Joy versus Happiness; How Does That Work?

November 14, 2011 by Olga 21 Comments

Joy versus Happiness; How Does That Work?

by Olga Hermans

A prerequisite for life is that you have to go through a few things and I can tell you that my husband and I have gone through a few things. The key is that you have gone through it and that you don’t get stuck in the middle. In this life, you do not have time to have a pity party.

Jesus told us that we would have tribulations in this life, but we should be of good cheer, because Jesus has overcome everything that we will face in our life and that makes us more than overcomers, right?

Jesus didn’t promise us a rosegarden without any of the thorns, but what He does promise us is that He would enable us to rise above it and become victorious.

You do not have to stay in victimhood from what you have gone through. When you are supposed to be focussing on one thing, the enemy will throw something in your path to distract you from what you are supposed to be doing. But when you are sold out to Jesus and He is the one that you have submitted your life to; you and God become a majority.

God is not a respecter of persons, what He has done for others, He will do for you.The difference is what are you willing to let Him do through you? That is the difference. All these things that we go through can cause a lot of stress. In order to slam the door on stress, we have to cultivate a fruit of the spirit and that is the fruit of joy.

When you cultivate the fruit of joy, you will slam the door on all stress. The devil is not mainly after your family or your finances or even your health, because he knows that if he can steal your joy; he is going to steal your health, many times your family and your finances.

Most of us as Christians don’t have the light of joy; they have no joy in their speech and no joy in their mannerisms and as a result, the world is looking at us and saying: “you are not any different than us.”

You are attracting people to you with your joy, or you are repelling people away from you. Joy is a fruit of the spirit. You need to know how to apply and grow and plant the seeds that will bring forth a harvest of joy. You see, everything comes forth through a seed-faith principle.

There are certain seeds of joy that you have to learn, practice, cultivate and grow in order to receive the fruit of the spirit of joy. You see, gifts are given, but fruit is grown by making the right choices, but most people don’t know what the seeds are. Once you grow this fruit, you are going to be insulated from the effects of stress.

The definition of joy is “a feeling of contentment and it comes from within. It is not based on external circumstances. It comes from within, from an inner sense of fulfillment. Happiness is different. Happiness is a feeling of pleasure based on external circumstances and what other people say and do.

The longer I live, the more convinced I become that life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it. ~Dr. Charles Swindoll

You have to learn and practice reacting with joy. Once you learn how to plant these seeds, then you are learning how to grow this fruit of joy that is going to insulate you from stress.

Happiness is also important. Happiness is many times an entry way to joy, but it is based on external circumstances. There are many things that can make you happy.

Anything that appeals to your five senses can make you happy. Anything that feels good or tastes good such as a delicious piece of chocolate cake if that is one of your favourite foods or if you like watching a game. A good massage could bring you happiness as well. But what happens if we let happiness have its way, it can lead to overindulgence, sin and addiction.

One piece of chocolate cake might be great, but two pieces or a whole cake is dangerous to your health. Sex within the marriage is good, but if you turn to affairs, or turn to pornography; it becomes a sexual addiction and then it leads to sin and that leads to a stronghold. Happiness is good, but if you take happiness too far; it is going to get you in trouble.

That’s why there are happiness traps. Happiness traps are simply money, materialism, power, prestige, careers, affairs, alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling. All these are happiness traps. Yes, they will produce happiness for a season, but in the end they will lead to stress and then you lose your joy, you lose your peace, you lose you sleep and you lose your health and eventually you lose your life because of it.

You have to identify your happiness traps: they go like this: “if I only had more money, I would be happy”. “If I only had a better job, I would be happy,” “If I could only lose 40 pounds, I would be happy,” “If I only would live in that beautiful home.” All those “only’s: a better husband or a better wife or…if I only had a relationship.”

These are happiness traps. Research shows, that possessions, things and circumstances at the most will only produce 10% of happiness; at the most! Isn’t that amazing? When you look at rock stars, star athletes, musicians and movie stars. These people have mansions, they have boats, they have jewellery and so forth, but you know what?

Most of them don’t have happiness, so they turn to drugs or they turn to alcohol. They turn to prescription drugs because at the most, these things produce only 10% of your happiness.

Most people don’t understand that people are chasing these things. They keep chasing and when they get to the very top of that ladder, they see that they wasted all of that time chasing all of those things and end up ignoring the very things that could have been producing their happiness.

Realize that your personality, your temperament, your genetics and your disposition account for about 50% of your happiness. 40% of our happiness comes from things that we think, our actions, our behaviour, our reactions, and it is simply things that we have control over according to some happiness research that was done.

Most people are going for that 10% happiness, not realizing that things, circumstances, careers, ambitions, materialism and money produce at the most only 10% of your happiness. Well, you have to come back for part 2, where we will talk some more about Happiness versus Joy. I hope you will!

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Filed Under: 3 Your Actions Tagged With: a home run, choice, choices, decision, destiny, discover, dream, driven life, effective, for such a time as this, future, God, home run, how to live a life, how to live life, ignite, increase, Jesus, joy, life, life choices, live a life, live life, money, passion, Prayer, profit, purpose, step up to the plate, stress, supernatural, the calling, the choice, the power, trouble, vision

Living the Life You Really Want Is Not Always Easy

November 10, 2011 by Olga 7 Comments

Living the Life You Really Want Is Not Always Easy

by Olga Hermans

Living the life you really want is not always easy, but you can do it. Let me show you how. God has a plan for your life. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed or what kind of mistakes you have made, the vision He has given you is still in you and it is time to pursue it. If you are willing to pursue your dreams, nothing can keep them from coming to pass!

Has your dream become fuzzy? Has everything around you, your circumstances, what people say, or what the economy says affected your dream? Have you come to that place where you have decided that it will never come to pass? Or, is that dream still somewhere deep, down inside of you? If it is, then it’s time to dust off your unfulfilled dreams!

It’s time to create a proper atmosphere in your life so that your dream will become a reality. It is important that you know that before you can change your present situation; you have to look ahead to where you want to be. You cannot keep focusing on your present circumstances. You need to know where you are going, so you can set your goals for getting there when you arrive.

“… Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it.” Hab 2:2

This is a very important verse in the Bible, because that is how God works and we should do the same. The only way to know what you want to do and know where you are going is to think about it and to write it down.

Hebrews 11 says that God is an architect and a builder. Architects and builders have blueprints; they have plans. Noah had a plan to build the Ark; Moses had a plan to build the tabernacle; Solomon had a plan for the temple; and He has a plan for your life.

Every time you read your vision that God has put in your heart, you can run with it. It keeps you focused. It motivates you. It propels you forward. What puts a dance in your step and a smile on your face? If you haven’t experienced anything like that in years, then it’s time to get away with Him.

There are times that we have to shut ourselves away with God. It can be in your own house, where you find peace and become still before Him. Once you hear the Father reveal His plan to you, you write it down and run with it. Then, you never give up until it becomes a reality.

Don’t let it overwhelm you. Life doesn’t happen all at once. It happens in minutes and hours. Take each day as an opportunity to seek God about what He would want for you to do that particular day.

It doesn’t matter how old you are. You can act on the dreams and ideas He has put in your heart. People may want to put you out of pasture, but God never does that. He is with you no matter what. So, don’t waste your precious life only dreaming, and not acting upon it.

He didn’t care that Abraham was an old man when He gave him an idea of his future as the father of many generations. He doesn’t care if you are five years old or ninety-five years old. He sees your potential and the impact you can have on the future, regardless of what age you are.

Get determined for the dream in your own life, to move forward, to keep on living and learning, and doing something. You should be constantly dreaming, constantly believing the Father will help you achieve higher heights. You gotta know that what you dream of will come to pass, if you have faith in God, in yourself, and in the dream.

It is your responsibility to not only dream and be determined in your dream, but also to move into the direction of your dream. Don’t spend too much of your energy on what other people have done in the past, or you will continually be living in the past. The past never sees the future!

It All Starts On The Inside

God drops a dream in your heart in the form of a picture of that dream. In other words, you have to see it on the inside. When you see a promise in the Bible, that promise is designed by the Holy Spirit to paint a picture on the inside of you. Words create images. The Word says, “I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health.” The Holy Spirit will take that scripture, those God inspired words, and create an image on the inside of you.

From that moment on, you will begin to have an image of health and prosperity on the inside of you. When you meditate on the scripture, your image is going to become more real on the inside of you than what is happening on the outside.

The Bible says that “as man thinks in his heart, so is he.” God’s Word is designed to paint images. You can see it this way – your heart is the canvas, the Holy Spirit is the Artist, and the Word is the oil. As you fellowship with Him, the Holy Spirit will paint an image on the canvas of your heart of the way God sees you, not the way the world sees you.

We don’t think in words, we think in images. When I speak the word house to you, you automatically think h-o-u-s-e and, it’s likely that you think of your own house. But if I would say a mansion and you don’t live in a mansion, then you don’t see your own home any longer, you will see an image of somebody else’s home.

That is the very reason why God put His Word in print, so you and I would get an image of what He promises us. God is not a respecter of persons. He is not going around picking out a few people and dropping a dream in their hearts because He loves them more than He loves someone else. He wants to plant a dream in the heart of everybody.

In order for that dream to drop into your heart, you must be in communion with Him. You must have time and fellowship with Him. The more time you spend with Him, the more real your dream will become. As a result, you will begin to look for it; you will begin to expect it to come to pass.

Never give up, keep looking for it. Get the image of what God has planned for you deep down on the inside and constantly see yourself walking in your dream. Seize your destiny. Don’t let it slip away. Click here for more information.

Filed Under: 6 Your Destiny Tagged With: choices, decision, destiny, dream, effective, future, God, home run, how to live a life, how to live life, increase, Jesus, life choices, live a life, live life, passion, Prayer, purpose, supernatural, the calling, the choice, the power, vision

Discover Your Purpose, Let It Ignite Your Passion and Turn It Into Profit

November 9, 2011 by Olga 18 Comments

Discover Your Purpose,

Let It Ignite Your Passion and Turn It Into Profit

By Olga Hermans

Since the time that I connected with Sandi Krakowski online (definitely a divine connection), my life has not been the same. To me it is one of those divine connections that only God can bring. My life has bumped up a level into a direction that I could not have gone to myself. I had been looking for places to learn about blogging and marketing online, but only got confused by all their teaching.

At this moment I am finishing off the Gold Group where she coaches me through the process of blogging twice a week, setting up my auto-responder and especially how to relate to my readers. This January, I am going step it up and join her Sapphire group and am so excited about it. I can’t learn enough from her.

She has taught me so many keys and principles that only can come from an expert who has gone through it herself. My Alexa ranking has come down to 137,553 at this very moment from over a million within a few weeks time.

I am very thankful that she came into my life and I give her more than 2 thumbs up; it has been one of my best choices that I have ever made in my life.

Sandi keeps telling us: “IT IS NOT ABOUT YOU!” Ouch and ouch again. You know why? Because I want to tell people what I know, because I think I know what people want to know. But that doesn’t have to be the truth. Sandi keeps telling us over and over again “Listen to you audience, what are they asking for?”

I must say, that is not something that you learn in a day. It is a complete switch in my thinking and my approach to blogging. That’s why we have a survey on The Choice Driven Life, where we ask questions and our readers can answer them. You, who have filled in the survey have helped me so much. I gained so much insight. If you haven’t had a chance to fill in the questions, please do that now by clicking here.

Let’s get back to Sandi’s book. I met Sandi personally in Chicago last spring where she had organized an event with a lot people who are coached by her. I had known her for a couple of months and when I met her personally I knew one thing right from the beginning: she is the real deal. She is not someone who covers things up or holds things back. No, she is right in your face.

While I was listening to her, I kept thinking, “she is reading my mail” again and again. And then it dawned on me…this is what the book is all about. She encourages us in so many ways to get to know our readers more than our product.

God gave us one mouth and two ears, right? So, we have to double up our listening and slow down on our own talking. I made a commitment to listen to what you as my readers are going through in life and answer your needs the best way possible. THIS is one of the things that I learned from Sandi Krakowski.

If you desire to discover your purpose. Let this book ignite your passion and turn it into a profit. You will learn how to build a relationship with your family, your friends, your co-workers and your readers. You too, can build a relationship with your Facebook friends. It is fun and a good thing to do! This book might be for you; it’s FREE !!

You only have to pay the shipping costs; what a deal! Check it out!

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: choices, decision, destiny, discover, dream, effective, future, God, home run, how to live a life, how to live life, ignite, increase, Jesus, life, life choices, live a life, live life, passion, Prayer, profit, purpose, supernatural, the calling, the choice, the power, vision

How to Walk in The Favor of God

November 7, 2011 by Olga 14 Comments

How to Walk in The Favor of God

by Olga Hermans

What does it mean when we talk about the favor of God? I can presume that we all have experienced favor one way or another in our life, right? What is that, favor? What does that look like?

And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands–yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it. Psalm 90:17 Ampl.

When the Father laid out the plan for your life, He lined up the right people, the right circumstances, and the right breaks. He has already released His favor in your life, supernatural opportunities and divine connections. The breaks you need have already been predestined to come across your path.

You need to stay in faith and go out each day and be a person of excellence and you will experience the many blessings that the Father has for you.

In 1993 we left Canada for economic reasons to go and live in The Netherlands. It had always been my husband’s dream to live Canada, so we didn’t take moving away very lightly. But we always kept thinking back to our time in Canada and started to think about going back to Canada again in the beginning of 2000.

When my son was 21 or 22; he came to us and told us that he wanted to go and study in Canada to live there. At that moment there was not much that was keeping us in The Netherlands. Both our parents had died; our daughter was living in England at that time and had plans to live in Australia.

But because we hadn’t been back to Canada for so long, we knew it would be very difficult to reinstate our residency.

So, we flew into Seattle in September 2004 and drove to the border at Peace Arch. As we stopped at the custom’s booth; the officer asked us how we would like to enter Canada. They gave us the option between entering as a visitor or as a returning resident.

This totally flabbergasted us and we said; is it still possible to enter as a resident? Then we had to go into the office where we stood in line to wait for our turn. Then, another booth opened and that officer called us out of the back of the line and insisted we come to him.

We handed him our paperwork and after a few minutes he came back with our paperwork and said: I’m going to waive all the requirements! He stamped our passports with the required stamps and said: “Welcome back to Canada”!

That was the favor of God; His approval and His goodness for sure. It was a great experience, which made us feel very special. He loves to bestow favour on His children.

When God gives favor; people favor us, and often for no reason they can even explain. Favor is actually a part of grace. In the English New testament, the Word ‘grace’ and the word ‘favor’ are both translated from the same word ‘charis’. So the grace of God is the favor of God.

And the favor of God is the grace of God; that which causes things to happen in our lives that need to happen through the channel of faith. His power is doing something for us that we can neither earn nor deserve.

Think about that! God wants to give you special privileges. His favor will cause people to go out of their way to bless you without even knowing why they’re doing it.

How does favor work? Things just fall into place. Obstacles disappeared. What happened? You just walked into the blessings of the Lord. They were already lined up. You just walked into them. Just like when we arrived at the Canadian border, God had it all lined up already and we just walked into that blessing. It was a marvellous thing.

Esther, Daniel and the Hebrew children, Ruth and even Jesus received favor from God that caused them to be accepted instead of being rejected in specific situations. They may have been rejected in some areas, but they were accepted regarding the things He had sent them to do.

Esther needed favor with the King. She was selected to bring deliverance to her people, who were in danger. She stepped out in faith and went into a place that was hard for her in the natural. He gave her the favor she was believing for, and she fulfilled His call on her life.

Ruth was a Moabite, so there was no way for her to be accepted by the Israelites without favor from God, because the Moabites were idolaters. But God gave her that favor because she loved and trusted Him. She did nothing special to deserve it, but her heart was right.

Ruth had gone though heartache and pain as a young woman. Her husband was killed in a battle. When her mother-in-law Naomi was moving to a different city, Ruth decided to go with her and help take care of her. There was a great famine in the land. Food was scarce. Ruth went out in the fields every morning to glean wheat left by the reapers. That is how she and Naomi survived.

One day, Boaz, the owner of that field, came to visit. His workers told him about the young widow Ruth who picked up what the harvesters had missed. Boaz told his workers to drop handfuls of wheat on purpose for Ruth.

When you walk into one of your favor moments, people will go out of their way to be good to you. Many times they don’t realize why they’re doing it. It’s simply because you stepped into a time of favor that God released into your life.

You see Ruth was just minding her own business, doing her very best and being faithful. All of a sudden she started seeing all this wheat lying in front of her. Think about it. She didn’t have to struggle any more. She didn’t have to search the field trying to find a little here and a little there. All she had to do was picking up the wheat piles left for her.

Extraordinary things began to happen for Ruth. She received blessings that she did not have to work for. That’s the way our Father is. All of a sudden you get breaks that you didn’t deserve.

Due to His favor, she married Boaz, “a man of great wealth”

Ruth 2:1, and their ancestral line brought forth David from whom Jesus was descended. Ruth no longer worked in the field. She and her husband (Boaz) owned it.

God’s supernatural favor flowing in your life is not based on your background, looks or personality. His favor is based on the Word of God and believing what it says about you. Favor can break through barriers set before you, and it is available to every believer.

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Filed Under: Walk By Faith Tagged With: choices, decision, destiny, discover, dream, effective, favor, future, God, home run, how to live a life, how to live life, how to walk, ignite, increase, Jesus, life, life choices, live a life, live life, passion, Prayer, profit, purpose, supernatural, the calling, the choice, the power, vision

It’s Time To Live In The Blessing

October 31, 2011 by Olga 7 Comments

It’s Time To Live in the Blessing

by Olga Hermans

My pastor is preaching about the blessing; he is teaching us how we can live in the blessing every day of the year. It is very interesting and it moves me to do something with that knowledge. I have heard more preachers preach this message; have you? It is an awesome inspiring and important truth. We live and move in the blessing because Jesus is the blessing; He is our jubilee! If you are born again, He lives on the inside of you.

If you are not growing, if you feel unfulfilled, unsettled, and out of place, it could be that you are ready for a change. There is a place God has designed where opportunities find you, a place where His blessings overtake you. People are hungry for goodness. They are hungry for joy. Everybody is ready for something to happen in their life, are you?

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out–plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jer 29:11 Msg.

God has a good place and a good plan for you! God has a particular place for each one of us, a place where each of us will find our highest purpose, where we will thrive and reflect God’s greatness. God will bless you when you are where you’re supposed to be physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I encourage you to find that place.

Don’t settle for anything less than the best God has for you! You can tell your place of blessing by how it feels to you: this is where I am supposed to be. Just lately I joined Toastmasters. My friend Pat Cruickshank introduced me to this group. The first evening that I visited I knew that I knew I had to join and I did. I did my first speech already and it went very, very well. But there was a knowing on the inside of me that I had to do this and that is the reason why I joined; no other reason!

When we were young we played a game with our children at our home. We would hide a toy or a candy around the house and ask Josephine and David (our children) to find them. When they came close to the “hidden treasure” we would tell them they were getting warmer and warmer until they’d be right there, when we would say or yell “You are red hot!” If they would go in the wrong direction, away from the hidden goodies, we would say, “You’re getting colder. Now you’re getting freezing cold!”

I would like to encourage you to always move toward places that warm you up that way, and move away from those that leave you cold. Move to the place that feels right to you, and wait for the blessing of the Lord right there.

As you obey God and follow His plan for your life, “The lord shall increase you more and more” Psalm 115:14. Just keep walking in the ways of the Lord, trusting His goodness, and He will lead you into a land of milk and honey. He will provide you a place where you can enjoy days of heaven on earth. Deut.11:21

I said, keep walking with the Lord and He will lead you. How will He lead you? He will lead you by His Holy Spirit, according to the plan He has laid out for your individual life. You know, God did not wake up one day when you were about twenty years old and say, “I guess I need to figure out something for this person to do now.” He didn’t just leave you on your own to come up with something to do with your life.

No, God knew you before the foundation of the world. Before you were ever born. He had a plan for you; a great, victorious, wonderful, abundantly prosperous plan. He has a calling and a purpose for every one of His children to fulfill. He has a plan, a place, and a responsibility for each one of us to do.

He has created us in such a way that when we find and begin to do those things we’re created for, we will be happy and our lives will be very, very good.

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. Ephesians 2:10 Ampl.

Think about it. Living the good life! I can handle that. You are God’s own handiwork. You are divinely designed to fulfill the good destiny God has planned for you. When you were born, God placed certain abilities, dreams, and desires within you that would help equip you for what He wanted you to do. Even before you gave your life to Him, while you were still a sinner, they were there.

You have to believe God has a plan for you or you will never be able to walk in it. You will constantly be worrying and wavering. Right now you might be thinking, It’s too late now. I haven’t been listening to God and obeying Him. I have been doing my own thing for years and my life is totally messed up. I don’t think even God can fix it. I think I missed my chance to walk out His plan.

No, you haven’t missed your chance. All you have to do is make a turn. Instead of running away from Him, run to Him like you would run to someone you really love and trust. Start going after Him with all your heart. God can take any life and any situation and turn it around. He loves to do that and He is good at it! I know from experience. He is just waiting for you to give Him the opportunity.

With God we always have a good future ahead of us. It may take some time for God to lead you completely out of the trouble you are in, and you will have to receive wisdom from Him to do it. You can ask for wisdom, He will give it to you liberally. Plus I am here to help you as well. If you don’t know my eBook and Action Guide yet, you definitely have to check them out by clicking here.

Filed Under: Making Choices in Life Tagged With: challenge, character, Christianity, destiny, habits, happiness, how to, influence, life, moving on, opportunity, parenting, passion, prosperity, purpose, responsibility, self esteem, the choice, tolerance, you were born

Powerful Secrets To Discovering The Life You Were Born To Live

October 27, 2011 by Olga 13 Comments

Powerful Secrets To Discovering
The Life You Were Born To Live

by Olga Hermans

Have you ever thought about the fact that there is no other person in the whole world that can fulfill what you are meant to do? There are two directions you can take. One is to press on with God. The second is to run back to something that you know is secure. But you will never be what God wants you to be if you turn and run.

Only if you choose the plan God has for you will you be able to fulfill your divine destiny.

Did you know that God created you to solve a problem? Why did you buy a car? Because it solved a transportation problem. Why do you watch the news? It solves an information problem. Why did God create you? To solve a human problem. You were created for a specific and very special purpose and to solve a specific problem on earth.

Are you ready to discover it?

So, you are not here by accident. God has qualified you to be the perfect solution to someone; He planned you, and nobody else can be like you.

Nobody else can do what you do. You are unlike anyone else on earth. God is not a duplicator. He is a Creator.

You alone are absolutely perfect and genetically accurate for solving a specific problem for somebody on earth today.

To discover the life you were born to live requires your total focus. Somebody said once that the only reason men fail is because their focus is broken.

How important is your focus? Jesus encouraged His disciples to keep their focus on the Kingdom of God. He assured them that their financial provisions and everything they needed would be produced through absolute focus upon Him.

Your focus is very important, because a broken focus will destroy your dreams. The moment you are distracted from what you are created to do, it will create a lot of tragedies and disasters in your life. I am telling you this because I have experienced this personally in my own life. I made some good choices in my life and some bad choices. But, you know what? It doesn’t matter. God loves to restore our lives.

He is about to do that and if you want Him to do that for you; He will!

Discovering the life you were born to live requires time, more than you realize. It requires preparation time. God gave you time and you might have exchanged your time for things that don’t matter to your life. You need to eliminate the things that God did not specifically tell you to do.

Your life requires your participation. Nobody else can complete it for you and nobody else can pursue it for you. It makes me sad when I listen to people who blame their circumstances on others. Husbands complain about their wives and women complain about their husbands. We should never complain about things that we tolerate and permit in our lives. So stop blaming others for your personal decisions.

Never forget that your present circumstances in your life are there because you permitted them. And because you tolerate them; you breathe life and longevity into them. People sabotage themselves by doing things contrary to what they believe and contrary to what they desire to achieve.

You see, the moment you don’t tolerate your present situation anymore; you start creating a different future. Nothing will really change in your life until you cannot tolerate it any longer. You see, God never intended for you to depend on everyone else to step up to the plate and make a homerun.

Certainly, hindrances occur. It is common that relationships can slow us down, demotivate and discourage us. Everybody has experienced a connection with someone who at first seemed to be a blessing but then turned out to be a burden. But you have chosen your friendships! And the quality of your relationships that you have chosen reflects and reveals what you respect the most in life.

I have read some biographies of great men and women of God. One thing that always stood out to me was that they took personal responsibility for their own actions, decisions, and the tasks necessary to reach their goals and dreams.

Again, never forget that it is you who has chosen the present. And it is you who can keep it or change it. You may complain, whine, and gripe for the rest of your life. But you have chosen the environment surrounding you. You have accepted it. You have embraced it. You have refused to walk away from it. So stop finding fault with it.

You must grasp this.

You must decide the conclusion of your life that you desire. You must decide to run your own race. You must grow the kind of harvest you desire. This is why complaining must stop. You are responsible for your situations.

Are you deeply disturbed and uncomfortable with your life right now?

If you are; here are four questions to ask yourself that can move to a place where you are in charge of the life you were born to live.

1. What one decision would you make if you knew you couldn’t fail?
2. What one thing should you eliminate from your life because it holds you back from reaching your full potential?
3. Are you on the path of something absolutely marvellous, or something absolutely mediocre?
4. Are you running from something, or to something?

Your destiny requires your own personal choices and appropriate actions.

Will you do it? I would love to help you with my eBook plus action guide that I have written especially for you.
check it out here.

Filed Under: 6 Your Destiny Tagged With: Action, attitude, challenge, destiny, friends, habits, How to Choose, influence, life, moving on, opportunity, parenting, passion, purpose, regret, relationships, responsibility, the choice, thoughts, tolerance, words, you were born

Why Tests, Trials, and Temptations

October 20, 2011 by Olga 11 Comments

Why Tests, Trials, and Temptations

by Olga Hermans

When it comes to LIFE, everyone must live it. David Horton

Did you read that profound statement? This might sound very obvious to you, but I think we sometimes forget this. We usually think that we are the only ones who deal with problems or experience tests, trials, and temptations.

Or on the other side, people think that there shouldn’t be any trials in life and when they arise they like to neglect them or deny them and live like an ostrich who puts his head in the sand and choose not to face the trials or challenges in their life.

Other people might feel guilty right away and think they left the door open to the enemy or that they missed God somewhere down the road and now they are out of the will of God.

The truth is though, that it doesn’t matter where you are in life or who you are; we all live on the same planet, we all deal with the same devil and we are all in the same boat.

Psalm 34:19 gives us a great perspective on this:

“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

I had a mother in law who just never wanted to talk about problems; she just smiled and actually never wanted to acknowledge that there was a problem. She would say something like: Oh Harry (that was her husband) don’t be so serious, you should look at it from a different angle. There is no problem, what are you talking about?”

Do you also know people like that who never like to talk about a problem even to the point of never even acknowledging that there is a problem? Then there are people who always see a problem; every day of their life. And the only talk about why it is happening and how it all came about and so on and so on.

We have to know that crises of life come to everyone; we ALL will experience hardships. They are not a sign of an open door or sin in your life; they come to you because there is a devil out there who hates you and wants to destroy you. Let me give you a FREE tip: circumstances are never a sign of you being in or out of the will of God. If that were the case then the Apostle Paul must have never been in the will of God because his circumstances were always strenuous.

Here is another tip: when problems occur—and they will—don’t focus on the problem. Realize that it is never God’s will and God is never behind the problem.

When problems arise in your life don’t start asking why it is happening, because that will only lead you to discouragement. Situations like that are never easy, but you have to strengthen your back bone and start to focus on how to get out of the problem instead of focusing on how the problem came into your life.

This is the moment to use your faith for God to deliver you. How do you do that? Start with what you know. Think back on what Jesus did for you; He delivered you from it ALL! Every disease, every sickness, every calamity ….everything!! Every trial out there is already conquered. He made you more than a conqueror, remember?

It all depends on how you look at it

One more thing for your deliverance from your tests, trials, and temptations; you have to see yourself the way God sees you. The time we were in Bibleschool, they always taught us that if we were dealing with sickness for instance to never think of ourselves as a sick person seeking healing, but rather as a healthy person resisting the devil and his sickness. This is profound!

Many people think that tests, trials and temptations come from God. No!! The enemy is there to deceive you and to get you on another path and waste all your time. Have you ever had a bad thought coming in, one that feels good? Then you do as whatever that though was to only feel very bad because you did it? That is how he plays with you.

He gives you the bad idea and then after he come to accuse you and condemn you and tell you how bad you are and why you did such a stupid thing. And now you are all discouraged.

Many people believe that the tests, trials and temptations are what make us strong. As long as we think that way, we also think that God sends those trials our way. But the truth is that a crisis of any kind doesn’t make you strong. Of course you can use them to GAIN strength, but THEY do not make you strong.

Here is an example. A weight in and of itself is not what makes a weightlifter strong, he only uses the weight to gain strength, but the weight in itself doesn’t make him strong.

I remember a friend discussing this with my husband, that nobody gains strength by just laying on a weight bench and having that heavy bar across his chest with those heavy weights on it. No, you have to lift that weight to gain muscle strength. You don’t gain strength by just thinking about getting strong and hoping and wishing you would gain strength. Of course not.

The moment when he starts taking that weight and starts pushing that weight away from himself, he becomes stronger. The weight doesn’t make him strong – it’s what he does with it.

So many people have thought and still think that tests and trials make us strong, but that is not true. We all experience them because we live in this world where the law of gravity is at work. BUT when we use our faith and when we use our words to push them away, than we become stronger and stronger.

Don’t be reluctant, be bold and stir yourself up to become strong in your faith. Speak to that mountain and tell it to move in Jesus’ name. Don’t assume that God wants you to walk through the trials and temptations to make you strong. There are no trials in heaven, why would God want you to have them here on the earth? There is no sickness in heaven, why would God want you to be sick here on the earth? That doesn’t make sense, does it?

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Filed Under: Making Choices in Life Tagged With: choices, decision, destiny, discover, dream, effective, future, God, home run, how to live a life, how to live life, ignite, increase, Jesus, life, life choices, live a life, live life, passion, Prayer, profit, purpose, supernatural, the calling, the choice, the power, vision

How Spicing Up Your Life Can Make You Happier!

October 10, 2011 by Olga 17 Comments

How Spicing Up Your Life Can Make You Happier!

by Olga Hermans

Happiness does not depend on your circumstances … it is a choice that you make. The first step is to make a conscious choice to boost your happiness; the bottom line is if you want to be happy, you need to make a decision to be happy right now.

An extraordinary number of people are asking questions about their own happiness on the internet, and many are not satisfied with the answers they often find. Why not? Don’t they want to make a choice? Happiness and other positive emotions play an even more important role in health than previously thought, according to a study published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine by Carnegie Mellon University Psychology Professor Sheldon Cohen.

If you want to spice up your life to be happier, you must develop a habit of happiness. You must learn to relax and go with the flow, instead of getting frustrated. You have to believe that God is in control, and that means you have no need to be stressed out or worried.

Moreover you need to be grateful for what you have, rather than complaining about what you don’t have. A habit of happiness boils down to staying on the positive side of life. Each day is full of surprises and inconveniences, so you must accept the fact that not everything is going to always go your way. Your plans are not always going to work out just as you scheduled them.

The Bible says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” 1Thess. 5:16 The Msg. Bible says: “Be cheerful no matter what” Another translation simply says, “Be happy all the time.” That means no matter what comes your way; we can have smiles on our faces. We should get up each morning excited about that day.

I can tell you that this does not come naturally to me; I am a person that really has to work on this. I have a more serious and observant personality. Although I can really cheer up when circumstances are good and all that good stuff. So, if I want to spice up my life to be happy and I do, I have to cheer up a little.

I have learned the hard way to not be so rigid and be set in my ways. Life is too short to live it stressed out. Besides, prolonged stress can damage your health and significantly shorten your life. I don’t want to live with knots in my stomach because some person is not doing what I want them to do.

You and I can make a choice to be more flexible and have a more easygoing attitude. Think about it. Ten years from now, many of the things that we are allowing to create stress in our life won’t even matter. You and I won’t care that we were stuck in traffic or that Thanksgiving will be different that we had planned.

Make a decision that you’re going to be happy even if you get stuck in traffic, even if the waitress spills something on your new outfit, even if you have to wait in that long line.

God did not create you to be a negative-thinking person. He didn’t make any of us to live depressed, stressed out, worried, or frustrated. God intends for you to be happy, content and to enjoy your life.

Take an honest look at your life. Are you as happy as you know you should be deep down inside? Do you get up each day excited about your future? Are you enjoying your family? Enjoying your friends? If not, what is stealing your joy and causing you to get upset? Why are you worried?

It is a good thing to take inventory and then take it one step further. Begin renewing your mind in those areas. Many times, you can make a small change; a minor adjustment in your attitude, or a minor adjustment in how you treat people; a minor adjustment in how you respond to problems and it will make a huge difference in your life and in your level of joy. This definitely will spice up your life.

There is so much sadness in our world today. Many people are sick physically because they are living so stressed out, uptight and worried. The apostle Paul said, “I have learned how to be content no matter what state I am in.” In other words, “This doesn’t come automatically.”

We must do the same thing. Happiness is not going to fall on us. It is a choice we have to make. Being positive doesn’t necessarily come naturally. We have to make a decision daily. Our mind, left alone, will often drift toward the negative. If we don’t stay on the offensive, little by little we will grow more sullen. Soon, we’re not as much fun to be around.

We start to find fault. We get critical. Refusing to allow these negative habits take hold of us will spice up your life and can make you a much happier person. When you get out of bed in the morning and put a smile on your face, Set the tone right at the start of your day.

Filed Under: 5 Your Character Tagged With: Action, Awareness, choices, Christianity, Forgiveness, free report, happiness, How to Choose, influence, motivation, moving on, Olga Hermans, opportunity, passion, Prayer, purpose, regret, self esteem, the choice, thoughts, words

Does Your Life Inspire Others To Be Better?

October 6, 2011 by Olga 10 Comments

Does Your Life Inspire Others To Be Better?

by Olga Hermans

Today many are mourning over the life that influenced many, Steve Jobs. He definitely influenced the world by what he did. Many lives will forever be changed because of this one man. Steve Jobs was a visionary and a dreamer as many others, but we were able to see with our own eyes what he did to make his dreams and visions come to pass. Apple believes that people with passion can change the world. I also believe that passion is one of our main attribute that we need to achieve our dreams. Steve Jobs definitely believed in himself and in his product.

It is amazing what we can accomplish when we believe in ourselves or we know somebody who really believes in us. Do you believe in yourself or do you have somebody in your life that believes in you? If you want your life to get better, then you need to help improve somebody else’s life. Steve Jobs was a great example. If you will help somebody else to become successful, God will make sure that you are successful.

God puts people in our life on purpose so we can help them succeed and help them become all He created them to be. Most people will not reach their full potential without somebody else believing in them. That means that you and I have an assignment. Everywhere we go we should be encouraging people, building them up, challenging them to reach new heights.

When people are around us, they should leave better off than they were previously. Rather than feeling discouraged or defeated, people should feel challenged and inspired after spending time with you and me.

The Bible says that love is kind. One translation says, “Love looks for a way to be constructive.” In other words, love looks for ways to help improve somebody else’s life. Take time to make a difference. Don’t just be obsessed about how you can make your own life better. Think about how you can make somebody else’s life better as well. Our attitude should be: To whom can I be an inspiration today? Who can I encourage today? How can I improve somebody else’s life?

I believe that God is going to hold us responsible for the people He’s put in our lives. He is counting on us to bring out the best in our spouse, in our children, and in our friends. Ask yourself, “Am I inspiring somebody to be better, giving that person more confidence, or am I just coasting along, consumed with doing my own thing?”

That is something that I love about being a mom. There is nobody else in the world that can take my place; I am the only mom they have and they will know it :). Believing in my children and watching them grow up as mature adults, making their own choices and planning their own lives is my greatest joy. I like them to know that I am their biggest fan. I aim for them to know that I am all for them no matter what they want to accomplish. They need to know that I love them at all times and that I am concerned and that I really believe in them.

Everywhere Jesus went, He saw potential in people that they didn’t see in themselves. He didn’t focus on their weaknesses or their faults. He saw them the way they could become. Look at Peter; he was a man with some rough edges. He was hot tempered, loud, pretentious, and impulsive, but that didn’t deter Jesus. Jesus didn’t say, “Forget it, Peter. I am going to find somebody a little more refined than you.” No, Jesus worked with Peter to bring out the best out of him. It was in there. He just had to get it out.

You never bring out the best in someone by condemning and criticizing, or verbally beating a person down. You inspire people by love. You inspire people by showing that you really care. I heard somebody say, “Complimenting each other is the glue that holds relationships together.” With so many things working against good relationships nowadays it’s amazing what a kind word here and there will do.

So, be free with your compliments and be quick to speak them. Remember, your thoughts don’t bless anybody but you. You can think good thoughts about somebody all day long, but it’s not going to do them any good if you don’t speak them out loud. Every day, try to find somebody you can inspire by giving them a compliment and by building them up.

I want to inspire my husband, my children and my friends. I like to think that people like to be around me because I inspire them to be a better individual. Moreover, I also want to spend time with people who strive to bring the best out of me. The Bible says, “Iron sharpens Iron.” The way we live with each other should encourage one another to do better.

You can inspire others to do better everywhere you go. Everywhere you go, make positive deposits instead of negative withdrawals. When you get up in the morning, instead of applying your energies to how you can be blessed, find some way to be a blessing to someone else. If you make somebody else’s day, God will make yours.

Make a quality choice to be an inspiration to people and to bring out the very best in the people that God has put in your life. You’re never more like God than when you give, and the closest thing to His heart is helping others. If you will meet somebody else’s need, God will meet yours. What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.

Let’s end this post with an awesome quote:

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

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Filed Under: Making Choices in Life Tagged With: Christianity, destiny, goals, habits, How to Choose, Moments, motivation, moving on, opportunity, passion, purpose, relationships, self esteem, the choice

How to Prevent Stress -12 Ways to Prevent it Before it Takes Control

October 3, 2011 by Olga 18 Comments

Prevent Stress – 12 Ways to Prevent it Before it Takes Control

by Olga Hermans

Stress is one of the greatest enemies we face in life. A National Health Interview Survey tells us that 75% of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks. Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction, and other harmful behaviors.

Unhealthy stress has reached epidemic proportions today. Its effects are felt in every segment of our society. The truth is, God didn’t design you to live under stress. He created you for a place of pleasure and good things. He intended for your lives to be in harmony with Him, with each other and with nature.

Yes, things happen in our everyday lives that produce stress. Things happen that are beyond our control. What is in our control, however, is how we confront and deal with those situations.

You can take this simple stress test at home on your own. Take the word “stress” and make something out of every letter of that word. Do it in the negative, and then do it in the positive. Here’s what I came up with:

Stretched to the limits. Everybody knows how it feels when we are stretched to the limits. When we take a rubber band and stretch it until it doesn’t go any further, it snaps. We can stretch ourselves to the point that we can’t do any more and we feel like we are at our breaking point.

Time thief. A survey done in the 1970’s asked, “What is your biggest need?” The answer was “Money.” A survey repeated in the 2000 revealed that the biggest need was “Time.” People everywhere are saying there’s not enough time in day to get your work done. You know how an hourglass works isn’t it?

It is shaped like a funnel, and then it opens into a larger container. When you get to the last few thousands of particles of sand in that hourglass, it speeds up. Well, we’re closing out this age of time and so as we’re narrowing down, time is speeding up and it’s getting faster and faster, and that’s why you don’t have enough time in the day. That causes stress.

Responsibilities. Some people just do too much; they have to many things on their plate. So maybe you have to manage your responsibilities that you have taken on. The things that you’re doing don’t have to be necessarily bad things; just might have taken on too many projects.

Emotions. Your soul is made up of your mind, your will, your thinking faculties, and your emotions. Emotions can give the greatest feelings of pleasure one could imagine; they can also poison our lives and be a source of torment. Emotions are fickle! We can go to bed feeling one way and wake up feeling entirely different.

When you’re stressed out,” it can cause your emotions to lose control. The smallest challenge can bring you to tears. God has a great plan for your life and it is one that includes emotional stability and peace of mind.

Speaking doubt and unbelief. When we are under stress, we have a tendency to speak things that are contrary to God’s Word. We have to control the words of our mouth and the thoughts that are in us. Just because you’re under stress doesn’t mean you throw everything you learned out the window!

Satan. You can just make two lists on paper. Draw a line right down the middle, and anything bad happening to you comes from Satan, and anything good happening to you comes from the Lord. John 10:10 One of the great, big, gigantic snares Satan tries to put in our path is offenses and unforgiveness, getting upset, having hurt feelings, and always going around upset with somebody over something. That causes stress.

Now, we will look at the positive things of the word S-T-R-E-S-S

Secret Place. Psalm 27:5 says, “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; and he shall set me up upon a rock.” This psalm has been one of my most favourite ones for a long time now.

When you are in trouble, there is always that place (under the shadow of His wings) that you can run to. If you don’t have the money to pay your bills on time, then you get yourself behind those closed doors in your prayer closet, and you allow the anointing of God to begin to multiply in your life. God will begin to give you sources and extra income and job increases in your life to cause you to be able to come out on top. Go to the secret place and get away with God.

Thoughts. We’re to bring every thought that doesn’t line up with God’s Word into captivity. 2 Cor. 10:4 You have to capture those thoughts. You have to harness them. I’m telling you, God will work in your behalf.
You have to be able to push away negative thoughts. God’s Word is positive and uplifting; we need to come to that place where we honor God with our thoughts, as well with our actions and our deeds.

Resist the Devil. James 4:7 says: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
Resist means to withstand, to oppose, to strive against, set against. And how do you resist the devil? With the written Word of God. You resist the devil with “It is written.” He is a spirit, and you fight him with spiritual weapons. Quote the Word of God to him.

Expose the devil. Do you know Proverbs 6:30? This is a great promise!
Satan is a thief. He will try to steal everything from you. If you let him, he will rob every area of your life. He will try to steal your work, your family, your relationships, your health, your finances, your time and your peace. When things have been stolen from you, make sure that you get it back in Jesus’ name.

Smile Everyone knows how to smile. It’s one of the greatest gifts God has given us. A smile makes people feel good, and people look beautiful when they smile. Living your life with the “joy of the Lord” will chase off negative and stressful circumstances.

Shake it off and step up! We all have times when we seem to be bombarded with bad situations, but there is a right and wrong way to handle these times of distress. Do you know the story of the little donkey?

One day a farmer’s donkey fell into a well. The animal cried pitifully for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do about it. Finally the farmer decided that the animal was too old to justify the efforts it would take to get him out of the well. So he asked his neighbours to help him shovel dirt into the well and end the donkey’s life.

As the dirt began falling on the donkey’s back, he realized what was happening and cried horribly. (Do you know the feeling? “I just feel like everything is caving in on top of me”?) And then, to everyone’s amazement, the donkey quieted down. After shovelling in a little more dirt, the farmer looked down into the well and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovelful of dirt that hit the donkey’s back, the donkey was doing something amazing; he was shaking it off and then stepping on top of it. As the farmer and his neighbours continued to shovel dirt into the well, the donkey just kept shaking it off and stepping up!

This is a beautiful analogy to shake off the stress that is falling upon us; shake it off and use the situation to get to a higher level in your life!

You don’t have to be stressed out or stretched to the limit. You have a secret place of the Most High God that you can run to, and He will cause you to overcome this stress, this overwhelming time in your life. Not only that, you can go through this challenge with a smile on your face, your head held high and joy in your heart. God is on your side.

Filed Under: 4 Your Habits Tagged With: Forgiveness, How to Choose, love, Moments, motivation, moving on, Olga Hermans, parenting, passion, Prayer, purpose, relationships, self esteem, the choice