Just because we see something doesn’t mean we “SEE” something. Many opportunities in life go unrecognized because at first glance we don’t perceive the value of an untapped opportunity. Recognition is the acknowledgment of something that is valid or is entitled to consideration. Can you recall the time you first discovered a talent that you now possess? Do you remember when you first recognized your spouse as a potential mate for life? Those recognitions alone have brought untold joy in your life.
 
What other discoveries are waiting to happen? Everything that can be discovered hasn’t been discovered. There are abilities and gifts that each of us possess, which go unrecognized. Opportunities disguised as mundane work that is passed over for lack of recognition. There are relationships; events and opportunities in your life that are latent with potential but remain untapped. Consider the awakening you experienced when you recognized the Lord? That one discovery has transformed your eternity. Yet there are millions of people who haven’t made that discovery yet. In the gospels some people recognized Christ and others didn’t. People can’t receive until they perceive the gift of God which is before them.  

    “And when they came out of the boat,
immediately the people recognized Him.”
Mark 6:54

Today, take time to inventory your life. Ask the Lord to help you be more aware and conscious of His divine opportunities. That which we fail to appreciate in our life will depreciate. What we fail to recognize will go unutilized.
 
Just a thought,
Carl

8.27.10

 If you have been to the movies recently, you can’t help but notice the trend toward digital 3-D. However, this is not your grandparent’s version of 3-D entertainment. The new films like Avatar feature breathtaking colors and effects that make viewers feel as if they’re in the story. Television manufacturers are in pursuit of their own 3-D technology as well.
Yet with all the hype around 3-D, viewers still get only about a 180-degree (or less) view of the action while watching the movie. In theaters they have 360-degree surround sound but not visuals yet. Panoramic, 360-degree viewing of films in your local theater is currently not  available , but don’t fret it’s on the horizon. Scripture teaches, “Without a vision the people perish.” I believe it is God’s intention for us to have a panoramic view (3-D) of our life as it is being folded into God’s sovereign plan for this world. It is reflexive to begin viewing life in a one-dimensional way and miss out on the panoramic view of all that God has done – is doing – and is yet to do. Keeping a 3-D view of life allows us to avoid only seeing the current issues confronting our life and allows us to capture the grandeur of all God is doing in and through us. Take a step back today. Take in all that God is doing. God’s vision for your life is 3-D – get the full panoramic version of His divine plan.
 
Come to Trinity this weekend or log on this following Monday at www.trinitytoday.com to get the full version of this message in our weekend services. Hope to see you there!
 
Just a thought,
Carl

This past Tuesday night Trinity Christian School sponsored a “Prayer & Praise” night in our sanctuary. It was a powerful time of prayer and praise with the worship being led by our TCS students – they did an exceptional job. During the prayer time our superintendent asked me to come up to pray – before I prayed, I shared with those who were present the importance of honor. I said, “Honor should be the code word for this entire school year.” Honor grants access. Your success will come from those you choose to honor. Promotions in life come from those you have honored. Honor is a biblical principle. In Scripture we are told to honor God. Wives are to honor their husbands and husbands are to honor their wives. Children are commanded to: “Honor your father and mother that it might go well with you.” We are told to honor our bodies with holiness. Honor grants access. It opens large doors of opportunity that were previously shut. The life of Joseph, Esther, Daniel and many others is testimony of this principle. In your life you will keep getting what you have been getting until you change yourself and what you have been honoring. We succeed based on who and what we honor. We fail based on who and what we have dishonored.

“Therefore the LORD God of Israel says….
those who honor Me I will honor…”
1 Samuel 2:30

In this new school year let’s make honor the code word of our lives. Honor has to do with esteem, recognition, deference and glory. Let’s honor God, church, our parents, teachers, siblings, jobs, bosses, the flag and each other. With honor comes blessing.

Just a thought,
Carl

Over the summer my family and I had the opportunity to go white water rafting. It was a wild experience. The scenery is breathtaking; it is as though you are in the heart of God’s creation – the blue sky above, the rushing water beneath, the spiraling pine and aspen trees surrounding you as they cling to the massive stone edifice which envelops the creek. It sure beats the asphalt jungle of city life.

Life can be a lot like white water rafting. When riding the rapids, we have to navigate the turbulent waters and always obey the commands of our guide. The outfitters we signed up with gave us rules to follow. We were told, “Listen to your guide; he is like God.”
Rule 1: OBEY GOD – If we are going to navigate the white waters of life, we need to follow His commands.
Rule 2: GO WITH THE FLOW – When we know that Jesus is our guide, we can trust the currents of life knowing the final outcome of our journey will be blessed.
Rule 3: LEAN INTO THE ROCKS – The rocks can be your friend. Life has stumbling stones and rocks of offence; these obstacles can wreck you or become a positive force to move you along. You don’t try to paddle away from the rocks, you lean into them and thereby maneuver past the threat.
Rule 4: FALL FORWARD – If you fall in the water, don’t stand up; go feet first. When we fall in life, we need to fall forward and recover fast. Help will be there. Never navigate the rough waters of life alone. It takes a team to navigate the harsh waters of rafting, and life is no different. I feel sorry for those who aren’t plugged into a good church.
Rule 5: HAVE FUN – They reminded us, “You are here for the thrill, so enjoy the ride.” We obviously got wet and inevitably became intimate with the uncomfortable cold. The wet suits STUNK…no telling how many people wore my wet suit before I suited up in it. But with no risk, there can be no reward. Life isn’t meant to be predictable and mundane. Those who play it safe neither play nor are safe. Life has its twists, turns and churns, but our trusted guide takes us through class 4, 5, and even 6 rapids safely.

Just a thought,
Carl

“. . . We count them blessed who endure . . .”
- The Apostle James -

You can’t endure unless there is a trial.  Are you experiencing a trial of some sort?  No one likes trials, but a blessing cannot come without a trail.  ”Bless those who endure.” What does it mean to endure?  It means to bear up under any circumstance with confident patience in God’s deliverance. If you want to overcome, you will have to endure.  The world’s standards are, “If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards.”  Or, if at first you don’t succeed, do it the way your wife originally told you to do it.  Success yields to the persistent, not to the passive. There comes a time in each person’s life where quitting looks good.  But why quit and make your enemies happy?  Why quit . . . you’ll only have to start over again – only to face the impasse you find before you today.

Our precious Lord knew about endurance “for the joy set before Him; He endured the cross.”  He even said, “But he that endures to the end shall be saved.”  One of the most courageous leaders of all time was Sir Ernest Shackleton, the Arctic explorer who led his men on a harrowing experience, surviving eight months lost on an ice flow in the Arctic.  His motto: “By endurance we conquer.” Perhaps he learned that from the example of Job in the Old Testament.  The Apostle James had an interesting take, “What a gift life is to those who stay the course!  You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end.  That’s because God cares-cares right down to the last detail” (James 5:11 MSG).

Just a thought,
Carl

These words came to my heart today for you. “Motivation leads to momentum which produces results.” Motivation is defined as “drive” or “incentive.” It is the “act or process of motivating.” We need motivation for every endeavor of life. What is motivating you to read this email? What motivates you to get up and go to work? If you need motivation to work, just think of your paycheck. Motivation gets us off the couch and into the gym for much needed exercise. There are two sources of motivation: one is intrinsic, the other extrinsic. The most highly motivated in this world have always been those who were intrinsically motivated from within by their passion, desire, drive, determination, honor and love for God. Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of us – money, fame, praise of others, or fear of failure. Great leaders motivate, “A good leader motivates, doesn’t mislead, doesn’t exploit” (Proverbs 16:10 MSG).

According to St. Paul, love is the greatest motivation and motivator. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (AMP) says, “Recalling unceasingly before our God and Father your work energized by faith and service motivated by love and unwavering hope in [the return of] our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).” Let heaven motivate you when all else falls short. As someone said, “Heaven isn’t just our destination; it is our motivation.”

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” Stephen R. Covey

Just a thought,
Carl Toti

Many people languish on their jobs. Most of the time, people blame their jobs, saying that they just aren’t interesting enough. They claim, “If I just had a better job,” or “If I were paid more, then I would be more motivated.” But the reality is if they had a better attitude, they would have a more fulfilling and rewarding work life, independent of their assigned tasks.
How many people do you know who would be motivated to sweep floors? Let me introduce you to Murray Spangler, who was a janitor for a department store in Canton, Ohio. He wasn’t despondent about his job, even though he had an allergic reaction to the dust he was sweeping up. Instead, he thought to himself, “There has to be a better way to clean the floor. What could do a better job than the broom?” His curiosity led to the rigging of a crude, yet usable, device that would “vacuum” the floor. He introduced it to a friend in the leather business who funded his idea. The friend’s name was H.W. Hoover – ever heard of Hoover Vacuum Cleaners?

Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them.
Romans 12:6a (AMP)

You have talents from God that are still untapped. They come to the surface when you “USE THEM” and when you fully engage in every activity as though you are doing it unto the Lord. How would you sweep the Lord’s floor? Or type a letter for Him? Or negotiate a deal on behalf of your Master? When we are “faithful in that which is little; we’ll be rewarded with much.” Our talents will rise to the surface with surprising regularity.

Just a thought,
Carl

Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, an entrepreneur, full-time student or an overachieving-underemployed leader looking for the right opportunity, we all need to feed the vision. You will never rise higher than the vision that directs you. A vision sees the impossible and inspires us to achieve it. Vision always precedes change; it never follows it. The clearer the vision in your life, the more compelling it becomes. Walt Disney “visioneered” a dream that became a reality. His vision wasn’t complicated; it was to make children happy. He imagined a park where parents and their children could create fun memories together. The initial price tag was 17 million dollars, an astronomical amount when it was conceived. Walt said, “I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible because dreams offer too little collateral.” His vision triumphed. Within the first 10 years, 50 million guests visited the park.

Everyone is familiar with Proverbs 29:18 but have you ever read it out of Young’s Literal Translation? It says, “Without a Vision is a people made naked, And whoso is keeping the law, O his happiness!” Visionless people are “naked;” they are exposed and vulnerable to every distraction and commotion. Please, don’t leave the house today without your vision!

Just a thought,
Carl

On this Independence weekend we should all offer up a prayer for Israel. The world owes a debt to the Hebrew people for their contribution to human civilization. Our debt of gratitude is first and foremost in appreciation for our precious Savior who was of Jewish descent and also for the Holy Scriptures and the prophets who wrote them. That being said, America is who she is in large part to the influence of Jerusalem.

In a great book I read, The Great Experiment, Os Guinness writes, “Judaism has been credited with such contributions to the West as the notion of human individuality, the sense of history, limited monarchy, the view of reality behind modern science, a passion for justice and a bias toward the underdog, and even the idea of the weekend. Three leading ideas, however, have been especially influential in American history: covenant, calling, and the moral character of God. The idea of covenant contributed to the emergence of the constitutions and the U.S. Constitution. America’s sense of calling has been decisive in shaping the nation’s characteristic dynamism. And the moral character of God underlies the notion that the nation as a whole is “under God” – once far more than a cliché or a mere clause in the Pledge of Allegiance.” Or as John Adams wrote in 1809, “I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to the most essential instrument for civilizing the nation.”

As we celebrate our freedoms this holiday weekend, asking God to bless our country, let’s also pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for the hearts of the Jewish people to be open to Messiah.

Happy Independence Day!
Carl

Not What I Want to Be

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
—Philippians 1:6

There comes a time when the true believer must take his stand on the oath and covenant of God and refuse to be shaken. He must lift high his happy affirmation, not in arrogance, but in faith and in deep humility. Perhaps his declaration of independence will go something like this:
I am not yet perfect, but I thank God and my Lord Jesus Christ that I am done with the past and I do now trust in my Savior for full deliverance from all sins. I cannot pray like Daniel, but I shall never cease to praise God that He inclines His ear to me. I am not as wise as Solomon, but I glory in this, that “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). I have not the gifts of Moses or Isaiah or John, but I’ll be everlastingly grateful that I have been given the moral perception to understand and appreciate such men as these. I am not what I want to be, but thanks be to God that I do want to be better than I am; and I am sure that “he which hath begun a good work in [me] will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Here I stand. I can do nothing else, so help me God. SIZ104-105
Lord, do the work that must be done in Your power, through Your Holy Spirit, to bring Your work to completion in my life. Amen.
Tozer on the Almighty God: A 366-Day Devotional.