October 22, 2012 Brother, I hope and pray all is well with you and your family. “And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” - Isaiah 42:16 Pro athletes have such amazing physical skills. Years of intense and intentional training build tremendous coordination and deep-seated muscle memory. Hours of drills, techniques, and exercises, reviewing and repeating the same actions with on-the-spot coaching and guidance develop them into athletic machines, permitting them to maximize their potential. Despite all that physical preparation, when athletes get onto the field one very significant physical organ will determine their success. The brain! They say sports are 90% mental. What’s between their ears really determines if they will maximize their physical abilities. What counts are their intellectual, psychological, relational, emotional and spiritual skills and their ability to manage stress. In fact, to develop physical skills at such a high level, many other mental skills are vital to success: perseverance, self-discipline, hard work, maintaining the integrity of the drills without taking short cuts, dietary self-control, studying plays, observation and application, values, purpose, meaning, and learning from mistakes. Life works the same way. Freedom of speech, freedom to choose the vocation we want, freedom to practice any religion and freedom to choose any Church we want to attend. But are we really free? How many of us are actually prisoners of our own hearts and minds? How many of us are “driven” to be something we are not? How often do we sabotage the path designed specifically for us? In an odd irony, freedom really comes from having only one Master the only one qualified to be the Master. Most of our troubles come from trying to blend masters (self, world, others, God) for our lives thus devising and implementing our own game plans while ignoring His. We will maximize our abilities and our life, in other words, achieve our God-given potential, when we realize our life is 100% mental and that we humbly let all-powerful and all-know really turned around. And letting God be our coach and authority. That is certainly how for all of our lives. Here’s the bottom line. All life comes down to decision-making. First come decisions we make to prepare, practice, acquire skills and develop them. Then come the decisions that are made when real life is going on and how we apply those skills. The reason we push decision-making skills so often is that they are the key to our life and spiritual growth. Today, we to find freedom by seeking to please God above all else. When we are angry, frustrated, overwhelmed, or experiencing some other uncomfortable feeling, just stop. We don’t need to act yet. We need to think of God and His big picture of salvation and eternity. Or ponder Biblical passages that will calm us. We need to let this soothe us. Then we need to get back to the situation that was upsetting us. From this calm state, lets think through a better solution than the one that initially went through our mind while we were upset. This is how we can be victorious in the mental aspect of everyday living. We need and should concentrate on staying close to Him at all times and humbling ourselves to His instructions for our conduct. Strengthening the mental part of our life is our decision and our decision alone. I just watched the move “Facing the Giants” – the theme of the movie was “We can do ALL (not some, not once in awhile but ALL) things through HIM who gives us strength” So when we face our mental giants, let keep HIIM in the middle of it ALL and I know HE will guide and direct us each and every step of the way. Let us pray, Dear Father God, we come to You with a thankful, yet penitent heart. we confess, Lord, that we have let worship of others’ and our own expectations drive us, scattering our energy and focus. Also, our desire to “look good” in the eyes of others is draining our energy. Help us, Lord, to focus on You. We know that this is the only way to achieve true freedom. Help us focus on serving the one and only Master, You. Help us, Father, to develop discipline in our life, taking our thoughts captive, so we can master the mental game that goes on inside of us and be victorious in this spiritual war for our soul. We pray that today and every day we will let You direct our next step. Then we will be free to enjoy You and look forward to what You have prepared for us this day, tomorrow and always. These things we ask boldly, through the love and work of Christ Jesus for us, – AMEN. Have a great, safe and VERY BLESSED week. Please remember that I am here for you – 24x7 in thought, prayer and action. STAY STRONG! Love-Your Brother in Christ, Michael
(484)431-9336 (Home & Cell) (484)595-9744 (Work)
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October 15, 2012 Brother, I hope and pray all is well with you and your family. Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” - Genesis 1:26-27 In every child’s makeup there is evidence of the parents’ contributions, a father’s eyes, a mother’s nose, mannerisms, physical characteristics, and personality traits pass through to each child. Of course, whose intelligence or stubbornness they have is often up for debate. It’s easy to forget is that we, too, bear not only the image of our biological parents, but also the imprint of our designer – our heavenly Father’s image and likeness. God is not like us. Yet He designed us to understand who He is, so that we can be in a wondrous relationship with Him. For this reason, He gives us the likeness of His infinite and perfect attributes and character. For example, in a limited way we understand His greatness, power, knowledge, authority, creativity, sacrifice, and love. He gives us a sense of time and eternity. He imprints us with an ability to grasp right and wrong good, better, and best. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are attributes and characteristics that we find in God. This means that every encouragement to obey God is much more than a rule, law, or helpful hint about life. It’s a call to be what we were ultimately made to be. Becoming holy isn’t so much about “being good” as it is about “being human”not the human of this world, but the human God created us to become, through the blood of Jesus and the power and leading of the Holy Spirit. When we try to do life our own way, according to our own instruction manual, we become frustrated, because we aren’t fulfilling the purpose for which we were designed. It’s like using a paintbrush to change the channel, or using a hammer to eat dinner. When something is serving its designer’s intent, then effectiveness, impact, peace, and fulfillment are plentiful. What we need is within us. God put it there and designed us with all that in mind. Sin corrupts, but Jesus’ death restores if we stop getting in the way, using plastic surgery to cover up the inherited traits our Father passed on to us. Today, whatever our situation is, look at the Scriptures to consider the Designer’s intent for our life. Know that He is calling us to “be all that we can be.” I encourage all of us to pray as to what we need to believe differently about God or ourselves so we can become all that He designed us to be. We need to think of what stops us from actually believing it. Usually, a distortion about God or self is what interferes with our belief. Start to unpack the lie that keeps youus from walking into the role God has written for us. We need to decide if we should be getting plastic surgery to cover up our spiritual DNA or letting God’s traits shine through? Let us pray, Dear Father, Teach us to know that You have designed us for better things. Teach us to understand that obedience to You is not burdensome; it’s a return to our original glorious design, our true spiritual DNA. By the power of your Spirit, make use to be more and more the image of Christ, who bears Your image perfectly and fully. Help us to get out of Your way and fully understand our role as You grow us. These things we ask boldly, through the love and work of Christ Jesus for us and in us, in Holy and Precious Name we pray – AMEN Have a great, safe and VERY BLESSED week. Please remember that I am here for you – 24x7 in thought, prayer and action. STAY STRONG! Love-Your Brother in Christ, Michael
(484)431-9336 (Home & Cell) (484)595-9744 (Work)
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October 8, 2012 Brother, I hope and pray all is well with you and your family. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. John 1:14 As I get older, my memory just isn’t the same. Don’t let my kids hear this, but I’m not as sharp or quick as I used to be. I tell myself I have so much more to remember, that it takes a couple seconds longer to look through all those file cabinets in my head. But simple things seem to fall through the cracks of my mind. One of my solutions is to put small items in a special place that I will definitely be able to remember. Well, you guessed it at times I forget where or what that special place is. I am sure there are other Brothers out there who are in same boat as me but this frustrates me and there are some helpful hint I have learned along the way that I know would help but I can’t seem to remember them –  When I am searching for my keys, it is because my keys are not in the right place. I put them in a different or wrong place. They are lost. Take another example – I heard of a family that during a to Washington, D.C. When they were fighting through traffic searching for the Washington Monument, it’s not the monument that’s lost. They were the ones who are lost. Let’s apply this to spiritually. We search for the Truth but not because the Truth is lost. We search for the Truth because we are lost. We were designed by God to seek and find Him. Our search is mainly for comfort, peace, love, happiness, and value things God is able to give us and wants to give us. Unfortunately, instead of going to God for one-stop shopping, we search in many other places and activities for the desires of our hearts. We try to find relief in work, computers, food, caffeine, relationships, kids, grown-up toys, getting ahead, sex, alcohol, sleep, isolation, drugs, power, and control. But we are looking in the wrong places. We search because we are lost. God isn’t lost. He is in the same place all the time. We will find Him in His word, through prayer, and as He orchestrates our circumstances to direct us back on track to find Him. Where is our own search leading us? We need to let the word of God overflow in our minds and spirit: “Seek and you will find”; “I am the way, the truth and the life”. Today, if we are searching for anything other than His Truth, it’s time for a route correction. It’s just like the GPS saying, “recalculating.” Identify what we are searching for today. Are you pursuing activities to meet our needs instead of pursuing God? Are these activities the ones God would prescribe for our treatment plan? We need to be honest and examine why we are not looking to God first to get unlost you know, found to fill some of our desires the right way today, tomorrow and always. Searching for God’s truth each and every day will keep us from getting lost and more connected to HIM and I pray more connected to each other. Let us pray, Dear Father, I have been searching my entire life, but I have been looking in the wrong places. My searching has led me to some very bad decisions that caused pain and suffering for me and for those I love. I thank You, Father, for all the people you put into my life, those who have helped guide me, step by step, to You. I thank You for the new focus of my search. I search for You, Lord. I search for a deeper relationship with You. I pray, Father, for my family and all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ that they, too, may focus their search toward the truth and towards You, Father. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior – AMEN.
Have a great, safe and VERY BLESSED week. Please remember that I am here for you – 24x7 in thought, prayer and action.
STAY STRONG! Love-Your Brother in Christ, Michael
(484)431-9336 (Home & Cell) (484)595-9744 (Work)
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