Gold Nuggets

[Arkhams Finest]

That line should say "No matter how objective we hope to be, our viewpoint is always distorted to some--sometimes large--degree."

Ah, that was the missing word.  Makes sense.  Thanks.

[blyempowered]

Ah, that was the missing word.  Makes sense.  Thanks.

No, thank you for point out the fact that there was a word missing.

[blyempowered]

More quotes from "Soul Detox" by Craig Groeschel:

"You can't overcome a sin that you can't identify."

"The root of most sins we commit outwardly is the false beliefs we embrace inwardly. In order to experience a life of purity with a clean heart, we must identify and reject the toxic thoughts that keep us from God's best."

"Most of life's battles are won or lost in the mind."

[blyempowered]

"The bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others."

"The best place for a leader isn't always the top position. It isn't the most prominent or powerful place. It's the place where he or she can serve the best and add the most value to other people."

"The attitude of the leader affects the atmosphere of the office. If you desire to add value by serving others, you will become a better leader. And your people will achieve more, develop more loyalty, and have a better time getting things done than you ever thought possible."

Quotes are from "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" by John Maxwell focusing on the Law of Addition, which states that leaders add value by serving others.

[blyempowered]

This story in chapter 3 of "soul detox" really encouraged me. I'm going to share just a summary instead of the whole story.

The author interacts with a depressed guy. The guy has many depressed thoughts that were reflective in his negative words. He didn't believe he was good or anything. The author even asks if the guy had consider killing himself. The guy says that he thought about it. The author on a piece of paper writes "100 reasons to live" and wants the guy to give him reasons why he should live. At first the guy couldn't come up with anything and instead was focusing on his negative words about himself. The author refused to allow the guy to keep talking down about himself and because of that relentless attitude the guy gave a reason. After that the author wanted reason #2. The guy almost started with negative words again but the author interrupted him. Then the guy ave another reason. Over time the guy gave more reasons and eventually it got to 100.

Years later the guy met up with the author to let him know that he didn't need the paper anymore because the 100 reasons were planted in his heart. Wow! This shows me the power of 1) someone seeing the best in me and 2) not being overly critical of ourselves.

Just felt like sharing this. Hopefully it will encourage someone.

[phbrown]

Aww man I remember that happened to me in college ... thought I was going to fail out of school... overslept for class ... couldn't seem to do anything right... just all messed up...just like the guy above who was depressed ... Thats when I was reminded of God ... Didn't have a car but I would walk the 2 miles to church and Put God first and everything else feel in line ...


Thank you Jesus!

[blyempowered]

Some quotes from the book "Grace" by Max Lucado.

"To accept grace is to accept the vow to give it."

"Grace is not blind. It sees the hurt full well. But grace chooses to see God's forgiveness even more. It refuses to let hurts poison the heart. Where grace is lacking, bitterness abounds. Where grace abounds, forgiveness grows." (check out Hebrews 12:15)

"As long as the cross is God's gift to the world, it will touch you but not change you. Precious as it is to proclaim, 'Christ died for the world,' even sweeter it is to whisper, 'Christ died for me.'"

"Grace is God walking into your world with a sparkle in His eye and an offer that's hard to resist. 'Sit still for a bit. I can do wonders with this mess of yours.'"

[blyempowered]

I must say that in general I'm happy to see a heavy focus in the body of Christ on what grace really means (the totality of it). From Dr. Ramsey's grace teachings to this book I'm reading on grace by Max Lucado I love what I'm reading and seeing!