Making the most of every opportunity the Lord exposes us to.

Making the most of every opportunity!

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Seizing opportunities is directly tied to the spiritual gift of discernment. When we see what looks like an opportunity, we have to discern whether we are seeing a true opening or just our own wishful-thinking or a random idea. 

Just because an opportunity arises does not mean that we should take it. An opportunity is just a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something. We still have the hard work of determining whether it is something WE SHOULD DO!

Opportunities are doorways that God opens. It is divine leading, even though we may not be able to predict what lies beyond. 

God also directs us with closed doors!  Don't be discouraged!

Ability to see with the eyes of God, think with the mind of Christ, and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit! 

A good prayer!

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Our work and our calling

Sunday and Monday...any connection?

Our work: How important is it to us?

Are we worshiping our work and working at our worship? 

We are called to God first and then to our secondary calling…which may be our job, business or what we do in “retirement”.

 A word from The Call by Os Guinness

"Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to his summons and service" P. 29

 Description of a class I facilitated awhile back at our church.

The Lord created each of us individually with different Spiritual Gifts, Passions, Abilities, Strengths and a unique Personality with different Experiences. When we know what they are and how they work together then we can be most effective in our families, church, community and the world.  When we serve according to our SHAPE, we leave a legacy that gives glory to the LORD so when we stand before Him one day, we will hear, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 

Read a good book recently:

 Answering the Call: The Doctor Who Made Africa His Life.

From “The One-Talent People.” Christian Herald. Sept 1949. P. 64  

“Always keep your eyes open for the little task, because it is the little task that is important to Jesus Christ.  The future of the Kingdom of God does not depend on the enthusiasm of this or that powerful person; those great ones are necessary too, but it is equally necessary to have a great number of little people who will do a little thing in the service of Christ.” 

            “The great flowing rivers represent only a small part of all the water that is necessary to nourish and sustain the earth. Beside the flowing river there is the water in the earth-the subterranean water-and there are the little streams which continually enter the river and feed it and prevent it from sinking into the earth. Without these other waters-the silent hidden subterranean waters and the trickling streams-the great river could no longer flow. Thus it is with the little tasks to be fulfilled by us all.” 

Some excerpts from:  God’s Best for My Life by Lloyd John Ogilvie 

“What are we daring to attempt which could not be accomplished without His strength and intervention? So often we plan our lives around what we could do without Him on our own.  A sure sign that we are in communion with the Lord is that we are attempting what only He can do? Can you identify that in your life?”

      Just a few questions you may want to ask yourself:

What is God calling me to do?  Have I asked Him?
How am I doing at "work" on Monday?

What is my passion?  My Spouse’s

Where do the world’s needs and my passion intersect?

Have I taken the Strengthsfinder 2.0 Assessment to see what my “strengths” are?

http://amzn.to/1GolKdD

My BLOG on "Strengths"  
Read More 

Is asking "Why" a good question to put into our daily planning?

A good plan for beginning each day:  Pray, Plan and Prioritize. Then Delegate...if you have someone to delegate to!

Finished a good book recently: WHO  by Geoff Smart and Randy Street.

"The most important decisions that businesspeople make are not what decisions but who decisions." -Jim Collins, Author of Good To Great.

That also goes for non profit organizations!
 Good book: Good to Great in the Social Sector. by Jim Collins

WHO
WHAT
HOW

It's relatively easy to figure out What to do and also How to do something.

Maybe a more important decision is WHY we do what we do.
Then the rest becomes easy.

A good book for figuring that out is " Start With Why by Simon Sinek.

If you don't know WHY, You can't know HOW.

"All great leaders have clarity of WHY; an undying belief in a purpose or cause bigger than themselves. It's not Bill Gates's passion for computers that inspires us, it's his undying optimism that even the most complicated problems can be solved. He believes we can find ways to remove obstacles to ensure that everyone can live and worked to their greatest potential. It is his optimism to which we are drawn." P. 134

“If the leader of the organization can’t clearly articulate WHY the organization exists in terms beyond its products or services, then how does he expect the employees to know WHY to come to work?”
― Simon Sinek, Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action

War Room: Latest Christian movie: Power of prayer...wives praying for their husbands!

If you haven't seen the movie War Room, do it while it is still showing.
Great film. I'm sure countless marriages have been and will be healed through this film. Women need to be praying for their husbands!
What's wrong with that?

https://youtu.be/cpootB7Yink

Believe it or not, there seems to be criticism of the movie.
I think critics are missing the point of this and similar movies. The film shows that it is in a relationship with Jesus Christ that good comes. Probably most critics are reading too much into it. Have they actually viewed the film? It is through the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer that healing begins. If the critics would do some background on the Kendrick brothers who did this film and similar others, they will see that they seek God’s face and have pure motives. . Just because everything in the film doesn't match up with our particular denominational doctrine or our particular interpretation of proof texts...doesn't make it heresy or false teaching.

It's great that Christians have gotten back into film making.
It's going to make a real positive difference in the advancement of the Kingdom!
Praise the LORD!