It’s no fun to be misjudged by someone. When a pastor speaks on giving, those who listen can accuse him of having ulterior motives. Family members are notorious for misjudging each other’s motives. They can place their own interpretation on your actions and thereby assign blame. Your boss or client can misread your actions. The old saying is true, “we judge others based on their actions, but we judge ourselves based on our intentions.” Never be discouraged by others who misread you. If possible, share your position sincerely and respectfully then detach yourself from the response. There wasn’t a day in the life and ministry of Jesus where someone wasn’t misjudging Him. He was called every name in the book. In John 8:48 the religious leaders said, “You are a Samaritan and demon possessed,” yet the Lord was not phased by their comments.
In all your conversations be calm, clear and concise. Be 100 percent present with that person. Recap what you thought you heard or ask them to recap what they think you said. Take responsibility for your part and this will narrow the gap of misunderstanding. Every successful over-the-top achiever has been misjudged. People laughed at the Wright brothers and ridiculed Alexander Graham Bell. Your success will have to pass through the scorn of others.

“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable.”
Matthew 5:11 (Message)

Just a thought,
Carl

The key to overcoming is persistence. “Persistence is to the character of man, as carbon is to steel.” Or as someone once said, “No” simply means to “ask again.”

Those who reach the top of their profession did so by “turning the other cheek”, or “going the extra mile”. They did not allow the opinions of others to deter them. On one occasion Jesus was compelled to respond to one of His detractors by saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Jesus didn’t take rejection personally. His conception was miraculous, but his birth place was a dirty manger. His earthly parents were humble peasants. The talk of the town was tabloid news surrounding the conditions of His birth. John 1:11 tells us, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” Jesus was unfazed by both the praise and disapproval of others. He lived free from the opinions of men, because He lived to please an audience of One. Jesus persisted against the rantings and ravings of His critics and the betrayal of His friend. He endured short term pain so that we could have eternal gain.

Is rejection slowing you down, or worse has it stopped you dead in your tracks? Get up! Get going! Get over it! You have something this world of ours desperately needs.
Just a thought,
Carl

A sign of Christian growth and maturity is when the Big “I” becomes a little “i”,
Paul said it this way in Galatians 2:20.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”.

Five times in this one verse Paul uses the word “I.”
Four out of the five times Paul is referring to the little “i” that has been surrendered over to Christ. Paul’s BIG “I”, the ego-self, was dethroned and Christ was enthroned as Lord.

Here is a great secret to life. This is as long as we don’t believe that we are the most important thing in the world. We won’t be able to appreciate the world that is around us until then. We become like a horse, with blinders, only seeing self and becoming blinded to everyone and everything else that is around us. In dying to self we truly live!

Just a Thought!
Carl Toti

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Rest is not laziness. It is holiness. God rested on the seventh day. Of course the Lord’s rest isn’t the same as our rest – God never gets tired but He knows we do, so He instituted the Sabbath. Those who embrace this practice will last longer and produce more in the long run.

Jesus said, “Come off by yourselves; let’s take a break and get a little rest.” For there was constant coming and going. They didn’t even have time to eat.
Mark 6:31

People who are high achievers in life understand and practice this principle. One president in the past refused to make any decisions after 4:00 in the afternoon. He knew that a weary mind rarely makes smart decisions. Godly rest allows us to repair, renew and receive from God, resulting in a release of our potential. Needless to say, our Lord was highly effective, accomplishing more in a day then most do in a lifetime. Yet, He understood the need for rest. There would always be another sick person, another needy person, another sermon that would need to be preached. It would always be in God’s timing. Jesus knew output can’t exceed inflow. At work and at home, you are always giving. During your rest time, you are receiving. Schedule some time for you. Sometime to play and sometime to pray.

It is the Lord’s blessing that makes you wealthy. Hard work can make you no richer.
Proverbs 10:22 (TEV)Just a thought,
Carl

Some people are forever hindered by their past – past failures, past hurts, and past disappointments – all of which are just a sampling of the past events that are relived in the present. Even God chooses not to change the past but to use it. As someone aptly put it,
“The Past: Our cradle, not our prison; there is danger as well as appeal in its glamour. The past is for insiration,not imitationfor continuation, not repetition.”
As challenging as it is to live in the present and as foolish as it is to live in the future, it is impossible to live in the past. Yet for reasons unknown people park in the past and miss what God is purposing to do today. Someone once said, Nothing is as far away as one minute ago

People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy.
Ecclesiastes 5:20 (NLT)

Turning to your past means you have your back to your future. We know that Jesus is the same “yesterday, today and forever”. That means He is in your past, present and future so you can live today with hope and certainty.
Just a thought,
Carl Toti