determination

Keep it Low

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

I’ve heard people brag about all their achievements and success.

I’ve watched as they receive the awards, the accolades and applause.

And there have been tiny moments when I want to raise my feathers higher and proclaim.

And then, I take a step back and remember to wait for the ovation.

I remember to pause and let someone else sing my praise.

It’s so much better when the cheers come from another’s lips rather than your own.

It’s so much more rewarding when the hand claps come from the crowd rather than your own hand to your back.

Especially, when your enemies get to hear it loud and clear.

So, keep on keepin’ on.

Stay the course.

Finish the race.

And run it well.

When it’s a worthy cause, and you’re a well placed runner,

Your praise will arise.

And you won’t have to say a thing.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31:30-31

Just Keep Walking

/ The WheatandTares

Your journey may not look like someone else’s, and it may feel you’re all alone.

Just keep walking.

Your path may seem hard and unachievable, with a rocky, uneven, treacherous terrain.

But just keep walking.

Your heart may be racing; your legs may be failing, and you may be breathless.

But just keep walking.

Keep walking toward your goal.

Keep walking toward your joy, your peace.

Keep walking toward your brighter tomorrow.

Never return to the abuse, the turmoil, the destruction.

Run away from the toxic attempts to reclaim your soul.

Run away from the confusion and dysfunction.

Run away from the vicious lies and conceit that thirst for your demise.

Never look back to the broken shards of those shattered dreams.

The you who was there is no more.

The you who was then can never be again.

Those expectations, desires and demands can’t fit you anymore.

You’d be as a butterfly crumbling her wings to fit back in the cocoon .

Your heart would be as the bird clipping her flight to crawl back inside the shell.

Your mind would become as the prisoner who once tasted freedom then slammed the prison door and became insane.

Just keep walking toward your hope that has become today.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord…

Jeremiah 29:11-14

Keep Walking Tall

/ The WheatandTares

No matter where you are on the trail, keep walking.

No matter how you feel, keep walking.

No matter who’s around, keep walking.

Just keep moving, keep going forward.

You can do this. You can make it.

Don’t worry about finishing first or finishing best.

Those things come in time.

Sometimes, you just need to focus on finishing.

Do it. And you’ll be glad you did.

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Philippians 3:7-8

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

Philippians 3:20-21

When You Feel Small

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

All of us go through the struggle of feeling less than.

Less that perfect.

Less than amazing.

Less than good.

Less than we should be.

Never let those moments of low convince you to quit.

Never let those minutes of doubt persuade you to quit.

It’s natural. We’ve all been there.

But the great heroes in this world never let the failure consume them.

The courageous leaders we see never let the darkness overtake without lighting a match.

So, strike that wood. Let it spark.

And even if you have to blow in the embers,

Let the flame burn.

And keep standing taller.

You’ll eventually get there.

You can do this!

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

Build Your World

/ The WheatandTares

Our society is full of overrated success stories and braggadocios achievements.

Once you enter that arena, it’s hard to walk in humility toward your goals.

And in nanoseconds, the competition and back biting that occurs can reduce even your small beliefs of survival to an overwhelming feeling of defeat.

But if you’ll begin to build your world with the bricks of humility, determination, and grace,

You’ll get there, even if no one knows it.

And when you reach the top, you’ll have time to set your feet solidly in the accomplishments before the champion knows what has happened.

So, press on. Work on. Reach those goals.

And win.

Saddle Up Anyway

/ The WheatandTares
*I do not own, posses, nor even know this site or name. Simply using meme found.

John Wayne once said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

That’s the success of life.

That’s true courage.

There are so many things that can hinder you, limit you or intimidate you.

And you can certainly let those things hold you back.

But you have a choice.

You get to choose whether you build a little cage around your life or set yourself free.

You get to choose whether every time something scares you, you set another bar in place till the cage has a lock and key,

Or whether you remove those bars of fear, intimidation and shame and loose yourself from that bondage.

I say, Saddle that horse and ride it.

You may not ride it too well.

You may bounce and jostle and even almost slip off, but just hold on!

Hold on and soon, you’ll be able to enjoy the ride.

And maybe later, you’ll be racing that horse through the country.

But you’ll never win if you quit, lay down or die.

So, saddle up! We’ve got a journey ahead of us!

You can do this thing!

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Isaiah 41:10

Stand. Fight. Go for It.

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Life isn’t always easy.

Life isn’t always fair.

Life can change with one phone call, one conversation, one unannounced visit.

No one is guaranteed the next year, the next day, or even the next hour.

What you decide to do with that will determine your life’s trajectory.

Sometimes, it’s not talent or even skill that causes one to survive well.

Often, it’s just sheer grit that causes the survival.

It’s the simple will power to get up, to keep breathing, to continue one step at a time.

You don’t have to be perfection, just live.

You don’t have to be a huge success, just stand.

You don’t have to be the American hero everyday, just fight.

Fight to survive. Fight to live. Fight to win.

There’s always someone coming behind you who needs to see your achievement in real time.

It may be the very inspiration for their next breath.

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2

Narrow is the Path to Success

/ The WheatandTares

The road to success is filled with detours, roadblocks and alternate routes.

Where you decide to go will often determine where you end up.

Happenstance can occur, and you can end up on the “right” path, but truly this is a rarity.

Success takes focus.

Success takes hard work.

Success takes determination.

Success takes forward motion with no deviation.

You can’t find success by chaotic search, and you will never find it by standing still.

Success can only be found by just that…

A true search.

So, let’s go hunting and see what we find.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gateand broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Flush It

/ The WheatandTares

Start this new year by flushing those things you don’t need.

Flush the anger. Flush the pain.

Flush negative thinking and self degradation.

Flush laziness, apathy and procrastination.

Let it all flow away from you and embrace those things that are best.

Embrace love. Embrace peace. Embrace joy.

Embrace positive thoughts and self evaluation.

Embrace determination, tenacity and advancement.

Let it consume you and propel you to a better tomorrow, a higher mountain top.

The valleys may come. The storms may rage.

But if you are pressing forward toward the best ahead, you can learn to dance in the rain.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do,forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14

Eternity Echoes

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments
I do not own or possess this pic.
Google search.

What we do matters.

What we say is important.

Who we impact echoes into eternity.

Too many today attempt to play the nonchalant card.

They try to act as if they can do what they want, you can do what you want, and no one pays any rewards or consequences.

It’s just living life.

But oh. How wrong we can be.

If I always do me, and you always do me, all we create is two spheres full of selfishness and self centeredness.

If I’m focused only on me, and you only on you, we become consumed on our own desires, our own requests, our own demands.

And eventually, no one else matters.

Yet, it’s supposed to matter because after all, my expectations are highest priority to me.

And your expectations are highest priority to high, and then, we’re both at an impasse.

Because if it’s all about me, and it’s all absolutely you, then, you don’t matter to me, and I don’t matter to you!

What wretched and lost souls we become, and what wrecked havoc we leave for those behind us.

All kindness, and love and harmony is expected for me (and for you), but it sucks the life out of all those who are impacted because they are seeking the same.

And what about the children racing toward the edge of a knife?

What about those innocent souls who cry out to be loved, nurtured and directed?

Our self consumption depleted their hope for tomorrow because all they can see is our command for the now.

What we do in life does echo in eternity.

It is a repeating anthem across the chasms of time.

What will your reverberations be?

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

Proverbs 13:22

So these nations feared the Lord, yet served their carved images; also their children and their children’s children have continued doing as their fathers did, even to this day.

2 kings 17:41