After surveying more than 10,000 people, the Gallup organization learned that people want four things from their leaders: trust, compassion, stability, and hope. Whether you consider yourself as the “touchy-feely type” or not, you can greatly influence others by showing you care and are willing to take action on the concerns and joys of somebody else. In short, regardless of your position, your influence rises and falls with the level of your compassion.
So how’s your level of compassion? Here are eleven questions to help you explore that: [click to continue…]
One of the most charming words in the English language is the word “promise.” Do you realize that so much of what we experience, of what we know about God, of our spiritual maturity, and of our success or failure in the Christian life has something to do with how we respond to the promises of God? Check this out:
Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God (2 Corinthians 7:1, NLT)
We do not want any of you to grow slack, but to follow the example of those who through sheer patient faith came to possess the promises (Hebrews 6:12, Phillips).
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires (2 Peter 1:4, NLT).
To put it simply, we are People of the Promise. So let me get nosey a minute. What are you trusting God to do today that only He can do? Where is the evidence in your life that God is keeping His word to you? What is there about your life that can only be explained by the faithfulness of a loving God?
The original card-carrier for People of the Promise was a man named Abraham. And we can learn some things from his example. [click to continue…]
(Get Out of the Boat, Part 2)
There’s a 92% chance that nobody will ever criticize you for playing it safe.
There’s an 11 out of 12 probability that when all hell’s breaking loose, it won’t be advisable for you to throw yourself headlong into something even more stressful.
There’s only an 8% likelihood the circumstances, life, people or even God would ever ask you to do something completely unprecedented, electrifyingly dangerous, or humanly impossible.
So you can probably just skip this post and resume your normal activities.
Unless…
Unless today’s that one-in-twelve – or once-in-a-lifetime – kind of day. [click to continue…]
(Part 1)
There come those times in the life of every Christ follower when we are faced with a set of choices. These aren’t salvation issues – far from it. But they are faith issues. Growth issues. Issues of maturity and usefulness and power.
One of those choices has to do with your strengths, or areas of confidence. It has to do with whether you will acknowledge that even in the places where you’re an outright genius, God may have a better idea. That maybe – just maybe – He’s even smarter than you are.
Another has to do with just the opposite – your areas of fear or insecurity. Will you be willing to leave the predictable, the safe, and the orderly to do something completely unprecedented if Jesus calls you there? Even if the people closest to you are telling you you’re a complete fool?
Still another has to do with having courage in the wake of failure. Will you believe the testimony of grace that Jesus declares over you, or will you give failure the final say in your life?
It all comes down, friends, to what you do with your boat. [click to continue…]
During World War II a South Sea Islander proudly displayed his Bible to an American GI. “We’ve outgrown that sort of thing,” the American replied.
“It’s a good thing we haven’t,” smiled the native. “If it wasn’t for this book, you’d have been a meal by now!”
Do you ever find yourself feeling restless or uncomfortable when you hear someone else quote the Bible in public? Do you find yourself at times living like the American GI, as though you’d “outgrown that sort of thing?”
The truth is, you never outgrow your need for the word of God because you never outgrow your need for the voice of God. Ever since the days of Eden, however, the enemy has tried to stand between us and our most authentic source of life.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Why is it so important to hear God speak? [click to continue…]
The world is full of complex, overwhelming problems.
It’s also full of all sizes and shapes of problem solvers. [click to continue…]
Take me again to the Chamber of the Beloved –
To the place where I can remember my place again.
Sing over me with love and delight.
Restore my soul, oh, restore my soul. [click to continue…]
Years ago I was shopping for a stereo and learned an interesting lesson in the store. I cranked up the volume on a set of speakers and was impressed with what I heard. But the sales assistant told me that even a mediocre set of speakers could do that. The measure of a speaker’s quality, he said, was how low you could turn the volume and still hear quality sound. Then taking the volume all the way to zero, he slowly raised the level. Before the dial reached “1” I was hearing a full range of music from a quality set of speakers.
The same idea is true in the spiritual realm, as no less than Elijah from scripture can testify. [click to continue…]
I think I’m going to do it again.
I think I’m skipping New Year’s Resolutions for something that for me and many others, has seemed to work much better. I’m referring to building my year around one simple, clear theme that reflects where my spiritual, mental and overall life wheels have been turning.
You can read more about the idea behind the idea here.
What’s interesting is that in establishing that one-word theme, you have no idea at the start where it may take you. My one word for this past year was Lean. You can read more about it here. This year I have learned much about leaning in, leaning on the Lord, and getting lean than I bargained for. Some of that was a case of seeing the light; some was a case of feeling the heat.
To be clear, I didn’t always lean well this year. But I learned more, experienced more, accomplished more, and was challenged more by that level of focus on that one word than if I had made a list of New Year’s resolutions.
So. What about now? What’s this year all about?
To get a clear idea, I knew I’d have to go to the Sanctuary – to that place where I seem to hear the Lord more clearly than anywhere else.
Time to head to the shower.
I happened to be in Athens, Georgia for my nephew’s wedding, and my hotel room just happened to have a shower readily available. So there in the steady spray of life and spirit made possible by the Holiday Inn Express, I began to wait on the Lord and search for my Descants of the Soul. What has been the “back beat” – the song behind the song – of my life over the most recent seasons?
If I had turned it into a dialogue between me and the Lord, it would have gone something like this: [click to continue…]
There are two kinds of productivity – productivity in the urgent and productivity in the important.
Productivity in the urgent involves deadlines…
checklists…
stress relief…
making a living. [click to continue…]
