Are we being the best that we can be?

SNACK
As Christians we have a responsibility to be the very best that we can be. We serve a mighty God and we cannot go about doing things in a half-hearted manner.

Numerous examples are provided to indicate that once we walk with God we need not rely on our strength but on His. And so, there can be no justifiable excuse for not performing well.

Phil 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

First key, we must establish a vision for our lives. Answer the question “Why am I here?” Matt 6:33

Second key, we ought to recognize our humanity and develop a healthy respect for the powers and principalities that war against us. Eph 6:10ff

Third key, set up support mechanisms and seek out the specific support of wise and like-minded individuals who are firmly grounded in the faith. Just DO NOT try to go it alone!!!!!

Fourth key, identify strategies for living a fulfilled life. One essential secret lies in the area of sharing and giving to others. This is the surest way to receive healing and fill vacuums in our own lives.

Fifth key, present positive images to others. How others see us is a factor in determining how successful we can become. If we send out positive vibes our chances of achieving excellence is going to be better than if people are not touched when they interact with us or if we turn them off.

Sixth key, keep our eyes on our goals. We need to be patient and focused on the long term. God moves in mysterious ways.

Seventh key, be diligent. We cannot be the best we can be if we are slothful. We must work hard and work smart to achieve our goals. We must be persistent and consistent in our efforts. To do less, is to offer less than we can.

Children of God do their best at all times.
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MEAL


Are we being the best that we can be?


I am still being driven by the thought that as Christians we have a responsibility to be the very best that we can be. We serve a mighty God and we cannot go about doing things in a half-hearted manner.

Numerous examples are provided to indicate that once we walk with God we need not rely on our strength but on His. And so, there can be no justifiable excuse for not performing well.

Phil 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

I have a particular interest in the development of especially the younger members of our congregation. At the same time, there is an ongoing concern about whether others, especially members of the Church, are being the best that they can be. And that is the question that I pose this morning: “Are we being the best that we can be?”

I throw out some thoughts for your consideration:

Firstly, I think it is important that we establish a vision for our lives. If we are lost in a desert, the mere fact of establishing with certainty the direction in which safety lies makes the situation much more manageable. We need to bring a similar level of certainty to our lives. We have to establish some over-arching purpose for our lives.

This exercise may require us to deal with the potentially frightening question of “Why am I here?”

Acts 5: 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed them: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

From this passage, I suggest that our vision and our mission here should have God at the centre. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matt 6:33

If you think back to school and reflect on how a child who would like to be the ‘teacher’s pet’ would behave. She would have to focus on the benefits of being the teacher’s pet. She would tailor her behaviour to please the teacher and would get excited about doing things that pleased her.

As children of God that we must also tailor our behaviour to please Him and get excited about doing things that please Him.


The second issue that I bring to your attention as we try to be the best that we can be is the need to recognize our humanity and develop a healthy respect for the powers and principalities that war against us.

Eph 6: 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armour 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Do not over estimate our ability to cope with the challenges that we will face. Do not put yourself in situations in which temptations are likely to arise. The devil is committed to setting up traps for us. Let us not help him – he needs no assistance. Stay clear of potentially dangerous situations.

The third issue that I raise for your consideration is the need for us to set up support mechanisms and seek out the specific support of wise and like-minded individuals who are firmly grounded in the faith.

Out in the wild animals move in closely-knit packs. This is designed to provide a solid front against the threat of predators. The strategy of the predator has consequently shifted to picking off the strays, the weak and the lame. They do not succeed in getting animals that are in the centre of the pack. There is safety in numbers.

I urge you to stay in the middle of the pack. Surround yourself with well-meaning, supportive and firmly grounded Christians. No matter how shy or private you are, take care to identify at least one Christian to whom you can look for support and guidance.

The persons you choose must be able to command your respect and be able to put themselves in a position to understand your situation. You cannot rely on persons who will let you have your own way or who will provide the spiritual equivalent of ‘take 2 aspirins and go to bed’ for every situation. If there is no one that fits the bill readily accessible to you, you should set about coaching someone to play that role for you. Work with them to bring to the required level of maturity and sensitivity.

Just DO NOT try to go it alone!!!!!

So we have looked at the purpose, our vision/mission. We have contemplated our humanity in the face of consistent challenges that would throw us off course. We have also examined the need for support mechanisms/personnel.

The fourth issue that I raise relates to strategies for living a fulfilled life. One essential secret lies in the area of sharing and giving to others. This is the surest way to receive healing and fill vacuums in our own lives. Again the teacher’s pet principle is in play, as giving and sharing produces immense personal benefits for the donor.

Sharing and giving also open up possibilities for solutions that you did not even think possible for our own challenges. Sharing and giving give rise to networking opportunities. Taking time out from moping about our own challenges to offer a kind word to someone may open doors that we did not know existed or could not approach on our own. Decide to be a giver.

The fifth issue relates to the image that we present to others. All too often, we fail to recognize the great importance of how others see us as a factor in determining how successful we can become. The fact is that people respond to the vibes that they get from us. If we send out positive vibes our chances of achieving excellence is going to be better than if people are not touched when they interact with us or if we turn them off.

In my experience, people who are well liked by others seem to have an advantage. Others seem to be more willing to help them. Others seem to be more willing to listen to them. When an opportunity arises, people think of them first. When they make mistakes people do not seem to bear a grudge for too long. Forgiveness seems to come more readily.

On the other hand, people who present low impact images are often over-looked and miss out on opportunities. The level of warmth that we exude seems to be an important factor in deciding what opportunities are open to us. To a great extent we help to influence our own destiny.

When we create negative vibes in others, we may actually set up some people to put obstacles in our way. They block opportunities from coming your way and work to hinder your progress. Turning off others and being a source of annoyance to people are certain to ensure that we are not the best the best that we can be.

Every time we move even one person from wanting to push for us to being actively working against us, we make things harder for ourselves and we find it harder to be the best that we can be.

Like it or not we need others and we had better pay attention to how we are going to get them to be on our side. Being the best that we can be means that we live our lives in a way that people will rally around us even as we rally around others. The capacity to influence others is critical for success.


The sixth issue is the need to keep our eyes on our goals. We need to be patient and focused on the long term. God moves in mysterious ways. Some times we might think that things are not going very well for us. At times, we might feel that we are actually moving in the wrong direction.

Ruth 1 6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!”
14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.
15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
19 So the two women went on until they came to Bethlehem.

4: 13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the LORD, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”
16 Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son.” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Marc Breslawsky's parents worried their son would never amount to much. Growing up in the Bronx in the 1950s, Mr. Breslawsky admits he was a lazy kid who always got bad grades and barely made it through high school.
"My parents would come into my room to see if I was doing my homework and I'd fool them by having my books open, when I was really listening to the baseball game or music," he says.
He couldn't get into a New York state or city college. His father, a painter for the New York Fire Department, considered using the money he had saved for Marc's college tuition to open a paint store, where he could employ his son. "My dad figured that maybe eventually I could manage the store," Mr. Breslawsky says.

But he chose to enroll at New York University, a private college that at the time had easy admissions criteria. He earned mostly C's. The only subject he ever got A's in was accounting.
In the career that followed his education, Mr. Breslawsky, now 60 years old, rose to become president of Pitney Bowes, Stamford, Conn., in 1995 and last year became CEO of a spinoff called Imagistics International. "I didn't discover my ambition until I began working," he says.

The adage "it isn't how you start, it's how you finish" applies not only to athletes, artists and politicians but also to business leaders. Many strong executives were late bloomers. Rather than feel defeated by their early failures, they learned invaluable lessons. They realized that setbacks at one moment in time don't necessarily dictate the future and that the way they handle one situation doesn't determine what they can accomplish in another. And because they had to weather constant criticism about themselves and their work, they developed into independent and determined risk-takers.

Mr. Breslawsky says he has never felt crushed or belittled by his poor record in school. He felt constrained in classrooms and didn't like the assignments his teachers gave him. "Even in college, I couldn't see the relationship between what I was being taught and how it applied to my life," he says.

In three years, he became a certified public accountant, then was an accounting manager at Graphic Sciences, an early maker of fax machines that was acquired by Burroughs Corp. He was soon promoted to chief financial officer. Blunt and outspoken, he told his bosses their sales strategy was weak. They challenged him to prove his thinking and named him head of Canadian and international sales.

He had resisted learning at school, but that wasn't the case in business. As he advanced, he learned that his success depended on hiring talented people and motivating them to overcome obstacles. "No matter what job you are in or what economic period, there are always obstacles in the way of success," he says. "You can't get rid of obstacles but have to find a way around them."
He joined Pitney Bowes as a vice president in 1980 and two years later led a launch into the fax-machine distribution business, where he competed against his former employer as well as Xerox and 3M. By 1990, Pitney Bowes held 50% market share in the fax business. In the meantime, Mr. Breslawsky had made up for some of his lost education. "I love to read now and realize I probably missed quite a lot when I was young," he laments.
He became president of the company…..

In his mid-50s Taikichiro Mori founded the business that made him, for a year or two, the richest man in the world. Forbes ranked him as the richest man in the world in 1991 and 1992.

Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Sanders was born in Henryville, Indiana. His father died when he was six years old, and since his mother worked, he was forced to cook for his family. During his teen years, Sanders worked many jobs, including firefighter, steamboat driver, insurance salesman, and he served as an Army private in Cuba.

At the age of 40, Sanders cooked chicken dishes for people who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Kentucky. Since he didn't have a resturant, he served the diners in his living quarters in the service station. Eventually, his local popularity grew, and Sanders moved to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. Over the next nine years, he perfected his method of cooking chicken that used the same eleven herbs and spices that are used today at KFC.

Be willing to open your mind to new opportunities even when it may call on you to give up almost everything that you know and have:
Gen 12: 1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

So today, you might not feel like you are a star. You might not feel that you have done the best that you can. The key is to recognize that it is not too late. You can still turn it around….you can still make the breakthrough and be the best that you can be.

In order to do that, you need to be totally committed to the goal. You cannot allow yourself to be distracted or de-motivated. You need to show total dedication to the task at hand.

Also, you cannot doubt. You have to be totally confident about the outcome. There is no room for worry and fear. Abraham went to sacrifice his son as an act of faith. You have to take each step in faith. You have to know that with God in charge we can trust him and press on to success.

The seventh issue relates to the need to be diligent. We cannot be the best we can be if we are slothful. We must work hard and work smart to achieve our goals. We must be persistent and consistent in our efforts. To do less, is to offer less than we can.

Children of God do their best at all times.