Morning Prayer: Ambition

Matthew 20:17-28 "wishes to be great, among you must be your servant"
Lord, today you have seen them in my heart those many wants to be ambitious and successful. My invitation from your Word is Mike you must take the path of serving others. Look at it from this perspective rather from a forceful taking perspective. Lord when I get ambitious I get where I force my life and I wish to remain in You and let you guide my life.

Loneliness Through Success

Under the veneer of success(ego) lurks in us all a loneliness, a loss of true connection not to whom but to something?

FF at 5:11pm May 9
The longings or desires in all our hearts lead us to temporary relief via possessions and accomplishments. But, in the end all that we are left with is love and God.

There is MORE!

Take a minute to listen to someone who has acheived it all. How many of us would want to have what he has $50 million salary and a super model for a girlfiriend. Could a man want anything more at the age of 30?

This is an excerpt from Tom Brady's Interview on CBS 60 Minutes New Magazine show at the end of December. Tom is the star quarterback of the New England Patriots football team. This audio is a little over 4 minutes long.

Yes, yes! Tom there is much more to life than attaining fame and fortune. We were all created by God with special unique gifts. I know by the way Tom talks in this interview that God has blessed him with a bigger and better gift than quarterbacking a football team. When he does find that within himself with the help of God's word, he will then find the joy he has yet to experience. This is evident in his comment that the next superbowl ring will be the best one. False, the next thing he will finding that means anything at all is his real purpose. The reason God created him for and once he gives that gift to the world so many more people will have their lives changed from versus the last game he won. So Tom if you read this and only by the Grace of God would you find this blog post, go ahead and read.

--Romans 12:3-8

3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Find your gift and give it!

Remodeling Success

I so struggle with the need to be successful although I am feeling less and less compelled to it as I am releasing culture’s pressure to be that way. My kids don’t care they ask for nothing beyond our means and I love them for that beyond what I can show them at their age. When I use the term success to mean doing better than my peers. Making more money have more stuff. As I peel those layers away I very aware of how my needs have changed.

What really matters is I pay my debts for my past materialistic behaviors. Those are debts I have promised to pay and I will make good on them. It would be a scary edgy feeling if I was debt free, owned my own home and car outright what I might be able to do instead I chance more money to repay those debtors. Do I so every regret my past arrogance and belief that I am so good that I can repay that debt anytime. What a burden it has put on me for so many years. It caused so much stress on me that I sometimes kick the cat so to speak.

My father was such a great role model who saved his money and is retired without a financial worry at 60 years old. He is so tight that his flare jeans he received as a gift in the 70’s are still like new in the closet and now are back in style.

Maybe my issue is thinking that I am at this center of this world and everything I do I have control over. When in reality I control nothing. This thin flimsy belief in my abilities is so wrong and so stressful I could just blow up at times and I did when things weren’t perfect. Now I realize my gifts, my God given talents are not about control or money or status or what I own or posses it’s about giving my gifts to others.

I have also realized that giving my gifts is both rewarding and also flat out scary. My success now is about giving my gifts to everyone I meet. I know some will not like the gift but that is not my responsibility. If I give you something it is because I had too. The longer we go without giving our gift the farther from joy we stray.