Mark 10:

¹³And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. ¹⁴But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

¹⁵Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.¹⁶And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Let’s not forget what Christ taught us concerning children.

Matthew 18:

1At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

As I work on new goals for 2012 I asked myself, “What is success?  What would make me successful?”

My answer:

To me success is pleasing my God by following His laws, making others happy and helping His children along the way.   When we are successful we are blessed and happy with all that God has provided us.  Success is also achieving all that you were sent out to achieve.  Having freedom and the ability to do what you love every single day.  It is having peace of mind, wisdom, knowledge and courage to conquer, to overcome the enemy and triumph being part of the army of God.   In the end – it is knowing you will achieve and obtain your white robe and your crown and being rewarded for all your works.  That is what success is to me.  

In the end I want to be the one in Matthew 25:21:

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

It is important to know what the definition of success is for you – so you can stride towards this goal of being what you consider successful.

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

We are living in some crazy times.  The economy is on a roller coaster and seems as though it is about to derail at anytime.  We have more unemployed people than most of us have ever seen.   Yet – Black Friday also known as the “biggest shopping day of the year” brings in record breaking results.  People (at least some) still have money to go shopping to buy the newest gadgets and doo-dads.  The reason for this post is to stir your minds up about materialism and focusing all your efforts on your worldly ‘treasures’.

In Ecclesiastes 5 we read, “He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.” (verse 10).

No amount of money will ever bring you happiness.  You could have 1 billion dollars and that would not be enough.  You could have the coolest TV in the world or the coolest clothes, shoes, or watch.  Those things might bring you an immediate instant of gratitude – but you will not find happiness in them.

So what is the opposite of materialism and storing treasures on earth? 

Christ Speaking:

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Have you heard the saying, “If you want something – give it first?”   Or “If you want to be happy – make someone else happy.”

Where is your heart?  Where is your treasure?

Let’s look at Luke 12 (Jesus Speaking):

“Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (verses 33-34).

Alms are donations to people in need.

The more you give – the more you get.  I hope that your mind has been stirred up.

Here are some action steps:

1. Donate your clothes you don’t wear or other ‘things’ you don’t use to a shelter or charity.

2. Teach others how to be financially sound.

3. Give (time/money/food/shelter)  a little bit each month.

4. Go out of your way to make someone else happy.

5. Pray for someone everyday.

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” ~ Revelation 14:13

Store your treasures in heaven.

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

For those of you in sales I hope that you know what this closing technique is before I even tell you.   For those of you that are not in sales – it is a great strategy that helped Ben Franklin become as successful as he did.   You do not have to be in sales or selling something  to use this strategy – but it is very wise to understand the power of this technique if you are in sales or using it for personal decisions. 

The Close:

Because Franklin started the first insurance company so I will use that as my example.  Let’s pretend that I am an insurance agent and I am selling you car insurance.  For whatever reason you are ‘on the fence’ of whether or not to buy the insurance that I am offering you.  When I notice this behavior I offer a recommendation to help you make up your mind as to whether you should buy the insurance or not.  I take out a blank piece of paper and I draw a line right down the middle.  At the top on the left I write ”Pro’s” and on the right I write “Cons”.

I then proceed to write down a long list of the Pro’s of why you need  and should buy the car insurance.  When I am done – I slide the paper and pen over to you and I ask you to write down all the “Con’s” of why this decision does not make sense.  After you get done coming up with all the ideas (two or three) you will come to the obvious conclusion of whether or not it makes sense to buy the insurance.  Hopefully the Pro’s outnumbered the Con’s and it was a very easy decision at that point.

That is what is known as the Ben Franklin Close.  We can use it when trying to make important decisions in our personal life, career, goals, or at the sales transaction.

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

This post will be short and sweet but some simple verses that many people could and should consider:

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. ~ Prov 20:1

Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. ~ Prov 23:20-21

Next time you get over your limit – just remember what these verses say.

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

When you are working towards accomplishing your goals – make sure you keep your focus on ‘the carrot’.

What does this mean you ask?  When you set goals – know ‘why’ you set that goal.    The ‘why’ is your carrot.

If you set a goal to lose 20lbs – the reason ‘why’ you set this goal should drive you to achieve the goal.  Many people instead focus on everything else which makes that goal hard to accomplish.  They don’t want to get sweaty, it hurts, it’s hard work, you have to change clothes, it’s cold outside, you have other things you want to do, etc.

Instead understand ‘why’ you want to achieve this goal of losing 20lbs.  Maybe it is because you will feel better and have better energy.  Maybe it’s for your girlfriend of boyfriend so you look better.  Maybe it’s so your pants fit again.   Focus on these carrots instead of the excuses above and you will have a much better success rate of achieving your goal.

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

This morning I was scanning news articles in the Health Section and I came across an article that has the “Top 10 Fitness Goals” listed out.  I thought it was pretty good so I wanted to share them with you.

1. Run your first full or half marathon.

2. Run a 40 yard dash in 5 seconds.

3. Perform 50 push ups.

4. Reduce your waist size by 2 inches.

5. Participate in a triathlon. 

6. Go a week without eating any processed foods.

7. Aim to consume a fruit or vegtable with every meal for a month straight.

8. Learn a new sport.

9. Perform five full single-leg standing squats.

10. Decrease your body fat percent by 5%.

Source:  http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/10/02/top-10-fitness-goals/

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

When I tell people that inflation is coming and that we are going to see some tough days ahead – people often think i’m being negative or pessimistic.   The reality is if you prepare right and do what is wise – you are pretty optimistic because you know that you and your family or those around you will be okay.

Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad Poor Dad series) has some advice for you with the coming inflation.

Here is what he has to say:

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

Chances are you have heard the saying:  ”If you give a man a fish you feed him for one meal – but if you teach a man to fish you fed him for a lifetime”.

Hopefully if you ever find yourself in a situation where you are without food and you are near a lake or river you will either have the skill yourself (recommended) or be with someone who knows how to fish.  But it also helps if you know how to clean the fish so you can eat it.

Here is one simple way you can fillet a walleye.

Might be a good skill to have if you don’t already!

You might want one of these too:

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson

One of my mentors over the years has been Tony Robbins.  Most people have heard of him but very few have studied his works.

I came across this video and what I found most fascinating was the date of the video.  People thought times were bad back in 2008, that gas prices were high and making mortgage payments were difficult.  Looking back, 2008 was great compared to today – and in another few years we may be looking back at 2011 and talking about how great that was.

How can we use fear to our advantage though?  What can we do to be optimistic in tough times?

Watch Tony and learn from this interview:

God Bless!

Marcus Simonson