Principles of Personal Growth

Heavenly Prosperity is having enough provision to do what God wants you to do. › Celebration | Playing For Change | Song Around The World Principle of Difference Similarity creates a comfort zone, but a difference creates success We are all different – in passion, skills, etc. ” We are all born equal”, is so not true. None of us are equal. We are not equal in knowledge, opportunity or intelligence. Our differences are critical to acknowledge. You didn’t marry your wife because she reminded you of your old girlfriend – but because of the differences. What do you love? What do you hate? What environment energizes you? Brings stress? It’s important we understand our differences because it makes us! Four differences that are critical to success • Difference in your passion Who do you love to hear, learn from? If you could write one book what would it be about? If you could talk to the whole world for 5 minutes what would it be about? What subject unlocks your energy? • Difference in gifts and vessels God hides his greatest gifts in flawed vessels. Get this: Something you need is often in someone you don’t enjoy! Something that’s not in you is hidden in another. What is their difference, and do you celebrate that difference? • Difference in opportunity There is” in season” opportunities – David/Saul. • Difference in conversation and place We need to learn difference in conversation and in what’s around you:” What is different about this place”- discernment. Principle of the Mind Your mind is your world. It’s a garden and you’re the gardener. You are responsible for killing snakes, pulling weeds and planting roses. If you can manage your mind you can manage your life. All life battles take place in your mind first. Fail in mind - lose in life. The mind needs three things: focus - conversation - a hero As a man thinks so is, he. You will fail inside long before you fail outside. Focus We resize experiences. The mind replays the past and pre-plays the future. Memory to revisit, pleasure and victory. When David saw Goliath:” I remember killing the bear and the lion”, when he did this, he pre-played the future and concluded:” God was with me then and helped me – he will be with med now” and it gave faith to fight. When he was depressed and alone in the caves haunted by Saul, he remembered the goodness of God and was encouraged. It is replay of the past that gave him hope and a different picture of his future despite his circumstances of that day/his present. If you can’t control the mind, you won’t be able to control life. You need focus, ” Fix your eyes on Jesus, whatever is good, noble, praise-worthy, just – think of those things” Conversation David encouraged himself in the Lord. He talked to himself – it’s not the first sign of madness! Hero We need have someone in our lives we want to become, so we can strive to be better than where we are now. If you don’t focus on your future, you’ll go back to your past. God has a future for you – Jer. 29:11. God gives pictures because the mind responds to pictures. Vision of ministry when Gideon, Job – see what I see in you, not what you see. Your mind is so important, and it is your responsibility to mature – you need to invest in it. Questions: 1) If I was my enemy how would I distract me? 2) If I had one person to pray for me on my death bed, who would it be? 3) In whose presence am I energized? 4) Who are some people that have shown me the most honour in my lifetime? 5) What do I consider my greatest weakness? 6) What are the two things I like about myself? Live a life worthy of the calling you’ve received Ephesians 4:1 NLT Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Principle of Recognition What don’t you recognize? What is it you are not seeing? The Pharisees saw Jesus, but they didn’t recognize who He was. Thief on the cross, one did but other didn’t recognize who He was. The Pharisees wore scripture on their robes, but it was Zachariah that recognized Jesus. A financial analyst from Philadelphia bought an old painting for $4 (£3.20) at a local market back in 1989 mainly because he liked the frame. When he went to remove the painting, he discovered none other than an original copy of the US Declaration of Independence, one of just 24 existing copies, hidden between the picture and backing. Two years later, the document fetched a whopping $2.42 million (£1.93m) at auction. ” Count your blessings.” Something might be close, but we don’t see it. Many bumped into Jesus but got nothing / And some did - “The sick woman with bleeding”. There are so many things we must learn to recognize. a) God – voice and presence b) Guidance c) Our Differences d) Weaknesses e) What’s inside people: Elijah – Elisha, Ruth – Naomi, recognized something in them. f) Seasons in life g) The favor of God h) Opportunity, David & Goliath, Naomi and Ruth Principle of Two Two are better than one. Two agree on earth – two or three together, there I am. I put 1000 to flight – two put 10.000. In the ark – two by two. Jesus sent out the disciples two by two. Need to be two, Jonathan and David – amour bearer. A protégé and a mentor. Supernatural and powerful. Evil men can use the law of two. When two agrees it’s powerful. Principle of Place Are you in the right place? The right place is so important -” grace zone”. Right person but wrong place is nothing/no good. Jesus in Nazareth could do very little. Samaritan woman - wrong person living in adultery but in right place at right time and was met with the power of God. Jesus told the disciples that if a place doesn’t accept you or my message, shake the dust off your feet... I have somewhere else for you to go. Place is important, be where your gift is celebrated, not tolerated. Principle of Honor Romans 12:10 NIV Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Honor a) Father and mother b) God c) Leaders d) One another e) God with your body I wish I knew more about the power of honour when I was younger. Obedience is not honor. You can obey schoolteachers and not honour them – boss, leaders etc. Honor is the celebration of difference A lack of closed doors and opportunities to you. Lack of honour closes doors. Most broken relationships/failures in life can be traced back to the lack of honor. One of the most important principles Honour will take you further than intelligence, knowledge and imagination. Daniel trained for three months before the King would talk to him. My sister once said:” I treat everyone the same.” Only a fool treat everyone the same. How do you show honor? Prove loyalty? Reward faithfulness. We can’t treat everyone the same. God rewards those who diligently seek Him/by what they do. God loves everyone the same, but he honors those who honor Him 1 Samuel 2:30 NSFLB “Therefore, the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. How do you show honor? The key is - who have you chosen to honor? a) I wish I could say that if you had good parents, you’ll do good, but Absalom and Solomon had the same Dad. b) I wish I could tell you that if you had great mentor who was knowledgeable, knew you short-comings and devoted themselves to teach you – a trusted teacher that you would succeed with, but Judas and John had the same mentor. c) I wish I could tell you could travel with a man of God and you could have breakfast with him every day and discuss all things that would change your world, but Demas travelled with Paul but did not demonstrate honor. Reward those who honor you! You can’t treat everyone the same. Principle of Seed Seed = Beginnings Everything is a seed - Patience is a seed - Love is a seed a) Battle is the seed for territory b) Honor is the seed for access. It opens doors (Joseph – David – Daniel) c) Confession is the seed for forgiveness d) Listening is the seed of learning e) Knowledge is the seed of change f) Gratitude is the seed of more g) Giving is the seed of release