Angus Nelson

The Challenge last night is to put together 3 things to do in the next 3 months towards living your dream and changing the world.

What if everything you have fought so hard to acquire was already available and attainable to you?

All of us, in some degree or another, desire to be successful, happy and desirable.  We want to be noticed and seen as unique.  Our efforts are dispensed over and over again in an attempt to arrive at the point in the future that never seems to come…  we exhaust ourselves in the striving to become _________ , fill in the blank.

Ironically, all of these things that we so desperately want to connect to have already been established.  In Luke 17:21, the text says that “the Kingdom of God is within.”  In other writings, we read about “out of our heart flow the issues of life”, “life, death, the present, the future, they’re all yours”…

Within all of us is the power, authority, dominion, grace, glory, beauty, radiance, wisdom, intelligence, courage, confidence, brilliance, favor, mercy, wealth, peace, compassion, health and foresight found in God.  Each of us possesses all that Christ is, all that Christ was and all that He will ever do…  In fact, He said that we would do greater things than what He did.

So first and foremost, we need to connect to this reality – IT STARTS IN YOU.

Erwin McManus has something to say about this:

When you live out of who you ALREADY ARE, your very presence influences and permeates everyone around you.  Others will be drawn and curious to find out what’s so different about you.

This simply the root of the matter because once this mindset has been established, you can’t help but to become like the One you’re hanging around.  His nature being your nature, you start to speak and behave as He does.

That of course opens doors of influence, opportunities for advancement within your company, new business ideas, wisdom you didn’t read or learn, etc, etc…  a platform will naturally be created for you to speak into the lives of others.

It is within Seven Spheres of Influence that we change a nation, our nation.  If you will grasp this philosophy, and implement it into one of the following areas, you will play a part in the revolution of the ages…  the next reformation of God’s heart to his people – “Christ, in you, the hope of glory.”

These seven areas are:

•  Politics

•  Education

•  Media

•  Social/Spiritual

•  Entertainment/Culture

•  Sports

•  Finance

Again, the challenge last night is to put together 3 things to do in the next 3 months towards living your dream and changing the world.  Date it.  Sign it.  Live it.

What’s your plan?

Just like the video, people struggle with hearing the voice to the Author of the story. We know we probably should get more out of it, but we have our own interpretations of what’s really going on.

The truth is, the Author is always speaking. We often times hear him, but choose not to listen.

We struggle with issues like:

• Control – he may tell us to go to Uganda, don’t want that!
• Guilt or Shame – we think our past failures have disqualified us from the story
• Excuse not to Succeed – success may require that I change. I’m not ready for that.
• Fear – there’s an element of the unknown… what could happen?

So instead of listening to the Author, the one that created us, knows the best for us and desires the best for us becomes the very one we try to avoid.

Examples include:

• Music- gotta have my tunes on 24/7, mp3 player in my ears
• Television- It’s on, all the time, even if I’m not watching it
• Sports- whether I play them, follow them, or watch them, it consumes me
• Work- I’m a work-a-holic, what can I say
• School- Life-long student going to class after class but never really getting anywhere
• Exercise- overly obsessed with nutrition, health and well being
• Hobbies- all spare time is devoted to this particular interest

It’s not that these things are bad, but that they become the hindrances from what we truly want. The key to listening starts with getting quiet, discovering stillness.

Our thoughts, emotions and ego get so wrapped up with the life around us that can’t slow down. Even worse, we get so exhausted that during the down time, all we want to do is sleep. Furthermore, anytime we do devote to trying to connect with the Author becomes just another line item on the to-do list of life.

What if you could stop trying, struggling or STRIVING to listen to the Author and instead, took on a positon of letting go, relaxing and YIELDING to what’s already inside of you.

“He must increase, I must decrease” as the old writings speak… another place, it’s written, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

God doesn’t usually speak audibly. In fact, there’s some writings that express His communications with us as “spontaneous thoughts, visions, feelings, or impressions”… which would imply that the entire process is more of a “flow” than a “formula”.

The challenge is then to find a place in your life to FLOW: Journal; Paint; Go for Walks; Write; Turn off the radio; Dream; or even Feed the ducks. Do whatever it takes to break the chaos in your life to connect with the Author.

What would happen if you spent the next few months practicing this until it becomes a natural way of life? Try it and let me know what happens.

We observe all of the hypocrisy of these political leaders and point our fingers, make jokes and vilify for their deeds. People in leadership often times live in a fish bowl for all to see… even the things they don’t want anyone to know about.

The discussion uncovered the fact that we all have had areas of our lives that we struggle with. Yet, when someone gets into a position of leadership, character, authenticity and vulnerability can often times become difficult to navigate. A sense of entitlement or privilege can creep up on one that hasn’t dealt with their pride or ego. Maybe the isolation of leadership keeps these individuals from being open and honest about their struggles… perhaps they just don’t have someone they can trust to help them with their junk.

What makes that leader any different from you and I?

The discussion last night really opened up the perceptions we have of ourselves. Like how we try to avoid dealing with OUR issues because they’re humbling, embarrassing, may cause us to feel rejected, or maybe even carry serious consequences. As a result, we convince ourselves that we’ll “never do that again”, or “I’ll keep quiet so no one gets hurt”.

Truth is, we don’t want to be honest with ourselves.

All of us are called to lead… yes, ALL of US. That makes it our responsibility to deal with our struggles and conquer them before we have any spotlight turned on us… to be transparent, vulnerable and honest is challenging, so true. But it is WAY better than the alternative.

Do you have someone you can turn to???  Will you step up to the challenge?

Our trip to Pearlington, MS