God Is Getting You Ready

'...first sit down and estimate the cost...' Luke 14:28 NIV

Before God gives you more, He observes you with what you already have. Furthermore, when He speaks a word over your life it's like a seed; it needs time to take root and sprout. If God has planned it for you, don't be impatient; '...wait for it; because it will surely come...' (Habakkuk 2:3 KJV) Patience develops in us the ability to stand up to the pressures that accompany blessing. Look back; aren't some of the things you've been through the very things that have equipped you to handle what you have now? Had God given them to you sooner you couldn't have handled them, and He loves you too much to let that happen. Think: if you're having difficulty handling criticism from a few people, how would you cope if God made you pastor or company president? Are you ready to pay the price? And, more importantly, are you able to pay it? The more God gives you, the more He holds you responsible for. Jesus said, 'No man builds without counting the cost.' Sometimes we want things because others have them. You say you want a husband and children, for example-but are you ready to start living sacrificially? You say you need a wife, but are you ready to give yourself for her? (Ephesians 5:25) Whatever you're going through today, there's great peace in knowing that nothing the enemy does can pre-empt God's plan. So, 'Don't be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep travelling steadily along His pathway and in due season He will honor you with every blessing.' (Psalm 37:34 TLB) Rejoice; God is getting you ready.

Don't Be a Woodpecker

'Love is patient and kind...' 1 Corinthians 13:4 NLT
The space shuttle Discovery was once grounded-not by technical difficulties or lack of funding, but by woodpeckers! The birds found the insulating foam on the shuttle's external fuel tank irresistible. The foam is critical to the shuttle's performance. Without it, ice forms on the tank when it's filled with super-cold fuel; ice that can break free during lift-off and damage it. There's a lesson here. Often, our marriages are damaged not by big things such as infidelity, abuse or abandonment, but little things such as criticism, lack of respect, and taking each other for granted. Pecking away at your relationship keeps it from reaching the heights of happiness God has planned for you. Someone wisely observed, 'Before you criticize your spouse's taste, remember, they chose you.' You say, 'But I'm just stating the facts.' Oswald Chambers said, 'God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize one another, but that we may intercede [pray] for one another.' Nagging doesn't work; it only tears down your spouse's self-worth and security. People change only when they feel validated and understood. The Bible says, 'Love is patient and kind.' Instead of 'pecking', recall the qualities that attracted you to your spouse, build on them, and bring out the best in them. If you don't, who will? Paul writes, '...Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.' (Philippians 4:8 NLT) If you plan to stay married and be happy, these are time-tested principles.

'Teacher, Are You Motivated?'

'God has appointed...teachers...' 1 Corinthians 12:28 NKJV

I enjoyed this I hope you do to....Howard Hendricks points out that good teaching involves giving people responsibility with accountability: 'Our problem in the churches is that we don't do that. The United States government takes multi-million-dollar planes and puts them in the hands of kids nineteen years old; and when those same kids come to church we don't even let them take up the offering... Ever been in a courtroom where a will is being read? The reader is mumbling his way over the legal jargon, and everyone else in the room is half asleep-everyone, that is, except the person named in the will as the beneficiary... When your teaching has the learner's name written all over it-when he sees that, in effect, his name occurs throughout the book-it will make a big difference in his level of motivation... I am convinced that everyone-no exception-can be motivated to learn. But not at the same time, and by the same person, and not in the same way. The timing is crucial. Teaching is the assembling of a time bomb...marked for explosion at a later date and at a different location. That is why you need to walk by faith to be a good teacher, and you need a lot of patience. And you aren't God's answer to every individual. That is what the body of Christ is all about... I'm asked over and over again, How do I get a person motivated? I answer, When you sock someone with twenty thousand volts of electricity, they don't turn to you and ask, 'Did you say something?' No, they move!' The question is, 'Teacher, are you motivated?'

Teacher are You Motivated

'God has appointed...teachers...' 1 Corinthians 12:28 NKJV

I enjoyed this I hope you do to....Howard Hendricks points out that good teaching involves giving people responsibility with accountability: 'Our problem in the churches is that we don't do that. The United States government takes multi-million-dollar planes and puts them in the hands of kids nineteen years old; and when those same kids come to church we don't even let them take up the offering... Ever been in a courtroom where a will is being read? The reader is mumbling his way over the legal jargon, and everyone else in the room is half asleep-everyone, that is, except the person named in the will as the beneficiary... When your teaching has the learner's name written all over it-when he sees that, in effect, his name occurs throughout the book-it will make a big difference in his level of motivation... I am convinced that everyone-no exception-can be motivated to learn. But not at the same time, and by the same person, and not in the same way. The timing is crucial. Teaching is the assembling of a time bomb...marked for explosion at a later date and at a different location. That is why you need to walk by faith to be a good teacher, and you need a lot of patience. And you aren't God's answer to every individual. That is what the body of Christ is all about... I'm asked over and over again, How do I get a person motivated? I answer, When you sock someone with twenty thousand volts of electricity, they don't turn to you and ask, 'Did you say something?' No, they move!' The question is, 'Teacher, are you motivated?'

Knowing Your True Identity

'...his father called him Benjamin.' Genesis 35:18 KJV

When people label you, those labels can cause you to shrink instead of to stretch you to your full potential. But the God who gave Jacob a new identity can give you one too. Are you struggling with the old names people called you and the old images you have of yourself? Nothing will change in your life until it first changes in your mind. Jacob's wife Rachel died in the desert in childbirth. Just before she died she named her son Ben-Oni, which means 'son of my sorrow'. When the midwife handed him to his father Jacob, he said that he should not be called Ben-Oni, the son of my sorrow, but Benjamin, the son of the right hand (that is, son of power). Guess which name prevailed? Benjamin! Hear this: you are who God says you are, not who others say you are! If God didn't give you the name, it's not yours. Only believe what God says about you. Nobody understood better than Jacob the power of a name change. It was in God's presence that Jacob the trickster was re-named Israel, '...a prince...with God...' (Genesis 32:28 KJV) Christ breaks the power of every negative thing that attaches itself to you. 'You're a saint, not a sinner; not a loser but a winner.' When people try to label you, tell them you don't answer to that name any more. Tell them the person they're talking about died, was buried, and rose brand new in Christ. God sees you as a new creation, so start thinking, talking and acting like one!

Give it All You've Got!

 

'...this one thing I do...' Philippians 3:13 KJV

Ask yourself two questions. First, do I want God's best? It's not easy to rise up early while others sleep, and prepare for the challenge. Like Jesus in Gethsemane, you'll discover it's hard to find people who will stand with you while you're in preparation. But there can be no celebration without preparation. Not everybody can handle success. Some would rather have tranquility; they don't like criticism and they can't take the pressure. But if you want God's best you can have it. If you've the passion, the price won't stop you! You'll be drawn and driven toward the goal. Secondly, ask yourself: how strong is my desire? If you don't have the passion for it, you'll never overcome the obstacles. Real power comes from desire kindled in the furnace of unfilled longing. Long-distance runners take steady strides and focus on endurance, not just speed. They run each lap, stretch to their limits and give themselves to one thing-winning. Perspiration pours out of them. The taste of exhaustion is in their mouths. As they near the finishing line a final burst of energy kicks in. It's the last lap. No excuses; it's now or never! At least one time before they lay you in your casket, you owe it to God and yourself to experience that last-lap feeling of giving it all you've got. Victory doesn't come cheap. Paul writes, '...resist the enemy... Stand your ground, putting on the sturdy belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness... be fully prepared... Pray at all times.' (Ephesians 6:13-18 NLT)

'Thank God for My Freedom'

'Christ has made us free...' Galatians 5:1 NKJV

History records dark chapters when godless tyrants ruled and religious dictators made it a crime to read the Bible or worship God according to the dictates of your conscience. In 1945, Martin Niemoeller said, 'When the Nazis came for the communists, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. When they came for the Jews, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. When they came for the trade unionists, I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. When they came for the Catholics, I didn't speak up because I was Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for anybody.' On the top of the Capitol Dome in Washington DC is a statue of Lady Freedom. Her face is framed in a crest of stars and she's holding a shield of stars and stripes in her hand. She was shipped from Rome, and during a fierce storm the captain ordered some cargo thrown overboard. The sailors wanted to ditch Lady Freedom, but the captain is said to have refused, shouting above the wind, 'Never! We'll founder before we throw freedom away!' Benjamin Franklin said that those who give up liberty for safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety! Speaking to the believers in Galatia, Paul addresses the legalists who wanted to force them to go back and live under the impossible standards of the old law. He writes, '...Christ made us free. So stand strong. Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law.' (Galatians 5:1 NCV) Today you need to stop, look up and say, 'Thank God for my freedom!'