August 2, 2018 www.PositiveChristianity.org presents Positive Daily Inspiration

 GIUSEPPE

“That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God is willing and working at what will give God the most pleasure.” Philippians 2:13

I decided that I needed a Jeep recently. After watching videos of driving off-road on Jeep trails I decided that was for me as it looked very exciting.

I haven’t done that yet. The website says that the trail is for experienced drivers only and requires a spotter. I didn’t know what a spotter was, so I called Jeep and asked if the standard equipment on my Jeep included the spotter. After the laughter died down, I was told that a spotter is a person that stands outside the Jeep and guides you slowly so that you don’t kill yourself.

I bought a stripped two-door Jeep. When I say stripped, I mean it has no options, except for air-conditioning, which you must have in Houston during August or you would literally cremate yourself.

Jeeps are now owned by Fiat, an Italian company, so I affectionately named him Giuseppe.

I had a friend in Giuseppe recently and he wanted to roll down the window and was searching for the button. I pointed to the crank and he was shocked. It brought him back to earlier times of his childhood when his parents had a car with crank down windows. He couldn’t stop playing with it.

All new cars have a break in period. I have taken this to a new level with Giuseppe. I ate breakfast the other morning at Waffle House in Hattiesburg Mississippi. Upon returning to Giuseppe I realized I had locked the keys in the car. Giuseppe doesn’t have power locks either. Sadly, I had parked in front of the main window of Waffle House. I gave everyone quite a show when I had to break into my own car. It has a canvas convertible top that unsnaps. But then I had to lift myself up pushing my body over the exterior sheet metal (this took about 10 attempts as a Jeep is a surprisingly high car) and crawl into the car wiggling my way through the suitcases like a worm looking for the key. Every time I looked up I saw more smiling faces pressed against the window of Waffle house.

Giuseppe also has a standard manual transmission. I have driven a manual transmission before, but it was in the 1960s. My mother had a 40 hp Volkswagen beetle. As a teenager I learned to drive on that car grinding through every gear. I remember my mother having to replace the clutch twice and that disapproving look that she gave me.

Truthfully, today, I never know what gear I’m in. Driving Giuseppe in the mountains of Georgia, where we have Hope Hill, our new retreat log cabin, is sometimes frightening. You can have a long line of cars behind you on a steep hill and putting in the clutch you tend to roll back into their laps.

I will often go from 1st to 4th missing the gears in between which causes the car to sputter and sometimes stall.

Takes a lot of prayer when you’re driving.

When you’re driving your life it also needs prayer.

We all have a transmission of sorts to determine the speed that we are going in our life. I have known many people that skip needed gears including myself.

How many times I have gotten overexcited about something and have gone from first year to fifth not taking the time or giving the patience for the momentum to pick up speed on its own.

Dreams can sputter and stall when you don’t use ALL your gears.

Years ago, there was a man I knew that on the first date asked the girl to marry him, he told her he had fallen madly in love. Of course, this scared the girl off because he didn’t take the proper time. He went from first gear to fifth missing all the normal gears in between.

I have seen businesspeople too, have an idea and then go out and spend tens of thousands of dollars without testing it or seeing if it would work.

People often will say Godspeed. Godspeed doesn’t necessarily mean fast. Sometimes it means slow. It means being in the proper gear, with the needed momentum, for what you’re facing now so that you can get to the destination without stalling.

It’s like preparing a cake. You mix the ingredients and then you must put it in the oven for the exact correct amount of time otherwise it will not be cooked, or it will be burnt.

I pray today that you have God’s perfect timing in your life. I pray that things are not too fast or too slow – but perfect. I pray that you remember ALL your gears and allow God’s divine order to determine your speed and your direction. You will find you enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

POSITIVE DAILY PRAYER: 

Dear God, I pray You will take over the driving of my life. I ask You to determine the speed that is best for my continual progress and success. I pray that I will not struggle as I go up the hills of life because You provide the power and the energy to meet any obstacle I will face.

Thank You God, Amen

POSITIVE DAILY AFFIRMATION: God determines the speed of my life and I am a person of lasting success.

POSITIVE DAILY QUOTE: "The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg. ... Dreams are the seedlings of realities." James Allen

Reply - if you have a prayer need, Positive Christianity will pray with you daily,
for an entire month.  There Is Never a Charge for Prayer.

GOD BLESS YOU, Make It a Great Day !_______Christopher Ian Chenoweth