Live 360 with Tony Sutherland Tony Sutherland

Whenever I see someone struggling, failing, hurting, depressed, or lacking confidence I want to put my arm around their shoulder and start sharing things that will encourage them. This is that kind of podcast. I too have struggled, and I hope some of what I've learned in living over half of a century will help you. In this episode, we're going to look back at the TOP 7 podcasts of Season 2 of LIVE 360 and do a quick review of some of the key topics and points I've shared over the past 35 episodes. Strap on your seatbelt. We'll be traveling at the speed of sound for this one.

Some believe their best days are behind them, while others believe the best is yet to come. Yet, what we don't realize is that our best days are RIGHT NOW! That's right! our best days are right in front of our eyes but we can't see it because we're distracted by the circumstances surrounding us. We need to rise above SEE level. We walk by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). After listening to this podcast, I hope you will have a better perspective of the glorious hope you have right NOW (Ephesians 1:18). Your best days aren't behind or in front of you. Your best days are NOW!

Satan has a strategy to discourage believers. Yet, what he doesn’t know is that his typical schemes have already been figured out. While we shouldn't study the devil, we should be aware of what he is up to (Ephesians 6:10; 1 Peter 5:8). Satan’s two main strategies are 1. to attack God’s credibility and 2. weaken our faith. We should never be paranoid, but we should always be prepared. We all get discouraged from time to time, but we don’t have to stay discouraged all the time. Take courage! God’s plans always overshadow Satan‘s schemes. This episode will be just the grace lift you need.

Turning failure upward is an ongoing process. There’s so much to learn and so many wounds to recover from. However, sooner or later, you’re going to have to release all the regret and wrongdoing by others and yourself and get back up. Yes, it’s reasonable to have hurts and disappointments, but your destiny isn’t worth staying down. I'll be the first to admit, I’ve contemplated staying down many times in my own journey. Yet, it was at those moments that I had a choice: Would I stay down or would I get back up? I’ve hit rock bottom a few times in my life, but the good news is my rock bottom was always a new foundation for me to build upon. Although it felt like I would never recover, staying down was not an option for me. The same is true for you. I pray this episode will encourage you to get back up and be the better for it. Don't. Stay. Down.

Gearing up for what’s next.

The best way to get to where you want to go is to GET GOING! In Matthew 28:28, Jesus didn’t say, “Prepare to go into all the world.” He said, “GO into all the world.” A few years ago, after several delays in my lifetime, I finally decided to shake off procrastination and just get going. Procrastination is the path to regret. My life is proof that starting is far more powerful than being “ready.” If we fail to seize the moments, we’ll never experience momentum. We must learn to actively increase our response-time to the urgency of the moments God has given us. We can delay, but the sobering truth is time does not. You will arrive at a destination, but you can choose your destination rather than allow time or others to choose it for you.