Month: February 2017

Our flight home from Los Angeles was on an older 737 air plane. There was only one video screen for every three rows with one program for everyone to watch. During the time the free cookies and drinks were distributed I watched the game show which was playing. I had never seen the program, “The Wall” before. At the end of this program the wife had a choice to make between a guaranteed amount of money or whatever amount of money the husband may or may not have acquired as the result of the chance dropping of balls down a wall. In this case it was a choice between $115,000.00 or nothing. The wife gambled on big money and they walked away with nothing.

We have the opportunity to make choices every day that will lead to outcomes. In those choices there are no real guarantees. We can operate on assumptions sometimes from probabilities, because we know there are universal laws and principles at work. However, the unknown variables can influence and change predicted outcomes.

So what do we do? Sit frozen in fear unable to make any decisions and just play it safe; throw caution to the wind and move forward recklessly; or, chose something down the middle. Ultimately you will make your own decision and no one should judge you for it.

The application of wisdom might provide some insights into what your choice should be, but in the end you will be the recipient of the outcome.

Perhaps our best option lies in the commitment to make the most positive response possible to whatever the outcome, because we have the faith that what the Apostle Paul states in Romans 8:28 really does apply and is the answer to every situation. (Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”)

As I write this, I am sitting in the Los Angeles airport waiting to fly home after spending three days of very profitable, amazing, intense training with the Mentor’s Mentor, Joel Bauer. I felt privileged to be part of a small group of enthusiastic and dedicated entrepreneurs who are committed to serving others and making this world a better place to live.

I want to share with you an important concept you can benefit from today, if you are willing to take a bit of time to implement it.

You have a history. What you do with that history will determine negative or positive power and impact on your story and your life. It was interesting to hear the stories of a number of people whose histories would have been perceived as difficult or tragic by many others, but due to a choice they made, it has been turned into a powerful motivational foundation to serve and empower others to be, do and have a blessed and fulfilled life. What will you do to craft your history into a story which benefits and helps others?

When you read the Word of God, the Bible, you have an opportunity to learn the histories of many different people and how they developed their stories. Not all of them ended well. Some did. This provides you, if you are willing to learn from both their failures and their successes, the opportunity to make better decisions in your life right now. By doing this you save yourself years of trial and errors in an attempt to find the solutions which bring you to where you really want to be. You have the ability to see from theirs stories the outcomes of their lives. By paying attention you have the ability to benefit from both what they did and what they did not do. You can gain insights about what brings the favour and blessings of God into life. For me, that is a very valuable tool.

Your willingness to consider who you will listen to and learn from, is very important and valuable to your ultimate success in life, both now and in the eternal future. Also, your willingness to follow through is important as well. What will you do with your history? How will you craft your story? What kind of impact do you desire to create in the process of influencing and impacting the world around you?

I was thinking the other day about the perception of life of an animal born in captivity from that of a similar animal who lives its life in freedom. This is not an article for or against the concept of zoos or marine aquariums. It is about our willingness to consider how our perceptions are created and how we live out our lives.

We are told in North America at least, we live in a democratic society where we have the freedom to chose how we will live and what we will do. I am realizing more and more that while the potential for this may be true, the reality is far less different for many people.

If you have the courage, ask your friends and acquaintances whether they spend the working hours of the day doing what they like to do, or doing a job, to get a pay cheque so they can pay the bills, eat and keep a roof over their head. Each week they repeat the same thing over again with little hope, beyond maybe winning a lottery, of ever seeing much change for the rest of their lives.

When you realize there are systems in place, whether through taxation, media propaganda, or the educational system that are designed to keep you in this status quo state so you will continue to be contained and controlled in terms of your actual freedom, it might be time to learn how you can change the situation.

Ultimately the choice is yours. You are 100% responsible for where you are and therefore you have the ability to make changes to increase your level of freedom, if you desire to. Learning the power of the inherited nature of sin in reducing your freedom and the fact a solution is available for this situation is important.

Your doorway to personal freedom begins when you are willing to say YES to a relationship with Jesus. Why do you think there has been so much opposition to what the Bible has to say about solutions and freedom down through the years? Could it be there are powers in this world which do not want you to obtain the freedom God has to offer? Your perception impacts your decisions.

If you continue to do what you have always done you will continue to get what you have always got. Learn how to truly become free. Isaiah 55:6-7 declares, “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. {7} Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” Your pardon and path to freedom awaits you if you will accept it.

Les Brown repeatedly declares, “You have greatness within you.” As I listen to people speak I am not sure how many really believe that to be true. Nelson Mandela quoted the words of Marianne Williamson from “Return to Love”

Our Greatest Fear it is our light not our darkness that most frightens us
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

Living with a sense of humility does not mean we diminish ourselves. To do so is to criticize the One who created us. Choosing to understand who we are as being created in the image of God is important. Being willing to accept each one of us has been impacted by the disobedience and rebellion of Adam and Eve provides an opportunity for us to accept the benefits of what Jesus accomplished on the Cross of Calvary.

Most people do not understand they are living in a small prison cell where their mental, emotional, physical, financial and spiritual freedom has been taken away. They think the bondage created by sin is normal and natural. They believe the limitations programmed into their subconscious mind and acted out daily is how God meant life to be. John declares the words of Jesus who said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (10:10).

True freedom is alive and well and is available to everyone who is willing to learn how. It starts when you are willing to say YES to the relationship with Jesus. It is only then you will begin the process of developing the greatness God has placed within you.

Beyond what you do know, have you considered that there may be much you don’t know. A “discerning heart seeks knowledge” (Proverbs 15:14). Knowledge in itself does not benefit anyone if they do not put it into action and use. In fact to know and not to do is not to know. Teachability index is about your willingness to learn and your willingness to change in the process of becoming more than you currently are. When you refuse to take action on what you know you ought to do, you are placing roadblocks in your way to future growth and blessings. We are instructed in James 4:17, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” Sin is a blockage to your blessings and as such is a stop to your advancement. You are not just hurting yourself when you refuse to be and do your best. You are hurting others who would have benefited from what you had to offer as a better you. This is why it is labelled a sin. You have failed the stewardship of your life test.

In what has been labelled the Great Commission as recorded by Matthew in Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. {19} 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, {20} and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The word “disciple” means “learner”. This is not a person who has already learned something, but one who is always learning. It is indicative of someone who, while they may have knowledge and understanding of many things, also know there is so much more they can learn, even about the things they already know, if they will stay teachable.

There is much truth, wisdom, and insights to be gained from the Word of God if we are willing to remain teachable. In fact there are hidden things to be learned only when we are prepared to search them out. Proverbs 2:1-6 tells us, “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, {2 } turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, {3} and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, {4} and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, {5} then you will understand the reverence of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. {6} For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”

Only those who know they don’t know it all and who are motivated to know more than they do at this moment, and are willing to move forward in seeking that which is yet hidden, benefit from the process.