The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work. —Oprah Winfrey
Now, if you have been around LIFEchurch you know that while I have a high respect for Oprah Winfrey, and believe she is a good woman with great leadership skills who is maybe one of the greatest givers of all time her theology is messed up. I get concerned about the gullible people who hear her say that there are many ways to God that include all the religions of the world. That is dooming many who believe her to an eternity in hell because there is only one way to God... Jesus Christ.
Anyway, I say that just so you will know that I don’t promote everything she says because I believe she got it right on one issue. So, there you have it. That said... she has it right on the issue of work and success in this life. There is a book out called “The Secret.” It has drawn national attention. I have not read the book in its entirety, but from the excerpts I have gotten by emails, on the web, etc. I can tell that for the most part the principles promoted are simple, basic life principles. They are even Biblical principles. There are many motivational speakers and books out there that teach these principles, but they are communicated in a way that anyone of any religion can benefit. And they work because they are God’s law. They are like the law of gravity. It works whether I believe in God or not. If I go up, I must come down. Things like hard work, a positive attitude, integrity, and honesty will move one to success in life. You can become rich, have nice houses, a big retirement, lots of money to spend on very nice things, and live the “good life” even if you don’t believe there is a God.
Hard work will get you just about anywhere you want to go in life... except a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
I believe in living successful lives. I even believe that it is God’s will that we be successful and prosper while we live on this earth. But we must never forget that this is the shortest part of our existence no matter how many years we may live on this earth. Jesus talked about success oriented people spending their lives winning in the world, but forgetting the most important thing. “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36 (NIV)
So you see, you can be successful, give away millions... even billions, bless people on every hand, be respected as a giving, compassionate, caring, and successful person; and still miss the most important “secret” of life.
“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” —Jesus Christ
If you have questions about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, drop me an email or visit us at LIFEchurch.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for all the blessings in my life, but most of all thank you for eternal life, life beyond this life that will surpass any level of “success” I may experience here. Help me not to get so comfortable here and enjoy what I have now so much that I lose the anticipation for heaven. AMEN
If you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus pray this simple prayer:
Lord Jesus, I am sinner that needs a Savior. You are the only one that can save my from my sins. Forgive me right now for every sin in my life. I believe You are the Son of God. I believe that You gave Your life on the cross for me. I believe that You died, but God raised You from the dead and You live today. I confess my sins to You now and accept the gift of salvation that You freely offer. Thank you for saving me and guide me to a church where I can grow in my new found faith. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The Power of Imagination
Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
What is imagination? According to “The American College Dictionary” it is “the action of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses; the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images; or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images different from any known by experience.”
Sounds like a complicated way of defining what my teachers used to accuse me of in school... daydreaming. In other words dreaming while you are awake. A friend of mine, Pastor Vic Schober, likes to do what he calls “imagineering.” This whole concept is very important in the pages of Scripture. Dreams were big in the Bible. Great experiences begin with a dream. Sometimes it is a dream while sleeping or what was called a “vision,” a dream while awake. We see those kind of things as supernatural events, God giving someone a dream or a vision. But the truth is that every dream or vision, whether we perceive it as a supernatural event of God giving it sovereignly and purposefully to someone or a dream that we just sit down and choose to think about, is supernatural because they bring things that do not exist into being.
Joseph’s dreams became the reality of his life. He interpreted dreams for others that predicted their future reality. Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Vision of end time events is a dream that is unfolding before us on a daily basis. Daniel interpreted dreams for others that became a reality in their lives.
I checked Naves Topical Bible and found 26 instances of dreams in the Bible. Then I checked for “vision” and found pages and pages of examples from Scripture. The book of Revelation in its entirety is a vision.
The mind is a powerful thing. I have to be careful here or some will think we are getting weird, getting into mind over matter or other creepy things. But just think (put your mind into action) with me for a moment. In the beginning God made man. The Bible said He created man in His own image. Now, God is a spirit so we can’t see a physical form. What was He referring to when He said in Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.”?
He couldn’t mean that physically we look like God. Sorry to disappoint some of you that may think you look like a god. Image... the word is the root of “imagination.” According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance the Hebrew word translated as “image” is “tselem” and means “to shade; a phantom, i.e. an illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol.” We are the result of God’s imagination, God’s creativity. In fact, everything in creation was the result of God’s imagination at work. Doesn’t this give more reality to “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he?” Or Paul’s admonition instructing us to think on good things in Philippians 4:8?
Imagination is not just the power of man’s mind. It is the power of God in man’s mind. So everything that we have experienced, every new thing that is invented, every amazing medical miracle, every trip into outer space, and on and on it could go... is really the result of the creative nature of God imagining through us. God said of the people building the tower of Babel, “Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11:6) The old King James Version actually says, “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have IMAGINED to do.” (emphasis mine)
So do some dreaming today. Change your future with the God given power of dreaming, seeing what is not yet present to the senses.
Prayer: Lord Jesus help me today to discipline my mind to think on those things that You dream for me, the plans You declare You have for me. You desire good for me, success for me, blessing for me. You said that you came that I could experience life to the full. Help me to become everything You have imagined for me. Make me a dreamer like Joseph. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
What is imagination? According to “The American College Dictionary” it is “the action of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses; the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images; or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images different from any known by experience.”
Sounds like a complicated way of defining what my teachers used to accuse me of in school... daydreaming. In other words dreaming while you are awake. A friend of mine, Pastor Vic Schober, likes to do what he calls “imagineering.” This whole concept is very important in the pages of Scripture. Dreams were big in the Bible. Great experiences begin with a dream. Sometimes it is a dream while sleeping or what was called a “vision,” a dream while awake. We see those kind of things as supernatural events, God giving someone a dream or a vision. But the truth is that every dream or vision, whether we perceive it as a supernatural event of God giving it sovereignly and purposefully to someone or a dream that we just sit down and choose to think about, is supernatural because they bring things that do not exist into being.
Joseph’s dreams became the reality of his life. He interpreted dreams for others that predicted their future reality. Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Vision of end time events is a dream that is unfolding before us on a daily basis. Daniel interpreted dreams for others that became a reality in their lives.
I checked Naves Topical Bible and found 26 instances of dreams in the Bible. Then I checked for “vision” and found pages and pages of examples from Scripture. The book of Revelation in its entirety is a vision.
The mind is a powerful thing. I have to be careful here or some will think we are getting weird, getting into mind over matter or other creepy things. But just think (put your mind into action) with me for a moment. In the beginning God made man. The Bible said He created man in His own image. Now, God is a spirit so we can’t see a physical form. What was He referring to when He said in Genesis 1:27 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.”?
He couldn’t mean that physically we look like God. Sorry to disappoint some of you that may think you look like a god. Image... the word is the root of “imagination.” According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance the Hebrew word translated as “image” is “tselem” and means “to shade; a phantom, i.e. an illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol.” We are the result of God’s imagination, God’s creativity. In fact, everything in creation was the result of God’s imagination at work. Doesn’t this give more reality to “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he?” Or Paul’s admonition instructing us to think on good things in Philippians 4:8?
Imagination is not just the power of man’s mind. It is the power of God in man’s mind. So everything that we have experienced, every new thing that is invented, every amazing medical miracle, every trip into outer space, and on and on it could go... is really the result of the creative nature of God imagining through us. God said of the people building the tower of Babel, “Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.” (Genesis 11:6) The old King James Version actually says, “now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have IMAGINED to do.” (emphasis mine)
So do some dreaming today. Change your future with the God given power of dreaming, seeing what is not yet present to the senses.
Prayer: Lord Jesus help me today to discipline my mind to think on those things that You dream for me, the plans You declare You have for me. You desire good for me, success for me, blessing for me. You said that you came that I could experience life to the full. Help me to become everything You have imagined for me. Make me a dreamer like Joseph. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
What is the Profit?
Many of you who readthis daily devotion are business people. In the business world the pressure is on us to show a profit. I even feel that in the church. The pressure is on to show increase. Increase in attendance, increase in income, increase in outreach and ministry, and on an on it goes. In business you must show increase or profit in sales, in productivity, in efficiency, in the bottom line, and on and on it goes for you. As a parent you need to show increase in weight and growth when they are infants (we reach a point in life where profit is decrease), progress in activity from playing with their feet to crawling, to pulling up, to walking, to running, to riding a bicycle, to driving a car (that’s scary!). Then, as they grow increase in responsibility, in good grades (there’s the TAKS test you know), then finally, graduation. The point is that profit is a part of all our lives in some way. It looks different in every case but it is profit nonetheless.
We generally think of profit in some quantifiable form. It has to fit on a graph somehow, but here’s a different perspective on profit...
“Showing a profit means touching something and leaving it better than you found it.” —Jim Rohn
The Bible actually has some things to say about profit too...
“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23 (NIV)
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5 (NIV)
Sometimes we get to intent on “counting beans” and forget the profit of our changed life and changing other lives. This story illustrates this struggle for us...
The young man was feeling very proud of himself. As a brand-new college graduate he had taken the C.P.A. Exams and passed with flying colors. Now he was a full-fledged Certified Public Accountant.
His father had been an immigrant to the U.S., & now owned his own little business. Filled with self-importance, the young man began to criticize his father’s way of keeping books. He said, “Dad, you don’t even know how much profit you’ve made. Over here in this drawer is your accounts receivable. Over there are your receipts, and you keep all your money in the cash register. You don’t have any idea how much you’ve made.”
The father answered, “Son, when I came to this country the only thing I owned was a pair of pants. Now, your brother is a doctor, your sister is an art teacher, and you are a C.P.A. Your mother and I own our home. We have a car, and we own this little business. Now add that up, subtract the pants, and all the rest is profit.”
I believe if we consistently touch people, business, products, an office environment, a neighborhood, a community, etc. it will produce profit in our lives. Profit in satisfaction and contentment of heart. Profit in calmer more serene homes and offices. Profit in safer, more productive communities. And, yes, more quantifiable produce in our lives, more money in the bank, more money flowing through our hands to bless others. It’s just a thought to chew on.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for touching me and leaving me better than You found me. Help me to carry that legacy into the world where I live and serve. Help me today and everyday to touch something, someone and leave it better than I found it.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
We generally think of profit in some quantifiable form. It has to fit on a graph somehow, but here’s a different perspective on profit...
“Showing a profit means touching something and leaving it better than you found it.” —Jim Rohn
The Bible actually has some things to say about profit too...
“All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Proverbs 14:23 (NIV)
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5 (NIV)
Sometimes we get to intent on “counting beans” and forget the profit of our changed life and changing other lives. This story illustrates this struggle for us...
The young man was feeling very proud of himself. As a brand-new college graduate he had taken the C.P.A. Exams and passed with flying colors. Now he was a full-fledged Certified Public Accountant.
His father had been an immigrant to the U.S., & now owned his own little business. Filled with self-importance, the young man began to criticize his father’s way of keeping books. He said, “Dad, you don’t even know how much profit you’ve made. Over here in this drawer is your accounts receivable. Over there are your receipts, and you keep all your money in the cash register. You don’t have any idea how much you’ve made.”
The father answered, “Son, when I came to this country the only thing I owned was a pair of pants. Now, your brother is a doctor, your sister is an art teacher, and you are a C.P.A. Your mother and I own our home. We have a car, and we own this little business. Now add that up, subtract the pants, and all the rest is profit.”
I believe if we consistently touch people, business, products, an office environment, a neighborhood, a community, etc. it will produce profit in our lives. Profit in satisfaction and contentment of heart. Profit in calmer more serene homes and offices. Profit in safer, more productive communities. And, yes, more quantifiable produce in our lives, more money in the bank, more money flowing through our hands to bless others. It’s just a thought to chew on.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for touching me and leaving me better than You found me. Help me to carry that legacy into the world where I live and serve. Help me today and everyday to touch something, someone and leave it better than I found it.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wish You Were Smarter?
In her article “Why Smart People Make Bad Moves,” Yahoo! Financial columnist Laura Rowley examines a recent study from Ohio State University on the relationship between a person’s IQ and his or her financial situation. She summarizes the study this way: “Smart people can be boneheads when it comes to accumulating wealth, and the average Joe can become the millionaire next door.”
According to the study each point increase in IQ test scores raised income by between $234 and $616 per year. But this didn’t protect higher IQ people from financial woes. In fact, higher IQ people had just as high, if not higher rates of late bills, maxed-out credit cards, and even bankruptcies. The bottom line: Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re smart in using your smartness.
I guess that’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom. God spoke that in Scripture a long time ago: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (I Corinthians 1:25). A question comes to my mind. Solomon was the wisest man ever and he was very wealthy too. Wonder what his IQ was?
According to Rowley, here are some reasons why your average next-door neighbor might be a millionaire while you sit in your living room paying off your maxed-out Visa bill.
They Make Their Own Rules: Rowley quotes Loral Langemeier, author of The Millionaire Maker: “Many wealthy people didn’t do well in school; it was too structured for them. But they’re creative, intuitive, and have street smarts——they understand how things work, and how to get business done.”
They Get Knocked Down, But They Get Up Again:’ “It’s hustle,” says real estate magnate Barbara Corcoran in Rowley’s article. “Hustle is being too stupid to know that you should lay low when you keep getting slammed.”
They Succeed Through Social Intelligence: Another characteristic of average people who become millionaires is that they surround themselves with teams that compensate for their weaknesses.
They Take More Risks and, Consequently, Reap More Rewards: People with average brains may be more naive and willing to jump in——start a business or make an investment——than their high-IQ counterparts, who ponder every angle and know too much about the potential downsides of a proposition to take a risk. Highly intelligent people are many times more adverse to risk.
So if you’re reading this today thinking about how smart you are…… get over yourself. It really doesn’t qualify you to do better things than your “sub-genius” friends.
And, if you’re reading this today wishing you werea bit smarter…… be encouraged that there are many things other than your IQ and training that figure into a successful, fruit-‘producing lives. The bottom line is that God is in charge. And being in charge He has put into the mix the laws of sowing and reaping. Just good old farmer’s common sense. What ever you plant... that is what you will get. You will get more than you plant back and the more you plant to more you harvest. You have to be patient after you plant because it takes a while for the seed to grow. They work for anyone no matter what their IQ is. God honors faith and faithfulness in our lives.
Galatians 6:7 “...a man reaps what he sow.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for today’s opportunities. Give me the real wisdom to know what to do in every situation that will bring honor to Your name and blessing to my life. I trust You to know what is best so give me ears to hear Your voice above the noise in the world I work and live in. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
According to the study each point increase in IQ test scores raised income by between $234 and $616 per year. But this didn’t protect higher IQ people from financial woes. In fact, higher IQ people had just as high, if not higher rates of late bills, maxed-out credit cards, and even bankruptcies. The bottom line: Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you’re smart in using your smartness.
I guess that’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom. God spoke that in Scripture a long time ago: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (I Corinthians 1:25). A question comes to my mind. Solomon was the wisest man ever and he was very wealthy too. Wonder what his IQ was?
According to Rowley, here are some reasons why your average next-door neighbor might be a millionaire while you sit in your living room paying off your maxed-out Visa bill.
They Make Their Own Rules: Rowley quotes Loral Langemeier, author of The Millionaire Maker: “Many wealthy people didn’t do well in school; it was too structured for them. But they’re creative, intuitive, and have street smarts——they understand how things work, and how to get business done.”
They Get Knocked Down, But They Get Up Again:’ “It’s hustle,” says real estate magnate Barbara Corcoran in Rowley’s article. “Hustle is being too stupid to know that you should lay low when you keep getting slammed.”
They Succeed Through Social Intelligence: Another characteristic of average people who become millionaires is that they surround themselves with teams that compensate for their weaknesses.
They Take More Risks and, Consequently, Reap More Rewards: People with average brains may be more naive and willing to jump in——start a business or make an investment——than their high-IQ counterparts, who ponder every angle and know too much about the potential downsides of a proposition to take a risk. Highly intelligent people are many times more adverse to risk.
So if you’re reading this today thinking about how smart you are…… get over yourself. It really doesn’t qualify you to do better things than your “sub-genius” friends.
And, if you’re reading this today wishing you werea bit smarter…… be encouraged that there are many things other than your IQ and training that figure into a successful, fruit-‘producing lives. The bottom line is that God is in charge. And being in charge He has put into the mix the laws of sowing and reaping. Just good old farmer’s common sense. What ever you plant... that is what you will get. You will get more than you plant back and the more you plant to more you harvest. You have to be patient after you plant because it takes a while for the seed to grow. They work for anyone no matter what their IQ is. God honors faith and faithfulness in our lives.
Galatians 6:7 “...a man reaps what he sow.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for today’s opportunities. Give me the real wisdom to know what to do in every situation that will bring honor to Your name and blessing to my life. I trust You to know what is best so give me ears to hear Your voice above the noise in the world I work and live in. AMEN.
Blessings!
Pastor Roger
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