Deadline…

Deadline – what a powerful word! Just seeing it makes me want to jump up and check my surroundings. Are you working under a deadline? Have you been given a deadline or is it self-imposed? If given, is it practical? If self-imposed is it necessary? I think the word is overused and misconstrued.  It is used to designate an area surrounding a prison; prisoners are not allowed to cross that line – under penalty of death. It is used by the military to designate a piece of equipment as inoperable; aircraft unable to fly, ships out of service. It’s used by journalists to indicate the last moment type may be changed before going to print. Those are all appropriate uses with appropriate stress levels. But too often today I hear people using it as a motivator. As if applying stress to a situation will create a better outcome. I spent many years in management and I can scarcely recall truly successful results when applying it. Oh I may have gotten faster results but they usually weren’t better. I’ve found that people who were easily intimidated or discouraged were twice as likely to perform poorly under a deadline. Have you heard – ‘there’s never enough time to do it right – but there’s always enough time to do it over’? Better is more effectively achieved with terms like guideline, finish line, target, due date, zero hour. Can’t you just feel the difference? Using stress as a motivator is not just unpleasant it is depraved. To perform better under such conditions (anxious toil) is according to Psalm 127 vain. We are to encourage (1 Thessalonians 5) and exhort one another (Hebrews 3) and do whatever our hands find to do with all our might (Ecclesiastes 9).  So the next time you hear or begin to use the word ‘deadline’ I encourage you to replace it or substitute it with another more encouraging and motivating term.  How about time limit, goal, crossroads, term, objective? How many better ways can you say it?

 

Knowing and understand…

We know when we’ve seen, heard, read or otherwise experienced something. We understand when we can apply that knowledge beyond those experiences. My mom taught me to cook. She not only taught me how to read a recipe and mix the ingredients she also taught me the importance of each ingredient.  Knowing and following the recipe insures the outcome. Understanding the role of each ingredient allows me to be creative and still have faith in the outcome. Today I can bake a cake with mayonnaise instead of eggs or applesauce instead of oil. When I was in the Air Force during my training as an Aircraft Electrician I learned the principles of electricity and its effects on each component. I completed the course with honors and in half the expected time. I thought it was pretty simple stuff. Too little electricity and the relay will not open, too much and the relay will burn up; that was knowledge. It took my burning up three 120v hair-dyers plugged into a 220v socket for me to apply those concepts to everything electric; that was understanding!  After that I was one of the best trouble-shooters in the shop. By applying those concepts and theories I could deduce problems that older more experienced colleagues had never seen before. They used their experience to recall solutions.  Lacking experience I relied on the schematics to locate the exact failure and recommend the solution. Proverbs 7 urges us to make Godly Wisdom our sister and Understanding our friend. Both are to be prized above gold and rubies. As we learn the lessons in the Bible we are to use them as a recipe or schematic for our life’s choices. Through understanding we can apply each experience to our own situation and confidently choose the correct response. A lost penny, a wandering sheep, a seed – they could be examples of someone you know – perhaps even you. Today you are in a very similar situation to that of Daniel or David or Paul. By understanding their position you can confidently trust your own choices to obtain the best results. I urge you to learn the Word and pray for understanding you’ll be blessed with the results.

 

 

It only takes a few words.

I believe there is power in words. I have felt their power. Kind words can lighten your heart and improve your mood. Cruel words can darken your heart and worsen your mood. There was a Japanese scientist, Masaru Emoto, who tried to prove this very theory by freezing water. He froze some water and examined the crystals. Then he took the same water and spoke to it, or played music to it and examined those frozen crystals. The water that received good, kind and loving words or music had crystals that were ‘more’ beautiful or improved forms. Water that was exposed to harmful, harsh and hateful words or music lost their crystalline shapes and became blobs. In one experiment he had monks pray over a polluted (blobs were visible when frozen) lake. He said that after an hour the prayers had cleansed (lovely crystals were found) the water. Most of the scientific world discounts his theory and calls it evangelizing – not science. Maybe it is. God spoke the world into existence. He said “Let there be light” and there was. Most of the scientific world discounts that too. But I don’t. I believe it. I believe these effects are felt throughout the universe. Have you ever walked into a room and just felt the tension, or happiness or grief? Ephesians 1 tells us that as children of God and believers we have His power and authority over things seen and unseen. The bible is full of passages that advise that our words are powerful; Proverbs 12, 15, 13, 21 for instance.  Today I challenge you to speak words that bring life, joy and comfort. Speak to a friend. Speak to a stranger. Speak to an animal. Or speak to an inanimate object. But speak! Every good, caring and loving word you speak has power and authority over every evil. If you catch yourself or happen over hear someone speaking negative words quickly overcome them with something positive; you are beautiful, you are smart, you are funny, Jesus loves you! Make a positive difference today. It only takes a few words!

 

Getting it by yourself?

I was five or six years old, sitting on my father’s lap, when he kissed me and told me that he loved me; he loved me but whatever in life I wanted I would have to get by myself. He wasn’t able to give it to me. At that time I thought he was talking about the glasses in the cupboard. So I started standing on chairs to do all the things I would have normally asked someone else to do. I stood on chairs to get the glasses. I stood on chairs to wash dishes and to get things out of the refrigerator. It wasn’t until I reached my teen years that I understood that he meant much more than that. He was telling me that I had to rely on myself. He was telling me I would have to provide for myself. I’ve heard his voice throughout my adult life advising me to ‘get it myself’. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how isolated those words had made me. By always ‘getting it myself’ I had failed to rely on anyone; family, friends and most importantly God. I was happy, no more than happy – fulfilled when I could help others. It was motivating to solve other’s problems. But I rarely allowed anyone to assist or even know about my problems. Consequently, when I finally reached a point in my life when I couldn’t ‘get it myself’ I felt like a complete failure. I thought that if I couldn’t even help myself how could I be any use to anyone? I know my father meant well when he gave me that advice. He meant to make me strong and independent. But it is not advice I will pass on today. Today I would like to remind you that you are not alone. Today I would like to direct you to John 14 to encourage you to know and always remember that you have the Holy Spirit with you as a helper and comforter. You never have to get it for yourself.  Allow His spirit to guide you and you will never be on your own.

Leave them better than you found them.

“Leave it better than you found it.” My dad said it all the time. But he didn’t just say it, he practiced it.He always taught us by example.  Most of the places we lived needed work; new floors, windows, walls, porches. Dad fixed them all. I could almost time our move to the pace of the construction. If the work was done it was time for us to move. I’d ask “Why do you it. Why do you fix everything and then leave?” He just said, “Leave it better than you found it.” Even when we stopped at a road side park to picnic dad would have us pick up any trash that the folks before us might have left behind. “Why should we do it?” I’d ask. “Leave it better than you found it,” was always his answer. But it wasn’t just ‘it’; it was ‘them’, too. We would meet people just casually on the street or in a store and Dad would reach into his pocket and give them money. If not money we might go home and pick up a tool or blanket, or clothes or dishes; and bring them back to people we didn’t even know. “Why are giving them this? We’ll never see them again.” I asked. “They need it more than we do,” he’d say, and then he’d add the ‘leave them better than you found them’ instruction. People, homes, parks, fishing holes even parking lots; leave them better than you found them. Today I can honestly say that if I try to save time and ignore that simple rule then I find that I lose a little peace. God gave us dominion over the earth. Peace is a gift to us from Jesus. Isn’t it wonderful how caring for one insures the other!