The Inspiration for Motivation - February 5, 2009

Good Thursday morning! Ah, the study of Philippians began last night with the background material in Acts. Isn't it always exciting to start something new? Wait, all of these letters and books in the Bible have been around for at least 1,900 years, where does the "new" come from? The Word of God continues to be the book to turn to in times of difficulty and in times of blessed peace. Every time I read a passage or book new things come to me. The Bible is the most important book in the world, period. If you want to amuse yourself with listing important or good books to read after the Bible, fine. Learn about the saving grace of Jesus first and know Him as Lord. After you are saved we can discuss the books that come after the Bible on any list of great books. If you need a lift this weekend, give 3:16 by Max Lucado a try.

When times seem dark we must focus on the light. This sounds over-simplified, but that doesn't make it less true. In a time of doubt and pain, we tend to focus on... the doubt and pain. Jesus calls us to focus on His light and joy not only in the good times when that is easy, but in the dark times when it becomes difficult to tear our minds away from our problems. Contemporary motivational writers tell us to not focus on the reasons we can't do something and to imagine the task as being done. This misses the point I think. Anyone can daydream of something as being done, but only in Christ do we find joy and strength to get the job done. Daydreaming can conjure up a pleasant vision, but work is required to accomplish the task at hand. I am sure that is what secular motivationists are trying to tell us. It just doesn't work very well without a source of light, strength, inspiration, and joy. And ya' know, using money as your source of inspiration only causes you to look toward the next chance to make money; a terrible treadmill if ever there was one.

Have a great Thursday in Christ!

Bucky

The new blog starting soon: http://thegentleanswer.blogspot.com In this I will take questions and do my best to answer them biblically and with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.