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Showing Appreciation Where It Is Due

As we go through life it is easy to forget those in our lives that have been there for us or encouraged us to go the extra mile. We so often take these people for granted and overlook the guidance and time they have given to us.

It is very easy for me, to be in the moment and not even realize that the suggestion from someone, in regards to work or the words that are ringing in my ears that give me that extra push to keep my head in a workout, are there because someone cares enough to give of themselves and could simply not even be there.

The word appreciation means to be thankful and express admiration, approval, or gratitude. It also means to grow or appreciate in value. As we appreciate life, we see the value of life and of those in our lives.

Why is it that we have a hard time voicing or showing our appreciation to those in our lives that have done so much to help us as an individual—both personally and professionally?

Mainly, we do not learn to appreciate until what we have is threatened or taken away from us—until we fear what we have to lose, we never truly see what we have. I am not saying that fear is a good thing, but in this case it does give us a different perspective—a positive perspective.

There are lessons well taught by learning the value of appreciation. Meaning learning to let things flow through—not limiting claims on them for satisfaction—as we gain valuable insight from someone. Appreciation is taking time, which is not forced to reciprocate, in some manner to the person who has given us guidance and time—don't be a dead sea where things flow in and never flow out.

Think for a minute about someone or those in your life that you have taken for granted—ignored their guidance and time. What is keeping you from picking up the phone or sending an e-mail to let them know how much they are appreciated.

Do it today!

Perception

Perception is a component in in everyone's life that cannot be avoided. Not only that though, it is the lens which we view the world around us. The questions we ask, the answers we receive, how we feel, even how we think often directly corresponds to how we perceive the things that happen around and to us. 

Imagine this, we are taking a walk and we see a street sign. 

It says "Stop." 

Now you are familiar with the street, but have never noticed the sign before. Never did it occur to you what the sign meant, and even though you experienced close encounters you never really figured that stopping at that corner was what you were expected to do, and so you didn't. The only time you stopped or hesitated was when you noticed the impending traffic that awaited if you continued. You were never taught to look both ways, and no one ever taught you the laws of the road.

That sounds crazy, doesn't it? 

However, it is human nature to allow curiosity to drive us until we hit a wall along the way. We would never know that boiling water was hot unless we got burned. Now that we know that, though, we can stop it from happening to us. But we can only act on it according to our level of understanding of the boiling water. Going back to the story. Now that you can see this sign and understand it's meaning, you are in a better position to not get hit by a car. This doesn't mean that it will never happen, it is just something that puts you into a better position. Reading the sign is not the end all be all-it is simply another perspective to be viewed. 

So where does this lead us? 

Honestly that depends I suppose, but for this discussion it leads us directly to the entire purpose of this blog. 

Perception is affected by many things we in counter in life-what we believe, what we read, what we listen to, those we work with, and the families we grew up in.

We all grow, develop, and change at our own pace. I am fully content with the understanding that my life, all of our lives as Christians are lead and directed by the Holy Spirit within us. As we are sensitive to the Holy Spirit we are shown things that we may not always like, but sometimes it's what we need. I believe that you will take from this what the Holy Spirit is revealing to you to  take from this, that we see, feel, and believe exactly what we need to at this moment to propel us forward. 

Perception is everything and with the right perception we can only imagine what we will experience next.

Complete And Maturing In The Journey

What does it mean to mature as a Christian?

How would you answer that question?

Is it through tradition?

Is it having compassion for the poor, afflicted, and oppressed?

Is it sharing with others about God's love in Christ? 

And once you have settled on a definition of a mature Christian, how would you go about instructing, guiding, and strengthening yourself and others, to continually mature in Christ's likeness?

What is a mature Christian, and how do we as the body love, call, encourage, and challenge one another to mature in Christ's likeness?

When pondering these questions it is helpful to read the following passage—to gain a better perspective and understanding—in Philippians 3:12-14:

 

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

These verses are referring to us maturing into Christ-likeness and not in regards to our salvation as Christians—born again believers who are complete and whole upon believing. The journey towards Christ-likeness begins with a sense of honesty and dissatisfaction—hence the expression "press". And the Greek word press was used of a sprinter, and refers to one who is aggressive and energetic action.

Now that we have established that pressing is not in about striving, but about aggressively and energetically walking the journey set before us, we can see that Paul lived in a state of actively pursing the things of God—what God was leading and placing before him to do and complete. As Paul walked the path laid before him, he was sensitive to the Holy Spirits directing within him, which was an inward and ultimately manifestation of Christ-likeness.

Going deeper into these verses we see the words "lay hold", which in the Greek means "to make one's own possession". God chose Paul and equally Paul chose to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit in laying hold of the things God was leading him in.

In order for us to live the sort of life that Paul lived, we need to see that we are complete and whole… forgetting those things that are behind, whatever—whether these things are past deeds and achievements or failures and sins—that maybe that we tend to let distract us from aggressively and energetically embracing the journey.

As Christians we are complete and whole, able to "press" forward on the path that is before us, especially as we chose to be sensitive to the direction of the Holy Spirit within us. Knowing that we are right where we should be flowing in the moment of the journey, pouring out ourselves in the things that God has before us—maturing in Christ-likeness along the way.

 

The Pencil In The Masters Hands

The Designer took the pencil aside; just before setting it on the journey called life ahead, and gently informed it that there are 5 things it needed to know:

1. You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in the Master Designer's hand.

2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you will need it to become a more mature and experienced pencil.

3. You will be able to correct mistakes you make, but don't find security in the fact that you will have the ability to correct mistakes.

4. You are to honor the most important part of you, which will always be what is inside—the Holy Spirit.

5. On every surface you are used you must leave your mark and no matter what the condition, you must continue in the mission.

The pencil understood and set out to remember all that had been spoken over and to it.

We know that as we are obedient to God and that which He has designed and chosen us to do, we will be able to carry out the mission as we allow ourselves to be held in God's hand. The key words here though are:

• Obedience
• Allow

Even as we walk the path of this journey called life, we have a choice to be obedient and allow God to use us to create a master piece with our abilities, skills, and talents we have naturally been blessed with or have acquired along the way.

In being obedient on the journey, we will find that at times there will be twist and turns that we did not see or are the result of choices we have made, but in the end will permit us to experience various things throughout life that will inevitably fine tune the message of our existence. 

We also need to keep in mind that mistakes that take place along the journey are okay and can be expected from time to time, as we are only human and tend to feel more in control when the pencil is in the tight grip of our hand. We should not set out to be careless on the journey, but to be more aware and sensitive to the leading of what is inside us—the Holy Spirit.

Lastly, we need to be mindful that on the journey that every surface we walk, we will leave our mark. No matter where we are in our journey or what the situation, we must continue to serve God—Master Designer—in everything that He is calling us to. With this understanding let us proceed in the journey with our eyes on the mission at hand and with a meaningful purpose in our heart with great gusto. 

The Path

We have been told many times that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways—this is difficult to understand. Take a quote like Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."  We would all rather follow the path that more footsteps have been on, the one that looks a little easier, than the path that is less traveled.

However, God wants us to know that His ways are higher than our ways and He will lead us to places that we can hardly dream of, if we are willing to go to places that He is leading us to, regardless of if the path is heavily or less traveled on. 

Sometimes work, friends, family, life, health, school, church, and finances, cloud our perception of the path that God has us on and we tend to create a disturbance in the flow of our lives and we get a little nettled. And then we begin to wonder what kind of plan God has and if in fact we need to work harder to be in the place that we perceive as the ideal for our lives.  We cannot always understand what God is doing, but we can trust that what He is doing will be the best for us.

We tend to complicate even the most natural and simple things in life and then become resistance to the flow of God as He leads us, we feel that we must be the ones to forge through the path that He is leading us on, unaware of life and ultimately cut ourselves off from truly embracing and enjoying life.

If we take a look at Isaiah 55:10 we see what happens when the rain and snow fall to the ground. As it melts away from the earth it waters the plants of the earth and leaves things in bloom, in their natural state. This is what takes place when we do not disrupt the course of action that God has established for us to live in freedom and in the flow of the path He is leading us on. 

There will never be anyone who can teach us God's plan for our life better than God, our dreams, aspirations, and goals can all be found in resting in Him and trusting that the path He is leading us on will allow us to flow and bloom like flowers after a fresh rain. God knows what your next step should be...  so just keep walking and enjoy the journey along the way. 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:8-11

Making Choices In Life

Everything in life is a choice—are you choosing the best?

There are many choices for every situation or issue that we face daily, and some days it seems everything goes well; people help us, the details of events/projects fall into place, outcomes and rewards are visible. However, there are days though, when everything seems to be up hill or full of under-currents.

Even so, we need to recognize that we do have choices to make whether our day is going according to our plan or we find that we are faced with unexpected happenings. It is vital that we learn to be truly in our unique flow regardless of what is taking place around us or even how far off basis our plans have become.

We have to continue to be ourselves no matter what the given situation and be flexible with our plans in order to still be effective and make choices that are suitable. A few points to keep in mind that will aid us in such situations or issues in our daily living are described as being:

• Consistent

• Contemplative

• Decisive

• Determined

• Focused

• Introspective

• Organized

• Persistent 

There is strength in these characteristics as we make choices and when we fail to take ownership of our choice we generally berate ourselves over past deeds, perceived mistakes and experiences, and that stops the flow of creativity and forward movement in our lives.

Another point to consider is to forgive ourselves for any perceived short comings or lack, misdeeds, and mistakes—none of which, we can change no matter how much we berate ourselves.

If we would like to live in the ebb and flow of our lives, we have to learn to live in the moment and make choices that are suitable, knowing that other influences will be going on all around us, but it doesn't mean that they will dictate how, when, and if we respond.

Many people are afraid to take ownership of their choices because they feel that their choices are not credible, important, or in the end will be wrong. The opposite is true and our choices in life do count each and every moment of the day.

Making choices does not have to be complicated or long and drawn out (some situations and issues that pertain to life do require a longer time frame), but we have to learn to become comfortable with the choices we do make and stick to them with full confidence that we have made the best choice at the time, with the ultimate leading of God and the direction of the Holy Spirit within us.

Lastly, but most certainly not least, is that we do need to base all choices we make on what God is leading us in and what the Holy Spirit is directing us in, no matter what others are sayings or what is going on around us—in the end it is between us and God.

 

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for He is your life... 

Deuteronomy 30:19-20a