joannabrynn's Blog

My Mom shared this with me today. I hope Jim Rohn won't mind me sharing it!!!!



At!#ude is Everything by Jim Rohn

The process of human change begins within us. We all have tremendous potential. We all desire good results from our efforts. Most of us are willing to work hard and to pay the price that success and happiness demand.



Each of us has the ability to put our unique human potential into action and to acquire a desired result. But the one thing that determines the level of our potential, that produces the intensity of our activity, and that predicts the quality of the result we receive is our attitude.



At##%%ude determines how much of the future we are allowed to see. It decides the size of our dreams and influences our determination when we are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over our attitude. People can affect our attitude by teaching us poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming us or providing us with negative sources of influence, but no one can control our attitude unless we voluntarily surrender that control.



No one else "makes us angry." We make ourselves angry when we surrender control of our attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. We choose, not they. They merely put our attitude to a test. If we select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous or suspicious, then we have failed the test. If we condemn ourselves by believing that we are unworthy, then again, we have failed the test.



If we care at all about ourselves, then we must accept full responsibility for our own feelings. We must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead our attitude down the wrong path and to strengthen those feelings that can lead us confidently into a better future.



If we want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for us, then we must exercise the most important choice given to us as members of the human race by maintaining total dominion over our attitude. Our attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value, which must be protected accordingly. Beware of the vandals and thieves among us who would injure our positive attitude or seek to steal it away.



Having the right attitude is one of the basics that success requires. The combination of a sound personal philosophy and a positive attitude about ourselves and the world around us gives us an inner strength and a firm resolve that influences all the other areas of our existence.

FOCUSING ON PEOPLE

SCRIPTURE READING:
Luke 24:30-32
âWHEN HE WAS AT THE TABLE WITH THEM, HE TOOK BREAD, GAVE THANKS, BROKE IT AND BEGAN TO GIVE IT TO THEM. THEN THEIR EYES WERE OPENED AND THEY RECOGNIZED HIM, AND HE DISAPPEARED FROM THEIR SIGHT. THEY ASKED EACH OTHER, âWERE NOT OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US WHILE HE TALKED WITH US ON THE ROAD AND OPENED THE SCRIPTURES TO US?ââ

One day a young fugitive, trying to hide himself from the enemy, entered a small village. The people were kind to him and offered him a place to stay. But when the soldiers who sought the fugitive asked where he was hiding, everyone became very fearful. The soldiers threatened to burn the village and kill every person in it unless the young man was handed over to them before dawn. The people went to the Rabbi and asked him what to do. Torn between handling over the boy to the enemy and having his people killed, the Rabbi withdrew to his room and read his Bible, hoping to find an answer before dawn. In the early morning, his eyes fell on these words: âIt is better that one man dies than that the whole people be lost.â
Then the Rabbi closed the Bible, called the soldiers, and told them where the boy was hidden. And after the soldiers led the fugitive away to be killed, there was a feast in the village because the Rabbi had saved the lives of the people. But the Rabbi did not celebrate. Overcome with a deep sadness, he remained in his room. That night an angel came to him and asked, âWhat have you done?â He said: âI handed over the fugitive to the enemy.â Then the angel said: âBut donât you know that you have handed over the Messiah?â âHow could I know?â the Rabbi replied anxiously. Then the angel said: âIf, instead of reading your Bible, you had visited this young man just once and looked into his eyes, you would have known.â
Pp 26-27, SPIRITUAL DIRECTION, by Henri Nouwen

Study for a devotional I gave (I needed to study this myself)
Deuteronomy 8, 11, 13
ALLOWING GOD TO DRIVE - the entire devotional can be viewed at www.gather.com/joannbrynn For some reason all of this is not showing up!

Too often we ask God to control our lives without making us give up the goals for which we strive. We ask God to help us get where WE want to go.

The first step in correcting this tendency is to turn over both the control and destination of our lives to Him.

The second step is to do what we ALREADY KNOW God requires of us.

The third step is to listen for further direction from His word - God's map for life.

- the significance of what people accomplish is directly related to their relationship with God
- the kind of person we are is more important than anything we might do or have
- God wants obedience from the heart, not mere acts of religious ritual
- obedience always involves sacrifice; but sacrifice is not alway obedience
- weakness should remind us of our need for God's guidance and help
- although we may feel caught up in a chain of events, we are still responsible for the way we participate in those events
- a sin may seem like one small seed, but the harvest of consequences is beyond measure!
- In the worst possible situations, God is still able to bring about good when we truly seek hm
- while we must live with the natural consequences of our sins, God's forgiveness of sin is total
- we frequently know only a small part of the significance of events in our lives as they relate to God's large plan for the world
- Effective leadership can be nullified by an ineffective personal life
- careless efforts to correct another's errors often lead to the same errors
- mistakes always occur when we attempt to take over God's role in a situation
- Fierce commitment needs control because it can result in recklessness
- As helpful or hurtful as others may be, we are individually responsible for what WE do
- God does not always protect us from trouble, but cares for us in spite of trouble
- God wants us to do more than drift through life, He wants us to be an inflluence for Him
- The business of serving God can become a barrier to knowing Him personally
- It is better to be a follower of Christ who sometimes fails, than someone who fails to follow
- God's Faithfulness can compensate for our greatest unfaithfullness
- My character is revealed by my response to the unexpected
- Real freedom doesn't come until I no longer have to prove my freedom . . .
- Personal maturity usually comes from a combination of time and mistakes- I discovered this last year when I fell in my sobriety one night. I beat myself up until I realised that instead of running I went back, admitted my failure, and grew stronger. I don't recommend anyone doing this! But for me, I grew stronger. My grandfather always said mistakes were only mistakes if you didn't learn from them! And my Mom always said the same - thus the chorus for the song I wrote for her called Live and you Learn
- Mistakes are not usually as important as what we learn from them
- Effective living is not measured as much by what we accomplish as by what we overcome in order to accomplish it.
My devotionals are geared toward helping those who I counsel with to help them beat their addictions and come to walk with God. But I think I get so blessed by preparing for them!!!!

Sorry I ramble so long . . .