Father God,
Yahweh, Jehovah-Jireh,
I give thanks
and praise to you for all you are doing in and through me. My heart is filled with peace, joy and
anticipation for what you have for me today.
With the authority, you have given to me, I speak to my eyes to be open
to see, my ears that they may hear, my heart that it may receive and my mind to
understand the insight you have for me today.
Thank you for your loving faithfulness.
In Yahweh, Jehovah-Jireh’s name, I pray.
Amen.
As I was
studying today, I was re-reading Philippians 1.
This whole book is good; however today I want to focus on verses 9 and
10.
Philippians 1:9-10 (NKJV)
9 And this I pray, that your
love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the
things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the
day of Christ,
As I was
reading this, the words “knowledge”, “discernment”, “sincere” and “offense”
stood out to me. I was in a recent group
discussion regarding people being drawn to specific people in a group despite
whether they were the appointed leader of the group or not. It was interesting to hear the wide spread feelings
that this type of situation brought up.
- · Relieved that they were not the focal person
- · Supportive and encouraging to those seeking and the one they were drawn to, leader or not
- · Hurt they were not drawn to them even though they didn’t want the leadership responsibility
- · Wanted the leadership role and were hurt because the people weren’t drawn to them
- · The appointed leader and focused on giving their best in fulfilling their position
- · Putting themselves down because they were not the one people were coming too
It was very
enlightening the different perspectives that could be taken in just this one
scenario. Each one a different
mindset. It is so important that we take
charge and control the thoughts of our mind and choose wisely.
We are all on
the same Kingdom building team. We are
NOT in competition with each other IF we are on the same team. We were created out of love to love and
worship our Creator so that our life testimony would draw others to know and
Love Him too.
It’s just like
when playing basketball. You have an
area that is yours to play and defend. The
people that are brought in to your area are yours to care for, to run “offense
or defense plays” depending on the circumstance. It is
our responsibility as a member of the team to be encouraging and supporting our
teammates in their position. When the “ball”
is in our court and zone, then we are to be focused on taking control over the
area/zone we have been placed in. We cannot,
as one person, be the whole team and cover the entire court and all the
players. When we try to play someone
else’s position, we get in the way and come up second best. Meanwhile, our given position is left exposed
and comes up a complete loss. However,
if we know our position and focus on playing it well, then when the ball is not
in our zone, we can be supporting our teammates by cheering them on, encouraging
them, giving heads up warnings to help them, resting and renewing ourselves for
when the action is in our zone, as well as accessing the overall situation and
aiding in an overall win.
Such is the
same in our lives and ministries. We cannot
physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually do it ALL on our own. Kingdom building takes a team which starts with Christ in us. As a team, we are called to support, encourage,
and hold accountable others on the Kingdom building team. There are only two teams. God’s team and Satan’s team. When you are not playing your best for God’s
team then there’s only the other team to benefit and prosper from your efforts
or lack of efforts. When we see someone
else shining in being their best “them” in the position they are in … It’s the
time to be encouraging and supportive of them.
It is not a time to become
jealous of them or try to run interference and replace them. That’s the enemy’s tactic to try to bring
confusion. When you compare, and try to
be someone else, you will always be a second rate them. However, you will always be the best and #1
you when you are focused on what you are called to be/do. And when you are a team player and edify
others on your team when the “ball” is in their court … everyone wins.
When you
find yourself tempted to compare, yearning to be in the position that someone
else is in … Take NO OFFENSE (annoyance, anger, resentment, jealousy, irritation, etc) ... get your eyes back on God and focus on what He has put
the desires in your heart and called you to do. No one purposefully
strives and invests times and energy into being second rate … unless they are
lost in knowing who and what they are. Put
your time and energy in to KNOWING and BEING the best “YOU”, you can BE. No one else can be a better you than ... YOU!
Today I
challenge you:
- What are you called to do? What are the desires that God created in your heart? Are you keeping your focus, energy and time invested in being the best YOU He created you to be?
- Who have you been blessed with to link arms with, to help support and encourage them in their God created and purposed position? Are you a help or a hindrance?
I leave you pondering these things in your own life. May you be filled with a Christ perspective
and energized to know and see yourself as God created you and to be the #1 YOU
that only you can be.
It is written that we shall OVER come by the Blood of the Lamb
and the Words of our testimony. The
Blood of the Lamb has already been shed.
It’s the Words of our testimony that we are living today and responsible
for. So … what’s the WORDS of your
testimony? We welcome comments on how
you are an OVERcomer and a DOer.
Ultimate blessings!
It is our
desire for you to KNOW God, to share His Word with you but also to share our
lives with you in love. We welcome
getting to know you and to be able to love you where you are. We are honored to support you on your journey
to get from where you are to where you want to be.
