Self-Preservation or Self-Sacrifice

Jesus and Peter.  Their journey took them, together, to the beautiful Garden of Gethsemane, but from there Jesus and Peter took very separate roads.  Jesus took the road of “self-sacrifice.”  Peter took the road of “self-preservation.”

Peter’s road avoided immediate danger and had immediate benefits.  Jesus’ road had some severe potholes.  Jesus felt the tug to take Peter’s route, but His choice to ‘stay on the path’ yielded greater benefits and, let’s face it, changed the world.

As you make difficult choices and decisions this week, choose the path of self-sacrifice over the path of self-preservation.  It is not as attractive and does not yield immediate benefits.  It generally proves hard; but staying on it will strengthen your character, reap lasting rewards and change your world for the better!

Excel

All of us say we want to excel.  We want to succeed, to be promoted, to win, to prosper, to lead the field.

What does it take to excel?  Well, “excel” is at the root of the word excellence, so to excel, our performance on every level must be excellent!

The notion of being excellent is to “rise above.”  Before you apply that to you ‘rising above’ everyone else, let me ask, “Does your work rise above others?  Do you exceed expectations in what you do?  Do you give the best of yourself in your relationships?”

One sure way of excelling is to heed the counsel of the Apostle Paul, “Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Col 3:23)  When you hold yourself to a spiritual standard, everything you do is guaranteed to be excellent.

The First Step to Freedom From Debt

Debt is an all too familiar albatross around the neck of too many in our post modern society, but debt is not new.  Before bankruptcies, there was debtors’ prison.  Can you imagine having to work for someone for years to pay off debts?  Oh, I guess we can.  That’s the reason a lot of us are chained to our 9 to 5’s. 

The wise King Solomon said that “The borrower is the servant to the lender.”  Yes, God is concerned about your debt, because when our lives are overwhelmed with it, we lack the freedom and abundance God wishes us to walk in.  His concern with out debt and its devastating effect on our lives and our future is the reason He instituted the Year of Jubilee.  This was a year when all debts were cancelled and people were given the opportunity to come out from under its oppression and start fresh.

If debt is overwhelming you personally or professionally, because Success is Spiritual, I believe God has a Jubilee for you.  I believe that if you are faithful in handling whatever debt you may have, God will give you a debt reduction plan.  He did it for a widow whose sons were on their way to debtor’s prison, in the Second book of Kings, chapter four.  He can do it for you.  Ask Him for wisdom in overcoming your debt and remain in consistent obedience to whatever He tells you to do.

Note: This is a wonderful site for financial wisdom: www.josephsangl.com/

You Can!!

Usually, when someone says, “You can’t do that,” they are really making a declaration about themselves.  They can’t 

That’s the way it was for David, just before he took out that giant, Goliath.  His brothers, yes, his own brothers, told him that he couldn’t do it.  They ridiculed his desire, and demeaned his effort.  After all, he was the ‘baby,’ which in itself implies a certain inferiority.  The truth of the matter was they couldn’t do it!  So they tried to saddle David with their limitations.

Do not let anyone who has never slain their own giant tell you that you cannot slay yours.  Do not let anyone make you live by their limitations, their fears or their lack of dreams and desires.  If you do, your life will be just as meager as theirs.

YOU CAN!!!

Let My Leaders God - Part 5

It is essential to understand that Moses’ appeal to Pharaoh, on behalf of the enslaved Hebrews, was not that Pharaoh would grant them their freedom from slavery, but that he would allow them to simply go three days journey into the desert to worship their God.  Revealed in Pharaoh’s refusal is the power struggle that genuine worship creates:  you cannot worship one God, then serve another god.  Who you worship and who you serve will be one-in-the-same. 

In other words, if Pharaoh released them to truly worship, they could never be slaves again. 

But before God could call the people into worship, the leader had to learn to worship first.

Moses spent many of his long days herding sheep in the desert regions of the Sinai mountains – the same area where he would later receive the 10 commandments.  Because of his responsibilities he only viewed it as a work place and failed to recognize it for what it truly was.

Moses was on the Mount of the Lord (Ex 3:1), standing on “holy ground.”  But he was so busy in his work that he didn’t see it as a place of worship.  He was consumed with business and missed the presence of God.

How true is that of us as leaders?  How often do we miss the worship of God doing the work of God?  How often do we miss the presence of God because we’re consumed with the present? 

God had to set a bush on fire to get Moses’ attention.  Then He had to invite Moses to stay awhile in His presence, “Take your shoes off.”

The greatest leadership responsibility is to spend time in the presence of God!  Without that all of our efforts are hollow.  It’s in worship that we are equipped for work.  It’s through time in worship that we are envisioned for leadership.  It’s in genuine worship that we discover our design.  And it’s only through worship that we receive directions for our destination.