Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

If you're not ready to hop onto the train and go, don't. When the time is right, you'll use that ticket.Are you considering a life change?

Thinking about moving to another part of the country? Maybe you feel it's time for a career change. You may be in a relationship that isn't working out—or one that needs to get more serious.

You’re thinking, you are wondering, you are confused.

How do you know when its time to let go? How do you know when its time to move on?

Here’s a clear way to tell what’s going to be your right choice.

When it's time to move on, you will have very little reluctance to leave behind what you have already. Why is that? It's because you are genuinely more excited about what you are headed to than what you are giving up.

It's become more important to you. It means more, in fact in your mind, you are already there. It's time for you to move on!

But, what if you are conflicted? You are…not…quite..sure what to do. In that case the answer is also crystal clear! The answer is that now is NOT the time and it may never be.

You aren’t ready. Only time will tell if you ever will be ready, but certainly not now. While enticing, the new options haven’t quite grabbed you enough

The fact that you are wondering tells you the new opportunities don’t really mean as much to you as you might have first thought. They have SOME appeal but not enough to pry you away from what you have already established.

When the time is right for you to move on, you’ll know, because you will go—excited about what you are headed towards—and not looking back over your shoulder at what you left behind.

You Can't Play God

You want the best for them, but they may rebel and make even worse choices if they feel controlled.When working with others, you must realize there are limits to what you can do.

You may want things for your people more than they want it for themselves. You may see they’re in a position to do great things to move up, to have bigger incomes, bigger responsibility, a better way of life if they can do certain things but they don’t want it, they’re never going to do it.

Managers and leaders can save themselves a lot of grief if they accept the fact that they can’t play God in other people’s lives.  

People do only what they want to do
Just because you want it for them, doesn’t mean they want it bad enough themselves to do what’s necessary to get it done. At the end of all of your efforts, you’ll find people are going to be what they’re going to be.You may want them to be something bigger, better or more successful. You may see that they have incredible potential.

That doesn’t matter at all.
What matters is what they want and how they see themselves. They’re going to wind up exactly where they want to be. Even if you artificially promote them they will find a way to sabotage themselves and get demoted.

What’s inside their heart is the deciding factor, not what others want for them.

Now or Never

Here’s What You Think...

When you avoid the decision to do something, you think you are just postponing the decision, the option is still on the table. You think you can, at any time decide to go forward. But that’s not how it works.

Suppose it was something important. Something you have been wanting to do, something you need to do. But for some reason you just can’t get yourself to do it right now. The perfect opportunity has come along, now is the time—you could get this behind you—but no. You decide "not now."

I’ll Do It Later

You think I’ll do it later. There's no rush. I’ll have a little more time later, a freer schedule. It's just not convenient right now. Timing is not quite right.

But you tell yourself, I’m going to do it, just not now.

You’ll Do It—Never

But here’s the truth. If you don’t do it now, you never will. Not now becomes never. You don’t intend for that to happen. You would swear it wouldn’t happen. But that’s what’s going to happen.

Maybe Later

When I was growing up, each night after dinner my mother would ask my father if he would like some dessert. He would consider it for a second, then pat his stomach, look at her sweetly and say, “Maybe later.” He didn’t want dessert. He was full already. But he didn’t want to disappoint her. So, he didn’t say no, he said “maybe later.”

Of course we understood what he meant, he didn’t want any dessert. Later never came. But it still made it more pleasant at dinner than abruptly saying no.

Delay Deludes

The trouble in life comes when we use the same delaying tactics to deal with difficult decisions and we delude ourselves. When faced with the decision to do something right now that we need to do should do, but don’t want to do right now, we say, "not now."

The time isn’t quite right. The truth is that the time is NEVER quite right. And we lie to ourselves thinking I’m REALLY going to do that later. A little later... 

The Truth

But the truth is this, if you don’t do it now, you never will. Not now becomes never. If you want to change your life, if you need to change your life, but the time is not convenient, don't kid yourself into thinking it ever will be convenient. There will never be a perfect time.

Wake Up and Decide Now, Because Tomorrow Will Never Come

Don't lie to yourself and say “Not now, maybe a little later, because later will never come and you will have forfeited your chance to make the changes you want.

REMEMBER…NOT NOW BECOMES NEVER… ALWAYS.

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What have you put off that you can do NOW? What are the things that keep you from moving forward NOW?

Did Jesus Ever Say He was God?

One of the big lies that enemies of Jesus Christ say is…”Jesus never claimed he was God.”

They either take the approach that he never claimed it or that it was all added later by his disciples.

Nonsense! People who make these statements are either ignorant or deliberate liars because if there is one fact that can’t be disputed it was that Jesus was VERY clear who he was. 

He told them that he existed from the beginning of time…

"I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!"

He told them that he was one and the same with God….Of course not everyone believed him and they tried to stone him when he made the statement…

"The Father and I are one." Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?" They replied, "We're stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God."

So it wasn’t like he said these things in a whisper that no one heard or at a polite private Bible study somewhere. He said it put loud in public in front of crowds containing friends and foes alike. He wasn’t vague. He wasn’t afraid. He stated the truth for all to hear. In fact he was so clear they even tried to stone Him for it.

And yet in spite of that there are those today who say….he never claimed to be God. Amazing.

The scriptures say he even shouted to the crowd…

 "If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark."

To the disciples he said….

You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that's what I am. 

Phillip, one of his inner circle even had trouble getting his mind around the idea…

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!" Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus replied, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don't know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?" 

Its not logical that God would have come to earth to save our Sins and then have been coy about who he was, why he was here or how we are to respond.

He was very clear. You can’t get off the hook by saying he was vague about his identity. 

You have to decide if you are going to believe in Him as God and Savior or not.

Love.

This passage is often quoted, especially at weddings, but it is not about romantic love. It's about how to live your life.

Sometimes, you may feel like doing a lot of things while caught up in the emotion of it. But love is more than an emotion, love can also be a choice. In the end it is better to choose to love.

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance ... love will last forever!" 

1 Corinthians 13:4 8a (New Living Translation)

The Book of Light

It's been said that the quality of your life can be directly traced back to the decisions you make.

Yet how do you decide? We are can get paralyzed by many decisions, so many choices and so much conflicting advice. Its even more frightening when you are making decisions that affect your family or business.

It seems like we have to make these choices in the dark.

Darkness is fine when you're sleeping, but it's terrifying  to be walking around in the dark. The truth is that if you don't have a guide and you don't know the future, you actually are in the dark when it comes to making decisions.

Fortunately we have a guide, the Bible, the Word of God.

As it says in Psalms 119:105

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

God's word gives us a foundation. It provides us reference points for evaluating and judging choices - providing practical advice in hundreds of areas. It helps you discern danger, position yourself for success and evaluate your life's direction

God has always been in the light business.

In fact the first record of his words are "Let there be light" in Genesis 1:3. If you look a little closer you'll also find the light described as a person, his Son Jesus Christ.

"I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness". John 12:46

When you are ready for the Light to come into your life and tired of walking in darkness, you'll find your answer in the Bible - the Book of Light.

Short Term or Long Term?

Do you have short term goals, or long term goals? You should have both.

Fools think only of today but the Wise think long term. It's one thing to be good for today. But what about tomorrow?

You may enjoy the road you are on but where is it taking you? You may enjoy your job, your life, your friends. You may be having a great time, but where is it leading you?

The trouble with the future is that it gets here fast. If you are heading the wrong way in your life, CHANGE! The opportunity you have today won’t be there long.

You had better seize the moment, do the tough thing, make the changes that you know are necessary—because if you don’t, you soon may find yourself stuck, and too far down the road to turn back.

Life goes quickly. In fact the Bible describes it as a vapor.

"For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away" (Jas. 4:14).

It won’t last forever, so take the chances you have to steer it in the direction you want to go. The one thing you don’t want to do is procrastinate through laziness, neglect, or denial and lose your chance for something special.

Regrets… you don’t want any.