Sharp Edges by Ron Hutchcraft

With the population of our family increasing with the arrival of each new grandchild, our ability to accommodate everybody was shrinking. So we added a couple of rooms that have served us well in some memorable family get-togethers. But we had to correct one thing. As we looked at the staircase that a lot of little legs (including mine) would be climbing, we didn't like the sharp edges we saw on one of the boards along and at the bottom of the staircase.
We had to take care of those before someone got hurt on them.

Needless to say, we rounded off those sharp edges because people we love could get hurt on them. The problem is that too many of us have sharp edges that we never deal with; edges that continue to hurt people we care about. It's those sharp edges in our personality, in the way we react to people, in the way we treat people sometimes. And you can't just let those sharp edges stay there. They've already done enough damage, haven't they?

Maybe you get sharp and hurtful when you're tired, or when you're interrupted, or when something or someone messes up the way you had it planned. It could be that you become cutting and harsh when you're really stressed, or really frustrated, or when you don't get your way. I know where my buttons are that bring out my worst. I suspect you know where yours are, too. But for the sake of those we love, isn't it time we really finally did something about the sharp edges that keep cutting them?

Our word for today from the Word of God calls us to be known for a trait that was so there in our Lord Jesus. Philippians 4:5 says, "Let your gentleness be evident to all."
Is it? Would folks who know you best call you gentle? Or are they getting verbally roughed up by you all too often? Colossians 3 describes the new you that's supposed to be the result of you knowing Jesus personally. It says, "As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." That's the personality wardrobe that folks should always see you in, because you look good in it.

Sometimes you may not realize the power of your words; power to heal, power to wound, to build up or to tear down, to make a person feel valuable or worthless. In fact, Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death." With the words you say, you can make someone either feel dead or alive inside. And listen to what God says our sharp edges can do: "Reckless words pierce like a sword" (Proverbs 12:18). We know that's true. We've been pierced with that sword many times ourselves. Then why must we continually wound, alienate and wither the people we care about with our sharp edges?

Gentle treatment of people - especially when we're feeling tired, or tense, or frustrated - doesn't necessarily come naturally. God describes it as a "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:23). It's a characteristic Jesus has that He can produce in you through His Holy Spirit who lives in you. But you have to reach the point where, first of all, you're willing to see those sharp edges that you have and repent of them as part of the sinful old you that's all dark and ugly. And tell the Lord you're powerless to change your dark side by yourself.

Surrender that harsh side of you to God's Holy Spirit to replace it with the loving gentleness of your Lord, Jesus. Go back to those you've hurt and tell them you're sorry, and ask them to pray for you as you try to change. And when you're in one of those times when the sharp edges tend to show, stop for a moment and exchange your feelings and your instincts and your history for His empowering, overlooking love. There are too many wounds, too many tears from the damage our sharp edges have inflicted.
Because of Jesus, you just don't have to be that way anymore!

Leading a Life of Intentional Influence by John Maxwell

In the classic Christmas film, it’s a Wonderful Life; George Bailey is given a tremendous gift: the opportunity to see what life would be like without him. As he wanders through a world that has no memory of his existence, George is dismayed by the plight of his friends and family. Devoid of his influence, their lives lack the warmth and richness he is accustomed to seeing. As George struggles to come to terms with his bleak surroundings, Clarence, his guardian angel, sums up the lesson that he hopes George will absorb from the experience.
"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"

Three Basic Truths about Influence
1. Everyone has influence.
There's no denying the influence one life has on the world. In fact, sociologists tell us that even the shyest introvert will influence 10,000 people over the course of his or her lifetime. Our lives shape the people around us in profound ways. Whether we intend to or not, we affect others through our influence.
2. We choose the nature of our influence.
We have freedom to select the influence our lives exert on the world around us. Our backgrounds vary, as do the environments in which we live. Yet, at the end of the day, we all have personal responsibility for the way we conduct our lives. As my friend John Wooden says, "There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you."

3. We have to work to earn the influence we desire to have.
While everyone exercises influence, the size and strength of our influence depends upon our effort. No one leads well without paying the price of discipline. As we push ourselves to grow and to learn, we enlarge our sphere of influence.

Five Ways to Gain the Influence You Want to Have
1. Know What's Important.
Before becoming the leaders we aspire to be, we must learn what brings meaning and purpose to our lives. Our influence will be spotty and incoherent unless it's rooted in values. For instance, I'm very clear on what's important to me in how I influence my family.
I want to:
1) Show them the meaning of unconditional love;
2) Teach and train them in life/success principles;
3) Provide them with a sense of belonging and security.
Knowing what's important in my family relationships guides my interactions with loved ones. As I spend time with them, I intentionally act out my values in order to show them love, train them for life, and provide them with security.

2. Live What's Important.
It's meaningless to know our values if we don't translate them into behaviors. Influence happens through actions, not intentions. When we fail to live in accordance to our values, we lose self-respect, and success apart from self-respect only leads to misery.

3. Use All Possible Avenues to Leverage Your Influence.
As leaders, we're always on call. Our influence doesn't pause when we step off the stage or exit the boardroom. When I'm hired for a speaking engagement, my primary duty is to deliver an exceptional presentation, but I have numerous additional opportunities to exercise influence. I can influence my hosts by treating them with courtesy and care. I am able to influence the audience at a deeper level by interacting with them before and after I speak. I can even impact fellow presenters by offering them attentiveness and feedback.4. Choose Those Who Can Best Multiply Your Influence to Others.
The ability to develop capable successors is a hallmark of great leaders. Ultimately, if your people can't do it without you, then you haven't been successful in empowering other leaders. The final test of leadership is how your team performs in your absence.
To strategically multiply your influence, add value to leaders, not followers. Select potential leaders who are rivers instead of reservoirs. You want to see your leadership flow through them to others rather than being stockpiled and confined.
What do potential leaders look like?
(1) They make things happen.
(2) They think differently than followers.
(3) They possess strong relational skills.
(4) They add value to others.

5. Teach Them to Reproduce Your Influence.
We have all heard, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears," but I also believe, "When the teacher is ready, the student appears." We cannot expect up-and-coming leaders to soak up our influence by osmosis; they need to be coached and challenged. Good teachers supply resources, give assignments to stretch their students, and require accountability.

Three Basic Truths about Influence
1. Everyone has influence.
2. We choose the nature of our influence.
3. We have to work to earn the influence we desire to have.

Five Ways to Gain the Influence You Want to Have
1. Know What's Important.
2. Live What's Important.
3. Use All Possible Avenues to Leverage Your Influence.
4. Choose Those Who Can Best Multiply Your Influence to Others.
5. Teach Them to Reproduce Your Influence.

Shaking the Snake That Stalks You by Ron Hutchcraft

The more I've learned about eagles, the more amazing I find them to be. They mate for life, they build nests that will last a lifetime, and they ride the storm instead of hiding from the storm. There's really only one enemy that is a serious danger to the eagle - a snake.

That snake will attempt to climb wherever the eagle nest is and attack the inhabitants, especially the little eagles. But pity the poor snake that gets caught by Mama or Papa Eagle. They will show the serpent no mercy! They may pick it up with their beak and violently shake it to death. Or, better yet, they will pick it up in their talons, take off high into the air, and drop that snake to its death on the rocks below. They are not about to let that serpent have what he came for.

It's no wonder the Bible encourages us to take note of "the way of an eagle" (Proverbs 30:19). The eagle shows the serpent no mercy and makes that serpent sorry he's ever attacked you. Like that eagle, we have a serpent that's trying to strike out at us. The devil's first appearance to humans came in the form of a snake in the Garden of Eden. In the last book of the Bible, God still calls him "that ancient serpent called the devil" (Revelation 11:9).

You may or not believe in the devil, but either way he's actively trying to ruin your life. In fact, he likes it better when you don't believe in him. You won't fight an enemy you don't even know is there. But those who anchor their life to the Word of God have no excuse for being blind to what the evil prince is up to. 1 Peter 5:8 describes him as "a roaring lion" who "prowls around...looking for someone to devour."

Then it tells us what to do with him, "Resist him!"
Unfortunately, we're not always as smart as the eagles. If that old serpent pushes the right buttons - the same old buttons he's always pushed to bring you down - we actually go along with him! So much of our hurt, and heartache; the shame of your life and mine is because we've given into his subtle promptings and to his sinful opportunities. But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you belong to the One the Bible says came "to destroy the devil's work" (1 John 3:8).

So show him no mercy when he comes crawling toward you; when he comes crawling toward your nest. In the words of Ephesians 6:13, "Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." Remember, Satan has no power over you except what you let him have! And every temptation the devil brings into your life is to do one of three things. Jesus said that, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy" (John 10:10). Why in the world would you go along with any of those?

The next time the serpent comes your way, the Bible says, "Resist him." "I know who this is. I'm not falling for this again!" That's how you stand up to him. You claim the victory that Jesus Christ won over Satan when He died on the cross. Take your stand! Go to your Savior and unleash Jesus on that serpent. No compromise. No giving in. No accommodation.

Like the eagle, make that old serpent sorry that he ever got close to your nest!

A Place of Thus Far by Wendy Pope

"Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, 'Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far?'" 2 Samuel 7:18

Have you been in a place of "thus far?" A place where you find yourself in the constant misting of God's blessing and favor on your life. Not blessings and favor by the world's standards of materialism and wealth, but by the Lord's standard of provision, protection, providence, and peace that come from walking with the Lord on a daily basis.
You arrive at the place by faith, following the Lord's leading and trusting His ways, not your own.
One day, as you meet with the Lord, like David, you sit and take summary of all the Lord has done for you. With compulsory praise and complete humility you say to the Lord, "Who am I that you have brought me thus far?"
Oh the places David had seen in his lifetime! From the grassy meadows, to the splendor of palace life, a drafty cave, back to the throne itself. Yes, King David had arrived at a place of "thus far" in his life. He had experienced every emotion that exists, from confidence to fear, love to hate, and sadness to joy. After all that King David had been through I can certainly understand why he needed to go sit before the LORD and ask, "Who am I?"
He was overwhelmed at the goodness of God and the faithfulness he had experienced. He had been through some of the toughest situations a person could go through, yet because He remained faithful God was allowing David to receive his just reward.
I have to think the reward of kingship and royalty paled in comparison to knowing the goodness and faithfulness of God.
Have you been there? Life has taken twists, turns, and changes at every bend, yet some how for a season you have arrived at a place to receive abundant blessings from the Lord.
You realize your place of thus far pales in comparison to knowing and experiencing the goodness and faithfulness of God.
No matter what current circumstances you find yourself in, with our Living God there is always a place of "thus far" awaiting around the next bend.
This is a place of celebration, praise, complete humility and gratitude before the Lord. I have discovered the hardships we go through are all worthwhile when we get to our place of "thus far."
In compulsory praise, with a humbled heart, we can pour our blessings back out to the Lord in praise and cry, "Who I am Lord, that you have brought me thus far?"

Dear Lord, forgive me when I fail to sit and take summary of Your tremendous favor in my life. The misting of blessings and favor are far superior to anything this world can afford me. Help me to remember my place of "thus far" when Your plan for my life leads me to another season that may be risky and cause me to walk by faith and not by sight. I offer this praise of thanksgiving to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

It's Blurry Without Your Glasses by Ron Hutchcraft

It's becoming a pretty frequent refrain around our house. I'll be trying to read a label or some instructions or something my wife has given me to look at, and it becomes obvious that I'm having a hard time deciphering what's in front of me. The first clue is that my arm is extended as far it can go with that item in my hand. My wife knows I'm not seeing words clearly; I'm seeing a blur or I'm seeing letters or words that aren't really there. Thus, the refrain "Put your glasses on!" Oh yeah. I do that, and what looked so blurry suddenly looks pretty clear.

Something exciting happens when you begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ - you get a new pair of glasses. It's the ability, actually, to look at your world, look at our culture, look at your choices and see God's perspective. Our vision of what really matters, or what's valuable, or what's right is pretty blurred and fuzzy and often it's expensively wrong. But when you start evaluating and living according to what God says in His Book, the Bible, you can see what's really going on.

The problem is, though, that we tend to be defined much more by our culture than we are by our Christ. Oh yeah, we have Jesus in our heart, but we've got a lot of earth-junk in the way we think. It's not a new problem. When God's ancient people were entering a culture with values that were the opposite of God's, He gave them a very important warning. It's one we need every bit as much today, and it's our word for today from the Word of God. In Leviticus 18, beginning in verse 2, God says, "I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do was they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey My laws and be careful to follow My decrees." In other words, don't take your cue from your culture - take your cue from your Creator!

One of the reasons we're so spiritually lame and powerless is that we mix our faith with a lot of garbage from Egypt and Canaan. So we end up seeing our faith more through our culture than seeing our culture through our faith. And there are lots of cultures people are or have been a part of, each with its own values, its own lies and its own distortions about life. Which culture or cultures have helped shape your attitudes and actions: the business culture, where people are commodities and profit is decisive? Or maybe the academic culture, where you must believe certain premises in order to be considered academically respectable? The youth culture, the entertainment culture, the pop culture where trivial things get hyped, superficial is important, and where irreverence and disrespect are the style?

I remember what former Attorney General John Ashcroft's godly father told him when he was going to Washington to become a United States Senator. "John, the culture of Washington is a culture of arrogance; the culture of Jesus is a culture of humility. Don't ever let Washington's arrogance replace Jesus' humility." Wow! In a sense, Jesus calls us to live counter-culturally, judging everything by His standards, seeing everything through His glasses.

Follow the culture and you'll be cynical, sarcastic, irreverent...you may be arrogant, negative, casual about sex, or driven by the bottom line. But when you trade in your blurred vision for what Jesus sees, you'll realize that a lot that looks cool isn't cool. A lot that is supposed to be funny isn't really funny. That some of what's considered an "educated viewpoint" isn't wise at all. A lot that most people consider acceptable has no place in a life that Jesus bought with His blood.
So, "Put your glasses on!" That's what God may be trying to say to you. Would you let God show you what things look like through His glasses? You'll see things as they really are, and that will change your life.

I Am a Warrior by April Osteen

I AM TIRED OF SETTLING
I AM TIRED OF LIVING LIFE BEATEN DOWN
I AM TIRED OF BEING TOLD THAT THIS IS HOW LIFE IS GOING TO BE
I AM TIRED OF BEING AFRAID
SO I AM TAKING MY POSITION AS A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH

I KNOW WHO I AM AND WHOSE I AM
I KNOW WHAT I BELIEVE AND WHO I BELIEVE IN
I KNOW WHO I'M FIGHTING AGAINST AND WHAT I AM FIGHTING FOR

TODAY I AM MAKING THE DECISION TO STOP LIVING LIKE A SURVIVOR
AND START LIVING LIKE A WARRIOR

I REFUSE TO SETTLE
I REFUSE TO JUST "GET BY"
I REFUSE TO LAY LOW, COWER DOWN, AND LIVE MY LIFE IN THE BACKGROUND

I AM IN THIS THING TO WIN
MOUNTAINS DON'T SCARE ME
VALLEYS WON'T STOP ME
AND PEOPLE WON'T HINDER ME

I WILL FIGHT UNTIL I CONQUER
I WILL NOT GIVE UP ANY GROUND THAT I HAVE FOUGHT FOR
I WILL NOT BE PUSHED OVER, UNDER, OR BACKWARD
I WILL STAND MY GROUND UNTIL I MAKE PROGRESS

I KNOW TIMES WILL GET TOUGH, BUT I WILL GET TOUGHER
I KNOW I MIGHT FALL DOWN, BUT I WILL GET BACK UP
I KNOW I MIGHT FAIL TRYING, BUT I WILL KEEP ON TRYING

I HAVE SETTLED IN MY HEART THAT I WILL NOT BE A CASUALTY
I WILL NOT BE MISSING IN ACTION
I WILL NOT BE A PRISONER OF ANY WAR

I HAVE DETERMINED IN MY HEART THAT I AM NOT A QUITTER
I AM NOT A FAILURE
I AM NOT A COWARD
I AM NOT A VICTIM
I AM NOT JUST A SURVIVOR-I AM A WARRIOR!