Be The Most Enthusiastic Person You Know

  Some wise guy once said, "Be the most enthusiastic person you know, then you won't go far wrong."   Enthusiasm is so often the ingredient which makes the critical difference: it sustains and helps you when you are going through tough times, it encourages the people around you, it is totally infectious and quickly becomes a good and enjoyable habit.  In turn, enthusiasm adds an extra 5% sparkle to everything you do. So often life is won or lost in that little extra bit that carries us past the finish line.  When you wake up in the morning it is a choice what attitude you will tackle the day with.  So, choose a good one!  Be the most enthusiastic person you know.  Undoubtedly people will love you for it and remember you for it.  I mean heck, who doesn't want to work with an enthusiastic person. You may not be the smartest, the funniest, the strongest or the most talented, but there is nothing stopping you from being the most enthusiastic person you know.

Love Adversity

   In 1941, when Britain was going through some of the darkest and most tragic times of WW 2 Churchill addressed the young people with these words, "These are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived." Why did Churchill, who knew the horrors of war, call them "the greatest days"?  Because he knew that when times are tough and the situation dire, people learn what they are truly capable of.  Diamonds are formed under pressure. But when there is no pressure they remain worthless, lumps of coal. The trick is to learn to embrace and accept adversity by realising that it is your friend, guide and teacher.  Achieving your dreams is never easy.  Unfortunately there will always be obstacles that you trip over and if there aren't any, then the dream at the end probably isn't that great.  Embrace adversity, embrace obstacles and get ready for success.  Today is the beginning of the greatest day you have ever lived. 

Be Dogged

Harrison Ford once said, "Them that stick it out are them that win."  Behind every successful person there is always a long and complicated string of failed attempts. Unfortunately it is the world's way that before you can attain success you must be committed to fail a few times. During WW 2 Winston Churchill, who was the British Prime minister at that time said, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."  When going through life one must be stubbornly dogged and fail a few times to get to where you want to go. You must learn and understand failure for what it really is: a stepping stone to success.  When you quit you lose. But if you keep going you are still in the game with a chance to win. Life rewards the dogged, not the qualified. So, stick it out and before long you will win.

Fulfilling The Great Commission

Over the past few months I have been feeling a bit convicted that I am not fulfilling the

Great Commission that Jesus gave to us in Mark 15:15-16.

"15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all

creation.

16 Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but

whoever does not believe will be condemned."

When I was younger I would be out on the street almost every week sharing the gospel.

But somewhere down the line something changed and over time I stopped handing out

tracts and talking to people about Jesus. The fire slowly died and I reached the point

where I became too afraid to even hand out a single gospel track to someone. I feared

Man more than I feared God. My being too afraid to fulfil the Great Commission was

evidence of this.

Last year however I focused on facing my fears and with the help of God and many loving

friends I managed to conquer my top two dreadful fears which were singing and speaking

in front of a crowd. I was super happy with myself at the close of 2012 and thought I had

beaten all my fears, but God challenged me that evangelism was a part of my life I had

sorely been neglecting. Going up to a stranger and sharing the Gospel or even handing

out a tract had become a new big fear for me. Unlike my fear of singing in front of people

this fear was born out of selfishness. I chose to ignore the poor souls who are (and let's

be blunt here) headed on a path straight to Hell just so I could be comfortable and not

have to risk looking stupid in front of people.

But I am determined that this is all going to change. I have just purchased a whole lot of

Gospel tracks from Living Waters and have made a rule that I will give out at least two

tracts every time I go out. I have relit the flame and have broken outside of my comfort

zone. All I can say now is, "God, help me continue."