Martin Luther said: “Every man must do two things alone: He must do his own believing and his own dying."
When you begin comparing yourself with others, you will become either bitter or vain, because there always will be greater and lesser people than you.
What a waste of energy, time and effort when you compare your place and plan with that of other people.
Remember, success in someone else's life does not hurt your chances for success!

• Life is more fun when you don't keep score with others.
• Success really is simply a matter of doing what you do best and not worrying about what the other person is going to do.
• You carry success or failure within yourself. Success in not determined by external conditions, but by how you handle the challenges of life!

What is an attitude?
John Maxwell says: “It is an inward feeling expressed by behaviour”
Dr Caroline Leaf tells us how attitudes come about: "Behavior starts with a thought. Thoughts stimulate emotions which then result in attitude and finally produce behavior. This symphony of electrochemical reactions in the body affects the way we think and feel – emotionally and physically.
Therefore, toxic thoughts produce toxic emotions, which produce toxic attitudes, resulting in toxic behaviors."

Thoughts; Emotions; Attitude; Behavior. Watch the progression, and, whether we like it or not, our attitudes are not well hidden!

Again, John Maxwell:
“Soon what is happening within us will affect what is happening without. A hardened attitude is a dreaded disease. It causes a closed mind and a dark future. When the attitude is positive and conducive to growth, the mind expands and the progress begins.”

What is an attitude?
It is the "advance man" of our true selves
Its roots are inward but its fruit is outward.
It is our best friend or our worst enemy.
It is more honest and more consistent than our words. It is an outward look based on past experiences.
It is a thing which draws people to us or repels them. It is never content until it is expressed.
It is the librarian of our past. It is the speaker of our present. It is the prophet of our future.

So, in the light of the above is your attitude life-giving or toxic? Is it worth giving away?

What is the biggest room in your life?
Have you ever noticed of all the people you know how many are literally at the same place today as they were five years ago? They still have the same dreams, the same problems, the same alibis, the same opportunities. It’s as if they are standing still in life and haven’t progressed an inch; almost as if they have unplugged their clocks at a certain point in time and stayed at that fixed moment until now!
We are destined to grow, learn and improve. Jesus said: "I have come that you might have life and life more abundantly."
The biggest room in our lives is always the room for self-improvement.
Try to learn from everyone and anyone. From one you may learn what not to do, while from another, you may learn what to do. Learn from the mistakes of others. You never will live long enough to make all those mistakes yourself. You can learn more from a wise man when he is wrong, than from a fool who is right.
The person who is afraid of asking the right questions is ashamed of learning.
Only hungry minds can grow.
It's true what W. Fussellman said: "Today a reader; tomorrow a leader".
You will find life exhilarating as you keep learning.
There are two sides to the coin called “life”: a good side and a bad side. We can learn from both – and, if we are clever, not at our expense!
Learning brings life with a capital “L” and life is meant to be lived and enjoyed!

Most of us tend to go “head-long” into decision making – because the pressure of the situation many times is so great that we forget where we, as Believers, are situated: at the Father’s right hand in Christ Jesus.

Recently I read the following short article by Robert Stearns:
“Earth-centered prayers are reactions to circumstances. We feel overcome by life, or we are challenged by a crisis, perhaps personal, perhaps in your church or even a global problem. We cry out. But our attention and focus is not on the Lord. It is on the situation.
While God, in His mercy, certainly hears these prayers, we often are not comforted by them. We rehearse our problem or situation, focused on the trauma we are facing and growing more anxious by the minute. We may get very excited, especially if the situation is a crucial one, and shout or pace in prayer, desperate for a breakthrough.
In contrast, a throne room-centered prayer begins with an experiential understanding that God is in heaven, ruling over this circumstance. No matter how desperate the situation may seem, He is working all things, including this, together for our good because we love Him and He loves us.
From that place, we may indeed be led into very loud and exciting prayers as we participate in spiritual warfare over the situation and pour out the petition of our very souls to the Lord. But the starting place is a place of peace and unshakeable confidence in the reality of the goodness of God.
The focus of the prayer is not on a predetermined answer that we are demanding. Rather, we are laboring for the birthing of God's purpose, aware that His thoughts and ways are higher than our own. We are standing on the Word, not just our interpretation of it.”

Be blessed!

1: Start the day early because no day is long enough for a full day’s work.
2: Compliment three people – but be genuine, and therefore spirit - led.
4: Organize your day so that you do not lose an hour in the morning and spend all day looking for it.
5: Take on a problem bigger than you think you can handle.
6: Find an area in your life in which you can start making a lasting improvement – on yourself.
7: Change your thinking from TGIF to TGTIMD—Thank God This Is My Day!
8: Do at least one thing that will take you out of your comfort zone – GROW!
9: Give thanks to the Lord – every hour -- for His faithfulness: – it endures forever!
10: Ask the Lord: “Is there anything You want me to do differently today?”
11: Leave everyone a little better than you find them.
12: Give your best time to communion with God – all the time!
14: Take small steps to conquer that bad habit. It’s already under your feet.
15: Judge this day, not by the harvest you think you see, but by the seeds you plant – knowing that the harvest is coming!!

You are not insignificant. Never view your life as if Jesus did nothing for you. Make the most of yourself, for that is all that God made of you.

If you deliberately plan to be less than you are capable of being, you will experience unhappiness for the rest of your life.

Too many people never begin to do what God wants them to do because they are waiting to be able to sing like Sandi Patti, preach like Billy Graham or write like Chuck Swindoll before they start. God knew what He was doing when He made us.
Use what talents you possess. The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those that sang the very best.
You were created for achievement. You have been given the seeds for greatness. What is greatness? What is achievement?

It is doing what God wants you to do and being where He wants you to be.
Christians are new creations, not rebuilt sinners. Don't ever forget that God calls you a “Friend” (His reference to Abraham, His covenant partner – James 2:23).
What an incredible statement that is! He also says you are "wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14).
You see, God made you special for a purpose. He has a job for you that no one else can do as well as you. Out of the billions of applicants, only one is qualified, only one has the right combination of what it takes. God has given each person the measure of faith to accomplish what He has called them to do. Every person is gifted.
A person is never what he ought to be until he is doing what he ought to be doing. God holds us not only responsible for what we have, but for what we could have; not only for what we are, but for what we might be.
We are responsible to God for becoming what God has made possible for us to be.

Your life makes a difference. Although we're all different, no mixture is insignificant. On judgment day God won't ask me why I wasn't Moses or Smith Wigglesworth or T.L. Osborne, but why I wasn't Barry Lubbe, the “me” He intended me to become (note the process!)

Jerry Van Dyke said it best when he said: "The best rose bush is not the one with the fewest thorns, but the one which bears the finest roses."
(A revised John L. Mason contribution)

Rising above mediocrity never just happens! It is always a result of works combined with faith.

Faith without works is like gold in the earth: it is of no value until it has been mined out.

A person who says they have faith but has no corresponding action is living a spiritual life that is empty. The alternative is to live religiously with ritual and observances.

In James 2:17 the Bible says: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone”, and living by faith, with God as my Source, is the only way to please Him. He said so!

John L. Mason said:
“Believers need to be people who put their faith into action. One individual with faith and action constitutes a majority. Don't wait for your ship to come in — swim out to it.”

Thomas Edison noted: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

True faith has hands and feet; it takes action. It's not enough to "know that you know." It’s more important to show that you know.

Martin Luther said: “Every man must do two things alone: He must do his own believing and his own dying."
When you compare yourself with others, you will become bitter or vain, because there always will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
What a waste of energy, time and effort when you compare your place and plan with that of other people.
Remember, success in someone else's life does not hurt your chances for success.
<ul>
<li>Life is more fun when you don't keep score with others.
<li>Success really is simply a matter of doing what you do best and not worry­ing about what the other person is going to do.
<li>You carry success or failure within yourself. Success in not determined by outside condi­tions.</li>
</ul>
Earl Nightingale posed this question: "Are you motivated by what you really want out of life, or are you mass-moti­vated?"
You must create you system and your own plan, or you will be enslaved by another man's.
You are only supposed to compare your place and plan with God's will for your life!
<ul>
<li>If a thousand people say a foolish thing, it is still foolish.</li>
<li>Direction from God is never a matter of public opinion.</li>
<li>A wise man makes his own decisions; an ignorant man follows public opinion.</li>
<li>Don't think you're necessarily on the right road because it's a beaten path.</li>
<li>The greatest risk in life is to wait for and depend on others for your security.</li>
<li>Don't judge yourself through someone else's eyes.</li>
</ul>

I’m sure that you, like me, have experienced criticism at some stage in life.
On reflection most of the criticism I have had has come from one of two types of people: those who are doing little or nothing for the Kingdom, and those who are not experts in any field of endeavor – including criticizing!

John Mason has a point of view worth embracing when it comes to criticism:
“People who are growing with God all share one common trait: they attract criticism. Criticism is a compliment when you are doing what you know you're supposed to be doing.
I was reading a cover story on Billy Graham in Time magazine a couple of years ago and was surprised to find in that article several criticisms of him from fellow ministers. Then I was reminded of this fact: all great people get great criticism.
Learn to accept and expect that you will receive unjust criticisms for your God-given goals and accomplishments.
It can be beneficial to receive constructive criticism from those who have your best interests at heart, but you're not responsible to respond to those who don't.
Edward Gibbon said it this way: "I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect."

It's a thousand times easier to criticize than create. That's why critics are never problem solvers. My feeling is that the person who says “it” cannot be done should not interrupt the one who is doing it!
Don't waste time responding to your critics, because you owe nothing to a critic.
Just remember, when you are kicked from behind it means you are out in front!”
(Emphasis mine)

Its time to get into motion!
Rising above mediocrity never just happens; it always is the result of faith combined with works.
John Mason said: “A person who has faith without actions is like a bird with wings but no feet.” In James 2:17 the Bible says: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Biblical principles x nothing = nothing.
We believers need to be people who put our faith into action.
One individual with faith and action constitutes a majority.
Don't wait for your ship to come in — swim out to it.
Thomas Edison said it best when he noted: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
True faith has hands and feet; it takes action. It's not enough to "know that you know.' It's more important to show that you know.
The word “work” is not a vague scriptural concept. It appears in the Bible 564 times.
The founder of Holiday Inns, Kemin Wilson, when asked how he became successful, replied: "I really don't know why I'm here. I never got a degree, and I've only worked half days my entire life. I guess my advice is to do the same: work half days every day.
And it doesn't matter which half: the first 12 hours of the day or the second 12 hours”.
Tap into the power that is produced when faith is mixed with action, and then watch God move in your situation.
Go and read James 2 – and get motivated!