Thinking in the Right Perspective

Kutless sings, "What Faith Can Do." Its lyrics are quite powerful and can help us when we are down. "It doesn't matter what you've heard; impossible is not a word. It's just a reason for someone not to try...I've seen dreams that move the mountains, hope that doesn't ever end, even when the sky is falling. I've seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new. That's what faith can do...When the world says you can't, it'll tell you that you can!" Remember, regardless of what you may face, you can handle it if you act in faith and keep your faith in the Lord! He will never leave you nor forsake you! (See Hebrews 13:5.)

Today's key Scripture comes from Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (NIV)

Maxwell presents a paradox that comes with spiritual leadership: "We are to get wisdom and understanding, yet we are not to lean on it apart from the Lord." I found that Ecclesiastes can shed some more light on this perspective. That book's essential message can be found in Chapter 12, verse 13b: "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." It all comes down to having the right perspective. We must keep God first, no matter what we do. No matter what we set out to do, we must always remember to keep God at the forefront.

Maxwell presents several characteristics that should be present in the thinking of godly leaders. We are to think:

• Big
• About other people
• Continually
• About the bottom line
• About continual growth
• Without lines
• With victory in mind
• Intuitively
• About servanthood
• Quickly

These characteristics can help guide our thoughts and actions. We should remember that God's purpose and plan is bigger than ours. Godly leaders ought to put other people and their concerns ahead of our own. Continual thinking can show that we are, "not satisfied with today's answers." (Maxwell) The bottom line, or the results of our work, should help guide us. We should always seek to grow closer to God, the Ultimate Leader, and to grow in our abilities to lead. We should remember that God is above all; we should not try to limit Him with boundaries. We need to keep in mind that, "With God we will gain the victory." (Psalm 60:12a, NIV, emphasis added) We should develop our intuition to sense what we need to do. We ought to be servant leaders, serving others and leading by example. Finally, we should be able to find a working solution quickly and act on it when time is of the essence. All of that starts with our thinking. We must think before we act.

Maxwell asks, "How do you think?"

Sometimes I possess some of those characteristics in my thinking, but sometimes I do not.

What about you? Is your thinking guided by those characteristics? Do you think in the right perspective?

Pray this prayer: Father, thank You for Your many gifts to me. Please lead and guide me, and help me to think as I should when I should, with the focus on Your and Your guidance. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.

God bless you!

What Faith Can Do