God’s Plan For You Stands Firm

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their lights. … For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:6, 9) 

We literally live in, on, and through the breath of God. Everything was created as God spoke them into existence—including you and me. 

Let’s personalize verse 9, making it our prayer and our declaration: 

“For He spoke my name, and it was done; He commanded the plan for my life, and it stands firm even today!” 

God created you on purpose and for a purpose. He knew exactly what He was doing when He breathed life into you, and His plan still stands firm. You are invaluable in God’s perfect plan❣️

Here’s another post and video where I talk about purpose more: Blessed To Be A Blessing. 

And this is a powerful prayer for you to pray for yourself—Still Being Fashioned. 

5 Quotes From “Recruiting To Releasing”

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

I loved Jim Wiegand’s book Recruiting to Releasing! If you missed it, I had an opportunity to interview Pastor Jim, and I shared that video here. 

There were so many passages that I highlighted and annotated as I read this book. My Patreon supports have access to all of the quotes, but I wanted to share a handful of them with you publicly. 

Jim’s book centers on the intersection of three circles. This is the “sweet spot” where people are doing what God created them to do. In order to find your sweet spot (or help others find theirs), Jim gives us three questions. Here are those questions with a couple of supporting quotes. 

Question #1—What is your passion?

“The easiest question is the first one I always ask and sounds something like this: What are you passionate about? What thrills you when you get to do it? What makes your heart come alive when you see it? What do you love to do when you’re done doing what you have to do? If all jobs paid the same and you couldn’t fail, what would you do starting tomorrow?” 

“Paul said he was ‘compelled’ to preach the gospel and that it was a ‘pleasure’ to do so. His passion for the God of the lost and the lost themselves caused him to travel the world. Everywhere he went, he saw revival or a riot, or at times, both in the same day. Then he’d be mistaken for a Greek god, stoned and left for dead or at times beaten, imprisoned, and slated for execution. And then the next day, he got up and did it all over again. That’s not fear of failure! That’s a God-given passion to tell people the good news of Jesus Christ!”

Question #2—What is your pain?

“What bothers you? What is it you see in the world that you would change? What breaks your heart? What do you find yourself praying about more than any other thing? What subjects do people no longer want to talk to you about because you’re always talking about those things?”

“The way I figure it, if it was bothering me the way it was, I was probably the one God wanted to do something about it. You see, I’ve learned that if I do something about what bothers me, and you do something about what bothers you, and the folks around here all do something about what bothers them, well, eventually there may come a day when there won’t be anything left to bother anyone.”

Question #3—What is your proficiency?

“What are you good at? What comes naturally to you? What did you pick up quickly and easily compared to others around you? What do you do with little effort that takes others much effort?” 

I highly recommend that all ministry leaders get a copy of Recruiting to Releasing. Be sure to check out my interview with Jim Wiegand too. 

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. ◀︎◀︎

Links & Quotes

The devil wants us to remember what we’ve done or what we still need to do, but Jesus wants us to remember what He has already done. There is a huge difference! Check out this whole message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.

“The most likely man to go to hell is the man who has nothing to do on earth. Idle people tempt the devil to tempt them.” —Charles Spurgeon

“What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we have in life? To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? To know God. What is the best thing in life? To know God. What in humans gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of Himself.” —J.I. Packer

The Bible Archeology Report shares the Top 10 archeological discoveries related to the resurrection of Jesus.

We can learn childlike faith by simply watching and listening to how young children interact with their loving parents. This video is a clip from one of the message in our series called Kingdom Praying.

Technological advancements abound all around us. How are Christians supposed to interact with technology: embrace it? ignore it? This is a thoughtful message to give us a biblical paradigm for our daily use of technology. 

“We must quit bending the Word to suit our situation. It is we who must be bent to that Word, our necks that must bow under the yoke.” —Elizabeth Elliot

“The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle. The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.” —H.B. Charles 

“Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart.” —Paul Miller

Purposeful, Present Power

My friend Tom Kaastra shared an encouraging message to our Calvary Assembly of God family today. 

Tom linked together the doxology in Ephesians 3 and the prayer in Ephesians 1, noting that the key word in both passages is power. He also reminded us that this is power in the present tense, so the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that is at work in you and me right now. 

This is power for us to work “far more abundantly” purposefully than we typically imagine. God’s power at work in us is so much more than we even dream of. Tom pointed out that Paul prays for the “eyes of your heart” to be opened. In other words, Paul wants us to have an experiential knowledge of God’s work in and through us. 

Have you ever wondered why you’re here, and not in heaven? You’re not there because God needs you here. He has a purpose for you right here and right now! 

I found myself saying, “Amen!” frequently throughout this encouraging message. I hope you will feel encouraged by this too. You have been created on purpose and for a purpose!

Your Irreplaceable Genealogy

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on AppleSpotify, or Audible. 

Have you ever felt like a nameless face in the crowd? Let me tell you what you should do with those thoughts.

Check out this episode of The Podcast.

Some resources from this episode:

Here are a bunch of ways to get in touch with me and follow along with other projects on which I am involved

►► Would you please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry? My Patreon supporters get behind-the-scenes access to exclusive materials. Like a first look at the cover of my brand new book. ◀︎◀︎

Links & Quotes

When someone wants to “grow” an organization, what exactly does that look like? Is growth only numeric or is it something that’s perhaps a bit more difficult to count? The leader needs to have this clear in their mind, and they need to regularly communicate this metric to their team. I unpack this in greater detail in my book Shepherd LeadershipCheck out more of this message hereAnd be sure to check out all of my videos on my YouTube channel.

It appears that creativity is largely fueled by two things: proper sleep and finding your “sweet spot” each day. If you are an early bird, protect that creative time. If you are a night owl, don’t try to become an early bird to emulate someone else, but lean into your productive time. Check out this full post.

I love reading, but even I have trouble finding time to sit down with my books. But this insight from John Piper totally rejuvenated my thinking about reading. “Suppose that you can read about 250 words a minute. Now, that’s not real fast; most of us can do that—250 words a minute. And suppose that you set aside fifteen minutes a day to read a great book—a classic or some book that you’d been longing to read that would help you grow in your wisdom, your understanding. Now, fifteen minutes a day for 365 days is 5,475 minutes a year. Now, you multiply 5,475 times 250, and you get 1,368,750 words that you could read in a year at fifteen minutes a day. Now, an average book has about 300 to 400 words on a page. So we’ll take 350, which is kind of in the middle, and divide that into 1,368,750. And you know what you get? You get 3,910—almost 4,000 pages a year. An average book has about 200 pages. You see the implication of that? You could read twenty books by this time next year by setting aside fifteen minutes a day.”

An ancient Hebrew inscription consisting of 48 letters was discovered on Mt. Ebal in Israel and is centuries older than any known Hebrew inscription from ancient Israel. This is yet another archeological discovery that speaks to the historicity of the Bible.

T.M. Moore wrote one of the endorsements of my book Shepherd Leadership. His thoughts here about the role of godly shepherds is right on the mark: “The work of shepherds consists of helping the people of God to connect with Him—to know, love, fear, and serve Him in every area of their lives. This work cannot be fulfilled by one who is merely a good speaker, an effective organizer, or an inspiring motivator. This work must be done by one who truly knows the Lord. For unless we know the Lord, the Lord will not know us, and He will not honor our labors.”

You are one-of-a-kind! There has never, ever been anyone like you, and there never will be. God made you on purpose and for a purpose. And God wants to reveal the purpose He has for your life. You be you—that is how God is most glorified through you.

Thursdays With Spurgeon—Unique And Purposeful

This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Charles Spurgeon. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Spurgeon” in the search box to read more entries.

Unique And Purposeful

     You cannot tell from where the wind comes [John 3:8]. You know it blows from the north or from the west, but at what particular place does that wind start on its journey? Where will it pause in its onward flight? You see that it is blowing to the east or to the west, but where is it going? From where did these particles of air originate that rush so rapidly past? Where are they going? By what laws are they guided in their course, and where will their journey end? …  

     All the true operations of the Spirit are due in no sense whatever to man but always to God and to His sovereign will. … There is arbitrariness about the wind. It does just as it pleases, and the laws that regulate its changes are unknown to man. … So is the mighty working of God! … 

     There are times when all is still and calm, when everything is quiet and you can scarcely detect the wind at all. Now just so it is with the Spirit of God. To some of us He came like a rushing mighty wind. … To others He comes so gently they cannot tell when first the Spirit of God came. … The Spirit of God, as a sovereign, will always choose His own way of operation. … 

     The wind not only differs in force, but it differs in direction. … Perhaps there never were two winds that did blow exactly in the same direction. … Now, the Spirit of God comes from different directions. … God causes the wind to blow just that way He wills. He works, also, through different texts of Scripture. You were converted and blessed under one text; it was quite another that was made useful to me. … God never repeats Himself. … Every Christian is a distinct work of divine grace on God’s part that has in it some originality, some portion distinct from all others.

From The Holy Spirit Compared To The Wind 

You are unique, a one-of-a-kind creation. God knew exactly what He was doing when He made you the way He did. God made you on purpose and for a unique purpose. 

Since you are unique, don’t expect God to speak with you like He did with someone else. He will speak with you in a unique way that is only for you. The Bible gives us many implicit principles for hearing God’s voice, but it never gives us explicit practices for hearing Him. 

God created you to do unique things that will bring Him glory, so don’t try to copy someone else. You be you. That is how God is most glorified through you!

Poetry Saturday—A Man With An Aim

Give me a man with an aim,
   Whatever that aim may be,
Whether it’s wealth or whether it’s fame,
   It matters not to me.
Let him walk in the path of right,
   And keep his aim in sight,
And work and pray in faith alway,
   With his eyes on the glittering height.

Give me a man who says,
   “I will do something well,
And make the fleeing days
   A story of labor to tell.”
Though the aim he has be small,
   It is better than none at all;
With something to do the whole year through,
   He will not stumble and fall.

But satan weaves a snare
   For the feet of those who stray,
With never a thought or care
   Where the path may lead away.
The man who hath no aim
   Not only leaves no name
When life’s done, but ten to one
   He leaves a record of shame. 

Give me a man whose heart
   Is filled with ambition’s fire;
Who sets his mark in the start,
   And keeps moving it higher and higher.
Better to die in the strife,
   The hands with labor rife,
Than to glide with the stream in an idle dream
   And lead a purposeless life. 

Better to strive and climb
   And never reach the goal,
Than to drift along with time
   An aimless, worthless soul.
Ay, better to climb and fall,
   Or sow, though the yield be small,
Than to throw away day after day,
   And never to strive at all. —Anonymous

10 Quotes From “As A Man Thinketh”

As A Man Thinketh feels a lot like the biblical book of Proverbs, stimulating us to think about our habitual thought patterns. Check out my full book review by clicking here.

“As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.” 

“Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.” 

“The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires.” 

“Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not co-operate with it.” 

“Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought.” 

“A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile.” 

“Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.” 

“They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings.” 

“This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph.” 

“The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without.” 

7 More Quotes From “Start With The Heart”

Dr. Kathy Koch has given parents—and anyone else who works with children—a marvelously helpful resource in her latest book Start With The Heart. Be sure to check out my full book review by clicking here. 

“God created you and your children with five core, basic needs that must be met. These needs are interrelated. The health of one influences the others:

  • Security—who can I trust?
  • Identity—who am I?
  • Belonging—who wants me?
  • Purpose—why am I alive?
  • Competence—what do I do well?” 

“Children who know their purpose will often choose to look for peers with similar goals and interests. They will want to hang out with people who affirm them and their purpose and be willing to end relationships that are not joyful and purposeful.” 

“When you parent so your children believe three things, their hearts will be impacted and they will be motivated to succeed. This translates into less stress and anxiety and more peace. … Children who believe these things don’t want to be average. They are willing to work for more. … Children’s character will be more Christlike. They’ll want to be more others-centered than self-centered. They’ll be compassionate, brave and able to stand up for themselves and others. 

  1. I have value. Children who do know they have value are often motivated intrinsically, from the inside. They internally recognize what is good for them and respond accordingly.
  2. Learning matters. When children believe they have worth, they are more likely to value learning. … Children who value learning will exhibit many positive character traits, including teachability. This will be true even when they are not convinced that your requests or planned activities are relevant. They’ll pay attention anyway because they know they matter and learning matters. These beliefs strengthen children’s purpose and give rise to competence.
  3. My future can be bright.” 

“Which is better: ‘Be on time!’ or ‘Don’t be late!’? Do you hear the difference? Which one is positive? ‘Be on time’ communicates ‘I believe you’re capable of this.’ It’s more hopeful. It’s about what you want your children to do. ‘Don’t be late’ reminds them of how they’ve frustrated you.” 

“Carol Dweck…has consistently found that children praised for using effort tackled more challenging tasks than those praised just for ability or for the quality of their work.” 

“Sometimes have children tell you what they think they did before you offer your opinions. If they are relatively accurate, affirm them specifically. When they’re not, have the conversation.” 

“Working to provide feedback that can be described with the following attributes will serve you and your children well—specific, believable, helpful, and thoughtful.” 

You can also check out the first set of quotes I shared from Start With The Heart by clicking here.