My phone rings. I see the name. I know they need something. Otherwise they never call.
They may need a variety of favors: someone’s phone number, help with some task, or they need money. And as much as possible, I try to help.
After all, Jesus said “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Others connect just to stay connected. Some call and simply ask about us, our children, ministry, and how we are doing overall.
Some will even speak words of blessing over us. Others pray for us over the phone. Those are refreshing phone calls.
Go ahead – refresh someone’s heart today.
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Never underestimate your own vision. It’s vital and gets you up and moving in the morning. Don’t sacrifice yours for anything.
Our vision keeps us together and working for a common purpose. Without a common vision, we’d be scattered without direction.
His (God’s) vision for us represents his purpose for our existence. Without it, we’d have no significance. Life would have no purpose.
Yours, ours and His vision must converge to produce greater results than you’d ever imagine.
Words like Convergence, synthesis, collaboration, and synergy come to mind in a special way. Imagine the beauty of combining your vision and our vision with the Divine vision.
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The agony is unbearable. You don’t have an answer for those who question your faith and even your salvation – because of your suffering.
You’ve prayed endless prayers and sought out specialists who would pray with a “special anointing.” Confession and heart searching continues even now. But your pain and suffering continues.
The Israelites suffered for over 400 years in brutal slavery. After being released, God pointed out an important significance for them. They were to remember their slavery and have compassion on others. God’s instruction was clear:“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9, cf. 22:21)
Compassion – it’s often connected to your own pain and suffering. Look for opportunities to express and live our that compassion. It’s costly. You paid a great price. Jesus paid an even greater price.
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Usually its those with a lot of free time in their hands. They are easily offended no matter what happens. Those around them are careful with every word they speak, as they know they are “walking on eggshells.”
Truly they are an offense waiting to happen. Don’t live to appease these people. They’ll never be satisfied. Regardless of how far you go to be careful and non-offensive to these people, it will never work.
Release yourself from their invisible grip and control over you. Be free to live your life as you need to. Once you are free from their grip, you can be focused in your purpose. Otherwise, your purpose will be to satisfy them.
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A genuine desire to please God drives people to wear themselves out for God. But God is already pleased with you because you are his child.
There is a prevailing idea that the vision God placed in your heart will be left undone for eternity if you don’t do your maximum. Remember, if God has placed a vision in your heart, he also knows that you only have 24 hours in a day.
Some are convinced that the Kingdom of God advances according to the effort they put in. But God’s Spirit is already at work in this world and was active before we showed up. We simply have the privilege of joining him in his task.
Still others find significance in busyness. The more busy they are, the more useful and important. This is a subconscious, internal need that drives people to wear themselves out.
Moses sat to judge the people till the evening. This was the only solution he could find. He couldn’t think of it any other way. Until Jethro came and helped him to see things differently. (Exo 18:18)
For every person, there is a Jethro speaking sense into them. Only a few listen. Most ignore the message.
Please. Listen to this Jethro.
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It was a large international airport. Lots of people with uniforms. I asked for directions to four people. Three out of four gave me the wrong directions. Three times we wandered around, misdirected.
Their uniforms looked good. The people looked important. But they didn’t know the answer. I suppose they were just confused.
No, they don’t need to know all the answers. But there seems to be an “international” expectation that one should know all the answers. Thus the reason they spoke up and gave the wrong answer.
But its better to say “Sorry, I don’t know.”
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Move forward. Use every tool in your possession that will help you stay focused on your vision and to progress.
Don’t argue. Don’t say “after all I’ve done for you” to make them feel guilty. Making them feel guilty may make you feel good. But you just get stuck in emotions and arguments.
When his followers quarrelled with Moses, this is exactly what God told him to do. (Exodus 17:4-5)
Move forward. Stay focused on your vision.
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This takes lots of practice, but it is worth the effort.
Things around you may be chaotic, but learn to be still. Don’t become “chaotic” along with your environment. You are not your environment.
Stand straight. Be still. And behave as the person you are. Allow the surroundings to be as it is, but you be as you are.
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Savings is not unbiblical but worry is. When the Israelites gathered more Mana than they needed for one day, God was displeased. It signified that they did not trust God. They already had an issue of distrust. Whenever they faced any difficulty, they grumbled against Moses. This daily provision was much beyond provision. It was a daily lesson of God’s ability to take care is them.
Worry signifies distrust in God to take care of us.
See Exodus 16.
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On a recent travel, I counted the number of times people checked my boarding pass. As I stepped into the aircraft, the flight attendant was the 12th one to ask for my boarding pass. Why so many times?
Here are some possibilities why I had to show my boarding pass to 12 different people.- To be thorough. They want to make sure that the right person is entering the right flight.
- To be sure. They want to avoid unticketed passengers entering the flight.
- To provide more jobs. Now, this is certainly a good hearted effort on their part.
- Lack of trust. They don’t trust any of those 12 people to do their job properly. So, they want to cross-check to see where a mistake has occurred.
- Lower pay. If you have many people doing a job that one or two properly trained people could accomplish, you must not be paying them much.
- Lower skill. Due to the lower pay, you have employees at a lower skill strata.
I have two thoughts on this issue. First, the authorities want to make sure things are done appropriately. Second, there is a lack of trust in the employees to do their jobs efficiently.
How much do you invest in your people? Do all it takes to make them competent. Then hold them accountable. Expect quality.
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