Triumph Over Tribulation

"God is able to make grace abound toward you, so that you may always have an abundance of His grace for every good work" ~2 Corinthians 9:8

Just finished listening to Keith's amazing testimony.

You just got to take time to also listen to this incredible story of redemption, of persevering in the most trying of circumstances; about Keith launching his severely curtailed marketing business activities against all odds, yet once again proving that our God's love for us has no limits and that there really are "no excuses" for us to just give in or give up! All we have to do, just like Keith did, is to turn back to Him by giving it all to Him before giving it our "all" through Him.

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When Life Gives You 100 Reasons To Cry ...

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

Then a man came walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were going for the boy. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man answered, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. I wrote "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Now both signs told others that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second one told others that they were so fortunate that they were not blind. Should we really be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

So the moral of this story is ...

... whenever life gives you a 100 reasons to cry,

remind yourself that you have 1000 other reasons to smile!

Footnote: This story's author is unknown.

We're Just Wired To NEED A Constant Reminder ...

.. to just stay humble, honoring God rather than ourselves in all we do, including how we go about conducting our daily business activities.

Let me suggest you seriously consider contemplating a God-honoring Business Mission Statement like I have done recently for myself. Write it down and place it anywhere and everywhere to grab your constant attention (e.g., your bathroom mirror, your computer's desktop wallpaper, your car's dashboard, etc.).

Here's my Mission Statement:

"Enjoying my journey loving my Lord by serving others, persevering with gratitude; holding expectations loosely, while making needs known to my trusted heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior."

I really need to read and meditate on this statement throughout every day; otherwise, I'm prone to:

~ going alone, forgetting Who is really in charge;

~ being self-centered in both my thoughts and actions, not serving others;

~ taking sole credit for my successes, getting easily discouraged by my failures;

~ focusing too much on gaining the "prize" over and over again; while ...

~ missing out on enjoying my journey day by day.

Proverbs 3:9-10 implores us to honor God with one's wealth. So why not extrapolate this injunction by also honoring God with one's wealth producing activities? But even if extrapolating scripture is not your thing, then I think Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" settles this for us. Proverbs 16:3

So how about it? If without a Mission Statement like I was, are you ready to get contemplating and meditating and living out your own personalized God-inspired and honoring Mission Statement? I hope so ...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7