Godliness with Contentment

Recognize and avoid dream killers

We are now squarely in the first days of 2024.
This is typically when we go to the gym and start eating better and do whatever our resolutions are…well at least we start. The trouble is, most of us don’t continue. If we reach February 1st this is a big accomplishment since we normally stop a week or two before that from history.
But if you don’t go after and obtain your dreams in 2024, then when? Ok, they may take longer than 2024 for the dreams to be a reality, but if we stop going after them then we won't ever get there. So really, we need this train to keep moving until it reaches the destination, not a block or two down the road.
But what stops our dreams, or what kills them to be very dramatic?
There is an article called - "'Dream killers – how to recognize and avoid them'" written by James Norwick. He outlines 6 dream killers:
-Family
-Friends
-Superiors (bosses)
-Past failures
-Your exhaustion
-Your fear
Interestingly enough, I wouldn’t attribute my dream killing to any of these. I would say that I have killed my own dreams in the past.
There was an Instagram post I commented on a few weeks back. The graphic read 'never let small minds convince you that your dreams are too big'. My comment was as follows: 'It is my small mind that I am worried about'.
I believe that for me and countless others, it is the guy in the mirror that kills the dream not the family and friends and bosses.
So what will change in 2024?
Norwick suggest that we learn how to spot the killers early then we stand a better chance of taking control of them and removing them from our lives. So yes, remove the negative influences from your life…It may come back that you still have to deal with you.

Cleaning in Progress

Going into 2024 (if we make it) I want to challenge you and me to take the signs down. Go after a clean slate and write on it whatever you believe God is telling you to write. In Isaiah 43:18-19, God promises to do a new thing here even greater than the Exodus.  Wow!  He says forget the past; don’t dwell on it for he is going to do a new thing even greater than the Exodus. We like to talk old stories and look back... Do you believe that God is going to do greater things in the future? The thing in view here is not just the people coming back from Babylon, but God's people from the ends of the earth coming into his kingdom. Remove the old signs, get rid of the limiting beliefs, see the new thing that God is doing!
 

Jingle all the way!

So there are many things we need to teach our children so that when they are old they don’t stray from it. One I will teach them is to stay away from Christmas debt. Christmas debt is crazy! Next Christmas you will still be paying this one off and the bank will send you a new email with a new loan promotion. They sell it as a loan - i.e. we want to help you. It is debt i.e. come and work for us for the foreseeable future.
The bank needs a new building, their shareholders are looking for better returns. Come and help us… Say No! Don't help them. Bah humbug!

Cast your bread upon the waters

Today we look at Ecclesiastes 11:1-6
It has been put forward that it talks about giving, investing, having many business ventures, diversification of one's portfolio, having a backup plan etc.. However, one Bible commentator says that 'for more than 18 centuries, there was never any doubt about what was meant here.' This was about giving. Nowadays however, our thoughts goes to business ventures and the like. This is about giving not knowing if you will get anything back in return. It is about generosity. Vs 2 says "Give" yet my NIV study Bible has there that give probably means invest. It has that vs 2 'Probably means “Invest in seven ventures, yes in eight, / for you do not know … ” That is, diversify your efforts because you never know which ventures may fail. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Diversify your undertakings and reduce the risks.' Somehow give turned into invest. Magic?
Investing is more savvy, more interesting, expected returns are tied to it… We like that.
Some quick thoughts:
-God gives us the ability to give because He has blessed us
-There will come a time when we are dead and we cannot give any longer
-if we look for perfect conditions, we will never give 
-we don’t know what our giving will do. It may turn out to bless us in unexpected yet important ways
-he who sows shall reap.  When we sow, as in giving to others then we will reap whatever God desires it to produce in us.
Why cast bread upon the waters?
-well bread sustains and if we have we should share with those who need sustenance (God's plan)
-putting bread into water means we have no desire or expectation of getting it back (giving as it should be)
Giving to the poor and needy is all throughout the Bible.

Chicken or the Egg?

Giving Tuesday comes after black Friday and Cyber Monday. I don’t think this is a good placement. The money goes out and by Tuesday very little is left. I mean I hope this is not the case for you, but for many it is. So perhaps givingtuesday.org can clamor for a change. I say put Giving Tuesday as the Tuesday before thanksgiving. That way we know when it is each year and we give before we spend. I understand that the spending includes purchasing gifts for loved ones, but in most times, if they don’t get that gift, life goes on. On giving Tuesday I am suggesting that we give to those who need food, clothing, water, shelter to make it to the next day. Many who go without the turkey on Thursday while we sit around the table with friends and family.
Many of us live sheltered lives i.e. we think that what we go through is the hardest, but we neglect to press our windows down as we drive through town to see the homeless rolling the grocery trolley miles away from the store with their life belongings in it followed closely by a few dogs. Life is really rough for so many. If we can do something on giving Tuesday to alleviate their pain for a few brief minutes because of our kindness, we have done something.
But indeed, giving Tuesday is a token, giving is how we should live. Giving is one of the things we should do with what God has given us. It is one of the things to do with money. We spend some, save some, invest some, and give some. Don’t forget to give some. And there are so many who are in need - we won't have to search long for someone who needs.
Proverbs 22:9 'The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.'
Is he blessed so as to share his food with the poor or his is blessed because he shares with the poor? 
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

Simply Safe

Every day, I am getting older and slower. I can try and play Jedi mind tricks but that does not stop my aging. As I get older, my metabolism slows, my recovery time takes longer. This week I decided to schedule a meeting with my doctor. What I realize is that even though I don't like to go to the doctors or hospitals (I like my doctor btw), there are times when it is necessary. You start to feel strange stuff; it is time to go. I am reminded that money is good, but health is better. I prefer health over money. I have heard of the rich who die. They have money to go to the doctors and buy the meds and perform the surgeries, but sometimes, even though they have access to a lot of money, no matter how much money is thrown at the ailment, it does not matter. It is then, but even before then,  that we should be thinking about true safety. The question is 'are you simply safe?' In the midst of the storm - is your soul safe. We die and leave the money behind (we cannot take it with us). We have heard 1000 jokes about the coffin packed with money… Money does not make the most important part of us safe; in some cases it cannot even make our bodies safe. Get some money, yes, but don’t be deceived, it only works here, and sometimes it cannot even work here. Find your true safety in God.

Black Friday - think before you leap

A few years ago, I heard it explained that Black Friday is about the retailers getting in the black. What does that mean? Well, 'in the black' is an accounting term signifying that a business is in a financially profitable position. So Black Friday is about businesses making a profit. Interestingly enough the opposite of black in accounting is not white but red.
I used to think that the retailers were doing us a favor by discounting their stuff. Black Friday is not about us, but about them.
How can you get in the black?
Well some simple things:
-spend less than you make 
-improve your skill set 
-start a business 
Getting in the black for you is about using money wisely. Yes using money intentionally not being blown by this wind and that wind to spend without control. You control it. Tell your money what to do.
I hope I caught you before something bad happened…

White Elephant

Have you ever heard of a Christmas gift exchange game called 'white elephant'? Wikipedia says that 'The goal of a white elephant gift exchange is to entertain party-goers rather than to gain a genuinely valuable or highly sought-after item.' Clearly, Wikipedia has never played this game with the people I have played with. There is one gift that everyone wants that goes from hand to hand until all the numbers are exhausted. The last person has the chance to get any gift they want. One under the tree or the highly sought after one that has changed hands multiple times…
Today I want to elaborate on the fact that many of us are too busy comparing ourselves to others that we miss what God is doing. I read an article from betterup.com called 'Stop comparing yourself to others: do these 10 things instead'
I have adjusted the list a little and have reduced it down to four items.
4 ways to stop comparing yourself to others:
-stop spending tons of time consuming social media
-remember that inside and outside are different 
-count your blessings 
-look at what you have in your hand

Rain is a good thing

Our dependence and worship should lay squarely at the feet of our God. He is the great Giver, the Source. In Jesus' pattern of prayer in Matthew 6, he lays out one of the petitions that we should put before the Father and it is 'give us this day our daily bread'. So we pray for our needs in this world. Bread here meaning all sustenance not just physical bread. This prayer is about God even though we are asking for our needs to be met since we ask Him and we recognize Him as the one who meets our needs. And so God brings glory to himself by meeting our needs. Jesus wants his followers to know where bread comes from - it comes from God. There is a country song by Luke Bryan that says 'rain is a good thing, rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey….'. I have a modified song today 'rain is a good thing, rain makes wheat, wheat makes flour, flour makes bread, bread fills my belly'. Some farmers would tell you that no rain, no crop. Some say rain is the most important factor in the whole system. But where does rain come from that makes the corn and the wheat? Rain comes from God. So rain is not the most important factor, God is.

You have the answer

Dr. Myles Munroe said something like this before: "We are not meant to be seedful, but fruitful. There are chairs and tables are in the trees. Shoes are in the cows. The capacity to produce is in us." I don't think seedful is a real word, but hopefully you get the picture. And just how does the capacity to produce get in us? God put it there. The same God who Moses told the Israelites about in Deuteronomy 8:18 'But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth,…' He has given you the ability to produce wealth. So it is in you. The answer to avoiding poverty is in you, the answer to being a blessing for others is in you. Perhaps we just need to ask the right questions of God, of others and of ourselves to find the right answer(s). What is this for you? I don't know, but there is a capacity, a creativity implanted in you by our Heavenly Father for your use to - bring glory to Him, to be fruitful because of Him, and then help others because of Him. Spend the time to figure it on out, then go.