I have a Master’s degree in Moody. There are some who see the glass half full, and others who see the glass half-empty. Left to my own devices, I see the glass as 100% of whatever mood I may be in.
That said, I’m re-learning (God is such a patient teacher!) a powerful, powerful principle:
Never, never, never pass up an opportunity to say “Thank you.”
Why?
Because gratitude is the gateway to abundance. I am living it.
Gratitude widens the road – at least in the spirit, if not in the circumstances. As I live gratefully, forces line up to move the circumstances. But in the meantime, even while the circumstances are narrow, my soul is broad.
That’s hard for the Master of Moody to accept sometimes. I am capable of such broodiness that disciplined gratitude must be that – disciplined. And I don’t do it well. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on June 10, 2011
in Consumers, Five LV Laws, Hoarders, LV Alter-egos, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance, Principle of Eternity, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Increase, Principle of Legacy
This may be a leap, but let’s assume for a minute that you know what it is you want, and you’re pursuing it. I don’t mean what you’re conquering in your search for lunch. I’m talking destiny, journey-of-desire stuff. Maybe it’s to influence or gain the approval of someone. Maybe it’s wisdom to make good choices or the ability to do something that’s hard or impossible for you right now.
Regardless, have you ever noticed that sometimes getting there feels like an eight-lane highway? And other times, the minute you start moving in that direction it feels like you just turned onto a muddy jungle trail?
Have you ever noticed that sometimes the journey launches like gangbusters, but then stalls or stagnates?
Chances are, you came to a fork in the road and made a wrong turn.
Robert Frost was right in his famous poem about the two roads and choosing the one less traveled by. What he failed to mention was that life or any worthwhile pursuit is a series of forks in the road, not just one. One road leads to a path that makes it easier to pursue your dreams; the other leads to mediocrity, failure, and defeat.
Appearances are Deceptive
Paths that lead to mediocrity and failure are well-worn and popular. They require the least mental effort or “soul work.” But what starts off as the path of least resistance quickly turns to the path of resistance-beats-my-brains-out.
Other paths may appear to require a lot of work or may leave you feeling isolated and alone. But somewhere in that spiritual, emotional, and mental work you activate forces that begin to carry your load, increase your speed, and move you in the direction of your truest desires.
The other tricky part about these forks in the road: [click to continue…]
Inside you lurks a deep desire.
It’s quiet, but compelling.
It’s one of the secrets of everything that motivates you – in fact, your deep, abiding happiness depends on it. Yet it’s so hidden, so behind-the-scenes, that if I were to ask you to list your strongest longings, I’m almost certain this wouldn’t make the list.
But it’s there. It’s powerful. And your response to it may well be the difference between addicted and sober.
Between ambition and actualization.
Between frustration and fulfillment.
The desire? [click to continue…]
Remember the story Aesop told about the goose and the golden egg? The implications and applications are powerful, so let’s take another look.
The fable is about a poor farmer who one day discovered in the nest of his pet goose a glittering golden egg. At first, he thought it must be some kind of trick. But as he started to throw the egg aside, he had second thoughts and took it in to be appraised instead.
The egg was pure gold! The farmer couldn’t believe his good fortune. He became even more incredulous the following day when the experience was repeated. Day after day, he awakened to rush to the nest and find another golden egg. He became fabulously wealthy; it all seemed too good to be true.
But with his increasing wealth came greed and impatience. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on April 17, 2009
in Allocating Your Resources, Consumers, Enlarging Your Capacity, Executing Your Plan, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Following Your Passion, Gamblers, Hoarders, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, Money, Pleasers, Principle of Abundance, Protecting Your Investment, Waiting
This week a friend sent me a poignant and compelling image that describes what it’s like to live in a climate or with a spirit of fear. But the image is so strong, I think it describes anybody who feels as though they are in a no-win situation.
I feel like a grasshopper on the ocean hanging onto a leaf. I cling to the leaf to keep from drowning. If I eat the leaf to keep from starving, I lose my life preserver, and drown.
I’ll tell you later what he learned in the process. But can you relate? [click to continue…]
“Our behavior, attitudes, and initiatives toward others are an act of sowing. The acts of others toward us, at least in a general sense, are an act of reaping. If others are being critical, judgmental, or hostile to us, before we write them off as uncaring jerks, it may be wise to examine what we’ve been sowing in our own attitudes and relationships. If we aren’t seeing generosity being returned, maybe we haven’t been giving.”
-from my journal, January 10, 2001
Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others – ignoring God! – harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life (Galatians 6:7-8, The Message).
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Sometimes when the Lord wants to tell me something significant, he opens my eyes.
Sometimes he closes them. Literally. And speaks to me through a dream.
A few years ago I was on an airplane, reading about how God reveals himself through dreams, and I decided to see if the Lord had anything to say to me in that manner. That night in the hotel room, I asked him to speak to me through my dreams, and I “instructed” my brain to remember.
Remember I did. Clearly. Vividly. Unforgettably. [click to continue…]
God wants us to get it. We typically don’t.
We want to have it. We often won’t.
God says, if you don’t get it, you won’t have it. And you can’t have it just by going out and getting it. You have to… well, get it, first.
Get it?
I think I’ll start over.
Jesus told a variety of stories that present God as a wealthy landowner with servants. These include the laborers in the vineyard, the wheat and the tares, the talents, the landowner, and the vine-growers. The common theme that runs through each story is that humans fail to understand the heart of the One who owns it all. To God, the relationship always is more important than the “stuff.”
Get it?
The laborers in the vineyard didn’t. Our friend the hoarder didn’t. The vine-growers sure didn’t get it. And while we’re keeping score, neither did the Prodigal Son or his pouting older sibling.
They all missed it.
Somehow they all got it in their head that God was holding back, unfair, mean, scary, selfish, whatever. They became so hung up in the grapes and the goats, they missed it.
And lost it.
Because they didn’t get it. [click to continue…]
You're closer to death than ever.
Jeff, a very gracious and thoughtful reader, made the following comment on my post about the LifeVesting Principle of Abundance:
I have been seeking God’s truth for a while now and many of the things you said here coincide with what has been revealed to me. Except one- that we have one life. I’m not here to dispute anyone else’s faith or beliefs. Whatever one person feels about God is probably necessary for that person’s spiritual growth. However, i just feel compelled to say that one thing that I have come to understand is that we have many lives. Again, if you truly believe we have “one shot”, then I am not here to judge your faith. I just think that those who read this should at least explore the possibility of reincarnation. I think that the idea that God would give us one chance is contradictory to his nature, and his plan.
Jeff’s ideas and request (that we should at least explore the possibility of reincarnation) actually speaks to a fifth principle of LifeVesting – the principle of Eternity. For the sake of review, The first four “Laws of LifeVesting” are as follows (they’re built around the acrostic, Get A.L.I.F.E.):
Abundance: I live in an abundant universe, created by an abundant God, who wants me to have an abundant life.
Legacy: I have the power to influence and bless others long after my life on earth is over.
Increase: I will receive an increase on my life choices in proportion to my willingness to invest and wait.
Freedom: I will be served by the people and things I invest in and serve.
The Principle of Eternity says: I have the opportunity to affect the quality of eternity by the choices I make.
I would be interested to know your thoughts about Jeff’s comments; here are mine. [click to continue…]
God has established an ordered world based on eternal principles found in His word. I’m not talking about so-called “principles” that preachers invent to make people feel good, then try to attach a random Bible verse to in order to sound legit to the church crowd. I mean truths, grounded in His character, that apply to many different situations. That’s the difference between a rule and a principle. “Don’t commit murder” is a rule. “Value life” is a principle.
That said, to the degree that we align our lives with God’s principles, we experience the fullness of God’s purpose in creating us in the first place. And the root from which every other principle springs is that everything begins with, and culminates in, the glory of God. You and I were created for his glory – to express His image, extend His life, and execute His will. And in order to fulfill that purpose, we were given the awesome gift of one lifetime.
That’s it. No Plan B. No second chances as a toad or platypus. You get one shot, with no guarantees of how long exactly that will be. But with that one lifetime, you receive the opportunity to produce consequences affecting your future, in both time and eternity.
LifeVesting is about understanding the possibilities and taking action in the direction of the compelling future and eternal reward that can be yours. It revolves around five biblical principles. You can find them expressed in a variety of images – agriculture, business, family relationships, even fishing. But the principles are consistent, regardless of the metaphor. Today I’d like to briefly explain the first one.
[click to continue…]
I have a Master’s degree in Moody. There are some who see the glass half full, and others who see the glass half-empty. Left to my own devices, I see the glass as 100% of whatever mood I may be in.