"The Most Valuable Thing You Have In Life"

My spiritual father Bishop Tony Miller taught many lessons to prepare me for life and ministry. The most important one is this: The most valuable thing you have in life is relationships. And you spell relationships T-I-M-E.

I have to be honest with you, I have not learned this lesson easily. Most of my life I have burned relationships or I didn't invest in them. You will only get out of them, what you put in them. In fact if the relationship is one way, then you need to say no way! Those are spiritual leeches and they will drain you. No relationship was ever designed to be one way, it must be give and take.

God spoke to me recently that one of the primary things He is doing in my life is reconnecting and connecting me to strategic relationships. He has began to bring new people and is reconnecting me to old relationships that are brand new in this season of my life. Anytime God is about to take you to a new level, He will first connect key people to you. Your highest level is determined by the relationships you have in life.

Here are the most important.

1) Those above you. (Mentors)

* My goal is to be the smallest guy in the room.
* Surround yourself with those who are presently on the level you are aiming for.
* These are the people who challenge you and make you want to pray, not those who constantly throw oil on you from beneath you. Little people surround themselves with Pygmies to make them feel bigger.
* This is someone that is not impressed by you, they are not your friend.
* Willing to give you success clues, to help you go farther than they have gone.

Jesus said Simon satan has desired to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail, and after you have returned strengthen your brethren.

A Mentor can be discovered by these three keys.

1) A Mentor can spot your enemy before you do.
2) A Mentor warns you about your enemy.
3) A Mentor will see and declare your coming out.

2. Those beside you (friends, peers)

* These are those that see you at your best even when you are at your worst.
* They will tell you the truth, even if it hurts.
* Not insecure of your successes, they celebrate you.
* Can be you, have fun, don't have to perform.
* Make your baby jump.
* Will make sacrifices to help you succeed.
* Don't want anything from you, just enjoy being with you.

3. Those under you. (Mentees, prodigy's, apprentices)

* Never share your problems with those who do not have the power to solve them.
* Your job is to to challenge them, provoke them to growth, and hold them to their foundation.
* Those that will shut their mouth so they can listen for wisdom nuggets, if someone wants you to mentor them but they are always talking...
* Not your friends, peers. Many times they are completely opposite of you.
* Your primary assignment is to pull their potential out of them by always referring to their future not their present and past.
Are always pulling the best out of you. It is their responsibility to pull, pursue, and press.

The most valuable relationship I have outside of the father, is my wife and family. I want to say thank you for allowing me to spend the last week with you on vacation. My favorite time is just being with you, and seeing your faces light up. Thank you God for giving me the best wife, and children. That is truly grace and mercy.

Blessings,
Craig

PS - One of the things I pray for every day is divine appointments. I have prayed for years and just now I am beginning to see this level open up to me.