Firm Foundation with Bryan Hudson

(Download free devotional PDF ebook www.newcovenant.org)

Psalms 139:14-16, "I thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous...You were there while I was being formed...You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.”

Your life will experience the greatest fulfillment, joy and success when doing what you enjoy and do well. What you are and will become are already inside of you. You may already be aware of your gifts, abilities, and aptitudes (also called talent). If not, here are the definitions of those terms:

A GIFT is an ability or potential ability you received from God when you were born. It must be developed. The old saying is somewhat true, “Use it or lose it.”

An ABILITY is a learned skill. This is sometimes mistaken for a gift.

An APTITUDE (talent) is a capacity to do something that may be considered unusual. Aptitude/talent is like potential, without action, it may not amount to much.

“Hard work and an open mind – it’s the only way to realize the potential that is inside every one of us.” ~ Chrissie Wellington

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

“Creativity or talent, like electricity, is something I don’t understand but something I’m able to harness and use.” ~Maya Angelou

Some people have a gift to sing, draw, or run fast. People with ability through training in singing, drawing or running fast learn to do it better. People with an aptitude to sing, draw, or run fast need to discover it and then develop it.

The concept of talent is overrated. When someone does something very well, we usually say that person did it because of “talent.” Talent is a starting point for some, but people who work hard at something become more successful than people who only have talent. More than anything else, success comes from working with what God has given you, following your heart, being trained, practicing, and doing your best.

Sometimes people think they have no talent, but that’s only because they think talent is something visible like singing and drawing. There are many kinds of talents/aptitudes.

Going to college or taking special training should be based on developing your gifts, acquiring ability, and acting on your aptitudes.

Reflection Question: What God given gifts or aptitudes in your life need further development?

Key insight I gained today:

Today’s action item based on insight:

Philippians 3:14, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

There is always something valuable for you ahead. This is why we “press,” not in forcing anything, but staying in position through diligence. There are three elements that keep your heart prepared for empowerment.

1. Training in understanding and wisdom

Proverbs 1:2, To know wisdom and instruction, To perceive the words of understanding, 3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, Justice, judgment, and equity; 4 To give prudence to the simple, To the young man knowledge and discretion— 5 A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel

Wisdom is knowing the best paths. Understanding is knowing the meaning of things. You gain wisdom and understanding by learning from God and key people in your life.

2. Receiving the Holy Spirit

Acts 1:8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Nothing is more empowering than encountering the Source of power, God’s Spirit. In essence, we are spirit beings, so your intellect and skills require the support of the Holy Spirit to maximize your wellbeing and effectiveness.

3. The Call of God

Acts 26:16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.

Ministers are not the only Christians who are called by God. Everyone of us is “called” in the sense that we have specific purpose in life and service within God’s kingdom. The Apostle Paul was the worse kind of enemy against Christ’s church before his conversion. It is ironic and fitting that a man who was a fierce enemy of Christ and God’s people became the greatest Apostle.

Reflection Question: What is your understanding of your training, relationship with the Holy Spirit, and God’s call on your life?

Key insight I gained today:

Today’s action item based on insight:

Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Persistence Definition: Firm continuance in a course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. The quality that allows someone to continue doing something even though it is difficult or opposed by negative factors.

Few things sap your energy, motivation, and power to take action more than weariness of body and mind.

It is well known that a lack of proper rest is a major contributor to emotional and physical distress. The physical aspects of tiredness are obvious, but the emotional and spiritual aspects of a lack of rest are less obvious. What is at stake is your willingness to keep on “doing good.” In a world full of takers and people needing empowerment, we need those who give and empower. We need you, if you’re one of those people who give.

Persistence is more than not quitting. Persistence is maintaining willingness--which is not as easy as it seems. We persist and maintain a spirit of willingness in three ways:

Prayer: Communication with God, empowerment for people, influence over circumstances

Personal Power: Your ability to influence or change an outcome.

Purpose: Fulfilling your assignment(s)

On the matter of prayer, Jesus taught in Luke 18:1, Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart 2 saying: “There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said. 7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? 8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

In this story, God is not the stubborn, unjust judge. He is exactly the opposite. We should identify with the widow who knew she had every right to come and expect help.

In the end, the challenge is not about the willingness of the judge or God. The challenge is found in our willingness to be persistent and personal with God.

Reflection Question: What does persistence look like in your life today?

Key insight I gained today:

Today’s action item based on insight:

Philippians 2:5 (NLT) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor.

“Cultivate” is a farming term. Because attitudes “grow” we have to pay attention to factors that affect our attitude and cultivate a better attitude.

• A good attitude will not always change our circumstances, but it will always change us. ~ John Maxwell

• What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. ~ Charles R. Swindoll

Attitude is your internal disposition.

Your attitude is your inward disposition toward other things, such as people or circumstances. As with an airplane, attitude is adjusted to keep the flight level. In a similar way, we pay attention to our “attitude-level” in life. For example, anger, resentment, disobedience to God and unresolved conflicts create imbalance in our lives. Our attitude, in terms of what others see and experience from us, arises from our inward disposition towards God and people.

According to God’s word, when you became a Christian, a part of your new creation is the development of new attitudes— your attitude should become like that of Jesus. The Bible says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:5).

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off the old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds.” (Ephesians 4:22 NIV)

What we see and experience from others may be a reflection of his or her attitude, but don’t make the mistake of judging people from outward appearance. I have a friend who seems to be overly serious. One day I learned that he lost two sons in a car accident. This tragedy happened a long time ago and it obviously changed his life. He does not lack joy and I know first hand that he enjoys life. Some people, like the Apostle Paul in his day, have been challenged and empowered by circumstances in unusual ways. He wrote:

1 Corinthians 13:11, When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I under- stood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1 Thessalonians 5:6, Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

Reflection Question: What “attitude-level” areas need adjustment in my life?

Key insight I gained today:

Today’s action item based on insight:

Colossians 1:9-11 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power.

God thought about us before we thought about him.

Everything that empowers you came from the heart of God and other people. All of our blessings have come because of God and other people. Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of things natural and spiritual form the basis of empowerment.

The root of the word “empower” is “power” which is: “The ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something.” Our education through schools is the most obvious form of empowerment. We cannot conceive of not being able to read and write, because others who were previously empowered made it their priority to empower us academically.

Power has to be gained, learned, imparted, or received from God and others. This is the basis of being empowered. The prefix “em-” or “en-” before an English word means, “in, into, within, inside.”

Empowerment defined: The process of helping others obtain opportunities, develop skills, and gain self-sufficiency. Empower is an instance. Empowerment is a process.

The power and ability that is available to people lies outside of themselves. God and other people must act to empower or move that power and ability from outside of people to inside of people. This is the whole purpose of child training, education, and spiritual growth.

People who empower others care as much about others as they care about themselves. God cares for people most of all and His love is the motivating power behind empowerment. The most empowering people in your life are parents, teachers, preachers, public servants, mentors, employers, and coaches, and people who fulfill similar roles in your life.

Where would you be today without God and the people who empowered you?

Reflection Question: What and who are my sources of empowerment?

Key insight I gained today:

Today’s action item based on insight: