Less Talk More Power

I attended LifeWorks church this morning and the sermon given by Justin Maust was very good and perhaps very convicting for a lot of people. The theme of this message was "Less Talk More Power," meaning, we need to be more about the power God has given us rather than talk. You can't just talk up something and not do anything about it, if you ask me that's fake. This basketball season there were times where we had not played good basketball...there were so many times where we would play a terrible first half and in the locker room during halftime we would talk about all of the things that we needed to do better. Sometimes, we would go out in the second half and we wouldn't do the things we had just talked about and it was just fake tough. That is one of the things that was probably the most frustrating to our coach. He would talk us through all of these things and we didn't seem to do anything about it. Do you ever think that is how we make God feel? He loves us unconditionally, but there are still things that we do that probably doesn't please God. Less talk more power. Power is defined as having the ability to do things, by virtue of strength, skill and resources. What do you have the power to do? Justin gave the illustration that the worship team has the ability to lead worship, Kip has the ability to control the sound, Marta has the ability to sing, etc. At church on a Sunday, they all were blessed with these skills that they use and look the fruit their skill produces. The fruit being an awesome place attend church on Sundays. Think about your life, what do you have the ability to do? Taking that a step further, how can you use that power to produce fruit? When you use your power, you will advance the kingdom of God! I believe that God has given me power and gifted me the ability to play basketball. With that, I use basketball as a platform. Without basketball (my life would be completely different) but I don't think as many people would know who I am. I believe as of late that a love for other people is a gift that God has given me. It might be a little weird saying that the ability to love is a gift, but the feeling of love is definitely a gift from God. I think that we forget sometimes that the ability to feel emotion is perhaps one of the greatest gifts from God. With the power I have to love and care for other people, I try to encourage as many people as I can on a daily basis and by doing that I strive to advance the kingdom of God. I might not see the fruit that is produced from what I do, but that doesn't matter to me, that is between the people I hope to have an influence on and God.  Jim Rohn says, "We must all suffer one of the two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. " How do you interpret that? I read my bible everyday. Most of the time, my days are very busy and sometimes so busy that there isn't enough time to do everything I want to. Sometimes I say no to things because I choose to read my bible and spend time with Jesus. It's hard sometimes too because I want to have some fun with my friends but I  think that is sometimes the price you pay to be disciplined. To clarify, when I make that decision it's because I want to spend time with the Father, not because I feel like I have too. I believe that the pain of regret is when you miss out on opportunities to spend time with the Father. If I decide that I am no going to spend time with the Father, like I have decided before and then what I do instead isn't something that produces fruit, then I will feel regret.

John Maxwell, perhaps the most famous leadership spokesperson in the world says this, "the secret to your success is found in your daily agenda." Maxwell says that he does three things everyday. He writes, reads, and thinks. Everyday, for decades he has done this and he has been extremely successful. What does your daily agenda look like? Are you spending all of your time playing xbox? Sitting on your phone scrolling through social media? Fortnite? Doing things that don't produce fruit? I do some of those things sometimes. If I accomplished all I felt God wanted me to do in a day and I don't feel like there is anything else he needs me to do, then I am going to have some leisure time. It's good to have leisure time when you need (NEED not want) it.

Do you want to use your power, gifts, and skills that God has blessed you with to have a powerful life in Christ? I hope that you can all say that is something that you want. I know that is something I want every single day. When I lay my head down on my pillow to go to sleep, I can sleep well and peacefully knowing that I surrendered my day to Christ. I also feel that peace when I know that I experienced fulfillment through the time I spend with God that day. A vertical lifestyle is how I live and is a key ingredient to a powerful life in Christ. Here are five actions that guarantee a powerful life in Christ.

Five Actions that guarantee a powerful life in Christ

1.) daily surrender to God
2.) daily prayer with God
3.) daily study of God's word
4.) daily work with and for God
5.) daily pursuit of a God-sized dream

Justin encouraged the congregation to try to live this out for the week. So if you read this post today, try it out! If you really think about it, it doesn't take you that long. Remember this. "A few so people dedicated in time, will shake the world for Christ." You can surrender your day to Christ by a simple declaration. That doesn't take long at all! Spend 5 minutes praying. Pray before bed, before you eat, while you're in the shower! Study God's word. I believe that is the most important thing on the list. It will change your life. It changed mine that is for sure. Two books and two chapter, that is what I do and it works so well. It takes me 10-20 minutes every day. It just takes some time, it took me years. I am 21 and finally am consistent with my time in the word on daily basis! Daily work for God. Do everything you do on a daily basis for God and for his kingdom. Lastly, pursue your God-sized dream. I don't know what that is for you. I have a hard time at even thinking what my God-sized dream is. I hope and pray that you can try this recipe for a powerful life in Christ this week. If you can do this until next Sunday, 7 days turn to 14 days, which turns to 21 days, which then turns to nearly a month, which then turns out to six months, and then a year. A disciplined relationship takes time!

Today is the next step to a change in your life. I am so excited for the fruit that you are going to produce. If you want accountability or help with this reach out to a close friend, or perhaps even a mentor. I'm always available too. I would love to help you. I've seen God change my life because of my daily agenda and I know that he can and will change yours too.

God is so good!!!