Having More than What I Deserve

So here comes another inspirational thought which was brought on by a comment by one of my very close friends a few weeks or months back. Their comment was, "thank God for giving you more than what you deserve." That phrase stumped me for a while. I prayed about it and pondered over it, wondering multiple things, such as is that how I live my life, and am I really grateful for the things in life that I have received? A well known Christ-follower financial advisor named Dave Ramsey from the Dave Ramsey Show Podcast (iTunes link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=77001367&subMediaType=Audio) and more always responds to the question of "how are you?" with "I am better than I deserve." I consider his comment the second seed that was placed into my life. The truth is, my life is way better than what I deserve because I have messed up so much and disappointed God so much, but yet I have good health, a roof over my head, a beautiful girlfriend, great friends, food, money, clothes and shoes, I could go on! God has given me so much, and I don't even deserve any of it! Who is this God that would give me so much and ask for nothing back? I could never repay Him, all he asks is that we love His son and trust in Him. Even though that is a lot harder than it sounds, it is so little compared to what the Lord of this universe has done for us!

So I challenge you, when someone asks you how you are, respond with, "better than what I deserve." Once you start speaking it, it'll change your life. Believe, it has already changed mine, and I've only just started. Love you all, and peace

Discovering Your Desires and Discerning Them

This I consider my first official blog post, as this post will represent what my initial intentions for this blog were. I'll start up a topic, speak on it and share my opinion and some Bible verses. Some of what I will write about I have already written many years ago in my younger days and this will be the first times for many of them that they will be shared publicly, and revisited by yours-truly. Some post I will rewrite in an attempt make it more modern to the times or rewrite the language used to make more sense of the topic being written about. One thing I want to point out is that whatever I write here is the Lord's words, and not my own. I believe the Lord of this-and-all the universe has gifted me in writing, and I intend to use it so He can speak through me to others. The Lord has gifted me with the gift of encouragement for a reason. Lord willingly, this blog may be used to advance His kingdom. Love you all!!, and peace.

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We all have desires and passions that we all may or may not be aware of. Some of us are doing what we love, some of us may feel stuck in a situation that they but feel there is no end to it, and some of us just haven't discovered what we so desire in our hearts and just need a bit of encouragement in that area. The important thing is to know that in any case, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! I repeat, you are not alone. There are other people out there just like you, even though some stuff such as this is never really talked about. We are all lost to a degree and need a Saviour. None of us are perfect, we are all fallen. Here are a few guidelines that over the years I have discovered and learned about, and now I want to share with all of you....

----Original written date---- Sometime between '00-'02 ----

First off, when you desire or strive after something, first ask yourself why you desire it and what you intend to get out of it. That desire can be anything from a new car or a pair of pants, to a relationship or action you wish to advance in.

Then ask yourself, "who truly is desiring this, is it me or is it something inside of me that is making me desire this." This other desire could be due to a simple temptation that may hurt somebody, or it could be you thinking that this is what you enjoy, but in reality it could be more of the smiles or the unity that come out of it that you enjoy, and not the action itself.

Then decide what to do with that desire. Either strive after it if it truly makes you happy and you come alive, or just throw it away if it is what the world may expect of you to do, meaning dress a certain way, or be a certain weight, or have this type of car, or have this type of job.

When you live to please the world you will automatically want to please everybody, but it is impossible to please everybody. If you live to satisfy the world and not God the creator of your own being, you are simply not living for what you were created for. You are not truly living until you have something worth dying for.

When you live, you should live for what makes you come alive (such as singing, writing, acting, etc.) because that thing that makes you come alive has been built into you from birth. Many things are a God given gift, and many things we have are talents. I know for myself God has gifted me with the gift of Helps, meaning I love to help people in anything. If they need somebody for comfort, I'm there. I would open doors for people, I would put other peoples desires before my own, which is also a part of my own personal struggle. None of us are perfect. I could be so concerned with "helping" people that I end up forgetting what I truly want to do. I could feel so content with helping people, but at the same time feel so down and not know why. If I were to focus on helping people before myself all the time, I would be an emotional wreck when I'm on my own, 'cuz there is no-one to help when I'm alone. But if I know what I like to do as well, then I would be fine either way, because after all, my desire is not to help people, but my God given gift is to be the one to temporarily assist until the one with the gift and desire to do whatever I am assisting with can take my place. So I encourage you all to find something that makes you come alive! Truly come alive! And dedicate it to the Lord without thought of return, because after all, doing it for the Lord is your greatest reward, and not the reward from man.

Now I leave you with this, because this may be the hardest part for some people because it requires faith. Once you have discovered your true desire, do not ask God how it will be done, because the how is God department. If it is His will for your life, it will be. God is just asking you the what, what makes you come alive.

Peace friends

Happy New Year!!

Funny that my first blog and my first time signing up for this blog is on January first, I don't think any happens by mistake, everything happens for a reason. I wanna wish you all a happy new year, and now you gotta start getting used to writing '10 instead of '09. Gunna be so weird!!! lol. Peace all

First Blog

Hey all! To those who do not know not know me, this is my first blog ever, and I look forward to hearing what some of your thoughts are to what I write in now and in the future. I love you you all!

For a bit of background of who I am, I am a Christ follower who believes entirely in the Bible and trusts in it for my life. I know many people would object to any relevancy to the Bible or Christ, but I also know that there are many people who love the Lord our God, and I would love to hear from all of you! I think this blog would be a great place to strike up different conversations, discussions and challenging thoughts. If any of you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to ask me anything, and I will do my best to answer you. I am not the type to flub an answer if I do not know one, so feel free to ask me anything. I think this can be a very encouraging and safe place to discuss different topics.

Thanks all for being interested in my blog, and keep posted for any new topics that I might post. Your friend