Fruit & Armor

  Expecting Greater Things     Studying the word of God and reading the bible are entirely different things and can dramatically change your life. This is not to say that simply reading the bible is not good but if you are applying scriptures to your life, I can not stress enough the importance of actually studying it.           When I was reading the bible I could easily skim over the words and call it a day and say "there, I've read my bible". But I knew I needed to study when I realized that I was confusing two emotions that should never be confused for each other.      Those emotions were anxiousness and excitement. Anxiousness is characterized by  feelings of tension, worried thoughts, and physical changes like increased blood pressure. While e xcitement is a feeling or situation full of activity, joy, and exhilaration.      The scripture that would trip me up with these two was Philippians 4:6 (New International Version or the NIV) "Do not be anxious about an

  Eliminating Distractions      My biggest hurdle has been procrastination. Rather it is for a genuine reason or if I just am not in the mood, I tend to put my work on the back burner. The truth is that I want to hold myself more accountable. I get in an ugly mood when I start to feel disappointed in my own actions.      One of the easiest ways for me to not procrastinate is by removing things that can throw my focus. I remove these things in three different ways Physically Removing Item      Trying to do work in an environment that is cluttered will never work. This is not to say you should go reorganize your whole room or office. That can just mean straightening up your desk, vacuuming the floor, and disinfecting your keyboard and mouse before you start to work. It also helps to make rules like no eating at your workspace. This is a must for me because I tend to spill water, juices, and sometimes even coffee over when I'm in the zone and not careful.  When you remove food from th