Three Ways to Give Back
THREE WAYS TO GIVE BACK
Time - Time is the greatest gift we can give. There’s only so much of it, and it shows what we value by how we prioritize. I’m always working to make time with God. I️ want to know His voice and hear His direction. Our ability to hear can change from season to season. Especially as we grow and gain more responsibility and become more busy. Another way to spend time with God is through prayer. F.B. Meyer said, “The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer.” I’ve spoken before about the importance of our concept of God and how big He really is. We need to pray to Him with an understanding of who He truly is. He is a big God and so much more intimate than the name God gives Him credit for. He cares about us with a deep love that we can’t even begin to comprehend.
Talents - This is one of my greatest passions. I love learning how to develop my strengths and talents. I️ want to be as effective as possible. It’s true the better you become as a leader the better those around become. If you don’t know your strengths, a great tool is Tom Rath’s book “Strength Finder 2.0.” Of course, there are many other great tools to help you develop your core strengths.
Treasure - We all have heard the statement, “where your treasure is there your heart is also.” How you spend your money shows what you treasure most. Just take some time and track your bank statements to see how you spend your money.
Thinking Patterns
THINKING PATTERNS
This is one of the first lessons I was taught while I was in recovery. It’s called the “Thinking Pattern.” We have all heard we are creatures of habits or all we are is a bundle of habits.
Think---Feel ---Act---Habit---Stronghold
Our most dominant thoughts create our reality. Do you ever think about what you’re thinking about? Or do you just think about whatever thoughts come into your mind? Today many people are walking around sleep walking. They have no idea what is motivating their behavior. In my life, the lack of intentional thinking almost cost me my life.
How did I change my thinking? I started by taking every thought captive. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ." Also, Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praise worthy think about such things." If you are serious about going from recovery to your destiny, it starts by taking hold of your thought life. I know this might sound extreme, but I promise it gets easier. Just take it one day at a time.
Hard Work Pays Off!
HARD WORK PAYS OFF
It's true that we live in a world of instant gratification. If you want something, you can order it and have it shipped to your house within a couple days. We have access to any information at any moment through the internet. However, with God things take time. I believe when we work hard for something we tend to keep it. God knows what it will take for us to achieve true life change while sustaining the change moving forward. Working hard helps us remember the pain it took to achieve a goal, dream, or desire. When we work hard and achieve a goal, we do not want to repeat that same work again. This forms a belief inside of us that says, “hard work pays off.” The word on the street is it takes around 66 days to form a habit, so if you want to change, you can. It takes having an intentional growth plan, which I will talk about in an upcoming chapter.
I want to give you three steps that can help you change your life.
Matthew 21:22 says whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you receive!
Ask. (It should be Big. Bold. & Audacious).
1 Corinthians 2:9 "But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
2. Believe (See it). What you believe should pull you out of bed in the morning. Your life plan should wake you up early. I heard someone once say "responsibility should wake you up everymorning.”
3. Receive (Feel it). Let yourself feel what it's like receiving the answer to your request. Let it travel from a thought to the emotional realm which drives your actions!
What do you believe?
"If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it." ~ Napoleon Hill
Jesus said “According to your faith will it be done with you,” - Matthew 9:29
Quick exercise: Close your eyes. I want you to get a picture of where you see yourself in five years (Take two or three minutes. Make sure you are relaxed as you think). Do this before going any further.
What did you see? Could you see anything? Did you find yourself wrestling to get an image? If you couldn't get an image, you might be scared of what you really want to see. The plans for your life could be so big you won’t allow yourself to see them. I heard someone once say, “The only real limitation is the one you set up in our own mind.” Let me say that again, “The only real limitation is the one you set up in your own mind.” Here’s a great quote by James Allen, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
How to change you
HOW TO CHANGE YOURSELF
Matthew 7:3
And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Let me say it again..And why do you look at the speck in your brothers eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
Why are we constantly evaluating others? Here's what I think. We are living in the most distracted time in history and if we are not careful we will scroll through the lives of others and never live our own life. We pass time by scrolling through the news feeds of others, and in our subconscious mind we are measuring our lives to others. I am not exempt from this. I'm constantly locking my phone up, fasting social media, and taking days to go dark (turning my phone off). If we are not careful we will never allow our hearts to go deep enough to hear the whisper of God.
Ripple affect illustration:
Have you ever thrown a rock into a pond? It will splash and then it will ripple. If we begin to change, we will see others change. That's why Ghandi says "Be the change you wish to see in the world." I heard someone once say "the price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change.” When I started to change my life by facing my addiction, I noticed that my entire family was starting to grow as well. As I started to become intentional about facing my issues, they began to take notice. If we truly want to impact the world we need to first impact ourselves. Even as I write, I’m in a season where I’m asking God to change me again, to transform my heart. There is nothing more important than influencing others to live their full potential. If we all started to change our own lives, think of the ripple affect that would happen throughout our communities. The serenity prayer says, “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference."
After being in a recovery program for a few months, I grew very close with a key volunteer. It was inspiring to see people volunteer their time to help others. The gentleman and I formed a friendship that still last today. Every month we meet for coffee and catch up on life. While in the program, we would always greet each other with “One day at a time.” Our goal was to be the first to remind the other that we could stay clean today. We didn’t have to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow had enough trouble of it’s own. That’s what the Bible says and I believe it ;).
What does the Bible say about identity..
What does the Bible say about identity?
2 Corinthians 5: 20-21
"Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
John 1:12
"Yet to all who did receive, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
Ephesians 1:5
"He predestined us for adoption to son ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will."
1 Peter 2:9
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you might declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."
1 John 3:1-2
"See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is because it did not know Him. Dear Friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we see Him as He is."
He loves you so much. He is in tune with you. He is pursuing you even at this moment. He has hand-picked you as His sons and daughters. You are His special possession. We are trained from a young age to pursue our dreams, get an education, get married, buy a home, and have kids. For most of us this is our worldview, however, we have to filter these dreams through our true identity. For example, we are ambassadors for Christ, co-workers to help spread His love with others. I believe in going after your dreams, but remember He created you with a specific mission that only you can accomplish (Jesus is at the center of it all).
True Identity…
Three months into a recovery program, I read this in one of the classes and it changed my life,
It’s called..My True Identity
“I believe......that in Christ Jesus all of my sins— past, present and future—have been completely forgiven. I have simply received His free gift by faith. There was nothing I could have ever done to earn it. And there is nothing I can ever do to lose it. His amazing love is absolutely unconditional.
In Christ I have been given a brand new identity. No longer am I in Adam. I am a new creation! Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father constantly interceding for me. He is never ashamed of me, and even when I fail He lovingly reminds me of whose I really am. The enemy no longer has any power over me because he was once and forever defeated at Calvary! When Satan tries to bring up my past to discourage me I will be prompted to immediately remind him of his future. Greater is the Lord Jesus who lives in me than he who temporarily rules this fallen, old world!
In Christ I am no longer a slave to my feelings. The truth about me is what God says REGARDLESS of my emotions. Since I now possess the mind of Christ I am no longer bound up in the lies of Satan. His tricks are readily exposed by the Holy Spirit, any and every thought that is presented to me must pass through a True/False “filter,”. If the thought is not pure, holy, and glorifying to my Father, it is clearly from the enemy. In the name of Jesus I will reject his ungodly thoughts and he must flee!
In Christ Jesus I have been raised to walk in newness of life. Abundant life. Eternal life. His life! In fact, I have already been made a citizen of Heaven! What joy fills my soul! Since my Father is always for me, who would dare come against me? I am more than a conqueror. The victory is already mine!
In Christ there is eternal hope. Worry and fear are no longer my constant companions. Since they are lies from Satan they are inconsistent with my true identity. I am now alive to Truth and dead to sin. Jesus is my all in all. He is everything to me. I will not worship any other person or thing. There is no one above Him. He is all I really need. He is my Way, my Truth, my life. He is enough!”