Expertise Trap

Proverbs 22:29

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

One of the fallacies being spoken about by guru’s selling their services, is you can become anything you want. These charmers may persuasively convince you to purchase their seminar or videos if you truly want to succeed in life.

“Anyone can do it” is their typical sales presentation. You don’t need to listen to God and look at all the historical evidence. You are the exception. Just follow their plan and you will succeed.

Now what they say may be true for a few folks, but for the majority of us, they are only selling emotional utopia.

The few who may benefit from their program probably would become successful without their services. For they most likely have the DNA code with natural gifting which they only have to build a skill set around and practice until they become proficient to achieve their goal.

For example, how many people do you know can throw a 100-mph fastball at a target some 90 feet away? How many of us can throw a football 50 yards in a straight line at a moving target and hit it 9 out of 10 times? (and add a 400-pound wrestler in your face who is about to devour you for lunch at the same time). I don’t know too many who excel at that kind of work. Which is why only a few people are either pitchers or quarterbacks in professional sports.

The trap is thinking you can become successful in a professional field where you have no natural talent, bias character flaws, and an unhealthy work ethic. There is no shortcut to long-term lasting success.

Those who are the best in their career became so through hard work, self-discipline, and building a skill-set upon their natural inherent talent. And even they may fail to achieve their goal if the field is limited and there are others whose skills are more highly developed or surrounded by people who support them rather than you.

But just because your mother kept encouraging you to sing doesn’t mean you have the voice and talent to make a living at it. Or because your father kept pushing you in sports doesn’t mean you have the attributes to excel at the professional level. Competition brings out the best and worst of us all.

For example, when I had surgery a number of years ago, I searched out the best doctors in their field and traveled outside this country for a specific operation. There were many good doctors in the states, but the best identified by their peers in a specific field based on solid evidential performance reviews were located in Canada at the time.

Just because you feel you can, doesn’t mean you are capable of producing at a professional level.  There are many mediocre doctors who have their limitations and enough knowledge to satisfactorily serve their average patient. But in those unusual, unique situations, when it is you and you want the best in their field, you quickly identify them and hire them.

The best have crafted their skills and knowledge base. Their expertise shines above their peers. They have taken their God-given abilities and sharpen them for maximum output. They surround themselves with the best because they know their limitations and as iron sharpen iron, others help them sharpen their skills. Through trials, tests, and much practice, they gain confidence through proven results over time.

If you want to maximize your God-given natural abilities, discover what they are through tests, or trial and error, and receive true confirmation from those who really know you without bias. Then you can educate and train yourself to become one of the best in your field. And always make your choices built on the foundation of reality which may include your feelings along with God’s Word and solid evidence of historical proof from your life.

Otherwise, consider what you enjoy doing as a hobby to share with others. We all can’t become professional sport stars, but it is sure fun to play the game. Just know the difference where to invest your time, money, and energy for long term success and where the outcome really doesn’t matter.

So don’t fall into the trap of believing your feelings, dreams of ease, and polite words of illusions from those who don’t want to hurt your fragile ego. Whatever field you choose to become an expert, always remember who you serve and who you reflect and build your house on a solid foundation of reality.

Someone is always trying to sell you a shortcut to success. But long term, real success is primarily built on expertly serving others for their success, not yours. Take what God has given you and glorify HIM through your efforts in serving others as best as you can. Before you know it, you will be the expert others will recommend to their friends. And who knows, maybe one day you may even stand and serve before kings.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Author of e-Books 

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Friendship Trap

James 4:4

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Good friends are hard to find and maintain. If you have one, be thankful. If you are still looking for one, ask the Lord. He will provide. But you need to be careful in choosing your friends. They will either help you in your journey through life or they will pull you down. How do you know what type of friend you have?

First of all, your friends will care for your success. They will root for you and support you through all situations (Proverbs 17:17). They will not forsake you or deliberately injure you (Proverbs 17:9). They will have your back. In fact, you may find a friend who is closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

You will appreciate their counsel. (Proverbs 27:9). Their words may hurt you at times (Proverbs 27:6) but when truth is spoken in love, the mature understand and change.

The trap is placing your friends in the position of a god. By this, I mean you worship them. You rely on them to feed your ego and make you feel important in the eyes of others. Instead of serving them for the glory of God, you use them to feed your insecurities. They become the god who you rely on for your protection, provision, and fulfillment.

Most troubling is also when your friends are in bed with the world’s culture. As the above Scripture reminds us, accepting the worldly morals and values of society’s norms is surrounding yourselves with bedfellows whose purpose and gate opposes the God you want to serve. How long can you play with fire before your house is burnt to the ground?

As iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17), so one person improves another. The more you spend time together with each other, the more you become like each other. If you believe killing babies within the womb is acceptable, than you will think nothing of hanging out with others who think like you do. If your moral standards accept lying to get what you want, than you have no problem associating with others who live out the same value.

However, if God’s Kingdom is the governmental format which puts order into your life, than you will find difficultly hanging out with others who oppose God’s way.

You will eventually find out you become an enemy in their eyes because they oppose the Triune God, and you do not. As the Scripture states, those who desire to be a friend of this world’s culture makes themselves an enemy of God.

The bottom-line: Choose your friends as careful as you choose the God you worship.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Author of e-Books 

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Copyright 2013-Present | Abbaco LLC | All Rights Reserved

Kingdom Living

Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Back in graduate school, I was challenged by our professor to find the means to motivate and create a winning culture within an organization. He spent 13 weeks discussing various concepts and theories of organizational leadership then currently being exercised within the workplace. His conclusion on the last week of class was none of them effectively work and laid out the challenge for those of us willing to accept to find out what does work. I accepted the challenge right then and there.

So, over the next thirty years, with six different corporate operations, I made business my ministry and began the journey of how best to implement God’s ways in the marketplace. I wasn’t perfect. I made mistakes. But I leaned on Christ and learned.

The conclusion of the matter: ownership always loved the results, but the majority of company leaders disapproved of bringing godliness into the workplace. Their response in many cases was “what does God have to do with business?”

The fact is – everything. One college study demonstrated that almost 50% of the profitability of an organization is the result of its culture. God’s ways when properly implemented produces the fruit of successful Kingdom living. The byproduct is both personal and communal freedom, flourishment, and fulfillment.

Personal freedom is found only in Jesus Christ. When one begins to recognize the foundation of identity comes from being made in God’s image, and when we reflect HIS glory, we are able to separate the temporary roles of life from the permanency of belonging as a child of HIS. Parenthood, Spouse, Executive, Electrician, Computer Programmer, Consultant, Teacher, etc. are simply roles we fulfill. They are not who we are but what we do. We are children of the Creator God who longs for a human family.  When we accept the fact we are included in Christ, then we begin to experience our true identity. We participate with HIM in daily work, knowing we are in union with HIM and are in fellowship with others who likewise belong to God. 

The result is practicing the means of flourishment which comes from strategically serving others. Jesus taught servant-leadership. Taught those who want to be great must prioritize serving others before themselves. His way is of mutual submissiveness with each other. An attitude of respecting and lifting up others. Throughout Scriptures, HIS teachings emphasize relationships and good work from a Godly mind/heart centered perspective.  

As one walks with the Lord, one grows in spiritual maturity and may accumulate physical wealth in the process. You know you are wealthy when you have more than you need to sustain one’s life. The amount isn’t necessary how one measures wealth, but how one uses the resources at their disposal. You may be financially wealthy, but bankrupt spiritually. For true Fulfillment comes by blessing others from your storage house. And hopefully your storage house includes a substantial amount of love, joy, and peace which comes from God’s Spirit living in you. After you had a taste of God’s character, and realize the more you share HIM with others, the more HE gives you, and the more you continual give others, the richer you become in finding fulfillment in the everyday routine of living life. Jesus stated that it is more blessed to give than receive. That is where real fulfillment comes from.

Yes, after you learn to live as an Ambassador of God’s Kingdom in a dark, secular world, and begin to show the love of God before you speak about HIS love, the more your actions and words will carry with those you live with, work with, and play with. And as God showers HIS grace upon you, and opens favorable doors for you, and directs your steps toward living out your micro purpose within HIS macro plans, HIS Kingdom becomes more real within the culture of your world. And like a little mustard seed, your world will grow through the influence of HIS Spirit within you and HIS Kingdom will be recognized by the people around you.

Living life within HIS Kingdom begins with Jesus as the central core of everything you do. He will lead you as you submit to HIM. He will open the doors for you and bring people into your world that you will enrich and they you. God’s Kingdom is what the world needs. One day our entire world will be encompassed by the ways of HIS Kingdom. Until then, we have the honor and privilege to live out HIS ways as we colonize the small pockets of humanity which we currently share space with on this third rock from the sun.   

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Author of e-Books 

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