just keep swimming...

our pastor was speaking this morning on how everyone falls down...the important thing being that we continue to get back up.

he also said that we are tested during the times that we receive praise from men, and also during the times people are throwing rocks at our heads. the Lord revealed to him that if he succumbed to the praises of men on his way up in the world, he would be sucked into criticism from those very same people on his way back down. i'm paraphrasing of course, but the concept is the same. the key is not to be moved by either praise or criticism.

(please let me know if you've figured out how to effectively do this...)

i think we should kick all the pedestals down and realize that we all struggle with the same issues. different flavors maybe, but the same temptations. and we can either let them overcome us, or allow God to turn them into places of elevation into His presence.

we've got to get up and keep going. we were created for greatness...created to bring Him glory.

"just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...what do we do? we swim!" ~ dory, "finding nemo"