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Honoring those in authority is in our best interest. People at times don't want to honor any kind of authority. They resist and buck the system wherever they are. It's interesting to watch this. Those who honor and respect the authority over them seem to get farther down the road than those who don't. Now if the authority is asking you to do something wrong or immoral, we have the right to say no, but we should be respectful nonetheless.

The rules of driving are meant to protect us, not to harm us, yet I believe some rules are ungodly, like the speed limit (just kidding). Really, I'm glad we have the rule of driving on one side of the road. I'm glad it's not optional, because I don't want to get into a head-on collision. Without rules and authority we would have utter chaos.

God has set up rules to make our lives better, so that if we follow them, He can bless us. Let's take another look at the benefits of having authority in our lives and thank God for His protection and His love.

Just a Thought,

PSS

Legacychurch.com

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Simply put, the definition of winning is this: to rise up each time you fall. Everyone has setbacks and times when they made the wrong decision. Winning is about stepping out with great hope and anticipation for success, no matter what the endeavor is. When things start to fall apart and unravel, what do you do? Do you blame someone or something else? Is it God; society; your skin color; your upbringing? You should never play the blame game. As Christians, we should get up and start over. Success comes from getting up each time you fall or get knocked down. Successful people don’t quit, or become bitter or stop trying altogether. Remember the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, and try again.”

            Victory may come after several attempts, but no matter what you are going through, never play the blame game. Will yourself up, and let go of any negative unproductive talk. Thoughts like, “No one cares; I’ll never make it; everyone is against me,” will hinder your progress. Rise up and start believing that this time, you WILL succeed, and it WILL work out and you WILL be victorious!

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In our quest for excellence, we must guard ourselves from being critical people. They are the people who are either jealous or uninformed. They usually say things that have no impact whatsoever on the truth. A person who is constantly critical of others, their jobs or their spouse is one who constantly compares themselves to others. It’s a trap to allow them in your life. If you do, you’ll be one unhappy camper. We should strive for excellence, work hard, and try to see the best in every situation. That way, getting sidelined by obstacles won’t happen to us.

Mediocre people tend to be subdued by obstacles in life, but excellence always rises above them. Listen, in times of adversity you don’t have an obstacle to deal with, you have a choice to make: be critical or strive to be the best.  Do my words bring life or death? It’s hard to find people who have a spirit of excellence. In order to be a success in life, don’t be critical; just strive to do the best you can.

 

Pastor Steve Smothermon
Legacy Church
www.LegacyChurch.com

 

 

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Life is what you make it, no matter what the circumstances. All of us make our own choices. The Bible talks about how the tongue has the ability to speak life or death into a person's life. We can always talk negative and let things come out of our mouth that will constantly be a hindrance to us, or we can speak life with positive words which can affect our lives in good ways. The words we speak can either heal or hurt. We get to select what we speak. Even when I say things like, I'm no good or I'm never going to make it, it actually makes me feel bad about myself.  My outlook on life suffers as well. But when I begin to speak positively, and I remind myself of who I am in Christ and Whose I am, I feel better and I view life from a better perspective. We make these choices everyday. Start reminding yourself of God's promises to you; talk more positive and get away from bad news. Start talking about what is right in life and don't focus on the wrong stuff. Think on things that are good.

 

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Procrastination perpetuates the status quo and you end up losing ground. Procrastination means to put off doing something unpleasant or burdensome until a future time. We tend to put things off that we don't like or want to do, even if they're important to us. Procrastination is one of the top causes of stress, and can eventually lead to mental and physical health problems.

One way we can eliminate the need to put things off is to change our thinking from, I hate doing (fill in the blank) and doing it at the last minute, to thinking and talking differently about it. When you constantly say you don't like to do something when you know it has to be done, you have to change the way you see it. For example, all of us have something we don't like to do, but do it anyway. If we started to say we like doing it, and begin to affirm this in our minds and speak it out loud, the way we feel about it will change. Then the feelings towards stuff we dislike doing and would rather put off until later will soon change and this will help you spiritually, mentally and emotionally.

Just a thought, God bless.

PSS

www.legacychurch.com