Contemplations

believe it is good to write down your thoughts. Elizabeth Elliot said "If we don't journal we don't really know what we are thinking." Here are some thoughts from my journal. Some of these are quotes from others that met a need in my life. Oswald Chambers said "Those who serve the Lord are not even aware of it. They are so occupied with Him that they don't see how He is using them in His work." We must reverse Adam's choice, we must choose God over Eve. We must take our ache to Him, for only in God will we find the healing of the wound. "The gospel can be canceled out by the way we live." Henry Blackaby A wise person will exchange things of lesser value for things of greater value. Discontentment makes rich men poor, while contentment makes poor men rich. Unless a man has to do more than he can do, he will not do all that he can do. Four d's of decision making. 1. Don't, if it's the responsibility of others let them do it. 2. Delay, if it can be done at a better time, wait. 3. Delegate, if other can it better, let them. 4. Do, it if none of the above apply. The Church has no authority to decide questions of personal liberty in things not expressly forbidden in Scripture. Early success in life does not determine long lasting significance. One who judges condemns publicly. As a seed must die before bearing fruit, so God brings "Death of a vision" to test our endurance and then rewards us with supernatural fulfillment. Giving forgiveness is a gift to yourself. Receiving forgiveness is a gift to the offender. There can be the right idea, but the wrong execution. The great leader is the servant of the dream, the bearer of the vision. "It is the idea (vision) that unites people in the common effort, not the charisma of the leader."Optimal performance rests on the existence of a powerful shared vision that evolves through wide participation to which the key leader contributes, but which the use of authority cannot shape. The test of greatness of a dream is that it has energy to lift people out of their moribund ways to a level of being and relation from which the future can be faced with more hope than most of us can summon today. To be halfhearted is to get the worst of both worlds. Dr. Ken Copley is available for counseling, conferences, and local church meetings.