Focusing On Small Things Can Make A Big Difference

It’s easy to get caught up in the big life-changing moment that are affecting us, and rationalize their impact on. Everything else is happening around us.

But it’s a small things that have the biggest effect in the direction of our lives take.

Think of yourself as a small, snowball being rolled down the hill, getting bigger and stronger as it picks up, momentum, until it is one huge boulder, breaking down trees.

That entire process started with the act of creating a single snowball in the palm of your hand.

Don’t Get So Caught Up In The Big Things

It’s easy to get caught up in the big things in our lives. For example, the team you’re coaching that has blown a three goal lead loses by for when it’s all said and done.

The easy response is to get mad at the team and how this could have happened.

But the harder, more difficult response is to ask them what happened and what we can do next to make it better.

The small things are the players, what went wrong, what happened, and what will we do for the next time.

The big thing is the loss. But any good coach will tell you, that is now history.

It’s over, and it’s time to focus on what’s next. Focusing on the small things, taking those actions, as direct correlation to long term thinking.

Big things come from small strides. Any big change in your life is not the result of one big stride.

You don’t say you were going to lose weight and then have the weight shed off of you.

No, it takes the smaller actions of eating well, exercising, purging, bad behaviors – all small actions that when taken on their own might not amount you’re a big change in your life.

But when taken together in small steps, they will contribute toward a larger goal.

The small things put a goal within reach and make it attainable. Small strides make change inevitable.

People Remember The Small Things

Everyone knows what happened on Christmas and your birthday – they are big events that get celebrated with incredible fanfare.

But what about those small interactions that you encourage throughout the year?

Like when someone brought you coffee when you were feeling down, when you reach out to someone for a listening, ear, or when someone took the time to go for a walk with you to work out a problem.

Which one had the biggest impact?

The small cup of coffee, or the fanfare for Christmas?

If you want to make a difference in your life, focus on the small things, the relationships, the people, the interactions, the handshakes, the smiles.

It’s the tiniest of things that can make the biggest difference in someone’s life,

Seeing your grand gestures, do not yield the same return on investment as a steady investment in daily actions and commitment to consistent change.

Master the small, then move on to the next step, and do the same thing again.

One year for now, take stock of how far you have come, what do you have achieved, and where you are going.

Would you have been able to accomplish in that one big gesture?

Wouldn’t have made the same level of difference?

Focus on the small things – for your actions will lead to big differences. From there, the change you want to see happen in your life will happen.

The Power Of Faith

Read is the key to defeating all that comes against you. In order for the hand of God to work miracles in your life, you must believe that He is able. Your trials have no power over you, except for what you allow. For that reason, you must never let the fear of any painful situation in your life become bigger than God.

The Bible tells us that Jesus came to set the captives free. We were once in bondage to the evil of this world now have a power or darkness. The death and resurrection of Christ gave us victory over anything that seeks to destroy us. He paid a price for us to live life abundantly, despite what we have to endure. He became our strength to conquer all of our enemies. He has put death and destruction under His feet. Those who have a relationship with users have nothing to fear from this world. He alone is the hope for all that you need, and He will not fail you.

In Matthew 15, we read about the apostles, who were in a boat on the water that was being tossed around by the wind and the waves. During the night, Jesus came to them walking on the water and they became afraid. Peter jumped into the water to go and meet Jesus, but heveas afraid of the storm and began to sink. He called to Jesus for help, Jesus caught him and commented on his lack of faith.

The truth of this matter is that it was not the wind or the waves that brought Peter down, it was his fear. Instead of keeping his eye on the Creator who could save him from all things, Peter instead empowered the wind and the waves. He feared that he would perish even though the Master of the universe was right there with him. Jesus is over all that is in this world and even the wind must obey Him. With just a word Jesus was able to quiet the storm.

Every now and then there is a situation Jesus can’t take you out of. But He will take you through if your trust is in Him. He can give you peace in the trial that you are enduring. The power of the blood of Christ is able to meet you wherever you are. It does not matter what you have done, or how far you have strayed, His love is able to reach out and lift you up from the waters of trouble and bring you to safety. Jesus is always willing to forgive you and give you a future that has promise. For the believer, the strength to live in victory is always with you because Christ lives within you. He alone can defeat a serious health problem, financial difficulties or any addiction and pain you may have. Jesus alone had the power to heal a broken marriage and restore families. That is your heritage as a child of the living God! Nothing is impossible for Him who spoke the world into existence.

If you are to weary from the battles you are fighting, lift your eyes to Jesus Who is the source of all strength. He will not leave you, if you have faith, His plan for you will never fail. The enemy has been defeated by the cross and his power has been destroyed.

Our Lord is able to keep us on top of the water despite what trouble comes against us, and what we are going through. You are never alone and your situation is never impossible for the true God whose love you will never fail you.

Have Faith

When God Withdraws His Protection

Frequently, due to sin, rebellion, and other factors, God, simply withdraws His protective hand and allows sin, Satan, and chaos to have their way.

Everything with you today leads up to the final point. God has incarnated Himself into the world in such a way that he gives away aspects of true freedom, and power to His creatures to do with it what they will. But when we miss you, this freedom and power, God does not simply stop the way we abuse our freedom and power, for then, it would no longer be genuine, freedom, or power.

As a result of our rebellious decisions and misuse of power, nature flies out of control and creates chaos all around us. Satan, who is at war with God and His creation, seeks to destroy anything that comes from God, or aligns itself with God. And whatever sin is found, it eats away at everything it touches. Through His incarnation and by His infinite wisdom and foreknowledge, God slows the death and decay down, and rescues those who are perishing in sin and destruction, but frequently, due to the nature of sin, the consequences of abused freedom, and a misuse of power, God cannot stop the natural result of a rebellion. When this happens, nature falls into chaos, the destroyer destroys, and sin brings death.

When humans persist in sin, despite God’s frequent attempts to call them toward obedience and to warn them of what will happen if they continue down the path they are on, there comes a point where sometimes, God simply withdraws His hand of protection and allows people to suffer the consequences for their sin, for chaos to reign, and for Satan to bring death and destruction.

When bad things happen to us in life, we should not be too quick to believe that God has withdrawn his hand of protection, but instead he go first to consider some of the other elements of the chaos as possible explanation for what has happened to us. So also with some of the terrible event in scripture. We must not be too quick to say that God has withdrawn. His protection from a certain person or place so that sin, death, and the devil can have their way.

Nevertheless, there are times when God with drawls from some people so that they can suffer the consequences for their sin and rebellion against Him. usually when this happens in scripture, the text makes it very clear that this is what is going on, and then, this withdrawal is only after numerous and varied attempts by God to get people to repent of their ways and return to Him and to warn them of what will happen If they continue to rebel.

There are several examples of this, in scripture. We might see evidence of this sort of withdrawal of God’s protective hand in the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:27. In this text, do you just said that God has sent numerous profit to Jerusalem to call them back to obedience, but rather than listen, they continue to stone, the profits that are sent. Jesus says that God has wanted to gather them under his wing of protection, but they are not willing.

As a result, death and destruction came upon Jerusalem. We must not read into this passage the idea that God is sending the death and destruction. No, the text is clear that God is trying to deliver and protect His people from the destruction, but they would not listen to His warnings and were not willing to come to His. And soul, death would come, not from God, but from the armies that would sweep in, and leave, not one stone standing upon another.

How can a God who says “ Love your enemies”. (Matters 5:44) be the same God, who instructs people in the Old Testament to kill their enemies?

The Two-Edged Sword

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intention of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

The word of God is a book that is readily available at our fingertips and yet some of us don’t realize the power that’s behind it. Perhaps you see it as a duty to check off a list every day, or if accrues dust on a bookshelf. Yet some of us have seen the living powerful tool work miracles in our lives providing freedom and direction, and we have learned that it’s a weapon we don’t leave home without.

We all have the choice to pick up the sword that is freely given to us, or we have the choice to allow the enemy to continue to wreak havoc in our lives. We all have a tool at our fingertips to begin using to our advantage to break the enemy’s plan along with the strategies he has ready to fire at us as he plots against us. He wakes up every day and has an agenda to come for us as he comes to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) anything and everything in our lives in an effort to take us away from the peace and purpose that the Lord has given us freely.

Every day I meet people on the street that are so, beaten down by what’s going on in our world today. And many don’t know that God has a plan. We are all so powerful when we choose Him and flee from the devil. The devil has surely fooled many people into living a life of pain, and torture.

With the Sword of the Spirit, we have the advantage to use this tool as it was designed and no longer letting the enemy defeat us. This tool was not meant to be on a bookshelf or in a box somewhere gathering dust. It was meant to be a tool that is living and active as it moves to you, through you, and is shown out of you in your life. It is powerful that is sharper than a two-edged sword that pierces through your soul and spirit freeing us of things that have held us captive as it helps us discern your thoughts as we navigate through this world. It has the power to “break and pull down all strongholds, casting down arguments and every high that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

With the gift and tool the Lord left us with while we walk this earth.

We need to use our sword as the true weapon it is, just as Jesus did. He used the sword of the Spirit as His weapon against Satan. Like 4 shares the account where satan came to tent Jesus while He was in the wilderness for 40 days, and the way Jesus overcame the enemy was with the Sword of the Spirit. Every time Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus fought back and ultimately won the Bible with the Word of God in the Scriptures – the weapon of living and powerful Sword of the Spirit.

Give God’s word a try and navigate the enemy in this dark world with the greatest weapon at our fingertips and dive into the Word so we can use it too our advantage.

Ask God to give you wisdom so that the next time the enemy attacks so you will have the words to fight back.