success

Beauty in the Hard

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

If you’re growing, there’s going to be pressure.

If you’re moving forward, there’s going to be pressing.

If you have no pressure, no pressing points which have become uncomfortable, you’re probably not developing.

Just as a flower has to break through the seed and push up through the ground, when you are going to bring about change, there has to be a breaking, a crushing, and finally, a breakthrough.

So, if life is heating up, and you’re feeling the weight of responsibilities and decision making deepening around you, stand strong and walk proud.

Not in conceit or arrogance. Only in humility and respect can you truly survive.

But if you’ll rise to the occasion, grasp the reigns of opportunity and ride it to probability, you can thrive under the constraints.

You can succeed under the strain.

And when you do, not only will the blooms be beautiful, but the impact on those around will be spectacular, too.

My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26

We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

It’s the Small Things

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Sometimes, it’s the small, insignificant things that end up mattering the most. We can be so focused on the big picture that the portrait diminishes because we failed to notice the details.

Pay attention to the small things.

Be aware of the little nuances whether in people, situations or surroundings.

Being able to notice can be a game changer.

Sometimes, it’s the small, seemingly insignificant things that will unravel the larger, more glamorous moments because it’s truly the little things that being together the big.

This is true in paintings.

This is true in circumstances.

This is true in relationships.

This is true in life.

If we ignore the minuscule things that make up the whole, we can miss a vital key that can unlock future and further withholding.

Don’t ignore the small things.

They can truly turn out to be the big things.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Luke 16:10

Practice Makes Permanent

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

I always heard as a child that practice made perfect; so, I practiced playing the flute, and I practiced riding my bike, and then, I didn’t.

Because I wasn’t practicing accurately. I was just putting into rhythm the actions that wouldn’t make me better.

Practice truly makes permanent what you are doing, but it doesn’t make perfect if you’re doing it all wrong.

If your words are bringing pain, the continuation of those will only continue to wound and harm.

If your actions are bringing trouble to your life, to your family, or legacy, that turmoil will not stop as you continue the same steps.

We must change our practice to change our outcome.

We must alter our path to alter our destination.

Actions become habits. Habits become lifestyles. Lifestyles become character.

So, if change is to come, change is the action that must be taken.

You’ll never climb a mountain if you don’t start hiking.

You’ll never succeed at anything until you first, begin the task.

And today is a great day to commence!

Be consistent in truth. Be faithful in love. Be reliable in kindness. Be dependable in joy.

These are some great places to start.

Let’s get ready! Let’s go!

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:17

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works…

Hebrews 10:22-24

Demons of Consequence

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Too often, people blame their circumstances for their behavior.

They blame someone else for their poor choice.

They blame their upbringing for their bad response.

They blame this one or that one for their own failure.

Tragedy comes to all us in one way, shape, form or another.

Trauma befalls every individual on the planet.

(If it hasn’t hit you yet, just keep on living.)

It’s not the events that matter.

As much as, it’s what you do with it.

It’s what choices you make to get out of it, to keep fighting, to win.

A champion never wins by staying on the mat when he’s knocked down.

A hurdle jumper never sees success by remaining on the asphalt on top of the broken hurdle.

A rower never receives the medal by flailing in the water once knocked out of the boat.

We’re not promised good fortune simply because of what family line, nation, or skin color we have.

Our modern society claims if you’re born into the right circumstances, you will always win.

And those same people claim if your birth brings you into the wrong heritage, wrong race, or wrong town, you’ll never achieve more.

Lies. All lies. Never embrace those fallacies.

Show me a person who cannot succeed when effort is made.

Show me a person who cannot achieve when sacrifices are made.

Show me a person who cannot triumph when the passion is deep within.

Does it mean some have it easier than others?

Sure. That’s the life we live.

But never hate someone for the blessings she has been given.

You never know the cost that has been paid.

Never curse someone for the accolades he is presented.

You never know the hell he had to live before you saw the crown.

Stay focused on your purpose.

Stay tuned in to your faults.

Grasp the convictions needed.

Stay fixed on your goals.

Your success never depends on them.

It depends on the determination within.

And sometimes, you’re no longer winning because you’ve lost the two vital ingredients to score:

Coaching and support.

Everyone needs someone better in their corner. Let them refine you.

Everyone needs someone to cheer them in the darkness. Let them soothe you.

But never let them coddle, pacify, or justify your resignation.

Fight to win.

Win to testify it can be done.

Extend a hand to someone else.

For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

2 Timothy 1:12

The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

Proverbs 18:15-16

Significance

/ The WheatandTares

We all want to have significance. Don’t we?

But what will you do to get it?

Will you beg, borrow and steal?

Will you sweat, toil and sacrifice?

Will you push and prod, stepping over or on those who get in your way?

Will you eat humble pie and serve those around you to become great?

To what measure will you strive to succeed and become significant?

And to whom are you seeking the same and acknowledgement?

Remember this:

What you bow down to on your way up the ladder of success will OWN YOU on your way back down.

Choose wisely.

Choose sparingly and carefully.

For too many owners makes the slave exhausted and weary…

And the success so much less to be desired.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Matthew 6:19-20

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

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.

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

One Man’s Victory

/ The WheatandTares

It always amazes me when I see competition among believers.

I’m not talking about healthy competitions that compares with the disciples desire to be valued in the eyes of Christ.

Some of that can spur us to greatness as we leave our laziness, apathy and fears and hunger to succeed in the Kingdom of God.

I’m talking about the raw, unheeded ambition of the carnal mind.

That desire to be great that is embraced with the hands of greed that will strangle anyone who dares to challenge.

I’m talking about that ugly, adulterated, sinful lust for power, position and prestige that is bred in the bed of jealousy, envy and pride.

When this epitome of nasty nature raises its eyes to take hold of a prize, never realizing the price paid for what is coveted…

The disasters that follow are both heart wrenching and horrifying.

No one knows the anguish filled steps that led to the other man’s mountaintop.

No one knows the sorrow that held that woman’s hand on her journey to success.

No one knows the torment of her nightmares that she finally turned into the dream.

Never suspire another man’s gain before you realize the price he paid.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Exodus 20:17

Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus…

Romans 15:5
*not my photo (Google)

10/28/22

A Note On Success

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

I saw this posted the other day, and it caused me to pause…

“Cancel telling kids college is the only way to be successful.”

I’d have to somewhat agree a bit, but might I throw a bit of a curveball and some kindling to that line of thought?

Success is an attitude of the heart and mind as well as the actions of the body and emotions.

It’s a lifestyle that begins when you wake up everyday by the thoughts and choices you choose, which in turn, can create successes or failures.

It can last for a lifetime if you think well, choose well and have determined follow through…

So, I guess I’d personally say, “Don’t cancel the thought of “college only”, and don’t cancel the thought of “trade only.””

My suggestion would rather be, the better approach is to decide to be successful by who you are more than what you choose to do, and THEN, what you choose to do, do it well and with purpose and watch successes come more easily!