Built on the Rock

From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:

What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to give over
100%. How about achieving 101%?

What equals 100% in life?

Here’s a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

and

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But,

A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

AND, look how far the love of God will take you

L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%

Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that: While Hard
work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there,
it’s the Love of God that will put you over the top!

We all wear faces.

Some people only ever see one face; while others ( often our families) only get to see another.

Are you brave enough to give all your faces back to God and ask him which face he gave you? Who did He create YOU to be? Are you living authentically?

Not authentically for yourself and your dreams, but for Him.

I asked Him that question recently, and quite honestly, it’s stirring up things that I didn’t ever want to visit again. It’s shown me some pretty ugly faces that I have had on…thinking that was “just how I was”.

But I walk on.

I know if I’m getting revelations from Him, it’s all for His good purpose in me. It might feel gross and icky now, but from it will come something beautiful.

Day 21 - The Final Word

As followers of Jesus Christ, we have all been given a Ministry and a Mission.

Our Ministry is our service to other believers, and our Mission is our service to those who do not yet know or believe in what Jesus has done for them.  No matter where your journey to fulfill your Hearts Desire leads you, you must always remember what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”.

Your Hearts Desire was placed there by God and can only be fulfilled by Him.  Your ability to surrender, to take direction, to move and to wait for Him are the pieces that need to come together for Him to work His full glory through you.

Did you know that God created everything for His own glory?  All who claim me as their God will come, for I have made them for my glory.  It was I who created them.  Isaiah 43:7 ( NLT)  Many people think they are achieving their Hearts Desires, and yet one day, wake up feeling empty because they did not allow the glory of God to shine in their accomplishments.

But you now know, that the achievement of your Hearts Desire lies in understanding the principles of God’s Word and in the fulfillment of His glory in your life.  Anytime you need encouragement, go to the Word.  Anytime you need fulfillment, go to the Word.  Anytime you need Focus, go to the Word.

His Word stands forever - 1 Peter 1:25 0 “God’s Word goes on and on forever.  This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.”(Message”

Know that you have been prayed for - by name if we have it.  Know that the God of the Universe has paused to hear your name and will pause to hear anything you need to tell Him.

Be blessed in your journey!

 

Day 20 - Tell

By now, you have done alot of thinking about Your Hearts Desire.  Perhaps you even modified it somewhat since you started this program 20 days ago.

Now it’s time to talk about it.

So many people avoid speaking about the dreams and their hopes for the fear that someone else will have something negative to say about it.  You may have done that in the past too.

Now however, you have 20 days of promises and teachings under your belt that help you stand up against those who would squash your dreams.  You know that you are operating under the power of God and that is enough for you.  You know that with Him all things are possible.  Matthew 19:26 “Jesus looked at them intently and said,”Humanly speaking it is impossible.  But with God everything is possible”

Begin to talk to those who would be most supportive first.  You will need them when you begin to take your bold steps.  As the ball gets rolling, begin to tell anyone and everyone who will listen.  Share your hopes and your dreams.  Share your visions and accomplishments.  Allow God to speak through you to enlighten other’s hearts and minds.  Be confident in His promises, in His grace and stand strong on His Word.

Quiet Time:  Who are you going to tell your Hearts Desires to?

Day 19 - Be Likewise Minded

God made us to be with other people.  The word “fellowship” means “an association of people who share common beliefs or activities”.

God knows that we need the encouragement of other people and He knows that in order to receive blessings from Him, we need to be willing vessels of blessings for others.

The best way to do this is to find a Bible believing church to attend on a regular basis.  Many churches have multiple Sunday or Weekend Services to accomodate busy schedules.  Most churches have programs that run throughout the week as well, that have been designed to offer additional Christian growth opportunities.

If you are already attending a church, take some time to seek out a Pastor or Leader who can continue this journey with you.  God has placed a very strong desire in your heart and you will need other godly people to walk through this with you.

If you are not attending a church regularly, begin to pray that God will lead you to the right church and then start doing some research.  Look on the internet, in the newspaper, or the Yellow Pages.  Sometimes He will lead us to a church down the street, but it could also be across town.  Be open to His guidance on this and then take the plunge and show up for a service.  You might be surprised at how God orchestrates our being at the right place at the right time!

Quiet Time:  Begin to pray that God lead you to the right church, or to the Leader who will be able to work through what you have been learning.

Further Activity:  Do the Work.  Either set an appointment to talk to somebody in your existing church, or get on with finding yourself one.

Day 18 - Bold Steps

We have come a long way and you have done a great job in sticking with these daily messages!  I hope that you have taken the time to do the journal exercises.  It is the time that we take to quiet our hearts, to pray, to read the Bible and to listen to God where we will see real changes take place.

If you are in a place where you think you need to review some of our lessons, or do them again, please feel free to do that….this is about you connecting with the Maker of the Universe, and that’s powerful stuff!

By now, you should have a pretty good picture of your Hearts Desire and even the next steps that are necessary to achieving it.  I particularly love the quote by Goethe “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it”

In Hebrews 11:1, it says “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen” (ASV).  That is where you are right now.  You don’t know what lies ahead, but you need to take the steps to begin moving anyway.  As long as you put your faith and trust in God, and stay in tune with His promises for your life, your journey will unfold before you.

Quiet Time:  :List off the three things that you know you must do in order to begin moving in the direction of your Hearts Desire.  Pray about each one of those to God and begin to study His Word for direction from Him.

Further Reading:  If you Want to Walk on Water, You have to Get out of the Boat - John Ortberg

Day 17 - The Path we Tread

Matthew 7:13 ” You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate.  The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way” (NLT)

God has told us in the Bible to not expect the Christian life to be an easy one.  In fact He has described it as choosing the narrow path.  It’s easy to walk on a wide path where everyone else is walking, but it is hard to be the only one on a narrow path where we can’t see around the next bend.

You may already be acutely aware that in order to achieve your Hearts Desire you need to be prepared to walk on a path that seems narrow.  You may not have alot of people going with you on this journey, and you may have never gotten started exactly for that reason.  You may have talked to some people about it and they’ve told you that you’re nuts to expect such great things…or that you don’t have the skills or abilities to make your dreams come true.  Well you know what?  You don’t.  But God does and our God of kept promises wants every good thing for you.

God gives us a beautiful promise in Jeremiah 29:11…”I know what I’m doing.  I have it all planned out - plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for” (Message).  He knows your Hearts Desire because He planted it there.  If we are walking the paths that are necessary, being guided by Him, we can be assured that we will both prosper and have hope for the future.

Quiet Time:  What are the skills or abilities that you think you are lacking in when it comes to achieving your Hearts Desire?

Take some time today to ask God for His supernatural strength in those areas.

 

Day 16 - WWJD?

 We are faced with choices every single day of our lives.  We have to choose how to react to our circumstances, we have to choose how to move forward and we have to choose hundreds ( possibly thousands!) of things each and every day.

There is a simple verse (by the Apostle Paul) in 1 Corinthians 4:16, which simply reads this:  “Therefore I urge you, imitate me”.

Wow.  What if we think of Jesus saying that?  That is such a simple instruction for the decisions we need to make.  If every choice, or decision we are faced with is responded to with “What would Jesus do?” it certainly clears up what the right or wrong choices might be.

So, in our careers, in our parenting, in our finances, in our relationships, let’s start asking the question “What would Jesus do?” and see how that will affect our outcomes.

It’s important that we study and get to know the character of Jesus.  A good book of the Bible to read for study is the Gospel of Mark.  As we do this and get to understand how Jesus made His decisions, and how he reacted to situations, our own choices will become easier to make.

Our main choice should be to leave God as the Center or Focus point of our lives.  By looking at the life of Jesus and praying for God’s daily intervention in our lives, we will be able to live in such a way that brings us into alignment with our Hearts Desires.

Quiet Time:  As you take another look at your Heart’s Desire, is there anything that you have to look at with a “What would Jesus do?” perspective?

Further Reading:  Read the book of Mark.

 

 

 

Day 15 - Follow the Leader

Mark 8:34-36 “Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead.  You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.  Don’t run from suffering’ embrace it.  Follow me and I’ll show you how.  Self-help is no help at all.  Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self.  What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?”

One of the hardest things for us to learn in obtaining our Hearts Desire, is that we are not in the drivers seat.  It’s a tough lesson to learn when most of us have grown up being told that we can do anything, we can have anything, we can be anything if only we work hard enough.

 That lesson has led many people to unfulfilled lives of working for more status, more money, more recognition, more parties, more stuff.  Then suddenly, they find themselves immersed in a world that just requires them to work harder to maintain and keep it all up. 

That’s not God’s plan for our life.  Yes, He wants us to work hard, but He wants us to work hard for eternal values, not earthly ones.  (John 9:4  We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines.  When the night falls, the workday is over).  We can get the best perspective on what eternal values He wants our time and energy poured into if only we ask Him.

Your Hearts Desire, was placed in you by God.

Quiet Time: How might your Hearts’ Desire look if it was based only on eternal values?  Are you sensing any changes that God is asking you to make as you seek to obain your Hearts Desire?

 

Day 14 - but I don’t FEEL any different….

 It’s tough to be nice when you don’t FEEL like being nice.  And it can be tough to continue in a faith walk with God when we don’t FEEL like things aren’t going right.  It is so easy to rely on our feelings and so hard to rely on facts.

The Bible is full of facts.  It shows us the way to walk, and it shows us the rewards of a faithful walk.  It also shows us the consequences of not walking the way God teaches us. 

So, when looking for your Hearts Desire, it can be tough when it doesn’t look like God is answering our prayers in just the way we had hoped.  And yet, that can be the time that God uses to reward us the most.  The simple act of trusing in His words and His facts is an act of worship that says “Hey God, I know that you have made promises to me and that you are a God that keeps His promises.  I trust you and Know that your plan is better than anything I could think up or dream for myself.”

Ephesians 3:20 - God can do anything you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us”.  ( Message)

I encourage you to keep praying to God about your Hearts Desire.  He promises us that He will meet our greatest desires.

Quiet time:  Where might you be having a tough time getting over a feeling?  What facts are in the Bible to support your Hearts Desire?

Further Reading:  Read Matthew 7:9-11