Author: shbcadmin

”Without rain, nothing grows.” That’s true in nature and it’s true in our lives. That’s why we can praise God in the middle of the storm. We know that God is doing some amazing things in areas we can’t see. Learn to embrace the storms of your life. They are working a greater purpose.

  Do you know that your “outside” is only a reflection of your “inside”? When I was a little girl my mother always used to say pretty is as pretty does. Those words ring in my ears to this day. But do you know that we cannot DO “pretty” when our insides are full of anger, unforgiveness, bitterness and unkindness? The more God changes the inside, the better we look on the outside. Let me just take a moment to say that some of you are a definite #10…absolutely beautiful (or handsome in case you’re a fella!) Yep, God is causing all of us to look better day by day!

Have you ever thought about whether you are successful in life? If you ask 50 people what success is, you’ll get a multitude of different answers. As a Christian, John Maxwell had some good thoughts concerning success. First, know your purpose in life. Secondly, grow in the areas of your giftedness (in other words, if your gift in life is serving people, then grow in ways you can do that!) Third, turn around and sow seed to benefit others. God gives us so much…but we don’t have ownership of it. It’s ours to use and to pass on. At the end of life, what really matters is that you left this world a better place because you were in it. Think about this: You came INTO this world empty handed and may you leave the same way…always walking with an open hand and an open heart.

  When Jesus said to us…Go into all the world, He meant ALL the world regardless of color, religion, rich or poor, educated or uneducated. I heard a pastor say…What the church heard was: Bring them into the church. Remember this: We can’t change what we don’t touch. When we go into all the world, whether it’s next door or on another continent, we become the hands and feet of Christ. When the world sees that there is hope and love available, THEN they will begin to fill the churches and find out about this amazing Jesus we serve.

”The biggest temptation in life is to settle for too little”. God has so many blessings, so many plans for us when we follow Him. It’s easy to think that getting up in the morning, going to work and coming home and dropping in the recliner is all there is! Get out of that rut! Don’t settle for little when God says we can have much! He came to give us an abundant life. Change one little thing. Reach out to one person today…just one. Smile more, believe more!

A person who is appreciated will always do more than expected. That means we should continually stay alert, looking for ways to let people know we appreciate what they’ve done. That includes waitresses, clerks, office staff, family, friends and the stranger who helped you out last week. People want to feel appreciated, loved and needed. Keep that in mind and you will gain a big following!