The Blame Game

"There's no person on earth or devil in hell that can keep you from the greatness God has for you."  Joyce Meyer said this very early on in her message that she delivered at C3 2011.  It's something that has stirred in me since I heard it.  I knew something would grow from it and I knew that God wanted me to see something through it.  And over the last weeks God has gently nudged me towards what that phrase means for me and what I think it means for a lot of us.

Something else Joyce Meyer said is that God has placed greatness in all of us.  It was a nice statement to applaud and say Amen to.  But to believe? But to grab onto and claim as mine? It really wasn't even anything I thought about during her message.  But I have since.  And I've accepted that God has placed greatness in me.  I believe it.  And I believe I haven't even begun to see the fullness of that greatness in me.

But why do we (or maybe just I) have such a hard time believing that? Accepting that? And ACTING on that? It's the first statement that finally answered that for me.  We all go through "stuff" in life.  We all have people that wrong us.  While the difficulty or amount of "stuff" is different for each of us, the bottom line is that we ALL go through it.  As I reflected on Joyce's testimony, I realized the "stuff" she has overcome in her life to achieve her greatness.  She endured things that most of us can't even fathom and she has allowed God to bring greatness through it and in spite of it.

There have been times where I believe that I have caught a glimpse of the greatness that God has for me.  But one thing has always held me still.  My "stuff".  Or probably more accurately, the memories of my "stuff".  At times, when I've been "still", I've found myself blaming people from my past.  If so-and-so had not done this or had done that differently, or if this event hadn't happened...Then my life would be different.  Then I could achieve that greatness.

What I've come to realize is that the greatness that God has in store for me is a part of all that has shaped me.  I've always know that the combined experiences of my life have made me who I am today. Good or bad, they've all brought growth, change, perspective & hopefully some wisdom.  But I've allowed the devil to make me believe that it's taken away or lessened the greatness God has in store for me and through me.  I let myself believe that my chance to experience greatness was missed or lost.  Until now!

Now, I wholeheartedly believe that there is no person in this world that can change or take away the greatness that God has in store for me.  There is no event that take that greatness.  And there is no devil in hell, no matter how hard he tries, that can take away what God has in store for me.  My past does not  take away my greatness.  Past hurts, wrongs, mistakes and trials do not change what God has in store for me.  My God, who knows me to my core, says that he has GREAT plans for me.  He doesn't care about my past.  He sees my future.

I think that's something that a lot of us miss.  We need to hear that God's greatness in us didn't get taken away because of "stuff".  It's there for all of us. God's greatness is in ALL of us.

Give Your Best Today and I'll Better Your Best Tomorrow

Confession: I have control issues.  Not all around, just in certain areas.  But that part doesn't really matter, does it?

One of the biggest areas I feel those "issues" in my life is in my work at the church.  I try to control and plan everything so that nothing is left to chance, but what I really do is just try to do it my way and then see things not work out like I'd like.  See, I struggle sometimes with being "qualified" enough to serve in the ministry.  I know that sounds crazy, especially when you look at that band of misfits Jesus brought together to be His chosen 12.  But I know my shortcomings, I know my past.  And so does Satan.  So he uses it all to make me insecure.  Then I feel like I have to be in control to be "best".

Something that I've come to realize is that, while I think I'm doing my "best", I'm really just doing what I think is the next best idea to move the ministry forward.  The reason I say "best" that was is that I'm not stopping a lot of the time to ask God what His best is.  Lately I've come to recognize that about myself and have tried to approach the challenges/obstacles/every day with God's perspective as best I can.  And I've seen really positive results.  But inside my head, I still wrestle with the control.

While at C3 2011 one of the speakers, Judah Smith, said something that spoke so deeply to my control issues: "Give your best today, and I'll better your best tomorrow."  He said it was something God spoke to him at a time when he was struggling a bit with the how's of his ministry.  The irony is that Judah Smith wasn't speaking to control issues when he delivered his message.  But that's where it hit me.  Square in my control issues.

It actually allowed me to release my "control" over the ministry things (and some other areas as well) and just trust that if I seek God and give my best, He'll always come through and walk me to that next place.  I don't have to know what the next step is.  I don't have to know where to go next.  I don't have to know where my God given vision will take me.  I just have to trust that as long as I give my best, God will continue to better my best.

It's amazing the weight that lifts off of my shoulders at that thought.  I don't have to be in control.  God is.  And as long as I allow that, my best will be better tomorrow than it was today.  Not because it's my best, but because it's God's best.  So, give your best today, and allow God to better your best tomorrow!

Words of Wisdom...but not from me!

Our church staff spent Wednesday through Friday at C3 2011 at Fellowship Church in Grapevine.  To say that this conference was impactful is an understatement.  I'm certain that over the next days & weeks a number of blogs will come from what God did in me while I was there.  The easiest one to start with is the words of wisdom that I received from the dynamic speakers that spoke into my life in those 3 days.  The quotes are more just in the order I wrote them down in, not the level of impact they had.  And some may not make a lot of sense when you see them, but you'll probably see a full blog on those anyway!

"God promises to reward good works.  If you're good, they will find you.  Let the game come to you, in God's time." --Ed Young

"Leaders set people up for success." --Ed Young

"The popularity contest ended the day you surrendered your life to Christ.  Now you play for an audience of ONE!" --Ed & Lisa Young

"When pride walks on the stage, God walks off." --Ed Young

"Don't let what God has called you to do distract you from what God has called you to do." --Brian Houston

"Don't get distracted by disappointments.  God didn't say offences might come, He said they will come." --Brian Houston

"No mature Christian who is seasoned in the Word has a defendable excuse to live life offended!" --Brian Houston

"It is in the secrecy of your sin that the devil has his power." --Dr. Robi

"Use the talents & gifts God has given you in a creative way where God has placed you." --Kong Hee

"God knows how to find "the one" no matter the size of the crowd." --Steven Furtick

"The voice of doubt will come loudest from within.  It is my own insecurities that will sabotage what god wants to do in and through me." --Steven Furtick

"Don't be afraid, just believe." --Steven Furtick

"God doesn't see death, he sees the opportunity for resurrection.  God doesn't see defeat, he sees the opportunity for a monumental comeback." --Steven Furtick

"You don't have to fully understand to completely obey." --Steven Furtick

"There is no person on earth or devil on hell that can keep you from the greatness God has for you." --Joyce Meyer

"How my life turns out is not dependent on what others do to me or don't do for me." --Joyce Meyer

"God has put greatness in every one of us." --Joyce Meyer

"Do all you can do and let God do what you cannot do." --Joyce Meyer

"If you can't do anything else, WIGGLE!" --Joyce Meyer (Ok, maybe you had to be there for that one, but it's profound, I promise!)

"What are my personal affects going to be when my time is up?" --Joyce Meyer

"If you wanna see God show up, move to a place of obscurity because that's where God gets all the glory." --Shannon O'dell

"Your story is about to change." --Shannon O'dell

"God wants to do more for you than what you are currently asking for." --Judah Smith

"What your God has prepared for you exceeds even your wildest dreams." --Judah Smith

"Jesus chose drinks at a party to first manifest his glory and you question if he cares about your struggles and concerns?!" --Judah Smith

"Give your best today and I'll better your best tomorrow." --Judah Smith

"If you empty out everything that is inside of you, you will go to unprecedented places." --Bishop TD Jakes

"I can buy a good preacher, but I can't buy a great leader." --Bishop TD Jakes

"Get off the boat where it's safe and step into the unfamiliar." --Bishop TD Jakes

"If all you get [out of this conference] is what we teach, you've been cheated.  If while I'm speaking in generalizations, God has given you specifics, then you have been filled." --Bishop TD Jakes