day ahead of you.  Here's the deal.  It's all about our attitudes and perspectives.  Leaning forward into our days and lives gets our heads and hearts in the game (so to speak).  Dragging ourselves into our days and lives keeps us sour and whiny.  Lately I've been wishing people a happy birthday with the expressed hope that they can spend the day celebrating the life God has gifted them with.  That's an attitude of leaning forward into your life.  And while we all have an "off" and bad day now and then, overall our lives have purpose and we should eagerly lean into that purpose.   (Yes even the mundane has purpose.)   So lean forward into your life and see what purpose arises.  

I have learned that faith means trusting in advance what will only make sense in reverse.   Philip Yancey We don't like the unknown.  And faith is a lot of unknown because we are asked to trust what we don't understand fully.  Have you ever tried it?  Have you ever decided to take the risk and try trusting for the faith to come?  It's not for the faint of heart.  It takes courage, determination, and grit.  But as with most things that take courage, determination, and grit the reward, the payoff is so worth it.  I can't tell you what the payoff will be, it varies from person to person.  But I can tell you it will be worth it; it will stun you and surprise you and delight you.  When we choose to trust for the faith we will see play out in reverse we are choosing to embrace the unknown.

Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.   Unknown Be quiet.  :)  Recognize when you don't need to speak and it's a lot more often than you might realize.  You really don't need to defend every thought, argument, action, belief, platform, etc.  Really you don't.  We don't know how to be quiet.  And it gets us in trouble more than we'd like.  Just be quiet.  Lose your need to defend, be right, etc.  Swallow your words and  acknowledge  that it's okay to have a different point of view than others.  If you stay quiet you'll save yourself a lot of  unnecessary  conversations and free yourself up to have ones that matter.  

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.   Buddha What good does holding on to anger do?  How does it benefit anyone, especially the one holding on to it?  Here's the short answer:  It does no good and there is no benefit.  Period.  No justifications, excuses, or any reason you can come up with will be a good enough reason for holding on to anger.  Buddha is right, hold on to it and you are the only one getting burned.  You can't throw it off at someone else, it doesn't work that way.  Anger doesn't transfer. Ever looked into the physical problems that can crop up because of held anger?  Here's a few, and mind you these are just the physical things - not the emotional ones which far outweigh the physical in the long run: Clenching your jaws or grinding your teeth (can lead to MAJOR dental issues!) Headache Stomachache Increased and rapid heart rate Sweating, especially

Life is an adventure in forgiveness.   Norman Cousins Today's quote makes me think of Tough Mudder.  Heard of it?  Done it?  It's a 10-12 miles obstacle course designed by British Forces that you are supposed to do as a team. It's not an individual kind of thing but yet it is individual.  Huh?  Exactly. :) Why does today's quote make me think of Tough Mudder?  Because forgiveness is like a lifelong obstacle course and it's an individual thing yet not.  Huh?  Let me explain.  :) Forgiveness seems a lot like an obstacle course to me.  At some points it seems pretty uneventful - flat if you will.  You are strolling along and feel energized, you feel like you are free and clear of the person or situation you had to exercise forgiveness with.  And then you come up to an obstacle.  It might be a wall straight up you have to get over or it might be that you are down on your hands and knees crawling through the muck of feelings that suddenly hit you.  This is where the

Work for a cause, not for applause.  Live life to express, not to impress.  Don't strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt.   Unknown Whenever we work toward something and the motive is impure it will end up failing or backfiring on us.  I observed many times in my own life and others the fall out of impure motives. When we, you and I, work for applause the cause suffers because out attention is focused on ourselves and not the cause.  When we, you and I, live life trying to impress others we forget to express our individuality and find ourselves becoming a clone of whomever we are with at the time.  It's unfortunate that most people are impressed by people who act just like them, I suggest we start turning that around.  Express who you really are, if enough of us begin to do that then maybe that is what will end up impressing others!  Even if it doesn't I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest you express your true self no matter what. Whe

And what he greatly thought, he nobly dared.   Homer I think most of us have a thought of something we consider to be grand, great, necessary even.  But we stop short at the thought because we can't find the courage within to attempt it.  We let all sorts of excuses and reasons keep us from daring to attempt to put this thought into action. One such excuse is that it isn't "grand" enough in the big scheme of things.  Oh yeah, who says so?  What if it changed 2 people in your world but then those two people also practiced it and their attempts changed 2 more and so on?  The domino effect would happen.  Forget 2 people - what about just one?  Our worlds change, usually, one person at a time. Have you been entertaining great thoughts lately?  What is stopping you from nobly daring to put action into them?  You have the courage within you, reach deep and touch it and see what will happen then.  You really have nothing to lose but oh so much to gain.

Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.   Jonathan Lockwood Huie What we think we live. If I wake up in the morning and think to myself, "Oh this day is going to suck for "xyz reason(s)" then I've already started my day thinking in a negative direction.  Chances are really good that even the simple things that day will be difficult because I have said they would be. When we think it will be hard it is.  Why?  Because when we set ourselves up for difficulty it's as if we have given our attitudes permission to stink. But on the flip side when we think it will be manageable, easy, accomplished, etc it is.  Why?  Because when we set ourselves up for success it's as if we have given our attitude permission to be optimistic. Life is this, it is as easy or hard as you think it is.

The God of the universe - the Creator of nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and e-minor - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love.  And what is our typical response?  We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss.   Francis Chan Our response to the greatness of God, to his magnitude, to his power, to his design is lackluster and anti-climatic at best.  I have a good friend who, in walking away from faith, is enamored with our galaxy.  He feels like within the context of Christian faith (maybe any faith?) he wasn't shown how splendid our universe is.  He's got a point.  Christianese says, "God said bang and there it was."  REALLY?  That's the best we can come up with?  No wonder people think we are ridiculous.   We are! And our response to the Creator of the universe is...well it's what the last part of today's quote points out.  Ugh.  And not only did God create the heavens but he created all that the heavens contain.   Incredi

Integrity is choosing your thoughts and actions based on values rather than personal gain.  Unknown Today's quote is a foreign concept to most anyone who walks in their human nature with nothing else prompting them to defeat their human nature and live in their potential.  (No human nature isn't our potential.  It is wicked and deceitful.  Click here for that proof text.) Integrity is a conscious choice to sacrifice our entitlements and our justifications.  Who says our ways aren't right?  Sometimes they are but let me pose a situation of integrity before you and you will quickly see what I mean.  This is a simple one that almost everyone can relate to at some point in their life. You've got sick days at work and vacation days.  You're out of vacation days but are taking a vacation and you book your flight a day earlier than you vacation really starts and say "I'll just call in sick."  You have sick days so you'll take one of those.  Two scena