Zondervan Inspire

Constantly Learning

From the Editor: Author Joe Hilley hits on an important truth in today's excerpt that I believe applies to most of us in this fast-changing world we find ourselves in.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

An approach of constantly learning is a style demanded by the age in which we live. With information growing at an incalculable rate, no one can hold command of every detail in every discipline. Leaders who are effective will develop familiarity with a wide range of subjects rather than a depth of detail in a few. By developing a working knowledge covering a wide range of subjects, leaders will be free to rise above individual issues to see the whole picture — the manner in which the issues are related, and the comparative value of each issue.

From Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader

by Joe Hilley

Healthy Relationships Maintain Balance

From the Editor: For task-oriented people like me, this is so important to remember.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"God does not demand of me that I accomplish great things. He does demand of me that I strive for excellence in my relationships."
—Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader

There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to do great things for God — and accomplishing great things for him. The problem is that it's just too easy to start doing the great things for yourself and not for him. It can happen in the blink of an eye. Service is then replaced with selfishness. We all struggle with selfishness, so how do we protect ourselves from letting our ego take center stage? That's where the priority of relationships comes in! A healthy relationship with God and healthy relationships with others have the power to keep our commitments to the things and the tasks in our lives from getting out of balance.

From The Relationship Principles of Jesus

by Tom Holladay

Best Indicator of My Beliefs

From the Editor: Jon Ortberg is one of my favorite authors. This excerpt from his latest book harkens back to the old proverb, “Actions speak louder than words.” A good reminder.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith

I have three different kinds of convictions. We might think of them in this way: what I say I believe; what I think I believe; and what I reveal I really do believe by my actions.

The best indicator of my true beliefs and my true purposes are my actions. They always flow out of my mental map about the way things really are. What I say I believe might be bogus. What I think I believe might be fickle. But I never violate my idea about the way things are. I always live in a way that reflects my mental map. I live at the mercy of my ideas about the way things really are. Always. And so do you.

From Faith & Doubt

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

Competing Values Cannot Coexist

From the Editor: I don’t know about you, but “balance” is something I fight with continually. Tom presents an interesting perspective here, yet other authors preach balance as an essential part of the modern workplace.

The other thing that strikes me is this: At what point do you cross the threshold from earning a living to loving money?

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

As we consider our priorities, three relational truths from Matthew 6:24-33 are vital. First, notice that Jesus said we "cannot serve both God and money." He didn't say "should not" or "might not want to attempt to"; he said "cannot." Jesus teaches us that competing values cannot coexist. One will overwhelm the other.

Our modern-day answer is, "I'll manage my life better, and then I'll be able to do more! I'll find time for being completely committed to God and for making money — and for recreation and career and hobbies too!" Jesus says, "You cannot serve both God and money," and we think, "Well, Jesus obviously didn't understand how to multitask!" It doesn't matter how well you manage your life or how many laborsaving, time-saving devices you buy; if you try to hold on to competing values, one will always overwhelm the other.

From The Relationship Principles of Jesus

by Tom Holladay

Is God Enough?

From the Editor: This passage really hit me between the eyes. Too often I resort to complaining rather than trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances. I'm going to be working on this. How about you?

Nothing special about the picture (except for its beauty). There are times when I draw a blank as to how to “picture” a passage. When in doubt, I find a great nature shot.

Wishing you blessings today,

Keith 

"Of course you're enough, Lord," I'd answer intellectually. "Haven't I given my life to serve you? Didn't I prove I'd leave it all to follow you?" But when the deep struggle for peace and joy wouldn't let up, I had to admit the heartfelt truth: "No, Lord, right now you're not enough. I'm not at peace being faithful to simply love you and my family and enjoy using my gifts to serve you. I need things to go my way ... according to my plans ... that's the truth." That's why I was struggling. My hurt and frustration with God, my lack of joy and peace betrayed the truth. God was not enough. Faithfulness was not enough. I needed God plus — God plus things going as I planned. I wasn't okay with God being God in my life if he didn't do what I thought he should. I wasn't okay with simply being faithful to live in his will each day.

I spent the summer wrestling to surrender, letting go of playing God and learning to follow ... again. The sad thing is, I thought I'd already learned this lesson, but now I see that life with Christ is not so much a one-time decision to trust (though there is a first decision of faith), but more like a series of daily decisions to trust.

From Soul Revolution: How Imperfect People Become All God Intended

by John Burke

Touch the Face of God

The journey to the Celestial City can be every bit as arduous as John Bunyan depicted in his famous Pilgrim's Progress. It will not always be filled with happy faces, fun times, and an incessant fare of upbeat praise choruses. There will be tears too, and through it all the ache of yearning. We face into the wind as we journey through this fallen world, and there are plenty of struggles ahead. Nowhere does the Bible say it will be easy. We have only been assured that it is infinitely worthwhile.

But we also journey in hope, and by hope we mean a confident and sustaining anticipation of a positive future. We have received sufficient assurances that we are on the right track (traveling mercies, Anne Lamott calls them) to keep us pressing forward. It is true that for the time being we know only "in part." But someday we will see him face-to-face, and will know him fully, just as we are already fully known (1 Corinthians 13:12). The time is coming when we will "slip the surly bonds of earth ... and touch the face of God."

From A Little Guide to Christian Spirituality: Three Dimensions of Life with God

by Glen G. Scorgie

Any comments or testimonies today?

The Life of Heaven

What would have happened if the rich man had served Lazarus and healed his sores (see Luke 16:19-31)? What would have happened if he had ripped down the gate separating them and stooped low to help the beggar? What would have happened if he had served Lazarus with the gifts he had been given?

The rich man would have entered into a relationship with Lazarus. He would have allowed Lazarus to lean on him for provision. In a profound way, the rich man would have assumed the role that Jesus reserved for one of the great men of Israel’s past. The rich man would have found himself in the place of Abraham with Lazarus the beggar at his side. It is this kind of interdependence that matters to God, and this is rightly seen as the life of heaven.

From Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes

by Jeff Cook

Any comments or testimonies today?

Your Time Is Your Life

 

No matter what you want to do, wish you had done, plan to do, or fantasize about while you are doing something else, the final reality of your life is how you spent your time. So, one of the greatest structures that you have to build the life you want to have is the direction of your time.

Turning your time into a life that you want involves more than time management. While time management tools are helpful (we all need to write stuff down somewhere), there is still a person who has to use them. And in my experience, people do not take enough time to look at themselves and their use of time to find out what their patterns and issues are that are causing them to not use their time wisely.

From The One-Life Solution: The Boundaries Way to Integrating Work and Life 

by Dr. Henry Cloud

Any comments or testimonies today?

Living to Win

Call it drive, heart, or the will to win — whatever you call it, we are deeply moved by the display of competitive greatness. When a competitor prepares his mind and body through rigorous training, then stares the challenge of his life in the eye and reaches down deep within himself to give his last ounce of effort to the battle, it touches something visceral in everyone who watches.

The drive of a runner to win the race was one of Paul's favorite pictures of the life of faith. "One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."

From When the Game Is Over It All Goes Back in the Box

by John Ortberg

Any comments or testimonies today?

Does email Set Your Agenda?

 

Do you set your own agenda or what you are going to work on, or does your email do it for you? And, do you block out time that email cannot get you off task by just arriving? Do you establish a time when you are not checking it?

If you are going to spend your time doing what is important to you, you have to create agenda boundaries — or structure. Certainly checking your email may — and probably should — indeed be a part of your plan for your daily work. But the key is that your email is just part of what is asking you for an appointment. So are all of the other things you have to do. Make sure you are the one deciding what is going to get your attention first, second, third, and so on.

From The One-Life Solution: The Boundaries Way to Integrating Work and Life 

by Dr. Henry Cloud

Any comments or testimonies today?