But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty I Corinthians 1:27

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” -Psalm 14:1

I used to work at a Bank. I got to interact with hundreds of people everyday and I got to know our regular customers pretty well. One of my favorite customers was an engineer who would always come in chomping a cigar. By the world’s standards, this guy was successful. He was smart and had a ton of money!

Every time he came in, he would share with me “Keys to Success in Life”. We would have some good conversations, until I left for Africa for two weeks. When I came back and saw him again, I greeted him, and he responded, “O the moron’s back from serving God! I’m disappointed in you, I thought you were smarter than that, Doug (My real name).”

(I thought this Picture Was Pretty Funny, I obviously Don’t Believe Atheists Threaten Christians)

From that day on, everyday he would come in, it would be to harass me for my beliefs. He never tried to disprove God, but just tried to make me feel like an idiot for believing in Him. People at the bank  would actually apologize to me for him when he would leave!

I’ve Lived Without God, and Lived for God – There is no Comparison

My response for a while was to just ignore his attacks,  try to have a normal conversation, and love on him as much as I could. He kept this up and so one day I asked him an honest question . . . “Can I ask you a question?” “Yes” he responded. “Do you enjoy your life? Do you have a great family life? You have vacation houses and all the money someone could want… Are you happy?”

“No, my life sucks, I hate it.” He said.

He didn’t have to say much after that. I think he got the point . . . after that moment he started asking me questions about God. He actually invited me to his house for coffee with him and his wife to talk about God. After that we had great conversations and I know that I had the privilege of planting seeds in his heart and I pray that others will water it, and God will take care of the rest.

Whats my point? I’m not saying that every atheist on the planet hates their lives, but I can tell you that they are missing out on the life Jesus provided for them through the cross, and if they’d look deep in their hearts, I promise you that they know there is something more to life than the life they’ve been living.

Philemon 1:6 says, “I pray that everyone who meets you find out how wonderful it is to live in Christ.” That’s something I pray everyday.” Most people are turned off by Christians – Why? Because they know some! They think, if being a Christian is like being like Aunt Mildred, Forget it! When people who don’t live for God see our lives, they should literally be thinking, they have something I don’t and I want it!

If there are people you know that don’t believe in God – don’t condemn them, love them. Love always wins and never fails. Don’t try to prove to them God exists – show them God exists by living your life for God. When a door opens to share Jesus with them do it! I promise you that one day – they’ll come back and thank you for it!

“Discipline is Remembering What You Want”

There are so many lessons in life that are timeless and that we need to be reminded of on a continual basis. These are some of the lessons I try to think on daily to keep my life in order, focused, and going somewhere:

• My Life isn’t My Own, it’s God’s, I surrender what I want my day to look like for what He wants it to look like.

• God is My Source

• Spending Time with God is the Most Important Thing I do

• I can’t Make Up Tomorrow what I fail to Pay For Today

• Success is a Journey, Not a Destination

• Because of God – I’m always in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people!

• God thinks I can Do Anything so I’m going to Dream as Big as I can!

• Pay Now, Play Later, or Play Now, and Pay Later

• Interruptions can be Divine Appointments
• 
• I can Change the World One Person at a Time

• If I don’t take control of my schedule, someone else will.

• Everybody I meet is Going Through Something and Needs Encouragement

• Financially – if I live like no one else lives now, later, I’ll live like no one else lives.

• Success is when those closest to me, respect me the most -> Connect with Family

• If I don’t Workout and Eat right – I’m going to get Fat

• Look for ways to create memories that you’ll never forget!

• Connect with 5 people you haven’t talked to in a week -> Send a text, facebook, etc.

• Life is Short ->ENJOY THE JOURNEY – HAVE FUN

What are some things you remind yourself  of daily to make sure your life is going in the right direction?

²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes^[a] so that it will be even more fruitful.                                                                         -John 15:2

I want to have a life that counts for God, so I’m always looking for ways to become more productive with my time. I recently listened to a John Maxwell leadership lesson on how to get more done in less time. He spoke about the rule of 5. The rule of 5 is taking an area of your life and doing 3-5 things daily to improve that area. He related it to cutting down a large tree, if you’ll take 5 swings a day at the tree with an axe, eventually it will come down.

It is the same way with our goals in life – the rule of 5 is picking an area of your life and saying, “Ok, what are 3-5 things I can do on a daily basis that will allow me to make progress toward my desired outcome?”

John used the example of writing books. He said because one of the most important things he does is write books – his rule of five for writing are:

Everyday I read, Everyday I Think, Everyday I write, Everyday I file, Everyday I ask Questions.

Since one day, I want to write books, I’ve adopted these into my daily routine. I have a rule of  5 for my walk with God, my relationships, networking, work, every area of my life. I know that if I can do 3-5 things everyday in the area of my priorities, I’m going to make a lot of progress over the course of a week, a month, a year, etc..

It’s said that if you’ll spend 15 minutes a day studying a subject, after 5 years, you’ll be an expert in that area. Little things really do add up. I encourage you to take all of the major areas of your life and make your “Rule of 5″ in each area. Everyday do those 3-5 things and watch as over time, your results start to compound.