What are you reading?

What would you think if you were in a social setting and twice in a matter of 15 minutes two different people that you respect asked you "Why don't you write a book"?  Both of these questions as a result of separate conversations on different topics.  

What role does books, ebooks, audiobooks play in your life?  I'm sure you have a few favourite books that have affected you spiritually, emotionally, physically, socially or fed your intellect.  Although the mediums maybe changing as to how we receive the written word, the result of a great book is the same.  It expands your context thereby allowing more content.

I love to learn, reading is a gift to open our minds to the experience of ours.  I remember hearing a speaker talking about our ability to learn from someone else's life, all their experiences, the lessons learned in a matter of a few hours.  We've all heard the quote "Experience is the best teacher, but a fool will learn from no other". - Benjamin Franklin  Reading provides us the opportunity to learn from another's experience.

How do you put a price tag on the genuine sharing of a life?  When someone takes the time to share their dream and the pursuit of that vision it often inspires us to believe we can do the same.  

Of course the great fiction books that have been written have some of the best parables in them.  C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia come to mind for me.  What about you?  

Regardless of your learning style, we have unlimited information at our finger tips these days.  I am an auditory learner so listening while I drive often works best for me.  However, there is nothing like a cup of tea and a great book to captivate me for a few hours.  Transferring my mind from its ceaseless reasoning and opening the floodgate for new information and experience to transform my thoughts.  

Being a geek at heart I often think of the statement 'garbage in, garbage out' which applies to data input in computing but also applies to our lives.  The sources of information we choose to spend our precious time indulging in dictates what comes out of our mouths and lives.  

"We should always choose our books as God chooses our friends, just a bit beyond us, so that we have to do our level best to keep up with them." Shade of His Hand, 1216 L

Yes, I have a book to write and I believe it will be a movie some day.  

Whose acceptance are you after?

Mommy, Daddy, watch this!  Every parent has heard that command too many times to count.  Why do we as children demand our parents attention and approval?

Why God Accepts You by Bob Gass

"The world tells us that our value is connected to our ‘doing.’ Growing up, we’re constantly compared. When asked why we were not doing as well as our brother or sister, we felt we were doing our best and we had no answer. So we resolved to try harder, but no matter how hard we tried, someone still wasn’t satisfied. We were still getting the message, ‘Something’s wrong with you.’ This leaves us burned out, confused and turned off. It drives many of us into counselling, when all we need is the assurance of God’s unconditional love! 

Your wrong behaviours won’t be changed until you know you’re loved by God apart from what you do. And that’s what Jesus made possible through the cross. Why is this important to believe? Because until you know who you are in Christ, you’ll stumble along believing that your acceptance with God is performance-based. 

Your acceptance with God is based on performance, but not yours - Christ’s! Jesus loves you unconditionally and is committed to working with you. And the best part is, He doesn’t condemn you while He’s doing it! He understands your temperament, your struggles, and even the faulty foundation upon which you’ve based your self-worth. He not only understands - He cares. 

Once you enter into a personal relationship with Christ He begins a process of relieving your pain, revealing your true value, and releasing your gifts. Bit by bit, He restores everything satan has stolen from you. And while all this is happening, you are positioned securely ‘in Christ.’ Therefore you’re always acceptable to Him."

Ask yourself today...Whose acceptance am I after?  What am I willing to do to feel approved by those people?  

The most life changing event for me was the day I came to the end of myself and realized that I am never going to be perfect and cannot please everyone.  What freedom!  I have to be true to myself, own my side of the street and treat everyone with love and respect and the rest is up to them.  Some will accept me and choose to share this journey of life with me, others will not and that is just a fact.

I am loved by God and He is more than enough.