(61)  “ALWAYS BRING SOMETHING TO THE TABLE”

One of the qualities I have been consciously working on in recent times is that of being someone whose life is characterised by bringing something to the table. In short, it is someone who adds value to the world in which they live wherever they go.
Recently, I initiated a conversation with the lady who serves me at my favourite Subway store and in the process, I learned that she had been working there for 21 years. Suddenly I felt a prompt to go and buy her a twenty first anniversary card and a box of chocolates to celebrate her years of service. Now she waves to me every time I walk through the food court.
I always buy extra copies of my favourite books to hand out to people to add value to their lives. I often stop to buy take away coffees to hand to people at the next meeting I will be attending.
People who bring something to the table are:-
generous, plan in advance, secure, intentional, bold, ask good questions, are well read and contribute intelligently to conversations, make a meeting more than a meeting, encourage, are servants, follow up after a meeting or conversation and know that they make themselves more valuable as they add value to others. They are like Jesus who said that He did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. Matthew 21:28.
So, live your life with the determination to always bring something to the table wherever you go.

_______________________________________________

(62)  “A LEADER IS A DEALER IN HOPE”

“The only way to lead people is to show them a future. A leader is a dealer in hope.”  Napoleon Bonaparte
There are many people in positions of leadership. There are few people who are actually leading.
Winston Churchill was a great leader who empowered his nation with hope. On one occasion he said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Christian leaders should be dealers in hope because they serve a God of hope. Paul writing to the church in Rome said, “May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
True leaders will develop a culture of hope when they see God given potential in ordinary people, when in times of difficulty they say it is always too soon to give up, when they paint a picture of an inspiring future, when they trust God for the resources that are required for a God sized vision.
If ever we are living in a time where we need to see a generation of leaders rise up who are dealers in hope, it is now. Leaders who can say with George Bernard Shaw, “You see things: and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were, and I say ’Why not?’”

____________________________________________________________

(63)  “IT’S NOT WHAT YOU DO, IT’S WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU DO”

On arrival at my new church, I soon discovered that a particular program was the most popular activity being conducted by the church. Not only that, but waiting lists existed for people wanting to join the program.
However, on closer scrutiny I discovered that not one person in the history of the group had discovered a life changing relationship with Jesus Christ or joined the fellowship of the church. At this point, we had two options. To discontinue the program or do some radical surgery to the program so that it served the purpose for which the church existed. We chose the latter.
From this experience, I learned some valuable lessons:
* Just because you are busy, it doesn’t mean to say that you are doing anything
* Don’t confuse programs with progress
* Everything rises and falls on Leadership
* Don’t compromise the purpose for which you exist
* It’s not what you do, it’s what you do with what you do

_______________________________________________

(64)  “WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DID SOMETHING FOR THE FIRST TIME?”

When was the last time you did something for the first time? I have come to the conclusion that Jesus lived a life that was predictably unpredictable and that those who follow Him will do likewise.
A careful reading of the New Testament Church has led me to believe that a follower of Jesus Christ is someone who is continually being led by God to meet people they have never met before, who go to places they have never been before to do things they have never done before with an impact they have never experienced before.
Consequently, I become a little nervous when I hear of comments like:
* But we’ve always done it that way
* If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it
* If only we could go back to the good old days
* I’ve always sat in this seat and I’m not changing now
One of the greatest creative persons who ever lived, Walt Disney, created the title of IMAGINEERS for particular people who worked for him. They had to be good engineers and good at imagining and they were paid to create great things that didn’t yet exist.
Christians have the most creative person in the world living inside of them, the Holy Spirit, whose role it is to help them see what God is doing and to partner with Him. Our role is just to follow the prompts and like Jesus, live a life that is predictably unpredictable.

_______________________________________________

(65)  “DEFINING MOMENTS”

Defining Moments are Tests or Experiences or Seasons that involve embracing a new challenge, or enduring great difficulties or overcoming some obstacle that requires Courage and Faith Steps and a determination to breakthrough at all costs and result in moving to a new level of growth, achievement, ability, influence, learning and future potential and ultimately an enlarged impact in the world.
Defining moments are usually unexpected, confronting and require us to make a decision that will impact our destiny.
The road of life is marked by critical defining moments. The road is never crowded, always upward and becomes narrower the further we travel. But to those who walk along it, it is a place of intimate fellowship with Jesus, and a place where our great purpose for living is shaped and unfolds and it is the road upon which we will ultimately hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master’s happiness!”
Matthew 24:21, 22

_______________________________________________

(66)  “IT’S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, IT’S WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW”

Mark Twain was credited with saying, “Some people are troubled by the things in the Bible they can’t understand. The things that trouble me are those that I can understand.” How true.
In my daily Bible reading program, I recently came to 1 Corinthians 13, the well-known love chapter. My initial reaction was to overlook this chapter as I was already quite familiar with it. But then I felt an inner prompting to spend time reflecting on it and to make a list of the qualities of love and score myself on how well I was doing. To my surprise, I listed thirteen qualities of love and humbly noted that improvement was needed in six of them.
In the process, I was reminded that one of the greatest dangers in any church is to educate people beyond their level of obedience. In fact, I believe one of the symptoms of the decline of a church is where learning and education become an end in themselves.
Jesus said, “But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand.” Matthew 7:26
“If you love me, obey my commandments.” John 15:14
James said, “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are fooling yourselves.” James 1:22.
Consequently, it’s not surprising that Jesus had some of His greatest battles with the academics and scholars of the scriptures in His day.
So, remember, it’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know that really counts.

_______________________________________________

(67)  “CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES, WISELY”

There came a time when I grew increasingly uncomfortable with the name of our church. It was the name given to the suburb by the developer when the church was first established, but was different to the actual registered name of the suburb. I was feeling that a new generation of people would not now recognise the location of the church by its name.
I began an informal discussion with the goal of identifying a more suitable name for our church that would be more appropriate for a new generation. However, it wasn’t long before I realised that for some people the issue was generating more heat than light and could compromise the momentum that we were experiencing. It was at this point that the words, “choose your battles wisely” caused me to consider a number of important issues.

1. Is the value of the outcome more important than the price I might need to pay in time and energy?
2. Will giving ourselves to this issue divert us from more important things and cause us to take our mind off the main thing?
3. Is this a bottom line issue that will serve the real purpose for which the church exists?
4. Is this matter being driven by my pride? After all, the Bible says, “with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11.2
5. Do I have the unanimous support of my leadership team?
6. If the decision is right, but what about the timing?
7. Could I win the battle but lose the war and could the confidence in my leadership that be compromised?
8. Have I prayed about this, and do I have a leading from God that is forming a conviction within me?

Ultimately, I chose to lay the issue down because I concluded that it is people who bring people to church. That is the surest way to reach newcomers who are likely to stay and integrate into the life of the church. And reputation is always more important than a name. I concluded that battles not fought are not lost, they are simply battles not worth fighting for. Sometimes unity is more important than being right. There were other battles that were worth fighting for, like the need to relocate into another property because we had outgrown our old property.
But on this occasion, I was glad that I chose my battle wisely, and with humility. I suggest that you do likewise.

______________________________________________

(68)  “HE SAVED THE BEST UNTIL LAST”

“………and the master of the banquet tasted the water that (Jesus) turned into wine…… Then he called the bridegroom and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best until now.’” John 2:8-10

As I recently read these words in my daily Bible journaling, I was deeply stirred and was prompted to write the following response with great conviction.

I live in a season of life that is commonly known as old age where:
* I feel a stirring to stand aside and take a back row seat and become a spectator.
* It is not expected that I will always stay on the cutting edge of growth, but rather be content to live in the past.
* I no longer need to see myself as a STEWARD of the gift of life that God has entrusted to me. Instead, I now can adopt the attitude of the OWNER who has a right to be free to live the remainder of my life as I choose to do.
* I gradually lose sight of the great purpose for which I was created and now am free to substitute more pleasurable pursuits which don’t fully satisfy and are subject to the law of diminishing returns.
* I could forget that one day (perhaps soon) I will stand before the Lord of the universe to give an account of the gift of my life.
OR ALTERNATIVELY:
* I serve a Saviour and Lord who has saved the best until last and I have now entered the most fulfilling season of my life.
*I choose to finish well and know a day is coming when I will pass into the presence of my Father God and say,
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” John 17:4 and I will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” Matthew 26:23

I am glad that with Jesus, it is possible that He saves the best until last. I commend His lifelong purposes to you.

_______________________________________________

 (69)  “AN AUDIENCE OF ONE”

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do – blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.” Matthew 6:1-2
I have learned that it is not just what we do in life that is important, but the motivation why we do it is just as important. And ultimately, we have two options. We can be people pleasers, or we can be God pleasers.
Jesus made it clear that to live our lives to please our heavenly audience of One was a far better option because it:
* avoids the impossible task of having to please everybody
* presupposes that we want to find our security and our identity in our love relationship with God who loves us unconditionally.
* releases us from the need to be appropriately recognised by others for all that we do
* says to the world: “I have only an audience of One. Before you I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain and nothing to lose.” Os Guiness
* guards against the temptation to compromise our standards because we think no one will notice
* removes confusing mixed messages “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24
I dedicate this WORD to my wife, Sue who day after day for the last 15 months has spent long hours caring for our daughter, usually arriving home after midnight every night. All she has had is an audience of One and the sustaining grace of God and the faithful prayers of some friends.

_______________________________________________

(70)  “THANK YOU”

“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!”  Psalm 118:1
One day as I was alone with the Lord in my daily devotions I heard a distinct voice stir within me. “Rod, you spend time with Me every day, which is commendable, but there is something missing. You never take time to thank Me for all I do for you and for who I am.”
Here was a defining moment where my life was changed and from that day onward, I resolved to start my journaling with thanksgiving. I would first of all spend time reflecting on the previous 24 hours and think of four things for which I could thank God and write down in my journal.
The great preacher Jonathan Edwards identified two types of thankfulness. “Natural gratitude” which is thanksgiving for blessings received. This is a good thing when all is going well. But Jonathan Edwards identified a deeper level of thankfulness he called “gracious gratitude.” This is where we give thanks, not for good things we have received, but for who God is – for His character. He is loving and forgiving and wise and unchanging.
Chuck Colson wrote, “This gracious gratitude for who God is also goes to the heart of who we are in Christ. It is relational rather than conditional. Though our world may shatter, we are secure in Him. People who are filled with such radical gratitude are unstoppable, irrepressible, overflowing with what C.S. Lewis called ‘the good infection’ – the supernatural, refreshing love of God that draws others to Him.”
Developing the discipline of an attitude of gratitude has given me better perspective, the ability to see my life through God’s eyes, and it has helped me start each day with a renewed, humble spirit. Psychologists have even proved that it is good for your health and mental wellbeing. It’s a great way to start your day. I commend it to you.

_______________________________________________