Let us begin…

At the first of the year we often focus on changes for the better, we call them resolutions. It’s interesting how we establish milestones and goals in relation to our idea of success, or in hitting the mark – do you find yourself measuring success in a worldly way, or as God does? Did you even realize there is a difference? Interesting question that I found myself marinating in the past couple of days. The answers for me became an enlightenment that I can apply every day, not just with resolutions and what not. We can apply the biblical definition of success in pursuing peace, attaining goals or resolutions, getting fit, or in any other aspect of life.

The world defines success in terms of what a person possesses, controls or accomplishes. Some dictionaries even list achieving fame or prosperity as facets of being successful. At the center of our desire to define our success in the world today is comparison to other people – where we live, vacation, shop, dine and the like. Don’t take me wrong, I like my stuff and have been to some pretty incredible places, but wisdom and perspective tells me that none of that really defines me, or my success.

God defines success in terms of faithful obedience to His will. Success in a biblical perspective doesn’t focus on possessions, or attaining higher social status. God’s measure is in answering the question, “Were you faithful to my ways?” How do we know His ways, His will, or His calling for us individually? (Click the links if you’re looking for more info on that part)

A biblical sense of success is accomplished through controlling ambition. This may be most difficult in our world today as we tend to measure our own success in comparison to others. We’re all unique, with different gifts and talents and should only compare ourselves to Jesus.

King David is an excellent example of someone from the Bible who knew success. One of my favorite people from the Bible, David struggled personally with sin and wrongdoing, just like we do. He became very successful and famous as the leader of Israel.

“David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” 2 Samuel 5:12

Why was David chosen by God? Because God knew his heart. David was ambitious AND followed God’s will. He kept a close relationship with God, knowing that God alone established him as a leader. He respected that what he had and who he had become came from the Lord.

Success can also tend to give us pride, and the thought that we don’t need God and can achieve all on our own. Unfortunately, that leads to separation from God and to our own demise in the long run.

One of my favorite acronyms related to goals at work or in life is defining them as SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Can God goals be SMART? Absolutely, I don’t think there is an issue there. It comes down to how we measure and define success, recognition and attributing that it all comes from our Heavenly Father, and that it is accomplished with humility and integrity.

True success doesn’t compromise integrity, it defines our character, in effect, who we are when no one is looking, and righteousness.(Click To Tweet)

Something to think about as we move into the new year…

The Q: What comes to mind when you think of success?

Image courtesy of faceless econe on flickr.com

The post How Does God Define And Measure Success? first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post How Does God Define And Measure Success? appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

Inside Pygmalion’s lovely statue he found a heart of stone.

I’m fascinated by people and personalities. So I borrowed this book, “Please Understand Me, Character & Temperament Types“, written by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates. I discovered, among other things, there’s a reason for my interest in people… I’m hot wired for it! Like the majority of authors, my personality is one of the NFs – types of people who have dominant intuition and feeling characteristics. The book points out that people are fundamentally different, and explains temperament theory and why being different is OK. Keirsey reinforces through his work, “It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is.”

Honor, respect and appreciation for our individual differences in personality. That means you can be you and I can be me and we’ll all get along copacetically. Hermann Hesse described what we all attempt to do to the people in our closest relationships, at least to some degree…

“In Greek legend, a brash young sculptor named Pygmalion found the women of Cyprus so impossibly flawed that he resolved to carve a statue of his ideal woman, embodying every feminine grace and virtue. For months he labored with all his prodigious skill (and also with a strange compulsion), rounding here, smoothing there, until he had fashioned the most exquisite figure ever conceived by art. So exquisite indeed was his creation that Pygmalion fell passionately in love with the statue, and could be seen in his studio kissing its marble lips, fingering its marble hands, dressing and grooming the figure as if caring for a doll. But soon, and in spite of the work’s incomparable loveliness, Pygmalion was desperately unhappy, for the lifeless statue could not respond to his desires, the cold stone could not return the warmth of his love. He had set out to shape his perfect woman, but had succeeded only in creating his own frustration and despair.”

As I was reading about my type I found out that we’re odd balls in some respects, that it is very difficult for the other temperament types to really grasp what it is that makes us NFs tick! Keirsey gave an example, please read this passage…

“Becoming a Person means that the individual moves toward being, knowingly and acceptingly, the process which he inwardly and actually is. He moves away from being what he is not, from being a facade. He is not trying to be more than he is, with the attendant feelings of insecurity or bombastic defensiveness. He is not trying to be less than he is, with the attendant feelings of guilt or self-depreciation. He is increasingly listening to the deepest recesses of his psychological and emotional being, and finds himself increasingly willing to be, with greater accuracy and depth, that self which he most truly is.” Carl Rogers.

Would you consider that passage to be convoluted and tortuous rhetoric? Ummm, not for me! However, I can understand now when I rattle on why someone would perceive me to be from another planet, or on drugs. I can assure you that neither would be the case, but that my mind works quite differently than most. According to Kiersey, the NFs make up 12% of the population, however, we have extremely broad influence as we account for the vast majority of novelists, dramatists, television writers, playwrights, journalists, poets and biographers. So we’re an island in the stream, so to speak, but one that rises well above the plains.

I’m using the NF type as an example, and there are plenty of other ideas to learn and share about personalities and how they mix (or don’t!). The work by Kiersey is but one piece of this puzzle to the makeup of extraordinary relationships.

“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.” Thomas Merton

Are you fascinated by people who have different personalities? Do you find yourself trying to change people to match your character?

Image courtesy of Alex Bakharev and Wikipedia

The post Temperament Theory And Why Some People Naturally Shine Online first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post Temperament Theory And Why Some People Naturally Shine Online appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

Do you think of adversity as one big monkey wrench?

Adversity… it comes as that ugly issue that pops up on the radar screen just when life is good. I mean really good. Then… sure enough… here it comes… out of nowhere adversity strikes… and you’re left to try to pick up the pieces.

What’s up with that? I mean, if things were really great and I didn’t do anything wrong, why me? Ha! Believe it or not, there’s a good reason and you should be very thankful!

Here are the 3:

- You’re experiencing adversity because God loves you. What? Yep, God loves you and is preparing you for something even greater than what you had before. Don’t you want more awesome-ness? I know I do!

- This too shall pass. Yep, this is just a temporary condition. Each and every day we’re blessed. Some days it may seem like some pretty trivial stuff. Be content! And thankful, whatever the circumstances. Even if all that you have to be thankful for one day is 3 meals, that’s huge! Praise God!!

– It is through adversity that our character is strengthened. There’s no easy way around it. Remember our friend King David?… speaking of David… “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7. Only God can see into your heart… the place where your true character resides. The rest of us only get a glimpse. God builds our character through adversity.

And that’s why I believe we should be thankful whenever we face adversity. Being thankful for adversity takes guts. You have to be resilient. Clutching to God is a good thing when adversity shows up. Go ahead, you’ll end up better for it and closer to him.

When was the last time you felt blindsided by adversity? Can you see how God may have turned it out for your good?

The post 3 Reasons We Should Be Thankful Whenever Adversity Shows Up first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post 3 Reasons We Should Be Thankful Whenever Adversity Shows Up appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

“Up From The Deep: From The Inside Out” is a post within the short series called The Wave. Please check out The Wave post page and the other posts in this series.

Ok, so this intimacy that you’re talking about Chris… I’m not really sure if I have experienced it to the level you’re suggesting is attainable… how do I know?

I think most people have had a deep, intimate experience with other people… have you with God?

True intimacy comes and goes in life. Unfortunately, God didn’t put us here just to live a life of bliss. In that regard, experiencing intimacy is like experiencing true joy. Savor it when you have it… hold on tight!

Savor the positive memories as well. Like the first impression of a smile and the healing power of laughter, the rhythmic beauty of the ripple will go far… and then its reflection will eventually fade… what will it leave behind? Many times that’s up to us to decide… what will it leave behind in our memory… and in our heart? That decision, in many regards, is made through the conscious decision of our focus.

While the ripple is a shallow pattern on the surface of the water, it is poetic… a reflection of the deeper character of the fluid… and, in us, our core… where our true identity, character and the level of intimacy that we can attain are defined.

Big wave or small, our time here is but a flash in comparison to eternity…

What story does your life tell? I can’t change the past, but when I look around I know that I want to be able to tell the whole story of what’s going on now… that’s the litmus test of how I’m riding the wave.

Finally, I know if I want to have true, deep intimacy in my life, with God and with others, I have to focus on me. I have to focus on just being me. And I have to be real. That starts in the core and the transformation occurs from the inside out. The ripple or reflection… my presence… is the last place it appears… where everyone else can see.

What are you waiting for? Start today… the gracedrops will shower you clean… puddles of blessings will soon appear… and you’ll have a chance to ride the wave.

The Wave… more than anything this is about working on me… how I need to focus on comparing myself only to Jesus. How I can grow and become better.

The Wave… Ride It… and Ride It Well.

How do I get there?

The Wave and our Presence… from the inside out.

The post Up From The Deep: From The Inside Out first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post Up From The Deep: From The Inside Out appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The Wave is a Post Series on Identity, Character and Intimacy…

The Wave And Our Presence…

A lot of times when I catch up with family or friends our get-together will resemble a wave in the ocean…

One person will initiate contact with an e-mail or phone call, or maybe we run into each other somewhere…

Smiles, hugs and laughter are exchanged, and we feel all gushy-warm inside like chocolate-chip cookie dough…

We realize it’s been too long… too long since we’ve stopped to make time for each other… too long since we’ve shared a moment…

The affirmative nod is exchanged, and as further contact transpires, we make a plan and look forward to time together. The Wave is but a ripple at this point…

As the big day draws closer, the wave is building, and we may have additional contact and even invite other friends to join in…

This is an idealized scenario, because a big part of the gathering, or event, is what we’re bring to the table, in effect, Our Presence. If we’re bringing the right stuff, if we’re just being ourselves, and if we’re bringing a humbled spirit and softened heart, The Wave And Our Presence is huge!

The Big Event arrives: The Wave reaches a crescendo when we finally leave everything else behind and meet up. Often, our gathering picks up wherever we left off the last time. We talk, laugh and create a memory.

Typically, there is some sort of follow-up after The Big Event. Our heart is left feeling satisfied, and we yearn for more…

more of God’s love…

more good memories…

more of our company’s Presence…

Our family Thanksgiving gathering this year made me think of The Wave And Our Presence. It was the best Thanksgiving ever for me. A lasting good memory… and one that I will cherish for a very long time. Everyone showed up with the right, radiant spirit and together we created an appealing Wave.

It makes me look forward to the next Wave…

It makes me look forward to creating more good memories.

This Wave’s energy is the love created in our heart through the companionship we share with other people. It’s a gift we’ve received from God that we can enjoy and focus on every day of the year.

How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

What do you think we need to bring in Our Presence to make The Wave a positive lasting memory?

The post The Wave And Our Presence first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post The Wave And Our Presence appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

God looks at our hearts as well as our deeds… that which is seen and unseen… and He works in wonderful ways… we never know what the next miracle is that God will work in our world.

The story of King David was one of Leaving The Door Open. When God instructed Samuel to anoint David, He was looking at David’s faith and character…

“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.

David showed his faith and character when he followed God’s lead…. he displayed an open and receptive heart, and completely trusted in God to make the situation right with Saul… and his people. David displayed incredible courage, not cowardice, in doing what he knew was right… and Leaving The Door Open.

If my heart is right with God, then my relationships with other people are right too. If I feel a relationship isn’t right with someone I should go to them and attempt to make it right. If I can’t then I know that I have tried… and that I am always Leaving The Door Open… and that I have an open and receptive heart to hearing and following God’s lead.

How do you feel about Leaving The Door Open?

The post Leaving The Door Open first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post Leaving The Door Open appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.