Listen and Obey

James 1:22 says "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

I was thinking this week how often I know what to do and choose not to do it. I'm not talking about the big things like the 10 commandments or other black and white issues that are clearly wrong to do. I am talking about when I feel in my heart that God is telling me to shovel my neighbors driveway or have a conversation with someone that I haven't talked to in a while. I was challenged with James when he says not to deceive ourselves with just listening to the word, but we need to step out and do what we know to do.

So what is it in your life that you know your are supposed to do today. Perhaps it is something that you have been putting off or told yourself that you'll do it another time. I want to challenge you that NOW is the time for action. Putting your faith into action could be the answer to someone's prayer today. Trust that when you step out and do what you know to do that God is with you and guiding you in your steps in life. He will give  you the strength and will to see it through

:)

 

Can't go back.

This week, as I was about to shave, I noticed how my chin is getting more grey hairs in it. My first thought was "I should've grown a beard more when I had dark hair there". It hit me right away, that I can never go back to a day when I have dark hair growing from my chin. And I realized, that time in my life is over and I must move on.

This can happen in so many areas of our life where we can wish that we did things differently or that we had a better outcome of something we tried before. The truth is that we cannot go back and change anything in our past. All we truly have control of is our reaction to our present situation. And within that we can make choices to set us up for success in the future.

I like what Paul says in the bible:

Philippians 3:13 "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead"

He is not concerned with what happen in the past. In fact he forgets it and moves on to what lies ahead. It is the excitement of what lies ahead that keeps Paul going. And if we read on in the bible, Paul does quite a bit with his life.

So let's take a moment and forget the past. It could be positive or negative, but our past has got us to where we are today. It is not going to take us further. In fact focusing on the past can do the opposite in life and keep us from moving at all.

Let us instead look ahead to the plans that God has for us on this earth and make steps today to begin living that life!