2021-11-28
Jeremiah 17:7 NKJV
Second, take action. There is an old saying “you can if you will.” Initiators don’t wait for others to motivate them. They know it’s their responsibility to move themselves forward beyond their comfort zone, and they make it a practice. President Theodore Roosevelt said, “There is nothing brilliant or outstanding in my record, except perhaps this one thing. I do the things I believe ought to be done. And when I make up my mind to do a thing, I act.” The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good [take action]; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness” (Psalm 37:3 NKJV).
Third, learn from your failures and keep moving forward. The good news for initiators is, they make things happen. The bad news is, they make lots of mistakes along the way. The greater your potential, the greater your chance for failure. Senator Robert Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Are you constantly on the lookout for opportunity, or do you wait for it to come to you? Are you willing to pray and take a step of faith, or do you endlessly analyze everything? As former chairman of Chrysler, Lee Iacocca said, “Even the correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late.” When was the last time you initiated something substantial in your life? If you haven’t moved yourself forward out of your comfort zone lately, you might have to jump-start your initiative. The Bible says, “He is [your] help and…shield” (Psalm 115:11 NKJV). That means God will help you to succeed. And when you fail, He will protect and redirect you.
Soul food: Gen 14:18; Ps 110; Heb 5:5-11
2021-11-17
Philippians 1:12 NLT
In his letter to the Philippian church, Paul wrote: ‘I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear’ (Philippines 1:12-14 NLT). Later on, he wrote, ‘Always be full of joy’ (Philippians 4:4 NLT).
It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing you’d write while in prison, but that’s exactly where Paul was. He couldn’t control his environment, but he chose an attitude that enabled him to overcome it. He chose to draw His peace from God and have faith. It can be difficult for us to lift our thoughts out of our immediate circumstances and fix them on God, but it can help if we remember that whatever’s happening around us, He’s always with us.
Paul reassures us with these words: ‘I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:38-39 NCV). Nothing has the power to stop God loving us, and even if the situation we’re in is anything but joyful, our faith in Him can bring a sense of inner peace that can’t be shaken.
The last words recorded in the Bible are these: ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen’ (Revelation 22:21 NKJV). Whatever happens, trust God – He’ll give us the grace to handle it.
2 Chr 12-15; John 11:28-37; Ps 50; Prov 26:27-28
2021-11-15
2 Corinthians 9:8 MSG
Insecurity destroys our self-esteem by making us feel unqualified and undeserving. It can make us feel afraid to let anyone know we’re less than perfect, so we resist being taught and take offence at honest criticism. The advice and constructive criticism that we need in order to grow become the last things we’re willing to accept. And if we don’t allow growth to take place, we’ll find it difficult to face increasing challenges and we won’t be empowered to seize opportunities that come our way. Deep down, we may feel incompetent, unaccepted, disapproved of, and rejected.
If our sense of well-being and confidence comes from any source (and that includes ourselves) other than God, it’s very likely that we’ll always struggle with insecurity. That’s why Paul wrote: ‘God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so…you’re ready for anything and everything, more than…ready to do what needs to be done.’ Another translation puts it this way: ‘God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work’ (NIV).
As long as we’re trusting in ourselves or in others, we’ll struggle with uncertainty and self-doubt. But the moment we start trusting in God and what He can do in us, with us, through us, and for us, we begin to feel differently about ourselves. As we spend more time with Him and learn to see ourselves through His eyes, His approval and love will fill our hearts, and we’ll be able to confidently say, ‘Lord, everything I need to succeed in life I have in you!’
2 Chr 5-7; John 11:1-16; Ps 83:9-18; Prov 26:17-22
2021-10-24
2 Timothy 3:5 NIV
Here are three more important lessons from the seven sons of Sceva: 1) Those around you aren’t necessarily with you. Just because somebody hangs out with you, admires you, and tries to emulate you, doesn’t mean they’re with you. These men followed Paul, studying his every move and trying to do what he did. But they had the wrong motives. They were never ‘with’ him at all. Are you concerned about losing certain people and are always trying to keep them happy, because you’re not sure if you can manage without them? John wrote, ‘They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us’ (1 John 2:19 NIV). When God removes a person who doesn’t belong in your life, trust Him; He knows what’s best.
2) Greater numbers don’t always mean greater effectiveness. These seven men together couldn’t do what one Spirit-empowered apostle did. And remember, their father was a chief priest, so they knew how to ‘do church’. They fulfilled the Scripture: ‘Having a form of godliness, but denying its power.’
3) Success isn’t as easy as it looks. Sceva’s sons showed up towards the end of Paul’s career. They weren’t there in the beginning when he was humbled on the Damascus Road, or trained for three-and-a-half years in the Arabian Desert. They were looking for shortcuts. Just because someone writes a book about success doesn’t mean we can achieve overnight what took years of experience on the part of the author. It’s not that God can’t give us instant success; it’s that we need time, training, and in some cases, a major overhaul to prepare us for it.
Exo 34:29-35; Mark 9:2-27; 2 Cor 3:7-18
2021-10-21
Isaiah 46:10 NLT
Do you remember doing dot-to-dot puzzles when you were little? The page starts with a collection of random-looking dots, but as you work through the puzzle, the picture gradually takes shape and makes sense.
God’s kingdom can sometimes seem like a dot-to-dot puzzle to us. We each have a unique part to play in it, but we can’t always see or understand where we fit in. But as God comes along and joins the dots, more and more of His plan is revealed, and we begin to see the goal He’s working towards, and get a better idea of why He’s doing things the way He is.
The difference is that when we start a dot-to-dot, we can’t make out the picture. But when God starts joining the dots, He goes into it knowing exactly what the finished picture is going to be, and moves us just where He needs us in order to make it happen. He says: ‘Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish’ (v.9-10 NLT).
From our perspective, we might not know why God’s steering us to connect with a certain person or prompting us to go a certain way. But we do need to trust Him, because only He knows all the details of how we fit in to His bigger picture. He sets the goal, then determines the route required to reach it. Each dot that He joins is a kingdom connection. So let’s try to be sensitive to His leading, and take joy in the fact that we have a unique part in His beautiful kingdom picture.
1 Tim 1-3; John 5:16-30; Ps 5; Prov 24:8-9
