Who you are...

You are not a failure. You are not a success. People experience success and they experience failure. Success and failure are events, not people. You are a child of God. You are crowned with His favor. And you are taught of the Lord through all the experiences of life.

Putting a lid on God's blessings

God is able to bless me only to the extent that I would like to bless the person I'd like least to bless. For those who say they can't hear from God, simply repeating that statement will prove we can indeed hear Him speak to our conscience. We often demand that God should bless us, when the issue is not His willingness, but our own spiritual posture. The outpouring of God's grace into my life can be resisted or rejected. Carrying offense, fostering a grudge, refusing to forgive, can all move me from the place where nothing hinders or opposes the generosity of God's blessings in my life. Forgiveness is essential. If I don't forgives, God can't forgive me. If I don't extend grace, I can't fully receive grace. A conscience void of offense toward God and man is the posture that maximizes my ability to receive the goodness of God.

Enduring encouragement

Choosing a posture of encouragement toward others is not taking the way of least resistence nor does it automatically mean a positive reception from those we are seeking to bless with affirmation. Encouragement is not only highlighting strengths and successes in the lives of others, but is also calling forth, "our utmost for His highest." An encourager is one who blesses by identifying what's right and supporting and evoking our best efforts to achieve the maximum excellence of which we are capable. Encouragement is the upward draw that refuses to let mediocrity limit our lives.