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I am a HUGE fan of leader Dr. John C. Maxwell for many reasons, but here are a few of the top reasons:

His book, The 21 Indispensable Qualities Of A Leader, was given to me by my friend and pastor Perry Noble when we were launching NewSpring Church. This book impacted me immeasurably.
He combined his entrepreneurial spirit with ministry. I didn’t know that was really possible.
He is a continuous learner.
He makes complex topics understandable and applicable.
His voice is ridiculously great.
Anyway, I heard him share a story once at a conference we were speaking at, and it is so good I wanted to share it with you.

5 Swings Of An Ax

Suppose you want to cut down a huge tree in your front yard and all you have is an ax to cut it down with. You could approach it a couple of ways:

Go after it! Swinging vigorously and mightily until you were completely worn out.
Pace yourself. Swinging strongly 5 times each day.
If you were to choose Option #1, you could swing vigorously and mightily until all of the strength had left you body, but all you would end up with is complete exhaustion and a tree with some chop marks in it. And because you had exhausted yourself so completely, you might not even be able to bring yourself to pick the ax back up!

If you were to choose Option #2, you would make a serious mark each day with your five swings and there would be NO QUESTION of “if” the tree were going to come down. The only question would be “when” the tree would fall – because with this method of 5 swings of a ax EVERY DAY, it WILL fall!

This is so important when pursuing a financial goal. If you go crazy and loco after the goal, you might make a short-term difference, but chances are high that you will burn yourself out and just give up.

Choose instead to establish a pattern of “5 swings of an ax” toward your goal. Every single day, get up and take 5 swings toward your goal. Every. Single. Day.

Then your goal is no longer a matter of “IF” – only a matter of “WHEN”!

This is a series that appears on a weekly basis here at JosephSangl.com – “Biblical Financial Lessons”

I believe that the Bible is the best money book ever written, and I really want to take some time each week to share the money lessons I have learned from the Word.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

This verse is merely an observation of reality.

When you have margin, you are positioned to fund dreams, build businesses, and have influence over others. Wealth positions you to have conversations with people that focus on “What if?” instead of “That’s impossible.” Have you noticed that people with money are the ones who are building houses, businesses, and funding huge projects?

The borrower is truly a servant to the lender. Anyone who has ran into trouble paying their bills clearly understands this part of the verse. They know EXACTLY what it means to be a servant to their lender. The lender is super nice when the money is provided to the borrower, but the sharpness of the lender’s teeth are felt the very instant that the borrower fails to fulfill their obligations.

You must perform exactly to the terms set forth in the loan agreement, or else you will have serious issues such as law suits, judgments, and harassing phone calls or even person visits from the lender.

YOU have a choice – to be rich or to be poor – and it all starts with a mindset. A mindset of “I am not going to live a broke-to-broke life.” and “I am going to apply biblical wisdom to free myself from the bondage of debt and poverty.”

THE DAY that I decided to stop being broke was THE DAY that my family started winning with money. It happened on December 2, 2002. Of course, it was a process to move toward financial freedom, but it started with a declaration that we were no longer going to live a lifestyle beyond our income.

It should be the thing that greets your mind and fills your heart as you wake each morning. It should be your final thought as you settle in for a night of sleep. It should define how you face your day, and it should shape your self-reflections. It should be the thing that directs how you respond to others. It should be at the forefront of your thoughts in times of trouble or disappointment. It should alter how you think about finances, possessions, decisions, relationships, and everything else. It should be a central theme of your existence. It’s so huge, so gorgeous, and so glorious that once it gets hold of you, you’ll never be the same again.

You don’t need to be an expert at riddles for this one. I‘m talking about grace.

If you’re God’s child, grace is the stunning core reality of your existence. It’s the most amazing thing that has ever happened to you, or ever will. It has changed everything you have, do, and are. It’s redefined your past, refocused your present, and reshaped your future. It’s the thing that you’ve needed since your first breath. It’s an absolutely essential ingredient of productive living on this side of eternity. It’s what you and I will focus on and celebrate for the rest of eternity. And it’s vital that in preparation for eternity we start our celebration now.

Playing with the Box
Luella and I gave birth to a son who didn’t understand what to do with gifts. We would shop for what we thought was just the right gift for him. Then on Christmas, or his birthday, we would watch as he gleefully tore open the wrapping. But not long afterward we would find him playing with the box, his carefully chosen gift lying neglected on the floor! This went on for years, and eventually became quite frustrating.

One Christmas, Luella and I decided to find our son a gift he simply couldn’t resist. After extensive shopping, we found it. We both realized at the same moment that this was the perfect choice. We were certain that this was a gift he’d actually play with.

Christmas morning arrived, and we were all sitting around the tree opening our gifts. I’m sure Luella and I were gripped by more anticipation than our son was. We couldn’t wait for the moment when he opened that particular gift, couldn’t wait to see the look on his face. We just knew that this gift would truly capture his attention. Finally the gift was in front of him, and his little hands instantly shredded the wrapping. He saw the box, opened the box, removed the toy, and actually began playing with it! With the toy! I was filled with a warm feeling of parental accomplishment.

I went into the kitchen to get something to drink. When I returned to the living room a few minutes later, the toy was there on the floor, and our son was sitting in the box! I couldn’t believe it! We’d given him the best toy ever and he was still quite content to play with the box.

Why am I telling you this cute family story? Because I’m convinced that many Christians are a lot like my son. You and I have been given the best gift that could ever be given. However closely you study it, from whatever perspective you choose to examine it, it’s astonishing and gorgeous and awesome in the true sense of the word. No other gift could possibly be more significant or life-changing. As an act of sheer, breathtaking, over-the-top generosity and kindness, no other gift comes close.

The gift of grace is the single most important thing every human being needs. And we all need it equally; no one needs it more, and no one needs it less. Without this gift you’ll never be what you were designed to be, or do what you were created to do. It’s a gift you could never earn, achieve, or deserve. It has the power to completely transform you and everything you desire, choose, think, say, and do. It’s the gift of gifts. It’s the gift of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I’m deeply persuaded that many Christians, having been given this awesome gift, are content to play with the box.

We’re content with episodic Christianity, a faith that lives most vibrantly on Sunday morning. We’re content with stepping out of our busy schedules for occasional participation in ministry. We’re content with a little bit of casual fellowship (which, being casual, usually isn’t fellowship at all). We’re content with putting a little bit of money in the offering plate. We may support and encourage the ministry of others, but if someone were to watch a video of our lives they would quickly conclude we’re driven by hopes, dreams, and values that have little or nothing to do with God’s purposes. Sadly, having been given the most wonderful and trans-formative gift that could ever be, I think there are many Christians who are quite content to play with the box.

By Michael Josephson

Do you think you’re any wiser today than you were five years ago? Do you think you’ll be wiser still in another five years? I hope the answer to both questions is an emphatic “yes.”

One of the benefits of growing older is getting better. And we get better by learning.

I’m not just talking about increasing our knowledge of new facts like how a volcanic eruption in Iceland can prevent airline traffic in most of Europe.

I’m talking about acquiring usable nuggets of wisdom that can change our lives.

I’ve talked about my own life insights and re-packaged them in lots of ways but here’s another attempt to condense some of the things that make me wiser than I was.

For starters, I’ve learned that as long as I’m willing to learn, I can learn. Just as important, I’ve become more open to learning by realizing that the fact that I’m wiser today doesn’t mean I was foolish or incompetent before. This is what I mean when I say, “you don’t have to be sick to get better.”

I’ve also come to accept that that no matter how old I am, my life and character are works in process and that there will always be a gap between who I am and who I want to be.

I’ve learned that it’s easy to mask moral compromises with rationalizations and that my character is revealed not by my words or intentions but by my willingness to do the right thing even when it costs more than I want to pay.

I’ve learned that my character is more important than my competence and that being significant is more important than being successful.

I’ve learned that I often judge myself by my good intentions but that I’ll be judged by my last worst act.

I’ve learned that the surest road to happiness is good relationships and that striving to be a good person is the surest road to good relationships.

Finally, I’ve learned that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional and that it’s not what happens to me that matters most but what happens in me.

My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

Sons often neglect their father’s instructions and warnings. If they forget them, they will not be ready, when temptation is in their eyes, ears, heart, and loins. And the temptation here is dangerous and powerful – a beautiful and skilled adulteress (7:5-27). The same lesson applies to young women, when they are infatuated with a handsome man. Solomon begins and ends his warning with appeals to remember his advice (7:1-4,24).

Solomon knew the folly and vanity of youth (22:15; Eccl 11:10). He knew the great vulnerability that young men and women have to sexual lusts and temptations (Ps 25:7; Eccl 12:5; Ezek 23:3,8,19,21; II Tim 2:22). Their freedom, folly, naiveté, sexual desire, and youthful bodies create a dangerous combination. He also knew the haughty spirit in most of their hearts. Therefore, he repeatedly begged his children to listen and remember his instruction (1:8; 2:1-5; 3:1-4; 4:1-5,13; 5:1-2,7; 6:20-21; 7:1-4,24; 8:32-33).

The dangers of not remembering are great. How will a young man resist, when his eyes are full of her beauty, his ears full of her flattery, his heart full of her offered love and submission, and his loins full of desire (5:3; 6:24-25; 7:13-21)? How will a young woman resist, when her eyes are full of his manliness, her ears full of his flattery, her heart full of his attention and affection, and her body craves his full embrace (Gen 34:1-3)?

The consequences of not remembering are great. Solomon warned his children very carefully about the bitter pain that would wrack their consciences and bodies after sinning sexually (5:7-14). They would lose their reputations, years of their lives, and their labor and money. They would grieve about their miserable hypocrisy, but it would be too late. They would remember the many warnings they had been given, but it would be too late.

Why is it hard for youth to remember instruction? They have undisciplined and wanderings minds; they easily forget what was said in their rush to explore new things; they get enraptured in the vanity of youthful activities and lusts; they think their teachers are too conservative and missing the great pleasures of life; they fall into temptation naively and unawares without recollection of warnings. Youth is folly and vanity!

Consider Joseph in Egypt. He worked for Potiphar in his late teens and twenties, the years of a man’s most powerful sexual drive (Gen 37:2; 41:46). He was far from home; no one knew him; Egypt’s morality was low; and a beautiful woman begged him to sleep with her (Gen 39:7-12). He did not have a Bible, and there were none for sale at the local pyramid! How did he resist this woman in these circumstances? How did he give such a sober answer to her? He remembered the instructions of his father from his youth! Glory!

But consider Samson with Philistine women. Though he had good parents, who had been given careful instructions about his life, he chose early on to reject their advice about women (Judges 13:1-25; 14:1-3). By forgetting the warnings of his parents, Samson was in no condition to resist the lying words, hired body, and short-term pleasure of Delilah; and he was utterly ruined (Judges 16:1-21)! If only he had remembered his parents’ advice and married a beautiful woman of Israel and had children with her (5:15-23)!

Solomon had been taught well by both of his parents – David and Bathsheba (4:1-4; I Chron 28:9). And he had witnessed the horrible evils of sexual sins in his own father and family (II Sam 11:1-27; 12:1-25; 13:1-39). But he forgot his father’s instruction and ruined his life with 1000 ungodly women (I Kgs 11:1-8; Neh 13:23-27). If even this wise man could forget the instruction he had been given, the danger is much greater for you.

How well do you hear and remember what you are taught by your parents and pastors? Jesus Christ taught that careful hearing is very important, for He knew the three enemies of retention and application (Luke 8:11-18). Do you crave hearing and learning to grow in knowledge (I Pet 2:1-3; II Pet 3:18)? Do you review what you are taught and practice applying it (Heb 5:12-14)? Can you teach others, or do you still need to be taught?

Praise God … it’s Morning!

Wake up!
… It’s Morning! …
And it is a glorious new day!

This is the day which the LORD hath made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
— Psalm 118:24

Are you rejoicing?
Maybe you don’t feel like rejoicing or being glad?
???
Did you wake up thinking … Oh No! Not another day!
Did you wake up with yesterday’s pressures still on your mind?
… Saying to yourself …
What is there to be glad about or to rejoice over?
None of my problems have been solved …
… and it is all just the same as yesterday!
!!!
… Well, it need not be the same as yesterday …
because …

It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed,
because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
— Lam 3:22-23

God’s mercies ARE new EVERY morning!
And His unfailing love for YOU … never ends!
!!!
David found this out when everything in his life looked bad.
He said to himself …

“even though I am walking through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil, for You Oh Lord, You are with me!”
“I will not look at yesterday’s pressures and disappointments”
“I will not bring yesterday’s problems with me into today!”
“And you Oh Lord make me to lie down on green pastures, I need not worry”
For … surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Praise God … It is morning!
God’s goodness and mercy is new for me,
… Especially just for me! …
… this morning! …

… Read …
Psalm 23…
Psalm 91…

God has given us (mankind) a wonderful ability,
… the ability to speak and to communicate!
The ability to communicate with each other and with Him!
It is a tool or ability that is powerful, in fact …
If used correctly it is creative … and devastating if not controlled! (James 3:1-13)

… and upholding all things by the word of his power … — Heb 1:3
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity … it defileth the whole body … is set on fire of hell.
— James 3:6

It is this ability that God gave us that makes us unique!
… in fact God says this to us …

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: — Prov 18:21
… therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: — Deut 30:19

God gave us a wonderful and powerful ability … not for destruction,
But a creative tool and ability that God wants us to use … for Him!
… and …
God wants us to use our tongues to speak His words of life wherever we are …

… as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
— Rom 10:15

God wants us to carry and communicate His words of life with our tongues…
But I’m tongue tied … what will I say?
???
If you really don’t know what to say, then ask the Holy Spirit …

… he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. — John 14:26

… and you will never be tongue tied again1
!!!
Then go out and speak the words of life Jesus told you …

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
— Mark 16:15

… and the result of your words will be …

And these signs shall follow them that believe;
In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing,
it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
— Mark 16:17-18

There is much God wants you to say … and every word can be a word of life.
Give God your tongue … and you will never be tongue tied again!

A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

Adultery should bring death (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). But if not, it brings ignominy and shame in most societies. Adulterers should wear a red “A”. Adultery cannot be defended, excused, explained, justified, or rationalized. It is a heinous crime to be punished by judges (Job 31:9-10). It is an unreasonable offence others cannot understand (6:30-32).

King Solomon knew adultery was a threat to his son and a tempting and destructive sin of his nation. He had witnessed its effects in his own family (II Sam 11-13). He condemned it every way he could. He despised it for its bondage, destroyed families, disease, expense, illegitimate children, ruined reputations, revengeful spouses, death, and hell.

This long condemnation of adultery has two main arguments (6:20-35). First, because it is indefensible and irrational, men will not excuse it, so it ruins reputations (6:26-33). Second, because it cannot be justified or explained, it is ordinarily impossible to appease rightfully jealous husbands (6:34-35). Here are two more arguments to despise adultery.

What is the wound? Punishment by the magistrate, society, or violated husband (6:30-35)! All are under consideration by way of context. While the thief could redeem himself by restitution, the adulterer can do nothing to undo his sin in the least degree.

What is the dishonor? A man’s character, life, name, and reputation are disgraced and shamed. Starving men who steal food are not despised, but there is no excuse for adultery. For this reason adultery is profanely wicked and should be rejected at all costs.

What is the perpetual reproach? The scandal and stigma of a sin that declares a lack of understanding! It cannot be wiped away, because there is no restitution or explanation. Though a thief may pay back stolen property, an adulterer can never undo his crime.

Compare God’s wisdom and sin’s folly. Hollywood encourages and glamorizes adultery, while God’s word condemns it as an insane and profane act. Which will you believe and obey, reader? Do not overlook the death and hell under the sheets (2:18; 5:5; 9:18).

Is there hope for adulterers? Yes, for repentant ones! God wounded His only begotten Son for them (Is 53:5). He was despised and rejected of God and men for them (Is 53:3-4). He also became a reproach for them (Ps 22:6; 69:20)! Because of His sacrifice and suffering for them, David and Mary and others like them can find forgiveness, peace, and restoration with God and men. Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

What It Means to Be Intimate

LEARNING TO DISAGREE