#724 - Excerpt from Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick

"Insecurity is insidious.  So it cloaks itself in the guise of comparison.  Nothing can kill contentment and feed insecurity like comparison.  And now, more than any other time in history, we live in a culture of incessant comparison.

...We have instant access to the lives of those we know, those we don't, those we can't stand, those we wish we were, those we'd give anything to measure up to.

Well, we don't exactly have access to their lives.  We have access to the parts of their lives they'd like us to see.  Nobody post the shot of Tommy karate chopping his little brother in the sternum or Mandy rolling her eyes at her mom and slamming the door because she's not allowed to go to the movies at nine o'clock.  Instead, people post the shot of Tommy holding the game ball or Mandy accepting the dance competition trophy.  And the chatterbox uses all of this - the images we see of who we think others are and what we thing they're doing - to make us feel we're boring by comparison.  Even worthless.

This is one of the main reasons we struggle with insecurity: we're comparing our behind the scenes with everybody else's highlight reel.

We know all too well the stuff in our lives that should disqualify us from God's love and keep us from fulfilling his purpose.  We know that we're disorganized, irritable, and easily distracted.  We internalize out defects and infer that we're the only one's who struggle with these things.

But remember: every weakness you know about yourself, God know in greater detail than you could ever imagine.  He knows the defect as well as what causes the defect.

But God says you are something different from your defects - something far more than your flaws.

Before you were born - before any of your defects were apparent to you - they were absolutely apparent to God.  That didn't stop Him from calling your name and setting you apart.  He placed you on the earth at a certain time for a pre-decided purpose.

And even when you can't seem to get your act together, your identity is secure and completely intact.  Because in Christ, who you are matters infinitely more than anything you do or cannot do."

Excerpt from Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick

#723 - Excerpt from Sex God by Rob Bell

"Anytime we move toward another in any way, we are taking a risk.  A risk that she may say no.  Our gesture may not get returned.  Our invitation may be rejected.  Our love may not be reciprocated."

Excerpt from Sex God by Rob Bell

#722 - James 1:19,20

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

James 1:19,20

#721 - Henry Sanders Quote

"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."

-Henry Russell Sanders
Former Coach, UCLA Football

#720 - Excerpt from The 1% Solution

"The difference between exceptional and EXCEPTIONALLY exceptional = 1 percent."

"You can't be 100 percent better than everyone else, but you can be 1 percent better at hundreds of things."

"You may not win all the time, but you can have a winner's heart if you do something better today than you did it yesterday."

"Not everyone can be great, but everyone can be better than they are right now."

"Aim to be swifter, higher, stronger - not swiftest, highest, strongest."

Except from The 1% solution by Tom Connellan

#719 - Excerpt from Gung Ho!

"You can't have worthwhile work unless everyone is working toward a well-understood and shared goal.  But that's not enough.  It matters how you reach the goal.  You must be guided by values.  You have to be proud of both the goal and how you got there."

-excerpt from Gung Ho! by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles

#718 - Excerpt from Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick

"You don't have to sing a single note to get God - or anyone else - to notice you.  Because before you ever breathed, before you even had the opportunity to show off or screw up, God declared,

I want you.
You're Mine.  I've chosen you.
You belong.  To me.
And you can know that you always will, because you always have.
Before your were ever born, I knew you.

Put it this way: God has issued an announcement from his throne in Heaven, and he wants you to know, The audition has been canceled.
He has not chosen you blindly but intentionally, even while knowing you inwardly and intimately.  And let me tell you why this is some of the best news in the history of the universe: If this God has chosen you, then you no longer have to live up to anything.  Instead, you are now empowered to live out of an awareness of divine acceptance.

This is the antidote to insecurity."

Excerpt from Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick

#717 - Excerpt from Sex God by Rob Bell

"Adam and Eve fixate on this one piece of fruit from this one tree when God has given them endless trees with infinite varieties of fruit to enjoy.  Which is often our problem.  There's so much to enjoy, and yet we fixate on something we don't have.

This is why gratitude is so central to the life God made us for.  Until we can center ourselves on what we do have, on what God has given us, on the life we do get to live, we'll constantly be looking for another life.  That is why the word remember occurs again and again in the Bible.  God commands his people to remember who they are, where they've been, what they've seen, what's been done for them.  If we stop remembering, we may forget.  And that's when the trouble comes."

Excerpt from Sex God by Rob Bell

#716 - Psalms 30:5

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime, weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

Psalms 30:5

#715 - Bill Bradley Quote

"The taste of defeat has a richness of experience all its own."

-Bill Bradley
Former Forward, NY Knicks