"The only people with whom you should try to get even with are those who have helped you." John Southard

"Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself."

Bible Study Notes 7/13/11- raw version of notes

When you understand yourself, you will be understood.
If you don’t know yourself, you live in poverty and you are that poverty.
Nothing hidden will fail to be displayed.
Nothing covered will remain undisclosed.
One who knows everything else but does not know himself knows nothing.
Kings James Version vs. King James Translation
God is that which you cant fully put your mind around.
Be careful when you make assumptions about God.
God is beyond apprehensions, therefore you cant make assumptions about what you cant fully apprehend.
You discover yourself by relationship to others.
Revelation of yourself is connected in  relationship to situations or person.
If you go through nothing, you will not know of your strength. 
If you ever want to know the truth about yourself, if you want to see your truest self with all insecurities and strengths, fall in love.
Fall in love and you will discover who you are- and all the stuff you thought wasn’t there will come to the surface.
Fall in love and you will be introduced to yourself
When you fall in love, you will meet yourself in ways you didn’t know.
Being in love can break you down to your lowest form.
When you fall in love with God, you will not distance yourself form him.
Turn your heart to God and stop treating him like the chick/dude on the side, tryna take everything they have.
When you’re not in love with someone its in detestable to be intimate with them.
Worship becomes difficult when you are not in love with God.
Don’t confuse sex with intimacy— Jumping and shouting (physical) vs. worship (heart is given to God)
When you fall in love after having been hurt, you get in the way of the relationship
Cause you think of all the things that can go wrong then you sabbatoge the relationship
Stop believing what everyone else know about God instead of what you believe about God.
When you find yourself attracted to wounded people, you’re wounded.
When you don’t have courage to want to change and grow, you won’t be healed and will continue to hold on to your issues.

"if you judge someone based on their outward appearance then you will never enjoy knowing all these different people with unique personalities." cambongam

"It only takes one person to change your life- You"

"He who lives without discipline dies without honor." Icelandic proverb

"Friendship is a word, the very sight of which in print makes the heart warm." Augustine Birrrell

"Fairness is an across the board requirement for all our interactions with others. Fairness treats everybody the same." Barbabra Jordan

"Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there." William Penn

"If there were no God, there would be no atheist." Gilbert Chesterton

"When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life." John Lennon

"Sometimes people go through things and are so quick to blame the devil because they don’t want to face and deal with the situation. It ain’t always the devil, its called life." ~Pastor Mike

"I want to be dead to always looking to have a good time but my soul is empty." ~Pastor Mike

Change is what you make out of every situation. Making a difference is choosing to go beyond any normal expectation.

"True friends are the ones who never leave your heart, even if they leave your life for awhile. Even after years apart, you pick up with them right where you left off, and even if they die, they’re never dead in your heart."

"Everyday is a blessing…learn a lesson and treat every moment like it’s the best thing."

"You can’t let you shortcomings or flaws determine how you feel about yourself"

"All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon sand." Ella Wheeler

"Don’t let the mistakes and disappointments of the past control and direct your future." Zig Ziglar

"So many churches are so on the focused internal structure, they forget their communal responsibility." Pastor Mike on WLIB

"YOU CAN’T GO THROUGH LIFE QUITTING EVERYTHING. IF YOU’RE GOING TO ACHIEVE ANYTHING, YOU’VE GOT TO STICK WITH SOMETHING."

"If you don’t know where you’re going any road will get you there." C. S. Lewis

"Just because you’re broken doesn’t give you the right to go out and make other people broken like yourself."

"Synergy is the highest activity of life; it creates new untapped alternatives; it values and exploits the mental, emotional and psychological differences between people." Stephen Covey

"Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be faced until it is faced." James Baldwin

"The ark was built by amateurs but the titanic was built by professionals."

"When you stop stressin’ your Ex..you might start impressin’ your Next…" The Single Woman

"Real women don’t worry about being dimes because true gentlemen don’t carry change."

"Do not believe the labels that people put on you. What do you say about you? What does God say about you? You are a child of God."

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Sir Winston Churchill

Nuke it!

The most efficient way to get through a task is to delete it. If it doesn't need to be done, get it off your to do list.

"When you're truly in love, you know it, you don’t have to ask any questions or reassure urself they’re the one"

"Maybe our old wounds teach us something. They remind us where we’ve been and what we’ve overcome. They teach us lessons about what to avoid in the future. That’s what we like to think. But that’s not the way it is, is it? Somethings we’d just have to learn over and over and over again." Meredith Grey

"When you settle, you can’t complain. That’s what you decided to take."

"Nothing is easy to the unwilling." Nikki Giovanni

"Remember, Smooth roads never make good Drivers, calm seas never make good Sailors, clear skies never make good Pilots. A problem free life never makes a strong person. Be strong enough to accept the challenges of Life. Don’t ask Life, “Why Me?” Instead, say: “WITH GOD BY MY SIDE, TRY ME!"

"I’ve been through too much NOT to worship Him!…My worship IS FOR REAL!!!"

"The voices that want to pump you up and shape you, usually have their own agenda. Don’t become a victim of flattery so that people can use you. Be careful of the people that whisper in your ear." Pastor Mike

"Nothing is more damaging to you than to do something that you believe is wrong." Abraham Lincoln

"We’ve become obsessed with beauty and the foundation of youth and frankly, I’m really saddened by the way woman mutilate their faces in search of that." Halle Berry

"Fight for the things you love. Love the things worth fighting for." Unknown

"Start where you are, use what you have. Do what you can." Arthur Ashe

"What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient." Bodie Thoene

"Deep down we are all fragile human beings, each one a combination of victories and defeats, a mixture of pain and joy, suffering and hope." Terrie Williams

"A mother understands what a child does not say." Jewish proverb

"Don’t get comfortable with stagnation and wondering, (I’m going to be what I’ve never been, do what I’ve never done and go where I’ve never gone. )" Pastor Mike

"The truth is, everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." Bob Marley

"Do not entertain relations with those who lower your vibration. Constant elevation… And commune only with those who uplift you, and those whom you uplift.

"To value his own good opinion, a child has to feel that he is a worthwhile person. He has to have confidence in himself as an individual."

Sidonie Gruenberg

"My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it." Brennan Manning

"When you stray, God will not track you down but wait for you to come home." ~Pastor Mike

"If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything."

"The circumstances in your life does not dictate what God is in your life"

"Gift Haters- they can’t handle your gift. If your gift is working against them, they will incorporate every mechanism to muffle and drown out your gift." Pastor Mike

"When you truly love yourself, you take crap from no one."

"God paraphrased “I positioned you not because of your dislikes, I positioned you because of my love." Pastor Mike

"Without God, I am nothing. But with God, I’m an unstoppable force! You Have no choice but to reckon with me because with him, I can do all things." Pastor Mike

"The heart of marriage is memories; and if the two of you happen to have the same ones and savor your reasons, then your marriage is a gift from the gods." Bill Cosby

"I ask not for a lighter burden but for broader shoulders." Jewish Proverb

you can run, but unresolved issues- good or bad will meet you at your destination. ~bernadette robinson

"A man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is." Max Hickerson

"Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you." Robert Gilbert

"Great friendship is about two things; first is to find out the similarities and second is to respect the differences."

"When the world pushes you to your knees, you are in a perfect position to pray."

"Even when I’m faithless- Lord you been faithful."

"What God imagined for you goes far beyond anything you can imagine." Oprah Winfrey

"Once in a while you have to take a break and visit yourself." Audrey Giorgi

"The secret of happiness is to count your blessings, while others are adding up their troubles."

"When you settle, you can’t complain. That’s what you decided to take."

"I love you because you lift me up when i hit rock bottom."

I am so grateful for my True Friends

A friend is one who knows all about you and still respects you.

A true friend is a priceless gift. When we reveal our hopes, our dreams, and our deepest secrets to others, and they still like and respect us, such people are to be cherished. All too often, the only reason others wish to spend time with us -- to be our friends -- is because of what they perceive we can do for them, not the other way around. A real friendship is reciprocal, one in which each friend benefits equally. You can earn the friendship of others by being the kind of person who deserves respect from friends. When others look up to you, it should make you even more conscious of the responsibility you have to treat them with the same respect you would like them to afford you.

-Napoleaon Hill Foundation

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I so love my daily reading today. I love it so much that I have to contact the people that fit this category and thank them. Better yet, buy a card. I have freinds in my life that has been there for me when I was a hot mess!! I may not have spoken to them much but as I reflect, I realize that these people never treated me different neither did they diss me. If I needed to talk, I was able to. If I needed space, I got that too. I am still close to most of them and we look back on the days and just laugh. I love my True Friends.
I don't have to pretend to be someone else nor do i have to go through miraculous acts to please them.

I am grateful

"If you’re not honest with your partner, who are you going to be vulnerable with?"

"Relationships are made of friendship and lust. You need both in order to make it work."

"Some people just want to be stuck in their their condition (even if it’s holding you back) because it covers their weaknesses." Pastor Mike

"She’s been there for you since day one. Through hell and back, she never once left you by yourself. And you took advantage of that, of everything she offered which was all she had. The one day that you realize what you had, will be the day that it won’t matter, for it will be too late. You’ll have already lost her."

"Never ruin an apology with an excuse." Kimberly Johnson

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us." Helen Keller

"Great Is Thy Faithfulness Lord onto me!"

"Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet." Maya Angelou

Why was Snow White given a poisoned apple? - to show us that not everyone is gonna be kind & not everyone is really who they say they are. Why did Cinderella run away at midnight? - to remind us that everything does have its limitations, even dreams. Why did Ariel exchange her fins for feet? - to show us that people are willing to give up anything to be with who they love & to just be happy. Why did Aurora sleep for 100 years? - to tell us that you might have to wait for quite some time for your true love to come along, sometimes very long, but it’s worth it. Why did Princess Jasmine fall for Aladdin? - to let us know that what the heart wants, it wants it no matter what. Why was Belle in love with a Beast? - to remind us that you can’t really help what’s on the outside, but if the inside is beautiful, then nothing will stand in the way of your love.

"This is an open letter to all dream killers. Thank you for making yourself easily identifiable! You are the one who always has a reason why the idea won’t work. You are the one who always throws up a smoke screen to cloud the vision. However, I have decided to put as much effort into fulfilling my dream as you put into trying to kill it!!!! The test of wills has begun and I WILL win!" TuBlu Atlanta

"I laugh, I love, I hope, I try, I hurt, I need, I fear, I cry. And I know you do the same things too, so we’re really not that different, you and me." Colin Raye

"Jesus does some teaching in the midst of the storm… be attentive." Pastor Mike (remixed)

"When is there a better time to doe to self living, arrogance, selfishness, insecurities, your fears, your flaws? Maybe today is a good day and the best time to release those things that’s been hindering you and holding you back - stunting your growth and limiting your possibilities. ~Pastor Mike"

"Pride ain’t nothing when it comes to matters from the heart."

"A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it." Ambrose Bierce

"The fear of being laughed at makes cowards of us all." Mignon McLaughlin

"If you are kind people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway." Mother Teresa

"Keep hope alive." Jesse Jackson

"When you judge, you leave no room for love. When you love, you see nothing to judge." Henry Bryant

"In worship there is healing, deliverance and intimacy with God."

"There is no escape. Man drags man down or man lifts man up." Booker T. Washington

"I want to be dead to contaminating circles of gatherings and fellowships that always get around and promote misery." Pastor Mike

"The blood, that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary, Shall never lose its power, The blood that signs my name. oh the blood."

"When staying where you are begins to negatively impact the people around you, it’s time to move." Rev. LaKeesha

"Do not stand affirming your pain and misery and do not let what you’re going through determine how you feel because Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." ~Pastor Mike

"The torment of precautions often exceeds the dangers to be avoided. It is sometimes better to abandon one’s self to destiny." Napoleon Bonoparte

I don’t want to become another girl you had a “thing” with. I don’t want to become someone you used to know. I don’t want to see you look at another girl the way you look at me. I want to be the girl you fall in love with and can never find another to replace with. I want to be the girl you grow up with and share the best memories with. I want to be the girl whom everyone thinks you’re going to end up marrying because of how perfect we are together.

"Don’t get comfortable with stagnation and wondering, (I’m going to be what I’ve never been, do what I’ve never done and go where I’ve never gone. )" Pastor Mike

The follies which a man regrets most in life are those which he didn’t commit when he had the opportunity." Helen Rowland

"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." George Bernard Shaw

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall to easily into the trap of being our own worse enemies." Roderick Thorp

"Determination is the wake-up call to human will."

"The thing to remember is that the future comes one day at a time." Dean Acheson

"You’ll see it when you believe it."

Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you’re supposed to be with them. And just because you’re not with them doesn’t mean you don’t love them.

"God sometimes positions you based on how God feels about you and not how you feel about yourself." Pastor Mike

"Small opportunities are the beginning of great enterprises."

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pies." Tenneva Jordan

"Heal my mind so I can stop working against my mind and insecurities. Heal my heart so I can stop holding so much pain. Heal me of unintended wounds so I can live free and be unbound." Pastor Mike

"Love me when I least deserve it, because that’s when I really need it." Swedish Proverb

"You’ve made enough excuses why you can’t do it or why it’s not the right time. If not now, when?"

"A man’s biggest mistake is giving another man an opportunity to make his woman smile."

"No matter how calmly you try to referee, parenting will eventually produce bizarre behavior, and I’m not talking about the kids. Their behavior is always normal." Bill Cosby