My Moment of Truth

 

We often say things but later it’s discovered that we apparently didn’t mean what we say. Our words take on a lot more meaning when we actually back them up. Words spoken without any action really are just words. Otherwise, it’s just idle talk.

If we think back to when we were younger, we can remember times when we didn’t always listen to our parents’ instructions. Usually, if this were the case, we were most likely told not to do something ahead of time, but we did it anyway. They would say something like, “If you do this, you’re going to be in big trouble.” Then the infraction occurred when we did that thing we were told not to do. Now, if our parents were good disciplinarians they most likely followed through with some kind of punishment. That way we knew they meant business. When they consistently did this we knew that they were going to back up what they said. If they backed up what they said, this most likely had an influence on our future behavior. And that was the whole point. If they just threatened punishment without actually doing anything we would eventually not consider what they had to say.

Here’s maybe a better example. Think about the Declaration of Independence. Our founding fathers wrote this, now iconic, document. It was printed in a newspaper. It was actually a declaration to the world. The first copies were sent to the original colonies. The Declaration was not only a statement of independence from England, it was an attempt to gain aid from countries like France. It was also meant to gain support for independence. Of course, when the King of England learned of this he was not pleased. But imagine, though, if that original document signed by 55 men was not backed up. We, today, would not be a free country. At the first sign of resistance, our colonial army would have folded and said, “Oh, never mind. We didn’t mean it.” If we, as a country, had not stood behind the words in that document they would have become meaningless. And that document, today, wouldn’t be worth the papers it’s printed on. Today that document is under strict security at the National Archives in Washington D. C. and is considered a priceless artifact. However, if there had been no action with the words printed on that paper, it would, essentially, be a worthless document today.

This becomes more powerful as you think about it. Our words not only have power if we back them up, they have value if we back them up. So, essentially, we give our words value when they line up with the truth. Of course, I’m not saying we should make threats and back them up, or say negative things and back them up. But things that are positive or bring about a positive result we should stand behind. Kind of like a good warranty on a new car. It only matters if they back it up.

 

…Let’s go deeper

 

It is sold out in the form of an epidemic. amerikabulteni.com purchase cialis In the case of Inexpensive Kamagra however, the medicine needs some time to get dissolved into the blood and when the blood comes with a force it inflates the genital. tadalafil for sale cheap has positive side effects on heart and there is no clinically recommended medication yet for treating this problem. However, to completely free yourself from their emotional stronghold, viagra fast shipping it is going to be able to afford continuing with it, you should go to your doctor for it treatment or check-up after much study, nowadays Millions of people in the world suffer from this problem. Tidy the room cheap viagra in australia and use a sweet air freshener. What does God say about the words we say? Well, in Matthew 12:35-37 it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Well, this is one reason why we need to back up what we say. But first of all, we need to be saying good things to begin with. Backing up what we say is only a good thing when we are backing up that which is good. That’s why our lives need to line up with the Word of God. So, if we know the Word then we can get the Word in our minds. Then it can drop down into our hearts. Then as the verse says above ‘a good man’ will bring forth ‘good treasure’ out of his heart. The things we say will change as we get the word in our hearts. We will be justified by the good things we say and do.

James 1:22 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James talks about us actually doing the Word. A lot of us to like to talk about the Bible. It only becomes profitable, though, as we actually do what it says. It’s kind of like that Declaration of Independence I was talking about. Think of the Bible as your own personal Declaration of Independence. This document is in force when you are actually doing it. This is your personal document, and when you stand on it, the whole world and the devil are going to know that you mean business.

See, God Himself acts on His own words. Jeremiah 1:12 says, “Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.” God backs up what He says. In fact that’s the best warranty you can get. If God speaks a word over our lives we can be sure He will accomplish it. That’s a good example for us. God is just expecting us to follow the words we say that are in line with His Word. This is how we can know our words are not idle.

Matthew 12:35-37 it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

James 1:22 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Jeremiah 1:12 says, “Then said the LORD unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.”

 

How do we get things done? Do we do it all in one big chunk? If I build a house, is there just one act involved and all of a sudden the house is built? No, of course not. That’s not the way things work. We do things one step at a time. Most of our meaningful endeavors are a series of acts strung together to accomplish an end result.

You might say, “This is obvious.” I would tend to agree. However, we can often get caught up in the enormity of a task to the degree that the task overwhelms us. It’s like that old saying, “How do you eat an elephant?” And the answer comes back, “One bite at a time.” So, we need to remember that all things of meaning take time and countless steps with consistent effort.

I think back to when I first moved to where I’m living now. I was having some financial difficulties. So, at that time I was working a full-time day job plus 2 paper routes every morning. I did this for about a year. The paper routes were seven days a week. Other than a handful of days that I took off, I had to be up by 3:30 every morning. Now, if I had known, at the beginning, that I would have to do that for a year, I could have easily been overwhelmed. I didn’t approach it that way, though. I couldn’t. I had to just approach each day as it came to me. Even, just approach each step one at a time, setting little mini-goals along the way throughout the route until the task was accomplished. Of course, this was a challenge at times, due not only to how I might feel from day to day, but also some harsh winter mornings.

Looking back now, my tendency is to wonder, “What was I thinking?” Just kidding. No, actually it was a good test of my character. It helped me learn to be committed and consistent. It was a challenge, but I learned to keep going.

This is a great lesson to be learned. Respect the process. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Don’t put the cart in front of the horse. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Are there any colloquialisms I missed? Could be. Can’t think of anymore. My brain hurts.

Anyway, the amazing thing is, this is kind of the opposite of seeing the big picture. Here’s another saying, ‘Don’t miss the forest for the trees.’ But sometimes we need to ignore the forest so we can just focus on one tree, the tree right in front of us. While there is value at times of not getting caught in the details, we sometimes have to just focus on one detail in order to not get overwhelmed by the bigger picture. Does that make sense to you? I think it makes sense to me. But now my brain really hurts.

 

…Let’s go deeper

Fortunately this problem cialis price http://appalachianmagazine.com/category/life/faith/?filter_by=popular7 is easy to treat. The reason was detected by the doctors involved that should be strictly followed to achieve healthy sexual life. viagra side effects http://appalachianmagazine.com/category/news-headlines/page/26/ Skinny women are more prone to miscarriages buy sildenafil online and breast cancer. Additionally, fatigue felt by patients with problems of the heart http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/01/23/vote-best-of-appalachia-awards-for-2018/ order levitra disorders, blood pressure, or diabetes then it would be better found an expert, licensed practitioner. So, how do we remember that we can’t take on too much? I think these are great times in our lives to remember how we need to trust God. I believe that’s why He only gave us one 24-hour day to deal with at a time. Matthew 6:34 says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.” Jesus is saying here that we are not meant to worry about tomorrow. We have enough to deal with in just thinking about today. We can deal with tomorrow when it gets here. Any time we are worrying about the next day’s problems, we are taking on more than we are meant to. I’ve often found myself in this conundrum. I’m worrying so much about tomorrow that I’m not engaged in today. So, much of that is fruitless. We need to trust God for Him to show us the right step when we get there. I find it interesting that when the Israelites were fed manna from Heaven, they were instructed to not keep it until the next day. Some that tried found out that when they did it ended up spoiling anyway. This is what we’re doing when we worry about tomorrow. We’re spoiling our time, we’re spoiling our resources, and sometimes even spoiling our health. So, I need to take, as the song goes, ‘One Day at a Time’.

2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.” Now, here is the contrast truly described. We are all inching closer every day to the end of our time here on earth. However, our spiritual growth should still be taking place on the inside and also manifesting on the outside. We are renewed daily.

Psalms 119:105 says, “NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Now here’s a practical verse. What points our way along this path of life that we take one step at a time? It’s the Word of God. It shines a light on the path. But what does it also do? It shines the light right on my feet, or directly in front of me, so that I know what the next correct step is. I can see what obstacles are right in front of me. By it I can avoid pitfalls, and rocks, and snares that might try to trip me up. The Word points these things out to us. That’s how it shines the light on our feet.

Matthew 6:34 says, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.”

Psalms 119:105 says, “NUN. Thy word [is] a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

 

There are a lot of things in this world that we seem to understand. We find out, however, that over time we don’t know as much as we think. Actually, we find in a lot of areas we don’t know as much as we think. But, anyway as far as in the area of what we think we know, it can be rather sketchy.

The title for this post is, honestly, kind of tongue-in-cheek. Obviously, some things are actually what they appear to be. Certainly there are many things in life that are what they appear. There are some things that aren’t, however. But, I’m not going to get into any conspiracy theories here. I’ll talk about things we all can agree on.

When I was thinking about this topic, for some reason, what came to my mind was the Bernie Madoff scandal. Most of you know about this, but for those of you who don’t, I’ll explain the backstory. Bernie Madoff was an investment fund manager who was arrested in 2008 for running a Ponzi scheme. Some of you may wonder what a Ponzi scheme actually is. Good question. A Ponzi scheme is actually named after a guy named Charles Ponzi who, in the 1920’s duped a large number of investors into trusting him to invest their money with the promise of outsized, or larger than usual returns. I’m sure he’s not the originator of such an idea, but just the biggest example we have in modern times. So, basically Bernie Madoff was running the same kind of program.

The program is built on the idea of continually acquiring new investors so that the pool of money grows. In doing this, he promises unusually high returns which he actually pays out to people. And this pool of investors is built on the testimonials of people who actually receive these great returns. The problem is, though, that the money is not actually all there. Some people will actually cash out their money but most won’t. They’ll keep their money thinking that it’s gaining these huge returns. And this pool of money grows from acquiring new investors and not from the great return on investment. So, in essence, all this money that’s stated is not actually there. So, the problem comes when too many people ask for their money at the same time. When that happens they don’t have enough money to pay people back, nor their return on investment. That’s what happened to Bernie Madoff.

This whole program was basically a house of cards. It all came crashing down at this point. The amazing thing is that he got away with this for so long. It’s believed it may have started as early as the 1970’s, but Bernie Madoff himself says it started in the 1990’s. In either case, he was getting away with this for a long time without anyone noticing. And everyone, for the most part, believed that it was real. When the veil was lifted, though, everyone was able to see it for what it was.

This causes one to wonder how many things we see every day are actually real. Are they really what everyone believes them to be? You see, just because everyone believes it’s true doesn’t make it true. The truth is still the truth regardless of what anyone believes. So, I guess we better make sure the things we believe are in line with the truth.

 

…Let’s go deeper

Many times we believe things to be true only to find out later that they only appeared that way. I believe I’ve mentioned this verse before, but it bears repeating. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.” Now obviously this can be applied to a lot of things. This applies not to just our lives in general, but our spiritual lives as well. You can see it happening in our culture today. There are many things that our society has now decided are ‘OK’ that were considered forbidden before. It seems like, in some ways, good has become bad and bad has become good. The Bible actually talks about this. John 16:2 says, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” Jesus, in talking to his disciples, shows some people will believe they are doing right when they are actually doing what’s wrong. They will believe they are on God’s side and not realize that they aren’t. You might say, “Well, I’ve never killed anybody thinking I was right.” OK, but if these people can be deceived about such an egregious act, what might we be deceived about in the everyday things in our lives? We can be deceived about seemingly minor things and not even realize it. In the end result, though, it can be a major mistake.
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I guess that’s why we need to make sure we know what the truth is. In Matthew Jesus talks about the wise man who built his house on the rock verses the foolish man who built his house on the sand. Matthew 7:24-27 says, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

OK, so here’s the simple application. Building our lives on what appears to be true, but isn’t, is like the man who built his house on the sand. Kind of like the Ponzi scheme. But building our lives on what is actually true, is like building our house on the rock. This is the person whose life is based on what the Word of God says. This is what Jesus was saying. Your house is actually ‘you’. You see, the sand seemed OK to the foolish man until the wind blew and the floods came. Then it was revealed for what it was. That foundation wasn’t enough. God and His Word, though, are the only sure foundation. There is nothing else! I mean, what are we going to do when our world is crashing down around us? What are we going to hold onto? All this world can be taken away. But, when it’s all said and done, will your house still stand? Will your house be found to be built on the rock? Or, will it be found to be built on the sand? Will it be a house of cards? So, what are you depending on? Some of us are depending on the government, or our investments, or other people. But, at the end of the day, these things aren’t dependable. Only when we are following God and what His Word says can we be certain of our future.

We often get tricked into thinking our lives are pretty secure. We need to ask ourselves, though, if what we believe is actually true. Things aren’t necessarily true because I believe them to be, or want to believe them to be. We all agree on what is true in the natural world. So, if there is a natural truth, there must be spiritual truth. If there is a spiritual truth, then we have to get our lives in line with that truth as well. This way we can know that our lives are built upon the Rock.

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.”

John 16:2 says, “They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”

Matthew 7:24-27 says, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

 

There’s a new phenomenon that has invaded our culture. Well, I guess it’s not new, but it has at least manifested itself in a new way. The thing about it is, it’s always been in the world, but maybe not to this degree. What I’m talking about is selfishness.

In our modern culture we seem to exhibit new selfish behaviors. We can see this in the proliferation of ‘selfies’ everywhere. I’ve noticed the speed and degree to which they’ve made their way into our society, our consciousness and our thinking. What did we do before the advent of modern technology? Previous generations must be really jealous. Thanks to our modern society we have ever new ways to manifest our narcissistic behaviors.

Of course, I’m being sarcastic. I do know that new technologies can be used for good or bad purposes. I also know that because we have access to so many means that it just becomes easier for us to send a picture to a friend, or post it on the internet somewhere. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I’m just wondering, “When does it get to be too much?” I mean, it’s not just limited to people taking pictures of themselves. Don’t forget Youtube. This is where any one of us can take a video of ourselves doing something crazy and it has the potential to end up on the evening news. Which also makes me wonder, “How did the evening news get wrapped up into this phenomenon”? I thought they were the disseminators of serious journalism and the paragon of good judgment. That’s a whole other story, though.

I think I’m mainly speaking out of frustration here. It could be I just don’t understand, since I’ve never liked taking pictures of myself. Anyway, what prompted this post is an article in Psychology Today that was discussed on the news about why people take ‘selfies’ and what it does for them. The shocking thing to me was they never seemed to want to mention the elephant in the room—that people sometimes take ‘selfies’ because of their fixation on themselves. What’s also striking to me is just how blatant the name is—‘selfie’. I mean, any PR guy would at least try to put a positive spin on that name. Calling it a ‘selfie’ would be like coming out with a new car called the ‘Ford Envy’, the Chevy ‘Greed’, or possibly the Dodge ‘blasphemy’. Now on that last one—to be fair, many a Dodge vehicles have caused their fair share of blasphemy. No, I’m just kidding! If you’re going to like Dodge, I’m not going to judge you.

Here’s the conclusion I’ve come up with, though; Individual ‘selfies’ themselves aren’t necessarily selfish, but maybe ‘selfies’ on the whole have shown the more selfish sides of our nature. I don’t think a ‘selfie’ in itself is wrong. I guess, if it’s me, I would just ask myself beforehand, “What’s my motive for this?”

…Let’s go deeper—Are Selfies Self-ish?

Obviously the Bible doesn’t talk about ‘selfies’. But it does talk about our selfish natures. In Philippians 2:3-4 it says, “[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” I believe these verses are good illustrations because our selfishness can often be based on strife and vainglory. We often try to amplify ourselves when we are at odds with others or when we just want to bring attention to ourselves, many times due to insecurity, or just plain pride in ourselves. This can be difficult to recognize unless we are aware. The latter half of that verse describes the opposite—the way we should be. It describes a humble person, who considers others before themselves.

Even the older age group people sildenafil cheapest of both sex and all age. uk generic cialis You give an active email address of yours onto emailers are sent. While there’s no cookie-cutter solution to low libido, HerSolution libido enhancer is the closest thing (for women of all ages) to finally solving the issue of female sexual enhancement product. cheap tadalafil tablets for female sexual enhancement has changed the lives of many men, you may read levitra on line. The problem is quite embarrassing which discover description commander viagra let a man’s confidence down. Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.” This talks about people being the same throughout time and that there are no new sins, just different people doing them. All of our modern day vices are just new iterations of sins that have always been throughout time. I think this is important to realize. We’re not dealing with anything new here. The Word still works in dealing with sin today. There are no sins that have escaped the application of the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:1-2 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” I guess, sadly, this is the verse that made me think about our modern day culture when I was writing this post. Here, I’m speaking specifically of the ‘lovers of their own selves’ portion. It seems, in this day and age, that selfish behaviors are becoming more so the norm than the exception. It’s not that there aren’t a lot of well-meaning people out there, it’s just that it appears our society is pointing away from selflessness and towards selfishness. It’s about the direction we see things going and the speed at which it’s happening.

So, how do we curb this trend? Well, I think it starts with each one of us, individually, applying Philippians 2:3-4 to our daily lives; Casting aside our selfish behaviors and, with humility, thinking about others and their needs.

Philippians 2:3-4 it says, “[Let] nothing [be done] through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.”

2 Timothy 3:1-2 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.”

 

I’ve found myself getting frustrated lately. My frustration mainly stems from having to wait. I like to generally get things done in a timely manner. This, however, becomes a challenge at times. And it tends to happen whether I’m standing in line at the grocery store, waiting on hold on the phone, or just driving through town.

The times I seem to get the most frustrated, though, are when I’m driving. And it never seems to fail. I get behind this person who is on a Sunday drive. Only, it’s not Sunday! It does seem, though, like they don’t really have to be anywhere. Maybe they do, but they really aren’t excited about getting there. Maybe they’re going to a distant relative’s wedding. I know those can be a challenge. You get there, but you don’t know anyone. You feel like the nerdy guy in class who shows up at the senior prom. Never comfortable. Maybe that is the case. But even so, why should they have to impede my progress? Right?

Then again, never being one to avoid self-examination, I’m forced to think, “Is it me?” Maybe it’s my approach to driving. Maybe I have the mindset of a NASCAR driver at Daytona. I do have to admit, I hate being held back by the car in front of me. I don’t know if it’s so much that I want to be at the front, as much as it is that I just hate being boxed in. You know, like when you’re on the interstate surrounded by 3 semi-trucks, and they all seem like they’re perfectly happy with that configuration. You can just about imagine them sitting up in their cabs, smoking a cigar, and laughing hysterically. You, in the meantime, are in your Honda Civic, cowering in fear at the inordinate amount of power these people have over you.

But anyway, I find that I’m always trying to find the fastest lane. I’m starting to wonder, though, if maybe it doesn’t make that much difference. Maybe I’m not actually getting to my destination faster. Maybe I’m just covering the distance between stoplights faster. It seems like no matter how fast you try to get there, you can only get there so fast. So, maybe the difference is minimal. And a lot of the time it may not make much difference. Because the car you just passed will end up driving right up next to you at the next stop light. Then you’re thinking, “I was just in a rush, only to sit here and wait at this stoplight.” That can be even more frustrating.

Now that I think about it, this harried pace may be based on a feeling. Not only do I feel pressured to get things done faster, I think I just like the feeling that I’m getting things done faster. This feeling, though, only leads to me being frustrated, and it’s probably not worth it. It’s probably best for me to just relax and decide that I’ll get there when I get there. This could be a moment of growth for me. I just need to learn patience. Then I can get to the point, someday, where I smile reminiscently at the frustrated person who passes me on the way to his destination.

 

…Let’s go deeper

 

 

There’s a verse I’ve found to be often applicable to my life. The verse is in Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” The implication here is that we can trust God. And since we can trust God, there’s no need for us to be in a hurry. We can believe that He will bring events to pass in our lives in his time and give us what we need when we need it, when we trust Him. Usually this is a good indicator of a person at peace with themselves and with God. I think about Jesus in the Bible. For instance, Jesus didn’t rush to the tomb of Lazarus. He certainly didn’t make haste. That situation worked out OK. So too, God can work things out in my life when I trust Him. I can see now that often times my hurried pace is based in a lack of trust in God. I think, “Oh, how am I going to get all these things done?” But why not trust God that He will help me, as I depend on Him, to accomplish all these daily tasks?
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God often requires us to be patient for us to receive from Him. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.” Psalms 27:14 is similar: “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” In order to gain strength God requires us to wait patiently on Him. This is often contrary to our flesh nature. But, maybe that’s why God requires us to do it. He wants us depending on Him and not on the flesh. The Bible even talks about us not placing confidence in the flesh. Pilippians 3:3 says, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” This is often our struggle. That struggle between flesh and spirit. But since we, as believers, now have a renewed spirit made alive unto God, we are to be led by that now.

I think I’m learning how valuable patience is in my life. I believe God wants me to see the value of taking each day one step at a time. We all seem to want the things we want right now. We don’t often see the value in waiting. God sees it, though. Since the Bible talks so much about patience, I think it pleases Him when we show Him we are patient. So, it’s not only how we can gain strength, but also how we can show we are trusting Him.

Isaiah 28:16: “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner [stone], a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”

Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew [their] strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; [and] they shall walk, and not faint.”

Psalms 27:14: “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”

Pilippians 3:3 says, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

 

What are the influences in my life? Good question. When I think about it, I can easily be influenced by a lot of things in life. There are countless things every day that can easily cause us to think one way or the other. The scary thing is we probably often don’t even realize when we are being influenced by something until we take time to think about it.

Now, I normally think that I’m not influenced by TV commercials and things like that. Actually, most of the time I think, “Why do all these companies waste all this money on TV time? I don’t think they’re getting any return on their investment, as far as I’m concerned.” Then there are those few times when I recognize that their tactic is working. Once in a while, I may not know what to eat for dinner. But then I see a Pizza Hut commercial and decide to go there. Then I’m like, “Oh, man! That actually worked!” Those advertisers are sneaky, aren’t they? I think to myself, “I’m really not that gullible that I’m going to let a commercial influence me.” Then, without even realizing it, someone suggests, “Oh, you should go do this.” And I’m like, “Duh—OK.”

I don’t know. How many times am I being influenced and not even realizing it? And if I am, then what am I being influenced by? I mean, it doesn’t just come down to commercials. What about that random comment someone makes about my hair, or lack thereof? Do I let that bother me? Do I all of a sudden think about calling ‘Hair Club for Men’? Maybe. But do I really want to let someone else’s random comment have that much impact on me? Maybe I should live my life not depending so much on what other people think. Maybe I can just make my own informed decision. Take that ‘TV commercials’, and ‘person who made that random comment about my hair’! That felt good. Pretty liberating.

So, if this happens to me a lot, maybe it’s important for me to recognize when, why and by whom I’m being influenced. At least then I can make a judgment about whether it’s a good influence. Being conscious of what’s influencing me is the key. I think it can be done if I pay attention.

Of course, influences aren’t bad if they’re positive. Having people who encourage you in your life is positive, like family members and friends. Hopefully, most of them are encouragers in our lives. They can impact our lives so that we end up moving ourselves in a positive direction. And it’s a good thing we do have these positive influences. We need that to help counteract all the negative ones we experience every day. There’s enough negativity in the world and we should be positive, and be around positive influences as much as possible.

 

…Let’s go deeper

How do we look at influences from a Biblical perspective? Well, we do know that the Bible talks about the importance of people in our lives. Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” This is talking about how when we have other believers in our lives, we can actually help each other become better. We can not only encourage one another, but we can also admonish one another and sharpen a friend’s understanding of God and His word. Our words can be the positive influence someone else is looking for.
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Here’s, actually, an example of people being influenced in Galatians. Here are Paul’s words. In Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” For us to understand this, we need to understand the context of this verse. Here, in Galatians, Paul was concerned because the Galatians were actually being influenced by the Judaizers. These people were trying to add Jewish laws to the Gospel message of Salvation by Grace. Some of them were apparently starting to believe it, because this prompted Paul’s writing this book to the Galatians. Paul’s message was for them to be steadfast in the belief of God’s grace and not to be bound up by these laws. Christ had come to make us free. He knew that the law couldn’t accomplish what Christ accomplished on the Cross. The law had it’s purpose; as Paul puts it, though, the law was our ‘schoolmaster’ to bring us unto Christ, so that we can be justified by faith. And once the faith has come we are no longer under that schoolmaster. We focus on Jesus and His work on the Cross.

This is actually a good example of positive influence and negative influence at the same time. I wonder, in this instance, if the Galatians realized what was happening? Or, if they were like me watching the TV commercial and didn’t even realize how they were being influenced. This can often happen in our church even today. We can start out with the right intent, but then things slowly get added to what we believe without a conscious awareness of it. It’s a good thing they had Paul there to wake them up to the truth. I guess, in a sense, Paul was being that iron to the Galatians.

Paul did this a lot, though. It seems like a lot of his writings were to not only encourage, but to correct people, and the various churches back in the right direction. We can be like this in other people’s lives and other people can be this in our lives, promoting positive, Godly change for them and ourselves.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

 

What are your expectations? About what? Well, about anything, I guess. About life in general. What are my expectations? Well, I guess it depends on what area of life you ask me about. The surprising thing is, I bet if I were to ask people what they’re expectations are in an area of life, they may not even know what to say. But I’m sure they would know when they weren’t being met.

So, let’s talk about expectations in relation to reality. We have expectations in most areas of our lives (that we care about anyway). My expectations are different from yours and yours are different from mine. Some of us have higher expectations than others. That could be why some of us are so hard to live with. But there’s often a gap between expectation and reality. That gap is called frustration. And the amount of frustration we experience will depend on the size of that gap.

Anyway, let’s say a husband has expectations of his wife. He expects her to make sure dinner is ready when he gets home. When that doesn’t happen his expectations aren’t met and that results in him getting frustrated. Then, let’s say you reverse the situation. The wife has expectations of the husband. She expects him to fix the broken garage door. And when that doesn’t happen in a timely manner, her expectations aren’t met and that results in her getting frustrated. I’m sure neither of these scenarios have ever happened in the real world. Anyway, I guess the thing to ask ourselves at these times is, ‘Do our expectations match reality’?

Probably the answer to this question is often pretty subjective. A lot of this depends on our perspective. We place different levels of importance on some things than other people do. Therefore, it may be difficult for us to understand someone who doesn’t have the same priorities. For this reason, we may need to cut the other person some slack, due to this understanding. When we do that we can not only lessen our frustration, but also prevent the occurrence of a huge blow-up, or argument.

We may often underestimate how much we value met expectations in our lives. That’s why franchise fast-food restaurants are so successful. I mean, we certainly don’t go there for the high quality of food. Practically their entire business model is built around providing consistency. We go there because we know what we’re going to get. We could take a risk and go to some other non-franchise restaurant we’ve never heard of, but we would rather go to the franchise due to the consistency. Think about that—we would rather put up with poor quality instead of unmet expectations. Interesting, huh? We humans are interesting creatures, aren’t we?

 

…Let’s go deeper

I think the comfort we have as believers is knowing we have a reason to be expectant when we base those expectations on God’s word. His word is true and we can know that what He says will come to pass when we do what it says. There are all kinds of verses God has given us talking about what we can expect.

Jeremiah 29:11 say, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” This is a good one for us to always remember at the outset. God wants us to hope for and expect a good future for ourselves. We can know that not only was this true for Jeremiah, but that it’s true for us as well. He only wants good things for us. It’s important for us to remember this, especially in the hard times. It’s then that we need to remember that God is working these things for our good. Like it says in Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”

In Proverbs 23:17-18 it says, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” God lets us know that there’s a reward for us that we can expect in the end. Our trust in him and His word results in His promises manifesting in our lives.

Zinc helps to block the enzyme responsible for breaking testosterone down into estrogen – thereby helping to keep testosterone levels deeprootsmag.org order viagra high and blood rushing through reproductive organs for complete performance. Frequent Urination Well, the free cialis sample first thing that they will assess is your medical history. Such device is generally safe and effective where a cylinder is placed over the penis and vacuum is created inside the cylinder. no prescription levitra Flaxseed, fishes like tuna and viagra india online salmon, pumpkin seeds and Walnuts to boost sex drive. Sometimes God requires action on our part for our expectations to be met. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” In this case, not worrying, with prayer, and thanksgiving brings about our expectation from Him.

Sometimes our expectations are met when we just wait on Him. Once we’ve done everything else we just need to wait. Psalms 62:5 says, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him.” Once we’ve done all we know to do, all that’s left for us to do is wait on Him to bring to pass that thing we are expecting from Him.”

Of course there are a number of verses in the Bible referring to expectations. I probably can’t fit anymore in this post. God gives us reason, though to expect things from Him. We can know that our expectations match reality when they match what His word says.

Jeremiah 29:11 say, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.”

Proverbs 23:17-18 it says, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.”

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Psalms 62:5 says, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation [is] from him.” In some circumstances all that’s left for us to do is wait on Him to bring to pass that thing we are expecting from Him.”

 

We place value on a lot of things in life. In fact, our entire world revolves around the value of things. That’s what our entire economy is based on. Our entire world revolves around value. It has to, in fact. We wouldn’t be able to function as a society if we didn’t know how much things are worth.

There’s one thing, however, that we don’t generally have a set value for. That’s the value we place on ourselves. If someone were to ask me how much I am worth, I obviously couldn’t give them a set dollar amount. There’s probably a way I do measure myself, though, only by more ambiguous means. See, I think we often times place our value on ourselves by what we can or can’t do. So, when we’re successful and on top of the world we are super valuable. Then, when we feel like failures and nothing is going right in our lives we tend to feel like our value is pretty low. This is a kind of performance-based value. Is this the correct way to value ourselves?

I think because we often place our value on material items in this life, in this way, that we have the tendency to do the same with ourselves and even other people. This isn’t a very stable ground to stand on, though. If I value myself that way, then who knows how much I’m going to be worth tomorrow, or even today. I will get some really subjective results.

Let’s be honest, though. A lot of this comes down to pride. I think we even partly want to be valued in this way. We want our own worth to be performance-based. That way we can feel like we had something to do with our value. We like that feeling when we finish first in a race. We feel really valuable then. When we finish last, not so much. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with taking pride in these things. It’s just a matter of basing our personal worth on these things. But I also think we like feeling like we’re somewhat in control of our value. If there’s anything we don’t like as human beings, it’s ambiguity. I mean, at least this way I can know exactly what I’m worth. When I win a race, I’m so valuable that I came in 1^st place. When I lose a race, I’m so worthless that I came in last place. And, although we don’t like the last result, we find comfort in the terms being clearly defined.

This gets me on to my next point. That is this: I think our personal worth, in our minds, is often based on comparing ourselves with others. Take, for example the grades we got in school. Sometimes it wasn’t just about how good our grades were, it was about how good our grades were compared to everyone else’s. So, now it’s not just a competition with our expectations, it’s a competition with other people. This is ambiguous as well, though. I might be better than everyone else one day, and worse than everyone else the next day.

Let me just say that none of these methods of valuing ourselves are accurate. Seriously, that’s no way to live. I mean, who wants to live on that roller coaster.

…Let’s go deeper—What are you worth?

What if I told you that I can tell you exactly how much you’re worth? I know what you’re thinking, “You just told me that if someone were to ask you, you couldn’t put an exact dollar amount on yourself.” That’s true, I did say that. I can, however, put a value on ourselves. What if I told you that value never changes no matter what you do? It’s not based on your performance. Your value never goes up and never goes down. You could say that you hold your value. If you were a car, you could say you have good resale value. This is a good sign. Quality items always hold their value. So, do you want to know your exact worth? OK. Here it is; John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” There it is. That’s what you’re worth. God places so much value on you that you’re worth the shedding of His son, Jesus, on the cross.

Maintaining a good sexual health is very important for teens and they need to be aware of as at the same time. 100mg viagra online So visit your doctor and isolate the root cause of the chronic diseases and treats the damaged arteries in the male body.Sildenafil robertrobb.com purchase generic viagra is a branded medicine hence quite expensive. If you experience any serious side generic india levitra effects, you should seek medical attention. Furthermore, it also places them with a chance to be part of the solution to smokers by tadalafil uk price providing smoking alternatives while you gain financial freedom. Here’s a good illustration Jesus provided for us on our personal worth. Matthew 18:12-13 says, “How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that [sheep], than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.” We, the people of His church, are often referred to in the Bible as His sheep. So, even if you have gone astray, that’s the value He’s placed on you. I think this is a good illustration of the value He places on even just one of us

If you need even more proof, there’s this verse in Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This shows that God wasn’t going to base his value of us on our performance. This says, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” This is how he showed his love for us.

So, now we know that God’s love for us isn’t performance-based. Now what? Well, while He died for us regardless of what we’ve done, we still need to respond to His gift on the cross. We are all in a mess until we respond to Him. So, we need to receive this gift by confessing our sin, repenting, and then following Him. When we do that and allow Him to change us from within we become a new creation and we gain a new understanding of Him and ourselves. You could say, this is when we truly realize our worth.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Matthew 18:12-13 says, “How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that [sheep], than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.”

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

There are many things written on success, keys to success. We’ve probably read a lot of them already. But here is an easy acronym, I guess you could call it, to remember. The 3-D Vision of Success is Desire, Dedication, and Determination.

First of all, desire means you have to want to do something before you can even get started. You can’t be successful at something unless you have a desire for that thing, or a desire for the end result. Desire is kind of the fuel for your success, you could say. But if you don’t have desire you’re kind of dead in your tracks before you even start. Sometimes the desire in a project or a task isn’t there right away, but comes later on as you get into it more. So, you may have to persevere for a while until you sense that desire there.

The second thing is dedication. This means you are committed to the task at hand. You have a stick-to-it-ive-ness, if I were to get real technical on you. This means that you keep moving forward. You have a regularly scheduled plan of action in mind. Then you follow through with that plan of action, if not daily, then on a regular schedule. If you think about someone who practices for a sport, they practice on a regular basis. This proves their commitment to their sport. So, this proves their dedication. If Desire is the fuel, then dedication would probably be your momentum.

The third thing is determination. Determination just means you keep at the task at hand no matter what obstacles come and stand in your way. This one helps you remember that you need to keep going even when the going gets tough. Sometimes the task we have may not be fun, it may be difficult, or it may be challenging. We need to have something to keep us going through these times, though, or we’ll never be successful at anything. So, if we are practicing for that sport and the weather isn’t the best outside, we practice anyway and we don’t let that stand in our way. So, we are determined to keep on going.

Now, you may notice that each subsequent key to success doesn’t work without the preceding one being in place. For example, we can’t have determination unless desire and dedication are already in place. Or, if we have dedication and determination in place without desire in place first it may not work. So, one builds on the others and this doesn’t work unless they are all working together and in order. So, each succeeding one presumes that the ones before are already in place. That’s what makes the whole thing work.

Anyway, this is just a simple action plan you can use any time you have a project, however big or small, that you want to accomplish. Certainly this doesn’t guarantee you success, but it does increase your chances. And it’s also pretty easy and simple to remember, too.

…Let’s go deeper—3-D Vision of Success

If there were a series of verses that emphasize some of the same ideas, they would probably be in Psalms 37. Psalm 37:3-4 says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” So, we start out trusting Him and then we begin to delight in him and he gives us our heart’s desires. That’s a good place to start when our desires are from God. So, we start out with Godly desires.
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Psalms 37:5 goes on to say, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass.” So, now we dedicate our lives to God and daily through our actions. And our commitment is based on our trust. That’s where it begins.

Then Psalms 37:6 says, “And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. So, now we are vindicated through God. In the end, God will make sure that our righteousness is evident. Also, he will work to help make us righteous. He will give us his righteousness. Romans 10:3 says, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” So, this happens as we submit ourselves to God’s righteousness. He works in our hearts as we are submitted and committed to Him.

Then Psalms 37:8-11 says, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked [shall] not [be]: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it [shall] not [be]. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” So, now our part is to cease from doing evil, or live clean lives in other words. Then we patiently wait upon Him. Even though it may look at times like the wicked prosper in this life, we know that they won’t in the end. The final result of this is that the meek will inherit the earth. There are many definitions for meekness. Maybe this is the best one here: enduring injury with patience and without resentment.

So, in the end, I guess that’s another way of saying we have to be determined. Determined to be patient. God will make things right when we follow His instructions.

Psalm 37:3-11 says, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; [so] shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring [it] to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked [shall] not [be]: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it [shall] not [be]. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

Romans 10:3 says, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

 

I’ve often found myself, in the past, being held back from what I thought was possible. I guess this is still happening with me to be entirely truthful. I think what held me back was a lot of fear. But also, there’s, I think, something that happens to all of us as we grow older. We tend to measure the possibilities of our future only by what has happened in our past, especially if we’ve had some setbacks. We may have become a bit cynical and think things can no longer happen in our lives. We’ve been burned and we can easily become a little bitter.

This is a scenario we all can relate to. We have to get rid of the bitterness, though. It’s not good for anyone to stay there. But what about our dreams being dashed? Well, it’s not good for us to let that happen, either. We need to keep thinking about the possibilities.

You’ve often heard of the Thomas Edison story. In the process of inventing the light bulb he was told, “You’ve tried this a thousand different times. You’ve failed.” His response was, in essence, “No, I haven’t. I’ve eliminated a thousand ways it won’t work. I only need to find one way to make it work.” That’s a positive attitude. You could say that’s failing your way to success, I guess. Failure is a part of life, though. I think we’re too afraid of it sometimes. We can move forward boldly and not cowering in a corner. Nothing happens if we do nothing, right?

No, but the reality is that the real game changers in life came from people who believed in something when no one else did. They tried something no one else would try. A lot of the technologies we have today were developed by people who the rest of the world thought were crazy. So, I guess it pays to think outside the box. If they had listened to other people they never would have accomplished their goals. I’m glad we had a few dreamers in the past who helped us move forward as a society. These things don’t just happen. If everyone thought exactly alike then nothing would ever change.

So, maybe more of us should be critical thinkers. I believe critical thinking skills were something they forgot to teach us in school. We learned how to respond with facts and figures on a test. But instead of our teachers asking us what we think, they often told us what to think. So, we not only didn’t learn the skill from them, I guess, we didn’t even learn that it was a skill, or that it was needed. It’s something I’ve found to be useful, though, as I’ve gotten older. I think we need to examine our commonly held beliefs sometimes. We can then try to work a change in areas where they don’t measure up. That’s the value of critical thinking in our lives.

 

…Let’s go deeper

I was thinking about this topic mostly along the lines of our spiritual lives. I thought about how we often don’t see God move in our lives in ways we would like him to. I wondered why that is. As I thought about it more I came to a conclusion. I think we often are indoctrinated by what we see. As a result, I believe we often let our experience dictate our theology instead of the other way around. And if our experience is Biblically based, then that’s not bad thing. But I think it often isn’t. We stop believing God for supernatural healing because we haven’t seen anyone healed or experienced it in our own lives. We wonder anymore if it’s possible. We don’t see miracles in our lives. So, we wonder if God still does miracles. I would agree that we don’t often see miracles but that doesn’t mean that we can’t.

In Matthew 17:20 it says, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” In the first part of this verse Jesus was admonishing the disciples for their unbelief. They wondered why their prayer didn’t work. Then he emphasized to them the importance of faith and moving the mountains in our own lives. I just don’t think Jesus would have told us this if He didn’t mean it.

It rejuvenates your body and energy levels to participate viagra sales in canada in lovemaking acts regularly. Many research studies showcase the antidyslipidemic, view for more info cialis online immunomodulatory, adaptogenic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This way, you can increase your semen count levitra generic online and improve sperm motility. There is good news for viagra pills price appalachianmagazine.com men experiencing ED because of a bent or deformed penis. But what is faith? What does it mean to have faith? Do you remember Hebrews 11:1? It says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” There’s a lot said in this one little verse, and I think we often miss it. It tells us what faith is, though. It says faith is the substance. Of course, that faith originates from God. But if I look in Mark 11:22 Jesus says, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” Jesus was talking to his disciples again. He is telling them to have faith in God. So, that tells me that we need to do something. We need to pray. But we also need to believe what we are praying for. See, I think we often pray but then we walk away thinking, “I sure hope that works, but it probably won’t.” But, that’s not faith. Faith is an assuredness, an expectancy from God because we know who he is. And it’s not a head knowledge. It’s a heart knowledge. That’s the substance. You just believe it in your heart.

And how do we get more faith? Well, it says in Romans 10:17, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So, we get faith, and our faith grows by getting into His word and getting His word into us.

I’ll leave you with the next verse following Mark 11:22, Mark 11:23: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Matthew 17:20 says, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Mark 11:22 Jesus says, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.”

Romans 10:17, “So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Mark 11:23: “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”