About
I was raised in the Arkansas Ozarks, near Eureka Springs, by a Christian family that never had a lot of anything other than love. We always had plenty of love. In fact we had so much love that we shared it with the people next door, the people down the road, the people in town, and the people in the next town over. At times we even had occasion to share it with people in the next county over and beyond. This was a love that was deeply rooted in the Word of God. My prayer is to share that love through my writings, based on truths from the Word of God. Thank you
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Location: Springfield, MO
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Country: US
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Country: US
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Blogs: 11
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Songs: 1
Don't ever give up!
His number one desire in life was to be the very best at everything he attempted. Encouraged by parents, extended family, teachers, and others who knew of his gifted intellect, he studied hard to gain as much knowledge as possible. He excelled in school, constantly gaining more knowledge, and winning the approval of those around him. His teachers encouraged him to dream big, daring him to do anything he wanted to do. In time, encouragement became expectation. As life became more complex, expectation became disappointment.
During his teenage years, opportunities became increasingly abundant, opening doors to new desires and dreams. The world that lay ahead was the half full glass. He began to develope the ideology that he really could do whatever he wanted to do. There were so many possibilities, yet everything he considered had its faults, except for one. His decision finally made, he embarked upon a treacherous journey through life, filled with undoubtedly more obstacles than he would have encountered had he chosen any other endeavor.
His first few attempts were marked failures. His former exposure to approval waned. In fact, he was admonished for his efforts. He had attained a sufficient amount of knowledge for his undertaking, yet for the first time in his life he experienced genuine failure. He reasoned that this was due to a lack of first hand experience. He began to experiment with things in life that he had no desire to experiment with, but felt that it was pertinent that he experience them. He had no doubt that these things would pass from him and he could get on to the work that, in his heart, he knew he would excel at, but wondered when and where?
As time went by he experienced more and more failures at the hands of the things with which he experimented. Life became disappointing, and each attempt for approval of his efforts at his chosen endeavor were marred by more failure. Was there some mistake? Was it possible that he could NOT do what he wanted to? He became angry. Bitter. Distant. His dreams withered. The successes that had once filled his heart disappeared from radar. He decided that his greatest success in life was to be a failure. Those who still loved him and approved of him became targets as he lashed out at the world he thought he would win approval from. He felt that he hadn't changed, but rather the world around him had. He was wrong! He had changed! His experimentations to gain the experience he needed for his chosen profession had changed him. And he was right! The world had changed.
Interestingly, the goal that he chose in life was to change the world! And by doing so he would win the approval of scores of people from all over the world, simply by sharing the love of God that had been instilled in him in his youth. Now, that boy is an old man, who has experienced life from many angles and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge that he feels would be beneficial to young folks starting out in life. Please consider these;
1. The world has a Savior and you ain't Him!
2. He doesn't change, but the world does!
3. Succeeding at failure is not always a bad thing!
4. Failing at success is not always a bad thing!
5. Seek approval from God, not people!
6. Satan can't tell the truth!
7. The most important thing to God is people!
8. The most important thing to people should be God!
9. Sin adversely affects others!
10 Above all else, know that Jesus loves you!
The world has a Savior and you ain't Him! This is not meant as a sarcastic remark. The young man I wrote about honestly thought that he could win scores of people over to God by simply sharing his love for God. I know because he was me. I've learned that my job is simply to plant seeds and nurture them with care. I became discouraged about my ministry when I listened to Satan lambasting me for failing to win souls, and I considered myself a failure. I failed to see that the seeds I planted might take years to produce fruit. My ministry might have been much more productive had I understood this many years sooner and continued steadfastly. Young people, you can't save the world, but you can make a huge difference by planting one seed at a time, and don't ever give up!
During his teenage years, opportunities became increasingly abundant, opening doors to new desires and dreams. The world that lay ahead was the half full glass. He began to develope the ideology that he really could do whatever he wanted to do. There were so many possibilities, yet everything he considered had its faults, except for one. His decision finally made, he embarked upon a treacherous journey through life, filled with undoubtedly more obstacles than he would have encountered had he chosen any other endeavor.
His first few attempts were marked failures. His former exposure to approval waned. In fact, he was admonished for his efforts. He had attained a sufficient amount of knowledge for his undertaking, yet for the first time in his life he experienced genuine failure. He reasoned that this was due to a lack of first hand experience. He began to experiment with things in life that he had no desire to experiment with, but felt that it was pertinent that he experience them. He had no doubt that these things would pass from him and he could get on to the work that, in his heart, he knew he would excel at, but wondered when and where?
As time went by he experienced more and more failures at the hands of the things with which he experimented. Life became disappointing, and each attempt for approval of his efforts at his chosen endeavor were marred by more failure. Was there some mistake? Was it possible that he could NOT do what he wanted to? He became angry. Bitter. Distant. His dreams withered. The successes that had once filled his heart disappeared from radar. He decided that his greatest success in life was to be a failure. Those who still loved him and approved of him became targets as he lashed out at the world he thought he would win approval from. He felt that he hadn't changed, but rather the world around him had. He was wrong! He had changed! His experimentations to gain the experience he needed for his chosen profession had changed him. And he was right! The world had changed.
Interestingly, the goal that he chose in life was to change the world! And by doing so he would win the approval of scores of people from all over the world, simply by sharing the love of God that had been instilled in him in his youth. Now, that boy is an old man, who has experienced life from many angles and has accumulated a wealth of knowledge that he feels would be beneficial to young folks starting out in life. Please consider these;
1. The world has a Savior and you ain't Him!
2. He doesn't change, but the world does!
3. Succeeding at failure is not always a bad thing!
4. Failing at success is not always a bad thing!
5. Seek approval from God, not people!
6. Satan can't tell the truth!
7. The most important thing to God is people!
8. The most important thing to people should be God!
9. Sin adversely affects others!
10 Above all else, know that Jesus loves you!
The world has a Savior and you ain't Him! This is not meant as a sarcastic remark. The young man I wrote about honestly thought that he could win scores of people over to God by simply sharing his love for God. I know because he was me. I've learned that my job is simply to plant seeds and nurture them with care. I became discouraged about my ministry when I listened to Satan lambasting me for failing to win souls, and I considered myself a failure. I failed to see that the seeds I planted might take years to produce fruit. My ministry might have been much more productive had I understood this many years sooner and continued steadfastly. Young people, you can't save the world, but you can make a huge difference by planting one seed at a time, and don't ever give up!
I love this statement, "I failed to see that the seeds I planted might take years to produce fruit. My ministry might have been much more productive had I understood this many years sooner and continued steadfastly. Young people, you can't save the world, but you can make a huge difference by planting one seed at a time, and don't ever give up!" That's exactly right, one man plants a seed, another waters it, only the Holy Spirit can bring it to maturity. We don't always see the results of our labor, and really our labor is part of a team effort, no matter how personal it may feel at times. In a hockey game, for every goal scored there is usually an assist, and for every assist there are usually a multitude of efforts that led up to that opportunity and moment of time. Take away even the smallest of those contributing efforts and there is no goal scored. Likewise, each little thing we do to further the Kingdom of God is important. We might not see immediate results, or even be able to follow the complex chain of events that leads up to person accepting salvation, but everyone's efforts along the way were important to scoring that ultimate goal.
Thanks for that post, the devil would love to use that tool , on all of us because we don't see our prayers answered right away, so right !!!!