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5 KEYS TO REALIZING YOUR POTENTIAL

There was a lady who had been reaching out for years to her husband. But he always said “I will give my life to God when I am about to die”.  Quite recently, he had a sudden heart attack, and fortunately someone was at home at that time and the doctors managed to save his life.  He could have died and not been able to utter a commitment.  But another case happened just a week ago. An acquaintance of mine whom I had lunch with a couple of weeks back, died suddenly.

There must be an urgency to reach out – to present the greatest decision of salvation to someone.

Matt 7:24 NIV "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

The Word of God presents 5 key principles that are vital for our understanding of Potential:

1. God allots great potential in every one regardless of their age or past.  Matt 16:18  NIV “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

2. On our own, our potential acted out has limited success but accompanied by faith with God’s leading, we see supernatural results.  Philippians 2:13 “…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”

3. Our motive to fulfill our potential must be to glorify God and not ourselves.  1 Peter 2:11-12  MSG “Friends, this world is not your home, so don't make yourselves cozy  in it. Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they'll be won over to God's side and be there to join in the celebration(glorify God)  when he arrives.”

4. Realize the limitless reward in fulfilling your potential. A person may reach the pinnacle of a profession or be the best in the world at a particular sport, skill, or craft - he may rank at the top of any media evaluation ranking. But unless he factors God into his life and seeks to love and serve Him wholeheartedly, he has not reached his full potential. He has maximized only his outward abilities and not his inward attributes.

5. Any great plan and success that does not involve God has only earthly and not eternal significance.

What does your Potential include? = It includes both attributes and abilities. Your attributes are your character traits. They are the real "you" that exists regardless of external circumstances. They are the "you" that shows up no matter where you go or with whom you associate. In other words, its “character” that God desires to see in each of us. To have the image of His Son Jesus, so that we might reflect Christ's nature and character to the world around us.

Rom 8:29 NLT “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son.”

The Fulfillment of God’s Ptential in You is not only about external or material or quantifiable success that all can see. But more importantly, it is the fulfilment of God’s potential in you on the inside, which is your character. These are not attributes that we can produce on our own. They develop in us as we say ‘no’ to the flesh and ‘yes’ to the Holy Spirit living and working in us. The Spirit grows us up into the fullness of Christ's character We need to be aware of the changes needed and the courage to make those changes happen in our character to be more like Jesus.

The same is true for your abilities. Knowledge, Intelligence and Education is important but the truth is: without God involvement your achievement will be limited or worse still, short lived. But with God’s involvement, he orchestrates your life to put you into the company of the right teachers, encouragers, and yes, the right church who will challenge you, motivate you and push you to achieve your full potential.

What is Success?  Education is only one part, but without imparting spiritual wisdom and character change, a lot of so called “smart people” fail in a real-world setting.  I always believe this: it’s better to be blessed by God than to be smart in the eyes of the world. The Christian life was never intended to be a matter of book learning or head knowledge. God wants us to live out the life He created and intends for us to live.

The Ultimate End Goal of Any Potential that God gives to you is to help others. Its never ever only about yourself. So a Christian should not only be engrossed with themselves but start looking after others as well.

> Use your skills and abilities – be it singing, playing musical instruments, or helping others. You have fulfilled your full potential when you use it to glorify God and use your voice or skills to bring them to know Christ better.

> When you serve in Church, let God be your audience and your boss.  This brings fulfillment and joy.

> Develop the right attributes that bring Him glory. If your attitude is all messed up, then your attributes will be messed up and your abilities are not going to accomplish much at all.

> Depend on God's strength and supply. That is the key to courage and real success.

> Ask God, "What do you want me to do with my life?"

A Church that does not work will stagnate or worse still, shrink. That is not the plan and purpose of God for our church. We as individuals and as a church have great potential that NEEDS to realized! And it all begins when we understand and work with urgency to reach out – to present the greatest decision of salvation to someone.

A Small But Growing Church:  Making a Difference In The World We Live In

It only takes ONE person or a small group of people with the will and desire to start a great movement and make great transformation in society. History has shown us this. Great leaders, great movements or churches, have impacted thousands: Churchill, Roosevelt, Lee Kuan Yew, D L Moody, Mother Theresa… to name just a few. They all shared one thing in common - a determination to succeed and a passion for what they were doing.

How determined are you to make a difference in your life for the community you are living in? Are you willing to do things larger than life itself to be a history maker and a life transformer?

God wants to use ordinary men and women to do extraordinary things. And that includes you! Can you? Yes. If Jesus can take 12 ordinary men and some women to transform billions of lives over the last 2000 years, why can’t he use you to do great things for years to follow?  With the Holy Spirit's anointing and power, nothing can stop you from being a blessing to those around you.

To get to that point where you experience God using you far beyond what you can possibly imagine, begin taking small steps.

1. If you going to start something that is important, make sure you finish it.

Luke 14:28-29 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him.” NIV

It is the same with salvation and with everything else in life, especially the important things in life.

Everything great has a small beginning.  When God created the world, he intended to have heaven on earth. Greatness was stored in it. It began small with a bunch of animals and 2 human beings. So, don’t let others or yourself despise what you are starting from scratch.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” NIV

Scriptures tells us time and time again, that God looks at how we finish. It is the end product that counts. It is the finished product that really makes a difference and produces the kind of results and fruits that will count in eternity.

2. Commitment everywhere is commitment nowhere.

Stay focused. Be really good at what you are doing. We are all made to be good at something - all of us! That ‘something’ can be a worthwhile cause, a mighty ministry or a great calling. I don’t believe for one minute that God has called you to smallness and insignificance. God has called you to a life of significance.

Anytime you are committed with passion to a worthy cause, especially for the Kingdom of God, you will come across opposition. But look at opposition as opportunities to learn, grow and be stronger in your cause. Don’t let it defeat you from what you are doing. If God is building your church or rebuilding your life, then stick to the path... you will make it no matter what.

Matthew 5:10 "You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.” Message

Commitment brings blessings and let it drive you to a deeper relationship of dependence on God and reliance on support from church because we all are on the same boat.

3. Humility is a necessity in a world of insecurities.

1 Peter 5:5 “And all of you, serve each other in humility, for God opposes the proud but favors the humble.” NLT

Humility comes when you are in security. If you are not a secure person, humility is going to be a struggle for you. To overcome that, you need to know who you are in the eyes of God. Humility is not putting yourself down but lifting others up. Be at a place where you know you should accept yourself for who you are and see how much God loves and accepts you.

Our worst critic is probably ourselves and we need to take off that critical view of ourselves that brings us so much insecurities about who we are, what we look like and what have we done. Humility tells us that performance does not lead us to acceptance. Christ’s acceptance of us is more then enough to know our value in God's eyes. We have Christ living in us.  His righteousness in us alone far outweighs the many successes we try to achieve to gain acceptance.

Proverbs 15:33 “Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living— first you learn humility, then you experience glory.” Message

Conclusion: If you learn to do all things adopting these 3 values, watch out, God is going to use you to achieve great things.

givING gets you a Great Marriage

Everyone desires to have a great marriage and a happy home. Living in love and unity. But realistically speaking, a lot of marriages are suffering right now in Singapore. Divorce is on a rise and more marriages are suffering from betrayal, repressed anger, distrust, “losing the feeling” and living separate lives. Some even stay married for the sake of the children but are miserable.

But the word of God tells us in Ephesians 4:3  "Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit."  This means to have harmony, intimacy, and unity.  The Bible says in Philippians 2:2   "then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."

It often important to relook at the vital issues that will make not only your marriage last but flourish as well. Lets look at 6 ways to give in order to receive. You want to receive a blessed marriage, the bible says in Acts 20:35 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'

1.  GIVE TO EACH OTHER THE TIME YOU NEED.

Proverbs 13:17. "An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing."    

Learn to know when it is a good time to share things that are important or confrontational. Learn also to know how to say them. Often times , quarrels starts over the smallest things because of how we say it.

In most cases, girls are better linguistically and share a lot deeper and extensively than men. For example, when I have the leaders come and hang out after service on Sunday, you would see the women sitting at a corner and chatting for hours. The men would chat as well but well for at least 20 minutes and you will see the newspaper out, eyes on the tv or eyes closed for a nap. The fact is that  women have more to say and need to say it.

We men have less to say but we can learn to listen carefully to what our wives are saying. The only times you use the words always is when you say “ I will always love you”

The only time you use the words never is when you say “ I will never leave you nor forsake you”

2.  GIVE TO EACH OTHER THE HELP YOU NEED.

Ephesians 4:2, "Show your love by being helpful to each other."

One of the major languages of love is service. Both spouses need to be a lot more courteous, showing respect and consideration. Courtesy and respect begins at home. Go run an errand if it is urgent, even though you would have missed the goal of the season.  Consideration means you wait until she has both legs in the car before you pull out of the driveway! 

It is amazing how quickly consideration vanishes once we get married.  We're very considerate when we're dating, but we don't stop being considerate in marriage.  James 3:17 "Consideration is a mark of wisdom."   

3.  LEARN TO GIVE AND TAKE WITH ONE ANOTHER.

This is a real mark of love.  1 Cor. 13:5 "Love does not demand it's own way."  The unloving thing to do is try to change your mate.  The loving thing is to not demand your own way.  Many people at thir wedding, while they're saying "I do" are subconsciously saying, "I'll redo!"

Love does not demand its own way.  Three facts of life:

        1)  You will have conflict in marriage.  Every marriage has conflict. 

        2)  There are some issues you're never going to agree on. Because you're different.

        3)  Compromise is the evidence of real love.  You meet in the middle.  You're flexible.  You yield your rights.  Give and take.  You learn the art of negotiation.  You learn to compromise.  That's very important to learn this skill if you're going to have a satisfying marriage. 

You have to compromise on many things: the kinds of vacations your take, the way your kids are raised, the way your money is spent, how often you see the in-laws, how you spend your day off...  What makes you think you have the right to spend it anyway you want to?  You're in a family now.  More marriages die from an uncompromising stance rather than adultery, alcoholism, or abuse.  It's a fact that we're just plain stubborn.  We're rigid.  We don't want to change or negotiate or compromise.  We want our way and that's why most marriages die. 

To be happy with a man you must understand him alot and love him a little and you need to do the vice versa for your wife.

4.  GIVE OF YOUR LOVE DURING ALL SEASONS OF TIME.

Proverbs 5:19 "Let your mate's affection fill you at all times with delight."  Physical affection is vital, absolutely vital to a satisfying marriage.  If there was more courting in marriage there would be fewer marriages going to court.  The real problem with many marriages is that what you did to win your mate's love you have not continued to do to keep your mate's love.  You've stopped courting. 

Husbands and wives see each other at the absolute worst part of the day.  A few minutes in the morning when you're getting up. You're stressed, trying to get ready, pressured to get to work and get going.  Busy getting on with the day.  And at the end of the day a few minutes when you're tired and exhausted, irritable and you have no more to give.  You see your mate at the worst times of the day.  You've got to intentionally plan for courtship.

Singaporean couples in Asia ranks the worst for sex as couples -- No Time For Sex".  Too tired, too busy.  Eccl. 9:9 "Enjoy life with your wife whom you love."  Date your mate.  The things she did before she was your wife, do those same things with her now that she is your wife.  Make your relationship a priority, become best friends, have fun.  You must develop things that you like to do together.  You must find common ground.  It is intentional; good marriages don't just happen.  You've got to find a hobby you both like to do.  Find a recreation you both like to do.  Find some fun things you both enjoy doing.  Marriages are built on shared relationships.  A date once 1 week at night or for lunch will go a long way for a couple.

5.  GIVE YOUR LIFE TO YOUR MARRIAGE.

It takes commitment for a satisfying marriage.  Mal. 2:16 "`I hate divorce,' says the Lord, `Make sure you do not break your promise to be faithful to your mate.'"    

You'll never build a great marriage if divorce is always an option for you.  If it's always back there, lurking in the back as a potential option, you will never build a great marriage. It's just too easy to walk out.  When the times are tough and every bone in your body says, "I'm not going to take this anymore!  I'm splitting!" -- if divorce is an option, you'll take it. You have to lock the escape hatch on your marriage if you want a great marriage.  Throw away the key.  You must assume "Till death do us part.  

When you make a commitment, it means also that you don't use the threat of divorce when you get ticked off.  When you get mad, you don't hint at leaving.  And you don't use scare words.  They are off limits, hitting below the belt.  Unacceptable. 

Commitment means being willing to be unhappy for a while until you can work things out.  Good marriages do not just happen.  They must be worked on.  Misunderstandings and mistakes can be corrected when there is a willingness to do so.   The issue is not incompatibility; the issue is selfishness, stubbornness, unwilling to compromise, unwilling to change, unwilling to work to save the relationship.  Don't call it incompatibility, call it what it is -- self-centeredness.  "I want my way".

Learn to make way, create ways to make it work. Don’t give up, give in. get rid of the pride issues, learn to forgive and submit and work things out with the help that is readily accessible to you from our great church.

6.GIVE YOURSELF TO BE UNDER THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST

 Marriage is never easy, but if your spouse loves God and is under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, it is going to be a lot easier then one that is not.

Christ gives you the power and the desire to do the top 5 things. He gives you love when you had no love for Him.  Phil. 2:5 "Your attitude toward each other should be the same as that of Jesus Christ."  Get him in your life. You find you begin to treat one another in a way that you would want Christ to treat you.  The greatest thing you can do for your husband/wife is become a godly person, become like Christ and treat that person like Jesus Christ would.

How do you do that?  First invite Christ into your life. Make him the boss of every single part of your life. Emotionally, Financially , Physically,  Mentally and Spiritually. Ask Him to fill you with His presence, His Spirit, His thoughts.  Tell God,  "God, I dedicate my marriage to You."  Learn to pray for each other and together.    At mealtimes, maybe in bed together at night holding hands. If something is on your heart, hold hands and pray about it.  Maybe morning is a good time.  Spiritual intimacy produces physical intimacy.  Get into the Bible -- begin reading it. Memorize verses together. 

Statistics again, from Marriage and Divorce magazine, One out of every three marriages ends in divorce.  But when they're married in a church ceremony, it drops to one out of every 50 ending in divorce.  When the couple is married in a church ceremony, they attend church regularly, pray and read the Bible together, the divorce rate drops to one out of 1,105. 

What is the secret?  Christ is the center of their relationship - when both of you love Christ, even more than you love each other. When the husband focuses on growing toward Christ and the wife focuses on growing toward Christ, it automatically brings them together. 

God Makes Sense of the Things That Don’t 

John the Baptist

John the Baptist was acclaimed by Jesus as the greatest man born from woman. Yet he was in prison and beheaded. Imagine if it were you. John slipped a note outside of prison to Jesus asking, “Are you the one or do I look for another?” John, despite his loneliness and awaiting death, only sought for one thing, Jesus.

Who do you seek for when senseless, illogical, unfair things happen to you? Who do you turn to?

God is not the source of our problems; rather, He is the answer.  If you give Him your problems, situation and circumstances, and trust Him - then you will see Him turn things around. He can make sense when things don’t.  

Some young Christians go through a “betrayal period” when things fail - and because of their lack of understanding of who God is and what the Word of God says, only 10% recover. The rest are still Christians but they live with wounds and scars the rest of their lives.

When you encounter problems, God may not be there at what you feel is the “right place, time and explanation”. Paul the apostle says we all see through a darkened mirror and so we will only fully understand things when we get to heaven.

Don't be bitter or sceptical - instead, know that God's timing and answer is always right.

Know that God Cares

Do you believe that God cares? Yes, He does. He knows your situation and is in control; and He works things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose - even when God doesn’t seem to answer or when he seems to be far away.

God has a wonderful plan for your life. Trust that any plan of God is prefect and good.

You may not completely understand why something happens to you but the main question remains - do you completely understand who God is? Know this - He does care.

You can Trust

Do you know the pilot who is flying the plane you are in?  Do you trust the canned food in the supermarket to be safe? In life you have put so much trust in so many things which you don’t completely understand or is in your control.  You don’t know; you don’t see; you don’t understand; but you accept.

Conclusion

Why not put your faith and trust in the one true Living God, calling on the glorious name Jesus Christ who alone can save you, forgive you, provide for you, restore you and transform you into his image and likeness.

He alone is the God who will give, and will not let it go to waste.

Blessings

Pastor Simon

Seven Secrets of Stress Management 

“Then Jesus said, ‘Lets get away from the crowds for a while and rest.’ There were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat.”  (Mark 6:31, NLT)

Do you ever feel like your life and schedule are sometimes out of control? Well, you are not the only one if you said ‘yes’ to this question.  Everyone faces stress and we all need to learn how to manage the different situations which stress us out.

You can't eliminate stress, but you can manage it. Jesus Christ experienced enormous stress and pressure, yet it didn't seem to disturb his peace of mind. In spite of opposition, constant demands, and little privacy, his life reflected a calm sense of balance.

What was his secret? A closer look at his lifestyle reveals seven key "Stress Busters":

Identification: Know who you are (John 8:12) - Eighteen times Jesus publicly defined himself. There was no doubt in his mind as to who he was. If you’re unsure of your identity, you'll allow others to pressure you into their molds. Trying to be someone you're not causes stress!

Dedication: Know who you want to please (John 5:30) - You can't please everyone. Even God can't! Just about the time you get Crowd A happy, Crowd B will get upset with you. Jesus never let the fear of rejection manipulate him. No one can pressure you without your permission.

Organization: Set clear goals (John 8:14) - Jesus said, "I know where I came from and where I am going." Preparation prevents pressure but procrastination produces it. You work by either priorities or pressures.

Concentration: Focus on one thing at a time (Luke 4:42-44) - You can't chase two rabbits at the same time! Jesus knew how to handle interruptions without being distracted from his primary goal.

Delegation: Don’t try to do everything yourself (Mark 3:14) - We get tense when we feel it all depends on us. Jesus enlisted 12 disciples. Don't allow perfectionism, or the fear that others may do a better job, keep you from involving others in the task.

Meditation: Make a habit of prayer (Mark 1:35) - No matter how busy Jesus got, he found time to get alone to pray everyday. A daily "Quiet Time" is a great stress decompression chamber. Use this time to talk to God about your pressures and problems, evaluate your priorities, and discover the rules for successful living by reading the Bible.

Relaxation: Take time to enjoy life (Mark 6:30-31) - Balance is the key to stress management. Work must be balanced with fun and worship.

So, stress is inevitable – but you can still have peace of mind.  Yes - you can do something about your stressful situation. For this whole week, concentrate on this list of seven stress-busters. Take one a day, read the corresponding scripture, and start to incorporate those habits into your life.

Prayer: Dear God, strengthen me and teach me how to handle the stresses that come my way.  Help me keep my focus on You and fill me with Your peace.  In Jesus’ Name Amen.