Hebrew: to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute. Greek: Confidence, daring. This is an apt topic because of the environment we are in: complexity, ambiguity, turbulence etc. I want to know how to love difficult people, how to walk in joy when adversity comes. A lot of these factors have been limited to exploits and endeavours, but we need to apply courage to multiple dimensions. We need moral courage and relational courage. In order to establish yourself as a leader find out what everyone in your industry is afraid of and make sure you are courageous in those areas. This is what is missing in a lot of leaders today. Look at the liberation struggles. What made people heroes? Courage. It’s not about being emotionally dishonest or pretending. You are very in touch with your emotions and self-aware. But you are more conscious and desirous of the goal. Courage is a key leadership factor. Many leaders are established when they are courageous in areas where others are fearful.

It’s one thing to know your calling; it’s another thing to maximize it. When God calls you it’s not a secret in heaven. When He calls you, He also instructs heavens resources to be released on your behalf. The angels have to know about your calling if they are assigned to assist you in it. Two people can have the same gift but it manifests differently. Some people have received their calling but are using the incorrect platform. In this message we will examine some keys to understanding and maximizing your calling.

By implication, understanding what God’s will is involves understanding purpose. In essence it is more accurate to talk about purpose management than time management. Redeem your time means to reclaim, recover, retrieve, rescue and regain it. Elizabeth George, speaking of how we have to make the most of our time says “We cannot manage time. We can only manage our self”. People often ask me about my productivity. They wonder whether I sleep at all. My answer is, “Yes I do sleep very well.” I also tell them that the key to my productivity is MY USE OF TIME. We have all been give 24 hours in a day, the difference between us is how we use that time. Many of us are good at keeping appointments with others, few of us are good at keeping appointments with ourselves. When one is able to practise self-respect by keeping appointments with oneself, then one is on their way to a highly productive life. This will be seen in all aspects of your life including your rules of engagement when it comes to social gatherings. In this message, I will give you tools to enable you to master your management of time.

Last week we examined the importance of facing reality, taking responsibility, and developing a growth mindset. This week we will continue to answer the question, what do successful people do differently? Our focus, this time, is going to be on some of the visioneering themes. We tend to struggle with vision because of all the time we spend putting out fires. It is important to see that God has vision, God has goals and so must we. The good news in all of this is that God is a God of second chances and for some people it is time to re-dream.

Personal mastery involves a set of tools and strategies to help individuals to live and work at their peak. It is about optimizing and maximizing your potential. In life we often experience a creative tension between vision and current reality. True personal mastery involves optimizing your personal assets (those strengths that no one can take from you) and inner resources towards goal attainment. Some people recoil when we talk about success, assuming it is the same as selfish ambition. However, personal mastery God’s way is to do with desiring to maximize your fruitfulness. God is glorified when we are fruitful. John 15:8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. I like to say, personal mastery is the science of replicable success. It is one thing to be successful, it is quite another thing to know why you are successful and replicate your success in a predictable manner. This is crucial if you are a disciple making believer, because you want to pass on your success habits to others in a way that they believe they can replicate. I like Paul J Meyer’s definition of success: Success is the progressive realisation of predetermined, worthwhile personal goals. Therefore, the question we are asking in this series is, “What do successful people do differently?”

Many believers fail to excel in their prayer lives because they underestimate the power of prayer. In this message I will outline 6 areas where we need to break common limitations in our understanding of prayer. Once we change our mindset in these areas we will see a shift in the results of our prayers.

The Word of God is powerful. It is a weapon to be used in warfare. It is an anchor for our souls and a foundation upon which we build our lives. We are to use it as a light to direct our steps in everyday life. It is also alive and active. It is creative in nature, and always accomplishes the purpose for which God sends it. The Word encapsulates God’s will. The degree to which our thoughts, heart’s cries and prayers are shaped by the Word is the degree to which our prayers will be answered.

Look at King David in the prime of his reign. I heard a message on this many years ago by a prophet. I have never forgotten it. It inspired the basis of this message.

Ecc 10:8 (NIV) Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

At this juncture in David’s life, he made certain errors that changed the season for him, and had a negative impact on his family and the generations to come. We see from this point in his life that things started to decline for him.

What can we learn and implement as we come into a new season of fruitfulness? Far easier to learn from others’ mistakes than to make them ourselves in ignorance and live with the consequences.

A New Season (Pt. 3)

Last week we looked at the account of the disciples crossing the sea to Capernaum. Jesus came to them in the early hours of the morning walking on the sea. For the disciples, it had been a stormy boisterous hard night of rowing. There was a moment when Peter and Jesus climbed into the boat where the season changed for the disciples. We are told that as soon as Jesus climbed into the boat immediately they were at their destination, the other side of the sea. I see this as a picture of the season change. It's a picture of a suddenly of God. Which is never really a suddenly at all. I believe we are in a change of season as a church. Last week we looked at how we are required to position ourselves differently in a season of change. This week I would like to continue exploring this thought. Specifically I would like to explore how we can expect things to change when the season changes from a type of wilderness or winter to a type of spring or promised land. I would like us to look at the children of Israel to gain insight into this.