The Lie of 10% More

           The lie many people live is this: “I need 10% more to be happy.”

It was said that a survey was done asking pastors how much more they thought they would need for their church to run healthily or at full capacity and the common answer in one form or another was: “10% more... Ten percent more people, finances, time, etc.” 

            I think this is negative side of “10 percent more.” 

            The negative side of "10 percent more" steals the contentment and thankfulness of life.

 

            The positive side of "10 percent more" can spur us onto growth and conviction...

But too many of us live our lives in a constant negative mindset of "10 percent more" that will leave us chasing and unsatisfied our whole lives.  Instead of acknowledging that God has given us everything we need at this very moment to do what pleases Him… we live with an always 10% unsatisfied life.

To have 100 percent of what you need, to be fully accepted by Him in heaven and on earth at this moment... this is what it means to have God's love and forgiveness.

The difference ironically?

 It's being thankful without needing "10% more" completely convinced that what is, right now is more than enough… 

...while being humbled by the "10% more" still to come because God’s love always continues to stretch us to "10% more" to give us more than enough.  

 Praise be to the God... who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ.

I don't fully get this, but this is what God says is true for Christians.

Qualities In a Woman of God I Look For:

This has changed over the years... some things are the same, some different.  This was running through my head last night and I just put it down on paper for entertainment purposes so don't over read into these.  That said, if I were to ever get married, some of the things I could see in a woman that I would love to be with are:

(in no specific order)

I want to fall in love with the way she carries herself in beauty, modesty, and grace.

I want her to be someone who would give her life completely to God at all costs.
 

I want her to be able to hold her own in a crowd without me having to always be by her side.

NEW: I want to say “thank you” to her and for her to say “thank you” to me for things that   come so naturally in the way that we love others, that it almost feels absurd to be thanked for them.  That we laugh and are warmed inside when thanked by each other for doing the things we already love and naturally want to do for others. 

I want for even hers and my spiritual and life preferences to align in a way that is supernatural.

I want her to be someone who invests in others already and voluntarily.

I want to love her fully for who she is at the present, not waiting for anything to change in her character, but being astounded and awestruck by the idea that it’s possible for her to become even more loving and Christlike than she already is as she grows in God.

I want her to be someone who is naturally well-respected and stands out because of God’s love and joy in her.

Bonus Side Thought:

I have always heard of the concept of girls striving to be a Proverbs 31 woman.  Well it’s kinda cheesy, but I’m totally loving the idea I heard recently of guys also needing to strive to become a “6/11” guy from 1 Timothy 6:11 and surrounding verses.

A Secret to Success as a Maturing Young Adult

A secret to doing life right is this:

Learning how to see and turn every life event into a positive opportunity to meet with God.
"What is my opportunity to get the very most out of this bad event?"

This was the separating response that a study said "made successful people successful"... It wasn't just luck and being at the right place at the right time...
 
Luck wasn't the determinate but rather people's approach to bad and good opportunities. 
There's an art to using tough events as a defining moment while making the most of good events.
The Greatest Danger is not failure but being successful w/out knowing why OR letting failure win.

The Bible puts it this way:
(No matter what the circumstance)
¹⁶ Rejoice always,  
¹⁷ pray continually,  
¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances;
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Let me be honest.
I forgot this approach today in a conflict with a friend. 
The conversation needs to continue but i also realized that God has something He wants to teach me through this no matter what the outcome instead of life just handing me what seems like an unfixable problem.  There's something good to come out of this if I keep pursuing God and looking for it.

And the Bible reinforces this idea in another spot! (Phil 4)
REJOICE ALWAYS  
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 

PRAY CONTINUALLY 
⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
 ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

THE RESULT: PEACE
 And the God of peace will be with you.  ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Joyful, Praying, Giving Thanks...

One secret to finding success and peace is Learning how to see and turn every life event into a positive opportunity to meet with God.

The moments we were created for!

My sister has this theory formulating that we all have climactic or pinnacle moments in this life that we were specifically made for!

I love these moments when they happen!

A moment captured to perfection!  A moment where everything is crystalized.  You can retell the story a million times and every time you look at that moment, you admire it’s beauty and color as you shine light on it.  It rejuvenates your soul.   

These moments connect you with God... Especially when God is connected to those moments.

Often it is a moment you have yearned for.  It could be a huge adventure or a quiet moment with a newborn.  It’s your moment.  I pray and hope for more of these in life.  I am praying that this next Sunday is one of those moments as I meet with the young adults of Lansing! I'm praying that this year holds some of those moments.  Now that’s a bold prayer! 

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

-Early Church Prayer- 

(I prayed/journaled this last week and experienced this Sunday in an amazing way as a miraculous size group (100+) of college/young adults crossed over to worship God at our first once a month gathering called SHAKEN.  A dream that has been years in the making saw new light this last Sunday)

Built up and Beat down the same day... What's that all about?

A friend felt impressed to tell me that some of my dreams and heart longings were going to come about sooner rather than later this past Sunday.  That got me all excited and jacked up!  Later that same day, I had another friend call one of my passions, “Kinda weird.”  After that, I had another guy say, “Nah” when I tried to exchange numbers to catch up with him later this week.  Haha... face to face rejection!  Awesome.  I appreciated their bluntness, but it definitely takes some fighting to not let my enthusiasm be deflated in those moments.  I feel like this build up and beat down is a regular part of life but it's also a ridiculous part of life.

Isn’t it funny?  The moment I have momentum and enthusiasm, all it takes is one timely negative comment to lose the edge or steam and be derailed.  Not this time.  Not this time for me.  Not this time for you.  God’s plans seem to have too much momentum at the moment.  We must stand firm.  We must stand firm in God’s leading.  It’s worth it.  We’ve got to ride the train that God’s already at work, and that His plans won’t and can’t be thwarted.

Jesus said, "My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working."

I know that You, God, can do all things; no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.