Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – January 23, 2016
Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor. Jeremiah 22:13
Anything worth doing is worth doing well. If you are building a family, frame it well. Furnish it with faith, love, hope, and the fear of God. If you are building a business or ministry, grow it relationally and systematically. Pour a foundation of honesty, trust, and excellent work. If you are building a life, develop it with discipline, forgiveness, humility, grace, service, and obedience to God. Spend your time building people, processes, projects, and enterprises that are sustainable and eternal. Seek to focus on endeavors that contribute to and facilitate faith-based initiatives. Indeed, build people who will improve on your accomplishments. Above all else, dedicate your building to God (Nehemiah 3:1).
You are now positioned as a leader of leaders, so lead leaders well. At this stage of life, you have the stewardship to mentor mentors, so pour yourself into those who will mentor others. Build spiritual discipline into faithful followers of Christ. Do not neglect developing disciples. Disciples of Jesus need a firm foundation of faith. It is imperative to model for them mastery of the Master’s words. Let the Word of God flow freely from your speech. Speak it and live it on behalf of your Savior. You build lives that last when you ground them in the Good Book. The legacy you leave is predicated on the people in whom you invest.
Therefore, keep your children “top of mind.” Make them your number one building project. Begin to tell them about Jesus when they are still tiny. As they grow, instill the principles of Scripture into their hearts and minds. Relate to them stories of God’s faithfulness in your life through the years. Confess how your heavenly Father forgave you at your points of failure. This authentic home environment grows small children into giants of the faith. Build into your children now, and they will leave a legacy of faith later. Build for generations to come (Psalm 48:13).
In addition, build your ministry or business into one that lasts, assuming it is the Lord’s will for it to last. A business or a ministry that is built to last is carefully constructed with the bricks of vision, mission, and values. They are embedded in the foundation of the enterprise. Strategy, objectives, goals, and metrics all flow from the same source. Where there is vision, there is a compelling cause that motivates everyone. Where there is mission, there is clarity of purpose. Where there are values, there is an agreed-upon behavior that defines the culture.
These are values. If your vision is too small, only little people will venture forth. If your vision is so massive that it becomes unrealistic, no one will take you seriously. However, if your vision is prayerfully aligned with God’s will, then He will accomplish great things through you and others. Cast a God-sized vision that will last beyond your lifetime. Keep your team on mission-critical initiatives. These are building blocks for the business. Wise leaders learn to run with what works, and dismiss what doesn’t. Tell stories that illustrate your mission. This keeps everyone focused on the reality of why they show up every day. Do not get so busy that you forget to review His building plans. What He builds lasts, as long as He wills.
Post/Tweet this today: The legacy we leave is predicated on the people in whom we invest. #WisdomHunters #builttolast
Today’s reading is taken from Boyd’s most popular book: Seeking Daily the Heart of God, a 365 day devotional.
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