Your past only has as much power you as you give it.

Let me repeat that: your past has only as much power as you give it.

Too many people today live in the past. They care too much about something that happened hundreds of years ago before most of us were born. Or, they’re stuck on some event that happened in their lives, and they just can’t seem to get past that.

The problem here is that it’s really selfish to live in the past. When you live in the past, you cheat yourself out of the life you could live today.

I personally believe that although it is important to know and understand history so that we don’t make the same mistakes, it’s also a mistake to stay stuck in that history because it denies us the life we deserve to have.

You cheat those around you. Who wants to be around those who are too busy blaming everyone else around them for something that happened to them? Although we aren’t always responsible for the things that happen to us, we are responsible for how we handle those things that happen to us.

This will be a bitter pill for some to swallow; most people don’t want to admit that they’re responsible for their own unhappiness.

When you get stuck in the past, you cheat the church, and it contaminates the church. Don’t believe me?

For years Jeremiah Wright claimed to be a Christian and yet he taught Black Liberation Theology and a false Jesus. Although this is an extreme example of living in the past, it is a perfect example of false teaching within the church that can easily be used to separate us.

This type of teaching in the church can cause you to get stuck in the past and avoid taking responsibility for your life. When you do this, it will stop you from being happy in your life.

If you are a Christian, you do not have the luxury of subscring to this type of teaching. It’s time for Christians to recognize this and enforce discipline in the church to get rid of it.

Your first step to freeing yourself from the past is to acknowledge what happened. Recognize what happened.

Once you have done this, then you need to take responsibility for your part in it. This part is hard, but it’s well worth it.

Forgive those who may have hurt you. When you refuse to forgive, the only person you are hurting is yourself. You aren’t hurting those you refuse to forgive. Experience has taught me that those who hurt you usually don’t believe they have hurt you, or they simply don’t care.

You aren’t paying others back by hating them, not forgiving them, or holding a grudge. You are hurting you. Let it go.

Forgiveness also isn’t about letting someone “off the hook” for what they did. Forgiveness is about handing over to God those who hurt you. It’s been my experience that when you let Him handle it, your burdens will be a lot lighter and your life will be a whole lot easier.

When you find yourself wanting to wallow in the past, don’t. You are giving Satan a foothold, and he will use this to make your life worse.

If you want the life you deserve, if you want a life where you are happy, let go of the past and forgive. It is your key, your secret, to the life you deserve.

It isn’t easy finding peace these days. The very things that were meant to help us free up our time like cell phones, washers, and other modern conveniences actually sometimes cause more stress.

If you are a parent, or in a relationship, it will add to the stress because you aren’t just responsible for yourself, you are responsible for others.

As a single parent who raised three daughters to adulthood, believe me, I understand. It seems we never have enough time for ourselves. This makes our lives even more stressful.

If you want to find peace in your life, if you want to reduce your stress and live successfully, you will need to take drastic action. It doesn’t take much time, as little as 15 minutes a day. If you are consistent, these 15 minutes a day will change your life.

In the Bible, we see Jesus retreating many times to pray. It might seem odd that the Son of God felt the need to retreat, but the need to retreat from the pressures of every day life is necessary to helping us grow as Christians.

The first step to finding peace is to read your Bible. Although the Bible reveals many things, it also reveals God’s will for us, as well as the way we are to live. It gives us plenty of tools to help us in daily living. By spending a few minutes each day reading the Bible, we will find out what these tools are. We will learn what God wants us to know.

(You only need to read three chapters a day Monday through Saturday and five on Sunday to read the Bible through in a year. If you’ve never read the Bible, read two chapters per day from the New Testament, this will allow you to read through the New Testament twice in one year.)

The next step is to meditate on the Word. The Word refers to Jesus in 1 John, but it also refers to the Bible. What do we learn from what we have read? How will it help us in our daily lives?

(Keep a notebook and write down what you have learned. It will help you to remember it.)

The third step is to pray. You don’t need to know any fancy language or a certain formula to pray. In fact, the Bible warns us against formulaic prayer because this type of prayer is what “heathens” use. It’s not the type of prayer God is looking for.

When we read the Bible, God speaks to us. When we pray, we speak to Him. This puts us in relationship. This relationship grows stronger as we read the Bible and pray.

When you pray, tell God your concerns. Talk about what is bothering you. Ask Him for peace. Express your gratitude and thank Him for all of the good things in your life. Gratitude is a powerful way to change your life. When you focus on the good in your life, it makes it much harder to focus on what’s wrong. It changes your perspective.

Tell God what you need. Although the Bible says He already knows, He wants you to ask. God will not violate our free will. He won’t give unless we ask first.

Strong faith and a strong relationship with God gives us the strength to face the obstacles and struggles we face in daily life. The added benefit is that it allows us to “recharge our batteries.”

One thing I learned from reading the “Science of Getting Rich” is that we may only give to others what we have ourselves. If we don’t take the time to recharge, we don’t have anything to give. Giving when we have nothing to give adds to our stress.

Jesus told us:

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27.

Give yourself 15 minutes a day and reduce your stress. You’ll find the peace you are looking for.

One of the things I’ve learned from reading the Bible is that all of the evils in life come from inside, from our hearts.

In Luke 6:45 it says, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

That’s why I believe that if a person really wants to change the world for the better, the change starts in the heart.

Too often today, when many people try to change, they don’t have the type of moral grounding that the Bible offers. So, when they try to change, much of the change they make in their lives is superficial.

Another common issue is that many many feel deep down that something is wrong in their lives, but they don’t change because they are afraid something is wrong with them. This is about who we are as human beings, and we don’t want to feel like we are defective in any way.

The desire to change isn’t about who we are; it’s about what is wrong in our lives: wrong attitudes, wrong living. Many Christians fear that by allowing Christ to change them, it will change who they are. This isn’t true. Christ will unveil who you really are. Once you overcome your fear here, the life Christ unveils in you is far greater than anything you may dream or imagine.

The first step to change is to look for the sin in your life. Sin is an old fashioned concept, but for Christians, it is a reality we must accept. Revealing the sin in our lives helps us find those obstacles in our lives that may be holding us back.

Jimmy D. Brown once told the story in his Christian newsletter about what sin is really like: It’s like carrying around a sack of potatoes. When we sin, we add potatoes to the bag we carry. If we don’t get forgiveness, then those potatoes pile up, the burden gets heavy, and some of the potatoes begin to rot and stink. The burden becomes to heavy, and we crumble under the load.

By asking God for forgiveness, and then forgiving ourselves, we let go of those burdens. By forgiving others who have wronged us, we let go of the anger and hurt we feel inside. Forgiveness really is divine. When you actually do it, you feel better.

This doesn’t mean that we’re letting others off of the hook for what they have done. What we are doing is getting out of the way and allowing God to deal with those who wronged us.

Part of forgiveness is repentance. This is being genuinely sorry for what we have done. Unlike what I heard an atheist say, that Christians just need to ask for forgiveness and they they’re off the hook, this isn’t true. Repentance has to be genuine. Repentance is often painful, and God knows the difference between feigned and real repentance.

The next step is to seek to be more like Christ. Only about 11 percent of American Christians read their Bibles on a daily basis. Most Christians don’t know what the Bible really says. The secret here is to find out what Christ is really like, and we do that by reading the Bible. Then we practice what we have read. It isn’t easy, but it is necessary for our growth.

What I learned from this experience is when we seek to grow, when we seek to go beyond our sin and grow into what God wants us to be, a lot of obstacles are cleared from our path. God has created each of us to be something awesome. He has created each of us for a unique purpose, and when we fulfill that purpose, we achieve a life far better and greater than we could imagine.

The journey of allowing God to change my life has been painful. What I found on the other side is joy, peace, and happiness. I lost my need to control those around me and constantly struggle to control my environment. It became a liberating experience.

The most difficult part of this journey isn’t looking into the mirror to find out who we really are. It’s meeting God and accepting how much He really loves us. This is the ultimate revelation in the journey.

It is once again a new year. We’re all busy setting goals and making plans. There always seems to be a lot of hope around the new year, but as the year progresses, that hope fizzles into something else because we’ve lost that inspiration and excitement.

Being a Christian, prayer is a very important part of my life. I know though, that most Christians, just like I do, struggle with prayer. What do we pray for? How do we pray? Is what we are praying for in God’s will?

If you want to know God’s will, read the Bible. God is very clear with what He wants, and He reveals it to us in the Bible. He also reveals the things we need to pray for.

The most important prayers we pray are for ourselves and others. Here are five groups we need to pray for:

1. Our leaders

I personally don’t like the direction our country is going in. I think there needs to be fundamental change, but true change happens in the heart. When true change takes place in the heart, then the things around us will change.

When we pray for our leaders, we need to pray that they will make good decisions. The decisions they make ultimately affect all of us, and we want them to use wisdom to make good decisions.

2. Our neighbors

After reading the Bible for awhile, I understood that there are two kinds of people in the world: our neighbors and our brothers. Brothers are fellow believers, while neighbors are everyone else.

Where a lot of people go wrong is that they think they have to like everyone they meet. Liking someone is about who he/she is. Let’s be honest here: not everyone is likeable. I don’t like everyone I meet. Jesus didn’t like the Pharisees. It’s not a sin to not like someone.

Jesus didn’t tell us we had to like anyone. He said to love everyone. Love your neighbor as yourself. Praying for your neighbor is one way to show your love. Pray for their needs to be met. Pray that they will find answers to their problems.

3. Our brothers

As I said before, our brothers are fellow believers. There are many believers throughout the world that don’t have it as well as we do in the United States. They are persecuted beyond belief, and yet they still continue to believe.

The Bible says that prayer availeth much. By praying for fellow believers, we are helping others in ways we may not understand.

4. Our enemies

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies. (He also says to love them.) This is a hard thing to do.

When Jesus hung on the cross, He prayed for forgiveness for those who had Him crucified. If He could be that loving and forgiving, who are we to argue?

The value of this prayer is that it has the potential to release us from the hurt someone may have caused us. (We are not excusing the behavior or giving others a free pass to do it again.)

When we refuse to forgive, we aren’t hurting those we refuse to forgive. We are hurting ourselves. By praying for blessing for our enemies, it will release us from any hold they may have on us.

5. Ourselves

As a woman this is one I am especially guilty of. We get so concerned about others, or worse, we’re so concerned about being involved in the business of others that we forget to pray for ourselves.

Jesus wasn’t timid about praying for Himself. He asked God to “remove the cup”. This means that Jesus asked God not to have Him die on the cross. (It was a prayer that was denied because it wasn’t in line with God’s will.)

Praying for ourselves is a way of taking care of ourselves. It’s a chance to talk to God and enjoy relationship with Him.

Remembers, when you pray, you don’t need to use fancy words, or say special prayers, or anything like that. Speak from your heart. Tell God your concerns. He knows exactly what you need. He knows what others need. Learn His will and watch your prayers get answered.

I have suspected for a long time that systems like “The Secret” don’t really work. The reason is that they don’t really incorporate action into the whole process of success. Action is a crucial ingredient of succeess. Unless you take action, nothing happens.

However, there are plenty of negative people who are successful. The problem is that they don’t really enjoy their success, whether it’s financial or in other areas of their lives.

This is why systems like “The Secret” can become a launching pad for your success. The key to enjoying your success does start in the mind.

If you really want to succeed, and you want to enjoy your success, regardless of what area in your life, there are certain things you need to do that will help you.

Here are five that I have used successfully:

1. Use meditation for stress reduction and relaxation.

Meditation doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You don’t have to use any special words or anything like that. Simply sitting for 15 minutes a day and clearing your mind will have a dramatic impact on your stress, as well as help you relax.

To meditate, all you have to do is find a comfortable chair or recline on the floor. Let your body relax. Find something to focus on. Clear your mind. Meditation will help you relax and allow those things in life you need to deal with come to the surface.

2. Read something positive every day.

We put a lot of “junk” into our minds, whether it’s television, magazines, and tons of stuff on the internet. I know my daughter is particularly fond of reality TV and celebrity magazines.

I find that stuff to be depressing. Regardless of your faith or persuasion, there is plenty of stuff to read that is positive and reveals universal human truth.

Commit to spending a few minutes each day reading something that will help you become more positive.

3. Put a “STOP” to those negative thoughts.

Negative thoughts are unhealthy. Doctors estimate that at least two thirds of all illness has a pyschological root. This is a testament to how powerful the mind really is.

From my own personal experience, I know that the negative thoughts we often have are about ourselves. The way to stop those thoughts is every time you have one say “Stop” either in your mind or out loud. Do this enough times, and you’ll eventually stop having those thoughts.

4. Set goals.

When most people set goals, they do it wrong. They have so many things they want to do in life that they get overwhelmed in the process.

If you want to set goals, the first step is to know exactly what you want. What is your ultimate goal? Is it to have $10,000,000 in the bank? Is is to find your dream lover?

Regardless of what your goal is, decide your overall goal in life. Decide when you want to realistically have it. Then break that overall goal down into smaller goals that contribute to the overall goal. Accomplish each little goal, and eventually you will accomplish your overall goal.

5. Visualize your goals for success.

Most people take the “seeing is believing” approach to life. Because they think they have to see it before they can believe it, they never see it.

You have to see the end result in your mind first. It all starts in your mind. Once you see it in your mind, then your goal can become a reality.

The way to do this is close your eyes for a few moments. See yourself driving that car, living in that house, going out to dinner with your dream lover. See it in your mind first, and then take action. This is the true secret to achieving success.

Although James Allen’s book, “As a Man Thinketh” is probably the first classic on the topic of changing your thoughts to change your life, it really is a hard read. There’s not really any practical advice in it to show you how to get what you want out of life.

On the other hand, “The Science of Getting Rich” is full of gems to help you understand how to achieve the life you want. When you understand these principles, you will take the right kind of action to achieve your dreams.

1. Getting rich is the result of following certain principles, nothing more.

Did you ever notice how the universe works on certain scientific principles? We can depend on the laws of physics. They work the same way every time. The principles behind getting rich and achieving the life you want work on certain scientific principles too.

These include knowing what you want (your dream), believing you can achieve your dream and then taking the appropriate actions to reach your dream.

2. God wants you to have abundance, not poverty.

I grew up in the Baptist church. Lots of hell fire and brimstone there. The problem is that those teachings are for non believers. Once you get saved, they no longer apply. If you think you have die first to be happy, then you need to read the Bible because that definitely isn’t what it says.

When God created Adam and Eve, He put them in a beautiful garden. Everything was perfect. There was plenty of everything. Adam and Eve were going to live forever, and they would enjoy a face to face relationship with God. That hardly sounds like a god who wants you to be miserable.

3. There is more than enough for everyone.

There weren’t as many people around when Wallace Wattles lived, but one thing hasn’t changed: there’s more than enough resources on Earth to support everyone. In fact, the Earth has the capacity to support around 50 – 60 billion people. Even if you add up all of the people who have ever lived, that’s only a fraction of what the Earth can support.

That’s why it’s not necessary to compete with others to achieve what you want.

4. To achieve abundance, you must satisfy the mind, body, and soul.

Have you ever noticed how Hollywood stars seem to have everything, but they’re miserable? In fact, a lot of people who have a lot of money are miserable. Have you ever wondered why?

It’s because their lives are out of balance. Money will only satisfy the physical needs. It won’t satisfy all of our other needs: health, relationships, the need to be loved. When you acquire monetary wealth, as well as enrich all of the other areas of your life, you will be happy. Understand that money is a tool to help achieve what you want in life. It isn’t something to be worshipped or acquired to make us feel better about ourselves.

5. Success in life is becoming what you want to be.

This is the ultimate success. When you have the career you want, the type of relationships you want, the bank account you want, you are achieving in the physical what you want to be. Success in life is far more though. It’s a satisfaction of knowing you have achieved your full potential.

Let me caution you though, don’t wait until you have achieved everything you want before you allow yourself to enjoy your life. Enjoy it now. Most of the things we want in life we probably already have and just take for granted.

Ultimately, having the life you want is about hope. As Wallace Wattles says, “The world is not going to the devil; it is going to God. It is wonderful Becoming.”

It’s all about going for it, having the faith to believe and then the willingness to do what it takes to make our dreams become real.

Get your free action plan at Simpleology: “The Simple Science of Getting What You Want.”

I read in one of Joel Osteen’s books that seven out ten people are angry. I must be one of the three that aren’t because I really don’t see any profit in being angry all the time.

What I do know is that more often than not, we only have to go as far as the mirror to find the real culprit who has sabotaged our lives.

If you’re not happy, or you’re angry, or your life isn’t what you want it to be, there are things you can do to change it, and you can start doing those things right now.

So I have to ask again, are you making these mistakes?

1. You dream about the life you want, but you never do anything.

The truth is, the Secret doesn’t work. If all we had to do was dream what we want, then our dreams would be the real reality. If you want to find true happiness, then start by putting some action behind those dreams.

Ask yourself what you want, write it down, and then start deciding now what steps you need to take to reach your goals. Then take those steps.

2. You read thousands of books, or take thousands of dollars in courses, but you never do anything.

I say this because I’ve read thousands of books on just about everything. I love to read. Doing nothing more than reading can be quite pleasurable if you’re reading for entertainment.

However, I have to ask: what have you really learn? That you need another book.

Again, the thing you need to do is look at what you’ve learned from the experience. Decide what part of what you’ve learned is helpful and then act on that knowledge.

Sir Francis Bacon once said “Knowledge is Power.” I say that “Applied Knowledge is Power.”

3. You blame others for your lack of success because of: you fill in the blank _____________________.

No matter the colore of your skin, age, sex, or any other act of birth, we all face challenges. In this area I have learned no one is exempt.

If you’re waiting for the right circumstances, the right political candidate, or something else, maybe it’s time to take a good look at your life. To my knowledge, the Savior came 2000 years ago and not everyone wanted to listen to Him.

Acknowledge that we all have struggles. Just don’t let those struggles stand in your way. Blame is a useless emotion anyway. It only prevents you from examining the situation objectively and taking action that brings results.

4. You know what you want, but you don’t know how to get it.

This is another of those situations where you will need to take action. Find a mentor, someone who is similar to you who can teach you what you want to achieve. If this isn’t possible, find a group or someone online to help you. There are millions of groups and forums on just about any topic you can imagine. Get involved. You may find you have something to offer someone else wants.

Regardless of your circumstances, there’s always room for improvement. It’s part of the human condition. Don’t wait until it’s too late to take action.

This is another article I posted and somehow deleted. I thought it was important to post it here and share this experience to help others.

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If I could point to one year in my life that I consider to be the worst, it would definitely be 2005. The death of two of my grandchildren, as well as a whole lot of other things that happened is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.

Although it was hard losing my granddaughter Ava, I accepted it with a certain amount of grace. God is far wiser than I am.

However, when my grandson Brayden died about six weeks later, I lost my will to live. I wanted to die, and suicide seemed a very real option.

How could so much tragedy happen in so short a time?

My family is decidedly Christian. We don’t take faith lightly. None of us arrived at our faith just by accepting the Bible wholesale without questioning it. I think this is why it irritates me so much when atheists and liberals criticize Christians for taking everything on faith. I don’t. Usually, it’s that one percent of doubt that forces us to decide whether to accept something on faith.

Losing a loved one is never easy, but there are certain things you can do to heal. If you’re still grieving after two years, then you definitely have a serious problem that will destroy your life. Seek the help of a mental health professional.

For the rest of us, here’s what you can do:

1. Allow yourself to grieve.

Don’t be afraid to scream, cry, or get angry. These things are part of the normal grieving process. Let it out. It’s preferable to do it in private. You don’t want to hurt anyone or yourself.

2. Talk to someone you love and trust. Seek out those who have suffered from the same loss.

3. Although I was grieving myself, the loss I suffered was nothing compared to what my daughters suffered.

I let them know that it was OK for them to take as long as they wanted to grieve. I also let them know that eventually they would need to make peace with their situations. I made myself available to them as much as they needed. Having them talk about it helped me heal.

4. Accept you don’t know all of the answers.

In spite of what atheists want to claim, science can’t explain everything. Besides, do you really want to believe that your loved one came up out of the sludge and is now back in the sludge? Now might be the right time to do your due diligence with issues of faith.

I know that all of the soul searching I did during this dark time in my life helped me find answers. It also helped me make peace.

5. Don’t give up.

As your grief process progresses, you’ll have good days and bad days. Don’t be afraid to be happy or feel joy. Do you really think your loved ones who’ve died want you to waste your life grieving over them? Although it is necessary to grieve, there comes a time when you need to move on.

I read my Bible every day. It strengthens my faith and restores my joy. Someone once said, “If your Bible is falling apart, your life is not.” I think it might be time for me to buy a new Bible.

I’m reposting this article because I broke my blog again and had to reconstruct the database from an old backup.

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There is a lot of misunderstanding about Christianity and what the Christian faith actually teaches. Because there are so many doctrines that have been added to the Christian faith, many may be confused about what Christianity actually teaches.

Here are five essential teachings Christians need to understand.

1. Without the Resurrection, Christianity doesn’t exist.

The core belief of Christianity is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The reason this is the central teaching of Christianity is really very simple: Christ’s resurrection was his proof that he wasn’t just a man, he is God. It was also about proving that he was the savior of mankind.

2. Jesus is God.

Although Islam teaches that Jesus is a prophet, and Judaism teaches something else, what the Bible teaches is that Jesus was very clear: He is God. He never said he was a man, a prophet. Those beliefs are a misreading of the Christian scripture, as well as heresy.

3. Saved by faith, subject to grace, not judged by the law.

One of the big fallacies non believers commit when it comes to Christians is that they think Christians believe they’re perfect. Nothing is further from the truth.

We recognize that we are sinners and that the only path to heaven, and Christ, is to accept Jesus as the Messiah.

Christians are subject to grace because grace is the unearned gift of love from God. In the end, Christians will not be judged on whether they go to heaven or hell, but what their reward in heaven will be.

4. Love God, love your neighbor, love yourself.

In the Old Testament, there are 10 Commandments. When asked about observing the 10 Commandments, Jesus made basically the same statement in every gospel: that we love God, love our neighbor, and then love ourselves.

The Bible is clear that a neighbor is anyone whereas a brother is a fellow believer in Christ. In essence, Christ told us to love everyone.

Loving someone is very different from liking someone. When you like someone, it’s about who they are. Love is about who you are. Also, the Bible tells us that God is love. Since God is love, then in order to love others, God must be a part of your life. Otherwise, it isn’t love at all.

5. Being saved has nothing to do with being good.

In one of the gospels, someone calls Jesus good. Jesus replied by saying that only God is good. The truth is, none of us are good. No one is good.

Being saved is about accepting Christ as your Savior and putting your faith in him. It is about accepting that Christ is the only road to eternal life, not good works, purgatory, or “being good”.

Jesus once said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavty laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28). If you want to find true peace, true happiness, you’ll find it in Christ.