Mentoring Life's Journey

Abraham was old when Isaac was born, old enough indeed to have been his grandfather, and the child became at once the delight and idol of his heart. From that moment when he first stooped to take the tiny form awkwardly in his arms he was an eager love-slave of his son. God went out of His way to comment on the strength of this affection. And it is not hard to understand. The baby represented everything sacred to his father’s heart: the promises of God, the covenants, the hopes of the years and the long messianic dream. As he watched him grow from babyhood to young manhood the heart of the old man was knit closer and closer with the life of his son, till at last the relationship bordered upon the perilous. It was then that God stepped in to save both father and son from the consequences of an uncleansed love. “Take now thy son,” said God to Abraham, “thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of th...

 “Talents are best nurtured in solitude. The character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.”- Johann von Goethe “Character is that which can do without success.” -          Ralph Waldo Emerson Many Churches have emphasized the gift and power of a leader, far above his character development. This imbalance has caused many problems in the Church, including backsliding of many leaders. Today, however, God is bringing us back to a balance between gift and character. The Lord is not concerned with a leader's gift and anointing only. He also cares deeply about a leader's lifestyle and character. He desires a balance between gift and character in every one of His true leaders. What Character is Not To help define what character is, let us see what it is not. 1. Character is not just what a person will ideally be in the future. Character is what is at this present time. When pressure comes to a person’s life, the real person...

          God didn't create any of us to be average. He didn’t make us to barely get by. We were created to excel. The Scripture teaches that before the foundation of the world, God didn't only chose us, but He equipped us with everything we need to live His abundant life.  You have seeds of greatness inside of you, but it is up to you to believe and act on them.         You need to have an image of a champion on the inside. You may not be there yet you may have some areas to overcome, but you need to know deep down inside that you are a victor and not a victim.        One of the best ways that we can improve our self-image is with your words. Words are  like seeds. They have creative power. It says in Isaiah that “We will eat the fruit of our words.” That’s amazing when you stop to consider that truth: Our words tend to produce what we’re saying.            Eve...

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them...."  Exodus 13:21        How are you at waiting on God? How do you determine if God is giving you the green light to move forward? Many workplace believers make the mistake of adding up all the pluses and then concluding that God has given them the green light. Several factors go into making a decision from the Lord.       It is important to do three things before you make a decision on a matter. First, you should  gather facts. Fact gathering allows you to determine all the realities of a given situation. However, this does not ultimately drive your decision, but it can put a stop to it. For instance, if you were planning to build a shopping center and you knew the only way to lease the space was to rent to a porn shop, your decision would be made. God would not lead you to enter into unrighteous ventures.       Second, is the Holy Spirit gu...

         Just because an opportunity presents itself for which we are qualified does not necessarily mean that it is God's will for us to accept it. Many time circumstances "line up" and everything looks good, yet it doesn't seem right. In such cases, we need to hear from God. That's why I say that divine direction is really heard and not seen. We Christians should be more interested in the unseen than we are in the things that are visible.    The only safe to decide which direction to go is by learning to distinguish between the voices we hear. There are always three sources of voices: there's God's voice, our own voice, and the devil's voice. We must learn to distinguish among these three.  We must choose to eliminate all foggy areas in our lives. This is the key to being able to see and think clearly. Fog is very dangerous to drive into, especially a spiritual fog.    We believers should choose to build on what we hear on the...

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets"   (Matt 7:12). Have you ever heard the term, "Money talks?" This old cliché has some truth to it. How we handle money speaks very loudly about our values, especially among those in the marketplace. One of the common business practices today is to extend payment on invoices to use that time to extend a company's cash flow. The bigger companies can often insist upon even longer times for payment. And because this practice is so prevalent it allows a business that honors their vendors with on-time payments to stand out from the crowd. This delayed payment policy violates a basic biblical principle. "Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor" (Rom 13:6-7). One of your greatest opportunities to show you are different is in the practical ...

Exposing ourselves to evil and ungodly influences desensitizes us to God and His word. Over time, our hearts become like stone, unreceptive to a fresh word from God.  We cannot continue to resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit without becoming hardened against Him.   Has your heart grown hard toward God? Do you feel as though nothing could soften it? God has a solution.  If your love for God is not what is should be, ask Him to renew your heart and restore your devotion to Him. He will separate you from the influences that are destroying you. He will cleanse you from all filthiness and remove everything that has taken His place in your affections. He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, tender toward Him and His word. "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."  -  Ezekiel 36:26 Providing excellent motivation ...