*This post is extracted from the new Symphony Of Heaven Blog due to people still visiting here. Please visit and subscribe to the new Blog. *
Few months ago, I heard a sermon titled ‘That girl is poison’ by Carl Lentz, Pastor of Hillsong church New York. Speaking to 1000’s of young people at a Jesus Culture Conference, he was talking about how important it is for young people to protect their calling. He shared about how great men like David, Solomon, Samson did not fall in front of giant swords or armies, but in the hands of a women. I do not intend to type the whole sermon here(you can watch it here). I would like to write about 3 things in our lives that could be poisonous and can destroy our calling.
A Person/People :
People and relationships are among the most important things in life, but if you are not wise in choosing who influences you, they can be your dream stealers. Having people around you who inspires you, encourages you and motivates you is a much needed blessing. You’ve got to find such people.
Here’s my post on the kind of people in your life and who you should spend most of your time with.
A desire :
Desires play a part in us reflecting God’s nature as a caring father. God has promised and longs to fulfil the desires of our hearts. Desires are important because they form dreams, dreams add purpose to life and purpose defines how we live everyday.
Desires become dream stealers when we allow worldly agendas to alter a God given desire. Many begin with a good desire and along the way realise their desires are altered by success, fame, peer pressure etc.
But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:14-15 NIV)
A desire always require wisdom to execute it. It is important to ask God for wisdom to know how you should pursue the desires of your heart.
A Culture :
Among the many differences in cultures around the world, I have paid attention to 2 kinds that have stood out to me :
1. A Culture that accepts anything :
These are people who are fine with any lifestyle and culture. There are 2 things that stand out about them :
– There are no strong values that decide what is right and what is wrong. Values change based on trends and demands.
– Living based on only emotions, their feelings drive them to do whatever they want to. They often claim the right to control their own lives.
2. A Culture that judges everything :
“Phariseeism is born when we think it’s OK to reject people in order to protect ideas.” Bill Johnson.
People in this category live based on ideas, rules etc that fir into their own box of understanding. They are :
- Quick to judge anything they are not familiar with.
- Often conveys a message of self-righteousness and promotes their way to be the only way.
Whichever category you maybe in right now, let me remind you that we are ‘in the world’ but not ‘of the world’. My understanding of that is – We have higher standards, values and a heavenly culture that we represent wherever we are. We do not get influenced by the culture, but we are called to influence the culture.
Look out for dream-stealers in your life. You have an amazing future and a great calling ahead of you. Do anything and everything you need to protect it.
What are other things that could be a poison that destroys our future? Share your comments below.
*This post is extracted from the new Symphony Of Heaven Blog due to people still visiting here. Please visit and subscribe to the new Blog. *
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