Mingle2 - Philadelphia Singles
I spent the past two days at the Willowcreek Global Leadership Summit. I’m not sure how many years I have attended the summit, but I think this year was my favorite (although I think I say that every year!). I always walk away inspired and ready to take action. One of the speakers, Stephen Furtick, made the statement, ”if all you have is a good idea you are a day dreamer, not a visionary. It takes audacious faith to move from inspiration to implementation.” I wonder how many good ideas I have never acted on in my life. I can think of several business ideas, several personal goals, and many relational opportunities missed. My prayer today is that I find that audacious faith to carry out the next idea, and maybe even dust off some of the old ones.
Layman's 10 Commandments.
1] Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout.
2] So a Car's WINDSHIELD is so large & the Rear view Mirror is so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, Look Ahead and Move on.
3] Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.
4] All things in life are temporary. If going well, enjoy it, they will not last forever. If going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.
5] Old Friends are Gold! New Friends are Diamond! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!
6] Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, it's just a bend, not the end!
7] When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.
8] A blind person asked St. Anthony: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"
9] When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.
10] WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES, it takes away today'sPEACE.
At first I saw God as an observer, maybe someone with a telescope who watched me from far away. He was like a judge, keeping track of what I did right and what I did wrong. At the end of my life, He would decide whether I deserved heaven or hell. I did not know God back then.
Later on I met Jesus, and I started to see life like a bike ride. It was a tandem bike and now Jesus was in the back helping me to pedal. I don't know just when He suggested that we switch places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control I knew what way I wanted to go. It was a little boring but predictable. I had the same friends, we did the same things. Life was the shortest distance between two points.
But when He took the lead, He showed me delightful long cuts, up mountains and through rocky places at break-neck speed. It was all I could do to hang on. Even though sometimes it all seemed crazy, He'd just keeping saying "pedal."
I would become worried and ask: "Where are you taking me? Can I trust you?" But He'd just laugh and say "yes" and slowly I started to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I'd say I'm scared he'd lean back and take my hand. He took me to meet people I never thought I would ever associate with and they would become my friends. They had things that I needed: gifts of acceptance and joy, lessons about life and love. And sometimes we'd meet people who needed a gift from me. I'd never done that before. When I would be overwhelmed by it all, Jesus would just smile and say, "I told you it would be fun!"
I must say I did not trust Him at first in control of my life. I thought he would wreck it. But He knows bike secrets, and I have learned that they are the secrets of life, too. He knows how to take sharp corners, how to jump high rocks and how to stop and rest in the most amazing places. Now I am just learning to enjoy being with my Lord, to pedal without fear in the strangest and beautiful places, to enjoy the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. I could never have gone where I have gone, or seen what I have seen, or become what I have become without Him. And still He just says, "Pedal." -anonymous
"To grow, you must be willing to let your present and future be totally unlike your past. Your history is not your destiny."
Alan Cohen
