BE AWESOME!!!

You are made in the image of the Lord Most High. That means you aren’t second-rate or meant to be put on a shelf. On the contrary, you are to be a light on a hill, you are to be loved and appreciated, you are to be a leader of men. Furthermore, you shouldn’t shroud yourself in false humility. You shouldn’t shield the glow of the giftings and abilities God has given you. If you’ve got Michael Jackson moves quit doing the cha-cha slide. It ain’t making any of us people that can’t dance feel any better that you are doing the freaking cha-cha slide with us anyways. I want to watch you do your thing! I want to see you in your element. Then, instead of showing me how to do some line dance a little better, you can show me how to start moonwalking.

Be awesome like God made you to be awesome! You owe it to Him and to yourself. AMEN!!!!!

Stir Yourself Up

While leading worship last night at the Diamond Conference in Madisonville, KY (which you should’ve been at if you missed it…Heidi Baker spoke, Angela Greenig was there, too—it was awesome!), I urged people to “stir themselves up”. I also stated that the Bible said to stir yourself up.

Well, a friend of mine asked me today where that was in the Bible b/c she had a friend who wanted to stand on that verse of Scripture in their life. So I had to go look it up :) I was kind of nervous because since I couldn’t remember that exact wording being mentioned in Scripture, I was scared I had told a lie to that entire gathering last night.

To my relief, I found what I was looking for in one of Paul letter’s to Timothy. The specific verse is 2 Timothy 1:6 which reads in the NIV, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” Even though there is not an exact wording in this particular translation that says “stir yourself up”, I do think that it is reasonable to say that this is what Paul could have meant in this instruction.

Some of Timothy’s gifts were teaching, preaching, and pastoring. Paul, as Timothy’s spiritual father and mentor, was writing Timothy to encourage him in developing and pursuing these gifts. When he wrote “fan into flame”, it seems as though he was saying to “develop it”, “work at it”, or “let God work in you and make you even better”. There is a gifting there, but Timothy needed to somehow engage on his end as well to make sure that the gift grew.

Even if you are naturally talented at something you still have to put effort into things to make them grow and mature. In Timothy’s case, I’m sure he didn’t always feel like preaching; I’m sure he didn’t enjoy correcting people he pastored; I’m sure it was hard being bold amongst those who looked down on him because he was young. But to see his gifts grow, he had to make a conscious decision to fan his gifts into flame—he had to make a choice to push himself…or, put another way, stir himself up.

There are not always going to be people around to encourage you in every moment you feel down or tired. You need to learn to lean on the words God has given you and be able to stir up things within yourself when nobody else is around. It’s easy to be on fire when everything is going great and you’re around people who share you passion, but there will be times in your walk with God when you won’t have anybody around to get you stirred up but yourself.

So learn how to stir it up! Whatever it takes for you, do it….praying, reading the Bible, listening to worship music, singing out of your spirit, serving people around you, giving a huge offering, reading back over words you’ve received, giving something away, fasting, etc. Make the choice to push yourself and fan into flame the gifts God has put in you. And if you are not sure of your gifts yet, then just push into God, read the Bible, get around people who are on fire for the Lord, and follow what your heart is already passionate about—God will reveal things to you as you pursue after Him, I promise :)

In Jesus Christ of Nazareth's Amazing, Unending, and Unfathomable Love,

adam

2^nd Timothy, Chapter 1, Verse 6:

NIV: For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

KJV: Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

NKJV: Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Embrace Your Greatness!

If you have the audacity to embrace the greatness put in you, people are going to mock you. They will scoff, they will laugh. They will tell you that you can’t do it, they will tell you that you are crazy. They will try anything to keep you from pushing past the norm into that magnificent place where your talents and giftings collide with the power of Throneroom blessing.

Your Creator, Our God in Heaven, has put things in you that you are passionate about. It doesn’t matter if that passion is in the vein of the usual “churchy” gifts; i.e. teaching, preaching, music, mission work, etc. It doesn’t matter if it’s something that people haven’t traditionally used to glorify God. Your love for fixing cars, designing clothes, flipping houses, politics, pet grooming, business, fitness, cooking, or whatever else has been put in you by God. If the Bible is not telling you it's sinful, then it's probably from Heaven :)

You know it’s your passion because the way it makes you feel alive, the way it moves your heart in a way hardly anything else can. That feeling is what makes your passion special. You already have an inherent drive and motivation to do these things, and do them well, because it’s what you naturally get pleasure from. It’s easy to do things you enjoy!

It’s also that zeal which will cause people to take notice. Bill Johnson, the lead pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, says, “When I live out of discipline, I am admired; when I live out of passion, I am contagious.” Everybody can tell when you are doing something you love. It’s obvious. When you talk about what you’re doing your eyes light up, there is excitement in your voice, and nobody can get you to shut up about it :) It’s infectious. Sometimes I’ll get excited with you just from listening—even when it’s an area I could care less about!

So what is your passion? And why aren’t you living it out? I don’t care how normal (or unorthodox) you think your passion is, if you purpose it in your heart to live it out and line it up with the Word of God to bring glory to the Father, you can be an earth shaker. A business mogul. A fashion icon. A TV fitness guru. A sold-out, Spirit-filled, President of the United States of America.

Don’t let those that laugh at you keep you from your pursuit. Let’s be real: most of them don’t want you to go after your dreams because they are sitting around not pursuing theirs. The prospect of you doing something you love and wildly succeeding at it makes them uncomfortable…and maybe even a little jealous. If they’ve given up on their dreams, or bought into the lie that says they are insignificant and can’t possibly make a difference in this world, then you going after your passions just might get them all kinds of messed up.

You have to be ok with the fact that a lot of people are going to hope you don’t succeed. You have to know from the start that when you embrace the greatness that lies within you that people who have settled for average will oftentimes try to convince you to settle for average as well. On the one hand, as referenced above, your passion is contagious; on the other hand, to some people, you are absolutely scary.

* * * * *

I’ve made up my mind that I’m not going to maintain mediocrity so that I can keep other people feeling comfortable. Does that decision ruffle some feathers? Yes. Does it damage some relationships? Unfortunately, yes. But that decision also unleashes the potential for greatness to flow out of me. It’s a decision that’s well worth the cost. I hope you join me.

Spectating

I was born and raised in Kentucky. So it goes without saying that Wildcat basketball is in my blood. Rupp Arena, Midnight Madness, 7 National Titles: the best program on earth. I buy UK merchandise, tailor my plans for 6 months out of the year around tip-off times, and yell until my throat becomes a tattered mess of reddened tendons. I’m a true fan.

March is my favorite time of the year. I, along with millions of other fans across the country (albeit supporting lesser teams), sit on pins and needles as one-by-one every heavyweight and Cinderella is knocked out of the tournament until only one team is left standing. Year in and year out, it is the one sporting spectacle that never fails to deliver.

But for all the zeal I pour into cheering on the Big Blue, how much more energy would I exude if I could play for them? Even in defeat, wouldn’t it be infinitely more satisfying to be in the game than to just scream at my TV from the living room?

Here’s the deal: God never made you to be a spectator in your life. Those skills you have, those things that make you tick—they were put there by your Maker. The way you can paint, the way you can organize, the way your energy is infectious, the way you can listen to people empty their hearts out, the way you see things differently—all put there by the Lord.

These giftings you have are meant to be used. Sometimes it can be easy to watch the star players and just be content to say, “Man, they are awesome!” Yes, they are awesome. But one of the cool things God did was make us all part of one body. You see, a body needs all of its parts to perform at its peak. No, we may not have the flashy, show-stopping abilities of John Wall, but we all have something to add to the team.

Is it good for you to support others? Yes. Is it OK for you to not take the lead in every single situation? Yes. Should you rabidly cheer on those around you who are following hard after their own dreams? Absolutely. But God has something for you, too. Something that He designed specifically with you in mind. Something that is all your own. Go get it.