Supernatural Productivity

“…If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” – Exodus 33:15

Do you want to be more productive in your life?  It seems there are more books written, blogs created, and seminars conducted on increasing personal productivity than ever before.  After all, if time equals money, then our best asset would be to increase the amount of time we have, and decrease the time it takes to accomplish various tasks.  In America, we are a particularly performance-driven society.  Anything that could save us time definitely grabs our attention!

But, are we missing something when we look merely at better ways to get things done?  Sure, this is helpful and practical, but – are we missing some sort of “x” factor or special sauce we keep searching for in the realm of producing more and becoming more effective?

I believe as Christians you and I have a special advantage.  We do have that “x” factor, that “special sauce.”  He is the Holy Spirit.  Paul Cuny, in his book Secrets of the Kingdom Economy describes the relationship between our worship to God and our personal productivity: 

One morning the Lord woke me very early to pray. This has been a regular occurrence for me over the years and the part of my day that I cherish.  For over 20 years, I had run a demanding business, and at God’s direction, I began a process of re-structuring my life to spend more time in prayer, study, writing, and fulfilling the two assignments He gave me in the mid-90s. In many ways, this was my time of activation, so to speak.

…That morning the Lord said two words, activity and presence.  I pondered those words for some time and finally asked the Lord if He would explain what they meant… He said something that has profoundly impacted my life:  “Activity will never produce My presence.  My presence will always produce focused, productive activity.”  -Secrets of the Kingdom Economy, pp. 45-46.

Jesus did only what the Father showed him to do. He manifested the Father’s presence in the area of His calling by spending time with Him. Do you need to make more room for God, so that He can in turn make you more effective?  Set aside time to pray, to worship, or to journal.  See how God will increase your productivity when you do!

Dumbing Down Sin

"When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God." -Galatians 5:19-21
 
We live in a dangerous world today. And I'm not just talking about the dangers of drunk driving, murderers, terrorists, or drugs. It has to do with the way we see our humanity.

As our humanity runs the show more and more, more of us try to make our particular brand of sin socially acceptable. When this happens, everything becomes muddied and grey - there is no such thing as black and white morality. But the fact of the matter is, there is a right and wrong. There is a plumb line of morality that exists, that would make our world better if we could all learn to embrace it.

The problem with this as we go on is that we see no need for salvation. We think we are good on our own, (even if we don't feel that way all of the time), and so we go on in life, defensive if anyone calls attention to our sin and cites it as a problem. We may even go to extremes to get the government to agree with us. But in reality, it is a huge problem. Proverbs says, "Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery." -Proverbs 29:1

When Abraham put Isaac on the altar, it was a prophetic sign of things to come, for Jesus especially, but also for us. You see, when we put what may be dear or close to us on the altar, God can use that greatly. The fact that Abraham put his own flesh on the altar is testament that we, too, need to put our flesh on the altar - we are "crucified with Christ, so it is no longer I that lives, but He that lives in me." (Gal 2:20) The very fact that we need to put things on the altar is what allows us to step into God's kingdom!

Are you willing to put anything in your life that is not of God on the altar today?

Servant Leadership vs. Entitlement

"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant" -Matthew 20:26

I walked into the store toward the customer service counter and waited for a few minutes.  I was next in line, but to my surprise, a young store employee walked right up to the customer service desk when the register became open and made a purchase.  The cashier saw me and told the employee, who said something about the fact that there were two lines, and I was in the other one.  I wasn’t about to fight with an employee for a place in line, so I let him go ahead.  It was a horrible example of customer service, but a great example of entitlement.

There is a consensus in our world today that we are becoming more and more entitled.  iPhones, iPads, iPods, personal computers, facebook, video games, media, entertainment, and marketing have increasingly made it all about me, me, me! We think if we’re alive we’re entitled to success, happiness, or greatness. But this mentality is directly contradictory to what Jesus taught.  It is in fact, in direct opposition to true success. 

When I worked for a department store, it was our policy to do anything within our power to make the customer happy, even if it meant returning a used item.  Related to how we think about others, Jesus made it clear to “love one another as we love ourselves.” That means doing to another what you would want to be done to you.  And even more than that, putting God before ourselves and others.  What would He want us to do?  How would He want us to serve someone else?

If we are to make a mark in the world for God’s kingdom, we can’t live entitled.  We must learn to live as “a servant of all.”  When we learn this, often other things follow - such as financial increase and meaningful relationships.

Are you a servant leader?  I pray each of us can find more ways of serving one another, and letting love be our ultimate goal.

Putting God First

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." -Matthew 6:33

One estimate finds more than 4700 covenant promises listed in the Bible.  The funny thing about each of these promises is that, if we put God first in a certain area, He is able to bless our lives because we have set ourselves apart in our devotion to Him. 

It doesn’t mean that getting to know God is a religious, boxed-in formula.  It also doesn’t mean that God is a genie or a microwave.  But, it does mean that when we put God first in our lives, we are adhering to a divine order that makes our lives function as they should.  We receive the supernatural fruits of love, joy and peace in our lives.  We are able to experience a supernatural fulfillment that is beyond compare. 

Our lives work when there is no one or nothing on the throne of our hearts except God.  He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end  (Revelation 1:8).

J. John in his book “X” says of the First Commandment, "it is this commandment that underpins all the others."  Often we don’t know what it means to put God first in every area.  This first commandment to have nothing else come before Him mirrors Jesus’ golden rule in the Bible – “Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Luke 10:27) Putting God first is the simplest, yet most profound thing we can do every day to bring about God’s will for our lives. 

What does putting God first mean to you?  Is it waking up early to have a quiet time?  Is it worshipping in your car?  Is it having a Bible study with a few friends?  Is it giving God your best, all the time?  It is doing your work as if you were doing it just for Him?

The disciplines of our worship to God will show up on the outside, as “fruit” in our lives.  People can tell a difference in us when we’ve been worshipping, or if we haven’t been.  We must first invest in the spiritual work before the fruit and God’s presence will show up in the natural.  This is what it means to put God first in our lives.
 

Crowd Approval

"Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. For I have come to you in my Father’' name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don't care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God." -John 5:41-44 
Have you ever noticed how counterculture Jesus was?  He wasn’t interested in being buddy-buddy with the religious leaders of the day; he wasn’t interested in politics.  Jesus was only interested in the redemption of His people. "'Then Jesus said to the woman, ‘I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep - the people of Israel.'" -Matthew 15:24

The Pharisees angered Jesus because He saw how their tactics were keeping people away from God and His Spirit versus drawing them to Him.  They were more interested in the way they looked to others. (Matthew 23) Jesus didn't care much for their approval, because He knew they were mainly out for themselves. In the end, the people (influenced by the Pharisees) decided.  Crowd approval can be dangerous. 

In our own lives, it's easy to want to be approved by everyone.  It's a lot more warm and fuzzy to be liked!  But, sometimes God might call us to do things that make those around us uncomfortable or ruffle some feathers. This doesn't mean we don't listen to those we're accountable to - but it means we're not afraid of being politically incorrect.  

We don’t need to be concerned with crowd approval, but we do need to be concerned with our own motive.  Are we doing something because we love God, or because we’re afraid of people?  Are we loving others?  Are we serving those we are called to serve?  As long as we have God's approval, we don't need to worry about the crowd.