I Give You Permission to Succeed

Now go and do something with it.

Coveting is not the same as Desiring

That wonderful carrot hangs out there on a stick by a string, just taunting you. You want it. Bad. But the stick and the string hold it just out of reach. How do you overcome these obstacles?

One of the obstacles that I see in the lives of Christians is the word covetous. We don't want to be covetous. Coveting is wrong. It transgresses the tenth of the Ten Commandments. We wouldn't do that. We won't do that.

But perhaps we have a wrong understanding of what it means to covet?

Let's look at the Bible verse:

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's." (Exodus 20)

I believe the key word here is neighbor. It's okay to desire a wife, just not your neighbor's wife. It's okay to desire an ox to help with the plowing, but it's not okay to want your neighbor's ox.

Do you see the difference? It's okay to desire a position within the company, just not your co-worker's position!

People with a poverty mindset believe that there is not enough ________ (fill in the blank) for everyone. In their minds, if you own a million dollar house, you are somehow robbing the local food bank. They think that there is only 'so much' money in the world. But this is a lie.

This same mindset says that there is only one ox in the world that can do what I need - my neighbor's! And, I will have it! There is only one car in the world that nice - my neighbor's! And, I will have it! There is only one lifestyle that wonderful - my neighbor's! And, I will have it!

But God is a God of plenty, and there is more than enough for all. He has created us to desire, to strive, to long for something better; these are traits that HE has given us! Desire looks at the wealth of God's creation, the supreme possibility that comes from a loving Creator, and wants more.

And that's okay.

Expansion

Expansion and enlargement are the natural byproducts of growth. And this applies to your choices as well. I mentioned before, there are two types of choices: those with power, and those without. Choices that are powerful are loaded with intention and commitment. Those that are powerless only appear to be choices, but they are not.

For example, you chose what clothes to put on this morning. Or did you? Was there really a choice involved? If your choice was merely 'choosing' the outfit that was clean, or the one that was closest to the front of the closet, or the one that you've worn a thousand times before when the weather was just as cool (or hot, or rainy) as it is today, was that really a choice?

If your choice is merely picking which well-worn path to walk, is that really using your power of choice? Didn't you make the choice about which outfit to wear when you purchased it at the store, when you added it to your closet in the first place?

And, then again, didn't you make that choice years before then when you made the choice to only buy certain outfits, certain sweaters, and certain brands? By limiting yourself to a certain subset within a broader category, you have purposefully stopped expansion. The cowboy who only wears Levi jeans has already chosen against designer jeans, so it doesn't matter what he picks to wear out of his dresser drawer, his choice is limited.

The power of intention is the personal power/confidence/inner strength that comes to us when we choose outside of our normal routine. It is a confidence that arrives as fear but then grows to something larger through acceptance. It is an inner growth that occurs when we allow our subset of choices to be increased.

Does that mean that the cowboy has to wear designer jeans every day? No, of course not. He does however have to be willing to change. If he's not able to change, then he's stuck. And that is not growth.


Assignment: Make a choice that is outside of your normal subset in a certain category. If you're going to a restaurant, then don't go to one of the five that you always go to - go somewhere completely different! If you're driving home from work, don't take the same route that you always take - take the long way! If you're applying for a job, apply for one that is completely outside of your comfort zone - you just might get! Join a new club, take a new class, visit a new friend, etc.

Expand your subset of choices, the subset that you chose decades ago, and watch yourself grow today!


I'd love to hear what you think.

Don't Look at the Wall

What do you do when you feel the tires of your race car start to slip, and you know you're heading toward the wall?

Ignore your instincts. Don't look at the wall. An accident will happen if you look at the wall. Your car wants to go wherever you look, so keep your eyes on the track.

You'll want to look at the wall. You'll want to look really bad. But keep your eyes on where you want to go!

Trust that your tires will catch in time. Trust that the car will straighten up.

Keep your eyes on the goal.

And don't look at the wall.

Trapped by the Sovereignty of God?

Have you ever felt trapped by the sovereignty of God? God is the Potter who has placed you onto his sculpting table. He pounds on you. He pushes at you. He rolls you under his strong hands, preparing you for some unknown work that he has for you to do.

You are softened by experiences, broken beyond the ability to harden yourself against him. He places your life on the turn table, and the world spins. Confusion reigns as left becomes right, up becomes down, and you pray for your world to stop spinning out of control.

Then, you are placed into a box. A kiln, actually. There are others in here with you. You are going to go through this together. Perhaps your group is your family, perhaps your group is comprised of co-workers; no matter, the lid is closed. You are trapped. God's hand has locked you in.

And the fire is turned up.

You want to escape, but you can't. You can't go forward. You can't go back. You're stuck, and you know it. And it's dark; there's no light at all. "Why?" you cry out. But there is no answer.

You are trapped by the sovereignty of God.

Eventually, the door will open. You will be taken out. You will be usable, perhaps beautiful with sparkling, glazed colors - the Potter's masterpiece.

Observation: While this is true in many circumstances, there are many times where we are trapped in kilns of our own making. We lack the creativity and courage to get ourselves out. Perhaps the lesson we are to learn is not one of endurance, perhaps it is that we need to take ownership of our lives, and get ourselves out.

God is our Father. He wants us to grow up into strong, whole human beings who shine forth the strength of the Lord and the wisdom of Christ. But if we never do anything but sit and wait to be rescued, are we really becoming more Christlike? Dependence is one thing, but helplessness is something else altogether. You were made to be free.

So rock yourself a little bit. Get yourself over against the wall of your kiln. Maybe work with some other pots to form a pyramid, and get yourselves up near the lid. Bang for help. Push, shove, and lift. Exert yourself and pray to God for strength and courage and wisdom.

If you really want it, I think that God will help you. Your lid will open, and you'll come forth shining. Maybe not as a pot, but as a son.


I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject. Have you ever experienced being trapped?

If You Think You Can't, You Must

The price of admission is - 'If you can't, you must.'

I've recently been watching Tony Robbins' television series, and fell in love with this motto. I did a little research, and found that the rest of the quote is:

'If you must, you can.'

Now, that is something to think about.

Taking Stewardship, I mean, Ownership of Your Life

In order to be a success, we must take ownership of our lives.

And right there, at the word ownership, many of you stumbled. You have been taught from the pulpit every Sunday since you were a child that you are to be a steward, NOT an owner. All of your talents, all of your material goods, all of your past, present and future - it all belongs to God. You are only a steward.

I have been taught the same thing. And, like many of you, I have taken my talent and buried it in the earth. Why? Simply because it isn't mine. It belongs to someone else. And, truth be told, I don't want to be responsible for stuff that belongs to someone else. What's in it for me?

When we take away ownership, we take away responsibility.

The Lord Jesus taught this truth in John 10, "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." Jesus takes responsibility for the sheep because he OWNS them!

The welfare department also knows this truth. When people don't OWN something, they don't take care of it. They ignore it, or they misuse it, or they abuse it. They don't wash it, paint it, weed it or fix it. Why should they? It's not theirs.

When your life is not your own, you don't take ownership of it!

Now, it is true that everything is God's. And it is true that we are stewards of all that God has given us. But we are also OWNERS.

Your life is yours! Own it! Grow it, feed it, wash it, or paint it. Enlarge it. Make it successful.

Think about this: Taking ownership of your life, is the very best way to be a steward of what God has given you.

p.s. My wife was just now telling me that as Europe was coming out of the Dark Ages and entering into the Renaissance, there was a resurgence in personal independence. These great Renaissance men, like Leonardo da Vinci, believed that they were stewards of the lives that God had given them, and that they were also co-creating themselves with God. They were both owners and stewards of their lives!


Leave me a comment, I'd like to hear what your thoughts are.

The Powerlessness of Unintended Choices

We each make a million choices every day. We choose what clothes to wear, what food to eat, what TV shows to watch, and how fast to drive. Every day we each make thousands of choices.

Or do we?

There is a wonderful secret to success known as the 'power of intention.' The New Agers state that when we are fully committed to a goal, the universe will help us to achieve it. But, they tell us, we must be fully committed. We must INTEND to achieve the goal. Wishy-washiness does not inspire the universe to help anyone. :)

Well, there is some truth to that. We are not to be double-minded (James 1), and we are to do things with all of our might (Ecclesiastes 9:10). And, God himself does reward us when we step out in faith to accomplish our goals. Faith means that we put ourselves out there. We step into the overflowing Jordan, knowing that failure means death, but we do it anyway. And the river parts. That is the power of intention. It is something that appears to be built into the spiritual fabric of our universe. It is a principle.

Jesus spoke about intention and commitment in Luke 9:62, "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Now, about those choices.

Are we really making a choice when we wear the same clothes that we've always worn, eat the same foods we've always eaten, and drive to the same job that we've always driven to? Are those choices or habits? Are they packed with the 'power of intention' or are they just so many ruts in a well-traveled road?

The power of intention lies in the choice to do something different. When you feel your knees knocking a little bit, when you've got something to lose but you do it anyway. When you step out in faith.

Intention without action is just a wish.

So, the question must be asked: When was the last time that you really made a choice?

Let me know about it.

How To Get Rid of the Stick and the String?

Carrots symbolize rewards and achievements. They represent success, but they also represent success that is always just out of reach. They are held there by a stick and a string.

This blog is about removing these obstacles to success.