Zeal Gusto

"The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the
greatest intention"
~ Khalil Gabril

During a prank, a student stuck a paper on his classmate's back that said "𝗜'𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗱", and asked the rest of the class not to tell the boy.

Thus the students began laughing on and off...

Came afternoon math class started and their teacher wrote a difficult question on the board.

No one was able to answer it except the boy with the sticker.

Amid the unexplained giggles, he walked toward the board and solved the problem.

The teacher asked the class to clap for him and remove the paper on his back.

She told him: "It seems that you don’t know about the paper your classmate has pasted on your back."

Then the teacher looked at the rest of the class and said:

"Before I give you a punishment, let me tell you 2 things:

First, throughout your Life, people will put labels on you with many nasty words to stop your progress.

Had your classmate known about the paper, he wouldn't have gotten up to answer the question.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻, 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳."

"Second, it’s clear that he doesn't have any loyal friend among you all to tell him about the sticker.

It doesn't matter how many friends you have - it is the loyalty you share with your friends that matters.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲......!!"

Always have each others backs....❣️

May you and yours have a Happy Easter and fill your heart with hope and peace. God bless you and yours. Love y'all!

Saturday morning🌞 coffee ☕️ with Angel 😇

Yesterday was Good Friday. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. So… riddle me this… what is today… what happened on Saturday?!

Perhaps there is a call to action for us buried in this detail of Holy Week? Maybe we are being call to rest, not just from something… work, politics, or the social media… but IN someone.

Have you noticed that lately there have been lots secular and Christian books and articles published? I think this is because our society has a collective need for real rest. Look, it is not a secret that multi-tasking, extracurricular activities, and productivity are king according to our culture. Doing more is rewarded in our workplaces and schools. In fact, that’s even the case for volunteers in most Churches! Most parents try to keep children continuously enrolled in extracurricular activities. A lot of pressure is placed on people to stay busy, check goals off a list, and produce tangible results.

The upshot of this is it has produced burnout and the beginnings of a movement towards ‘“slower living.” When I see videos of people pursuing a “slow” and “intentional” lifestyle, which usually involves cooking from scratch and trading energy drinks for tea, I’m overcome by a craving for a slow lifestyle. But when I try to imitate these Tik Toc videos, it only takes a few days to start feeling grossly behind on commitments for myself and my family. I can find the willpower to abstain from working on projects for a short time physically, but I can’t escape the internal whisper reminding me that there is more to do. Even when my body is resting, I often feel restless.

Read Luke 10:38-42. The story of Mary and Martha gives us a picture of a restless woman and a woman who is at rest. Martha is focused on work that needs to be done but craves rest. When she sees her sister Mary resting, she feels jealous and addresses Jesus about her feelings. Jesus advises her to remember that only one thing is necessary. What is the one necessary thing? Yo! It is Jesus’ gracious presence!

When Jesus died on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” The things necessary for our eternal well-being are already finished because Christ has done them for us. Nothing… not one thing… you do will add to your value as a person or to your family’s value. Having a cleaner house, working out more consistently, and striving towards financial security do not change your standing before God. Those things are important and good, but your only necessary “work” is to confess that Jesus’ work on the cross is sufficient, and everything else that you do is valuable to better equip you to speak Christ into your community.

Check this. As long as you allow yourself to be controlled by various things you feel you should do, you can’t experience rest fully. When you accept that there is only one thing necessary to have a full life, and it has already been accomplished and handed down to you by Jesus, you will be prepared to experience Easter’s sweet rest.

We live in a culture that's forgotten how to be still… how to rest. Our daily lives are frantic, and social media makes us feel like we're always missing out on something. We are constantly tempted to spend even the Lord's Day worked up over the stories in our newsfeeds.

Now, check this… after God incarnate (Jesus) had declared His work on our behalf "finished," He honored the Sabbath once more, just as He had at the beginning of creation.

In the tomb, He rested.

In essence this Sabbath Jesus spent in the earth was the last Sabbath of the OLD creation, which was marred by Adam's sin. So what the disciples were looking at on Sunday morning was the first day of a NEW creation, with a new heaven and a new earth; and in essence, the gardener... God... walked again in the garden, in the cool not of the evening but of the dawn! Wow!

When we rest on the Sabbath, we don't do it in the old creation, but in the new… not in the world jacked up by Adam, but in the world renewed in Christ. We don’t put our trust in politics, social media, or earthly decrees, but in Him who became, Himself, our Sabbath rest. We get to rest in Him! Yay!!!

Andrew Peterson makes this same connection in his album, "Resurrection Letters: Prologue," when he sings, "In six days God made the earth and all the heavens/but He rested on the seventh/God rested/He said that it was finished and the seventh day He blessed it/God rested."

Lord, teach me to rest. I don’t find this easy. Not just to rest physically from work, but psychologically and spiritually from my need for easy answers, instant miracles and immediate resolution. Like a child with a fever, half-asleep in my father’s arms, help me to trust even when I cannot understand. Lord, I can’t deny what You’ve done for me, but I am waiting for so much more. I know that You’re the answer, but I still have so many questions. I’m deeply aware of the work You’ve begun in my life,
(but if I’m completely honest I get impatient for its completion). Today I surrender to Your apparent slowness. In the absence of easy answers and instant miracles, teach me to wait… to be still… to trust You when everything seems hopeless… to pray… and to rest in You.
Amen.

Have a blessed restful Easter weekend in Him!

🙏🏽✝️❤️

Saturday morning🌞 coffee ☕️ with Angel 😇

Do you enjoy a good story? I love stories. When I was a kid, my godfather would tell me some great stories. Some were stories of his exploits when he was a young man. Some were funny stories. Some stories were even a little raunchy (and I loved them of course!). My favorite stories though were redemption stories.

Why are redemption stories so good?! Redemption stories often involve a person who has made mistakes or done something wrong in the past, but finds a way to make amends and turn their life around. Most of us enjoy this type of story because it is inspiring and gives us hope that we can make different choices in our own lives and create a better future.

Chances are you have your own redemption story. And regardless of what your story is, God can use your past for His glory. “Everyone should examine his own conduct; then he will be able to take the measure of his own worth; no need to compare himself to others” (Galatians 6:4 ).

Check this… one of the best ways to discover how God wants to use you in the future is to look at how he has used you in the past.

God doesn’t want you to waste your past. God wants to use it.

Again, the Bible says, “Everyone should examine his own conduct; then he will be able to take the measure of his own worth; no need to compare himself to others” (Galatians 6:4)

It’s not about what your parents do well. It’s not about what your spouse does well. It's not about what your friends do well. The Bible says we need to examine our own conduct.

People say that our stories define us. As Christians, we know three important things about these stories. First, they are authored by God for His glory and our good; second, Jesus is at the center because it is in Him where we find our identity; and third, these stories… big and small… are designed to be shared. Unfortunately, this last point is where many get hung up.

UMMM OKAY, how do you do that?
Try this, take about a half-hour or so this week. Sit down with a piece of paper, and separate it by a line for every 10 years of your life. Then try to create a life inventory. Examine your own conduct.

Now look at it carefully. What were you good at during each of those stages of your life? What did you enjoy doing? Both are important. Look for patterns. If you were good at it when you were younger, you’re probably still good at it. Use what you’ve learned about yourself to help you understand what God wants to do through your life. Also, were there mistakes or failings where God helped you to transform and turn your life around? That’s called your testimony! We often try so hard to run away from our past, because we think it’s ugly or because we just want people to see us as we are now. I am just as guilty as anyone of this. But God wants to use all of you, including… especially… your past!

I don't know about you, but my story includes a lot of hurt. When I began seeing a therapist and finally decided to face the pain of my past in order to find healing, I saw God’s redemptive power in my life.

You can see this in the Bible, too. There are many examples of redemption in the Bible.

Your story’s pain can be redeemed also, and be used for His glory. You can find freedom from the hurt in your past and also advance God’s kingdom through your testimony.

Every number has a name.
Every name has a story.
And every story matters.

For His glory.
🙏🏽✝️💕

Saturday morning🌞 coffee ☕️ with Angel 😇

Are there any naysayers in your life? Someone who is discouraging you from pursuing your goals and dreams, perhaps? Someone who thinks that you are joking and says “It’s impossible!” when you share your plans for your future? Someone who sabotages you when you try to cultivate a new habit or quit a bad habit? Someone who is keeping you from achieving your highest potential?

Naysayers, dream-stealers, the habitually negative, pessimistic people. The dictionary defines a naysayer as someone who ‘…denies, refuses, opposes, or is skeptical or cynical about something’ …(although we could change the last word to ‘everything’!).

OMG... they’re everywhere, right?

They seem to be everywhere... there is no shortage of them. They are easy to find and turn up right at the very moment your energy is low or you are in the midst of contending with the voice of doubt that looms in your head. They are right there... discouraging you from pursuing your goals and telling you your dreams are impossible. Oh... and they are Johnny-on-the-spot and happily throw on a ‘I told you so’ when (initially) your goals don’t go the way you thought. (Which IS the MOST LIKELY case because that IS part of the process)! These are also the folks who will step in to sabotage you when you are making a positive life change... weight loss, reduce alcohol, pursue a hobby, join the gym etc.

You're not alone in dealing with naysayers. Everyone (yes, literally everyone) has the naysayers hot on their heels! You speak to or read about any successful person and they ALL mention at some point, how they dealt with this tribe of critical, cynical population. What's important to understand is that successful people don't let naysayers distract them from their goals.

Negative people will distract you. You know God has given you an important assignment. But these naysayers tell you that you’re the wrong person. You’ve got the wrong idea. You’re doing it the wrong way. The Bible tells us about this one dude in who dealt with naysayers by staying focused on the goal God had given him.

“So I replied by sending this message to them: ‘I am doing a great work! I cannot stop to come and meet with you.’ Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply”
~ Nehemiah 6:3-4.

Check this. Nehemiah wasn’t a pastor or a priest. He was a businessman. Israel had been taken captive by the Babylonians. The Israelites had been in exile for 70 years!! Finally, the Babylonians let them go home. But Jerusalem had been destroyed and was defenseless. Nehemiah got a big idea. “I’ll rebuild my city. And I’ll start by rebuilding the wall to protect it.”

He encountered instant opposition... yup the naysayers showed up on cue!

Israel’s enemies didn’t want to see Jerusalem defended. Leaders realize that every opportunity comes with opposition. For real, I’ve never done anything in my life that wasn’t opposed by somebody. Here is the equation; Opportunity plus opposition equals God’s will.

So, Nehemiah’s enemies tried all sorts of things to stop him from rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. They tried making him the butt of jokes, they tried spreading rumors, and they even used threats. When none of that worked, they tried to slow him down with discussion.

Know this... your critics... the naysayers who want to prevent you from doing what the Lord has called you to do... will use the same bag of tricks. They’ll make fun of you, they'll spread rumors about you, and some may even threaten you to get you to stop doing what God wants you to do.

But you don't have to pay them any mind. Instead, respond the way that Nehemiah did:
“So I replied by sending this message to them: ‘I am doing a great work! I cannot stop to come and meet with you.’ Four times they sent the same message, and each time I gave the same reply”

We don’t need to fight with naysayers. It’s not worth it. George Bernard Shaw put it nicely, “Never wrestle with a pig because you'll both get dirty and the pig likes it." That is on point. If you want to go take on people who are negative about what you’re doing, you’ll just waste your time.

Try this. Don't get into a discussion with any of your naysayers. Nehemiah didn’t defend his work. You don’t need to defend yourself either. Just let it go. Have enough faith to wait for the day God’s work through your life will be proven correct.

Be patient. Keep going. That day will come.
🙏🏽✝️💕

And you thought you had it tough!

I did my civic duty. I voted. I hope you did or will too. Now, can we end all of the political posts and rhetoric... at least until November??!!😇😂

In March we celebrate Women's History Month. This is a time for reflecting on those women who have stood for change to create a better life for all, and who we recall in our hearts as courageous and strong.
Although they aren't mentioned in the history books, I recall my mother and my grandmothers. They helped to create a better life for me and taught me about life and love. I recall my daughters, who have taught me as much as I taught them. I recall my granddaughters, who allow me to see the world through their eyes and give me hope for the future of this world. My wife, who teaches me that I am always loved and blessed. And the women I call friends and business partners... for their encouragement and wise counsel. Thanks for blessing me 💗

Saturday morning🌞 coffee ☕️ (on Sunday 😂‼️) with Angel 😇

What is the greatest gift of love? What gift really says "I love you"?

HINT: It’s not diamonds, flowers, or chocolate.

The greatest gift of love you can give is focused attention.
Check out what the Bible says in Galatians 6:10, “Give special attention to those who are in the family of believers” (NCV).

So why do people in the family of God get special attention? Because whatever you pay attention to is going to grow. If we pay attention to our garden, it’s going to grow. If we pay attention to our kids, they’re going to grow. If we pay attention to our marriage, it’s going to grow. If we pay attention to our work, it’s going to grow.

How do you give someone attention? You can recognize and encourage people just by looking them in the eye, which basically lets them know, “I value you. What you have to say is important to me because you matter to me.” What we all want, more than anything else, is focused attention. We want to know that our thoughts matter, that our lives matter, that we are valuable. And the same holds true for the people around you!

Check this; the essence of relationships isn’t what we do for each other or what we give to each other. The lifeblood of relationships is how much of OURSELVES we give to each other.

I can’t tell you how many friends I’ve talked to who said, “I don’t understand it. I provide everything my family needs. I give my wife everything she needs. I give my kids everything they need. What more do they want?”

DUUUUDE!! They want you!! They want your time. They want your attention. They want your FOCUS… your undivided attention!! They want to know that you think they matter. Nothing can replace time. Kids don’t need things; they need time. Marriages need time and friendships need time. Any relationship needs time in order for it to experience positive growth.

Wait. I know. I know. You’re busy. You have lots of commitments. You have work commitments. You have school commitments. You feel overwhelmed. You feel fatigued. I get it. But what do you think people hear when you tell them you’re too busy? Perhaps they hear “I have lots of priorities, but you are not one of them.” When we genuinely care about someone, we will make time for them, no matter how busy we are.

Relationships require time and effort in order for us to feel fulfilled. Being pulled in multiple directions by our obligations can leave us feeling stressed and unable to engage fully with our peeps. This makes it difficult to support and nurture healthy relationships with the people we care about most. No bueno!

Try this. This weekend, look for opportunities to show attention to the people in your life. That is the greatest gift of love you can give! But don’t just wait for it to happen… be intentional… look for opportunities to show attention.

If you have to put it in your schedule, do it. If you have to give up Netflix time, do it. If it means putting off housework, do it. If you have to make sacrifices, do it. Attention is the most basic form of love. Through it, we bless and are blessed. Do whatever you need to do to give your relationships attention. It is essential to their growth and your own mental and emotional well-being.

Be a blessing and be blessed this weekend!

🙏🏽✝️💕

Saturday morning🌞 coffee ☕️ with Angel 😇

Have you ever tried to tell someone about all the great things that God can do in their lives if they just believe and follow Jesus? What’s their reaction? Does their body language close off?
Do they roll their eyes to the back of their heads? Or do they suddenly “remember” they have to hurry to an appointment?
I don’t know about you, but trying to tell people how wonderful God is has never really worked for me. Most people react like I’m trying to impose my beliefs onto them. And let’s be honest, isn’t that exactly what I was doing?

A much more effective way to let other people know about the awesome things that God can do in their lives is to tell them the story of what God has done in your life. Your story. That is what makes a difference.

Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere.” When I hear the word “witness,” I think of a courtroom. It’s a perfect picture of what God’s asking us to do to make a difference in the world. He doesn’t tell us to be the attorney, arguing the case. He doesn’t tell us to be the judge, judging other people. He wants us to be His witnesses.
So what does a witness do? A witness just says, “Here’s what I’ve seen. Here’s what I heard.” A witness just tells other people the story of what God’s done in their life.

Friends don’t keep good news from other friends. You tell them the good news of what God has done in your life and that can make an eternal difference in their lives.

Don’t know how to get started?
Try this: write out your story, and share it with your closest peeps. Or if you’re in a church small group , share it with them. Start sharing with the people that are close to you so you can get some practice. Soon, God will give you the opportunity to share your story with someone who needs to hear the Good News.

“Come and listen … and I will tell you what [God] has done for me” (Psalm 66:16 TEV).

Every number has a name. Every name has a story. And every story matters.
Including yours.

Have a blessed weekend!
🙏🏽✝️💕

Obstacles... Problems... Others... can't stop you. Only YOU can stop you. Don't stop believing.
Faith and Hope... Thank you Lord