Tag Archives: Bible

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The Hidden Danger of Making Excuses

The worst part of making excuses isn’t the missed opportunities. It isn’t the guilt you might feel afterwards for lying to yourself. It’s not the money they will cost you, the relationships they will end, or the broken dreams. The worst part of making excuses, the hidden danger, is that you eventually start to believe them.

Danger of making excuses

The longer you make excuses, the more you actually start to believe them. The longer you tell any lie, the most likely it is that someday you will no longer tell it as a lie, but as the truth.

You no longer cringe when you realize that what you are saying is false. The conviction you once felt disappears. The lie becomes the truth. The excuse becomes reality.

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The Secret to Happiness, Long Life, and Influence: Love – Full Stop

Could it be that a 2000-year old Bible verse actually contains the secret to happiness?

What about a longer, more fulfilling life? Or even influence and purpose?

It’s true.

Love Full Stop George Vaillant “The only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people.” – George Vaillant (Tweet That) | Share this Graphic on Pinterest | Share on Facebook

Nearly 2000 years ago, the apostle Paul wrote about the secret.

The one thing we need to live the kind of life that others admire. The one key to happiness, health, and living a life that has meaning and influences and impacts others.

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Are You Trading Your Birthright for This? Jacob and Esau

Your bowl of stew is costing you more than you think!

Say what? That sentence kind of made me want to break out into Tina Turner…”What’s stew got to do, got to do with it?” Yeah…about that.

Jacob gets Esau's birthright for stew
“Your bowl of stew is costing you more than you think!” -@ZechariaNewman (Tweet That) | Share this Graphic on Pinterest | Share on Facebook

So what does stew got to do with anything? Well, that’s what Zechariah Newman shared with me recently. He said I can call him Zech, but you should probably stick to his full name. Zech writes and speaks about finding your calling and restoring significance to your life. He’s a smart dude, so check out his site after you read this.

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The Untold Story of the Good Samaritan | Wealth and Charity

There is more to the story of the Good Samaritan than you thought.

I had a revelation recently that forever changed this parable for me. No, the clouds didn’t part and there was no loud booming voice. But one part of this story jumped out at me and altered my view of money and charity forever.

I was given the untold story of the Good Samaritan…

The Good Samaritan and Wealth You’ll never view the Good Samaritan the same after this. (Tweet That) | Share this Graphic on Pinterest | Share on Facebook

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You probably know the story. If you don’t, it will take you less than one minute to read it here.

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True Love and True Leadership Sometimes Means Being a Fake

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

That, if you didn’t already know, is from the 4th verse of the 13th Chapter of First Corinthians, better known around the world as the Love Chapter.

All of those traits make for good spouses, good parents, and good leaders. But there is more to love, more to life, and more to leading others than those things.

Sometimes, you have to fake it.

Man Shopping with his Wife - True Love True leadership, like true love, often means doing things you don’t want to do. (Tweet That) | Share this Graphic on Pinterest | Share on Facebook

Sometimes, you have to fake patience.

With some people, you have to fake kindness.

Some days, when envy is coursing through your veins, you have to pretend that you are happy for someone.

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Do You Want to Live a Life That is Long and Prosperous? | Psalm 34

Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?
Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!
Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
Psalm 34:12-14 (NLT)

Psalm 34 Long and Prosperous Life

The secret to a long, prosperous, and happy life

There is a secret to a long, prosperous, and happy life. David shares it in Psalm 34: Don’t lie, don’t insult others, and don’t gossip.

I’ll admit that if those are the keys, I should have died six years ago after a miserable life. Thankfully, I didn’t and have learned (slowly) to live a life more in line with those parameters.

Note that David didn’t write, “Do you want to live a life more pleasing to God?” Or even, “Do you want to live a life that will benefit others?”

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If You Can’t Say Something Nice | Overcome Negative Self-Talk

Listen to this post

Do yourself a favor…the next time you start to say something bad about yourself,

SHUT UP!

Seriously, shut up. Don’t say it.

Shut up negative self-talk

You can think it, but don’t say it. Don’t mumble it under your breathe. Don’t say it to someone else. Don’t write it down.

Your negative thoughts don’t have to become reality. In fact they can’t be, because you are too valuable to the rest of us to live that way.

So shut up.

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Stop Trying to Get Others to View You as God Already Does

Someone already thinks you are pretty amazing.

And yet you keep trying to prove yourself to:

Your spouse

Your parents

Your co-workers

Even people you don’t even care about

______________ (fill in the blank)

My friend Ben is pretty smart. At our men’s group recently, he threw out this nugget:

Stop trying to get others to view you as God already views you.

That simple piece of advice holds great meaning.

Who are you trying to impress? Who are you trying to prove yourself to?

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Slaves to Money | Who is More of a Servant? The Poor or Wealthy?

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

-Jesus

You cannot serve two masters

I am a Christian. That means I believe that the words of Jesus are true. I just don’t always believe that the way people interpret His words are true.

Before we go any further, I want to introduce a new feature on some blog posts: An audio blog. You can listen to this post here. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 that you cannot serve two masters. Essentially, in reference to money and God, He is calling on His followers to pick a side. You can either be a slave to money or a slave to Him.

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The Weeds of This World | Mass Media and Positive Thinking

I recently developed an awful habit.

I started reading the news again. It’s an awful habit indeed.

News Headlines

Before the habit

Let me take you back to four years ago. I had just shunned smartphones after spending two years in which my iPhone slowly became a permanent part of my body. For the previous two years, I filled every five-minute wait for a haircut, every moment in line at the grocery store, and yes, every bathroom break either checking email or reading the news.