Man up! (5)

When was the last time...

…you did something for the first time?

Routine. The status quo. The same old thing. How easy it is for life to get really, really boring!

Why does that happen?

Amos Bronson Alcott, the non-conformist American educator and writer, said at some point in his 89 years of life between 1799-1888: “The less routine the more life.” I couldn’t agree more.

Life usually gets boring because we settle for the safe and comfortable. We look for the unadventurous ruts that keep us on the course of sameness. We stay on the beaten path because that’s what most people do – and we don’t want to take any risks.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

It’s not like we lack enough opportunities to do new things. Every time a problem, a tragedy, an obstacle rises up against us, it disguises an opportunity to explore our potential. But unfortunately, too often we only see the disguise and don’t notice the opportunity.

One day Joshua stood before well-guarded Jericho wondering how he would get past its mightily thick, 30-foot-high walls. While he wondered how, God sent the commander of His angel-armies to tell him: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand.” In other words, I don’t want you to look and see the wall. I want you to see what I will do for you and what you will enjoy once I’ve done it.

Jericho was an immoveable obstacle. But Joshua learned to see it as an opportunity. What an exciting victory that impossibility turned out to be! Wouldn’t you have liked to be there and see those walls tumble down?

You can’t have a boring life when you learn to embrace challenges instead of avoiding them.

Do you see a problem in everything? Do you always find a reason why you shouldn’t try something more challenging? Are you always complaining about what you don’t have and can’t do? What a boring life you must have.

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

Train yourself to look through the wall, not at the wall. Remember, the wall is only a disguise. What is it hiding? What’s behind it? What must you do to conquer it?

When you start embracing new and bigger challenges, you will start living.

I only hope you don’t leave it till it’s too late.

Man Up! (4)

Man Up! (3)

Shame on you!

"But now they desire a better, that is, a 
heavenly country. Therefore God is 
not ashamed to be called their God..." Hebrew 11:16

A British multi-millionaire, Gill Fielding, revealed something very interesting. This business-woman grew up in poverty in London's East End, but now spends $35,000 a month on what she considers "knick-knacks." She met up with old friends from school who hadn't known she had become rich. Later she gave an interview and mentioned her conversations with them, "They were talking about how they wanted to be millionaires and I almost said to them, ‘Well what are you doing about it then?' The thing is, we all had the same start in life, were in the same school in class, are the same age... The only difference between them and me is belief."

What do you believe God wants to do in your life? The Bible says in that, "the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth." (Deut 28:1)

If you read on from this verse, we see God's excitement at exalting His people. He has a strong interest in your rising and standing out from the crowd. He wants you to be at the top. But why?

Everyone naturally wants to follow those who are at the top. Everyone listens to and respects them. Everyone wants to mold themselves after them. And this is exactly how God's message is going to penetrate the ears, hearts and minds of people-through those who are living His message-through you! He wants everyone to know that the secret of your success is Him.

God's will is for you to be more successful that you've ever dreamed.

But if God wants you to be so blessed, why aren't you already living this life? What's holding God back? YOU are. "Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." (Psalm 78:41)

Of course, God can do anything. He has unlimited power. But when a person has a lack of vision, when he doesn't understand the greatness of God, he gives no space for God to bless him. God only fills the space we give to him. He has the ocean but if you come to Him with a cup, what can He do?

What have you been asking God for? What you ask for shows what you believe you can have, and nothing more. If you've been content with small things, this is a big problem for God.

To see big things in your life, you need to see them as reality. Even if they're not happening yet, you have to at least have them in your mind and see them as possible, desire them and pursue them. Like the millionaire said, the only difference between her and her friends was her belief. The world belongs to people who dare to think big.

But then you get those people who say, "Shouldn't I be satisfied with what God has already given me? He's blessed me in so much already. Don't we become greedy when we ask for and pursue even more?"

The woman in the Bible who begged Jesus to heal her daughter wasn't even a follower of God. Jesus even called her dog. However, she received a miracle of healing for daughter. Think with me now. If "little dogs" can get such great blessings, what are the children of God entitled to?

Hebrews 11:16 says that because the people of God desired a better life, He was not ashamed to be called their God. Therefore it only stands to reason that when we think big, when we look for better things, God is not ashamed of us but becomes a proud Father.

If your life is not a reflection of God's power, then you must feel ashamed. But don't get depressed about it. Instead, use this feeling of shame to unleash a revolt inside of you, to open your vision and start pursuing the life God always intended you to have.

How do you make God feel? Proud or ashamed?

Christian shop manager evangelises at gun point. What would you have done?