How do we “praise” God? Over time words become just words. For most of my life I’ve said things like, “Oh God, I praise your name.” “I exalt you.” What does that mean? Is that really praise and exultation?
“O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.” (Isaiah 25.1 ESV) (more…)
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When you are going somewhere no one’s ever gone before no one else is going to understand. They cannot wrap their head around it. They will project their fear and uncertainty because they love you, but if they’ve never been where you are going, they are not going to understand and they will not be a comprehensive resource for you. When you are going a unique direction, to a unique place, trying to accomplish a God-dream that is unique to you there are severe limits as to who can advise you. Sometimes… no one but God can guide you. That is a very exciting zone in which to live.
One of the keys to writing is having the right stuff in your heart. You cannot write one thing while being something else. I cannot write as a gracious human being when I am full of criticism and snark. It’s too much work to be one thing and write something else. Writing flows from the soul. When the soul is yielded to the spirit, then spirit stuff comes out. When the soul is not yielded to the spirit, then soulish stuff comes out. It takes a lot of work to write things not in your heart.
It goes back to obedience to God. Am I willing to write what I hear from God or do I have to change it to make it palatable, to make it something people want to hear, stuff that appeals to my perceived reader, whether it is in my heart or not.
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We establish patterns in our lives that help us live consistently and naturally. Patterns are important in our personal life and in leadership. We must establish life patterns and we’ve got to be willing to evaluate those patterns when we need to change or go to the next level. In this episode we take a look at our spiritual patterns, passion patterns, relationship patterns, life development patterns, and our life practices patterns.
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Are we supposed to prosper? We sometimes feel guilty when we prosper, or worse, we feel we are unworthy to be successful at the things to which we put our hands. We appreciate the role of adversity in shaping character, but we must also live in the confidence that we can succeed and be prosperous in the things God puts in our hearts.
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If you are a Christ following leader, whether in ministry or in the marketplace, you are called to do something more than simply make a living or build commerce. You are called to be a transformational leader. If you are a Christ follower, no matter your leadership arena, you are about the heartbeat of the Father. You are a transformational leader. You are called to make a difference in the lives of the people you love and lead.
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