Tag Archive for: Identity

The Monster of Success

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Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What’s more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted I took—I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task—my reward to myself for a hard day’s work! Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing. (Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, MSG)

Let me confess that I have been wrestling the monster of success. I got caught up in what doesn’t matter. I let this website, the books, and newsletters define who I am. I was asked questions from several people that sounded like this, “How many readers do you have?”, “How many books have you sold?”, “How many blog followers do you have?”, and a few others.

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Possibilities

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We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. – Charles R Swindoll

Identity

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Let a clear understanding of your identity In Christ shed light on all the ways you can live out your purpose. (Elizabeth George)

Rhythms

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To follow Jesus implies that we enter into a way of life that is given character and shape and direction by the one who calls us. To follow Jesus means picking up rhythms and ways of doing things that are often unsaid but always derivative from Jesus, formed by the influence of Jesus. To follow Jesus means that we can’t separate what Jesus is saying from what Jesus is doing and the way that he is doing it. To follow Jesus is as much, or maybe even more, about feet as it is about ears and eyes (The Way of Jesus, Eugene H. Peterson).

Is it Essential

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Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me]. (1 Corinthians 6:12, AMP)

Happy New Year! It always feels so great to start a brand new year. I don’t know about you but I love starting with a clean slate, new goals, and fresh opportunities to see God work. The last few years I have tried to make themes for my years instead of a list of goals. I still have goals every year but I have an overarching theme that I keep my mind on. This year my theme word is Essential and I will be asking myself daily “Is it Essential?” Is what I’m doing essential to my marriage, my boys, my writing, my books, my website, my ministry, my family, and my life in Christ.

It seems so easy to get caught up in the non-essentials of life. My calendar can become so full of things that really don’t matter and don’t impact eternity. This year, I’m going to step back and focus in on what’s essential for my life. Webster’s dictionary defines essential as this, “extremely important and necessary”. Is what I’m doing extremely important and necessary? I need to evaluate that every day as I come in contact with all kinds of things that really aren’t necessary.

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