Today's Devotional Thought
May 26, 2016 by Rachel Piferi
Maximize Your Potential
There is nothing I enjoy more than watching people maximize their God-given potential. In fact, when I think about what I desire to do in life, one of my life goals (no matter the context) is to help people maximize their potential.
To become all they can become to the glory of God.
To know they have been created with a purpose.
To know they have been created unique for that purpose.
To know that there is a life out there that is more glorious than they can even imagine.
To know that they could very easily miss that life if they weren't careful.
In fact, many {dare I say most} do.
Many miss the abundant life God has for them, full of experiences where they are maximizing their God-given potential, simply because they don't believe in it. They don't pray for it. They don't do the work & grow in it. They don't take risks to step out and go after it.
All because they are caught up in surviving the daily grind or because it feels uncomfortable or because it is hard or because it feels impossible or because it is full of unknowns and feels scary. All thoughts carefully & tactfully placed by the enemy of your soul who quite frankly wants you, with many others, to miss the abundant, God-ordained, directed, and empowered plan for your life.
Because if you lived your abundant life, others may want to also.
All to the glory of God.
And Satan wants none of that.
Satan wants us living normal not noteworthy.
Satan wants us living safe not sacred.
Satan wants us living realistic not revolutionary.
Satan wants dull, discouraged, drowsy people wearing the label of Christ follower, not determined, disciplined, and dream-filled do-ers of the Word.
So where are you?
Where are you in terms of maximizing your God-given potential to live an abundant life and make a radical difference for the name of Jesus Christ?
All of us are somewhere on the continuum of living our unique & abundant lives. Some are at the very beginning and don't even know about it, let alone are walking in it. Some know about it, want to believe in it, but aren't really sure they do believe. Some believe in it, but aren't doing what it takes to step out and actually live in it. And some are living in it, but have moments of temporarily disbelief & discouragement that tempts them to stop believing and give up living in it.
I've spent quite a bit of time wrestling with God over this in my own life. And as I have thought about helping people (and myself) maximize their God-given potential, I have settled on the concept that all of us are in one of three stages of maximizing our potential & living in our abundance. They are by no means mutually exclusive of each other and you can certainly move between them and go forwards & backwards as you walk the thing out. But in the end, I believe it boils down to three phases/stages.
1. Know & love Jesus
2. Believe
3. Act
You see, as I have read Scripture and studied numerous examples of those who have gone before us, if you are going to live the unique and abundant life that God has for you to live, you must know & love Jesus, believe Him and His Word, and then take risks and act on what He says.
You will not maximize your God-given potential without knowing & loving, believing, and acting.
Period.
So how do we do it? What exactly does it mean to Know & Love, Believe, and Act? And how do we get there? Over the next few days, I am going to unpack these more as I share with you what the Lord has shown me. All with the hopes of encouraging you to run hard after Jesus and that life God has for you.
But for now, I want you to prayerfully ask yourself some honest questions.
Am I living an abundant life in Jesus?
If I'm not, why do I think that is?
Am I living normal or noteworthy?
Am I living safe or sacred?
Am I living realistic or revolutionary?
Am I living dull, discouraged and drowsy or determined, disciplined, and dream-filled?
Would anyone want my Jesus?
Friends, I look forward to exploring this more with you and sharing some of the things that I feel the Lord has shown me as I continue to struggle & grow to live the dream God has for me. It's not easy, by any stretch of the imagination.
But man, is it worth it.
Don't think for one minute that anyone living an abundant life is living an easy life.
Don't think for one minute that a life full of God moments is not also a life full of temptations from the enemy to disbelieve, run, and quit.
It's hard out there.
But God has not left us ill-equipped. No ma'am. We are more than conquerors and He wants us to know that, believe that, and act like it.
All to His glory.
Be brave out there today friends. And I will post more soon on living that abundant life God has uniquely designed for you!
December