Week 12: Success
The greatest hindrance to success is unbelief.
1 John 5: 4
You won’t do what you believe you can’t do. But, Jesus says in Mark 9: 23 “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.” If this is a given how do we insure we believe in what is true? And, how do we strengthen our beliefs so we overcome the hindrances of unbelief?
The Apostle Paul gives us the answer to the first question: “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10: 17). The second answer Jesus tells his disciples is through prayer and fasting.
The Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi said, “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will”. What means of grace, what spiritual disciplines exercise your will towards greater success? What will you do today to get in better spiritual shape?
What means of grace, what spiritual disciplines are you using to exercise your will towards greater success?
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Concentrate on Your Calling
Week 11: Confidence
The surest way to become confident is to concentrate on your own calling.
John 4: 34
God will lead you. Find out where your faith and God’s future for you fit together. What brings you joy? What gives you peace and satisfaction? What are you compelled to do more and compels more out of you? Chase it down, take hold of it and see how far it pulls you forward.
Jesus tells us if we will learn from this proverb what was muddled and confusing to us before will begin to become clear. We will be able to see the fields ahead of us and we will know what we need to do. List some ways you can concentrate on your calling, today.
The surest way to become confident is to concentrate on your own calling.
John 4: 34
God will lead you. Find out where your faith and God’s future for you fit together. What brings you joy? What gives you peace and satisfaction? What are you compelled to do more and compels more out of you? Chase it down, take hold of it and see how far it pulls you forward.
Jesus tells us if we will learn from this proverb what was muddled and confusing to us before will begin to become clear. We will be able to see the fields ahead of us and we will know what we need to do. List some ways you can concentrate on your calling, today.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Go,Get the Shovel
Week 11: Confidence
Go, get the shovel.
I Kings 17: 9-16, James 1: 19
Be confident. If you can notice a mess, you can clean it up. If you can identify a problem, you can remedy it. If you can face the difficulty, you can overcome it. Peter T. Mcintyre wrote, “Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” Even if you make the mess yourself, that means you have greater knowledge about how things got the way they are. Don’t delay and deepen the problem. Go, get the shovel.
What little spills of anger, or worry, or stupidity do you need to clean up before they become even bigger messes? Is anything else stinking up your life? Go, get the shovel. You may not be able to clean everything up today but you can make a start. How much do you think you’ll get done?
Go, get the shovel.
I Kings 17: 9-16, James 1: 19
Be confident. If you can notice a mess, you can clean it up. If you can identify a problem, you can remedy it. If you can face the difficulty, you can overcome it. Peter T. Mcintyre wrote, “Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.” Even if you make the mess yourself, that means you have greater knowledge about how things got the way they are. Don’t delay and deepen the problem. Go, get the shovel.
What little spills of anger, or worry, or stupidity do you need to clean up before they become even bigger messes? Is anything else stinking up your life? Go, get the shovel. You may not be able to clean everything up today but you can make a start. How much do you think you’ll get done?
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas!
Dear Friends:
More than New Year's with all of its resolutions, Christmas carries with it a more powerful incentive for making a fresh start. Christmas brings the Redeemer to us. Christmas gives us Jesus, our savior, the one who frees us from our sin.
Yes, it is Christmas where we find the source of Life. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. There is a star that guides wise men from the east to worship him. We are called to worship him, too.
Yes, it is Christmas where we learn how to frame our lives by God's salvation.
Merry Christmas!
More than New Year's with all of its resolutions, Christmas carries with it a more powerful incentive for making a fresh start. Christmas brings the Redeemer to us. Christmas gives us Jesus, our savior, the one who frees us from our sin.
Yes, it is Christmas where we find the source of Life. He is wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. There is a star that guides wise men from the east to worship him. We are called to worship him, too.
Yes, it is Christmas where we learn how to frame our lives by God's salvation.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
You've Got to Have Faith!
Week 11: Confidence
You’ve got to have faith!
Mark 11: 22-26, Hebrews 11: 6
You’ve got to have faith because; it’s not what you pour into a man that makes him who he is, but what pours out of him that does. Mountains don’t move unless they are forced out of their resting place by your faith. Faith doesn’t pour forth from you unless it fills up your heart. For good measure, ask Jesus to fill you again!
Every time you can think of a hindrance to your success, look for and find a promise of God that overrules it. Write them here. Go back to days #13 (September 19th), #16 (September 22nd), and yesterday if you need to see what you are reaching for.
You’ve got to have faith!
Mark 11: 22-26, Hebrews 11: 6
You’ve got to have faith because; it’s not what you pour into a man that makes him who he is, but what pours out of him that does. Mountains don’t move unless they are forced out of their resting place by your faith. Faith doesn’t pour forth from you unless it fills up your heart. For good measure, ask Jesus to fill you again!
Every time you can think of a hindrance to your success, look for and find a promise of God that overrules it. Write them here. Go back to days #13 (September 19th), #16 (September 22nd), and yesterday if you need to see what you are reaching for.
Friday, December 23, 2011
I Believe in You
Week 11: Confidence
I believe in you.
Romans 4: 16-25
I have always been a dreamer. I’ve always had big plans and grandiose schemes. I had recorded music but was deeply in debt because of it. Most of that money I owed to Daddy. Yet, as I shared my latest pursuit and how it would work, this is the sentence he passed over me, “I believe in you.”
These words were part of the last long conversation we had the week before my Daddy died. This is his legacy and my confidence. That hope and pursuit I shared with him that day has taken over four years to realize but… What dream is God giving you? Just in case no one has told you lately, “I believe in you.”
I believe in you.
Romans 4: 16-25
I have always been a dreamer. I’ve always had big plans and grandiose schemes. I had recorded music but was deeply in debt because of it. Most of that money I owed to Daddy. Yet, as I shared my latest pursuit and how it would work, this is the sentence he passed over me, “I believe in you.”
These words were part of the last long conversation we had the week before my Daddy died. This is his legacy and my confidence. That hope and pursuit I shared with him that day has taken over four years to realize but… What dream is God giving you? Just in case no one has told you lately, “I believe in you.”
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Do What I Do
Week 11: Confidence
Do what I do.
John 14: 26, 12
This is our confidence: Jesus is Lord. We are his followers. Jesus even told his disciples to wait until they were clothed with power from on high then, they would be witnesses. We receive that same promise. We receive that same power to do what Jesus did.
This is how I learned almost everything on the farm. Daddy would do something, turn to me and say, “Do what I do.” What is your Heavenly Father turning and telling you to do? Have you received power from on high to do it?
Do what I do.
John 14: 26, 12
This is our confidence: Jesus is Lord. We are his followers. Jesus even told his disciples to wait until they were clothed with power from on high then, they would be witnesses. We receive that same promise. We receive that same power to do what Jesus did.
This is how I learned almost everything on the farm. Daddy would do something, turn to me and say, “Do what I do.” What is your Heavenly Father turning and telling you to do? Have you received power from on high to do it?
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