Next level.

It's always exciting when you have a new game and you've made it to the next level.  Have you thought about how you can make it to the next level in life?  What is the next level in life?  The bad news is you only get one turn!  There are no ways of getting another life to try this level again!  What are you doing now that maybe you should tweek or completely start over?

Interestingly we all have had times of testing.  When you look back you think, "Why did I do that?"  Take a moment and think about the different times you were tested.  Now think of the times where you experienced great success at what you did.  These imes are typically when you were stretched.  We all face testing.  We all face trials.  The true question is what is your response when you are stretched?  A leader will survive a test.  They might even survive being stretched.  But a true shining star not only survives, they thrive while being stretched.  It is then that they perform their best and actually make a bigger difference.  It is then that the experience doesn't matter but taking it to the next level was the goal.  These people not only enjoy the journey they blaze their own trail and make it big enough for others to follow.  These times you learn a lot about yourself and how well you thrive under pressure.  

How did you make it to the next level?  Did you thrive or just survive. 

Defeat at the door,

Have you been exhausted?  Do you feel like you've been fighting but you don't have anything left?  Out of breathe. Cramps in every muscle. You've done all you possibly could.  The referee is counting, 1, 2, 3, 4, You just want it to be over. Give in to you body. Your mind says no more. Your heart is racing. It feels like your chest will explode. Your soul reminds you of everyone else. 

You made it just a little further than the last person who tried. No one would think you gave in.  You gave it your best try. You went a long time. You're so numb that the pain is just a distant memory. Tomorrow is coming and it will be all new.  You won't have any regret. At least that is what everyone will tell you.

He is still counting, 5, 6, 7, what if I don't give in?  What will happen?  How much more of this can I endure? Will I ever be able to live it down if I quit? I'm not a quitter! You start to feel a surge welling up from deep inside.  Growing into every aspect of your being.

You hear, 8, 9,  but your not done. No one tells me I'm done!  You can keep counting. It's not over until I say it's over. You might feel like you've destroyed me, but this is going to last a long time. Stubborn as a mule, you won't get rid of me. I'm good til,the last drop. Like, Nike, just do it. 10, but I haven't won yet. I'm still fighting. I'm not going to stop until I get what you promised. 

Just like when you feel defeated, there is always a little bit left to take you one more step.  One more rep. One more mile. The reason why you have that little bit left is because God has given you determination. Read the story of Jacob in Genesis 32.  He is in fear of his life when he thinks his older brother will want to kill him. He sends everything he has ahead of him as a gift to his brother. Then when he is alone he wrestles with God. He claims that he will not let this angel go until he blesses him. Have you fought that hard but still demanded something at the end.  You wouldn't  be done until you received it?  Defeat is only as close as we let it get.  Yes there will always be giants, but there are always small stones.  Yes, there is always threats but there always promises of redemption. If you have faith as small as a mustard seed.......where is your defeat?  

Practice makes......

Practice makes perfect. Practice how you perform.  Practice until you get it right!  If at first you don't succeed, try try try again. 

I've heard practice it until you can't get it wrong!  What if you are practicing the wrong thing?  Would that mean that you practiced the wrong thing until it was right?  Would you have practiced it if you've known it was wrong?  When is something wrong ever right, no matter how much you practiced it? 

Sports helps us in life. An athelete will devote themselves to becoming better at that particular sport. Looking at a great actor/actress also illustrates the season of deliberate discomfort to get into a role. Everything in life is for just a season.  Sports is a life dream but does not last a whole life.  The role of a lifetime will be portraited in a 2 hour window that took maybe a few months to film.  

So, what are you practicing?  What is it that makes you get pumped up?  Wha is it that you are deliberately putting aside for this season?  Have you made a lifetime event out of something that should've been only a season?  Practice, practice, practice....have you got any better?  Possibly at the detriment of something else?  What are you practicing for?

Failure!

It seems that today we over use words.  Words lose the power behind their meaning.  Words can be taken or left alone and lifeless.  Words can be painful and strength giving.  We as human beings allow words to influence us, drive us and even destroy us.  

How do you feel when you hear the word failure?  The inability to accomplish a predetermined outcome.  That's my definition.  How would you define failure?  What if we said failure to lose? Is that a positive view?  Failure to give up or quit.  What road does failure take you down?  Thomas Edison, was a failure but it took him to more discoveries than can be counted.  

People can be very afraid of failure.  What if.....  You won't know unless you try?  How will I look to them if...... How come I can't be....... FAILURE!  If a batter never swings,  if a gymnast never flips, if a emcee never speaks, if a carpenter never hammers, if a potter never molds, if a baker never bakes, if an actor never performs........

What if you fail, how about you fail to even try!  Which one is worse?  If a toddler doesn't fall, he will not know how to learn to get back up.  Failure is important, its life giving!  Go out there and give it you all. Leave nothing behind. Then you wil learn you can go farther. You can do more. You find ways of not doing it to improve on how TO DO IT!  Now what do you think about failure?

Casting...

Casting can be many things. We use it to create a cast to protect a broken bone while it heals.  We see it as a way of fishing. Extending out to reach something beyond our own capabilities.  It is what leaders do to find the right people for certain positions.  It can also be to get rid of things that might be hindering.  Casting, what do you do with it?

How can you effectively make advances when you are weighted down with whatever you have chosen to carry?  This is where you can cast off those things you find important in you life to purposefully and aggressively attack your goals in life.  You should also be purposeful about whom you are allowing to speak into your life.  You must cast the right cheer leaders or better yet, the right parts of the engine that will enable you to EFFECTIVELY advance you to your goals.  These other people can prohibit you or can prosper you. You get to decide. Lastly, you must cast out to retrieve what you need to grow yourself.  Catching fish is hard if you never have done it.  You must know what kind of fish you are looking for and where you can find that type of fish.  You also need to know what lure to use that will attract that fish to bite your line and what equipment will be needed to bring that fish into your boat.  Then you may need to prepare yourself if you have made the wrong decisions, to protect your dream while you mend your gaps and deficiencies of your plans.  After realizing your choices, you may need to go back and repeat!

Now that you have a better understanding of casting what are you going to do with it? Casting? 

Happy!

We live by a motto that says, "Whatever makes you happy!"  Well, what makes you happy?  Not satisfied! Not content. Not whatever. Truly, deeply, Happy?  What makes your feet tap?  Your goose bumps rise?   You grin stretch into a big smile! I mean a show your teeth smile?  

Is it a person?  How about a pet?  Maybe it's an item or something you have?  Possibly it's time for something?  Now wait....maybe it's something you do! Or something you do with some one else!  Think long about what makes you happy.  Sometimes it's not the first thing you think of.  Most of the time you might even need help to discover it.  

The older you get the harder it is to discover. I wonder why that is?  Maybe because we have so many experiences one thing is too concise of a topic to narrow it down to.  Or maybe because we have been too busy trying to pay the bills we forget to keep it handy.  No, I know...it's because we are so caught up licking our wounds from the last hurt we don't want to be happy.  We'd rather be hurt and mad than happy.  We're too busy trying to keep our heads in the clouds to realize we haven't been happy in a long time.  

Happiness is a choice.  A choice to do something about it.  Happiness comes from reaping what was sown.  Sounds like we have a lot of work to sew happiness in others so we get happiness back.  WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PLANTED HAPPINESS? What have you been sewing lately?

bigger....dreams?

In Joel 2:28 we hear how God will pour out his Spirit and there will be prophesies, dreams and visions.  Jesus was traveling through a region where the woman with the issue of blood was healed then He raised a girl from the dead then blind men called out for healing.  They followed Him indoors and he asked, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"  They replied yes.  He touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you."

I have learned that many of our dreams are not big.  "How can you say that," you might ask?  Our dreams are aspirations that might be within our grasp.  Things we can envision and create within our own minds.  This makes it within the norm of today or culture.  I know as a Christian we have a battle that is spiritual but we live in the physical.  Our minds cannot comprehend anything beyond our own grasp and understanding.  UNTIL...we start looking beyond ourselves and ask God to guide us.  We ask for His presence.  We start living His calling on our life.  We start experiencing supernatural occurrences that is manifested through Him. Matthew 6:33 says THEN..."seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."  This means that not only are we already receiving God's guidance and walking with Him (spiritually), but we will get all that you need in life (physically) ALSO.

So Ephesians 3:20 describes who He is.  If He can "do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us," then why can't you DREAM BIGGER.  He can do so much more than you can even understand.  If you have allowed Him into your life then His power is working right now inside you which will be tapped for the source to provide the infinity to your equation. Bigger, More, Abundance, excessive and even more.....