I'll never forget what one of my pastors said...
People want to follow someone with vision.
Once we have that vision, we need to remember it and stay the course, even when it's tough. It is persevering through our discouragement. It is remembering our vision. It is remembering what we were created for, whom we were created for, and who we were created to be.
It is this perseverance that makes a true leader.
Shauna Niequist put it perfectly when she said,
"I feel, in my best moments, in spite of the uncertainty, in spite of the fear, like Lily Briscoe in To the Lighthouse. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision. I had that line written on my wall for years, years ago, and now it holds a whole new richness. I have had my vision, and I thought it would come in a flash, a bright beam of knowing. But it has come in the same way that all things come to me. It has come to me with a fight. It has come to me the hard way, through tears and fog and fear and chaos, and now has landed in the palm of my hand like a firefly. There now, I have had my vision."
Now, what is your vision? And are you doing everything you know you can to be the leader that you want to be?
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
True Joy
Below is my new favorite definition of joy.
What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness...the joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father - the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do- "...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." (Hebrews 12:2). "I delight to do Your will, O my God..." (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His.
Living a full and overflowing life does not rest in bodily health, in circumstances, nor even in seeing God's work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the same fellowship and oneness with Him that Jesus Himself enjoyed. But the first thing that will hinder this joy is the subtle irratability caused by giving too much thought to our circumstances. Jesus said, "...the cares of this world,...choke the word and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:19) And before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in the cares.
-Oswald Chambers
"My Utmost for His Highest"
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Saturday, September 8, 2012
Vision
I'll never forget what one of my pastors said...
People want to follow someone with vision.
Once we have that vision, we need to remember it and stay the course, even when it's tough. It is persevering through our discouragement. It is remembering our vision. It is remembering what we were created for, whom we were created for, and who we were created to be.
It is this perseverance that makes a true leader.
Shauna Niequist put it perfectly when she said,
"I feel, in my best moments, in spite of the uncertainty, in spite of the fear, like Lily Briscoe in To the Lighthouse. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision. I had that line written on my wall for years, years ago, and now it holds a whole new richness. I have had my vision, and I thought it would come in a flash, a bright beam of knowing. But it has come in the same way that all things come to me. It has come to me with a fight. It has come to me the hard way, through tears and fog and fear and chaos, and now has landed in the palm of my hand like a firefly. There now, I have had my vision."
Now, what is your vision? And are you doing everything you know you can to be the leader that you want to be?
People want to follow someone with vision.
Once we have that vision, we need to remember it and stay the course, even when it's tough. It is persevering through our discouragement. It is remembering our vision. It is remembering what we were created for, whom we were created for, and who we were created to be.
It is this perseverance that makes a true leader.
Shauna Niequist put it perfectly when she said,
"I feel, in my best moments, in spite of the uncertainty, in spite of the fear, like Lily Briscoe in To the Lighthouse. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision. I had that line written on my wall for years, years ago, and now it holds a whole new richness. I have had my vision, and I thought it would come in a flash, a bright beam of knowing. But it has come in the same way that all things come to me. It has come to me with a fight. It has come to me the hard way, through tears and fog and fear and chaos, and now has landed in the palm of my hand like a firefly. There now, I have had my vision."
Now, what is your vision? And are you doing everything you know you can to be the leader that you want to be?
Monday, September 3, 2012
True Joy
Below is my new favorite definition of joy.
What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness...the joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father - the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do- "...who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..." (Hebrews 12:2). "I delight to do Your will, O my God..." (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His.
Living a full and overflowing life does not rest in bodily health, in circumstances, nor even in seeing God's work succeed, but in the perfect understanding of God, and in the same fellowship and oneness with Him that Jesus Himself enjoyed. But the first thing that will hinder this joy is the subtle irratability caused by giving too much thought to our circumstances. Jesus said, "...the cares of this world,...choke the word and it becomes unfruitful" (Mark 4:19) And before we even realize what has happened, we are caught up in the cares.
-Oswald Chambers
"My Utmost for His Highest"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)