Selfish

Life isn't about you. I sit here in an air conditioned home, thinking about all the things I need to accomplish today, when there are people suffering in the world, and I'm sitting here thinking about my stuff.  When Jesus walked the Earth, do you think He went through the day thinking about what fun He and the apostles were going to have that day?  No, I'm sure that is not where His thoughts were.  I need to do more.  More to help those less fortunate than me, more to show God's love.  How?  I have no idea. Life is busy, and I'm trying to get ahead enough to where I can have more time to do those things. I am trying to trust God everyday that this is where He wants me, and where I need to be until He shows me what's next. It's not easy. I knew moving back here would be hard in some ways, and those have proven true.  I love being back near family and close friends, but there are other things that make this path rough. What is really boils down to is, am I trusting enough? Where is my faith right now? Do I have the faith and trust to take that step down the path that I have no idea where it leads? It is a scary thing to think ahead to what that may look like, but I know that with God in the center, it will be perfect. We all are human and have selfish tendencies, but try to do something for someone else today. Think about others and how your actions could make a difference. Philippians 2:2-4:  (2)then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. (3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (4) not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Happy

If you stop and think about your life...are you happy?  When you stop and take a good look at what you are doing in your life, and just the stuff that goes on around you, can you say that you are truly happy? What is being happy anyway?  After my "list" and the events that occurred before and after that, I have had a lot of time to reflect on this very question.

First, I had to ask myself, what is being happy anyway?  Is it just a feeling that happens when everything is going smoothly?  When I am not being effected in a negative way?  Sure, that is usually the case, you feel happy when nothing is bringing you down!  But, how can you be happy when things are not going well?  How do you keep that loving feeling when you feel like the world is falling down around you?

My happiness comes from knowing that when the world fails me, God does not.  The most challenging thing to do is change your way of thinking.  Our human nature is to sometimes lean towards the negative way of thinking.  In my current situation, I spend a lot of time in the car, which leaves me a lot of time to think.  Often, those negative thoughts creep in my mind, and when they do, I try to immediately have a conversation with God about it.  I literally tell Him what I was thinking (yes, I know he already knows) and give whatever that thought is, to Him. When I do that, it clears my mind and puts new perspective on whatever it was that I was thinking.  2 Corinthians 10:5 - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  Take every thought to God and begin to think more postive.  Your outlook on life will change.