Tag Archives: needs

Renewing The Mind To Kingdom Thinking (Part-2)

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So last week we kicked off a new series called “Renewing the Mind to Kingdom Thinking”. Here is the link to that post: http://wp.me/p1zGjk-dI . So grab your Bible, journal, pen, and highlighter and let’s go!

There is a reason that the Bible tells us in Romans 12:2 to “renew our minds”. Most Christians will tell you it is because we are not to be like the world, but instead, like Christ. True BUT there is so much more to it than just that! It’s said we are to mold ourselves into His image and likeness; but really, we were created that way, so we must realize and take hold of that design. And that only comes through following the direction of Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness”. We won’t find the answers in a self-help book or even in a blog, it’s only in His Word. (However, we can gain knowledge, which can produce wisdom and insight, through other types of written words.) What I have found, is that as I read books, magazines, blogs and such that the Lord gives me Kingdom principles within those things that I can relate back to His Word.

Going back to my opening scripture, I see a clearer and deeper picture in this translation of Romans 12:2 (The Mirror Bible) “Do not allow current religious tradition to mold you into its pattern of reasoning. Like an inspired artist, give attention to the detail of God’s desire to find expression in you. Become acquainted with perfection. To accommodate yourself to the delight and good pleasure of Him will transform your thoughts afresh from within”. Most of the time, Christians are quick to reference to not be like the world BUT I see a reference to “religious tradition” and see just as many people lost in that as in the world.

So we have to first realize that the renewing of the mind is the fact of finding ourselves in the Word of God. We must then realize that the resting place of His Word was not meant to be on the pages of a book BUT instead in the lives of His Kingdom kids being lived out with purpose each and every day! Start renewing your mind right now by seeing you as God see’s you, through the eyes of Christ.

I believe our life is truly meant to be the greatest adventure novel waiting to be written as we live it out. So start living the best life possible NOW on purpose with purpose. Live with no regrets and love without boundaries. Hold nothing back and charge life head on. I am excited for what’s next, because the excitement of anticipation and not knowing of what is next is what births each breath in life.

So stand strong, live life loud and bold! Take this new day gladiator style, ruling and reigning it and not letting it reign you.

LivXtrem4Him

 

Living Life on Paper

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Time not journaled is history up for interpretation tomorrow. That might not make sense to you, but it speaks volumes to me and hopefully, I can clear the fog for you as you continue to read this.

My life challenge to myself is: I want to live a life that is worth writing about and that in every word I write, that my Jesus would be glorified. I have no interest in one day dying and all that can be said about me is “he was a nice guy”. I want to make an impact, a difference and leave a legacy in the here and now and in the days to come.

My wife’s father, the late Dr. James L. Zirkle, was quoted saying, “The shortest pencil is better than the sharpest mind”. He was always requiring the staff to have some type of planner system for our calendars, contacts, to do list, along with notes from meetings and other such things. He knew the importance of writing things down. But relating this back to my opening statement, you are worth writing about when you live the life God has secured for you through Jesus and His death and resurrection.

Michael Hyatt has produced a couple of great blog posts on journaling that I highly recommend. Click the links to read:
The 7 Benefits of Keeping a Daily Journal:
How to Become More Consistent in Your Daily Journaling:

Since the beginning of time and throughout history, somehow mankind has journaled their life and the events that impacted it. Now think about how it would be today if they had not done that! The many things we would not know and the things we would have to try and figure out all over again. On the walls of caves, animal skins, and parched scrolls of old, is journaled history screaming out for us and to us today and the generations to come. Men and women have been writing things because they realized the importance of it and hopefully, that will never change. I heard someone once say, “My life is not anything that someone would want to read about”. Well change that thinking today! You have significance whether you realize it or not. I want the future generations of my family to know who I am, not just by what others might say, but also by my life lived in my journals. Every up and down moment has a voice and we can learn and grow from them all and so can others.

Many of the writers I love and admire most are not here with us anymore, but their writings live on and many of those writings have touched and changed my life; like CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien to just name two. But I could list many, many more.

So I want to encourage you to invest in a journal, and start writing today. It’s not science or even a structure; just be real and write from your heart.

So that’s it for NOW! I want to hear from you with your thoughts and input on this post. So please share them below.

Until next time, eyes up and gear up for the best yet is right at hand. Take this day gladiator style, ruling and reigning it and not letting it reign you.

LivXtrem4Him

MARCH MEDICAL MISSION TRIP UPDATE:

In just 6 days, I am leaving for my March Medical Mission trip that will take me to Guatemala and then over to Nicaragua. As you may know, I leave March the 24th and return on April the 7th. We have a budget of $3,000 for this trip. As of today, we have had $2,611 of this come in. We still need those remaining funds, in order to complete everything we are doing in both of those countries. You can click on this link to give NOW or send your seed to:
Living Water Teaching
PO Box 1190
Caddo Mills, TX 75135
On the memo line of your check write #25000.

Thank you for partnering with us as we go forth doing His Kingdom work.

WHY?

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This week is Spring Break and my family and I are spending some time out playing, so I am reposting one of my first blog posts (it is also a favorite of mine). I hope you enjoy the post and I will be back next week; until then, Eyes Up & Gear Up for the best is right at hand…

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I am going to list a few questions you might have asked yourself, as I know I have asked myself these questions before!

1.) WHY?

2.) What is my purpose?

3.) How did I get to this place in life?

What are we seeking when we ask these questions? Are we seeking answers or purpose, or is it our way of dealing with a lost feeling of life with no direction? Whatever the case may be, we can’t stop living. We all have a number of undefined days in life and with each passing one, we have got to know that we made it count in some way.

I’m a dreamer and a visionary and like many, my mind seems to live in “LET’S GO” mode 24/7/365. But I also have to know that I am a man with a purpose and a WHY and my WHY is not your WHY and unless ordained, no one else can fulfill that WHY! Still with me?

I look at some great dreamers like Walt Disney, who believed that actually doing the impossible was fun. I also look at writers like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote masterpieces that have gone beyond their years in what is now future generations and touched our hearts with hope and our minds with adventure, while bringing a Kingdom message to all that watch. What about Henry Ford, who dreamed of a machine that we could get around on, on it’s own power? And then there was the legendary John D. Rockefeller, the first billionaire in history. Although his life was not perfect, he had strong Kingdom beliefs. He is quoted to have said, ”I never would have been able to tithe my first million dollars I ever made, if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week.” It has been said that he gave away over $555 million in his lifetime.

I have always been intrigued by visionary dreamers, those that would take a dream and run with it and not look back. Those that had value and character and respect that was not demanded but instead, earned, as only it can be truly acquired.

The answer to WHY is in the commission that we have all been called to in life. The WHY is not really a WHY but instead a WHO. It’s made up of a global sea of faces. When we are in our WHY, then we can impact the WHO, which in return is fulfilling the greatest command ever spoken and that is “GO YE”.

So next time you wonder WHY, don’t look inside yourself; but instead, look around you at a lost and dying wold filled with the WHO’s you have been called to touch and make a difference. BUT to do this, you must know HIM! You might say HIM WHO? The HIM that loved you so much HE created you in HIS likeness and created a KINGDOM like no other for you to not just live in, but to rule and reign in. SO it’s time to know HIM so you can then know WHY and then reach WHO the one true KING of KING’s has called you to and so that you will one day be spoken of as one of those uncommon dreamers of then and now.

So open the door and ask HIM into your life as your LORD and SAVIOR forevermore!

Are You Really Secure?

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secure

Are you really secure? What a profound question to ask!

Let’s first define the definition of secure: Free from danger, attack, loss, free from fear, anxiety, or doubt, stable or firmly fastened, reliable and dependable.

I remember Debbie’s dad, the late Dr. James Zirkle, making this statement: “If you want to succeed, then help someone else succeed”.

I believe discipleship means you are always leading others to a place called there or their yes. You are to be helping others find their way. Here is a link to my first Podcast title: “Are you a beacon of light for the lost?” – Which focuses on this very topic. I have made some awesome new friends lately and everyone is always so eager to help one another succeed at their dreams and the group just keeps growing with other like-minded individuals.

But you don’t always see this attitude around you; either Christian or not. You can look at the businesses, churches, and ministries and find insecurity that speaks out in the inability to work with others in fear they might lose something or someone. Insecurity creates a wall that keeps you from advancing and at some point you will be the one thing that kills your own dreams if you were to continue in that insecurity.

I myself want others to succeed and I want to rejoice with them as they are rejoicing. I have a friend named Kimanzi Constable and he just moved to the next level of his dream by moving to Hawaii. Another new friend I consider to be close has two successful businesses; he also blogs weekly and his name is Zech Newman. Another good friend is Kent Sanders, who to me is the king of Evernote, which I love and use it ALL the time. (CLICK HERE to visit his Evernote training site.) I will be spotlighting more and more of these friends as we go, because that’s what we are to do – help others, not with an agenda but because we are called to help and lift one another up. (Side note – You all who are my dreamer friends and you know who you are, I want say thank you so much for all you have done to bless my life!)

Now how do we do this? How do we put ourselves to the side and openly help each other achieve their dreams? By letting down the walls and letting others in so we can help them be all they dream and desire to be, by being secure in who we are and also whose we are. I’m a Christian, no apology and no hiding it. That’s who I am and what I am. I’m secure in who I am and also whose I am because of Christ in me, the hope of glory, Colossians 1:27.

I started the http://www.kingdomthinking.org blog for one reason and that is to share my Jesus as I grow in His Kingdom. Hopefully by doing this, others will be able to learn because we spend so much time recreating a wheel that is already built and perfected.

So I ask you again, are you secure? Can you wake up each new day and take it head on with no regret or condemnation? If not, allow me to give you a good starting place. Grab any Bible and turn to Matthew 6:33 and start there and move forward.

You are highly favored and deeply loved beyond anything you could ever imagine.

So eyes up and gear up for the best is right at hand. Take this day gladiator style, ruling and reigning, dominating it and not letting it dominate you!

CALL TO ACTION

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Long before the posters of Uncle Sam came to be, a call to action was pronounced.

UncleSamWantsYou

Before we charged the front lines of any battlefield or charged the beaches to take back what our enemies had taken, a battle cry was proclaimed.

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Now please do not think I am putting down our military, because I love our men and women who are holding the lines around the world – I even have two boys doing their part in the Air Force. But long before any of this was even thought of, a battle cry went around the world and called ALL of mankind to rise up and take their place to live a life with purpose and vision for the lost and lonely who had no hope.

As we daily walk the battlefields of life, many turn a blind eye to what’s going on around them. They live life as if everything is ok, but it’s not. People daily make decisions that will affect them beyond this short time they have here on earth. They live for themselves as if they don’t need an eternal savior but when they find themselves lying at the threshold of life and death, they find themselves crying out for a person they never took the time to know. They might have even found their way and maybe are even living their dream, but if it never impacts the lives of the hurting and hungry souls, then what good is it?

But at the same time, I know there are those that proclaim Him as their savior, but never take the time to really get to know Him. God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him; not a “fly by” one that drops an empty prayer filled with empty words spoken from an empty heart. After all these years, I seem to daily find something new about Him!

Why don’t you start your journey right this second? Set your spiritual GPS; grab a pen, paper, and get ready, because an EPIC adventure awaits you!

So eyes up and gear up for the best is right at hand. Take life gladiator style, ruling and reigning forevermore.

We would love to hear from you on this post or any older ones. Maybe you have a thought about a future blog post; please share it.

Until next time, live Xtrem4Him!!!!!

Gear Up (Part 11) UNPLUGGED

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Last week, I posted on the topic of “CHANGE”.  I’m following up this week, by touching on one of my own personal changes.

So let’s talk about the topic, “UNPLUGGING”.  I have read many articles on this topic and about how those that have unplugged for many days, and I thought to myself, “How could one do this?”  But as I have found with all change, first comes the want to make the change and then the step forward to put action to it.  Last week I moved forward with my own “UNPLUG DAY” and it has been a breath of fresh air.  As I write this post, I’m actually completing my second “UNPLUG DAY”.  No withdrawals, no jitters and for sure no regrets.

Addiction is defined as “a compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance”.  Welcome to the tech world we live in; it’s truly become a substance that many can’t live without.  So much so, that we made a young man the youngest millionaire in history because of this addiction.  It’s addiction is evident to all and bullies have realized it and made it a weapon of choice.  The need to know what others are doing, is a “have to know” around the clock.

I shared in my last post, about how I could be sitting in a restaurant and watch families with their face glued to their God; without even realizing that they are losing time with their family and friends.  I actually saw this with a mom and daughter just a short time ago and the mom never really gave the little girl anything other than a warm body at the same table with her and a hot meal, because everything was being given to her smart phone which she never really put away. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the social sites and such BUT, when I stopped and looked at how much time I was giving to them and the many times a day I spent doing it, I knew I needed a change.  So this is where the “UNPLUG DAY” all started for me.

This has became so strong on my heart, that I actually created a Facebook page =)  I want to start a movement for as many as I can, to set aside at least one “UNPLUG DAY” each week.  Here is the link to the page: https://www.facebook.com/day2unplug .  Time is the one thing that once we spend it, we can’t get it back.  We either grow in it and make precious memories or waste it and one day wish we had it back.

I will close this post here for now, BUT there is more to come!

I really hope this post helps you get a new view of how to live a Kingdom life.  God has prepared a life just for you and it is AMAZING if you can simply get past the junk of this world.

We would love to hear from you with your questions, prayer requests, and/or praise reports.

So until next time, eyes up & gear up for the best is right at hand!

LivXtreme4Him

The Name

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The Name

I was reading a book that my wife, Debbie, bought for me. It was written many, many years ago by Brothers Grimm and it is a compilation of many of the original fairy tales. The one I was reading was Rumpelstiltskin. Something interesting that was noted in this book, is some history behind the stories. Most will know of this story, which is about a queen who found herself in a mess. She had to accomplish something impossible. She ended up making a deal with a man named Rumpelstiltskin, but the end result was she had to guess his name to keep her baby. I know I am leaving a lot out, but I think most already know this story. With the help of another, she found out his name and closed the deal in her favor. I took something away from this story, and that was this: “the power of a name”. Rumpelstiltskin’s name had a power to close the deal.

I read about a folk belief that said, “if you knew an evil spirit’s name, you could defeat it”. Let’s change gears here and bring this into a Kingdom perspective. For those that are born again believers, we don’t have to know any name other than the name of Jesus. His name is a name that is above ALL other names. We don’t even have to think about defeating an evil spirit, because they have ALL been defeated forever! Jesus hung on the cross to close the deal on this issue.

Just like the queen in the story, where all she needed was to speak a name and everything was put into order and she was set free. The same goes for us, we just speak the name and BELIEVE and TRUST and things change! But realize change is on a Kingdom time table and not ours. His timing is always perfect in every way, lacking NOTHING!!!!!

So if you are facing what seems to be a mountain like no other you have faced before, then speak His name and believe that He is moving right then on your behalf. But I warn you, don’t make a religion of this – but instead, a lifestyle. Be fully persuaded that His name is above every name and that at His name ALL things have to change!

You are a blessing; I really mean that! I’m always praying for my readers. Debbie and I would love to hear from you. You can post below or send us an email; whichever works best for you.

Until next time, eyes up and gear up for the best is at hand!

Be blessed – Keith & Debbie

LivXtreme4Him

What would you do?

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It seems like forever since I last posted, but actually, I posted “Redeemed” on July the 9th. I wanted to share something in this post that I feel God revealed to me on a recent vacation. A few months ago, we had a cruise booked with some close friends and as it got closer and we were preparing to leave on our trip, we heard some very disturbing news. Our cruise ship had become crippled at sea and the rest was history; most all know how this story went… So fast forward to current time; we decided to go on a family cruise this time and we found a really good deal on a ship. YES, the ship was that very same ship we had booked before, but it had been restored to what was supposed to be better than ever. A “multi-million dollar face lift” is what we heard. So let’s stop here for right now with this story.

So what would you do? Would you say, “Well I am not setting foot on that ship!” OR would you say, “It’s all new, I’m in!”? Would you allow the fear of the past dictate the decision of the present? As for us, we were in and ready to go and so away we went. We are now back home again from our amazing trip with tons of new memories that we will not soon forget. (Just a side note, the ship was everything and then some!)

So here’s my thought in this. How many times has fear held you back? How many times has fear or rumors made you reconsider? We are told in 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP) “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.”

Fear should never be allowed to give direction in our lives. We should be a people that live and dwell in peace and then when we hear that voice inside of us speaking, then we stop, listen and obey. In every area of our lives, that voice will speak IF we recognize it. We recognize it from a relationship; that is the fruit of Matthew 6:33.

In a nutshell, we must not let anyone or anything stop us from moving forward in what GOD has called us into. Once you know it’s from Him, then the approval of others is not needed nor should that direction be questioned. So MOVE forward and never waiver or look back.

July Mission Trip Update:

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Below is a link  to pictures from the Living Water Teaching July youth group to Guatemala. They ministered the drama 13 times to 2,221 people and the results were: 1,157 Salvations and 45 Reconciliations. PRAISE THE LORD! Email us at lwt@lwtusa.org to find out how you can go and be a part of one of the life changing mission trips LWT holds throughout the year.  click this link to see the pictures: http://goo.gl/SJMbzy

HE STOPPED THE SUN….

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He stopped the sun

Joshua 10:13 (AMP) “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed”

I would love to have seen that miracle play out.  I can just picture all those that day watching & wondering what was going on!

Have you ever wondered what He would do for you to see you succeed in the task at hand?  His reach is limitless, so there is no boundary that can stop Him from moving heaven and earth or even stopping the sun to see you succeed.

Most think too small, but I can picture Joshua that day just looking up and saying, “Hey God, will you do me a favor and stop the sun for me?”  Can you imagine God doing that very same thing for you?  Oh, I can and so much more!  We don’t need to waste time with flowing tears, screaming voices and lengthy theological words; but instead, all we need to do is just talk to Him.

Honestly, is stopping the sun such a great miracle compared to the miracle that manifests when we make Jesus the Lord of our lives?  I never negate the power and awesomeness of any miracle, but can there be one greater than the forgiveness of every sin and the transference into eternal life?  If you are pausing and thinking, let me answer for you.  That’s a big NNNNOOOO!!!!!!  There is no greater miracle – past, present or future.  So whatever you need, even the stopping of the sun, you have it.  You should go through the Word and find all the scriptures that have to do with the power of your words.  One of my favorites is found in Mark 11:23 & 24 (AMP) (23) “Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.  (24) For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].”

We would love to hear from you with your praise reports, prayer request or anything else you would like to share below.

I want to end this blog saying Happy Fathers Day to all the guys out there who are blessed enough to be called dad.