We are all constantly changing, whether it is physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. Sometimes it's for the worse; sometimes it's for the better. How we change is mostly up to us. It's how we choose to deal with what life throws at us, because stress and emotional trauma can also affect us mentally and physically. It's important that we deal with situations as they come up, rather than to let them go. The more things pile up on us, the more susceptible we are to breaking down or feeling so overwhelmed we don't do anything and just shut down. Most of the worrying that people do is just wasted time because the fact is most of those things never occur. We must change the way we process issues instead of making them worse. We have been given a "will" and that "will", combined with the power of the Holy Spirit, can help us successfully navigate through anything. What we do at times is sabotage ourselves by drowning in the feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy instead of dealing with the issues as they arise. We should always be reminded that God's Word says we "should cast all our cares upon Him who cares for you," (I Peter 5:17) and never quit hoping for a better outcome.

Just a thought, God bless.

PSS

I was just reading an article written by Lou Tice about receiving compliments. A lot of people today receive criticism as rejection and truth. Even though it hurts at times, we receive it and even if it's not valid or right, we'll meditate on it and allow it to bother us. A compliment, on the other hand, is defined as "an expression of praise or admiration." So, what's the best way to receive a sincere compliment? We should receive it graciously and respond accordingly. A negative example would be if someone compliments us and we respond to it unfavorably by putting ourselves down, or using phrases like, "I just got lucky." What if someone compliments you on what you are wearing or how you look, and you respond with, "This old thing?" The bottom line is that we need to respond properly to a sincere compliment and if you don't know what to say, saying, "thank you," shows respect for both yourself and the one giving the compliment. When you reject a compliment by bad-mouthing yourself, you are showing little or no respect to the one who gave it. Let's not be deceived when it comes to giving and receiving compliments. When a person is giving a sincere compliment, isn't that a person showing loving support to the one they are giving the compliment to? Let's learn to receive from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when it comes to the words of affirmation we call compliments. Pastor Steve Smothermon Legacy Church www.LifeatLegacy.com

So many of us judge our faith and our lives by a moment in time. Doing that can cause us to give up, become discouraged and even quit trying because one thing, or several things didn't work out the way we wanted it to. We should look at our life and our faith and evaluate it by a lifetime of events, not on a single one. The life that we've been given should be viewed as a journey or even a marathon. When you go on a journey, there are ups and downs, peaks and valleys. It's important to keep in mind that allowing a moment (either hurtful, or disappointing) to define your whole life is unhealthy to say the least. All of us must realize that our lives are made up of many moments, good and bad. In my own life, I've had good, sad, hurtful and disappointing moments as well as encouraging moments. Not one of these singular moments is going to "define" my whole life. That's why all of us must purpose to deal with each moment as they come, realizing that the negative, bad moments won't last forever and the highs of the good moments won't be peaking forever, either. Here's what we do know: God is our strength and the negative moments will pass. Let's live our lives with the totality of a full life. Just a thought, God bless. PSS

Often people are tempted to outright blame God for their troubles, misfortunes and negative circumstances. It's interesting that, for most of these people, when things are going well, they won't give God any credit at all. You might even hear them say, "I worked hard for this," or "I decided this," or "I got lucky on this one." But you won't hear them say, "God blessed me," or "God helped me." People say things like, "God could've prevented this or that from happening." My question is "How?" How could He stop or prevent things from happening if we don't listen to Him? Now can you see how important it is to be a doer of the Word and to learn it and put it into practice? Some people learn the Word of God like a history book instead of learning it with a mindset to apply it to our everyday lives. This is one way the Lord can help us everyday. Today, lots of people are figuring out ways to justify why they don't do some part of the Word, instead of just doing it. Then they wonder why things happen the way they do, or why decisions they made just end up in regret. You might get away with ignoring the Word in a particular area for a while, but it won't work for you forever. Today, Christians, or so-called Christians, think they don't have to tithe, serve or even attend church, and we wonder why society is so messed up. Let's get back to learning and become doers of God's Word and not hearers only. Just a thought, God bless. PSS

Most of us, upon getting up in the morning, want to feel secure in life. As people, we place our security in many different things. For some, it's in other people, so when someone lets us down, we become devastated. For others, it's in our jobs, and haven&'t we seen this before? What looks like a secure company suddenly goes under. Whatever it is suddenly becomes our god and savior. It becomes the thing we serve. The Bible says not to put our trust in uncertain riches that are here today and gone tomorrow. We need to be secure in who created us, the earth, and everything in it. If we are secure in God, we will always be able to handle whatever is thrown at us. Too many people put their trust in the wrong things, and for that reason, many people are hurting and broken. If we dare to put our trust in God, He is faithful, reliable and the one we can count on. Where does your security lie? Have we mistakenly put our trust in something that will fail one day, or are we willing to place our trust in someone who will never fail? ...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10

Just a thought, God bless.

PSS