Have You Read THE Story?

How to read the whole Bible!

Part of my Life Plan is writing this blog and connecting you to great resources! I’m so glad you’re reading this post, because this is the most important one yet.

Knowing who God is and what He wants to accomplish is something many people seek. I sure did and still do.

Sadly, only 2% of Christians have ever read the Bible from cover to cover.

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The challenge here is that a lot of people just don’t read that much anymore. Maybe you do. Maybe you have read, or continue to read, the Bible, but I would venture to bet that not a lot of your friends, or family, have. I have a heart for people who are not yet reading God’s Word because until 10 years ago, I hadn’t either. It just sounded too difficult, intimidating, challenging and complicated. It was on my “Bucket List”, but so were a lot of other important things.

Who Has Time For That?

If you feel that there are never enough hours in a day, you are right! The clock keeps ticking whether we like it or not. But what are we spending our precious few hours on?

Here are some astounding facts:

  • The average person watches TV over 4 hours a day. That’s 28.5 hours each week.[1]
  • The average internet usage is 43.5 hours per month.[2] That equates to an hour and a half each and every day.
  • The average Canadian spends an unbelievable 32 days each year commuting to and from work.[3] That’s over 768 hours trapped in your car every year!iStock_000004879552Small

It’s no wonder we feel we don’t have enough time.

It’s because of that last statistic that Zig Ziglar suggests we turn our vehicles into “rolling universities.”  Tossing in a CD or tuning into a podcast can help turn your commute into learning time.

But what should we focus on?

Are You Living in Your Strength Zone?

In my life, many things have come easily… and many things frustrate me to no end. There are things that  I just cannot seem to do!

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In our homebuilding business, I was blessed with the right strengths for managing people’s time, money and expectations for a new place to call home. However, as I transitioned into my second half of life, I didn’t know what my real strengths were. No one ever encouraged me to explore them or told me how to find them. What a frustrating feeling!

Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before obscure men.

Proverbs 22:29 ESV

What Does Success Mean To You?

We measure it, strive for it, endlessly compare ourselves to others’ and often it requires great sacrifice – but what is success anyway? Look up the definition and success is: “setting a goal and achieving it.” Sound reasonable? Well that’s true until one starts to think about what goals we should strive to achieve? Our world usually defines success in terms of money, fame, popularity, followers, etc. but let’s take a more alternative view of it.

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Charles Stanley offers a great definition of success that I love in his book “Success God’s Way.” He defines success as “The continuing achievement of becoming the person God wants you to be and accomplishing the goals God has helped (or directed) you to set.” This is very different, almost counter intuitive, from society’s view.