Today, I want to talk about pride. A message on pride, for purposes of actual change in people’s lives, is a frustrating topic because the people who need to hear it don’t think it’s for them. I want to challenge you as you read this article to be open to considering that you have a little bit of pride. Keep in mind that if you’re not open to receiving this message you probably need to hear it.

Most of us don’t typically see pride as a real sin. But God detests pride (Proverbs 16:5). No one wants God to look at us like we’re detestable! But, we tend to dismiss pride as a sin. For a different perspective, what if I was talking about lust and I admitted to checking people out. Your response would be “that’s gross” and you wouldn’t want to hear from me anymore. Pride is just as bad. 

Pride is not necessarily ego. Pride is tricky and can manifest by drawing attention to yourself by appearing pathetic. The end result is you are still after people’s attention for yourself. Our job is to put all attention on God. We want to show off who He is. Are you worried about what people are thinking about you all the time? You may be struggling with pride. 

Pride is a pervasive matter. No one wants to admit to it. Honestly, it’s easier for me to admit to it when I’m writing a message about it. Pride is usually why we get our feelings hurt and why we feel rejection. Pride is the reason we can’t admit to making a mistake. Pride causes us to take ourselves a little too seriously. We will resent criticism if we are prideful. Insecurity is a result of pride because we are seeking for others to notice and praise us. Pride causes us to see ourselves as overly important or more special to God than others. Pride will make us want to blame others for our problems.

Did you know, your tomorrow can be better than your today. I’ve been going through a list of words that will help each of us make the rest of our year, the best of our year. The tenth word on my list is “expectation”. What are you going to do with the days you have left this year? Let’s start with what you are expecting. Did you ever think about how we are all different and even if we have the exact same skills and talents, what we do with them will be different from each other. Think of it like this. If we each bring home a bag of identical groceries, I’ll put them together differently than you. The dish you come up with will look and taste differently than mine. If we take the ingredients of each day, it will be different from what someone else might do with the same ingredients. Regardless, we take what we’re given and we want to make the best of it.  

What are you expecting? What are you expecting for the rest of the year, for the rest of your life? The level of your expectation sets the level God is free to work. We can change the world by changing the level of our expectation. We can change what happens in our families, our circles of influence, and our churches on a Sunday in the same way. Whatever you expect with confidence becomes your self-fulfilling prophecy. Read Mark 11:23-25. Have no doubt, believe you have received and you can have anything you ask. It will be yours. But, when you pray, forgive first. So God will forgive your sins too.  If you believe little, you will receive little. You don’t have to settle. Pray bigger. Expect bigger. Receive bigger. It doesn’t take any more energy to have a big dream than it does a little dream. With God all things are possible.  Michelangelo said, “The greatest danger for most of us is not that our dream is too high and we miss it, but that our dream is too low and we reach it.” Don’t settle for reasonable and disconnect yourselves from the abundance God has available. 

No one plays this game or any game perfectly. It’s the guy who recovers from his mistakes who wins.
—PHIL JACKSON

All my life, I have been struck by the countless similarities between sports and life. Both sports and life require know-how, both demand talent and skill, and both can lead to glorious and fulfilling victories. However, sports and life are marked with obstacles and setbacks too, with mistakes and with crushing defeats. They are each marked with opposition, competition, and failure. And they offer us challenges, as well as opportunities to correct our mistakes and to rise above our failures. In athletic competition, there is always the next game or the next season. In a basketball game, there is always the chance to rebound a missed shot. And in life, we must create the same opportunities to turn failures into successes. We must keep “pounding the boards.”

You've Got the Power!

I love this quote from Henry David Thoreau, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” Another way I like to think of it is that if something is of value to you, the cost of that thing is worth it. Whether it costs you time, money, emotion – it is worth that investment.

The vast majority of the things that happen to us result from the choices we have made, the actions we have taken, the words we have uttered, or the attitudes we have exhibited. They flow from our own actions and choices, not circumstances that are beyond our control. Consequently, if we could somehow learn to approach life’s biggest challenges with a positive mindset instead of a negative one – with wisdom instead of imprudent behavior – even the worst experiences in life could end up contributing to our success.

Because it is mostly your choices that have gotten you where you are today, I have great news for you! Based on choices you make today and going forward, you have the power to shape your life to affect your future. You can change direction and move toward a different destination if you want. You have the ability to shape the rest of your life. If you are willing to pay the price today, make the changes, work on changing your focus, and invest in your dream, you can enjoy the benefits of your sacrifice tomorrow. More investment and sacrifice today means greater benefits later. Success. Simple.

We talked about Newton’s Third Law of Motion in an earlier blog and podcast. Some people are smart enough and charming enough to fool the people around them and seemingly get by without paying the price, but ultimately, there is no way around it. If you have the rare ability to charm your way into certain places, you may be tempted to think you can bypass the Third Law of Motion. Never forget that you may be able to fool people – maybe all of the time – but you cannot fool life. The laws of nature are firmly established. Just as the land is programmed to reproduce the seeds that are planted in it, so life is programmed to give you back an equal and opposite dosage of what you have put into it. Your success will be in direct proportion to the effort you put forth and the price you are willing to pay to obtain the success you achieve. Controlling your thinking is imperative. If your life is directed by the mechanics of your subconscious rather than your deliberate choices, you are not controlling your own thinking. You must be willing to replace old ways of thinking with new ways of thinking. Identify and deal with those recurring thoughts that are depleting your mental energy and hindering you from pursuing better things. Build relationships that will help you change. Explore new ideas. Think positively in order to give yourself a fighting chance to achieve your goals. Break out of the entrapment of limited thinking so you can see beyond the horizon. Employ personal vision. The person who can keep their eyes peeled on the prize will find ways around problems and will make progress toward their desired destination. Be willing to do what it takes. All things are possible for one who refuses to focus on the bitter parts of life, focusing instead on life’s possibilities.

When all is said and done, action is essential to success. Act on the things you have discovered and take initial steps to implement the thoughts you have entertained as you have read Mindset Matters. If you haven’t bought the book yet, make sure to get a copy at davemartin.org, amazon.com, or anywhere books are sold. Remember. Change your mind. Change your world.

Today, I want to talk to you about trusting the process. Do you have kids? Things change rapidly with kids. Sometimes it feels like you are in a place where nothing will ever change. You have a two year old that throws a fit about everything. But give it two weeks. Things will change. Maybe you have an eight year old who is so enjoyably pleasant and cooperative. But…give it two weeks! Things WILL change. Life can be crazy. Sometimes we fight the process. We kick against the goads I’ve heard it said. But we need to trust the process.Trust is being able to have a sense of security and confidence when dealing with someone. For instance, I trust the team I work with. We’ve built trust together. We’ve supported each other and helped each other; we’ve prayed for each other and celebrated together. We’ve learned together and we are growing together.Trust is built by having the ability to predict that someone will act in a specific way and be dependable. When you have walked through life together, you learn what to expect from those you are walking through life with. 

As a young father, I have seen my two year old take a flying leap off his changing table, fully confident I will catch him. However, my eight year old has more experience. She is not as trusting. She wants to fly with all abandon like her little brother, but she will ask me to get closer and closer until she can touch my shoulder and then gently shifts her weight into my arms. Do you believe God is aware enough and strong enough to catch you when you leap? Maybe you hesitate to jump. It takes guts. Are you an entrepreneur? I admire you! Do you believe God will catch you? Maybe you will jump when you can feel God’s hand on you, when you feel God is closer.God will catch you, every time. There is a story in Judges 6 about a man named Gideon who began to trust God and then became trustworthy of God. It is a story of Gideon vs the vast army of the Ammonites. Gideon was desperate. The Israelites were on a downward spiral of sin. They would turn their backs on God, begin to sin and would lose the blessings and covering of God. Then they would repent, begin walking again with God, get comfortable in His protection, and then get lax and begin sinning again. In this passage, we find Gideon in this pit, desperate and poverty stricken. An angel shows up and calls him a mighty warrior. He tells Gideon that the Lord is with him! Gideon wasn’t sure he could trust this word because his people were in such dire need. Gideon had to learn to trust the process and do things God’s way. 

You know in your own heart if you trust God. There was a battle in Gideon’s life in addition to the battle with the armies of the Ammonites. Gideon had a battle within. He had to learn to trust God. He tested God but then, God tested him. Gideon amassed an army of 32,000 but God told him to send 22,000 home. God tested Gideon again until Gideon was left with 300. Have you ever had a fight, been right, but oh sooooo wrong in the “process”?When we do things on our own, we’re not under the protection of the process.I always have to ask myself two questions when I'm in a fight. Is this worth it? And who will I be at the end of this fight?Gideon’s army won the battle because they did it God’s way. If they had done it in their own strength, they likely would have died, we would not be telling this story, and God would have gotten none of the glory. When you trust the process, God’s power moves. God will take you step by step.The first step is to take the first step. A good friend of mine says, “Just start.” As we step out, God’sword is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).Ask the Lord. He will speak to you. His word is alive and active, working on your behalf. The Word, for those who will work the Word. He will direct you. Confirm things through God and His Word. Trust the process. You know where you are supposed to go. Go to God first. A process is a series of actions or changes and if you want your tomorrow to look different from your today, you are going to have to do something today to make your tomorrow different.Take a step in the process. It’s not easy but it’s fruitful. Enjoy the process and endure the process. Romans 5:3-5 describes how it will go, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

I believe many people in the church are here to learn, work on themselves and move past the hurdles that once stopped them from accomplishing all that God has for them. But if you quit the process, you won’t see the end results.Don’t run when things get hard, press in for your future, press in for your breakthrough. Who do you want to be on the other side? God will create you into something new if you trust the process. God is working, speaking and moving. Let His Word work in you. 

Have you ever known someone who transformed themselves physically, began working out and bulked up so they looked like a different person? They have trusted the process. It’s not easy. And it won’t impact everyone the same way. But people who follow the process will get stronger and see their body be able to do things it has not been able to do before. The goal is to be a better version of yourself. The same goes for spiritual growth and strength. As you commit to discipline, to the Word and to relationships with others who can challenge you in your faith, you will become a better version of your spiritual self. In fact, we can use this process of growth and discipline in all we do - marriage, work, parenting, etc.  Gideon would have lost the battle even with 32,000 men. But God said to trust the process. He said to do it His way. Blow the horn. Crack the pots. Watch the flame, the fire of God. The enemy was so distraught that they killed themselves. Start with worship each day. Incorporate prayer & praise. Read, study and meditate on God’s Word. Get in the Presence of God. Life needs God. It’s never going to be easy. But choose to grow in an upward spiral. Take steps toward God. 

You may not be where you want to be, but if you look back, you’re not the same person that you once were. Take a deep breath and smile, God’s not done with you! It was a process for you to read this today. Maybe someone showed you this blog or told you about Motor City Church. Maybe they prayed for you. Trust the process. Are you stuck? Pray for breakthrough and vision.Dreams are Free!Get full of God. Trust the process.

Purpose

I am a firm believer that the biggest problem in the Western world today is a lack of individual purpose. Without purpose, people wander aimlessly through life, wasting their time and resources. They waste their talents, they waste their opportunities, and they allow the shifting winds of popular opinion to direct them down paths in life that have nothing to do with their God-given destiny.

A vision for one’s life is the greatest thing a person can possess. With a purpose and driving motivation, a person can do just about anything his heart desires. Without a defined purpose, a person is bound to fall into all the deadly pits that lie along life’s way. People without a vision are more susceptible to addiction. People without a vision are more susceptible to instability. And people with no vision for their lives are more susceptible to all the bad habits that affect the health and relationships, the earning power and productivity of men and women everywhere who wonder why they were even born.

But when a person has a firm grasp on the reason for which he was created, that person will naturally develop the habits that he needs to fulfill his purpose in life. He (or she) will eat the right kinds of food, save the right amount of money, sleep the appropriate number of hours each night, and associate with the right kind of people to do the things that motivate him. He also will avoid those temptations that are designed to lure him away from his chosen path and to entrap him in a lifestyle that is destructive and unfulfilling.

So search your heart and know why you exist. The habits you form today will be determined by the path you choose in life, and the path you walk in life will be determined by the habits you form today.