AN ENEMY CALLED AVERAGE BY JOHN MASON (NUGGETS 5&6)
NUGGET #5
TODAY A READER, TOMORROW A LEADER-(W. FUSSELMAN.)
Have you ever noticed there are people you know who are literally at the same place today as they were five years ago? They still have the same dream, the same problems; the same alibis, the same opportunities, and the same way of thinking. They are standing still in life.
It’s like their watch stopped five years ago, a n d so did they. God’s will for us is to grow , to continue to learn and improve. The biggest room in our house is always the room for self-improvement.
A famous saying reads: “ It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” . I must admit that I am somewhat of a fanatic about this. I hate to have idle time in which I am not learning anything.
Those around me know what I must always have something to read or write during any idle moment that might arise. In fact, I try to learn from everyone. I learn what to do. Learn from the mistakes of others. You won’t live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself.
You can learn more from a wise man when he is wrong that a fool who is right. Goethe said , “ Everybody wants to be no body wants go grow . “
I agree with Van Crouch : “ You will never change your actions until you change your mind .” An important way to keep growing is to never stop asking questions. The person who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning. Only hungry minds can grow.
We should learn as if we will live forever and live as if we are going to die tomorrow . Harvey Ullman said , “ Anyone who stops learning is old, whether this happens at twenty or eighty.
Anyone who keeps on learning not only remains young, but becomes consistently more valuable regardless of physical capacity.” Timothy is instructed : “ Study to show thyself approved unto G o d … ” (2 Timothy 2 :15). It’s fun to keep learning . Learning brings approval to your life.
Learn from others. Learn to see in the challenges of others the ills you should avoid. Experience is a present instructor that keeps us from repeating the past in the future. Life teaches us by giving us new problems before we solve the old ones. Think education is expensive or difficult?
Listen to Derek Bok: “ If you think education is expensive- try ignorance.”
========================================================
NUGGET #6
A MAN WITH ONE WATCH KNOWS WHAT TIME IT IS; A MAN WITH TWO IS NEVER QUITE SURE. – (ANONYMOUS)
Indecision is deadly. Have you ever noticed that some of the most miserable people you know are those who can never make a decision? When the mind is in doubt, it is easily swayed by slight impulses, opening the door to many wrong decisions.
Many times indecision causes things to go from bad to worse. The middle of the road is the most dangerous place to be. We believers should be the most decisive of all people. Christian leaders should have wills not wishes.
In James 1:8 the Bible says, “ A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” An indecisive person allows instability to creep into every area of life.
If we don’t decide what is important to others. The greater degree of wishful thinking, the greater degree of mediocrity.
Being decisive, being focused, and committing ourselves to the fulfillment of a dream greatly increase our probability of success, while closing the door to wrong options. The challenge is to be decisive dreamers. Harry Truman once said, “ Some questions can not be answered , but they can be decided .”
Even when we do not have all the facts available, we usually have all the facts needed to make a decision. The Bible says to let the peace of God rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15). The Amplified version tells us to let the peace that comes from Christ act as an umpire in our hearts.
His peace can literally say “ out” to that relationship . His peace can say “ safe” to that business idea . Of all matters, we should be most decisive in spiritual matters.
If we’re neutral in spiritual matters, we’ll eventually find ourselves operating against heaven. Thank God we serve a decisive Lord.
He has given us His peace and His Word so that we can make wise decisions. We should not be the kind of people who claim that God has told us one thing this week, and the very opposite next week God does not change His direction that dramatically; nor does He ever direct anyone to act contrary to the good sense and sound judgment shown in His Word.
God wants us to be decisive. As His children, we would be like our heavenly father, with whom there is “ no variableness, neither shadowing o f turning ” (James 1 :17 ). We should be people of great wills. If the devil controls our will, he controls our destiny.
But if God controls our will, then He controls our destiny. The choice is ours. Let’s be decisive. Let’s make the right decision . Don’t be a person who says, “ My decision is maybe, and that’s final”