Tag Archives: thought process

My Thoughts Drive My Opinion of Me

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It is evident in scripture that God’s plan is beautiful and perfect. At the end of the sixth day, he sat down and said it was all good. According to Gen 1:31

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.

My simple understanding of this is that I was created beautiful no matter how I look on the outside or feel on the inside. I am also the beloved of God and a representation of His Divine Nature and so I am beautiful. Many times in life we struggle with this because we may not feel physically beautiful or we may be feeling extremely beautiful.

On the days when I am not so confident I remember the words of David below:

Ps 139:13-14

13 For you created my inmost being;     you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

I remind myself again and again that I am wonderful.

There is however a flip side. When we have had a series of great achievements success, we may puff up with pride and begin to figure that we are invincible and better than others. Many times something happens soon after that is meant to cut us to size. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing bad about being confident about our looks, abilities and your calling. The thing I am referring to here is thinking too highly of ourselves that is driven by arrogance and pride.

Paul dealt with it in Romans when he said,

Rom 12:3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

This is a simple warning to guard our thoughts about ourselves. There are things each of us are good at yet there are things we aren’t good at. Sitting in front of the mirror, should cure most of us of the thoughts of invincibility but often it doesn’t. our minds often block out the ‘bad’ stuff so we convince ourselves that we are perfect or close to perfection anyway. This is so far from the truth and we need to deal with these thoughts.

Arrogance starts in our thought process and then is translated into our lives. It is all good to think and know that we are good at what we do. Yet when we think we are the only ones who can do something so no one will ever catch up with us and we begin to think no one can tell us anything. The harsh reality is that our thoughts can make us lose sight of the big picture and eventually derail us.

It is my simple assertion we must:

  • Think highly of ourselves because that is self-confidence
  • Be sure of what we are good at and work at it with all our hearts
  • Remain aware that there is always room for improvement and growth and pursue it
  • Have people around us who are honest with us and will keep us in check.
  • Accept correction and input from the people we are accountable to
  • Make our lives count

Bottom line is “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.”

Grow in this as I do too and we can share notes sometime soon.

 

 

Impact as Designed

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When I least expected it my view was changed. Last Friday a colleague and I went venue searching and we ended up in a venue in one of the local forests. The thing I really was left with was the need to conserve the environment. We met the GM there and he is looking to better the place and it was amazing. He had an interesting thought process.

 

First he believes in empowering the local people to do the work and then train them to improve productivity. Second, he doesn’t think anyone should sit in one place and get comfortable at their job. One should look for comfort in their lives as well as look for opportunities to improve themselves and move on. The intention here is to make room for others at the lower rungs in life. Isn’t that amazing?

 

Isn’t that a new thought? Isn’t that the way to build an organisation? Create a place that can bring people in and improve them then let them out and on their way? Concentrate on improving lives and the ability to make impact. We all want to get people and keep them and there is a place for that in the top levels for purposes of consistency however, how many of us ever create systems that can work without us and still be as efficient to the client as if we were there? Systems that will enable us to be effective and have the kind of impact God intend us to have.

 

The local reality is different. Usually as a business owner, I am the centre of my business and as long as I am alive, well and able to work it will flourish. What happens to the design of leaving a legacy and inheritance for my children? Prov 13:22 is very clear, “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children and his children’s children but a sinners wealth is stored up for the righteous.”  I will concentrate on the first part; “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children and his children’s children…” anything else is for another day. It is God’s intention that I leave a legacy for the next two generations but how can I do that if I am not even able to take care of the current generation?

 

That thought takes me back to my thoughts on work. I am building a firm with a mandate to create great impact and wealth. You see, there is so much that needs to be done in the expansion of the kingdom yet there isn’t enough money. Think of how many people are still hungry, how many missionaries are ineffective because they do not have the right funding, there are people without bibles, clothes, homes, education….there is so much need and there are not enough resources to go around. How about the lack of schools and the need to train more teachers? There is so much to do out there and I cannot sit here and be complacent.

 

I must rise up and do what God is telling me to do whether or not you agree with me. I must get to the place where His instructions are more important to me than my personal opinions. I must connect to His voice and understand that the plans He has for all of us are good and not for evil to give us a future and a hope. I cannot but follow my destiny and work to walk in His ways and make the kind of impact I need to make.

 

Recently a man of God said that many of us are not being exposed to our destiny and to people of higher impact because we are not ready and able to withstand the onslaught of challenges that come with that kind of exposure. So, if I am destined to be so great and create such greatness for the glory of God then why have been so low financially for so long? Why have I struggled? What lessons do I still have to learn? What is it that I am not yet ready for? One thing I know is that I am filled with a deep desire to just get to know God and understand Him and His purpose for my life. I am beginning to understand what Christ meant when He said, “Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you.” Matt 6:33. Wow…the answer is in being in the place He desires me to be and in the line with His will all the while listening to His directions and walking in obedience.

 

Ok, so what does it take to be where we need to be in life? Obedience! When God says move we move. When HE says stay we stay. When He says wait we wait. I know that I am in the midst of something great and the only way I can latch on to it is to obey. I know I have written a lot about obedience in the last few months but it is a message that is refusing to let go of my heart and each time I put a hand to the keyboard it jumps out at me. This is the key I see for the way things will unfold to the honour and glory of the God the Father. I don’t know about you but at this time when all is said and done I want to be so sure of my calling, destiny and impact on this earth that it is worth aligning to the plans and focus of God.