Successful Leadership – The Power of Teamwork and 4 Keys to Creating a Winning Team!

Successfully Lead a Winning Team and Together Achieve Incredible Things

Successful leaders have discovered

the power of teamwork.

Much can be accomplished when

working together with others.

However, it is not just a numbers game;

the key here is working together.

Getting the job done requires a winning team.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” 
– John C Maxwell

Teams come in all shapes and sizes; from married couples, or small business partnerships, to large organizations of all sorts. A team not only provides companionship but it helps accomplish goals.

Every team requires a leader, and a successful leader knows that there is power in creating a winning team. However, simply having a team of people can be useless.

On the other hand, developing a winning team multiplies a leader’s value and makes them better than they would be on their own. It enables them to do what they do best and tap into the resources that those on the team do best. Then, incredible things happen and everyone on the team wins.

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow…And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” 
– Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

4 Keys to Creating a Winning Team:

1. Develop a Winning Attitude in Team Members

A winning attitude is a positive attitude and must be prevalent. A winning attitude is developed in team members and they believe in their leader, themselves, their teammates, and the vision to be accomplished. Negative thinking is not allowed to creep in and hinder the task at hand.

2. Teach the Value of Personal Development and Character Building

Each team member as an individual must keep improving. Why? Because the highest reward for their efforts isn’t what they get from it, but the person they become because of it. And without personal growth they become a weak individual and a weak link on the team.

3. Empower Teammates

Winners are encouragers and empower each other to be more and do more. They strive to make their teammates more successful. Empowered teammates maintain a thriving atmosphere with an expectancy to win.

4. Instill the Importance of Playing to Win

A successful team plays to win. They know the difference between playing to win and playing not to lose is often the difference between excellence and average. They don’t play to ‘give it a try’, they play to reach their goal; they play to win.

Bottom line: A successful leader understands the power of teamwork and the importance of creating a winning team. They know that by doing so, incredible things happen and everyone wins as they grow and develop individually and as a team.

May you successfully lead a winning team and together achieve much and experience an abundance of growing prosperity!

Soar higher,
Brenda

10 New Year Resolutions to Renew Your Spirit!

Simple Resolutions to Enrich & Revitalize Your Life

The New Year is just beginning.

Why not make this year’s resolutions ones that

will enrich and revitalize your life?

If you find there are a million things you intend to do,

but somehow you forget, procrastinate, or

just plain run out of time, I know how you feel.

Sometimes the simplest things are…

the hardest to accomplish.

When you evaluate your to-do list and priorities

this new year, move the things that enrich your life to the top of the list.

Clear out what you can when it comes to those things that drain you, and make simple resolutions that will renew your spirit. Even though they may be difficult to commit to at times, the results will definitely be worth the effort.

10 Simple New Year Resolutions to Revitalize Your Life
(You’ve probably already heard them a thousand times, but they still work.)

1. Read the Bible cover-to-cover this year. Keep a helpful Bible study resource handy to get you through those difficult reading points that may cause you to lose heart.

2. Volunteer your time and talents. Reach out to others through service in community and church based organizations. Be a blessing to your neighbors by serving them in some way.

3. Heal broken relationships. Forgive those whom you need to forgive. Don’t allow unforgiveness to hold you back any longer. Forgive and allow peace to rule.

4. Read a classic book. Enrich your life through some of the classics that you may have yet to experience such as C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, Jane Austen, Shakespeare, etc… And don’t let reading be your excuse now that so many books are available on audio.

5. Make a monthly date night with your spouse. For those of you who are married, dedicate at least one day a month for a special date time with your spouse. Take a day to give your spouse the intimate attentions he or she deserves and enrich your marriage.

6. Pray daily. Bring your thoughts, praises, concerns, and requests to God every morning (at least). Stop trying to live life all by yourself. Talk to God and He will listen attentively and respond specifically.

7. Take a vacation. To many people never take vacations, but a time of refreshing is very important. Even God rested on the seventh day!

8. Renew relationships. Contact a friend or relative you haven’t heard from in a long time. Relationships are important to God and they should be important to us.

9. Visit a museum. Why not? There is a museum for just about everything. Revitalize your life by sparking a long-forgotten interest.

10. Share the Gospel. It is what we are here on earth to do. Make it a priority this year to share the Good News and show your concern for the spiritual welfare of those you come in contact with.

The New Year is a gift from God and a fresh start.

May you start strong, revitalize your life and experience growing prosperity!

Aim higher -

Cheers,
Brenda

Will Christian Meditation Benefit My Life Long-term or Short-term Only?

Know What to Expect from Christian Meditation

Christian meditation is meant to be…

a daily habit in every believer’s life.

Through meditating on God’s Word

we gain understanding, knowledge, and wisdom to live a successful and prosperous life.

Christian Meditation Short-term Benefits

The Word of God provides nourishment to our spirit, soul, and body. Just as one meal of food will not nourish and sustain us long-term, neither will one session of meditation on biblical truths.

Give us this day our daily bread. Why? Because God wants us to seek Him and walk with Him daily. If He gave us our monthly bread, think how many of us might wait until the next month to seek Him!

Meditation on God’s Word is a way to draw us closer to the Lord and strengthen our relationship with Him. We would not expect to continually know a person better after spending time with them only once.

Faith also comes from hearing the Word of God. But faith does not continue to grow from hearing only once.  Take a look at the following verse and you will notice it says “hearing and hearing.” This is an ongoing process.

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.”  
– Romans 10:17

The world we live in is busy and chaotic and constantly bombarding us with negative thoughts and images everywhere we go. Do you think this is a surprise to God? Of course not; He warns us not to be conformed to this world. This requires renewing our mind daily with God’s Word. (Romans 12:2)

Christian Meditation Long-term Benefits

Now that you understand the importance and need for daily meditation, and that the benefits are primarily short-term; let’s take a look at long-term results.

The Bible is the divine Word of God. It is living and powerful. (Hebrews 4:12)  The scriptures are also full of “suddenly” verses. Meditating daily on His source of divine, living, power, sets us up for a suddenly.

Your life can change in a flash when the “suddenly” hits and the eyes of your understanding are opened. A transformation can take place in an instant that lasts a lifetime.

God also rewards obedience. And meditation on His Word is a commandment for all believers. Obedience to the things of God should be at the heart of every believer. The result is the manifestation of many blessings in our life on earth.

The ultimate long-term benefit, of obedience to God, is eternal rewards in heaven. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Whichever way you want it: Christian meditation practiced out of a love and obedience for God has the power to benefit your life short-term and long-term; even eternally.

Why not commit to making meditation on God’s Word a priority in your life?

God bless you,
Brenda

Self-Confidence – Do You Possess the Essential Success Power of Believing in Yourself?

Renew Your Confidence Energy Level Daily!

Self-confidence is an essential,

powerful energy that will help you…

succeed at whatever you do.

A lack of confidence hinders success.

Believing in yourself and building yourself up regularly will provide great rewards in life.

Speak Well of Yourself

How do you know if you lack confidence? Listen to how you talk. What do you say about yourself to yourself?

Pay attention to how you are speaking and strive to always speak well of yourself. Others may say you are egotistical, but that’s not true. We are simply being imitators of Jesus and He didn’t speak badly of Himself.

Others will try to influence us to say negative things about ourselves because they don’t believe or understand us. But we should be like Jesus; who spoke well of Himself, even on the bad days, because He knew who He was.

Confidence in Who You Are

Do you know who you are? Have you grasped the understanding that if you are a child of God, that God lives in you? He has put a tremendous amount of ability inside of you.

Too often we look at our exterior and think only of the limitations of our brain and body. However, God looks at our spirit. And He has given us a big spirit. It is our spirit that is made new and so big that there is plenty of room to house the God of more than enough!

Confidence will come when you know who you are in Christ. That confidence will spill over into your speech.

Energy Boost for Confidence and Success

Do you want to be successful, stay motivated, and keep up your momentum? Then be one of the people who speak well of themselves.

Renew your confidence and energy level by speaking what the Word of God says about you. Speak out loud to yourself and in front of the mirror if you need to. Do it every morning and continually renew your mind to the thoughts God has of you in His Word.

Give yourself a charge and build your confidence level up regularly. Refuse to believe the lies and give them no place. Don’t let things like “I can’t”, or “I’m just this or that…” come out of your mouth.

Believe in Yourself

Whatever you do, build yourself up about it and you’ll do a lot better. When you have confidence, others pick up on that positive energy and are drawn to you.

Believe in who you are and the abilities you have been given. Speak well of yourself to yourself. Don’t let the lies rule your thoughts when you have a bad day. Remember, double-minded people can’t be confident because they are too busy trying to figure out what they believe.

“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” 
– Matthew 12:25

If you are inwardly divided, you can’t give out the positive energy that makes people want to be around you. Confidence exudes strength, energy, and a joy for life.

Truth is: It is easy to be confident when you know that the almighty God lives inside you. You can be a light to the world. Believe in yourself and the God who lives inside you, and move forward with unwavering confidence in His vision for your life.

May your self-confidence grow daily and your life be filled with growing prosperity!

Soar higher in Him,
Brenda

Vision – Why Let a Lack of it Prevent You from Living the Abundant Life of Your Dreams?

How to Catch the Vision and Run with it into Your Dream Life!

Vision looks forward into the future.

It takes vision if you want to move from…

your present standard of living to -

living your abundant dream life.

A continual focus on…

past problems and defeats,

will only result in fearful paralysis;

and that takes you nowhere.

Where’s Your Focus?

As of today, choose to stop looking at all the things that can go wrong, and instead turn your eyes toward your strengths and assets. Put your focus on what must go right to reach your goals and dreams. Wake up in the morning and go to bed at night, thinking only of ways to do the things you want to do. Do not allow yourself to waste time thinking of all the reasons why you cannot do something.

Kick-start your vision and think repeatedly of the many achievements you are going to accomplish in the future; which will be greater than anything you have ever done in the past. Once you get your focus in the right direction, you’ll find yourself forced to draw upon resources that you previously didn’t even realize you had.

Will You Take the Risk?

Clearly, change is going to involve some risk-taking on your part. But believe me, once you dare to act on your vision and reach toward your dreams, it won’t be long before you start winning in a big way.

Doing things you’ve never done before may prove to be frightening at first. Just keep in mind: Anyone who achieves anything of greatness in their life first takes some kind of risk. Others may not be able to catch the same vision that you have and you’ll find it takes a measure of risk to follow your vision through to your dreams.

Vision of a Dream Life

What is your dream? What vision or picture of a great thing or accomplishment floats to the surface of your consciousness from time to time?

Begin to make your dream a reality by writing it down with as much detail as possible. Write it in the present tense and see yourself as already living it.

“Write the vision, and make it plain, that he may run that reads it.” 
– Habakkuk 2:2

Remember, it makes no difference whether your dream is to start a new business, buy a house, get married, graduate with honors, get a new position at work, or any other goal be it big or small. Whatever it may be, you must step out and boldly go after it.

Sure, there will be times along the way that you miss the mark, but that does not make you a failure. Sometimes plans don’t work out as anticipated, but you still have the capacity to bounce back and try again.

What’s stopping you from walking out your vision into your dream life? Continually remind yourself that you have tremendous reservoirs of potential within you and with God’s help you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to do. All you have to do is decide to do it and know you can. Do not doubt whether or not you can. Simply get it settled that you can and make up your mind this very moment to run with your vision into your dream life.

May you dare to run with your vision and enjoy a life of growing prosperity!

God bless you always -

Soar higher,
Brenda

7 Scripture Based Affirmations – Why Not Confess and Share the Love? It’s a Beautiful Thing!

How to Draw on the Power of the Word to Increase Your Love Walk

Scripture-based affirmations can be a…

powerful influencing force in your life.

They help put you in the scriptures and draw

on the power of the Word in a more focused way.

Making these confessions a regular part of your day will bless you BIG time.

What about love? Well we all know love is a powerful force itself and when abundant in our lives it brings great peace and helps manifest growing prosperity.

What about God? God is love. He is pure, holy, good, and righteous. Every promise in His Word is rooted in knowing and sharing His great love. Take time to meditate the Word of God and get to know His great love.

CONFESS and SHARE the LOVE!

1. I love You, God, because You first loved me. (1 John 4:19)

2. I love You, Lord, with all my heart, all my understanding, and all my strength. And I will love my neighbor more than I love myself. (Mark 12:33)

3. I remain in God’s love and I love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. (John 15:10, Matthew 5:44)

4. The love of God matters most and I imitate my heavenly Father and walk in love toward others daily. I love others deeply because love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 1 Peter 4:8)

5. God has given me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. Love helps me to rejoice in truth and to always protect, trust, hope, and persevere! (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 2 Timothy 1:7)

6. I am rooted and established in love. I gain power to grasp the abundance of God’s love as I seek to discover how deep and how wide His love is. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

7. God is love and I make my life in Him. God’s great love is being perfected in me day-to-day.  I have a life of love! (1 John 4:16-17)

Let these scripture-based affirmations be only the beginning; a place to start. As you continue to study, meditate, and confess the Word of God, you’ll empower yourself with an increased source of love affirmations to speak daily.

Love is in the Air

As the confessions of your heart and mind overflow with love, that same love will manifest in your life and positively affect the lives of all those around you. Love is the greatest gift that has been given to us and the greatest gift we can give. Let it flow abundantly in you and through you!

Start today: Build your faith in God’s love and His loving way of living by confessing scripture-based affirmations like these.

May you confess and share the love of God and live a life of growing prosperity!

Be blessed to be a blessing -

Love in Christ,
Brenda

How Does Christian Meditation Compare to Other Forms of Meditation?

Traditional Forms of Meditation vs. Christian Meditation

Christian meditation is based on the Word of God.

It is the Word of God that saves, delivers, instructs, and

empowers, believers to live a successful life.

There are some key differences between

traditional forms of meditation and Christian meditation:

Meditation on the Living Word of God

The Bible is the foundation and source of life for every Christian believer. The truths of the scriptures are the object of their meditation. Meditating on God’s Word manifests success. The Word of God is full of living power. (Hebrews 4:12) God’s Words are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63) It is through His words that God spoke creation into existence.

“In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 
– John 1:1

Christian believers focus their meditation on God Most High.

In traditional meditation, the focus is on self. The object of focus may be referred to as the “higher self” or spiritual self. A physical item, such as an idol may be used as a representative object to focus on. Or a word or sound may be the object of focus while practicing traditional meditation.

Meditation Power with the Word of God

Meditation, for the Christian believer, is practiced so that their hearts and minds can be filled with biblical truths. It is a way to renew their minds and be transformed into the image of Christ. It helps them become more like Christ daily.

The Christian meditator fills their thoughts with the promises of God, and the ways of God, by meditating on His Word. Revelation of His truths connects and draws them closer into fellowship with the living God. Then, action taken on revealed biblical truths, manifests success and prosperity in their lives.

The traditional meditator seeks to empty their thoughts by focusing on a simple mantra until they have cleared their consciousness of all thought as much as possible. The goal is to achieve peace and relaxation.

Reaching and tapping into one’s higher self may result in a greater conscious level of peace, awareness, and relaxation. Yet even at the peak of one’s highest level, they are nothing without God.

“In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” 
– Acts 17:28

It is God, the creator of the heavens and earth, who is the source of all; the beginning and the end. The Word of the Lord endures forever. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being. It is with God that all things are possible and it is with God that nothing is impossible.

Now that you know this: Why not open the Word of God and meditate on His promises and allow them to manifest in your life?

God bless you always,
Brenda

P.S. Image credits go to Sias van Schalkwyk

Happy In the Skin I’m In – 3 Things to Consider for a Happier You as the Clock Keeps on a Ticking!

You Can Be Happy In the Skin You Are In!

Happiness shouldn’t be based on physical appearance.

Sure, everybody wants to look good…

but some people let themselves get worked into a frenzy over it.

They soon find they cannot be happy unless they look a certain way.

Are you happy in the skin you’re in?

The condition of the physical body tends to mess with people’s minds way to often; especially in today’s society. But, don’t forget that your spirit, the condition of your heart, should take priority over your flesh.

Have you bought into the lie that you need your body or face to look a certain way in order to be happy? If so, well then no better day than today to flush that lie down the toilet!

Let’s take a look at three things you might want to consider for a happier you – while the clock keeps on a ticking.

The Body Changes – We Are All Aging

The body is constantly changing and aging, that is just a fact of life. And another fact is that we have all been born with a unique set of physical features, which may or may not be considered beautiful by today’s standards.

Sure, you can fight it. You can get fit and strong as possible and that’s great. You can have procedures and surgeries if you want. But I don’t care how good you make that body look, it is only temporary and doesn’t change your internal clock or the condition of your heart.

We are living in a corruptible vessel.

“Let it (our adorning) be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” 
– 1 Peter 3:4

If You Need to Shape Up and Clean Out – Then Do it

Now, by all means, take care of yourself and keep your body healthy. Be a good steward with the body you have been given. If you think you need to shape up, tone up, or detox, then go right ahead. 

Do the best with what you have, but don’t beat yourself up over it. Remember, your joy is in the Lord – not in numbers on a scale or lack of wrinkles on your face. God looks at the heart, so go ahead and be happy even when your body is going through changes.

Set Your Affection on Things Above

The world is going to constantly be pointing out your flaws and dragging down your perspective. Don’t let that happen to you. Aim higher for more of God’s presence and let Him clean up your perspective. You’ll find you are a much happier you if you do.

Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Why aren’t we to set our affections on earth? Because everything on earth is only temporary and going to pass away.

If we hunger and thirst after righteousness and the things of God, we’ll stop judging ourselves by weight, wrinkles, and facial features. We’ll stop beating ourselves up and in fact, start discovering a contentment that brings true happiness and joy.

Aim higher: Set your sights on God’s truths begin to see yourself the way He sees you. Set your affection on things above and you’ll be blessed with many blessings including contentment, peace, joy, and happiness.

May your heart be beautiful, may you live happy, and enjoy a life of growing prosperity!

God bless you always -

Cheers,
Brenda