There’s a question that keeps coming up for me and it goes like this, “Why are men not taking the initiative in learning, living and maintaining”?

I ask this question not just because of what I see in our culture, but also because I know of the material available to men. Running a website like Manturity.com doesn’t limit me to my site. Instead, it opens the doors to share and learn about other sites like mine. And there are a lot of them.

So before moving forward with this question, I thought I’d share some of them for you and the value they could offer you. First off, the best material is located in the Scriptures. Start off with Proverbs and dig into the very foundations of wisdom. Follow an awesome Daily Devotional from Wire. Explore Manly Virtues from Wolf & Iron. Keep your faith and body in shape at Conquering Manhood. Grow as a man and father at FiveStarMan. Get a comprehensive look at manhood on Charismamag.com’s New Man site. Or attend an amazing conference this year with the men over at Cavetime.

The resources tab at the top right offers even more.

With all of these resources available to you, what is holding you back from taking the initiative to become a better and more mature man?

I thought about that question too. Here are a few things that might be holding you back. To be honest, some of these things held me back for years.

• Fear
• Stubbornness
• Lack of Desire
• Busyness
• No Example
• Anger
• Lack of Purpose
• Other (Share your thoughts in the comments)

Are you or have you been living in one of these areas? Think about how long you have been there? Do you realize that living with these in your life WILL keep you from growing?

Guys, I was there and I even still battle these thoughts on occasion. I use to sit in church and be as active as a large rock up in a hillside. I thought I was mature in my marriage, until I realized that we fought about the dumbest things nearly every day. I use to always put aside reading or new learning as I thought I already knew everything. All of these immature ways held me back from being the man I really wanted to be.

I challenge you to review your life over the last year. Then review the list above and admit to which ones have been holding you back. Recognize which ones have keeping you from living and maintaining a mature manhood.

Which one of these has been keeping you from taking the initiative in your life?

This is a question I had to answer myself and, when I look back over my last year, I realize that I lost my desire too often and stayed way too busy.

So where do we go from here?

For some of you, it might just be recognizing your areas that need growth and taking action in them this year. For me though, I realize that these are specific areas that I need to pray about. The areas where I failed, make me realize that Jesus was excluded from those areas. He may have been in my life, but He was only a part of it. And since Jesus is the only way to life, He can’t just be a part of your life.

In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

Guys, you can make this year great! You can find success where you might have had failure in previous years.

Take the initiative to set aside any of the items listed above and become a mature man that is willing to learn, live and maintain maturity in his life!

Let’s talk. Let’s share. Let’s have a great year!

Manturity is a blog built on establishing spiritual maturity in today’s man. The goal is to assist men in building better marriages, help men in grow in maturity and explore different aspects of manhood. Manturity.com features new weekly blog posts, daily social media updates and a powerful resources page. Stay up to date with the Manturity blog communities on Facebook and Twitter.

For the original article, visit manturity.com.

Have you gained five pounds or more in weight since starting your job? According to a survey hosted in 2014 in the United States, over 40 percent of workers admit to gaining weight since starting their current job. Sound bad?

This is only half of the picture! Also, nearly 60 percent who took the survey admit to gaining more than 10 pounds. This is followed by over one-fourth of the participants stating they have gained more than 20 pounds!

What are the top nine ways your work is unhealthy?

1. Most companies do not care. Most companies do not care about the welfare of their employees. They do not make any efforts to help their employees gain “healthy” habits. Many do not offer discounts for joining the gym or health insurance discounts for being at the proper weight, not smoking and more.

2. Starting early, staying late. For individuals who start their day early and end it late at work, they are more likely to eat unhealthy foods during the day and to eat closer to bedtime. According to Nutrition Research, individuals who eat closer to bedtime have an increased chance of consuming more calories for the day. The quality of sleep for these individuals can also be lacking in quality.

3. Sitting for longer periods. Sitting at work for longer periods of time can significantly impact your overall health. Sitting for long periods of time causes the metabolism to slow down and contributes to weight gain. For most individuals who work sitting 45-65 hours per week, they only move around 25 percent of the time. One way to counter the ill effects of sitting all day is to work in as many two-minute walking breaks as possible.

4. Eating take out foods regularly. Fast food is easily convenient, especially when working full-time in a busy society. It is so easy to order takeout food and eat less healthy foods on a regular basis when working 40 hours or more per week. One study found the more takeout options that are available close to work, the more likely a person will gain weight.

5. Skipping nutrition. On the flip side, skipping lunch due to the workload can also have a negative effect on health. Individuals who skip meals likely eat huge meals later in the day to make up for their huge hunger. During the times of skipping meals, muscle mass can be affected (decreased). During times of eating large amounts of calories, the body will ship the extra calories to the hips and abdomen.

6. Giving in to stress. Work can be very stressful for the body. According to the American Journal of Epidemiology, individuals who experience high levels of work stress are more likely to be inactive during non-working times. The University of Rochester also found people who have high levels of stress at work are more likely to do activities such as watching television and other relaxing undertakings after a long day.

7. Working elevators. Elevators are a great option for those who are running late! But taking the elevator on a regular basis does not in any way improve health. Accomplishing so many errands up and down elevators is great for the mental health, but lacking for pure physical health.

8. Working nights & weekends. Working nights and weekends is not healthy for individuals. According to the Proceedings of the National Academy Of Sciences, employees who work evening hours are more likely to gain weight as compared to those who work daytime hours. Other studies suggest evening workers burn fewer calories overall.

9. Afternoon coffee break. Many workers hit a slump in the day after 2 p.m. The first thing many tend to think of is drinking a cup of coffee. Coffee can provide a great pick-me up, but beware taking in too much caffeine can cause increased fat storage, according to the Journal Of Agriculture & Food Chemistry. Increased amounts of caffeine can also create insulin resistance within the body. {eoa}

Don Colbert, M.D. has been board-certified in Family Practice for over 25 years and practices Anti-Aging and Integrative medicine. He is the New York Times best-selling author of books such as The Bible Cure Series, What Would Jesus Eat, Deadly Emotions, What You Don’t Know May Be Killing You and many more, with over 10 million books sold. He is the medical director of the Divine Health Wellness Center in Orlando, Florida, where he has treated over 50,000 patients.

For the original article, visit drcolbert.com.

Do you notice that when you set out to execute a God-given assignment for His glory, all hell breaks loose against you? Does it seem like when you try to press in to deeper levels of the Spirit, the enemy works overtime to distract you, derail you and otherwise deny you? Are you watching your kids fall away from the teachings of Christ? Are you working against yourself with the words of your mouth?

Lots of questions, I know, but I’m getting at something here. It could be possible that a particular spirit is behind these attacks that you aren’t discerning. We all have our go-to demon hit list—those spirits we discern actively working against us. In my life and ministry, I wrestle a lot with the spirits of Jezebel, witchcraft and religion that are prominent in my region. In fact, I just wrote a new book called Jezebel’s Puppets: Exposing the Agenda of False Prophets, which deals with Jezebel, Ahab, the false prophets, the eunuchs and Jezebel’s children.

LISTEN TO MY PODCAST ON THIS TOPIC: Unmasking the Spirit of Sabotage.

But here’s the deal. The demons you wrestle with most aren’t always the demons wrestling with you right now. That’s why you need discernment in spiritual warfare. We can’t make assumptions in the heat of the battle if we want to enforce the victory that Jesus secured for us at Calvary when he disarmed the principalities and powers, putting them to shame (Col. 2:15). The enemy works in deception, so if a demon can deceive you, it can gain power in your circumstances.

The Spirit of Sabotage Rising

That brings me to the point of the article. I have discerned a spirit of sabotage rising in this season. I’ve seen it come hard against my own life and against the lives of many others I know—and even those I don’t know who contact me through my Facebook page telling stories of their spiritual woes.

JOIN JENNIFER ON FACEBOOK FOR SPIRITUAL COMMENTARY AND ENCOURAGEMENT. CLICK HERE.

I have to admit, this spirit was not on my radar screen. I discerned the hindering spirits working against me but I didn’t see the higher-level spirit of sabotage that was ultimately at the root. In other words, I didn’t immediately discern the strongman of sabotage. A general of intercession revealed this to me when I shared with her the warfare coming against me. At that point, it was obvious, and I could see the workings of this spirit at several levels of my life, family and ministry.

Merriam-Webster defines “sabotage” as “destruction of an employer’s property (as tools or materials) or the hindering of manufacturing by discontented workers.” Everything we own belongs to God, so when the enemy comes against what God has given us to steward, he’s coming against God’s property. I believe hindering spirits work under the authority of the spirit of sabotage, the strongman.

Another definition of “sabotage” is “destructive or obstructive action carried on by a civilian or enemy agent to hinder a nation’s war effort.” Again, you see the hindering nature of the spirit of sabotage in this definition. The enemy agent is clear, and its agenda is an all-out war to take you off God’s track and oppress you, suppress you, repress you and depress you.

Additional definitions of “sabotage” include “an act or process tending to hamper or hurt” and “deliberate subversion.” The spirit of sabotage works with other spirits to take you to task, to hamper you, to hurt you and to purposefully and intentionally subvert you. For sake of clarity, “subvert” means “to secretly try to ruin or destroy a government, political system and so on”; “to make (something) weaker or less effective”; “to overturn or overthrow from the foundation”; and “to pervert or corrupt by an undermining or morals, allegiance or faith.”

Do You See This Spirit Operating?

By now, you are probably starting to see how this spirit is working or has worked in the past to flat out stop you. It’s a stealthy spirit. It works undercover. It’s subtle sneaky and tricky—and it doesn’t work alone. I believe principalities can deploy powers against you, just as Jezebel (a principality) deploys powers (witchcrafts) against believers (2 Kin. 9:22).

The prayer warrior who told me about the spirit of sabotage also told me where she learned about it: Cindy Trimm’s book The Rules of Engagement. She discusses the spirit of sabotage on pages 245-246:

“The Spirit of Sabotage operates as strong demonic influences that drive people to abort the progress and success of divinely ordained projects, purposes, relationships, organization, self, potential and destinies. It stirs up jealously, resentment and suspicion, and is often vindictive toward the person who detects its presence. Sabotage can make you both victim and perpetrator so that even when you pronounce judgment on others you both expose and pronounce judgment upon yourself.

“This spirit is so skillful it will use you as a pawn and a puppet on a string, prohibiting you from detecting its hand upon you and the strings that manipulate you. Working with familiar spirits, who act as their reconnaissance, informing them of breaks in hedges of protection, strengths, weaknesses and proclivities of both the perpetrator and victim, its plan is a well-thought-out plan.

“I have discovered that many agents used are not only those with malicious intent, but also those who sincerely love us and want what’s best for us. Consider the incident Matthew records In Matthew 16:21-23, where Peter unwittingly was being used in an attempt to sabotage the mission of Jesus. Jesus decisively identified the spirit controlling Peter’s thoughts and immediately aborted its activities.

“Remember as you examine the activities of this spirit that you will discover that you are both victim and perpetrator. When the Lord gives you victory over this spirit, you will notice that a veil will be lifted, and scales of deception will fall from your spiritual eyes. Everything that you thought was real will crumble before you and evaporate like a mirage. Truth will prevail and set you free from anything built upon fabrications, lies, falsehood and untruths.” 

Can somebody say amen? {eoa}

This morning, the Lord gave me the following word for our nation, America, and the body within the U.S.A. However, if you are from another nation, I want to encourage you to use it for your homeland as well. I believe this is what the Lord is doing in His people worldwide.

Over the next six months, the nation of the USA will shake. This is the beginning of the Lord of the nations calling out and separating the nations.

“I will develop boldness like never before in a people who have grown acceptable and silent. Don’t just look at others to lead the way, for a new spirit of boldness is coming upon you. I will be rearranging many things in your nation in the days ahead. I will start shaking the present church, and will bring a new anointing on the pastors and leaders of this land. I will shake! I will shake! I will shake again!

“I am choosing nations that will become sheep, a new people I am raising up for this hour. A different move of My Spirit is beginning. There will be a freedom moving among My people. A new wind of deliverance is coming into the church. What you swept clean in the past and reordered in the present will now be shaken. Many demonic hosts have returned to occupy the order of the last season. I must unseat that order and rearrange you into My order. Don’t resist the shaking. A new move of healing will come. 

“I will have a two-year explosion of My Spirit. The underground fuse is being lit. The first responders are being re-fired for the future. There will be a sound that comes forth that will uncover what Satan has covered over and hidden. The day of occult confrontation has come!

“I will start separating nations and forming new sounds in My people that will realign their nation with My purposes. Those who do not allow a new move of My Spirit to unlock their present order will be stymied and stopped from advancing This is the day that the Valley of Decision of nations will be determined by the sound and worship of My people. Determine the worshipping, warring nations in the earth. A new sending anointing will be on the nations that unlock My sound.

“The sound of One New Man must be heard—not a sound of Jew or Gentile but a new sound of the One New Man in the nations. A new sending anointing will be on the nations that develop the sound of One New Man. Develop the sound in those who will go! Develop those with this sound who will walk the earth in this age! Get ready!

“This is the sound that I will disperse into the nations. My move will enter in and cross borders of many nations. I cannot be stopped. Shake, hear, receive the sound, walk forward and uncover what the enemy has covered over.” {eoa}

Charles D. “Chuck” Pierce serves as president of Global Spheres Inc. (GSI) in Corinth, Texas. This is an apostolic, prophetic ministry that is being used to gather and mobilize the worshipping Triumphant Reserve throughout the world. Chuck also serves as president of Glory of Zion International Ministries, a ministry that aligns Jew and Gentile. He is known for his accurate prophetic gifting which helps direct nations, cities, churches and individuals in understanding the times and seasons in which we live. Chuck and his wife, Pam, have six children and seven grandchildren. He has authored over 20 books, including the best-sellers Interpreting the Times, Redeeming the Time, and Time to Defeat the Devil.  

Sometimes it’s the little things we hardly notice. But, Pastor Shane Idleman says, many times we open the door wide open for Satan to invade our homes.

“Scandaliso is a Greek word, and it means to put a stumbling block in front of others,” Idleman says. “How much of a stumbling block are you putting in front of your family? Call me a Jesus freak, a holy roller or call me self-righteous, but I would rather err on the side of removing too much from my home instead of removing too little.”

For the rest of this short message, watch this video: {eoa}

I love the book of James. It’s my favorite book of the Bible because it gives us so much practical instruction about how to live our lives.

But what I love most about the book of James is that it’s so “in your face.” It lets us know that, even as followers of Christ, we’re not going to have an easy life and that there are certain things that are mandated of us.

One of my favorite passages is James 5:16, which says, “Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much” (MEV).

Confess your faults to one another. That’s a tough one, isn’t it? But why would something like that be so difficult if the love of Christ is in us?

Could it be we’ve built a wall of invulnerability around us, that we don’t want to others to see we’re not perfect? Could it be we don’t want people to think we are weak and need help at times?

Fellow Christ follower, that’s exactly where Satan wants you, living in vain conceit and believing you can solve all of your own problems. He wants you isolated and unconnected to keep you in a turbid state. “He who separates himself seeks his own desire; he seeks and quarrels against all wisdom” (Prov. 18:1).

After all, who needs advice from others? It’s your life, right?

Pastor Ed Garvin at Calvary Assembly in Orlando put it best in a recent sermon when he said: “Distance and rigidity are greatest in the church. The enemy knows how powerful if the church and its members became honest, transparent and open with each other. … God wants you to live in breakthrough, not in insecurity and bondage.”

You see vulnerability in some great servants of God in the Bible. Moses suffered from a speech impediment (Ex. 4:10); Elijah feared Jezebel so much so that he fled to escape her (1 Kin. 19:3); and Peter had a huge problem with anger. Those shortcomings didn’t prevent them from obeying God and doing His will.  

So, instead of “so-called believers” confessing their faults to one another, it seems that all we want to do is bicker, backbite and nit-pick at each other. You can see it all over the Internet. In fact, my last two newsletters are a prime example.

Two weeks ago, I wrote about “touching God’s anointed.” A good subject, for sure, and it received more than 2,400 shares on our charismamag.com page. But many of the comments were contentious, mean-spirited and selfish instead of godly. Many seemed hell-bent on tearing me and others down.

Then there was last week’s column, in which I asked if there is a spiritual gap in your life. That one received 115 shares. I wonder why. Could it be that no one wanted to be transparent, to be vulnerable or to talk show about personal weaknesses? It kind of shows where we’re at as Christians and why the world has a certain perception about us, doesn’t it?

I know very well that I need help every day to be a better person, to be a better Christian. I always try to be as transparent as I can. God’s Word says I should. And I’m not talking about, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned.” I grew up in the Catholic Church, by the way.

I’m not suggesting that Christ followers should get on message boards and reveal their entire lives to everyone out in the open. We certainly need to use discretion and not spread palaver.

But we all have different life experiences, and God can use those experiences to encourage others. Perhaps you’ve been through trials and tribulations where God revealed something in His Word or through a friend that benefited you. Wouldn’t you want to share that with other believers?  

It is crucial for those mature in their relationship with God to connect with callow Christians. If you feel as if you can’t trust anyone at your own church with your problems (which, unfortunately is the case many times), there are many outside organizations that can help if you need to talk and need spiritual counseling.

Through my work here at Charisma Media, I’ve gained many connections and can point you in the right direction. Please feel free to write me at [email protected]. Please, don’t try to work it out yourself. Pray that God will send you someone who can help. He will always be faithful and expedient to answer that type of prayer.

If you’ve made mistakes, messed up and are struggling with something, keep in mind that everybody does those things. You’re not alone, and the like-minded want to help you. Help yourself by being transparent.

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles (Ps. 34:17).

And as I always like to say, “there is that.” {eoa}

We’ve all heard clichés such as, “Where God guides He provides” or “What God ordains He sustains.”

And while there is an element of truth in trite adages such as these, they can often give a false impression that if someone is in God’s will, everything will be easy. This misunderstanding can cause a person to constantly question God’s call and His will.

What happens when the bank account is empty and challenges arise on every side? Do we then conclude that God is not with us? Should we turn back or quit when the going gets rough?

Following the call of God does not guarantee that we will not encounter difficulties and hardships. In fact, the reality is quite the opposite. Jesus told His disciples in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble” (NIV). Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12 that everyone who lives a godly life will suffer. But in the midst of the suffering there is peace, and every difficulty we encounter shapes our character and brings us closer to God.

Many people are familiar with the verse “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Rom.8:28). But many do not realize that when the apostle Paul penned those words, he was actually talking about suffering and hardships. He was saying that even these difficulties work together for our good if we love God and are called according to His purpose. Being in God’s will does not guarantee that we will evade trouble and adversity, but it does guarantee that every trial we face will be an agent of God’s love, actively working for our good in the end.

The Scriptures are full of stories about “wilderness” experiences great men and women of God endured. The accounts of their hardships and difficulties are not simply incidental digressions. They are central elements of their stories because God used the wilderness to transform these ordinary people into heroes of the faith.

Jesus in the Wilderness of Temptation 

In Luke 4 we read about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Verse 1 says, “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” As I have already pointed out, Jesus was not led into the wilderness by the devil. The verse says He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit!

Many times when we find ourselves in a wilderness experience, we immediately begin rebuking the devil. But it may actually be God leading us into the wilderness. Why would God do this to us? Why would He do this to Jesus? It is because of the next thing I would like to point out in Luke’s rendition of the temptation story.

Luke 4:1 says that when Jesus went into the wilderness, he went in “full of the Holy Ghost.” But at the end of the story, when Jesus came out of the wilderness, it says, He “returned in the power of the Spirit” (v. 14, emphasis added). There is something about the wilderness that produces powerful men and women of God. The wilderness is God’s training ground, and it is often a prerequisite for promotion. Even Jesus had to go through it.

It is one thing to be filled with the Holy Spirit and have the potential to do great things for God. It is another thing altogether to have walked through the valley of the shadow of death and to emerge victorious on the other side.

There is a big difference between an army cadet in basic training and a battle-hardened veteran, between a new recruit and a war hero who has been tested and tried and has earned his stripes and scars with valor. When you have been through the crisis of faith and experienced God’s provision and power, when He has brought you up out of the miry pit and set your feet on the rock, when He has proven His faithfulness to you over and over again, you will emerge from the wilderness knowing and walking in the power of the Holy Spirit that is within you.

This Bible study has been taken from Chapter 16 of Daniel Kolenda’s book, Live Before You Die. {eoa}

Daniel Kolenda is a missionary evangelist who has led more than 10 million people to Christ face to face through massive, open-air evangelistic campaigns in some of the most dangerous, difficult and remote locations on earth. He is president and CEO of Christ for All Nations and hosts an internationally syndicated television program.

We were a very stereotypical early 1970s family. My dad had a good job and was working hard toward success, and my mom was an active, quite beautiful and thriving stay-at-home mom.

We were truly happy during my early childhood. Yet, lurking beneath the surface were the past horrors and pain my mother experienced in her own childhood. They would soon manifest into her becoming an alcoholic parent like her own. With grit and determination, she had pushed herself into a higher station in life and out of the rubble of her origins, but success allowed reflection, and reflection introduced her enemy: bourbon.

I was around 12 the first time I knew something was seriously wrong. My mother was an avid lover of music, but she had taken to locking herself in our study for hours with the lights out and music blaring. No matter how much I knocked, how many times I asked her what was wrong, she would not come out.

I would sit with my back to the locked door and listen to Glen Campbell, CCR, Three Dog Night and all the great artists of the era, and wonder what in the world was going on. When I questioned it, I was rebuked and, year after year, it worsened.

By the time I was in my mid-20s, it had gone from functioning alcoholism to nightmare alcoholism. She was merely a shell of the woman I loved so dearly. Divorced, lost and completely engulfed in a sea of bourbon and depression. My dad had set her up in a nice place to live and she had financial security, but the mess was left to my brother and me to tend to.

The details are too much for here, but those were the worst years of my life. We buried her at the young age of 60. She briefly met two of the five grandchildren who would come. It’s one of my greatest sorrows that she never experienced my daughters.

Being the child of an alcoholic parent is life filled with uncertainty, confusion, and great mental challenge. It’s a form of child abuse that is highly overlooked in our culture saturated to the max in booze.

But always remember: Nothing is impossible with God. He can fix any situation if you trust Him.

Here is a look at the typical conditions inside an alcoholic family home:

Common Conditions in the Home

Each case is unique and some homes function better than others, but in any given place where a truly alcoholic parent is present, you’ll find instability, disorganization, chaos at times, lack of discipline, emotional abuse and possible physical abuse. There will be loud arguments, destructive arguments and frightening arguments. I would go to bed many nights as a child hearing things that no child should ever hear. The home will ebb and flow completely dependent on the mood of the addict. Tension and fear will always be present.

Common Symptoms in the Child

The realest way to describe what it’s like being a child in that situation? Horrifying. No matter how mature a child may be for their age, there is no way they have yet developed the mental capabilities and strength to process the madness. In my case, I use that experience for the good, such as writing from my deep experience for this site. Other children don’t fare so well and are very likely to fall into addiction and trouble. Tragedy breeds tragedy. The child faces loneliness, a sense of repeated abandonment, shame, emptiness, anxiety, depression and anti-social behavior.

What Is the Outcome for the Family?

There isn’t a happy ending to this story for the vast majority of cases. My family was destroyed and most end that way. The journey getting to the final blow is agonizing. Families do not want destruction, so they will naturally fight the process by attempting to cover it all up. For the child, this piles on even more trauma because it’s expected of them not to reveal the true depth of the problem. My close friends were my saving grace.

They saw it in glimpses, but they knew it was there. They never judged me for it. In many ways, they became my family in my teen years and my place of happy refuge. I could spend time with their families and understand that not everyone lived that way. It gave me hope for the future.

Christians are not immune from this. Seek professional help right away, including Christian counseling, and save your children from misery.

For the original article, visit allprodad.com.

Galatians 5:22 tell us: “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and self-control; against such there is no law. Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be conceited, provoking one another and envying one another.”

Not exactly a picture of today’s society, is it? Everywhere you go, especially in the media and on social media, you can find people criticizing each other and tearing each other down without conscience. And that includes Christians toward the world, and with each other.

Evangelists Jim and Lori Bakker say, “This has got to stop.”

“This is the No. 1 thing God hates,” Jim Bakker said. “God hates sowing discord among the brethren.”

For more of their recent message, watch the video below:{eoa}

One of my favorite movie franchises is the Rocky series. The scene that I like more than any other is in Rocky II.

Rocky has an important rematch coming up against Apollo Creed and hasn’t trained well for it because his wife is unsupportive. His trainer, Mickey, tries one thing after another to get him to train hard but gets more and more frustrated with Rocky’s lack of focus. When his wife, Adrian, goes into a coma following complications during the birth of their child Rocky’s training stops completely.

The pivotal moment comes when she wakes up. She tells him, “There’s one thing I want you to do for me. Win.” She repeats herself, “Win.” Her support and encouragement were all he needed to motivate him.

As a parent, you are your child’s biggest fan and cheerleader, next to Jesus. They look up to you and they look to you for direction.

It is your duty to motivate your kid in life and help them when they need it. Whether it is school, sports or hobbies, motivate them to be the best that they can be.

Here are 10 ways to motivate your child:

1. Set goals. Have them make a list of short-term goals and one long-term goal. Make sure the goals are reachable but require effort to obtain.

2. Celebrate accomplishments. When your child accomplishes their goals, let them know that you are proud of them. Celebrate these things together. In some cases, reward your child for their hard work.

3. Make things competitive. Encourage healthy competition. Cheer on your child to beat another runner in a race or to take home the trophy from the Spelling Bee. Make competition about positivity and strength in regards to your child and never about negativity and weakness toward the competitor.

4. Encourage them. Let your child know that you believe in them. Tell them how great they are going to do. Dismiss any self-doubt or fears they may have.

5. Take interest. Learn about your child’s interests. Talk to your child about them and listen. It will show your children that you care and that they free to talk to you about their interests.

6. Discover passion. Encourage your children to discover what they are passionate about. It may take a few tries along the way. Support them on their journey toward passion and urge them to keep going until they find out what it is.

7. Remain positive. Maintain a positive and optimistic outlook for your children. If they see fear or doubt in your eyes then they will likely lose self-confidence. Having a positive approach will lighten their entire outlook to a situation.

8. Kingdom benefits. When children of Christ followers know that their heart-filled efforts will be pleasing to God, they will want to give their best.

9. Make a plan. In order to reach goals, you need a plan. Help your children create a strategy for reaching their goals. Make a step-by-step plan to reach them.

10. Excite them. Excite your children about their goals and ambitions. Show that you are excited for them too. The positive energy and adrenaline will push them to continue their hard work and be happy with their efforts.

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