Guidance

Freelance Friday

This is the first installment of Freelance Friday where I will feature the writing or work of a freelance writer. If you or anyone you know has an interest in submitting an article for review, please send to chatkafe@kennypugh.com. Please review this article submitted by Author KLW.
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The culminating event for all students is graduation. Most see this experience as the ultimate validation for the seemingly endless days of hard work. This past month God blessed me with the opportunity to receive an advanced degree. However, like most of us, I was so excited that it was OVER, that I struggled to focus on the keynote speaker address, until he began to list ten things that should be used for guidance (in relation to disease/illness prevention). I began to think about how this list related to my relationship with God and my personal inner struggle with some of the topics discussed in the top ten list.

1. Confidence (Jeremiah 17: 7-8)
I always equate my confidence in God with my faith in Him and His word. Often, we put our confidence in someone or something else and this usually leads to failure, pain, destruction, etc. Through our firm foundation in God's word, we have all the confidence that we need to succeed in life and in all of our endeavors.

2. Explore outside of your comfort zone (Isaiah 40)
I honestly can't take credit for this one...Minister Pugh (KP) has touched on this topic many times! KP has explained that as followers of God we should avoid complacency, be aware that God is with us along our journey, and acknowledge ourselves as one of His chosen people. I think that these three things sum up this topic in a nut shell. Personally, I am somewhat shy, so I often struggle in settings where I am forced to talk to people that I am unfamiliar with. I have prayed about this issue and lately I have been able to walk up to complete strangers and begin a conversation. We must step outside of our comfort zones in church, school, work and other settings.

3. Passion (Romans 5:8)
Christ died for us even though we were and still are sinners. We are all familiar with this verse, and we know that the passion of Christ saved us, but what is your passion. Is it a reflection of Christ or is it a reflection of your own selfish pursuits? In all of our endeavors, we should constantly strive to serve the Lord and further His kingdom.

4. Listen (Exodus 15:26)
Our inability to hear God can come from distractions in our lives (i.e. friends, family, jobs, ourselves). We have to constantly evaluate our lives, worship God at all times, and learn to listen to God for direction in everything. My cousin explained to me that she wants to increase her discernment because people who devote the time to quiet the mind really do discern what God is communicating to them. Meditation can be a form of hearing God's word by expelling the "filler thoughts" that distract us from God's voice.

5. Climb the next mountain (Philippians 4:13)
No one is perfect and we will all have disappointments at some point in our lives. The most important thing is that we get up, brush ourselves off and try again. We must learn to climb the next mountain knowing that God will be there to help us get to the top!

6. Know where you are going (Romans 3:23; Ezekiel 33:11; II Peter 3:9; Acts 2:38)
As Christians, we strive to follow God's word and his commandments so that we can make sure that we have done everything in our power to be blessed with entry into heaven. It is very important for us to know where we are going to spend our eternal lives. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so we must repent for our sins, but even more importantly we must recognize God for who He is and what He represents. This requires us to live our lives according to His word and acknowledge our sins.

7. Build a team. ( Proverbs 27:17)
It is extremely important to commune with fellow believers and to form a team of friends you can call on at any moment. In our struggle to become better Christians, we need a support system, or as KP often says, we need our "accountability partners" to help us along our journey and to also keep us going in the right direction.

8. Evidence based decision making
At first, this was a hard point for me to explain, but the more that I thought about it the more it made sense. The Bible illustrates many of the same issues that we are facing today. If we look to God's word, we can find numerous examples of God's saving grace and love for mankind. As a believer, it's still hard to always look to the Bible for answers to my problems, but honestly someone else has already gone through what I'm facing, so why not use the Bible as a guide for evidence based decision making? Just make sure that when using other people's advice that they "know what they are talking about and are people who have earned your respect as a source of wisdom. Then, you need to follow your own heart in light of God's Word and do what you feel is right and good for you" (Joel Osteen).

9. Optimism (Colossians 3:2; 1 Peter 1:13)
A person's level of optimism is directly related to how much faith they have. If someone walks around always thinking that something bad will happen to them, then eventually something terrible will actually happen. The power of positive thinking is real. If you believe that you have God's favor, then God will show up and prove that your faith is not in vain. Something that I have started recently is my affirmation board. The affirmation board is displayed in my room and every morning I reflect on it, pray, and read my daily affirmations. Some of the things that are on my board are: Lord allow me to walk in faith today, Today will be a good day, etc. These sayings allow me to start my day with a positive, optimistic mindset. You should try this, it really works!

10. Persistence (Hebrews 10: 36; Romans 5: 3-5; James 1: 2-4)
In our journey with Christ we need persistence. There are always times when it is so convenient to just give up and go back to our old ways, but we know that our works are not in vain. We must keep going, even when we can't see the end. Persistence goes along with optimism, patience and faith. Although we struggle with our journey, our persistence is the ingredient that constantly gets us over the hump!
I hope that this list has blessed you as much as it has blessed me. These ten bullets are things that I must evaluate in my life constantly so that I can continue on my journey with Christ!

-Author KLW