Where Praise Is... Pointed

The preceding posts, entitled "Where Praise is Found" & "Where Praise is Planned" can be re-capped by clicking on their relevant titles - ED

Whassup bro's!

It's been sooo long since I've been able to wrap up this series of postings, but such is the way of life at the moment. As you already know I've got a dead computer at the moment so the only internet access I've got is through my PS3's browser and that is utter... well, I'll leave you to guess (ED - let's just say it's woefully inadequate for what I need it to do).

But anyways, onto the posting...

So far, we've covered the idea that where you find your praise (or happiness to simplify it) can have irrevocable impacts onto your daily living as can the choices you make on whether to let those negative events influence you.


Now, in this final part I want to look at the idea that you only go where you are looking.

Have you ever tried to travel in a direction you weren't even looking? It's not easy is it? As any driver will tell you, in the car where you look is the very direction that you are going to head. So what then of life?

What does that say about how you live your life?

How You Live Dictates Your Direction

If you don't necessarily always choose where you will find praise in life (ED - or "the good things") and you do not necessarily plan on when your mood will be elevated and when it will not, then what of the direction you are looking when encountering life's up's and down's?

You cannot predict when your life will be good and when it will be bad right? So, why let this uncertainty dictate to you the direction you're heading in, or looking, when really it's just one of those things?

I know it can sound blase to say that, but why give the power over your direction in life to something which cannot be helped (ED - as in, people have setbacks, people die, people lie and people hate but you cannot control that)?

You could turn around and fire that back at me concerning my faith, but I know that I'm in the safest possible hands when it comes to the direction I'm heading in.

The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
Your throne was established long ago;you are from all eternity.. Psalm 93:1-2

These may just be words on a page (ED - or screen!) to some of you, but to me they give foundation to my life, they give meaning. I know based on my experiences that in God's hands my life is as safe as it possibly can be.

Therefore I must always be checking the direction that I'm heading in to make sure that I'm still going to get to where I want to be in the end.

Say you're stood on a hill and on the other side of you is another, even bigger hill and of course between the two is a valley that looks ominous. Now paint the whole scape white as though covered with thick, thick snow (ED - gee, I wonder why you picked that example today of all days!).

Ask yourself the following question; what are you willing to do to get from where you are now to where you want to be in five, ten, twenty years time? Are you willing to go down into the valley and be overencumbered by all that the descent and greater ascent will encompass? Or are you going to turn around and go home?

I know in Whose hands my life lies so that is enough comfort to me that wherever I go, whatever I do, if it's God's will that I get there then by jove, I... WILL... GET... THERE! :)

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
¹⁰ no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. Psalm 91:9-10

Notice how it says "if you say 'the Lord is my refuge' and you make the Most High your dwelling" implying that there's conditions to my success, to my dream of achieving the promised land of a loving wife & children.

In other words... I have to go through it to get to it!

See? This is why I say what I say, because the Bible, the world's oldest living manual, stands firm and has stood firm throughout all my life and the lives of those before me. I trust what it says and I trust Who wrote it. To base my beliefs on it is a solid rock and fundamental to the way I live my life. So to me, that is the sure foundation, as sure as the foundation when the universe began (ED - which is another story entirely!).

Now, back to the story, I can look at that even higher mountain and feel intimidated by it. I can look at the journey it will take to get there and be intimidated by it. I can be swayed by all the disappointments that will come my way in the meantime and, you guessed it, be intimidated by it.

What I see is an even higher mountain with even greater providence than that which I have today (ED - read 'a greater goal than I' for that!), it's flashier, has more substance and, in other words, has the ring of a better quality of life to it.

Maybe I'm not making myself clear enough, I have a destination in mind and I'm heading toward it. I've been given a goal by God and I know that, come hell or high water, whatever I go through along the way will make the ends justify the means I'll encounter along the way.

My question to you, today, is when you see that even greater mountain than yourself, when you see that goal, that dream you want to achieve, are you willing to go through whatever it takes to get you there?

I know I am and furthermore, I've been forewarned what to expect...

Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Eph 5:15-16

In the end the juice is worth the squeeze!

Give it some thought based on the verses I've quoted so far, don't you see the sense that's coming through?

Words like 'look carefully then how you walk' and 'making the very most of the time' shows that whilst you cannot control what happens to you during life, you can control how you react to it.

As Joel Osteen said in a recent broadcast I watched: -

"Life is ten percent of what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it."

My question to you today is how are you going to react to what goes on around you? Are you going to bury your head in the sand and make like nothing's happening? Or are you going to make the most of all the opportunities that you are given?

Final Thought - Going Forward Not Back

So here we are, I'm back to the point I've been trying to make all along. If I set myself up with positive influences and set my stalls out to attack as it were, then I'm all set going forward.

As this posting comes to a close in the next few moments I want you to ask yourselves whether these three postings have been worth some of your time. If so, then I'm glad and I wish you all the best for the future. If not, however, then please at least consider what I've said as there has been some good, sound advice we can all take on board (ED - I know I have found that to be the case!) going forward.

I've let things dominate me more than they should after the joke of a job at Domino's, which I won't revisit at this point because that's the wrong subject for this posting. You can bet that in light of this I'll be going away thinking about this triage of postings on how to model my life going forward to make sure that never again do I let negative influences weigh me down as they did.

I apologise again for leaving this final part so late, I've let other stuff push this blog further down the priorities list so I'm definitely going to work on re-dressing that balance in the days ahead.

Also, in the days ahead, I'll be trying to re-design my logo as I look to start a platform that will include this blog, Youtube, Facebook and Twitter so keep an eye here for further updates on that grand master plan! :-P

I will be continuing with multi-part postings after all because I've had so much fun doing this and I want to ensure that you can all benefit from sound advice that I always try to offer.

I want to learn myself, you see and I thought what better way than for us to learn together! :)

Peace out, bro's!

#Iamaudacioushearmeroar
#livingwithpurpose