Tweet This is a recap of a devotional series I did some time ago on Jeremiah 18. Jeremiah 18, Part 1 Jeremiah 18, Part 2 Jeremiah 18, Part 3 Jeremiah…
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Do you seem to struggle to get where you hope to get in life? Do you watch as others accomplish their dreams, but yours never seem to materialize?
In my experience, there are a few common reasons people are held back from accomplishing their dreams, even their God-given dreams.
Here are 3 stumbling blocks to moving forward:
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days John 11:5-6
Oh…the stress of leadership…
Jesus chose to stay, even though His friends were hurting…
Not because He was cruel…
Not because He didn’t care…
We know it wasn’t easy on Jesus…
Most people who know me well know I like to run…
I have lots of other runners around me…
I get many invitations to run with other people…
I occasionally do, and have enjoyed the conversations…
But I generally prefer to run alone…
Why?
Let’s write a story together!
We did this last year and it was a lot of fun. You can read our finished story HERE. Several asked if we could repeat it. I’ve picked up a few readers since then, so this is new for some of you.
Here is how this works: (Please read carefully)
- I will write an opening set up sentence.
- You add the next line.
- You can only add one line until someone else adds a line.
- Please don’t try to write one long sentence that really is a paragraph. The fun is getting the different inputs and imagination to work together.
- You can add as many lines as you want, but only one at a time, and only with someone else having a line between yours.
- Please try to keep the story flowing. Your sentence can be light-hearted, funny, or even tragic, but please DO NOT add a sentence that stops the story or takes it in a bizarre direction in an effort to disrupt the story serious that commenters are writing or take it in an awkward direction. (There’s always one like this and I reserve the right to delete the comment if it appears that’s what is happening with the comment.)
- I will not be able to use crude or vulgar comments. (I realize that will limit some of you from participating, but…)
- Please add your sentence here on the post as a comment, not on Facebook and Twitter. This is the only way it will be added to the final story.
The goal here is to be creative and see where our imagination and the story takes us, yet write a credible, interesting story. After comments seem to be slowing, I’ll post the entire story in a separate post. If you leave your full name, I’ll give you credit in the excerpts. If you have a blog link when you add your comment, I’ll link to you also.
Have fun!
Here is the first sentence:
Jehoshaphat was a great king, because he followed the ways of God. In an incredible example of humility, Jehoshaphat was willing to admit, in front of the people he was leading, that he didn’t have all the answers.
When facing a powerful rival nation, Jehoshaphat prayed a prayer. This week’s memory verse comes from that prayer.
Here is this week’s memory verse:
Tweet I have traveled a fair amount the last few weeks and I’ve been thankful for the opportunities to speak at various conferences and events. When I’m on the road,…
Recently I was reposted my parenting model I’ve called “Grace Parenting”. You can read the article HERE.
One of the principles in my model is to Major on the Majors, Not on the Minors and I stated that there are certain non-negotiables I think a parent should enforce in their parenting. A reader commented on the post, asking, “What are the non-negotiables?”
Great question! For my family, these were mostly Biblical characteristics I wanted my boys to possess as adults, things most people would agree are a part of having a good, moral character.
Things such as:
There is one missing step that many teams forget…
You’ll find it in meetings…
In planning…
In goal-setting…
The missing step?
Asking “Who’s responsible?”
Who is the one person who will be help accountable for each task?
Many teams brainstorm wonderfully…
They come up with awesome plans…
But they never assign the person responsible…
For anything to be successful…
I see a growing interest in encouragement to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Gospel. I love that kind of passion. We see so many examples of it in Scripture and many are listed in the chronicles of faith in Hebrews Chapter 11. There have been a few times in my life where I’ve sensed a specific call to do something so drastic, so seemingly bizarre, so faith-stretching, that even thinking about those decisions today seems scary.
I wonder, however, if that expectation is unrealistic when applied to all of us at all times. Is it okay, should God allow it, to live a “normal” faith at times…to not feel like everything is on the line…but rather feel like you’re in a safe place…depending on a regular paycheck, in a steady job, with a healthy church…for example? Would that be considered okay and still be considered radical in your faith?
Just asking…
Recently I was reading John 7:1,
In an organizational setting, when little issues arise, I try to consider the bigger issue at stake. Not everything has a bigger context worth considering, but strategic leaders consistently consider if there is one.
For example, if a staff member makes an awkward, unusually negative comment during a meeting, I try to consider the bigger issue. Was he or she reflecting in the moment about something in their personal life, was the comment limited to the meeting, or is there something unspoken going on that could point to a bigger issue in the person’s life or the organization? I’ll most likely question this after the meeting.
If I receive criticism from someone I trust, is it limited to the matter being criticized, or is there a bigger, unspoken issue of concern? I’ll always try to discern what isn’t clear.
As a leader, I have learned that I don’t always get the full story. As much as I try to lead around that fact, some are afraid of hurting my feelings, are intimidated, or just fearful of speaking up with their true feelings.
I discipline myself to question or consider:
Tweet I read recently that the creators of Google weren’t looking to create Google when they discovered the complex way of indexing pages. They were working on a research project…
Tweet Recently, I shared with Grace Community Church the purpose of the church. I’m not sure we always get it right. What do you think the purpose of the church…
Tweet This week I encountered several people living in the bondage of the law. They were beating themselves up for not being able to maintain every rule, many of which…
A recent college graduate from our church sent me an email recently. She’s struggled with her spiritual past. She became a believer early in life, got off track for a while, and now she’s on fire for God, Her dilemma is whether she lost her salvation during that time. She wonders what would have happened to her eternally had she died during her time of wandering. She wanted to know why I believe in eternal security.
I realize I’m stepping in dangerous territory with this discussion question. This issue divides people theologically as much as any other. Some of my closest believing friends would disagree with me here, believing that one can lose their salvation, but I believe in eternal security.
Here is my quick answer to my friend: