In the Comfortable Times Don't Forget God!

Okay - So I confess this might be the longest time I have gone between blog post!  Now that I have been filled with Salad and Soup from Panera, checked my facebook, read a few other blogs, and let myself become distracted I am now finally sitting down to write this blog.

It is Sunday today.  I woke up and read a bit in a book I have been reading forever now called "Lead Like Jesus" by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges.  I may have mentioned this book in some of my other blog post.  I have been reading this book for forever.  I am not sure why, but it seems books keep taking me longer and longer to read.  Despite the time it is taking me to get through this book it is a good read.  Lots of good information for leading people.  What it really boils down to though is being confident in Christ and who you are in Christ.  Which is good for total life living!  I just finished the chapter on some healthy habits of good leaders.  They are as follows: Solitude, Prayer, Study and Application of Scripture, Accepting and Responding to God's Unconditional Love, and Involvement in Supportive Relationships.

 In summary each one of these habits roots you in God. If your confidence and trust is in God you can't be shaken by too much praise or too much critiscm.  You will not be afraid to examine your leadership and admit your weaknesses.  Solitude, Prayer and Study of the Scripture allow God to refresh you, speak into your life, and prepare you for life circumstances.  Accepting and Responding to God's Unconditional Love allows you to be confident in Christ and treat others around you with that love and confidence, and Involvement in Supportive Relationships means you have people in your life who are not just "Yes" men.  They will shoot straight with you, let you know how people are feeling, hold you accountable and so on. I liked this quote in regards to the last habit "I learned in the Navy if you don't hear about any problems, watch out, because you are about to go over the side.  You have mutiny on your hands, because the people around you have cut you off from the truth" (pg. 181 Ken Blanchard's Father).  I think these are habits that we all can continue to add into our lifes.

To drive the point home - In church today they discussed the failings of David.  The thing I took from it was that in the good times David let his relationship with God go lax.  Instead of fighting with his men he was napping and strolling the palace walls, he let himself lust over Bathesheba and then commit adultery with Bathesheba. In his attempt to rationalize the issue he ended up murdering her husband.  In the end David repented thanks to the prophet Nathan.  If David had never gone lax in his relationship with God maybe history would have looked different.  In all times good and bad we need to be spending time with God through solitude, prayer and the word.  We need to apply what we are learning in these times, let God touch us, change us and heal us.

Be Blessed by God today!

I have been editing some of my pictures from Europe, so you may have seen some of this pictures before, but these are with a new twist.  These are all from Moldova and I will conquer Armenia and Georgia soon.