food for thought

*Your ultimate destiny and what you accomplish in life will in large part be determined by the way you choose to live life on a daily basis. The operating principles you adopt and the philosophies you apply determine who you become and affect what you accomplish. The old maxim is true. 'Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.'

Who we become basically is a composite of the habits we live by. These mold and shape our ultimate destiny in this life. Character is far more than mere thoughts. It is what we do, even when we are mistreated.

*To many people, life is a big experiment to determine what brings happiness and what brings pain and sorrow. Experience, though, can be a harsh teacher. God not only allows us to choose the wrong way, but He also insists we make our own decision. Yet most will not believe God knows best until they spend a lifetime learning from the ways of life that do not work. Living life on the edge with no absolutes can be a very unstable and painful process. Experiencing hard knocks and evil consequences from wrong decisions and actions is a very destructive, demoralizing and futile process.

God compels us to choose! Yet He wants us to choose the way that leads to real, lasting and eternal success. God challenges each of us: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).

( both of these points come from http://www.verticalthought.org/issues/vt09/future.htm )

*God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go.

*Courage is doing what is right regardless of circumstances of consequences.

*It's our past problems that prepare us for future opportunities.

*The most important choice you make everyday is your attitude. Your internal attitudes are far more important than your external circumstances.

( these bits came from Mark Batterson's In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day )

Each of these statements have entered into my daily readings over the past few weeks and really just reinforce the truth in my decision that God is where I need to be centered. It is through Him that I can love, care, grow and simply be. With my eyes on Him, my heart constantly flooding with His love and my thoughts always going back to His grace, it is difficult to be down about any situation. It is also encouraging to know that this moment.. this day.. this life... is so much bigger than me.. right here.. right now.