"Who Moved My Cheese" Part 2

I remember one of my mentors saying many times that you can talk about change, plan change, sing about change, think about change but change is not change till it is change.

The word Repent in the bible has an interesting meaning. Let's break the word down.

Re- To return
Pent - To the top (Pentagon, Penthouse)

Repent means to return to the top or the previous order. Another word we see in the N.T is Renew. Renew means to return to what was in the beginning. To return to what Adam had before sin. Let's go back to the garden and see what Adam had.

* Power and Dominion
* Ability to create and multiply perfection.
* Ability to name then animals and creations (whatever he called it, it became). In other words He had heaven's weight and authority behind his words (Heb.11:3).
* Accomplishments without sweat of the brow (Grace)
* Perfect peace and harmony
* Everything was under his feet, never allowed things to get on the top of him.

If you are going to go back to the top, be the head and not the tail, above only not beneath, the lender and not the borrower, it will require a change of your thinking. If you keep doing what you have always done, you will keep getting what you have always got. I call this being stuck. You will stay where you are until you make up your mind to change, do whatever it takes to move out of deadness and routine into an exciting life filled with adventure.

Here are some more lessons I am learning from "Who Moved My Cheese"?

* Entitlement is when you expect everything to come to you, in the Church we call this name it and claim it, blab it and grab it. The promises of God are never placed in your mouth but they are always within your reach. God told Joshua, Moses my servant is dead, now therefore arise (Joshua 1:1-2). He was saying the old way of doing things is dead, stop worshipping your past successes and position yourself for God to do something new. God is bored with the last thing you accomplished. he is daring you to believe Him to do something no one has ever done (Eph. 3:20). Quit putting God in a box.

* God also told Joshua wherever your feet tread I have given it to you. For example, if you receive a word or a promise that you will have a best selling book, don't just stand there and say shabba, shabba, shabba, go out and buy yourself some paper and pens and start writing. Start where you are with what you have. I know people who received a promise from God years ago but they are still standing in the same spot, sitting in the same chair, living the same old routine. Put your feet on your promises and plans and with one step at a time you can go anywhere and do anything! (Man, I felt that)

* What causes you to resist change? Is it pride, comfort, ignorance, laziness, fear of failure? You must take a risk and step out into the unknown. How do you know if a promise or word is from God. Hebrews 11:1-2, tells us that faith is the substance and evidence of things not seen. In other words, when you hear a promise and faith rises up in you, the faith in you is the evidence that what you are believing for is already yours. If you don't have faith for it, it isn't yours. I have seen people try to copycat something that someone else accomplished and they failed miserably. Why? Because they didn't have the faith for it.

* Great accomplishers are people who get the faith and step out into the impossible. I call this crazy faith. People are looking at you and saying I can't believe you are going to do that... This makes you peculiar, weird, strange, but it is also what separates you from average and mediocre.

* You are not entitled, you have to create your success by God's grace. No great person has ever done anything great without work. People look at Tiger Woods and say man I wish I could play like him. They go out and buy Tiger clothes, drink Tiger drink, hit the tiger balls with a tiger club but they don't get Tiger results, why? They haven;t done the tiger work.

All of us have what is called a gift cluster. This is comprised of:

Natural abilities

* Michael Jordan wasn't lucky, he had natural abilities. If you are 5'3 and you weigh 135 pounds you probably won't play in the N.B.A. He took his natural ability and through hard work perfect his abilities. What is it that you are naturally good at? What are you passionate about? What do you spend most of your time thinking about?

Acquired Skills

* This is what you are not necessarily good at but you can learn to improve. This could be people skills, communicating, organization, team leading, handling your money... This comes through books, attending seminars, talking to coaches in your field... You take the primary thing you are good at and you compliment it with acquired skills. This is becoming an expert in your field.

Holy Spirit Empowerment

* After you have discovered your strengths, applied yourself to learning necessary skills, and developing a plan of success, then God's anointing (empowerment) (grace) comes upon you and causes you to exceed your natural abilities. The anointing makes you look better than you really are. You give what you have to God and He multiplies it.

One last thing, refuse to allow people to draw a circle around you and define your future. People who do great things have to leave the crowd of approval and comfort and be willing to be lonely because they are walking in an arena of faith and expectation that others can not and will not understand. Listen, if God tells you to do something, it does not matter what someone else says. They are not God and your destiny is not in their hands. They can not curse you or hold you back. Go after what God has said to you. You may hit some bumps in the road and experience some setbacks but in the end you will live the life God planned for you.

Blessings,
Craig Sloan