success and failure [+] Tuesday E-Devotion

Joshua 1:7 (nlt) --- Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.

The sign reads (as does the old saying), "If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time."

The past week or so has been full of dreaming, re-thinking and examining with lots of vision who I am, what it is I do and who are the people that I am blessed to lead. God is so gracious, yet life is not easy. Have you been there?

Staying in one place doesn't cut it. Not seeking to make what you do the best is wrong. Living the status quo doesn't get the job done. What do you think?

Ben Arment said it this way in a recent blog post: If you are executing the same creative ideas you did last year because they worked, you are already on the decline.

We CANNOT define success based on what the world calls success. In fact, in God's re-definition of success we learn that His heart is for people, not projects. His success is about obedience to Him and not results from us. Therefore, failure has to be re-defined, too. Failure is "anything we do without God." Did you get that?

It is vital that we let God care for our success and our failure, we learn from both. It is important that we align our hearts, heads and all we do with real success.

PRAY

Psalm 118:25 (nlt) --- Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success.

REALIZE

Job 5:3 (nlt) --- I have seen that fools may be successful for the moment, but then comes sudden disaster.

LIVE

Psalm 20:7 (niv) --- Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Comments

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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