Have You Remembered All of Your Gifts?

As parents we delight in giving gifts to our children because we love them and want to bless their lives. Our delight is doubled when we see their eyes and hearts light up with joy. Our delight is tripled when we hear from their lips words of gratitude and appreciation.

Our heavenly father delights in blessing us, but his joy and our own joy at receiving his gifts, is not complete until we express our sincere thanks from the depths of our hearts.

“A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.  It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.” (1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7-11)

It’s important to know and recognize our gifts and our graces. That is, it’s important to know what we are really good at - our fundamental abilities that would bring to bear in any kind of task. It’s also important to know what special abilities God has given us.

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet

You have all that the greatest of men have had

Whether they were explorers or scientists or builders or speakers or motivators

They came here with no more or no less than you

The difference between the mighty and the mundane

Is what you do with what you have.

In the book The Ultimate Gift, author Jim Stoval writes, life is a gift that has been given to us. The way we live it and maximize it is our gift to those around us. The following is a list of just a few of life’s gifts that we all can enjoy:

1. The Gift of Work: He who loves his work never labours

2. The Gift of Money: Money is nothing more than a tool. It can be a force of good, a force of evil or simply be idle.

3. The Gift of Friends: It is a wealthy person, indeed, who calculates riches not in gold but in friends.

4. The Gift of Learning: Education is a lifelong journey whose destination expands as you travel.

5. The Gift of Problems: Problems may only be avoided by exercising good judgment. Good judgment may only be gained by experiencing life’s problems.

6. The Gift of Family: Some people are born into wonderful families. Others have to find or create them. Being a member of a family is a priceless membership that we pay nothing for but love.

7. The Gift of Laughter: Laughter is good medicine for the soul. Our world is desperately in need of more medicine.

8. The Gift of Dreams: Faith is all that dreamers need to see into the future.

9. The Gift of Giving: The only way you can truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.

10. The Gift of Gratitude: In those times we yearn to have more in our lives, we should dwell on the things we already have. In doing so, we will often find that our lives are already full to overflowing.

11. The Gift of a Day: Life at its essence boils down to one day at a time. Today’s the day!

12. The Gift of Love: Love is a treasure for which we can never pay. The only way we keep it is to give it away.

13. The Ultimate Gift: In the end, life lived to its fullest is its own Ultimate Gift.

As we come to the end of the year we should take the time to remember and reflect on all of the things that we have to be grateful for. When we were sad, God sent a comforter. When we were sick, he was our healer. When we were alone, he was our friend. When we are confused, he is your counselor and guide. When our heart was lost in sin, he sent his son to save us.

Hope you have a very great Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year.

Till the next time

Bruce

Secrets from the Universe

At some point, we probably all reach a stage in our lives where we ask the questions: What is "My Destiny" and am I following "God’s Plan"?. Well, one day while flying to Dallas Texas I started reading a book called “The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die” by John Izzo. It was about interviews the author had with over 200 people between the ages of 60 -106 in an attempt to discover why some people find meaning to life and die happy.

The five secrets he discovered are:

• To thine own self be true
• Have no regrets
• Give back more than you take
• Live in the moment/present
• Be a loving person and spend time with people who lift your spirit

I know that many of us may have heard of these “secrets” before, but I was so intrigued by what I read that when I got back from my trip I started researching and trying to read everything I could on the subject. I discovered that they were called the Universal Laws. These are common truths that lay at the core of the most powerful philosophies, teachings and religions in the world. Without exception, every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance. By applying the knowledge of these laws, you can change every aspect of your life. This is the secret to prosperity, health, relationships and happiness. This is what life is all about.


One of the best books that explains the Universal Laws and how to apply them is by James Arthur Ray called The Science of Success. Below is a synopsis of some of the key principles I learned from that book.

1. Success is a science governed by specific, unchangeable laws of the universe. You can put that science to work for you, if you are willing to:

• Change your thoughts and attitudes
• Realize that the past is not the future
• Think and act wisely
• Open yourself to your own worthiness

2. You don’t need to understand all the details of the laws and principles. You just need to put them into action, much like flipping on a light switch without understanding, the details of electricity.

3. In order to succeed, you must be clear on what you want in life - not what you don’t want — and connect that worthy ideal to a higher purpose.

4. Your mindset is the sum of all your beliefs, values, identity, expectations, attitudes, habits, decisions, opinions and thought patterns about yourself, others and how life works. Many of our mindsets, are handed down from our families, society, religious authorities and teachers, but we can change our thoughts and mindsets to attract more of whatever it is we want.

5. The mind is composed of body, conscious mind and subconscious mind. The conscious mind gives the order and the sub-conscious mind carries it out through the body. To choose your new path create a clear mental picture of your new mindset and give all your attention and energy to those new thoughts, attitudes and beliefs. The old thoughts will wither and die.

6. If you have faith and belief in your ability to succeed, you will be grateful in advance. Your subconscious mind begins creating exactly what you ask and expect. We always manifest our greatest desire through gratitude or our worst fear through the lack of it. Your controlling idea will always manifest into physical reality.

7. Challenges are our greatest teachers and make us stronger. We find our greatest strengths when we really commit to a certain course of action and stick to it. We will discover new courage in overcoming challenges and learning the lessons that they offer us.

I am no expert, but I have written a booklet that summarizes a small portion of many of the different “secrets” that I have learnt to date. Surprisingly many of these were taught to me by my mother when I was growing up, and who today in her seventies still shares with me words of wisdom and encouragement.

I hope that you will use this booklet to draw inspiration and to be reminded of things you may have forgotten as you go through your Journey of Life.

Regards

Bruce

Click here to download the booklet.


P.S. I would love to hear your feedback on what you think of the booklet